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ragewerthers · 3 years

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Relaxation Therapy

Summary: Iwa has gotten himself so caught up in his paper that he feels he doesn't have time to relax. Luckily his boyfriends know just the way to get him to listen to reason. A little relaxation therapy is definitely in order!

A/n: Hello there!

This is written for a prompt sent to me from @lady-namo!

She asked for:

'matsuhanaiwaoi? iwaizumi is really, REALLY stressed by whatever and they try to relax him. actually i don't mind how exactly you do it, i'd just be happy with teasy af mattsun!'

This was so much fun to write as I've never gotten to write these four before, but they are ridiculous and amazing to write banter between! I hope that you enjoy it, my friend!

You can also read on AO3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599321

Enjoy! :D

Word Count: 3937

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Iwa growled in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair, staring hard at the readings laid out before him on the kitchen table.

If this civilization wasn’t already lost to history, he would be cursing the ancient Minoans as the texts he looked over spoke of them. How dare they be so god damn interesting that he decided to write his history paper on their mysterious disappearance? How dare they lure him into trying to read through dusty old texts that only offered up the same three conclusions each and every time?! Three conclusions does not a paper make!

With another deep growl he let his head fall to the table with a resounding thud that he immediately regretted more than the Minoans existence. His pen had been in just the perfect spot for his forehead to land against, sending a nice little shockwave of pain through his forehead and making him reel back in his chair with a shout. Sadly the force that he’d pushed himself away with was enough to send said chair tilting backwards at lightning speeds and his life flashed before his eyes.

Sadly the only thing his mind supplied was the Minoans.

The bastards.

Squeezing his eyes shut he waited for the cold, hard impact of the floor, but soon just found himself suspended mid-air.

Slowly, almost fearfully, he let his eyes peek open only to be met with the amused and gentle smile of Mattsun.

“Issei?” Iwa said a little dumbly, having thought his boyfriends were still out of the apartment for a grocery run. When Oikawa was involved this usually meant that the trip could last hours and it felt like they’d only just left a few minutes ago. Oikawa shouting something sassy from the hall, Hana rolling his eyes and Mattsun promising that they wouldn’t lose Tooru… again.

Now, it seemed, they had all returned just in time to see the Minoans attempting to take him out with his own pen.

“The one and only. Appears we didn’t get back too late for me to be your knight in shining armor, Hajime,” the taller man said lightly, ducking down to press a careful kiss to the red line already starting to appear over Iwa’s forehead.

“What was that thud we heard when we came in, Iwa?” Hana called, carrying in at least four grocery bags collected on his arms and trying to carefully place them on the table and avoid Iwa’s work.

“Yeah, Iwa-chan! Mattsun literally jumped the sofa to get in here when he heard you yelp,” Oikawa said with a teasing smirk, putting his own single bag of shopping right on top of Iwa’s work and spreading out his papers even more.

Matsukawa quirked an eyebrow at Oikawa before carefully setting Iwa’s chair back down on the floor.

“This coming from the man who literally elbowed Hana in the face trying to unlock the door when we heard the commotion in the hall. Don’t act all cool and collected now,” Mattsun teased, watching as Oikawa’s ears tinged red and he puffed his cheeks out into a pout.

“I did no such thing! I know Iwa-chan is more than capable of handling himself in any situation,” Oikawa huffed, turning around and heading back toward the living room to drop off his coat, scarf and shoes.

“I thought he was going to cry,” Hana whispered to Iwa as he passed by with a few frozen pizza’s in hand, apparently deciding to put away their frozens before taking off his things. Though he also seemed incapable of dropping a kiss to Iwa’s brow before continuing on and making the man's cheeks warm up more at all of this attention. Though the thought of Oikawa blubbering in the hallway did make him chuckle a bit.

Soon Iwa felt a strong hand lightly starting to massage the back of his neck and the chuckling instantly quieted down into a soft hum of content. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head forward reflexively, feeling the way Mattsun’s hand worked its way up to his hairline before soothing gently circles back down toward his shoulder.

“You still didn’t answer the question though, Hajime,” Mattsun said softly as he watched Iwa slowly melt in front of him from the simple contact. “But if I had to guess, I’d say this paper is putting up a fight?”

Iwa gave a little nod, though he tried to stay as still as possible to enjoy the gentle attention he was receiving. “The Minoans have decided to haunt me from their graves. But be careful what you think of them. They’ll attack you with pens and tipped over chairs,” he grumbled, getting a little snort from Hana who was somewhere near the cupboards now.

“They also seem to be able to turn your muscles into nothing but knots and stone,” Matsukawa murmured softly, bringing his other hand up to start massaging along Hajimes shoulders properly and earning himself a deep groan of pain and contentment. “Why don’t you take a break? When the ghosts of dead civilizations start to attack, it’s usually a sign you need to take a step back.”

“Did I hear that right? Iwa-chan is allowing papers to attack him now?” Oikawa cooed as he came back in, grabbing one of the other grocery bags and the table and carrying it to the counter. “That’s what turned Issei into a track star?”

“And you into a panicked mother hen?” Hana teased, getting a swat to his arm with a bag of milk bread Oikawa had moments before had cuddled to his chest like a gift from heaven.

Iwa blinked his eyes open to give him a little half-hearted glare. “No, Shitty-kawa. I just… got a little stuck in my thesis and it got away from me a bit. But I’ll still conquer this paper. I just have to focus more,” he mumbled before giving a little whimper as Mattsun’s fingers kneaded deeper into the muscles of his shoulder.

“Hajime, I can actually feel your muscles coiling up again as you speak,” Mattsun murmured in his calming baritone. “I think it would do you some good to take a small break with us. Just a little breather to get your thoughts refocused?” “I can’t,” Iwa said quietly, a little scowl starting to reappear over his features. “I only have a couple of days to get this all sorted out and I know that if I keep going I’ll be able to break through this little writer's block I have. I’m sorry, but… maybe later once I get some thoughts on paper I can take a break with you all.” Leaning forward slightly, Iwa gently broke the wonderful contact of Mattsun’s hands from his shoulders. He could hear a little exhale of air from behind him as he picked his pen back up and knew that wasn’t what the man had wanted to hear, but it’s what he needed to do. Reaching forward he began to try and reorganize his papers from the mess Oikawa had made of them.

“Oh Mattsun-kun. You should know better than trying to get through to Iwa with gentle words,” Oikawa said as he drew closer to the table.

“Yeah, Mattsun,” Hana teased from his spot by the sink, turning to watch with a little smirk playing over his lips, his arms crossed over his chest. “You know that Hajime is only just slightly less stubborn than Tooru.”

Iwa grumbled at that, hunching his shoulders to try and ignore his boyfriends talking about him as if he wasn’t there. ‘ Now where did that pen go? ’

“I mean… you’re not wrong,” Oikawa chuckled and Iwa could hear him moving around the table to stand next to Issei. “But… if there’s something I’ve learned about our sweet Iwa-chan it’s that there are better ways of getting your point across.”

Sadly, Iwa was now starting to get back into what he hoped was a groove for this paper and didn’t notice the shared look between his three ridiculous partners.

“That’s right,” Mattsun said, his voice still sounding measured even as the hint of amusement tinged his words.

“Gentle words aren’t enough,” Hanamaki agreed, his voice sounding closer and making Iwa hunch more into himself. God, why didn’t he grab his earbuds to drown out these idiots ?

“That’s right,” Oikawa’s voice purred, making the back of Iwa’s neck prickle slightly. “Hajime needs to be persuaded out of his bullheadedness…,”

“Pfft… you’re one to talk, Trashy-kawAHAHA!” Iwa startled as he felt two strong hands send a couple quick squeezes against his lower ribs, making him jolt out of his seat and sending some of his books and papers tumbling down to the floor. Turning around he saw Oikawa’s hands still extended forward, Hana and Mattsun flanking either side of him with twin looks of mischief and determination on their faces.

The world seemed to pause in time for a few heartbeats as Iwa’s eyes looked over the three of them… his mind racing to catch up with what was happening when all of a sudden the moment of stillness was broken with two words.

“Get him.”

Hana and Mattsuns smiles turned devious as each of them took flight. Taking off from either side of Oikawa to race around the table toward Iwa and looking for all the world like those evil winged hell monkeys the wicked witch of the west had sent off after Dorothy.

Though to be fair, Oikawa’s accompanying menacing cackle would’ve even sent a shiver down that witch’s spine! Iwa instantly turned and ran out of the kitchen and toward the hall, his heart beating thunderously in his chest as he realized what sort of doom awaited him if he were caught.

“Fly my pretties! Fly!!!” Oikawa cried from a little further down the hall as Iwa heard Mattsun and Hana slowly starting to catch up to him as they neared the living room.

Oh yeah… Oikawa was never allowed to watch the Wizard of Oz again!

“Get the hell away from me!” Iwa called over his shoulder, only hearing a rumbling laugh far closer than he expected.

“Sorry, Hajime… not gonna happen!” Mattsun called back, his fingers just brushing the back of Hajime’s shirt and making Iwa yelp as he raced around one side of the coffee table… only to find the pair once more splitting up to give chase.

“Damn it!” Iwa shouted, though he was surprised to find the barest hint of a smile tugging up at the corners of his lips from this stupidity! “Kn-Knock it off! I’m trying to get some work done! OOF!”

Iwa had glanced behind him for only a second and that was apparently all it took for Oikawa to make his grand entrance, quickly catching Iwa up in his embrace as he attempted to make a break for it toward their bedroom.

“Oh, what have we here?” Oikawa cooed in that far too smug voice, practically bearhugging Iwa to his chest. “Why... I think it’s someone in desperate need of a study break!”

“I told you! I don’t neheheed a breahahahak! AH! Stahp it!” Iwa instantly bit down on his lower lip as growly giggles already started to bubble up from his chest. Oikawa’s fingers dug lightly into that spot under his lower ribs making his legs already feel like jelly as his body tried to twist away from the tingly touch. “Was that grumpy and sassy Iwa just now?” Hana teased as he and Mattsun drew closer.

“M’nahahat!” Iwa giggled despite his best efforts, a little yelp escaping as he felt a third hand reaching up to lightly tickle against the side of his neck as another hand began to squeeze near his hip.

“What was that, Iwa-chan? Did you just say you weren’t being grumpy? Because I’m positive I heard you trying to defy me and not take a break,” Oikawa murmured back dangerously as Iwa tried to weakly swat at the hands seeming to come at him from all angles.

“Stahahahap it! I… I hahahave to gehehet back!” Iwa gasped out between giggles, soon finding himself being lifted off the ground as another pair of arms wrapped around him.

“Oh no. I think you are in desperate need of a bit of relaxation therapy,” Mattsun said softly, seeming to be the one doing most of the lifting now before Iwa found himself unceremoniously dropped onto their sofa.

Before he could sit up he found Oikawa already straddling his thighs, Mattsun pinning his wrists overhead and Hana settled on his calves.

“And if I remember correctly, a little bit of laughter can go a long way in helping someone relax,” Mattsun teased. The look in his eyes instantly making Iwa try to wriggle his hands free from the former blockers grasp.

“No! R-Really! You guys don’t have to do thi-HIHIhihihis! Hahahana nohohoho!“ Iwa gasped out as he felt the light scribbling of fingers against his arches, his legs trying to weakly kick out, but with Oikawa and Hana both settled on his lower half he knew he wasn’t going anywhere soon. Oikawa turned to catch a glimpse of Hana’s focused attention on Iwa’s poor feet, chuckling at the reaction it was already causing. Turning around he caught Issei’s eyes and gave him a devilish smile as he listened to Iwa’s giggles already bubbling up so sweetly. “Well, Mattsun-kun… we can’t let Hana have all the fun. We need to be here to help our sweet, Iwa-chan too!” he teased, his fingers sneaking under Hajime’s shirt to start lightly fluttering along the sides of his tum, just barely scribbling as they moved lower and lower toward his hips.

“NO! NO nahahahat my hihihips, Tooruhuhuhu!” Iwa squeaked out, his body already starting to shimmy side to side in the hope to block some of what was to come. “Oh, Hajime,” Mattsun crooned in his deep voice. “I think you have so much more to be worried about then just your hips.” Iwa only had a moment to try to register what Mattsun was saying before he felt the man's fingers settling on one particular rib on his left side. His eyes instantly widened and he began to squirm more as he knew what was coming. “WaitwaitwaitwaAHAHAHAGAHAHAD! NOAHAHAHA!” Iwa instantly cried out as Mattsun began massaging and vibrating his fingers deeply against that particular rib. Years ago he had cracked it during a match and a bad collison and somehow upon healing it had managed to become far too sensitive to even the lightest touches. He regretted ever letting these bastards find out about this particular weakness!

“I think Iwa is really enjoying his study break! Look at how big he’s smiling!” Mattsun called over Hajime’s laughter, bringing his hand up to flutter against one of his exposed armpits and making the poor man try to tug his arms free once more.

“Look at that sweet blush! Oh Iwa-chan I wish I had my phone to capture this!” Oikawa crooned softly, his hands moving to settle into the little dips of Hajimes hips, his thumbs starting to rub deep, quick circles right against the hyper ticklish spot and nearly sending himself and Hana flying off the sofa with the way Iwa jolted.

“NO PLEHEHEHEASE! I CAHAN’T! I CAHAHAN’T!” Iwa cackled wildly as Oikawa’s thumbs found a rhythm that had him bouncing what little he could on the sofa. His head was tossed back against one of the throw pillows and his entire body felt like one giant sensitive spot. Hana snickered from where he was lightly tracing his fingers over Iwa’s socked arches, making the man's toes curl and his feet twitch from the light contact. “Can’t what? Escape? We know that already, silly Iwa,” Hana teased, finding a nice little spot right in the center of his partners arches that seemed to make the poor guy shriek. “Oh! I think I definitely have the best spot!”

Tooru huffed from his spot on Hajime, looking down at the mans face already turning pink from laughter. His own hands had paused as the light tickles to his feet from Hanamaki seemed to be driving him into hysterical giggles.

“That’s not fair, Hajime! How come you let Hana have your best spot? You always told me it was your hips! Were you lying to me, Iwa-chan?” he asked with mock suspicion, narrowing his eyes and fighting a smile as his hands gave Iwa’s hips a few warning squeezes.

“NO! NO Tooruhuhu! I… I didn’t lie! I dihihihihidn’t! AHahahagahahad!” Iwa cackled, turning his head into his outstretched arm to try and hide a snort that escaped him when the squeezes turned into scribbling fingers that raced up his sides before quick and nimble fingers began to vibrate over his tum.

“Hmmm… I don’t know. Sounds like this is also a good spot! Have you been hiding them on me?!” Oikawa gasped dramatically, though this time he didn’t bother hiding the soft smile he had on his face as Iwa laughed so brightly and openly.

Mattsun had paused his own tickling as well as he watched Iwa losing himself to his laughter from the other two. His goal had been to make Iwa relax and really this was already having the desired effect. Iwa’s brow was no longer furrowed in grumpiness, his expression soft and bright with laughter pouring out of him.

However, this didn’t mean that he didn’t still want to truly drive home how much Iwa deserved this and how much he needed to listen to his boyfriends every once in a while.

“Oh, Hajime. I think you were keeping secrets from us,” Mattsun teased as he lightly fluttered his fingers against his right armpit and then his left, making Iwa jump with each soft attack, his giggles always intensifying when he did it.

“Nehehehever! I w-wouldn’t! I prohohomihihihihise!” Iwa squeaked out, his laughter already starting to become quieter as he neared his limit. Unlike Tooru, who seemed to gain energy during their tickle attacks on him, Iwa always seemed to have one big burst of energy before becoming absolutely compliant in their arms.

Mattsun chuckled at that and shook his head. “Hmm… I don’t know… you’re getting pretty jumpy with these tickles here. I think the best way to make sure you aren’t hiding any more secrets from your boyfriends is to attack all these good spots at once. What do you guys think?” he asked, watching as Oikawa and Hana both perked up with bright smiles, their resounding ‘YES!’s’ easily covering up Iwa’s frantically giggled ‘NO!’

“I think the majority wins! Ready, Hajime?” Mattsun murmured fondly, though judging from the way the man was already giggling so hard his cheeks were turning pink he knew he wasn’t about to get a proper answer. “Then here we go, on the count of three! One!” he counted, fingers wiggling just above Iwa’s torso and making him shiver.

“Two!” Hana called, letting both of his index fingers zip up Iwa’s soles in warning of what was to come, a startled squeal and wriggle the only answer from Hajime.

Oikawa glanced down at his Iwa, watching as the man peeked his eyes out from where he had been trying to hide against his arm, his smile bright, carefree, but still with that little bit of challenge behind them.

Oikawa’s smile grew at that in return. Never one to take a challenge lightly.

“Three!” he cried, and instantly, all of their hands were on the attack… and Iwa lost his mind.

Hanamaki’s fingers scribbled and traced all of his soles, moving from his arches to under his toes and drawing out the ugliest snorts Iwa had ever heard himself make. Tooru’s fingers exacted lethal attacks against his stomach, sides and hips. His fingers would massage and vibrate against the bones of his hips before moving up to massage deep circles against his lower ribs and then moving to scuttle around and vibrate against his sides and tum making him bounce and jump at the deeply ticklish touches.

And finally there was Mattsun, the instigator to all of this if Iwa had to name someone. He’d abandoned his hold on his wrists to use both hands to attack his upper ribs and armpits with fluttering fingers and scribbles that had made Iwa shriek before dissolving into wild and carefree laughter.

His arms had instantly clamped down on Mattsun’s hands and he tried for all his worth to try and wiggle away or curl into the sofa, but there was no escaping three evil boyfriends hellbent on teasing him into relaxation and oblivion all in one.

“NOHOHOAHAHAHA! PLEHEHEHEASE I… I CAHAHAHAN’T! IHIHIT TIHIHICKLES SO BAHAHAHAD!” Iwa cried out through his hysterical laughter, his mind completely taken over by nothing but ticklish sensations and absolutely nothing left to remind him of his earlier troubles, the Minoans, the paper… nothing but how terribly his boyfriends were wrecking and how much it tickled! “Do you think Iwa’s had enough?” Mattsun chuckled, already starting to slow his tickles as Oikawa and Hana both smiled softly at Iwa. Even their fingers started to turn from terrible tickles to lightly soothing over those spots.

“I think Iwa has learned his lesson,” Oikawa cooed softly, his hands soothing against his boyfriends sides as Iwa slowly regained back some sanity, giggling and panting even as he felt the tickles starting to subside.

“L-Lehehesson?” he giggled, voice a little hoarse from his laughter as Mattsun nodded. “Yes. To listen to your boyfriends. To take a break. To enjoy some relaxation therapy. To not take your papers so seriously they almost hurt you,” Mattsun listed off, carefully removing his hands from under Iwa’s arms and making him shiver before starting to sooth his fingers through his messy hair. “This is really all we wanted to achieve, Hajime. For you to have a moment to just let loose and step away from those things that were stressing you. Apparently we can only get that across that stubborn brain of yours with some well placed tickles.” Iwa felt his cheeks flushing a bit, giving a little hum and closing his eyes as his breathing started to calm more and more as he felt the gentle touches now moving over him.

“I’m… sorry I didn’t listen sooner,” he chuckled, melting a little more as Oikawa began to lightly massage down his arms and Hana moved, lifting Iwa’s legs so that he could sneak to sit on the sofa, letting them rest in his lap so he could soothe along his feet, ankles and calves as well.

“No need to apologize, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa murmured softly, ducking down to press a few soft kisses against his boyfriends pink cheeks before carefully moving off of him, sitting beside the sofa as he watched Iwa starting to relax more and more. “Besides… we achieved what we wanted. You’re relaxing and taking a breather now, right? So we’re really all winners here.”

Iwa gave a gentle, tired chuckle at that, his eyes already closing as he was pampered so lovingly by them all.

“Re… Remind me… to do this… more often,” Iwa murmured, his voice already growing softer as sleep carefully called to him after his intense tickle attack.

“I think we can do that,” Mattsun murmured fondly, giving Iwa a soft tickle behind his ear, making the man giggle softly before his breathing evened out and soft snores could soon be heard.

If this was the end result of their efforts to get Iwa to relax, they would definitely have no problem reminding him time and time again.

#haikyuu!#my fics #tickle fic #matsuhanaiwaoi #matsukawa issei #iwaizumi hajime #oikawa tooru #hanamaki takahiro #I hope you enjoy this my friend!#I'm sorry it took me YEARS #it was a lot of fun to write though!#These boys are ridiculous and hilarious to banter with!

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littlepikmins · 4 years

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Character Development in the Kirby Series

I wanted to share some headcanons/speculative ideas about Meta Knight, King Dedede and Bandana Dee’s character progression throughout the Kirby series.

Disclaimer: Some speculation in this post relies on Super Star and Super Star Ultra taking place at the same time in the timeline, and Ultra only adding more details about events. So chronologically this post assumes Ultra takes place between Kirby Dreamland 2 and 3 like the original Super Star. Also I haven’t played all the games referenced in this post recently so if I remember something wrong or forgot something I apologize in advance.

Kirby’s Adventure I’ll be starting with Kirby’s Adventure. In Adventure King Dedede breaks the Star Rod into multiple pieces to stop Nightmare and gives those pieces to denizens of Dream Land he deems his friends. These friends include the following characters: Whispy Woods Paint Roller Mr. Bright and Mr. Shine Kracko Heavy Mole Meta Knight This is the first game that Meta Knight appears in and already we learn King Dedede considers him a trust worthy friend. My headcanon on this is that Meta Knight works under King Dedede as his knight and Dedede is fond of him for reasons discussed below. Dedede has been stated to be a self-proclaimed king. Based on this he probably just showed up one day and declared himself king and Dream Land’s citizens went with it. I like to think his reasoning for this is because Dedede had an idea in his head about what kings are like and wanted to be one. It supports a lot of his early greedy tendencies if he had a glorified idea in his head about powerful worshiped kings based on their portrayal in storybooks.

Usually storybook kings have knights. Meta Knight’s past is really too mysterious for me to get into (and I’m okay with that, it’s part of his charm) so for now we’ll just assume one day he showed up at Dedede’s castle. Dedede, having this vision of what it meant to be a king, decides to ask this cool mysterious swordsman to be his knight. Meta Knight was probably like: “Sure, why not?” Assuming he had some reason to stick around Dream Land and staying in the Castle of Dream Land’s supposed King was convenient for him.

In Adventure even though Dedede obviously trusts Meta Knight enough to give him a piece of the Star Rod, Meta Knight assists Kirby throughout his journey to collect them all. Technically Dream Land was unable to sleep with the Star Rod broken, so Meta Knight most likely wanted to assist the person who was actually going to get rid of the problem. I think it’s safe to assume that Meta Knight doesn’t respect Dedede as much as Dedede respects him at this point in time. Dedede is a self-proclaimed King after all and Meta Knight may be skeptical of his rule, especially since while Dedede did stop Nightmare temporarily, he didn’t actually try to completely get rid of him.

Super Star Ultra

I think Meta Knight being skeptical of Dedede’s rule becomes clear in Super Star/Ultra especially. In Revenge of Meta Knight he states he wants to end Dream Land’s “lazy lifestyle.” My personal headcanon for why he does this is because he wants Dream Land to be less disorderly and believes this would be possible if Dream Land had a more capable ruler. Kirby shows up and makes quick work of Meta Knight’s plans though. Revenge of the King presumably happens around the same time and it should be noted in this instance of a fight with Dedede he copies Meta Knight’s fair fighting style by offering Kirby a hammer before their fight begins. He also dons a mask and fights with a more advanced hammer. My idea on this is that Meta Knight explicitly said to Dedede before Revenge of Meta Knight that he was unfit to rule and explained why. King Dedede was upset by this and in order to prove himself fit to be Dream Land’s King he believes he needs to defeat Kirby, which leads to the events of Revenge of the King. He also emulates Meta Knight’s act of giving Kirby a weapon at the beginning of the fight to make it even, wanting to show he is playing fair. In the end Kirby beats him.

Bandana Dee and 64 Waddle Dee

Since I’m discussing Super Star Ultra I wanna talk about Bandana Dee here. I know there’s the headcanon that Bandana Dee and 64 Waddle Dee are the same Waddle Dee. I do like this idea but Kirby’s timeline makes that confusing if the games are meant to be chronological.

Either way I do think a certain Waddle Dee stood out to King Dedede, possibly for his courage, which eventually lead him to giving him a bandana to distinguish him from the other Waddle Dees. After Bandana Dee’s fight with Kirby in Revenge of the King he then begins training to become stronger.

Post Super Star Ultra

Dreamland 3, 64, and Amazing Mirror, happen after this point. Meta Knight and Bandana Dee aren’t around in Dreamland 3 and Dedede gets possessed by Zero. In 64 King Dedede works with Kirby for the first time to collect the Crystal Shards. In Amazing Mirror, Meta Knight fails to save the Mirror World so it’s up to Kirby to find the pieces of the mirror and save him. I want to point out two things here: First, Meta Knight already knows about the Dimension Mirror which implies he could have knowledge on some artifacts presumably created by the ancients. Second, Kirby stopped Meta Knight’s ambitions in Super Star not too long ago and now Meta Knight fails to defeat the Dark version of himself and needs Kirby’s help. This makes Meta Knight begin to realize he may not be as capable as he initially thought.

Squeak Squad

This is where I get more into headcanons I have that might not have too much evidence behind them, but they’re still fun to think about.

In Squeak Squad someone steals a slice of cake from Kirby. Kirby thinks Dedede has to be the culprit and goes to his castle to fight him. After Kirby fights him the Squeaks appear and steal a chest from Dedede’s castle. Dedede throws Kirby at them and they all fall into a chasm. Later when Kirby manages to get the chest back from the Squeaks again, assuming his cake is in it, Meta Knight suddenly appears and takes it before he can open it. It is later revealed the chest contains Dark Nebula. So this raises a few questions: Why was the chest originally in Dedede’s castle? How did Meta Knight know it contained Dark Nebula? The first question could be answered by simply assuming Dedede being a king gathered treasures from across Dream Land and one happened to have Dark Nebula in it. However, this doesn’t explain how Meta Knight knew about a specific chest in Dedede’s castle housing an evil power in the first place.

What I like to think is this: Meta Knight finds this chest somewhere and learns of it’s dark power (like I said he seems to have knowledge on some ancient artifacts). Wanting to keep it safe so it’s power is not accidentally unleashed, he takes it to King Dedede’s castle and entrusts the King to protect it. This is his way of somewhat apologizing for the falling out they had in Ultra, by showing he trusts Dedede with this task. I’m not sure how long the chest remained there but eventually the Squeaks come along and take it, so Dedede informs Meta Knight about Kirby and the Squeaks falling into the chasm with the treasure. And this is why Meta Knight later appears in their location and takes the chest before Nebula is released.

Personally I like to think of Squeak Squad as a turning point for Kirby. Any way you look at it, Meta Knight and Dedede were not in the wrong in this game, but Kirby mistakenly assumed they were. Kirby’s always been very kind hearted, but recognizing that he may have made a mistake after the events of Squeak Squad could be another reason why in future games he is so willing to forgive.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Onward Since Bandana Dee has been absent for some time we can assume he has been training. He rejoins King Dedede as the spear wielding Bandana Dee we know and love just in time for RTDL, and Kirby, Meta Knight, Bandana Dee and King Dedede work together to help Magolor retrieve his ship pieces, but are then deceived and forced to fight him. After that Triple Deluxe happens. In terms of character development this game and Planet Robobot are very important. Based on what was discussed earlier, Dedede may still be figuring out what it really means to be a king rather than just having a glorified version of it in his head. In this game, Dedede gets to see the consequences a power hungry corrupted ruler has on her people first hand. And I believe due to seeing these consequences Dedede is even more motivated to become a true and good King for Dream Land. Similar to Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot exposes the consequences individuals who believe they are bringing order to the planet has on Dream Land. This relates to Meta Knight’s earlier desire to end Dream Land’s lazy lifestyle. While I don’t think Meta Knight meant order in the way Susie and Haltmann regard it, it still shows how a group of people that view themselves as more civilized and advanced can harm the denizens of Popstar. Bandana Dee also appears in these games to assist Kirby. It is important to note that other than King Dedede and Meta Knight, he is one of the only other characters brave enough to actively work against the tyranny of these disruptive forces. Rainbow Curse also displays his courage as he teams up with Kirby to help restore color to Dream Land while Meta Knight and Dedede are unable, having been turned into statues. I believe thanks to these adventures, Bandana Dee further understands Kirby’s motives and sees him as a true hero. That is why he is willing to help Kirby best any foe, because he knows Kirby’s intentions are pure and that he only wishes to keep the peace and protect the denizens of Dream Land from corruption.

Kirby Fighters 2 Skipping to Kirby Fighters 2, King Dedede and Meta Knight working together makes a lot of sense. They both have a strong drive to prove themselves, similar to Bandana Dee. However, they also want to prove they can best Kirby (especially after both of their loses to the pink hero in the past). Kirby Fighters 2 from my perspective shows that Meta Knight now respects Dedede as the ruler of Dream Land. He has fought alongside Dedede in RTDL and Star Allies, and has seen that Dedede is no longer as selfish and greedy as he used to be and truly wants to be a fit ruler for his kingdom. They’ve also both been victim to a lot, in particular in Robobot they are both captured and used by Haltmann and Susie (Dedede is cloned, and Meta Knight is turned into Mecha Knight), and in Star Allies they are both corrupted by a Dark Jamba heart. By now it’s really more beneficial in the long run if they set their differences aside, to best face whatever may happen in the future. Dedede on the other hand I believe always had a great deal of respect for Meta Knight, but he’s still probably happy Meta Knight is willing to team up with him. By the end of the game I’m sure Meta Knight also grows to appreciate Dedede’s drive to not give up, and I believe this is why he is even willing to comfort him after their defeat. Bandana Dee is intended to be the buddy character for Kirby canonly in Fighters 2 based on the artwork in the game. While this could be seen as upsetting for Dedede, it could very well be the opposite. In one of Dedede’s Directory posts on Twitter, he mentions feeling proud of Como (little spider enemy) because he’s now able to fight as an ally and enemy in Star Allies. I’m sure his feelings on Bandana Dee growing into his own person have to be similar, even if he’s on the receiving end of his attacks. Okay… I think that’s everything! If you read this all the way through I want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to do so! Again, I might’ve forgotten a few things or misinterpreted something but I hope this made some sense heh.

#kirby headcanon #meta knight #king dedede #bandana dee #my post #metadede #long post

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katchihe · 3 years

Text

Taking a break from drawing to...write? Yeah! I've actually missed writing after so long. Not to mention I need the practice for a competition image lol

Featuring Corsen (Pokemon GO oc) with her team on hand Shiho (shiny Horsea), Titan (Arcanine), Sleepy (Snorlax), and Mint (Glaceon). But I can't go on further without saying that it also features some nerd we all came to love and hate. And his Salamence who just no.

I think it does get pretty long but I tried getting into the good parts haha. There is definitely a part 2 and I might post it soon, but in the meantime enjoy!

If anything needed fixing today it was certainly Corsen's jaw. The trainer couldn't keep her mouth shut since passing by the wooden doors of the museum. Left and right, up and down, everywhere she looked there was something exciting to see.

"This is amazing!" Corsen squealed. Slapping her hands to her cheeks smiling widely. The museum was full on packed with trainers and their Pokémon. Thankfully there was a limit to the sizes of Pokémon so nothing could be broken in such a priceless museum.

From statues, to the first planes, to the first achievements, to the first texts of ancient civilizations, everything could be found here. Corsen hadn't even spent 30 minutes inside and her phone was about to burst with all the videos and pictures she had already taken.

"Hey Shiho look!" Shiho looked towards where his trainer pointed at. The fossil exhibition. Since she was young, she had always had a fascination for fossils. Even staying up super late at night to read all the theories and encyclopedias of each extinct fossil Pokémon.

"Let's go there first and then how about we go get some lunch?"

Shiho wiggled contently in his carrier in agreement, just by feeling his trainer's energy he too felt excited. At this Corsen wasted no more time and went into the exhibition.

Once again Corsen's mouth couldn't stay shut at the sights.

"Is that an Aurorus?!" The brunette gasped looking up at the elongated neck of the extinct Pokémon. The wings of the skeleton flapped in the superficial wind, to only think of how it would've been to have such a Pokémon be alive today.

"Wait until Blanche sees this! Now should I take a video or photo?" Corsen pondered opening up the camera on her phone. Crouching down the brunette faced her camera up, hoping to get a cool sideways shot, but to her dismay it only focused on the fossils' chest area.

"A little back." Corsen muttered taking a couple of steps back.

Nope.

"Maybe a little more?"

Nope.

"Ugh!"

Getting up in her annoyance Corsen walked back focusing too much on the screen of her phone. It wasn't until she felt her back hit something hard, and the sound of a book dropping, that she finally shifted her attention.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!"

Back turned the stranger slowly bent down to pick up his book.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry I didn't see you!" Corsen apologized staying frozen in place. At the suffocating silence she bit her lip not knowing what else to say. She felt Shiho shift in his carrier staying silent as well.

After forever came to an end, the stranger finally spoke.

"Watch where you're going, pest." The man turned his head to glare at the brunette. Obvious anger, and disdain in his eyes. Funny how red is often associated with anger as his eyes were the full definition of it.

The stranger spoke no more and began to walk away without giving Corsen a second glance.

Corsen huffed exhaling a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Now the frozen air feeling vanished and she was free of its spell. Anger started to creep through.

"I said SORRY!" Corsen growled spreading her arms out in protest.

Shiho huffed alongside his trainer glaring at the back of the man.

"Whatever." Corsen rolled her eyes and turned back around to enjoy the museum. She wasn't about to let some insignificant incident ruin her day.

In a second her eye caught something interesting and her mind quickly forgot about the sour experience.

The sight was a golden hoop behind glass up against the near wall.

With peeked interest the trainer approached the compartment and looked up in awe. The hoop looked a bit rusty, yet it shone so brightly of gold in the evening sun that broke in through the high window.

"It is said this hoop once belonged to the mysterious Pokémon known as 'Hoopa'." Corsen read the metallic plate which stood in front of the display. "Legend says this Pokémon was first seen around 1,700 years ago. Hoopa would transport both objects and Pokémon through its many hoops. Those legends have never been proven true, but this hoop was found near Varanasi, India where the legend of this mythical Pokémon first began."

"Huh well that's quite interesting." Corsen looked back up to the hoop. It looked so normal for it to belong to Hoopa. If that was even true.

She had read many stories and theories about the mischievous Pokémon. Also seen those videos that claimed to have caught the Pokémon on camera, but none of them were true.

Much like Mew, those were just theories and made-up stories from the older civilizations of the past.

Walking down to the other section of the glass display Corsen then spotted a fossil. Squinting her eyes she tried to decipher the shape of it.

Shiho called to his trainer to look down on the plate.

"Aerodactyl. A Pokémon which became extinct around 150 million years ago. It lived in the prehistoric era where it reigned top predator. Being able to rip prey with its strong jaws, and fly as high as 250 meters up in the air with its strong wings, there was nothing that could possibly have stopped this Pokémon." Corsen read the metallic plate then looked up to the fossil once more. She still couldn't figure out the shape of it despite the massive size.

"Well still looks interesting." The trainer brought her camera up and snapped a photo of both the Aerodactyl fossil and the hoop.

"Maybe I can even make my own theories of these two." She laughed and began to walk away.

----

Later in the evening, Corsen sat at a café trying to mellow down from the long day.

She was immensely thankful to Blanche for having given her this opportunity, but was still a bit skeptical as to why they had decided to bless her with such a gift.

Corsen didn't want to pay no mind to it however, she continuously told herself it was something genuine that had come from Blanche's deepest part of their heart. Or something cheesy like that.

"Oh my baby is tired isn't he?" Ebony eyes dropped to Shiho who's head now lay limp against his trainer.

The Horsea slept peacefully giving no mind to his trainer as she caressed his cheek.

"But you're right it has been a long day." Corsen brought out Shiho's Pokéball and recalled the water-type. Taking off the carrier Corsen stretched her arms back with a yawn.

"I guess it's time to go hit the hay too." Getting up from her seat Corsen looked at her watch. 11:27PM. The hotel wasn't that far away, she could bring out Titan for a ride to get there much quicker, but the trainer decided against it last minute.

The night breeze felt quite nice and refreshing for a walk. After paying her bill and tipping her waiter she began the walk back to the hotel with the GPS in hand.

There was rarely anyone in the streets. Cars began to appear less and less the further she walked. It was such a somber ambient, one that started to cause Corsen both concern and worry.

It was the weekend and it wasn't so late in the night to not have both trainers and Pokémon out enjoying the night.

Corsen tried ignoring the nagging feeling in her gut and focused instead on walking.

"But what if a big scary shadow jumped out of nowhere?" Her mind began to wonder.

The trainer shook her head vigorously in return. She had Titan, Sleepy, and Mint in hand that were more than capable of holding themselves against anyone.

"Oh but what if something is behind you?"

Once again Corsen shook her head trying to rid her mind of such childish thoughts. Turning around she saw no one except her own shadow.

"I'm just delusional." Corsen muttered rolling her eyes in annoyance, but stopped mid turn when smoke caught her eye. It was up high and it looked like a fire a couple of blocks down the street.

The nagging feeling seemed to increase at the sight. Observing the buildings it looked to have been in the direction of the museum.

"That's odd..." Corsen placed her phone in the pocket of her jacket and began walking towards the direction of the fire.

The closer she got the faster her pace until she was on a full out run.

Turning the corner Corsen stopped abruptly in her tracks. Smoke and flames decorated the entrance to the Smithsonian. Eyes widened in horror at the sight.

Corsen started running once again towards the building but stopped once more when she spotted a cargo truck at the distance.

Two men carried a rather big piece of flat rock hosting it up in the back. Once the rock was secure they jumped in the back and closed the doors.

"A robbery?" Corsen furrowed her brows reaching into her backpack. Why weren't the alarms ringing? Where were the police? Where was anyone?

Bringing out a Pokéball she faced it towards the street. Through a beam of red light came out an Arcanine who looked at his trainer ready for action.

"Titan, I need your full speed right now." Corsen said jumping on the Pokémon's back. Titan nodded in reply lifting his body back up from the ground once his trainer was positioned.

With one final glance at the burning entrance Corsen and Titan began following the truck through the streets.

It only took seconds to reach the vehicle. Corsen held tightly onto Titan's mane as he ran at full speed through the streets. Despite his size he was an expert at agility, easily dodging parked cars and turning corners with ease.

"Titan! Scratch the back tire!" Corsen called as loud as she could through the wind. Gaining a bit more speed the Arcanine took one calculated swipe at the tire and it immediately blew out.

The rim screeched and sparked on the pavement before the truck fell on its weight and lost control. It ended up skidding to a stop and crashed onto its side.

"Steady." Corsen halted Titan who breathed heavily, ready for combat.

Out of the truck emerged three men who looked both bruised and confused. In their attire, a bright R decorated their chests. "Team Rocket?" Corsen felt a cold air hit despite the warm aura of her Arcanine.

Once they spotted the trainer and the Arcanine they called forth their own Pokémon. Dratini, Golbat, and Ivysaur. Their eyes shone red in the dim lights of the streets, at this the brunette furrowed her brows in confusion.

There was something off about those Pokémon, but Corsen wasn't about to sit around and figure it out.

Jumping off Titan's back the trainer readied herself as well.

"Titan, flame charge."

It was over as soon as it began. The three opposing foes dropped unconscious as well as their following companions. The rocket grunts recalled their fainted Pokémon and seeing as they were out of Pokémon to battle with, they began to retrieve.

"Wait until boss gets here. You'll regret this." One of them said before taking off at a run.

Titan growled loudly stomping the ground.

"No." Corsen placed a hand on Titan's chest stopping him from running after the man.

"Let them go, we have more important matters at hand." Corsen said approaching the fallen vehicle. She began to unhitch the back door letting it swing open before it hit the ground.

It was dark inside but she could barely make out the silhouette of the fossil rock. Bringing out a flashlight the trainer looked in relief and shock upon the Aerodactyl fossil. It was miraculously intact, except for some pieces of rubble that had fallen off the edges.

Jumping inside the truck Corsen ran a hand across the fossil. No cracks. Good. But why were they taking this specific thing out of all the objects in the museum? She was sure there were far more valuable objects in there than a piece of rock.

Suddenly her foot hit something metallic that swung across the floor. Directing her flashlight towards that direction Corsen spotted a ring. The Hoopa ring.

"What the hell?" Corsen stepped carefully around the fossil towards the ring.

Titan stood at the entrance of the truck, attentive to his trainer.

Grabbing a hold of the ring Corsen brought it up to the light.

Titan growled showing his fangs, partially scaring his trainer in the process.

"It's just a ring calm down." Corsen shushed the Arcanine looking at him while she placed her index finger to her lips. She had to admit she was still a bit jumpy from the events, adrenaline was running high.

Looking back down to the ring, Corsen turned it in her hand. Still looked as normal as when it was in its glass confinement.

"I could possibly keep this safe in my jacket." Corsen shakily opened the breast pocket of her jacket. It wasn't every day you had something so old and so valuable on your person. As for the fossil, Corsen frowned. She could possibly carry it back to the museum with Titan, but what if it fell and broke into a million pieces?

Another growl rumbled through the truck causing the trainer to break from her train of thought.

"Titan-" Corsen looked up ready to calm the dog but stopped. He wasn't looking at her.

A cold wave rushed through the brunettes body. Turning off the flashlight she began walking towards the entrance of the truck.

Without warning Titan let out a massive roar and launched forward and out sight from Corsen.

"Titan!" Corsen called rushing out of the truck and jumped out.

Titan swiftly outmaneuvered a Salamence on the ground. The massive dragon Pokémon looked wild in its eyes as it tried to swing at Titan any way possible.

In a second of distraction Titan yelped as the Salamence managed to land a hit. The Arcanine skidded back shaking his body. Crouching down with a growl he got ready to attack once again.

"Titan, are you alright?" the trainer called. Titan's attention suddenly shifted and so did Corsens'.

"Stop wasting so much time." A male voice said approaching the trio.

He looked to be of average height. In the darkness his hair looked pitch black, his attire had the same red R as the grunts.

Team Rocket. Again.

The man stopped next to the Salamence. He didn't bother looking at Corsen, his attention focused on the Arcanine who looked ready to tear him apart.

"Pathetic. You can't even finish such a weak Pokémon."

"Hey! Who the hell are you calling weak?" Corsen yelled feeling a rush of anger. She would personally get physical at anyone who had the audacity to insult her Pokémon, didn't matter who it was. She had even gotten physical with Candela's right-hand trainer, then again that mouth of his never shut.

The man glanced at the brunette, disgust in his eyes.

Despite the anger slowly clouding her mind, Corsen couldn't help but tilt her head a bit. She had seen similar eyes before, but where?

"Tch...how dare rifraff such as yourself speak to me?"

"What?" Corsen blinked. The anger taking over once again. "Oh so you think you're above me? Do something about it!"

Corsen lifted her hand and Titan flared his fangs.

"Only a fool would challenge me." The man gave a simple nod and the Salamence launched forward.

"Titan, bite!"

Titan jumped up in the air, the Salamence barely missed him by inches. Landing on the dragon's back the Arcanine dug his claws into the hard flesh before biting the back of Salamence's neck.

The dragon-type roared out in pain. It tried shaking off the Arcanine to no avail. Spreading its giant wings the Salamence flew up in the air like a missile.

Corsen rubbed some dust out of her eyes from the sudden wind. Looking up she spotted the Salamence flying in circles at high speed.

Soon Titan lost his grip and slid off the dragon's back. At this the Salamence turned and landed a massive hit with its tail on Titan causing him to come crashing down on the ground.

"Titan!"

Heart pounded fast. Corsen almost became deaf to her own beating heart. Her rival seemed unfazed by the battle, he stood starring off into the distance as if this was just child's play.

"Think, think!" Corsen grit her teeth together in thought.

Titan soon stood back up, a bit shaky. He growled towards the Salamence who landed heavily. Both Pokémon flared their teeth at each other.

"Titan!" Corsen called towards her Arcanine. He glanced at her for a brief second. The brunette gave a simple nod and he understood immediately.

Standing up straight the Arcanine's eyes began to glow a bright orange, light emitted from the dog's paws as flames began escaping through his teeth.

With a massive howl a ring of fire appeared around the Salamence who didn't move by the sudden display of flames.

3 pillars of fire erupted from the ground and began to circle the dragon. With a giant flash the pillars crashed onto each other and enveloped the dragon within them.

The fire was soon out and now smoke stood in its place.

This had to be it. There was no one before who managed to stay standing after a direct hit from Titan's Blast Burn.

The smoke slowly dispersed and there stood the Salamence, unperturbed.

It shook its body getting rid of the ashes before spreading its wings with a growl.

"There's no way..." Corsen's eyes widened, Titan mimicked his trainer's expression.

Without warning the Salamence flew forward and swiped at Titan who went flying across the street. Hitting a parked car the Arcanine fell unconscious to the ground.

At that moment Corsen felt frozen, unable to move. How the hell did the Salamence survive such a direct hit from Titan?

Quickly focusing back to the battle at hand, Corsen called out Sleepy the Snorlax.

If Salamence had such a high defense then Sleepy was sure to lower it quickly. After all tank vs tank always did the trick.

To her dismay the battle ended the same way.

In the eyes of the experts, Sleepy was a perfect specimen. Perfect attack power, perfect defense, and perfect stamina. But all of that didn't matter when he too landed on the ground unconscious after a couple of direct hits.

Corsen grit her teeth together, gut churned causing her nausea. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, thoughts racing a mile a minute.

"Alright then. Let's see how you go up against this!" Corsen took out her last Pokéball looking at the Salamence. She knew Shiho stood no chance against such an evolved and trained Pokémon as the Salamence, but she still had an ace up her sleeve.

Through a beam of red light appeared a Glaceon. At the sight Salamence looked to have smiled at the small ice-type.

"You're super weak towards ice attacks aren't you?" Corsen smirked, assured about her victory.

Salamence flew towards the Glaceon who evaded the first attack with ease.

"Mint! Icy Wind!" Corsen called towards the Glaceon. Landing gracefully the ice-type called a chant, the icy diamond on its head glowed in the dark and out of nowhere came a rush of cold wind.

Salamence growled at the feeling of the freezing wind. Flapping its wings it flew up high trying to dust the diamond flakes from its body. Opening its jaw it directed a powerful Hyper Beam down at Mint who barely missed it by jumping to the side. A crater now stood where Mint had once been standing.

Corsen's stomach gave another sickening churn. She had to end this quickly before Mint got seriously hurt. Looking at her opponent she wondered if he had any more Pokémon on his person, and if Mint would be able to uphold himself against them all.

The Salamence still flew up high in the air. Biting her lip in thought the trainer looked down at her Glaceon. He had to get close for this finishing move, and one that would be most effective to the dragon.

She knew she had a couple more minutes before the Salamence was able to use Hyper Beam again. Would she wait for it to come down, or would be bring Glaceon up?

"Mint." Corsen looked up at the Salamence in the air. Glaceon followed suit. "I need you to get close to the Salamence, if possible jump on its back."

Glaceon nodded in reply and began running towards a nearby tree. Jumping onto its branches the Glaceon launched up close to the Salamence. Corsen had always been impressed with Mint's agility. It was something he had always displayed, even as an Eevee back in the day.

"Icy wind!" Corsen called before Mint brought forth another gust of cold wind. This one was far nearer than the last, it even cause the Salamence to lose altitude in the process. At this, the Glaceon managed to land on the dragon's back successfully.

"Perfect," Corsen smirked clenching her fist.

"Mint! Finish it with Avalanche!" Glaceon began yet another chant as a cloud began forming above the two in the air. It didn't take long before snow started falling from the cloud followed by chunks of ice.

Jumping back down to the ground Mint managed to miss the avalanche; just in time as it enveloped the dragon causing it to fall back down to the ground with a roar.

Silence befell the street afterwards.

Corsen couldn't help but smile at her victory. Salamence was immensely weak to ice-type moves and Avalanche had been a direct hit to it, now there was no possible way of it to get back up.

Shifting her attention from the pile of ice, Corsen looked towards the Salamence's trainer. He was looking at where his Salamence lay buried. The brunette saw his chest heave in a slow sigh before turning his attention to her. In the dim light she saw the corner of his mouth lift up in a smirk.

Without warning a flash of red passed the trainer, followed by a cry of pain from her Glaceon. Corsen turned in time to see Mint land heavily on the other side of the street. Trying to stand back up from the hit, Mint couldn't lift his body and fell limp on the ground.

The Salamence roared in victory as it spread its massive wings in a big display.

Corsen's breath hitched in her throat. Her legs shook until they finally gave out under her.

"This is impossible..." she stared wide-eyed at the ground clenching her hands to fists. Her entire body shook, primarily in disbelief, but there was also a sense of fear deep inside.

"Don't be too disappointed. It was always going to end like this." The man finally spoke walking closer to Corsen.

The brunette looked up at him through the bangs that covered her eyes. Rage filled the endless pits of her black eyes.

She didn't know from where, but Corsen soon found the strength to stand back up. Standing in front of the fossil rock she blocked the entrance.

The man stopped, glaring at the brunette.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want with the fossil rock?" Corsen asked glaring at the man. He didn't get a chance to answer before the Salamence landed in front of the brunette.

It towered over the trainer casting an immense shadow over her. A breath caught in Corsen's chest as the Salamence inched closer, it growled showing its teeth at her. Being so close to the Pokémon she saw its glowing red eyes. She always knew dragon-types were prideful and dangerous Pokémon, but this Slamance was on another level.

Corsen didn't remember how she ended up on the ground seconds after. Perhaps it was the immense fear she had felt from starring at the dragon inches from her face, or perhaps it was the lack of air from the too-heavy of an atmosphere around them. She tried moving but her body felt too heavy; only managing to look up at the Salamence's trainer she saw his red eyes glare down at her. In that second it hit her.

The man from the museum. The one she had accidentally hit.

Corsen grunted trying to fight her own body to stand, but it was no use. Her world slowly faded until it was all black.

#Pokemon #Pokemon GO #Pokemon GO oc #Leader Arlo #fanfic #fanfiction #Trainer Corsen #wow I havent written in like 3 years LOL #I think little miss Corsen passed out from fear #cause breh I would too no cap #Katchihe Writes

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jackdawyt · 3 years

Video

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With no time to waste, we have a tremendous news update on Dragon Age 4’s current iteration known as “Morrison”, as many development secrets were revealed in BioWare’s brand-new hardcover book of “Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development.”

A lot of the questions that we’ve all been asking over the past few years, finally have an answer, all thanks to this book. I will be delving into all of the Dragon Age 4-related content in this book; however, I wholeheartedly advise you pick up the book for yourself because it is filled to the brim with insights, information and behind-the-scenes reveals on every BioWare game to this date.

It’s full of so many captivating, inspiring and amazing stories that showcase BioWare’s incredible journey over the past 25 years.

In any regard, we’ve got a lot to get into, so leaving no stone unturned, we’ve got some updates regarding Dragon Age: Morrison, the current-rebooted project code name of the next Dragon Age game.

Morrison:

Along with this amazing retro-styled font of Morrison’s code name - that I’m totally going to use in future videos and thumbnails - we actually have a small plot synopsis on this working title.

It reads as followed: “Tevinter Bound – a sneak peek at the follow-up to Inquisition.”

“As BioWare entered its twenty-fifth year, the Dragon Age team was hard at work on Morrison, the code name of the long-awaited follow-up to Dragon Age: Inquisition. The game, helmed by executive producer Mark Darrah, will take players to Tevinter as events of Inquisition and Trespasser threaten to forever change Thedas.”

We’re going to Tevinter! Of course, we already knew that based on Trespasser’s ending, Tevinter Nights, and the developers already hinting that, but it is still very nice to see hear that in a plot outline.

In addition, the most interesting factor about this synopsis, is that for the first time BioWare have confirmed that “Morrison” is indeed the code name for the current Dragon Age project, which outrightly confirms that Jason Scheirer’s Kotaku article on “The Past & Present of Dragon Age 4” carries merit and truth to it, meaning that we can indeed trust the entire contents of Jason’s article.

Regardless, sticking with the 80’s retro theme, BioWare staff have themed shirts for the project, and they look absolutely amazing. Please, BioWare Gear Store release these one day, if at all possible, these designs are so good!

The book then goes on to show very familiar concept art that was showcased within the Gamescom behind-the-scenes trailer, however, this time, we have actual descriptions on each of the art pieces, and what they’re portraying. So, we don’t need to spend another 40 minutes speculating about what the pieces could show.

The underwater shot which we assumed to be Isabela accompanied by what looks like Dorian with a sword, an undead and a female dwarf, appears to showcase the Lords of Fortune, a newly-introduced faction within Tevinter Nights.

The synopsis says:

“Where there’s treasure, there’s adventurers braving death to get it. The Lords of Fortune are always on the hunt for treasure-wherever it may be.”

The next shot, which I speculated it as Tevinter’s capital city Minrathous, has a synopsis that says:

“The glittering hubs of Thedas are beacons of civilization and bulwarks against the night.”

Following that, we have the mysterious Antivan Crow lady concept art with the synopsis:

“The Antivan Crows have perfected theatrical assassinations. The Antivan Crows are celebrated for their mastery of stylish slaying.”

And then we have a most recognisable mural, one that many of us have spent way too long staring at, tinfoiling over its endless possibilities. The synopsis of The Dread Wolf Rises concept piece says:

“One of Nick Thornborrow’s beautiful paintings showing an old friend with a shadowy threat!”

Following that, we have Nevarra’s undead operating on a dragon, with the synopsis saying:

“From their Necropolis, the Mourn Watch guard Thedas from occult threats”

And then we have – hold on, what’s this, a new piece of concept art? Roll on the tinfoil, I’ll read the synopsis first and then we can go from there, as it states:

“The Deep Roads teem with evils both new and old, known and unknowable.”

I won’t spend ages delving into a single piece of concept art, but we can see the Deep Roads with plenty of light coming from the surface. It’s a beautiful shot, that I’m sure is building a mood for potential locations in the next game.

The final concept art piece shown is one from the trailer, however, it’s not cut-off anymore. When it once looked like an evil Cetus, it now reveals something even more wicked than a sea dragon... A figure with multiple arms, red eyes, a curved headpiece, holding a spear. Is this an ancient God? Could it be Ghilan’nain? A Lovecraftian sea-hybrid-monster? Or is it just a crazy idea thrown together by a concept artist, because why not?

The synopsis is the most intriguing and provides a further context for the next Dragon Age game:

“The Evil Gods have Thedas in their sights and only heroes can stop them. The shadows of the past stir, and new heroes must rise to fight them.”

There are many “gods” in Dragon Age, the Old Gods, the Elven Gods, the Maker, the Titans, etc. You could certainly consider each of them to be evil too, but on a whim, with the whole “shadows of the past stir.” I’m sure this synopsis is referring to the Elven Gods, given Solas’s scheme that will return the Evanuris to Thedas once more.

Taking my tinfoil hat off for a moment, this book expertly describes concept art stages relating to BioWare, and I need to touch on what exactly these pieces could mean going forward, because they most certainly could just be conceptual drawings without much context for the next game.

The book quotes Dragon Age 2’s development regarding concept art, saying:

“In the early stages of any project, before the concept artists are aware of any writing, they like to just draw what they think cool story moments could be. It’s not unusual for the team to then be inspired by those drawings and fold them into the game as the project progresses.”

And, even further than that, Matt Rhodes, who is the Art Director of the next Dragon Age spoke a few words regarding Dragon Age: Inquisition’s conceptual art stages:

“As multiple teams worked on their corners of Inquisition, lead concept artist Matt Rhodes spent weeks creating images to help solidify and drive a vision of what the game could be.”

“It was partly to encourage and remind myself of what the potential of this project could be,” Matt says. “We all imagine the finished game. I wanted to get that on paper, to remind everyone we are making something that could be pretty cool.”

So, while we’re all so excited to see these amazing concept designs and imagery, and we love to correlate it all to the next game, remember that these designs are very early work building a vision for the next game, they’re just being used to represent what idealistically the developers would like the game to end up like, or what insane ideas the concept artists have for the game.

Many of these ideas won’t turn out in the final product, but it’s still so nice to see this work already.

Wolf Rook Book:

Moving on, we can put an end to a five-year mystery, we finally have answers on that enigmatic red “Wolf-Rook" book that Mark Darrah has teased for half a decade.

One of my first ever videos on this channel was delving into the early pages of this book, back then I had a hunch that this book was the next Dragon Age game’s early concepts and designs, like a shiny development doc for the team.

And I was on the right tracks, as followed:

“The book was an internal guide for developer and publisher eyes only that summarized the vision for Dragon Age: Inquisition’s follow-up, a project code-named Joplin. The Joplin project has since been revised to such an extent that its code name changed to Morrison, but the red book still contains plenty of ideas likely to appear in the next Dragon Age. While most pages remain highly classified, here are a few Mark said we can publish.”

There’s a small description of The Qunari with some other concept shots, the paragraph reads as followed:

“The Qunari are followers of a religious text of principles known as the Qun. Though Qunari may be of any race, most are part of a race of large humanoids with horns.”

“For ages the Qunari have proven a formidable opponent to the rest of Thedas, almost conquering the continent until a united force of every Chantry nation pushed them back into a tense stalemate. Recent events have reignited the Qunari offensive, however, and their forces are in open conflict with the Tevinter Imperium, while their spies and agents are active in every nation.”

And at the bottom we have a Creatures double-spread page with different concepts very similar to those seen in Inquisition, the paragraph reads as followed:

“Animals, monsters and misplaced magical experiments: creatures stir apart from the conflicts and machinations flowing across the continent. Creatures range from the lowly nug up to the ultimate apex predator, the dragon. The next Dragon Age will feature our widest and most varied set of creatures to date. While often quite simple in implementation, creatures provide variety through differentiated animation and appearance.”

So, “Wolf-Rook” is still relevant, somewhat confirming that the work that went into Joplin, may cross over into Morrison, which is very exciting because Joplin’s vision for a Dragon Age title sounded amazing, so to hear aspects of that work pouring into this new project is absolutely fabulous. I had a hunch that the red book was still valuable to the current project, because we’ve seen a lot of “Wolf-Rook” teased this year, Mark Darrah has not stopped showing off his stash of red books. So, I’m very glad it’s here to stay for the current iteration.

Dragon Age Week:

Next up, we have an update to a story I talked about in March of this year, Mark Darrah teased a picture of his laptop with the BioWare Slack server shown at the bottom of his screen.

One of the channel-titles within the server was one by the name of “DA Week”, and thanks to this book, we know what “Dragon Age Week” actually is:

“Dragon Age Week is a five-day period during which members of the Dragon Age team can pursue creative projects that in some way benefit Dragon Age. The work done during DA Week, and its erstwhile cousin DA Fridays, sometimes found its way into releases.”

“The giants in Inquisition came out of a Dragon Age Week,” executive producer Mark Darrah says. “We also had a board game made that we were going to put into Inquisition, but we just didn’t have time to. It’s referenced. It’s a dwarven chess.”

So, I do wonder what kind of ideas have come out of Dragon Age Week recently that has then ended up in the next Dragon Age. Hopefully, one day we’ll have a new book that tells us Dragon Age 4’s secrets and we can visit this topic.

New BioWare Vision:

Moving on to the final major update, thanks to this book, we have a greater understanding about the vision BioWare have going forward. According to General Manager, Casey Hudson and Dragon Age, Narrative Director, John Epler.

Casey Hudson spoke on the “old” BioWare and how their changing paths to a “newer” BioWare:

“We can’t go back to where we’ve been,” Casey Hudson says, now the studio’s general manager. “The way that we worked, all of those stories and the crunch and eating pizza for six weeks straight and all that kind of stuff, as fun and memorable as it was at the time, those things won’t work for where we’re going.”

As BioWare grows, Casey says it must learn better ways to work while still embodying the values laid out by Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk.

“It starts with the ones that were there at the very beginning with Greg and Ray of humility and integrity,” he says, “Those are super important.”

Other pillars include a passion for excellence and courageous creativity.

“We used to exemplify this not because we were courageous, but because we didn’t know better. We would try things and fail and try something else until we got it right, and it was very experimental. But what can happen is, once you do know the consequences of failure, you can very easily start retreating. And at that point, it actually does take courage to put yourself out there and try something new.”

Casey says. “We’re not super young and inexperienced anymore. We do know better, but we still have to try and do some crazy stuff anyway.”

John Epler shared on the change going on within BioWare:

“I am excited for what the future holds. I think BioWare is changing. I think we’re at a crossroads where we can either accept that and move into the new BioWare, or we can try to cling to the past. We have to be respectful of our origins without being constrained by them. It’s an exciting time and I’m really looking forward to what the next five years brings.”

“’I’m one of those people who is probably going to be here until they have to literally wheel my desiccated corpse out of the building, because I love working here and I love the people I work with and I love getting to come into work every day to have long, detailed conversations about how eluvians work.”

All in all, I’m incredibly excited and optimistic for BioWare’s future, they’re aware of their flaws, while knowing what makes them great. They seek to humble themselves, while changing direction, they want to avoid crunch while being experimental. I think we’re going to see the company bloom when they inevitably release the next Dragon Age, and I am totally here for that.

Dragon Age Day

Before I leave you, Dragon Age Day is quickly approaching, and it seems BioWare have plans this year. EA Community Manager, Jay Ingram tweeted about fans asking questions for the Dragon Age team, in prep for plans on Dragon Age Day. I’ll link the tweet down below, so you can ask as many questions as you’d like! It seems that BioWare may stream on Dragon Age Day, so do watch out for that, and give them a follow on their Twitch, also linked down below:

https://twitter.com/JayKingIngram/status/1325197450907275264

https://www.twitch.tv/bioware

Regardless, this is where we part ways. There was so much that this book uncovered, I highly recommended picking It up for yourself, it’s truly worth it to any BioWare fan. There was also some future Mass Effect stuff, but I’m saving that for a future video that I’ll do at the start of the new year. And I most likely will do future videos on other topics revealed in this book.

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dazais-guardian-angel · 4 years

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☕️+ what things do you wish they did with descole (because I am weak and he’s my fave)

Apologies for the late reply to this; tbh I almost didn’t want to answer it, cause I feel like nothing I’ll say will be something others haven’t already discussed (especially since I just saw you asked someone else this same question), and also I’ve only ever played the prequels once back when they first came out and I haven’t reached them again in my replay yet, so I’m not fresh on everything done with his character and all the Azran/Targent stuff. But nonetheless:

In general, obviously, I wish Desmole’s character “arc” if you can even call it that as it is now + plot twists/identity had been much more fleshed out from the get-go and consistent with who they ultimately made him be, that is, Hershel’s brother and someone who never should have legitimately wanted to hurt him or people close to him. While I think the worst of this really only comes out in Eternal Diva, where he literally tries to swordfight Hershel to death and kill Luke on one occasion cause he goes insane once Hershel out-puzzles him, there really just should have been more nuance to him in the first two entries especially (and in Miracle Mask too of course, but he’s barely in that game so) where he shows some level of frustration and hesitance to go up against Hershel and his crew, even if he still does so because he absolutely has to carry out his revenge plan. Just SIGNS that there’s more to this guy than just a walking one-dimensional mysterious deadly flamboyant badass, beyond just Hershel going “hm he feels familiar”, like no of course that’s not near enough. Even if Desmole’s true identity still wasn’t going to be revealed until Azran Legacy, there still needed to be hints, breaks in his facade/character, hesitation, signs of remorse, even if some of these hints are not outright foreshadowing to a familial relationship/desire for revenge. He could still lose it in Eternal Diva, but just make it seem more desperate and broken, and less kill-crazy. Give him moments of humanization, show that Descole can be kind, such as around Melina or Nina; what I honestly wanted to see was him having interactions around girls other than Aurora where his fatherly nature might show (not that him and Aurora aren’t great, I just wanted more); he had to have spent a lot of time around Melina while making the Detragan, and the potential for their relationship while she was dying is so much. Hershel should have had more moments of familiarity, and thinking about him when he’s not around, trying to figure him out, demanding to know who he is because he feels like he needs to know for some reason he can’t describe, and Descole’s answers/non-answers are extremely telling/bitter/curious/thought-provoking. And Descole should imo have had a scene to himself at the end of every entry pre-Azran Legacy where it’s increasingly obvious this guy has Angst(tm) and some beef with Hershel that seems personal and not just to do with getting in the way of his plots, along with all the earlier hints obviously (iirc he had a final scene at the end of Last Spector but it was nothing more than showing “hey we’re not done with this guy!!”, so that definitely should have had more to it; at the end of Eternal Diva I REALLY wanted to see how he survived his fall, probably with Raymond saving him, cue more ~mysterious reactions to Hershel~ as he thinks on how Hershel cried out his name as he was falling despite the fact that they were enemies, etc; and then the one at the end of Miracle Mask is okay I guess, but I still wanted more to it, more, idk signs of regret or remorse or sadness from him before he goes after Bronev, and not just “grrrrrr finally my revenge is close I’mma take you down all I have is angerrRRRRR” also for him to not look so damn stupid when all Bronev has to do is knee him to take him down, like this is DESCOLE, THE KING OF BADASS, THAT ENDING IS SO PITIFUL; WE DIDN’T NEED THAT FOR A FAKEOUT UNMASKING SCENE THAT LEADS NOWHERE).

tl;dr, Desmole’s story being planned from the very beginning would have made it possible for the writers to foreshadow and develop him properly before you finally see him as Desmond, and make you attached to and interested in him much more than just as a cool badass you kinda wonder the identity of but mostly just enjoy watching be badass and evil. The PL series had never had an overarching villain in the main trilogy aside from Don Paolo, who was more of a comic relief villain who they could afford to not make up his beef with/connection to Hershel until the final game because it was a very insignificant reason in the grand scheme of things, and Don Paolo just..... wasn’t that integral to the plots of that trilogy, he was more of a bonus background villain not meant to be taken seriously or have any true emotional impact. But then you have Descole introduced as the key threat over the majority of the prequel series (you think it’s the Masked Gentleman this time, but no lol, it’s still Descole!!), and needless to say, “actually the protagonist’s long-lost brother trying to get revenge on their corrupt father, both of which are involved in an ancient civilization that ruined all their lives in multiple ways” is a biiiiiiit more important than... “jealous dead girlfriend rival” lol. And so there’s a jarring disconnect between pre-Miracle Mask Descole and post-Miracle Mask Descole, because the Azran aren’t even a thing until Miracle Mask at ALL, and so in Last Spector and Eternal Diva Descole just seems like this mad scientist with a dramatic flair and nothing more, who mayyyyyyyy be searching for eternal life? Since that seems to be the running theme with the golden garden and ambrosia? But even then literally nothing is revealed about him in that game and movie so who knows (and unrelated but it seems like those two places have literally no connection to the Azran aside from an offhanded mention of them in Miracle Mask? idk man); the point I’m taking way too long to make here is that it’s very clear the writers had no endgame plan for him until Miracle Mask at the earliest, and even then I wonder how much of it was completely hashed out (considering the... sort of mess that Azran Legacy is, I almost wonder if most of it was literally not decided on until then). My guess is that Descole was super popular after Last Spector so they decided to bring him back (his final scene in that game could have just been to show that he survived and was still “out there somewhere”, whether or not he came back next entry), but then realized they didn’t have a backstory or identity for him so they had to think up something way too late; I can’t confirm this though of course.

Then you get to Azran Legacy, and honestly, despite how bizarre and weirdly unimportant and filler-ish 90% of this game’s plot feels, I love the inherent idea of Descole finally coming to Hershel as himself. Hershel always shows up and gets in his way? Fine, he’ll come to him. He always sees through his disguises? Fine, he’ll come to him in the best disguise he has: himself. Ask him for his help in a mission his curiosity won’t let him refuse. Because then, of course, even though Desmond is doing this to further and finish his plot, and use them as tools, essentially, there’s the wonderfully painful obvious second reason for why he chooses to do things this way, and that is he wants to spend time with his brother, whether or not he consciously realizes this. This way, Desmond can be himself, he doesn’t have to hide his appearance or (most) intentions and can freely express a lot of his regular personality while still working towards his ultimate goal, but at the exact same time there’s so much he can’t show, that he can’t reveal or let himself do, and this has to be a hundred times harder than when he’s posing as Descole because now he’s friends with Hershel and the others, and a part of him must want so desperately to just stay with them forever as he spends more and more time with them and grows more attached to them, (again, no matter how much he may realize this). But this is where his “arc” continues to fall flat in that aside from one or two hints towards his daughter and having a brother, there is literally no depth in Desmond’s behavior in Azran Legacy pre-Descole/brother reveal, just like in all the entries before it. He should have shown small signs here and there of something being “off” with him, of sadness, of hesitation, of trauma and mental instability; strange things said to Hershel alone that makes him and the player start wondering things, just like with Descole. Everyone immediately goes, upon seeing Desmond for more than five minutes, “oh that’s Descole obviously” (plus Raymond is just... there lol), but it’s not for the right reasons; there’s nothing wrong with a predictable plot twist, but there needs to be some kind of hints towards it to make you emotionally invested in what you realize is coming, because you’re waiting for it and you know it will hurt but you just don’t know when and how it will happen; not that you guess it for no other reason than “well there’s this new character who isn’t an existing friend of Layton’s and everything is suspiciously calm and we’re 90% of the way through this and Descole has yet to show himself; it’s probably him”. For the record, I actually think Miracle Mask does its predictable plot twist a lot better, even if that game still has issues; I see a lot of people complain about how predictable Randall being the masked gentleman is, and it is, but honestly? The flashback plot mechanic in that game is EXTREMELY effective in 1) making it VERY clear who the masked gentleman is very early on, like they’re not trying to hide it in any way, but also 2) punching you in the gut to maximum effect when you get to the end of the flashbacks and pair it with the present-day plot. Like, they could have just told the player in dialogue/infodumps throughout the game who Randall was and what his connection to Hershel, Angela and Henry was, like Desmond does to Hershel near the end of Azran Legacy, but that would have been tedious and boring and the player wouldn’t care near as much, and the game wouldn’t have been long enough. Instead, you see it firsthand, you experience it with Hershel, and although I’m frustrated at how little is done with masked gentleman!Randall and showing connections/hints to who he used to be (look, my exact problems with Descole) and making Hershel more involved with him at the end, which would have been the icing on the angst cake, the entire flashback half of that game honestly left a huge impact on me and I think that’s why I spend so much time talking about/getting emotional about Miracle Mask despite always saying that Diabolical Box is my favorite, because getting to know Randall and see that friendship and see how it ended just makes it all hit so much harder, as flashbacks should do. The writers knew it would be obvious who the masked gentleman is and they leaned into that, it was a very deliberate choice, what the entire game revolved around, because the point wasn’t that it was unpredictable, but that you would feel for that character and it would hurt so much more. And while I don’t necessarily think Azran Legacy needed full-on flashback gameplay segments for Desmond like Miracle Mask had, I think having vague flashbacks every once in a while throughout that game, vague enough to not directly tell you it’s him or naming/showing Hershel/Theodore much but clear enough that you can reasonably guess it is Desmond, would have done a world of difference, along with all the little behavioral/dialogue hints I mentioned. Similar to the diary entries in Diabolical Box, or if anyone’s ever played Super Paper Mario, the flashbacks in that game after every chapter about an unknown person that it becomes increasingly obvious as you play through the game is the main villain. I just.... really, really wish, out of all the prequel entries, Azran Legacy gave Desmond so much more emotional depth and resonance once we finally see him as Desmond instead of Descole, so many more scenes with Hershel, and to a lesser extent the others, so much more development of his character, so much more of an emphasis put on his prior family and how much he’s hurting and caring and yet at the same time refuses to give up his revenge; all of this, no matter how obvious it made his identity as both Descole and as Hershel’s brother. The brother plot twist, too, feels slightly lame and overdone and out of nowhere, but honest to god I wouldn’t fucking care at all if they just foreshadowed it properly and made it so painfully obvious how much Descole/Desmond wants to be with Hershel and this family and how much it kills him to turn on them all again at the end of Azran Legacy even if he still goes through with it, and how much he regrets everything as he lays dying in Hershel’s arms, but we get none of that goddammitLevel5whydoyoudeprivemeofsomuch-

*ahem* apparently I still had a lot to say. i just wanted so much more for him; he’s SUCH a tragic character... the stupid wannabe phantom of the opera bread man still makes me cry, despite everything, because i am trash. Oh yeah and he should have held Aurora in his arms as she died. And Azran Legacy should have ended post-credits with Hershel opening his door with his hat off (to show that this is after Unwound Future), his eyes widening, then it shows the bottom half of the person’s face, just enough to see the bread hair tips, and the slight sad smile, and then cut to black. level-5 just hire the PL fandom to make the Desmond spinoff game pls

#replies #professor layton #professor layton spoilers #jean descole #desmond sycamore #meta #'i dont have much to say' *writes a fucking novel*#EVERY FUCKING TIME #NOTHING IS EVER SHORT WITH ME #why did this partly turn into a miracle mask defense/gush fest i am so sorry #but seriously i thought of that point only as i was typing this... that mm's flashback gameplay is why it works so well #and that something much smaller scale would have been PERFECT for Desmond in AL #not before that #but definitely in AL #....but since we can't have that just give me the Descole spinoff entirely please :''')#themadgirlinthefandombox

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redcameleon · 4 years

Text

SSM 2020 Day 3

Prompt: Sleeping Soundly

Summary: Sakura has the ability to travel to people’s dreams and alter them. So she helps resolve Sasuke’s nightmares.

Rating: K+.

A/N: The story is set during ancient times when kingdoms still existed. This was inspired by the drama Mystic Pop Up Bar. Go check out the show!

Life is surely filled with mysteries. Mysteries of the mind and the body. One can argue that they both are just equally as important, equally dependent on each other, and equally strong. But Sakura would argue otherwise. The mind is the key to everything. A strong-willed mind can withstand anything. It can even push one’s limit beyond anything they imagine. Unbeknownst to some, it even has the ability to affect one’s body. When the mind is strong, the body is as well. And when the mind is weak, so too is the body. Thus, becoming the key to unlock one’s potential.

This is what Sakura has control over. Not necessarily the mind itself, but the thoughts underlying it. One might ask, how is this possible? Through dreams.

A scholar once believed that the mind is the door that to peak into person’s subconsciousness. A dream is like a projection of one’s beliefs, thoughts, and hopes. Many things are uncertain, but one thing Sakura’s certain, is that she is not like other people. Ever since she was little, her dreams have never stopped being so vivid, so clear. Her mind has always been so alert and conscious, even during sleep, movements so clear and swift, she can practically do whatever she wants in the dream plane.

That’s when she realizes she’s special. She was ten when she found out her abilities can be stretched out to enter other people’s dreams. Seeing what they see, standing in the sidelines, watching the events unfold and change from one thing to the other.

She was thirteen when she found out she was able to alter those events. Creating her own playground in other people’s dreams, architecting rooms and houses, making things disappear or appear.

Back then she had to learn to manipulate her powers and hone them by using it on her friends. But soon, she realizes, it’s both a blessing and a curse. She was then feared by many. Feared that she is a puppet master who can control people’s minds to do whatever she wants. Feared that she will someday bring doom to their village.

The thing is, she did believe them. By the time she was sixteen, she decided to run away and leave her village behind.

Sasuke’s day has finally come to an end. With a war coming, the palace is becoming more eager to manufacture weapons and armors. Bows, arrows, swords, and spears are constantly in the make each day. Constantly being surrounded by the hot furnaces, handling scolding metal and heavy hammers, Sasuke’s body aches all over.

The walk back to his house feels the most rewarding. A day at the forge earned him three days’ worth of meals. He can barely remember when he started working there. The only thing he remembers is the face of his brother going into war. It’s been two years since he last saw him. He wonders if he’ll ever see him again.

Boiling some water in a pot and cutting up vegetables, he settles for a simple meal for his dinner before deciding to sleep right away. All cleaned up from the coal and dirt on his body, he lays himself on the futon, closing his eyes.

Just as his mind is starting to drift, flashes of blood fill his mind. He can hear the screams of women, of children. He sees arrows lodged into trees and ground. He keeps running and running deeper into the forest, running as fast as his legs could carry him. His body feels sluggish, as if putting one leg over the other is the hardest thing to do. His whole body feels heavy. He looks back to see if anyone’s following him when he accidentally trips on a branch, rolling down a hill and falling into a dark endless pit.

His body jolts as he sits up, covered in sweat. This has been the nth time he’s had the same dream. They never fall far from similar themes of blood, war, and fear. It’s like he’s watching his memories on tape being rewinded over and over again. Memories of the civil war that happened in his village years ago. Sometimes he gets to see his brother in them and they’re not as bad as he thinks. But some days they’re worse because he sees his brother in them, dead.

He runs a hand over his tired face and ruffles his hair in frustration. He lies back on the futon and stares at the ceiling.

Brother, where are you?

“Hey, Sasuke, Sasuke!” Someone finally snaps him out of his musings. He turns to the source of the voice.

“Careful with that.” The man points to the hot rod in his hand. Sasuke quickly sets it on the table before taking off his gloves.

“You okay? You look like you barely got any sleep last night.” It’s apparently too obvious that he didn’t get any sleep last night.

“I’m fine.” He goes to the back and splashes some water on his face. He lets it cool himself down as he stands there, staring at his reflection in the water. The man places a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Hey, you know what might help? I heard there’s a shaman in town that can give you good dreams!” Sasuke quirks an eyebrow at the suggestion. He surely is not one to believe in ghosts or spirits. He might believe in an afterlife, but hearing about someone who can supposedly give him good dreams is a bit too far-fetched.

“I’m telling you it really works! My brother went to see her the other day and he said she could really do it! Just try it once. You got nothing to lose, right?” He’s right. He doesn’t have anything to lose. His nightmares are already bad anyway, he can only hope that things get better from there, right?

He decides to give this shaman a try. At the end of the day, following the directions the man gave him, he comes across a small house at the edge of the village. The house looks small and humble. The yard seems barren except for the clay jars lined up along the sides. He notices the bell that hangs from the ceiling. He approaches the entrance and knocks a few times.

“Come in.” He hears a voice from inside. He slides the door and steps inside. He finds a woman sitting on the floor behind a table. He’s never been inside a shaman’s house before but he can say it’s not like anything he imagines. The room appears empty, except for a futon on the right side of the room, and an incense on the other side of the room.

She eyes him and chuckles.

“Wow you must really need my help.” Sasuke is beginning to re-evaluate his decision. But he might need her help after all. He steps closer and takes a seat in front of her.

“I’ve been having nightmares.”

“I see. And what kind of nightmares?” She’s probably heard this so many times, judging by the unchanging tone in her voice.

“People dying. War.” He can’t tell if it’s just his imagination but he can see her eyes widen a bit.

“That’s rare. You see most people say they want dreams of meeting their loved ones, flying, travelling.” She can tell that he only wants one thing. Peace. Peace of mind.

“Okay. I’ll help you.” She gets up and sits next to the futon. She gestures him to sit as well. He gives her a questioning look before he decides to follow her words. He sits there and Sakura hands him a cup of tea.

“This will help you relax. It’s chamomile tea.” He takes a sniff before sipping the beverage. He then lies down and tries to even his breathing. She’s lying of course. It’s not just any regular tea. It’s a special liquor of hers that can put a person into a deep slumber. Not long after that, Sasuke begins to drift into sleep. His eyes flutter closed.

Sakura grabs his hand in hers and touches his pulse. She closes her eyes and tries to match his breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. She focuses on Sasuke’s heartbeat in her fingertips. A few minutes pass and she begins to enter his dream.

Darkness. Everywhere around her. The moon is the only thing lighting up her path. She notices she’s in a forest. She walks a few steps before she sees an arrow lodged in the ground, followed by a trail of blood. She then begins to hear screams. She keeps walking and starts hearing fast footsteps. She quickly steps to the side, hiding behind a tree. She then sees Sasuke panting and running. She follows behind him to see where he’s heading. He keeps on turning back, as if someone is chasing him. She looks back to see no one.

She keeps following him. Deciding that she should end his misery, she grabs both his shoulders, startling him.

“Hey.” He turns around, fear evident in his eyes. His face is covered in dirt and sweat.

“Who are you? Let me go!” He tries to break free, but she holds him in place, remaining calm.

“There’s no one here. No one will hurt you.” Sasuke keeps his gaze on the ground, seeming afraid to look at his surroundings. Sakura decides to brighten the surroundings. Literally.

The sun slowly starts to rise, a colorful orange and yellow hue appearing from the horizon. Sasuke notices this and looks up to the sky. He can see the woods clearer now. The arrows stuck on the ground begin to crumble and sprout branches and leaves. The blood on the ground and barks slowly fades to nothing.

His eyes widen in surprise. Fear and terror seem to have dissipated from his eyes and Sakura can’t help but let out a relieved sigh.

“Look, there’s nothing here that will hurt you.” She points towards the path behind him. He turns around to see a clear road ahead of him. The trees surrounding him appear livelier. Birds are singing and the sun shines down on him, engulfing him with warmth that he hasn’t felt in a long time. He breathes in the clear air.

Sakura takes his hand and starts walking along the path. He lets her lead him to wherever they’re going. A village is starting to come into view and before he knows it, he’s arrived at the entrance of his village, of the village where he grew up in.

He takes in the surroundings. Children are running around laughing, women are carrying tubs of leaves, and the men are carrying a boar, laughing and patting each other on the back, celebrating their hunt.

He can’t remember the last time he’s seen his village this happy. He feels his mind is more at ease as he finally spends a well-rested night.

He opens his eyes, and finds sunlight peeking through the cracks and edges of the house. He rubs his eyes and looks around. He sits up and notices he’s still at the shaman’s house. However, the shaman is nowhere to be found.

He spends some time to recollect his thoughts and remember what had happened the night before. He remembers seeing sunlight and trees in his dream. He remembers hearing children laughing. He gets up to find the shaman to thank her before he hears a door being opened.

Unbeknownst to him, a door at the back of the house open and he sees her walk in with a bowl and a glass of water.

“Good morning. I see you must’ve slept well last night.” She sets the items on the table in front of him and kneels. He sits himself back down.

“Thank you.” It’s the best rest he’s had in years and he has her to thank for it. She shakes her head and smiles at him.

“I’m glad I can help. Here’s some breakfast for you.” He eyes the bowl of soup in front of him and thanks her for the meal before downing it all in one go.

He gets up to head out for the forge.

“My name is Sasuke.” Sakura looks at him for a moment before responding.

“Nice to meet you, Sasuke. I’m Sakura.”

Sakura.

He will surely remember that name from now on..

tbc?

A/N: I have a few more ideas on how to expand the story. So let me know if you guys are interested in reading more :)

#ssff #ssfanfiction #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku #sasuke #sakura #otp #redcameleon!writes #ssm20 #ssm20d3

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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April 25: 2x16 The Gamesters of Triskelion

Finally watched some more Star Trek. I feel like it’s been forever...

Today’s ep is The Gamesters of Triskelion, which is... okay. It’s not terrible but I think its best aspects are the most familiar: the type of alien, the moral values at play; and its weakest are its most unique.

I think Spock likes it when Kirk says “mind the store.” What a folksy human thing to say!

Plus now that he’s Captain he gets to sit in the chair.

This conversation between Spock and Scotty is hilarious. “I’m assuming you mean they disappeared in an unusual way??” “Uh, yeah?? Do you think I’m dumb?”

This alien looks like Lady Gaga c. 2010

Kirk is being very Dramatic today.

Come on, Spock, gotta get your man.

You know Spock is worried when he mentions hope. That is, as McCoy says, a human emotion.

“Collars of obedience.” Kinky.

Stylish pink jail.

I’m really feeling this Spock and Bones interaction today. That’s a great eyebrow lift.

If the random alien is leaving, Uhura must have been his ass down.

“Nourishment interval.” We need to bring this into our modern vocabulary.

Not one, but TWO ladies in command gold today (one at Communications, and one at Spock’s station).

Wild aquatic fowl.

I feel like this episode is another example of a writer putting her alien sex fantasy on television. Like, a hardcore alien sex fantasy. The obedience collars, the training harness, the whipping, the weird flirtation between Chekov and his “training thrall”--herself a very androgynous alien, just to throw some gender play in there.

Kirk turning up the charm again. I missed Charming!Kirk. I mean, picking up a silver platter to use as a mirror and saying “That’s beautiful”? This man has no shame.

I feel like this episode shows how Spock’s logic is actually a very effective life strategy. He’s facing a very mysterious situation with high stakes--literally his best friend/soulmate/captain lost, plus two more crewmen--but he isn’t defeatist like McCoy or defensive like Scotty. He just follows the evidence, even when the evidence seems wild. And he was right.

Detective Kirk time!

“Are they computers?” He’s hoping so, since he’s very good at defeating computerized enemies.

Could it be instead another example of aliens who have transcended their physical bodies?

He is really laying the charm offensive on thick here.

I get how people have vague memories of TOS and remember Kirk as slutty, because certainly there are lots of shots of him kissing ladies, but like... 90% of the time he's using charm as a weapon, like he doesn't like Lady Gaga, he just wants to get off this planet.

“Love, for one thing.” Time for Kirk to be a Romantic Nerd again. He sure does love love!!

See imo just as it’s ridiculous for him to limit love to being one of the most important things on Earth, since he barely even spends any time on Earth and his general thesis is about what all intelligent creatures can care about besides their basic needs being met by “Providers,” I think it’s silly to limit love to being between men and women. And just as he’s kinda lying about the Earth thing, I think he’s lying about the heterosexual thing.

People in love “live together, help each other, make each other happy.” I love his definitions of love!! Like with Edith, he center helping each other in the definition.

McCoy and Scotty think they can take on Spock lmao. The Captain’s life is at stake; he’s not fooling around. And he’s right too so y’all can shush!!

Honestly, that leaning down to talk quietly to them--I know it’s because he doesn’t want to say the word “mutiny” too loud where other people can hear him, but it really reads like he’s mocking them.

Shauhna is harassed at work.

Spock’s like ‘screw a landing party, I will retrieve my space husband by myself... and I guess McCoy can come too.’

McCoy’s voice was the one Kirk heard but he still calls out to Spock.

Mmm, yes, disembodied alien brains.

I like the painted background behind them, too. Which is apparently stolen from Devil in the Dark. S2 needs more painted backgrounds.

“You think YOU’RE competitive? A race that does nothing but gamble? Well you’ve never met humans lol.”

Since when has Kirk ever competed for a woman? Hardly a competition when he always wins.

“Fresh thrall” something so... ugh about that phrase.

Ah, yes, an Andorian.

I’m starting to feel like this is Spock’s Pre-Reform Vulcan Sex Fantasy.

I feel like Shauhna will eventually become the leader of the Triskellion people. My mom thinks it would be cool for Kirk to meet her again in the future. I feel like there’s a fanfic in there somewhere...

“I didn’t lie, I just...lied.”

Honestly, don’t bother leaving everything to these disembodied colorful brains, just take Shauhna with you and enlist her in Starfleet. Or at least, like, high school.

...And after all that she STILL has a crush on Kirk. The man is too powerful.

What, no return to the Enterprise? No Kirk appearing shirtless on the bridge? No everyone acknowledges that Spock was right the whole time? No awkward little joking time?

I guess perhaps Kirk is embarrassed.

So overall... again, B basically.

As far as commonly used tropes in Star Trek go, this one is actually one of my favorite ones. I like it more than “godlike man must be defeated” and probably even more than “computer runs society,” though not as much as “old Earth tech becomes sentient.” But generally speaking “aliens transcend corporeal bodies by becoming too smart” is a good trope and I like seeing the different spins on it: the Organians, who can choose corporeal bodies if they want and are incredibly peaceful; the aliens from Return to Tomorrow, who wish they still had bodies; the aliens from The Cage/The Menagerie, who do have bodies but can’t do much with them, who must rely on aliens they capture to do physical work on the planet’s surface for them; and these aliens, who are so bored they must rely on arbitrary wagers using enslaved aliens just to have something to do. There’s something sort of... sad but fitting about that fate. Understandable, awful, pathetic. Still, I wouldn’t call this my favorite take on the trope.

But the specifics of the story, outside the “brain-aliens trope,” I didn’t like so much. The BDSM kink stuff mixed in with like actual slavery made me super uncomfortable. I know it’s based on Ancient Rome but like... even though it was a clear bread and circuses situation, that was not what I was thinking of tbqh.

This is a good episode for showcasing Star Trek Values, which overall I would say are my values. I do see how some people today would criticize them for being a little... well. How to say it. Colonizer-savior. I completely disagree that this is the reading that should be given to them and in fact I think it’s a bad faith reading but people are the way they are and certain things are in vogue sometimes and not others, so. I just mean that when Kirk says that they (the Federation, one would assume) have helped other civilizations “progress” or whatever word he uses, it sounds a little like they came in and made alien societies better using their own values. But I would say that what we actually see, in specific examples throughout the series, is the Federation wanting the civilizations it interacts with to be free, in fact requiring members state to be free, and that is really the one value a free society can impose on others or require of others--choosing slavery or dominion is choosing to relinquish all future choices, and thus cannot be allowed by any society that values freedom. That catch-22 that we see so much now. So, my point is, I think the values Kirk epitomizes for the show are freedom, self-determination, and a certain conception of progress, too: the ability to grow and develop, the avoidance of stagnation. And certainly this episode shows a clear case: having everything provided for you in exchange for being the professional playthings of a bunch of disembodied brains is objectively bad! Surely we can all agree on that. But this obvious example is used as an excuse for Kirk to speechify on the topic of what a utopian future will look like, what the best of humans can be, and what the rest of the universe could be like if it learns from our best traits (and not our worst). Which is overall something I find very comforting.

I’d just been thinking, at the beginning of this episode, that I think S1 is a better Kirk season than S2. S2 has too many episodes that problematize his leadership or his heroism, or that barely even use him--even episodes like The Trouble With Tribbles that outright mischaracterize him imo. But this episode really was Classic Kirk and I appreciated that. We see him being charming, smart, selfless, strong, creative, romantic... coming in at the end to embody the utopian values of the series.

Spock was so well characterized and so smart and so heroic, too, that he kinda was the mvp for me, though... Don’t take away my Kirk stan card lol. Spock was just so In Command... You can see how he could become a captain later, even if being in command never really interested him much.

I don’t entirely get why Kirk bargained for the thralls to all stay and make their own government (or to be trained in self-governance by their enslavers... a whole different issue tbqh), given that it’s already been established that most/all of them have been kidnapped from other planets. Should they not be... returned?

And if most/all of them are 2nd or later generations, that’s a whole other complex issue that could perhaps use third party mediators or something...

I also wondered about Shahna's origins. Was she the descendant of another civilization that is native to the planet, or is it just that her people were kidnapped so much earlier that she herself, personally, has never lived anywhere else?

I think it both makes more sense and is a more fitting ending if it’s the first. It makes sense to me that the first peoples enslaved by the brains were natives of the planet: more convenient that way. Also, I think we need to see more alien planets with more than one humanoid or human-intelligence level species.

And, if her people are native to the planet, having them become leaders of their own right again and not just possessions of the glowing brains is more powerful. Otherwise it's kinda sad: yes, they can form their own government here, but they've still been robbed of their real history and their real homeland, which they don't even remember.

Also as my mom pointed out, it’s not clear the brains themselves are native to the planet. They could have been invaders--the last real thing they did before they started wagering fake money--and Shauhna’s people the natives.

I really did like Shahna a lot and I hope she becomes the leader of whatever government they set up and eventually does get to travel into space.

Imo this was one of those TOS eps where the potential back story and the hints of world building are more interesting than the actual story.

Also apparently the actor who played Galt was trying to walk in a gliding manner so it wouldn’t be clear what he was hiding under those robes and... I have to say, definitely wheels.

Next up is A Piece of the Action, one of my favorites. Great plot, great fun, great sci fi concept, great Kirk material!

#the year 2021 #2021: star trek #star trek tos #2021: fandom thoughts

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scarpool-gmk · 3 years

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Title: Godly Marine: Killed Author: Scarpool Fandom(s): NCIS, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Pairing(s): Gen Rating: PG/K+ Summary: Chapter 3 (4/13) — Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, Marine Corps Mechanic and Son of Athena, was murdered. Annabeth Chase is determined to find out who did it and why. She, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Clarisse La Rue, infiltrate NCIS where they team up with NCIS Agents Leroy Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, and Ziva David. Complete Genre: Fanfiction, Mystery, Drama, Humour, General, Action Warnings: N/A

Techno music blasted Annabeth's eardrums as she walked into the forensic lab.

'What do you got, Abbs?" Gibbs asked, his calm voice cutting through the music. He pressed a button on a remote a couple times, and Annabeth felt relief as the volume went down.

"Gibbs! You're finally here! So, I've heard, and you have to tell me all about the new-oh…" The bouncy forensic scientist suddenly became quiet when she saw Annabeth. "Hi," she said tersely.

Annabeth smiled, uncertain. What was up with this lady? "Hi," she responded a bit awkwardly. After a brief hesitation, she stuck her hand out and said, "I'm Anne." At the same time, the gothic scientist did the same with a simple, "Abby."

Annabeth forced a chuckle out and shook the woman's hand. "It's good to meet you, Abby."

"Yeah…hmmm…" Abby muttered, narrowing her eyes and exaggeratedly scrutinizing Annabeth's face.

"So," Annabeth said, eager to move on. "What do you have for us, Abby?"

That seemed to snap the lab rat out of it, but now she looked offended and turned her stare to Gibbs.

Gibbs, for his part, looked unconcerned and unbothered, if anything, just a bit amused. "Whatcha' got Abbs?"

Abby immediately sprang into action. "Okay. First, let me show you the slug that Ducky got me."

Annabeth did not miss the smug look on Gibbs' face.

Abby held up a case with a used bullet in it. "The bullet used was nothing special. I haven't found a match for the striations on our database, but I'm not done going through it, yet."

An enlarged and detailed picture of the slug popped up on the big screen along with some other specs. Annabeth focused in on the slug. That was the thing that killed her brother.

"So, we're looking for someone that owns a gun capable of firing a nine millimeter?"

"Yeah," Abby said, "But that is one of the most common bullet sizes, and I'll need to test the gun to match it. That is, once I start reconstructing it. For a common bullet such as this FMJ, I'll need to get every striation and marking down right."

"Okay," Gibbs responded, "What else you got? What was on the phone?"

"I haven't gotten to it yet, but it did help me with the model that I made." Abby brought up a program on her computer and displayed it on the big screen. There was a green digital man in an outline of a car. "Okay, so your Staff Sergeant was driving, and he was definitely on his phone." The green man on the screen dictated his actions along with Abby's words. "Then the car that was chasing him slides up next to him as we can tell from the skid marks from the crime scene." A blue man in his own car outlines shows up on the screen. "Now, get this. It's the driver that shoots him."

"The driver?" Gibbs confirmed, turning around to face Abby.

"Yeah," Abby said, "At that close of a distance between the two cars, if the shooter was in the passenger seat, there would be gun residue on the car. And using the specs, I was able to find the trajectory of the bullet."

There was a cartoonish bang, and a red line from the blue man's gun makes its way to the green man's head.

"Although this little guy didn't go all the way through the Sergeants head," Abby continued, "It went close enough to the other side that his phone, in all the commotion, hit him where the bullet was passing, and I got that from the traces of the metal of the slug on his cell."

"We need to know who he was calling," Gibbs said.

"I know," Abby said, "And it should be super simple, but I just need to wait until the charger comes in. His phone is, like, as old and standard as yours, Gibbs."

"You haven't been able to get a hold of his call records?" Gibbs asked.

"Ask McGee," Abby answered, "I tried getting through, but the service providers are being weird. McGee was working on getting it."

"It could be a burn phone," Annabeth suggested.

"If it is, it's definitely an annoying one," Abby huffed, "But what would the Staff Sergeant need a burner phone for?"

Gibbs shrugged and handed her the red, caffeinated drink that Annabeth just discovered a couple minutes ago. "Let's find out," he turned to leave, "Thanks, Abbs."

"Wait!" Abby exclaimed, "I'm not done."

Gibbs swiveled around. "What else you got?"

Abby smirked. "I can't believe you didn't notice."

"Notice what?" Gibbs asked.

Abby motioned to her table where a bunch of evidence laid about in bags. Annabeth's eyes widened. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed. It was just lying there!

"What am I looking at?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh, this is good. I don't know what kind of voodoo it is laced with, but it took me a while of hard concentration after, like, two hours of pure Abby-gut feeling to actually figure it out."

"Abby," Gibbs said, impatiently.

"I'm telling you, Gibbs," Abby said, "Just look and find what you missed."

If Annabeth had been paying attention, she would have been amused by the small sigh of defeat Gibbs gave. But she was distracted. Her vision was locked on the weapon that she should have known would be on Michael's person. Searching him and the car for anything like this should have been a top priority. How stupid of her! Now she couldn't take it away without bringing any more suspicion on her or her team.

She was brought out of her mental scolding when her eyes met with the cold blue stare from Gibbs. She immediately looked away, but the damage was done. Gibbs had found what had captivated Annabeth's attention and picked up an evidence bag.

"That's one nice looking dagger," he said.

"Yeah," Abby said, hyped up, "It's like a relic, Gibbs. This thing should be in a museum. Not only that, but check out the specs of this thing."

Annabeth almost broke her neck to look at Abby, her mind running on double time. Specs? Did Abby test the dagger?! This was not good. Not that Annabeth wasn't curious, but she would rather not find out what Celestial Bronze was made out of from a group of mortals that would be best kept ignorant about the divine world.

"Gibbs, I'm pretty sure I just found orichalcum."

"Ori-what?"

"Orichalcum," Abby's smile couldn't have gotten any wider. "Gibbs, this is famous amongst historians and mythological enthusiasts. It's linked with ancient civilizations like the Romans, Greeks, and Atlanteans. Oh, I have always known Atlantis is real!"

As Abby drifted off, her mind taking her to another place, Gibbs and Annabeth both leaned in to get a look at the compositions which made up the Celestial Bronze dagger.

"Very high in copper," Gibbs said, "and also extremely high in…" He balked and turned back to look at the dagger again. "Is that gold?"

Abby snapped back to reality. "Yeah, it is. Orichalcum was labeled as a metal by these old civilizations, but it's really an alloy. Now, gold and copper are great and all, but what is this?"

Annabeth leaned in to read what Abby was referring to. "Thirty-three-point three percent of an… unidentified material?" Annabeth's mind was conflicted as she read aloud. On one hand, mortals weren't supposed to know about Celestial Bronze; it's why the mist obscured it to mortals, which was probably the reason that Abby and Gibbs had trouble with it. But on the other, this was so cool! The fact that Celestial Bronze was like a mix of bronze, having mostly copper with hints of lead, and of what historians label as orichalcum, mostly gold with silver and more copper, was extremely exciting. But this third, mysterious element was incredibly intriguing. Once this whole quest was over, she would have to figure out what divine element was mixed up in all this.

"Unidentified Material?" Gibbs repeated.

"Yup," Abby said, "And with that high of a percent rating, there is no doubt- that element has never been discovered before. Gibbs, I would kill to figure out what that material is, and I'm just saying that as an expression."

"You think he was killed for the dagger?" Annabeth asked, incredulous.

"Maybe not for it," Gibbs said, "but it's definitely related. Is that it, Abby?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Gibbs reached over to kiss her on the cheek. "Good job, Abbs."

"Thanks, Gibbs, I'll probably be in the garage working on the car next time you want to come talk with me."

"Alright. Lima! Come on."

Annabeth rushed to leave, thanking Abby and telling her it was nice to meet her.

"It was nice to meet you, too," Abby said. Except, it sounded really forced.

Annabeth heard the music being cranked back up to its original volume as she left. Was Abby like that all the time?

Annabeth shook herself from her thoughts. She had to stay alert and act professionally. "Should we go to autopsy next?" She proposed while heading for the stairs. "Let's see what Dr. Mallard has for us."

Gibbs tilted his head in a nod. "Lead the way, Agent."

-Σαμεσ-

"What do you think they're like?" Jimmy asked his mentor.

"Well, I think they are a group of trained, professional agents- no matter how young they might be."

"You've already said that, Doctor."

"Well," Dr. Mallard said impatiently, "What do you want me to say, Mr. Palmer?"

"Well," Jimmy stopped. What a good question… The hiss of the door opening saved him. And Jimmy turned to see who was coming into autopsy.

"Ah! Jethro!" Ducky called out. Jimmy didn't like how relieved he sounded. "And Miss Lima."

"Dr. Mallard," the woman greeted, "Mr. Palmer."

Jimmy raised his hand in greeting.

"Please, it's Ducky to my associates," Dr. Mallard insisted.

"Alright then, Ducky," Agent Lima responded.

Jimmy decided to join in as well. "I'm Jimmy. I would shake your hand but, ah…" he displayed his already bloody gloves.

The doctor shot him a disapproving glance.

'Nice going, Jimmy. Way to emphasize the blood and make things uncomfortable.'

But Agent Lima wasn't. She smiled at him, completely unfazed.

"So, what can you tell us, Duck?" Gibbs said. Jimmy was glad that he didn't get another one of Gibbs's stink eyes.

"Well," Ducky said, "For one thing, this young man was a fighter."

"I already know that, Duck," Gibbs said.

"Er- I don't think you know the extent," Ducky said. He motioned for Jimmy. "Now see along his body. He has a plethora of scars and wounds. The newest wounds are, of course, the impacts of the car crash, which occurred right after the time of death, but many are very old. Look at these scars along his arms and abdomen."

Jimmy lifted the victim's arms to help indicate what the doctor was talking about.

"Many of these were made by blades, but they were not self-inflicted. Some are new, while many more are years old. A large amount was highly treated, but a few were left for the body to deal with. During my biopsy, which, mind you, I have not officially completed yet, I found many injuries that were made at least a decade ago. This young man has seen much abuse and violence during his life; I would recommend talking to his guardians to look into such domestic abuse."

"Already on it," Gibbs said, "What about those scars on his back?"

"Ah- those are also most recent. Mr. Palmer, if you would help me."

"Of course, Doctor," Jimmy said, rushing to help turn the body over.

"You know, it reminds me of a case in my time in Afghanistan."

Jimmy smiled as his mentor went on a personal story, something which Jimmy loved listening to.

"Yes, one of the soldiers had taken to walking around late in the evening. One day, he came back with scars on his back. Turns out, he met a bear and had gotten too close. Yes, it was safe to say that he would stop his late-night walks." Ducky chuckled.

Jimmy smiled as he remembered a story of his own. "Yeah, I got my back scratched one time, too." Jimmy was flashed back to living in an apartment as he was in med school. "My roommate, he got a cat without telling me. I woke up one morning to find the cat on my back, and it really did a number on me, all the scratch marks. I think I still have some scars…" Jimmy smile waned as he remembered the pain and how ill he had felt that entire week. "Yeah, he and I got into a big argument because of how allergic I was…"

Jimmy came back to the present when Dr. Mallard cleared his throat. He found Agent Gibbs looking at him, unimpressed, and Agent Lima staring at the dead Staff Sergeant. She was probably pitying the Sergeant for having his terrifying scars be compared to Jimmy's cat story.

"Yes, except those scars, feline and ursine, would be considered mere scratch marks compared to these marks," Dr. Mallard continued. "I already sent some tissue samples to Abby, but she didn't find any clues to identify the tool used."

Gibbs frowned. Jimmy could sympathize. It was definitely odd. "You mean the wound was cleaned?" Gibbs asked.

"Em, possibly" Dr. Mallard replied, "While it would be interesting to find what chemical was used to clean it, there weren't any traces of acids or any other type of chemical. Yes, strange, indeed. Once I start autopsy, we'll be able to find if traces were able to seep further in, but I doubt it."

"What can you say about any of the newer injuries?" Agent Lima inquired, "Other than the claw marks on his back, were there any newer bruises or scrapes?"

"Actually, yes," Dr. Mallard answered, "And they all point to your Staff Sergeant being in a fight. He has bruising all on his knuckles and fingers, indicating he was up close with his attackers before getting into the car."

"He was being chased," Gibbs said.

"It would seem like it," Dr. Mallard agreed, "He even has a bruise on his elbow that suggests he was able to deliver quite a blow. But that was all. I should be able to glean some more from him once I start the procedure." He patted the body. "I'm sure he has much to tell us."

"Thank you, Ducky," Agent Lima said.

"Thanks, Duck."

"My pleasure," Dr. Mallard said. "Oh, and Jethro, taking the stairs, are you?"

Jimmy perked up at that. Was that why he didn't hear the elevator ding?

"It's only a floor down from Abby," Jimmy heard Agent Lima grumble.

Jimmy shared a glance with Dr. Mallard. Was she the reason Gibbs took the stairs?

-Αντώνης-

Tony looked at the screen. McGee told him that Abby said this thing was magical, and he could kind of see it. Apparently, she complained forever how the camera just would not focus on it. He tilted his head to follow the blurry, simple, swirly pattern on the blade. "You know it reminds me of that sword from Lord of the Rings," Tony said, "What was it, Fling?" That couldn't be right.

"Sting, Tony," McGee answered.

"Ah, thank you, McHobbit," Tony said.

"Anytime."

When Abby had sent the picture to McGee, he had put it on the big screen and read aloud her notes. Underwood got really nervous and started to ramble until La Rue harshly told him to shut up. He didn't know why she had called him Goat boy. Hopefully, it would be a fun story he could ask about. He probably shouldn't ask La Rue about it, though. Tony turned his head completely sideways. He had to agree with La Rue about one thing. This was a nice dagger.

"Looking for a new angle, DiNozzo?"

Tony immediately straightened. "Always, Boss."

"Well, what did you get from it?"

"Fingerprints, Boss," Tony said, "Abby called, telling us that the only fingerprints that were on the dagger were from Staff Sergeant Kahale."

"It was his dagger."

Tony cringed. Getting a sarcastic response from Gibbs is never a good thing. He motioned for McGee to hit the clicker.

"We went to the car renter, Boss. He was your typical car salesman, greedy, has a legal document in place for everything. He confirmed that Staff Sergeant Kahale was the one to rent the car. He also gave him a discount that he has for military personnel."

"Receipt says he paid in cash," La Rue inputted.

"Actually," McGee chimed in, "He was a cash user. He did have a bank account, but all of the transactions were deposits of his paycheck and cash withdrawals."

"He did keep some too. Some receipts from a bar were found on him," Underwood said. He walked up to McGee and pointed to the clicker. "Can I?"

Tony watched in shock as McGee handed it to him.

"Thanks. All came from a place called The Drowsy Owl. Started and owned by a Mr. Reshaun Sachs. One of those receipts places him grabbing a bite last night." A copy of the receipt showed on the screen and zoomed in, highlighting the time. "It was just a couple hours before the time of the crash."

"I called his C.O.," McGee said, grabbing the clicker back, "He said that Michael was not living on the ship while they were docked and had no idea where he was staying."

"But…" Gibbs encouraged.

"But there was a key with an ID code on him." McGee clicked, and a homepage website for an apartment complex came up on the plasma. "Grover called the landlord."

'Grover!?' Tony shot a bewildered glance at Ziva. She just smirked at him. Cheeky woman. What does she know?

"She told us that he paid in cash," McGee continued, "No surprises there. He had been there a couple of days and had told her he was planning on staying for about a week."

"She also said that he would leave early in the morning and come back really late at night, one time as late as two in the morning," Underwood-or "Grover"- said.

"Or as early as two in the morning," McGee joked.

"Eyyy!" Underwood laughed. He and McGee shared a high-five.

Something inside Tony broke. It was probably his heart for jokes.

Nobody was impressed. In fact, they all seemed offended that such a bad joke was uttered, but that didn't seem to bother the McGeek duo. The Undernerds.

"Agent David and Percy said that Mrs. Kahale told them that they did submit a missing persons report," Underwood said. McGee handed the clicker back over to him. "And it took a while, but Tim was able to find it."

'Tim!?'

"It was a collective effort," McGee corrected.

The form popped up on the screen.

"Looks completely filled out to me," Jackson observed, "Why didn't we find it originally?"

"Because they did not complete the entire process," McGee replied.

Underwood made the plasma screen zoom in on a particular part of the form. "See this information?"

"Name: Michael Kahale," Ziva read aloud, "Date of Birth: 03/15/88; Height: 4'5"; Weight: …"

"It's all old information," Gibbs said.

"Right," Underwood said, "It was never updated."

"They also never contacted the Center for Missing Kids, contacted Inspector General, or did anything else, Boss," McGee said. "They just filled out the form and never touched it again."

"Interesting," Ziva said, "They are lawyers. Shouldn't they, out of all people, know how to do this?"

"Well, Mrs. Kahale wasn't very fond of her stepson," Jackson mused.

Was he suggesting that the step-mother had something to do with it? Tony smiled. Yes! But Ziva was not having it.

"No, Tony. I don't think the wife was involved in any such way."

"You have to think outside the box, Ziva," Tony insisted.

"Oh, no. That idea is very much in the box- your box. Anyway," Ziva said, getting back on topic, "I called Mr. Kahale, and he sounded much more emotionally hurt and is eager to help us in any way."

"Well," Agent Lima said, "It is something to check up on in any case." She frowned. "Wait, Michael paid over seven hundred for the rental, then he is eating out every day, and he is also renting out an apartment. He did this all in cash? Where did he get all this money? Can you bring up the money transactions?"

"Sure," Grover said, pulling the list up.

The senior agent of the Long Island team looked at the list. "It doesn't make sense." She said all of a sudden. "From the amount that he took out, he could not make all those payments."

Woah, did she read all those numbers and figure it all out that fast?

McGee took a longer look at the numbers. "You're right!"

"So, how was he able to pay?" Jackson asked.

"Fake money?" Tony suggested.

Clarisse scowled, "That's disgraceful."

"If it is, then we have to check the cash that was used," Gibbs said. "DiNozzo head back to the car dealer. Take Ziva with you."

Tony held in a groan. Another road-trip. "On it, Boss."

"Percy and I will pick up Mr. Kahale and check up on the missing person case," Agent Lima said. "Clarisse and Grover will go to the bar."

Tony heard Underwood gulp. "We will?"

La Rue cracked her knuckles. "Got a problem, Goat boy?"

"N-no! Not at all."

Tony sympathized. Poor dude. La Rue was brutal.

Gibbs went around his desk to grab his gear. He slammed the drawer of his desk shut. "McGee, take us to the apartment."

Tony smirked as McClumsy scrambled to grab his gear. Looks like the teams weren't being paired up this time. Nice.

Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs all piled into the elevator and waited for McGee to catch up. The Long Islanders all opted to take the stairs.

McGee ran into the elevator in a mess and out of breath. "Sorry, Boss. I wasn't entirely prepared."

Gibbs nodded. The elevator doors closed. It wasn't long until Gibbs flipped the power.

'Finally.'

McGee flipped his laptop open, balancing it on his arms. He brought up the files of each agent.

"Agent Anne Lima, twenty-three, graduated top of her class from the University of California. She worked under law enforcement and was quickly promoted. She then moved to New York, where she became affiliated with NCIS. Again, she was quickly promoted as the base there is small, and they had an influx of agents join.

"Next up is Agent Percy Jackson. He is also twenty-three. He graduated from the University of Albany. Apparently, Agent Lima handpicked him to be a part of her team. She said that she saw great potential in him and that he had valuable skills to add to her team."

Ziva scoffed lightly, "Well, he did not add much when we went to visit Mrs. Kahale. He did not help me question or console her, which, in truth, she did not need any consoling." Ziva's expression lightened, "However, he did mention seeing a dagger by the front door."

"A dagger? Like the one we found with Michael Kahale?" McGee asked.

Ziva, for the first time ever, looked sincerely embarrassed. "I do not know. I did not see it. If it was there, then it evaded my attention quite successfully."

"Wow," Tony teased, "Guess those Mossad skills are getting rusty."

"It's because I hang around you so much, Tony. I do learn from others, you know. Maybe, I should stop."

'Ouch,' Tony quipped to himself, once again praising Ziva wittiness. But no way would he, Anthony Dinozzo Jr., be outdone by a probie. "Oh? So, you do look up to me then. But just to let you know, my skills can't be acquired by such simple means."

"Really?" Ziva sarcastically asked, nodding in a mocking show of attention.

"Yeah," Tony said, matter-of-factly, "It's a family trade, and- Ng!"

Tony sheepishly looked at his boss, who still had his hand up from giving a brand-spanking-new Gibsslap. "Sorry, Boss."

Gibbs then turned to give a scolding look at Ziva. "How come she doesn't get Gibsslapped?" Tony grumped to himself.

Ziva put her hands up in surrender. "I am sorry," she said, "I will stop encouraging him."

Gibbs gave her a slap on the head. Ziva made a face. "Starting now," she added.

Feeling immensely better at the judgment that just played out, Tony let a smile split his face and let Ziva be graced by its presence. He saw her eye twitch in annoyance, but otherwise, she didn't react.

Gibbs nodded to McGee.

"Next is Agent Clarisse La Rue. She is twenty-eight and from Arizona. She spent a year at a community college there before finishing up her degree at American University. She then moved north, becoming a cop. She eventually ended up applying for NCIS and getting the spot there. She specializes in all sorts of combat styles and weapons."

"Yes, she is just a wonderful person," Tony said. "I couldn't get anything out of her, Boss. She is one tough cookie."

"And then we have Agent Grover Underwood."

"Why don't you just call him Grover, McFriendly?" Tony asked.

"He is a really nice guy once you get to know him, Tony."

"Really?" Tony quirked his eyebrow, "You are on first-name basis, and you showed him the ways of the clicker."

"It's not that hard, Tony," McGee droned out, "All it takes is a little practice."

"That thing is sentient, and you know it. You need to gain its trust or be able to evilly manipulate it," Tony maintained.

McGee just sighed and continued on. "He is twenty-six, Alumni of University of Albany just like Jackson, and has been in NCIS the longest. However, he was not doing so well. He kept failing many assignments. This changed when he joined Lima's squad. He was actually promoted to being a senior agent under her group."

"Wait," Tony interrupted, "He's not the probie? He is actually the veteran NCIS agent of the group?"

"Yeah," McGee responded, "Agent Jackson is actually the probie."

"Wow," Tony muttered, "That is something."

"Yes, in fact, Grover was the mentor to Agent Lima and Agent Jackson, before Agent Lima ultimately surpassed him."

"Jackson did say that he and Underwood went to the same school," Ziva said.

"What else did you get from him?" Gibbs asked

"Nothing, I'm afraid," Ziva said, "He made a connection about his mother, and that was the main topic. He and I recounted stories about our mothers. Her name is Sally Jackson. She is an aspiring novelist. Percy's favorite color is blue, and so his mother tried to make as much of his food blue when he was young. Apparently, she makes delicious blue chocolate cookies even now."

"Wow," Tony said, "Blue food…" He tried imagining it. "You know blue cookies look kind of appetizing. I don't think I would try blue pizza, though."

Gibbs had switched the power back on while Tony was speaking. As they all got off and went to their respective cars, Tony heard Gibbs ask McGee, "So, what's this about the service provider?"

Tony did not envy McGee's position of being privately questioned by Gibbs. He looked at Ziva. Hopefully, their car ride would be much better.

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#scarpool #fanfic #fanfiction #Godly Marine: Killed #NCIS #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJO #Crossover #gen fic #PG/K+#Writing #Complete

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elleonmybeloved · 4 years

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So, I don’t really have any finished fics to link for the thing Raven tagged me in a while ago... but how about a snippet from one of my original works that’s in progress? It’s from one of my upcoming books, Shipwrecked on Apophyia.

~~~

“What were you really thinking about, staring so intensely into nothing?” The friendly easy-going tone he had made him popular on the cruise, several people flocking to him easily. Junia assumed he was the type who made a lot of friends wherever he went.

Well, he’d asked, so don’t blame her for being honest.

“I was thinking about the ruins we saw today on our dive. I just find it odd that despite their depth, they show signs of the damage occurring in the water. In fact, almost all of the ruins we’ve visited have been like that. How would people or the elements have had access to it to destroy it while under the water? They didn’t have the kind of modern technology we have today. Did something collide with it underwater?...”

“...And yet the impact pattern suggests a number of close range blows rather than a single large one.” She mused, pinching a strand of hair between her fingers in thought. “Not to mention we can’t figure what made those marks. Granted these ruins are ancient, so the evidence left on the surface of the impacts must have eroded into the water by now, but if it was a hard material like stone or some kind of metal, it would have left traces somewhere nearby. A large enough chunk to analyze.”

“But there’s nothing. As if an invisible force was the one to collide with it. But how could that be possible. I also noticed the central impact indentations were about the size of an average human hand…”

Junia trailed off as she noticed Dr. Danforth staring at her. Irritation sparked in her chest. And this was exactly why people should just leave her alone if they didn’t want to listen.

“Yeah, I know it’s a long shot, all crazy theories and no evidence. Not really fair to blame me when you asked though.” She grumbled.

Dr. Danforth raised an eyebrow. “I never told you to stop, did I?”

“Your face was dropping hints.”

The doctor laughed. “No, no, you misunderstand me. I was just thinking that I wish I had more students that questioned like you do. Science is asking questions. Not taking things at face value like we are all so tempted to do. Even I struggle with that. I think you have a knack for it, Miss Klein.”

“Oh.” Junia dropped her gaze, unhappy at her inability to gauge a situation correctly, once again. “Sorry.”

“Hmm… I actually noticed the peculiar way in which the damage was inflicted as well. I’d love to hear more of your theories, but all that swimming gets a man hungry, and I know from experience I’m more than capable of talking all through dinner.” Stepping back from the railing, Dr. Danforth made a beckoning gesture.

“Hopefully you’ll join me in the dining room then, so we can continue our discussion?”

Junia bit her lip. She was hungry, but she preferred to wait until almost everyone had already ate and left to go get hers. Hence why she was out here in the first place. What’s more, she was willing to bet that any table with Dr. Danforth at it would soon be way too over-populated for her liking.

“We can sit at one of the booths.” He said encouragingly, reading her expression. “More comfortable anyways.”

Junia couldn’t think of any other reason to refuse.

“...Alright.” She said finally, breaking away from the railing and trailing after him.

—-

Play with fire and you will get burned.

Such a simple concept and she was born with such a capable brain. Yet, here Junia was, in a situation she knew was a risk and she’d took it anyway. Junia and Dr. Danforth had been able to exchange theories in their red-cushioned booth seats for exactly five minutes before dinner was ruined.

Miserably shoveling a bite of vegetable stir fry into her mouth, Junia glared down at the reflection of the intruders on the rim of her bowl. Across from her sat Dr. Danforth, and beside him, the big trendy glasses and dark red lipstick wearing, probably not old enough to be drinking that bright yellow pina colada “assistant” the Doctor had brought along, Erica Lockheart.

The other unwelcome addition sat next to her, caging her into this prison of her own terrible judgement, Dr. Juliano Manuel, renowned across the field for his published ground-breaking research papers on pre-columbian civilization, and one of Dr. Danforth’s old friends apparently. They were happily drinking Corona and swapping stories as if she wasn’t there.

Dr. Manuel was also much younger than Dr. Danforth, in his early twenties, and acted as such, insisting on buying her a drink and asking her all sorts of questions she didn’t want to answer.

Between Ms. Lockheart’s shameless attempts to catch Dr. Danforth’s attention with the cleavage displayed by her low-necked cocktail dress and Dr. Manuel’s incessant flirting and attempt to put the moves on her, Junia was going to jump overboard of her own volition and swim her own way back hundreds of miles to the nearest shore rather than spend another minute enduring this torture.

Brushing her perfectly manicured hand over Dr. Danforth’s shirt, Ms. Lockheart teasingly rubbed the crisp white lapel and whispered something Junia couldn’t hear, but could definitely guess.

With an exasperated exhale, Junia abruptly stood, snatching her things off the booth.

“Excuse me.” She demanded, looking pointedly at Dr. Manuel.

“Where are you going, you’ve barely touched your drink.” He protested with a placating pat on her arm as he gestured to the light green mojito he’d forced on her.

Junia was nearing the end of her patience.

“Move, before I make you move.”

With a surprised expression of shock, Dr. Manuel scooted off the seat.

Junia did not waste any time, stalking off as fast as her feet could take her. She didn’t even glance back at Dr. Danforth.

“Jeez, rude much?” She heard Ms. Lockheart say, but just clenched her teeth and weaved around the tables of socializing scientists in the dining room, barging through the swinging doors with more force than necessary and letting them bat together loudly behind her.

It was surprisingly windy out on the deck. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she raised a curious glance to the night sky. Just an hour previous there had been not a cloud in sight, but now a wall of thick dark clouds loomed from the west. The strong breeze was cool, a stark contrast to the warm night air it moved into.

It was probably going to rain. She’d better get back to her room before her short wavy locks frizzed up. She hadn’t thought to bring many hair products with her on this cruise, but she hadn’t been planning for anything other than blazing sun. The many bottles of SPF 50 on her bedside table spoke to that.

Once safely back in the private warmth of her room, with a locked door between her and the world, Junia’s temper began to settle.

‘Well great, more people to avoid. Can’t a girl do her research in peace without people having to stir up drama?’ She thought to herself, eyeing the diving gear she’d dumped on the floor earlier. She should probably clean it. Though mostly dry by now, there were bits of seaweed, sand, and salt residue.

Grabbing some sanitary wipes and the small trash can, she got to work cleaning the suit. Zoning out at the repetitive motions, her mind returned to contemplate the ruins she’d seen today.

Junia thought it was odd how all the ruins of Apophysis that were most intact were deep underwater. If the city had fallen by war, which seemed more likely than disease given the deliberate destruction of several of the buildings and other structures they’d discovered, why would the few ruins they discovered on land be in worse condition than those in the ocean? Shouldn’t erosion and the disturbance of sea life have deteriorated those faster?

It all left her with so many questions. Which, to her, was exciting. If she could figure something out here she’d not only be a step closer to unraveling the mysteries of this ancient civilization, but any groundbreaking discovery would be enough to launch her into the kind of fame and renown that would greatly expedite her research.

Yes, she was being paid by the University’s graduate program to go on this cruise and conduct research on the ruins, but that sum just barely covered her living costs. Food, housing, and everyday expenses… but not much else. So getting her hands on quality equipment and materials was proving difficult. Even her diving equipment was a rental.

Something fell out of the swim fin she had been scrubbing. Scooting back, she reached between her legs to get it. Holding it up to the light, it was a round rock-like shape covered in grime.

Wiping off the surface, Junia peered at it closer. What was this? Beneath the dirt, it was a dark but beautiful blue, near-black color that was somewhat transparent, like a crystal, although the surface was more rough. It reminded her of sea glass, but less fragile.

Clearing away more of the grime until it was clean, Junia curiously inspected the circular rock. This was too well shaped to be natural, it had been cut by human hands. A smooth circular ridge framed the outer part of the circle. Was this decorative in nature? Flipping it over to inspect the back, Junia gasped. There were Apophyian symbols engraved in a circle on the back, and one large symbol in the middle.

There was no official translation for Apophyian, having only been recently discovered within the past 20 years, but there was some loose suggestions for translations for the most popular recurring symbols put together by leading researchers in the field. Junia herself had her own theories of what each symbol meant based on their context, but due to the lack of undamaged ruins, it was difficult to find more than 5-6 symbols side to side intact. So there was no way to prove any guesses she’d developed, but she had discovered a few years ago that the symbols seemed to resemble ancient pictorial languages like Egyptian hieroglyphs and early traditional mandarin Chinese, and found enough similar patterns to make some connections and possible translations.

Most of the symbols on this odd rock however, which she assumed was perhaps a votive amulet of some kind, were unlike the ones she’d observed on the other ruins. That made sense, considering those ruins had been architectural remains and she wouldn’t expect the words engraved on a bridge or a tower to be the same as ones carved into an amulet. There were a few she did recognize though.

The word she had speculated meant “ocean,” which she was definitely not surprised to see, was one. The other she recognized though, was the symbol for “power” or “force” which, if this object truly did have a votive purpose, also made sense. An amulet for protection. It was rather fancy to be a personal item, though. Perhaps this had belonged to an important person or rulerm, or even symbolically, to a deity.

Regardless of its original purpose and value, this object was definitely priceless to her and her fellow Apophyian researchers. Putting it in a plastic baggie to help preserve it, she carefully zipped it into her jacket pocket. Junia didn’t intend to take even the slightest chance to damage or lose such an important item. She supposed she should notify the others of what she found right away, but considering her awkward exchange with Dr. Danforth and the others at dinner, she would rather not face them again soon if she could help it. Best to keep it with her for now and tell them tomorrow.

A loud knock on her door made her startle guiltily. Junia felt like laughing at herself - it’s not like she was hiding it from them on purpose, so what reason did she have to feel guilty? Shaking her head at herself, she glared at the door.

~~~

#original works #wip #ocean adventures

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hobicomeholla29 · 4 years

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Light in the Dark - Chapter 3

Pairing: Seokjin x Reader

Genre: Fluff/ Mystery/ Angst/ Non-idol AU

Word count: 1k

Warnings: None for this chapter

Chapter 2 - Chapter 4

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♠~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was so close to being able to ask her who she was, maybe find out why was she there.

But it was evident that real life called and he had to deal with it.

While washing his face and brushing his teeth, Jin came to the conclusion that he won't let this ...dream or whatever it is make him lose his cool, however he could already feel the huge headache creeping up his skull.

"Frikin great"

-----

Once ready for work, Jin headed downstairs where his roommate was waiting for him patiently.

"You look like crap, man"

"Thanks Joon, that's definitely what I want to hear first thing in the morning"

Namjoon softly chuckled, while patting Jin on the shoulder.

Namjoon and Jin had been friends since college days, putting aside the fact that they were studying completely different things, somehow they found their friendship easy to start after seeing each other every day at the library.

While Namjoon was always looking for archaeology and anthropology books to fill his daily need of human evolution knowledge, Jin was always on the lookout for Art history and architectural history.

----

"Didn't sleep too well last night?"

"According to me I slept right through but my headache is saying the opposite "

"Aah, I see" was Namjoon's response.

The quick conversation turned easily into a comfortable silence, leading both young men to the vehicle parked outside and on their way to work.

"How is Tae by the way?" asked Jin, trying to fill in the silence that was now threatening him into going back to his previous night.

"Ah, he's fine...I guess" was the younger man's answers to Jin. It almost felt like he was forcing himself to say something positive.

"Still going on about the previous civilization thing?"

Namjoon sighed

"I warned him, if he continues with this...theory, they're going to put him in a mental institution."

As far as Jin knows, Taehyung and Namjoon went way back.

They were in high school together and majored in the same field in college as well, however, Taehyung went deep into studying past civilizations and mixed it up with conspiracy theories, which resulted in a fully developed and grown man using all of his money on a very intricate research that might lead to nothing.

"What is he onto now?" Asked Jin wondering what new topic he came up with this time, that had Namjoon pulling his hair out.

"Something about Nashia"

"Nashia? What is Nashia?"

"A supposed ancient civilization that was superior or something, I don't know, I stopped listening when he mentioned the word superior"

"Ah~ huh, maybe support him once in a while, at least he can say he has someone cheering him on"

Namjoon only shook his head at Jin's comment.

He used to fully support Taehyung before, he also likes investigating about ancient civilizations and how they worked and lived, but Taehyung started focusing on one supposed ancient civilization, never heard about by anyone, not even the greatest archaeologist, so he gave them their name.

He was positive that these people existed and had a precious DNA that should have been collected and according to his studies they could make a regular human beings into a super humans.

How's that for a mocking party. Lead by the university's head director may I add.

It is fair to say that since that incident, Taehyung hasn't been the same and his priorities within his life and career have taken an abrupt detour.

---

"Didn't I tell you to keep me updated? - Well that's not enough information! - Drawer 10. Administer the content in test tube B483, let it take effect for an hour then administer content in test tube C229"

'Knock-Knock'

"Someone’s here, I'll call you back later to hear the results"

Without getting a verbal authorization from the owner of the voice that could be heard on the other side of the door, Namjoon pushed down the handle and invited himself into the room with Jin following closely behind.

"No one knows how to interrupt my work like you do, Namjoon." Chastised the man who stood in the middle of the room giving Namjoon a side glance, long white lab coat hanging over his matching black pants and shirt.

"Well, I do appreciate the warm welcoming you give me every time" mocked Namjoon in a sarcastic yet playful tone.

If Seokjin didn't know better, he would think that the young man in the coat was older than the one that drove them here, but it's definitely the opposite.

Namjoon is older but leans towards a playful attitude, leaving the other man to lean towards a more serious side.

Even though there had been a slight shift in character from Taehyung after being mocked, Namjoon claims that he had been harboring this serious persona from a young age, especially when it came to subjects that caught his attention.

"I thought you would have been back at your place by now?" Seokjin prodded knowing it was probably none of his concern.

"I had work to do" the young man responded sternly.

"What about resting?" Namjoon scolded

"Resting is a word commonly used by procrastinators" he retorted.

"Taehyung" Seokjin gave the younger man a warning tone, getting a disgusting glare in return, while he moved behind a small desk located on the far right corner of the room.

"We just stopped by to see if you were dead yet" Namjoon's cool attitude was slipping away quickly and Seokjin could only assume it had to do with his patience with Taehyung running out when he was only looking out for him.

"Seems like you are clearly out of luck then" was all Taehyung answered without even stealing a glance from Namjoon.

All 3 men worked at a research institute albeit each of them at a different branch.

However it did not stop them from visiting each other at their main research lab to make sure they were resting well.

And by that we mean Jin and Namjoon visit everyone, but Taehyung couldn’t even bother with such trivial matters.

"I don't even know why I bother with you"

By now Seokjin could feel the tension rising in the room and as the oldest, he felt responsible for calming his friends down.

#hobicomeholla29 #btsboulangerie #bts x poc #bts x black girl #jin x y/n #jin x woc #jin x reader #jin x poc #bts fanfction #bts series #kim seokjin fluff #jin fluff #bts seokjin x reader #fiction writing #writing #fan fiction #bts fanfiction #jin x black girl

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daddycardan · 5 years

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What's your most recommended book? Other than the cruel prince or sjm books... You know what, how about a list? In order from best to worst. 1- best, 10- worst

all righty, I’m not gonna lie here, I have actually… never read any SJM books. Haha, never. I don’t plan on doing it eventhough they sound really fun, but right now I’m trying to gravitate towards a little more… I dunno, quality literature, if you will? This sounds so hypocritical and snob ehhh especially from my Cruel Prince fanblog but asdhjkjss don’t judGE

ok for the list I went on goodreads and looked at my read book list and picked out the best ones, but I honestly can’t really rank them, they are all great so the numbers don’t really matter, but they are quite different in genre, most of them are not even YA, so bear that in mind

1. Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin - hahaha GoT is amazing its kinda brutal and its a heavy read, but it’s really worth it. I love the way GRRM builds plot and characters, it’s just so unique and very different from everything I’ve read before. The characters are just so real, and they all have their own background stories and motivations, and you literally have no fucking idea what’s going to happen, it’s so unpredictable I can’t handle it. Warning, it’s likely that your fave character is gonna die, prepare yourself. I haven’t seen the tv show but honestly the book is really really great. It’s one of the best series I have ever read. BUT if you can’t stand visual violence, rape, insides getting, um outside, well I wouldn’t recommend it then. Because there’s a whooole lot of that.

2. HaRRy Pottah by J. K. Rowling - do I even have to explain. HP isn’t just a book, it’s a fucking life changing magical journey that every child should go through, so if you haven’t yet, shut up and go read it. For real. Go, turn off your computer and start reading.

3. Nutshell by Ian McEwan - now this is a really interesting short novel. The thing that makes it fascinating is that it’s narrated by a baby. Who’s still in the womb. And it’s actually a Hamlet retelling, where the pregnant mother is having an affair with the father’s brother, and you know, the baby knows about it. And when mommy and the brother lover conspire to kill the father the baby can do basically nothing about it so it’s about the child’s inner dialogue and some deep philosophical thoughts while his mother and uncle commit the murder and how the baby tries to sabotage them. It’s not YA for sure, so if you want steamy romances or a sexy protagonist, this is not your book, but I really loved it and it’s just such an intellectual book with some nice Shakespeare and modern political references and honestly just reading the dumbass shit that Claude (the uncle, parallel to Claudius) says was so goddamn funny. There is some sex and swearing in it. And like, after reading it I felt like such a highly educated person, eventhough I’ve never read original Hamlet haha.

4. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - dystopian post-apocalyptic novel, with some teenagers slaughtering each other, a cool protagonist with badass hunting skills, love triangle, rebellion, etc. Probably most of you have heard of it (if not already read it), it’s quite good, especially the first one, I personally wasn’t a big fan of 2nd&3rd, but it’s prob because I don’t like rebellions/civil wars for some reason? it’s good though!!

5. Angelfall trilogy by Susan Ee - ohohohh anGELS!! I used to be fucking obsessed with angels and demons (#FuckMeLucifer) and I’ve read every angel-themed YA book I could find, and this one was probably the most well-written. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic America (haven’t heard of that before) where angels are terrorizing humans and basically treat them like shit and this girl Penryn, her lil sister gets kidnapped by the angels, but in the fight this one handsome angel gets injured, they cut off his wings and she kidnaps him to her place and I think forces him to help her get her sister back (?) Turns out its Rafael the powerful archangel and of course he is hot as hell, so yeah its been a while since I’ve read it but I remember liking it, so if you’re into angels and some post-apocalyptic chaotic setting on top, you’ll probably like it

6. Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn - so this one’s mainly about a Jewish slave in the Ancient Roman Empire and a lot of stuff happens to her and she ends up being the mistress of the crazy emperor Domitianus who tortures her and it’s basically following the life of all these different people with different social statuses in Rome, (slaves, gladiators, senators, wealthy wives, emperors, etc.) and it’s really interesting how the relationships are forming between them and the best part is that its historically aCCuRate! ! ! So if you’re into Ancient Romans, this is a good one. Trigger warning for sex, rape, emotional and physical violence. ;)

7. And then there were none by Agatha Christie - this is some nerve wrecking emotional shit, about a group of complete strangers invited into this island manor where they are slowly getting murdered one by one by this psychopath whose identity is… unknown. The murderer is one of them, and is playing this scary, childish, psychological game with the others, but i literally had no fucking idea who the (s)he is until the last few pages, and i couldn’t sleep for a few nights after reading it.

8. Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron - so this is about Jane Austen, eventhough it’s not written by her, but it’s based on her actual diary and true historical events, so it’s pretty much an accurate description of that period of her life. I guess I would call it a historical murder-mystery because she solves a case that happened in the town she spent her holiday in, but the focus is not really on the ‘thrilling mystery’ part, but rather on the historical background (British-French conflict), social links between people, and yeah just gives you a nice little glimpse into her world. The book is part of a series but this one’s probably my fave bc Jane has this thing going on between her and this handsome mysterious man and a fucking loooved it!!

9. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron - this is part of the same series, i think it’s the first one, but you can read them in any order, and it deals with a similar murder case as the other one and hahaha it has another mysterious, kinda rude gentleman who has a little thing with Jane and in the end it doesn’t work out (Jane never married btw) but i’m a slut for those little moments and historical books are amazing so if u like history, or Jane, or that 1700-1800 era then go ReAd iT!

10. ummm i can’t think of anything else that i really enjoyed right now, so that’s it for the list. if any of you have any recommendations (especially if it’s something historical) pls let me know!!

#book recommendations

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skyhunter95 · 5 years

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Fixing Krystal

Despite her popularity, Krystal is easily the most divisive, most controversial character in StarFox. She is worthy of criticism, as the adaption of her character is a far cry from perfect, but I think she gets more scrutiny than she’s earned. The issues with her character I think are easy fixes, and I also want to talk about how the better parts of her character can be adapted to work better. I will be going into depth so this will be quite…long… Her contribution to the World/Setting: What we have: Adventures brought in weird magic, and shows Krystal dressed in rather primitive garb. However, doesn’t necessarily mean she herself is primitive. We know nothing about Cerenia, (Put lots of pins in that). Krystal having powers? That isn’t that out of nowhere in StarFox, in fact: weird Fantasy or Paranormal elements have been in StarFox long before Krystal showed up. Examples: In SNES, (Route 3, Meteo 2) there is a weird bird-like creature that appears in the asteroids and sends you into a warp that abruptly ends the game. In Adventures, it’s similar to when the warpstone sends Fox through a warp. Warping in StarFox has always seemed to involve a strange surreal otherworldly dimension. There are also strange static-shaded objects that attack the player in SF64 during warps (Sectors X, Z, and Meteo) . James Mccloud appears as a ghost in SF64, and guides Fox out to escape Andross’s subterranean base as it explodes. In terms of powers; across his appearances, Andross has insanely powerful telekinetic powers, can shoot lasers out of his eyes, can shoot lightning from his fingers etc. Krystal having to use a staff to shoot fire, ice, and project shields isn’t that much of a stretch. How it can be better: Whether this is done through a sequel or a reboot, adapting Cerenia, and some Dinosaur Planet lore to fit the StarFox universe isn’t hard. There are ruins all over on Titania and Venom in SF64 (and later Assault), maybe they relate to Krazoa Palace, and the Cerenians, there are dozens of ways to write some interesting ancient space-civilization stuff in there. I think the most obvious way to fit Krystal in the universe, in a way that benefits her character, and Andross as a villain, is establishing that Cerenia was destroyed by Andross. It was vaguely implied in a cutscene in Adventures where Krystal seems to recognize Andross’s spirit shortly before he trapped her in that crystal prism. (Put a pin in that). Role on the team: What we have: I think the Telepath role in Assault works, it was something that Krystal could do since the original Dinosaur Planet after all. The ability is something that she can do that no one else can, it’s just that it was severely underdeveloped and underutilized. Occasionally Krystal points out obvious weak points to bosses, dialogue: “I can feel it, the weak point is at the top!” against the first Aparoid boss on Fortuna, “The weak point is at the top!” on Katina’s boss, or against the Aparoid Queen: “Fox, blast that red section!”. Other times where her telepathy is used; She senses an enemy squadron waiting for them on the other side of a door on Fortuna, senses targets within the base interior on Katina, and “Senses faint brain patterns” when the team sees abandoned Wolfens adrift on Mission 5 Meteo. The big time her telepathy is used, is during the cutscene right after Mission 5. She interrupts everyone while they were talking to General Pepper, to tell them that she was sensing a distress signal from planet Sauria. It had her totally shifting the entire scene from celebration of success, to a sudden rise of more danger. It would have been great if there was a lot more of that with Krystal. How it can be better: Krystal’s use of telepathy in-gameplay has minimal effect, it is essentially the same thing as what Peppy does, only Peppy uses intuition to examine a situation rather than having powers to examine something. Many people didn’t like that Krystal essentially hijacked Peppy’s role, having her in an Arwing while Peppy was on the Great Fox didn’t help. I think there are ways to have them both knee deep in the action, the word “replaced” should be avoided. Nobody’s replacing Peppy, she’s just a new asset for the team. Say in a game similar to StarFox 2 (The kind I’m hoping for), it would be cool if the player is allowed to pick 4 pilots from an expanded team of roughly 8: Fox, Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Miyu, Fay, Fara and Krystal. (going into detail on the others is a post for another day), Krystal’s special; is that she can tell the player when and where enemies will show up ahead of time, perhaps a blue glow appears as the outline of the enemy type at the location on the map where they are likely to appear. Essentially, Krystal can telepathically sense thoughts from across space, this might be a bit of a stretch. We can probably also keep Krystal giving Fox obvious warnings on bosses or enemies ahead, probably swap around with Peppy doing similar. Remember when I mentioned Cerenia? We know nothing about what it looks like, we can easily assume it was a technologically advanced civilization similar to Corneria, but their technology is almost more mystical. We already know Krystal’s staff is powered by crystals that the player has to gather, so it uses a fuel source. Perhaps this is the basis of most of their technology. On top of that, perhaps Cerenians’ use of telepathy goes hand in hand with their technology, ESP basically. Krystal being the last of her kind would be a huge boon to the team if that were the case, especially if Venomians were after it. (Something I’ll bring up later). Her plot, her mannerisms, dynamic with the team and character interactions: What we have: Cerenia was literally only mentioned in the manual, most of Krystal’s backstory being raised by Randorn, and her quest to save Dinosaur Planet (now called Sauria) was utterly cut. It was mentioned she was looking for her PARENTS, only for all of that to be utterly abandoned the moment Krystal is trapped, and it is never brought up again, ever. As I mentioned earlier, Krystal adds tiny tiny bits to the plot using her telepathy, other than the one shift to danger leading into mission 6 in Assault, other than that, she sorta takes a backseat sadly. In terms of her interactions, in Adventures, we see her as friendly and kind, speaking to a fallen Earthwalker, and being more than willing to help. She defiantly tells-off Scales the moment she met him, and also declares “We will never kneel to you!” When Andross is re-awakened, although it wasn’t revealed to be him quite yet, at least not to Fox, AKA, the Player. Later in Assault, she retains being fairly sugary sweet, and becomes almost of a mommy figure. She softly scolds Slippy or Falco. “This happens because you’re reckless, be more careful!”. She is at least able to disagree with Fox, when he was going down to the surface on Katina to investigate the mystery on Katina-base, she says “By yourself? It’s too dangerous, I’m going too..” sadly, he tells her that he wants them in Arwings as cover, and she doesn’t have anything left to say. She became very passive compared to Adventures, where she promptly snatches her staff away from Fox to fire wildly at Andross. Although, she did seem proud of her combat abilities on foot, like dialogue: “I’m becoming an expert marksman, aren’t I?”, “I won’t be beaten by the likes of these things.” Krystal can be sweet and friendly, but she needs to have some feistiness to her too. She does retain some of this whenever Panther hits on her, she either ignores him, or sarcastically blows him out of the water. Even saying “As long as I’m covering Fox..” in an angry tone. A nice case of her defiance, and her loyalty to Fox, but that leads us to another problem, I’ll get to that in a sec… We never learn anything about what really motivates her, only that she seems to care about the team, care about others, and Sauria. Some more dialogue: “We WILL save Sauria, just you watch and see!!” “Poor beautiful Sauria, they won’t get away with this.” “All we can do is hope for their safety!”. Of course, most of her screen time is taken up by her practically throwing herself at Fox. She is obsessively romantic over him and it overshadows the entire rest of her character by a pretty wide margin. Although, the best part of that downfall to her character, is that she does reject Panther a bit, she even convinced him to tell them where Pigma was… the idea was good, but we could have gotten much more dialogue banter that leads her to tricking Panther’s one-track-mind into helping them. How it can be better: Adapting her backstory with Randorn (as brief off-screen events) could do her wonders, her homeworld was utterly destroyed by Andross; the big villain of the universe. Andross wanted to research their unique psionic powers, and upon finding a way to gain this power, he had them wiped out to keep them from aiding Corneria in the coming Lylat War. Krystal, once aware of this, knows that she is all alone and has nowhere to go or be. Fox is the first person she meets (Adventures timeline), and is perhaps the only person she trusts at first. He introduces her to the StarFox team, and she suddenly now has friends and family. Krystal shouldn’t mommy the team members, but she should be sensitive to when they are in danger, and desire for their safety. I’m not against her romance with Fox, but her romantic implications with Fox should either be drastically reduced or ousted altogether. The fans can take care of that… She can still be defiant and headstrong in the face of villainy. Krystal could become very important whenever Cerenian technology or cosmological phenomenon come into play. Cerenian technology could have refined warping or shielding technology. For example, if a shield protecting Corneria fails, the team, and their other friends could find a way to make a shield from Cerenian tech. Krystal alone has access to it. Remember that Crystal that turned her into an infamous damsel in distress in Adventures? Imagine if those were some kind of interface for Cerenian technology; one that puts users in suspended animation and can be dangerous and painful for untrained users. Perhaps Krystal uses that very thing to create a shield and project it over the planet, similar to what her staff can do. The overview here, is that elements of Dinosaur Planet can be adapted to fit the StarFox Universe, and keep Krystal from appearing out-of-place. Using some of those elements, and what was done well in Assault to better justify her presence, give Krystal something to do, and a doorway through which she can affect the plot, or gameplay much more than she did. Treating her backstory, and the fact she is last-of-her-kind should be integral to her motivation, and interactions with other characters.

#Krystal #starfox #Star Fox #writing #characters

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fantroll-purgatory · 5 years

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World: Alternia

Name: Eunoma Lesedi

(The Greek goddess of law and legislation, name translates to good order/governance according to good laws + the word for light in South African)

Age: 9.5 sweeps

Theme/Story: Law/Politics/Mutation? I think I just thought it was a cool idea for a mutation and liked the backstory I came up with for her

She is a rare fuchsia with an even rarer mutation, which would under normal circumstances entitle her to a culling. That is had she not been taken pity on by her mother. She had no idea why she showed her such kindness. It was probably a combination of the similarity of her look to that of the rainbow drinker and the opportunity for the mother to insure a proper ruler was raised for a change. She was raised in the caverns by her jade guardian with other jades acting as sisters but now that she is old enough to take care of herself she has been sent off to live in an old abandoned desert hive which long ago belonged to a jadeblood who raised a virgin mother grub like Kanaya. It is deep enough in that sandy deathtrap that she doesn’t have to worry about anyone finding her. It gets pretty lonely and she misses her mom and sisters but it also allows her to focus on her work and studies. (There is A L O T going on in this backstory, but I think it’s kind of workable? I think there needs to be considerable intent in why she was saved, however. This isn’t the kind of thing a Jade (especially not many of them) would do lightly. Eunoma might not learn why yet, but there has to be a motivation, a goal they’re trying to achieve. Perhaps the Fuschia blood is part of it? Maybe they’re some Jades who wanna stage a full on rebellion and want to use her as a figurehead? An albino Fuschia taking down the Condesce would be a potent political symbol.)

Goals: One of my ancient OCs I wanted to fix up but turns out I need some help! So a general overview/everything (Alright, here we go!) (As a heads up, I took pity on you and am not deleting the other trolls you submitted in rapid succession, but for future reference- please don’t do that.)

Strife Specibus: 3dentkind

(Uses a trident she made herself with the help of her mother) (I’m really getting “Raised to be a political symbol” out of this. Why would she be raised to be just like an Heiress if there wasn’t a purpose behind it? Logically she’d otherwise be raised to be more Jade than anything.)

Fetch Modus: Idk honestly

Blood Color: Fuchsia

Symbol and Meaning: Pira, Sing of the Visionary

Handle: luminousJurist

Quirk: Ta|k in a ca|m yet cønfident vøice. (Proper punctuation, replaces L with | and O with ø) (Like this. Simple is often the way to go.)

Special Abilities: Her mutation, which would best be described as form of albinism that mimics rainbow drinker looks and abilities (meaning she can stay out in the sun) (hmmmmHMMMM I am unsure how exactly this would work- Kanaya could just go out in the sun before she was a Rainbowdrinker. I guess you can just handwave it as “unlocking dormant parts of the Fuschia genome” or something. Trolls have a tenuous link to biology as it is.)

Lusus/Guardian: Raised by a jadeblood in the caverns with other jades acting as her sisters before she left, mainly because she was always presented as a mutant jadeblood (which is also why she is hiding her sign, wearing it as a necklace under her shirt) by her mother in order to have her be more accepted (My main gripe with this is that it’s very unlikely, unless she never really interacted with the other Jades, that they wouldn’t know she’s not a Jade. Troll tears are tinted, and wrigglers are highly pigmented. Also all it would take is a slight cut and the jig is up. I think you’ve got to make them more complicit in the hiding and raising if this backstory is gonna come off as plausible.)

Interests: The crime, mystery and legal drama genres, whether it be books, movies, shows or games. She is also fascinated by law and the legal system and she loves studying about it, writing reforms and planning how to bring justice and order into Alternia when she claims the throne. Calligraphy is also something she finds fun to do while brainstorming. Her only non work related hobby is collecting plushies. (I like this a lot. I bet she reads about Redglare and gets mad all the time. Maybe she’s a big Summoner fangirl? He was a mutant who raised a rebellion against the culling system.) (I’d ordinarily recommend having more hobbies that aren’t “work” related, but given your character’s history, it makes a lot more sense for her to be fixated on it, even if she doesn’t realize that quite yet.)

Personality: Eunoma is obsessed over making the right decision and being a fair and just ruler. She has first hand seen and felt the cruelty of Alternia and while she is honest to a fault and rather blunt, she does this not to hurt feelings but because she feels it is the right thing to do. She is pushing herself into indifference and molding herself into the perfect middle man, erasing any opinion which might sway her judgement. Still she is disciplined and harsh, mainly on herself but also others, a strict believer in following rules to the letter and always scrutinizing her own actions. She thinks she can always do better, a perfectionist to whom nothing will probably ever be enough. She is uptight and antisocial, awful at working and even just talking with other trolls, as social cues tend to go over her head and even her own emotions very much confuse her, not to mention those of others. But on the other hand lies and motivations are something she understands and sees through all too well. She is good at predicting what people will do and spotting a liar or faker from a mile away. (We got a Mind player here! I’ll talk more about this later but you’ve got a solid character written in here. But I think you’ve got something mixed up in here: You open saying that she’s opinionated and blunt, but latter say she’s indifferent and grey-aligned?) (I think you meant “impartial” as in, “having no bias”, though. Which would make a lot more sense. Obsessed with being equal- having a character flaw of not quite getting the difference between Equal and Fair would help flesh her out, especially given that she’s right at the age where she’d be viscerally learning that difference.) (I think “follows the rules to the letter” is a little... odd? For someone who’s only course of action on the current law system would be to die messily. I think her having her own code of ethics that she strictly follows would be much better (especially with her classpect) than being a blind rules follower. She’s a path-maker, not a path-walker!)

Lunar Sway: Prospit (I think an interest in that “genetic destiny” thing that Trolls love would do her some good with this. Get her a little more going with the flow, taking threads of the past and weaving them into changes today. Seeing herself a bit in The Sufferer and The Summoner and other ancient rebellions would do her a lot of good, I think. Give her some motivation.)

Title: Mage of Mind

(She suffers form being an overly logical outcast and needs to learn to not only let loose but also let people in, she is way too defensive from having to hide her whole life and needs to learn to open up and allow herself to feel emotions) (I do think Mage is the way to go with her. The Active Knower, the Leader and Shepherd as opposed to Seer, the Teller and Teacher. She’s someone who NEEDS to get up on her soapbox and tell the world that this isn’t how it has to be, that we can make other choices, and she’s making those choices right now.) (Pathwise, I think she needs a bit more spirit of her own. Her Dolorosa-stand in needs a firmer hand in her development if she is to grow as well. There needs to be an interplay of “I know you THINK you know what’s right, Mother, but I KNOW what needs to be done, and I’m going to DO IT my way” by the end of her arc.)

Land: Land of Forums and Debate

(The Denizen has devided the people of her land and pinned them against each other. With corrupt politicians, censorship and high tension in the air, this whole place is one wrong word away from a civil war. It is her job to fix the corrupt system, unify the people of the land again and open up constructive discussion.) (She’s gotta win the arguments and lead the people! A pale girl in a world of fountains and marble! It’s pretty classic, but it fits her development as already-being-half-there on her Classpect, but needing the extra push to really do it.) (This was a much easier review than I expected, my comments are mostly for guiding this vision of her to completion as opposed to full overhauls. You’re most of the way there!) -SA

#fuchsiablood #tyrianblood #seadweller #submission #SA Review

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 5 years

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Fallen Stars (Aren’t The Only Ones On Fire)

Title: Fallen Stars (Aren’t The Only Ones On Fire)

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Alternate Universe: Pre/Early Show, Non-Demon Bill Cipher

Pairing: None, but can be read as pre-BillDip

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: None

Inspired By: Tumblr Prompt issued by anonymous on October 4th, 2014 - “Httyd inspired au. Bill is a magical talking dragon that Dipper befriends. Shenanigans happen.”

Summary: Dipper is just settling in to Gravity Falls for the summer when he decides to explore the woods and promptly gets himself lost. While he knew Gravity Falls could be strange, he hadn’t been expecting anything like this.

Author’s Comments: So, it’s not really HTTYD inspired anymore, but I hope you enjoy the magical talking dragon Bill, nonetheless! If you’re still on tumblr, of course… (I originally made this joke to show how old the prompt was, but now with the purge going on… Yikes.)

Read here on FFN Read here on AO3

Don’t forget I’m doing more cool things on my Patreon all the time! I also have Ko-Fi, so if you enjoyed this story, then consider buying me a coffee!

“Okay. Take a deep breath, Dipper. You’re fine.” Unsurprisingly, saying these words did not, in fact, make Dipper fine. If anything, it made him even worse. Hearing his voice, alone and quiet and far too small, made the forest around him seem even worse. “It’s not like you’re lost or anything, after all!”

At least, it would be nice to say he wasn’t lost, except at one point all the trees had started looking the same as everything else and Dipper couldn’t even begin to guess which way was out. Whatever path he had been walking on had long ago disappeared. “Right. Okay, great, yeah, right, I’m just going to become a statistic. I’m going to be a statistic and not even a fun one. I’ll just be what not to do when you get lost in the forest, a lesson by the dead Dipper Pines.”

Right, okay, speaking was definitely making it worse. His voice didn’t even echo when he was this deep into the woods. It was like every forest nightmare he had ever had from the time he was born. Right. Right, okay. He just had to keep calm.

“I’ve only been walking for an hour, anyways, so it’s not like I could have gotten that far.” See, alright, talking to himself made Dipper even more afraid, but staying silent was worse. It was… It was quiet in these woods - empty. He knew he was kind of a city boy, but woods like these shouldn’t be quiet.

The trees seemed taller than the Redwood forest he and his family had visited a few years ago, which, yeah, didn’t think that was possible. There they were, though. They were tall enough that an entire secret civilization could probably be hidden among the branches and watching, and Dipper wouldn’t even know it.

Ah, okay, bad thought, that was a bad thought, now he was thinking about the fact he might be about to die. “So, uh, if anyone’s there? I’m just trying to get out, okay! Just wanted to let you know that! Trust me, if I knew which way to go- Ah! Compass!”

Of course he had a compass, duh. His parents wouldn’t let him leave the house for this summer trip until he had packed everything to survive in the woods, never mind the fact that they were just going to stay with their great-uncle in his tourist trap. Still, Dipper was grateful for it now as he dug around for the compass and clicked it open.

“Okay, okay, okay, so, uh, the Mystery Shack is… north?” Dipper was pretty sure he had gone south into the woods. Actually, that might have been wrong. He might have gone north. He wasn’t certain, but he could at least finally pick a direction and stick with it. He’d eventually find a road or the Mystery Shack at some point.

Waiting for the compass needle to stop spinning, Dipper swallowed and shuffled nervously as that oppressive silence pressed down around him. It felt like something was watching him, but it had been silent for what felt like hours. He had only been walking for an hour, right?

“Come on, come on, come on, just tell me which way to go, already.” The compass needle was still spinning. It didn’t even waver, it just kept spinning around and around as if it couldn’t tell which direction was which, but that was impossible. The only time a compass could act like this was when someone was right over one of the poles. Dipper was in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Nothing interesting happened in Oregon!

“My compass is broken. Great. I’m lost in the woods with a broken compass.” Taking a moment to try and steady his breathing, Dipper shivered as he shoved his hands in his pockets and started moving in what he hoped was the way out. It was starting to get freezing. He knew it was still afternoon and everything, but it felt cold with all the trees that were blocking the sun out.

“If something wants to eat me, maybe please consider not doing that.” The call was half-hearted at best, Dipper not sure if he was tired and afraid or just tired. It was hard to keep getting scared when he hadn’t seen anything since he stepped into the woods.

He was just starting to think of yelling at the top of his lungs until a park ranger or someone found him, but just as he opened his mouth, he heard the sound of a snapping branch from behind him.

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over him as Dipper’s body went rigid, shivers running down his spine and making his entire body shake as he tried to gather the courage to at least look to see what was about to kill him. The courage didn’t come, and Dipper felt like he was shaking to pieces as his breathing turned quick enough that he was afraid of triggering an asthma attack.

The woods in front of him were completely empty with nothing but a ground full of dead, decaying leaves and dry dirt that hadn’t seen rain in weeks. The canopy of leaves kept the sun from ever touching him, and Dipper could only occasionally see flashes of sunlight flickering across the forest floor. With how dark it was, it was like the world had been plunged into a colorless, black-and-white place that was filled with shades of grey.

“Dipper.” Body unfreezing all at once, Dipper spun around and almost lost his balance as leaves were kicked up around him. Heart racing, Dipper was ready to stare death straight in the eyes and at least try not to scream. This was it and this was how it was going to end, and Dipper was about to… be alone?

There was nothing. He spun around the entire area, but there was absolutely nothing there no matter how hard he looked. “He… Hello?” Silence was the only thing to greet him and Dipper took a hesitant step back- Or maybe he took a hesitant step forward? “Is anyone there?”

This forest wasn’t normal. He had said from the beginning that Gravity Falls wasn’t a normal kind of town, but this deep in the woods and it was- It was wrong. It felt wrong and terrifying and old. The trees didn’t look like something that should have been there and the more Dipper walked, the more it felt like the trees were different. It definitely felt older, here. It felt like the trees around him had been there longer than Dipper would ever live.

“So, I’m just going to go, now? Sorry, uh, ancient and possibly evil spirits?” There. That would appease whatever had just been behind him, right?

“Dipper.” Oh, aha, nope, no, it wouldn’t! It definitely wouldn’t! “What a curious name.” Okay, yeah, no, nope, aha, definitely not just in his head anymore.

“I, um, it’s a nickname?” He was talking to the evil ancient spirit that roamed the woods he was lost in. Why was he talking to the evil ancient spirit? Oh, that was right. Dipper was an idiot. “You know. The Big Dipper? The constellation?”

“Oh?” There was a sound behind him that had Dipper turning quickly, his breath trapped in his lungs and swirling around his chest with nothing but fear as he saw only a quick flash of gold. “Why is a little star lost in my woods?’

“I, ah, um, I was exploring?” He had definitely seen something gold, just now, but maybe it was just sunlight? He’d like to believe that, at least, but everything really did look colorless, now. He couldn’t even tell what color the leaves were that were no doubt hundreds of feet above his head. “I didn’t mean to intrude or trespass or anything like that.”

“So much politeness for a human.” That was… good? “Maybe I shouldn’t eat you, just yet.” Yep, yeah, definitely good- Spinning around at what sounded like something being dragged across the leaves, Dipper swallowed as he yet again saw nothing but a flash of gold.

“I would really like to not be eaten, if that helps? Please? I mean, I’m only twelve and I’m kind of small, so it’s not like you’d get much out of me, right?”

“On the contrary, little star. I think I could have a great deal of fun with you.” Oh, Jesus, Dipper wasn’t sure he had ever been more scared in his life. It felt like his body wanted to shake itself apart and he was honestly not even aware of whatever it was he was saying. He could probably sell his soul right now and not even realize it. “Perhaps there’s a reason you became lost in my woods.”

“Your-” The rest of his words died in his throat, Dipper turning around and falling completely still as he stared at what could only ever be called a dragon.

“Hello, Dipper.” The words were hissed into the air like the steam of a furnace and Dipper felt his knees shake before he hit the ground and this… This was going to be hard to explain when Stan and Mabel asked him why he was late to dinner.

#gravity falls #billdip #bill cipher #dipper pines #otpafs

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