#i mean just in case anyone was like wondering if its discontinued to anything | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zhiamomence · 2 years

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Hi. Welcome to the results this form, where your message about how do you feel when Hesokuri Wars one of the oldest and longest and quite popular of official Osomatsu-san game ever.

First of all I would love to say thank you to 41 participant to responses of this survey about it, especially of your shocked comment that you find out this game is gonna discontinue after October 2nd this year (I believe it'll end around 3pm Japan Time and theres event about it. idk what the fuck is going on here). Second of all, to anyone found out recently that this game will close soon as I mentioned it before, I'm sorry that you just found out about it :(

Pretty sure that the results gonna take longer than I thought, so I decided to hide half of it just in case not to clogged out your dashboard haha here we go!!

The first question I asked is anyone played this game before. 70% said yes, 29% said no, and no one choose the third one.

Which sounds great that you guys played it. For whoever never play it thats fine too bcus I know that 1. Its in Japanese and its hard to get the game (Eventhough theres english ver but they discontinue most of the recent part like in Japanese ver game) 2. its a gacha game that means you had to buy something if you want to get something premium sets that is cool but we'll talk about that later

Second question is how do you guys feel after they announced that they gonna kill this game.

I can see that most of you guys are really sad because of the one thing, the fucking AUs. yeah I know that bcus one time i played it before but had to quit bcus i know you have to buy somehting that you wanted but i feel wasted to do it so I quit after that (i never pay the gacha sets btw all i do is to pray to get lucky)(i only got lucky once)

seems like 4% really angry about the announcement or maybe they found out about it. Whichever is it I understand that. 17% agrees that gacha game sucks including this game and thats funny I agree to that. Only one person (2%) so fucking glad this game is coming to gone.

This one is about what's everyone most fav AUs from the game. Some of you guys never choose one.

I calculate the similar answers of all of those AUs bcus its too many so I give you the most top 3 fav AUs which is

Musical ( 9 votes )

Denki Mystery and Youkai (both 5 votes)

Akuma Riders ( 4 votes )

Congrats to Musical AU being jammin' and swagless as ever lol!

But this is not mostly about that, I'm gonna show you guys my fav, top 3 best comment anonymously by anyone who wrote this question's answer

No. 3

No. 2

and No. 1!

Congratulation to these answers!!! it made me a lil laugh hehe. to anyone who sad that their answers is not here, dont fret about it. I had to put top 3 best one instead of 5 or 10 bcus this post is going to be too long im sorry

This nothing to talk about more of this bcus it was quite new tho, we'll look up after they disbanded hesowars (kind of) so for who dont know, you can check it out here!

A friend of mine got me an idea while I'm writing this sillay questions but this is quiet srs to talk about that I've been wondering if the game is quite one your likes. 75% said yes and 24% said no.

Lets look for the detail of what you guys like and otherwise of your opinions! Let's start to the screenshot best comments whoever choose "no" :

and heres the one who choose "yes":

All of those comments both ways are all great! Sorry that your answers is not in here I don't want flooded too much with most of it

My thoughts, which is not relevant but I want to put this jic lol: When I was play the game when it was new I found it a little bit of fun where is sometimes you can do anything or to choose not to control anything if you have the chance like one time I can just play the game while I'm on lunch or something. But hey that was like uhhhhh 5 years ago? I stopped it few year ago but I still keeping up with the game with the AUs sets update and such till the end.

Conclusion:

There is also some pros and cons from what it answered above such as Pros: love the every characters design/Cons: had to cost money for that character set etc etc but from what I'm trying to understanding this is 100% yall thoughts when Hesowars is going to end after years of keep going on:

That we all going to be sad theres no new Osomatsu-san Heso Sets / Story mode anymore after this. :( Other of that yeah bye bye i guess.

But hey! the new game I mentioned before is also made by the same company so we dont know if they bring some AUs up but hey I said I'm not sure yet till they'll announce something soon we'll see! Also I will try the new game and I 'll review about it but who knows lmao.

OH YEAH i forgot the last question:

I told you guys that should I kill this guy I have for years and heres the result to wonder:

So most of you guys choose Option 3...................... heh....................... I see........................I get it...................

that means you guys want me kill him mORE LETS GOOOOOOOO

#zhiatalk #osomatsu san #osomatsusan #hesokuri wars #hesowars #heso wars #adding the lil extra in the end haha :]#thank you to anyone answered anonymously love all your comments!!! :D #and also thanks to hesowars to keep continue till the end we will miss only some part of the pros of the game lol #also this is just me being silly anyways i did this for the funny lol #have fun reading this lomng #ososan

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salty-dracon · 3 years

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Liveblog of Deltarune Chapter 2, in one Tumblr post.

DELTARUNE SPOILERS

Checking out Deltarune Chapter 2.

Does time move differently in the two worlds? I hope not.

Ralsei is so nice to us. Thank you Ralsei for your rooms made specially for us, and totally not over the course of 10 years.

Thanks Toby Fox dog for.... something.

The Internet world reminds me of Mega Man. Is this place like Web 1.0 with those giant cathode ray monitors or is it something else? The mention of Space Pinball makes me think it's the Windows XP era.

I just noticed that a sparkle flew off from us when we jumped into the new world. Was that our second uninvited guest, Rouxls?

Everything about Queen makes me want to punch her stupid face in. Good villain, I guess? Ughhhh she's so mean but in a 16 year old on a chat room kind of way.

The Werewires have such a good design.

Queen attempts to beat us at a fighting game, but with the power of friendship we got through it. "Bosom or Perish" lol.

It's not a highly emotional game without a dancing sequence by a highly irritating musician.

Yeah they're hinting at the Queen having a sidekick and him speaking in a way no one can understand. So it's probably Rouxls.

The enemies in this area look so good.

BERDLY!!! I have a voice in my head for this guy and it's Byakuya Togami, even now.

Triple trucies!

If I ever acted like Berdly towards you, I'm sorry. Also people who act like him suck. I want to draw him doing the Virgin Walk now.

Gamer's Delight of course it is.

I finally figured out the words for what Berdly is. An isekai protagonist. That's it. He's an isekai protagonist.

Hmm. Spamton. Don't like that.

Noelle's honest discussion about the city is a nice break from all the silly shit. I'm glad she could experience it. Why was she spelling out “December” on her walk, though.

I ONLY PLAY MOBILE GAMES

Wow, I didn't expect a shout-out to Kiwami Japan, aka the knife guy who makes knives out of increasingly weird stuff.

Berdly being ass at solving puzzles is giving me, who is good at solving puzzles, life. “Face it, you’re just as big a dumbass as the rest of us!” got me. The backstory for him is interesting, though. Once again, the word “December”, alongside a silhouette of Noelle. Hmm.

I knew those screams weren’t Ralsei! Lol, they were some of those giant conefaced plague doctor Phoenix Wright things!

The Tasque Manager enemy looks so cool.

Oh god. Blue checkmarks.

Is Nubert supposed to be a reference to Omori’s “Humphrey”?

I deeply adore all of the old computer references, like “Mouse Wheel” and the windows XP background behind Queen.

Thanks Toby Fox dog.

That post where it’s three versions of “has food thrown at me, inexplicably eats it all instantly” is what Susie just did. Like the “witch hitting me while i’m sitting in her cauldron: stop eating all the potatoes” one and the “woman throws a drink at me but i swallow it all perfectly” one. That’s what Susie just did.

mmmmmm battery acid and hands and logic puzzles

There’s Rouxls. He’s a pirate now.

GOD DAMMIT!!!

Noooooo poor Noelle. YESSS SUSIE COMING IN CLUTCH

amazing. pre character development noelle lent her a candy cane and susie payed it back by not picking on her. *slow, sarcastic clapping* bravo, asshole. bravo. fuck you

Noelle :’)

Wait a minute. Wait wait wait wait wait. Noelle calls her sister Dess. Noelle stayed silent when one of the words in the spelling bee was “December”. Noelle is Christmas-themed, with her being a reindeer, her name sounding like “Noel”, and mentions of Christmas songs and candy-cane pencils. Is it possible that Noelle’s sister’s name is December, and she lost December to an accident or something?

This is the funniest conversation ever, in the Ferris wheel. Aww. I hope it ends well for both of them. Ah. Berdly came to ruin it.

NOELLE????? WHAT????

This possible revelation that Noelle can strengthen the Darkness, and that a lot of this world is built on her own memories of this person named “December”, leads me to believe that actually, all of the worlds here are built from the memories of a person, in this case, this world was built from Noelle’s memories. But whose memories are the first world built from? Susie’s? Kris’s? Ralsei’s?

All of these boss themes ROCK!

Yeah as I thought, Queen is only acting to save Noelle.

What does the Knight have to do with any of this? There was a Knight in Undertale, though, I think- it was that guy lying on a wall near one of the shops. So the Knight apparently created the darkness through the power of determination, and with determination, which Lightners all possess, anyone can make more darkness. Hmm.

Epic final boss fight against Queen! I wondered what mechanic they'd bring back- turns out it was the fighting game. Despite being an asshole it seems she didn't really want anything bad to happen.

The Roaring is going to be the endgame I guess. Maybe it's the reason all the monsters are underground in Undertale?

And everything was back to normal!

At least Lancer's got a new mom now. Lancer's dad does not like her one bit.

Sans. Good to see you. Funny as ever. Cracking fourth wall breaking jokes about how goddamn long this part took to make.

There it is again. Kris's soul acting on its own- or, by the player's influence. If the last chapter suggested that Kris's soul wasn't ours to control, why did it let us do so again?

What the HELL? So Kris sometimes pulls her soul out, shuts it away, and lets it sit there while she goes out and does her own thing? That explains the connection between last chapter and this one. There's no discontinuity. We just didn't see her put her soul back into her own body.

So what Kris did just now was slash the cars tires. Why?

Oh. And there's the connection between The Knight and the events of this story. Kris, or at least her body without her soul, is the one causing these fountain of darkness to appear. That's why Kris, with her soul, is the only one who can seal them. Kris is the knight.

#deltarune spoilers

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bts-ficrecs · 4 years

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Can you rec some fics series with good smut

Hi, hello! I’m ssooo sorrryyyy it took me foreeverrrr to reply to this. i don’t even know if the person who sent this ask still follows me lolol

I’m particular with my smuts and I know everyone has different tastes when it comes to that so hopefully these are to your liking!

As always I’ll first recommend stories I’ve read and then stories that I’ve yet to read. ^^ …also…just a warning. I have so many smutty series on my to read that I couldn’t just not rec them only because I hadn’t read it yet ssooo…

enjoy this v e e e r r y y long list of smutty fic recs lol (many of these writers have other smutty series too so check out their masterlists!^^)

Note: some of these fics have very flawed characters and may present potentially triggering content. Please review the author’s warnings/notes before you start the series just in case there’s something you’d rather not read.

Link to my other smut fic compilation

⚜ Accelerate by @dreamscript

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

Summary: There’s a new racer in town; he’s incredibly rich, hot, and talented. And you can’t stop staring.

⚜ A Detrimental Passion by @btspornfavor

Seokjin x Reader

discontinued series | 4 parts

Summary: Waking up next to a beautiful blonde boy would be any girls dream… But for a grown, soon to be divorced woman, its all but… Until he reminds you why you should allow yourself back into the dream.

Note: while this series may be discontinued, I still want to share it with you all. I know a lot of people run from incomplete series but please give this (and all other series) a chance ^^

⚜ A Friendly Favour by @baeseoul

Taehyung x Reader

complete series | twoshot

Summary: Your virgin friend asks a big favor from you: have sex with him to prepare him for his future love-making session with his new girlfriend.

⚜ All Too Well by @cupofteaguk

Yoongi x Reader

complete series | 10 parts + epilogue

Summary: You and Yoongi shared a loving relationship with one another until you both agreed to end things and pursue your separate careers. But two years later, Yoongi is a member of the ever growing Bangtan Boys, and you are a new makeup artist for their upcoming tour.

⚜ Bad by @thelillzmonster

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 9 parts so far

Summary: He was the cliché bad boy. He was the guy you couldn’t stand. He was the handsome, hot kid who made girls go weak in the knees. He was a brat. You had never liked him one bit, but you had also never gotten involved with anything concerning him. Until one day, when you were in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

⚜ Banter by @littlemisskookie

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | twoshot

Summary: Ironically, some of your best moments are with your archnemesis, the man who you literally fight every other day. But the two of you might be closer than you originally thought.

⚜ Bunbun by @jungkookienoona

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | twoshot + epilogue

Summary: You found an abandoned bunny hybrid on the streets and took it upon yourself to care for him.

⚜ Bunny Boy by @parkmuse

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 5 parts

Summary: Catching feelings for your sisters friend wasn’t part of your plan.

⚜ By Your Side by @sodoyouknowbts

Seokjin x Reader

complete series | 10 part + 1 extra

Summary: Jin is somewhat arrogant, overly confident and a tease. All the things you find infuriating in a man and he also happens to be your roommate. It’s a wonder how you two can live together without killing each other…but it’s not like you’re anything more than friends. Right?

⚜ Camellia by @kinktae

Taehyung x Reader

complete series | twoshot

Summary: Y/N is a strong-willed herbalist who knows exactly what she wants; she also happens to make some really good tea. Taehyung is a kind but rebellious prince who doesn’t really know what he wants but he knows that the commoner girl who makes fantastic tea can’t be this damn cute.

⚜ Dogboys by @imaginethisbts

Taehyung x Reader x Jungkook

complete series | 4 parts

Summary: Jungkook has only ever thought of his breeding clients as just that - clients, and he’s always quite indifferent to them since he only ever knows them for a short period of time. But then you come along, and he starts experiencing feelings that aren’t being manipulated by your heat. Real feelings, that he has never harbored before with anyone else.

⚜ Don’t Care If It Hurts by @hollyhomburg

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 12 parts + 1 extra

Summary: After a rival gang makes an attempt on your life, Your older brother, the infamous leader of Seoul’s largest gang; Kim Namjoon, gets you a guard hybrid; Park Jimin, The reigning champion of Seoul’s underground hybrid fighting ring.

⚜ Drug Wars by @plumblackjeon

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 5 parts

Summary: “She’s a babygirl Yoongi, and I think I’m in love with her.”

⚜ Forbidden by @btssmutgalore

Hoseok x Reader

complete series | 5 parts

Summary: Hoseok is your brother’s best friend.

⚜ Guarded Hearts by @gardentulips

Hoseok x Reader

complete series | 8 parts + epilogue + 2 extras

Summary: Your daughter’s dance teacher is always so kind both to you and your daughter.

⚜ I’m Sick by @kpopnlockit

Seokjin x Reader

complete series | 3 parts + epilogue

Summary: You work under the devilishly charming and handsome Dr. Kim.

⚜ I’m Not A Kid by @drquinzelharleen

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

Summary: Your boss’s son will not stop trying to get a date with you.

⚜ Inheritance by @jincherie

Yoongi x Reader

complete series | 7 parts

Summary: After your grandmother passed she left everything to you. Her house, her fortune, and apparently… her cat? The grumpy male hybrid you encounter at her house is anything but the tame housecat you’d expected to find. Fulfilling your grandmother’s last request to look after him becomes a lot harder when he seems to be avoiding you, and your dissatisfied relatives start stirring up trouble.

Note: ok, I debated whether or not I should add this since the smut is really only at the very end. but I just love this series way way too much and the build up of it all makes the smutty so worth it. trust me.

⚜ In Motion by @yoonia

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 8 parts so far + 1 extra

Summary: The rule is simple; you can look but you can’t touch. You’ve been attending the event for a few times but it was only when a certain boy arrives on one occasion did you feel the fire of lust burning inside.

⚜ Just Friends by @kinktae

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

Summary: Jeon Jungkook was many things. He was an asshole, a tease, and kind of an inconsiderate roommate. But most of all, he’s your best friend, and has been since you were 10. When he suddenly confesses his attraction to you and proposes sleeping together, you are smart enough to turn him down. You knew Jungkook; you knew how he moved from one girl to the next. You, too, were many things, but just another notch in Jungkook’s belt was something you’d never be.

⚜ Like Real People Do by @failaise

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 4 parts

Summary: The feelings for your friends with benefits are changing. Months pass, and you feel your gut telling you that you want more. You’re just not sure if he feels the same.

Note: link to part 4

⚜ Lust And Errors by @imaginethisbts

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 5 parts so far

Summary: Step brother, fuck buddy… They were one and the same now. But what started out as some mindless fucking game, quickly turns into something much more difficult and complex.

⚜ Miss Dial by @versigny

Yoongi x Reader

ongoing series | 8 parts so far

Summary: [11:31] You: okay so i’m texting you now like I promised instead of drunktexting yoongi and telling him how badly i want his cock tonight. Arent you proud? [11:32] unknown number: this is yoongi, hi

⚜ Monster by @neonlights92

Taehyung x Reader

complete series | 5 parts + epilogue

Summary: You live in a world dominated by monsters. Monsters who make it their life’s work to control everything around them. When you’re forced to marry Kim Taehyung - the indecipherable son of the leader of Bangtan, Seoul’s most feared gang - you are at first afraid of him. But as you learn what it means to be Taehyung’s wife you find yourself inexplicably drawn to him.

Note: the writer has also written for the other members in the same AU if you’re interested to read more ^^

⚜ No Strings by @kpopfanfictrash

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 10 parts + 4 extras

Summary: It started off as such a simple question. How do you find out if you’re bad in bed? Of course when you asked, you didn’t imagine Jimin would actually want to answer.

⚜ Off Limits by @floralseokjin

Seokjin x Reader

complete series | 8 parts

Summary: You’ve been lusting after your brother’s best friend for a while now, ever since you met him at a house party, flirting it up a storm as you failed to realise who the other was. That was months ago now and things are still awkward, but you can’t ignore the sexual tension that simmers between the two of you…and it keeps getting worse…

⚜ Piece by Piece by @underthejoon

Hoseok x Reader x Seokjin

complete series | 15 parts + 2 extras

Summary: A collection of drabbles where your love life is muddied up by two men – the one you love and the one that loves you.

⚜ Please Be Naked by @floralseokjin

Yoongi x Reader

complete series | 8 parts + 8 extras

Summary: You find it’s easy to become addicted to a distraction…

⚜ Sin City by @btssmutgalore

Jimin x Reader

ongoing series | 15 parts so far

Summary: After a run of bad luck, you can go back home and admit defeat or step out of your comfort zone and look for a job at Sin City.

⚜ Something In The Way by @tayegi

Namjoon x Reader

ongoing series | 2 parts so far

Summary: When your student debts stack up too high, you decide to apply for a position to take care of Kim Namjoon’s heat for three days…

⚜ Stealing The Bite by @wildernessuntothemselves

Taehyung & Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 6 parts

Summary: In a world populated by the supernatural, witches were the most despised and mistrusted of creatures. Everyone desired to make use of their powers but no one was willing to be seen openly conferring with them. And so there came to pass a heinous practice: Small covens of witches were isolated and kept under wraps in every kingdom, to be utilized when needed, and kept under close watch to prevent them from rebelling. Growing up in a kingdom ruled by werewolves, abuse and scorn were a fact of life, but you were determined to put an end to it. You devised a devious plan to gain power, and it involved a certain prince.

⚜ Talk by @httpjeon

Yoongi x Reader

complete series | twoshot

Summary: You find out your best friend, Yoongi, is really good at phone sex.

⚜ The Equation Of Love by @kookingtae

Yoongi x Reader

ongoing series | 9 parts so far

Summary: When you met Yoongi in a club, you thought it was fate that brought the two of you together. But after you walked into your college math class for the very first time, you weren’t so sure anymore.

⚜ Transference by @dark-muse-iris

Hoseok x Reader

complete series | 9 parts + epilogue

Summary: During a routine visit to the local bakery, you stumble upon an intriguing business card and figure, what the hell.

⚜ View From 4-B by @gardentulips

Hoseok x Reader

complete series | 7 parts

Summary: You teasing Hoseok didn’t stop after the night you shared together. In fact, it only encouraged you to continue your game of performing sinful acts with your curtains wide open, displaying your body to him to have him aching in his jeans. Except now, he’s more than aware of the temptation and he knows just how much you enjoy him watching you.

⚜ White Lilies by @plumblackjeon

Jungkook x Reader x Taehyung

ongoing series | 2 parts so far

Summary: People were attracted to sorrow, especially when it looked as good as Jungkook.

⚜ Zodiac by @joonbird

Namjoon x Reader x BTS

ongoing series | 2 parts so far

Summary: Not human, not animal. Caught in between these shifting worlds, the Zodiac hybrids are cursed by the animals of the zodiac.

⊱ Angel in The Darkness by @icyhobi

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 11 parts

⊱ Babydoll by @jungcock

Yoongi x Reader

complete series | twoshot

⊱ Behind The Lens by @gardentulips

Namjoon x Reader

complete series | 2 parts + 1 extra

⊱ Carpe Diem by fringesofsanity

Yoongi x Reader

complete series | 7 parts

⊱ Chained To You by @addicktjimin

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

⊱ Dive by @guktwt

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 2 parts so far + 7+ extras

⊱ Ego by @suga-kookiemonster

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 6 parts so far

⊱ For Science by @boymeetsweevil

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 7 parts

⊱ Handyman by @drquinzelharleen

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 5 parts

⊱ Heartbeat by @joonbird

Hoseok x Reader

ongoing series | 9 parts

⊱ Instant Gratification by @dovechim

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

⊱ Like Cats and Dogs by @the95liner

Jungkook x Jimin

ongoing series | 1 part so far

⊱ Love is a Dog from Hell by firecracker_chalk

Yoongi x Reader

ongoing series | 9 parts so far

⊱ one good purr (deserves another) by @jinpire

Taehyung x Reader

complete series | 4 parts

⊱ Piercings by @personawife

Namjoon x Reader

complete series | twoshot

⊱ Passionfruit by @joonbird

Namjoon x Reader

complete series | 4 parts

⊱ Plums & Melons by @winetae

Jimin x Reader

complete series | twoshot

⊱ Serendipity by @rohobi

Jungkook x Reader

complete series | 9 parts + epilogue

⊱ Shutter & Shiver by @pac-mang

Jimin x Reader

complete series | twoshot

⊱ The Proposal by @chimmy-joos

Jimin x Reader

ongoing series | 5 parts so far

⊱ Two Rotten Apples by @chickenkooks

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 4 parts so far

⊱ Until Next Time by @taeverie

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

⊱ Watch Me Watch You by @the95liner

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

⊱ Wishbone by @dovechim

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 3 parts

Note: links to two & three

⊱ Yes Mr. Park by @softjeon

Jimin x Reader

complete series | 8 parts

⊱ Yellow Calf by @cherrynochu

Jungkook x Reader

ongoing series | 3 parts so far

#anon #g recs #g replies

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themissingmarvel · 4 years

Text

Kind Regards, Detective [Part 5] -Prelude to Deepest Sympathies

(I don’t usually trigger warn or content warn, but this might be a triggering chapter. I’m including the Reader’s Drabble I wrote a little while back as recommended reading prior to this, [Drabble 2] but if it’s hard to read about family death then maybe avoid it. This chapter was hard, but important. And I think sets up a truly important dynamic. I’m a slow-burn romantic kind of lady, and I wanted their relationship to be powerful and important, not just one of lust. Or even basic attraction. I needed it to be human. Anyway I liked writing it, and feedback is always appreciated and loved and treasured ((i seriously reread any feedback and comments)) and as always, ask to be tagged or removed from tagging.

Pairing: Detective Loki x fbi!Reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Death, emotional anguish, PTSD flashbacks, language)

Catch up: [Part 1] // [Part 2] // [Drabble] // [Part 3] // [Part 4] // [Drabble2]

She didn’t sleep last night, which was no surprise. She had spent much of the night awake and poring over documents and cataloged pieces. Her own theories had been spun and while some might have felt outlandish in her head, she understood that this was an outlandish case. It had been hard enough to put on those headphones and let herself fall into a trance. Remember her sister. But not directly. She remembered remembering. Buying that damn CD she would play over and over. Peter Gabriel was her sister’s favorite, not that she’d ever tell anyone. Neither would. Her sister touted her love for System of a Down and Trust Company back when those bands made you cool.

For years after her sister passed she had found the only thing that felt vaguely satisfying was leaving that CD on her sister’s grave. And when CDs started becoming scarce, she had spent a few hundred dollars on Amazon buying all of the CDs she could find with that song on it. She’d be damned if she ever missed a single anniversary. Never went on the day of her passing, though. No. That felt sacrilegious. She went on her sister’s birthday, played the song on her headphones, along with a few others, but Heroes was the one that she played most. It was the one she’d leave behind after telling her how her parents had finally divorced, or how her dad had been ‘thinking’ about retiring again. For the hundredth time. Or how she’d been accepted as an Agent and two weeks ago, about how she was feeling so fucking lost.

But memories of memories are easier to put away, and much like her locker that held Detective Loki, her sister’s, much more ornate and much larger, she put those memories of memories away.

Her bag was hanging off her form lazily and her hair was done just enough to be presentable. By no means was she falling apart, but she was working. Working hard meant she lost focus on other parts of herself. It meant she had zeroed in on certain aspects of the case. Like how all of the individuals abducted had been on the same phone carrier, Radius, or how the TV was a model made by the company Source that had been discontinued three years ago, but at the time had been beyond revolutionary. Even now it was considered brilliant. She had found no traces of the nerve agent were discovered at the scene which meant they were probably injected with the pure form. Which meant someone had a lot of it.

Her theories meant that this man was not just dangerous but he had resources. He had access to things that people shouldn’t have access to and maybe he worked with Radius? Had access to their systems? The generator powering the church had been a Source item as well, meaning both were connected. Who used Source and Radius?

The precinct was still somewhat quiet, at 8am, slightly later than yesterday. Shift change had taken place and the detectives were still filtering in. Except for Detective Loki who was hunched at his desk, a long sleeved, form fitting black shirt on his form and black pants hanging off his hips. He looked sleek. Dangerous, even. She could see how someone might fall for someone like him.

Placing her bag down in the conference room, having actually remembered her coffee traveler this time, she glanced up as one of the cops walked in with a box, “Agent Y/L/N, this was left here about an hour ago for you. UPS dropped it off.”

The 2-PAM. She smiled and took it, “Thanks. Kind of nice when things work out like they’re supposed to for once,” she chuckled, curious why the box was so damn light.

The officer left and Y/N looked down, noticing that the label wasn’t stamped ‘FBI’ and in fact the sender name was absent, save for an address in Pennsylvania that didn’t look familiar. Maybe not the FBI?

Her heart suddenly began to race, carefully putting the box down as she looked to the side, seeing Detective Loki still hunched over. The man was on a mission.

Reaching behind herself she withdrew the small switchblade she kept tucked into her waist line, the one that no one ever saw. That was small. Cold and awkward at times but useful. Like now.

Why did this feel like defusing a bomb?

The blade clicked and she carefully began to open the box. She was aware it didn’t matter anymore who touched it, or if she damaged it. She knew whatever was inside the box was key. And with a final tug, the lid opened and she peered inside.

Time stopping had always felt like kind of an exaggeration to Y/N. How does time even ‘stop’? What, does the world freeze? Well, it did.

Staring inside the box she could see the face of a man she knew well, a man who cradled her soul and her heart and sang brilliant love songs to her, who had kept her connected to her sister, even in death. The black CD cover with two red forms on it, her sister claimed them red blood cells but said they looked like rose petals.

Her hand was surprisingly steady as she picked up the note inside, reading the immaculate cursive written on some kind of specialty papyrus paper, “My deepest sympathies, Agent. Your triumph through tragedy only enhances your beauty.”

And with that, she ran for the plastic trash bin nearby and fell to it, retching hard as she threw up the entire contents of her breakfast, causing the box, the note, and the Peter Gabriel CD with Heroes on it to tumble to the floor.

Immediately David heard the noise and jumped, running inside the room as the precinct suddenly jumped to life, turning to take in the scene. The note, CD, and box were on the floor and Y/N was kneeling by the small, cheap plastic trash bin puking.

“What the fu-” David was almost able to spit the words out before a strangely animalistic sound came from her lips, screaming into the bin that she had already emptied the contents of her stomach into.

The world grew quiet as the scream died down, leaving Y/N on her knees with her eyes closed, knuckles white as she gripped the bin as though it were the only thing keeping her alive right now. Stable. Present. Here.

“Get me gloves and bags for the items, now!” David yelled out, to no one in particular as he knelt by the woman in a kind of distress he didn’t know a person could experience from a simple box, “Hey, talk to me, what happened? Are you OK?”

Her face snapped, wiping her lips as she glared, “Do I look OK to you, Detective? Do I fucking look OK?” Her voice was raised, though not yelling.

Snapping back David glared, “Do we need to decontaminate the room? Is there anything infectious?” He looked at her seriously.

Taking a breath her eyes pulled away, “No. No chemicals. But it’s toxic none the less.”

Her voice was quiet as she spoke the words, closing her eyes and trying to forget what she had just seen. Experienced. Felt in her gut. Her soul had been torn forth in that moment and the timing of the CD was so tragically horrifying. For a brief moment of paranoia she wondered if perhaps someone had been able to access her personal phone, heard what she was listening to. The artist. The song.

Getting up rather quickly, Y/N stumbled slightly as she made her way through the people that had clustered, watching as two other detectives came rushing forward with evidence collecting items. Forensics would get it. They’d dust it for fingerprints and they would come up with hers, the delivery driver’s, the handlers at the warehouse… maybe a dozen people. And none would be the culprits. David would direct people to track the package and they would. They’d track it to some nondescript location where cameras weren’t installed and it’d been paid for with cash. She knew it like she knew the songlist on that CD.

Heading for the door of the precinct her head felt light, woozy, and she was struggling for something stable. Something to keep her grounded. Even as she threw open the doors of the building, those glass doors lined with metal, solid as hell, heavy as fuck, she ran out into the bitter air, feeling the cold devour her skin.

More.

She didn’t realize it but she was running now, into the parking lot, David not far behind, though he didn’t exist right now. Her sister’s smile was there, a true memory in its purest form, the smile she had wanted to see last night but didn’t want tainted and tied to this psychopath now.

Unthinking and perhaps uncaring, her hands grabbed at the hem of her sweater, pulling it up and over her head, tossing it to the ground of the parking lot filled only with cars, otherwise without a soul. The air was frigid as it enveloped her and tore her from reality. She gasped as the item fell, leaving her in her form-fitted white t-shirt and jeans alone, able to see her breath as she felt it stopping her from hyperventilating, the cold burning her skin, tearing at her and pulling her out of this other reality.

Once, during training, she had been shot. Not with a real bullet, of course, but shot none the less. A rubber bullet the academy insisted they feel the impact of to know what they might use in certain circumstances. And, perhaps, be prepared for since it’d be similar to a bullet hitting a bulletproof vest. The bullet had been fired by some complete and utter asshole Thomas Engleson, a man who didn’t think women could hack it. He shot her in the ribcage, instead of the stomach. He hit her directly. Not indirectly. And of course he was excused for it.

The pain of the shot had been incredible but she had gritted her teeth and taken it in. A cracked rib meant she was out for a bit, but it didn’t actually stop her. She kept training. Moving. Not exacerbating the damage but doing just enough to keep going. But the pain of that moment had been etched into her body’s memory.

This hurt worse.

Her skin was covered in goosebumps from the cold, beginning to shiver as she stood, perhaps for ten minutes, David standing behind her as he looked at her. This woman unshaken by so much, who had taken in twelve dead bodies and kept going, who took information meant to terrify and had kept pushing. Whatever had been in that note, in that box, had been meant just for her on a level those notes for David never touched.

It felt like an ache, standing in the cold as he watched the woman he had found himself so fond of suddenly pushing out the entire world as though it might infect her. He wanted to grab her sweater, wrap her in it, and pull her close. He’d swear to god he’d get the guy. And he would, even if he didn’t tell her that. He swore as he watched her, that finding this man would be his only task. He wouldn’t sleep. Wouldn’t eat. This was Dover and Birch, but now he was the onve involved. His own life was on the line.

“Do you ever wonder what it feels like to die, David?” The words were loud enough for him to hear, the wind suddenly picking up as she stared ahead to the road leading into the precinct, fairly empty though cars scattered about, the day cloudy and bitter.

He took a moment to consider it. He had. He had wondered once, when the kid in his backseat was frothing at the mouth, if maybe he prayed hard enough her poison would go into his body. He could take it, he thought. Better let the child live. He had seen enough, “Yes.” He answered simply. Now was not the time for banter.

A sort of dark chuckle left her lips, “I used to wonder what it might be like to die. After my sister was killed, I thought it was the only thing left that could actually scare me. The world couldn’t hurt me any more than it did when I was seventeen. I didn’t want to die, I still don’t, but I knew I could face that fear.

“But now? God, David… I wish I was fucking dead.” She fell to her knees so suddenly it caught David by surprise, running to her as he grabbed her sweater, saying ‘fuck it’ to the world as he wrapped his arms around her, pressing her body to his as he tried to finagle a way to keep her sweater on her as well.

No sobs or cries escaped her lips as her body went lax, falling against him as she wondered, perhaps, if maybe just giving in to this would be best. This felt so goddamn dramatic, and maybe it was, but for good reason. This man had found out one of her most intimate details of her life and sent it to her in a box. He had delivered to her a piece of her, and what scared her most was the fact that this man, this murderer, thought he was showing some sort of deranged compassion.

Time seemed to stop and David was grateful for the fact that they were far enough away, and behind most of the cars in the lot, that the world wouldn’t see them like this. He could smell the free, nondescript shampoo offered by the hotel, unsurprised that she wasn’t doused in perfume. But she did smell of something. Her own personal brand of herself. Pushing back some of her hair he spoke, “You can’t go anywhere yet. You can’t possibly trust me to finish this case by myself,” he grinned, stopping himself from pressing his lips against her head.

Chuckling, despite her desire not to, she shook her head, “I sure as hell don’t expect you to solve this alone. You need my theories, Detective Loki. I came up with a bunch last night.” It was tragic in a way, how fast she was working to compartmentalize. Whoever it was that had sent her the letter had done a bang-up job scaring the shit out of her. He had opened the locker that held her sister and emptied the contents without permission. But Y/N was cleaning it up. She was fixing it. In her mind she was already putting herself and all those pieces back together.

Looking confused David pulled away slightly, “Don’t you think you should go get coffee or something? Take a- Ah, fuck, who am I kidding. You’re not listening to me, are you?”

The ghost of a smile crept onto her lips as she raised an eyebrow, looking at David now, “Not really. And I mean, what’s stopping going to do? We both know I’m invested. He… he may have targeted you and those other detectives, and honed onto you, but with me… I’m a happy accident. He picked me. I don’t want to be another body in a church, David,” her eyes changed as she looked at him, suddenly fragile and vulnerable, opening her heart to this man. Detective. The one holding her in the parking lot of the precinct while both tried to put together what they just went through.

Stroking her cheek lightly David whispered, “And you won’t be. You’re gonna get up, put your sweater on, and go back inside. And when everyone looks at you, or asks if you’re OK, you’re not gonna smile or fake it, you stare at them. Through them. None of them matter now. Not a single soul inside. We’re gonna find this asshole, and we’re gonna stop him. Now get up.”

He pulled away, nothing truly romantic in the gesture but one that broke her just the same. They were words that felt charged with something more than a pep talk, but instead felt like a true demand. David understood she wasn’t some person who just fell over because they were pushed. She’d stumble. She’d fall. And he knew she could get right back up and go back to bat. And as she stood, David doing the same, he watched her eyes as she put the sweater on. Something had changed, briefly, something else. Something oddly dark that he couldn’t put his finger on, but understood she perhaps needed. The same thing he had needed in his time.

Turning her back to him, Y/N made her way back towards the precinct, her feet marching with purpose, her eyes focused, laser focused, as she understood what this was. This man chose people. Always. He had a reason and a purpose and it was never an accident. He had found the CD she brought to her sister’s grave (though she suspected it wasn’t the same one), he had written a detailed note, and he had found the one thing in this world she was still so very vulnerable to.

Now she was going to find him.

( @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @is-it-madness @detecellie @oscarflysaac @peccobagnaia @fgtakbrjbdl @doritosandavocados @miss-missing-patd

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saccharii · 4 years

Text

Your mother called you something sweet once

AO3 Link

Summary: Hawks finds a body buried in the woods.

Notes: Written for the CTABB server Halloween minibang. I was paired with @paigeypaigey I’m also counting it for @villainmonth Day 31: Horror.

My ko-fi

We came into this life with nothing And all we’re taking is a name That’s why I’ve written you this song This is for Fulton County Jane

The whole world’s gone crazy And there’s only God to blame Your mother called you something sweet once, darling You’re more than Fulton County Jane

(Fulton County Jane Doe by Brandi Carlile)

Hawks pulled his wings tight against his back and hunkered down to make himself as small and inconspicuous as possible. All of his focus was on the single feather loosely attached to Dabi’s coat. Tracking someone this way was difficult, it took Hawks many years to master this technique, but there was really no other way to track Dabi through a wooded area at night without giving himself away. His giant, bright red wings were good for publicity, not stealth.

Earlier that night, Hawks had caught sight of Dabi entering Endor Forest Park when he was heading home after the end of his patrol. Why would a lone, high ranking member of the Paranormal Liberation Front be skulking around in Endor Park? It was so far away from Deika. (Not that distance mattered to the Front. They had multiple warp Quirks at their disposal now.)

On instinct, Hawks had dropped down to follow Dabi into the forest. He sent out a single feather to attach to Dabi’s coat and trailed behind him as close as he dared. The path Dabi walked was almost completely overgrown. If Hawks had not been following Dabi, he never would have noticed it was there.

They continued on, deeper and deeper into the woods. As soon as Hawks determined that Dabi was far away enough that he wouldn’t notice him, he would dart down the path and hide once more, still out of Dabi’s line of sight.

Abruptly, Dabi stopped, and did not start again.

A few minutes passed, and Hawks crept closer. He used his feathers and years of training to silently slip between the trees and through the foliage. He detached two feathers and used them to lift himself up into the branches of a tree so he could get a clear view of Dabi. (There was a bird joke there, he knew, but he was too tense to think of one.)

Dabi crouched, unmoving, in a small clearing. Thin, weak rays of moonlight illuminated him. His hand rested on a mound of dirt, his head bowed. He stayed there, completely still, for at least five minutes. Hawks’ legs began to cramp, but he ignored the feeling.

Without warning, Dabi stood, turned, and looked up at Hawks, meeting his eyes with a macabre smile.

Fuck.

Hawks ducked behind the trunk of the tree he was hiding in. His heart pounded in his chest, and he could feel his pulse racing in his throat. Dabi definitely saw him. Hawks took a deep breath. There was no helping it now. He dropped down out of the tree to face Dabi.

But he was gone. Hawks stared stupidly at the single feather he had attached to Dabi’s jacket as it slowly drifted to the ground. There was nowhere for Dabi to go, and the only sounds were that of crickets and and the wind blowing through the leaves. Where the hell was he?

Hawks approached the spot where Dabi had been crouching and kneeled. He brushed his fingers over the dirt. What could be so important that Dabi would come all this way?

As if compelled, Hawks pulled a feather from his wing and began to dig. He dug and dug, the water in the ground seeping into his pants. When the feather finally broke, he discarded it and detached another. He kept on digging, ruining three more feathers.

When he was shivering uncontrollably from the cold and his fingernails were ragged and dirty, his feather hit something plastic. He paused for a moment, stunned that he had actually found something, then carefully cleared the dirt around the object. Bit by bit it emerged from the ground until it became clear what it was—a black garbage bag. With shaking hands, Hawks tore the bag open to find a clump of dirty red hair and a skull.

Usually, Hawks’ role in a murder case ended with him catching the villain and filling out paperwork. After that he wasn’t involved at all. He couldn’t tell you what happened after any of those murders were taken over by the police. In those cases, the murder was fresh, the identity of the victim and perpetrator known. He was a pro hero. He dealt with villain attacks and the occasional natural disaster, not cold cases.

Who were you? he thought as the detectives processed the scene.

What happened to you? he thought as the police took his statement. How did you get here? How long have you been here?

Do you have a family? Are they waiting for you to come home? Did they move on?

Hawks knew about John Does and Jane Does. He knew about things like bodies never identified, cases never solved, murderers never caught, going on with their lives as if they hadn’t ended someone else’s. He knew about these things, but he never thought about them. It wasn’t relevant to him. He never thought about families whose loved ones never came home. Who attended a John Doe’s funeral? How were they buried? What was written on their grave?

It occurred to Hawks for the first time that anyone could have done this. He could have looked this person’s murderer straight in the eyes and never known. It was absurd, he knew. There were too many people in this area of Japan, and they could have moved away by now. On top of that, who knew how long this body had been there? The murderer could be dead themselves, or locked away for killing someone else.

The news broke the next day. The commission made sure Hawks’ name was kept out of it. It would be a nightmare for the public to wonder why the number two hero was following the villain Dabi through the dark woods instead of, you know, arresting him. There was a commotion, but not a big one. Not as big as Hawks was expecting. There was a person killed and dumped in a shallow grave like they meant nothing, and people just gossiped and tutted and then went on to talk about the most recent episode of their favorite shows.

They called him Endor Park John Doe.

Hawks should have been ashamed of using his connections to gain access to the investigation. He should have been, but he wasn’t.

“Now, if you look here,” the forensic pathologist said to Hawks, running his finger down a line on the skull, “these are called the cranial sutures. They are the seams of your skull, so to speak. When you are a newborn, they are completely open to facilitate childbirth, but the older you get, the more they close. They begin to fuse completely when you are around thirty, and these-” He tapped the skull. “-are not fused.”

“So he was under thirty?” Hawks asked. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the skull.

“Definitely. More telling is this.” The pathologist turned the skull onto its side and pointed at a tooth. “This is a wisdom tooth, and it hasn’t come in yet.”

Hawks stared blankly at the tooth. “...and that means?”

“Wisdom teeth come in in your early twenties, which means that, based on the size of the skeleton, this person was somewhere between thirteen and twenty three or so. If I had to guess, I’d put him between fifteen and seventeen. During adolescence, each of your major arm bones and leg bones finish growing at different times. This young man’s humerus has fused and is done growing-” The pathologist touched one of the bones on the table. “-but his radius has not.”

So he was a teenager, probably still in high school, when he died. Were his friends worried when he stopped coming to class? Did his parents think he ran away?

“Do you have a cause of death yet?”

“Unfortunately not.” The pathologist carefully set the skull down on the table with the rest of the bones and took off his latex gloves. “There are no knife marks on any of the bones. The soft tissue is too degraded for most toxicology tests. His clothes are scorched, but his bones show no sign of fire damage, so he may have died of smoke inhalation. Without the lungs, we’ll never know. There is one important thing, though.” His face was somber. “Many of his bones are fractured, some of them quite badly.”

“He was beaten to death?”

“Perhaps. There isn’t any trauma serious enough to cause death by itself, but it’s possible that he sustained internal injuries and bled to death. And...” He hesitated. “There are even more fractures in various stages of healing. Far more than the average boy his age.”

“Abuse?” Hawks said. Could he have been murdered by a member of his family?

“Possibly. He could have been a student at a hero school, as well. They get quite rowdy, especially those at UA.”

Not likely. Students at hero schools had gone missing before, of course, but the school usually made a big commotion out of it. Hawks’ mind was stuck on the image of a faceless man or woman beating their teenage son to death. Or, maybe he ran away because of the abuse and met a grisly end on the streets. It wasn’t a pretty picture from any angle.

“We’re still no closer to identifying the body,” the pathologist said, shaking Hawks out of his thoughts. “I can’t pinpoint when he died. It has to have been a few years, at least. He doesn’t have any identifying items on him, and his clothes are generic. The brand of the trash bag he was wrapped in was discontinued five years ago, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have any lying around somewhere.”

“What about DNA?” Hawks hadn’t seen many crime dramas, but everything always seemed to revolve around DNA.

The pathologist grimaced. “The body is too badly degraded. I tried pulling some pulp out of the teeth-” (Hawks winced at the thought of teeth pulp being pulled out.) “-but I couldn’t get enough from that either. It’s useless without anything to compare it to, anyway. If our John Doe here isn’t in any database, we’re out of luck. We called in a forensic artist, and she’ll be here in a couple of days. Hopefully we’ll have a face by the end of the week.”

“You led me to that body on purpose, didn’t you?”

Dabi slowly turned his head to look at Hawks. He ran his tongue over his teeth and tilted his head as if contemplating the question. “What do you think?”

Hawks thought- he thought- he didn’t know what he thought. He’d slept so little the past few nights, his mind swirling. Why had Dabi gone into that forest that night? Did he go there frequently? Had nobody ever noticed before?

Logically, Dabi must have known that a body was buried there, otherwise he wouldn’t have stopped at that exact spot. The most likely conclusion was that he was the murderer, visiting the unmarked grave of his victim, either to gloat or out of remorse. That was certainly what the commission (and the police) thought. But it didn’t sit right with Hawks.

Dabi had to have known Hawks had been following him that night. He looked straight at Hawks, with no hesitation or surprise.

“...Did you kill him?” Hawks asked, not believing it even as he said it.

“No.”

The silence rung in Hawks’ ears.

“Do you know who he is?”

Dabi grinned, a lopsided, gruesome thing that pulled against his staples, and said nothing.

Hawks didn’t get much sleep that night, either. Disjointed fragments of thoughts crashed into each other in his already muddled mind. How did Dabi know Endor Park John Doe? Were they friends? Relatives? Did he witness the murder?

In the back of his mind another possibility stirred, but he ignored it.

“Facial reconstruction is part science, part art,” the forensic artist said. “You can only get so much from a skull. The soft tissue and skin is lost, so you must give it your best guess.”

She turned the bust so Hawks could get a better look. It was crude and finely carved at the same time. Features were smoothed out, but the sculptor’s skill was indisputable.

The artist tugged on a red wig, the same color as the clump of hair found in the bag with the corpse. Recognition twinged inside Hawks.

“He looks familiar,” he said.

The artist and the detective looked at him sharply. “You know who he is?” she asked.

Hawks shook his head. “It’s just a feeling. I can’t place it.”

The detective hummed doubtfully. “Let us know if you remember anything. Either way, we’ll get this out on the evening news tonight. With any luck, someone will recognize the face. I wouldn’t get your hopes up, though; cold case John Does tend to sit for a long time before they’re identified, if they ever are.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky?” Hawks couldn’t imagine never knowing. It would eat at him for the rest of his life.

“Maybe.”

Less than a month later, Todoroki Fuyumi came into the station with tears in her eyes and a picture of her brother clutched in her hand.

Endor Park John Doe had a name and it was Todoroki Touya. Twin brother of Todoroki Fuyumi and oldest child of Pro-Hero Endeavor. He was sixteen years old the last time anyone had seen him, six years ago. Six years to the day that Hawks followed Dabi into the woods and found Touya’s body. According to Endeavor, Touya stormed off after a fight and he never saw him again. He was never reported missing.

This time, it was a complete media circus. Nobody seemed to care much about a nameless, faceless, murdered child found in a shallow grave in the woods, or, if they did care, it was at a distance. But the number one hero’s son found brutally murdered? Now that was a story.

Hawks stared numbly at the television screen, the remote dangling from his fingers, as the news showed the same photos of Touya over and over. He stared at the slope of Touya’s nose, the shape of his face, the color of his eyes. He heard sixteen year old Touya crack a joke at his sister’s expense on a home video the news got their hands on.

Touya had a fire quirk. His flames were so hot they burned blue.

Hawks thought a lot that night about how Dabi was literally stapled together. About how Dabi had survived hits that he shouldn’t have. How Hawks had never seen Dabi eat or sleep.

Dabi had a fire quirk.

“I wanted to thank you for bringing Touya back home to us,” Fuyumi said.

Hawks couldn’t say anything for a second. He stared at Fuyumi. “But I didn’t bring him back? He’s...” He made a weak gesture towards the coffin.

He couldn’t help feeling like he had failed Touya and the Todorokis despite that fact that Touya had died when Hawks was still a teenager himself.

Fuyumi shook her head. “I meant you brought us closure. We- we have a body to bury. Thank you.” Tears started to well up in her eyes.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Hawks couldn’t handle this. It was too much. He cast about the room, desperate to find a way out of this situation. “I’m sorry,” Fuyumi said, wiping the tears away. “I shouldn’t burden you...”

“No- no! You’re fine! I-”

Shouting from the other side of the room interrupted them.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”

Fuyumi and Hawks whipped their heads toward the source of the shouting. Natsuo and Endeavor stood across from each other, squared off. Natsuo clenched his fists and glared up at Endeavor. It was the second time Hawks had seen Endeavor in anything other than his hero costume and without his fire. The effect was still jarring. He looked like an entirely different person.

“Touya was my son. It would look bad-”

“Oh! It would look bad!” Natsuo laughed, a hysterical, almost cruel edge to it. “Of course. You have to at least pretend to act like you cared about him. Otherwise, people would talk. You can’t have that, can you?”

A few people skirted around them, eyeing the two like they were dangerous animals. They practically were.

“Natsuo-”

“No. You don’t get to say anything. Go away, and leave the people who actually cared about him to mourn. Sneak out the back if you have to, so the news won’t know and sully your precious reputation.”

For one terrible moment, Hawks thought that Endeavor was going to hit Natsuo. He tensed, prepared to move, but then Endeavor gave a jerk of his head and stormed off.

Natsuo sagged, all signs of fury gone. He caught sight of Hawks and Fuyumi and a sheepish look came over his face. He hurried over to them.

“I’m sorry, Fuyumi.”

“Was that really necessary?”

“Yes. I can’t stand the idea of that asshole coming in here after-” Natsuo paused. His eyes darted back and forth between Hawks and Fuyumi. He leaned in and whispered, “I think he had something to do with it.”

Fuyumi gasped. “Natsuo! You can’t mean that. Sure, Father wasn’t a- a good father, and he and Touya didn’t get along, but he isn’t a murderer. They had a fight and Touya ran off.”

“Is that what we’re calling it? A ‘fight’? He could barely walk after one of their ‘fights’, let alone run away.”

Hawks’ head was swimming. All of those fractures... It wasn’t possible. “Are you sure?”

“Hawks! Don’t believe it. He has a bad relationship with our father, and he’s grieving. He doesn’t mean it.”

“I can’t be sure, but...” Natsuo looked down at the floor. He looked back up at Hawks with determination in his eyes. “None of us actually saw him that night. We only have Father’s word of what happened, and Touya didn’t take any of his belongings with him.”

Fuyumi shook her head. “Natsuo, please don’t. He probably just left for a walk to calm down-”

“Then why didn’t Father call the police when he didn’t come home? Why didn’t he look for him? Organize a search? If nothing else, he’s responsible for that.”

Fuyumi looked away. She sighed. “Can we drop this, please? Mother and Shouto will be here soon, and I don’t want them to hear.”

Natsuo pressed his lips into a thin line, but nodded. Hawks murmured his assent, already half lost in his thoughts.

Hawks couldn’t sleep again that night. Thoughts of the healed fractures on Touya’s bones, Endeavor’s brash behavior, and Natsuo’s accusations churned sluggishly in his head. The commission had taken over the case and ruled it confidential, much to the police’s fury. Not even Hawks had high enough clearance to view the files now. They insisted that it was their right because it concerned the number one hero’s son, and that Dabi was the killer, no more investigation necessary.

Hawks thought of Dabi’s scars. He thought of the scorch marks on Touya’s clothes. He thought of Dabi’s pure, unadulterated hatred for Endeavor.

He didn’t want to believe it.

“Are you Todoroki Touya?” Hawks asked. He didn’t use the word ‘ghost’. The thought should be preposterous, but instead it felt like merely confirming the truth.

Dabi laughed. “That would be something, wouldn’t it?”

Hawks swayed. He knew it, but he had hoped-

His mouth was dry. “Who killed you?” he asked hoarsely.

Dabi grinned so widely his staples tore, and blood dripped down his face. “You already know.”

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha fanfiction #my hero academia #bnha hawks #hawks #dabi #major character death #dabi is todoroki touya #dabi is a todoroki #todoroki fuyumi #todoroki natsuo #murder mystery #ghost story #angst #forensic science #ctabb halloween bang 2019

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cutepresea · 4 years

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1-1 Titan Symphony: Titan Island

Apologies for the upcoming spam, but since service for the English version of Symphogear XD Unlimited is going to be discontinued in a few months, I’ll be posting text transcriptions of the scripts for events that have been/will be available, just in case anything happens to the videos others have uploaded/will upload.

If you want to blacklist these, you can use either the tag #titan symphony for just this event, or #xdu event scripts for all these posts in general.

I’ll be starting with Titan Symphony, the Attack on Titan crossover event, and going “in order” from there (Valkyries’ Summer actually comes before both A Light That Pierces the Clouds and Kimono Rumble, but it won’t be in English until late June). Each part of each event will be its own post, so 1-1 will be first part of Titan Symphony, 1-2 will be part 2 of Titan Symphony, and so on, while 2-1 will be the first part of One Winged Wielders...You get the idea.

Note that this is copied straight from the game itself, so any grammatical weirdness, mistranslations, and/or mischaracterizations are not my doing.

Hibiki Tachibana: "Is this a new mission?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Yes. We've received reports of a strange incident on a nearby island. Our HQ sub is currently en route."

Chris Yukine: "We haven't even got back home from our last mission and there's another incident?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "There's no time to lose. You three will handle this mission. The others will be on standby back home."

Tsubasa Kazanari: Things must be pretty bad on that island if we're having to change course so suddenly."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Indeed. Take a look at this photo"

Genjuro Kazanari: "This is Titan Island. A small, inhabited island within Japanese waters."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Titan Island? That's a weird name."

Elfnein: "Its official name is different, but that is what the local residents know it as."

Elfnein: Ever since mysterious, giant bones were unearthed there long ago, legends of Titans have taken hold there."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Well that explains the name, then. What's become of those bones now?"

Elfnein: "The islanders now know them as the Bones of the Titan King[1]. They're enshrined as an object of fear and awe."

Chris Yukine: "Wait, hold on. You don't suppose those bones were part of a relic, do you?"

Elfnein: "That's what the government feared, so they investigated in secret, but it seemed they were just fossils."

Elfnein: "The details were sparse, but it was concluded they were possibly of an extinct species of large mammal."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Or so we thought. With things as they stand, the Bones of the Titan King can't be ruled out as unrelated."

Genjuro Kazanari: "The incident started with a powerful radio disturbance blanketing the island."

Genjuro Kazanari: As a result, communications on the island became impossible, and no aircraft can approach."

Genjuro Kazanari: "While we were looking into the cause, someone from Titan Island washed ashore on a nearby island."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Washed ashore?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "The person was gravely injured, and quite shaken, at that."

Genjuro Kazanari: "They claimed that Titans had suddenly appeared on the island, and had begun attacking the people there."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Titans?!"

Chris Yukine: "What the hell?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "So what you're saying is that our mission..."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Is what you think it is. You will search the island for survivors, and investigate the cause of the incident."

Genjuro Kazanari: "If the islander's report is true, however, there may be Titans lying in wait for you."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Do you... Do you think the Titans can talk?"

Elfnein: "There is a possibility, however we have not learned much from the islander who was rescued."

Elfnein: "Meaning that the Titans are still a complete mystery."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Also, the islander told us that a mysterious man was spotted on the island a few days prior to the incident."

Genjuro Kazanari: "We're not sure who it could be, but they must have some connection to all this. Be careful out there."

Tsubasa & Hibiki & Chris: "Roger that!"

Chris Yukine: "So this is Titan Island? Seems like a quiet enough place."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Let's start by heading to the village. We should be able to find some locals there."

Chris Yukine: "And maybe some Titans, too..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yeah. Maybe we could just ask the Titans why they attacked the islanders?"

Chris Yukine: "This ain't the time for your usual antics. What the hell are you expecting to talk about with Titans?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "That's not what I meant. I just figured since they're big people, maybe they can talk like us little people."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "In any case, we'll first need to confirm for ourselves what they truly are... I can see the village."

Hibiki Tachibana: "This is awful..."

Chris Yukine: "Guess the stuff about the attack was true. And look at these footprints..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Are those from a Titan?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "We have to hurry and investigate the village. There may be survivors!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Right. I'll go look over there!"

Chris Yukine: "How were things on your end?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I found no survivors, unfortunately. But no bodies, either. Just bloodstains here and there."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Same on my end. I wonder if this means that they were attcked, but all managed to get away?"

Chris Yukine: "Maybe. Perhaps they fled the village and are hiding somewhere."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Let's follow the footprints. If the islanders fled the Titans and were followed, we should find both."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Okay, let's go check it out!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Helloooo? Is anyone heeeere?"

Chris Yukine: "I don't see anyone."

Tsubasa Kazanari: I think we've traveled pretty far inland."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Then they must have fled even further!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I suppose so. Let's keep going..."

Islander: "I-Is anyone there?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "I heard a voice! Is that one of the islanders?!"

Chris Yukine: "He's over there! Looks like some people are safe after all. Heeey! Over here! We're here to help, so just--"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "...There's something there behind that man!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Is that...a Titan?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Oh, no. It's going to catch him!"

Islander: L-Let me go! Help! Somebody heeeeelp!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh?"

Chris Yukine: "Did it just... eat him?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: “Rgh! So that's why there were no bodies back in the village!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "We were too late... He was coming to us for help, and yet..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "What's that sound?!"

Chris Yukine: "What now?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It's coming from the woods. There they are!"

Chris Yukine: "It's a whole herd of Titans! There were this many of them?!"

Chris Yukine: "Yikes... Dealing with this many of them isn't going to be easy!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: They're making a beeline for us. I think they're looking to make us their next meal!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Wait! Why are you attacking humans? If there's a reason you're doing this, then maybe we can--"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Aaaah! Lemme go!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Tachibana!"

Chris Yukine: That idiot! I TOLD her this would happen!"

Chris Yukine: Still, I'll be damned if I'm gonna let her get eaten!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Oof! Thanks, Chris-chan!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It doesn't appear these things can be reasoned with."

Chris Yukine: "Yeah, they're nothing but monsters. It looks like they see everything as food. Including the islanders..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yeah. If we don't do something, they might eat the rest of the survivors."

Hibiki Tachibana: "We're going to stop them right here and now!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Raaaaaaagh!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "No matter how much I pound on this thing, it keeps regenerating!"

Chris Yukine: "Then I'll just have to blow it to smithereens!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I'll cut it down!"

Chris Yukine: "That didn't work either?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It looks like all we can do is slow them down."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Elfnein-chan, what's going on with these Titans? ...Elfnein-chan!"

Chris Yukine: "The radio disturbance is blocking our comms, remember?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Oh, shoot, that's right!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "If we don't know how to beat them, then fighting will only waste our energy. We need to fall back for now!"

Chris Yukine: "Yeah!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Haah... Hahh... Looks like we lost them."

Chris Yukine: "That's great and all, but just where are we now?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "We were practically running blind escaping those Titans. I'd guess we've come further inland now."

Chris Yukine: "I'd like to get back to HQ, but we'd have to deal with the damn Titans first."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Maybe we could try to sneak the long away around without being spotted?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Hey, come over here! Look at the base of this cliff!"

Chris Yukine: "Stop shouting! What if the Titans come swarm us again? Whoa, what's that?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It seems some sort of hole has opened up between dimensions. What on earth could this be--"

Chris Yukine: "Hey, look! Something's coming out of the rift!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Is that a person?!"

??? (Eren)[2]: "Who are these guys?" Hibiki Tachibana: "Thank goodness, there are still survivors left!"

Chris Yukine: "Wait, these guys don't look like the other islanders. See all that gear? Looks pretty suspicious to me."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "You don't think it could have been them terrorizing the islanders, do you?!"

??? (Eren): "Those are some strange-looking clothes... Armin, you seen anything like this before?"

??? (Armin): "No, this is new for me too. Mikasa, what do you make of them?"

??? (Mikasa): "I can't tell if they're friends or foes."

??? (Levi): "Then we'll just have to ask them ourselves."

??? (Levi): "Hey! I've got questions, and you're gonna answer them."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Y-Yes sir!"

??? (Levi): "What is this place?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "You don't know? This is Titan Island."

??? (Levi): "Titan... Island? Why the hell would you bring us to a place with a name as ridiculous as "Titan Island"?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Wait, you've got it all wrong, we didn't bring you here. But that means you're not from around here, right?"

??? (Levi): "Rgh, I'm the one asking the questions here, kid."

Chris Yukine: "Jeez, this guy sucks at holding a conversation. We've got questions of our own, too. No need to be rude."

Chris Yukine: "You guys must know something about those Titan-things that appeared on the island, right?"

??? (Eren): "What's there to know? A Titan's a Titan."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "So you do know something! I knew it, they must be--"

??? (Eren): "Titans!"

Chris Yukine: "They followed us all the way up the cliff?! But there's barely room to breathe up here!"

??? (Levi): "Two Titans, huh? The pleasantries can wait. You guys stay out of our way until we've taken them down."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Wait, you're going to fight them?!"

Chris Yukine: "They can fly?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Are they using wires? I've never seen equipment like that before..."

??? (Mikasa): "Now!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "It disappeared!"

Chris Yukine: "How the hell did they do that? We took them down so many times, but even then they just got back up..."

??? (Levi): "Didn't I tell you to get out of the way? ...Huh?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Wh-What's that noise?!"

??? (Mikasa): "Is it an earthquake?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Behind us!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Wha?!"

???[3]: "You've gotta be kidding me..."

Chris Yukine: "What the hell is that?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Brace yourselves!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Grrgh!"

Chris Yukine: "Its attacks are too big! All I can do is dodge them."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Our attacks are barely making a scratch."

??? (Eren): "What's with their gear?"

??? (Levi): "Do we really have the time to be concerned about their damn gear?!"

??? (Armin): "They're coming from the other side of the cliff! At this rate, we'll be surrounded!"

??? (Mikasa): "We won't be able to take them on while we're still fighting the Colossal Titan."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "They're unlikely to be able to scale the cliff, right? As frustrating as it is, we should retreat to HQ."

Chris Yukine: "You're right. We have to focus on making it out alive!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "You guys should come back to HQ with us!"

??? (Levi): "Well, unknown to us as you may be, you seem to at least know your way around this place."

??? (Levi): "If we stay here, we're as good as dead. We'll come along to their HQ for now, and ask questions later."

??? (Mikasa & Eren & Armin): "Yes, Sir!"

Chris Yukine: "Seriously, they still don't trust us? We're doing them a huge favor here."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "At this stage, I can't say I trust them, either. Let's just focus on getting out of here and back to safety."

Hibiki Tachibana: "In that case, I'll lead the--"

??? (Armin): "Stop, stop! The Colossal Titan's attacking!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Urgh!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Th-Thank you. If you hadn't said something, I would've been a goner!"

??? (Armin): "Oh, you're welcome."

??? (Armin): "Thankfully, that attack actually opened up an escape route for us. Let's go, and fast!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "All right! Back to HQ, everyone, and not another word until we're there!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Haah... Haah..."

??? (Eren): "Haah... Wow... We made it, somehow..."

Elfnein: "Welcome back, everyone. I am glad to see you're all unharmed. However, I must ask... Who are these people?"

Chris Yukine: "Truth be told, we're not really sure ourselves."

Chris Yukine: "It doesn't look like they're involved in this mess, but they definitely know something about those Titans."

Genjuro Kazanari: "My name is Genjuro Kazanari. I'm the commander of S.O.N.G., the organization investigating the Titans."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Oh yeah, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Hibiki Tachibana, and this is Tsubasa-san and Chris-chan!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "And you guys are?"

Levi: "Levi. As for those three..."

Eren: "I'm Eren."

Mikasa: "Mikasa."

Armin: "My name's Armin."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Nice meeting you. Now, I think we should put our heads together to work out exactly what's going on here, yes?"

Levi: "Yeah. I think there's more going on here than any of us truly realize."

Levi: "We were pulled in by what almost seemed like a rift in space. When we came to afterwards, here we were."

Levi: "Now first things first, what exactly is this place?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "...I see. So in your world, you have Titans instead of Noise. And you live behind walls for protection."

Genjuro Kazanari: "And while the Scouts were on duty outside the walls, you guys got sucked in by a rift and wound up here."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Those are the important parts, right?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "I'm sure you can tell are no Titan-proof walls[4] in our world. You four must have come from a parallel world."

Levi: "A parallel world..."

Eren: "You can't be serious?! There's no way we came from another world!"

Armin: "While it might be hard to believe, it would certainly explain their equipment, and this facility, too..."

Armin: "I think they're right, Eren. We've arrived in a world parallel to our own."

Eren: "That's impossible... Then again, you're never usually wrong, Armin."

Eren: "In that case, how do we get back to our own world? We have people waiting for us back home."

Elfnein: "To move between parallel worlds, you would usually use Gjallarhorn, but I'm afraid that is not possible here."

Elfnein: "I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you were sucked into a rift, there is probably a reason for its opening."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Is this rift like the one we saw by the cliff?"

Elfnein: "The very same. It is also most likely the reason for the radio disturbance that blankets the island."

Elfnein: "If we can consider the rift you all came through an "entrance", your "exit" is likely the cliffside rift."

Armin: "So you're saying if we go through that rift, we'll come out the other side back into our world?"

Elfnein: "I think that may be the only way. However, there is a possibility that the link between worlds may close..."

Eren: "Then we've got to get back there before it does!"

Armin: "You're forgetting about the Titans. We'll never reach the rift if we don't do something about them."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "In my opinion, it seems rather likely that the Titans came here through the same rift as you four did."

Chris Yukine: "What even is a Titan?"

Armin: "Even in our world, they're quite the mystery."

Armin: "What we know for sure, however, is that if they catch you, they WILL eat you."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I see, so then the islanders..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "......"

Armin: "They have regenerative abilities, so the only way to get rid of them is by attacking the nape of their neck."

Armin: "Our omni-directional mobility gear was created for just that."

Chris Yukine: "That's some useful tech. Back at the cliff, you used the blades on those things to slash their necks, right?"

Armin: "That's right. But that huge one, the Colossal Titan... Of all the Titans, it's the one we know least about."

Armin: "It caused a horrible tragedy back in our world, though I'm not sure if that was the same one we ran into."

Genjuro Kazanari: "So it's close to the rift? Doesn't that mean you'll have to take it on to return home?"

Armin: "......"

Eren: "We'll do whatever we have to do. No matter how long it takes, we absolutely have to get home."

Levi: "He's right. And now that we've cleared everything up, I imagine we'll be heading out shortly."

Hibiki Tachibana: "I'll go too!"

Eren: "...Why?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh? Because it's dangerous, duh!"

Eren: "So? You've no obligation to tag along just because it might be dangerous."

Eren: "Sure, we'll have to do something about the Titans, but we'll just take our time and work something out."

Hibiki Tachibana: "But what if the rift closes before you get there?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "You said you had people waiting for you back home, right? They're probably worried sick about you!"

Eren: "Do you think fighting Titans is easy? If you're that concerned about helping, then quit getting in the way!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "That's just..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "This isn't just any Titan, this is the Colossal Titan. Are we supposed to just sit and watch it destroy you?"

Eren: "Listen, it just caught us off guard. This time I'll definitely--"

Levi: "Shut up, all of you. I already told you, we don't have time for this."

Levi: "Do as you like. I won't stop you coming along, but if you hold us back, you're gone. I won't warn you twice."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Master, what do you think? He said we could go too..."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Hmm. If the link between the worlds isn't broken soon, there's a chance this mess could get even worse."

Genjuro Kazanari: "The three of you can go, so long as you focus on figuring out the cause behind the rifts."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Of course... Thank you, Master!"

Eren: "...You seem pretty calm for someone who just sent his subordinates to their death."

Genjuro Kazanari: "All I can say is, don't underestimate Hibiki-kun. She'll do the impossible to help someone."

Eren: "......"

Hibiki Tachibana: (I don't just want to go with them, I want to fight together, too. That probably won't be easy, though...)

Notes:

[1] “Titan King” was a reference to Daidarabotchi in the original Japanese script. Not sure why they didn't keep it in English when there are so many other references to different myths in Symphogear. Oh well.

[2] Labeling the ???s here for convenience since I didn’t use visuals. The game itself doesn't label their names until they introduce themselves

[3] Sorry, I can't tell which character said this since they were still labeled ??? and wasn’t shown onscreen at the time nor was there an accompanying voice clip

[4] They accidentally a word here. It needs to read, "I'm sure you can tell there are no Titan-proof walls"

#senki zesshou symphogear #symphogear #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #senki zesshou symphogear xd unlimited #symphogear xd unlimited #titan symphony #xdu event scripts #xdu scripts #crossover

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theaterkid821 · 5 years

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Gather ‘round peeps. It’s story time. (Spoilers for changes so don’t read if you’re seeing it soon in the future)

Pre-show

So the first thing I feel like I need to say is that if you are a purist for what they call BMC 1.0, you may not like this. There were a lot of changes to lyrics and lines. It was the same show we all love, but it was different. I loved most of the changes but I can see why some people wouldn’t.

In Will Roland’s bio, he says “actor/singer/human.” That’s not important to the show, but it was important to me that you know that.

Also something for my fellow plus size people, the seats are not the most accommodating. Hopefully that isn’t a deterrent, but it is something you should probably know.

They have a thing called squiptheline.com where you can preorder your merch and pick them up. I got poster, sticker pack, and lip balm (they are mountain dew and mountain dew red)

And then it begins...

They had the SQUIP do the intro and it was beautifully hysterical.

They lit up the dot on the “i” (which was a little pill) on the curtain-thing

The shelves behind Jeremy’s bed were full of nerd shit and it was beautiful.

Jeremy has glasses. Nerd level even higher

Jeremy’s dad comes on with unwashed bowls of cereal, old pizza boxes, and cartoons on. Really adds to his depressed aesthetic.

When he’s leaving, you see the mailbox full of mail.

He comes back on as the bus driver so quickly.... how?

During the dance bit, he runs into everyone and shouts “girls!” and then shouts “boys!”

Instead of “so Jenna Roland... I mean slutty” dialogue, they change it to “What are you staring at.... I’ve never even noticed him.”

Signup comes from up above. It’s awesome.

Christine comes on to catch her Eos chapstick (as someone who uses Eos chapstick, I can tell you this is 100% accurate) and then dramatic application

After second verse, before Michael’s entrance, they have Chloe talk dodge a question about her and Jake’s breakup and then Jenna says she saw him with someone. To which Chloe responded, “tell me everything” and then exited.

George Salazar is amazing and I love him.

Even from the beginning, with Michael you weren’t sure on the LGBTQ+ spectrum he was, but he DEFINITELY wasn’t straight.

(Headcannon #1 they used; Michael’s has 2 moms); when seeing the infamous “boyf” “riends,” he took out his phone to take a selfie and said “my mothers would be thrilled!”

Play thing came down from the sky again and Christine lay on the floor for a little bit so you could see her face underneath until it covered her

She did the chorus line dance!

The awkwardness of the scene before I Love Play Rehearsal. 10/10.

The popular kids knocked Christine and Jeremy off the chairs (my poor babies!)

Slightly after Jake impressing Christine: “Why are you guys doing the play anyways” “Brooke’s doing it because of Chloe, Chloe’s doing it because of me, and Rich is doing it because he’s my boy” “and why are you doing it” “well i’m doing it because of you”

Bathroom scene even had the florescent lights come down.

Rich flushes Jeremy’s head down the urinal (poor child I wanted to hug him)

They whispered “so its like... drugs?” “it’s better than drugs Jeremy”

ITS FROM JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN. ‘Nough said

The projection behind the backup was TERRIFYING. They projected people all in white behind them doing the movements.

The rolled the bed on stage for 2 Player Game

Screaming “The cafetorium!” and then having the quieter music as they sit and play the game, emotionless was beautiful.

“You’re like this bottle of Crystal Pepsi that expired in 1996″ “Is that safe for human consumption?” “Gets better with age”

They had a projection of the game in the background at the end.

They had fog in the shoebox as well as a blue light

“to activate take with mountain dew... not sure why.... and this is important, to deactivate-we’re sold out!”

And then never ended that thought...

“how do you feel?” “like...” singing to add to the dramatic moment and then... “a chump.”

“this guy is hooking me up with a case of ecto-something (i forget). It’s the ghostbusters drink they discontinued in the 90s!” “What does it taste like?” *whispered* “Ghosts!”

(Headcannon #2 they used; Jeremy being a furry); “my default mode you can also set me for... sexy anime female in cat suit with tail.”

They added an intro to Be More Chill

They cut out “i’m a super computer Jeremy, I’m made of math”

The SQUIP was sitting on the clothing rack for the clothing store part

Chloe broke a hanger after hearing he went with Madeline

For Do You Want a Ride, it started with Brooke began by slowly dragging the straw in and out of her soda can ;)

For the Reprise of Be More Chill, they had both the old lady in the track suit, and a lady in the scooter

her license plate said “bingo queen”

SQUIP comes back on in this weird jacket

New song here! Synched Up!

The SQUIP fixes his vision and he doesn’t need the glasses

It’s hard to describe the song, but it’s about friends being “synched” and how everyone is hiding something underneath.

You hear Michael a couple times, but you don’t see him

Talking about Mr. Reyes “his dreams are dead. That’s why he eats so many hot pockets” (hot pockets is sing-song)

When Jeremy says he was doing performance art, Christine has her own idea for a performance art piece. You don’t hear anything about the idea until then end when she’s squatting and shouts “and then I give birth to the bowling ball!”

You don’t hear it because the SQUIP is talking to Jeremy saying she’s unusual because she doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks.

During play rehearsal: “bring me patient zero!” “cough!” (she says cough). Then Brooke says her line in stressed iambic pentameter.

They had little hearts for Guy I’d Kinda Be Into

The SQUIP was all ready to point to Jeremy at the end and then was like “wtf” when she said Jake

They had bleachers for the football field for the scene before and during Upgrade

“She wants to make out with you” “Ive never made out with anyone in my life”

End of Brooke’s solo in the beginning, they changed. “So kiiiiiiiiiiiiss meeeeeeee.” *giant pause and then repeated melody* “like noooooooooooooooow”

They added dialogue after Jake and Christine which lead to this layering thing of them all singing “I’m tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am”

Loser Geek Whatever is so much more emotional than even when i saw it off broadway.

The SQUIP came back out in a very elaborate dress/jacket thing. It was cool

They played a jazzy version of the Pants Song during intermission

Christine dressed as a sexy princess

They added more harmonies to Halloween

Chloe was wasted for Do You Wanna Hang

The SQUIP fell onto the bed after going into factory setting

They took out the

Michael In the Bathroom... if you have a chance to see George Salazar perform this live, I highly recommend

Christine and Jeremy communicating through sounds is beautiful and just... a mood.

There was a sparkly red bra behind them

Rich takes a pumpkin and sets the house on fire.

For Smartphone hour, the changed the first verse of the chorus to “Rich set a fire and he burned down Jake’s house” which helps me immensely (fun fact, someone once thought I was crazy because my friend once texted me “did Rich set his own house on fire, or Jake’s house?” and they saw it and thought my friends were arsonists. I mean, I am somewhat insane, but... not for that reason)

Michael and the dad’s female characters came down from the ceiling.

Michael had shark slippers, Rich had unicorn slippers, and Jeremy’s dad was in a onesie that said “naughty”

I have said this before and I will say this again, it takes real courage to be on stage in front of a few hundred people and sing whilst in your boxers

Michael was wearing weed socks and was smoking of course

Jeremy’s dad thought he was burning incense lol

Christine: “Everyone is hurting and I don’t know how to help. So I guess I’ll just do theatre.” got such a laugh

They basically rewrote all the lyrics for Pitiful Children

Robotic kick-line

Christine knows what a SQUIP is because someone in her theatre camp took one and is now in a mental hospital... coincidence?

The SQUIP comes down from the sky and his chest lights up

Michael breaks through the paper scenery for “MICHAEL MAKES AN ENTRANCE!”

Everyone in zombie costumes for the fight scene makes the parallels to the game so much better

Rich has the lisp!

(Headcannon #3 they use; Rich and Michael); “anti-social headphones kid... is he single?” *sees him* “oh hiiiiii.” “Hi Rich,” *very awkwardly* “Bye Rich!” If you don’t want it, you don’t have to see it. But if you do ship it... oh my god.

He puts on his glasses again!

(Headcannon #4 they use; calling the group the squad); they rewrote the verse for Chloe, Jake, Brooke, and Jenna. they say to Jeremy “we’re your squad” not exactly the SQUIP squad, but still

When asked what her SQUIP looked like, Christine said RBG

For the date, Jeremy suggests the performance art she said she wanted to do.

At the end, there’s a projection of the SQUIP in the background

I’m tagging people who liked the previous post or commented so... Tag list: @molly-wonder-queer @72748-blog @simranthefangirl

#Be More Chill #be more chill musical

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imagineteamfreewill · 5 years

Text

Antigodlin

Title: Antigodlin

Pairing: Reader x Cas

Word Count: 2,542

Warnings: Cas is annoyed/irritable

Square Filled: Wing Fic

Summary: The reader discovers the source of Cas’ recent irritability and offers to help.

A/N: This is a submission for the 2019 SPN Fluff Bingo (@spnfluffbingo2019)! It is also another installment of the Words series. Please leave feedback, and enjoy!

Words Series Masterlist

Your name: submit What is this?

______________

Antigodlin: (adj.) lopsided or at an angle; out of alignment; askew

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” you asked.

Cas shot you an irritated look as you plopped down into the seat across from his. “I don’t have my—” He stopped short of repeating you, choosing instead to let out a heavy, annoyed sigh. “I’m trying to work, Y/N. It’s very important that I get this done for Sam and Dean. They need this information for—”

“For the case in Wichita,” you finished. “I know. But just because you’re an angel who doesn’t need sleep doesn’t mean you don’t need to rest. Besides, you’ve been on edge for days now. You could use a break.”

He didn’t reply. His lips pursed, Cas turned back to thumbing through the heavy tome in front of him. Only a moment later, he set it aside and pulled another one from the stack beside him to take its place, then began to look through that one as well.

“Cas,” you sighed. “Cas, you need to take a break.” Reaching across over, you grabbed the book and pulled it to your side of the table, then set it on the seat beside you so it was out of his reach.

Shooting you another annoyed look, Cas reached for the next book in his stack, but you stood and pulled it from his hands before he could even set it down in front of him.

“Y/N, I don’t have time for this.”

“Since when don’t you have time for me?” you asked, crossing your arms over your chest. “You’ve been pissy lately and it’s starting to annoy me. I wish you’d tell me if it was something I did.”

“It’s not something you did, Y/N,” Cas replied after a moment. “My… pissiness,” he repeated the word hesitantly, “has nothing to do with you.”

“Then what’s it have to do with? Huh?”

Castiel shifted uncomfortably in his chair, flexing his shoulders back and wincing as he moved. It wasn’t until you watched him subconsciously roll his shoulders again as he gave you an excuse for his irritability that you realized the real reason for his recent behavior.

“Are you in pain, Cas?” you asked, ignoring the half-formed excuse he’d just given you.

“What?”

“Are you in pain? You’re acting like you’ve got a giant knot in shoulders or something. Do you want me to massage it out for you?”

Shaking his head, Cas answered, “Y/N, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”

You noticed the redness in his cheeks and rolled your eyes. “Come on, Cas. It’s not a big deal. I’ve done it for Sam and Dean before. Helping each other with things like this is what friends do, right?”

He hesitated, looking at the stack of books he’d already completed. You waited patiently as he thought, but when he shifted again and winced as his shoulders moved, you sighed.

“Don’t be stupid, Cas. Let me help you.”

“It’s not that I don’t want your help, Y/N, it’s just… My shoulders aren’t what’s bothering me.”

You frowned, confused. “Okay… If it’s not your shoulders, then what is it?”

“My wings,” Cas reluctantly replied.

Now his irritability and all the secrecy made sense. You’d never seen his wings before, and you’d certainly never heard him mention them to anyone, not even to another angel.

No wonder he’s acting so weird about it, you thought, licking your lips as you tried to think of a good response.

“I see.”

Cas nodded. “They’re… delicate. I think some of the feathers got damaged or ruffled during the last hunt, but I can’t see them. Their span is quite wide.”

“I see,” you repeated dumbly. “I guess I could try and help you. I mean, if you want.”

The library was silent and Cas stared at you, holding your gaze as you waited for him to reply. Finally, he nodded his assent and stood.

“Where are you going?” you asked, staring up at him from your seat.

“I would prefer we do this someplace more private,” Cas told you, and nervousness bubbled up in you. You’d always wondered what those words would sound like coming from Cas’ mouth, and now that you’d heard them you wondered if your shy, school-girl crush would ever go away.

Nodding, you got up from your own seat and followed Cas down the hallway to the bedroom he’d claimed as his own. He’d never used it to sleep, except on the few rare occasions when his grace had been too diminished to sustain or heal him, but you knew that he often stole away into it in order to get some privacy.

Cas closed the door behind you and you smoothed your hands over your leggings, looking around the room. It looked exactly the same as yours, just with less personal items, but it somehow felt entirely different.

“You’re nervous,” Cas said from behind you, and you nodded in response. “While I appreciate your offer, Y/N, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I don’t want to make you nervous…”

“No!” you hurriedly replied, turning to face him. “No, Cas. I want to help. I just know that wings are pretty private. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard you mention them.”

He nodded, giving you a small, nervous smile of his own. “Yes. I’ve never shown anyone my wings before, with the exception of angels, who are born with the ability to differentiate the human plane of existence from our own.”

Nodding thoughtfully, you were mulling over Cas’ words when the room suddenly became significantly darker. You lifted your head and held back a gasp upon seeing Cas standing before you with two expansive, black wings spread out on either side of him. They were blocking the light from the bedside lamp, but the glow from the lamp on the desk was reflecting off them, causing the feathers to glisten and shine.

“Cas, they’re…”

“Painful,” he finished, and you nodded again, remembering why he was showing you something so personal in the first place.

Gesturing to the bed, you said, “Take a seat. I’ll go on the other side and see if there’s anything on the back of them that I can help you with.”

Cas did as you asked and you made your way around the bed, bumping into the desk chair and then the edge of his wing as you scooted past. You mumbled apologies the whole way around, and you were sure that your cheeks were flushed with embarrassment by the time you finally reached the other side of the mattress.

Pull yourself together, Y/N, you silently ordered. Stop making yourself looking like an idiot.

“Do you see anything?” Cas asked as you shifted the bedside lamp to try and get a better view of the back. He sounded antsy and you watched as he shifted on the edge of the mattress, the wings moving as well, just like when your arms swung at your sides as you walked. Cas’ right wing came close to knocking over the lamp on the desk but it quickly tucked itself in, instinctively moving away from the object. He made an uncomfortable noise as the wing unfolded to its full length once more, and you decided that the end of the wing was as good a spot as any to start.

Pulling out your phone, you turned on the flashlight and brought it up to eye-level so that you could see the soft, delicate feathers better. As soon as you stepped up close you noticed that a few of them weren’t in line with the others.

“You were right,” you murmured. It felt wrong to speak at a normal volume during such an intimate moment, and though your stomach fluttered nervously as you waited for Cas to reply, you kept reminding yourself that he wouldn’t be showing you his wings unless he absolutely needed help. He probably would have asked Sam or Dean first if they hadn’t been out on a hunt.

Cas didn’t answered right away. Finally, he hesitantly said, “Can you… Y/N, can you move the feathers back into place? You won’t hurt me by touching them. Just… fix them the way you fix your hair. They’re strong.”

You nodded, despite the fact that he couldn’t see you, then lifted a hand and very gently ran your fingers through the feathers. They moved without issue and, surprisingly, didn’t feel as delicate as they looked. It felt like you were simply finger-combing your own hair, though it was a lot softer.

Cas let out a sigh and you looked up at him from behind the top ridge of the wing.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Yes. That feels wonderful. I haven’t had anyone touch my wings in such a long time, and—”

He cut himself off and you frowned. “And what, Cas?” When he didn’t answer, you pressed, “Cas, do you want me to comb the rest of your wings for you?”

The room was silent and you pursed your lips, keeping your eyes on Cas as you waited for his reply. After a few moments, he nodded his consent.

Smiling softly, you turned your attention back to his wing. Cas kept quiet for the most part as you began to groom the feathers once more, the only sounds being the soft sighs he let out whenever you fixed a particularly lopsided feather.

You finally finished the right wing after what seemed like an eternity. He’d been right when he said they were enormous.

“Cas,” you said, causing him to lift his head and look over his shoulder at you, “I gotta get a snack. I’ll be back, okay? Don’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t leave,” Cas said, unspoken need filling the sound of his voice as you ducked past his wing. You glanced back at him, and in the blink of an eye the bedspread was covered with all of your favorite snack foods—even ones that were your guilty pleasures, weren’t sold anymore, or came from obscure places you hadn’t been to in years.

“Cas, what are—” You laughed, smiling and shaking your head a little in disbelief. “What are you doing? How did you get all of this? I mean…” You stepped over to the bed and picked up a candy bar that had been discontinued years ago, inspecting it carefully. “Cas, they don’t even sell these anymore!”

“I’m an angel of the Lord,” he replied simply.

You couldn’t help but laugh in response. “I can see that.” You gestured to his wings, your smiled broadening. “But why did you do this? It wouldn’t have taken me that long to go grab some chips.”

Cas watched you, the confidence from his last answer fading and quickly being replaced with uncertainty. “I… I enjoy your company, Y/N. I don’t want to be without you right now. You’ve seen my wings, and though I’d be able to find you easily…”

It took you a second, but you understood what he meant only moments after he’d fallen silent. “You’re afraid I’ll leave,” you finished, and Cas nodded in response. “You should me something personal, and now you’re afraid I’m going to leave.”

Sighing softly, you cleared a spot beside him and sat down on the bed, feeling the candy slide across the bed and bump into the side of your thigh as the mattress dipped beneath you. “Cas, I wouldn’t do that to you. You’re a really great guy. A great angel, I guess,” you corrected yourself with a small smile, and you could’ve sworn that the side of Cas’ lips quirked up as well. “Your wings are gorgeous. They’re more beautiful than I could’ve ever imagined, and they’re really soft, too. I’d groom your wings all day if I could, honestly! You have nothing to worry about.”

He nodded slightly, glancing over to meet your eyes for a second. “Thank you, Y/N. That means a lot that you would say that. You mean a lot to me.”

Surprised, you watched him carefully before asking, “What do you mean by that? That I mean a lot to you?”

Cas muttered something and stood, his wing knocking into you in the process. You let out a cry of surprise and he quickly folded them against himself, wincing as the ungroomed one reminded him of its disheveled state.

“Are you alright?” he asked, and you nodded, though you kept rubbing the spot on the back of your head where the heavy appendage had hit you.

“I’m fine, but you don’t seem like you are. What kind of quick exit are you trying to make, cowboy?”

“I—” Cas pressed his lips together and made a frustrated noise, glancing at the door and standing straight again. “Dean told me this would be easier,” he sighed.

You couldn’t help but smile slightly at his frustration. “You’ve been talking to Dean about me? Were you planning on asking me to groom your wings, Cas?”

He shook his head and waved his hand, making all the food on the bed disappear, sans the candy bar in your hand. “No. We’ve spoken about other matters…” Cas kept quiet for a few moments as you tried to think of what else to say. “Y/N, I like you.”

You blinked. “Well, I… Thank you. I like you too, Cas.”

“No, Y/N,” he answered, shaking his head again, this time more urgently. “I like you in that I wish to spend all my time with you. I want to take you on dates like a normal boyfriend would and buy you gifts.”

“You like-like me?” you asked him. A smile began to blossom on your face as he nodded a little. “Is that what you talked to Dean about? About being my boyfriend?” Cas nodded again and you grinned. “That’s really sweet, Cas. I like-like you too.”

It was Cas’ turn to smile, and when you stood and gestured for him to sit back down again, he did so obediently.

“Let me see your wings again,” you said, still smiling. “I have to finish the left one, and then maybe we could watch a movie or something?”

“We have research to finish, Y/N,” he reminded you.

Knowing he was right, you went back to your spot on the other side of the bed and began to groom his other wing, drawing the soft, pleased noises from his lips once more. After a long while, he grew silent, and you glanced over the top of the wing to find that his eyes were closed.

“Cas?”

“Hmm?”

“You like this a lot, don’t you?” He nodded in response and you smoothed one hand over the top of his wing, causing him to shiver from wing-tip to toe. “After we’re done researching, do you want to watch that movie?”

“I’d like that more than I like this,” Cas answered, his voice soft and low, and you smiled softly as you went back to running your fingers through the feathers.

“Me too,” you murmured. “Though I wouldn’t be opposed to doing this for you whenever you needed it.”

Cas hummed happily from his spot. “I’ll keep that in mind, Y/N.”

_______________

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Forever, Sam, Dean, Cas, Deaf!Reader, Words Series (Multiple Pairings/Characters), Home Series (Reader x Marine!Sam) - Unposted, From The Dead Series (Reader x Soldier!Dean), The Switch Series (Reader x Sam), Sam x Meg 2.0, Blog/Series Updates, and Drabble Days/Writing Events

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willows-adventures-in-words · 4 years

Text

This is pretty old, but I haven’t posted anything in a while so I figured I’d share this if anyone is interested. This is a discontinued idea I had quite a while ago based off the idea of being trapped in a video game. But before I thought of it I had been sitting on the first two sentences for a few years (I think) with the thought of I’ll know what to do with it eventually...

Word count: 1092

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With the moon hidden behind the clouds and the few stars in the sky doing nothing to offer any light, it was pitch black. At the end of a wooded pathway sat an old worn down shack. Sitting hunched in the corner next to the worn out bed, he tightly gripped a stake in his hands. He had shoved an end table against the only door in a poor attempt to barricade the door. There was crunching outside. Holding his breath, he hoped it would pass. Except it didn't. There was a scraping sound coming from the door. He scrunched back into the corner and shook his head. The sound stopped after a moment and he quickly glanced to the bed wondering if it would be possible to hide underneath it. The mattress was so worn and without any blankets it wouldn't give him much cover.

Bang! The door shook on its hinges. He jerked his attention back just in time to see it break off and fall at a slant against the table. Pale yellow eyes glowed in the dark. Staying as still as possible he hoped it wouldn't see him in the dark corner of the room. It sniffed and did a slow scan of the room. Until its eyes landed on him. The silence was so thick that he could hear his own heartbeat. And for a second he didn't think it saw him, but then it let out an animalistic growl. “Oh, shi-” he managed as he scrambled to his feet as it almost perfectly bounded into the room. It crashed into the corner as he stumbling up on the bed only to jump off towards to other side of the small room. With a glance back he noticed it starting to recover already and rushed to the doorway. Suddenly, the bed, mattress and all, was hurled at him. One of the legs of the metal frame slammed him in the face. He hit the wall and for a second had difficulty seeing straight. He staggered towards where the door was even before he had his vision back. Unfortunately, when his vision did return he realized it was already too late as his attacker bounded towards him. Large exaggerated claws reached for him, and he clumsily swung the stake in an attempt to defend himself, but he lacked the coordination after being hit by the bed. His failed attempt at defense, however, made him an easier target for his opponent. He was grabbed, inch long claws digging in, by the chest and shoved back with such force that he banged his head against the wall as well. By some miracle he didn't drop the stake, which, out of desperation, he stabbed it into the creatures back.

Throwing him aside, the beast shrieked and attempted to get the stake from its back. He struggled to get up as he gagged and coughed up blood. He looked up to the door and hoped the thing would be distracted long enough as he dragged himself to his feet and shuffled forward. That's when he felt it. The thing's claws digging into his shoulder-blades and one in the back of his neck. He fell face forward into a broken piece of something. When...

He came to laying face down on the wooden floor. “Ow...” he groaned as he moved to sit on his knees. His chest ached and he had a splitting headache. Looking around, he felt a discomfort in his neck. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before getting to his feet and stretched. The room he was in looked familiar. Heading to the door, he paused a moment, listening, before opening it to a hallway. With a sigh, he muttered, “Figures.” It was the same place he found himself when this whole mess started. He was tired as well as a bit irritated due to his headache. “How do I get out of here?” Getting out of the large house was easy, it was getting out of the forest and back to something normal that was the problem. He had no idea how this even happened, or what exactly happened to begin with. It was supposed to be a new game, but there was no way out for him it seemed. He hadn't seen a single person since he ended up here.

As for the house, it was two stories high. The second story, which is where he was, consisted pretty much of a long hallway with all locked doors except for the one he used. The hall was divided in two, where their was an open area with the staircase in the middle. Down on the first floor it seemed more like a normal home with a kitchen, living room, bathroom and a few extra rooms. Everything still worked, kinda, though it all looked rundown.

Heading down the hall, he checked a couple of the doors, just in case something changed since last time. Unfortunately, they were still locked; he wasn't really surprised though. He took a lap around the house only to find that nothing had changed since the last time he was here. Stepping into what he decided was probably the living room, he flopped down on the couch. After his second attempt to get past the beast, he had searched the house thoroughly. He had taken naps on both the couch and the bed, after ridding them of all the dust, and found the couch much more comfortable. So he had removed a blanket from the bed and laid it out on the couch, which is what he was now laying on top of. With one leg dangling off the edge and one over the armrest, he ended up dozing off.

He was woken up by the sound of a door being forcefully closed. For a moment he thought the beast had gotten inside, but quickly realized that it was the front door that had been closed, since he could hear it banging on the door. That meant... he hurried off the couch and looked out to the entryway to see a woman leaning against the door panicked and breathing heavy. He was so surprised to see someone else that he didn't say anything right away. She sighed and stood up straight when the banging finally stopped. Looking around, she got startled when she saw him. “H-hallo.”

“Sorry,” he lifted his hands in defense for a moment. “Didn't mean to startle you.”

#original work #My writing

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shitpostingfromthebarricade · 5 years

Note

The People want a masterpost of fics you enjoyed!!

Okay, I’m trying this again, because yesterday my computer shut down just as I was about to post this and I needed some time to recover.

Most of the fics I enjoy fall into one of four categories: it made me laugh a lot, it made me feel empty inside, it made me think (it might be the writing style, the concept, or the formatting style they used), or Iconic. I did have to add a fluff category for all three of those that I apparently had bookmarked.

The order here is meaningless, I just went down my bookmarks tab on AO3. A lot of these authors also have other really excellent works, so I highly recommend exploring their other works!

If your work or username are not here, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it or think you’re a good author! As I said, I just took these from my bookmarks–I literally have some of my favorite authors listed at the bottom whose works I have never bookmarked. Similarly, we just have a lot of good authors in this fandom, and I forget many of them.

I laughed:

Press One for Revolution by LoveKhaleesi (@arcoiriseglitter) & Zimriya (@zimriya)

ExR texting fic. It had me in tears.

Note: discontinued, but near enough to closure that it’s still worth the read.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot by TellThemStories (@tell-themstories)

ExR assassin AU fic, Grantaire’s perspective. R is an assassin, Enjolras is his target. It doesn’t quite work out the way he planned.

We’re All Stories, In The End by TheGlitterati (@kyrstin)

ExR crackfic, Jehan’s perspective (Enjolras’s perspective for a scene at the end)

Les Amours de Marius by Elenchus (@aporeticelenchus)

Marisette crackfic (kind of fake dating, but not how you’re thinking of it), Marius’s perspective. Marius recruits Bahorel and Grantaire (or rather, they recruit themselves) to make Marius’s grandfather more amenable to his engagement to Cosette.

#Roommate Chronicles by IAmSlytherlocked & ImpulseRun

Marius & Courfeyrac friendship tumblr fic, Courfeyrac’s perspective. Courfeyrac catalogs his roommate’s misadventures and the art of Pontmercying.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner by sigh_no_more (@babesatthebarricade)

ExR holiday fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Cosette has asked him to attend their asshole bio-dad’s Thanksgiving dinner, but one Craigslist ad makes Enjolras slightly less begrudging in his attending.

Texting ‘Verse by Ladililn (@ladililn)

ExR texting fic. Joly sends a text to the wrong chat.

How I Seduced Enjolras by Gwynplaine

ExR crackfic, Grantaire’s perspective. My Immortal’s younger, smart Les Mis brother.

Note: this fic is rated explicit and contains explicit content throughout. It is essential to the plot.

I cried:

Just accept that all of these have a trigger warning attached, either for total whiplash or possible death/suicidal ideation.

Stereoscopic by TellThemStories (@tell-themstories)

ExR?, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras is working overseas for a year with only one-way video messages from his friends as communication. He has a gradual revelation about his feelings for a certain cynic.

Orpheus, Play Yourself a Path From Hades by Sovin (@sovinly)

ExR, Grantaire’s perspective. Grantaire’s cancer returns, and he doesn’t tell anyone. No dialogue.

If You Ever Come Back by MissAndrogyny (@missandrogyny)

ExR break-up/make-up fic, alternating perspectives from work to work.

World War II AU by LoveKhaleesi (@arcoiriseglitter)

ExR WWII AU fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras and Eponine are harboring a Jewish fugitive.

The only fic I will ever accept the fix-it ending for.

Situational Irony by Ryssabeth

ExR fic, mostly Enjolras’s perspective (I’m not a masochist, I’m not rereading this on a lovely Sunday morning to check). Coping with Grantaire’s death.

Barricade Dawn by Opium_du_Peuple (@just-french-me-up)

Jehanparnasse fic, Jehan’s perspective. Jehan is trying to write a good-bye letter to Montparnasse in case he doesn’t return from the barricade.

Note: this has an explicit content rating. The explicit content is most of the middle and nonessential to the plot, you can read just the beginning and the end.

I think this is also the only canon period fic. Whatever that’s worth.

Life is Only Moments by Raeldaza (@raeldaza)

ExR fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras reflects over the years of his and Grantaire’s friendship.

This has a fix-it ending, and that’s all well and good, but I prefer the suffering.

Serenata by IbbyLiv

ExR post-breakup fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras writes notes to Grantaire after he leaves.

Apparently this is basically just a song with some different words swapped in and out. I can’t say I care about anything but the emotions that bubble forth when i read it.

Cheers, Darlin’ by onemillionbranches

ExT post-breakup fic, Grantaire’s perspective. Enjolras is getting married, and Grantaire helps.

It moved me, Bob:

I’m also including what about each one really made me think, because of the nature of this category.

Beautiful Things Have Dents and Scratches Too by A_New_World_To_Be_Won

ExR feelings fic, alternating perspectives. Definitely makes you feel sad, but it has resolution.

I love how raw the writing style is and how directly it translates into pure emotion.

Tin Can by ejr

ExR relationship progression fic, alternating perspectives.

This prose style intrigues me, and I really enjoy it and its application.

You Never Have to Wonder; You Never Have to Ask by GamesForMay

ExR fic, Grantaire’s perspective. 18 months after a major protest, Grantaire returns to Paris for Cosette and Marius’s wedding.

The! Motifs! Are! So! Good! The way Enjolras is shaped and Grantaire’s decision is set before them…and I love the moment all of this revolves around that happened 18 months ago. It’s just a gorgeous piece.

Golden by the_sky_is_forever (@theskyis-forever)

ExR post-breakup fic, alternating perspective. Enjolras goes to Grantaire’s first art gallery since he left the artist.

Okay, so this is also a sad fic. But!! I value the artistry of the writing and love how they were able to pull and shape the emotions with the way they handled their words and sentences and phrasing.

Primary Relations - A Politician’s Journey rev 2-1.avi by Samyazaz (@samyazaz)

ExR documentary fic. Enjolras is running for president, and Grantaire is documenting it.

The prose is so interesting and inspired a yet-unpublished fic I’ve been working on! It can be difficult to write from this perspective, and I think they handled it really well.

Have & Hold by arriviste (@arrivisting)

ExR fake-marriage fic. Enjolras wants to make a political point about gay marriage and meets less resistance than he expected.

This is probably the only fake marriage fic I will ever love and appreciate because the author did such a great job representing the unhealthy feelings involved when you go from zero feelings to being married.

Dismantling Oppressive Establishments, Teamwork, And Other Things Your Coach Never Taught You by AnnaBolena (@annabrolena)

ExR mixed media fic, alternating perspectives.

Usually stories that get told half through dialogue and half through articles drive me nuts with their incongruence and messiness with image formatting, but this author did a phenomenal job with the article styles and telling the story and keeping me interested without bogging the whole thing down with extra formatting.

If There’s No One Beside You (When Your Soul Embarks) by ToBeFerre

ExR reincarnation fic, Grantaire’s perspective. Everyone is back except Enjolras, and Grantaire is trying to keep the club running until Enjolras’s return.

I just really love the concept of the anxiety they carry and the ways they’ve changed since the first time around.

Felled By You, Held By You by EyeOfAHurricane (@eyeofahurricaneart)

ExR progression fic, alternating perspective. Grantaire falls in and out of love with Enjolras.

The concept of love and affections being ephemeral things, the way that love moves more quickly for some than others, and the seasonal symbols made me start thinking and inspired another yet-incomplete fic.

Iconic:

The World Ain’t Ready by IdiopathicSmile (@idiopath-fic-smile)

ExR fake-dating fic, Grantaire’s perspective. I’m not providing a description because this is required reading for anyone in the Les Mis fandom. Just read it if you haven’t yet.

Friday I’m in Love by The Librarina (tears_of_nienna) (@thelibrarina)

ExR fake-dating fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras is going to his family’s summer residence for a week and needs a way to stick it to his parents.

Words Never Spoken by StrawberryBubbles

ExR soulmate AU, Enjolras’s perspective. Your first words with your soulmate are supposed to appear when you turn 18, but Enjolras’s never do.

Your Heart on Your Skin by Zade (@racetrackthehiggins)

ExR soulmate AU, Grantaire’s perspective. Flowers appear on your body that represent different qualities about you as you experience life experiences that bring them about.

The Season Underwater by andtheheir

ExR swimteam AU fic, Grantaire’s perspective. Grantaire is put on the varsity swimteam for his junior year and really doesn’t want to let Enjolras down.

This fic is just really beautifully written and really started to make me think about my writing style and start experimenting with it more.

BE by ToTheWillOfThePeople (@kvothes)

ExR theater AU fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras is roped into directing a production of Hamlet.

Arcadia Ballet!Verse by Darrenjolras

ExR ballet AU fic, Grantaire’s perspective. Grantaire shot his mouth off at some gorgeous up and coming dancer, and now he has to choreograph an entire ballet.

Fluff:

In Love When You Wake Me Up by BethXP

ExR fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras wakes up from his surgery high and in the presence of his two best friends and a third person.

These Are Some of my Favorite Things (The Post-It-Note!fic) by Zimriya (@zimriya)

ExR fic, Grantaire’s perspective. Enjolras has been leaving post-it notes on things (Grantaire) with seemingly no logic behind it.

Foregone Conclusion by Raeldaza (@raeldaza)

ExR fic, Enjolras’s perspective. Enjolras is receiving gifts from an “anonymous source” (but he’s pretty sure he knows from whom).

As I was doing these, I realized that there are some others authors whose works I love that I didn’t have one or two fics I could choose to put up but still wanted to include (and there are probably more that I’m forgetting):

Myrmidryad (@myrmidryad)

Lovely, thorough writing style.

Sunfreckle (@mysunfreckle)

Lots of lovely Jehanparnasse! They and Opium_du_Peuple are my go-to’s for Jehanparnasse content.

SarahYYY (@sarah-yyy)

So many ExR short stories! Definitely peruse all of her stuff (though be aware–it’s a bit like Russian roulette for the sad stuff; there’s one in there that I was even prepared for and am still recovering from).

Lady_Ragnell

Everything by her is Just. Iconic. So good.

Noelia_g

Also really good. (Sorry, I lost my steam by the end of writing this monster, I really do enjoy her work.)

If anyone knows the tumblrs for any of the authors that I haven’t already tagged, please DM me so I can add them in!

#for some reason tumblr either deleted these tags or i never made tags for this #it was a long labor of love so i probably forgot #fic rec #fic recs #les mis fic recs #les mis #les amis #enjoltaire #mostly #fanfic recs

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impostoradult · 5 years

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To Dwell in the Possibilities of Supernatural

It’s sort of weird to try to explain why you value a thing -- particularly when its value doesn’t read as obvious -- but I’m going to give it something of a go.

I can’t separate my experience of Supernatural from the fan community and particularly the meta community that surrounds it. Prior to my time on Tumblr, I had heard of the show and could MAYBE have told you that it was about 2 brothers. Maybe. That was the extent of my knowledge.

I joined Tumblr for a totally different fandom but the ubiquity of Supernatural here compelled me to give it a shot. Mostly, if I being totally honest, I wanted to find out how much of Destiel was in the text, and how much of it was a fan fabrication. (I’ll confess this impulse was partly an expression of my cynicism borne of the Teen Wolf fandom, which I always felt had massively exaggerated Stiles/Derek’s real canon dynamic) Part of me wondered if Supernatural fans were doing the same thing with Dean and Castiel.

Come to find out, they were not. The meta community around Destiel and bi-Dean has always been a rich, rewarding one, and it has frankly been the main outlet for my intellectual engagement since my deeply inauspicious departure from academia in 2015 (though I started watching in 2011)

For me, Supernatural was and is fun to watch in large part because it is fun to analyze. The show consists of an odd mix of loving detail poured into the smallest set pieces and most fleeting musical accompaniment, and a narrative world with continuity gaps big enough to drive a Chevy Impala through. While these forms of discontinuity could read as artistic failures, I would argue that they make the show’s textuality all the more acute, forcing the audience to do a lot more mental work to keep the thing from collapsing under the weight of its own inconsistencies. Pay any degree of attention at all, and you the audience must start building some scaffolding of your own to make the structure of Supernatural work.

I like this mental work. And I especially like doing it with other people. With a text this sprawling and vast, you can’t keep it all in your head, no matter how many rewatches you’ve done. Other people help keep the threads you may have dropped, and even the smallest detail can become a lynchpin to the on-going process of making meaning out of a story with more loose ends than they could ever possibly hope to tie up.

Again, this may seem like a bug. I think it is a feature.

One of the reasons I will mourn for Supernatural’s end when it’s real swan song arrives is that it embodies a style of TV storytelling that is dying, one that I feel has merits many people have come to see as faults.

Streaming and cable have made the 10-13 episode season a new standard of TV production. This has its upside at times. Stories can be more fast-paced, “tighter,” retain more continuity, rid themselves of “dead-weight” filler content. And I agree that sometimes filler is just filler, and we should let it go. But sometimes filler is not just filler, sometimes that’s the good stuff. With Supernatural, that’s MOSTLY the good stuff.

Dearly departed Robbie Thompson was a cut above most of the writers on Supernatural because he KNEW that the filler here wasn’t excess, it was the real story, and had been all along. This show that masquerades as a horror/action procedural is, and always has been, a character study in not very convincing disguise. And character is just as much about small moments as it is about big ones, if not more so.

The people who think Supernatural should have died years ago probably have a largely plot-centric view of this story. In which case, yeah, I’ll sustain your objection to an extent. If what you are looking for is quality plot development, stop watching Supernatural after season 5; you’ll be nothing but disappointed. My motivation for watching and enjoying Supernatural has almost nothing to do with the plot, and if anything, I believe they have often let the plot get too much in the way of the real project here.

Sam, Castiel, and Dean (arguably more than anyone else), are characters drawn with a kind of richness you can only achieve with 300+ episodes. Almost nothing on TV compares. The layers and depths and nuances they possess...I could drown in them. And I could spend a lifetime analyzing them, and their story, and their world, and never ever come even close to putting all the myriad pieces together in all the ways they could possibly be understood. Every new episode is an asset to this project in some capacity, even the “bad” ones.

And I value the project. I value the process of meaning-making that we fans do -- separately and together. And because I value those things, I will be sad when the time comes that there are no new pieces to add to the puzzle, no new threads to weave into the tapestry. Which isn’t to say I think the picture will ever be complete, even when the show is over. There’s too much discontinuity and excess for that, thankfully. But it was such a pleasure to, in Emily Dickenson’s words, dwell in possibility that next week might give us all a shinny, fresh piece that could add a brand new, exciting dimension to the larger whole.

I must confess, I will miss it tremendously, dwelling in that possibility with all of you.

#Supernatural #Dean Winchester #Sam Winchester #Castiel #SPN fandom

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breakingdownsu · 6 years

Text

Chorus Chapter Four

Note: This has been a busy week but I'm more or less back on track, thank goodness. I'm hoping to set up a blog soon to archive all of my writing in one place, along with any fanart I've received and anything else I've done over the last few years. When I started writing fanfics back in prehistoric times everyone had archives, webrings and mailing lists and I'm an old fashioned girl at heart sometimes. I'll link it once it's finished.

Double note: If you haven't already, I suggest you read A String of Pearls before continuing. Most of the OC characters I've written about there will be popping up here as well (and it includes the origins of Murder Pearl.)

…..

New to the list of things Steven had to be very worried about (along with Pearl's disappearance, the awful nightmares that were probably foreshadowing of something unpleasant and his dwindling supply of food) was that the unfortunately-named Murder Pearl would live up to that name at some point by turning on him.

As it was, she had found some sort of pole somewhere in the workshop and was methodically sharpening the end with blankly serene expression on her face. It was unbelievably creepy, and yet Ginger, who was sitting directly in the line of the sharpened pole should Murder Pearl decide to skewer someone with it, was calmly ignoring them both to fiddle with a holographic screen of data.

Complicating matters further was the third pearl in the workshop, the one Steven had healed with his magical spit. She was hiding under a table covered with a tarp, (and had been since she regained consciousness) the edges of her feet were the only part of her visible. He had been told in no uncertain terms by both Orthoclase and Ginger to leave her alone until her Jasper returned. He could hear her sniffling under there, and that was awkward on top of all the other awkwardness.

Distantly, Steven wondered if Garnet and Amethyst were worried. He had been gone for, he estimated, three days. They had left him alone during missions for longer periods of time, they had always been quite lackadaisical in this manner. He knew Greg would be worried by now, and probably Connie too. Sadie as well, and maybe the cool kids.

Maybe I should go back for a little while. Get more food, let everyone know I'm okay, tell them we have a plan...

Even as he thought about it he knew he couldn't. He was neck-deep in Homeworld's criminal underground, and if television had taught him one thing it was that criminals tended to disappear without a trace. If he left he probably wouldn't be able to find them again.

As he stewed, his stomach made its feelings known. Loudly.

Ginger swiveled in her chair.

“Are you unwell?” she asked, again with more curiosity than concern.

“Hah, no...I'm just kind of hungry...” he laughed nervously. Murder Pearl was also looking at him.

“Hungry?” Ginger asked, tilting her head and blinking owlishly.

“Yeah, uh...where I come from, we put things in our mouths....”

...he didn't miss both of the pearls flinching ever so slightly....

“...to give us energy and make us feel...happy, I guess. I brought food but I'm running kind of low now,” he finished.

Ginger hummed thoughtfully, and Murder Pearl laid down her murder stick for a moment.

“The higher caste gems ingest gallium and compound mix for recreational purposes,” Murder Pearl said. “I don't think it gives them energy...”

“No, it doesn't,” Ginger agreed. “But those are chemical...it sounds like the Steven requires...organic matter?”

“Just Steven is fine,” Steven piped in.

“I will think on this,” Ginger told him. “We cannot have you unwell at this stage in the plan.”

“Wow, okay, thanks!” Steven blurted out gratefully. It probably wouldn't be anything like a donut or a cheeseburger but at least it would be something...

Orthoclase burst into the workshop then in her usual loud fashion. At some point she had donned some sort of chain-link head decoration and painted triangles under her eyes, and the little kid in Steven for a moment reflected on how effortlessly cool she was. She was carrying what looked like a burlap sack and tossed out the contents on the operating table.

“Jasper came through for us,” she said with a careless but triumphant shrug. “Six pearls, all deregistered.”

Steven peered over at them, until Orthoclase beckoned him closer so he could examine them closely. One was cracked badly, one was covered in scratches but apart from that they were all in good shape. One was significantly smaller than the others.

��That's a seed pearl,” Orthoclase explained as Steven gingerly touched the miniature one.

“Seed pearl?”

“Yeah, it was the fashion for a while to make them smaller,” she continued. “Lasted about four orbits before they were discontinued. I thought they'd all been processed but I guess not.”

Homeworld really was a terribly strange place. Gems talked about making other gems in miniature, like some sort of weird hobby.

“Those two are damaged,” Steven said, changing the subject. “Can I heal them?”

“Go ahead,” Orthoclase said with a sweeping gesture. “Less work for me if you do.”

Licking his palm, he fixed the cracked pearl and then the scratched one. For good measure, he fixed the others too, just in case they had damage he couldn't see.

“Remind me to get you filling some tubes for me before you go back to Planet Whatsit,” Orthoclase said, sinking onto the couch and throwing one foot into Ginger's lap.

…..

A few hours and one fitful nap on the couch later, the pearls regenerated.

Steven ended up naming them (in his head) after the Disney Princesses because that was all he could think of. One of them (he thought it was the one that had been scratched to pieces) had a long elaborate braid that reached her ankles so once he had dubbed her Rapunzel the rest of them naturally followed.

The one that looked like she had actual gold threads running through her hair: Aurora.

The pale blue one in tattered indigo and the remains of a fancy hairstyle: Cinderella, obviously.

The silver one with the long white hair: Elsa. She was the one who had been badly cracked.

The pale green one with the red hair....he kept switching between Anna and Ariel. It was hard to know until she opened her mouth.

And the seed pearl, who stood no taller than Steven's waist....Thumbelina. (He knew it wasn't Disney but it might as well have been.)

“I assume you all know the plan,” Orthoclase announced, confusing Steven because not one pearl had said a word to anyone.

Still, they all nodded in perfect unison. Even Murder Pearl.

“Great. If you have any questions, ask Pearl. In fact, I have a question right now. What in Core's name are we supposed to do now?”

She punctuated her question by poking Ginger's shoulder with the tip of her foot.

“I have located a loom to centre our structure on,” Ginger replied, barely responding to Orthoclase's needling. “It is isolated, and large enough to shelter over fifty pearls.”

“Sounds great,” Orthoclase drawled. “What's wrong with it?”

“The owner will take some convincing...”

“I knew it...”

“But I believe we have something she wants.”

“Hm,” Orthoclase mused. “Okay, we can work with that. Get her on the line...”

“She won't respond. We have to go there ourselves. And she may not let us in.”

Orthoclase sighed, flopped across the couch. All the pearls kept their silence, but Steven noticed their hands and fingers moving gently. Maybe they were nervous. Steven certainly was.

“Well, we might as well try,” she said at last. “We'll go next cycle, suns are going down.”

With that, she was gone. There were crashing sounds in the back of the workshop where she was clearly setting up to work for the rest of the night. That left Steven alone with the pearls.

“So,” he began, addressing the one he dubbed Elsa. “I'm glad to see I was able to fix that crack in your gem...are you feeling better?”

“Yes, quite,” she said faintly. “Thank you.”

“What happened? Is it okay for me to ask, I don't mean to be rude...”

“That's okay,” she said in that same oddly serene way they all seemed to have of talking. “I was owned by several Jaspers, they did not treat me gently.”

That sick squirmy feeling was getting to be something Steven was used to. There were implications rife in that little sentence but he couldn't dwell on it, for the sake of his own sanity.

I need to find Pearl and get the hell out of here.

“I'm sorry,” he mumbled lamely.

“Not your doing,” Elsa replied in a way that was almost sweet.

“Did you fix my scratches too?” Rapunzel asked, so quietly he could barely hear her.

“Yes, I did,” Steven replied. “Is that okay with you?”

“Quite,” she said. “But my owner may be confused when I am returned. If I am returned.”

If. Why if?

“Why's that?” Steven asked, knowing he was going to regret it but unable to stop himself.

“She made most of the scratches.”

Steven looked away, struggling to find words. It was only then that he noticed that Thumbelina had at some point climbed down from her spot on the operating table and was kneeling at the gap between the floor and the tarp that covered the Jasper's pearl. She was silent but her fingers were moving. The sniffling that had been a constant since the pearl woke up had stopped.

…..

When Homeworld's suns rose again, they set out for...wherever they were going next. Steven ate the last of his rations, hoping Ginger would come up with something for him to do foodwise soon. They passed a checkpoint, and as usual Ginger was checked with that horrible machine.

“Why can't they just ask her to open her mouth?” Steven whispered to Orthoclase as they watched.

“Pearls won't open their mouths, even under orders,” Orthoclase whispered back.

Steven blinked. He hadn't really expected an answer, just assumed the officials did it to be mean.

“Why?” he asked, baffled.

“No-one really knows,” Orthoclase responded. “It's just some sort of pearl-wide trait, they can't do it even if they want to. It means you have to crack their jaws for checks and certain repairs, and they'd probably choose to avoid that if they could...”

With every passing moment, life just seemed to get bleaker and bleaker for pearls. Where would it end?

Ginger was rubbing her jaw when she was returned.

“I think that Topaz has a grudge against me,” Orthoclase said as they walked away. “And she takes it out on you. Sorry about that.”

“That's okay,” Ginger replied. She sounded tired.

They walked for a long time. The public transport system only brought them so far, and it was clear whoever they were going to see was well-off. The residences they passed got bigger and bigger the further they went, until they arrived at a truly enormous estate on the outer edge of the city.

Orthoclase whistled as she rang the doorbell.

“This is really something,” she hissed. “I feel like I'm going to be tossed in isopod just for being here...”

The door creaked open, and standing in front of them was yet another pearl.

“My owner is not taking visitors today.”

“Yeah, we figured that,” Orthoclase drawled. “But we have an urgent matter to discuss with her so we aren't going to let her blow us off.”

“Just close the blasted door, Pearl!” a voice shouted from inside the estate.

“I suggest you give her different orders unless you want me to yank her right here and now,” Orthoclase called back.

There was a moment of silence, during which Steven didn't know where to look. He hadn't expected Orthoclase to make outright threats...

...and then a sharp tapping noise heralded the arrival of another gem, who gently pushed the pearl out of the way. Steven looked up...

Lapis?

...no, it's not.

This gem looked much older, far more severe than Lapis even at her angriest. It put Steven in mind of the dowager queen of some exiled nation, or something. She was dressed in what looked like an evening gown, long and straight, and her hair was pinned back immaculately in a perfectly formed bun.

The pearl looked almost like a daughter or a younger sister of this dowager. She was dressed in a shorter dress with a fuller skirt, her hair simply tied back with a green ribbon.

Neither of them looked like the kind of gem Orthoclase would ever associate with.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the Amethyst squad,” the Lapis growled, squaring up to this gem who could easily break her in half.

“Well, Pearl? Have you got a good reason for her?” Orthoclase asked Ginger.

“Yes.”

The Lapis turned to Ginger, confusion masking her annoyance.

“We have need of your pearl's skills,” Ginger began.

Incredibly, the Lapis' face softened. She looked from Ginger to her own pearl and back.

“In return, we can offer you music that has never been heard by any gem before,” Ginger finished.

Orthoclase shot a look down at Steven, a what-the-hell-kind-of-plan-is-this sort of look.

But the Lapis sighed, straightened and opened her door fully.

“You'd best come inside then,” she said. “Don't touch anything.”

#steven universe #steven universe fanfiction #breaking down universe #a string of pearls canon #dehumanization #orthoclase and pearl

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shirtlesssammy · 7 years

Text

Repo Man: 7x15 Recap

Oh wow, hello episode that Boris saw...once. For all its Ben Edlund glory, this episode never made it into the rewatch rotation for me. I don’t know why, other than I was impatient for Cas to reappear and didn’t want to pick apart the subtextual story it was telling (who am I kidding, I didn’t watch the show for the subtext the first time around and this was an episode during the Cas-less wasteland.)

Then:

Sam continues to rock the brooding attractiveness of being haunted by the devil.

Now:

Four Years Ago:

In Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Ms. Havelock approaches a remote cabin, where Sam reluctantly welcomes her inside. It seems the Brothers Winchester have caught themselves a demon. (If I do my math correctly, this is circa season 3? Prior to Dean going to hell? Augh, this hurts to watch knowing how much hell breaks Dean.) The demon and Ms. Havelock exchange pleasantries. Ms. Haverlock has her say and takes off. The boys are left to torture the demon out of any information he has on Lilith. The demon decides to let Jeffrey, the possessed man, make an appearance.

Jeffrey pleads with the brothers to stop the demon. Sam tells him that they will, but they need information first, which means possibly hurting Jeffrey. He agrees, remembering the awful things the demon made him do. The demon takes over, and Dean starts slicing. They get the info they need, and exorcise the demon.

The Impala makes a cameo in the flashback as Dean drives Jeffrey to the E.R. Without ceremony, and an order to not mention demons, Dean drops him off and leaves. Oh Jeffery.

Now:

Ah, season 7. Dean gets a call from Frank Devereaux and Sam gets a brain visit from Lucifer. Sam’s still able to use the hand wound trick to make Luci disappear, thankfully. He then lays out their case on the bed. Same as four years ago, and Dean wonders who let their demon out of the great underground. Well, time to reopen the case.

*Dean is asleep in pajamas in bed alert*

(Ok, it’s not really an alert, we just never see him actually sleep or get comfortable in bed, so this was nice.)

Anyway, the police radio lights up a crime. The Winchesters are on the case. Once on the scene, the detective they worked with in the past recognizes Agents Bonham and Watts. They need their memories jogged for Detective Sutton’s name. Anyway, Sam finds sulfur at the scene (duh).

Sam and Dean decide to check in on Ms. Havelock. She seems fine, just unable to walk through her newly painted demon trap. (I don’t know how this episode ends...she’s possessed, right?) (Natasha: I vaguely remembered this one but still thought...why didn’t you just make your trap a leeeetle bit bigger so it would actually block the whole doorway? Otherwise those demons are just gonna sidle past like you just did.) She says she’s doing what she can to protect herself. Sam wonders if she’s had any contact with the demon. She says no and tells them that she’s leaving town soon. She then asks about Jeffrey. Some demons can be sentimental. Time to find that poor bastard.

Jeffrey is at a half-way home, and he’s adopting a dog. OMG, Jeffrey, I’m sorry I only watched your episode once. Your story hurts me. When picking up his new buddy, he hears a noise from an alley and decides to investigate. No, Jeffrey! Well, it’s just Sam and Dean, so that’s something. But still, let this poor injured man enjoy his life with his new canine companion.

They all head back to Jeffrey’s home (Luci too!).

Dean “I’m homeless and carless and have NOTHING IN THIS WORLD” Winchester has the nerve to mock Jeffrey’s living quarters. Jeffrey wonders what they want with him, and Dean tells him that the demon that possessed him is back. This really upsets Jeffery. Jeffrey Bean! (Ack, doesn’t work as well when it doesn’t rhyme.) Jeffrey asks what the last victim’s name was, and then tells the brothers who the next one on the list is. It seems the demon has a kill list, and he repeated it enough for Jeffrey to remember.

Someone knocks on Jeffrey’s door, and he goes to answer it. It’s his group leader. Sam and Dean, meanwhile, agree they really messed up the poor guy (but they didn’t --the demon did. Gah, the weight of responsibility of both of them hurts me so much). Sam heads out to find the next woman on the demon’s list, while Dean stays behind to watch over Jeffrey.

*Library Alert*

Ngl, they knocked this set out of the park. The unnecessary signage alone! And Marjorie Willis? I mean, *I* don’t dress like that but MY GOD is that a perfect representation of ALL my colleagues (Natasha is also an exception.) They do have Marjorie shelving though and that is not something she would do. Yep, we’ve reached the unnecessary portion of the recap where Boris nitpicks representations of her profession.

Sam settles in to watch his charge, Lucifer along for the ride.

Back at Jeffrey’s, Jeffrey fills Dean in on his life since the demon possession. He had a hard time of it --especially when he started to talk about what happened. “Never tell. Never... never., “ Dean retroactively warns. He does compliment Jeffrey on pulling himself together, but the demon is back. Jeffrey recalls a place where the demon nested (anyone getting weird Eugene Tooms vibes with that?)

At the library, Lucifer decides to mess with Sam’s mind by having him imagine patrons bash their heads into their study tables. Graphic. I mean, there’s like fleshy brain/head bits. Neutralizing Lucifer with his hand trick, Sam notices a Bad Boy™ with a leather jacket in the library.

Dean and Jeffrey arrive at the demon’s nest, conveniently with no cell coverage.

Back at the library Sam stalks the leather-jacketed suspect to the back of the library where...he finds one Madame Librarian getting thoroughly snogged in the “discontinued periodicals.” Peeping Sam slinks away…

Meanwhile, Dean’s led to Jeffrey’s demon’s hideaway. Dean breaks inside and finds a young man tied to a chair, dirty and bloodied. Dean runs up and begins to work on his chains when the guy wakes up. He starts to shout through his duct-taped mouth, eyes wide, and then Jeffrey springs up behind Dean and injects him with something. It’s lights out for our Dean Bean.

Sam continues to valiantly ignore a SUPER annoying Hallucifer and the dimples of discontent make an appearance as he examines his phone. He can’t get in touch with Dean. Gee, I hope everything is alright! Sam examines the toxicology report. The victims were all heavily tranquilized...odd for a demon to have to trank it’s victims, right? While Sam mulls this over and tries to ignore Hallucifer’s sterling conclusions, I try to ignore the unprofessional librarian making out with her faux biker boyfriend at her public desk. Sam snaps at Hallucifer to “shut up” as they both reach conclusions about super creeper Jeffrey...and Hallucifer preens at the attention. Now they can have a real two way conversation. (Muahahaha)

Sam infiltrates Jeffrey’s apartment, tearing it apart while Hallucifer thrills over getting to play Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys with Sam. Sam finds drugs and a fake bottom drawer. The false bottom drawer has a latin incantation hidden inside of it. Sam puzzles over the incantation and Hallucifer patiently walks him through it. Sam’s never seen that type of demon summoning spell before, but he has seen that handwriting!

Sam breaks into Nora’s witchcraft business where she attacks him. Hallucifer tells Sam to get tough and he threatens her…which gets her to talk. (Oh, Sam.) She finally confesses that she wrote the summoning spell for Jeffrey because he kidnapped her son, mailed her his ear, and told her she had to help him or her son would die. Jeffrey’s trying to raise up the demon who first possessed him. (Boris interjects: MAN, I’m such a sucker. I had the whole Tooms vibe feeling but still believed Jeffrey. You’d think I could read this show better after all these years, but nope.)

Back at Jeffrey’s creepy warehouse, he confesses that he loved being possessed. He loved his demon very, very much. Dean’s all SON OF A BITCH and YOU’RE A SERIAL KILLER and ALAS THE TERRIBLE NATURE OF MANKIND.

Dean asks Jeffrey if the list of women the demon killed came from him. Jeffrey owns up to it, confessing that whenever he passed by a certain woman on his list a sound would come from their brains that only he could hear. He’d follow them home and...you know the rest. (So creepy.)

Jeffrey had no plans to ever do anything until his demon came along. Once he was possessed, they set to killing together. After the demon was exorcised, Jeffrey descended into a deep depression until he gained the resolve to get the demon back.

Back with Sam, he learns why Jeffrey has Dean. When the first ritual Nora gave him didn’t work, she found a summoning spell that would definitely work. It required the blood of the exorcist - Dean. Sam commands her to do a tracking spell. “You want the ear,” he demands, “or the kid?” A compelling argument. It gave Hallucifer chills - so Sam’s definitely doing just A+ fine.

Jeffrey does some side exploration of the nature of torture and how good the Winchesters can be given the amount they tortured Jeffrey while he was possessed. It’s a pretty fucking good point (though it doesn’t get much follow-through here). It’s just more fuel for the Dean Winchester self loathing train.

Jeffrey does the summoning spell and the demon busts loose, possessing Nora’s son instead. He busts out of his chains, grins smarmily at Dean, and then hug/dances Jeffrey around the room. Jeffrey invites him to possess him but the demon tells him that he’s a protege and he’s free to fly on his own now. When Jeffrey isn’t down with the solo plan, the demon smacks him down.

Jeffrey captured a Winchester. He’s ready for the big leagues now. “Keep sawing away at your ropes Penelope Pitstop,” the demon tells struggling Dean. Jeffrey’s ready to fly on his own so the demon’s gonna make other plans. And the demon’s gonna “burn the kid off” on his way to Vegas.

Suddenly Sam is there! He fights the demon and lures him into a devil’s trap that Sam and Nora painted on the ceiling. Dean, meanwhile, finally busts free and when Jeffrey tries to head into the fray Dean shoots him dead. The witch performs an exorcism and saves her son.

Dean and Sam head into their hotel room. Dean all but passes out on the bed while Sam sits around quietly talking through the case. Sam prepares to sleep as well but Hallucifer murmurs in his ear. Now that the case is solved it’s time for them to talk. Sam tries to massage his injured hand (and by “massage” I mean practically reinjure) but nothing works. Now that Sam talked to Hallucifer he let him in. Now he can’t get rid of him. As we leave Sam, Hallucifer’s making Sam’s bed burn around him.

“Goooood morning Vietnam,” Hallucifer shouts, delighted. His cackle fades into black...

I love you madly, madly Madame Quotarian:

You ain’t the first demon we tracked down on this safari.

Librarian, indoor gardening enthusiast, our demon's next organ donor.

Right here in my discontinued periodicals.

Name. Number. Nightmare. Go.

“Sorry. Just had to make sure.” “Make sure of what – that I peed my pants today?”

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#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 7x15 #repo man #dean winchester #sam winchester #Hallucifer #supernatural season 7 #he was my ben edlund thing

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nedraggett · 7 years

Text

Run ragged

It didn’t work. And while I wasn’t surprised by that, I did want to tease out why, at least for myself.

I honestly was openly skeptical of Blade Runner 2049 for a while, so I can’t hide my bias there. I wasn’t totally ‘salt the earth and never mention it again’ then and am certainly not saying that now. But each new trailer left me feeling more ‘uh...really?’ and the explosion of immediate praise from many critics even more so. I wasn’t contrarian, and neither did I think groupthink was at work, but I suspected a massive wish fulfillment was.

So I generally avoided reactions after that and figured I’d wait for things to die down a bit -- even more quickly than I might have guessed, seeing its swiftly collapsing commercial performance over here. My Sunday early afternoon showing near here was about maybe 2/3 full on its third weekend, so it’s found an audience, but I’m in San Francisco -- I expected an audience there. Enough friends have posted theater shots where they were the only person in the room to know this is dying off as an across the board thing, and never probably was.

I’m not glad it failed, but I’m not surprised -- in fact, being more blunt, I think it deserved not to be a hit. The key reason for me played itself out over its length -- it was boring. It’s a very boring movie. It’s not a successful movie except in intermittent moments.

That said, of course not everyone agreed (I’ll recommend as an indirect counterpoint to my thoughts this piece by my friend Matt, which went up earlier today). And boredom is not the sole reason for me to crucify it -- there were a variety of things one can address. I’ll note two at the start since they could be and in a couple of cases I’ve seen were particular breaking points for others:

* The sexual politics of the movie, however much meant to be in line with the original scenario as playing out a certain logic, were often at least confused or hesitant within a male gaze context, at most lazily vile beyond any (often flatly obvious) point-making. I often got a mental sense of excuses that could be offered along the lines of ‘well...you know, it’s supposed to be like that in this world, it’s a commentary!,’ which is often what I’ve seen in positive criticism of, say, Game of Thrones. Maybe. That said: not that any sort of timing played into it, but the fact that Harvey Weinstein’s downfall began two days before release, and the resulting across-board exposure and on-the-record testimonials from many women against far too many men, couldn’t really be escaped. Further, since the fallout was first felt, after all, in the film industry, seeing any film, new or old, through the lens of what’s acceptable and who gets through what hoops -- and who is broken by the experience -- is always important. It’s not for nothing to note that the original film’s female lead Sean Young got shunted into the ‘she’s crazy’/’too much trouble�� file in later years where male actors might perhaps find redemption; the fact that she played a small part in the new film made me think a bit more on her fate than that of her character’s. (Another point I saw a few women brought up as well -- having a key to the whole story be pregnancy and childbirth as opposed to infertility wasn’t warmly received.)

* It’s a very...white future. Not exclusively, certainly. But people of color barely get a look in, a quick scene here, a cameo there. A black female friend of mine just this morning said this over on FB about the one African American actor whose character got the most lines, saying:

to have the only significant black character be this awful, creepy man who seemed to be an "overseer" type to the children, was really uncomfortable and another perfect example of scifi using an 'other' narratives or american slave narrative but within a white context. We all know what it's supposed to represent and so it's just straight up lazy writing at the end of the day and exploitative.

Meantime, another sharp series of comments elsewhere revolved around how a film perhaps even more obviously drenched than the original in an amalgamated East Asian imaginary setting for the Los Angeles sequences barely showcased anyone from such a background. Dave Bautista certainly makes an impact at the start, but after that? The fact that I can think of three speaking roles for actors of that (wide) background in the original, as in actually having an exchange with a lead character, and only one in this one, maybe two if you count the random shouting woman in K’s apartment building, is more than a little off. Add in a ‘Los Angeles,’ or a wider SoCal if you like, that aside from Edward James Olmos’s short cameo apparently has nobody of Mexican background, let alone Central American, in it, and you gotta wonder. My personal ‘oh really’ favorite was the one official sign that was written in English and, I believe, Sanskrit. Great visual idea; can’t say I saw anyone of South Asian descent either.

Both these very wide issues, of course, tie in with the business and the society we’re all in -- but that’s no excuse. And there are plenty of other things I could delve into even more, not least my irritation over the generally flatly-framed dialogue shots in small offices that tended to undercut the grander vistas, or how the fact that Gosling’s character finding the horse carving had been telegraphed so far in advance that it was resolutely unremarkable despite all the loud music, etc. My key point remains: boring. A sometimes beautifully shot and visually/sonically striking really dull, draggy, boring film.

The fair question though is why I think that. A friend in response to that complaint as echoed by others joked what we would make of Bela Tarr films, to which I replied that I own and enjoy watching Tarkovsky movies. Slow pace and long shots aren’t attention killers for me per se; if something is gripping, it will be just that, and justify my attention. Meanwhile, the original film famously got dumped on for also being slow, boring, etc at the time, and plenty can still feel that way about it. Blade Runner’s reputation is now frightfully overburdened and certainly I’ve contributed to it mentally if not through formal written work; it succeeds but is a flawed creation, and strictly speaking the two big complaints I’ve outlined above apply to the predecessor as much as the current film, it’s just a matter of degrees otherwise. But if you told me I had to sit down and watch it, I’d be happy to. Tell me to do the same with this one, I would immediately ask for the ability to skip scenes.

I’ve turned it all over in my head and these are three elements where things fell apart for me, caused me to be disengaged -- not in any specific order, but I’m going to build outward a bit, from the specific to the general, and with specific contrast between the earlier film and the new one. These discontinuities aren’t the sole faults, but they’re the ones I’ve been thinking about the most.

First: it’s worth noting that the new film brings in a lot of specific cultural elements beyond the famed advertising and signs. Nabokov’s Pale Fire is specifically singled out both as a visual cue and as an element in K’s two police station evaluations, for instance. Meanwhile, musically, I didn’t quite catch what song it was Joi was telling K about early in the film but a check later means it must have been Sinatra’s “Summer Wind,” featured on the soundtrack. Sinatra himself of course shows up later as a small holographic performance in Vegas, specifically of “One For My Baby,” while prior to that K and Deckard fight it out while larger holographic displays of older Vegas style revues and featured performers appear glitchily -- showgirls, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis in his later pomp, Liberace complete with candleabra. All of this makes a certain sense and on the one hand I don’t object to it.

But on the other I do. Something about all that rubbed me the wrong way and I honestly wasn’t sure why -- the Nabokov bit as well, even the quick Treasure Island moment between Deckard and K when they first talk to each other. The answer I think lies with the original film. It’s not devoid of references either, but note how two of the most famous are used:

* When Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty introduces himself to James Hong’s Hannibal Chew, he does so with a modified quote from William Blake’s America: A Prophecy. (This fuller discussion of that quote and how it was changed from the original is worth a read; it’s also worth noting that Hauer brought it to the table, and wasn’t planned otherwise.) But he doesn’t do so by spelling out to the audience, much less Chew, that it is Blake at all. You either have to know it or you don’t. If, say, we saw Batty clearly holding a copy of the book -- or maybe more intriguing, a copy in Deckard’s apartment -- then that would be one thing...but it becomes a bit more ‘DO YOU SEE?’ as a result. Clunkier, a bit like how Pale Fire worked in the new film.

* Even in the original soundtrack’s compromised/rerecorded form, I always loved the one formally conventional song on the original soundtrack, “One More Kiss, Dear.” I just assumed as I did back in the mid to late 80s, when I first saw the film and heard its music, that it was a random oldie from somewhere mid-century repurposed, a bit of mood-setting. It is...but it isn’t. It’s strictly pastiche, a creation of Vangelis himself in collaboration with Peter Skellern, an English singer-songwriter who had a thriving career in his home country. It just seemed real enough, with scratchy fidelity, a piano-bar sad elegance -- which was precisely the point. You couldn’t pin it down to anything, it wasn’t a specifically recognizable element. It wasn’t Elvis, or Liberace, or Sinatra.

This careful hiding of concrete details -- even when the original film showcased other clear, concrete details of ‘our’ world culturally, but culturally via economics and ads -- is heavily to the original’s benefit, I’d argue. There’s a certain trapped-in-baby-boomerland context of the elements in the new film that, perversely, almost feels too concrete, or forced is maybe a better word. It’s perverse because on the one hand it makes a clear sense, but on the other hand, by not being as tied to explicitly cultural identifiers -- whether ‘high’ literature or rough and ready ‘pop’ or whatever one would like to say -- the original film feels that much more intriguingly odd, dreamlike even. I would tease this out further if I could, but it quietly nags -- perhaps the best way I could describe it is this: by not knowing what, in general, the characters, ‘human’ or not, read, listen to, watch in the original, what everyone enjoys -- if they do -- becomes an unspoken mystery. Think about how we here now talk about what we read, listen to, watch as forms of connection with others; think about how the crowd scenes in the originals feature people all on their own trips or in groups or whatever without knowing what they might know. We know Deckard likes piano, sure, but that suggests something, it doesn’t limit it. We know K likes Nabokov and Sinatra -- and that tells us something. And it limits it.

My second big point would also have to do with limits versus possibilities, and hopefully is more easily explained. Both films are of course amalgams, reflections of larger elements in the culture as well as within a specific culture of film. The first film is even more famously an amalgam of ‘film noir’ as broadly conceived, both in terms of actual Hollywood product and the homages and conceptions and projections of the term backwards and forwards into even more work. It is the point of familiar reference for an audience that at the time was a couple of decades removed from its perceived heyday, but common enough that it was the key hook in -- the weary detective called back for one last job, the corrupt policeman, the scheming businessman, the femme fatale, etc. etc. Set against the fantastic elements, it was the bedrock, the hook, and of course it could be and was repurposed from there, in its creation and in its reception.

2049 is not a film noir amalgam. Instead, it’s very clearly -- too clearly -- an amalgam of exactly the wrong place it should have gotten any influence from. By that I don’t mean the original film -- above and beyond the clear story connections, its impact was expected to be inescapable and as it turns out it was inescapable. Instead it’s an amalgam of what followed in the original’s wake -- the idea of dystopia-as-genre -- and that’s poisonous.

Off the top of my head: Children of Men. The Matrix. Brazil. Her. Battlestar Galactica, the 2000s reboot. A bit of The Hunger Games, I’d say. A bit of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (not a direct descendant of the original at all, of course -- George Miller always had his own vibe going -- but I caught an echo still). The Walking Dead. A fleck of The Fifth Element. Demolition Man, even, if we want to go ‘low’ art. But also so many of the knockoffs and revamps and churn. There could be elements, there could be explicit references, there could be just a certain miasma of feeling. But this all fed into this film, and made it...just less interesting to me.

Again, the first film is no less beholden to types and forebears. But the palette wasn’t sf per se, it was something else, then transposed and heightened and made even uneasier due to what it was. 2049 has to not only chase down its predecessor, it has to live with what its predecessor created. But did it have to take all that into itself as well? It becomes a wink and a nod over and again, and a tiring one, a smaller palette, a feeding on itself. And it’s very frustrating as a result, and whatever spell was in the film kept being constantly rebroken, and the scenes kept dragging on.

This all fed into the third and final point for me -- the key element, the thing that makes the original not ‘just’ noir, the stroke of genius from Philip K Dick turned into tangible creations: the replicants, and the question of what it is to be human. Humanity itself has assayed this question time and time over -- let’s use Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a start if we must for the modern era, it’s as good as any. We as a species -- if we individual members can afford the time and reflection at least -- seem to enjoy questions of what makes us ‘us,’ and what we are and what we have in this universe. This much is axiomatic, so take that as read.

The replicants in the original film -- famously thought of differently by Dick and Ridley Scott, to the former’s bemusement when they met and talked for their only meeting before the latter’s death -- set up questions in that universe that are grappled with as they are by the characters in different ways. Between humans, between replicants, between each other, lines always slipping and shading. Their existences are celebrated, questioned, protested against. But we don’t live in these conversations for the most part, we tend to experience the characters instead; it’s often what’s unsaid that has the greatest impact. And if the idea of a successful story-teller is to show rather than tell, then I would argue that, again, flawed as it can be, the original film succeeds there be only telling just enough, and letting the viewer be immersed otherwise. (Thus of course the famous after the fact narration in the original release insisted upon by the studio, and removed from later cuts to Scott’s thorough relief.)

By default, that level of quiet...I would almost call it ‘awe’...in the original can’t be repeated with the same impact. The bell cannot be unrung, but that’s not crippling. What was crippling was how, again, bored I was with the plight of the characters in 2049. How unengaged in their concerns I generally was. One key exception aside, I never bought K’s particular angst outside of plot-driven functionality, and frankly they often felt like manikins all the way down from there. Robin Wright’s police chief had some great line deliveries but the lines were most often banal generalities that sounded ridiculous. Jared Leto’s corporate overlord, good god, don’t ask. As for Joi and Luv, Ana de Armas and Sylvia Hoeks did their best, and yet the characters felt...functional. Which given the characters as such would seem to be appropriate, but their fates were functional too. Of course one would do that, of course the other would do that, of course one would die the one way, of course the other would die that way, and...fine. Shrug.

So, then, Deckard? Honestly Harrison Ford had the best part in the film and while I found him maybe a bit more garrulous than I would have expected from the character, he did paranoid, wounded and withdrawn pretty damn well. Not to mention comedy -- the dog and whisky combo can’t be beat, and it’s worth remembering his nebbishy ‘undercover’ turn in the original -- and, in the Rachel scene, an actual sense of pathos and outrage. I bought him pretty easily, and it made everyone else seem pretty shallow. When K learns about the underground replicant resistance and all, the bit about everyone hopes they are the one was nice enough, but the rest of it, clearly meant to be a ‘big moment,’ was...again, dull, per my second point about the limited palette. A whole lot of telling, not much showing, and such was the case throughout. It was honestly a bit shocking -- but also very clear -- to myself when I realized how little I cared about humans or replicants or any of it at all towards the end. It all felt pat and played out, increasingly unfascinating, philosophy that was rote. It could just be me, of course -- maybe this is an issue where the stand-ins of replicants versus realities of robots and AI, along with the cruelties we’re happy to inflict on each other, means the stand-ins simply don’t have much of an imaginative or intellectual grip now.

Still, though, I’ll give the film one full scene, without Ford. As part of his work, and to answer the questions in his own head, K visits Ana Stelline, a designer of replicant memories. This, more than anything else in the film outside of certain design and musical elements, felt like the original, or something that could be there. It introduced a wholly new facet -- how are memories created for replicants? -- while extending the idea that instead of one sole creator of replicants there are multiple parts makers with their specialized fields in an unexplained (and unnecessary to be explained) economy. Stelline’s literal isolation allows for space and the limits of communication to be played out in a way that makes satisfying artistic sense, and Carla Juri plays her well. It builds up to an emotional moment that sends K into an explosive overdrive that is actually earned, and Juri’s own reaction of awe and horror is equally good. But -- even better -- the scene ends up taking a wholly new cast later in the film, when more information reveals what was actually at play, and what K didn’t know at the time, and makes the final scene a good one to end on in turn (and by that I mean back in her office, specifically).

The problem though remains -- one scene can’t make a film. One can argue that it’s better to reach and fail than not at all, but it’s also easily argued that one gets far more frustrated with something that could have worked but didn’t. I don’t think an edit for time would have fixed the film but it would have made it less of a slog while not sacrificing those visual/sonic elements that did work; it still would leave a lot of these points I’ve raised standing, but it would have gone down a little more smoothly, at least. But sometimes you’re just bored in a theater, waiting for something to end.

#blade runner #blade runner 2049

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