#it has as much plot as Day After Tomorrow or 2012

[emperorsfoot]

didn't realize just how much my emotional threshold before I cry has been lowered these past 3 years until today when I just randomly remembered a scene from Volcano (1997) and almost cried at work

#volcano (1997) is a plotless action movie btw #its a disaster flik #it has as much plot as Day After Tomorrow or 2012 #Volcano (1997) is NOT an emotional movie #but there's this one scene #lava is rolling down Wilshile Blvd #the street it melting and buildings are burning #the cops are tying to save the art from LACMA #and a resident from the neighborhoods around Miracle Mile is shouting at them why are you saving a bunch of paint when- #-there are FAMILIES that still need to be evacuated #shit! #I'm tearing up again just typing these fucking tags! #I'm not okay bruh #anyway I remembered that scene at work and almost cried in front of one of cute security guards

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 88

A Scandal in Belgravia

“A Scandal in Belgravia”

Plot Description: Sherlock must confiscate something of importance from a mysterious woman named Irene Adler

I can’t believe it’s time for another Sherlock episode. Can’t tell you how much I wish no months ended on a Friday this year, but here we are. I’m starting at about 8pm. Let’s see what time it gets posted.

(I might come back to this tomorrow for a round two because I didn’t realize there were commentary tracks…….I will not subject you to my commentary on the commentary…unless??)

It’s been 31 days since Sherlock pointed that gun at the explosives.

I had Stayin Alive as my ringtone for the LONGEST TIME because of this

I love their politeness. Like, we’re truly in a life and death situation complete with guns and explosives and you’re apologizing because you had to take this phone call…*I* don’t even get that courtesy at work

I’m not proud of the noise I made when Jim yelled and said “and know that if you’re lying to me, I will find you, and I will sssskin you.”

*keysmash that is absolutely impossible on my phone* “if you have what you say you have, I will make you rich. If you don’t, I’ll make you into shoes.” It’s still VERY effective

OH OH OHHH!!! This is the episode I got my blog title from. We get this merry go round of cases too dull for Sherlock to take on til these kids tell him of how the comics they’ve been dissecting on their website have been coming to life, John starts writing about the case,

Sherlock: the geek interpreter, what’s that?

John: it’s the title

Sherlock: what’s it need a title for?

And that became my blog title because I could not come up with one and it was 2012, so Sherlock was on my mind big time

Johnnnn, you hurt his feelings…

My brain keeps the DUMBEST pieces of information for YEARS AND YEARS but can barely remember where I put my keys at any given moment. Tell me why I remembered that it was 243 types of tobacco ash Sherlock talks about on HIS blog

Yayyy!! The deerstalker hat!!

I shan’t say what else I’ve stolen from this episode

I definitely forgot about this plot line, the guy whose car backfired and the guy he saw on the riverbank was dead

I’m…having thoughts about that post that went around about the lesbian with eczema and whether Sherlock could deduce that. And I think it really does boil down to whether or not he knows literally anything about women (which is highly unlikely as he’s being written by Steven Moffat). We know he knows what underwear is popular with gay men and what the right sleeve of an “internet porn addict” looks like but those were both dudes…

Mycroft!!! (I knew he was gonna show up but I still get excited to see him, I have related to him so much)

No because for real, and I mean this in an annoyed way not any other way, he’s such a fucking brat. Sherlock, that is. You can deduce the cause of death of the riverbank guy in five minutes without even BEING there but you’re going to throw a hissy fit over not knowing EXACTLY which member of the royal family is employing you as you stand in buckingham palace??

I do adore Mycroft telling John that he of course doesn’t trust his own secret service, they all spy on people for money

Irene’s got a high end “rich widow robe”

“I always hear ‘punch me in the face’ when you’re speaking but it’s usually subtext”

Sherlock’s brain short circuiting after Irene says brainy is the new sexy will always be funny

Maybe it’s me but if someone changed my text notification to that, even if just for them, I’d be (at best) annoyed. Hey…does Sherlock not know how to put his phone on silent? I know he has trouble with some ordinary things because he deleted them from his mind palace

Not everyone ganging up on Mycroft 😑

Oh my…there is…something very relatable about how annoyed Sherlock is about the small talk. I…that was me today

Oof. No no noooooooooo. Poor Molly. I simply would stop liking someone if they continuously said such mean things about me in front of me barely acknowledging that I’m even there to hear it.

Does “Althea” just go pick up anyone someone pays her to? Like…she doesn’t even drive the car. She just shows up and John gets in the car…because *I* know he’s meeting Irene

I don’t like them threatening Mrs Hudson 😡 I do like John underestimating her. This IS the woman who hired Sherlock to make sure her abusive husband got locked up

How do safe deposit boxes even work in England? Can anyone with the key just go in?? Seems…UNsafe.

Man, when that one dude said that apologizing for Sherlock must be like a full time job for Mycroft, I don’t think he knew how right he was. Or how profusely Mycroft has to apologize for him…….fucked up this whole operation by wanting to show off for Irene. And Irene told Jim.

I can’t tell you how long it took me to understand what Irene meant each time she uses the word ‘had’ or ‘have’ to mean sexually…it still takes my brain adjustment time 💀💀💀

The asexuality of Sherlock Holmes is pouring out of SO MANY SCENES:

Irene: have you ever had anyone? And by had, I’m being indelicate

Sherlock: I don’t understand

Irene: oh I’ll be delicate then. Let’s have dinner

Sherlock: why?

Irene: might be hungry

Sherlock: i’m not

Irene: good

Sherlock: why would I want to have dinner if I wasn’t hungry?

Me: RIGHT?!?!?!

Sherlock’s so smug and for absolutely no reason. You fucked up, buddy

I love these little scenes between Mycroft and John.

#hellsite nostalgia tour 2023 #come get some minor blog loreTM

[bedlamsbard]

1300 words written today...after the past week or two of being very scattered and jumping from story to story I wanted to actually focus on something today and wasn’t particularly bothered which of my WIPs it happened to be, so I just picked one.  It happened to be the next bit of what started with reaches past these ghosts (what happened to the 2012 Thor and Loki from Yonder 3), though Reaches isn’t going to be a chaptered story -- right now the rest of this plot is planned to be continued in the hypothetical Yonder sequel (which does have a working title and obvs y’all have seen me occasionally talk about planned plot points).  Winter storm moving through the Atlanta area tonight and tomorrow.  Stayed up for the Yellowjackets finale (this feels like a proper old school season finale that I haven’t seen in an age, but also I don’t watch much TV these days).

Snippet from Reaches concept 2.

“I – see,” Thor said. He frowned at Rogers.  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but…you said sixty-seven years ago.  I thought humans aged more quickly than that.”

“Uh,” Rogers said.  “I got another version of Schmidt’s super soldier serum – well, it wasn’t his, he forced another scientist to make it, and after Schmidt’s went wrong Dr. Erskine was able to make it to the States and volunteer for the SSR –”

“SHIELD’s predecessor,” Natasha explained.

“– anyway, I wasn’t always like this,” Rogers said, shrugging. “I had to crash Schmidt’s plane in the Arctic and I was…I guess you could say I was put on ice.”  He tried to grin and couldn’t quite manage it, some of the horror of it lingering in his eyes.  “SHIELD found me pretty recently.”

Thor nodded slowly.  “Asgardians live for a very long time,” he offered. “Much longer than humans.  I’ve had friends on Earth before, returned to Asgard, and come back to find that my friends had all grown old or died and to their children and their children’s children I was only a story.”

Rogers glanced at him, startled. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah.”  He swallowed and looked away, then dragged his attention back and said, “Anyway, that’s why I asked if the Tesseract had anything to do with your brother going missing in space, since I’ve seen it happen before.  I mean – you don’t know what could have happened to Schmidt, do you? I assume he died, but –”

“I’m afraid not,” Thor said. “The Tesseract has been in Asgardian hands since my great-grandfather’s day, but I don’t know much about it myself.  My brother –”

He paused, and Natasha knew the next thing out of his mouth was going to be a lie.

#daily fic snippet #roleswap endgame au concept

[sitp-recs]

Is there a better trope to go together with ass play?? First time is something that can be so kinky gentle and intimate 😭 I love love love this trope and some of my all-time favorite fics include mindblowing first times. Since this is a smutty week (and to keep this list more or less under control lol) I selected <30k fics with first time sequences that left a strong impression on me - not only they’re all hot af, in some of them the loss of virginity is a strong plot point. That doesn’t mean these stories can’t be as sweet, intimate and full of feels as a fluffy or angsty longfic. Here are some of my favorite renditions of this tasty trope. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I did!

DRARRY

Hurt for the Right Reasons by @lqtraintracks

Everything was so cocked up. He just wanted this one thing. He wanted to hurt for the right reasons for once.

Five Years by @shiftylinguini (2017, 4.6k)

For Draco, December means finding somewhere he can lose himself in the thrum of a crowd and the throb of music ― and Potter. It always means Potter now, too.

Once Bitten by Frayach (2012, 5.6k)

Harry likes to bite and fortunately Draco likes to be bitten. This story is based on Ships_Harry's oh-so-hot Bite Me.

Two Hours Later by @lazywonderlvnd (2020, 6k)

Two hours after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry runs into Malfoy outside the Room of Requirement and returns his wand.

Proper by violetclarity (2018, 8.7k)

Draco sighs. “What kind of absolute twit has the chance to have sex with the Chosen One and can’t go through with it?" In which Draco studies with Gryffindors, learns a new spell, and navigates the difficulty of being in a not-so-casual secret relationship with his childhood nemesis.

Night Changes by @writcraft (2017, 10k)

Draco and Harry have spent years dancing around one another, but Potter’s straight and married. Until one day he isn’t.

The Eighth Tale by lettered (2012, 12k)

Draco Malfoy tries to fix the past, but instead mucks it up some more. For Harry, it all becomes quite clear.

Potter's Insatiable Cock by @fleetofshippyships (2017, 20k)

Potter comes out and starts frequenting gay wizarding clubs. Only, he can't seem to find anyone to hold his interest, much to Draco's ongoing amusement, until one night things become clearer, and he has a proposition for Draco. Basically: Harry Potter is a virgin, and he wants Draco to rid him of his virginity.

When You Kiss Me (What A Lovely Way To Burn) by @femmequixotic (2018, 22k)

A drag fairytale of New York in which Draco wears red lipstick and Potter can’t get enough.

Your Place or Mine? by @l0vegl0wsinthedark (2016, 26k)

“This person is so much harder to hate. And I’m supposed to hate Malfoy. How the fuck else am I supposed to limit this to just sex?"

Speak (and may the world come undone) by @shealwaysreads (2020, 26k)

The war is on in earnest, and the hunt for the Horcruxes has begun. Harry receives help from the least expected person, and must decide whether he can trust the enemy he knows best. A story of grey-tinged loyalty, the silver of trust in the darkness, the agony of courage, the unexpected richness of secrets, and the vast unknown of survival.

I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor by birdsofshore (2015, 28k)

Harry felt lit up from inside as soon as he entered the bar. There were blokes dancing together, their bodies close to one another, not keeping a wary distance as Harry was always careful to do when he was near another man. God, he wanted this – wanted it so much he could taste it, a metallic tang of heat and desire. He suspected nothing would ever be the same again – especially when he saw who else was in the room.

Waiting By An Open Door by @femmequixotic and @noeeon (2017, 29k)

Draco starts following Potterwatch secretly during the War. He wishes Potter would come save him too. But that sort of thing only happens in fairy tales, and Malfoys don't get fairy tale endings, do they?

RAREPAIRS

Home for the Holidays by @gracerene09 (Charlie/James Sirius, 2017, 4k)

Charlie was expecting a normal holiday season at home, surrounded by food, laughter, and the warm embrace of family. He didn't count on James taking that last bit quite so literally.

Waiting Under Vain by supergrover24 (Harry/Teddy, 2011, 4.8k) - watersports

Teddy wants to know how sex really should be. Harry can't resist, no matter how much he tries.

Holding Out for A Hero by @writcraft (Harry/Teddy, 2015, 7.4k)

Even as he says no, Harry’s hands push into Teddy’s hair. Even as he protests, his lips connect with Teddy’s. Before Teddy can offer any reassurance his heart’s thumping wildly in his chest and Harry Potter’s kissing him as if there’s no tomorrow.

Heat by @lqtraintracks (Scorpius/James, 2017, 7.5k) - A/B/O

James had always been miserable as an Alpha. Mostly because he was crap at it. Until Scorpius Malfoy went into an unexpected heat, that is.

What It Takes by jad (Harry/Draco/Ron, endgame Drarry, 2011, 10k)

If Ron had been on time, Harry never would've realised what he was missing.

Those Who Wait by @shiftylinguini (Teddy/James, 2016, 14k)

Good things come to those who wait. Luckily for James, good things also come to those who are terrible at waiting, and who instead sulk dramatically and go to sleep in a huff. Teddy is in no position to judge him, however, being the one who made the 'no-sex-'til-your-eighteenth-birthday-sweetheart' rule in the first place ― and then, of course, went and got sent on assignment that weekend, instead of making good on what he’d promised James. But now... Well, nothing’s stopping him from making good on it now.

Unguarded by birdsofshore (Draco/Albus Severus, 2014, 15k)

Staying with Scorpius for the first time proves to be more eventful than Albus expected, right from the moment when he walks in on Mr Malfoy shaving.

#smutty week #drarry reclist #rarepairs #first time

[heyitsjay03]

Aeipathy: Chapter Two

Disclaimer: i don’t (unfortunately) own Marvel or any of their characters, plot points, etc. so all right are to them and their our overlord Disney

AN: yeahhhh this one’s a shorty but i promise the next one will be longer and filled with plot and angst and shit so prepare yourselves <3

Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

TW: angst, mentions of torture, mentions of murder/arson, HYDRA collectively is a prick

Chapter One is available here!

   Gnawing. 

   It claws through my body on all fours. Tearing, ripping, hacking, burning. 

   Monstrous fangs that sink into the deepest parts of muscle- I can feel it in my bones, the burning. 

  There is no noise, just the sound of whirring and the unholy screeching of demons in my ears. Faceless demons, demons whose faces have too much detail, demons that stare, demons that scream. Demons, demons, demons. 

   I have fallen. Fallen from grace. Fallen from…

   No, no. 

   I am falling. 

   Something catches me. A savior in blue. Scarlet red smeared across their chest. Blood. My blood- the blood of sinners and saints and bystanders. Of children and ancients and of rich and poor. 

   There’s white streaked between the red. Piety. Purity. Righteousness. Desperately, I cling to the stark white stripes. Indecipherable mumbles pass my lips as I stare at the white. I beg for purity, to be clean again.

   Every time I wake up, it’s always the same. 

   The immovable weight in my body. The unceasing shivering. The bite of frost. The writhing of filth in my veins. In my nerves. In every fiber of my being. Festering. Growing. Rotting. Corrupting. Remembering. 

   But why can’t I remember?

   All I can remember are the demons. Faceless, nameless but never silent. Always screaming.

   Screaming, screaming, screaming. 

   I cling to the white. The righteousness of my savior. Solidity in turbulence. Silence in cacophony. Purity. Cleanliness. Life. 

   I cling to life. 

   But life burns under my fingertips. It shrieks and squirms under my touch- tries to escape. Repelled by my presence, it retracts away from my grasp.

   Color retracts into shapes as I take in my surroundings. An almost completely empty room completely made of concrete. A single contraption behind me made of metal. Icy fog slithers out of the open door, hissing and flicking at my ankles. 

   Words, however, remain blurred. The savior holds me upright- pulls me to my feet. Everything burns and aches. I’m so incredibly cold. Frosted water paints my skin, coats my clothes to my body. A puddle gathers beneath the writhing fog. 

   This seems familiar. 

   My eyes turn up towards my savior. The blood-stained guardian. Words fall from their lips, landing on deaf ears. 

   My body trembles as the cold becomes more vicious with its fangs. The savior turns away and says something. Everything is muffled- faraway and distant and like someone has their hands clamped down over my ears. 

   “Why am I awake?” I ask, straightening up. Every inch of me quivers while every part of me wishes to stop. 

   But I was awoken for a purpose. My mission.

   And I’ll complete it. 

   Hail HYDRA.

Location: S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters

Date: 2012

   “Woah, easy, ________,” I mutter, holding her upright. Her eyes wide, they flick around the room. Her hands grip my chest as she shakes violently. 

   She’s here. She’s alive. 

   She… she died. Died on that table- how is this…

   “Steve,” Tony mutters, holding out a blanket. I take it and start to wrap it around her shoulders. 

   As her glazed eyes lock with mine, I look over her face. She’s drained of color- blue and white. Her chapped blue lips open and close violently.

   Hoarsely, she starts to speak. 

   But not anything I can understand. 

   Over and over, she repeats questions with her eyes wide and wary of every moment and movement. My eyes dart over to Tony- who watches ________, his eyebrows furrowed. 

   Russian. 

   That’s what she’s speaking. Russian. And fluently. Extremely well. Why… Why is she…?

   “She didn’t… usually speak like this, did she?” Tony asks, gesturing vaguely to her as she continues to shake in my arms. Broken words off a stolen tongue hiss past her lips. She furrows her eyebrows as she looks between the two of us. 

   “Her files told me she was-” Tony continues. 

   “She’s… she’s never spoken this before,” I mutter, adjusting my grip under her arms. “Raised in Brooklyn for most’a her life- I dunno why-”

   “V chem... moya missiya?” ________ hisses, her voice shaking. I look down and watch her straighten up on unsteady legs. “V chem moya missiya?” 

   “...why is she…?” Tony mutters, stepping in front of her. He lets his head fall back with a sigh as he taps his leg with his finger. “It’s been a long time, let’s see if I can do this.” Rolling his shoulders back and snapping his neck, he focuses back on ________. “Kto ty?”

   ________’s head tilts to the side slightly. Her eyebrows furrow further as she glares at him through them. “...Hetaerae. V chem moya missiya?”

   Tony sighs and closes his eyes as he speaks. “Ch… chto… ty. Chto ty?”

   Her eyes glaze over as she stops shaking, standing upright. “Ya HYDRA.”

   “...she’s… She died, Tony. I don’t… I don’t know what else to tell you,” I mutter, looking up from the desk. “She… she died before I even got the serum. I hadn’t even seen Doctor Erskine- Bucky… he hadn’t been shipped off to Europe yet.”

   “I may be able to help explain that,” Tony says as he gets to his feet. In his hand is a thick folder filled with papers and photos and notes and scraps of paper. He places it in front of me with a thud. “Apologies- I would opt for the digital version but, uh… you… don’t even know what... that… is.”

   “Tony,” I say sharply as I open the folder. He just shrugs and sits down across the table again. The top paper is mostly blacked-out with a few words left untouched. ________’s name. Her age. Her parents and their causes and dates of death. And other words that… don’t make sense. ‘Mistress’. ‘Replication’. ‘Improvement’. ‘Rejected’. ‘Baroness’. ‘Salbei’.

   ‘Hetaerae’. 

   Repeated over and over throughout the sea of black streaks is that word. ‘Hetaerae’. At the very bottom of the page in tiny letters are the words ‘Project Samsara- Hetaerae’. In the corner is a skull with tentacles writhing beneath it. ‘HYDRA’ is written along the curve of the skull. 

   My stomach churns. If HYDRA really is behind this then...

   I start tearing into the folder. Photos of the various angles of the steel container from when I woke up. Under it is a handwritten note. ‘Cryo-container; Vrsn: Hetaerae’. 

   Another photo- this one of a chair. On the armrests and legs are cuffs, along with another one on the back of the chair. Something metal comes around the chair. It juts off the side of a machine and looms over it like an archway. A note is written over the photo. ‘Neck brace may prematurely terminate subject. Issue logged during first programming session’.

   Another blacked-out stack of papers. The same words are repeated over and over again. ‘Hetaerae’, ‘Baroness’, ‘Samsara’, ‘Salbei’, ‘HYDRA’. My fists clench the papers before tossing them to the side. Tony watches in silence. 

   What the Hell is this? What were they doing- what did ________ have to do with it? 

   My eyebrows furrow as I manically flip through the papers. Papers fly to the side as I tear through the folder. I can feel myself getting rigid as I near the end. 

   Nothing. I’ve learned nothing. Not a single goddamn thing. There’s nothing here- 

   My hands stop as my eyes rest on the last few items. A file not blacked out. It’s completely intact. Nothing scratched, no scribbles, no hasty lines cutting through words. I snatch it and start reading. 

Project Samsara; Hetaerae

Subject Name: ________ Bishop

Subject Age: 26

Subject Info:

Daughter of Leon Bishop (deceased) and Catherine Chambers (deceased)

Resident of Brooklyn, NY

Military background

Non-combatant medic

Attempted pilot training

Worked under Doctor Akin Nachtnebel- HYDRA researcher

Personal friend of Captain Steven G. Rogers, Sergeant James B. Barnes, political activist Odessa Lily Mae Ababio

Official status: Deceased

Simplified Process Log (see file 178953 for detailed logs):

Day 1: 

Body retrieved by HYDRA. 

Blood and tissue samples taken. 

Heart/respiration rates taken. 

Note: Hetaerae seems to be semi-lucid. May require sedation. 

Day 13:

Serum incubation complete. 

Visible changes in body structure internal and external. 

Bone density increased slightly, muscle mass increased, other changes to be tested.

Day 23:

Regen. abilities test positive

Enhanced reflexes test positive

Body modifications test optimal

Note: Hetaerae seemed to negatively respond to pain. Possible weakness. Must train to not respond.

Day 68:

First programming session prematurely terminated. Hetaerae reacted negatively to programming.

Admitted to medical wing. 

Near strangulation and bruised trachea. 

Removing neck cuff on programming station and attempting again tomorrow. 

Day 100:

Programming temporarily successful. 

Hetaerae could not recall set of numbers given pre-programming for forty minutes. 

Memory wipe testing will continue.

Day 173:

Hetaerae admitted to medical wing for treatment. 

Major vocal cord damage. 

Damage not irreversible. 

Memory wipe testing will continue.

Note: Hetaerae begged for ‘Steve’ and ‘Bucky’ repeatedly during memory wipe. More research needed.

Day 234:

Three guards admitted to medical wing. 

Hetaerae had clawed at their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths

Broken nails were taken from guards’ faces.

Admitted samples for research.

Extra-long memory wipe testing done. 

Hetaerae will be allowed a day to rest after strenuous session. Cannot allow for subject’s termination.

Day 250:

Near disaster.

Hetaerae attempted escape.

Four guards killed. Two more seriously injured.

Must increase security.

Note: Hetaerae lethal before combat training. A promising candidate. Akin, in his paranoia, chose well.

Day 276:

Hetaerae broke free of restraints during memory wipe.

Too exhausted to attempt escape. 

Memory wipe has prevented Hetaerae from remembering subject name.

Will begin codeword implantation process tomorrow. 

Day 342:  

Hetaerae begins Samsara training tomorrow. 

Complete memory wipe achieved. 

Hetaerae is the only thing within subject.

Day 3658:

Samsara training complete.

Winter Soldier co-training complete.

Complete memory wipe complete.

Codeword implantation complete. 

Hetaerae to be placed in cryo to await orders.

Hail HYDRA. 

HYDRA status: Active. Ready for use.

   “Look at her track record,” Tony mutters, sliding a thick wad of papers over to me. Turning away, I shake my head. “...fine. I’ll read it for you.” He huffs, flipping through the various pages. “Uh… her first mission was to…” he scoffs, “To take out a mid-level politician that had apparently laid his eyes on something he shouldn’t have. ‘Mission: success, target: terminated’.”

   “Tony…” I warn quietly, my shoulders getting tenser with each word. 

   “A few missions later, she’s retrieving lab samples and… and destroying the lab... Fourteen people killed. ‘Mission: success, targets: terminated’.”

   “Tony.”

   “I’m skimmin’ here, Cap, but listen- an orphanage in Saint Petersburg, a… a couple in Prague, a woman in Athens, a man in Cairo...” Tony continues skimming through the pages. “‘Mission: success, target: terminated’, ‘Mission: success, target: terminated’, ‘Mission: success, target: terminated’-”

   “Enough!” I snap, turning to look at him. 

   Tony sighs and puts the papers down. Running a hand down his face, he purses his lips. “Dunno how else t’tell ya this, Cap- she’s dangerous. She has killed hundreds of people. She can speak seven languages, she can infiltrate a political atmosphere and topple it, she can... camouflage in any… social situation, she has a perfect kill record... Whoever she was before-”

   “She’s still in there,” I cut in. “She’s still in there.”

   Tony rolls his eyes. “Are… are you not... hearing what I’m telling you?” He gestures to the original folder. “They laid into her for… ten years. Subjected her to torture. Wiped her slate clean. Whatever was in there, pal, it’s long gone.”

   A huff leaves my lips. “...you don’t know what she was like,” I mumble coldly, reminiscing over what it was like to live with her, to live with her at my side like I was at hers. “She was… the most... hard-headed… stubborn dame I’d ever met. And strong, too.”

   “Rogers-”

   “She’s still in there, Tony,” I snap, my eyes flicking up to him. “She’s strong.”

   “Good morning.” I say, waving at ________ as she sits on the chair. Her breathing is steady, eyes trained on the opposite side of the room. Her wrists are handcuffed to the armests- the same with her ankles. They clink slightly as she breathes. 

   The room is completely empty except for another chair across from hers. My shield lays against the chair- ‘a precaution’ Fury called it. 

   ‘A threat’ is what I would call it. 

   I step further into the room and sit down on the chair. With glazed eyes, she watches me. “Are… those too tight?” I ask, gesturing to the cuffs. 

   She says nothing. Only blinks in response. 

   She… she looks so empty. 

   Her face was always glowing, her smile illuminating the clinic when Buck and I would walk in to bring her lunch or just to bug her. Letters would flood in every now and then from past patients or their families, thanking her for her patience and kindness. She would keep them all in a shoebox under her bed.

   And her hands. She would wrap bandages around my wounds with care. She’d always tell me to not get it in my head to fight again… and then ask where the punks lived so she could ‘pay them a visit’. Her hands were always feather-soft when checking every injury’s progress. 

   Now they look… darker. Not in color but just… darker. 

   Stained.  

   Did she know what she was doing when she killed those people?

   ________ shifts slightly, the sound of the handcuffs pulling me out of my head. I clear my throat and straighten up. “...do you know who I am?” I ask quietly. 

   No response. 

   “Do you know who you are?”

   “Haetarae.” She answers, eyes still glazed. 

   “Do you… do you know who you actually are?”

   ________’s eyes narrow for just a moment. “...HYDRA.”

   “No. No,” I mutter, pointing to my chest. “...do you know who I am?”

   ...nothing. 

   “Steve. I’m Stevie. We… we grew up in Brooklyn together. With Bucky. We, um… Buck ‘nd I, we helped you out of a fight when you were thirteen. That’s how we met… you… remember that…?”

   She blinks, eyes scanning over me. 

   Getting up from my seat, I reach into my pocket and tug a photo of the three of us out of my pocket. It was taken after she had gotten her nursing credentials. We had gone out dancing, just the three of us. We found someone willing to take our photo. A smile crosses my lips as I look down at it. 

   Colors start to fade into the black and white photo. Every detail is so crisp. ________’s chin is resting on my head as she stands behind me- a bright, red-lipped smile on her face. Her arms are wrapped around my chest as she leans over. Her hair is done perfectly- up with roses in her hair. Neat and tidy like she practiced. The skirt of her dress is the same shade of red as her lips. Black dots pattern the fabric of the skirt. The bodice was black- matching her heels. Hooked through her elbows was a creme-colored fur boa. 

   Bucky’s got his arm around her waist and he ducks down to my level. He holds a pressed black suit, wearing a red undershirt. His suit jacket is hung over his shoulder with his undershirt’s sleeves rolled up. I remember him shining his shoes that day while ________ meticulously placed roses in her hair. Bucky had sewn and hemmed my pants with pride. ‘It’s a special day, punk’, he mumbled with the needle between his lips, ‘can’t have ya trippin’ on your pant legs.’ 

   She shifts again and I’m pulled right back into now. ________ sits in front of me. No smile, no roses, no brightness. And Bucky… Bucky’s dead and gone. Lost a long, long time ago. Slowly, I hold out the photo. “...see?” I mumble, “That’s me… before I… had a growth spurt. And that’s Buck.”

   I look up to her. She’s focused on the photo, eyes slightly squinted and head tilted to the side just barely. “...Buck ‘nd you,” I laugh quietly. “He… he was… so crazy about you. He just… never realised it.”

   The door behind us cracks open. Her body snaps tightly, eyes back to glazed. Tony peeks his head into the room and tilts it back. “Eyepatch wants you.”

   I sigh. Looking back at ________, I tuck the photo into her hand. Slowly, her fingers wrap around it delicately. I nod once and start out of the room. As the door swings shut, I spare one last look. ________ looks down at the photo, her head slightly tilting once more.

   “It may be our only option,” Fury sighs. “She’s unpredictable at best.”

   “She’s still in there- if I can just… keep talking with her-”

   “That is out of the question,” he says firmly, eye flicking up to me. “...you’re too close on this one, Rogers. I’m making the executive decision to-”

   Lights start to flash overhead- red and screaming. A wailing buzz rips out of the hallway as the red light bathes us in scarlet. The door slams open, Tony standing in the doorway, panting. Fury slowly gets out of his seat, eye wide. 

   “She… She got out,” Tony mutters, gesturing outside.

   My body launches forward as I run into the hallway. People are running, an anxious chatter swarming around them as they pass just in front of me. As I push into the main hallway, elbows and chests are thrown into me. Flicking to each person, my eyes catch the room where ________ was held. The door is almost completely torn off the hinges- the wood cracked at the handle. 

   I start to push through the sea of people. Like water, they throw themselves against me- eager to leave the building and get the hell out of harm’s way. But as I make my way to the door and push out the other side of the tempest, I can see the dangling cuffs still hanging around the armrests. 

   My fingers graze the splintering wood door, tracing the ridges of where her fingers had dug into the wood- leaving grooves in the shape of her hand. The hinges look relatively new as they hang lifelessly off the wall. The debris littering the floor is kicked around, leaving a partial trail down the hallway. I follow with a solid grip on my shield. 

   “________?” I hiss, looking around the empty hallway. Everything is dimmed by the red lights and the screaming of the alarms haven’t stopped. “________!” 

   I round a corner and every adrenaline-fueled tension melts away. At the very end of the hallway is a floor-to-ceiling window. Broken glass lays at the base of a gaping hole. 

   She’s gone. 

#captain america #bucky barnes #bucky fanfic #bucky x female reader #captain america x platonic!reader #eventual relationship #slow burn #angst #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x reader #series #nick fury #tony stark

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

MOONFALL (2022)

Starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, Eme Ikwuakor, Carolina Bartczak, Maxim Roy, Stephen Bogaert, Azriel Dalman, Kelly Reilly, Zayn Maloney, Ava Weiss, Hazel Nugent, Chris Sandiford,          Jonathan Maxwell Silver, Ryan Bommarito, Kathleen Fee, Frank Schorpion and Donald Sutherland.

Screenplay by Roland Emmerich & Harald Kloser & Spenser Cohen.

Directed by Roland Emmerich.

Distributed by Lionsgate. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13.

With Moonfall, Roland Emmerich has essentially remade the same movie at least five or six times now.

Oh sure, there are little variations on plot and how batshit crazy everything gets, but basically, it’s all the same. Rampant and random widescale violence and destruction, flying debris and trucks and boats, people running and hiding, insane scientific explanations for the havoc, fireballs flying from the skies, entire cities reduced to rubble, and for the money shot, the destruction of a major historical landmark. (Spoiler alert: for this film it’s the Chrysler Building in New York.)

I remember the good old days when the disasters in disaster films were somewhat limited in scope. A boat is capsized, or a building catches fire, or an airplane has crashed. Even when it was more widespread, it was still limited to a set area – a city is nearly destroyed by an earthquake, or a tropical island is overrun by the lava flow from a local volcano.

Roland Emmerich doesn’t believe in that smalltime stuff. As I said in a review of one of his earlier films – The Day After Tomorrow – Emmerich is more into the fire and brimstone school of disaster films. He doesn’t limit himself to a single building or cruise ship or even city. He’s going after the whole shebang – the wholesale destruction of the entire Earth. (This one also takes on the moon.)

Which doesn’t mean that the total mayhem can’t sometimes be fun, if a little overwhelming, as long as you don’t think too much about the story.

Because the story is willfully stupid and not just a bit bonkers – it feels like it may have been hatched in a QAnon chat room. In Moonfall, the moon (which may or may not be a death star type super spaceship) is attacked by a giant AI creature, which throws it out of its orbit. The moon is quickly hurtling towards Earth, and the fact that the moon is out of orbit is already causing massive full-scale destruction all over the Earth. And the only people who can save the Earth and return the moon to its normal orbit are two squabbling former astronauts and a conspiracy theorist.

Da fuq?

One thing that is noticeable right away is that Moonfall is definitely put together on the cheap comparatively for an Emmerich project, probably proof that his star has fallen significantly since his glory days of Independence Day and Stargate. Even the cast is a clue – Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson are just fine, but neither is exactly an A-level star at this point in their careers.

And Emmerich’s trademark – the destruction of national monuments – is severely soft pedaled in this film. The destruction of the Chrysler Building is done almost as an afterthought, and there is also a shot which appears to be taking aim at the new World Trade Center, but then the camera just passes it by.

Still, you know what you are getting with a Roland Emmerich film, and Moonfall does deliver some of the extra-sensory overload that is expected. There are some funny parts – some of them are even intentional. So, if you enjoyed 2012, or The Day After Tomorrow, or Godzilla, or Independence Day: Resurgence, chances are good you’ll like Moonfall, too. If you didn’t like those films, chances are pretty good you’ll never get anywhere near Moonfall, anyway.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 4, 2022.

#Moonfall #2022 #Movie Review #Patrick Wilson #Halle Berry #Jay S. Jacobs

[teenageread]

Review: Every Day

Synopsis:

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone A wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Plot:

When they were younger, they thought this was normal. Every day you get a new body; the challenge is to figure out how to work it and make the day last. When you are a baby, you do not really notice the difference. You just have someone to take care of you, which every day, that person changes, but there is always that same level of care and love. It was not until they got around five or six when they noticed something was wrong as "mom" and "dad" always talked about tomorrow with them, unable to realize that to their child at that moment, there was no tomorrow, only today before they were someone else. Giving themselves the name of A, A began trying to live that person's life as normally as they would, trying to figure out whose body they are inhabiting as quickly as possible and leaving them with non-significant memories of the day. A figures out there are a few rules to this game, from how they occupy a body and the time limit within each body. For the most part, A sticks to their rules until Day 5994, when they inhabit the body of Justin. Justin happens to be dating the best girl in the world, only they do not know it. Something about Rhiannon's soul captured A's heart and made them willing to break all their rules just to spend time with her. Introducing himself to Rhiannon, a gay version of Nathan at a party, email addresses were exchanged so the two could keep in touch. When Rhiannon finds out Nathan is a phony, A comes cleans and decides, for the first time in sixteen years, to tell someone about what they are in the hopes that some way they can make it work.

Thoughts:

David Levithan gives us this unique tale of a disembodied soul falling in love with a girl, whom they cannot spend the night with. First off, ignoring the romantic plot for a second, Levithan wrote an extremely creative story. Throughout the novel, giving details about A's life and the rules A has to live by only when they become relevant. Thus, while reading this story, you are figuring out how the game works without Levithan giving out all the information at once. Leviathan was also diverse in the cast of bodies. A occupies anyone and everyone, from a suicidal girl, football player boy, a nerd, LGBTQ+ members, someone suffering from obesity, and someone hooked on drugs. A tries to live the life as they would. You really get to see from multiple perspectives of teenagers in this small town and learn the struggles other people are going through. Now the romance is the part that Levithan lets me down at, as I think A falls in love too fast, and Rhiannon, for the most part, does not reciprocate. Levithan gave A a love at first sight romance, that even when Rhiannon questioned, A could not be fully described. It was all about a connection of souls that you just had to believe was there, as Rhiannon made no move saying she was interested in A. However, that also depends on the person, as Rhiannon gave off light homophobic vibes, which, even for 2012, was not okay. Levithan just made Rhiannon act so much more awkwardly whenever A was in the body of a girl that they did not make Rhiannon act when A was a boy; despite Rhiannon knowing the person they are talking to is A. Levithan also leaves a lot about the body switch A does to be left unanswered, as where you get the basic idea while reading, the limitations aspects are not really discussed, especially when thinking about time zones and memory with language. Ignoring those parts, though, and accepting this novel to be the cheesy YA romance it is meant to be, Levithan wrote a unique story that is definitely deserving of its hype with its amazing plotline.

Read more reviews: Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon

#Every Day #David Levithan #book review

[gfpt-comic]

So. Here goes nothing... (1/?)

(Major spoilers for the comic, but since it won’t update anymore (besides PERHAPS some random comic strips/excerpts without context every now and then, but don’t count on it), I guess it doesn’t matter.)

If you read my answer to the ask posted earlier, you probably know what this post is about. I’ll make a list of every important point I wanted to tackle in the comic, in multiple sections. Be prepared for the long post that awaits you below the cut.

Summary of what was left of Chapter 2

Following their first appearance at the beginning of the chapter, Lolph and Dundgren try to question Blendin, who is staying at a hospital and is still under intense care. They discuss what exactly happened to Blendin in the first place: he was assigned what was supposed to be a routine mission to solve a minor time anomaly in the 21st century, but his time machine exploded when he tried to operate it and he was gravely injured. Dundgren mentions that any normal time device should hardly cause this much damage when malfunctioning, suggesting that Blendin’s level of incompetence is so incredibly high, it somehow managed to make something that shouldn’t be able to explode blow up in his face. On the other hand, Lolph starts to wonder if, exactly because it should be impossible, the accident may have had a reason other than just Blendin’s incompetence. Unfortunately, the accident had consequences so grave on Blendin’s physical health, it seemingly also took a toll on his sanity and questioning him only leaves them with esoteric sentences of dubious credibility.

Blendin: “This is very nice of you… to visit me. There isn’t much time left. I was starting to feel alone, before everything disappears.” Blendin: “Time Baby will succeed… He will free us from this time.”

July 13, 2012 again: back in the gift shop of the Mystery Shack, Wendy and Soos have captured Bill and tied him up to a chair. Wendy starts interrogating him, asking him who or what he is-- throwing in her multiple guesses: the Shapeshifter she defeated with Dipper in the bunker, a paper clone... She doesn’t suspect demon possession or a switch-because-of-the-carpet scenario, however. Bill just keeps trying to break free with little success, without answering; and soon, Stan interrupts them when he enters the gift shop as well, followed by the dozen of tourists he took during his latest tour. Wendy and Soos manage to evade Stan’s obvious questions by pretending they were making a new attraction.

Back in Mabel’s Dreamscape, Mabel encourages Dipper to have some fun with Bill’s powers, but he is scared of messing up because of just how powerful he is; having seen Bill’s powers both in the Mindscape/Dreamscape and in Weirdmageddon when he witnessed the alternate timelines, Dipper knows just how far those powers can go and he isn’t sure he can control them. Still, after some teasing Mabel starts a snowball fight with the surrounding ice cream, and gradually the twins have more and more fun starting with the ice cream, then with the tricks Dipper starts to use. When they take a break, Mabel points out that nothing bad happened, and Dipper grows a bit more confident that he can use Bill’s powers in a way that isn’t dangerous.

Dipper: “I guess it’s easy to do exactly what you want when it literally happens in your mind... Huh.”

Dipper notices it’s almost noon, and Mabel remembers that she was supposed to meet William at Greasy’s Diner for lunch. Mabel is unseasy upon thinking of talking to him again after what happened the day before, and Dipper confirms by showing William’s current whereabouts through a peephole that William seems about as worried as she is. Mabel takes a deep breath, makes sure that she will be able to see Dipper whenever she needs (during the night for sure, perhaps earlier if she asks for it). Still, just before Dipper wakes her up... She has a favor to ask him.

Mabel: “Now that you can do lots of magic stuff and all... Could you do something for me?”

Back in the gift shop, the tourists have left and Bill was untied due to Stan’s confusion over the situation. However, he is forced to stay inside and is stuck sitting by Wendy’s side behind the cashier desk. When Mabel goes through the gift shop to go to the Diner, everyone notices that she made a new sweater -- one with a pine tree symbol on it, no less. Bill is enraged but can’t stop her from leaving.

William has his first face reveal. He is a blonde 13-year-old, and is already waiting worriedly at Greasy’s Diner when Mabel arrives. He immediately apologizes for what happened on the day before.

William: “About yesterday, I... I’m sorry I said your brother was a bad influence. That was uncalled for.”

Mabel: “Yes. Yes it was.”

William is genuinely apologetic, but soon it is revealed that the reason why he thought Dipper and the Mystery Shack were a bad influence was because he doesn’t believe at all in the supernatural. Even if Mabel told him about her adventures, he assumed they were just stories she made up while playing in the Mystery Shack’s museum and never believed them to be true. Mabel tries to convince him by showing him some episodes of Dipper’s “Guide to the Unexplained” -- a series of videos he used to make and post online at the beginning of their summer break upon arriving in Gravity Falls, but stopped making altogether after Summerween. Sadly, the episodes made up until then did not revolve around exceptionally weird anomalies, and aren’t enough to convince William. The only thing William admits to being strange is the fact that every inhabitant of Gravity Falls is “out of their minds.”

Exasperated by William’s absurdly high levels of skepticism, Mabel eventually dares him to go on a forest expedition with her, Candy and Grenda on the next day, just so they can show him pretty much anything in the forest that is out of the ordinary. William strongly refuses and tries to dissuade her to go into the forest at all; he has been personally forbidden by his mother from going anywhere near the forest, and he has also read on the local news that there is currently a predator of unknown origin or species on the loose, which has been notably attacking sheep from the nearby farm. Mabel teases him about the fact that he believes that this creature is real, and suggests that it might be a werewolf for example; but William doesn’t take her seriously, especially because the creature is supposed to fly.

And... This is the part where my script starts getting wonky. I’ve been trying to fill the holes, but sadly it’s proven to be quite difficult, especially now that I know I won’t be drawing it in comic form anyway. Still, the main plot should be precise enough! The holes are mainly just “there should be some filler and/or foreshadowing to what’s coming here”, with little more than just prompts for what could be happening.

Back in the Mystery Shack’s gift shop, Wendy tries to sneakily question Bill, but when Stan asks them where Mabel went and Bill tells him she skipped her restocking duty so she could spend time with William at the Diner, Stan asks him to get her back. Bill happily takes this opportunity to slip out of the Mystery Shack, and have an excuse to bother Mabel at the same time.

Eventually, William is obligated to accept Mabel’s terms and intends on coming so he can at least make sure that the girls won’t put themselves in danger upon visiting the forest on their own.

Bill arrives at the Diner. William, thinking he is meeting Dipper again, tries to make amends for the things he said the previous day and says that he earnestly thinks they can start again on the right foot; Bill sadistically mocks him instead, all the while pretending to be Dipper, just so he can ruin Mabel’s hopes of reconciling William and Dipper. Bill finishes Mabel by forcing her to leave, saying that Stan expects her to work at the gift shop like she was supposed to since the beginning.

Mabel gone, William and Bill start to have a tense conversation; well, tense on William’s part, while Bill is mostly just having a blast driving William mad. The old fanfic that was the first “draft” version of the story has this chapter, which gathers most of the jokes I intended to keep, and at least some of the plot points. I’ll put a warning for awkward English, though. Oh and also, apparently in the old version it was July 3rd and not July 13th, so in the comic the “tomorrow is July 4th so the forest trip can’t happen anyway” excuse wouldn’t work.

About the Quetzalcoatlus thing: here, have some fun dinosaur size comparisons & history following my latest research on what the pterodactyl from S1E18: Land Before Swine.

William: “And how would you even know all that?”

Bill: “Because I ate Leonardo da Vinci.”

William: “. . .”

William: “… It must have been some VERY cryptic way for you to say that it was one of those conspiracy things mentioned in the old book supposedly written by a genius that you keep reading passionately every day. Right?”

Bill: “Oh, so your brain CAN work sometimes!”

Bill gets bit by a soothquito. His bite marks spell “FHOASE CORECULLY“

Upon leaving the Diner, they both see someone being kidnapped by a member of the Blindeye Society. William insists they immediately go warn the police, but Blubs and Durland prove to be ineffective as ever. Bill slips in one or two facts about the secret society, but William dismisses them completely as other random insane things Bill just happens to say all the time for trolling purposes.

Mabel is back in the Mystery Shack and starts her restocking duty, but her mind is clearly elsewhere. She starts mumbling to herself, but is interrupted by the decapitated head of Larry King who just happened to be in the vents nearby. Mabel isn’t surprised at all to see he survived, and when Larry King starts "interviewing” her about the issues she was mumbling about, she complies. Some time later, while Soos is cleaning up the floor, he overhears Mabel complaining about Bill being a jerk on purpose and making Dipper seem like a terrible person, and ends up hearing pretty much the whole story that way, without Mabel knowing. Soos proceeds to tell Wendy what he heard, helping them putting two and two together-- all the while understanding why Mabel didn’t warn them, and why they should stay silent as well. They decide not to tell Mabel they know her secret; but when Bill comes back later, just as Wendy’s shift was about to end, she has just one thing to tell him:

Wendy: “Tomorrow 6PM. My place.”

Night time; Bill is annoyed, but not very surprised by the fact that Soos is sleeping with him  for the night, in the room on the ground floor where Dipper had relocated. Bill is at least glad he no longer has to pretend to be Dipper around Wendy and him.

Soos proceeds to ask Bill what his intentions were; not just in the present times now that the switch occurred, but also before it.

Soos: “So you really are that triangle guy from two weeks ago?”

Soos: “Now that I'm thinking about it… A lot of things happened two weeks ago. That's when it began to get all wrong. Well, it was already wrong before that, but… That's really when you came that everything started to get all weird and… bad.“

Soos: “It all started because of that Summerween night. What did you want with us?”

Soos: “Why did you tell Dipper that Gideon summoned you?”

Bill: “It was just a job. Jobs are boring. There’s no fun in it if nobody’s trying to stop you.”

Bill: “Oh, and you wanna know the best part? If you’d taken Shooting Star along with you instead of going just the two of you, perhaps you would’ve had an opportunity to beat me.”

Soos: What did you do with Gideon two weeks ago? Dipper and I knew it wasn’t a coincidence that those government guys showed up just the next day. 

Bill: “Something that neither Pine Tree nor I want anybody to find out, I bet. Also if I were to tell you, you'd either faint or spend the next fourteen hours trying to explain it all to Red. Funny, but not worth it.”

Soos is disturbed by Bill’s attitude, because of course he tries to both troll and traumatize at once, and given how Soos was already terrified of Bill because of the Summerween night (”I’ve had nightmares for weeks!” from an earlier comic page), it doesn’t help. Soos tries to ask Bill about the deal he made with Gideon -- more specifically, he asks what Bill wanted in return for stealing the code from Stan’s mind. However, Bill doesn’t answer and instead opens the bedroom door to reveal that Mabel was trying to eavesdrop.

Mabel was mostly there to make sure that everything was alright, and deduces that Bill hadn't slept at all during the first night and that he intends to never sleep at all, even after she tells him that humans need sleep to survive. Thankfully she came prepared with a “surprise gift from Candy and Grenda”, and sprays Bill with Fairy Dust.

Mabel: “There’s probably enough in that bag to knock out a gremloblin in an instant, so I think he’s good for the night. :p”

Once Bill is asleep, Dipper takes this chance to come to his Dreamscape and talk to him one-on-one; and, he is not happy at how Bill treated Mabel so far. Still, after a certain point the conversation gets to a more pressing topic.

Bill: “You saw it happen, didn’t you?”

Bill: “Weirdmageddon. You saw it, right?”

Dipper: “. . .”

Bill: “Oh-ho, even better! There’s a timeline in which YOU make it happen, isn’t there?”

Dipper: “That’s not gonna happen.”

Bill: “Look kid, take it from me. The more you try to actively prevent a specific outcome, the more likely you usually make it happen.”

Dipper: “You can’t make something happen if you specifically stop everything that can lead to it from happening first.”

Dipper: “Even if it includes lying to Mabel…  I saw it. If she learns there’s a way to get me a physical form, she’ll try anything to make it happen and disregard the consequences. I bet she trusts me to keep things under control, but everything else? There’s just... There’s too many variables. We can’t let her know anything about the portal. Or Weirdmageddon.”

Bill: “Well, that doesn’t change anything from my original plan anyway.”

Bill: “So you’re just gonna stay in the Nightmare Realm forever, is that it?”

Dipper: “That’s not much of a plan so far, but that’s still an effective way to save the world.”

Bill: “Don’t mess with me. You DO know that if you don’t make your way to another dimension eventually, you’re just going to die, right?”

Dipper: “... W-what are you talking about?”

Bill: “Wait. You REALLY didn’t figure that out yet?”

Bill: “The Nightmare Realm is unstable. It’s just gonna collapse one of these days, destroy everything in it. Could be in a billion years. Could be tomorrow.”

After leaving Bill’s Dreamscape, Dipper decides to visit Wendy’s and tell her everything. He confirms her doubts, tells her the whole story with the carpet... And he tells her about Weirdmageddon and what Bill just told him about the Nightmare Realm.

Dipper: “I mean, it’s better this way for everyone, and of course I’m not gonna go with Bill’s original plan to destroy the laws of physics or whatever, but… I-I just don’t wanna die, you know?”

Wendy: “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”

> Summary of chapters 3 and 4

#pt comic #pt compilation #pythagorean thoughts

[chris-evans-indian-fanfic]

Worthy

One-Shot

Description: What happens when Steve goes to collect the Soul Stone instead of Natasha and Clint?

Warning: Curse words, spoilers for Avengers Endgame

This is for the awesome, caring and super-talented @jtargaryen18 's writing challenge. She eased my mind about the plot. Thank you 😘 Click here to know the rules and participate!

Main Masterlist

I don’t consent to have any of my work published or featured on any third party app, website or translated. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission. In that case, please do share the link and let me know.

...

Who was he? Steve Rogers? Or Captain America? Are they both different people? Or are they two sides of the same coin?

Steve wondered as he gazed down the cliff at Vormir, home to the Soul Stone.

When he had first arrived alone on the barren planet, he had been shocked and angry to see Red Skull guarding the infinity stone. To think that he went under the ice all those years ago stood for nothing. To have lost his life, his partner, his best friend and for what? Hydra was still active, the world was still suffering from war and now Red Skull was still alive, floating in space.

But as he understood Red Skull's predicament, Steve realised that while he himself was a man out of time, Red Skull was stuck here in his miserable existence till the end of time, out of place, out of touch. That brought him some satisfaction.

He was glad they had decided to send Natasha and Clint with Tony, Bruce and Scott to 2012. There was just too much ground to cover with 3 infinity stones in the same city. It made sense to have more eyes on the ground.

There was no way Steve would sacrifice anybody from his team for the stone. They had lost too many lives already. And if they were successful, then they would need all hands on deck to manage the chaos that would follow once everybody was brought back. 

Steve sat on a rock and pulled out his compass. He sighed as he saw Peggy, "What do you think Peg?" he murmured, lightly running his thumb over the photograph. 

After a few minutes, he clicked a button on the rim and the compass flipped open, revealing the hidden compartment beneath. He pulled out a folded piece of paper from within. It was as old and worn-out as Peggy's photograph. He closed the compass and looked at the other image. A black and white Bucky laughed back at him while at his side, a thin, scrawny Steve was looking scornfully at the camera, his face bruised. Steve chuckled as he remembered the day this photograph was taken. He had gotten into another one of his infamous back-alley fights. Some drunken idiot had punched Bucky because he had been flaunting his Sergeant's uniform at the bar amongst the ladies. While Bucky could have easily mopped the floor with the guy, Steve had decided to step in and push the drunken idiot. Then, as it always happened, Steve was dragged into the back-alley to be turned into a punching bag, with Bucky finally saving his skinny ass.

This photograph was taken later that night, with Bucky laughing at the whole incident.

The cold Vormir wind brought Steve back to the present. Ever since he could remember, he wanted to do the right thing, save the innocent people and just help those who needed it the most. 

While the asthmatic 90-pound Steve Rogers couldn't do that, the 240-pound Captain America was able to do that and much more.

That's why he loved being Captain America. He could finally do what he had always wanted to do. It didn't matter whether the Government labelled him as a criminal or whether the press questioned his every move. He was able to help people, change lives for the better and protect the little guy. Isn't that what mattered?

He opened the compass again. Looking at both the photographs, he whispered, "Thank you."

He picked up his shield and faced the cliff.

"What are you doing?" asked Red Skull, as if guessing his next move, "How do you know this will work? You are Captain America," he declared. 

Steve looked at him, his mouth turned into a smirk, "How would I know? I am just a kid from Brooklyn," and with that, Captain America jumped into the abyss below.

…

Steve's entire body was shivering with cold as he lay in the water. With his teeth clattering, he barely managed to sit upright. He started breathing rapidly as he took in his surroundings. He was still on Vormir. As he tried to get up, he realised two things. One, he was completely naked except for his time travel bracelet and vibranium shield, and two, he was holding something in his right hand. He opened his palm to look at the yellow Soul Stone. Almost laughing in relief, Steve looked down at himself. He saw he had the same scrawny body as the Steve in the old photograph. Shivering further with cold, he pressed a few buttons on his bracelet.

…

One by one as the Avengers returned to the compound, they looked around excitedly at their peers, relieved to find them safe. Steve was the last one to return. His knees buckled as soon as he landed. Hiding his naked bony body behind the shield, he threw up on the floor, his body not able to handle the stress of the quantum time-travel.

"Oh my God who is that?!" Scott exclaimed as Tony, Natasha and Clint stepped tentatively towards Steve. As his body convulsed with pain, he held up the stone towards them. The second Nat took the stone, Steve collapsed.

…

Steve woke up two days later on a hospital bed. 

"We are trying our best to keep your bodily functions from collapsing onto themselves. You should be thankful that we have medicines to treat most of your ailments. What were you thinking?" Tony spat with frustration.

Steve saw large swollen bags under Tony's red eyes. Steve was willing to bet that Tony hadn't slept ever since his return. He smiled, "It had to be done Tony," said Steve, his voice flat, having lost its 'Captain America depthness'.

"What happened on Vormir?" asked Natasha gently. Steve tried to sit, "The stone demanded a sacrifice. A soul for the soul stone. So I sacrificed him."

"Yeah and left us without a leader. What are we supposed to do now? You are meant to rally the troops. You are meant to lead. How do you think you will do that if you need an asthma inhaler every time you try to take a walk around the compound?" Tony voiced his concerns. "Tony, calm down. Shhh now," Thor said from his chair. 

"You look like you need a sandwich," Rocket commented, seated besides Thor.

"Your vitals look good Cap... ahem I-I mean Steve," Bruce flustered while checking Steve's reports.

"Captain America was never about one person. It is about what the title stands for; Bravery to face any challenge, Courage to stand up against the greatest powers for the right reason and Having a clear sense of duty, of what's right and wrong. Captain America can be anyone," Steve said, pointedly staring at Natasha. 

He turned to look at the shield placed by his bedside table. Carefully, he picked it up with a bit of struggle and held it out for her.

"I can't think of a better person to lead us," Steve said decidedly. Wide-eyed, Natasha looked at him with bewilderment. "No Steve. I am a spy. I am not a soldier. I cannot be trusted with…"

"You are not a spy. Not anymore. You have been leading the Avengers not just on earth, but across the galaxy, especially when most of us had given up. You are right though. You are not a soldier. You are a leader, Captain."

Natasha looked at Steve, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice almost breaking "I have too much red on my ledger Steve."

"You wiped that ledger when you joined the Avengers Nat. You deserve this," Clint supported her.

As Natasha took the shield and tried it on, Tony asked her, "We will have to render your suit. Do you want black with Red, White and Blue?" Natasha nodded. As Tony left, Natasha mouthed the words, "Thank you," towards Steve as he brushed it off.

"Have we brought everybody back yet?" Steve asked. 

"No. We are just finishing the gauntlet. It should be ready by tomorrow," Banner said.

Clint looked at Natasha proudly. "We have a female Captain America now."

"No," Steve said. He grinned at Natasha, "We have a Captain America now."

…

2014 Nebula kept her attention at Antman near the Quantum Time Machine. In the last two days there had been a lot of activity in the compound thanks to Steve's return. It would have served as a good distraction, but unfortunately, there were people working around the time machine. She was itching to bring her father and his army to this future. However, for that, she would need to have patience. A lot of patience. They were planning to undo the snap tomorrow, that's when she planned to strike. She cannot afford to fail her father. She must not.

…

"All the best guys," said Steve as he sat in the car, ready to leave the compound. There was going to be a tremendous blast of gamma radiation from the snap. Steve understood that he might not survive the blast and instead, had offered to bring falafels from the nearby restaurant for lunch.

He reached the modest Middle Eastern eatery. Only two tables were occupied when he placed his large order to go. The server looked at him in suspicion. He doubted whether Steve would be able to carry all the packages by himself. Still, he shrugged, large orders such as these were a boon in the post-snap world. 

After 5 minutes, the restaurant shook with a wave of energy blast. Steve fell down from his chair with the impact. As he got up, brushing himself off, he saw black dust materialising in front of him. He looked on as the dust came together to form a person, a man. Steve noticed this happening all around the restaurant. Within a span of a few minutes, the entire restaurant was filled to capacity, with more people appearing on the sidewalk. 

He heard terrified screams of people around him. Then guns were fired into the air. Steve turned, trying to determine the source of the violence, when he felt the ground shake.

"EARTHQUAKE!" someone screamed and they all tried to take cover, mostly bumping into one another. There was a loud deafening sound of a missile exploding, then another 4-5 such sounds in rapid succession as the ground shook relentlessly with the impact of the missiles. 

Shit, Steve thought. Who would be attacking them now?

A few moments later, when everything went quiet, Steve stepped out of the restaurant and looked in the direction of the Avengers Compound. He could see dark smoke rising into the sky, with a huge spaceship eclipsing the sun. Thanos.

Without a second thought, Steve entered the car. "F.R.I.D.A.Y," he commanded, "Take me to the compound right now." "There has been an attack Mr Rogers, I am not sure if…" the AI tried to reason with him, but Steve interrupted, "Now!" "Yes Mr Rogers," she said in resignation.

…

He reached as close to the compound as the car could take him. The debris of the buildings and the gaping holes in the ground preventing the car from going any further. Steve stepped down, and started making his way to the centre of the ground.

As he used his asthma inhaler, he realised Tony was right. If he couldn't even walk this much without needing his inhaler, how can he help them? 

When Steve reached the centre, his heart broke at the scene before him. Tony was lying on the ground having sustained multiple injuries. Natasha was trying to get up, her arms and legs badly cut. Thor was fighting with Thanos, but it seemed that was a losing battle as well. Steve couldn't just give up. He never had.

Looking around him at the ground, he saw a big piece of concrete. Lifting it, he tried to throw out with all his strength, but the concrete didn't even fall within 10 yards of Thanos. His eyes then went to Thor's Mjolnir on the ground. He still had to try right? 

He rushed towards the hammer and pulled on its handle, Mjolnir feeling surprisingly light in his hands. He aimed and swung for the ugly purple head. With Mjolnir hitting the mark, the hammer dutifully came back to Steve. 

"I KNEW IT!" exclaimed Thor, his reaction earning him a kick from Thanos.

Thanos's surprise was short-lived. He charged towards the little guy. Steve threw the hammer again but Thanos easily deflected it with his double-edged sword.

Before he could reach Steve, Natasha attacked Thanos, diverting his attention. "F.R.I.D.A.Y," she screamed, "get Steve a sandwich."

This isn't the time for a joke, Steve thought as he summoned the hammer and threw it at Thanos again.

Thanos threw Natasha to the ground and headed for Steve. A back-handed smack sent Steve flying in the air. He wouldn't have survived the fall, if it hadn't been for the S.A.N.D.W.H.I.C.H.H- an iron-man suit in the darkest shade of blue. The suit wrapped itself around Steve as it broke his fall. "Welcome Mr Rogers," greeted F.R.I.D.A.Y, "Do you like your new suit? It stands for

S - Steve

A - Always

N - Needs

D - Dangerous

W - Weapons

I - In-order-to

C - Cover

H - His

H - Homies"

Steve was still panting from the impact of the smack as he lay on the ground in the suit. "Not one of Tony's best acronyms," he managed to say between breaths. "Yeah," agreed the AI, "but he only put this together last night."

Steve struggled to get up again. He heard Thanos mumble something, but he couldn't care less. He stumbled in the new suit, barely being able to walk towards the giant alien, but still, willing to fight till his last breath. Just then, the microphone in his suit crackled a bit, "C-Cap, you ther--re?" He heard Sam's voice…

…

Steve couldn't believe it. The entire universe had come to fight with Thanos. He looked at humans and aliens alike, pissed off and ready to face the biggest threat to the universe. He managed to make it to the front of the line besides Thor, summoning the Mjolnir.

Natasha smiled at the army behind her, then turned to look at Thanos with a deadly stare.

She raised her shield as she called out to the warriors, her voice bellowing on the battlefield, "AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!" 

#steve rogers #captain america #avengers #Natasha #black widow #Hulk #hawk eye #iron man #rocket #Thor #infinity stones #soul stone #tony stark #bruce banner #avengers assemble #30daysofchris2020 #30 days of chris 2020

[concerningwolves]

i actually am planning to write a superhero au... i already have the character and their backstories but i have a problem, superheroes having a goal to save the world from an apocalypse is kinda cliche for me already,, uhm do u have some any other prompts to suggest, thank u in advance for answering the question!

Superhero (AU) Prompts

“saving the world from an apocalypse” is a big goal, and superheroes don’t always have to have massive goals with worldwide implications. sometimes something like “saving their hometown from a supervillain” or even just “saving a person/small group of people from a situation” can be equally high-stakes, and give you more room to find a unique story to tell.

Here are a few ideas:

→ superhero is in their civilian identity when they are involved in a big-scale robbery/shooting/hostage situation etc; some extras you can add to up the stakes are

super’s SO/best friend/family member etc. are with them. this other person doesn’t know super’s true identity

the general public’s sentiment about the super is mixed. perhaps exposing themselves could pose a risk to their safety

they know the person/one of the people perpetrating the crime in their civilian life – do they reveal themselves? or do they try to help in the guise of an ordinary person? (The closer they are to the perpetrator the more angst potential there is btw)

→ a (super)natural disaster hits. Type of disaster can depend on the established rules for your world: does magic exist? monsters? Or is this some nefarious plot courtesy of the supervillain? OR this is a natural disaster of unnatural proportions (with possible SciFi elements) a la 2012 (2009), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), San Andreas (2015) or Geostorm (2017).

superhero is on a day out in their civilian identity when a disaster strikes. they must keep their family/loved ones safe while trying to save as many people as they can

supervillain has created chaos across the country a) with some sort of machine, b) released mutant creatures, c) engineered a terrible disaster, or d) some other similar event. superhero (and their team?) are stretched thin trying to help with relief efforts and stop the villain.

superhero is cut off from all outside help, forcing them to work with what they have at their disposal, but inevitably feels as if despite their powers they are now powerless

→ Superhero has failed; they must now pick up the pieces. Heroes failing is my favourite trope so I am extremely biased here, but there is something so *chef’s kiss* juicy about someone with a lot of power (and usually fame) being faced with the consequences of their own fuck-up. (Your mileage may vary on whether the failure is actually the hero’s fault though).

mind control-related shenanigans lead to the hero bringing destruction to the world/their home/their loved one(s). Play with the scale to get maximum oomph out of this: did they hurt or kill a loved one? bring about a massive-scale disaster? utterly decimate their own hometown that they have fought so long to protect? And the biggest question of all – does anyone know that the hero wasn’t in control of their own actions?

superhero fails due to their own arrogance & hubris. They were powerful! Everyone loved them! They had a statue in their honour! they believed blindly in their own abilities and consequentially got a lot of people hurt. now has to go through some of that tasty personal growth.

due to circumstances outside of their control or an insurmountable enemy, the superhero fails to stop the apocalypse. they now lead a band of survivors in a quest to rebuild and find some semblance of safety in the changed world (the world that they failed to save).

Superhero walks away from a battle with a powerful supervillain, victorious, only to find out that someone they cared about was hurt in the carnage caused by the fight

→ Superhero is forced out of their comfort zone while a high-stakes threat hangs over them. YMMV on what that comfort zone is – loss of powers; an enemy who cannot be defeated by violence; a situation that requires brute force rather than subtle tactics OR a situation that requires subtle tactics over brute force. The key is the adrenaline, fear and uncertainty that can make even the most seasoned superhero lose their head.

superhero has discovered that a new villain has a terrible plan. unfortunately, this villain is content to play a long game instead of fighting on open ground like the hero is used to. Cue the espionage, heist, undercover work or infiltration that puts the superhero into a position they are wildly unequipped to handle

the supervillain has disabled the superhero’s powers and issued a public threat: unless the hero defeats the villain, something terrible will happen; failure to show up will ruin the superhero’s reputation, cause the public to turn against them, and get a lot of people hurt

superhero and their team/friends get stranded somewhere (i.e., plane crash in the middle of a forest, shipwrecked on a hostile island, captured and dropped in a desert etc.) and must try to survive. having powers is all very well, but what on earth is the hero supposed to do without a clear enemy to fight? OR due to an injury, hero must face this situation without their powers. bonus if they’re usually the leader.

superhero has finally figured out the identity of the greatest supervillain they have ever faced. there’s just one problem: they have no evidence, and this villain daylights as a massively popular philanthropist who is much beloved by the public. how to take the villain down without a) looking like a villain themself, and b) undoing all the good work that the villain does?

Thank you for this ask! I had a lot of fun with it ❤

I also recommend that you take a look at @gingerly-writing ‘s blog for a glut of excellent hero- and villain-themed content & prompts.

[If you found this helpful and want to support what I do here, you can LEAVE A TIP (Ko-Fi), or check out MY PATREON for more of my content.]

#themidnightdisaster #heroes and villains #superheroes #writing prompts #writing advice #writeblr

[ash-etherwood]

Top 5: writing memories, songs, characters that are not blank rune, runes, food

♡

Linda I love you but are you trying to kill me … that’s so many Top 5’s! But alright, I’ll do my best! (Answers will probably switch between German and English RIP to every non-German-speaker who follows me and wants to read this for some reason I swear I’m normal)

WRITING MEMORIES

5.) The entire time I spent finishing my first (second?) longer writing project It was the year 2012 and it was a cyberpunk story about my friends’ and my edgy self inserts riding dinosaurs, fighting aliens and being badass. The plot twist in the end was that my character was secretly evil and wanted to kill everyone. (Things to show your therapist) The final boss fight made zero sense and also everything was incredibly weird and stupid. But sometimes I still think about those times when I sat in my grandma’s living room at night, eating chips and listening to Vocaloid covers while thinking this story was the coolest shit ever. Truly simpler times.

4.) Researching something about universities in Texas for OvF on a rainy Saturday afternoon I have no idea why this memory is still sticking with me to this day (I think it was around 2016 or something?), but I remember that it was just a really nice day and I felt really at peace at that moment?

3.) The entire writing process of Bathroom Blues It was such a spontaneous project and I still have no idea how I managed to power though it in just a little under two months! Also it was just incredibly fun seeing you getting excited over new drafts and I loved coming up with new plot points and Halloween costumes for everyone with you. :-D Truly a summer worth remembering.

2.) FINALLY uploading the prologue and intro chapter of WWBL Not really a writing memory, but that moment was … so sexy and magical. Seriously, you have no idea how long I had been waiting to finally start that story, waiting for the Steckbriefe to roll in and see people react to the prologue and generally the idea … I even made one of those countdown graphic thingies for the designated upload date! 8D At that point I had planned that story for about six months and just … yeah, that felt powerful to me.

1.) Writing the prologue for WWBL When I first started the draft for that prologue I was sitting at the window in my favourite hotel in Winterberg, Sauerland, wore my dark green flannel, had the window wide open breathing in the cool mountain air and allowed myself to listen to my WWBL playlist for the very first time. God, that felt so amazing. I even have a photo of it (which somehow makes it look like I have the biggest football shoulders in the universe) my sister took that night. God I miss Sauerland. )’:

- - - - -

SONGS

My apologies to every favourite song of mine that I forgot about, I have a whole playlist of them, but I think these are some of my oldest faves … (Honorable mentions for Don’t Mess With Me and Not That Big by Temposhark, Goodbye by Apparat, Me And The Devil by Soap&Skin, Heart Heart Head by Meg Myers, Pain and Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, Beautiful Crime by Tamer, Gravity Of Love by Enigma, In Flames by Digital Daggers [thanks Phi u_u] and Murder Cries by Snow Ghosts AHHH FUCK IT I could’ve just made a playlist,,,)

5.) Vater Unser by E Nomine Starting off with some weird shit, won’t we? I’ve been in love with this song since fifth or sixth grade, when I was just starting to develop an actual music taste and although I have many favourite songs by E Nomine, this one has to be my absolute fave. Every time I can relate it to a character it makes me love said character even more. (Also I think about it every time my mom forces me to go to church for Christmas so … yay? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even be able to remember the Vater Unser if it wasn’t for this song. 8D)

4.) Wires by The Neighbourhood I think this is the newest all-time fave on this list, I found it in … 2015? Thank you, Youtube AMVs. Yeah man, this one is just … on so many playlists it’s not even funny anymore.

3.) Heathens by Twenty One Pilots An edgelord classic but like … it’s on EVERY playlist of mine. Every single one. It’s just so good. The first time I heard it was on the radio tho, when I was having breakfast with Jessie and I forced her to shazam it because it immediately stuck with me,,,

2.) Imaginary by Evanescence My first Evanescence song ever and the first step towards becoming who I am today I think. This song has like … such a big history for me, man. It single-handedly turned me goth in 2008 and I have never really thanked it for that.

1.) Eternal by Evanescence Might be my favourite song of all time. The number of dramatic RP scenes I have written with this in the background … man. Oh, also this song is the reason for one of my oldest internet nicknames, ‘eternala’, which subsequently shortened into Etschuh and then Tschuh, my main nickname until 2017, when I came out as trans and finally found an actual name for myself I was comfortable with!

- - - - -

NON BLANK RUNE CHARACTERS

I know this was probably supposed to be about fandom characters but I can literally not come up with a single character right now that I love with a special burning passion and that is not my or one of my friends’ OCs so you’re getting OCs now. u_u And boy do I have a lot of those.

5.) Jackson Tracey from atroCITY (mine) This little piece of shit kept me company for a pretty long time and is still very close to my heart for some reason, although I haven’t drawn him or really thought about him in detail for a while now. My favourite thing is how I only realized what a horrible person he was after I stopped regularly working with him but honestly good for me. 8D His storyline and personality is kinda convoluted and tbh I’m not really sure how much of it is canon anyway (atrc was always a little weird about canon rip) but yeah. He’s an obsessive stalker piece of shit who pities himself way too much and he is also a semi-immortal demigod who likes knives. I hate him but he also helped me a lot with some gender and sexuality stuff so thanks I guess.

4.) Mayoko Imai from Century Riders DXPrototype (Maus’ and mine) Mayoko is a magical girl protagonist with a cool cyborg arm prosthetic and her main character trait was that she was basically a reverse weeaboo, a Japanese girl who was obsessed with American media, culture and comic book heroes! I actually love her concept a lot and she also had a pretty cool character arc in her story (which Maus and I wrote together and actually finished btw!), although it could use a lot more … polishing from today’s point of view. But I love her anyway. She always wanted to do the right thing and be a hero and got broken pretty cruelly and her ending is kinda bittersweet I guess? Ahh there’s just so much nuance to it … anyways, CR3 also stuck with me for a very long time and I enjoyed the time with her a lot. :3 (Her name had a cameo in Another Incident btw heehee)

3.) Tessa *insert extremely long chain of unnecessary first names here* von Lean from Nobody Is Perfect and Infernal Temptation (belongs to one of my old school friends) Tessa is just … a hand full. I love to hate her. She is badly written and developed and just OOZES mentally ill teenage girl’s idealized self-insert power fantasy, but she just … man, she was a big part of one of my most drama-filled high school friendships which I love looking back at so much. Tessa has fucked so many of my characters … good for her tbh! There are actually two versions of her, one is just a ‘normal’ teenage girl and one can shapeshift into a cheetah, but both of them are very close to my heart. I should really adopt and redesign her some day.

2.) Judy Khayat from Original vs. Final (mine) Look, I love all my OvF-characters and every single one of them is special to me in their own way, but Judy is just … the most complex of them all I think? Man, she went through so much … she is actually one of my oldest (semi)-active characters (I created her in 2009) and her latest version is from 2016 but I should really, REALLY revise her again tbh. She has a very complicated backstory that I didn’t handle as carefully as I should have, and anger issues and religious conflict and depression and PTSD and then Vance of all people becomes obsessed with her for no reason and decides to traumatize her even more … yeah. God I really love her but I seriously need to work on her. A LOT. I should also finally rename her tbh … let’s just see where she takes me next.

1.) Okami (I don’t even remember if she has a proper last name rn lol) from Split Realm (mine) Yeah, that bitch is just my favourite OC. She’s also very old, probably from around 2009, and initially was a magical girl with fire powers who I played in an RP with my friend Flauch but boy did she grow up! Holy fuck. Okami is a horrible person but I love her so much. She is so violent and full of anger and pain and sadness and treats everyone around her like shit and she is in love and she is a demon but also apparently the personification of the concept of Chaos but she just wants to be a teenager again and run away with the love of her life and ahhh it’s all so hopeless for her … also she turned out gnc af with time passing and pretty much went through a gender/sexuality crisis in real time with me, her creator, which is always fun. :^D I haven’t drawn her in a while tbh. Should really do that.

- - - - -

RUNES IN BLANK RUNE

I’m just gonna go with the arcs here, okay? Also this entire answer might look completely different if you asked me again tomorrow, you know how indecisive I am with Blank Rune shit ahha,,,

5.) Jera Look. I know I’m boring and stupid. But I just love Tave and Liam having their disgusting little foreshadowing talk, okay? I can read it over and over. I just love my horrible little shit crime boys. Also Rhy and Phillip are there. (’:

4.) Isa This one is here because it was the first arc I witnessed in real time which gives it a very special place in my heart and it also … hit pretty hard at the time. But having read Fehu it’s become even better now! It’s just such a wonderful, tragic romance between two horrible, ruthless boys and I … I’m not immune to Rhy, sadly. :-/ Just like Phillip.

3.) Wunjo We still haven’t seen everything that leads up to Wunjo yet, but we DO know more than we did initially (wow shocker) and it’s just always a fucking blast. Also, it has the first mention of Ash’s real name … the first Rhy POV (which what the fuck!! I always feel like we had one before but we didn’t!! Wild) and it has crazy blood-soaked murder Tave, my beloved. :///3

2.) Eiwaz You guys have heard me fanboy about Eiwaz so many times already. Eiwaz-OT3 (and Kain) my beloved!!! It’s just SUCH an amazing starting point and there are so, so many things that tie back to it and every time we find out about a new one my heart makes a little jump … und es beginnt von Neuem indeed.

1.) Gebo One of the most painful but also the most beautiful arcs yet in my opinion. It’s been hyped up for so long and boy did it deliver. God, my heart still hurts when I think about that last scene. Also all the dialogue … the golden lines we got … and it’s an arc without Rhy! Crazy!! :-D I just love the relationship between Ash, Astrid and Jakob so much. God fuck I want what they have. Just maybe without the murder suicide,,,

- - - - -

FOOD

5.) Diese Sonntagsbrötchen wo die Verpackung so plopp macht, wenn man die Folie abzieht Better than normale Brötchen for some reason. Most of the time. See 2.) Look man, I just really love a good breakfast …

4.) Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese topping One of the first things from a certain baking book I tried when I was getting into baking back in 2019. God they are so tasty. I don’t make them often so I don’t get used to them too much and eating them still feels special but ahhhh I love them so much!

3.) Grünkohl mit Kartoffelbrei und Mettendchen One of my favourite things about autumn/winter and one of my biggest comfort foods. God I love this shit so much. I just put … mountains of Grünkohl and Kartoffelbrei on my plate every time and I will just warm it up for four days straight until there’s no more left. It turns me into a fucking caveman. I’m not even big on eating meat but … yeah. Everything is different when there’s Grünkohl.

2.) Normales Brötchen mit Butter und Scheibenkäse aber ich bin beim Frühstücksbuffet im Hotel Oddly specific but that’s just how it is. Sorry. Nichts geht über Brötchen mit Käse.

1.) Chilli-Knoblauch-Nudelauflauf My beloved. My comfort food. I eat it literally every second day. At least one hour in the kitchen every time. Fresh ingredients. My only vegetable intake. And I’ve been doing that for three years. I just love it so much, man. I cook it for everyone who visits me. Chilli-Knoblauch-Auflauf cured my depression.

#ask #crimsondaisy #2.4k works of me talking about myself under the cut rip #thank you tho!!!

[annacwrites]

weekly wrap-up || 2.28.2021

Well, here’s an update: writing is hard. 

Per Scrivener, I’m 8,536 words into my rewrite of my NaNo 2020 project, which is a complete rewrite. I overhauled the entire outline and started from scratch on the writing, because my NaNo draft really was an exercise in figuring out what story it was that I was actually telling. 

I wanted to have the rewrite mostly done by the end of February, and, well, it’s the end of February, and I am roughly 10% into this draft. This is not how I intended for this month to go, but... oh well. Such is writing life. 

I’ve been having general problems with executive function recently, in ways that are vastly different from how it usually presents itself—I’ve always had trouble applying myself to things that I don’t really care about or find interesting (fortunately I’ve pretty much always cared a lot about school, and I find most things that I can learn quite fascinating), but in recent months I’ve been finding it difficult to apply myself to anything, writing included. 

I got through NaNo somehow, but my creative discipline has largely done a runner. Some of it is definitely due to the general state of the world—I’ve always been a homebody, so not going out isn’t a huge deal, but I do miss my friends who are actually here a lot and it’s starting to wear on me a bit, because those friendships weren’t built on not seeing each other at all like my relationships with my online friends are—but a lot of it is also just general dissatisfaction with my life as it currently stands. I don’t particularly care for what I’m doing as a job, I’m not motivated to try to be highly successful at it, and for the most part I feel like I’m just going through the motions, which is impacting everything else in my life too.

I set myself a bunch of goals for this year—take the GRE, buy a nylon-string guitar, play more piano, apply to doctoral programs, relearn calculus, take my horse off-property at least once, post on YouTube at least twice a month, the aforementioned finishing of one writing project per quarter, amongst others—and I don’t know how successful I’m going to be at them, but... we’re trying. 8,536 words is trying. It took me until 9:00 tonight to really get into writing, despite telling myself that I was going to spend all day writing today.

I think I might have found the switch, though. I’m so dissatisfied with life in general at the moment, as I said, but I just keep trying to remind myself that I can’t change it if I don’t do these things that could result in me being able to live the life that I want, and that helps. I’ve had success writing before. It’s been a long time, but I was a much worse writer back then, so if I could do it then, I can definitely do it now, right? 

It also helps that I finally got things sorted out with my horse so that we can actually ride consistently (long story, I’ll be explaining that one on the horse blog this week probably and will drop the link here at some point), and getting 4-5 rides a week and feeling progress there and actually starting to get some lessons scheduled with my trainer again helps motivate me in other areas of my life (and I have to go see him, because I can’t just leave him alone for weeks at a time, so it’s a very effective forced motivator). I only hope that the feeling holds.

I’ve finished chapters one and two of this story (which looks to be about twenty chapters, but I’m not entirely sure of the chapter count of the third act yet—the story is currently plotted to be twenty chapters total, but I may add in anywhere from one to three more chapters at the end depending on what the story tells me that it needs), and my goals for this week are to finish chapters three and four. 

If I can do more than that, great, but that’s my aim. I know I’m riding tomorrow after work and I’m also probably going to head out to the barn on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so I don’t want to be too ambitious (especially since I have other goals that I need to chip away at this week), but ~8,000 words in a week is definitely doable (since I’ve written nearly 13,000 in a single day before). I really want to try to get this whole thing wrapped up by the end of the month, which is maybe a bit ridiculous especially since I also need to plot out my April Camp NaNo project this month, but... I’ve done more absurd things (see: a 110,000 word Camp NaNo challenge in April of 2012).

I’ll probably be reblogging more things between now and then, and very well might drop some shorter updates during the week, but otherwise, I’ll be back with another weekly wrap-up next weekend, which will hopefully be more about the words written and less about me being a General Mess™. Happy writing, friends.

(Or you can always follow me on Twitter, where I do a lot more consistent screaming about writing and also other stuff. Your move, folks.)

#writing update #am writing #writing #writing is hard #anna's weekly wrap up

[ilovemybarricadebabies]

Another Round of Fanfic Asks

Again I know that these are supposed to be asks, but I’m taking a break from editing my latest fic and this seemed fun to do. It’s these questions that I’m doing this time.

Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing: 30 Questions for Authors

1. What was the first fandom and/or pairing that you wrote fic for?

I first started writing fanfic for the 2012 CW reboot of Beauty and the Beast for Vincent and Catherine. But these fics have since been deleted. I didn’t write fanfic again until 2015.

2. Do you participate in any writing events or challenges throughout the year? If so, what do you like about them?

No, I don’t. I would like to one day, but right now, I’m content just writing whatever I want to write, whenever I want to.

3. Do you write fics from start to finish, or skip around?

Start to finish. I need to go in order of events or I get all confused.

4. Do you outline before you start writing? If so, how far do you stray from that outline?

I create some form of outline. For the most part, I don’t stray, but every once in awhile it will happen.

5. What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

I prefer to write in the comfort of my own home, but I can write from anywhere. The only thing is that if I’m writing in public, my back and the screen NEEDS to be facing a wall, so that people can’t read over my shoulder and the screen brightness is turned all the way down.

6. If you’re really concentrating, how many words can you write in a day?

I don’t have an exact number, but it’s a lot.

7. Which part of writing do you struggle with the most?

Connecting things from plot point A to plot point B, and so on. This is where writer’s block tends to come in the most.

8. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, share a song that’s been inspiring you lately.

I need background noise while I write whether that be the TV or music. I can’t have silence. But if I’m listening to music it’s either a playlist or a Taylor Swift album.

9. Do you prefer to write AU’s, canon divergence, or canon-compliant fic?

AU’s. I think I would fuck up writing anything canon, especially for Les Mis. I know for a fact that I would never get the voice/language right for writing 19th century France.

10. Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot the most?

Plot first (I spend a lot of time thinking about it), dialogue second, and exposition third. Exposition is the hardest for me.

11. If you could only write angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your life, which would it be?

I love all three very much, but if I have to choose it would be fluff.

12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet, but really want to?

A story about going away to war, with the love letters, and then the despair/grief when the person you love is MIA and waiting for them to hopefully come home.

13. Is there a trope you wouldn’t write if it was the last trope on earth?

I’m sure there are, but I can’t think of any right now.

14. If you were stuck on a desert island with only two character, which would you pick?

Enjolras and Grantaire, hands down.

15. A Hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics. Which fic would you want it to be?

Enemy of Love

16. What is your most underrated fic?

I personally believe it’s Forever Was In His Eyes.

17. What fic are you most proud of?

My upcoming fic, Beating of Our One Heart, because I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

~~~SPOILER ALERT FOR ENEMY OF LOVE! DON’T READ THIS ANSWER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED!~~~

The scene where Thierry appears to Enjolras as a ghost.

Commentary: This was the scene that spawned the whole story. It was always going to be Thierry that forced Enjolras to admit that he has fallen in love with Grantaire. Forcing him to come to terms that Thierry wasn’t coming back. Without this scene, the story would have been incomplete. This is the scene that is probably the turning point in the story. The point in the story where Enjolras lets go of his dead lover, and sets out to earn Grantaire’s forgiveness, love, and make up for the pain he’s caused him.

19. Who is the easiest/hardest character to write about? Why?

It’s both easy and hard to write Enjolras because my version of him is me half projecting myself on him (the easiest part to write) and the other half is making sure to get his passion for his country, people, and his activism in the story (the hardest part to write).

20. This question was originally what’s your favorite minor character you’ve written, but I’m changing it to who’s your favorite original character that you’ve created?

I have three. Casey from Begin Again. Thierry from Enemy of Love. Cameron from Beating of Our One Heart who no one, but me has met yet.

21. What is the one fic that got away?

I’m not 100% sure what this question is asking, but no fic has really ever gotten away from me.

22. Have you cried while writing a fic?

YEP! I cried writing Forever Was In His Eyes, and I still cry whenever I re-read it.

23. If you had to remix one of your own fics, which would it be and how would you remix it?

Um...I’m not really sure, tbh.

For the next few questions, I’m going to do all of my fics. To avoid spoilers, I’m leaving Beating of Our One Heart off of these lists.

24. How did you come up with title for [x fic]?

Where He Went: The title came from the book, Where She Went by Gayle Foreman (which this fic is very loosly inspired by), so I just changed the pronoun, and voila, I had my title.

Forever Was In His Eyes: This title is a lyric from the song “Cry” by Mandy Moore, but the lyric is originally “forever was in your eyes”, so once again I just changed “your” to “his” and I had my title.

The Enjolras Guide to Weddings and Love: I just took the title of the musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and changed it fit my story.

So Let the Words Slip Out of Your Mouth: A lyric from the song, “The Words” by Christina Perri.

Right Seems Wrong, Wrong Seems Right: Taken from Marius’s line in “Red and Black”.

Somethings Are Meant to Be: E and R were pre-destined mates in this story, so they were “meant to be”.

Poison and Wine: I was listening to the song of the same name from The Civil Wars, and it just seemed perfect for this story.

Enemy of Love: The title came from a quote from episode 22 of season 3 of Once Upon a Time.

I’m Falling, but Who Will Catch Me?: I had the plot planned, so I just took the plot and turned it into a title.

Wildest Dreams: The whole plot is a dream, so...I think that’s self-explanatory.

Begin Again: E and R were being united after years apart, so they are beginning again. Very cliché, but I don’t care.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: It took forever to come up with a title for this story, but one day I was listening to the song of the same name by Carole King, and it just seemed right.

Never Let Me Go: Grantaire is first with Christian, and then with Enjolras. One of them is abusive; the other is not. Christian is relentless in letting Grantaire go; even though it would break his heart, Enjolras would let Grantaire go if he was asked to.

25. Which idea came to you first in [x fic]?

~~~DON’T READ THE ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED~~~

Where He Went: the conversation on the Brooklyn Bridge, E and R were separated, and Grantaire was a musician

Forever War In His Eyes: the whole fic came at once since it’s based on A Walk to Remember.

The Enjolras Guide to Weddings and Love: I knew there was a wedding and a fake relationship, that was all.

So Let the Words Slip Out of Your Mouth: I knew Enjolras wasn’t able to say I love you, that was it.

Right Seems Right, Right Seems Wrong: I don’t really remember, but what I knew was that it contained a teacher-student relationship and a one night stand.

Somethings Are Meant to Be: E and R were mates and they were going to have a baby.

Poison and Wine: Enjolras wasn’t Grantaire’s soulmate, but they still found love in each other.

Enemy of Love: As mentioned above when Thierry came to Enjolras as a ghost.

I’m Falling, but Who Will Catch Me?: E and R going round and round in a dance of pining and feelings for many and many years.

Wildest Dreams: It was inspired by another fic, so I can’t take credit for the idea.

Begin Again: the moment Enjolras realized that the reason Grantaire left was because he was pregnant and the following conversation.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: Grantaire had amnesia and he and Enjolras were engaged to be married.

Never Let Me Go: Grantaire had an abusive boyfriend and needed to escape him

26. What part of [x fic] was the hardest to write?

Where He Went: keeping the elephant in the room as long as possible as E and R explored NYC.

Forever Was In His Eyes: This was easy for me to write

The Enjolras Guide to Weddings and Love: this too was easy for me to write

So Let the Words Slip Out of Your Mouth: Again easy to write.

Right Seems Wrong, Wrong Seems Right: Nothing was really hard to write, but I had to grapple with the fact that the type of relationship that is in this story was one that people, as well as myself, deem inappropriate.

Something Are Meant to Be: Not having Enjolras reveal that he loved Grantaire before he was ready.

Poison and Wine: This was pretty easy to write too

Enemy of Love: Enjolras fighting his feelings for Grantaire

I’m Falling, but Who Will Catch Me?: Making Enjolras’s reluctance to be with Grantaire because of fear, and not because he didn’t love him, believable.

Wildest Dreams: Again fairly easy

Begin Again: Again fairly easy.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: Keeping the dual/alternating timelines straight

Never Let Me Go: the moments when E and R tell each other of their respective abusive relationships

27. If you were ever to do a sequel to [x fic], what would happen?

*Most of these I’ve never thought about what a sequel would be, so...yeah.

Where He Went: A sequel is coming, so I can’t talk about it.

Forever Was In His Eyes: Grantaire being reunited with Enjolras in the afterlife.

The Enjolras Guide to Weddings and Love: E and R navigating the change in their relationship from friendship to romantic.

So Let the Words Slip Out of Your Mouth: They would still be together, but Enjolras still wouldn’t say “I love you” very often.

Right Seems Wrong, Wrong Seems Right: E and R navigating their relationship now that it’s not a secret anymore.

Something Are Meant to Be: Them raising their sons to the best of their ability.

Poison and Wine: Grantaire finally starting to believe that Enjolras loves him, even though they aren’t soulmates.

Enemy of Love: I have no idea.

I’m Falling, but Who Will Catch Me?: Again, no idea.

Wildest Dreams: Them in a relationship, working toward the life in Enjolras’s dream

Begin Again: A sequel one-shot collection is coming, so I can’t talk about it, either.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: No idea.

Never Let Me Go: The sequel for this would probably be what would happen if Enjolras’s abuser got out of jail early and him coming after Enjolras.

28. In [x-fic], what is a happy, post-fic headcanon you have about [pairing]?

*I’m leaving the ones that have definitive sequels coming off this list.

Forever Was In His Eyes: R and E getting to live together in the afterlife. Finishing up Enjolras’s bucket list with the things they couldn’t do before he died.

The Enjolras Guide to Weddings and Love: E and R going on their first date

So Let the Words Slip Out of Your Mouth: E and R having a lie-in the morning after Enjolras tells him he loves him.

Right Seems Wrong, Wrong Seems Right: This one is more takes place in the fic, but you don’t see it, E and R going to IKEA and picking out furniture for their apartment.

Somethings Are Meant to Be: Them introducing Jace to Sébastien (the new baby) that is mentioned in the epilogue of this story after Enjolras gives birth.

Poison and Wine: This one takes place in the fic before Enjolras comes home with it, Grantaire writing his name on every inch of Enjolras’s skin in Sharpie to make sure his name is somewhere on Enjolras

Enemy of Love: The morning after the fic ends, Grantaire spends it drawing Enjolras in the nude.

I’m Falling, but Who Will Catch Me?: The proposal where the promise ring becomes the engagement ring.

Wildest Dreams: Enjolras explaining to Grantaire what he saw in the dream

Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: Their honeymoon

Never Let Me Go: Grantaire finishes moving his stuff from his apartment to Enjolras, then them spending the night christening the apartment that is now officially theirs.

29. Send me a word. If it’s your WIPs, include the sentence and a short summary of the fic.

Since I have no word, I’m just going to choose a sentence from Beating of Our One Heart to use, but there will be NO summary.

Grantaire arrived at headquarters at 8:45 A.M. with coffee in hand, the next morning.

30. Tell us an idea for a longfic you want to write in the future.

This is a story that I already have a basic plotline for, but I want to do a Prince and the Pauper AU where Grantaire is mistaken to be a French socialite and gets swept up in the world, falling in love with Enjolras in the meantime.

#fanfic asks #personal post #ask game #long post #fic writing

[falneou17]

May 2015 - May 2020

No, this is not announcing my retirement or whatever. It’s just that after doing anything for a couple years, there will come a time when you start to look back and see how far you have come in those years. All the highs and lows, all the milestones and all the achievements.

And I kind of wanted to do something like this for a while; this is not the first time that I looked back at the time I have been writing fanfiction (and I am sure it won’t be the last), but I still want to, you know... document this. Share it in case there are people out there who are interested to see my perspective on this.

I am actually going to start to the time before I was writing fanfiction, because fanfiction was actually not my first experience with writing fiction; I actually wrote a collab original story with my good childhood friend Blue-san back in late-2012/early-2013. I can’t quite remember the date and Blue-san has since closed down her website she hosted it on, but it was in that era.

Shortly after that, in early-mid 2013 I wrote my own original story. I think I might still have it saved somewhere. As a matter of fact, actually, Falneou17′s name comes from that story. Well, the Falneou part anyway; seventeen’s just one of my fave numbers, both back then and right now.

Late-2013 and the year 2014 were both really busy and really weird for me, so I kind of pulled away from writing. That was until early 2015 (around February if I remember correctly) when I was feeling nostalgic and I looked up Pokemon fanfiction. Okay, to be fair, at the time I was looking for Pokemon fanworks in general, but it quickly gravitated towards fanfiction in particular. More specifically, Pokemon Special fanfiction, which was also the time when I read the stories of the six fanfiction writers who inspired me to write fanfiction. Of these six, only 1358456 is still writing, and while I will freely admit that I haven’t been reading her fics since I left the Pokemon Special fandom, I can wholeheartedly recommend her fics!

And that was pretty much how it began, I opened a fanfiction.net account in May 2015 and published my very first fanfiction (for Pokemon Special), Specialventure Academy which was my attempt at a high school AU for this franchise in the early days of the following month. Did it age well? No way XD but it did give me a lot of experience that helped me not only grow but also start out as a writer.

Like, most notably I think, it showed me the error in trying to incorporate everybody at the time (as BW2 wasn’t finished when I wrote that fanfiction and wouldn’t be for years to come, it would “only” have up to BW cast... which, as it included Lyra, Wally, Cherren, and Bianca, got the total to nineteen... yeah...). I think I realized this and tried to rectify my mistake in the second third of the story? Speaking of mistakes, another mistake I made with this story that really helped me grow was learning that my readers’ wishes and hopes did not mean I had to change my writing. Writing to make them happy was one thing, but I remember actively changing parts of my stories at the time to try and please everybody. Which, of course, is impossible (if you have readers who love Yellow and those who hate Yellow, for instance, how can you compromise to please everybody?).

This so far has only been about Specialventure, I haven’t even talked about the other fics in this era. For me, the three biggest fics in the 2015-2016 Pokemon Special era were, aside from Specialventure, Night of the Black Sun and Crimson Sunlight.

Black Sun was a really ambitious attempt for me at the time, not only because of what the story was trying to do but also because it would be my third multi-chapter fic I would be writing at the same time (alongside the other two fics I just mentioned). ‘Controversial’ is probably the wrong word, but Black Sun was definitely... polarizing. It’s also the only fanfiction of mine at the time (and only one of two to this day as of writing this) that received rude negative reviews. And because it was the first fic that received this... distinction... it hit quite hard, but I also feel like that made me realize not only the things that I did wrong but also that what I did had a big enough impact that it could affect other people that much. I think it is fair for me to say that the mistakes I made with Black Sun would not reappear in any of my other fanfictions after that... at least not to the same extent.

The third and final most memorable Pokemon Special fanfiction in this era, for me, was Crimson Sunlight. For the BanG Dream readers: no, this has nothing to do with either Scarlet Sunlight or Shining Sunlight, we’ll get to those soon enough. Looking back, from a writer’s perspective, Crimson definitely felt like it had a drop in quality, but at the same time it also felt the most... accomplished... of the three fanfiction. And Crimson basically taught me two things, I feel... it emphasized the importance of having a story’s plot planned out and it showcased how fluid the story could be if I were to focus on as few characters as possible (Crimson, being based on and inspired by konbu’s doujinshi titled How Far Are You?, focused on Red and Yellow and only Red and Yellow). And, out of the Pokemon fics in this first year era, Crimson is definitely the story I feel didn’t necessarily age the best but it is definitely the one I look back at the fondest.

The time around the end of 2015 and the start of 2016 I remember there were a few big things happening to me. Let’s talk chronologically: the first big thing that happened (that has no direct effect on my fanfiction, but I never said this post was to only look back on the fanfiction-specific times in the last half decade) was that I got promoted to moderator on the forums of JB2448′s site (the forums has since been taken down in... mid-2017? Mid-2017 sounds about right...), but the actual site is still live for those who want to use it to read Pokemon manga. I think this is worth noting because it would really hammer the point that what I did and said had an impact and that I had to be mindful of what I said online as a result...

The other notable thing that happened was that I got introduced to RWBY by DaPokemonMadster. There may have been more people involved, but Mads was definitely the one whose efforts to drag me into RWBY is the vividest... most vivid? It’s the one I remember the most, let’s keep it at that. This moment was significant for multiple reasons, I feel; not only did it open the doors to a new fandom, but it also sparked the birth of not only my longest oneshot at the time, White Rose Valentine, but also the fanfiction that would turn writing fanfiction for me upside-down: Field of Tomorrow. More than any other multi-chapter fanfiction I have ever published, even more so than Black Sun and Specialventure, Field of Tomorrow has been the biggest turning point for me in terms of writing and in terms of where I can say my writing got a big jump in quality (as arrogant as it is to say that). Despite the fact that, you know... FoT got officially discontinued earlier this year...

The writing, the story, the characterization... FoT introduced me to the ease of writing of both Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna (who would later become the base for another very notable character for me) as well as Neo (who would later become the base for yet another very notable character for me), but FoT did something else as well: beta readers. Before this point in time I would either publish the chapter right away (which, if you are a new/aspiring writer: don’t do that) or try to edit it myself. But, as I am sure every single writer can attest to: there is only so much editing that a writer can do on their own. And FoT really showed the difference between a chapter that I would edit by myself and a chapter that had a beta reader look at. It was phenomenal and a really big eye opener and I cannot thank Namitaa776 and LightZephyr enough.

The final fanfic that I can remember really fondly in this first year (I can’t believe I have written this much down already and we haven’t passed the first year yet) would be my one-year anniversary oneshot A Silver Lining. The Pokemon fanfiction that I think aged the best and would be partly the base for a fanfiction I am well known for in the BanG Dream! fandom. Before this point, I did not have any fanfiction deal directly with death before. I had danced around it a couple of times, but this oneshot was the first one to actively explore the possibilities... and to truly open the door to the “Angst” genre of the site... as a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for A Silver Lining, I might never have delved as much in the Angst genre as I have. So... thank you, A Silver Lining, for that opportunity. Even if I really hate the ending, but oh well... I think I was afraid that people would hate it if I were to go all in with it which is why I ended the oneshot like I did. I learned my lesson as the BanG Dream! fandom can attest to...

The rest of 2016 (the calendar year anyway) proceeded relatively uneventfully fanfiction-wise. I continued my multi-chapter fanfics that were ongoing, wrapped up Specialventure in August of 2016 and decided to stay mainly in the RWBY fandom because I felt the RWBY fandom gave me better reader interactions and reviews and such than Pokemon did. Specialventure definitely got the advantage in terms of view count, but the number of views a RWBY chapter would get on the day it got uploaded always baffled me. Then and now... especially since I was never a really big RWBY writer to begin with...

The good reader interaction in RWBY was, of course, until I published the fanfiction that I so very often call the fanfiction that did the worst. My fourth-most favorited (41), my third-most followed (35), my fourth-most viewed fanfiction on the site at the time of writing... Frozen Tears got one review. That was really demoralizing--okay, no, let me rephrase that. It was nice to see the counters of viewership and faves and follows rise up, but FT was definitely the fanfiction that made me realize that an effectively high review counter is what I wanted and that I had to find a new fandom to write for. I am sure a lot of writers can agree with me here: we like it when our fanfics get views, we love it when people fave them, but we absolutely adore it when people leave reviews.

As it so happened, the summer of 2016 was huge for me in terms of finding new franchises to like and watch. Most notably out of these, I got into Railgun, Index, Accel World, and my first of a handful of idol franchises: Love Live. Accel World is the only franchise I just mentioned that I have not written anything for, but fans of the franchise should be able to find plenty of references I made to that show. With both Pokemon and RWBY effectively behind me, I now had options for my third fandom...

Then we arrive in the year 2017, which I think... yeah, in terms of calendar year it was definitely my most memorable year. Let’s start with the fanfiction, because 2017 had a bunch of really notable fics for me.

The first thing of 2017 I want to mention is the Saten Ruiko Day Countdown that I did in 2017: a series of oneshots that would lead up to Saten Ruiko Day (10 March). They weren’t just any oneshots; no, they were all oneshots for a different franchise dedicated to LightZephyr and beta read by Namitaa776 (for those wondering why I didn’t do anything like it for Nami: I did something else for her that I didn’t publish for the whole world to see). Looking back, the oneshots themselves would be... they would be okay... decent... ‘good’ at best, probably. But on top of everything, they would be like a trial run of sorts to test out the different fandoms. Giving me a chance to see how writing for each would go and how the fandoms would react to my writing. The one that did the “best”, so to say, is by far the one for Love Live, but (and this is what is interesting to me) the ones for RWBY and Pokemon were actually the ones I think did the worst (both only receiving a single review). You know... the two fandoms I had already written for... low blow, Pokemon and RWBY, low blow...

But the oneshot I wrote for Love Live isn’t the one that’s most memorable for me. This is because I would receive a certain PM a few months later from BigTAnderson. He wanted to do a fanfiction reading of one my fanfiction for this countdown (A Step Back In The Shadows). And I was really happy with this; not only did somebody else wanted to do something with/for something that I did, but this felt more memorable than an average review of “I LOVE IT!” to me. It was confirmation that I was doing something right. And, unless I am badly mistaken, I think this is the first time somebody would do something with one of my fanfics. I know Reiriniverse would go on to regularly make the cover art for my fanfictions, but I am pretty sure that this fanfiction reading would be the first work based on one of my fanfics that anyone has ever done for me. And that is something one won’t easily forget, so if you miraculously are reading this BigTAnderson: thank you :)

The next notable thing of 2017 is probably my most polarizing act since publishing Night of the Black Sun in 2015: officially moving away from Pokemon and officially joining BanG Dream (not in that order, admittedly). The BanG Dream fandom at the time was only a couple weeks old, but it really was a big contrast to my time in Pokemon Special. In Pokemon Special, as you would already know if you’ve read this far, I had role models. I had people I could follow and learn characterization and figure out story ideas and such by reading their stories. BanG Dream had nothing of the sort. As a matter of fact, I ended up becoming the writer of both the first English published BanG Dream fanfiction on the site (A Step Back, 2 April 2017) and the first published English multi-chapter BanG Dream fanfiction on the site (The Times We Lost, 10 April 2017) during a time period when we still didn’t know much about... I want to say at least a third of the characters at the time? Maybe even half now that I think about it... As a matter of fact, to put it into perspective: the first chapter of TTWL was published (not written, published) before the end of the second in-game event story on the Japanese server (because... we only had the Japanese server back then).

I am not going to be arrogant and say that I hope I can inspire an aspiring BanG Dream fanfiction writer as much as someone like 1358456 has inspired me, but... the realization that I would have to pave my own way in this fandom without having landmarks to aim for was a big deal at the time. Even today, this realization catches me off-guard every once in a while knowing that I am the only BanG Dream writer who published something in 2017 who still publishes on the site for this fandom to this day.

Another big thing that happened in 2017 was that I got admitted to the hospital and would have to spend half a year to recover from it, effectively making me miss out on an entire semester. ...oh yeah, I probably did not mention this before, but the entire period of writing fanfiction for me up to this point was done while I was a full-time university student. This semester off was honestly a blessing in disguise for me as it forced me into a position where I couldn’t do much... so to eat away at the time I needed to rest I would end up writing fanfiction. Which is part of the reason why The Times We Lost and The Times We Lost Collection could be updated and uploaded as fast as they did. And I definitely remember both very fondly, especially since I had to extrapolate a lot of the characters’ characterization as we did not have much to go on. Remember how I mentioned two very notable characters earlier back in FoT? Yeah... my experience with Weiss, Blake, and Neo in my FoT days definitely helped a lot with getting a base going for both Mitake Ran and Aoba Moca in the days before we had their first event story.

As I mentioned earlier, TTWL and, by extension, TTWLC, will always have a big place in my heart. They’re technically an AU where I had to be very careful with how I wrote the characters... at the same time having a ton of freedom to do so as not a lot was confirmed/denied about them. A cute example would be the different hairstyle I had for one of the characters... which ended up becoming confirmed in canon (in a flashback, admittedly) a few months after she appeared with that hairstyle in my fanfiction. TTWL also set the stage, so to say, for my time here in the BanG Dream fandom and it carved my niche as an Afterglow-centric writer who is able to write both fluff and angst for the girls. Not to mention that TTWL was literally the first multi-chapter BanG Dream fanfiction we have on the site.

Collection ended up being written because TTWL had to extrapolate a lot. It had to make this new realm of reality with headcanons and theories and such that went into writing TTWL to try and make the characters feel alive. Some ended up becoming confirmed, some were debunked, but to allow future readers of TTWL to truly understand where I was going and why I wrote the characters the way I did, I knew I had to make a sort-of prequel to TTWL. Which is pretty much what Collection was: a collection of oneshots that were mainly set prior to the events of TTWL to try and explain all the headcanons and theories I ended up using in the TTWL. Most of these, by the way, still live on in other fanfictions of mine to this day.

Next up: 2017 was my first successful attempt at the NaNoWriMo. For people who don’t know, NaNoWriMo involves writing fifty-thousand words in thirty days (equating to an average of 1667 words each day). I wanted to do it for BanG Dream, I really did, but I wasn’t confident I knew enough about the BanG Dream characters at the time to succeed in NaNoWriMo. Instead, I decided to go with something Railgun-based and The Nighttime Terror of Academy City was born. It honestly was so much fun writing that I ended up writing well above the targeted average each day (although I probably will never be able to replicate that effort); writing seventeen hundred, eighteen hundred, at some point even surpassing the twenty-two hundred word count quite regularly, actually. And, while definitely not as bad as Black Sun received a year or two prior, Nighttime Terror also received a bunch of rude reviews. So much, even, that it prompted me to make every guest review have to be moderated first before they get published.

As if all of that wasn’t enough to make 2017 probably the most memorable year for me, the final notable fanfiction for me that got published in 2017... you know it, you were waiting for it to be said... every writer has that one fanfiction that they are more known for than any other fanfiction they have published, and for me... BanG Dream fandom definitely know me as the writer of The Final Glow of Afterglow. A oneshot that aimed to surpass A Silver Lining I published a year and a half ago... and, as the writer of both oneshots, I think it is fair for me to say that it definitely did that. The plot of the two stories are different (they do overlap noticeably), I feel like TFGOA not only left a bigger impact but also has better stats (most notably more reviews) despite being much newer and in a much smaller fandom. I am sure people will associate me most with TFGOA for a long time to come and, honestly... if there is only one of my fanfiction that can survive the tests of time, I sure hope it is TFGOA. TFGOA also stole the title of longest chapter that I published, previously held by RWBY’s White Rose Valentine (jumping from ~7k to ~11k words).

2018 was a lot slower for me mainly because it was my last year in university. I think this was best showcased in the quiet era in the end of 2018 and the fact I had to slow down my third BanG Dream multi-chapter story Scarlet Sunlight. Scarlet, by the way, has a lot of fond memories as well. It was the first time I could really let loose with BanG Dream (aside from TFGOA, of course), while also more or less acting as a FoT 2.0 in a way. It’s also the first multi-chapter fanfiction, since FoT I think, where I had a constant beta reader throughout the entire process. And I feel like that really helped Scarlet shape up into what it is. Am I claiming it is the best BanG Dream fanfiction out there? No, of course not, even Scarlet has its faults. But I think it definitely did well for itself, even compared to my other notable fanfiction I have mentioned already despite being so new. Scarlet managed to break past the coveted 100k word mark (being one of two BanG Dream fanfiction at the time of writing this to achieve this, the other being teawithmugi’s Reign of Silence). It is also my longest fanfiction at the time of writing this, in terms of number of chapters, in terms of word count, and in terms of how long I wrote the story from start to finish. Yeah, Scarlet will always be fondly remembered...

2018 was also the second year in which I did something for Saten Ruiko Day (and so far last year as I missed both 2019 and 2020). Same concept as 2017, effectively, but instead of switching the franchises I tried to do something... interesting (or what I thought was interesting anyway). I knew BanG Dream wasn’t very popular nor had it a lot of fanfiction, and there isn’t much worse than searching for fanworks of your favorite and not running into any. So what I would do was write a oneshot that had two randomly chosen BanG Dream girls, and I would fill up the countdown that way. I literally gave every girl a number and pulled a random number generator to assign each girl with in pairs for the sake of the oneshots. Sure it would still leave out a handful of girls of the franchise but it was the best I could do at the time. It also was a really good experience for me as a writer to try and write so many different characters (especially when, again, we didn’t know too much about them as of yet).

The other notable thing that happened in 2018, I feel, was that it was when I began writing more Shirokane Rinko. I think this is notable for several reasons... first of all, up to that point, I always struggled to write characters who were shy. I always excelled at loner-type characters (Silver of PokeSpe and Blake from RWBY were by far the easiest characters of their respective franchises whom I could write; and before RWBY fans come after me, this is the time before Blake really opened up to the rest of her team. We’re talking V2!Blake here). What I am trying to say is that Rinko was a challenge in and of itself to write, but she’s amongst the characters I am most comfortable writing today.

Secondly, and this is just stroking my own ego to be fair, is that Rinko’s introduction to my fanfics (or, better phrased, the fact that I wrote her more regularly now) came with a very amusing perk. What started as a playful and fun headcanon at the time quickly evolved into a ship that I managed to drag most if not all my regular reviewers into myself. It’s actually kind of amusing looking back on that.

The next year I would describe as “the year I return to the past”... in the sense that I would do things related to things I did in the past, in a way. I published a Pokemon Special oneshot in 2019, something I think a lot of people would have missed as it didn’t do nowhere near as well as l would have expected. I wrote two oneshots specifically to surpass TFGOA (Flying Through The Skies Above and Their First Date in two different “categories”), but neither made as big of an impact as TFGOA did.

Late-ish into 2019, at the end of August, I received a welcome surprise: a five-part ask that basically came down to someone telling me that I did the one thing I always wanted to do: inspire aspiring writers. This was a big moment for me, maybe even bigger than being asked if someone can do a reading of one of my fanfiction, because... it was concrete proof, actual evidence that what I did, that what I produced... it made a positive impact on other people’s lives, it helped make someone’s day brighter just by doing what I do on a daily basis. Flower anon, I have no other way to refer to you or even ask you how you are doing, but if you are reading this: I am honored to be able to inspire you.

The only other thing of note that happened in 2019 was the increase of anon hate I got and that I entered the Akuma no Riddle fandom for a few weeks. A few weeks because my experience with that part of that fandom was... let’s just say it was less than ideal and leave it at that, shall we?

And then, here we are, in 2020. I honestly don’t see myself publishing too many unique stories, but I will try to keep the train going with Shining Sunlight. I am taking a big risk with Shining as it is the first fanfiction since Black Sun where I am writing a multi-chapter story without having a very defined plot... and we all know how Black Sun went, right~? That being said, it’s half a decade later, I have learned so much in these last few years and I am feeling confident in Shining and what it can become.

I know I have focused more on the multi-chapter stories in this post than I have on the oneshots (with some notable exceptions), but the truth is... for me as the writer, there’s just so much that is being put in the multi-chapter stories that the oneshots are simply lacking. Which should speak volumes to oneshots like The Final Glow of Afterglow and A Step Back In The Shadows to remain so memorable and notable for me despite being “only” oneshots.

These last five years have been... amazing, really. The highs and lows, the ability and access to a platform to continue doing this. It’s been a lot of fun, it has really been life changing, and while I know I won’t be doing this forever... I sure as hell will make sure I will enjoy every second of time I am doing this!

#Falneou17

[aurantia-ignis]

Track 05: Confused Heart

Tales of Graces Anthology Drama CD Summer 2012 (Rough translation)

(Listen)

Sophie: We reached the Enclave in a heartbeat.

Asbel: Somehow... we made it here alive.

Richard: What kind of facility is this?

Asbel: There's quite a crowd here. Is it some kind of festival?

Sophie: Dalen's gone inside there.

Asbel: Let's go!

Richard: Right! Sophie: Okay!

---

Malen: T-thank you.

Pascal: What do you think, Captain?

Malik: Not bad. She's quite pretty, too. Got the makings of an actress.

Hubert: You can't be thinking of letting her pass!

Malik: Hey, you're making it sound like you don't want her to succeed.

Pascal: Why are you saying such mean things?

Hubert: N-no, it's just...

Malik: You just don't want a certain someone to get the wrong idea, hmm?

Hubert: H-huuuuuuuh??? Save the ridiculous sleep talk for when you're sleeping!

Asbel: What... what's this?

Sophie: Cheria and Hubert! Pascal and the Captain are there too!

Richard: What on earth is everyone doing here?

Pascal: Okayyyy, next!

Dalen: Ahem!!

Richard: Dalen! Asbel: Duke Dalen?!

Dalen: I've come from the kingdom of Windol. My name is Dalen. Today, I intend to stand on the stage that I have been dreaming of through these long...

Pascal: Ah, you can leave out the detailed greetings.

Dalen: Is that so? Well then!! No sound of thy whip, hissing and shifting... To cross to yonder Barona... In the light of dawn, with the wind surround... Valkines Cryas... (based on a piece of Japanese poem)

Malik: To think that Duke Dalen recites poetry as a hobby. What a surprise.

Dalen: If I hadn't been born to a warrior's family,  I'd have liked to become a man of theatre, making use of these proud vocal cords. Now that Windol has regained its peace, although it's a little too late, I thought about chasing the dream I had in my tender youthful years...

Richard: It's not too late, Dalen.

Dalen: Your Majesty! What are you doing in such a place?

Richard: I've been wondering for a while now, what you were hiding from me. I didn't think you'd be sticking your head into something like this.

Dalen: My apologies. Since I've become Your Majesty's right hand, you've been working even on my behalf, and I thought perhaps I would have a bit more free time.

Richard: I'm not blaming you, Dalen. Why didn't you tell me about something so interesting earlier?

Dalen: Your Majesty!

Richard: Malik, Pascal! Is it all right if I join you here?

Asbel: Hey, Richard! You what?

Hubert: Cousin Raymond?!

Cheria: Barry too?!

Raymond: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh heeeeeelp!!!

Barry: We can't stooooooooop!!

Sophie: Asbel!

Asbel: Raymond! Barry! Hang on! Demon Fang!!

Sophie: Dragon Dash!

Raymond/Barry: We... we're saved!!

Pascal: Sophie!! You've come for the audition too?

Sophie: Au... dition?

Asbel: What exactly is going on here?

Cheria: Actually... blah blah... blah blah...

---

Asbel: I see. You're helping with the Fendel Theatrical Troupe. Sounds like you've got your noses in a troublesome grind again.

Malik: What's with that? You're gonna help us too.

Asbel: Me too!? Mm... But I don't really have any experience with plays...

Richard: That's fine, isn't it? Even without any experience, there could be some amazing talent sleeping within you.

Dalen: Lord Asbel, you should try a taste of everything while you are still young!

Asbel: E...even if you say that...

Raymond: If you're so reluctant to do it, don't bother!!

Asbel: R-Raymond?

Raymond: Those without skill, and those with no passion, have no right to stand upon the sacred ground that is our stage!

Hubert: You're filled with overwhelming passion.

Raymond: But of course! For the sake of this production, I've travelled far from Strahta.

Malik: You could probably have done that in Strahta. After all, you have the funds for it personally.

Barry: I told him that too, but he wouldn't listen.

Raymond: My talent has to be recognized in places beyond my hometown. Against the backdrop of the world, people will burn into their eyes the moment when a huge star is born! Now, Barry! You've prepared the guitar?

Barry: Why am I being dragged into this...?

Raymond: Ready, go! Sorry to keep you waiting! This melody~~ Happy, refreshing, refre-oh-so-shing!! Raymon and!

Barry: Barry's...

Raymond: Break, heartbreak! Laugh and let it fly...

Barry/Raymond: And be forgotten!

Raymond: My my, Mr Barry. Have you any thoughts of what kind of confession you'd like to have?

Barry: Well, I suppose... It'd be best if I could do it romantically.

Raymond: If it's romantic you wish, what about a night in the Great Strahtan Desert? Unlike the devastating day time, the night is shingling cold, and as you gaze up at the shining stars... Looking at those stars, you say...

Barry: I can see so many stars, tomorrow's going to be fine weather. Ouch!!!

Raymond: You idiot! You're not the blockhead lord, so stop saying such ordinary stuff!!

Hubert: ...Cousin Raymond...

Raymond: You should be saying 'Cheria! Your beauty shines brighter than any star' there!!"

Barry: I mean, whatever, but you're... not giving up at all, huh?

Raymond: The words 'giving up' are not in my dictionary! Anyway, stop saying stuff that isn't in the script! Do it like we arranged!

Barry: I-if I follow that according to the script, it's just filled with me getting hit by your paper fan! In any case, you're so persistent! Cheria this, Cheria that. She rejected you clearly, didn't she?

Raymond: Whaaaaaaaat!? You're no better, thinking of Cheria as you sing to your own accompaniment in the middle of the night!

Barry: H-how did you know that? Wait, no, I don't do that! That's just... practice for our regional promotions!

Raymond: Sneaking around sullenly like that is even more disgusting. If you're gonna open your heart with love, you have to be bold! Bold and honest! Right, Cheria?

Cheria: Please, just stop.

Raymond/Barry: Noooooooooooooo!!

Pascal: Riiiiiiight. Okay, okay, thank you. Let's have the next person!

Richard: It is my turn.

Asbel: Richard!?

Richard: Still...? After all this, we still don't have enough...? Do we still... need more power? At this rate, I might hurt Asbel and Sophie... No... they haven't betrayed me... They're my... friends.... Friends... Urrrrrrrrrrgghhh!!

Malik: What... what powerful acting!

Dalen: I... I feel the kingliness of you, Your Majesty!

Richard: Well, something like that.

Sophie: Richard, you're so cool!

Asbel: You're amazing.

Richard: This much is easy enough.

Malik: With this, he's definitely snagged the leading role.

Pascal: So the question is who will play the heroine, then. It's a pain, but I guess I'll just have to do it.

Hubert: Huh, you're going to be the heroine?

Pascal: Being heroine is a huge burden. As an organizer I can't just leave it to other people to handle.

Hubert: That means... King Richard and Pascal will be playing the lead role and the heroine. Depending on the context of the plot, maybe... they would...!

Hubert: P-please let me audition too!

Malik: Whoa, what's with this all of a sudden?

Hubert: I... I have to take some responsibility for what I did earlier.

Cheria: ...He's so easy to understand.

Malik: Right?

Asbel: Hubert... Can you actually act?

Hubert: To be honest, I don't know much about acting... but if it's something like the Sunscreen Rangers...!

Asbel: Huh? Sun??

Hubert: We'll be preying upon dead fish! Bam! Bam! Bababam!! Beach Brigade, Sunscreen Ranger Red!!

Asbel: Red...

Cheria: He should be blue, right...?

Sophie: Yes. Hubert is blue.

Richard: He's blue.

(aoi means blue, but also refers to newbies lacking in experience)

Malik: In many ways, he's blue.

Hubert: Ughh...

Pascal: That's so niceee! So fun!! Let's all do it! Sophie, Cheria, come here!

Cheria: Eh??

Sophie: Okay!!

Pascal: Let's go! We'll be preying!

Cheria: U-upon dead fish!

Sophie: Bam! Bam! Bababam!!

Pascal/Cheria/Sophie: Beach Brigade, Sunscreen Rangers!!

Pascal: Yellow!

Cheria: P-pink!

Sophie: U-um...

Pascal: It's violet!

Sophie: Violet!

Pascal: Goooooooo!!

Pascal/Cheria/Sophie: Boooooooooom!!!

Pascal: Did we get a liiittle too enthusiastic on that?

Hubert: That's not just a LITTLE!

Pascal: I've always wanted to do that! Sunscreen Rangers are so cool!

Hubert: You think so!?

Pascal: Of course! Bam! Bam! Bababam!! That's the coolest part!

Hubert: Not like that! This way! Bam! Bam! Bababam!!

Pascal/Hubert: Bam! Bam! Bababam!!

Malen: I've never seen that expression on Hubert's face. I thought I'd already moved on but... It's strange. I'm a little jealous.

Cheria: Malen, it's not weird at all. I understand your feelings. A maiden's heart is complicated, after all.

Malen: Cheria...

Malik: All right! Any more applicants? Don't tell me that's all we got!

Asbel: Won't you be acting yourself, Captain?

Malik: I've got my hands full as the director. So I'd rather not.

Sophie: Director.

Malik: Yes? What is it?

Sophie: I'll apply too!

Asbel: Sophie?! Not you too...

Sophie: But I don't know what I should do...

Richard: Then, how about you read this book?

Sophie: Ah, okay.

Richard: Cheria, will you assist Sophie?

Cheria: Hm? Ah, all right.

Sophie: Oh no. I can't read this...

Cheria: I'll read the difficult parts. Sophie, you read the speech parts here.

Sophie: Okay.

Cheria: The old man set out on a journey with the little girl called the Apple Princess. While they travelled, many weakened fairies came to the Apple Princess to ask for help.

Sophie: For the sake of everyone's happiness.. I will give you these apple petals!

Cheria: The Apple Princess gave out the petals that had been on her hairpin to all the fairies. But once she did that, the Apple Princess became weak herself.

Sophie: I... can't see anything... I can't... hear anything... But I am very happy. I wonder why? Grandfather...

Cheria: The Apple Princess glowed, and her body was absorbed into the flower field. And then! The flowers in the field that had wilted from the winter wind began to blossom with vigor. The wilted tree suddenly began to sprout leaf after leaf of emerald green.

Sophie: This is where I wanted to be. I'm the guardian of this tree!

Cheria: And from then on, the tall tree in the flower field grew ruby red apples just as adorable and beautiful as the Apple Princess.

Sophie: The end.

Asbel: Sophie...

Richard: That was beautiful, Sophie.

Pascal: Amazing, Sophie! I was touched!

Sophie: R-really?

Cheria: You were very good, Sophie!

Asbel: Yeah! That was awfully impressive!

Malik: To think there was such outstanding talent hidden in our midst.

Hubert: I agree.

Sophie: Asbel, won't you try it too? Let's all do it together!

Richard: That's right, Asbel. Of our friendship trio, you're the only one who hasn't auditioned. It feels a little sad.

Asbel: But I... have no confidence.

Cheria: You can do it, Asbel!

Asbel: Oh well. I'm just gonna try the audition, that's all!

Sophie: Yay!

Asbel: Ah, um... I'm Asbel Lhant!

Malik: Yes. Why are you applying?

Asbel: Why!? Uh... Because everyone else said 'you should try it', so.

Raymond: See that! That's the special line said by those who pass! Saying "I'm auditioning with my friends!" and then the friends fail, and somehow you're the only one who clears the audition! I won't forgive this!

Barry: Be quiet!

Malik: Well then, Asbel. Perform something for us.

Asbel: Perform!? Um... um.. Ah, r-right. Umm... I... I'll do some impersonations!

Richard: I.. impersonations!?

Asbel: I thought I taught you to maintain your guard until the battle is finished.

Sophie: Who...?

Asbel: C...Captain Malik

Pascal: That's so different!!

Asbel: Th-then, how about this? So, the boy who abandoned his family now thinks to be lord?

Hubert: I got it! Cousin Raymond!

Asbel: It's you, Hubert.

Hubert: Huh? How is that me!?

Asbel: Then, take this! I'm Pascal! A 22-year-old female!

Pascal: Who's that?

Cheria: I don't know...

Asbel: What do you mean, don't know!? I even said her name! Why can't you all tell?! Argh, I'll do that one! Huaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!! Frieeeeeeends!!

Richard: It's no good. I have no idea who it is.

Asbel: Why?! That's you, Richard.

Richard: Are you making a fool of me?

Asbel: No, I didn't mean it that way...

Sophie: Oh no, poor Asbel...

Asbel: What... what do you mean by 'poor Asbel'!!

Malik: That will be all! With that, we're ending the auditions for our members. We'll have a conference to decide those who pass... Well, actually, there's no need for that. All right, I'm announcing our new members.

Asbel: Oh man... this is nerve-wrecking. But if I end up taking to the stage, I'll have to leave Lhant. Man... What a dilemma.

Malik: First up! I think nobody will have any complaints about our choice of King Richard.

Richard: It is my honour.

Malik: And next, Hubert.

Hubert: Huh?

Malik: Whether or not you seize or flob this chance is up to you! Got it!?

Hubert: R...right... I'll do my best!

Malik: Next, this person has lots of other claims on his time, so I considered for a while...

Asbel: It's okay, I'll make time somehow for---

Malik: Duke Dalen! Won't you join us?

Dalen: My! Even if I have to push this old body to the limits, I will bring my best to the stage!

Sophie: Asbel, what's wrong?

Asbel: It's... it's nothing.

Malik: Next, we have the supporting female roles. Cheria, Pascal, Malen. I'm counting on you.

Cheria: What??! I didn't take the audition.

Malik: You read that passage with Sophie, didn't you? Wasn't that an audition?

Cheria: ... oh, all right.

Malen: U, um, is it really okay for me to join in? If Hubert doesn't want me to...

Pascal: Ah, you don't have to worry about that forehead-glasses dude!

Hubert: Wha-! Forehead-glasses dude!!

Malik: And! Of course, we mustn't forget the slice of humour necessary for every play. Right, Asbel?

Asbel: Of, of course! That's right! It's a little sad to be stuck in the comic relief role, but everything is an experience! Right! I'll do my best!

Malik: Raymond, Barry, it's your turn!

Asbel: Noooooooooo!!

Raymond/Barry: Understood!!

Asbel: Um... Captain...

Malik: Call me Director.

Asbel: D-Director! Aren't you forgetting someone?

Malik: You don't have to remind me. The star performer has to be announced last.

Asbel: T... that's right!

Malik: I'm sure this person will be the key to the whole play. Sophie! That's you!

Sophie: Me?

Richard: That was a wonderful reading. I'm happy to be able to act with you, Sophie.

Sophie: Richard...!

Malik: Well, that's about it. All right, those whose names were called, I'm counting on you!

Asbel: Whaaaaaaat!??

Pascal: All right, guys! Let's do this!!

All: Yeaaaaahhh!!

Asbel: No way... I'm the only one who failed.... I'm the only.... who failed... I'm...

Malik: Come on, stop moping there.

Asbel: Let me mope! I only took the audition because everyone was being so pushy about it! And yet I failed!! How pathetic. Sob....

Malik: I have something else I want you to help us with. So stop crying.

Asbel: Huh?

Malik: The truth is, we haven't finished the script yet. We've got the general keypoints down, so do you think you can put them together?

Asbel: You want me to... put the script together?

Malik: That's right! It's up to you, Asbel.

Asbel: ...right, okay! I'll do it!

Asbel: Um, but... Even with general key points... I have to write the script, right? What a huge responsibility. Ahh, hmm, let's see... Looks like there's just stuff about fighting with a sword, making the dialogue funny and touching.... and.. that's it?! That's all the 'keypoints'? Hey, wait, Captain! No, uh, Director. Hey, wait up! This is impossible!!!

#Happy birthday Artpharos #There's more to come ;D #I'll sub it properly when I come back from Japan #so this is just a rough translation

[venus-says]

Symphogear Episodes 01-04

Can you hear it? The dramatic music playing? It’s the sound of me tearing up.

So, with the new season of Symphogear starting next week I decided to rewatch the whole series again to refresh my memory about it.

I actually had plans to start this back at the beginning of the month and watch one season per week but, as we all know, my plains always fail so here we are!

Quick ramble about my history with symphogear: Back in 2012 I was on a rampage of watching everything that Mizuki Nana was a part of, sadly I didn't finish my project but before I lost interest in going through that huge list of works that woman has done, but before I gave up I got to watch Symphogear and it got me hooked. Despite some aspects of the series that I don't like to this day I loved the characters, the songs and the whole concept overall. Was like watching an edgier Mahou Shoujo with music being an active part of the combat portions so was everything 16 years old venus could ask for in a show. I followed the series very closely through the next years and G and GX were very special to me. Because of the mess that I was during 2015 and 2017, I didn't watch AXZ and every time I tried to watch AXZ since then something happened and my plans got ruined. I tried to play the mobile game but I don't know why the game never gets passed the downloading screen and it frustrates me to death.

Now that my background is set, let's do this.

"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron"

BOY, I had forgotten how good this Episode 1 is. Now I remember why I was so sold out on this show right after watching just one episode. I don’t even know where to begin with, THERE’S SO MUCH I WANT TO TALK ABOUT.

This episode is an emotional rollercoaster. We start very sadly with that Miku prologue, then we go to a happy-go-lucky slice of life peaked by that amazing live by Zwei Wing that gets interrupted RIGHT BEFORE MY FAVORITE SONG STARTS and sets up a terrifying battle scene that culminates in a sad and horrifying death just to go back to the watered-down high school slice of life stuff to end the episode with all the tension being brought back again making us feel hopeless. All of this with a very cool atmosphere going behind all of the action scenes. It’s gorgeous. Just gorgeous.

I can’t put in words how much this episode blew my mind back in 2012, and I just had all the same reactions again while watching it 7 years later.

In just one episode they managed to set up the world and all the basics we had to know with barely none exposition at all. They let a few loose ends to get you wanting to know more and top all off with a freaking cliffhanger that is both exciting and scary as fuck.

Sadly episode 2 ain’t as good as the first one. Here we have less action to give place for more explanation. This episode could be fine if they didn’t just throw up all that information with very complicated terms that aren’t even all that important for the story right now and that could’ve been explained as the show went on so that they wouldn’t make for such a boring episode.

Episode 3 brings things up, the story jumps one month in the future and we’re in this place where we have Tsubasa being even more resentful and angry for Hibiki’s presence and ownership of the Gungnir, Hibiki stressed out by living two lives, and even Miku -who’s a character I don’t like at all in this season- has some interesting conflicts. We don’t have a lot of progression plot-wise but we have seeds of character development starting to sprout which is always good.

Episode 3 also ends in a cliffhanger that connects to episode 4, it’s a little less impactful as the one in Episode 1 was, but at least we got more from it than the one connecting 1 and 2.

Chris in the Armor of Nehushtan results in a nice fight, that triggers a flashback explaining Kanade’s backstory that serves as a way to understand Tsubasa more. And this is probably one of the most important moments for Tsubasa because establishes her not just as a jack ass but as someone who has suffered so much that she reached a point where shutting down every part of her personality was the only way she found to keep on living to complete her mission so she can make justice to her death partner.

Also in this process, we get more development from Hibiki’s side as she realizes that she shouldn’t try to be Kanade and substitute her, that conversation she has with Ogawa is probably one of the best moments of the episode. It's at that point that Hibiki finally starts to act and feel like a real character and, more importantly, a real protagonist. Her training montage at the end is also great so, points for this episode.

But not everything is roses and this episode loses a lot with those unnecessary shots of Tsubasa in the fight, and that noise who used a sticky liquid to hold Hibiki was also gross as hell. We really didn’t need this, they’re so awkward and serve no purpose at all is just... UGH. *eye-rolling emoji*

But still, in the general balance of things, this episode is still nice and a good way to wrap up the first day on this journey. I had a few other points I wanted to talk, but it’s past 11pm and I have a shit ton of laundry to wash tomorrow morning so I gotta go.

Pray that I can keep doing this and not fail again. XD Thanks for checking out and see ya~

#Senki Zesshou Symphogear #symphogear