#know her really because if she does show up it's a memory or hologram or whatever | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starry-bi-sky · 9 months

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tick tock

Highkey dedicating this to @watercolour-carnations bc they sent me an ask about my 'danny is thomas wayne' au and singlehandedly revitalized my brainrot for it. Apparently the quickest way to a starry's heart is through their ask box

Now posted on ao3 under the name 'dniwer eht kcolc'!

In hindsight, hosting a science exhibit was probably not the best idea that Bruce has ever. This wasn't even one of Bruce's galas and, yet he was still attending because it gave him the opportunity to scope out any potential rogues (or henchmen).

Damian was by his side, and Tim was on the other side of the room, inspecting some of the other inventions under the prospect of gaining new hires for R&D at WE. Something that was not entirely false. Bruce could always use new, bright minds working to make Gotham a better place.

He was, particularly, eyeing up one moderately-sized invention that a woman with cutting blue eyes and stark white hair had covered with a white sheet. An interesting choice when everyone else had already revealed their own inventions. Drifting closer with Damian, he smiles charmingly at the scientist when they lock eyes.

"And what is this interesting contraption?" He asks, looking over the sheet as if it was the invention itself and not what was underneath.

The woman curled purple-painted fingers around the sheet, yanking it down to reveal a machine that looks like a mix of a jukebox and a grandfather clock. A long wire was attached to it, and a strange, blinking, circlet-like device connected on the other end.

Bruce's brows rose considerably, and he could sense Damian's eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"This is my Holographic Memory Machine -- the name is still a work in progress -- it's a memory machine meant to allow anyone to relive their memories right in front of them, even the ones they don't remember." The woman says with a smile, her name card reads 'Dr. Casey W. Kairos'. He's never heard of her before. An out-of-townie, perhaps?

"Interesting." Bruce's hands fold behind his back and he looks down at his disinterested son, and then back up to Dr. Kairos. It sounded harmless, but even a pencil could be harmless until enough force was put into it. "How does that work?"

Dr. Kairos walks over and holds up the strange circlet device, "The user wears this headband. It scans their brainwaves and then plays a memory of their choice right in front of them like a hologram, including any voices that came with it." She explains, showing it off to Bruce and Damian. "Would either of you like to try it? The HMM has been tested and it is completely safe."

Damian scoffs and turns to him, "This is a waste of time, father," He says, "let's move on."

"Oh, don't be like that, Dames." Bruce smiles genially, placing a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezing it. It reminds him of when his father used to do the exact same thing, and he turns to Dr. Kairos. "I can try it, Doctor."

Kairos smiles widely, looking incredibly pleased. "Come stand here then, Mr. Wayne. I can get the HMM up and working." She gestures to a spot on the floor within the circlet's range, and Bruce goes and does as told.

"Standing around and looking pretty is my specialty, Doctor Kairos." He jokes as she gets the device situated on his head. It sits on his forehead snugly, and tucks behind his ears. Kairos snorts and turns to get the machine activated.

"Father." Damian says, indignant and scowling. His arms crossed over his chest petulantly. Bruce chuckles at him.

"The Doctor said it was perfectly safe, Damian." He admonishes lightly, wagging a finger at him. "I trust the good lady to know what she's doing." Not really, but he'd rather test it out on himself if it was unsafe.

Thirty seconds passed with Dr. Kairos working on flicking on the HMM, and when it came alive it came with a low hum and a distinct, ticking like noise. "Ah, there we go." She hums, stepping away. "It's up and working, Mister Wayne. Just think of a memory and let the HMM do the rest."

"Thank you, Doctor." Bruce nods at her, and then tries to think of what to let the machine show. Nothing that would give away his identity as Batman, of course not. Nothing incriminating.

He looks to Damian, who still looked very unhappy with him. Perhaps a memory of one of his boys in the manor? Or a Brucie Wayne moment that everyone's seen. His brows furrow in thought. One of his speeches?

...No. No, he has an idea.

Immediately, the HMM begins to hum louder, the ticking drowned out by the sound of its fans kicking in. It starts drawing the attention of the other ongoers, and Damian steps to Bruce's side as a crowd begins to form.

"What is that thing?"

"What's it doing?"

"Is it safe?"

Hushed whispers scatter around them as more and more people abandon the other stalls in favor of seeing whatever spectacle was happening. Tim appears as well, pushing his way through the crowd and situating himself by Damian and Bruce.

"What's going on?" He whispers with a frown, looking between Bruce and Damian.

Damian hmphs, "Father is trying out this woman's 'Memory Machine'."

Just when Bruce is starting to think the machine doesn't work, he hears a sound that silences the spectators. A piano note. A singular note, followed by another, and another. Right before Bruce's eyes, the air shimmers, and a projection of his father sitting at the grand piano appears before him.

His breath hitches in his throat. He remembers this. He remembers this piece. It was father's favorite.

Damian and Tim are stiff at his side, and Bruce hears the crowd gasp.

There, sitting on the floor at the bench, is Bruce himself at six years old. He's resting his arms on it, and leaning his head on his arms with a look of pure adoration -- did he really look like that? -- aimed at his father.

There's no talking between them, a content silence as Thomas Wayne fills the air with his piano playing. That is-- until he stops midway through the piece, fingers stopping the keys with a abrupt jerk.

Thomas laughs, quiet and full of love, and little Bruce picks his head up with an affronted frown. "Why'd you stop? I like listening to you play."

"I know you do." Thomas says, his voice is as soothing as Bruce remembers it to be. The memory twists to look at little Bruce with a blinding smile, as if he was looking at his whole world. It's the first time in decades that Bruce has seen his father smiling like-- like that. His eyes involuntarily sting.

"But how can you hear so well when you're all the way down there?" Thomas shifts, and pats an open space on the bench. "Come sit up here, Boo. I can teach you to play."

(Thomas Wayne was always fond of pet names, he had plenty of them for Bruce, and he used them at every opportunity.)

Little Bruce perks up, "Really?" He grins, and then clambers into the bench. His father's arms wrap around him.

The voices fade as the memory slowly begins to collapse, and Bruce feels a spike of panic in his heart before the memory is replaced by another one.

He's younger, probably four years old, being sprayed down by a hose by his father. Little Bruce is squealing with laughter, trying to swat the water away like a fly, and his clothes are drenched.

Thomas is laughing as well, wearing a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looks like he just came home from a business meeting. Bruce always thought he was old when he was little. But at four years old, Thomas Wayne is only a little over twenty. Barely an adult. He is twenty-four when he dies. He was so young.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Little Bruce squeals, trying to run out of the line of fire, but Thomas Wayne has a sharp eye, and the hose in his hands follow Bruce no matter where he goes.

Until finally Thomas drops the hose and runs towards Bruce, who is trying to recover from being sprayed down with ice cold water. Thomas reaches him before he has time to move, and scoops him up in his arms.

He is laughing loudly and boisterously, spinning them both around as Bruce clings to him for dear life, laughing with him. The memory fades away, and Bruce feels like there are hands around his throat trying to choke him.

A new one shows up, one he doesn't remember at all. His father is younger than before, a teenager, and he's holding a tiny bundle in his arms. He looks like he's on the verge of tears, hunched over it like a shield.

Someone, a girl with gothic attire, peers over his shoulder. "Gosh, Tom, a baby? That's a lot of responsibility." She says, dark-lipstick lips painted downwards in a frown. "And right after you've disowned your parents too?"

Another boy looks around Thomas with a similar frown and an uncertain look, "Yeah man, I'm with Sam on this one -- for once. You don't even have anywhere to live."

Thomas doesn't look like he's even paying attention, utterly smitten with the baby -- its himself, Bruce realizes -- he's cradling. "Look at him though, guys," he breathes, "he's so tiny. Have you seen his little watercolor eyes?"

(Watercolor eyes. Bruce had long since forgotten about that nickname his father gave him. hearing him say it is like a punch to his stomach.)

"You named him Bruce?"

Bruce huffs to himself, an involuntary smile twitching at his mouth as the memory dips again and cycles through another memory he recognizes.

The memories it shows are sporadic, with no chronological order to them other than each and every one is a happy one.

Bruce playing piano with his father.

Bruce stargazing with his father.

Bruce being carried on his father's shoulders.

Bruce getting ready for a gala with his father.

Bruce in the kitchen helping his dad make breakfast (there's pancake flour smeared on his cheek).

Bruce making a snowman with his father.

An apology between Bruce and his father in the form of a piano duet.

There are even a few memories he doesn't remember. Some of them are when he's old enough to, but many are when he's a baby. Some are before his father was adopted by the Waynes, when the only thing on their backs was a raggedy backpack and an oversized sweatshirt, and Bruce's baby blanket. And some are after, where he's sitting in an antique rocking chair bottle feeding Bruce with a look of sheer adoration on his face.

That look never seems to go away, ever, in any of the memories.

Finally, the HMM settles on a final memory, one that makes Bruce's blood run cold and snaps him out of his nostalgic revelry. His father is getting ready in his room, and Bruce comes barreling in with his own suit-and-tie.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" He chants, running to Thomas, who whirls around and picks him up seamlessly. They spin twice before Thomas settles in front of the mirror, Bruce on his hip as he adjusts his tie with one hand.

"Yes, boo?" Thomas grins, wide-splitting with his shock-blue eyes looking at Bruce in the reflection. He and Bruce have the same eyes. It's shocking how much they look like each other, now that Bruce was older.

Little Bruce makes a dramatic face, a look that only lasts a few seconds before he remembers his excitement. He wiggles in Thomas' arms, "You gotta hurry up! Or we'll be late to the movie!"

Bruce's fingers dig into his palm, and he can vaguely feel his sons' looking at him. There's a feeling of impending doom square in the center of his lungs, and he forces himself to look on.

Thomas laughs, and nuzzles Bruce's cheek. "The movie isn't going anywhere, chum, I promise." He says, before setting him down. Little Bruce pouts, his lower lip sticking out. "I know how much you've been looking forward to this."

"Can you help me with my tie then?" Bruce asks, and looks at his own, sloppily done tie around his neck. "I can never get it right."

And, of course, Thomas Wayne kneels down to redo it. He always did everything Bruce asked or wanted. He measures it, loops it, and then knots the tie perfectly.

"There." He says, and smoothes out Bruce's little jacket, smiling in adoration. "Now go play, I'll call you when it's time to go."

And Bruce does just that, running out of the room with a yell of, "You better promise!"

"I promise!" Thomas yells back, laughing at his son as he turns back to the mirror.

The memory shimmers, and changes to as they're leaving. And then and there does Bruce call it quits. His eyes are glistening, his tears nearly blinding him with the swelling, overwhelming grief in his heart. He looks away, and tries to find Doctor Kairos.

(He doesn't see her switch something on the side of the machine. There is no noticeable difference in the machine, but on the inside a time rune starts to glow.)

"I think I'm done here, Doctor." He says once he can find his voice without it shaking. He can't hide the full crack and tremble laying beneath it, but at least he doesn't cry. He's almost forgotten that he had a silent audience.

Doctor Kairos nods and steps forward, reaching for the headband. "The memories should cut off once I take this off, Mister Wayne." She says, and fiddles with it for a moment. Behind her, the memory of himself and his father are walking outside. "I hope that wasn't too much for you?"

(The ticking of the machine grows louder, and the memory glitches.)

"No, no." Bruce assures with a smile that wasn't all Brucie Wayne yet. He looks down when he feels Damian's hand curl around his, and his son leans into his side. His smile softens, and he presses Damian closer. His other arm finds itself over Tim's shoulders as well, pressing him to his side.

"It was fine. Actually, it was an honor to be the first to try out your memory machine. I'm sure it will help many people." He tells her. She smiles slyly, and slides the headband off his head.

"That's what I'm hoping for, Mister Wayne." Doctor Kairos places the headband onto the table. The memory hasn't disappeared, Bruce notes with a furrow of his brows. And the audio has muffled slightly.

"I thought you said that the memory would cut off when the headband was off?" He asks. Kairos looks at him, and then behind her at the memory. She frowns.

"It should have--"

Little Bruce suddenly frowns, and looks away from Thomas. "Do you hear that?"

Bruce frowns. "I don't remember this." That wasn't in his memory. They just went straight to Monarch Theater without any issue.

Thomas looks down at his son, "What noise?" He asks, squeezing Bruce's hand. His head cranes, as if trying to hear whatever noise Bruce was hearing.

"That ticking sound." Bruce's frown deepens, "It sounds like your clock, dad."

Thomas' immediately frowns, looking so strikingly like Bruce that he marvels for a moment. He looks around as well. "...You're right. I hear it too." He steps a little closer to Bruce, his hand tightening around his.

A sense of unease fills Bruce's lungs. "What's going on?" He asks, taking a step away from the memory. This was different. This isn't his memory.

"I'm not sure." Doctor Kairos says, and her unsurety sounds so practiced and calm that Bruce's suspicion levels to her immediately. His boys look at her too with the same unease. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

She strides around the memory to the side of the machine just as a gold symbol appears on the ground. It looks like a giant roman clock, and a loud, clunky ticking fills the room.

The memories see it too, and Bruce's heart drops to his feet as he and the rest of the crowd back away from it. "Dad, what is that?!" Little Bruce exclaims, a look of fear morphing across his face as he suddenly clings to his dad's leg.

Thomas looks pale, looking at his feet and gripping little Bruce to him protectively. "I don't-- I don't know, Bruce."

(A memory that Bruce doesn’t have is his father arguing with a man named Clockwork. He does not see the man named Clockwork all but beg Thomas not to go out tonight.)

("Does something happen to Bruce?" His father asks the ghost.)

("No," the man says, "but--")

("But nothing, Clockwork." Thomas, once Danny, says firmly. "My son has been looking forward to this all week. I'm not going to crush his hopes by changing my mind last minute.")

("Thomas, please.")

("Look, if something happens tonight, I will handle it, okay?" Thomas assures him, a hand atop Clockwork's shoulder with a small smile. "I promise.")

(And then he leaves, Clockwork defeated in his wake.)

(Clockwork has seen this boy grow up from the shadows, and now he can do nothing to stop his fate like he once did before.)

The strange, clock-like circle, something intrinsically magic, begins to glow. The minute and hour hands tick faster and faster. Little Bruce holds onto his father like a lifeline, and Thomas Wayne crouches down to hold his son tighter, protectively.

Bruce Wayne turns away just as the light grows blinding, tucking Tim and Damian into his chest like a human shield. There is yelling and screams as the crowd tries to stampede away from it.

Bruce has no idea what this light will do, but he'd rather die than let his sons get hurt.

The light burns his eyelids even when he isn't facing it. And when it dies without even a burn across his back, Bruce slowly unfurls. His hands stay on his sons' shoulders, keeping them close to him, and he peers over his shoulder.

There on his knees, is Thomas Wayne, curled protectively around eight year old Bruce Wayne, much like Bruce had been. Bruce holds his breath, and his sons slowly unfurl themselves as well and peer around him.

Thomas Wayne is frozen in place for one second, two seconds, three. And then he begins to move. First, the tension drains out of his shoulders, and his head jerks, as if surprised that nothing has happened.

He looks up, his eyes open, and he and Bruce make eye contact. Bruce cannot breathe, and he cannot believe the sight before him. It's just the memory machine breaking. (Doctor C.W Kairos is nowhere to be found.)

And then recognition flickers in his father's face as his panting slows and quiets. His head tilts to the side like a fawn's, a familiar wrinkle appearing before his brows.

"Bruce?"

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dp crossover #danny fenton is thomas wayne au #dftw au #oh my gfod this is so long #watercolour-carnations how does it feel to have singlehandedly revitalized my brainrot over this au #the fastest way to starry's heart is through their askbox #anyways i was thinking about this the whole time #the memory with clockwork was SUPPOSED to be seen by bruce honestly!#but i couldnt write it in properly #imo at least #io had to check the wordcount on this and this is THREE THOUSAND WORDS #OOPS I ACCIDENTALLY WROTE A 3k WORD ONESHOT #YOU KNOW. AS YOU DO

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quetzalpapalotl · 1 year

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Woooaaaah, okay. I just finished so assorted, unorganized Earthspark thoughts under the cut. Part 1

The things regarding the existence of the triplets that made me uncomfortable were not adressed, as expected. Still it's been long enought that I could make peace with it and was able to watch the show without wanting to throw up.

They could have done a better job of balancing the cast now that it's so crowded BUT making Twitch a big sister paired wonderfully with picking up the epiphany she had on episode 10. She's was wondeful on this batch. Love the contrast with ep 3 where she doesn't really care about Bee's training to ep 14 where she's like "we have to do drills people!!!!"

Truly the triplets are great. The problem is that this all highlights how much I don't actually care about Mo and Robby?? Like ofc the Cybertronians are gonna seem far more interesting, but also they throw me off. They kinda get the worst dialogue and then there's this thing with Mo where it feels like she acts too mature for her age some times and other too generic cute kid (at least I'm back at the English dub, because in Spanish this is worse) and it both feels pretty fake and breaks my immersion and reminds me this is not an appropiate situation for her.

Also so many moments that are too corny for me.

But I mean, this is a show for 8 year olds, Barbi, what do you expect?? (I do think Robby and Mo could have better dialogue, but otherwise it's the genre and audience. I can't complain at the steak house's poor seafood selection).

Hashtag is super fun and also her powers are extremely OP dasfdhgkjash what, how does that work? Why can she control so many things? I love the satellite ponytail. I need a IDW1-esque Thundercraker to show up and be her Cybertronian mentor.

Hashtag simping over Elita, like, same.

OMG Jawbreaker is precious!!! I think it's wonderful to have him voluntarily wait on choosing an alt mode, goes against what one would expect and showcases the diversity of the Cybertronian experience. Really, I love how all the terrans have very different relationships with how they choose their alt.

Speaking of NIGHTSHADE!!! TARANTULAS OMG OMG OMG OMG

Ok, so he isn't Mandroid, he doesn't get an ex BUT HE GETS A CHILD. This is even better, honestly. Everything about him is perfect. He's very unlike BW Tarantulas, but he is similar to IDW1 Tarantulas who was like BW. It's like a scale with IDW1 in the middle

Obsessed with the subtext of and older queer person bonding with a young queer, with the background of Nightshade having been raised in a different context with a supportive family. It's lovely. Tarantulas inmediately adopting Nighshade, but he's so lonely and doesn't know how to do relationships quite right. I love heeeee!!!!

I know what Roche meant about his mush now. Loved seeing that thing move.

Sadly I don't think he's gonna be eating people, he too hinged u.u But oh well, I liked this toned down version, especially because we needed more good Cons that just want to live. Really, he bothered trying to erase the Malto's memories when he could have just killed them.

Instead of a hologram, he should do like IDW1 and perfect furry technology. I believe in you.

Anyway, Nightshade is great duasfgda they taking their alt mode from a book series is like when peorple choose to have their blorbo's name. God, they're such a dramatic nerd I loooooove them.

The texture in that book was so good I could smell it

What was episode 14???? I was thinking that maybe it would fuel a new Bee/Breakdown ship but oh my god???? I was not expecting this to be so romantic, like what the fuck. They upped the cinematography to showcase that Bee and Breakdown are in love. They've always been in love. They had the interfaction romance of a lifetime, megop who?

Really, it was the best episode. Except for the fact that Taratulas exists. But the ending??? Omg.

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT IS GHOST DOING

everything with that bear was so creepy, my eyes were glued omg

The GHOST lady reminds me of Dr. Emilia from Kipo

This is getting too long, I'm gonna do a part 2

#earthspark spoilers #quetzal rambles tf

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wardenred · 8 months

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Sapphic September 2: Holographic

From the hypothetical sequel from one of those drafts in my "to edit" pile, though I confess sometimes I think the sequel is the real story.

"A hologram," Flo spat. "I can't believe it. We tracked all the way here for a fucking hologram."

Standing sixty feet away, it was obvious. The fence that seemed so solid from where they had began their track now flickered in the foggy afternoon sunlight. The same went for the stone walls behind it. This wasn't a compound. This wasn't anyone's home. The gravel and the grass were the only real things about the vision at the top of the hill.

Flo kicked a few stones out of her way, hard.

By her side, Jules remained annoyingly unperturbed. "There must be some kind of energy source powering it," she pointed out, cocking her head to the side as she studied the holo. "Maybe if we locate it, we can use it to charge our gadgets."

Deep breath. Stop gritting your teeth. Flo forced the angry tension as far down her spine as she was able. Good, good, keep your shoulders loose. Jules meant well. Jules was the kindest person she knew. Jules wasn't doing this to test her patience.

"Maybe if we use it to charge our stuff, whoever owns it shows up and does not greet us warmly. Do you really think this thing was created as the Badland’s equivalent of a free electricity hub? It's probably a trap."

"It's really hard to trap people in a hologram."

"You know what I mean!"

Jules let out a small sigh, blew a strand of sandy blond hair out of her eyes, and looked straight at Flo. "Honey. This isn't the city. Not everything you see is out to get you."

Don't call me honey when I've forgotten how to be sweet. "Yeah. Tell that to those dustcats that chased us across the bridge."

For some reason, Jules saw this as a reason to smile. "I'm quite sure this fake house is maintained by people, not animals. And people have an important advantage: they can be reasoned with."

"Yeah, and they can also pretend to be reasonable and kind and stuff while they plot to kill you." Flo squinted at the non-compound, trying to spot any signs of life. It really fucked with her perception, the way the hologram kept flickering subtly. Over and over, she started thinking that yes, there: a hint of movement that couldn't be attributed to the wind playing with the tall grass, the beginnings of a shadow falling on the thin path. But no, each time it was merely the unsteadiness of hologram. Damn those outdated technologies.

And damn her own moodiness, too, because this was supposed to be an adventure. The first day of the rest of their new life together, away from the cities and the corporations, heroes and villains, duties and dues. Only the first day, not even past noon, and already Flo wanted to go back.

A warm, steady pressure on the back of her neck drew her out of her thoughts. Jules hummed an off-key tune, playing idly with a loose strand that had broken out of Flo's braid. Her nail grazed the unhealed cyberwar port. Flo shivered.

"We really need to find a way to charge our stuff," Jules said softly. "Especially the accumulators. It's only getting more cloudy. We can't rely on the sun too much, and we've used up so much energy while we were running from those cats."

Flo bit back a groan. "Yeah. All right, then. Let's climb the rest of the hill and yell, 'Hello!' at some crazy people who have set up an artificial mirage in the middle of nowhere. Sounds like an awesome plan."

She took a step forward, a little too sharply, shrugging Jules's touch off without meaning to. The first day of the rest of their lives, and wasn't she already fucking things up?

"Hey," Jules called after her. Flo turned her head to find her standing in the same spot, her hand still hovering in the air. She was biting her upper lip the way she always did when she was nervous. "Do you... do you regret this?"

Do you regret me?

The real question hung in the air between them, a ball of static, a bundle of shared memories. Jules had asked it before, in the same words, with the same look, the first time Flo'd had to make the very same choice. Jules or Mel. Happiness or revenge. There had been no wastelands and holograms around them that first time. Only the beige walls of a half-unpacked kitchen in their new home, the smell of Jules's cooking, the cybernetically enhanced plants glowing softly on the window sill.

Flo had known her answer then, and she knew it now.

"No. Never."

She only hoped this time she’d be able to stick to it better.

#warden's random scribbles #sapphic september 2023 #writing #my writing #writers on tumblr #original fiction #writeblr #post apocalypse #dystopia #sapphic #post-final girls

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marjorierose · 8 months

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Fringe report the last: rainbow holes

Star Trek: The Next Improvisation, HUGE improv theater

(that's their name. I'm not just overimpressed at how huge the theater is)

I loved this way more than I expected. It's a long-running improv project set on an original Galaxy-class starship in the style of Next Generation; most of the cast portrayed characters they have played before, with three swings who filled in for other roles as called for by the scene. The director pulled a prompt from a 90s Star Trek Encyclopedia, and going off of that the cast told a story about getting stuck in a "rainbow hole" (they made a lot of hay with that) that distorted spacetime and brought back haunting voices from their past. This might have been the ideal prompt for this improv team, because it allowed all of them to call up bits of backstory that might come from previous shows or just from their own thoughts about the characters. Some was fairly standard, like the security officer haunted by the kids whom he had bullied. Some was sad in a too-standard television way and played up for comedy, like the captain's memories of his tragically beautiful dead wife. ("Captain," said the counselor, "you know I can see your thoughts, and I know your dead wife who died is in there.") Some was comical, like the ship's-AI-turned-person's memories reciting binary code. And some was genuinely haunting, like the doctor having memories of a child no one else knew about, who tried to play with him while he was working to cure the rest of the crew, standing beside him and running an imaginary toy car up and down his arm while he tried to maintain focus on his screen. The chief science officer had such a bad time of it she actually decided to leave the ship in search of one of the people who had been appearing in her memories. The young acting ensign ended up saving almost everyone by virtue of not having any bad memories because he was a fortunate and virtuous child prodigy, but the security officer still airlocked himself. Everybody got together to remember him by watching a hologram he'd recorded, which was saved from being a too-saccharine moment by the crew member going THAT'S THE END OF THE HOLOGRAM and the acting ensign asking the dramatically-departing crew member if she wanted to carpool to Starfleet Academy. Really joyful. I wish I could get more of those characters, and I guess I can if I go check out the shows this group does at HUGE.

#theater #minnesota fringe #huge improv theater

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oogaboogaspookyman · 2 years

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Mew: i can either bake these cookies in 400 degrees for ten minutes, or 4,000 degrees for one minute.

Mewtwo: mew no, that's not how you bake cookies.

Mew: FLOOR IT?

Mewtwo: MEW NO.

Mew: how about 4,000,000 DEGREES FOR ONE SECOND?!

Mewtwo: MEW YOU'RE GONNA BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!

Mew: I'M GOING TO HARNESS THE FUCKING SUN TO BAKE COOKIES!

Mewtwo: MEW PLEASE-

Adam: you are either mewtwo, or mew.

(loooooooootsa @pmseymourva )

✨Random Quotes From The Fam✨

Adam: ATTENTION SARCASM USERS! WE ARE FACED WITH A SERIOUS ISSUE.

Adam: THERE IS ONLY ONE SARCASM LEFT, WE HAVE TO USE IT WISELY.

Adam: PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK, IT'S GOTTA BE GOOD.

Mewtwo: yeah, okay, i'll be sure to do just that... Oh god what have i DONE-

You: whatcha planning for Valentine's Day~?

MEMORY: murder.

You: that's the spirit!

Mewtwo: help my wife is going on labour!

Guy he's calling: is it her first born?

Mewtwo: no this is her husband.

Mary: now's not the time for dad jokes!

Adam: he's ready.

Mew, not knowing what she's saying: OH MY GOD, i got it.

Mew: Game Of Thrones, is anime plots for non-anime watchers.

Mew: think about it...

(@the-hydroxian-artblog )

Mew: @ yeast.

Mewtwo: ... Yeast.

Mew: yeast :)

Mewtwo, looking at Aliza: i didn't order this box of cat!

Mary: HOW ARE YOU COMPLAIMING LOOK AT IT'S FACEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Adam: it's literally making the :3 face.

Dude 1: *he saw something behind them and proceeds to wheeze incomprehensibly*

Dude 1, pushing Dude 2: dhuhude... Dhdduhde 2!

Dude 2, making a bad throw in Skee: watch it!

The game he's playing: [LOOOSEEEEER!]

Dude 2: aw heck, now look at what you made me do!

Dude 2:

MEMORY: hello~

Dude 2: ... Hehebrhebebrhebebeheh *fearful wheezing*

(source: The Cuphead Show)

MEMORY: clearly you don't own an AIR FRYER! *Regal laughter*

Mewtwo: what does that even MEEEEEEEAAAANNNN-

(source: L Void, Deltarune Memes, look it up on Youtube)

Picture of a weird looking baby.

Adam: his name is Snart.

Uptight hoity toity piece of shit: how dare you say such a thing, that's a picture of baby jesus!

Adam: no, his name is Snart.

MEMORY: presenting: BASKETBALL 2!

Adam: what's the objective?

MEMORY: survive.

That one guy that had his head torn off and has the spine still attached in the ORIGIN comic: i am the snake in my boot!

Jason Lavender: JESUS CHRIST.

Mew: you kiss and care and for what?! Sex?! Love?!?! Pathetic!

Adam: to level my charisma stat.

Mew: ah, a gamer! You may pass.

Mewtwo, hugging Celeste: to show my girlfriend love and make her feel special!

Mew: you shall not pass.

(source: @pukicho )

CL4RA: Don't joke about murder. I was murdered once and it offends me.

Shapeshifter: *transforms to look like Mewtwo*

Mewtwo: Okay, are you like BLIND? You look nothing like me. First off, I'm way taller. Secondly, I DO NOT look so sleep deprived and lastly, if you could drag comb through that hair you're like a 7 on a good day and I've been told I'm a constant 10.

Adam: *Takes a sip of milk and gags*

Adam: Oh my god, is this expired?

Adam: *Takes another sip of milk*

Mewtwo: I’m the sexiest bitch in this therapy waiting room.

Teen Aliza: I don’t think the therapist is supposed to say ‘wow’ that many times during their first session with a client, but here we are.

Mary, at Adam: My expectations were low but holy fuck.

Adam, at his ex gf, about to break up: Could you maybe just like… stab me… right in the gut. Just REALLY twist it in there. ‘Cause that honestly seems less painful than this conversation.

SketchTwo: Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!

Mary: Unfortunately, due to several experiences in my youth, I cannot just 'walk up and join a circle of people talking', but it does sound lovely, thank you.

Mewtwo: New year, same me. Because I'm perfect.

#pokemon #mewtwo #adam #mew #memory #aliza #mary #jason lavender #celeste #CL4RA #teen aliza #sketchtwo #incorrect quotes

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blitzendoggo · 2 years

Text

What Happened to You?

Callisto's POV when he sees what S.G. saw in the Chaos dimension after being teleported there. Needless to say, he had a lot of emotions about seeing Prophis like that.

Callisto/Prophis (1961 words)

~~~

Moments after the three idiots hang up, they call Callisto back. He considers not answering before deciding that if its something stupid he can just vaporize them.

"What?!" He groans. He is still in the middle of a "battle" but he is not particularly worried about it. Not a single soldier has landed a hit on him, so this might as well be a warmup fight.

"Yes, I know you are upset," S.G. says, holding up her hands in a submissive manner. "I have news for you- uh- when I licked the genie stone -the one you told me was a genie- uh- something went wrong, and I somehow ended up behind the boundary. "

"Behind the- behind the boundary- into the chaos realm?" He demands. He pays the hologram a little more attention.

"Yes, um, and I met this creature who- uh- who went by Palnaros."

"Palnaros? Who the hell is Palnaros? What the hell is Palnaros? As far as anyone knows there is no life other than... other than-" He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts.

"I-" He squares his shoulders. "They don't need to know about him. Not yet anyway." "I have no idea what that is."

S.G. nods before continuing. "And he- uh- he asked me where I was going, and I said I was going to the rift. So, I think-"

Callisto cuts her off. "What is- what is Palnaros?" he demands, upset that she isn't elaborating. "What is this?"

The changeling seems to focus really hard for a moment, but the genie shakes his head. Callisto hadn't noticed the genie before this, but he decides that with these idiots it will be best to take it one question at a time.

"I can do it," he says with a thick Russian accent. The genie waves his hands around and a film of mist appears and its moves to form a picture. It shows a floating island in the chaos realm with small figures of S.G. and Djarrid standing near the edge and a huge centipede monstrosity pulling itself over the edge, but the rest of its body disappears off the edge of the image.

"Oh my god, that's so much worse than the memory," Glib groans as he looks away. Callisto ignores him as he leans forward to look at the picture better, and nearly immediately regrets it.

"That looks like- but it can't be. That can't be- it surely isn't-" His thoughts rush around his head for several moments before going dead silent. "What happened to you, my love?" He wants to cry in relief that Prophis is still alive after all of these years. He wants to sob at what has become of his beautiful boyfriend. He wants to scream in anger that he even let this happen in the first place. He has always been quite good at controlling his emotions, and never has it been more convenient than this very moment because he can't betray any of this information to these idiot "adventurers".

He thinks about what to do for a moment before crossing his arms over his chest to focus all of his energy and emotions into one powerful blast. He throws the power all around him, scorching the earth and burning the soldiers alive, but their screams fall on deaf ears.

Now he can think clearly. Well, clear enough.

He leans closer to the holograms taking a deep breath. "You're half right. That does look like the Chaos Realm, but the far more concerning thing is that I don't know what that is," he lies. Well, is it a lie if he doesn't know what it is, he just has a theory? A theory that every fiber of his soul is begging for it to not be true. He still has- had- no, has- hope that Prophis is alright and will be returned to him one day.

"So, this issue is alright?" Canyon asks looking between Callisto and S.G.

"I thought your whole thing is knowing things!" Glib accuses.

"It is, frog man!" Callisto hisses. He does know what's going on, probably anyway, but they don't need to know. "And that is why I'm concerned at the moment!" One of the several reasons. "That thing wasn't there the last time-" Callisto mutters under his breath before catching himself. His mouth shuts with a click as he stares at them in challenge.

"The last-?! Excuse you?! The last time?!" The frog shouts, pushing in front of S.G. to talk directly to Callisto instead of hiding behind Canyon. "The last time you what?!"

"Nothing," Callisto snaps. He owes them no explanations. "But Prophis would tell them," a little voice says. It's a voice that hasn't said much since Prophis' "disappearance." Prophis used to call it his conscious. Funny how the voice sounds almost exactly like loving boyfriend. "They are helping you, they deserve a little information. Stop lying." Callisto shuts the voice up immediately. "It's not relevant to your mission at hand," he says trying to appeal to the voice. It isn't relevant. And if he has to keep telling himself that, he will.

"It seems pretty fucking relevant!" Glib screams.

"You'll know it when I need you to know it," Callisto snaps in a way that doesn't leave much room for argument. Everyone is silent while they process the information that was just given to them.

"Mystery Man," S.G. says, breaking the silence. "Did you fight in the Symmetry War?"

He laughs at the irony of that statement. He's tempted to tell them the truth, just to see the look on their faces when they learn that he, his boyfriend, and his best friend founded Symmetris and technically it's factions as well.

"I wasn't-"

But it's just easier to lie.

"The Symmetry War was eons ago."

So much easier to lie.

"It was far before any time-"

"Yes, that's not my question. My question was 'yes' or 'no'," S.G. interjects.

He cocks a small grin. Smart changeling, he'll have to remember that. "It was far before my time," he finishes, not acknowledging their statement and in the back of his mind he hopes she realizes that their right.

"Prophis would like him," he thinks mildly before the full sentiment behind that thought hits him. Prophis- or at least this Prophis like monster does like her. And Prophis is alive. Monster or not, he's alive, and that's all Callisto cares about. He'll find a way to revert him, to bring back his original form. And if he can't do that, he'll make do. He just wants to talk to him again, to apologize for failing him and for forcing him to be trapped in there for eons.

"Continue the mission as planned," he says as calmly as he can manage. "Speed it up if possible. We need to get this handled now."

"Oh yeah, we were taking our time before," Canyon says flatly, tail flicking behind him slightly annoyed.

"Prophis would probably find Canyon funny with his blunt humor. He would probably like Glib too. He would certainly want to talk to him and find out where things went wrong in this poor frog's life and would probably demand that I help all of them and stop leaving them in the dark," Callisto thinks with a slight grimace. He might be a little too harsh on these people. They didn't ask for this and he did threaten to kill them if they didn't agree to help him. But Prophis was always his better half. He was- is- innocent and sweet. He cared for everything around him and was so kind to nature.

("My love, why is there a strange child in our living room?"

"Because he was lost and hungry and I couldn't just leave him outside for the wolves!"

Callisto stared at Prophis for a moment before walking over and kissing his cheek.

"I'll go make the spare room up for the night, you start on dinner." He turned to the small child who was staring at him with large, scared eyes. "Hello, I'm Callisto." He held out his hand and the small child shook it nervously.

"I'm Reylias," he said meekly, clutching his little teddy bear closer to himself.

"Hello, Reylias. You are free to stay here for as long as you want." Callisto ruffles his hair with a smile before going to make a little Reylias a place to sleep.)

He used to sing with the birds in the early hours of the morning when he thought Callisto was still asleep.

(Callisto wakes slowly to the sound of distant singing. Confused he rolls out of bed and walks to the window. Outside in the small flower field near their little house, Prophis is scattering bird seed and is singing something in a language Callisto doesn't understand but recognizes as elvish. Reylias sits near his feet, trying to mimic the words of the song which Prophis gently corrects.

He listens for a little bit longer before he realizes the song is one of the many songs that Prophis' mother used to sing to him and Kyland when they were young. He smiles and wonders idly if Prophis would ever want to adopt more children with him, or if he is content with just Reylias.)

He used to make breakfast so that when Callisto did get up, he'd have food already made.

(Callisto stumbles out of bed, a scowl already painted across his face. It falters for a moment when he smells something heavenly coming from the kitchen. He blindly follows his nose until he is standing in the dining room with a blanket around his shoulders and a blank expression. Reylias giggles at him from his seat at the table.

"Good morning!" Prophis says happily.

"What are you making?" Callisto asks bluntly.

Prophis laughs. "It's a recipe I got from a relative. If it smells good enough to get you out of bed, I might need to make it more often!" Prophis walks over and sits a plate down in front of him and his son before kissing Callisto's cheek and the top of Reylias' head.)

He would tell Callisto to go throw his temper tantrum somewhere else before returning to whatever he was doing.

("I'm going to kill him!" Callisto roars.

"Uh huh," Prophis says, not even looking up from his papers.

"He has no right to speak to me like that! I should have fire-balled him into the next universe!" Callisto continues.

"I'm sure," Prophis says flatly.

"I'm-"

"Cal, you know I love you, but I'm not listening to you scream for the next ten minutes, I have things I need to work on," Prophis says flatly, looking up for the first time. "Go to the forest to scream."

Callisto blinks for a moment before turning on his heels and going back out of the room. He yells an apology over his shoulder as he b-lines straight for the door.)

Now he's... now he's whatever that is.

"But he's still your beloved Prophis," the voice scolds. "You can't give up on him just because he isn't as beautiful as he once was!" And he won't. He won't give up. He will find a way to bring Prophis back so that he can adopt random kids off the street and sing with the birds.

"-for us?" The frog says and Callisto belatedly realizes that he was saying something. He looks at them for a moment before hanging up. If it was important the frog would call back, he was sure of it.

For now, he just wants to reminisce on his good memories of Prophis as he plans how to get him back.

He can't fail him twice.

Prophis is coming home.

#D&Dorks #Callisto #Prophis #Callisto/Prophis #Glib #Canyon #S.G. Iguess

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sodiumlamp · 4 months

Text

Picard

Fuck this show and fuck all its dumb cliches.

This is essentially a battle over the ship Picard used to travel back to 2024. His group is pursued through his family's chateau while the Borg Queen tries to beat a holographic Elnor Jurati made to keep her locked out of the ship's controls. Her henchmen are mercenaries recruited by Adam Soong, and assimilated with Borg nanoprobes. I can't tell that it actually does anything, though, since they just talk less and their weapons have obnoxious green laser sights.

What's dumb is that Soon leads these goons through the house like he's Lex Luthor or something. If they're assimilated, then the Borg Queen can coordinate their actions remotely. I don't even know why he came here, except he's really desperate to stop Renee Picard's spaceflight, because she's destined to discover something on the mission that will make his discoveries obsolete. I'm pretty sure his tech is what saves the world in the bad timeline, so it's like this zero sum game for him. If humanity wins, he loses. But that still doesn't mean he has any business out here in a combat zone. They should have had him get shot early in the episode just to prove a point.

What's also dumb is that the goons keep trying to chase down and shoot the Elnor hologram, even though he's... well, a hologram. Bullets won't hurt him, and I'm pretty sure he could vanish and reappear anywhere in the ship, just like all the other holograms could do in season 1. I don't understand why the Elnor hologram needs the real Elnor's weapons, though. You'd think he could make his own holographic sword.

What's extra dumb is how the action is constantly interrupted with emotional moments like Raffi having a heart-to-heart with the Elnor hologram, or Picard reliving the night of his mother's suicide every five minutes. They keep building up to it, and the fighting is almost like a distraction from the really important business of finding out why Picard is so emotionally distant. Well, it's because his mom had some unspecified mental illness, and his dad locked her in her room for her own safety, but young Picard, not understanding this, unlocked the door and let her out. She then hung herself in the gazebo and Picard's blamed himself and repressed the memory ever since.

The one cool thing in this episode is when he explains all this to Gary Eight, and mentions that he sometimes imagined her as an old woman, inviting him to chat over tea. She never lived long enough for that to happen, but we still saw it in "Where No One Has Gone Before." So the revelation of how Yvette Picard died gives that moment some interesting context. It wasn't just Picard seeing his elderly mother on his ship, it was Picard realizing an impossible longing, which explains why he was so profoundly affected by the experience.

Which... makes me want to re-watch "Where No One Has Gone Before." Seriously, that episode rules. People crap on TNG Season 1 and rightly so, but it's got some bangers.

Just look at this. Where the fuck did they go? It blew my mind when they made it all the way to M-33, and then they went even further, going so far that it doesn't even make sense.

This is what Picard should have been. Forget the how and why of it. He should have gone somewhere and ended up back in this strange place, trying to make sense of it. Maybe he could have reconnected with that energy cloud he merged with in "Lonely Among Us". Maybe he could have done anything that wasn't a gun battle with Borg mercenaries with obnoxious green laser sights.

The Jurati/Borg Queen thing ends with them deciding to compromise and only assimilate beings as lonely and desperate as themselves. They leave in the ship, which I'm pretty sure means that they'll end up being unmasked as the Borg Queen we saw at the start of the season. I really don't care.

At this point, the only thing left to do is stop Adam Soong, who escaped during the battle. I'm not sure what else he can do to cause trouble when he's stranded all alone in France, but I'm sure the writers will find a way to drag it out for a whole other episode.

#mike watches picard #sheer fucking hubris

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tiramisiyu · 3 years

Text

Thoughts on Xia Yan’s Anniversary/Kiss Date

Not a translation, but rather an unleashing of the many thoughts I had for his date because it made me feel so many emotions and think so many things;;

Wordcount: 2.8k

Date Translation

Preamble

Tears of Themis’ 1st anniversary features one of the most significant in-story events you can view within an otome game - the confession event between MC and respective male leads. The gravity of this confession event, however, is intensified with respect to the ML Xia Yan, as their emotions towards each other is not the only focus of said confession - he must also reveal the heartbreaking truth that his life is likely to end in three years.

In the below sections, I will discuss the significance of various components that comprise Xia Yan’s anniversary date. My primary focuses will be on Xia Yan’s internal struggles, his care for MC, and the nature of the confession, and I aim to ultimately express why this date had such a major effect on me and whoa if you’re still reading this rambling part, I applaud you. I’m really just doing a fancy thoughtdump here.

The Nature of the Confession Event

From the beginning, XY never intended for the confession to be full of pomp and circumstance - and this was out of concern for MC, fearing that she would be too swept up in emotion to make it. Based on how the other guys’ cards look (them being outside and MC’s all dressed up), I assume that there was some ceremony-like aspect to their respective confessions, and I think that this draws a stark contrast to XY’s (who staunchly refused Yang Xiao’s offer to help make his confession just as ceremonial). In XY’s, MC’s not dressed up the way she is for the others, and both have been drenched in rain and are dissolving into tears of sadness as they speak. In addition, their desires are conflicting (rather than a situation where both parties confess and get together, and thus have coinciding interests) - despite what XY has said before, he does not want MC to be with him, while MC wants the exact opposite. It’s not a beautiful or gorgeous scene by design - instead, it’s very raw, very 狼狈 as the two lay bare their own painful emotions, discuss/cry about heavy topics, and show very vulnerable sides to each other, trying to get through to the other person.

Speaking of showing vulnerability, the fact that Xia Yan is so anguished by what he has to say that he has to sit down and cry hits particularly hard because he has always, always tried to put on a strong face in front of MC. Whenever his illness strikes and MC sees it, such as in aquarium date or Neruda poem date, he’ll smile and/or joke about it after. When the two were talking about his posthumous letters during the RRG date, he still had a calm smile on his face. Even when he talked about being shoved into a car trunk to be “disposed of”, he was still calmly smiling. As MC noted, his job has taught him to have extreme control over his emotions, so it’s almost overwhelming, trying to imagine how much sadness pushed him to that point.

Pathetic fallacy also plays a part in increasing the impact that the confession event had. In the days leading up to the last part of the date, storms keep striking suddenly, such that it’s even described as “strange”. Storms are, of course, generally associated with less-pleasant things, such as conflict, anger, depression, difficulty, and so on. The meaning behind why they appeared suddenly or frequently is a little harder to understand, but my assumption for the frequency of the storms (rather than an ongoing storm or gloom) reflects how things could not completely “clear up” (despite uplifts in emotion from time to time) until they confronted each other with their feelings. During the confrontation, not only is the storm still going on, but they’re also harshly drenched in the cold rainwater. It is only after the kiss, after their interests finally coincide, that the storm lifts and the beautiful starry sky casts its light on Xia Yan, who was holding the majority of the conflict/sadness/depression between the two of them. (This is also highlighted in how MC notes that Xia Yan feels slightly cold (during the kiss), and she tries to transfer her warmth over to him, trying to alleviate that heavy emotion that’s wrapped itself around him.)

The Location

The attic of their old home remains an important location for these two, and I pretty much can’t think of a better choice to set the confession. It contains their childhood memories, and it also came into play during Xia Yan’s first birthday after his return (i.e. the idea of continuing to make memories there). It’s also interesting to note that Xia Yan, from his rational mindset, did not intend to see MC… yet he still came to this place - a place that was equally meaningful to both of them, and a place where he’s likely to get lost in emotion. He may be restraining his emotions for MC’s good, yet they still show in small places. (At least, there doesn’t seem to be any logical reason for him to be there, since he wasn’t setting anything up there…)

The Humanizing and Internal Conflict of Xia Yan

I call it “humanizing” because I’ve done some commenting before on how Xia Yan has felt a little superhuman - so many skills everywhere, and rarely a moment of weakness. Now, this date really drives home that he is just human too, with the harsh reality of imminent death hanging over him (especially since we also learn a few more concrete details on exactly what his illness is). This point is brought into attention when he talks about how he’s neither able to be as brave as Schumann (who acted based on emotion) nor as silently strong as Brahms (who acted based on reason). He’s pulled in so many directions for all the things he wants - a desire to stay by MC’s side and do so much with her, whether as family or as something more, versus his rational mindset that tells him to not see her at all, to disappear from her life after, or to push her away even after her confession. There was also his “rationally” created plan in which he would give her the letter and let her decide, yet he still tries to convince her to not be with him.

The Schumann/Brahms comparison shows how he keeps getting pulled back and forth between reason and emotion. He reveals his feelings to MC (Schumann), but wants her to make the optimal decision, which he believes is to not be with him (Brahms). He then kisses her after hearing her conviction (Schumann) and then gives her the gift that’s linked to Brahms. In realizing that he’s not able to stick to either path, he calls himself a coward - but he doesn’t need to be like either person. As MC says, his restraint is a part of his own background, and his emotional wavering is because of his care for MC - all in all, his motivations are because he is Xia Yan, not Schumann or Brahms.

Personal Story Chapter 2 Parallels

In Xia Yan’s personal chapter 2, Yang Xiao sets up the story of 零/Zero and 玛丽薇莎/Marivisa to mirror MC and Xia Yan (respectively). The mention of what will bring Zero and MC happiness is starkly similar in these two situations:

⊳ Personal Ch.2-9

Xia Yan: 因为...这样，零会更幸福... 她不是在牺牲，她只是用自己的方式让零能幸福。Because this way, Zero would be happier… She wasn’t sacrificing herself. She was only using her own methods to make Zero happy.

MC: 但零的幸福就是她啊。But Zero’s happiness is her.

Xia Yan: 她已经无法给零幸福了。 It’s already impossible for her to give Zero happiness.

⊳ Date

Xia Yan: 如果你选择别的男人。。。只要他能给你幸福。我只会带给你不幸，我没有时间了。。。If you choose another man… As long as he can make you happy. All I can bring you is unhappiness. I don’t have much time left…

MC: 你怎么可能带给我不幸，你怎么可能做不到给我幸福。你在我身边，你的存在本身，就是我的幸福。How is it possible that you can only bring me unhappiness? How is it impossible for you to bring me happiness? You being by my side – your very existence – is my happiness.

Yes, the Zero/Marivisa story was intentionally made to parallel these two, so it might feel moot to compare them like this. However, I still really appreciated that they brought this discussion of what brings MC/Zero happiness back, especially since XY’s chapter 2 was very major in developing his character. Back then, MC is vehement in that Zero would have been happier spending all the time he could with Marivisa, as well as even having the choice to spend that time with her. I think that this part was instrumental in Xia Yan eventually deciding to tell her the truth and letting her make her own decision (as he explicitly stated to Yang Xiao in part 1 of the date). However, he still wasn’t fully convinced by what MC said back in chapter 2, so we satisfyingly see this discussion of happiness come full circle by the end of this date, when Xia Yan finally trusts MC to make the best decision for herself.

Xia Yan’s Considerateness

Xia Yan’s enduring consideration for MC displays itself in nearly every single action within this date.

The flashback, when he thinks about MC potentially having to go through what the widow is now experiencing, and how his own happiness for three years isn’t worth that

His conviction to give her the right to decide in this matter that involves both of them, because he can’t be the one to decide everything

He insisted on not making it a romantic event, because he wants MC to make the best decision without having a mind clouded by emotion. He’s also made peace with the idea of not being with MC, for the sake of her long-term happiness. All he wants is for her to know the truth of his feelings and illness.

His decision to still make MC a gift to retain some aspect of the romance in the confession (but he only gives the gift after MC has made her decision, again to ensure that her mind isn’t clouded). I think the concept of the gift is particularly beautiful - the little, happy holograms of them inside the glass, as if ensuring that he will always be by her side in some way; the music that brings back their childhood memories and alludes to an enduring, quiet, and protecting love that puts the recipient first (i.e. Brahms to Clara); and the rainbow, which has its childhood memories and treasure implications that are already mentioned in the date, but it also reminded me of the miraculous double rainbow in his Lost Gold date. That double rainbow was the trigger for Xia Yan to proactively seek out a future with MC, when he took the initiative to ask MC if she could be with him to seek out more miracles. Overall, there are a lot of beautiful memories and implications wrapped up in that music box/snowglobe.

The little comical segment where he worries about the optimal time to deliver the letter, worrying about MC’s sleep or if she’ll be able to eat well.

His stress over what he should’ve done after the letter was delivered, and how he immediately answered MC’s call out of pure worry, despite being so resolute about not answering her calls that he’d turned on airplane mode before.

Their ensuing discussion in part 3 is just full of Xia Yan’s consideration for MC at its peak -

Rather than being ecstatic about MC’s confession, his first instinct is to tell her to take a few days to think about it logically. (But really, emotions aren’t logical to begin with, so it’s not like MC would’ve stopped liking you after mulling it over for a few days, haha)

His immediate apology after yelling that he has to mention his death

His worry about how MC will cope after he’s gone, going so far as to saying that she would be better off with another man

I think that this particular (above) line got a particularly visceral reaction from Xia Yan fans, including myself. Because like MC, our initial thoughts fell along the lines of “How could I ever choose someone else when the only person I like is you? There’s just no way someone else could make me happier…”. Another reaction that I’ve seen among Xia Yan fans (yep, including myself) is how we originally viewed the story in third-person, seeing “MC” in the story, but this date (and this particular scene, where MC says nearly everything that I myself would want to say) dragged us into a first-person position.

The heartbreaking scene where Xia Yan cries from being unable to give MC the happiness that he wants to give her (or so he thinks).

He’s just so painfully selfless. I also really like the line during the kiss where MC tries to transmit her warmth to him, trying to balance things out between them and have him feel better, when he had already written himself off by thinking that his happiness is better off sacrificed for hers.

Jin Xian’s Voice Acting

Jin Xian’s voice acting deserves a whole section to itself, because I think that he did an amazing job of portraying the intense emotions Xia Yan feels during the date. Just going to list some lines that really hit hard - both because of the content, and because of the voice acting that really considered how Xia Yan would be feeling then.

我可以去追她，我甚至可以和她结婚。我可以把最后的三年过得很好，过的毫无遗憾，但是然后呢？她一个人要怎么办。。。谁陪她走出来，谁来照顾她。。。(“I could pursue her. I could even marry her. I could live my last three years happily, without the slightest of regrets. But what about after? How will she cope on her own… Who will be with her as she handles this? Who will take care of her…”) The ups and downs of this section’s voicing really hit hard.

The gentleness with which he speaks about what he plans to tell MC, especially the line 她从来都是这样 (“She’s always been like that.”)

He’s so cute in Part 2!! The tone’s a lot happier and relaxed and it’s really nice to see and hear.

In part 3, the vehemence with which he talks about how the risks of MC’s work aren’t comparable to his established time limit, which then softens into something sadder when he talks about how Yang Xiao’s efforts haven’t extended his time by much.

The intensity when he says 我必须说 ! (“I have to say it!”) (when MC reacts to him using the word “death”), and how he immediately softens his tone after. But then his voice starts to rise again as he worries for how MC will bear his death… and then he takes a break to calm down, and then makes the suggestion of MC finding another man with a near-inflectionless tone that gradually slips into a whisper

His whispering voice makes the impact of 我在乎。。。！(I care…!) hit even harder because it’s suddenly loud, and you can clearly hear the tears in his voice. Once again, he takes a breath to calm himself down and quiet his voice. But even as he keeps talking in a voice that descends into a whisper again, you can tell that he’s still on the verge of crying…

Also the 我也。。。好喜欢，最喜欢你. (I also… like you. I like you the most) line left me screaming with how it was whispered but really strong and adamant-sounding aaaaa

Anyways I could list more but at that point I might as well list Jin Xian’s entire script lmao. He did such a good job!!!!!!

Sound Effects

I’m laughing at myself for including this section - if you turn off the music that accompanies Xia Yan’s card, you’ll… hear some very interesting sound effects [狗头]

They’ve got to make the most of their limited time together, after all, and this is the only date out of the set of four that’s indoors… it makes sense…

Other Thoughts

Two kisses!!

What sort of treatment would leave Xia Yan infected with drugs with prohibited components? What were they even trying to do?

The date was short relative to the other, super-long Themis dates, but I’m personally alright with that because it places focus on the confession itself. It hit all the points that I personally was expecting for Xia Yan’s confession, including his past struggles with the idea of staying with MC, his confession about both his feelings and his illness, and how resolute MC is about staying with him vs. how hard he tries to get her to understand the implications of being him, considering that he doesn’t have much time left.

I think now’s a good time for the two of them to get married if they’re well aware that Xia Yan’s time is limited, so Xia Yan, where’s the ruby ring?

I wonder what implications this will have on the main story - e.g. will the rest of NXX find out about Xia Yan’s illness in Chapter 7.2? Or will they never know? Actually, I wonder if they’ll have MC be aware of his illness in the main story because… that implies his confession happened, which might anger fans of the other boys.

Conclusion

I love Xia Yan and I love this date.

#tears of themis #xia yan #luke pearce #rambles #this whole thing is kinda messy so kudos if you made it through

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riacte · 3 years

Text

Rendog finale appreciation post

Let’s appreciate how long he’d planned this. He either planned out his entire season, or was smart enough to connect all of his dots when he improvised. Down to the smallest of details. He was either secretly recording for the ENTIRE SEASON, keeping little bits and pieces for the end, OR he created backups and meticulously recreated them. Like when he teased Renbob in the cafe a very good while ago, or when he showed Grumbot in his finale. These little details are what makes the story come to life.

Like. Imagine going on the Hermitcraft world, and as you’re interacting with the storylines your fellow hermits laid out, you’re trying to intersect yours with them at the same time. For example, how he made supporting Stress for mayor as something the Renperor told him to, and hired the Boomers for a “planned” blowing up of his base. Sure, Ren could’ve broken character and went “I support Stress because she’s my friend and I like pink! :D” or “oopsie Pamela died to a creeper, I must Get Her Back”. But he made all the collabs part of his story. All his friends are characters, even if they play a minor part.

… Now I’m doubting how much did Ren plan from the beginning and how much is improvised. The absolutely great thing is that: we can’t tell. And we don’t care. What matters is that Ren is an excellent storyteller and is capable of creating and weaving stories. Jevin stealing Pam for drama, thus making a mooshroom more important than she is, so naturally Ren would become evil to revive her? Ren connected the dots! He always does! Even if those aren’t his dots!

Ren’s finale is so epic and heartfelt and passionate. You can feel this is why he started the season. From the dramatic chapter names (also categorising his season neatly), many pieces of epic music he commissioned, making up distinct voices and personalities for the characters, and so much more. He managed to recap the season and add something new at the end. It felt like a satisfying, graceful, dignified end to Ren’s Star Wars theme.

And it was… really organic? When c!Ren was having nightmares, cc!Ren used it to show memories of S7 to the audience, but added enough editing to make it make sense for c!Ren.

His timing was impeccable too??? Like, the way the Rendog theme came into the soundtrack the MOMENT the Renperor commissioned Ren to build the first hanger/ ship/ whatever (ily Ren but I still don’t care about Star Wars :D) through the hologram— bruh that genuinely made me emotional. The change from a tense Star Wars-ish theme to Ren’s joyful, epic theme… and how the timing matched the moment the first Star Wars build Ren made… the Renperor is literally handing it over to c!Ren, both lore-wise and music-wise. And what’s more, the hanger bay is the start of cc!Ren’s mega grind. This is both c!Ren and cc!Ren’s big moment, and the music triumphantly shows that.

And Ren showing his time lapses in time with his theme just really told us how much EFFORT he put in. We hear the theme every time we watch a new episode, but now it’s reimagined and epic and orchestral but it’s still so Ren. The nostalgia is real.

Ren has somehow outdone himself, and as a person who doesn’t know SHIT about Star Wars, I was really entertained and impressed this season. I’m just. I’m begging you to watch it even if you didn’t follow Ren. The editing is so great and it BLOWS my mind that this one person is able to weave a story for himself without excluding other storylines of Hermitcraft.

#rendog #hermitcraft #ria.txt #I listened to jonos tracks writing this and I’m so emo #also if anyone else wanna add anything feel free <3 #Ren!! Dog!!

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nitewrighter · 3 years

Note

Pre-Fall fic idea for a slow day: Echo asks McCree to go on a date. Liao thinks it'll be a good learning experience for her.

“...I dunno about this...” McCree straightened the collar on his shirt. Why did he dress up for this? Why did Liao feverishly take notes on her tablet when she saw he dressed up for this?

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Liao, poking at her tablet.

“See the way you’re gettin’ all excited about it makes me feel like a guinea pig.”

“Echo likes you. She trusts you. This is a chance for her to rapidly expand her social interaction repertoire.”

“It’s still weird.”

“How is it weird?”

“Well... how does it work with the age thing?”

Liao snorted. “What?”

“I mean she just got the body! Don't that make it... y'know...”

“The frame is new, yes, but the bare bones of her coding are only a couple years younger than you,” Liao said breezily, “Her processing levels were miles beyond yours well before she even had a body.”

“Ouch.”

“It’s computer science, Jesse, it’s nothing personal.”

“Why’d you give her hips?”

“Well, controlling said body actually has massive processing demands on its own, so you could say what could be recognized as her pelvic region hosts an 'auxiliary AI core'--"

"There's a brain in her ass?"

"Arguably, humans have a secondary brain in their colonic region--"

"There's a brain in my ass?!"

"We're getting off topic. There's a secondary AI core focused on mechanical coordination that is housed in her pelvic region, it was large enough to warrant certain design shifts to suit her center of gravity, and I wanted a friendly and appealing silhouette so --” Liao perked up, “So you noticed the hips?”

McCree’s face burned and he glanced off.

Liao rolled her eyes and smiled. “Jesse... if this goes really badly, I can just erase it from her memory.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m only saying, the stakes aren’t that high,” said Liao, "I think it's cute that you're getting nervous."

"Nervous, hell! I just don't know what to make of it!"

"You've had plenty of perfectly pleasant conversations with her--"

"They weren't dates!"

"Did you just say yes because you didn't want to hurt her feelings?" the brightness and absolute lack of accusation in Liao's voice only unsettled McCree further.

"N-no..." McCree rubbed the back of his neck, "I--I wasn't really thinking. I guess... I assumed you'd think I'd wreck it or... or wreck her and you'd... write it out of her code..."

"Interesting..." Liao tapped her tablet stylus on her chin.

"I ain't that good with sciencey shit! Reyes brought me on to shoot things!" McCree shrugged a little helplessly, "And the way you talk about her, I don't know if she's a--a work in progress, or-or your kid so..."

"A little bit of both. This is where AI gets messy," said Liao with a smile, "You don't know if you're making something human... but you get to make something new."

McCree just stared at Liao for a few seconds, opened his mouth to say something, realized he had no idea what to say to that, and then closed his mouth.

"It's going to be wonderful," said Liao, gently putting a hand on the back of McCree's shoulder.

"Wait--Is there anything I should---?" McCree started but the door slid open and Liao more or less shoved him out into Zurich Headquarters' courtyard gardens. It was twilight, Friday night, and strings of fairy lights had been strung around the sycamores, magnolias, and plum trees that decorated the garden. A couple of brightly colored paper lanterns were strung along the lines of electric lights, giving the usual contemplative and monumental air of the garden a more warm and festive feeling. McCree scanned the garden, seeing a table set with candles and a small basket of bread about 15 feet ahead of him.

"Jesse?" McCree heard a familiar voice and swiveled on his heel to see... a glowing blue-white Dolly Parton circa 1974 in a daisy-patterned peach sundress.

"Whuh..." McCree's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Is this okay?" Dolly Parton spoke with Echo's voice and McCree visibly flinched again. "Oh you don't like it--" The glowing Dolly Parton pressed her fingers to her forehead. "Give me a moment! I can fix it!"

"Echo--?" McCree started, but holographic pixels spiraled around the not-Dolly Parton and reshaped her into.... Olivia Rai, her usual afro styled into the more-textured Gibson Girl hairstyle she sported in Six Gun Killer.

"What about this?" said Echo, "Is this all right?"

"I mean I like the movie but--" McCree started but the pixels whirled around Echo.

"Lee Byung-Hun, 2016, Magnificent Seven," said Echo. “My scans of your hormone levels showed an overwhelming positive reaction to him.” Again, this hologram form was still in the sundress.

Okay we really need to talk about the scanning thing, thought McCree, but he just stammered out, "They're all really nice, Echo, but you don't have to--" McCree rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, I think we'll both be more comfortable if you're... you, y'know?"

"Me? But it's so..." 2016 Lee Byung-hun Echo twiddled her fingers nervously, "It's so..."

"It's the you I know," said McCree, shrugging, "I like it, Echo, really."

The hologram fell away from Echo in a shower of cubic pixels, revealing a partially holographic head on a heavily modified omnic frame. She was a patchwork between a handful of standard omnic parts and sleek parts whipped up on-site at this point. No wings. The sundress sagged a little off her metal frame.

"There you are," said McCree.

Echo smiled a little. "Sorry... the hologram capabilities were for optimal interfacing... so I thought..."

"I get it," said McCree with a smile, "I was a little nervous too."

"You were?!" said Echo, "But you're so... charming! And my scans of your antibodies revealed that it was very statistically likely you have had higher than average amounts of--"

"Hoookay! Moving on!" McCree said quickly.

"Moving on," said Echo, processing this.

There was the sound of a cybernetic throat being cleared and both McCree and Echo turned their heads to see Genji in a long-sleeved collared shirt, black vest, bow tie, and apron.

"Genji?" said McCree, suppressing a laugh in his voice.

"...not a word," said Genji.

"I know I got stuck as the waiter back in Venice but this is--"

"I said not a word!" said Genji, furiously. He drew in a steadying inhale. "Ma'am and sir. If I may direct you to your table."

"...oh this is rich--" McCree started.

"McCree, I know 37 ways of killing you in under 11 seconds, do not test me," said Genji.

"Uh huh," said McCree, "Show us the way, Garçon."

Genji muttered something under his breath in Japanese as he lead them to the table. McCree hurried over to Echo's side and pulled out her chair for her.

"Oh--Thank you!" said Echo, sitting down.

Genji rolled his eyes as McCree took his own seat. "Liao was able to negotiate with the headquarters chefs,” he said, setting glasses of water on the table, “You're getting chicken scallopini and asparagus."

"So there's not a menu--?" McCree started.

"You're getting chicken scallopini and asparagus," said Genji, with about as much murder as anyone could inject into the words 'Chicken scallopini and asparagus.'

"Okay," said McCree meekly as Genji walked off briskly.

"Er--don't mind him," said McCree as Genji walked off, "Blackwatch suspended... getting antsy, y'know."

"I don't," said Echo, equally pleasantly and blankly.

McCree cleared his throat and grabbed some bread from the basket between them, buttering it. "Well... You heard about the Venice incident, right?"

"I did not," said Echo, "I'm quarantined from most networked systems."

"Mm," McCree took a bite of his buttered bread, "Well... the long and short of it is, we fucked up."

"Not you!" said Echo on reflex.

"Well, not me, at first--but we had to follow through on the fuck-up if we were going to get out of it alive," said McCree with a shrug.

"I'm sure you did your best," said Echo, picking up a piece of bread. They both knew she couldn't eat, so instead, she seemed to be using it as something to do with her hands, breaking it off into bits.

"Eh, I don't think any of us were at our best," said McCree, "But... you do what you can, right?"

""Mm-hmm," Echo nodded, "Doctor Liao's been able to convince a handful of operatives to bring my AI processor on the orca with certain missions to observe, but my speech is disabled. Apparently it 'freaks people out.'" Echo glanced off resentfully.

"Not you?" said McCree.

Echo nodded. "And I know Morrison doesn't like me learning combat tactics."

"Echo, I can't think of anyone who loves humanity more than you," said McCree.

"Thank you, Jesse," said Echo. She was silent for a few beats. "And.... thank you for doing this. I--I don't know how you see me..."

"I'm still figuring that out too," said McCree, smiling a little, "But... I like to think I'm a good judge of character. And I'm proud to know you. And I'm proud that I mean enough to you to be here."

Echo's hologram face brightened, and she glanced off, a bit bashfully. "I--I can't even eat bread," she said quietly, smiling as she glanced down at the small pile of shredded bread bits on her plate.

"Psh. Bread. You can turn into whoever you want. Why worry about bread?" said McCree.

Echo snickered a little.

"...who's your favorite to turn into?" asked McCree, "I know you were turnin' into all that stuff earlier for me because of all the stuff we talked about and those dumb movies we watched--”

“I don’t think they’re dumb--”

“But... what about you? Is there a person you like turning into?"

Echo thought for a few seconds. "I would say...Figure skaters," she said thoughtfully.

"Figure skaters?" McCree repeated.

"Not any individual one, but I’ve been putting together a composite hologram of several of them," said Echo, "Skaters, they--they aren't ruled by the same physics as other humans. All that power, all that grace, all on a plane that does not have the same rules of speed or friction."

"Bet you'd be a hell of a dancer," said McCree, smiling.

"I like to think I'm learning," said Echo, with a slightly smug shrug.

"Chicken scallopini," a plate clanked unceremoniously in front of McCree and McCree flinched to attention to see Genji next to him.

"Jesus, man! A little warning next time!" said McCree.

"Ninja," said Genji flatly.

"What about her?" said McCree, pointing at Echo.

Genji looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Jesse, it's fine," said Echo. She waved her hands and a hologram of what appeared to be lobster thermidor glowed into existence in front of her.

"...she can take care of herself," said Genji, walking off, "Let me know if you need a refill on water."

"Don't mind him," McCree said again.

"I don't," said Echo, materializing a holographic fork into existence and taking a holographic bite of her holographic food.

McCree sectioned off bites of his own meal and took tentative bites and chews, but it was good. A faint 'Mm' fell out of him and he opened his eyes to see Echo closely observing him. He took another bite, not taking his eyes off of Echo this time. Echo seemed to do the same, imitating him. But it wasn't quite the same, he observed. There was a lot of Liao in her, the way she'd stuff food off to one cheek and slowly parse it out as long as she needed while she multitasked. He saw it in all the nights Liao had brought takeout to the lab. In this case, Echo perfectly adapted Liao's eating habits to McCree's.

McCree swallowed hard. "Do you ever uh... make food... make you happy?"

"What do you mean?" said Echo.

"Well, if you eat really good food, you go, like, 'mm' and stuff--if all the food is only stuff you come up with... how does that work?"

Echo thought for a few seconds. "I... never thought of food as stimulating the pleasure response. Mostly it just seemed necessary for interfacing. Does it stimulate a pleasure response?"

McCree tried not to focus too hard on the words 'Pleasure response.' "Well, it depends on the food," said McCree.

"Does your food stimulate a pleasure response?"

"I mean compared to the rest of the shit I've had this month? Definitely," said McCree with a shrug.

"I see," said Echo. She looked at her food for a few seconds. She took a bit of her own holographic meal and a deep, sensual "Mmnh," bloomed out of her, her shoulders bunching up and her head tilting back with the sensation.

McCree sharply inhaled, realized his mouth was full of chicken scallopini, and coughed and choked for nearly a minute.

"Did I do it wrong?!" Echo asked with alarm.

"N--" McCree coughed, "No--" He coughed again, "You're-- You're doin' fine--"

Echo giggled. “I--I’m sorry, I’m still deciphering the appropriate forms of human pleasure.”

McCree found his face burning again and just gulped down some of his water.

“...that was an odd thing to say,” said Echo, glancing off.

“Nah, I’ve been told I’m old-fashioned a lot,” said McCree with a dismissive hand wave.

“Well, that’s why I like you,” said Echo, shyly.

McCree’s chews slowed.

“You... feel solid. I know I can trust you to... to tell me what you think... but.. also to be kind. I don’t know what other people want from me, but I know you just want another person. And... you’re very open in terms of what that person can be.”

“Well I can tell you you don’t need to be Dolly Parton to win me over,” said McCree with a shrug and another bite of his food.

Echo giggled again and McCree swallowed.

“I’m still not sure if I’m doing this right,” said Echo, smiling down at her own hologram food.

“Eh, you don’t really think of it in terms of ‘doing it right’--it’s mostly just about both of you having a good time. And trust me, you’re a better date than a lot that I’ve had,” said McCree with a snicker, “I just hope I’m doing it right too, y’know? It’s a lot of pressure, being anyone’s first date.”

“Oh!” Echo perked up, “I never thought of it that way....”

“Am I doing it right?” said McCree with a slight lopsided smile.

“Hmm...” Echo seemed to genuinely and very seriously ponder this.

“Oh come on, you’re making me nervous!” said McCree.

“Current assessments are... positive,” said Echo, “More data may be necessary to confirm any findings I’ve drawn thus far. We may have to do this again. An experiment is useless unless you can replicate its results”

“So... second date then?” said McCree, “That’s generally considered a good sign.”

“Oh! So I’m good at this!” said Echo.

“Sure are,” said McCree with a snicker.

Echo beamed.

“Think we might have to do something other than dinner next time, though. I think if we try to get Genji in a waiter outfit again, he may actually kill me.”

“I estimate by his hormone levels and body temperature that there is an 89% likelihood of that occurring, yes,” said Echo. They both laughed for a little bit, and as the giggles died down Echo tilted her head. “So... you’ve been on bad dates?”

“Oh, terrible dates--but I don’t want to bore you---”

“It could be very useful data!” said Echo with that same brightness Liao had shown when she saw McCree being nervous.

McCree rubbed his chin. “Well... there’s a couple funny stories....”

-----

McCree was humming when he arrived in the Blackwatch sector later that night, bobbing his head and shoulders a bit with his humming as he loosened his bolo tie and took off his hat.

“Sounds like someone had a good time,” Reyes was seated in front of Blackwatch’s main monitor, mindlessly leafing through some paperwork.

McCree barely interrupted his own humming with an “Mm-hmm” as he kept walking past.

“Reyes, you really must find a way to end Blackwatch’s suspension, or I fear he’ll romance one of the custodian’s vacuuming bots, next,” said Moira, leaning against the desk next to Reyes.

“Eh, if it means getting Genji in a bowtie again...” Reyes shrugged.

“You will never get me in a bowtie again,” Genji seethed from a shadowed corner.

“You asked for a mission--” Reyes started, but cut himself off as the three of them watched McCree continue to walk and hum down to his own quarters.

“...by god, I think he actually had a good time,” Reyes said quietly.

“Madness is setting in,” Moira mused.

“We need to get out in the field again,” Genji said, his voice tense.

“Or maybe you just need a date,” said Reyes shrugging. Reyes heard the audible click of the shuriken plate on Genji’s arm as Genji’s shoulders tensed up. “...or not.”

#overwatch #mcecho #jesse mccree #echo overwatch #mina liao

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watermelonlipstick · 3 years

Text

Dreams, Chapter 11

If you haven’t read this series before, you might want to start on Chapter 1, or check out the Dreams Masterlist! Here’s the series description:

When Dean dies for good leaving Sam and his girlfriend (the reader) behind, they must figure out how to carry on without him. Alone, reeling, and unsure what to do next, trying to honor Dean’s memory and follow their hearts gets even more complicated when their nightmares become dreams that feel a little too real.

Title: Dreams, Chapter 11

Pairing: (past) Dean Winchester x Reader, (eventual) Sam Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 2616

Summary: Another dream makes things more clear for the reader and less clear for Sam.

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing, s l o w b u r n

The booths are those plastic-coated pressboard swoops that are so easy to clean, one row down either side of the long room once you walk past the counter to order. Like other pizza places, there are red pepper flakes and grated parmesan on the table, but they also keep ranch dressing in a minifridge behind the counter as a concession to Midwestern sensibilities. You know you’re just outside Dayton just like you know the pizza shop is run by a family, father and two older teenage daughters deftly throwing dough and scattering cheese evenly over it in a way that shows their years of practice. Dean sits across the table with his elbows on it, one forefinger and thumb picking through a plate of nachos between you. His black t-shirt, amulet, and lack of flannel make you notice the hum of the air conditioner in the background, straining over the 90’s alternative radio and reminding you that you’d been here in a heat stroke the summer after you and Dean had gotten together, his golden freckles and lightened tips of his slightly messy hair underlining the memory.

“They don’t serve nachos here.” It’s half statement and half question.

“Babe, it’s your dream. They’ll serve whatever you want. Does the pizza suck in Wisconsin or something?”

The two sisters are whispering to each other as they look over at your table, an almost-argument that ends with who you suspect is the older sister poofing a pinch of flour into the other’s face. They’re both cute girls but she’s adorable, soft cherubic cheeks and messy bun piling impossibly glossy hair on her head as she walks over to the table with a gigantic pizza. “Can I get you anything else?” she asks in a perfect welcoming cheerleader pitch.

“I think we’re good for now, sweetheart,” Dean purrs with a wink. That you remember; you’d playfully chastised Dean for dazzling the teens, laughing in his face when he’d said it wasn’t on purpose, that he couldn’t help it if chicks dug him. The wink had proved your point then and now it makes the girl’s cheeks flush red.

She catches herself remarkably well, the stammer almost slipping under the radar as she assures you that you can “holler if you need anything!”

Dean brushes his fingers free of nacho debris and loosens a piece of pizza from the melting cheese of the ones next to it. “Last time you had all kinds of sweet nothings and questions for me and now you’re Silent Cal?”

“I don’t think this is real, but I’m pretty sure if I push it you’ll either die in this dream or I’ll wake up, so my plan is to stay here as long as we can.”

He drops the pizza back into the box and wipes off his fingers on a napkin before slouching into the booth, arm stretched across its length. “So test me then. Gimme a question only I would know or something.”

“Well if I ask you something that I know the answer to, my brain will just project you knowing it. See the problem?”

Dean squints and pouts in consideration, touch of a smile dancing across his face and if it isn’t the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen may you be struck dead right now. “Then ask me something you don’t know the answer to.”

You think about explaining how that too could just be some part of your subconscious recreation of Dean but you don’t want to keep pulling at loose strings in the event that it wakes you up. It’s too hard to keep from smiling, seeing Dean charming and relaxed like this, and when you grin it makes Dean bite his lip. “What’s something I don’t know the answer to?”

“Ah, ah—I thought I’m just a hologram, how would I know?”

“Projection, but okay,” you stall. “Wait, here’s one. Sam said when I first started going on jobs with you guys that you had to have a conversation about staying focused. What was that all about?”

He runs his tongue along the inside of his lower lip. “Man, why would he tell you that?” he says under his breath, smirking mostly to himself before leaning forward to meet your eyes. “Fine. I’m not even sure that you’re going to remember this. There was a vengeful spirit in Indiana, some like homesteader guy, ring a bell?”

You have only the vaguest sense of recollection and sort of waggle your head to show it.

“It was way at the beginning of when you started coming on jobs with us. You and Bobby got into it because he wanted you to bring your own car so you could ditch us if we were ‘acting like cretins’ or some shit like that?”

That fits the last puzzle piece in for you and makes you chuckle. “He ended up giving me like $250 of mad money in case I needed a new room or a bus ticket, yeah. I remember.”

“I didn’t know that part but that’s gotta be the same trip. The whole thing was really stupid. Basically we were supposed to have your six but both me and Sammy wanted to carry a shotgun instead of doing that protection spell because it looked cooler. We were arguing about it when the spirit whipped a chunk of the barn’s scaffolding at you and we didn’t catch it in time. You heard it coming and ducked so nothing ended up happening, but it fucking demolished the wall behind you. It was a huge fuckup—thing could’ve taken your head clean off, you know? Sam was so broken up about it he was wasted for like a week solid after we dropped you back off at Bobby’s.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like him at all.”

“I know, usually he does some kind of pouty baby bullshit. But I mean both of us felt really guilty that bitching at each other could’ve taken you out.”

Dean’s eyes rake over your face, seeming to linger over every inch like he’s going to draw a topographical map of it later by memory. You can tell he’s waiting for you to say something but you can’t think of anything other than tracing each of his freckles where they dust across his nose.

A hand reaches over the table to run his fingertips along the back of yours, and that certainly feels real enough to send an ache into your gut. “What if you ask Sam? If he says that’s not what happened then you can keep saying I’m not real and you don’t have to listen to me.”

“But he already basically told me that. The only thing I probably wouldn’t have guessed about that is Sam getting drunk about it—these could’ve been just well-informed guesses about when it probably was or the kinds of things it seemed like he was implying.”

His lips press into a firm line and the barest touch of pink rises in his cheeks. “We, um, we pinky swore on it.”

The adorableness of his embarrassment makes you grin teasingly as much as the divulgence does. “A pinky promise? You guys must’ve been pretty serious to take such a sacred oath.”

He rolls his eyes at your ribbing and throws his hands back in his lap with a defeated smirk. “Laugh it up. Would that be good enough proof for you?”

It seems like Dean has figured out a loophole in the system, but you’re sure the light of day and Sam’s scrutiny will figure out why it isn’t actual evidence of communication with Dean beyond death, and you tell him that.

A curtain of suspicious confusion falls over Dean’s face. “Sam being weird about it is what’s keeping you from trusting this? Kid, I’ve been talking to Sa—”

And you woke up.

The bed was empty next to you but you could smell something sweet in the air and hear the light clinking of pots or pans Sam was trying his best to keep quiet. You blinked back a few tears of frustration—who even cared if it was real or not? Reliving a great memory with Dean was more than enough and instead of enjoying it you’d wasted a chance at some small respite from your constant ache of grief. And even then, you hadn’t used any of your time to figure out how the whole thing worked, how you could see him again.

But the most pressing issue was what you thought Dean had been trying to say before disappearing; that he had gotten through to Sam. Sam, of course, deserved to have secrets, but if he had been sitting on the resolution to all the angst you’d been struggling through in the last weeks (months?), you couldn’t imagine a reason why that wouldn’t hurt. Nothing would be solved by laying in your bed to sulk about it, though, so you threw on some clothes and went to brush your teeth.

When you came out, Sam was hunched slightly, the standard stove highlighting his decidedly non-standard height as he shuffled a pan’s handle. He had a dishtowel over his t-shirt clad shoulder, a habit from the bar that sometimes held over when he was in the kitchen at home, and bare feet under old jeans. They were wearing through at the knees, and you knew they were absolutely pajama-soft from having periodically thrown them in with your own laundry. Through the kitchen window, enough snow-brightened sunlight came into the room to cast him in a halo glow that gleamed off of his hair. As long as it had gotten, chunks still swept into his face as he looked down at the stove, and he tucked one behind his ear as he looked up, half-singing a Buddy Guy song that was playing softly. It was stunning—he was stunning, statuesque and strong and right there in front of you. Cooking you breakfast while you slept in, of all things, chocolate chip pancakes he had to have remembered were your favorite from ages ago. You couldn’t even remember the last time you’d had them and right now, nothing in the world sounded better. He beamed and tilted the pan toward you. “Morning! I made pancakes, you want some?”

And you should’ve just let the moment rest, sat in the rare bright winter morning and eaten chocolate chip pancakes and relished how well the boiler was working, maybe later in the day read a predictable murder mystery or taped off the living room to be painted and listened to REM until your shoulders were sore from running rollers up the walls all afternoon. Instead, about as stupid and weird a flop as if a toad had come out of your mouth, you said, “Have you been talking to Dean too?”

Sam’s face fell but not in the right way. There was too much angle in his brow and that confirmed it. “What?” he asked, but it didn’t land.

“How long have you been talking to Dean?”

He kept that curious smile for a second, like maybe he could push through by playing dumb and you would forget, but finally his lips flattened and his jaw clenched as he stacked a finished pancake on top of its predecessors. “Just because I’m having dreams about him doesn’t mean it’s really him,” he finally answered, softly and as though he was telling the bubbling pancake batter in front of him, unable to meet your eyes.

You felt the lump forming in your throat and tried to get the words out ahead of its solidifying. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For what?” He let go of the pan and turned toward you, supporting his weight on the countertop. “So we can both—”

“Both what? Be delusional? Is that what you were going to say?”

Sam didn’t answer, but the set of his jaw was firm and he kept his eyes locked on yours.

“He told me you were drunk for a week after the hunt you were talking about.” You watched as Sam’s pupils widened a touch. “And that you didn’t just promise each other to buckle down, you pinky swore.” Sam’s Adam’s apple jumped in his throat. “It’s true, isn’t it? I can see in your face that it is. Did you already know it’s really him?”

He looked down at the floor and clenched his jaw. “I was pretty sure. Or at least I really hoped I was pretty sure.”

You felt more than consciously allowed your mouth’s falling open. “How? How long?”

“It just—I don’t know, it just felt different. I—uh, the first time was after we made those cupcakes; he asked about the cupcakes.”

You slumped against the countertop opposite him, speechless. He shoved the pan off the hot burner a little too hard, put a palm on either side of the stove to brace himself. The two of you stood like that for a long minute, the smell of chocolate not matching the stiff heaviness in the air at all.

“I don’t—what if it’s not real?” His throat sounded bound even though you couldn’t see his face, hulking mass of him spread across the tiny kitchen.

He seemed so defeated, so young, and then you couldn’t believe how selfish you’d been, not putting two and two together that something challenging Sam’s grip on or understanding of reality must shove him back to the brain melting torture he’d endured in the cage and the months—years, maybe, he was always so tight-lipped about it—afterward. What the fuck were you thinking, not seeing it before, how this could seem like a perfectly laid trap for Sam, the most poetic way to whip his mind into stiff peaks of meringue. It made so much sense why he would need time to really suss it out, see the situation from all angles and investigate, check and re-check. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes but you blinked them away. This was not about you or your complicated need for him, it was about Sam, what he’d been through, what he was likely putting himself through even now.

“The, um, the pancakes smell really good.”

“Yeah?” There was half a laugh behind his words, humorless as it was. “I hope they’re okay, I know they’re your, uh, your favorite.”

“I’m surprised you remembered.”

Sam leaned on one arm to rub his face with his other hand. “Yeah, well.”

“Can I help?”

After a beat, he stood up and offered some space next to him on the stove. You worked hip to hip, sprinkling the chocolate chips while Sam flipped. He was scraping the last of the batter into a last little runt pancake with a spatula when you couldn’t help yourself and wrapped your arms around his waist. He seemed surprised, if sad, before setting down the bowl and covering as much of you as he could, folding over you like a protective shell. It reminded you of that dirty motel room, months and months ago, when Sam held you together as you cracked in his arms. All he could do then was be steadfast in reminding you he was still there, if nothing else was, and you hoped you were able to give him the same now.

You silently laid two place settings on the kitchen counter while Sam set the food out. He sat next to you and had picked up his fork when you touched his wrist to still him. “If it’s not real for you then I’m losing it too.”

Sam thought for a second, then raised his forearm and kissed the back of your hand where you held onto him before cutting into his pancakes.

Continue to Dreams, Chapter 12

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ericamzdm · 3 years

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Trauma Holodeck - Octavia

This sequence is superficially a mechanical introduction to the Trauma Holodeck’s “rules”:

everything in the trauma holodeck is, well, a hologram. It’s illusory. Nothing here can (physically) hurt them, and they understand that.

It pulls from their memories, and (accurately) plays out scenes from their past.

(Neither dispute the facts of these memories - their fights are about intent and emotions, hidden internal states)

There is an uncontrolled, instantaneous inflection point, past which they actively re-live the memories.

Pretty basic! But no scene should do only one thing, so there’s a bunch of extra threads we can pick out here.

(cut for length, and for content warnings: violence, violence to children, assault, references to self-harm, passing reference to asphyxiation)

First off, wow hello Violent Adora. Nice to see you again.

Adora is, just generally, a violent person (which is it’s own post), and that comes to the fore again here. Her immediate reaction to “something weird is happening” is to attack and threaten Catra.

(Again, it’s really it’s own post, but. If we’re treating the violence in this show seriously? Yikes. Arms-at-throats are all kinds of Bad Times.)

And...there’s a weird, unpleasant vibe to the fact that Catra is so calm about this. This wasn’t the result of baiting - Catra had no time to prep for this incoming hurt. She had to immediately move from her handling her own bafflement to placating Angry Adora, and she does it with barely a flicker of upset.

Now, we can be nice, and lay this entirely at Shadow Weaver’s feet - say that her abuse is the reason Catra reflexively goes limp and soothing here.

But I am...not quite inclined to be so nice? I genuinely don’t know if this was the authorial intent, but there’s such a lack of shock from Catra, and they both move on from it so quickly and smoothly, that I am left with the sense that this is normal for them. That this is something that has happened before, will happen again, and is not worth further discussion.

...on that cheerful note, let’s move on to the memory itself. I’m sure I’m not going to find any depressing and upsetting subtext in them being cute little gremlin children! 😀

============================

Kid!Catra runs to Adora, hamming up a minor injury.

On the most superficial level, this is typical, even healthy, reassurance-seeking. Catra wants someone to kiss it better, to confirm that someone cares about her. It’s a little ...off that she’s going to Adora, and not an adult, but, well. We walk into this episode knowing their childhood was Not Great. Adora acting in loco parentis in this small way is not surprising, and, of itself, not that concerning.

Kid!Catra is a terrible liar.

As I’ve mentioned before - Catra is extremely self-aware. Even when it would be convenient - and indeed, normal - for her to lie to herself (and by extension Adora), she can’t quite manage it. She’s too acutely aware of what actually happened, and so the unvarnished, unflattering truth comes out.

Which is that Catra picked an unwinnable fight with a Force Captain, escalated it until the force captain lashed out, and then ran crying to Adora.

...

Well, that didn’t take long!

Let me go ahead and break down that summary a little bit.

Catra intentionally started a fight.

Catra intentionally escalated the fight to the point of (her own) injury.

Catra, for all intents and purposes, hurt herself.

Catra hurt herself, so that Adora would fuss over her.

This seems perfectly normal. Nothing at all concerning. Just going to need a few seconds to do some internal screaming, here.

Okay! Going to put a pin in this for the moment, and move on to the next bit.

Adora backs Catra up

It’s an reckless, foolhardy kind of backing up, but still. Kid!Adora makes Catra’s conflicts her conflicts, even when Catra is undeniably being a gremlin. She holds her relationship with Catra in higher esteem than she does the respect of adults.

This is drastically different from what went down at the start of the series - which lets us know that something went wrong between then and now (and I’ll get to that memory eventually).

==============================

And that’s it, for a first-pass analysis - Catra was a gremlin child, who intentionally brought trouble upon herself, and sought out Adora for solace. Adora was a reckless thing, bold and fearless, always holding Catra’s corner.

And once we watch the rest of the episode, we have a better understanding of why these things are so. Because this entire scene? Is driven by the unspoken half of the pact made when they were in four.

“Let me Play The Hero, and I will sooth your hurts”

Again - I cannot stress enough how this was important and necessary, and the best they could do, being as they were. It kept them alive and moving forward, when nothing else was available to them.

But oh, the scars it left.

There is no space in this bargain for Catra to seek affection for affection’s own sake; there is only hurt and comfort. And so Catra seeks injury, so as to barter for Adora’s care.

Which she gets, but she also gets, well, this.

This is superficially sweet and all - don’t get me wrong - but it’s also....not really healthy?

Because Adora just decides, on her own, how to fix things for Catra (How to Be Catra’s Hero), and then puts her plan into motion without sharing it. However benign she thinks she’s being here - and I have no doubt Adora genuinely thinks she’s doing good! - she is unintentionally centring herself and her own wants, cutting Catra out from having a meaningful say in their shared life.

Even here, in their halcyon, golden days, Adora is, well, kind of controlling. It’s a mild, childish version (and one that would have likely self-corrected - if it ever arose - in a less terrible environment), but still. These are the early threads that eventually turn into Adora’s reckless, callous endangerment of Catra, and her reliance on Love Bombing to paper over the cracks in their relationship.

========================================

A minor note about Octavia

She isn’t trying to hurt Catra (or Adora), and she isn’t (particularly) upset about the eye.

Lady’s six feet of solid muscle, and has all the social capital of an Old School Force Captain. Catra and Adora are children. If Octavia wanted to hurt them, that would have happened.

What we’re actually seeing here is an adult (with, perhaps, less than stellar social skills of her own) playing at being a frothing rage monster, to entertain the local kids.

We even get a bit later where this is recounted as a Cool Scar Story. She’s clearly fond of/impressed by Catra, even to this day.

#spop #catra #adora #octavia #trauma holodeck #analysis #cw abuse #cw child abuse #cw trauma #abuse #trauma #problematic adora

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heliads · 3 years

Text

Pining

Maybe you happen to have a crush on Luke Patterson. Maybe it hurts you more than you want to admit to see him perform so well with Julie. And maybe, just maybe, he might like you back.

masterlist

All around you is the buzz of conversation. Julie’s just about to perform with the boys, and this garage party is starting to come alive. A red plastic cup in your hand, the smiles of all of your friends, what more could you ask for? It’s shaping up to be a perfect night.

Ray waves hello at you from behind his camera, and you smile back in return. Julie is a good friend of yours, and you’d been here almost all day, helping set up. You’ve known about the truth behind the ‘holograms’ as long as Flynn, but you found out pretty early on that you have a secret of your own: you can see the boys just like Julie can.

You’re not sure why you can see the ghosts- you don’t have any connection to their past or dead mothers to guide your way. All you have is the simple fact that you can see them. The boys are happy to have someone else to talk to, and you’re happy for the sunny afternoons when school is out and you and Julie head to her mom’s studio, which is full of endless conversation and good memories.

As you weave your way through the increasingly crowded backyard, you spot your friend Nick. You realize with a grin that he looks desperately uncomfortable because Carrie, his ex, is trying her hardest to convince him of some undoubtedly cruel truth. You walk briskly over to them, and Nick lets out a sigh of relief when Carrie leaves after taking one judgmental look at you.

“Figured you needed a break from that conversation.” You grin, and Nick nods gratefully. “Trust me, the last thing I want to be doing right now is listen to Carrie try to get me to hate Julie and anyone who’s ever spoken to her. You’re the best.” You laugh. “We’re friends, it’s my job.”

Flynn speaks to the party now, introducing the upcoming performance. Julie comes out of the studio and begins to play. You can’t hide your grin as you watch her sing, and your smile only broadens at the smitten look on Nick’s face. With a whir and a click, the ‘holograms’ flicker to life and suddenly, the rest of the band is there, playing their hearts out.

You do your best to fake surprise, exchanging a knowing look with Flynn. You and Nick dance along to the music. Man, if there’s one thing Julie and the boys can do, it’s put on a pretty good show.

As the song progresses, you laugh lightly at Nick. “I feel like you should at least try not to be that openly in love with Julie. I think she’ll get nervous at the strength of your obsession with her.” Nick swats your shoulder playfully. “Oh, come on. I’m not that bad- at least not next to your crush on Luke.” You turn to him, mouth open in mock horror. “Excuse me?” Now Nick’s laughing at you, too. “Look at yourself! You can’t take your eyes off of him!”

You try to glare at him, but just dissolve into laughter. “We all make mistakes. Some of those just happen to be with the cutest member of a Swedish hologram band.” Nick grins. “And you’re making fun of me for crushing on Julie. At least she knows who I am.” You pout. “He does know who I am! I’m Julie’s friend- she probably said my name at least once.”

As the two of you exchange laughter and jokes, you watch as Julie walks over to the piano for her solo portion of the song. She’s an amazing singer, and you let a grin slide across your face. This smile starts to slip, though, as Luke approaches her, guitar in hand. As he strums out a solo of his own, Julie finally faces him, and the look in their eyes feels like it could tear your heart in two.

You’re not sure what you expected, falling in love with Luke. Of course he wouldn’t love you back- not when he has Julie. She’s wonderful, and has a wonderful voice. Music is so important to Luke, and you’re nothing compared to everything Julie has. As the rest of the band fades away, leaving Luke and Julie sweetly singing to each other on the piano, you see your same heartbroken look reflected in Nick’s eyes.

You nudge him gently. “If you want to get out of here, I’ll make up some excuse for you. I know neither of us really want to be here anymore.” Nick nods appreciatively. “What about you? I know it’s hurting you to see them together just as much as it does for me.” You sigh, looking back at the piano. “At least one of us should be happy.” Nick touches your shoulder once, as if to thank you in all the words he couldn’t say, then turns and leaves quietly.

After the party, you help Julie clean up, but your heart’s not really in it. Watching Luke and Julie perform together today basically cemented the unhappy truth that you would never be anything more to him than Julie’s friend. Were you even his friend? Did he care about you at all?

Once most of the party debris is gone, you head over to Julie. “I’m going to head out. I want to be home before it gets too late. You were amazing out there, by the way.” Julie hugs you goodbye. “Thanks, Y/N. The boys are back in the studio if you want to say bye to them, too.” You nod your thanks and walk around to the studio doors.

The boys are helping clean up in the studio, too. Well, helping is a bit of an overstatement. Reggie is doing his best to pick up plastic cups, but he gets distracted every few minutes and puts his collected cups down on any available surface to go mess around with some other corner of the studio. Alex is examining his drums again, and Luke is scribbling something in his notebook. You stand awkwardly in the door for a minute before Reggie notices you and comes bouncing over.

“Hey, Y/N! Did you like our show?” You can’t help but grin at him. “Yeah, you guys were great. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get a ton of calls from talent scouts.” Reggie beams at you. “You’re so nice.” You head inside, exchanging a few words with Alex before turning to Luke. Surprisingly, Luke looks up at you once and then turns away, clearly ignoring you.

You frown at Alex in confusion, but he just shrugs and looks as surprised as you. You walk over to Luke, but he still doesn’t look at you. You turn back around, but Alex and Reggie have gone, clearly sensing that something was about to happen and not wanting to be there when everything blew up. You can hardly blame them.

You force yourself to speak. “Is there a reason you’re ignoring me?” Luke scoffs. “I’m surprised you noticed.” Confused, you walk closer to him. “What are you talking about? I’ve been here almost the whole afternoon.” Luke finally looks at you, and you’re surprised to see that he looks almost resentful.

“You were there for Julie. It’s not the same.” You let out an incredulous laugh. “Luke, why are you so angry? I haven’t done anything to you.” He just shakes his head. “How about you go ask Nick? I’m sure he’d want to spend a lot of time with you.”

You feel like you’re in a haze. You’re starting to realize why Luke’s so angry, but it doesn’t make sense. It would never happen- but what else would explain his behavior? “Are you upset because I was talking to Nick during the party? He’s my friend, what else was I supposed to do?” Luke stands up, moving until he’s only a few feet away from you.

“If talking’s what you want to call it, fine. You were practically hanging off of him.” You don’t know how to respond, or what to say, or what to do. You don’t want to be here anymore, reminded of how Luke will always like Julie more than you. You straighten, and face Luke with last-ditch confidence. “Nick and I were talking about his crush on Julie. We were so close because you seemed way more interested in Julie than anyone else there. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll leave you with her, since you clearly care more about her. I mean, what else was the point of that solo at the end?”

You spin around and start walking away until a hand closes around your waist, forcing you to turn back. Luke looks at you again, a smile spreading across his face instead of the glare that had been there just moments before. “I don’t like Julie, Y/N. I like you.” You can’t do anything but stare at him. “What?” Luke wraps his arms around you, pulling you closer to him. “I did that solo in the end because I saw you talking to Nick, and I thought you liked him instead.”

A slow smile graces your lips. “You were that jealous?” Luke lets out a playfully indignant breath. “Well, I don’t know about that. Maybe.” You can’t help but smile, and hold him close. Maybe things have a way of working out after all.

#julie and the phantoms #luke patterson #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson imagines #julie and the phantoms luke #luke imagine #luke x reader #luke imagines #jatp #jatp luke #jatp luke imagines #julie and the phantoms imagines

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steve0discusses · 3 years

Text

S5 Ep10: Kaiba Embarrasses Himself on International Television Again

We start off this duel by teasing us into believing that this is a part of a theme park:

The Kaiba theme park is a weird mix of actual horrorscapes and animal crossing cutesy stuff...you can really tell what parts were Mokuba and what parts were Seto in this park.

But Leon takes it well, just kinda standing there as he’s done this entire arc--being a general forgettable nice boy who just...doesn’t do anything. Like he gets up, he plays cards, he sits down. Having him on top of a rock with melodramatic Little Mermaid waves crashing at his feet is laughably the opposite of Leon’s whole vibe.

Leon just seems like the type that listens to coffee shop ambient Youtube videos when he wants to amp himself up. This kid appears to attend a private school...somewhere...I think, and just went to a dueling competition in his school outfit because he literally doesn’t have a style of his own hanging in his closet.

Like Yugi wears his school outfit, but he does that ironically, to off-set the amount of makeup and hair spray he has in his hair. Leon wears the school outfit maybe because he admires Yugi so much, but is like “time for my rogue bow I wear in my hair. That’ll scare my competition.” He completely missed the point of the 00′s alt school outfit scene.

I do way too much art to not see the imagery. I feel like this is half my job, and playing “where’s the hidden Freudian meaning?” is half the fun of going to any art museum.

(read more under the cut)

Anyway, Seto got tired of no one paying any attention to him, so he stepped out of his 14-monitor mancave, he very quickly pulled his Dragon outfit out of the (dirty) laundry, flicked a couple sea crabs out of his pockets, spritzed it with Febreeze and called it “good enough.”

Like, is it just me, or has dragon jacket greyed out a tad from last season? Like it’s starting to get a little...worn? Like what funk is coming off of Seto Kaiba right now?

Also notice that he brought his giant stash of cards to the duel. He’s going to put on this show as if he’s not going to pull out the giant stash of cards. But like...he’s going to pull out the giant stash of cards. Like Hell boring ass Leon is going to play his deck of Candyland characters again.

Leon is declared a winner on Technicality and it’s like.

Damn Seto, for reals?

So congrats, Leon, you did literally nothing, again, and yet you mystifyingly persist on this show. Clearly you aren‘t going to grow a second head out of that ponytail like professor Quirrel in the last act of this arc.

That’s when Yugi’s hazy memory recalls something from the Before Times of “that time period before I was possessed by a needy ghost that eats up 3/4 of my memories and time.”

So Schroeder is Atari. Neat.

Also, this makes Zigfrieds outfits a hell ton more endearing when you realize he’s this Willy Wonka game company owner making toys for children. Kinda makes you wonder why Seto’s such a stick up the ass in comparison when it’s like--dude Kaiba, maybe you could learn a thing or two about whimsy. It could really help out your inconsistent park.

Anyway, Kaiba quickly realized who hacked the park and so, understandably, he asked Zigried to leave, which...backfired?

Y’all card culture is a lot. Everyone in the audience covered their faces in shame because they were so embarrassed by Seto Kaiba and I’m like...not sure why? Because he didn’t do a duel? Against this guy who snuck into his tourney not unlike Rex and Weevil? This asshole?

Recall that the last time Seto played a guy who had a fake name it was Marik freakin Ishtar and he killed a LOT of people (actually, it was Alister, pretending to be Pegasus, but he also killed a lot of people so that still tracks). Card culture can’t seem to learn from their mistakes, although Seto clearly sees the problem with dueling a professional hacker in a digital card game on a hologram that may or may not be able to murder you. At least its not a magic.

And so, tired of being humiliated on television, Seto decides to bust out the dueling gloves (well, not those gloves. You know what I meant) and use the equipment he BROUGHT WITH HIM and clearly never intended not to use in the first place.

(I hope you enjoy this dutch angle that wasn’t quite dutch enough, so it just looks like they’re lounging)

Roland patiently walks over from...somewhere? I don’t know where Roland comes from whenever he pops up, but he waltzed over to hold onto this suitcase as if that’s a formal part of his job.

I say this so often but like...I don’t know what Roland’s job is. He’s like a valet/butler/duel referee/duel cheerleader/CEO/and I will spend the rest of this series trying to understand it. Part of me is like...could Roland be a temp worker at an agency who just gets rehired for a different Kaiba Corp job every couple of weeks?

That weird ass fourthKaiba, I will never understand Roland.

Just one letter away from being a Zigfriend, Kaiba. Just one letter away. I know this because I misspell friend a LOT.

Zigfreind? Zigfriend? Damn it, both of them look the freakin same to me, this sucks! Why can’t I spell friend without autocorrect!?

Just the amount these two fight when Seto clearly barely even remembers who this guy even is.

Leon shows up in the seats, pretending that he’s totally cool about winning on a technicality right after Zigfried went on a rant about how shameful, irredeemable, and mortally embarrassing winning on technicalities are.

He seems to take it pretty well, smiling, sitting next to Rebecca, and then dissolving right into the background because this kid’s whole deal is being way too nice to exist on this show.

Y’all we just had that art meme where people were redrawing that “How to draw manga face” and guys...that’s what our anime used to look like.

I mean look at that uncomfortable chin there, that tapers in for some reason. Those eyes melting off of her face. The lack of any 3d sense. This was an anime ideal for a very, very long time.

Anyway, the “how to draw manga face” is a perfect masterpiece and never needs to change. (But it is fun to make fun of it although I guess the person that drew it was actually a kid, which makes sense from a publishing perspective to have a kid make a book about how to draw stuff for kids.)

We see a little flashback of Schroeder and why he hates Seto Kaiba, and can I just say, I kind of love this little outfit. Kind of a shame that it’s stuffed into a flashback.

Which is when we found out that Zigfried thinks Seto Kaiba did a plagiarism.

Which is hilarious because it was Gozaburo Kaiba who was plagiarizing Seto, so like...who did it first?

OK guys. Lets talk about this.

APPARENTLY, there was some sort of contest to work with Pegasus...kind of like an architecture contest (which is a thing, when a city is doing a big project, they send out a call, and big firms will compete to see who builds it) and I GOTTA know what Pegasus’ theme was.

Like did he say to all the little rich kid geniuses “I would like something that makes my cards ALIVE, can you do that?” Then when Pegasus got a hell ton of holograms and was he like “But ALIVE--it makes it alive, right boy?” And when he was shaking the hands of each stupid kid was he like “So if I hypothetically put my dead wife on a card and slapped it into the machine--could she EXIST. Like...enough? I just need her to legally exist is all, and not like..literally of course...but enough literally to be a sin against God, can you do that?”

I just want to know if Willy Wonka Wonderkid Von Schroeder had any idea he was creating a resurrection chamber for a dark wizard. Like he has no idea that he dodged getting his business bought straight from under him and his soul shoved into a card. And it’s not like Schroeder was going to abduct Yugi’s Grandpa and ensure that Yugi would be there to save him down the road. Like I’m pretty sure Schroeder would have been sacrificed waaay before that whole island contest even went down.

Zigfried got so freakin lucky. I can’t believe he’s mad. But then again...

...the man swims in milk pools so like...maybe his logic center is busted? Maybe he wanted to die in a horrific murder island? I don't know what Zigfried is into, but I do know that because Zigfried doesn’t have millennium rod powers linking him to the millennium eye--so would it have mattered? There’s destiny reasons that Pegasus chose Kaiba.

Course...we never found out where the scales ended up, have we? We think it’s Shadi, but have we seen Shadi bust those out since Season Zero?

Man that would be a good plot twist that will absolutely not happen.

Yo, make horse guy into a dark wizard, show, I dare you!

Anyway, that’s all for now, but if you want to read from the beginning, here’s the link:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#ygo #yugioh #yu gi oh #S5 #Ep10 #Seto Kaiba #Yugi muto #Duke Devlin #Tristan Taylor #Tea Gardner #Mokuba Kaiba #zigfried von schroeder #leon

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damn-stark · 3 years

Text

The Jedi Master

Chapter 2 of Unfrozen

Summary: You once were a General and Jedi Master fighting against separatists alongside the clones, the next, darkness clouded over and life passed in flash, and before you knew it you’re waking up with no memory running for your life.

A/N- next part, I hope you all like it!!

Warning- Angst, SLOWBURN.

Pairing- Since Poe and Rey were tied, what I’m going to do is let you all choose which you like more as the story continues and chemistry’s unfold!!!

————

“So this is our key? A Jedi Master?” Finn asks Rey in a horrible whisper. Your drift your gaze up to the trio and pull your hands from your head, looking to Commander Dameron as his gaze remains on you.

“Do you have a starfighter?”

Commander Dameron blinks in surprise, not expecting you to speak, he shifts in his seat and shakes his head. “Have you seen the ship we’re on? Doesn’t really fit a starfighter now does it? Plus it seems like you may have some type of amnesia, you can’t fly.”

You sit up straight to stand to your feet, looking to the end of the hall and feeling the strong urge to not do as he says and attempt your sudden made up plan. “I can fly, I need to go save my Commander. You heard what they said, they have him.”

Rey stands up and gets in your way as you attempt going out to search for some sort of escape pod. “I can’t let you do that. You can’t, you don’t know if they’re lying—”

“I do,” you remark with a cold gaze. Even if you didn’t have an idea how, you knew. “Search your feelings, citizen.”

Finn beside her looks between the both of you with his eyes peeled and Commander Dameron steps in. “We can’t go back on just a hunch.”

“And he’s my Commander, I leave no man behind.” You interject sharply. “And it’s no hunch, they said it, aren’t you paying attention?”

The Commander sighs and nods, grabbing your shoulder to attempt and assure you. “I understand that, trust me, but getting you back to our base alive is our priority. If you go back there's a possibility that you’ll get killed.”

You step back away from him and begin to pace as you think of a plan.

“Plus, if it’s you they want, they won’t kill your Commander,” Rey continues, “they’ll use him as bait. Besides don’t you want to remember your past first?”

You stop your pacing and lift your head to look at her, frowning and letting out a deep sigh. “I do.”

“Well I can help, but only if we go back to base.”

You hum and sit back down to put your head in your hands again. “At least please tell me what year it is? I,” you pause and swallow thickly at the feeling of a sharp pounding pain in your head, more memories flash, but they’re like if you were looking at someone else’s memories. It was all surreal. “I can’t remember.”

The three of them look at one another and commander Dameron answers for all of them with a sympathetic look featured on his face. “It’s thirty-four ABY. It’s been fifty four years since the fall of the Republic and jedi order.”

Your frown deepens and it seems that at the mention, at the knowledge of how many years have passed your headache heightens. You cover your whole face with your hands and tilt your head down, part of you wants to cry, but the other part doesn’t know why exactly. Your head was in thousands of pieces with only small fragments of it pieced together.

“General….Heart, is it?” You hear Finn's voice ask. You proceed to look up and meet his dark gaze, at that moment seeing another vivid flash of someone else.

“Y/N!”

You whirl around and a smile instantly widens on your face at the sight of Anakin Skywalker, your best friend; you see he mirrors your gesture and you both rush towards one another to meet each other halfway with a big, warm bear hug. “Ani! Haha. It’s so good to see you!”

Anakin pulls away and his grin widens as you two begin to pace around each other in a circle, as if it was the most unbelievable thing in the whole universe. “And it’s so good to see you! Damn, it’s been so long! Wow! Look at you! Jedi Master and all!”

You grin and just shrug, “what can I say? But look at you! Look at your hair!” Your eyes scan his shoulder length light hair and you can’t help but giggle at the memory of his previous cut. “It suits you.”

“What can I say?” He mocks you, both of you finally coming to a complete stop in front of each other, still sharing the same gleeful look. “But you, wow, I’m so proud. Turned Jedi Master at nineteen. You’re the youngest Jedi master, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”

“It’s no problem, it was a year ago, I’m over it.” You assure him.

Anakin rests his hands on his hips and his grin falls a bit, but not completely, his childlike joy still remains. “What is it your clones call you, General Heart is it?”

Your smile turns shy, and you nod, “yep, it’s silly, but they insist on it, so I’m letting it slide.”

“Well, General Heart not to brag, or anything, but I was the youngest Jedi knight to become a general.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Definitely,” Anakin says smugly as he crosses his arms over his chest. “So I guess we’re both making history.” He begins to approach you and wraps his arm around your shoulders to walk you to the briefing room. “We’ve definitely come far, I never imagined becoming war Generals so young.”

You wrap your arm around his shoulders and agree with his statement. “Nor I.”

Your eyes widen and tears sting your eyes, you look away from Finn and grab onto your chest as this sudden heart aching pain starts within you. Hundreds of memories flash through your mind, all having to do with that same young blue-eyed, brunette that just suddenly appeared in your mind. You suddenly remember his name and what he meant to you, you acknowledge your name from that memory but even that seemed insignificant at the time. You hear the three people before you begin to worry over your current state, but you block them out as the memories of Anakin Skywalker just resurface.

Just the memories that had to with him and nothing else.

“Anakin….” you mouth, feeling the subtle taste of salt in the corner of your lips.

“Did you just remember something?” You hear Rey ask in a concerned tone.

When you look up to her, you make sure to wipe away your tear before speaking. “Uh, yes, my name and a friend.”

“Oh...what is your name?”

“It’d be pretty ridiculous to ask if either of you had knowledge of my friend, would it not?” You ask desperately avoiding her question.

“Uh, depends what friend.” Commander Dameron answers.

“Anakin Skywalker.”

Again they look at one another and share a look you couldn’t understand, when they turn back to you, Rey suddenly has this assuring look on her face that is basked by the yellow light from the hall beyond the cockpit door. “We’re almost at base, it’s best if General Organa helps you with your questions, she’s much more reliable than any of us could be.”

You nod slowly and grip onto your knees as you reveal your name. “My name is Master Y/N L/N.” You offer them a kind smile.

“Oh well it’s very nice to meet you, Master y/n l/n,” Rey formally greets you with her hand extended out towards you.

You look at it and wrap your hand around her forearm. Which confuses her slightly, leaving her a little stunned and unable to think of what to do until a couple minutes later where she does the same. You pull away after a few seconds and stand up to take Finns arm and then Commander Dameron’s; who seems a little starstruck now. He has his lips parted and keeps his hand on your forearm longer than the rest had.

“I, I just want to say that I’m a big fan,”

“Huh?” You quirk your brow and look at him nervously.

He draws in a deep breath and then swallows thickly before releasing his breath and explaining. “You may not remember, but you’re actually a very amazing pilot, my mother used to look up to you, she would tell me so many stories of you and Anakin Skywalker.”

“Oh,” you grin, feeling a warmth begin to burn under your cheeks, “well I’m very flattered.” You use your other hand to grab his forearm with both hands and just suddenly become very flustered. “Thank you,” you pull your hands away and rest them on your hips, “I’m very honored, as well as proud and upset because I can’t rub it in my friends face.” You smirk, “regardless, thank you.”

“No wonder you seemed so familiar,” Commander Dameron added with a more confident smile.

You look to the other two who just look at the commander with a teasing look, and before they could say a thing, the same blue and white droid as before rolls before you and beeps before showing a hologram screen of a scoreboard that read, “Skywalker v L/N.”, and had a line in the middle that each side kept a score of ten tally marks. You narrow your gaze on it and can’t help but grin brightly at the memory. “Ah, yes I remember now, Ani and I had a racing competition going on, we restarted every couple of months because he couldn’t handle not being the best pilot in the galaxy or whatever he called himself.”

The droid remarks your comment and you laugh for the first time before glaring at him. “Don't make me throw you out of this ship you old fried machine, because I will. Anakin isn’t here to stop me.”

The droid goes on a burning ramble and you recall your relationship with this droid and just ignore him and sit back down to look at the three people just watching your interaction. Rey chuckles, but still looks at the droid with concern. “Wow, I’ve never heard him swear, it’s new.”

You scoff, “new is understatement.”

“Well,” Commander Dameron sighs as he turns to the control board, “enough of that, the ship should jump out of hyperspace in three, two and one.” He jumps on the pilot seat and maneuvers the ship down to a beautiful, green jungle planet that soon showed a small hidden base on the ground, hidden amongst all of the greenery. When the ship lands you can’t help but feel a tight stomach churning feeling, or as if something was going to happen. You walk out as normal as possible, you disguise your nerves and walk through the tiny base, seeing the stares and hearing the murmurs. It’s not until you walk inside a building does your gaze focus on one person, on the General they were speaking of.

Upon sight of you she dropped what she was doing and approached you and the four walking beside you. You studied her and noticed she was very small, old and pretty, yet her determination was unmistakably reconzible. Her brown eyes locked on your eyes and her eyes widened a bit as her face turned paler, as if she was seeing a ghost. Once you all finally came to a stop in front of one another, she managed a warm assuring smile that matched her greeting. “Master y/n l/n, welcome.” She grabs your hands and her gaze turns more sympathetic, “everything must be so confusing at the moment, I’m sorry, but I can assure you that we can help with any of your concerns.”

You tugs your lips into an understanding smile and nod. “Thank you, General. And as far concerns, I have plenty,” you swallow thickly and sigh, “I can’t seem to remember a lot of my past, I’ve been getting some memories back. Piece by piece, but there's still a lot I’m missing.”

The General nods and walks you further into the base. “Well to ease some confusion, I’m General Leia Organa Skywalker.”

You drop your smile and a new wave of confusion spills all over you. You blink and freeze in your spot. “Skywalker?”

“Yes,” she confirms, turning to face you as the others watched curiously, “you may have known my father, Anakin Skywalker.”

A faint smile tugs on your lips and you nod, “yes, he was my best friend, he was like my brother, and,” you suddenly cut yourself off and stare blankly at the ground as the memory slams into you. “And I knew your mother too. She was a good friend too,” tears well in your eyes and your voice sounds shaky, “you-you’re their child. I knew of you, of course you were only a fetus before, but I knew of their secret. It’s such an honor to meet you.”

The general's face expresses different emotions, but she ends up smiling softly. “And it's an honor meeting you. I’m sorry for what happened, to be thrusted into such a new place, a new year, everything must feel like a crazy dream.”

“Yeah, just about,” you nod, clasping your hands behind your back.

“And I’m sorry to put you in distress, but it seems the force has brought you here for a reason. The galaxy is yet in another war and we need your help.”

You frown and keep your gaze downcasted. “Hmm.”

“And before I go into much more grave detail, I think it’s better if we ease your mind and help recover what you've lost.” Her gaze drifts to Rey beside you and she gives her a small nod, “Rey if you could, please.”

“Of course.” Said girl responds kindly, turning to you and offering a warm smile, “we’ll find more peace outside, I can take you somewhere.”

With no choice in the matter you follow after her, leaving the two men and the General behind; walking back out to the blazing sun and the humid jungle air. Even if you knew it was impossible, part of you searched for something slightly familiar, a face mainly. But nothing, you were surrounded by new unfamiliar people. All from a different generation apparently, all just purely new.

“We can stop here,” Rey spoke up, breaking you from your train of thought and stopping in a clear spot. Proceeding to turn to you with a sweet and assuring smile, “I’m just going to need you to clear your mind and meditate. I’m going to just help you remember, heal you in a way.”

“Okay,” you nod, looking down at the new change of clothes she had let you borrow before straightening your shoulders and closing your eyes to take in deep breath, breathing them out and clearing your mind, falling into a deep state of meditation. Not feeling as her fingers gently touch the side of your temple and she slowly begins to use the force to ease your confused state; to heal what was damaged and reel back everything that had been lost in the inner corner of your brain, bringing back a huge wave of emotions that used to be well put away. Causing a pain and disturbance within you.

“Something doesn’t feel right, I sense a disturbance in the force.” A new pain shoots through your head and you fall to your knees, screaming and hearing voices and other shouts, feeling a heartbreaking pain and a breakaway.

“Execute order 66.”

The order passes over your head as you’re on your knees in pain, all you could say was just. “No...Anakin.”

The heartbreaking pain finds its source and the face of your longtime friend fades through your mind and displays an unfamiliarity in his now yellow sith eyes. As hard as you try to hold on and just confuse it as some trick, the blue eyes that belonged to Anakin were gone. You were left suffering until it was too late to notice what was actually happening around you.

“General General run! Get out of here!”

“Ahhhh!” You scream out and fall to your knees, grabbing onto your chest and crying out in pain and heartbreak as everything resurfaces and you remember yourself, remember your time before it froze. Literally.

“Y/N! I’m so sorry!” Rey exclaims as she falls on her knees before you, grabbing your hands and trying to help ease your situation.

You fall on your hands and knees and cry out to the ground. You punch it and punch it as if that was going to do anything. You last in your own little secluded, painful and heartbreaking world for a while, until you could grasp what was currently happening, where you were, what time you were in. You speak up hoarsely and unintinally startle Rey. “I remember, everything,” you croak out, slowly picking up your head to look at her with your bloodshot eyes. “The force, it kept me alive when I fell in the ice,” you sniffle, “my commander pushed me to save me and I pulled him down with me. The force kept us alive.”

Rey’s eyebrows knit together and her light eyes search you for her response. She’s caught lost, unable to find the exact wording to help you. She can only seem to cup your shoulder and try to share an assuring look. “I’m sorry. I really am. I wish I could say something to ease your pain, but I feel like there's nothing I can say.”

“Don’t worry,” you assure her before you clear your throat and push yourself to your feet, “I understand. Thank you for helping me,” you express kindly, grabbing her hand and failing to smile, “I appreciate it.”

You drop her hands and then begin your mission and walk past her, hearing her quickly catch up. “Wait, Master, don’t you want to know more? I know a way you can talk to your previous master, talk to any master and...Anakin Skywalker—”

“Don’t,” you cut her off sharply, “don’t say that traitors name again.” You whirl around and glare at her, “don’t you dare.”

Rey stops in her tracks and looks at you stunned and mouth agape, gasping at the new sudden change at the mention of his name. She wants to apologize, but you walk off towards General Organa before she could.

“General.”

“Yes, Master?”

“I need a ship.”

“Wait,” she blinks, “what?”

Your gaze drifts to Commander Dameron and Finn behind her and then slides back to her. “Rey helped me remember what I had forgotten and now I need a ship to rescue my friend. My commander.”

“But, we—”

“And I understand you need me help,” you cut her off in a cold tone, “but I need to save my friend before I can help. Your fellow soldiers promised and I promised my friend I would help him. What kind of General would I be if I can’t keep my promises?”

“Master, l/n, I know you’re desperate, but there's still much you have to learn, to know before you go running off.” General Organa tries to calm you down, “I can help, you’re struggling, you’re confused and hurting. Please wait until everything makes sense.”

You fist your hands and shake your head, “no, I can’t, but I'll hear you out after.”

“You’ll hear me out?” She questioned with a pointed gaze.

“Hmm.”

General Organa looks at Rey behind you and then at the two behind her before looking back at you with a sigh. “Fine, but I can’t let you go alone.” She turns to Commander Dameron and her face softens, “Poe, I know I may be asking a lot, but I trust you to fly her to her location and bring her and her Commander back. All of you.” She turns to Finn and Rey with the same look.

“I don’t need help,” you interject, “I can fly myself.”

“You could,” General Organa says as she turns back to you, “but I need reassurance that you’ll return, I need you.”

You look to a ship parked a few feet behind you and then return your gaze to her, adding a feigned smile and a lie. “I will.”

A/N- again depending on the interactions with Rey and Poe you guys can choose which ship you like better :) Rey and him tied so I feel like choosing as the story proceeds would be fun.

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