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dickspeightjrs · 4 years

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Show Me How Big Your Brave Is (au / 4.8k words)

Prompt 17 from my ‘30 Destiel Prompts’ for @eccentriccas

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It stared at Dean from the fridge, tacked up by a Stanford University magnet gifted to Dean by his brother, Sam.

He’d known his high school reunion was coming up at some point but seeing it embossed in gold lettering created a pit in his stomach.

High school wasn’t the best time for Dean for a few reasons. First, his dad had died in freshman year, which Dean had had mixed feelings about if he was honest. He was mostly concerned about his mother. She didn’t take it well. And then there was-

Dean was torn from his stare down with the invitation by the door bell. He trudged over to answer it. His best friend, Charlie, came bounding in with all the energy of a labrador puppy.

“Hey, friend!” She exclaimed, pulling Dean into a tight hug. “Are you ready for our movie night?”

Dean let himself be infected with Charlie’s excited energy. “Of course, dude! Give me superheroes in spandex already.” He laughed.

“You go set up the first movie and I’ll put the beers in the fridge, okay?” Charlie instructed.

“Sounds good, Bradbury.”

Dean lucked out when he’d met Charlie. They’d been assigned as roommates in college. There had been a mix up with the room allocations. Dean had been a little confused when he’d turned from his boxes to find a tiny red-head standing in the doorway of his dorm.

Charlie had taken a step into the room, let her backpack fall to the floor, and said, “Don’t even think about trying anything. I’m gay as the day is long and I’m not afraid to punch a guy back into his place.” Dean hadn’t known how to reply so he’d just nodded and silently gone back to unpacking his things.

It was when Charlie had put up a Star Wars poster above her bed that Dean knew he was about to make a best friend.

“Ooh what’s this?” Charlie’s voice came from the kitchen.

Crap. Charlie had probably found the invite. He should have hidden it when he had the chance. He sighed and moved into the kitchen.

Charlie had an extremely mischievous grin on her face, and that was saying something for her.

“When were you going to tell me about this?” Charlie asked.

“Urm, never?” Dean mumbled, reaching to snatch the paper out of Charlie’s hand.

But Charlie was too quick and dodged Dean’s grasp.

“Come on Dean. You have to go!” Charlie implored. “It’ll be fun!”

Dean gave his friend an unimpressed look. “Charlie you know how much I hated high school.”

Charlie’s face softened. “I know, it sucks that you got outed before you were ready. No one deserves that. But, it’s been ten years. Things have changed.”

“You don’t know the people I went to high school with.” Dean scoffed.

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Stop being dramatic, you nerd.”

“Dramatic or not, I ain’t going.” Dean plucked the invite out of Charlie’s hand and tore it in two.

Charlie stuck her tongue out at him. “Party pooper.”

* * *

A few hours later, Dean and Charlie were deep into their annual ‘NerdFest’ movie night.

“I swear, if I didn’t bat for the best team, I’d be so down for a bit of Black Wing.” Charlie mumbled around a mouth full of popcorn.

Dean couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Aside from Captain America (because, hello Chris Evans!), Black Wing was Dean’s favourite superhero. But he’d only appeared in ensemble movies. There had been rumours of him getting his own solo movie after fans online had campaigned for it but nothing ever seemed to come of it. The guy who played him seemed to just drop off the map.

Shame, Dean thought as he watched Black Wing kick ass on-screen, that dude was hot!

“Take someone like that to your high school reunion and it would make those dicks’ jaws drop.”

“Drop it, Charlie.” Dean groaned, glaring at the red-head.

“Just saying. Get a hot date and you’ll win the game of life in their eyes.” Charlie raised her hands in defence.

“Noted. Let’s move on.”

“Fine.” Charlie pouted.

Dean nodded and turned back to watch the screen, content that the subject had been dropped.

“OH MY GOD!”

Dean jumped out of his skin, sending popcorn flying through the air. “What the hell, Bradbury?” He exclaimed.

Charlie started excitedly slapping Dean on the arm. “I have the best idea.” She practically squealed. “Put an ad up on Craigslist for a hot date.”

Dean’s eyes went wide. “No fucking way. Never happening. Now stop.”

“But-”

“No!”

Charlie sulked for the next half an hour, all through the iconic fight scene with Black Wing and his fellow team of superheroes. She stopped eventually after Dean offered her a piece of pie as a peace offering.

* * *

After a couple more movies, Charlie had to leave. Apparently, being an adult meant that you can’t just spend all night watching with your best friend anymore - who knew? So with a ‘see ya later bitch’, Charlie was gone.

Dean felt the aches from being sat on the couch for hours and he was looking forward to laying out on his bed for a good night’s sleep.

He sighed to himself and tidied up the last remains of the movie snacks. He was ready for sleep but he had to work early in the morning and he wouldn’t have time to clean up before he left.

Shuffling into the kitchen to put the rubbish in the trash, Dean spotted his reunion invite where he left it on the counter. Except, it wasn’t ripped in two like he’d left it. It had ‘mysteriously’ been taped back together. He dragged a tired hand down his face in exasperation. Charlie just didn’t know when to quit. She was the bratty little sister he never wanted.

He plonked himself down on the chair at the counter and stared at the white paper for a few moments.

Fuck it!

Charlie was right (though he’d never admit it to her face). He was determined to prove to the assholes he went to school with that the shit they threw at him didn’t stick. It didn’t matter that Dean didn’t really believe it to be the truth,’ fake it til ya make it’ as they say.

Before he could chicken out, Dean had Craigslist opened up on his phone. Thinking back to Charlie’s suggestion earlier, Dean decided against asking specifically for a ‘hot’ guy. He dreaded to think what kind of douchebags that would answer the ad proclaiming themselves to be an adonis.

And, despite knowing since he was young that he was bisexual, he decided to aim the ad towards guys. His few relationships with women had never worked out. Even though this was all going to be fake, Dean would like to be able to at least get on with the person.

In the end, he decided on a short and simple ad:

‘Hi, I’m Dean (28M) looking for a guy to take as my date to my stupid high school reunion next Saturday. Message if interested (no weirdos)’

He posted the ad and then spotted the time at the top of the screen.

Midnight. Shit.

He closed the website and dashed upstairs as fast as his tired legs could carry him.

* * *

The next morning, Dean got woken up by the feel of sunlight shining on his face. He must have forgotten to shut the curtains before he passed out last night.

His blood ran cold when he realised that the sun shining on his face meant only one thing. He was late for work. He scrambled around looking for his phone to check the time but it was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, it came to him. He must have left his phone on the counter in the kitchen, meaning he didn’t hear his alarms going off.

He cursed himself and sped to get ready. Quickly sniffing a shirt to check it was okay to wear, he got dressed and raced downstairs. Sure enough, his phone was sat on the table where he'd sat the night before.

When he picked it up he found that it had also run out of battery overnight.

Great. As if this day couldn’t get any worse.

Forgetting all else on his mind, Dean grabbed his phone and dash out of the front door.

* * *

The ad remained forgotten until a few days later.

Dean was just about to sit down and relax with a beer when his phone lit up with a notification. He put his beer down on a coaster to check it out.

It was a message from Craigslist telling him someone has been trying to contact him about his ad.

Dean’s eyes went wide. He’d completely forgotten about the ad for a date after being late for work and being chewed out by his boss. He couldn't believe someone had actually responded. He looked at the date for the first message. This guy had contacted him like an hour after he’d posted the ad.

He opened the message.

(01:28) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: Hello. I saw your ad for a date to your reunion. It says I’m only 10 miles from your location. I’m interested in helping you out. Are you still in need of assistance?

(10:11) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: I assume, as you haven’t replied, that you’ve decided to go with someone else for your date.

(11:20) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: On second thought, this ad was probably a joke. Please ignore my messages.

Wow. This dude talked funny. And reading that last message, Dean felt a little sorry for the guy too. He seemed lonely. But beggars can’t be choosers, so Dean prepared to reply.

As he went to type, he noticed the guy’s username and smiled to himself.

(19:37) impala67 says: don’t worry dude! the position as my date is still open. you’re the only one who has responded.

PS. I like your username. you a Black Wing fan too?

The reply was almost immediate.

(19:41) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: Okay. What information do you need from me?

PS. You could say so.

‘You could say so’? Was this guy purposefully trying to be mysterious? Either way, Dean was intrigued.

(19:45) impala67 says: idk dude, just the basics I guess. how old u are, what u look like

(19:53) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: I’m 30 years old. I have blue eyes and dark hair. I’m 6 feet tall. Anything else?

Dean hummed to himself. The guy sounded pretty average, which was okay with him.

(19:55) impala67 says: nah, that’s awesome dude. anything you want to know?

(19:58) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: I suppose it would be nice to know what you look like too. Also, if you don’t mind me prying, I wondered why you need to have a date for a school reunion. And why have you turned to Craigslist to find it?

Dean was set aback by this guy’s forwardness. But, he did have a right to know what he was getting into Dean supposed.

(20:05) impala67 says: you already know I’m 28. I have green eyes. sort of light brown hair and i’m around 6’2”. as for the other shit. high school was a shit show. I’ve always been a bit nerdy i guess. people didn’t like it. then I realised I’m bi (hope that’s not a deal break btw). tried asking this guy out senior year. got outed to the whole school. got a lot of shit for it.

(20:11) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: I’m sorry to hear that happened to you. No one deserves that. Why do you want to go back? No one would blame you for leaving and never going back. (Again, if you don’t mind me asking.)

Dean blinked at the screen. His forgotten beer was getting warm but he was fascinated by this guy. He seemed genuine and Dean felt himself wanting to share the darkest parts of himself with a complete stranger. He sighed and typed.

(20:20) impala67 says: I guess I want to prove to those assholes that the things they said didn’t affect my life. even tho that’s not always the truth. I still struggle to accept myself i guess.

Dean chewed his lip, debating whether to include that last line or not. But, hey, he was asking this dude to be his date, the least he could do was be honest with him. He pressed send.

Blue Eyes didn’t reply instantly this time and it made Dean nervous. He wished he could take back the last bit of the message.

After a few anxious moments, Blue Eyes still hadn’t replied so Dean gave up, figuring he’d scared the guy away. He cursed himself and moved to put his Doctor Sexy DVDs into the player. He’d never admit it to anyone, not even Charlie, but Doctor Sexy was his comfort show. It provided him with a much needed distraction.

A couple hours later, Dean was beginning to doze. The extra few beers he’d had cushioned him into a deep sleep.

When he woke, surrounded by darkness with only the DVD menu playing to no one lighting the room, Dean rubbed his face tiredly and went to check his phone for the time.

Instead of looking at the clock, Dean’s eyes were distracted by the Craigslist notification. Blue Eyes had messaged him back! Feeling a little foolish that he’d reacted too quickly before, Dean opened the message.

(23:23) BlueEyesAndBlackWings says: You’re incredibly brave, Dean. Not many people would be able to do what you’re doing.

Dean blushed in the darkness. Why were a random internet dude’s words affecting him so much? He didn’t really know what to say in response so he just sent a quick ‘thank you, dude.’

* * *

Over the next few days leading up to the reunion, Dean carried on messaging Blue Eyes just to get to know him a little more. Turns out the dude is dorky as hell. And, despite the original impression he gave with the Black Wing username, the guy didn’t understand any of Dean’s other references.

It had occurred to him after they’d been messaging for a while that Dean still didn’t know his name.

When he confronted Blue Eyes about it, the man had taken a while to respond again and answered only with ‘I’d rather not disclose my full name at this time. But, you can call me C.’

Dean had been a little skeptical of the guy’s response at first. But then, he figured the worst case scenario was the guy turned out to be a catfish and Dean would just blow off the reunion altogether and go get drunk. And he couldn’t blame the guy for not wanting to give out personal details over Craigslist.

The day before the reunion, they agreed it was probably best to meet somewhere a couple hours before so they had time to get to know each other in person and iron out the final details they’d need to know about each other.

* * *

Dean sat in the coffee shop they’d agreed to meet at (public and easy to escape if things went south). He tried to stop his leg from trembling under the table.

He was nervous for a couple of reasons. The obvious: this guy could turn out to be a creepy old dude stalking men on the internet. And the less obvious but more surprising to Dean: he actually wanted this to go well. Without even knowing what he looked like, Dean had found himself beginning to like the guy. Even if he wasn’t attracted to him when he finally saw Blue Eyes, Dean would be cool with being friends with him.

His eyes were following the patterns in the wood on the table top when a deep voice came from above him.

“Dean?” It asked, with nervous uncertainty.

Dean swallowed and looked up to the source of the voice and-

Holy shit!

It was him! It was the Black Wing!

What was the guy’s name? Cas- something? Castile? Casteel? Castiel! That was it!

Holy fucking shit! This couldn’t be happening.

Dean realised he’d been staring wide-eyed during his internal freak out and Blue Eyes, Castiel, was stood looking as nervous as Dean had felt before the surprise adrenaline took over his body.

“Sorry, dude. Please sit down.” Dean gestured to the chair opposite him. He wiped his hands on his jeans, nerves starting to take over once again.

Neither man spoke for a few moments.

“So I-” Castiel began.

“I don’t-” Dean spoke too.

Both men chuckled. “You go,” Dean told Castiel.

Castiel smiled softly, “I suppose, from your reaction, you know who I am.”

Dean blushed. “Yeah. For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Now Castiel blushed, “Thank you, Dean.” His expression turned serious. “I hope you understand now why I didn’t give you my full name while we spoke online.”

“Yeah, of course, dude. Don’t want any crazies hunting you down.” Dean chuckled.

Castiel chuckled with him. “Yes, something like that.”

“So, um, before we get into the details for later, I was wondering if I could ask you a question?”

“Of course, Dean. You were honest with me, it’s only fair I return the favour.” Castiel smiled.

“It’s only because I watched one of your movies the other night with my best friend, Charlie-” who was totally gonna freak out when Dean told her about this “-but wasn’t there meant to be a solo Black Wing movie? Everyone in the fandom was talking about it and then suddenly you seemed to disappear. I guess, I’m just wondering why you changed your mind?” Dean asked, nervously. He was waiting for Castiel to tell him to go fuck himself (though Dean knew that Castiel wasn’t really that kinda guy).

Castiel cleared his throat and met Dean’s eyes. “We were just about to go into production for the solo movie when my brother and his wife were killed in a head-on collision with a truck.”

Dean’s mouth dropped open. But, he could sense Castiel hadn’t finished so he stayed quiet.

“The only blessing was that it was instant, so they didn’t suffer. That, and luckily their daughter, Claire, was at the babysitter’s at the time.” Castiel smiled, melancholy whispers gracing his features.

Dean knew he barely knew the guy but he could sense when someone needed comfort so he reached across the table to place a soft touch on Castiel’s hand.

“I took Claire into my care. And that ended my career as I knew it.” Castiel shrugged. “I was deeply disappointed to have to leave the movie, but Claire came first. And I didn’t want her to grow up in the spotlight, with people using her parents’ tragic death as a way to sell magazines. So I left the industry. That was three years ago and I haven’t looked back. Claire is five now and she’s all I could ever want.”

Dean was awestruck. “Wow.” He breathed. “I can’t believe it.”

“What?” Castiel asked, head tilting in confusion. (If the situation wasn’t so serious, Dean would have struggled not to comment on how adorable he looked.)

“Dude.” Dean choked. “You called me brave for wanting to face a coupla high school assholes. But you - you gave up your entire career to give the best life to your niece.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re amazing.”

Castiel blushed again (and Dean found he was slowly falling in love with that look on Castiel’s face). “I don’t know that I’m amazing, I just want a normal life for Claire and I.” He shrugged.

“A normal life, huh?” Dean asked. “Well, I can try and help with that.” He lifted his hand from where it had been placed on Castiel’s and held it in the air between them. “I’m Dean Winchester. I’m twenty eight. A bit of a nerd and in need of a date this evening.”

Castiel huffed a laugh and placed his hand in Dean’s, shaking it. “I’m Castiel Novak. I’m thirty. Uncle to a beautiful niece and I would be honoured if you’d let me be your date for this evening.”

Dean’s face broke into a smile, which turned into a laugh that caused a smile to spread across Castiel’s cheeks.

They let their hands settle naturally on top of the table.

Now, with their barriers down, they began making plans and ideas for that evening. Though, if Dean were being honest, it felt like he’d known Castiel forever already.

Eventually, after what felt like hours of talking, Castiel got up to finally get himself a coffee. It wasn’t until Castiel’s hand left his that Dean realised they’d been holding onto each other the whole time.

* * *

Dean and Castiel ended up talking for so long in that coffee shop that they were late for the reunion. The party was in full swing when they arrived.

Just before they entered the hall, Dean stopped in his tracks.

“What’s wrong, Dean?” Castiel asked, worry etched into his features.

“Are you sure about this, man? There’s a chance someone in there could recognise you or something. It’s not worth ruining your life plan over just for me to say ‘fuck you’ to a couple of dicks.” Dean stressed.

Castiel reached to take Dean’s hand in his. “Some things are worth a little risk.” He whispered and walked with Dean through the hall doors.

It seemed Dean had had nothing to worry about in the end. They’d spoken to a few people who had seemed genuinely interested in that Dean had been up to since graduation. And they barely batted an eye when he’d introduced Castiel as his boyfriend. (He’d meant to just call him his date but clearly his mouth had had other ideas.) Castiel himself had just placed a soft hand around Dean’s waist - stopping Dean from an internal panic.

It was all going so well and Dean was starting to think Charlie had been right (again, damn her!). Maybe everyone had just grown up and moved on.

Once they’d finished a conversation with the guy Dean sat next to in English class senior year, Castiel went to the bar to get them some drinks, whispering in Dean’s ear that he’d be back in a moment. Dean was a little sad Castiel hadn’t gone a bit further and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Dean Winchester.” The voice of Bela Talbot came from behind him. Dean turned with a scowl on his face.

“Hello, Bela.” He said through gritted teeth. She’d been one of the main people instrumental in his forced coming out.

“Goodness me, Dean. If I’d known how pretty you’d turn out, maybe high school could have gone a lot differently.” She practically purred, running a perfectly manicured finger along Dean’s cheek bone. “But, hey, there’s still time now, I could be the one to knock you straight again.”

Dean was frozen to the spot. He was back to being a scared kid, dealing with the loss of a parent and being taunted daily for his sexuality. He knew he shouldn’t have done this. He wasn’t brave. He was pathetic. He couldn’t even stand up to a school bully ten years later.

“Excuse me.” Castiel appeared suddenly at Dean’s side. “What did you say to him?” The look on his face was nothing short of murderous.

“I’m just getting reacquainted with an old friend.” Bela answered, sickly sweet. “And who are you?”

Castiel’s eyes narrowed. “I’m Dean’s boyfriend and I don’t appreciate the way you’re speaking to him.”

Dean’s eyes went wide. Earlier it had been a slip when he’d called Castiel his boyfriend but now Castiel was purposefully saying it? Dean didn’t dare to hope.

Bela laughed, causing Castiel to glare even harder (honestly, if looks could kill, she’d be in hell). “Ah! So he’s definitely still gay then.” She said, lip curling with distaste.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s bisexual, not gay. I’d tell you to educate yourself, but clearly, after ten years you’re still the same bitch you’ll always be.”

Bela looked taken aback, like no one had ever spoken to her like that before.

Castiel didn’t wait for her response. Instead, he grabbed Dean’s hand and stormed out of the building.

It wasn’t until the cool evening air hit his face, that Dean finally snapped back to himself. They’d ended up in the parking lot, stood next to Dean’s car.

“Cas..” Dean breathed.

“I’m sorry, Dean.” Castiel said, begging for forgiveness. “I just couldn’t stand the way she was speaking to you.”

“Cas-” Dean spoke.

“She was just so rude a-and small-minded. I hated it.”

“Cas!” Dean raised his voice. Castiel snapped his jaw shut. “It’s okay. Thank you for sticking up for me.” Dean stepped closer to Castiel, playing with the lapel on Castiel’s suit jacket.

Castiel looked into Dean’s eyes but Dean couldn’t hold his gaze. “I’m just embarrassed that I froze up. After all of this, I failed at standing up for myself. I’m pathetic.”

Castiel placed his hands on Dean’s cheeks, forcing Dean to look at him. Green eyes finally met blue. “Dean, listen to me. It was incredibly brave to walk into that room tonight. You are the bravest person I’ve ever met.” He said earnestly.

Dean couldn’t hold it in anymore. He hoped he wasn’t about to ruin this before it even started. But, as a wise man told him recently: some things are worth a little risk.

Wasting no more time, Dean pulled Castiel into a deep kiss.

Once Castiel was on board, he pushed Dean up against the car behind them.

After a few heated moments, of what can only be described as heavy making out, Dean growled at Castiel to get into the car before they got arrested for public indecency.

They somehow made it back to Dean’s house but their clothes only managed to stay on long enough to get through the front door. Dean directed them to his room and threw Castiel down on the bed.

He took in the sight of the beautiful man laid out under him before kissing up Castiel’s chest and took over his mouth again. The only words said between them were muttered assurances that they were on the same page. Dean could never have dreamed this is how this night would end but he certainly wouldn’t change a thing.

* * *

The next morning, Dean and Castiel laid in each other’s arms, content to be together in the quiet.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Dean. “What about your niece?” He worried. “Don’t you need to get back to her?” He sat up frantically.

“Dean, Dean, don’t worry.” Castiel raised his hands to calm the other man. “I texted my babysitter yesterday at the coffee shop asking her to stay with Claire for the night.”

Dean relaxed into the bed, smirking a little. “So you knew how the night would end even before we got to the reunion.”

Castiel blushed. “I wouldn’t say I knew. But I did hope.”

Dean smiled, pulling Castiel closer to place a tender kiss on the side of his head. “I hoped for it too.” He whispered.

They settled into silence again, warm in each other’s company.

A short while passed before either of them spoke again.

“Thank you, Dean.” Castiel murmured, breaking the quiet.

“For what?” Dean frowned.

“For thinking of Claire.”

“Well, she’s important to you. She’s your whole world.” Dean shrugged.

“Maybe my world could get a little bigger now.” Castiel suggested, smiling nervously up at Dean.”

“Yeah, I think it could.”

* * *

Later, as they dug into a couple of burgers Dean threw together, another thought crossed Dean’s mind.

“Cas?”

“Hmm?” Castiel hummed around the burger in his mouth.

“Why were you looking through Craigslist ads in the first place?”

Castiel swallowed and chuckled to himself. “Sometimes I look through to find funny ads people put up.”

Dean was beginning to get a little offended when Castiel reached across the table to hold his hand.

“But, the night that I saw your ad, I had just put Claire to bed and I was feeling lonely. I took a risk. And I think it worked.” Castiel smiled shyly.

“Hell yeah, it did!” Dean grinned from ear to ear.

* * *

Charlie’s phone vibrated next to her. She paused the video game she was playing to pick it up. Seeing it was a text from Dean, she opened it immediately.

On her screen was a selfie of Dean with another dark haired dude captioned:

‘I should take your advice more often Bradbury.’

Her eyes turned to saucers and she looked at the image again more closely. She frowned slightly, looking at the man whose cheek Dean was kissing.

Wait- That totally looked like-

Her phone dinged with a new message from Dean.

‘And yes, it’s exactly who you think it is.’

HOLY FRIGGIN SHIT!

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it Taylor!

If you liked what you saw, REBLOG! and consider reserving a prompt from my ‘30 Destiel Prompts’ challenge, or just send me your own prompt you’d like me to fill!

TAGS: @eccentriccas @starrynightdeancas @credentiast @imbiowaresbitch @starclaire @cockleslovesdestiel @bend-me-shape-me @destielfactory @dea-stiel @wendeano @wingsandimpalas @aggressivedean @flowersforcas @chill-legilimens @pancakesofthelord @saltnhalo @caslikescoffeeandfreckles @assbuttboyfriends @jhoomwrites @breathingdestiel @simplymisha @thekingslover @aelysianmuse

(once again tagging my faves, let me you if you’d like to be removed from future fics - or added if you’re not already there!)

94 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 4 years

Note

this is definitely my favorite avatar blog, thank you guys for taking the time to share these Facts with us. yue’s story in the modern au was heartbreaking, but i was wondering if you had any headcanons about modern yue before the tragic accident?

yue is lowkey a mad scientist. sokka always has to remind her that they do not have the proper safety measures to “do the thing,” lest she get “blowed up.” and vice versa. they are equal parts figures of responsibility for the other, and also their worst enablers.

yue is an excellent poet. she actually gets published in some junior literary magazines. she wants to be a biochemical engineer, but she’s also a total lit nerd.

when yue was little, she invited one of her friends over to her house, and this friend, being a child, happened to spill some sauce on yue’s mom’s favorite tablecloth. ever since the Tablecloth Incident, yue was not allowed to bring friends over unless they were vetted first. immediate disqualifiers included: anything below a 4.0 gpa, “perpetual sticky hands” vibes, is white. ever since yue got her diagnosis, yue’s parents kind of treated her like that tablecloth.

yue’s dad loves sokka. when sokka goes off to college and thinks he has been spared of having to talk to either of yue’s parents ever again, he is distressed to find that arnook is still forwarding him emails he has to pretend to read. because he’s still “part of the family.” only, sokka does not want to be “part of the family.” for a plethora of reasons.

yue complains a lot that it would probably be helpful if she had a wheelchair, but when sokka is like “ok then we should get (build??) you a wheelchair” yue is like “nah” bc she knows it’s easier to just pretend she’s not in pain all the time than have her parents look at her with guilt and pity in their eyes, and have people pass her by pretending not to look at her at all.

people are always wondering how sokka has diligent notes taken for every class when they never actually see him taking notes. it’s a habit he picked up when he would go over what happened in class with yue on days where she couldn’t make it to school. he never dropped the habit, and now he has said notes on hand for whomever happens to need them.

every time yue shows up at school with a raging fever, sokka is just like “nope” and stares her down until she has to concede, and then he walks her home. he misses first period a lot due to the fact that his girlfriend is a “dumb, stubborn, overachieving nerd.”

whenever katara hangs out with them, she’s just like “are you aware that you are too pretty for my brother? do you know this? blink twice if he’s holding you hostage.” and yue just giggles. but katara knows something is wrong. she is so pretty. what the hell.

yue and sokka are both those people who are lowkey friends with everyone, but also, they are really only friends with each other. whenever yue suggests that they try to make new friends sokka is like “but have you met other people?? other people are terrible.” and she can’t exactly disagree because, well, she has.

yue never does actually make it to sixteen, but in the weeks leading up to her birthday, people keep asking her if she’s excited to be able to drive. she just gestures vaguely up and down the length of her body and is like “you think this is able to drive??? lmfao”

people are generally just asking her insensitive questions though. sokka makes her a shirt for her birthday that says “I HAVE A CHRONIC ILLNESS YOU STUPID FUCKING PRICK” she loves it, but she is far too much of a goody-two-shoes to ever actually wear it other than as pajamas.

yue sits next to zuko one year in english class. whenever one of the other students says something absolutely ludicrous (which is. often unfortunately) they just exchange a look. they are both too shy to actually talk to each other outside of class, which is unfortunate because they would have made for the best of friends. by the time sokka befriends zuko, it is already too late.

yue is not nearly aware of how beautiful and lovely she is, so she’ll often joke about how she’s an outcast and a loser by saying things like “i am definitely the coolest kid in this school. after all, i’ve done more drugs than everyone else here combined.”

whenever sokka has a cold, he knows that he cannot afford to infect yue, but he also knows that he needs to go to school so he tries to convince her that it’s a snow day. yue knows exactly what he is doing but she’ll just play along and be like “ah yes. a snow day. in the middle of summer. of course. guess i’ll just stay home then.” and then he carries a printed copy of his notes in a plastic folder while wearing sterilized gloves all the way to her house and drops them off with her parents and then briskly walks back home.

yue spends a lot of time just lying in bed reading, and she reads a lot of science books, so she has all sorts of deep pockets of esoteric knowledge that she just rattles off whenever it’s relevant in conversation. most people think she is a freak when she does this, but the first time she ever talks to sokka as kids, he is just like “wow okay wanna be best friends” and she’s like “yeah!!!!” and then they are, and that’s just that.

#yue #modern au #sokkaxyue #sokka #asks #anon #thank you btw!#a lot of these are illness related bc i do what i fucking want ok!!!!!!!!!!!

207 notes · View notes

afaimsarrowverse · 4 years

Text

My 30 Favorite Arrowverse Episodes:

This list reflects my personal opinion and is in no way objective. Everyone has their own taste. Also Love is Love and can not be measured – except on stupid lists like this one. If an episode is not on it, that does not mean I don’t like it (unless it does). Everyone ist entiteled to their own opinion, so please respect mine and don’t reblog or answer to that just to tell me how wrong mine is.

30. The Fellowship of the Spear (Legends of Tomorrow Episode 2.15/31, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Matthew Maala, Directed by: Ben Bray)

This episode is “Legends”-Homage to Tolkien and his works. However the most quotes and nods go to the Peter Jackson Movies, which is no problem, because we love them too. The Legends recruit Tolkien out of the trenches for a treasure hunt, however things go bad and some fans were not to happy with one of the team betraying their own at the end of this episode. But don’t you guys remember Boromir? I really love this one, because it combines two of my favorite things: “Legends of Tomorrow” und Middle Earth.

29. Flashback (The Flash Episode 2.17/40, Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, Directed By: Alice Troughton)

In this episode Barry travels backt to the time of Season 1 and therefore changes the outcome of the Season 1 Episode in question and creates a new timline, which no one but him notices. Later on stuff like this would happen all the time, but this was the first instance, and it was very very wild to have Barry knock out Barry and pretend to be Season 1 Barry. Also we got Eobard and Eddie back and given how much I love both of them it no wonder I love this episode.

28. The Last Temptation of Barry Allen Part 1 (The Flash 6.07/121, Written By: Jonathan Butler, Gabriel Garza, Directed By: Chad Lowe)

Here Barry is infected by Ramsay who gets in his head and in the Speed Force which tries to help but ends up getting attacked by an paranoid and confused Barry, who finally gets to voice all of his frustration about the Speed Force and the way it interfered in his life. This is a very emotional episode that confronts Barrys immanent death, all the losses he had do bare and his conflicted feelings about everything that is going on in his life at this point of his story.

27. The Once and Future Flash (The Flash 3.19/65, Written by: Carina Adly MacKenzie, Directed By: Tom Cavanagh)

In this episode we get to visit the future in which Iris was killed by Savitar. Barry ends up there while trying to find out more about his foe. It’s a dark and depressing „What If“, where we get to see new sides most of our characters and this episodes dives deep into the immanent darkness of the seemingly so bright „Flash“-TV-Series.

26. The Adventures of Supergirl (Supergirl 2.1/21, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Jessic Queller, Directed by: Glen Winter)

This essentially is a Crossover Episode, even though it took Superman three more years to get his own show. However the episode acts as if there is an existing Superman-Show that crosses over into „Supergirl“. This version of the character is as adorable as Kara and a very good antidote to the Snyder Version of the character. Oh, and it does help that the episode is good as well.

25. Nora (The Flash 5.01/93, Written By: Todd Helbing, Sam Chalsen, Directed by: David McWhirter)

Season 5 opens up extremly strong with this episode where Barry and Iris meet their future daughter, who has some secrets up her sleeve that change everything for next one and a half seasons. Nora is perfectly portrayed in this one as a mixture of both of her parents and manages to screw up the timeline imediatly, while everyone is still reeling from the fallout oft the last season finale.

24. The Brave and the Bold (Arrow Episode 3.8/54, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, Grainne Godfree, Directed by: Jesse Warn)

Crossovers were the moments „Arrow“ had a chance to let ist hair down and just be a little bit different for a while. This one has Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco visiting Starling City and the Flash and the Arrow teaming up against Captain Boomerang. It’s still Arrow, but with a splash of „The Flash“ in it, which makes it funnier and nerdier then „Arrow“ usually is. I always loved it.

23. Haunted ( Arrow Episode 4.5/74, Written by: Brian Ford Sullivan, Oscar Balderrama, Directed by: John Badham)

John Constantine crosses over in the Arroverse in this episode which reveals Olivers dealings with him in the past and shows him restoring Saras soul. With this episodes the show started to embrace it supernatural arc, which many fans weren’t too fond of in latter part of this season, but this episodes remains a favorite because here „Arrow“ got mystically weird. Also Johnny Constantine tends to make everything better and we got Sara back, so it’a clearly a win.

22. Kapishon (Arrow Episode 5.17/109, Written By: Brian Ford Sullivan, Emilo Ortega Aldrich,Directed By: Kevin Tancharoen)

This is the episode in which Adrian Chase manages to break Oliver. That sounds painful and yes it is very painful, but it’s really really great at the same time. This episodes asks all the uncomfortable questions the show seemed to shy away from in the previous seasons, builds on Season 5s solid Bratva-Flashback Arc and even presents us Anatoly meeting Malcolm Merlyn. It’s cleary a highlight of the show.

21. The Bottle Episode (Supergirl Episode 5.10/97, Written by: Derek Simon, Directed by: Tawnia McKiernan)

The Post Crisis Carzyness lived in this episode. We got a lot of doppelgangers, most of them Brainys, and a lot of chaos, I mean more chaos then most other shows usually have, except for „Legends“. So I guess this episode was „Supergirl“ trying to do an episode of „Legends“. Also Brainy evolves in this one, so it wasn’t just for the laughs. In short: There was nothing not to like in this one.

20. Welcome to Earth-2/Escape from Earth-2 (The Flash Episodes 2.13-14/36-37, 36: Written By: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Katherine Walczak, Directed By: Millicent Shelton, 37: Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, David Kob, Directed By: J. J. Makaro)

This two parter is the first time we ever visited a parallel earth. We visit Earth-2 in this, where pretty much everything and everyone is different. Adorable Nerd Barry, Cop Iris, Singer Joe and many more ahoy. But Deadshot of Earth-2 is the best thing about this reality. Too bad it pretty much everyone from over there was done away with later, but we will always have these episodes, so that is something.

19. Out of Time (The Flash Episode 1.15/15, Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, Directed By: Thor Freudenthal)

Time Travel is an important plot element of the Arrowverse, but it wasn’t always so. This is the first episode where Barry discovers that he can time travel, after kissing and losing Iris and witnessing the end of Central City. Which is one of those „everyone dies“ instances that are always cool and I always love. Also it’s Season 1 of „The Flash“, where they really couldn’t go wrong most of the time.

18. Starling City (Arrow Episode 8.1/ 161, Written by: Beth Schwartz und Marx Guggenheim, Directed by: James Bamford)

In this one we are essentially reliving the „Arrow“- pilot with a few signifcant changes. Turns out we are actually on Earth-2 and Oliver pretends to be his doppelganger in order to do a thing for The Monitor. Until the shocking ending, this on is like everyone favorites „Arrow“ fanfic come to live. Even the flashforwards were not bothering me in this.

17. Flash VS Arrow (The Flash 1.8/8, Written By: Ben Sokoloswki,m Brooke Eikmeier, Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed By: Glen Winter)

This one was the first real Crossover Episode of the Arrowverse and it blended classic comic book action which Season 1 „Flash“-Style, meaning it was beyond great. We never quite saw Oliver like this before and not very often after, and seeing him and Barry connect is just one of the joys of this superior episode.

16. Worlds Finest (Supergirl Episode 1.18/18, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Michael Grassi, Directed by: Nick Gomez)

Speaking of the first seasons and Crossovers. This was the Crossover we always wanted, but never believed we would get, because back then “Supergirl” was on another network. But we got it anyway. Barry gets stranded on Karas Earth, which leads to a lot of chaos, many nice moment and fine jokes. This was one of the clear highlights of Season 1, and it paved the way for the season finale as well as future crossovers.

15. Myriad/Better Angles (Supergirl 1.19/19-1.20/20, Written By: Yahling Chang, Caitlin Parrish; Ali Adler, Andrew Kreisberg, Robert Rovner, Jessica Queller Directed By: Adam Kane; Larry Teng)

Season 1 of „Supergirl“ ended with this „all or nothing“ two-parter where everything came head to head. Driven and energatic „Supergirl“ cemented itself as one of the superior superheroe shows of it’s time. I loved the show, I loved Kara, I loved Cat and especially in this one.

14. Camelot 3000 (Legends of Tomorrow Episode 2.12/28, Written By: Anderson MacKenzie, Directed By: Antionio Negret)

From the far future to Camelot and King Arthur – this episodes travelled far and mixed those two areas up quite nice. In true Legends fashion Ray became a Knight of the Round Table, Sara got to hit on Guenevere, and Mick got to beat the adversary army with his brain. Yes, you read that one right. Just ask poor Martin about it. Given how much a love both Arthurian lore and the Legends this one remains one of my favorite up to today.

13. Meet the Legends (Legends of Tomorrow Episode 5.1/69, Written by: Grainne Godfree, James Eagan, Directed by: Kevin Mock)

In this episodes Ava tries to race money for the Time Bureau by making a documentary about the Legends and their work. This episode is the documentary and the making oft he documentary. Think Arrows „Emerald Archer“ only way carzier and funnier. The Legends meet Rasputin who kidnappes the camera team, while Ava writes Sara a very weird condolence note, everyone is acting weird(er) because cameras, and well it’s „Legends“ only even nuttier than normally. I love it.

12. Invasion! (2) (Arrow 5.8/100, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Wendy Mericle, Directed by: James Bamford)

In the middle of the big „Invasion“ Crossover „Arrow“ celebrated its 100the episode by looking at a world where the Gambit never sank. While the writers cleary had fun with Barry and Kara in this one, the heart lies in the dream reality, where things are better but sadly not real. Oliver, Thea and the others need to chose the life they want and weg et rewarded with a really great episode while they do so.

11. Raiders of the Lost Art (Legends of Tomorrow Episode 2.9/25, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Chris Fedak, Directed by: Dermott Downs)

This is officially the episode where „Legends“ went nuts. Oh and it’s a delicous one. George Lucas never became a filmmaker after being scared of by Malcolms and Damiens attempts to kill amnesiac Rip Hunter who thinks he is an American filmstudent, whose script is basically the plot of the shows first season. Too bad he can’t find a decent Vandal Savage. And that everyone thinks he is this Rip Hunter guy. Also Mick gets a brain surgey, Ray and Nate change occupations, and Amayas babysits their attempt to get George Lucas back to film school, and thanks god she does otherwise … well otherwise there would be no „Star Wars“ or „Indiana Jones“, would there?

10. Beebo the God of War (Legends of Tomorrrow 3.9/42, Written by: Grainne Goodfree und James Eagan, Directed by: Kevin Mock)

This was supposed to be the sad goodbye to Martin Stein and it still is that as well, but mostly it’s the episode about Beebo Day. You know, the blue god, who hungers for war and conquest? Whose birthday we celebrate once a year in december and … wait? What was I talking about? Oh, yeah Leo tries to make Mick quit drinking and Beebo get’s squeezed a lot. Well you have to see that one to know why it’s a great one, but believe me it is great.

9. Elseworlds 1-3 (Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Part 1: The Flash Episode 5.9/101, Written By: Eric Wallace und Sam Chalsen, Directed By: Kevin Tancharoen und Tom Cavanagh, Part 2: Arrow Episode 7.9/147, Written by: Marc Guggenheim und Caroline Dries, Directed by: James Bamford, Part 3: Supergirl Episode 4.9/74, Written by: Mac Guggenheim, Derek Simon und Rob Rovner, Directed by: Jesse Warn)

In this Crossover Oliver und Barry switch identities which no one on Earth-1 believes, but Kara’s help leads to an evil not-quite Superman and a brand new reality. Also we are introduced to Batwoman and Gotham. And Lois Lane. Well, there is a lot going in there - even Gary guest stars on „Supergirl“ – but mainly Oliver is Barry and Barry is Oliver and that if fun and Kara makes a connection with the Elseworld version of Earth-1 Alex Danvers which is also great.

8. Legends of To-Meow-Meow (Legends of Tomorrow Episode 4.8/59, Written by: James Eagan und Ray Utarnachitt, Directed by: Ben Bray)

Sulky about missing out on the Crossover the Legends crossovered with themselves in Season 4. John and Charlie destroyed the timeline for selfish reasons, and now everything is wrong and everything they do makes things worse instead of better. Zari gets to spend most of the episode as a cat, the rest of the Legends get turned into puppets, we meet the Sirens of Spacetime and the Custodians of the Chronology, and a gay kiss saves all of spacetime. Why can’t all shows be more like „Legends“?

7. The Scientist/Three Ghosts (Arrow Episode: 2.8/31-2.9/32, 32: Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Geoff Johns, Ben Sokolowski, Directed by: Michael Schultz, John Behring)

This two parter introduces us to Barry Allen and culuminates in the „Arrow“-Version of a „Christmas Carol“ Oliver gets visited by three ghosts and Barry gets hit by lightning. Among other things. All very good stuff – I watch „Three Ghosts“ every Christmas, if I manage to get around to it. But this also is very the Arrowverse was born. And back then it was the best of „Arrow“ they ever did. And it still stands out today, combindes strong Flashbacks with a strong Main Story, which is all we ever wanted from „Arrow.“

6. Resist/Nevertheless, She Persisted (Supergirl 2.21/41-2.22/42, Written by: Derek Simon, Jessica Queller, Andrew Kreisberg, Robert Rovner, Caitlin Parrish, Directed by: Milicent Shelton, Glen Winter)

Season 2 of „Supergirl“ ends with a very strong two-parter that features the Daxamits Invasion of earth. Superman is in it, but these are all about Kara who get’s inspired by Cat Grant again, goes on to inspire everyone else in turn, faces of against the truly evil mother of the love of her life, and has to make a big sacrifice. The two parter was especially well written and no season finale of the show later ever measured up to it afterwards.

5. Reset (Arrow Episode 8.6/166, Written by: Onalee Hunter Hughes und Maya Houston, Directed by: David Ramsey)

Yes it’s a time loop episode in „Arrow“! Yes, it’s still „Arrow“, it will still break your heart. But it’s probably the moment the show embraced it’s funny pages origin the most wholehearted. It will make you cry in all the right ways. We get to say goodbye to Quentin in a prober way in this finally and that is beautiful. And Oliver gets around to accept his destiny which is heart breaking, but still this is my favorite episode of „Arrow“ if you get right down to it.

4. Fast Enough (The Flash 1.23/23, Written By: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Gabrielle Stanton, Directed By: Dermott Downs)

Season 1 of „The Flash“ has the strongest Season Finale in the history of the Arrowverse. In a very real way it could only get downhill from here. This one will break your heart in so many ways, but it’s the good sort of pain, that makes an impact, may even destroy a part of you, but makes you come out stronger in the end. The whole season comes together in this one and never falls apart (that will only happen later, if you think about it, but it’s explained away by later reveals). Sadly neither this show nor the others could ever measure up to this one, but on the other hand that is exactly what made it special.

3. The Faithful (Supergirl 3.4/46, Written By: Paula Yoo, Katie Rose Rogers, Directed by: Jesse Warn)

This one is my favorite episode of „Supergirl“. Mainly because this is what a certain director tried to do nut failed at in three movies: An exploration of the idea that Kryptonians are essentially Gods compared to humans. This episode is always respectful and has much to say, it touches on Karas own faith, shows us a new and intriguing side of James, and creates a villain that should have ruled the show and the season, but who sady stumbled later. In this one though Coville is just perfect. Like the whole episode.

2. Duet (The Flash Episode 3.17/63, Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, Greg Berlani, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed By: Dermott Daniels Downs)

It’s the Musical Episode! This „Flash“/„Supergirl“-Crossover has all the jazz – singing, dancing, kissing, opening up about feelings – and also a mini „Glee“-Reunion. Kara and Barry are trapped in a Musical Dream World and doomed to follow the plot, while Wally has to confront Darren Crisses Musis Meister. For vocals sakes the episode also includes John Barrowman and Victor Gaber of course, because there was no excuse to make this episode without them. I love this one just as much as it was to be expected and I will never forgive them for never making another Musical episode in any of the shows.

1. The One Where We are trapped on TV (Legends of Tomorrow Episode 5.13/81, Written by: Grainne Godfree, James Eagan, Directed by: Marc Guggenheim)

And the award for the Craziest TV Episode of all time goes to this one, where the Legends are trapped on TV. Charlie put them there to protect them, and so we get very familiar but strange versions of „Friends“, „Downtown Abbey,“ and „Star Trek“ with the Legends as the main characters instead. We also meet a murderous Mister Parker, get another musical number lead by the Tarazi siblings, and are as amazed as Mona about everything that is going on here. Can „Legends“ ever top what they did here? Or anything else in the Arrowverse? Let’s not challenge them, I am sure they can. But until then, we have this one, which of course is not only my favorite episode of „Legends“ but also the whole Arrowverse.

#Arrowverse #favorite episodes #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #legends of tomorrow #everyone is entitled to their opinion #please respect mine

6 notes · View notes

ain-t-bovvered · 4 years

Text

15X12 Commentary

Bunch of tired and caffeinated Europeans ( plus a sleepy American) scream together, and then die and try to get on with their day ( lol AS IF)

@smol-and-grumpy (Nat)

@dean-winchesters-bacon (Kat)

@waywardbaby (Zee)

@ain-t-bovvered (Giulia)

Nat: welp i guess we'll start?

Giulia: Ye

Zee: I know we’re not ready but yes

Nat: count as usual?

Giulia: U r the only one ready snort

Zee: Shush I’m faking it

Nat: 3

Nat: 2

Nat: 1

Nat: go

Zee: The recap

Giulia: Already hate it

Giulia: ...kaia

Giulia: Ok but i loved dean shout there

Giulia: But i also don t give a fuck about kaia

Nat: i could make a list of people i don't give a fuck about

Giulia: Why the empty has a dick

Nat: earth 2

Giulia: Look how much-waisted air time

Nat: this better go somewhere

Zee: What is he on?

Giulia: Oh look das me every time a clerk looks too clingy

Zee: President Hillary Clinton

Giulia: Nice

Giulia: Radio shed ads look like mediaworld *winks in italian*

Zee: Can he shut up?

Giulia: Nerd

Giulia: Oh and another nerd

Nat: weird that on every earth people are still dumb as fuck

Giulia: The World

Zee: Oh no

Giulia: Yeah that looks my kinda world

Giulia: Aaah beard dean

Zee: Other toys

Nat: He can't even make a world that's gonna function

Giulia: I can get what I want from a hundred worlds

Giulia: What she said

God/ ME A DESTIEL SHIPPER ABOUT DESTIEL ENDGAME: Dean says I'm not gonna get the ending I want. And I don't know. Maybe... I...I mean, that shouldn't matter, right? I've gotten what I want from hundred of Sams and Deans. I could get what I want from a hundred more. And I don't care.

Nat: you can see the green screen. I mean him standing before one

Giulia: Amazing

Zee: Clear the board

Giulia: Can he clean this one too. I think he’s already doing it

Nat: our world

Nat: how do you know. still, he doesn't take out the dumb

Zee: Vegan

Giulia: ...vegan lasagna *cringes in Italian*

Giulia: Because he feels for them. Between similars u no

Giulia: Aah veins

Zee: I still don’t like it

Giulia: Ah so we are actually where we left off. I can tell u where my head is

Zee: I can tell you where I want his head to be

Giulia: Ooooh nice

Giulia: Look at Jack hair tho

Giulia: BABE

Nat: "I HAVE SPEND TIME WITH HER" *wink wink nudge nudge*

Giulia: 50k

Giulia: Scythe kink

Nat: ouch

Zee: FOCUS

Giulia: Bottom Dean

Nat: on what? dildo scythe?

Giulia: Please comment and reblog

Giulia: Hey

Giulia: No OnE

Zee: Is jack chubbier?

Giulia: Don t talk to my son like this

Zee: Sam should stop doing that thing with his face

Nat: He's just older

Giulia: I can count his gray hair

Giulia: ...

Giulia: AAAAAAAAH beautiful

Zee: How domestic

Giulia: Babe

Zee: Look at that little smile

Giulia: SO CUTE

Giulia: thank you for a small bubble of happiness. That shook my soul a bit

Zee: They seem a little happy. I’m scared. Oh there it is

Giulia: That’s a fancy-ass whiskey bottle. I want it

Zee: Kaia came looking for the spear

Giulia: Cute where is cas

Zee: Babysitting

Giulia: Of course she kicks their asses

Giulia: I wanna choke him too

Nat: they can't even fight one small girl. they're getting old

Zee: Can he get any deeper?

Giulia: What she said

Zee: THE VOIVE I MEAN

Giulia: Oh come on HOW CONVENIENT

Giulia: they pulled a Mary Winchester

Zee: Snort

Nat: i don't know what to think about all this

Giulia: Oh looks it’s us after the coronavirus. Eating lizards

Nat: I mean

Giulia: I just watch

Nat: I would eat it 🤷🏻‍♀

Zee: Dean said not tasted kinda decent

Nat: do I have to

Zee: YES

Giulia: SNORT

Zee: SEE? Babysitting

Giulia: ...listen….How in the hell...War Strategist angel of the lord cas loses at force 4. Fuck off

Giulia: Always makeup on point

Giulia: Not Kaia not helping

Nat: oh I see jody had time for lash extensions

Giulia: She must not be in quarantine

Giulia: ...La piegatrice mondiale. What a horrible translation

Giulia: Oh dean has nice hair. I wanna pull it

Zee: This is going so well

Giulia: Look at cas hair

Nat: He always goes like "Cas-tee-el"

Giulia: Tee-el

Zee: Are you only looking at hair?

Giulia: Cas sounds so done

Zee: But so good

Giulia: WHAT A SOFT LOOK I HATE IT DON T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT

Giulia: A bit of a smokey eye on Kaia, What she used? Burned sticks? charcoal? Burned lizard’s tails?

Zee: Is it me or Jody looks older and Cas looks younger?

Nat: sorry but not Kaia can go fuck herself

Giulia: WHATEVER

Nat: so much airtime

Giulia: WASTED

Giulia: ...Shouldn’t he be strong af

Nat: I hate that the female's make up is always on point.

Zee: He’s gonna do something stupid

Giulia: Definition of a Winchester

Giulia: What a dad tone

Nat: I like Merl. Merl is me

Giulia: HEEEEY

Giulia: AHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Giulia: AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Nat: Winchester dumb

Zee: Winchester dumb

Giulia: what a mood

Nat: she's my fave character

Giulia: I love her

Nat: i want her in all the ep

Giulia: I stan her

Nat: give her more air time

Giulia: She’s the smartest in the room

Giulia: What a sassy reaper. Like my fav sassy demon

Giulia: I love how the Winchesters are there watching, being all: yup, that’s our dumb kid

Nat: Winchester stupid

Zee: They know she’s right

Giulia: DONT BORROW MY ANGEL LIKE A BATTERY

Zee: Dead angel walking

Nat: I seriously thought Cas holds out the cup he ejaculated in like in a sperm bank

Giulia: Can I unread this

Nat: No u can't, that's what happens when I’m in lockdown

Giulia: Look at that cutie with his cute backpack

Nat: boy scout dean

Zee: Sam’s smirk

Giulia: Babysitting again

Giulia: BS angel chivalry

Giulia: SHE’S SO DONE

Giulia: love it

Nat: she should have said "in your own time"

Giulia: Me and you have all eternity, they don’t

Giulia: ...wasting seconds of intense glares

Giulia: Oh look the gremlins again

Giulia: The last healthy Italians vs the infected ones

Giulia: Last Toilet paper’s rolls and dumb scared people

Nat: snorts

Zee: You’re on a roll

Giulia: Dean eyelashes are fluttering in the wind. Sam needs a hair elastic

Nat: I wish something else would flutter in the wind

Giulia: my fucks

Zee: Hey kid

Giulia: WHY ARE THEY HUGGING

Zee: It’s before corona

Nat: I thought they didn't like each other that much

Giulia: Exactly. They have like 0 relationship, I don’t understand

Nat: It's weird.

Nat: if she should hug someone it should be sam. but what do I know

Zee: Have y’all understood the point of all this? Cause I haven’t

Giulia: Literally none

Nat: I’m bothered by all the other things

Giulia: She had time to do her eyelashes

Nat: so we did literally waste an ep with getting Kaia back, like for real? I watched this?

Giulia: ...AH

Nat: you know the last season could have been so fucking good

Zee: Wtf?

Giulia: K

Nat: ah

Zee: She found out

Giulia: What a meme

Giulia: Billy: last season

The reaper: my joy

Giulia: Death is angry

Zee: I was busy In Italy

Giulia: Oh wow

Nat: Merl had one job

Giulia: The writers had one job

Nat: Billy is us because she has no patience in them wasting an ep freeing Kaia

Giulia: Then u killed me

Giulia: Smoulder time

Giulia: Aaaah a baby

Zee: What?

Nat: Meh

Giulia: Why

Nat: God's destruction is Jack

Giulia: Another meme

Giulia: Writers

Giulia: Us asking if season15 will be amazing

Nat: right

Giulia: Go watch the promo

Nat: is that a fiat

Giulia: That’s a 500, my old car snort

Nat: Are they gay antiques, dealers

Zee: Apart from the reaper everything else was pretty lame. We waited almost two months for that?

Giulia: We went through corona for that

Nat: they look like gay antique dealers. especially being outraged when Sam has to lose the man bun

Giulia: With their cardigans and shit

Giulia: We should all live together. Yikes. They gonna die

Nat: they would scream

Giulia: High pitched

Zee: Tf did I just watch ? Loved deans bracelets tho

Giulia: They’re Jensen’s . Probably

Giulia: Oh maybe they are sam and dean that grew up as men of letters

Zee: Gay men of letters

Giulia: Can they get hot and bothered by Castiel?

Zee: Maybe not both of them

Giulia: Nah Nah both

Zee: Will the angel be gay too?

Giulia: There will be no angel probably. Also, Angels are probably sexless so who cares.

Kat: Y’all finished?

Giulia: Yup

Zee: Yes

Kat: And?

Giulia: WHERE IS THE FLAVOUR

Zee: LLLAAAAMMMEEE

Nat: I wasted my time

Kat: Yeah. Who gives a flying fuck about Kaia. Literally no one

Giulia: guess they are tying the loose ends

Kat: No one has thought about her in 2 years, she was a dead end

Giulia: Idk what the point was

Kat: Idk to have Jack use his powers for some reason? Surely they could have found something better

Giulia: Idk man. Between this fucking virus and jib and life and this writing, I’m very much blegh. I mean I love my boys. But

Zee: Let’s just hope they give them a decent ending and not something so lame that it will ruin everything

Nat: You love them and you want the best for them. not half-assed writing

Giulia: Yeah

Nat: lol what show have you been watching the last season

Kat: Yeah. It’ll be ruined. I have no hope of anything else

Nat: I don't have much hope but also that will maybe make me feel better when it's not as bad as I think it will be

Zee: I know but I can’t let it drag me down

Giulia: Yup

If you want to get tagged send an ask HERE or to @waywardbaby or a smoke signal, idk whatever I’m tired af.

TAGS: @wayward-angelgirl @destiel-honeypie @mariekoukie6661 @dragontamerm @closetspngirl @rainflowermoon @mattiecat @bunnybaby121115 @aliaitee2 @jacks-word-of-the-day @4evamc @dammitsammy @legendary-destiel @winchesterprincessbride @destielhoneybee @castiellover20 @ravenhg @evvvissticante @emoryhemsworth @markofdean79 @janndishsstuff

#supernatural 15x12 #15x12 galaxy brain #spn 15x12 #Episode commentary #SUPERNATURAL COMMENTARY #spn commentary #15x12 commentary #spn gifs #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel

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bookishbea · 4 years

Text

Black Friday Reaction

Okay so I’ll be live tweeting Black Friday but none of it will have any sense to it but it’ll just be my reactions

1. The Paul thing is really bothering me

2. I really love the mention of the other characters

3. If Jane is mention is the story about the mom mentioned some more

4. Is the delivery man ted (cause he’s also a sleazeball

5. It’s weird seeing Cory not play a pure bean

6. I love California MIA

7. The little sister (Im sorry I’m bad at names) I self project as autistic and she something else idk

8. Did anyone else noticed Robert’s Australian accent come out?

9. Like I said this is out of order so yeah but I personally think the second song in the show was very shocking as I’m not used to very serious starkid songs

10. When Robert gestures smoking i think its lowkey a refrence to the smoke club

11. I have a crush on lex

12. I love Lauren’s charecter so much

13. I love the name linda becuase it could be like a karen without using that name

14. Not to get poltical but i choose to belive they made an antivax joke

15. Also the marvel nerd in me loves the name becky barnes

16. I know its probaly not on purpose but joeys charecters costume in line looks like the homeless guy’s one

17. Jaimey is great as always

18. The conversation is so cringe i love it

19. I kinda hope torture porn is a fanfic refrence (i know most people would want me to say spies are forever but nope)

20. I love Lauren but shouldnt her accent be included when she sings

21. I love Jeff’s reaction

22. I may get some hate for this but what was bothering me in tgwdlm and i notice in starkid is lack of fan comments in the captions

23. As a theatre fan i love the toy zone song (i am not sure if thats the right name) espcially the do wop becuase it reminds me of older musicals

24. Also since i watched tgwdlm and black friday a day apart its weird to come from songs happening because they are infected to songs happening cause its a musical

25. i love the love the line we are not relaibly to anyone who dies becuase they clearly show in the trailer that someone will die (this is not a spoiler if you watch the trailer for Black Friday)

26. I love Corey but when he dances i notice a bulge (i am not a perv he makes it very obvious)

27. So i rewinded it to make sure i wanst going crazy and realized something as lex says the pepper spray line. She would be good as janis ian

28. I love the touch money part its so cute even if its not supposed to be

29. Jaime plays a perv really well

30. I love Jon’s charecter its hilarious

31. Also i love jon and lauren interactions so it was cool seeing them together not as paul and emma

32. I love seeing more of Jon because although hes reaally good at playing paul paul doesnt have any flavor and its cool seeing jon do something diffrent

33. Jeff’s fuck you

34. Okay I was right it was the homeless guy and i bet the money is paul’s money

35. And this is not a sterotpye as i am jewish myself but i bet Laurens charecter is jewish

36. Its sad that the price thing is true

37. So i am a theatre fan and do not watch got but that music kinda reminds me of got

38. Cant tell if jeff’s charecter is gay and a perv or just a perv (i realzie this could be mmisinterpreted as homophobic i just mean to say that jamie’s charecter just seems like a full out perv where as i cant tell with jeff’s)

39. Obviously you shouldnt be that insane but i do like the lines about how you are in charge of life and dont care about what others think. its goood life advice

39. Looks like Paul’s boss got his wish

40. They are all idiots for holding up the doll when everyone wants to get it

41. Corey’s charecter is like shit, money isnt that imporant

42. Becky why are you a part of this you have moral high ground (yes i am ignorning the fact that cast usually join in dance numbers even if their charecter isnt a part of it)

43. Shouldnt tom get ptsd (see above)

44. Lex you already have one (see above)

45. So i may be overthinking things but how curt says never should settle is in the tune of spies are forever

46. Is it just me or did anyone else notice when the security guard comes in the tune of show me your hands comes in

47. I dont know why but i do love soft bullies because hes like hey im punching you but only for the kid

48. Some may say its schizo or something hannah has but its anxiery or something from how shes expressing it

49. I feel like hannah has a superpower and can tell whats happening

50. Maybe webby is actually wiggly

51. Baby (both hannah and robert)

52. Please tell me my babies not dead

53. Jon’s eee is adorable and silly

54. Wait hes alive

55. Wait no hes dead, im sad liek starkid is supposed to be fun and happy this is the darkest star kid yet. Even oregon deaths were silly

56. I love starkid but this is making me anxious i cant tell if its good anxious or bad anxious

57. Also i relate to the black and white thing not fully but liek whenever i dont feel well sometimes my brain is overstimulating but only in my head its very hard to explain

58. Also i think sometimes kids on the spectrum and im not an expert but i do have it kind of make a friend in their head and i do that too sometimes just to give me advice

59. Also i hope they dont get rid of the black and white as sometimes people go more crazy without the figurative voice in their head

60. Like i said this is going to be random order so i like that emma adopted paul;s Okay and no im not making a tfios refrence

61. Poor Tim

62. Poor becky but even less

63. i thought they were supposed to be mad at g-d but in this and tgwdlm they like g-d

64. I cant tell the other pins on joey’s jacket but the first two i notice are mr wiggly and paul

65. I love Lauren’s acting you can see the very sublte sadness in her

66. Lauren and Joey together ahhhh

67. I know its probaly not a big deal but they should give a seziure warning before the tv scene

68. Did they reuse curts spies are forever outfit

69. Really starkid the obama refrence seriously, i cant tell if im mad or laughing

70. How did Bob get one

71. I do realize they are talking irl but i cant help but wonder if the nazis were a spies are forever refrence

72. Does wiggly have a special power or something

73. I think its similar to the metero the closer you are the more power it has over you

74. The starkid special effects we all know and love

75. Also is that mcnamara

76. Also maybe shooting it (the doll) does the same thing that shooting the affceted does. Give them no power

77. I cant tell what the music reminds me of exactly but the tune does kinda refrence a diffrent star kid song

78. Jeff looks so proud of himself for the peeps line

79. I love the purposeful i presume reuse of lines

80. Is peip like men in black

81. Also hatchetfield kind of reminds me of night vale

82. Is the black and white like the upside down?

83. I wonder if the point was purposeful since someone was filming or just choreographed

84. Yes Jon Singing!!!!!

85. I love the act two opener

86. Did his parents really name him christmas?!?

87. Oh hes literally related to santa

88. I love lauren and joey as eleves

89. Noel another christmas name

90. Isnt the little dance move like a genie move or something

91. Its so cute that she insitincitvely went to their seats

92. Also carving is goals

93. Even though its a penis its still goals

94. I know what you are, say it, santa clause

95. Tom dont yell at your girl

96. Poor Tom

97. But also dont make this about you

98. They probaly werent the head of the school since they were nice, i am sorry but thats true

99. Yass girl fight his ass

100. Also the theatre kid in me is picturing all that jazz

101. he ran into my knife he ran into my knife ten times

102. Yes Becky’s husband (i forget the name sue me) is bad but i feel like becky is more sinister then we realize

103. Becky’s line even if it isnt meant to be is so funny

104. The girl who plays Becky could play Barbara

105. I love how Joey and Lauren look into the camera

106. Jamie saying santa awww such a pure bean

107. The person in the wiggly onsie is goals

108. Matrix glasses for the win

109. Is wilbur a refrence to Charelots Web?

110. Its a cult a cult of wiggly

111. I feel like Sherman young is around 30-40

112. I love how its mommy to sound less pervy

113. Oh wait never mind Linda is mom

114. Shit thats fucked up they killed him

115. I am right a jew no non jew says mensch

116. To quote jared klienman kinky (shoe kiss scene)

117. Also i love this song the adore song

118. Why does them picking up Lauren give me Draco vibes

119. Wait he isnt dead?? im so confused

120. Wait he is dead???

121. Also ethan is creepy now

122. But Roberts expressions are goals

123. Robert your proffesor hidgens is showing

124. What the how does he know her name

125. Savage Wiggly

126. Wiggly is more funny than scary

127. But my poor baby dont be scared

128. What the fuck tom

129. Also poor baby number two

130. At first you think becky is made about him hurting a child but no its about the doll

131. What the fuck Becky

132. Also I wonder if thats the same serum that Hidgens used

133. Tom yelling at the audince is hilarious

134. Also Becky singing is giving me little shop vibes

135. Becky are you drunk or something you so stupid

136. But yayy my baby doesnt get hurt

137. More starkid special effects

138. Also the lighting nod to tgwdlm

139. Also why did they take my baby (see i told you random)

140. So the perv is wiggly

141. Also if he can appear in regular formation on earth why does he need to be the doll

142. Oh wait never mind he explains it

143. Joey talking to the audience and making them hold the apple is goals

144. I love Joey’s song

145. MIA = Missing in Action = Made in America

146. Wait im wrong Joey cant be Wiggly unless he has super powers he cant be in two places at once

147. I know they dont mean sex but still wtf

148. Lauren looks so done i cant

149. Seziure warning after mr presidnet leaves the black and white

150. Unless it was purposeful they should have hidden the dolls better backstage

151. Wait didnt hannah say something about two doors earlier?

152. Seriously Sherman ponies

153. I love the going back line

154. My poor baby lex

155. No Lex dont die not you too

156. Haha throwback to tgwdlm

157. Yes baby you got the gun

158. Also die perv die

159. Eagle screeching is goals

160. Yes lex use that logic

161. Also it makes sense only the adults can be brainwashed

162. There were only adults no children, scary (not sarcastic i promise)

163. Seriously starkid Fortnight

164. Thats why you should never fully grow up

165. Woah what Lex says is deep

166. Yessss Tom

167. Wait Tom dont hold the gun

168. Wait is Charolette alive or just a reuse of costume, if so why would they have jaimie wear it

169. No dont take her magic hat

170. Haha stupid hats cant be magic only dolls obviously

171. Does lauren say something like fucking knife in another show too?

172. Lauren screaming gives me my father will hear about this vibes

173. Also give my baby her hat back

174. Yass Lauren get it girl (i do realize shes playing the villian but still)

175. Yass Robert get it

176. Even though shes a viilain i dont like seeing Lauren get killed

177. But also how did they get the bullet wound on her so quick im impressed

178. Haha the way Gary stops everything to talk to gerald is goals

179. Like hes like oh shit money

180. And then hes like oh wait i have to pretend to care

181. I love how exagerated their dying is

182. Thats an impressive quick change

183. Yess Emma Hidgens

184. But also no hell fuck up again

185. Also Paul interupting is goals

186. Haha hannah you go girl

187. First off I love the song

188. Song off Hannah’s voice

189. Is paul scared normal or because of the hive

190. Wait all the tgwdlm charecters are back like nothing happened im confused

191. Haha the Hatchfield band is back

#black friday #starkid #tickle me wiggly #the guy who didn't like musicals

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atamascolily · 4 years

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Lily reads Star Wars: Red Harvest, part six

In which EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE (and no, I do not exaggerate). Eat your heart out--oh, wait, sorry, eat someone else’s heart out. My bad.

(If you’re just joining me, check out the “Red Harvest” tag on my blog for previous posts)

We left off with Darth Scabrous waiting for Zo in the library. There's the obligatory villain monologue with some much-needed backstory.

“This library,” he said, “is the oldest part of the academy, older even than the tower itself. It was constructed over a thousand years ago by a Sith Lord named Darth Drear. He founded the academy, back when the planet itself was young. The ancient writings tell about how he used his first students as laborers. For hundreds of years, the Masters at the academy believed that a good many of those students died down in these very chambers, using the Force to move hundreds of tons of snow and ice and dig out these corridors and chambers to house Drear’s vast collection of … specimens. It was thought that Drear worked the students until they died from exhaustion.”

Blah blah blah Sith holocron blah blah blah eternal life. The usual stuff.

“Before he died, Darth Drear wrote of the final stage of the process—the step that he himself was never able to achieve. He dispatched his sentries to a nearby planet to abduct a Jedi and bring him to the secret temple underneath the library. After ingesting the elixir, in the final hours before his body gave in completely, under exactly the right circumstances and conditions, Drear planned to use a ceremonial Sith sword to cut open the Jedi’s chest while he was still alive, and eat his heart. Only then, with that final infusion of midi-cholorians still warm from the Jedi’s blood, would the decay process be held back—granting the Sith Lord his ultimate immortality.”

I TOLD YOU THEY WENT THERE.

The plant!zombies show up again - turns out they weren't really dead! They carry Zo down to the Secret Sith Basement at Scabrous's command, where the sacrifice is to take place. But don’t worry, not!Qui-gon is in hot pursuit! The tree librarian grabs not!Qui-Gon and dangles him in the air. I am LIVING for this. “No need for your weapon here,” the voice said. “Not in this place of learning. We are both learned beings, are we not? Enlightened and informed by the written word. No need for the encumbrances of physical violence.” It uttered another bulky, dusty chuckle. “Look upon me, if you like. Seek my face.”

There's a bunch of book avalanches. not!Qui-Gon goes into the tree!Librarian's head at his own urging and sees his memories

It was the librarian’s name, Trace realized, his patronymic, and somehow he knew that on his home planet it meant “lover of knowledge,” a perfect choice for—

HOW DID HE END UP ON A SITH PLANET AS THE SITH LIBRARIAN IF HE WASN'T ACTUALLY EVIL?? Sadly, we don't get answers.

Also, more relevant to the plot, not!Qui-Gon sees the secret Sith basement being built and gets caught up on all the backstory that Scabrous already revealed. Then everything catches on fire and not!Qui-Gon uses the Force to retrieve his lightsaber and create an air bubble to ward off the flames.

He looked at the lightsaber, laboring to evacuate every other thought from his mind. At the Jedi Temple, they had taught that it was never a matter of manipulating the object, but of eliminating the space that separated you from it. Yet at this moment, the object in question had never felt so far away....

The timing of what happened next was critical. Deactivating the bubble, he opened his hand, and the lightsaber flew into it. Its handle was almost too hot to hold, but the solidity of it had never felt better in his life.

I like this attention to detail in my Star Wars.

Not!Qui-gon gets pulled down to the basement via plant zombies for the final showdown as the library burns around him.Good-bye, Tree Librarian -- you may have been evil at the end, or perhaps this whole time, but you were fucking rad.

The mechanic is still alive and in hiding. He gets lured out by Kindra's pleading, only to reveal it was a trap by the zombies and she's a prisoner. The zombies rip her to pieces but the mechanic gets away. I’m so mad because even though I knew it was a trap, and I knew she was going to die, I hoped she got a more badass ending. Sigh.

Meanwhile, the bounty hunter and the newly liberated HK droid discover the zombies are hiding INSIDE the Tauntauns, a la Aliens and it's gross, and now we have zombie tauntauns, too. Turns out the HK droid hates the Sith too! But the bounty hunter got sprayed with tauntaun spit so now he's infected. Good thing droids can't get this... right?

Scabrous tries to kill Zo but not!Qui-gon makes a dramatic entrance and stops him. Not!Qui-gon gets murdered while Zo watches in horror and... I guess he really has more in common with Qui-Gon than I initially thought!

Scabrous transforms into his final form, but the orchid wakes up just in time, and Zo tells it to grow while she starts going to town on the Scabrous and slaughters him with his own sword. It doesn't take, so she switches to her brother's lightsaber, which does better, since it actually cauterizes.

She climbs out of the pit after Scabrous is dead, only to find the rest of the zombie horde waiting for her. The bounty hunter and droid rescue her, but they're attacked by the academy's perimeter cannons, so everthing gets worse fast. The droid jumps out and turns to the lasers on the tower, destroying everything - including the orchid if it's still alive? I'm a little fuzzy on the details here. Fortunately, the mechanic is flying the plane and he's okay.

Zo goes into the trophy room, only to find that the bounty hunter is now a zombie, but he locks himself in a cage before he turns and tells Zo to send him out the airlock, which she does--along with the entire grisly contents of the room, and a last zombie stowaway. FINAL GIRL VICTORY.

Zo returns to Jedi Greenhouse Planet, traumatized but alive. Turns out the guy who we thought was dead in the bounty hunter attack at the beginning of the book is actually alive, so that's good. There's a new orchid waiting for her:

You were with my seed-brother, the orchid said, arching toward her. Is that true?

Yes, I was, she told it, and thought about the voice of the first orchid, the one that she still heard in her mind. I still am, in a way. He saved my life.

Really?

Bennis smiled again, the indulgent smile of a proud parent, and gave the orchid a small pat.

D'awwww. Wait, so the original orchid isn’t really dead? She can still hear him even though it’s gone and they’re separated? Did I miss something in the tumult of the finale?? Or is Zo being metaphorical here?

Also, I’m so curious how the Jedi just... got another orchid so quickly. In our world, orchids can be clonally propagated in HUGE batches, so the AgriCorps could potentially be churning these things out at a massive rate. This raises WAY more world-building questions that this book is NOT going to answer, and it frustrates me, but I doubt the author knows much about actual orchids, so... *shrugs*

But cuteness aside, Zo decides she'd rather study on the Jedi Temple at Coruscant (the mechanic will take her) because she has too much PTSD. Also, this means that if anybody else tries to kidnap the new orchid, they won’t get Zo! I don’t know why the Jedi are even raising these orchids, given that they’re in demand on the Sith black market. Didn’t Zo explain they were the critical ingredient for an awful zombie plague?? DID NOBODY LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE??

This is supposed to be a happy/hopeful ending, and it kinda is, but Zo apparently doesn’t know / the author forgot that the Jedi Temple was destroyed when Corsucant got sacked eight years earlier (as Trace tells us in his introductory scene)... which means she's walking into ANOTHER haunted temple nightmare and doesn't realize it yet. We'll call it.. Red Harvest II: Coruscant Nights, or maybe just Blue Harvest. How about that??

Frode would be waiting for her with the ship, ready to take her back to Coruscant, and whatever might be waiting for her there. The mechanic would be good traveling company, she sensed—there was a low-key air about him that bespoke dozens of untold stories, events that had made up his life and taken him to the unlikely destination of Odacer-Faustin. She felt herself already beginning to trust him.

Wow, I was not expecting this dude to survive, but okay. Also, he got tagged in the beginning as kinda greedy (scuttling the engines of the other bounty hunters to sell) and kinda lazy/stupid/opportunistic/desperate (for ending up as the mechanic for Sith Hogwarts in the first place). But okay, whatever, I guess.

And the moral:

The future was scary, but you couldn’t avoid it, anymore than you could outrun the past.

OR A MASSIVE ZOMBIE HORDE, AM I RIGHT??

Wow, that was a trip.

I feel like this was better than I had any right to expect from the premise, but still felt like a B-grade horror movie. I like the tantalizing hints of what world-building we do get, and I think this novel is excellent fodder for future horror/Halloween fics. Otherwise, I’d skip this unless you are a “must read everything in Legends” purist, enjoy Sith shit, enjoy watching Sith die in horrific ways, and/or a diehard plant nerd like me.

RANDOM TRIVIA: Wookiepeedia says the first draft had a character named "Middish Sunblade, modeled after Holden Caulfield, but Sunblade was removed from the rewrite because he was whiny and nobody could stand him," which is just too true and too funny for words. Also, an actually-in-character Holden Caulfield expy would last approximately 30 seconds at Sith Hogwarts before being stabbed... I’m just saying.

#star wars #red harvest #space orchids #space botany #lily liveblogs

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yeswritingsandwritings · 4 years

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COVID Diaries; Pennies

It is March 2020 and I’ve channeled the spirit of Paul Revere. As Los Angeles erupts into rioting and mass fentanyl suicide, I dive headfirst into the cabin of the Mazda, and gun the packed ship upwards along the vacant I5 corridor. Every smouldering city under Gavin Newsom looks further gone than the last. The navigation takes me on some perverse fantasy detour thru post-apocalyptic San Francisco. It’s been a long time coming but now it’s solidified. The mayor and her delegates have chomped their cyanide pills and now the streets and bridges offer rotting cars beside silent, beautiful Victorian manors. Still in full color, the sky is blue and the sun is yellow, gleaming indifferently. I am nervous about San Franscisco County. The shelter in place order says no one shall be out on the street without proper reason. And, proper reason or not, I have a pharmacy of drugs in the trunk of my car. Will it be enough to wait out the pandemic in my mother’s house? Enough to keep me sane tucked in the basement of the compound on Cougar Mountain, Issaquah, Washington, for GodKnowsHowLong? My very own Bavarian Alps.

For years in LA I have lived for high speed and hard sex in a blackout frenzy which no young American could denigrate without looking like a nerd. In our culture of excess I sought the most insane, unexplored corridors. Chavionistic romps through the bitter forests of lust, contamination, too-young suicide, too-good blowjobs that leave explosions on this cast of characters flown from every corner of the globe, all with the same indelible fever. I come to now, in this chaotic month handed down by God, March 2020, and I’m withdrawing from all of it in the penthouse on the side of the mountain.

In this moment the fantasy is fading fast, like being jolted from a wet dream by a home invasion. For a lot of people the American dream was already a flickering ember in the distance, a relic of some stupid pilgrimgrage for egoic glory, a blind propaganda puzzle piece with no jigsaw to belong to. But I had formed my own relationship with the concept, and, until now, had believed wholeheartedly in the myth in America; or at least that myth’s capacity to spur significant action, which could abolish hunger and pain, mistreatment and misunderstanding, which could deliver us from evil and unto the kingdom of heaven.

I am not, to many of her 300 million pairs of eyes, a portrait of traditional American success. I am the starving artist archetype. I’ve lived in abandoned buildings and shot cocaine into my veins in the speeding bathroom of many an Amtrak carriage. These may be my most definitive traits, save for the music I somehow manage to draw out of all of this. Albums worth of potential answers to the impossible questions. Sometimes I think I’ve reached the peak, with the LSD and the naked festival girls. I am 26 years old and feel incompetent. I go to pay a traffic ticket or am electric bill and find myself paralyzed at the entrance to the website. In a moment of otherworldly strength I call the bank and my debit card has been cancelled. I stare at the parking ticket in my pod, which has been rented from a company called Up(Start), and is arranged in a row with twenty others. At least I’ve made it to Los Angeles.

Up(Start) is a strange place. I find most people don’t last very long in this community. They leave back to their hometowns or find apartments. The ones who stay haunt this place like ghosts, with no discernible goals and mysterious incomes. I’ve learned not to ask how these life-longers pay the rent. The answer is not translatable.

Willow is one of these life-longers. She always talks about moving out; sometimes to an apartment in LA, most recently about some nebulous palace in France. She says her grandmother died and left her everything. She shows me a suitcase full of watches and rings that still can’t fully convince me of her story. She drinks vodka when she wakes up and convinces me to fuck her when Jesse leaves us in his room alone.

Jesse found his way out to a beautiful house in Silver Lake. He had been at Up(Start) for a year before that. He is the nicest guy I know, offering the coat off his back for nothing but a swig of your vodka in return.

I left these characters behind, keeping a steady 65 on the interstate and stopping only to black out in a hotel room in Redding, CA. Summer, inspirational barista and blowjob queen, dared me to stop and see her in Portland, but my body was crawling from scabies from Lucy, (who was also in Portland and, I would later learn, infected with the virus) and I sped right through.

My younger brother Jon was at the house and had been awaiting my arrival. I instantly understood why. My mother had become a figurehead for the national panic, and shoulder-hugged me with her mask on. She is, as we speak, sterilizing the place.

I’ve gotten to spend a good amount of time with Jon, and am somewhat surprised to find that he faces the same existential torment as I do. This is not something we talk about, but I can feel it on him. He is super into Xanax, and orders pressed bars off the darknet. I share the drugs I’ve brought with him. Kratom, weed, and, —most enticing— Flubromazolam. I learn that he has been kicked out of UW on academic probation. I ask him about it in front of my mother and stepdad. With a casualness that shocks me he says he just didn’t care about any of his classes. But he’s got reaccepted to the school and he says he’s going to make it this time.

I show him how I order my drugs online. I show him the designer benzodiazepines on the clearnet, pennies per dose. We place an order for O-DSMT. It’s an insane solution to our problems, but I guarantee you it works.

I tell Jon about my life in LA with the stuff. Taking it and driving weed deliveries all day. I don’t tell him about the long nights with Lucy, telling her the love I feel from the opiate is sourced from her, then failing to get hard.

Jon, for his part, tells me about the peak of his Oxycontin habit, poppin 7 OC30’s a day with his buddies at Rolling Loud. I was just a few blocks away. I didn’t know he was in town.

We order the O-DSMT to his apartment in the U District, stopping to and snag it on our sole vacation to Dad’s for dinner. Two packages have been delivered. We have the save pavlov response. We carry the packages to his apartment on the top floor and split the bubble wrap with a butterfly knife. Out of a manilla envelope comes 100 green Xanax bars. From a bent UPS envelope comes a gram of O-DSMT and 250mg of 4-ACO-DMT, a bonus for me (Jon says he hates psychedelics).

We set to the scale and split the gram, dosing 50mg then and there to get through dinner. The next day he visits me in the basement, saying “Yo, this O-DSMT shit… it’s dope.”

I say “I’m with you.”

My days are spent deep in the dream flow, recording songs for a hopeful fourth album. The third one is still far from complete, but I can’t go back and meddle with those songs now. Wouldn’t dare touch their Los Angeles essence with the hand of the evergreen state. They will go to Rob and Twon and Andy as they are.

I’m back to guitars for the new album. Cardinal sin AC/DC type songs. I think it may be a double album, quarantine permitting. I want an exploratory, unstructured, throw paint at the wall and see what sticks, White album/Life of Pablo situation. I want solo piano pieces and Aphex Twin-esque 808 excursions. I want the label to release it on white vinyl with extensive liner notes. Indulgence. I want this album to be the one where I say “indulge me.”

If Rob is vehimently opposed to the idea I had the fantasy of making an easy album. Taking songs like Parade Owl, See You Tomorrow, Miss Can’t Sleep and putting out a whole album of them. Good rock music. Take a step back from the frontlines; the cutting edge. We’ll see what sticks to the wall after this quarantine is over.

Weeks drift by. There’s a trade route for all the beer that gets brought into the house. It goes from the garage fridge to the basement fridge to my eager hand, to my mouth, to my blood. Night by night the ritual recurs, til my mom takes out the downstairs trash and finds all the empties. She makes some subtle comment. I tell her to buy more White Claw.

Despite the drug flow my inspiration seems to be drying up. Rob took a listen to the twenty five songs I’d completed since arriving in Issaquah and said they sounded like Dogs. The old band. The old rock and roll band we’ve been trying to move away from. I was disappointed to hear him say it. I was disappointed he wasn’t excited about the songs. “Fuck it, should I scrap them all?” I asked myself. Then I started to look around the house and understand that if nothing came of these songs… I must be insane. I must be losing it. The stupid research chemical stimulants don’t help. I thought they would. Productivity and all… but I’m just jittery, texting strangers on Instagram for hours, all the while feeling like I should be doing something else. And the television is on in the background, and I told myself I was going to do so much to day. And I did it. And people on Instagram say “you seem busy.” They’ve always said I seem this and I seem that. I never agreed with any of it, but they probably know me better than I do. How could I see myself? I look for myself through a fog and it’s only a ripple of a shadow. A microcosm a million miles away through a hellscape with no up or down, no east or west. They say I’m social. They say I’m a socialite. Really I just get drunk and unleash all my nervous energy on the party or, nowadays, the Zoom meeting.

Today I drink Modello. Ma and Chuck went to the Seattle waterfront for a picnic or something. I didn’t get the details. But the sun should be going down now, and she’s texting me asking if I want to play a board game when they get back. I say yeah sure I do. My temper when I’m off these amphetamines analogues, though… I worry I’ll flip the Pictionary board. Slam dunk the wine glass onto the wood floor. Now the cliffhanger; will this Modello calm my nerves?

This morning I went with mom to buy plants for the garden. I thought we were going to get seeds but she wanted the already grown ones. She was ready to be angry. Nothing made her happy. We went to three different garden store. I think she got some tomatos. How the hell am I going to get out of this one? Feels like the walls are closing in. I feel like I’m in the freezer in the back of McDonalds. I feel so sad for her, but I also feel so sad for myself. I feel cut off. I feel short of breath. I feel terror. It is Friday, April 17, 2020. Dread, terror, paranoia… I’m sure it’s been felt a million times by a million people, but here’s my version of it. In this McMansion on the side of the mountain, feeling less like I have a mission than ever. Calling nobody. Freezing. Yeah I’m freezing.

My brother and I both have drugs to get through this crisis but I’m planning to get off them. I sold him half of my etizolam and half of another shipment of O-DSMT the other day. He wasn’t at all interested in the 2-FDCK, an analogue of the dissociative Ketamine. I am still not really sure what dissociatives do to consciousness. They can move you into states profound darkness. You feel like your life is a black and white film and it is raining outside. And it drips off the palm trees and you sit in traffic on the way back from the Boy’s and Girl’s Club, where the boys and girls wouldn’t listen, they’d just go off into their own worlds. I wonder how they’re all doing now, tucked into their parents houses in Calabasas.

Anyway, I said to Jon “I’m getting off the stuff.” And I intended to. This journal finds me at a crossroads between fantasy and reality. What is my life going to be for? Where do I cast this fishing pole? Well the pole’s been cast. It’s out there in the middle of the ocean. But at the same time it’s in my hand, in this very moment, and I can chose where to dip it. I’m not trying to catch a fish in this scenario, I just like the serenity of the bay.

The question on everyone’s mind is: “If not drugs, then what!?” That’s a great question and I’d be bullshitting if I said I could answer it. I don’t know what lies on the other side of this life. I want to find out. Do I truly? I have to truly. Love, sex, work, victory… I’ve seen all these things before. And I keep turning to these substances. They fill up my days and my hours and all the music is informed by them. They move my hands to play the guitar and my voice is scratchy when it comes out. I’ve formed an identity around these drugs to a certain extent. That idea of me has to die. It does. I’ll have to mourn it. I’ll have to mourn a lot. I guess I don’t know what to be afraid of. I know a lot of stuff is going to come up through this process. The drugs numb it all out. People say that but it’s really really true. Bad news doesn’t don’t hit you as hard. Most things don’t hit you at all. You’re in your world. You’re off in a cloud. You’re unaware of the world around you. You’re afraid to engage. Why?

It’s easier not to ask why. It’s easier to get the immediate relief of a squirt of etizolam tincture. Or a gross tossing of O-DSMT powder into your mouth and a quick washdown with water. In this way you don’t have to answer any questions. In this way nothing hits you. And guess what else? All your heroes did the same thing.

But a lot of them died doing it. And you don’t want to die. You really really don’t want to die. You want to live a long life, with kids and grandkids, and see what happens to America and what music turns into. You don’t want to die, but what do you have to live for? You know you can make things up. Everyone’s always making shit up. All of this is made up. The culture, the value of a dollar, the value of a Benz. We just decide on it. And that takes a lot. But you know what takes a lot less? Deciding how you want to react to each moment. This one and this one and this one. Do you know what I mean? They say a lot of stuff about the world. The world’s fucked. They say the world’s burning to the ground. They say we can’t leave our houses. They say America won’t be a super power by the end of all of this. But they’re making shit up. And I’m making shit up too. I’m whipping up like a chef. Throwing dishes out from the kitchen, but the dishes are words and actions and the kitchen is my mind. What kind of food am I throwing out? What kind of food am I serving the world? Let me serve love and hope. But for that to happen, let me cultivate it in myself first. Let me nurture it like a child. Let me see it sober. Let me take the steps in the right direction. It’s simple. It’s simpler than you think it is. What are you going to do right now, after reading this? Or while reading this? How are you going to face the world?

Jon told me he got into Xanax from the Famous Dex song “Japan.”

“Baby girl, what you doing, where your man? I just popped a xan, fifty thousand in Japan”

He told me his friends heard the song and picked up some Xanax because of it. They liked it and reached out to him “You’ve got to try this,” they said. My little brother, in the throes of this batshit demon force that will bury him. It might bury me too. The jury’s still out. Mom, just let me withdraw in peace. She brings down a space heater. I grow to love it. I lay down on the wood floor that the spiders sometimes dash across. The space heater comes close to burning me, but I’m ok. I stand up, dizzy from all I’ve done to try to combat the withdrawls. Way too much etizolam, way to much kratom, getting to the point of way too much weed and alcohol. But hopefully it’ll all be over soon, and I can call my friends in peace and not want to slam down the phone whenever there is the tiny threat of silence, or whenever I speak, or whenever they speak. I can’t any of it sober, that’s what I think. Life is hard sober; it’s a breeze when you’re floating thru it. A good dream. So why get sober? They say it’ll kill me. Well, I said that. In this very same paragraph. And maybe it will. But when you’re withdrawing like this… all you want is a moment of peace.

Oh God, at dinner tonight I started to go off about my own mental state to the family. I should have known it was a big mistaken, but on my way home from Doordashing a rainy Issaquah I stopped at QFC and got a bottle of True Eagle American Spirits, Kentucky manufactured vodka. And, helping myself to serving of kimchi, I said to them “I think I’m losing it.” And the conversation spiraled until my mother asked me “Are you suicidal?” And “Are you struggling with drugs?” Jon, between us, must have felt betrayed, but I just wanted to feel understood. I feel Chuck does not want to understand. I understand what he’s sacrificed for the life he has, but what value does that life has to him? He has a tumor in his jawbone, and it’s eating away at him, and no one can do anything. And they can’t get out to the specialists on the East Coast, and they won’t do the invasive surgery. He’s too busy. I know, in some capacity, he understands. Because he blows these things off like they don’t matter at all, when anyday he could have a stroke like Grandma had, fall to the floor of the kitchen while dishing up his kimchi, or pulling a slice of pizza out of the carton. I feel the same way. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I know that I am mentally unwell. And I avoid the questions about my drug use and about my suicidality. I miss girls, ma. I miss pussy and parties and not giving a fuck. The way I don’t give a fuck now is in these terrifying sound collages drafted on the latest of nights, in the deep dark depths of quaratine. What was I saying in the last one? Something about how I didn’t wanna kill the crabs on the beach on Whidbey Island as a kid. Holy shit I’m losing my mind. But it’s all fine, isn’t it? As long as the music comes out fine.

What could I possibly do to get healthy? I feel so far off the deep end. You have no idea; I feel like crying. My best friend, living with the girl I thought I could always go back to. We don’t talk. I mix these ketamine analogues in with that cheap cheap vodka (plus etizolam) and cry tears onto this plastic table. It’s pointless to keep up the tinder courtships. I feel like this will never end. And it started with such a bang. I was such a part of history. Now I’m a nobody; I’m a junkie, holding on by the thinnest thread. No energy to pray. I feel like Cobain, and I know so many people do… but I really do. I can only imagine. But I’m only listening to Mingus, Lana Del Rey and Radiohead (Kid A thru Hail to The Thief).

Should I throw weed in the mix? Lord knows I have enough of it. It’s my number one priority. I’ve made enough songs now that we could workshop what I’ve come up with years. What else is there to do? Mingus ripped the piano strings out of some pianist’s instrument in front of a live audience, then stormed off the stage. Where the fuck is that in my life? I’m in front of the computer, weeping because America has come to a close. You know they sent jazz to the Soviet Union as a WEAPON? A weapon of freedom and democracy and individualism. What the fuck happened? It all makes me want to cry. It’s all too much; this world. These people I’ve known and loved and lost. This music I’ve made that they promise me will be something, but I don’t know if I believe them. I don’t know if I want anything to do with this life. I can’t engage with my culture anymore… my history. I feel like I’m not a part of it. I feel so disconnected. Who’s rippin the strings out of MY piano? Or who’s piano am I ripping the strings out of? We’ve lost so much… I mean… I’ll do my best to work with what we still have, but we’ve been so fractured. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was the end. Of America. Of our culture. Of our music and our hustle and bustle and industry and lover’s lanes and rites of passage. I feel like I’m mourning it now. Mourning my culture. Maybe mourning the illusion that was sold to us. Believe me, I was first in line to buy. That’s why it destroys me so deeply to see it collapse.

I guess we’re all one people. I’m crying writing this. Weeping, weeping, weeping. Grieving. You know what grieving is. I remember what’s-her-name in the pool. We went to every hot tub, each a different temperature, in the Desert Hot Springs Resort. Then Lucy’s friend’s new boyfriend told us Bernie Sanders had stayed there when he had visited DHS. I laughed so hard. Lucy ordered me another drink. She didn’t mind the cost. She liked me to be on her level. And I didn’t mind. I was proud to sip. We went back to the hotel and did god knows what. Feels a million lifetimes away.

This was back when anything could happen. When America was a blank slate and no one could predict anything. When you could go outside and say “What the fuck is up?” and get in adventures. I mourn the loss of that. Maybe it’s all in my head. Maybe that’s still there. But I’ve emotionally severed my ties to it. And I wish I didn’t. Because I love it. I love it so much. It’s not a myth. I swear to god it’s not a myrh. It was a reality… until all this happened. You have no idea. I mean, if you’re reading this and weren’t around before. You have no idea. I mean… I don’t know what things are going to be like after this. But not the same. There’s no way they could be the same.

You know I hope I get this shit. I hope I contract COVID-19. Lay in this guest bedroom bed with the scabies I may or may not have gotten from Upstart Creative Living… and which wouldn’t die off. I hope I can’t breathe. I hope I’m immune. I want to walk the world. Maybe I should go out, get it, isolate, heal, be immune… if that’s even possible. At this point we don’t even know if immunity is a thing that happens with COVID. But even if I could walk the earth without fear of it… everyone else is cowering, and they pull away from, seeing I’m not wearing a mask or gloves, or even if I am… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it would all end this way. I would have done so much more. Focused so much more on each kiss. Even every note. I did my best, I guess. It feels like it’s all coming to an end. It’s Thursday, April 23, but that doesn’t mean anything. You have to understand how little dates mean in this time. It’s like we’re living in one of those time capsules buried beneath the walkway at WWU. Stagnant… yeah we write songs and poems and do our work and keep the economy from faltering completely… but there’s a different angle to look at it all now. The world is over. I mean, aha, to use the words of Rem… “It’s the End of the World As We Know It.” Key words: “As we know it.” I had no idea this would happen in my lifetime… I couldn’t even conceive it. If you would have told me this would have happened six months ago I wouldn’t have believed it. America seemed so stable. And now it feels like it’s in shambles. It really did feel stable. You may think I’m insane for saying America in September, 2019 seemed stable… but shit, we were free. And we were headed where we were headed. This throws a wrench in all of this. And it could be the end. And I thought this was the greatest country on earth. Happiness is a buttery, try to catch it like every night.

I’ve been fascinated in American history since I could understand it. Most specifically, I’ve been fascinated about how history is still happening. The closer you get you the current day, the harder it is to get a straight story. FDR did what he did and we won. That’s fact. That’s cement. Nixon? Everyone agrees he was a crook. But what about Reagan? What about Bush Sr? What about Clinton? The closer you get to the modern day, the more difficult it becomes to discern what is real and what is fake.

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tessatechaitea · 5 years

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Justice League Dark #15

Don't worry. This review won't concentrate on Detective Chimp's butthole. Probably.

It always surprises me when somebody criticizes my comic book review site as being biased. I mean, yeah! I never claimed it wasn't going to be biased. But the people who accuse me of bias always do so when I critique something they love. Nobody ever stands up for the things they hate when I shit all over them in an obviously biased and subjective way! At times like that, they simply respond, "Yeah! Ann Nocenti's mother's vagina was a portal from some hell dimension where random statements with no thematic connectivity are regarded as high art! Now Tweet directly at her and call her a nasty name!" What I'm trying to say is that I understand how people think. I once listened to that one Simon and Garfunkel song that says, "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. Mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmmm mmmmmmmmm." How come the music producer didn't tell Si and Gar to not enjoy their delicious packed lunches in the middle of recording?

I'm sure I'm not the first to notice this but it made me laugh out loud for quite a while when I cropped the cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

I should publish all of my reviews in a manner that shows a side-by-side comparison of the review I set out to write and the review that winds up getting written. Because everything after the first sentence of the first paragraph was the train already derailed. Instead of bitching and moaning about the bias of people complaining about my bias, my brain immediately had to admit to its own bias! Stupid brain. You're supposed to hide my vulnerabilities and weaknesses to help me survive in this travesty of an attempt at polite society! How I didn't get the shit beaten out of me every other day in junior high I'll never know. No, wait. I do know how that happened. The few times people attempted to tease me, they were frustrated by either my lack of notice that they were making fun of me or my super aggressive flip-the-fuck out whirl of arms and fists and tears and screams. There were victims out there who both reacted appropriately and weren't deadly tornadoes of incomprehensible rage built up by an inability to understand how all of this human interaction was supposed to work! Sure, point out that I'm picking my nose in front of everybody but I didn't realize you were saying it to humiliate me! My nose needed picking and what was I supposed to do? Pretend, just like everybody else, that nobody picks their nose?! Okay, sure, maybe I could have realized I could have picked it in the bathroom or used a tissue or cared at all about how it looked to do it right there in front of everybody. I had the capacity to understand that because I certainly didn't jerk off in public! Usually. See that? Did you witness my brain's betrayal just when I was calling out my brain's betrayal?! Don't tell people about my habit of picking my nose in public, you stupid squishy Judas! Just do what I tell you to do, asshole! No offense, asshole. You do everything just right. You're my second favorite body part. Goddammit, brain. If you ask me to Google "chimpanzee butthole" one more time, I will stab you through my eye! I am not doing it! Who am I kidding? I'm only human. I'll definitely be Googling "chimpanzee butthole" at some point today. So Justice League Dark! Some paladin character I don't remember from the previous issue notices that there's an eclipse happening and he was just reviewing "astrological charts" which didn't reveal an eclipse was due. Bobo decides to argue with him.

I don't think Occam's Razor states, "If I can think of anything at all that's a way more mundane explanation than the one you have, my explanation must be the correct one." It's a little more complicated than "That sounds crazy therefore Occam's Razor states you're crazy or incompetent."

I'm not an expert on Occam's Razor so Occam's Razor states my explanation of it is probably incompetent or crazy. Oh, the paladin was Doctor Fate sans helmet. I wish I hadn't been circumcised so I could call my unerect penis Kent Nelson and my erect penis Doctor Fate. Anybody who follows me on Twitter is going to think they've already read this review because I just keep tweeting out all of my jokes from it. Oh fuck you! There have definitely been at least three actual jokes so far! Man-Bat looks at the eclipse and begins thinking up a new formula. Occam's Razor says he's incompetent and crazy but I bet he just came up with a new Eclipso transformation formula just by looking at the dark moon. Is that how science works? You come up with a crazy idea first and then it's just a matter of mixing a few stupid chemicals to make that idea reality? Because if so, Eureka! I just came up with a serum that will allow me to suck my own dick! Diana gives Zatanna and Doctor Fate a tour of her underground archive of magical objects.

I often give James Tynion IV a hard time but he can't be all Snyder-toadie theater nerd if he included the Ace of Winchesters in Diana's treasure hoard.

Diana's most dangerous item is Eclipso's black diamond. I'm currently rereading the 90s Eclipso comic book which was touted in the letters pages as being the first open-ended comic book focusing on a villain. I guess Deathstork didn't count even though he was an unrepentant pedophile. The series ran for 18 issues but I think I gave up on it around issue #6. Swamp Things heads off to find Circe via The Green but instead he finds Jason Woodrue, the new Flower Elemental, making a deal with the Parliament of Flowers to make the world pretty. Swamp Thing tries to stop him but Woodrue infects him with The Rot. So now he can't do anything but decompose while Detective Chimp and Doctor Fate Lite (Khalid!) try to find Abby Arcane to help him. But before they can even begin that quest, Man-bat walks in with the new serum he easily invented because the hard part of science is the imagination to come up with the invention. His new invention is a Man-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat-bat serum and it works terrifically!

Or terribly? I think it's a success. But maybe not.

Everybody seems to think Man-bat is under some kind of spell but they seem to have forgotten that he's insane. Unless we can't trust Batman's judgment on who is insane and who isn't. I mean, according to Batman, every villain that runs a gang is crazy and every thug in a gang is a criminal. Man-bat was kind of a lone criminal so maybe he's only crazy in the way all scientists are crazy? Is that a thing? I mean, Beakman was pretty fucking loony but Bill Nye seemed sane. Those are the only scientists I know. Diana, Doctor Fate, and Zatanna begin a ritual using Eclipso's black diamond to teleport Diana to the moon where she can find the center of Hecate's power. I don't know if the creative team remembered how the 90s comic had Eclipso existing between panels to narrate or if their rendition of the ritual was just a happy accident because showing him trapped in the Black Diamond just translates into Eclipso stuck between borders.

Either way, kudos. Love this page. And I don't often mention when I love art and layout so you know I'm being completely earnest here!

Wonder Woman makes it to the moon but it's haunted by something terrible. I don't know what that something is. I guess I'll find out next issue if I remember to purchase Justice League Dark #16. Justice League Dark #15 Rating: B. I like a lot of stuff going on this comic book because I like the characters so much. The creative team is doing a decent job although I'm not blown away. I'm not sure I get blown away by many comic books anymore. It's especially hard to think, "Justice League Dark really makes an insightful impact in the comic book landscape" when I'm also reading Chris Ware's Rusty Brown in which that kind of thing is happening every few pages. Maybe I shouldn't even compare the two! Just because they're using the same medium to tell their story it doesn't mean they should be given equal weight. One is mainstream entertainment and one is high art! I think. Maybe the mainstream comic is just telling a tense and action packed story and the high art comic just makes me feel like shit. So it's obvious why I think it must be high art! Anyway, go read Rusty Brown! It's terrific! And if you want to read this, it's worth it at 1994 comic book prices. So see if you can haggle this shit down to a buck seventy-five or so.

#Justice League Dark #DC Comics #DC #James Tynion IV #Alvaro Martinez #Raul Fernandez

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ghostflowerdreams · 5 years

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Review: Netflix’s Black Summer

Black Summer is an American web television zombie apocalypse drama series, created by Karl Schaefer and John Hyams. The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was released on Netflix on April 11, 2019.

Set in the dark, early days of a zombie apocalypse, Rose is separated from her daughter and embarks upon a harrowing journey to find her. Thrust alongside a small group of American refugees, these complete strangers must find the strength they need to fight their way back to loved ones. But in order for Rose and the others to brave this hostile new world, they will need to make brutal decisions to contend with zombies – and each other.

Oh, boy! Anything with zombies automatically peaks my interest so of course when Netflix announced Black Summer I kept an eye out for it. First things first, this post will have some SPOILERS. I want to explain what I didn’t like, what they could’ve done better and I can’t do that without revealing a little bit of it.

What I did like...

The cast was diverse, which was fantastic to see. We get a black man, three Mexicans, a deaf Syrian refugee, a Korean woman and two white characters. They weren’t just throw in to fill a quota, but they actually felt believable in their roles.

Kyungson (goes with the name “Sun” instead because everyone was struggling to say her name) is desperate to find her mother. She only speaks Korean, but she does an excellent job in emoting emphatically to get her points across. However, that’s not to say she doesn’t know any English at all. She actually understands it well enough and knows a few words, even knows how to sing in it.

I didn’t have any English subtitles on, which made it feel immersive and realistic for me. I felt like I was a part of the group, not knowing what she was talking about but having a good idea of what she might be saying. We also experience this in a similar-but-different manner with Ryan, a deaf character.

Now, the type of zombies we get in this isn’t the slow and stupid variety. They’re actually fast-running and tenacious in their pursuit. They’re also smart enough to climb and duck under opened garage doors in search of survivors. However, they don’t seem to be smart enough to know how to opened doors (but I suppose they can figured it out if given the time to do so). As always, the virus is spread by being in contact with an infected fluids via bite or blood. And if a person dies (for whatever reason), they come back as a zombie instantaneously.

Headshots are instant kills, but for some reason it’s not done that often. I don’t understand why the characters are all so surprised and panic when they realize that body shots do nothing to stop them. It just seems like a lot of waste of bullets. This makes me wonder if the universe this take place in not have zombie fiction?

I get that not all survivors will be skilled with guns. As it’s very difficult to get headshots on moving targets, but how can you miss when they’re a few feet away and heading straight for you? Or why hasn’t anyone attempted to slow them down by shooting out the legs and than the head? I know I can be nitpicky, but I excused this aspect because it was only the beginning of the apocalypse. The characters haven’t had enough time or experience to become harden survivors yet.

And then there’s Lance. He’s stupidly lucky. Everything about him makes me go nuts and want to scream at the screen like...WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! OMG, HOW? WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE? He’s basically the kind of guy who somehow manages to survive despite the dumb decisions he makes. Which, now that I think about it, is kinda funny because he’s what most people typically think of to be the first ones to go in the apocalypse.

Maybe I’m nickpicking again, but what I didn’t like was in episode 5, titled “Diner” because I found all the characters to be acting very stupid. William and Sun were trapped in an abandoned diner with three other survivors from the truck (the same one that was tailing them in order to steal their gas, and eventually ran them off the road). Their first plan was to get someone to stay inside to keep the TWO zombies distracted while the others go out to kill them. However, that plan failed as they underestimated how difficult it would be to take them down. Did they not aim for the head? Or was it because their weapons were useless in causing any damage? I’m not sure...

Then Phil (one of the survivors from the truck) came up with the idea to sacrificed someone in the group to feed the zombies. While the zombies would be busy eating them, the rest would run away. He picked Sun purely because she couldn’t speak English, showing his racism. William is against the idea and Sun notices that the leader of the pack has a cut on his arm. She lets William know and he wonders out loud if Phil is infected. The group starts acting hysterically. The other two truck survivors make their decision by rounding on their leader and they all throw him outside.

The entire time I was watching that episode I was like WTF! Can’t you guys use your brain??? Why even resort to throwing another person out there? They would’ve been another potential zombie to deal with. Plus, who in their right mind even trust a dude who’s quick to make a plan that involves sacrificing another person? I was surprise to see that his companions didn’t even pause to think about it. If Sun wasn’t there, it could’ve easily been one of them instead.

What especially annoyed me about the episode was that they didn’t even try to use their brains. To me it was obvious of what they could’ve done next, but they just gave up after their first plan failed. They were dealing with TWO zombies and they could’ve easily out smart the damn zombies by baiting them inside the restaurant and trapping them in it. They just need to make sure to get all the food and water first. Once they did, lure the zombies to the front entrance and trap them in the little entrance way. Then go out the back way and you’re free.

Or they can try to kill them again, but this time do it in a different way. Sure, it’ll be a bit more work and tricky to do, but it wouldn’t be impossible. They would need someone to distract the other zombie and lure the other one to the front. Then unitize the entrance way of the diner to get one inside and carefully secure and hold the door open. Just enough for the zombie to stick their head in and stab them with the big kitchen knife or another sharp object. Then repeat the process or keep the other trapped instead.

This episode could’ve been done better by being less annoying stupid. The other episodes didn’t bothered me as much as this one did (especially if you ignored Lance, because his character is suppose to represent that kind of people). Sometimes the other characters are a bit dumb too (like why didn’t you check if you’re really alone in the house or why didn’t you freaking close and lock the damn doors behind you), but that’s normal as not everyone is such a zombie or survivalist nerd as I am.

Black Summer isn’t THAT great compare to other zombie shows, but there were some moments that stood out. Such as showing how dangerous and messed up humans can be. I remember a particular scene in which the characters were traveling by foot. They saw a car parked with a mother and her young daughter inside it. Rose was going to approach them to see if they needed help, but the mother lifted up her gun in a silent warning to leave them alone. The group understood and moved on.

Later on, in another episode they were in a different location but noticed the same car from earlier. They couldn’t see inside of it, but they needed to pass it in order to leave the area. So they cautiously walked closer, but the car starts up and as it slowly drives off they were able to see inside of it.

It’s occupants were three burly man and a young girl. Rose turns paled, wondering out loud where is the mother, as the young girl was the same one from before. That scene was executed very well. It was terribly sad and horrible. It basically implied that the mother was killed either for her car (because finding one with gas was extremely valuable) or that they knew she wouldn’t let them abuse her daughter as long as she was alive.

In the end, would I recommend this? Hmmm, I guess? It’s not exactly that good, but it’s not that terrible either. It’s definitely something you can watch to kill boredom for a short while. Or just watch it for the characters like Christine Lee’s Kyungsun. I wouldn’t be surprise if she becomes a fan favorite. She’s certainly my favorite out of the entire bunch.

Honestly, other shows do a much better job at this. Go watch Netflix’s KINGDOM. It’s a South Korean historical period drama with zombies. It’s very GOOD.

#Black Summer #TV Show Review #thoughts #opinion #review #Netflix #Netflix Black Summer #my thoughts #tv show #black summer netflix

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the-sixth-lion-blog · 5 years

Text

Things Happen For a Reason... Unless You Write For Voltron

There are tons of continuity errors and full on missing character arcs. So many, in fact, that I wonder if they didn't know how many seasons they were cleared for or how much time they had.

Has Lance Always Been Like That?

The Lance I met was a relatable character. Erratic, rash, defensive, but also empathetic, loyal and infectiously optimistic. Still, he's... The dumb one. That's his main title, the running joke, the flatness of his character.

So where did this suave, sweater wearing, humble nerd come from? He uses words that indicate a college reading level. He is capable of expressing his thoughts and emotions with beautiful fluency. It doesn't feel right.

This is a massive change from his fairly well developed character arc of him finding a place in the team, growing as a sharp shooter, being uplifting and learning selflessness. It also completely undermines his budding brotherhood with Keith to let him go have fun with Allura. Sure, we all like a well dressed Lance who uses big words and likes... Farming?

Yeah, so nothing about Lance's love for piloting persisted past Voltron I guess. His extreme passion for being in a team, his clear ability to shoot and his love of flying and exploring must have diminished the second he touched Earth and transformed into a completely different and unrelated field of work. I understand that, I promise, but it doesn't seem like Lance, who spent years overcoming his intrinsic dumbness to be a pilot at the garrison. We see him struggle for this! He wanted it.

He loved it.

And Speaking of Love

Guess what, this isn't going where you think it is!

That's right! Friend love!

These guys are best friends. They hang out, they know each other, they spend excruciating amounts of time stuck with each other at the Garrison on ships. So why does that all nearly disintegrate come Voltron? Lance and Hunk almost never exchange memories of their time at the Garrison. Anyone who has moved knows how fast those memories of their old life flow. And Pidge completely isolates herself. If you didn't know it you would never guess the three had been a lovely little friend group.

No wonder Lance had such a crisis when Keith showed him up as a pilot. Hunk and Pidge are immediately emotionally distant, his hero Shiro thinks he's a dumbass and he has to live on a crazy space castle with the usually angry and creepy closeted emo kid (adored by Shiro, who don't forget is Lance's #1 role model) who is somehow also clearly better than him.

Their friendship has been reduced to filler episodes.

Was That Shiro Cowering in a Corner or am I Imagining Things?

Nope. There it is.

Wow. Well. If I'm not mistaken this man has a rocket arm that delivers swift and capable punches. Now, that is clearly not as important to the show as his arm wrestling capability but if the writers wanted Shiro to have true, consistent and well written PTSD I would have accepted that as an explanation for his sudden inability to fight. But seeing as Shiro's nothing but traumatizing past (torture, losing his arm, being made to fight for his life in a space Colosseum while grappling with the existence of fully developed alien life that is trying to end earth, losing Sam and Matt, being trapped in a Lion, suffering the loss of Adam) has had almost no effect on his life past serving to provide minor exposition or to give Keith a chance to do something.

To further this point, here is a list of every time Shiro (not Kuron) got into a fight before and after Keith became black paladin. Here, a fight is if Shiro was outside of Voltron and engaged in any hand to hand combat or was injured by a malevolent being that was targeting him.

Ep 3 S1

Ep 4 S1

Ep 8 S1

Ep 9 S1

Ep 12 S1

Ep 13 S1

Ep 1 S2

Ep 3 S2 (in flashbacks)

Ep 4 S2

Ep 6 S2

Ep 7 S2 (in the astral plane)

Ep 10 S2

Now let's skip ahead.... 4 seasons... Oh man

Ep 12 S7

that's it

Ah. Hm. I think the data speaks for itself, don't you?

So what in the world happened to Shiro, gladiator and protectorate who would die for his team? When the enemy infiltrates his ship and attacks his friends, he is transformed into an inexplicably incapable soldier.

Shiro Actually Married "Adam", if You're Hard of Hearing

Have you happen to have heard the video guide for the ending of the last episode?

I'm a little skeptical of the source so let me know if this is incorrect. If it's real audio then I'm just disappointed.

Full Metal Paladin, Brotherhood

Sorry for forcing the title but it's the best thing that came to mind.

Keith and Shiro are close. Since they met, Shiro has been gently guiding Keith to his best path. Their bond is undeniable.

Out of all of the paladins, Keith should understand Shiro the best. So why in the world does Keith never bother to check in with Shiro? Strange migraines, not feeling like himself, making unnatural decisions? I doubt that anyone would see this as a warning sign for "clone," but anyone who has claimed a close friendship with someone will be concerned when they begin acting erratically. When Shiro mentions how terrible he's feeling-

(here is where I used up my image allowance so just imagine what I put in brackets)

He gets no response, and even Keith ignores his joyous outburst of "I feel so much better!". There's an appropriate "friend" response to that that Shiro does not receive from anyone. Keith, above all other paladins, is likely to know just how much Adam meant to Shiro, but Keith doesn't supply a shoulder to lean on at any moment. The writers want us to know that Keith loves Shiro. In what exact way I care not to delve into, though I would personally argue in a brotherly way. So why does Keith let Shiro's heart waste away like this?

[Shiro being sad which happens a lot actually]

Me too, Shiro. Me too.

The Allura of Power is Too Great

Why did the white lion choose Allura if not because of her intrinsic incorruptible self? And what changed in her heart or the story to make her seek dark power? She got infected with S1 Lance disease I suppose, because all of a sudden she's being dangerous and thoughtless.

[Allura opening up the stupid case and letting that thing out]

In s8, the situation is pretty dire. But it was dire before. She already learned not to trust Lotor, but then you know, he shows up and looks like Lance a little bit and that's enough for her to open up her arms and give dark alchemy a great big hug.

The white lion chose her over Lotor because she was bright and accepted her fate for the future of everything she held dear. What became of her, and why did we only see this change truly take form with less than an hour of the entire series left?

[White Lion jumping around with Allura]

Thanks for Making it Through This Post

There are hundreds of other things that I could mention, and feel free to add on to this with your own opinions! I know this isn't exactly plot continuity but characterization continuity. I hope that is okay! If you want me to focus more on plot next time, let me know 😊

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waif-of-the-night · 5 years

Text

Sex And Violence

Part 2

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Rewrite Masterlist

Masterlist

Characters: Reader, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel.

Warning: canon violence, mentions of death

A/n: Requests are open again and I have a lot of pre-written chapters so expect frequent posting. Happy Reading1 :)

“So according to what Bobby and you guys tell me, it’s definitely a siren.” You took your seat near the table as Dean fidgeted with his phone with a book lying in front of him. They were back from investigating the strip club but soon Sam had to leave because there was another probable victim in town. “Lenny Bristol was definitely another siren vic.” Sam’s voice ringed through the room as he entered. You turned in your seat, asking if he got in to see him. He answered in a yes. “Said he brought a stripper home named Belle. Couple hours later he offed his mother. Belle, of course, went M.I.A.” “Wait, he killed his mom?” you raised a confused eyebrow. “The woman he was closest to.” Sam shrugged while Dean scoffed in disbelief. Sam suggested calling Bobby; see if he had any leads on how to find the siren. You agreed and called him, “Hey Bobby.” You greeted. “Hey kid, find anything?” he answered. “Not really, what about you?” Dean asked as you put the phone on speaker. “Well, there’s this poem in a dusty lore book. I think it’s about sirens.” “You think?” Sam repeated. Bobby sighed, “Can’t understand what damn language this is in.” “Why don’t you send it to us, maybe we can figure it out.” Dean suggested to which Bobby instantly agreed and you received the pictures as soon as you hung up. You placed your phone on the table for both of them to see. “That isn’t Greek or Latin.” Sam commented while Dean only clicked his tongue, saying how it looked like Latin but wasn’t exactly it. “It’s Archaic Latin.” You blurted out. They both turned to you dramatically. “You know Archaic Latin?” Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Yeah, I got bored of classic Latin.” You answered. Dean muttered something about you being a nerd in his mouth while Sam only chuckled. “So, what does it say, our friendly neighborhood nerd.” Dean chortled to which you rolled your eyes then focused them on the poem. “Hold on, I’m gonna put Bobby on speaker.” The younger Winchester added. “Alright,” you continued once Bobby was there, “It says you need a ‘bronze dagger covered in the blood of a sailor under the spell of the song.’” “What the hell does that mean?” Dean grumbled. “You got me.” You answered. “We’re dealing with 3,000 years of the telephone game here.”Bobby sighed. “Best guess?” “Well, the siren’s spell ain’t got nothing to do with any song. It’s most likely some kind of toxin or venom. Something she gets in the vic’s blood.” “That makes them go all Manchurian candidate.” Sam commented. “So, what do you think? She infects them during sex?” you asked Bobby as he replied in a maybe, making Dean nod in amusement.”Supernatural std.” He scoffed. “Well, however it happens, once it’s done. The sirens got to watch her back. If she gets a dose of her own medicine...” “It kills her.” You completed Bobby’s thought. “So we just gotta find a way to juice one of the oj’s in jail.” Dean concluded and soon they were both at the hospital to get the blood samples of the victims and jail. As for you, the pain was decreasing but was still prominent so they urged you to take some more rest so that you could heal properly. At the hospital, the brothers had to face a real FBI detective also investigating the same case as them and they had to make him talk to their D.A. to make him believe that they were real detectives, which they weren’t. You spent some time catching up on some lore and fixing something up to eat before your phone rung, flashing an unknown number. “Uh, yeah, assistant director Kaiser?” a man’s voice came from the other side and you knew exactly what this was about and went with the boys’ FBI ruse. “Yes?” you answered with authority in your tone. The man seemed a little taken aback on hearing your voice. “You’re uh- you’re a woman?” “And? You have a problem with that mister?” you retorted to his sexist comment. “No. Uh-no absolutely not, ma’am. I’m agent Nick Monroe. I’m calling about two of your men- Stiles and Murdock? It seems they’ve been put on my case by mistake.” He answered. “Are you questioning my authority?” “No, no, no, ma’am. I’m not questioning-”he started jabbering but you cut him off. “You could’ve fooled me. Last time I checked, D.C. has jurisdiction. Or am I wrong?” The man could only murmur out a faint no before you talked again, “Well, next time you want to waste my time asking stupid questions; don’t.” With that you hung up on him, leaving an almost scared expression on the detective’s face as he turned to face the boys. After a couple of minutes of the conversation, you received a text from Dean. The guy looked practically scared of you. What did you say to him? You smiled at his text and replied, Nothing he couldn’t handle. A faint chuckle left Dean’s mouth at your text before he typed out another, asking how your ankle was, to which you told him that it was fine now and that you could come for help. He said that it was better if you stayed back as he had to distract Nick, the real detective from what they were doing by going with him to the strip club for a stake out and Sam was gonna take care of finding the blood. He promised he’ll keep you updated if anything happens lastly before he put his phone away and went with the detective to the strip club. Another half an hour or so went by with Dean at the strip club with Nick and Sam at the hospital before you got a call from Dean, but this time he sounded worried. “(Y/N), where are you?” he asked frantically. “I’m at the motel. Why, what happened? Is everything okay?” “The flower- she-she had them-” his voice was a mix of frustration and worry. “What flowers? Who had them Dean? You need to calm down and talk to me.” You heard a frantic sigh on the other end before he spoke, calmer than before. “The doctor, Cara, she’s the siren. All crime scenes had hyacinths and I saw a bunch of them in her office.” “Wait, Sam was with her, wasn’t he?” “Yes, but he isn’t answering my call. I’m looking for her now.” He grumbled. “Okay, I’ll go look for Sam till you find her-” “No, you stay there and lock your room and whatever happens, don’t let Sam in. You're the woman he is closest to, (y/n).” “What?” “(Y/N), for all we know, he could be infected and if he is, he could hurt you.” You tried talking your way into helping but Dean straight up refused anything that included you leaving the room and hung up. A frustrated sigh left your mouth as Dean had left you nothing to do except wait in the room you had been in all day. You wanted to help and the first thing you thought of was to call Sam but he didn’t answer. Dean’s concern was valid but people trying to kill you was always on the table in your life so you couldn’t just sit there and wait for Sam to show up and see if he wants to kill you or not. You decided that you won’t just sit around, doing nothing and stepped out to look for Sam, thinking of dealing with Dean later.

Forever tags: @roonyxx @webcraft4eveh @jessikared97 @itslizabitch8021

#supernatural rewrite #supernatural fandom #Supernatural fanfic #SPN REWRITE #iris writes #deanxreader #dean winchester x reader #deanx you #sam winchester x reader #samxyou #samxreader

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tartaricing · 6 years

Text

Doctarded: Act 1 - Retards By The Number

With great deliberation, I decided to do a release here on tumblr. Enjoy one of my darkest and savage fics, think of it as a love letter to the R6S fandom.

The brightest star can have the dullest moment. Sometimes multiple moments.

Gustave was known to be a bright man.

He was a doctor, then became a GIGN medic, and then put himself at the forefront of the Outbreak. As a man of altruism, he didn't put much stock into fighting, gambling, or drama. In fact, he cared very little of all those things.

So it was a mystery why he was now dragged into a betting pool situation. Thermite was on a cot with a cast on his leg. Gustave looked very displeased with the situation, taking notes of whatever he said and felt.

"And how did you get your leg broken?" The doctor sighed.

"I was running a betting pool on who would throw up. Sledge flipped the table and it landed on my leg." Thermite responded, plainly, "Stupid Sledge..." he angrily muttered to himself.

"And why would you run such a betting pool?"

"I like being a dealer. Lesion and Smoke were competing who could eat the grossest thing and people starting betting who would throw up."

Shit.

"You are to rest here." Doc said, putting the clipboard down and immediately ran to the cafeteria.

"Your stomach is strong but mine is stronger!" Liu boasted, eating from his pile of fried chicken feet. "You don't know the depths of Asian cooking, Porter!"

The other operators were cheering and hollering. Doc had walked into a raucous chorus of noise. The SAS were seated at one side to support Porter. The SAT were cheering on Lesion. Smoke was munching on chicken feet, staring down at the Asian man.

"Another dollar for Lesion!" Jackal put a bill into the pile. Since Sledge flipped Thermite's betting table, people have been designating piles of money to each person.

"Five for Smoke!" Ash put a five dollar bill.

"You can fooking do it, son!" Thatcher yelled, arms raised.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" Echo whooped. People stared at him in awe.

"Since when did you come out of the workshop?" Jaeger asked, confused.

"Ying told me too." Jaeger pulled his head back in confusion but shrugged.

"He's still going down, ya whipped nerd!" Valkyrie trash talked from the other side.

With all the noise and racket, Doc was absolutely terrified. People were banging on tables, yelling, chewing, and making a lot of noise. While he had his concern over both Smoke and Lesion, Liu was more to be concerned over.

Lesion was very open about his past, and so people were aware he swallowed plenty of oil water in his youth. This led to possibly pica-like behaviors and risk-taking actions. Gustave has caught the man drinking aqueduct water through a life straw, licking salt lamps in the therapy rooms, eating expired food items, eating drywall to prove it wasn't drugs to Bandit (that man had a host of other issues), and chewing on Montagne's shield.

Ying then emerged out of the kitchen with two eggs in hand. She shouted, "This is balut!" Everyone cheered and screamed. Some pounded the tables in rhythm.

"Ha!" Smoke finished his chicken feet and crossed his arms triumphantly.

"I've seen white men like you eat this item," Lesion chuckled, "It never ends well."

"Let's see about that." Smoke replied.

"Never knew Ying's crazy driving would actually be helpful for once," Ela commented from a distant table.

"Wait, what happened?" Zofia was curious.

"When she came, all us girls went for ice cream. We told her directions to the place but she missed an exit and ended up in a Filipino restaurant. The place and people were actually good."

"Well then."

Doc was making his way through the center of the center of the room. He had the dodge the constantly hungry Russians and the sight of Rook and Blitz together. Rook was making a lanyard in GSG-9 colors while Blitz leaned on him. Swallowing thickly, he remembered that Lesion almost had an ulcer from his questionable eating habits. He figured a whole milk should help either of them in a pinch, since balut was known to be very salty. He made his way to the cafeteria line, where Tachanka was standing there.

"Finka, how much longer?" The Russian giant asked.

"IQ's just getting there, love!" Finka yelled from a distance.

"Make that two more, please!" Doc yelled. IQ immediately ran out of there with four cartons of whole milk. She tossed two to Finka and two to Doc. Finka gave one to Tachanka then sat down to watch. Doc jogged over.

"Liu, please think about your hypertension-" Doc called to him.

But it was too late.

Both already cracked the shells open and ate the balut. Lesion casually chewed on the chick fetus and so did Smoke. Both seemed rather fine with it, until Smoke stopped eating. The Brit froze in his seat, gripping his fingers on the table. He then started to convulse and hold his stomach. His cheeks were puffed and he held a pained expression.

A mere seconds later, Smoke projectile vomited on Lesion. Lesion leapt back from his seat, positioning himself in the way that kept his portion of balut clean. Smoke began to continue vomiting in the same fashion. He tried to get into the trash can but missed. He then slipped on his vomit and landed in the trash can.

The crowd erupted into screaming, cheering and laughing. Doc grimaced and put down a whole milk for Lesion.

"I am going to check on the both you." The doctor said tersely, "Don't think you can wriggle out of this." He made his way to Smoke.

However, he then slipped into a pile of vomit and landed face first into it. A small crowd laughed at him as the other whole milk flew into the trash can.

After a shower or two, Doc was back on his feet and checking vitals. He made both Lesion and Smoke shower and then made them lather in disinfectant. For Lesion he checked his blood.

"It's a miracle your A1c levels and your blood pressure are normal after everything you ate," Doc groaned, "And that ulcer hasn't changed. I suggest you should stop this nonsense and adopt a sensible diet. One that doesn't include chicken fetus or infected water."

"Am I clear to go, Gus?" Lesion smiled, even with the tongue scraper in his mouth.

"Yes, but for the love of god, drink some filtered water next time."

"Thank you for your service." He walked out of there.

"You, Porter, on the other hand," Doc turned to the Brit, "Have acquired food poisoning." Smoke laid on his bed in a fetal position, lowly grumbling. "Your vitals are normal but a diet of beer, expired food, offals, and things not meant to be consumed put you down a similar road. I'm guessing that week old sushi you ate is the culprit."

"...Dammit, I bloody lost," Smoke groaned.

"Sledge, please tell Porter to eat a plain diet of toast, bananas, rice, and apples." Doc turned to Sledge, who carried the sicker Brit into his room.

"I'm sorry for talking shit about Smoke. When you're a dealer, shit gets heated you know," Thermite croaked from the side. Sledge stared wordlessly and then looked at Smoke, gently petting his head.

"As much you want to take him back, I'm not allowing you. He needs to rest. You're welcome to visit as you like." Sledge gave a nod and left.

"Hey, Gus!" A voice greeted from outside.

Doc sprinted to see who it was, then stepped on a dustpan. The handle rose up quickly to swat him in the crotch. He made gargling noises to only see Montagne. The French giant giggled as Doc started muttering French curses. Even Thermite and Smoke has some fun at his expense.

After some rest, Gustave joined the others in cleaning the cafeteria.

Just as Six gave a speech about food was for eating not meant for means of gambling, the alarm went off. Everyone scrambled to their lockers and armory, but she shushed them. Shutting off the alarm, she made everyone sit back down to the meeting room.

"There are lives in danger, Six!" Jaeger protested.

"Indeed, there are but this is a sensitive mission. There has been a White Mask attack in a mountain town in Colorado, America." Six corrected him, "According to this map, there is a sparse population of people. This mission is sensitive because we need to be quick and quiet. The town is known to be a magnet of controversy. For this reason we're only going to need four operators." The map showed a rectangular state with very little electricity.

"Then who's going to come?" Jaeger continued.

"Rook will be there for riot control and basic defense. Doc will be there to administer aid to both civilians and the others. Mute will come because in an area with so little technology, he can cripple the White Masks easily. Last but not least, Tachanka will come in fortifications and stationary firepower. The rest of you are dismissed."

"That's such a strange setup..." Rook mused, "I understand Gus and me but Tachanka and Mute?" The crowd scattered save Blitz.

"Come back in one piece, yeah?" Blitz gave a kiss on the younger man's forehead.

"PDA, Kotz..." Six sternly admonished him. Blitz scampered away. Turning to the summoned four, "This is what we call Operation Mountain Town." She changed windows on the screen, leading to a layout of the room. It was an abandoned storage unit, mostly empty in the center with a surrounding overhang. "We are known that the White Masks have a hostage in this storage unit," she pointed to the center with a big red X on it.

"So are they camping out in there?" Tachanka asked, "So just an extraction, yes?"

"…Not exactly." Six answered, "But yes."

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

The four were now on an airplane in transit to the mountain town. Tachanka was eating a bag of gummy worms while the other three twiddled their thumbs.

"Hey, Alexsandr, mind if I have some candy please?" Doc asked, looking at Rook's tempted face. The younger Frenchman was looking towards and away from the candy.

"Well, bratan, I don't have any halal candy."

"I'm not even practicing!" Doc threw his hands up in the air.

"Don't you want an apple instead?" Tachanka sneered, getting into Gustave's face. The doctor pushed him away.

"…Can I have some?" Rook asked, sheepishly, rubbing his knuckles together.

"Of course you can," The Russian grabbed a handful and put it in Rook's hands.

"Merci!" Rook's eyes lit up as he voraciously ate the gummy worms. He did a seated giddy dance. It warmed Doc's heart to see him like this to the point of smiling.

"Stop melting like glaciers and fucking jump already!" Mute mumbled through his gas mask.

"Shit, you're right, Mute!" Rook finished. The four gathered their parachutes and jumped off the plane one by one.

The sky was dark, with very little cloud cover. Six was right, there was very little lighting save the streetlights and the security lights. The building they were aiming for was incredibly boxy, where cubes were lined up in an L-shape. Peeking over the roofs, they had orange and white stripes. They concluded it was a storage unit and they dove in. Upon twenty kilometers, they pulled out their parachutes and slowly landed. All four approached the ground and prepared themselves, loading their guns.

"The snowfall is sleet at best, we have a clear view," Rook hugged the wall of the biggest storage unit.

"Da, no one on the outside," Tachanka agreed. He was behind Rook, holding a pistol to his chest, "Mute?"

"Aye, setting jammer," Mute whispered, setting up his jammer on the ground. The lights immediately shorted, and darkness fell over. However, the darkness was short when the streetlamps ran on gasoline.

A boy in a brown hat was playing a video game on his computer, clicking and typing away. He noticed his character stopped moving, and started to call out to his friend over Discord. Every iteration of his friend's name was more panicked until he stopped to notice that all applications said he was disconnected. Panicking, he leapt downstairs to check the router.

Dead.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

He went back upstairs to put on his brown coat. Luckily his friend lived very close to him, grabbing his only his cellphone and wallet. He came out of the back door and went through the carved hole. It lead to his friend's house.

His friend was equally frustrated, tossing down his controller. He was pale with red hair. He then put on his green ushanka and parka. The boy took the same initiative and went out of the house.

Both boys met up at the redhead's backyard. The boy in the brown hat started, "Dude, my internet just died!"

"Dude, mine too!" The red head groaned in agreement, "Everything's dark! All dark!" It was true, the light of their cellphones illuminated whatever immediate space around.

"Whatever happened here was not kewl," Another boy spoke up. This one was portly, and he waddled to the other two boys.

"We're gonna see who the hell is behind this," The brown hat boy exclaimed, shining his cellphone forward.

"Maybe we should bring him along too, wait…" The redhead continued.

"Yeah, he's probably fucked the most 'cuz he's poor!" The portly boy commented, "So we gotta help 'em!"

"Shut up, fatass!" The redhead retorted.

"It's true, you fucking Jew!" The fat boy yelled back.

"Guys, guys, shut up!" The boy in the brown hat slammed his hands down, "Our power and our internet are gone so it's important we gotta go see him now!" The boys marched forward to their poor friend's house.

Rook, Tachanka, Mute, and Doc were lined up at the wall leading up to the entrance of the storage unit. Six's intel told them there was a single hostage. It was strange, just one hostage but with a rather large ransom on her head. There was too little vision to do anything.

With the lack of light, the men decided to rappel up to the upper door. Rook led and opened the door, giving a go-ahead signal using two of his fingers. The other three followed, using the darkness and cat-like tread to cover themselves on the wired balcony. They soon discovered that there was only a single source of light: a lone lamp hanging over a female hostage's head. She was tied up to a chair.

The men silently counted that there was seven White Masks surrounding her. Two flanking the front door, two flanking the back door, and three were near the empty boxes. With nods and head shakes, they swiftly maneuvered themselves into some large boxes in every corner of the room from the balcony. Mute noticed he was very close to a White Mask.

He twirled his way out of cover to grab the man and covered his mouth. The Brit stabbed the man and gently let him down. He gathered some boxes and stayed behind them.

It was Rook's turn to strike as he cracked another White Mask's neck but he let him drop with a thud. This soft thud alerted the rest, turning to Rook. They started shooting at him, but the younger Frenchman rolled behind a large cargo box. This was a good distraction for them, as Tachanka was slowly setting up his LMG before it happened.

Tachanka cornered himself and started to fire with his LMG. He sprayed across the room, catching a good amount of the White Masks. Doc grabbed the woman in the chair and took her into another corner of the room. Mute gave suppressing fire as the doctor was untying the woman.

It went rather smoothly, much to the men's surprise. There was minimal noise from the outside, and none of the terrorists had approached them or the hostage.

"Are you okay, mademoiselle?" Doc addressed the woman.

"Yes… yes, I am," She sounded hollow, wringing her hands. She was a petite woman, with pale skin and brown hair in a bun, "Thank you. My name is Anya Bradford, by the way."

"Let's get you out of here, Anya," Tachanka added, helping the woman up.

"I am forever in your debt!" Anya cheerfully cried, hugging Tachanka, "As a former Google developer, I will reward you handsomely!"

"No need, lady."

"Do we have to call anyone?" Mute added.

"No," Anya giggled nervously, "I live near here. I can walk." She gathered herself and tried to walk. Tachanka helped her up again.

While the three men walked the hostage out, four young boys were hanging out at the back of the room.

"This is kind of creepy," The boy in the brown hat said, "There's only one light."

"Whoa, there's dead bodies!" The boy in the green cap gasped, pointing to a White Mask.

"That hostage was hot! Nice titties and a tight ass!" The boy in the parka whooped, muffled by his orange parka.

"So this is why our power died," The fat boy looked at the jammer, "Ay, turn that shit off so we can play video games again!" He brayed in the direction of the men who were just coming back.

Rook emerged from a large cargo box, clutching his side. His pupils widened in fear at the sight of four young children behind him. The children released a wonderous 'Ooooh' at the sight of the thickly built French military man in front of them. After a few gasps and coughs, he wheezed, "We're almost done, children. Worry not, we'll turn the jammer off and you children can play. Actually, I don't think you children should be out here this late." He gave a dismissive handwave.

"Rook!" Tachanka jerked in his direction, "I forgot about you for a second!"

"Julien!" Doc turned just as swift, "Don't move." He readied his Stim Pistol, aiming at Rook.

"He's got a gun!" The boy in the green ushanka screamed, moving next to Rook and then backward. Doc twitched, forcing him to pull the trigger early.

The pistol went into the boy's chest, where he let out a panicked wail. The boy in the brown hat held and dragged him back. Tachanka and Mute froze, staring intently at Doc.

"Gus, what the hell?" Rook yelled between coughs, "You shot a child!" Doc then shot again, getting his friend this time, "Ow!" Rook sat against the wall, "Go home children!"

"Wait, let me pull it out!" Doc gasped, running towards the boy in the green ushanka, but the other boys shielded him.

"What the hell man? You shot my best friend!" The brown-hatted boy replied indignantly. His best friend's eyelids were heavy, and he was dragging his feet.

"Yeah, fuck you guys!" The fat boy yelled back, "You drugged him!"

"Let me explain-" Doc tried to speak.

"I already pulled it out," The boy in the orange parka held the syringe sideways and dropped it, "Thanks and no thanks, sir."

Suddenly, the ginger boy's eyes widen and he stood upright. Next, he took a huge breath and shook his arms out. It was like he was never shot. "Dude, I can breathe again! Holy shit!"

"…That was the epinephrine, child. Are you alright?" Doc retracted his hands in confusion.

"Sure, I have a little bleeding from my chest, but I can really breathe again!"

"Are you sure?"

"I promise."

Doc gave the child a bandage, "If you have any issues at all, please call this number," He procured a business card and put it in his pocket. Rook remembered he had some candy and handed it over to them, "You children need to get home now."

After a chorus of 'thank you sirs' and 'good night', all four men waved goodbye awkwardly as the boys walked back to their homes.

"Six, the hostage is safe and now in custody." Mute spoke into the radio.

#rainbow six siege #r6siege #r6s #gustave kateb #fanfiction #fanfic #my art

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p-artsypants · 6 years

Text

The Dame and the Daemon

FF.Net | AO3

So, this is my Scourge AU, where Noctis is infected and becomes a Daemon. Hope you enjoy!

The Starscourge. The plague that has haunted man since time in memoriam. A parasite that infects the body in mysterious ways, turning men into grotesque creatures; daemons, that lurk in the shadows. For shadows are the only place safe from the burning agony of the light. Parents ripped away from children, husbands from wives, and even the closest of friends. Only the King of Lucis, who held the Power of Kings would be able to destroy the plague for good.

In this way, those that suffer with the Scourge are treated heavily and with the best care available. But only the Oracle has the power to really, truly heal those suffering. And so, by order of the king, for the safety of those still living, the victim is taken to a undisclosed location, and buried in the caves.

Fortunately for those living in Crown City, the plague is a minor worry. The protection of the crown extends from wall to wall. There may be one case in a decade. But those outside the city...often meet a fate worse than death.

Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, the son of Regis Lucis Caelum, and the only heir to the throne of Lucis was attacked by a daemon when he was only 8 years old. The Marilith sliced right across his spinal column, nearly paralyzing him. Instead, all the way across his back, a deep, near fatal wound was inflicted and prone to the monster. The little boy’s bloodstream was contaminated and a hellish sentence began.

Up until that point, he was a vivacious child. Full of light, which was appropriate given his title. He was in Tenebrae at the time of the attack, and spent many weeks with the Princess Lunafreya, the next Oracle, while he recovered. Unfortunately, Luna’s latent Oracle powers hadn’t manifested yet, so there was no way to predict Noctis’ fate.

Shortly after they separated, the whole of Tenebrae fell to the Empire of Niflheim and Luna was taken as prisoner of war. But Umbra, her faithful pooch, was resilient, and with a handy notebook, communication was restored between the two friends, however so slightly.

When he was 12, symptoms started to arise. His fingernails turned black. If his hair hadn’t been black to start with, it would have turned too. He had an idea of the cause, but he was 12. What was a kid, that was grown to despise and fear daemons, to do?

Hide it, of course.

So he requested Ignis, his adviser and glorified babysitter, to buy black nail polish. The first several weeks of polish were a nightmare to the prince, as it got everywhere, but anytime someone offered to help him with it, he refused. No one could see what he was hiding.

Being a boy with painted fingernails was reason enough to get beat up in school, but as the Prince…his fellow students didn’t know what to do with it. In the end, most people just kept away from him. And he decided it was for the best.

At 13, the wound on his back started to secrete black fluid. It was gross and smelled bad, and if exposed to light, the wound burned. Which made sense, given it’s origin. Nonetheless, Noctis took this development in stride. Ignis was asked to pick up bandages, and Noctis learned a new skill in wrapping. Because the fluid was inky, sometimes it bled through the bandages and into his clothes. To fix this problem, he started wearing a whole lot of black. Only black, in fact.

Next was unsightly marks and scars all over his skin, especially around the hairline. His fix? Sweeping bangs and concealer, which was a touch too light for his skin tone. His teeth started to sharpen, so smiling was out, too. All this led to Noctis exuding the image of a goth kid that screamed ‘home problems,’ which was not good for the king.

But no matter how many meetings teachers and counselors had with him, he wouldn’t budge. Psychologically, Noctis appeared fine. He admitted that the loss of his mother, and the attack as a child were both traumatic, but he assured he just liked wearing black and he wasn’t having any dangerous thoughts.

But that wasn’t completely true. Because of the Scourge, his angry thoughts carried a dangerous twinge, but the Prince was able to stuff them into a place the sun didn’t shine.

At 14, puberty hit, and his strength was noticeable. In training with Gladio, he broke several swords easily and started dominating matches. Once he broke Gladio’s femur with a punch, he knew it was time to roll it back. Gladio always pushed him to fight his hardest. Not anymore. 50% from now on. Also at this stage, Noctis grew taller and lankier. His sinewy muscle didn’t show the power he contained.

Noctis was a strange case. Most people infected with the Scourge would fall ill and disappear within a year. But because of his bloodline, his body fought a very slow losing battle. His exhaustion was apparent, but Regis and Ignis just assumed it was the stress of school combined with royal responsibility zapping his energy.

The letters to Luna started to become longer and more wistful. He heard girls whispering in the halls and the word love was passed around. He couldn’t imagine anyone loving someone more then he loved Luna. Despite the struggle they were both going through, she was always positive and encouraged him when Ignis and Gladio nagged and teased him. Finally, he got up the courage to tell her what was going on.

“Luna,

There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Back when I was attacked, I think I might have been infected with the Scourge. I’m not sure, because I haven’t been diagnosed. But I’m changing in weird, bad ways. I know it’s not puberty, either. My nails turned black and my teeth are really sharp…I just don’t know what to do, because my father hates daemons. I’m nervous, because despite my best efforts, I think I’m getting worse, and it won’t be long before people notice. I’m scared. What should I do?

Noctis.”

When her reply came, he was surprised to see the page warped with tears.

“Noctis,

I am so sorry that you have been suffering like this! It breaks my heart! The empire has been allowing me to go out and heal my people from the Scourge, and it works! If there’s a way I could come to you, I would heal you too. I do not know how else to help you right now. You mustn’t fall to the Scourge. I have seen it, it is Ordained that you will be the True King and banish the Night. You cannot fall prey to it.

My dearest friend, the Scourge feeds off of darkness and negative energy. Spend time in the sun and keep your spirits up. I know it’s hard, but know that I am with you. Always.

Forever yours,

Luna.”

Noctis hugged the journal close to his heart.

The much needed positively came in out of nowhere in the form of a blond joker named Prompto. Noctis was walking in the sun outside school one day, and Prompto clapped his hand on his shoulder. “Hey dude, what’s up?”

The prince gave him a look. “Do I know you?”

“Oh, I’m Prompto. We’re in class together.”

“Right right…I just didn’t realize you knew me?”

“Pfft, who doesn’t know you? The cool, but oh so sweet Prince Noctis.”

“Is that what they think of me?”

Prompto shrugged. “Is it wrong?”

Noctis crossed his arms. “I wish I was cool. I’m a nerd.”

“Hey! Nerds unite! Wanna hit up the arcade?”

If there could be stars in his eyes, their would be. “DO I?!”

The next few years went pretty smoothly. What new little growths sprouted up, Noctis handled with tact. He moved out of the citadel to ‘learn responsibly’ but he was just in it for the privacy. The summer of his Senior year was the best for him, since he was able to put a lounger on his balcony and lay out for hours in the sun. It burned his wounds and scars, and sometimes just his skin, but his inner rage shriveled and he found himself more often than not smiling, despite his gruesome maw. Which was a bit problematic when he had a funny friend.

“Hey dude, ummm…what’s up with your teeth?”

Noctis suddenly stopped laughing and closed his mouth, covering it with his hand.

“I didn’t mean to make you self conscious or anything…I’m just wondering why they’re so sharp. Is it a Lucis king thing?”

Noctis glanced inside his apartment, trying to gauge when Ignis would be coming over. Ultimately, he choose to be honest. “Prompto, if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell ANYBODY.”

“What? Did you file your teeth when your were being stupid? We all have moments like that. I pierced my bellybutton.” He pulled up his shirt, showing the scar.

Noctis couldn’t help but snort. “No, I wish…” he sobered. “Um, you know how I said I was attacked by a daemon when I was a kid?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I was infected.”

Prompto furrowed his brow. “Infected with what?”

“The Scourge.”

Prompto was silent, but let out a breathless laugh. “What? That’s…that’s ridiculous. The Scourge can’t exist in Crown City. And…you should be a daemon by now if you were sick…right?”

“I think it’s because we are in the City and I’m from the Lucis bloodline. But…uh…” He pulled off his shirt and showed the several layers wrapping around his chest. He untied that and finally let the gaping wound breathe. “…what do you think of this?”

“Ugh…” Prompto had a wince on his face. “Dude…that’s nasty.”

Shamefully, Noctis began to wrap it back up. “Sorry…I just thought…”

“No, no, you’re fine.” He stated, pulling the bandages lose. “You can let it breathe for a minute. But like, have you ever had anyone look at it?”

The sunlight glared on his skin, and he winced before covering the slash. “No, I’ve been too scared to. What will the kingdom do if they find out the only prince is turning into a daemon?”

Prompto didn’t have an answer. “I…don’t know. But there has to be something we can do…what about Luna?”

“What about her?”

“Does she know? Couldn’t she come and help?”

Noctis sighed. “Yeah, she knows. We’ve been trying to get her over here for her own safety, but the Empire has been nothing but stubborn on it.”

“Must be hard.”

“It sucks!”

The two lapsed into silence, both lost in their thoughts. “Well, you have to tell someone eventually. You don’t want them to find out when it’s too late.”

“…yeah. Just…give me some time. I have to figure out what I’m going to do. I want to have a game plan so that my dad doesn’t have to worry about it.”

“Okay,” Prompto agreed, “but I will continue to bother you about it.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it.”

Prompto grinned, and then laid his hand on Noctis’ shoulder. “And dude, I’m here for you. If you need anything, just let me know.”

Noctis gave a thumbs up in return.

Though he asked for time, the Scourge waited for no man.

It was end of fall of his Senior year, winter was just around the corner, and the sun had been hiding for a few weeks now. In the middle of a boring lecture, Noctis found himself dozing slightly, before a there was a faint tickle in his throat. The tickle turned into a cough, and one cough turned into four. He held his hand over his mouth. When he pulled it away, his hand was covered in black liquid.

“Uh, Mr. Garrison? I need to be excused.”

“Caelum, this is a very important lecture, especially to you. No interrupting my class. Unless you don’t think the rules apply to you, Your Majesty.”

Noctis coughed again, and looked to Prompto for help.

“Mr. Garrison, I really think that—“

“Argentum! You’re on thin ice as it is! Shut your trap!”

Unable to hold back, Noctis fell into a coughing fit, making disgusting noises the whole time.

“Caelum, get ahold of yourself. Someone get him some water!”

Noctis fell out of his seat and landed on his knees. He heaved before vomiting more black fluid onto the floor. When the heaving halted, he looked up at his peers in horror. The remnants of the liquid dripped from his mouth and his the whites of his eyes turned black. At the sight, many people screamed.

“He’s a daemon!” Someone shouted.

“That’s enough!” The teacher called. “Argentum, take Noctis to the office. NOW!”

“Yes, sir!” Prompto wrapped an arm around his shoulder and urged him out of the room.

“…Prompto…?”

“I gotcha buddy. We’re going to get you home.”

Further behind them, they could hear the teacher evacuating the classroom.

“It’s over…it’s all over…”

The next few weeks were a blur. Once Regis found out, Noctis was moved back into the Citadel, and put into lockdown in his room, while the council debated his fate. News of his grim transformation made it’s way to news outlets. The whole city fell to pieces at the idea of their only Prince being a daemon. Ignis and Gladio were livid that he hadn’t told them, but once he disclosed the truth, they were devastated.

“I’m sorry you felt like you had to keep this from us,” Ignis apologized. “I thought I knew everything about you, and I only have your best interest at heart.”

“I know, Iggy. I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do.” He huddled in on himself. “I don’t know what’s going to happen now…”

Gladio, who was leaning against the wall, spoke. “What do you want to do?”

Noctis shrugged. “I can’t go back to school, everyone knows.”

Before he could finish that thought, there was a knock at the door. “Noctis?”

“Oh, dad…come in.”

Regis entered, the crowns guard waiting in the hall. He was silent.

Noctis rose, still holding himself. “What’s up?”

“The council has reached a decision.” He shuttered. “I’m sorry, this is really hard to say. But we…are sending you away. There’s a cave on the South side of Duscae. Your Crownsguard will be escorting you there, where you will remain until such a time when the Oracle can recover you.”

Noctis didn’t say much, because he didn’t have the words. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting anything good.

“We will be diligent in keeping up in talks with the Empire. Luna will come to Lucis, and you will be healed.”

“But…” Noctis whispered, “can she heal a full daemon?” A black cloud of smoke came off of him as he spoke, the negativity overwhelming him.

“We won’t know until we try,” Regis assured. Then, he stepped up and hugged Noctis tightly, despite the toxin. “I love you, son. And I will find a way to bring you home.”

The Ring of Lucii his father wore made his wound throb, and he winced in pain. But the warmth of his father’s embrace was worth the pain. Soon enough, it ended.

“I guess I should give the Engine blade back then, huh?”

“No, Noctis. I gave you that sword as a gift, and I will not take it from you. You will need it even more now where you’re going.”

Noctis nodded in understanding. “Then I guess I should get packing.”

Three years later.

“Sir, a car has arrived from the western gate. A man and a woman claim to be part of an Envoy from the empire.”

Regis sat on his throne, feeling older than ever. “An Envoy?”

“Yes sir.”

“Send them in.”

The man entered first, a carefree saunter in his step. “Your Majesty, good to see you. Ah, Insomnia, the crown jewel of Lucis. How I have longed to bask in its presence.”

Regis scowled, “Has the Empire grown so arrogant it sends its chancellor as an Envoy?”

“Not just an Envoy,” Ardyn Izuna laughed. “But the promise of a treaty.”

Regis quietly listened, daring to hope.

“The Emperor has agreed to a ceasefire. We will withdraw our occupation in the western Territories and we will deliver the Princess Lunafreya Nox Flouret into your custody.”

Regis studied the man, waiting for the catch. “And in return?”

Ardyn smiled, enjoying having all the cards. He turned and gestured to the figure that waited in the hall. “Your son, Prince Noctis, must marry the Princess Lunafreya in one month’s time.”

Luna herself walked into the room, looking quite small. Followed by her brother Ravus, smug as ever.

Regis stood, cane in hand. “So you’ve come to dangle a carrot in front of my face? Prince Noctis has been gone for three years now. This is no news to the Empire.”

How awful Luna must have felt, knowing there was nothing she could do.

“Oh but Your Majesty!” Ardyn feigned sympathy. “If anyone can heal your dear son, it’s the Oracle. After all, she still feels quite ardently for him. Don’t you?”

Luna balled up her fists and bowed at the waist. “Please, King Regis, please grant me the chance to try. To save Noctis is all I wish.”

Not that he didn’t believe in Luna’s abilities, but it had never been done before.

“I’ll tell you what,” began Ardyn. “I will give you the Oracle up front. In one week, you can give me an answer about the wedding. If the answer is no, the Lady Lunafreya returns with me to Niflhiem.”

“Niflhiem? No, Tenebrae!” Ravus insisted fiercely.

“Oh tut tut. She has too much freedom over there. So I will personally escort her to her new permanent home in Graela. She’ll love it.”

Regis grit his teeth, hating the stench of the deal. He so badly wanted Luna to come for Noctis, but this stunk of a trap. He didn’t have much of a choice.

Ardyn left without another word, only offering a bow. Once he was gone, Luna bowed heavily.

“King Regis, I thank you for your hospitality. I will do everything in my power to heal the Prince.”

“Luna,” Regis addressed, in a much calmer, fonder tone. “Even if this doesn’t work, I can only hope that you find much needed respite from under the Empire’s thumb.”

She nodded. “Thank you, King Regis. If it is not too much trouble, I would like to get going to Noctis as soon as possible.”

“Yes, of course. The Prince’s guard will escort you to the caves.”

“I will escort Luna to the caves,” Ravus spoke up.

“Do you think I am foolish in my old age?” Regis bit, “the Empire will not be allowed anywhere near Prince Noctis. His loyal companions are a much more suitable party for the Lady to travel with. Ravus, you will remain here, where I can see you. Or you can return to Niflheim. If you dare to interfere, I will take you into custody.”

The man did not like being bossed around.

“Then with your majesty’s permission, I will take my leave.”

“You are dismissed.”

Luna held her breath as Ravus dared to glare at her, before he stormed out.

—

It was only an hour later that Ignis arrived at the Citadel, prepared for another trip to Duscae. Gladio arrived not long after, making sure the car was packed with camping gear.

“Lady Lunafreya, it is wonderful to finally meet you, though I wish the circumstances were better.” Ignis greeted.

“You must be Ignis,” she replied. “The well mannered hand of the King.” She looked over to the buffer man in the party. “And you must be Gladiolus, the Shield.”

“At your service,” he said, gruffly. “Uh, is that what you plan on wearing?”

Luna sheepishly looked down to the dress and sandals she wore. “I’m afraid I don’t have much in casual clothes.”

“We’ll stop at the Sporting Goods store after we pick up Prompto.” He assessed. “The caves the Noct lives in can be dicey. Damp, slick, and dark. Not unlike Ignis’ mom.”

Ignis elbow him in the gut. “Behave yourself in front of Royalty.”

Luna smiled at the interaction, “Then I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable in our group.”

Once the shopping was complete and Prompto was retrieved from his house, the party set forth for Duscae. Ignis drove while Gladio stat shotgun. Prompto kept the Princess company in the back.

“So, I never really had the chance to thank you, y’know? If it wasn’t for that letter you sent, I don’t know if I ever would have had the courage to talk to Noctis. And he’s become my bestest buddy after all.”

Luna smiled, “even after all this time?”

“Sure! Y’see, once a month, the three of us will go down to the caves and deliver some goods to him. Like comic books and his favorite snacks, even a portable charger so he could listen to music when he’s lonely.”

“So you’ve seen him? He’s still human?”

Prompto took on a much more forlorn look. “Not in person since he left. I think he’s afraid of scaring us. There’s a big metal crate just outside the caves and we write messages back and forth. But...we stopped hearing anything back from him a couple of months ago. He still takes what we give him, but...I don’t know.”

That last message she received from Noctis was about a year ago. It was heartfelt and sweet, but in the end, he said ending the messages would be for the best. He didn’t want to hurt Umbra.

She appreciated his thoughtfulness, but it was still heartbreaking.

“I see,” she finally said. “Then we best be on our guard going in.”

“Y’know,” Prompto spoke up so the car could hear him. “Are we even going to know which daemon he is? Like, there can’t just be one in there.”

“Knowing Noctis and his huge ego and temper, I’d guess he’d be the biggest one in there.”

“Like the boss.”

“Perhaps,” thought Ignis. “But we shouldn’t rule out the imps.”

“You are all so mean,” Said Luna, not meaning it.

“We try to remember the fun parts on Noct, and tease him like he’s still here. It makes it easier.”

“Soon, he shall be with us again.”

—

They stayed at a Motel for the night, and in the morning they ate a modest breakfast at the diner across the street. “Howdy folks,” the tipster greeted. “Where y’all off to this fine day?”

“The Daurell Springs, for some fishing,” Ignis lied.

“Daurell, uh? Better be careful out there at night. There’s a monster of a daemon that lives in the caves.”

“Daemon, huh?” Gladio sipped on his coffee. “Any details?”

“Not much to say,” said the man. “Everyone that’s gone after the bounty either never returned or refused to talk about it. We’re close to taking the bounty down all together, since so many hunters have died.”

The group looked at each other.

“We’ll take it on.” Proposed Ignis.

“Ya sure? Didn’t ya just hear what I said?”

Gladio stood. “Don’t worry about it. We aren’t hunters in the first place.”

They arrived at the caves mid afternoon.

“Is this it then?” Luna asked.

“The North Daurell caves. There’s a second set of caves about a half mile south. They’re a little smaller, but much more dangerous.”

At the entrance of the cave, Prompto looked in the crate. “Empty. Either Noct took the stuff, or someone else did.”

“What did you have in there?” Asked Luna.

“Uh, some candy, the latest issues of Batman and Robin, a six pack of coke, and a new portable charger. The king sent along some clean clothes and a new blanket.”

“I threw in some canned goods,” said Ignis. “Though I doubt he’ll eat the beans or corn.”

“And I packed in some firewood and matches. No idea what he’s got in there to make a fire with.”

Luna looked at the opening of the cave and it’s total blackness. Dread and fear mixed and settled in her stomach. “I guess we should move on, then.”

She took a few steps closer, but before she could prepare herself, a harpy dove at her from outside, snatched her by the shoulders and flew her deeper into the cave. It let her go, and she rolled across the ground.

“Hey!” Prompto shouted as he and the others raced after. But before they even got close, a set of iron bars shot up from the ground and sealed them off from Luna.

“Your majesty!” Ignis shouted.

“I’m alright!” She assured, summoning her trident. She fought with the Harpy, doing her best to fend off its attacks.

Prompto took aim from behind the bars and took three shots, each hitting the mark, before the Harpy fell. Luna took a second to breathe before she came back to the bars.

Gladio was furiously pulling at them, but they wouldn’t budge. “Everyone stand back!” He called before summoning his broadsword. With a shout, he careened the sword into the bars, only for it to rebound and send a painful vibration up his arms. It didn’t even leave a dent.

“You can’t expect to break them,” spoke a treacherous voice.

The group spun around, and saw the High Chancellor Ardyn Izuna standing in the entrance of the cave, flanked by Niflheim soldiers. “It’s impenetrable. And you fell right for it.”

“You planned this?!” Shouted Gladio.

“Of course. You don’t think I’m naive enough to just hand the Oracle over to Regis without a little insurance do you?”

“Why you—!”

Ardyn held a finger over his mouth, like a teacher scolding a kindergartener. “The Oracle has one week. She can either heal the prince or kill him, if she isn’t killed first.” He smiled. “If not, I will be taking his Majesty for myself.”

Gladio spit in his direction.

“Ta ta for now!” He waved back.

Prompto turned back quickly. “We have to find a way out for you.”

“Or a way in for us.” Ignis added.

“It’s alright, I can handle this.” She assured. “Do not forget that I have spent my life as a Prisoner and not in luxury.”

Gladio frowned. “Well, we’ll be here. There’s a haven just over there, and we’ll set up camp.”

“I’ll make sure to save you some food,” added Ignis.

“Do you want to take my gun? Just in caseies?”

“Thank you Prompto, but I will be alright.”

From deeper in the cave, a creature watched the silhouetted figures at the entrance. It took aim, and fired.

“Look out!” Prompto called.

But Luna didn’t know what to look out for, so the thick webbing stuck to her back before she was dragged back into the cave. Long, sharp legs took hold of her as she was wrapped up in more webbing. She spun quickly, disoriented. Webbing covered her mouth and cut off her voice.

“Your Majesty!!” Someone cried out.

All was dark as she was plunged into a deep hole, and the monster kept her in it’s grip and carried her to the depths.

They came to a harsh stop in a dark cavern. Faint light from a elemental deposit illuminated the monster just enough that she could see it. At first, without light, she assumed it was an Arachne, a spider type daemon. But with closer examination, she saw the daemon had the body of a man, and it wasn’t attached at the waist like most Arachne either. This beast looked like it was reclining on the spider portion of it’s body. False, human legs covered in a black shell dangled just below her.

The daemon had yet to attack her. It just kept her wrapped in it’s webbing, and turned her over carefully with it’s spindly front legs. The prodding was uncomfortable, given that the legs were sharp, but it had yet to actually harm her. It was observing her.

“…not like others…” It spoke, with a definite male voice, despite being broken. Only a small handful of Daemons were ever documented to talk, and out of them, it was nonsense. This must have been the daemon the tipster had talked about.

“…who…you…? Why…here…?”

Luna shifted uncomfortably, trying to break herself free.

The daemon brought her closer to it’s face, as it walked closer to the light for a better view. Human hands with long black claws reached out and touched her face, cutting the webbing from her lips.

She gasped, taking in much needed air. Her heart pounded in her chest as her breaths ran ragged. He just continued to study her, feeling her hair.

“…not hunter…”

Finally, she gained the courage to speak. “My name is Lunafreya Nox Flouret, and I am here to help.”

He tilted his head, curious, and continued to touch her face. “…Lu…na…?” A stray claw cut her cheek and she winced.

He withdrew his hands, frightened. But he pulled her closer still, so their noses were almost touching. From here, she could see his sharp teeth. But more interestingly, he had blue eyes. As far as she knew, daemons had yellow or red eyes.

The cut on her cheek began to bleed, and the daemon lapped up the blood with a swipe of his tongue.

Luna swallowed, unsure of what to make of this development.

Suddenly, everything became clear. The spider half of his body was growing from his back. He was tender and calm, and his blue eyes…

“Noctis?” She whispered.

The daemon’s eyes widened and he quickly set her on the ground. One of his legs pried the webbing off of her and he backed away.

“Noctis? Don’t you recognize me?” She begged softly.

He continued to back away, until he was pressed against the wall.

“I’m here. I’ve come to help you…”

He kept his eyes trained on her as he began to travel up the side of the wall.

“Where are you going?”

“…you can’t…too late…” And with that, he ducked into a tunnel and scurried out of sight.

“Wait!” She cried after. Coming to the wall, she was infinitely grateful to Gladio for convincing her to get the hiking boots and jeans. It took some tricky work, but she climbed up and into the tunnel and then flicked on her flashlight. “Noctis! Please, I just want to help!”

He didn’t respond, but she could hear him scurrying.

He was faster than her, given he had eight legs and could scale walls. Still, she ran through the tunnel as fast as she could. To her surprise, daemons had yet to make an appearance, and she vaguely wondered if Noctis was responsible for the absence.

Finally, the Tunnel opened up to a large cavern. High, high up, there was a long crack in the ceiling and sunlight came down, just enough to illuminate the cavern. On the far side, a spring rippled, and on it’s shore bloomed several plants.

But Luna didn’t notice most of this at first, since in the middle of the cavern sat a half collapsed church, at least the sanctuary of one. It appeared to have fallen in through the hole in the ceiling, due to poor planning. But most of it was still in tact.

If Noctis was to be anywhere, this would be it.

Quietly, she made her way over, and peeked inside. The whole back half was open, showing the view of the lake and garden. This was definitely his home. A nest of sorts was arranged out of blankets and sleeping bags. A small fire pit was nearby, with a campfire rack and frying pan over it. A stack of books laid on an old pew. Various cans, empty and full, littered the ground. On another pew laid several sets on clothes and a pair of black boots. It looked like a normal campsite.

At first, she didn’t see him, because he was huddled in the corner. If not for his bulbous abdomen, she probably wouldn’t have seen him at all. As she crept closer, she accidentally kicked a tin can on the ground.

He shot up, startled, and got ready to run again.

“No no,” she held her arms out. “It’s alright. I’m only here to help you.”

Still, he seemed uneasy.

“Please Noctis,” she didn’t step any closer, just held her hands out. “If you care about me at all, then you’ll let me try. The Empire let me go, but only temporarily.”

The daemon shifted, slowly drawing nearer.

“They said, if you and I marry within the month, I get to be free forever and they’ll withdraw from Lucis. Isn’t that great?”

He turned and looked to the floor. “…too late…no return…”

She looked at him with sympathy and came closer. “It is not too late. You can still speak, you understand me. Noctis is still in there!”

“…do I…frighten you…?”

“You did,” she said honestly. “At least at first. But I’m not afraid anymore. I couldn’t be.”

He finally looked at her, clear pain scrawled over his face. “…I waited…for you…”

“I know…” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

He lowered his human legs to the ground, and took careful steps towards her. “…I wanted…you…”

She nodded, holding her arms out. “And every day, I longed to see you. I begged with Ravus to let me come sooner, but the Empire wouldn’t budge.”

Finally, he was in front of her and he reached out.

Luna closed the distanced and hugged him. “But I’m here now, and you can’t get rid of me.”

How long had it been since he had human contact? Three years now? It felt like ten. She hadn’t even begun to use her magic, but he already felt better. They stayed like that for many moments, until a burning sensation set in and Noctis pulled away, pained.

“Are you alright?”

He hugged his arms to his chest. “…hurts…”

“What does? Did you hurt yourself?”

He shook his head, before touching her chest with a gentle claw. “…light…”

She gasped in understanding. “Oh Noctis…”

“…hate it…hate this…” he looked at his hands. Then he swallowed, focusing. “It’s…hard to speak. But I…try.”

“I understand. When you don’t have anyone to talk to, I’m sure it would be.” She held her hands out again. “We’ll go slow. If this hurts too much, just let me know. Alright?”

Noctis gently laid his hands in hers, and nodded.

She closed her eyes, and a warmth radiated from her hands. Then she moved them gently to cup his face and leaned in to touch their foreheads together. “Blessed stars of life and light, heal us now from darkness’ blight.”

The glow built, and Noctis scrunched his eyes against it until he tore himself away and rubbed at his face madly, like he was trying to put out a fire. “Not good…too late…not good…”

“No, that was very good!” She praised.

Without another word, he crawled his way over to the lake and gazed in, taking in his reflection. “…no change…”

“There might not be, right away. Give it time.” She hunched forward slightly while her hands shook.

“…what’s wrong?”

“That just took a lot out of me. Sorry…”

He shook his head, not bothered in the least. He reached out with his human hands and forelegs, lifting her carefully. “…this okay? Is this okay?”

She nodded.

Noctis carried her over to his little nest and laid her down. “…food? Water?”

“Water would be nice.”

He handed her a canteen. “Rest…will be here.”

Luna took a drink, and then relaxed into the blankets. She watched Noctis go over to the lake and stare at his reflection some more. Her eyes scanned the walls, taking in the details she hadn’t noticed before. With fondness, she saw his fishing gear sitting out, like it was used recently. Even in this hell, he was still able to do what he enjoyed.

She looked back at him, and saw he was standing just at the edge of the sunlight. He reached out, letting his arms and face soak in the light. This is what kept him sane all this time. As he took it in, she saw black smoke arising from his skin, and wondered if the same thing happened when she healed him. It wasn’t look before he pulled away and rubbed at his skin.

Then he looked up at her, meeting her gaze. She smiled at him, and then closed her eyes to rest.

A few moments passed and she found herself lying in grass. When she blinked her eyes open, she saw the landscape of her beloved Tenebrae, but it had an ethereal quality to it. She sat up.

“Luna,” A child’s voice spoke.

“Noctis?”

He was hazy at first, but soon he approached her, appearing as she knew him, a child. He pouted, disappointed. “I had hoped, when I saw you again, it wouldn’t be like this.”

She stood, coming closer. She too was a child, most likely the way he remembered her as well. “It’s alright, I don’t mind.”

“I do. I don’t like seeing you sad.”

She smiled assuringly. “I’m not sad. I’m with you, aren’t I?”

“Luna, you may have everyone else fooled. You think as Oracle you have to hide your feelings. But I can see right through you. You’re scared, and lonely, and deeply stressed.”

The girl sighed, feeling her shoulders sink. “Even in my writings, you could see right through me.” The wind picked up, and Luna felt her dress float and grow in the gust. When she spoke, she had the voice of a woman. Now that she was coming clean, the childhood innocence she had clung to around him had faded. “It seems that we’re destined to suffer, is it not? I as the Oracle, and you as the future King. Will we ever have a happy ending? Will this war never end?”

Noctis seemed to consider her. “You can stay here with me, where it’s safe. I’ll protect you. Then there’s no reason we couldn’t be happy.”

“Noctis…I can’t stay. Neither can you.”

He shook his head. “Even if I was healed from my curse, I can’t go out there. I’m…” He looked at his hands. His shoulders grew wide and he became tall, the voice of a man passed by his lips. “I’m still a monster on the inside. The darkness has weaved it’s way into my mind, and horrible thoughts have taken hold. I’ve done evil deeds, and so many have suffered at my hands. Who am I to be called King now?”

“Perhaps not now, but someday soon. It has been ordained by the Astrals that you will rid this world of darkness. And I am destined to help you.”

The blossoms around them turned into dust, forming clouds of a deep blue. “How am I to rid the world of Darkness if I cannot rid it from myself?”

She reached her hand out to him, pleading. “That’s where I come in.”

He didn’t seem so sure. “You used all your strength, and you didn’t make a difference. So then how do you expect to free me?” A black smoke came from his lips as he spook, tainting the air.

“I…don’t know.” She said honestly. “But I’m not giving up.”

She watched as his skin turned gray and black tendrils sprouted from his back. “Is just trying good enough? Luna, what hope is there?”

“If you don’t have hope, everything is fruitless!” She insisted. The ground itself dissolved around them, and they were left floating in a deep void.

He began to sink away. “I spent all of my hope over the last three years. I don’t have any left. So maybe I’m doomed.”

She reached out to take his hand, but it was just out of reach. “Noctis, I will save you. Please! Please believe me!”

But he didn’t answer.

A few hours later, when night had fallen, Luna arose. Noctis was laying beside her, his fingers just barely touching hers.

“Hmm?” She roused, sitting up.

“You’re awake.” He stated, pulling away from her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s alright…needed it.” He assured. “Hungry?”

“A bit,” she admitted.

“LUNA!!” Someone’s voice shouted deep within the cave.

“Prompto,” Noctis recognized it immediately.

“Luna! Can you hear me!? Gladio got a saw! We’re coming to get you!” These words were echoed, and hard to understand, but she got the message.

“…must be scared. I took you.” He held out a hand to her. “…climb on…back. I’ll take you.”

She took his hand and straddled the small of his back.

Noctis rushed back to the entrance of the cave and paused in the tunnel way.

“Go on,” he urged.

“You should come too!”

He shook his head and stayed further back in the shadows. “...not ready...”

“LUNA!!” Prompto called again.

“I’m here!” She replied, running over to the bars. “I’m okay.”

“How’s it coming, Gladio?”

The man in question was frantically sawing in one of the bars. “It’s coming, but it’s either me or the saw that’ll go out before these bars do.”

“Are you alright?” Prompto asked Luna.

“I’m fine,” she assured. “I found Noctis. He’s still human in mind.”

“But in body?”

“A little less than terrifying.”

“Where is he? I want to see him!” Prompto whined.

Luna glanced back to the tunnel they came from. “Come on, Noctis. They are your friends, nothing could change that!”

Slowly, Noctis came into the light of their flashlights, but just enough that the human part of his body showed.

“That’s not so scary!” Prompto protested.

“Hey Noct! Mind giving me a hand? If memory serves right, you’re strong as hell!”

Noctis shook his head, taking a step back.

Luna pleaded with him, “Noctis, if we can get you out of here and somewhere safe, I can heal you better. If not, Ardyn will come and collect you at the end of the week. You’ll be fighting for the Empire!”

Noctis rubbed his arm, then finally answered, “…stand back.”

Once everyone was well out of the way, Noctis came out of his hiding spot and shot a web at the bars. The other three gasped in shock at the sight of his full appearance.

Noctis took hold of the web and tugged hard. “…strong…can’t break.”

Luna, regardless of her small size, ran and took hold of the web too. The bars didn’t budge.

Wordlessly, Noctis came up to the cage and wrapped his legs around the metal, pulling with all his strength. The bars groaned, but did not give. Noctis hissed in anger.

One last trick, he snorted hard and hocked a wad of spit on the bars. It sizzled, but ultimately did nothing.

“Hmm,” thought Ignis. “That’s not surprising, given that the Empire catches daemons. How else would they keep them, if not for daemon-proof bars?”

Noctis, ashamed, began to creep back into the shadows.

“Hey wait! Buddy!” Prompto reached through the bars, holding out his hand. “You can’t just leave! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“…scared…”

“We’re not scared! Come on, you should know better.”

Ignis watched the scene in interest. He had never seen the Prince so skittish and hesitant before. “Your Majesty,” he began. “Have you had any other visitors?”

“Hunters…often. Nifs…” He said, then as an afterthought, he added, “Ardyn.”

“The High Chancellor?” Gladio asked.

“What did he say to you Noct?” Ignis pressed. “Did he hurt you?”

The daemon prince came closer, “…I killed…hunters.” He admitted.

Gladio shrugged. “It’s kill or be killed, right? It’s not your fault if you didn’t egg them on.”

“…it was so easy…” he looked at his hands.

“If Ardyn made you feel worthless over that, let it go. Noctis, he wants you to be a daemon, he wants you to be a monster and a killer! But you’re a Prince! You’re better than this! Better than what he thinks of you! We’re here for you! We’ve always been here for you!”

Noctis let tears run down his face as he wept into his hands. Though there was only light from their flashlights, his body ached. Their kindness and positivity hurt.

“…so alone…so quiet…” He moaned.

Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto reached and stretched to take hold of him and pull him closer. Noctis didn’t fight, only allowed the pull.

Gladio, the shield of the king, wrapped a strong arm around his shoulder. Ignis, the hand of the king, took him by the right arm. Prompto, the smile of the king, took him by the left. Finally, Luna, the heart of the King, wrapped both arms around his waist.

“You’re never alone.”

Noctis winced and tensed. It was all so much light!

“Don’t let go!” He begged, nearly screaming. Everyone held on tighter, as he began to writhe in pain.

From just beyond the entrance of the cave, the group could hear a combination of groaning metal, growling, and darkness bubbling.

“That’s not good…” Assessed Gladio, over his shoulder.

A huge daemon was crawling its way out of the darkness. It’s sword ignited with a flame as it continued to rise and grow.

“There’s no way we can take that thing on.” Prompto lamented.

“Well, we’re going to have to.” Confirmed Gladio. “It’s looking right at us.”

Noctis hissed at the Red Giant, showing his fangs.

“You two stay back. We’ll handle this!” Ignis assured, letting go of Noctis.

Prompto and Gladio followed suit, summoning their weapons.

The Red Giant let out a thundering roar.

Noctis growled back, his hands gripping the bars.

“Noctis…” Luna continued to hang on. “What about the crevasse above the church? Can you climb out of there?”

“…too steep…fall…” He snarled as Ignis was nearly stepped on by the beast.

Luna took hold of one of the bars too, “I may not be strong, but I can’t sit around and do nothing.”

He nodded at her and continued to pull.

“Prompto! GET UP!!”

He watched in mute horror as the Giant brought his sword down on top of the gunner, and heard him cry out in pain.

“No!” With desperation, he hooked his legs around the bars again and pulled desperately. His limbs trembled and his teeth grit. The metal groaned and rocks fell from the ceiling. The bars bent slowly as Noctis cried out with the strain of effort.

Finally, one gave way, and made just enough space for him to squeeze through. He reached out with a human hand to Luna. “Stay here…don’t want anything happening…”

She nodded. “Stay safe.”

Finally, Noctis looked like the Prince she hoped to see and he summoned the Engine Blade. With a shout, he flung the sword out and let it fly through the air. It stuck true in the monster’s chest as it shrieked out in pain. He warped to the sword, and yanked it from it’s place.

Ignis gathered Prompto from the ground and dragged him back to the safety of the cave. Luna pulled him inside the bars and propped him up against the rock. “Prompto? Can you hear me?”

“…is that you, mom?” He groaned.

“He’ll be fine,” stated Ignis, “if you think you can heal him.”

Luna summoned her trident. “I can try.”

Noctis crawled all over the giant, distracting the daemon from the others. His legs pierced the tough skin, as he ripped and tore into the beast. He was glad it was nighttime and none of his friends would see the carnage he was inflicting. Finally, the giant seized him in his hand and squeezed with all his might. Noctis wriggled, hissing violently, until the giant wound up and hurled him into the side of the cave.

Gladio claimed the final blow, as he struck down the middle of the giant, impaling it with his broadsword. The beast wailed out and melted back into the shadows.

Prompto, now healed thanks to the Oracle, came running back out with Luna in tow. “Alright! We got him!” Then he looked around. “Where’s Noct?”

Gladio and Ignis looked at each other. “We…don’t know.”

“It is rather dark.”

“Noct!” Prompto called.

“Look! Over there!” Gladio shouted, running over to a heap of rocks.

Noctis was gravelly injured and laid on the ground, black fluid oozing from his lips and nose. Luna slid to kneel in front of him.

“Noctis…” She parted his matted hair from his face.

“At least you’re safe…” he whispered.

“Yes, I am. But you aren’t.”

The sounds of bubbling darkness emerged from somewhere behind them, accompanied by wicked chattering and groaning. Two more giants sprouted from the ground, along with a handful of imps.

“Uh…guys? We got a little bit of a problem here.”

“Let’s move!”

“What about Noct? We can’t just leave him behind!”

“The daemons won’t hurt him.” Gladio assured.

“I’m not leaving him!” Luna argued. “He’s your Prince, you can’t leave him either!”

Gladio frowned. “Tch, then I guess we got no choice.” He shouldered his sword as the sound of a distant roar sounded off from the trees. Something else was approaching.

Luna turned her attention back to Noctis, her hands glowing with a warm light as she cupped his face. “I’m sorry for this pain.”

“…pain either way.” He managed a smile.

She rubbed her thumb over his cheek and rested her forehead against his. “Blessed Stars of Light and Life…” She began.

The roaring grew louder before a serpent broke through the tree line.

“You’re the Oracle!” Gladio shouted, killing an imp before two more took it’s place. “If you’re going to do something really cool, now would be the time!”

Luna focused harder, trying desperately to do more. Noctis began to feel colder and colder in her hands.

She spoke from the heart. “My Dear Noctis, all I should want is for you to be healed. I have no right to ask anything else. But still, in my selfish heart of hearts, I pray that you and I may spend the rest of our days together. That our children may live wonderful and happy childhoods, and that I may wake up to your smiling face everyday. For I my love for you is vast as the ocean, my king, and I will stand by you, always.”

With that, she sealed the promise with a tender kiss, pouring out all the love and affection in her heart.

A beam of light broke over the couple as little embers rose from his body and began to disintegrate the parasite connected to his back.

Luna refused to open her eyes. “Hear my prayers Bahamut, breathe light into this body once again!”

The light illuminated the battlefield. Luna’s trident, which lay next to her, floated into the air and was absorbed into Noctis. All across Lucis, and even Niflheim, Royal Tombs flared up and the arms of the past kings of Lucis came rushing at Noctis.

He, in his human form raised out of Luna’s embrace to meet them. All at once, in a burst of light, the Prince floated as an armiger. Thirteen crystalline weapons circled him, glowing with the power of light.

Noctis struck, each arm taking a different target, before he bolted forward and hit the dragon head on.

The others watched in amazement as the king was barely a sliver of light in the radiance above. This was the Power of Kings.

Once the daemons had fallen, Noctis returned to the ground. Only two feet, and a long black cape draped from his shoulders. He turned to face his friends, exhaustion clear on his face.

“I…I’m okay…” he said, looking at his hands. The parasite had left black, blotchy scars on his face and neck, but he could live with that.

Luna rushed to hug him, but Prompto got there first. “BUDDY! YOU’RE ALIVE!! THAT WAS SO COOL!”

The Prince was overwhelmed for a moment and pushed Prompto away from him. “Uh, yeah. It was pretty cool.”

“Oh good,” added in Gladio, “his ego’s back too.”

Noctis gave him a look, but said nothing.

“Noctis…” Luna spoke, approaching him. She appeared to be having a hard time just staying on her feet. “It worked…you’re healed.”

“I am…” he confirmed. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he held her close and supported her. He left a brief kiss on her cheek, smiling all the while. “Thanks to you.”

Ignis took one look at the exhausted couple and made an executive decision. “It’s too dangerous to be out here any longer. We’ll sleep at the Haven, and then in the morning, we’ll return to Lucis. After all, we have a wedding to plan.”

“And an Empire’s ass to kick!” Added Gladio.

Noctis smiled a perfectly human smile. “I’m ready to take on the world.”

#Final Fantasy #final fantasy xv #prince noctis #noctis lucis caelum #ignis scientia #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #prompto #ignis #gladio #scourge au #The dame and the daemon

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brophyblam · 4 years

Text

BLAM Oct. Writing Contest Runner-up

Congratulations to Charlie Judd ‘24 on winning second place in this month’s literary contest with his piece, titled “The Lethe Protocol”!

“Where am I?”

“This is a secure containment facility. For security reasons, I can’t tell you exactly where, but rest assured that nobody will accidentally stumble upon it.”

“Why am I here?”

“Test results show that you have been infected with a pathogen that, if released, could bring an end to Western civilization. You are to be under quarantine until the pathogen has been eliminated.”

“Why don’t I remember anything?”

“That may be a side effect of the treatment. Some slight damage to long-term memory is to be expected. You will likely gain back your memory within the week.”

“And I assume you’ll mark the days somehow? I think I read something about how keeping the lights always on messes up sleep cycles, and-”

“Unfortunately, the lights will not be turned off throughout the quarantine period. Preliminary tests suggest that the effects of the pathogen are heavily linked with circadian rhythms, so the procedure will call for a disruption in that way.”

“How long will it take?”

“That is unclear at this time.”

“Do you know what this thing is? A virus? Bacteria?”

“That is unclear at this time.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The man went to sleep at about 18:00, five hours after he woke up.

“He seems to be adjusting well.”

“That’s just the first few hours. Give it time, he’ll begin to show signs of mental degradation.”

The first scientist smirked. “I never thought I would get the chance to observe such a fascinating case. How long until you think he... breaks?”

“Now, Emily, this is science. We’re going to find out in due time. No sort of gambling or personal interest should be in play here,” the second researcher carefully enunciated. His colleague couldn’t say those sorts of things, not when they were being recorded. He leaned in closer to her and whispered, “I’ve got twenty bucks that say it’s a week.”

“Deal.”

“I’m actually quite hungry. Could you get us some food from the cafeteria?”

“I did it last night!”

“Really? Oh, that’s right. My mistake.” He made his way over to the door.

“Wilson? Remember to get the-”

“Yeah, the paleo option, I remember, I remember.”

“Just making sure.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The man woke up in the bed. It was completely white, as was everything else in the room. That was the most unremarkable night’s sleep he had ever had.

His eyes scanned the room, taking note of everything that was in there. A sink, a toilet, a closet full of white medical robes and nutrient-rich liquid.

He chose to have breakfast. The liquid wasn’t tasteless, but it was entirely unremarkable. Slightly sweet, with an aftertaste of… mango? No, that wasn’t it. His sense of taste was thrown off. It was some sort of fruit, he decided.

He spent the next few hours trying to remember anything. His job, his name, even just a face. Absolutely nothing came to the surface. The time slipped by with no meaning, rhyme, or reason to it, and still nothing. The only thing he could look at were the four blank white walls, which seemed to be a reflection of his own state of mind.

“Are you going to take a blood sample now? Or a mouth swab or something? I’m just curious how you’re going to study the illness.”

“We’ve already obtained samples. It’s just taking a while to determine what they are.”

“I would imagine that the type of the pathogen would be identifiable pretty easily. This is a particularly special case, I take it?”

“Yes, it certainly is… special. The Foundation has the best epidemiological and pathological resources in the civilized world available, and all of those are being put towards this cause.”

“The Foundation?”

“I’m sorry, what foundation?”

“You just mentioned a-”

“You must be experiencing slight auditory hallucinations. That seems to be the first stage of the disease.”

“Oh.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Emily, what was that?”

“What was what?”

“The foundation thing. You can’t try to flex your false-narrative creation skills here. If you contradict yourself, he’ll get wise and there goes the entire experiment. We’d have to wipe his memory again, and you know it’d be a heck of a time getting the grant money for that.”

“Come on. You really think the higher-ups would risk him getting out there? It would be such bad news for this whole operation if even one person escaped with the truth. Frankly,” she sighed, “I don’t think they’d care about the expense of the mind-wipe if the future of the organization were at risk.”

Wilson sighed. “I just feel like it’s reckless nonetheless. You’d still be blamed for it and you’d probably never get a promotion again.”

“I like my current position.”

“Why’d you do it, though?”

“It’s kind of embarrassing…”

“This isn’t something to be shy about.”

“Well, I’ve always just been a fan of the idea of top-secret science experiments and stuff, you know…? There’s this horror creative writing website that centers around that idea called SCP and… I guess I accidentally channeled my inner nerd for a second.”

“Well, I don’t want your insatiable love for SCP roleplay to get in the way of your growth.”

Emily smiled. “Well, if I weren’t into that sort of thing, I probably never would have come here in the first place. Or stayed.”

“You’re here because they asked you to be.”

“I’m here because I said yes.”

The man chuckled. “Well, I’m going home for the night. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Scout’s honor.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“What’s going to happen to me? You said this disease could end the world. I take it that it’ll also end me?”

“We’re not sure. As you know, this is still an incipient situation, so we don’t have much information about the effects of the pathogen upon individuals. The information we do have access to, however, indicates that it is highly contagious and possibly dangerous for the world at large.”

The man ruminated on this for a while.

“May I ask your name? I don’t remember anything about anything right now, so it would be nice to know something about this situation.”

“Doctor Angela Johnson.”

“Pleased to meet you, Doctor.”

The man stared at the wall for another few hours and went to sleep again.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Good morning, Emily.”

“Wilson, so great to see you! Last night, I had some rather riveting conversation with our… patient, here.”

“You didn’t let anything slip, did you?”

“Only my amazing fake name. Angela Johnson, M.D. at your service.”

“You use that for every experiment! Would it kill you to be a little more creative sometimes?”

Emily laughed. “You know how Einstein wore the same outfit every day? If I wore myself out creating a new name for every case, that would detract from the energy I can spend on actually helping with the experiment.” She lowered her voice even though only Wilson was around. “Besides, it’s not like this guy could ever report Angela for malpractice.”

“They also couldn’t report, say, Eve O’Deorian.”

“I can’t do an Irish accent! It always just sounds like Crocodile Dundee in an immense amount of pain.”

“Well, it’s time for you to get some rest, guv’na. I’ll take it over from here.” Emily stared at the man through the one-way glass window. “Alright,” she said, “but just so you know…”

She walked over to the silver lab door. “That was Cockney.”

“Ah. Right.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Wilson watched the man sleep. This was the first time he had been given such a large role in this kind of experiment. His official title was “Data Collector and Containment Overseer,” so his job was to monitor the subject, record data, and head the post-experiment data analysis.

Before this, he had been working with Emily as an aide to an analyst who was studying rodent behavioral patterns. Their work in this capacity had been praised as exemplary, so they were accelerated through the ranks more quickly than any other researchers had ever been. This was their first day as “DCCO”s.

The man stayed entirely quiet, without even moving a muscle. He must be in denial about his situation, Wilson decided. This was different from stimulating pain receptors in mouse brains or studying the behavior of infant gerbils separated from their mothers. This is a person, he thought, who can feel true psychological agony beyond simple pain response. Is this really right? He remembered the ethics training from when he joined the organization.

They were given a booklet to go along with the oral presentation. When skimming it, he found a paragraph under the “Ethics of Human Experimentation” section that read:

Many of our researchers grapple with the idea of subjecting human beings to unpleasant experiences for the purpose of scientific advancement. However, within this organization, we choose to go beyond the values of society at large in some cases so that we can gain scientific knowledge unobtainable through conventional methods. This scientific knowledge, in turn, is covertly released back into society. Fear of the law is also a factor in many researchers’ problems with these experiments. However, we assure all our scientists that every action taken within this building is completely exempt from federal and international law. The studies of this institution have been fully and totally approved by the United Nations, so long as the knowledge gained is shared with the world in some way.

This was just words on a page to him when he read it at orientation. He was never one for the philosophy of ethics. As a general rule, he never thought much about whether his actions were acceptable to some unseen force that supposedly ruled the universe. However, now that he was looking at a real human being subjected to total isolation, he felt… dirty. Sinful, almost.

This subject was going to be in this chamber for… how long? The higher-ups never informed him or Emily about when this man would be mind-wiped and released back to his old life. He decided to ask when his shift ended and Emily took over.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Is anyone there?”

A long pause filled the air until a man’s voice responded.

“Hello, sir.”

“Oh. I just wanted to talk to Doctor Johnson a little bit.”

“Oh, well, I guess you are.”

“I mean Angela Johnson.”

“Ah. Well, we share both a last name and an assignment.”

“Okay. That makes sense. Are there any updates on the whole… pathogen... thing?”

“Unfortunately, no. This thing is quite hard to pin down. Top scientists are working on it, though.”

“Good to know.”

“For some… data… would you mind responding to a few questions about your overall health, mentally and physically?”

“Sure.”

“How would you describe your current state of mind?”

“I think I’m just in shock right now. My life, if it goes on from this point, probably won’t ever be the same. It’s just a lot, you know?”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Any physical pain?”

“Not pain exactly, but a lot of… discomfort and grogginess. I feel like I’m at least twenty pounds heavier than I really am.”

“Okay, thank you.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Wilson, you didn’t fall asleep while checking his vitals, right?”

The scientist found himself with his head resting on a reflective steel desk, being woken up by his partner’s voice.

“Maybe…”

“You’ve got to try to stay awake, man! This is potentially groundbreaking stuff. Nothing to snore at, you know what I mean?”

Wilson groaned. “Emily, we talked about the puns. Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop with the puns.”

“I can’t help it.”

It took a while for the scientist to stand up. When he did, he walked over to Emily.

“Um, can I ask you a question?”

“Fire away.”

“Do you ever think about what we’re putting this guy through? I mean, he’s all alone in there except for our voices now and again. I wouldn’t say that’s exactly a humane thing.”

Emily smirked. “Oh, you tease, you!” She noticed her colleague’s stern, serious face. “Oh, you’re not joking. Well, I wouldn’t have expected you to get all touchy-feely, but I guess I don’t really think about that. Even if he doesn’t particularly enjoy this, the whole world will benefit from this much more than he suffers.”

“We’re destroying his life here! I know this is groundbreaking research and all, but you can’t ignore all the data! Look at Harlow’s Pit of Despair! Look at what that did to people! Don’t pretend like that’s just not particularly enjoying something!”

“Woah, I didn’t expect you to go all Boy Scout on me. Look. You’re not you right now. You’re not acting like yourself. I think the night shift got you all up in your head. Go home, get some rest, and we can continue this conversation when you’re thinking straight.”

Wilson marched out without saying goodbye.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Hello, ma’am?”

“Ah, Doctor Gregory. Sit down, sit down. Have some peppermint.” She handed him a hard candy from the jar on her desk. “How can I help you today?”

“Well, I just wanted to ask for some more information about the isolation experiment I’m performing with Doctor Bueller.”

“Of course. You know, of course, that I can’t provide you with any information above your position.”

“Of course.”

“Good. I just wanted to make sure. What’s your question?”

“What’s the projected timeline for how long this experiment will last? A week or two?”

“Well, if everything goes smoothly, there should be enough resources to keep the subject in the chamber indefinitely.”

“So he could spend the rest of his life in there?”

“Yes, I suppose so. This truly is an amazing opportunity for scientific advancement, no?”

Wilson’s face went pale. “Yes. Truly… truly amazing.”

“Doctor? You seem sick. I think the night shift might have been a shock to your system. Go home, rest up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The man woke up for what seemed like no more than five minutes and then went right back to sleep. The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by a strange man in a white lab coat.

“Come on, we don’t have much time.”

“Okay.”

The man wearing the lab coat pulled him by the arm out a door that seemed to have materialized in the wall.

“Is the pathogen spreading? What’s happeni-”

“There was never a pathogen. This is all a cruel experiment designed to keep you in isolation for the rest of your life. I’m busting you out.”

The man recognized his voice. “Wait, Doctor Johnson?”

“Not really my name. Come on, we need to go.”

The strange man led him down a pristine white hallway lined with the same lights that adorned his isolation room. After a few seconds, another person in a lab coat came out a door.

The first man in the lab coat jerked him to the side, quickly opened a door, and closed it again. They found themselves in a storage cabinet, with ample amounts of medical masks, thermometers, test tubes, and the like.

“I’m keeping the door cracked so I can see. I’ll give the all clear, and then we go that way.” He pointed to the left. “We’ll have to run like all get out, okay? Be ready.”

“Uh, okay.”

Time stood still until the man whispered, in the same hushed tone, “Go.”

They busted open the door and ran as fast as they could. Finally, they reached an elevator at the end of the hallway. The man in the lab coat frantically pressed the up arrow again and again. They were greeted by an elevator, just as white and spotless as the rest of the building.

An old woman wearing that same lab coat was waiting in the elevator, and she cheerily greeted them. “Hello, dears. What floor?”

“Ground level, if you please,” the strange man said. The words were interspersed with heavy breathing and they had a surprising tension to them.

“Excellent choice, dears.” The woman paid no mind to the man’s attire, and acted as though she dealt with things like this every day. She punched in the button with a G on it. The door closed.

Suddenly, she grabbed a pearl-colored walkie-talkie from around her waist and spoke into it.

“Escaped test subject on level B-5, coming to ground floor right now. He seems to have been aided by one of our own.”

The two men looked at each other, all hope dashed within the span of two sentences.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Well, well. How ironic that our best and brightest would betray the organization like this. You knew what you were getting into when you accepted the offer, correct? Why, after all that time and hard work, would you throw it away for… morality?”

“What you’re doing here is wrong! Any decent human person can see that.”

“Only foolish people would think that. In any case, I trust you’ve inferred what the procedure from here would be.”

“You’ll erase my memory, I imagine.”

“That’s just the first part. You see, the Institute has been presented with a problem in recent years. With the omnipresence of the internet in human lives, it’s become increasingly difficult to find people whose absence nobody would notice. As per your agreement from when you started here, you have cut all ties with friends, family, and social media, correct?”

He didn’t respond.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Where am I?”

#contest

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