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xmalereader · 3 years

Text

Thomas Shelby X Male Reader X Din Djarin

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|| Masterlist ||

This crossover will take place during the Star Wars universe! I tried to do a modern version but nothing came to mind so this’ll be my first Star Wars crossover with the peaky blinders, hopefully you like it! I tried my best. ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

Requested: Is it ok if I simply ask for something with Din Djarin and Tommy Shelby? I want something with them but my brain isn't helping me with coming up with specifics for the fic :(

Warnings: crossover, language, violence, slight smut, mando’a language, Thomas is a dealer, din is manda’lore, darksaber is used, mentions of Bo-Katan, Grogu is with din.

@ge-m31

All of the townspeople were running to their homes, spreading the word that the ‘Shelbys’ have arrived. Everyone in town was running to hide from the dangerous man that ruled the place, claimed it as his own. He showed power just by crossing anyone’s path, not one dared to go up against the shelby family. Especially not their leader or else they will deal with the consequences. As the women ushered their children inside and made sure to lock their doors as the others hid behind homes or boxes as they watched a single man riding a Varactyl down the trail, passing by homes and markets. He would glance to his left and right every once an while, eyeing the people that lived there.

He pulled the Varctly to a halt causing the creature to huff softly and shake its head, looking around as the man turns towards one of the markets. Gently he hops off the creature and makes his way towards the small market that was selling gems and stones. He stands infront of the table and knocks on the woods, from underneath emerged a young women, letting out a nervous sigh as she avoids the mans eyes. “What can I do for you today Mr. Shelby?” She stutters out, gripping her gown softly. The man stands tall and watches her closely as he pulls out a puck from his pocket and sets it in front of her. “I have a bounty that needs to be caught for me and I am looking for someone that can help me.”

The women looks down at the puck and bites her lip. “I don’t know of any bounty hunter that can help.” She whispers out. The town watched in silence as the man reaches to take the puck back. “But I know who can help!” She is quick to blurt out. Thomas hand hovers over the puck. “Who?”

She bites her lip. “A Mandalorian passed by here a few days back, he was looking for a job—no one was able to give him any but if you need him than you can find him in woods. His ship is their and he isn’t alone.” She explains to him.

Thomas takes the puck and nods at her. “A Mandalorian, strongest warriors in the galaxy.” He says to himself as he heads back to his Varactly, riding the creature out of town and towards home.

—

“I don’t understand why we are here when we should be back on Mandalore, Bo-Katan is not going to be happy once she finds out that you left.” Said Y/n as he carries around a basket full of different kinds of fruits towards the Crest.

Din rolls his eyes under the helmet as he goes back to fixing the engines. “I may be the ruler of Mandalore but I also have my own freedom. I Can decided on what to do and like Bo-Katan said, when the time is right she’ll battle me for the Darksaber and she can become the new ruler.” He reminds his Riduur.

Grogu was sitting inside the basket as he listens to both of his parents converse with eachother, his head tilting back to look up at y/n who can only groan in frustration. They have been stuck on this god forsaken planet for a few days now, the crest had broken down and they have been trying to repair it but due to the ship being very old, it was sometimes hard to fix.

“Giving her the darksaber isn’t a good idea, you saw the look on her face when she first found out—anger is what I saw.” He sets the basket down and takes the kid out, setting him on the grass for him to play with. “Bo-katan wants power and we both know that letting her take the darksaber isnt the right choice.” He was looking down at the Mandalorian.

Din knew that y/n was right, right about Bo-Katan only wanting the power that wielded the Darksaber but, he never cared about power. He was a simple Mandalorian finding his way through the galaxy, he can easily get rid of the Darksaber but something deep down inside of him was telling him to keep it and To properly rule Mandalore. He couldn’t allow her to win it from him.

“I hate that you can be right sometimes.” Said Din.

Y/n grins at the man. “See? Always listen to your Riduur.” He nudges his shoulder and turns his attention back to the kid who was trying to eat the grass. “Hey! No, don’t eat that!” Y/n bends down to pull the grass out of the kids mouth.

Din chuckles at the sight and goes back to working on the crest, double checking the engines and making sure to fix up the damage that was caused by the trees and creatures that they had to fight off. It has been a rough couple of a days but nothing they can’t handle.

As he puts his tools away he hears rustling in the trees, by instinct he pulls out his blaster and looks over to the trees. Not spitting anything he walks over to y/n and Grogu. “Someone’s here.” He says, catching the others attention as he holds Grogu in his arms and stands next to Din. Holding out his own blaster too as the kid glares into the distance.

The three hold their guard up. “Come out or else will shoot.” Says y/n, giving off a warning to whoever was here.

Some more rustling his heard as a young boy comes out, holding his hands up in surrender. “Don’t shoot, I didn’t come to cause any harm.” He says, giving the two a look. Y/n eyes the boy, he looked young and unarmed but that didn’t cause him to drop his guard.

“What do you want? Asked Din.

The boy lowers his hands and licks his lips. “My name is Finn Shelby, my family owns the town here and we were looking for someone who can help us.” Din narrows his eyes at the boy. “Whatever help you need can be done without us.” He says coldly.

Finn glares. “My brother sent me here to offer you a job, we have been told that mandalorians are the strongest warriors and we need you to hunt down someone for us.”

Din huffs and puts his blaster away. “No, thanks.” With that he heads up the razor crest. Y/n lowers his blaster and holds Grogu close, nodding towards Finn. “Tell your brother that he can hire someone else.”

“We’ve already tried!” Finn exclaims in frustration.

Y/n rolls his eyes. “Let me guess, no one accept the deal?” He says sarcastically.

“No.” Said Finn. “They’ve accepted the job but no one ever comes back.” This catches y/n attention. It wasn’t the first time that they’ve had an issue like this before, they’ve faced many dangerous jobs. Hell, they were able to survive Dark troopers!

Y/n looks at the kid up and down before pointing at him. “Stay right there.” He demands as he heads towards the crest, entering the haul he sets Grogu down and approaches Din. “Don’t tell me you spoke to the kid.” Said Din before he could even say anything to him.

Y/n chuckles nervously. “Okay but listen—the kid says that they have sent people out there and no one comes back meaning that whoever goes out their dies.” He states. “Also, we need the credits! We don’t have enough fuel to last us for the next couple of days and our rations are running low.” He walks over to Din, standing next to him as he watches the Mandalorian polish his blaster. “Din, we need the credits and it’ll be quick.” He says again.

The Mandalorian sighs deeply and looks up at his lover, giving him a glare from underneath the helmet before saying. “Alright, but if we are going to accept this job than you must listen to my instruction, do you understand?” Y/n nods quickly, “yes!” Y/n is quick to run back outside to confirm Finn that they’ll take the job.

—

They walk all the way back to town with the child inside it’s pod and protected, Finn had walked the entire time, not having a ride with him since he would rather walk.

Din on the other hand wasn’t too fond of walking, he liked traveling fast and being able to finish his job quick. But for now, he accepted the option to walk to their destination. It took a few hours before they arrived to town, the people were doing their daily business, selling parts and trying to strike up deals with other shoppers.

Y/n can’t help but look around, it was strange seeing such a lively town. I mean, Nevaroo is the same since Greef was able to make some changes with the place and finally bring peace but this town was somehow different. It felt different.

Finn guides them through the town, going through alleyways and far away from the city now into an open with long grass everywhere. Y/n was the first to notice the Varactyl causing him to halt in his steps. “It’s a Varactyl.” He breaths out with a small smile. He hasn’t seen one in years, thinking that they have gone extinct.

“Family rasies them.” Said Finn with a grin on his face. “Don’t worry, he won’t bite. He’s too entertained with the grass, keeps them happy.” He added and continues to guide the three down a path that lead them towards a large house. “This looks like a fortress to me.” Din mutters out, glancing over his shoulder to see y/n give him a shrug. “Like I said, this family could be rich.” He reminds him.

He steps ahead of Din, following Finn closely as the other pulls the doors open and allows them inside. “I suggest you leave your weapons here.”

“That’s not happening.” Said Din with a glare.

Y/n agrees with him. “We won’t leave our weapons here, not when we are in an unknown home.” He crossed his arms over his chest as Finn shrugs. “Very well, you’ll face the wrath of my brother.” He simple says as he leaves the two on their own—fetching his brother.

Y/n looks around the house and stands close to Din. “Have an escape plan in case things go sideways?” He whispers. Din nods his head once, “I always do and in case things go bad you make sure to take the kid.” Grogu was their first priority and right now they can’t risk losing the kid.

As the two wait by the entrance they notice spot Finn coming back but he wasn’t alone this time. Behind him followed an older man, he wore black clothing—almost making him look like a general that belonged with the empire. He held his head up high as he approaches the two, standing in front of them.

“It’s nice to know that Finn was able to get you two back here safely.” He says with a small smirk. Y/n narrows his eyes at the man, taking a step forward as he examines his face. Taking in the mans features as his eyes slowly widen in realization. “Tommy?” He blurts out. Catching the mans attention who eyed him in return, looking at him up and down before he too came to realization. “Well, well, if it isn’t My favorites womp rat.” He chuckles out as y/n laughs in return and rushed over to hug the man.

Din can only watch the two men in confusion, having no idea what was going on. “You know him?” Din asks, pointing over to Thomas.

Y/n pulls away from Thomas and nods at Din. “Old friend, we go way back.” He answers. Looking at Thomas with a wide smile, “Maker, you haven’t changed one bit.” He says.

Thomas grins. “I can say the same for you, it was hard to tell who you were since back then you used to wear a mask over your face. I couldn’t quiet tell who you were.” The two have known eachother for a very long time, y/n remembered working with the Shelby family at a young age before he left the family. He wanted to start his own path and left the Shelby family behind, forgetting them since he no longer needed their help. But, he and Tommy had grown close over the years—from becoming friends to lovers and soon after he had to leave Thomas behind.

“It all makes sense now, the Varactyl, the job and Finn Shelby—Maker he was only a kid when I last saw him.”

“He still is.” Said Thomas.

Y/n smiles at Thomas with a small blush on his cheeks before a cough brings him back to reality. Turning around to see Din with his hands on his hips, giving him the sass stance. Y/n clears his throat and nods. “Right—! We came because Finn told us that you needed help.”

Thomas nods. “Right, follow me.” He guides the three towards a separate room, approaching his large desk he pulls out the puck from his pocket. “A few years back I got myself involved with some problems—“ he sets the puck down and a picture of a women shows up. “Her name is Grace, she has become a spy in my town and has been watching my family closely. She’s been sending information about us to the republic and they have been wanting to toss us into prison for a very long time.” He explains.

The Mandalorian approaches the desk and looks down at the puck, taking in the information. “You said many others have taken the job but none returned, why?” Thomas gives off a small frown. “She’s smart and has her own ways to survive.” He states back. “But with a Mandalorian chasing after her, I bet she’ll give up in an instant—heard mandalorians are the strongest warriors in the galaxy.”

Thomas and Din both stare at eachother, the tension was strong between them that it was hard for y/n to break it. So, instead he placed a hand on Dins chest and gently pulls him away. “How much?” Asked Din, wanting to know how much they will get paid in order to capture the women and bring her back alive.

Thomas puts his hands behind his back as he gives the couple a price, causing y/n’s eyes to widen in shock. The amount of credits that will be given to them can last them for two years, enough for rations and for the foundlings that Mandalore is soon to claim.

“You really must be desperate.” Y/n breaths out.

Thomas hums. “Very, she contains valuable information that cannot be passed down to the republic.” He licks his lips and looks at the two, “so, will you accept the job?”

Din grabs y/n but the shirt collar, “Give us a minute.” He says as he drags him away towards a corner of the house, leaving grogu behind with Thomas. Grogu stares at Thomas and gives him a small glare. “Hello.” Says Thomas to the child who rolls his eyes and closes his pod, ignoring the man.

“What was that?” Asked Din, pulling y/n aside as he glares under his helmet. “what was what?”

“That look—I know you two were more than just friends.” He says, a hint of jealousy in his voice as y/n grins at the Mandalorian. “okay, we used to be together but that was a long time ago. Din, I am married to you, we have a kid together.” He whispers to the Mandalorian. “Also you’re Mand’alore and if Thomas ever tries something then we know that he will have to face the wrath of the king.” He teases out, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit, but of course, it wasn’t working. Huffing softly he places a hand on Din’s chest plate. “Nothing will happen, I trust you and I love you very much.” Din sighs deeply as he leans down to press his helmet against y/n’s forehead. “I’m sorry.” He says, gripping his hand softly. “its okay.” Said Y/n with a small smile.

“I’ll take the job, only because we need the credits—but you and grogu will stay behind. I can’t risk losing you and two.” Said Din after pulling away from his riduur.

Y/n holds Din’s hand as he nods along the explanation. “Okay, will stay here until you get back.” He knows that he can’t argue with him already knowing that he would lose the argument and be forced to stay behind with the kid. He knows that the bounty will take a few days but he didn’t mind, as long as he get back safe and alive.

Before Y/n can go tell Thomas about their agreement he is pulled back again, this time—Din wraps his hand around his wrist, pulling him forward as he places the darksaber in his hand. “Din—“

“Keep it.”

“Din, I can’t take this from you.”

“You aren’t taking it from you, I’m letting you barrow it. You’ll need protection and I trust you with it.” The Mandalorian lets go of his wrist as he holds the darksaber in his hands. “But the rules—“

“Fuck the rules.” Said Din. “I know that I am the only one to wield the darksaber but I trust you with it.” He bumps his head against y/n’s once more. “Use it to protect yourself and the kid in case anything bad happens, got it?” He questions, earning a nod in return. “Got it.” With that, Din lets go of him and walks back to Thomas who was leaning against his desk, hands in his pockets.

“Will take the job, but Y/n and the kid stay back in case things don’t go as planned.” Thomas smirks. “Very well.” He pushes himself off the desk and hands Din the puck and a tracking fob. “I have a room full of weapons in case you need something.” He offers as Din takes the fob and puck, putting them in his pockets and shaking his head, “With what I have will work.” Thomas nods at the Mandalorian and turns to look at Y/n.

“Looks like I’ll be in your care for the meantime.” Y/n walks over to the kids pod and opens it up, revealing the child who was playing with his favorite silver ball. Smiling he reaches down and picks him up, holding him in his arms as the kids ears move up and down every once an while as he looks around the room, taking in the decor. “Hope you don’t mind the kid destroying some things.”

Thomas chuckles at y/n. “I don’t think he likes me very much.” He points out which causes Din to laugh a bit.

This catches their attention, y/n smiles at the Mandalorian and approaches him. “be safe.” He says again. Grogu coos at his buir and with his tiny hand he reaches up and places it against the side of the helmet, giving it a small stroke as he too worries for his fathers safety. “Ill be okay kid, you take care of Y/n while I’m gone.” Grogu gives Din a stern look and nod, determained to keep his own family safe. As they say their goodbyes they watches Din rid off with one of Thomas’ Varctly.

“You look happier than usual.” He hears Thomas say, standing next to him as they watch Din disappear into the woods. Y/n sighs, “Being married to a king has its perks.” He responds back and turns his attention to the kid, playing with his ears as he heads back inside.

Thomas stands there for a few seconds before it hits him. “wait—KING!?”

#male reader #pedro pascal #din djarin #din djarin x male reader #pedro pascal x male reader #the mandalorain #star wars x male reader #star wars #the mandalorian spoilers #thomas shelby x male reader #Thomas Shelby #peaky blinders x male reader #peaky blinders imagine #cillian murphy x male reader #cillian murphy #crossover #crossfic

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bananaman-mp3 · 2 years

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Eleven

maven helps mare learn the names of the houses and recognized them. house of samos aka evangelines family is the highest. they also dress in plain black silk and have no shinies. digging the elegance here.

ofc hes in charge of the weapons used in war of course thats likely why he is so important in the first place. of course it about the war. it always is.

mares specially nervous when they leave, because silvers are watching and she has to maintain the lie that put her into this clusterfuck and its hard. its hard and nobody understands. well maybe maven does. he reassures her again and goddamnit the bar is so low. why. hes literally being a decent person for all i know he will turn out to be the main antagonist. this is what ive been reduce to. simping for decent dudes. wow.

there are hint at mare being able to perceive the cameras and potentially any object that uses electricity to function. which would be amazing if this turns into something like a government overthrowing thing which it is shaping up to be. i like where this is goin.

the mention of sentinels reminds mare of the extremely real possibility of the guard attacking them and exposing them. to the whole world.

tiberias: i made this red girl a silver princess!

me: you fucked up an already traumatized child, is what you did. look at her shes gotten worse anxiety and paranoia!

prince boys want some quality time with them girls, huh.

GSHDJJDKDJ OFC QUEENIE THINKS ITS INAPPROPRIATE. LADY WHAT ARE YOU CATHOLIC?

…on second thought. lets not apollo-dodgeball this.

cal saves it by suggesting they escort each others girlfriends, which, if they knew better, would suggest their bug prince likes-likes the red girl. im guessing he kinda does. yeah.

“Like any wife, she hates her husband for challenging her,”

girl what is this the xvii century.

im sorry to miss aveyard but i deserve financial compensation for having to read “she-devil”. what makes you think the devil isnt THE girlboss. uncreative.

guys dont leave maven alone with her please.

mares got her priorities straight. he doesnt let these pretty-boy princes make her swoon over them. silvers are silvers.

i am reminded that mare i short. dgjfkf lmao.

shes so passive aggressive towards cal as they go to her room. like- sure hes a royal but. its not like he chose to be born one.

cal says mares a lot like maven. huh. inch resting. says shes smart- to which mare narrates her education was poor, but obviously he elaborates, pointing towrds her understanding of people. at how she even noticed he didnt belong when they met at the stilts.

she has a moment of poor power control but nothing really happens. hope she gets to learn how to use those soon. i have a feeling theyll get someone to teach her.

cal tells her about her family. she feels extremely guilty again. theyll release her brothers and kilorn from conscription as per her request and they sent someone to tell her parents where she is.

getting to her room and noticing the cameras when cel doesnt makes her very aware of her power. she thought it was normal. cal doesnt know how to comfort her :(

#this banana for queue #red queen first read

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erenenthusiast · 3 years

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Regarding Mikasa’s ending I’ve pretty much just accepted it. I can understand that her husband (I guess, especially if it’s Jean) would visit the grave with her. I can understand that now maybe the scarf is just something she holds for memory. I can get how the ‘my most beloved’ makes sense because at the time he was buried that was true but that can change now that he’s gone.

The one thing I don’t get is why Mikasa said, ‘see you later.’ I know the Japanese version is ‘itterasshai, Eren.’

Itterasshai (行ってらっしゃい) is the proper phrase to say to the person leaving, often after they announce their departure. It could be directly translated as “go and come back,” but has more of a meaning of: “see you later!”

The nuance of this statement is that the Japanese use this to express their desire that the person leaving will come back home safely, that is why parents/spouses say it to their children/spouse when they leave for the school or work.

Isayama seemed to pick this intentionally over goodbye, I thought, to express Mikasa’s desire to one day be with him at home even if he was leaving now. Now I don’t really think he deserves an afterlife with her (I head cannon they reincarnated into the HS AU so his sins don’t play into it), but it’s her intention that counts.

So I just wonder was that just an elaborate way to say goodbye? But surely Isayama picked that for a reason? It doesn’t make sense to me, considering the extra pages show her married. Now looking back on it with the added pages, do you think maybe it had a different meaning?

Scarf is not something she holds for memories only, but thats something that symbolizes her bond with eren. If it was so silly, then eren wouldn't ever tell her to take it off in the first place. I also wanna say while making these extra pages, isayama says it doesn't change anything we have seen so far so no, eren is still her most beloved the extra pages was focused on them itself. In fact isayama who didn't even bother drawing the man beside her properly, didn't miss the details of his grave in the next panels, that pretty much shows what was his priority and what he intended to mean. Erens significance to mikasa is much greater than just a husband or love interest what so ever, it isn't bound by limits like that. To be the most beloved, you dont need to be a husband, in fact you are underestimating it by saying it because it doesn't work like that, it takes something more. These Feelings, emotions, are not something that comes from fulfilling conditions like being husband or having babies but solely from your heart. It comes naturally. I’m surprised that people to approve of what they have seen in the extra pages, without even context, is ready to change mind on what they were shown so far, for it to make sense. Dont bother. And dont make it contradict what you have seen so far just for the contextless pages to make sense for you when isayama himself said it doesn't change anything. Not all this for a back panel which wasn't even there in the next one. Its you all who are giving it importance, not isayama. But of course anyone is allowed to disappointed or not like the extras but what am saying is, dont twist the whole series for the sake of those extras.

And the "see you later" is pretty evident, that mikasa and erens relationship resolved around home. No matter what they'll return to each other in the end so mikasa doesn't say farewell. Because even if its not possible in the world, it will be in some other realm, they'll reunite. And do you notice you're pretty much trying to twist to many things just for those one panel back man to make sense. Dont lol. Its not that important, in fact that guy was used for em moment. And her relationship with eren isnt as simple as being ber husband, they share more that than and overcame battles together. You remember who you were with during a battle and who gave you the strength and motivation to fight in a battle, who you fought for, not the person who you enjoyed the aftermath of a battle with

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autumn-foxfire · 3 years

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Once again saw a take that was like 'how come izuku sees sho as the one most hurting when dabi is right there, this is sympthomstic of heroes wanting to fight never listen'

Listen to what bro? This clown that just drove murder machine through dozen cities and is now activly trying to kill at least two people in the group? Should izuku just go 'huh mate u gotta point, go on, let it all out champ'. Once again time to listen isnt mid war zone, time to listen is before if the victims come forward, ir after when you have villains secured and are sure they wont hurt anyone while they are listening.

Listen i want hero society to realize its faults n slowly change, i want to see endeavor accept what hes done and give up his title as no 1 and his status as a hero as much as the same person. And i belive that will happen, you know when they make sure Dabi doesnt Kamikaza the rest of the group in attempt to off Endeavor. Right now stopping Dabi is a priority because hes threatning actual harm right now at that moment. The wrongness of hero society and how it created this specific victim IS important and SHOULD be adresses but its a second issue to murderes pyroman right here right now. It takes time to dissasemble and change a corrupt society and that cant happen in a few lines of dialog as dabi is trying to kill endeavor, sho and himself.

The realization that hero society needs changes is the big goal that im sure a lot of what heroes found out in this fight will contribute to. But stopping Dabi (and every other villain) is an immidiate goal because hes threatning harm right now and heroes job is to stop him.

They said 'they are victims not just villains' and i say 'they are villains not just victims'. The cracks in society they fell through should be noticed, adressed and fixed so no more people fall through them and they should recive adaquate mental care for their trauma. But they should also be stopped right now at this moment because they themselves are hurting and traumatizing countless people.

Also if i was a civillain and i saw heroes hug n forgive a bunch of villains that drove a monster through a city and killed half of people i know cuz they were traumatized, id fuckin lose faith in justice and become a villain myself. We already have enough cracks people fall through dont make more by coddling mass murderers.

My point being, it is important to change the hero society but its also important that the mass murderers are gotten off the street so u know they cant do mass murder. And once people dont gotta worry about the mass murdering terrorists they can give their attention to fixing the things that made those villains become villains in the first place. Prioroties people cmon

^^^

I don’t really have much to add, Lucy, you’re spot on.

I’m so tired of this fandom not realising that right now, stopping the villains before they can cause anymore harm to others is the priority and needs to be adressed before the can focus on any other issues because the villains right now are the immediate threat.

Fixing the issues in hero society won’t just suddenly make the League up and stop what they’re doing. Shigaraki isn’t going to see the heroes suddenly adress the bystander effect issue and no longer feel the urge to destroy everything and Dabi isn’t going to stop trying to hurt Endeavor through any means possible just because his past abuse is being adressed. They’re current threats that need to be stopped immediately.

I don’t know why that’s so hard for some people in the fandom to understand. I guess at this point they’re too biased to think objectively about the situation. It’s so frustrating.

#bnha #bnha 292 #bnha manga spoilers #thanks for the ask!!#thegaygyrus

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raposarealm · 3 years

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did you not understand the completely fine and not as all disappointing ending?

literally all a comatose dream??

the ending that definitely isnt bullshit???

I definitely caught that -- and to make it worse, I've played the Collector's version too, which had an even more bullshit ending. Back when I was still writing for the fandom, I noticed that the most common type of fic I saw were ending rewrites and extensions, so yeah, the ending's definitely bullshit.

I always chose to interpret the 'comatose dream' part as just confirming that there are multiple worlds/universes in canon, and that while Mike's body was comatose in his world, his mind had somehow taken form in the Raposas' world. I still don't have the best explanation for this, but it feels better than 'haha it was all a dream screw you' so

I wonder if The Next Chapter hit some development issues along the way that forced its writing to end the way it did -- it seems really rushed at the end, and kinda... nonsensical. Like, once the Turtlerock docks at the Wasteland, the story kinda falls apart. How is it that some characters can stand on colorless land and others can't? Why would Mari go after just Jowee and not as many as she could, given that she was trying to save her people? Hell, why didn't she just give the explanation of her betrayal in the first place?

And speaking of Jowee, it really hurt to see him just passively switch sides. He'd spent the majority of the game up to that point serving as the leader pro tempore for the villagers, since Mari leaves relatively early -- by the time they get to Lavasteam, Jowee's on his own, and we still have, like, two thirds of the plot to go! He gets so much character development from that point on, being forced into a position of authority that was so opposite to what he knew, and no longer having someone to lean on. He had to deal with not just his loss of Mari, but also having to effectively figure out who he was without her -- all while trying to keep the villagers calm, and while trying to save the areas where they landed. Jowee desires nothing more than to be a hero, and when he's given the opportunity, he realizes that balancing his ideals with the priority of keeping those under him safe was a lot more difficult than he expected. He learns to become a true leader by the time he lands on the shores of the Wasteland, but then... he sees Mari, gets nabbed by her, and then just heel-turn decides to go against all the progress he's worked so hard to make towards saving everyone. I get that by restoring all color to the world, the game implies that Mike would wake up, and therefore the Raposas' world would disappear. However, the fact that the game doesn't let us see Jowee confronting this information, the realization that his actions in attempt to save everyone had actually been condemning them... To have to then choose between following his morals and restoring the color and therefore setting Mike free, or saving everyone he knows and loves, including himself... Why didn't we get to see any of that?! That would have been such an amazing scene; and even if Jowee did make the same decision that he does canonically, it'd still now be justified, we'd see his reasoning for making that extremely tough call. I... Ok I know I wrote a lot about Jowee in particular but he's my favourite and also serves as sorta the 'protagonist' for most of the second game.

But the ending really feels super rushed. It feels like entire scenes are missing, like major plot points were left out because there was no more time to include anything else. Even just a confirmation that the Raposa still exist would have been preferable, but I guess we just can't have nice things, can we? I happen to know that both games were handled by the same writer, so it wasn't an author-switch issue, so all I can assume is that the game ran out of time or funding to deliver better ending. In fact, it might have even been originally meant to set up another sequel, but it got chopped off, and therefore the ending that was supposed to be a cliffhanger now just falls flat.

But this is all theory, and actually way too much theory wow how much did I write-

#i really need to replay these games now actually #drawn to life #absentmindedtroublemaker #ask #rapo answers #rapo rambles #i need to sleep i've been up way too long i have an appointment today-

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loverofallthingssmart · 3 years

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Carrie from JatP. Also Biana Vacker

favorite thing about them: her talent her personality and her motives is what comes to mind at first like. she strives for the best because she doesn't know where she'll be if shes not the best and its just. i love her. also her songs and her outfits the pink SOOOTRUEE shes so cute i adore her

least favorite thing about them: she IS literally a white girl bullying woc we're not going to gloss over the fact that shes been putting down julie and flynn for like what? years

favorite line: "oh my gosh, flynn! don't bother coming!" ugh the hurt in that the disguised sarcasticness bc that hurt fuck...... rewatching that always hits.. also! the lines i mentioned below especially, "if you're looking for nick, he didn't come." like the inherent tragicness of all her taunts are so

brOTP: carrie & her candies !!! i just really really love dirti candi so much and the fact that they're carrie's besties and probably carpool to practice and dance and sing together they're just so <33

OTP: i don't really care actually shipping is second priority i mean flarrie is cute and kaylie is cute but carrie getting a redemption arc is everything

nOTP: carrie/nick and carrie/alex because she is a lesbian <3

random headcanon: aroace lesbian carrie rights !! <3

unpopular opinion: do i have one? i literally cant think of one hmm OH right uhhh i think nick is kind of uhh irrelevant to the plot and carrie dating him was like stupid bc one shes a lesbian and two what use was it? like they had 3 scenes together that could've easily been done if they were just friends or literally ANYONE could have done it like i think KAYLA should have been the one to do it to a) give her more depth than ditzy and one of carrie's cronies i guess???? and b) proved that carrie is ACTUALLY friends with the candies bc she IS !!! netflix let me write dirti candi being friends like they should've have... uh anyway this was more a nick bash which is funny lmao i DO like him. he's just. why to the plot? yk? anyway

song i associate with them: not a surprise but "little miss perfect" its just. breaks down. its so carrie

favorite picture of them: there are so many...................shes just so.... okay okay here every single time shes with dirti candi and dancing bc her genuine smiles are so <333, her various faces of gay_digust.jpg, and gay_annoyance.jpg bc so true, her fake smiles bc i just. 😳 mean girls amirite? and then

this entire episode was everything for a) all eyes on me because that song is everything b) the look on her face when she says "if youre looking for nick. he didnt come" because WOW what a sad sentence. her boyfriend didn't come see her perform (again not his fault) but her father isnt there either so she's literally alone performing and when julie comes shes like i know youre here for my boyfriend not me and he isnt here so go figure youre disappointed with seeing just me. and i want to cry shes so. and then c) this screenshot right here. because this is right after andi parker just blew her off in favor of julie. and i ADORE julie she DEFINITELY deserved that record agent like so true !!! but god her face. she works so hard to ensure she's the best and this right here? this is the realization that there are people better than her and she might not get what shes worked for all this time after all... just HHHHHHHH

also:

WE LOVE TO SEE GROWTH. when she stands up to applaud shes accepting julie knowing how talented she is and understanding there are ppl better to her and that little HINT of redemption arc im getting? in love i will accept it thank you very much (also her small smile?? that curled hair?? im in love)

ty for the ask anon !!! sorry for not doing biana i just have many thoughts on carrie so i wanted to get it all in one post <33

send me a character!!

#can u tell i think about her all the time #shes my repressed mean girl lesbian comfort character along w chloe...#carrie wilson #ask game #ask me anything #2 am ramblings #jatp #julie and the phantoms

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if-the-crown-fits-translate-it · 3 years

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Discord pt 92

[Date: 17/03, 07:42 PM GMT - 17/03, 09:29 PM GMT]

jayyyyyyyy: “fetch, come on, cant you see this isnt doing anything to help?

just take the damn ointment”

Little-K1ng: “he... what?”

Marcus: “I back read a little bit”

Marcus: “Just not here”

fetch: “fine. you want me to be honest huh. go on look at the fucking doc. just another place where my problems turned into everyone else's.”

Little-K1ng: fetch.... you really, really need to stop lying to me. im doing my best here, im trying so hard to let things slide in the name of giving you what you need. but you are far from making it easy on me”

fetch: “we're gonna forget all this happened in 3 days time anyway. it doesn't fucking matter what i tell you or what i dont.”

Little-K1ng: “you get angry when you're stressed, you stop responding, you stop listening to reason

but-.. wait, whats going to happen in 3 days?”

Maxwell: “....prince told us that faer family is coming back in 3 days”

fetch: “the beginning of spring.”

Maxwell: “spring officially begins then”

jayyyyyyyy: “we'll get you guys back, if you somehow go back in the first place”

Little-K1ng: “so.... so i get warning, this time,

thats.... almost too cruel”

fetch: “whatever. i honestly can't be asked to care at this point.”

Marcus: “You’d really say that to Mona of all people?”

Little-K1ng: “i..... i wouldnt ask that of you”

Marcus: “...three days huh”

Little-K1ng: “i would simply fucking EXPECT IT FROM YOU. HOW THE FUCK. AM I MEANT TO FEEL. WHEN I CANT STOP GRIEVING SOMEONE. WHOS RIGHT IN FUCKING FRONT OF ME, FETCH?”

donti (e): “... mona u alright...?”

Marcus: “Is that really a question you’re asking right now?”

donti (e): “ah.. sorry.”

jayyyyyyyy: “honestly at this point im willing to chuck a bucket of weedkiller at fetch's head”

Marcus: “Jeight.”

donti (e): “hey hey lets not get hastyy”

Little-K1ng: “i... [huff] i .... [sniff] i just.. i shouldnt have yelled i....”

Marcus: “This isn’t helping”

fetch: “i... you're expecting too much from me. i mean. you expect me to care at this point? when death is coming to our door and all we can do is throw on a little sprinkler? when all we can do is sit in a huddle and wait until these vines in our skulls fully bloom?”

donti (e): “... we discussed possible solutions to the buds if you.. want to change subject.. or not”

jayyyyyyyy: “fetch, the thing about this is that we have a fighting chance

we lose that chance if you stop fighting”

Little-K1ng: “im expecting you to fucking try, fetch. im expecting you to understand that we're all going through this, and every time you lie to me, to us, you cost us more time we could have spent trying to fix it”

fetch: “how would it help, by piling on more and more to the shitheap we have already? you're not supposed to worry about me. ive always been able to handle myself.”

Maxwell: “please ⌇⏁⍜⌿arguing....why are we arguing.....”

Marcus: “..”

Void: “...”

Little-K1ng: “wh... what did you just...?”

Maxwell: “....what....”

fetch: “...”

Maxwell: “why are...”

Marcus: “Max..”

Maxwell: “why are you staring at me what”

Marcus: “Can you say what you just said again”

Little-K1ng: “that sounded like...”

donti (e): “max...”

Little-K1ng: “say that again, max”

Marcus: “Please”

jayyyyyyyy: “actually maybe dont”

Marcus: “Max say it again”

jayyyyyyyy: “that. i think fighting is causing the process to speed up”

Maxwell: “please stop arguing....why are we arguing.....?”

Little-K1ng: “i... thats not what i heard”

donti (e): “... lets stop arguing”

Marcus: “That’s..that’s what I thought you said

You just

Didn’t say it like that”

Maxwell: “but i did”

fetch: “...yall still think I need to be priority right now?”

Maxwell: “thats what i said”

jayyyyyyyy: “you, uh, said "stop" in enderspeak”

Maxwell: “what no i didnt”

Marcus: “Fetch. This is going to be you so kindly shut the fuck up about not being a priority”

Little-K1ng: “fetch, you fail to recognize that you're always my priority, even if you're kind of an ass”

Marcus: “Max it’s okay

I told you it would be okay”

Little-K1ng: “max, hug?”

Maxwell: “why....why are you all acting so weird?”

Little-K1ng: “its alright, max”

jayyyyyyyy: “we're all just stressed mate”

Maxwell: “are yall okay?”

donti (e): “weere fine its fine..”

Maxwell: “its?

look im not a child you can tell me whats going on”

Marcus: “We told you”

fetch: “you spoke in ender.”

Marcus: “You denied it”

donti (e): “you spoke ender.”

Maxwell: “you....youre kidding right?”

jayyyyyyyy: “nope”

Maxwell: “ha funny joke”

jayyyyyyyy: “we're not joking”

fetch: “for once im not lying.”

Marcus: “You told us to tell you.

We told you.”

Little-K1ng: “here, come in for a hug, wont you?”

Maxwell: “no no no no no”

Little-K1ng: “ive got you, max”

Maxwell: “i couldnt have no”

jayyyyyyyy: “hold on, hes panicking”

Little-K1ng: “its the stress, max

its alright, im here”

jayyyyyyyy: “mona, give him a little space”

Maxwell: “no no no stay please”

jayyyyyyyy: “i never said for anyone to leave

are you okay with being given hugs, or would you rather not?”

Maxwell: “im okay with it”

LLyr: “they’ve kind of established max likes the contact at this point i think”

jayyyyyyyy: “yeah, but you can never be too careful”

LLyr: “fair enough”

Little-K1ng: “i appreciate the concern for max, jayx8″

fetch: “I. i would offer a hug but I'm not feeling up to it. i think I'm just gonna go for a walk.”

jayyyyyyyy: “its

Little-K1ng: “fetch...”

jayyyyyyyy: “hm”

Maxwell: “i dont wanna go back no no please no”

Little-K1ng: “i would rather you not go out where the court roams

you got in one good bite, let it be enough”

fetch: “i'll stick nearby.

i just need to get out of the house.”

Little-K1ng: “stay where you can see the road, alright? text me if you need a pickup”

jayyyyyyyy: “stay near the neighborhood. go to the mineshaft if you need to”

fetch: “yeah. got it. later.”

Maxwell: “I'm scared”

donti (e): “...”

Little-K1ng: “oh, max...”

Maxwell: “oh no oh god oh merde”

donti (e): “sh shsshshh max its fine.

calm down its alright.”

Little-K1ng: “tell you what, we can destress with some hot cocoa? with the tiny colorful marshmallows you like?”

Marcus: “I can go make it

I don’t think max wants to be alone right now”

jayyyyyyyy: “maybe watch some movies? ones that uh, dont have kidnapping in them, too. moana would be good?”

Little-K1ng: “i dont actually.. own any movies

i dont watch them”

donti (e): “youtube videos ?”

Little-K1ng: “that works”

[They watch a video of an otter for a while, and discuss the events from earlier this day. Max thinks that the wreathe mayn’t be as bad as everyone thinks it’ll be, as it will have calendula marigolds which are good for helping to heal.]

Little-K1ng: “....ah.. they are, but maybe..... nah, nevermind.... ill let you enjoy the thought”

Maxwell: “they may be fully metal but still...maybe then can help the family....”

Marcus: “...”

Little-K1ng: “.........”

Maxwell: “what?”

Marcus: “..yeah max, that’s a nice thought”

Maxwell: “i thought so too!”

Little-K1ng: “i cant believe.... im staring down the barrel of either losing all 3 of you... or going with you and not remembering any of this... that hurts, and it hasnt even happened yet”

Marcus: “Well

I don’t know if this will comfort you or not

But you might not entirely forget this”

Little-K1ng: “true! this is honestly the happiest thing to happen to me in an incredibly long time, there is a chance itll stick”

Marcus: “Baron and Prince remember their childhoods a little bit”

Maxwell: “stick...sticky...ha honey is sticky but not good

tastes yucky”

Marcus: “...I remembered Elizabeth and I learning codes

....max?”

Maxwell: “hm?

something wrong?”

Marcus: “What was that about honey just now?”

Maxwell: “oh!

well mona said stick

and stick is one letter off from sticky!

and hony is really sticky

but i dont like honey”

Marcus: “...got it

Maxwell: “bleh”

Marcus: “Okay yeah that

That makes sense”

Maxwell: “yeah!”

Little-K1ng: “i wish i hadnt snapped at fetch like that... maybe when he comes back i can give him a proper apology”

Maxwell: “hm perhaps that would be good

family should get along”

[this message was deleted shortly afterwards]

Marcus: “....”

Little-K1ng: “i...?”

Maxwell: “what?”

Marcus: “M..ax?”

Little-K1ng: “max?”

Maxwell: “god damn it did i speak fucking ender again or some shit???”

Marcus: “N..no”

Little-K1ng: “n..no.....”

Maxwell: “the fuck happened then? yall look freaked out”

Marcus: “Um”

Little-K1ng: “nevermind! :)!!”

Maxwell: “hm.....if youre sure...”

Marcus: “I must be tired, it’s fine Max! :)”

Maxwell: “youve been sleeping a lot man you sure?”

Marcus: “Yeah, gotta be tired to sleep a lot right”

Maxwell: “I guess”

Little-K1ng: “are you guys...... hungry?”

[The conversation switches to the topic of making brownies and other baked goods. There was also small talk about methods of removing the growing wreathe buds that had been suggested earlier in the day. Mona suggests cutting one of the buds off, if Max could handle it. Jack and Marcus argue over their priorities: their concern for Max and their family respectively. After snipping off a small part of the buds, the following conversation ensures:]

Marcus: “...he’s not bleeding”

donti (e): “can you guys take a look at what mona cut off?”

emuhlee: “well, that part is good?”

Maxwell: “theres some time of fucking liquid ow”

Marcus: “It looks like that...cellulose that comes out of dandelions”

Little-K1ng: “Hhhhhhhhh”

Marcus: “Mona?

donti (e): “is max alright??”

Marcus: “Uh..in pain?”

dreaming: “uh get a towel?”

Marcus: “It’s not a lot”

Maxwell: “that really hurt jesus fucking christ”

Marcus: “Have you never picked a dandelion?

It’s like that”

Little-K1ng: “That's kinda. Gross”

Jack the Observer: “it's not blood though, right?”

Maxwell: “my headache is much worse....”

Little-K1ng: “No not blood”

Marcus: “It’s..

Huh”

donti (e): “blood substitute?”

Marcus: “It stopped”

Jack the Observer: “huh.”

Marcus: “......”

donti (e): “hey what happened to the bud”

Marcus: “Mona

Mona look”

Marcus: “Mona there’s two more”

Maxwell: “God damn it is this fucking Hercules or some shit”

Jack the Observer: “pft”

donti (e): “well.

we can at least look at the bud that was cut off.”

Marcus: “It’s just sitting there”

[The conclusion from this experiment was that the buds have nerve endings, which is why it hurt Maxwell and worsened his headache when it was cut, even after being numbed with ice prior to cutting. People ask about Fetch’s whereabouts. This was his last known update to the document:]

[With this information, people begin to speculate that Fetch might not be back for a while…]

#on:discord #by:maxwell #by:marcus #by:fetch #if the crown fits

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help-i-need-a-cool-username · 3 years

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Finally watched ep 7!!!! I loved that Klein came back!! Weiss was ready to happy cry. I couldnt quite hear but was that more self doubt from Nora? Noooooo. People in Atlas the city going about their day completely disregarding the army of grimm they can all see whooooo boy that contrasts with Mantle's people. Also they were in short sleeves so they managed to get the heat back on up there which makes me think Mantle isnt even a after thought oof. Penny saying shes sorry makes me think shes already recovered the Staff. Also when did YRJ find out that Clover was dead? Ironwood sending in his elite and most trusted team on a suicide mission i know is to reaffrim that hes lost his marbles but is in no way a good idea ("i dont know what id do without you winter" well i guess youll find out). I know its a point of conflict and like plot but i find it annoying how each group has different mentalities when it comes to the right thing/what they should be doing. Idk maybe i just dont like how i see everything in the tag first and its a bunch of trash talking the characters and then i see the episodes later and all that hate is just unfounded

actually im gonna rant about this: like it makes complete sense how Atlas Military act BECAUSE THEYRE MILITARY. 1) people IN THE MILITARY get orders and follow them no question. Theyre literally trained/conditioned to be that way. 2) Everyone in Remenant KNOWS Atlas huntsmen go to a military academy and most all of them become soliders so why is RWB/YRJ so hung up about how they dont act as huntsmen?? Also side note from what i remember from vol 1 cops, soliders, and huntsmen are all trained to fight grimm but only huntsmen are free agents (and specialize in grimm)

The Happy Huntresses / May have a similar sense of loyalty/priorities as Atlas Military almost certaintly atributed to either growing up in Altas the kingdom or their training at Atlas Academy. May has committed herself to Mantle and cant see why RWB is seemingly betraying her because she thought they commited too or maybe she sees Mantle as the place theyve been stationed and therefore they need to be there. Either way im 100% certain Atlas social or military mindset is involved.

RWB im a bit mad at because for some reason Ruby thinks if all nine of them are back together then just the nine of them can defeat Salem's army and WB are not telling her the reality which im glad May did. I understand she just wants her friends and to not make a decision alone but this is not a battle its a seige. May knows it. Weiss is starting to believe it. Ironwood is trying to turn it into a battle but all his soliders recognize it as a seige (thats why the Ace Ops arent out on the front lines and instead running a unimportant errands)

#hinacu rwby #rwby

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crispyapplepies · 4 years

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Copy pasta improvised terra-slept-with-joshua-and-ven-is-upset-about-it fic i wrote in a discord chat for any terravens willing to overlook the present tense sketch writing, i hope you enjoy the angsty comedy drama --

so by chance, vens assigned gym partner for the day is joshua~ sora is stuck with roxas in the bg which is also amusing if you wanna know the background noise to this xD ven is an utter sweetie and has no personal problem with joshua so hes happy to pick up his slack on their activities today since he understands some people just dont care for athletics, especially when they have pretty looks to preserve for rehearsal tonight^^ at the end of class joshua offers his coy appreciation to ven who was such a cute gentleman today in getting him through that~ and then he makes some remark about how he never wouldve guessed ven even was that physically inclined given what he thought terras taste in men was~ ven lowers an eyebrow and asks "huh? what does that mean? =o=" and joshua chuckles "oh it was a long time ago, nothing to wonder about now~ i will say this though, you my friend? are one very very lucky bottom ;) keep a close eye on him." and then he saunters off to his next class. ven squints =.= hes a lil grumpy now x)

come lunch time, terra and aqua have already sat down at their usual table, seniors come in first, and theyre settled in with aqua going over some extra terms with terra for their history exam. sophomores finally file in and ven marches over with the tray of food he didnt even look at when he was at the counter. terra turns with a smile to see him and plants his usual kiss hello on his cheek as ven sits down with a slight fwomp, not responding to it. terra asks "everything okay? :o" and aqua looks over to check if hes feeling alright, not spotting any signs of sickness. ven responds almost gritting his teeth "i've been better. =_ =" terra tells aqua he'll help her study in a minute, cuz obviously upset boyfriend takes priority<3 he sinks his fingers into vens hair and asks him if he wants to talk about it. and ven takes a deep breath, trying to resume his usual Good Boi Angel attitude, gently swats terras hand away and says "Maybe later, you and aqua can go ahead and study! 8) I'll even help you if you like~" terra recognizes that this is certainly not over but hes not gonna force ven to talk or anything so he kinda nervously says okay.. and then tells aqua "Wanna quiz me?" and aqua says sure, and starts reading off the list of vocab words only for ven to suddenly smack the table and turn sharply to terra and ask "WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL ME YOU SLEPT WITH JOSHUA????" and terra just- O//__//O oops.. and aqua looks at terra all disappointed and grossed out and groans "Oh, terra, you didn't... >~<" and terra is so embarrassed and tries to explain to ven's scowl "i-it was a long time ago! really it meant nothing! :'D... a-and besides it was even before I met you! so.. thats- alright?" and he glances over at aqua hoping for some kind of validation but she just goes "ughh..." in the most smh big sister voice xDDD

ven exhales, trying to cool off and be rational, but his usual sweet happy face just cant help being all =_ = at terra, and he says "I guess its- fine, but- gosh, really? joshua? you didnt have feelings for him, did you? er was this just a fling? how long ago was this?" and terra stumbles to answer saying "i-it was- um... back when i first came out! people were telling me i couldnt say i was bi if i'd never had sex with a guy too, so i- had to prove it! thats all, really, it was nothing meaningful to me, honest<3 :'3 I'm not like that." as he cups vens cheeks playfully, but where theres usually a smile between puffed out cheeks theres still just a >:T ven folds his arms and tries again to collect himself and says "i guess i get it.. i guess xT thats really all it was? no more secrets?" and terra swears with his hand up and his eyes closed "I swear thats all it was v_v." aqua shakes her head and tells terra "Youre gonna owe ven preeetty big after this blows over :/" but before ven can even respond terra has already jumped in to tell her "I'll do anything to make ven happy! theres absolutely nothing to worry about~ :')" and ven is still kinda pissed but he finally says "okay. i'll let it go. here aqua, i can read off the list and quiz both of you" and aqua slides ven the paper to read off while she glares at terra who glares back at her as if to say 'drop it =.='

so thats the end of it for the day, and the next day too, but then the next day is gym again, and whatever sora and roxas are struggling with in the bg is still going on xD and ven and joshua are partners again. ven is still not comfortable with the idea of his terra sleeping with joshua, the twink incubus of the school fdkjgh but hes a nice boy so hes going to continue being nice and get joshua through this "drag of an hour, and not even the fun kind" pff joshua can kinda tell ven is pretty tense today though, unusual for him since ven is always the nicest kid in the whole school next to maybe sora. so finally near the end he asks if something's on his mind and ven realizes ack, what am i doing? there is no reason for me to be such a jerk. so he tells joshua "im really sorry, I mean it, I have no business acting like this;; i just- when i found out you slept with terra i was kinda.. uncomfortable about it to say the least, but i have no reason to be, youre perfectly nice :) besides, it was before he even met me so it doubly doesnt matter~^^" but thats where joshua raises an eyebrow. "oh? i think youre a little mixed up there cutie pie~ terra and i had sex together last year. some time after you transferred. I was amazed at the offer, really, i honestly thought that once he met you, none of us other cuties had a chance. but it looks like he landed you in the end, so it is of no matter. but i do certainly hope that you and he are happy, terra is quite the catch and we'll all be quite jealous of you til the end~ catch you around ;)" and thats the end of that conversation. ven. is. livid. 8)

so ven actually skipped lunch with his friends 8) terra looks around curiously, he still isnt showing up and hes not texting him back either. aqua asks him "doesnt ven have gym today?" and terra answers like its a dumb question pff "yeah? its thursday, everybody has gym today. its gym day." and she shakes her head at him and says "I think you should give him some space. im pretty sure i know where he is. :/" terra looks uneasy tho. "do you think hes okay?" and aqua says "oh... im sure he will be." terra grips his arms and tries not to think about it 8)

senior gym class is last period and they start filing in as the juniors file out. terra fist bumps riku on his way in xD terra is practically exempt from whatever is on the activities list cuz hes.. terra and gym class is honestly childs play pff he finishes everything in 2 seconds anyway. so usually the coach just lets him bench press for a while. highschools are bullshit xD aqua has that privilege too but she considers it a warm up before her practice later and does them anyway. terra takes his time prepping the bench, saving himself the trouble of dealing with the crowd in the locker room, and once they all run out he yoinks his gym bag up to his shoulder just to be extra pff and marches on in there to change. weird that everyone is snickering at him on their way out though... he walks inside, humming mindlessly to himself cuz gym class is his chance to relax after school before his practice. and then he half screams in surprise as his gym bag falls to the floor. ven is sitting right there in front of the lockers with the angriest look on his face terra didnt even know he /could/ make jhdfgl ven "sings" out "hello, terra. >8(" and terra just- run kdjfhglhdfsg

terra runs back to the bench as if he can just- run away from reality kdjsfhgljkdfs xDDD and start bench pressing cuz he doesnt know what else to do sdklfjhglsdj im having too much fun with this i love dumb ass jocks and soft cuties xDDD ven launches himself on top of terra pushing down on the weights terra was about to pump up and yells "YOU SLEPT WITH JOSHUA WHILE YOU WERE COURTING ME?!?!?!?!!!!"

(everyone in the gym is cackling quietly to themselves at the display sdfkjgh this AMAZING xD) terra looks up at ven in fear and stutters "I-I didnt think i had a chance with you! you didnt seem interested D:!" ven yells "OF COURSE I WAS INTERESTED YOURE JUST SHIT AT FLIRTING!!!!!!!" terra tries to calm him down "youre gonna break the bench press, ven! D:" the coach comes over at all the yelling and yells at them "HEY, break it up--" only to be shut right up when ven glares at him and growls and terra looks at him utterly terrified dfkjhg and motions for him to leave them alone. the coach is both very scared of ven xD and also doesnt wanna lose his quarterback so he smiles and holds his hands up in surrender and says "hey, you know what? why dont you two work it out amongst yourselves?^^;;; maybe somewhere that isnt my expensive bench press though?" ven yells "FINE." and grabs terra by the wrist and drags him back to the locker rooms using a scary strength terra didnt know he had dkfjglh O_O;; aqua pauses her stretches and shakes her head and mumbles "it was nice knowing you, terra. :/" and then resumes her work out xD

well ven flings terra into the locker room and shuts the door with a slam and chews him out. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HUMILIATING THIS FEELS?!!! YOU SLEPT WITH THAT LITTLE HORNDOG AFTER I CAME HERE AND THEN YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT IT SO I HAD TO FIND OUT FROM THE HORNDOG HIMSELF?!!! GIMME YOUR BEST EXPLANATION FOR THAT, TERRA, JUST TRY ME!!!! >8UUUUUU" terra reaches out his trembling hands bravely to try and calm ven down, before he pulls his hair out and he cries out "I'm SORRY, i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry, okay, I didn't do it to hurt you!!!! It was just a small thing-" "AHAHAH IS THAT WHAT IT IS THEN??? WELL IF IT WAS SUCH A SMALL "tHinG" THEN WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME ABOUT IT, WHAT OTHER SECRETS HAVE YOU BEEN KEEPING?!!! DID YOU SLEEP WITH RIKU TOO? ANYMORE CHEERLEADERS I DONT KNOW ABOUT??? OR MAYBE JOSHUA AGAIN AT SOME POINT????!!! >8'DDDD" ven is about to lose his mind sdjfhg terra is starting to feel upset too ;~; "No, I don't have anymore secrets, after we started dating I havent even so much as THOUGHT of anyone else! I mean that! :'U" he pleas, finally managing to place loving hands on vens shoulders as he prays for forgiveness dkfjhg ven finally just cries it out letting himself sob into his palms and terra steps in closer, hating to see ven cry, and this is much worse knowing hes the cause of it ;-;

ven glances up again, terras scent hitting him and that warm chest right in front of him that he loves and he just buries his face in it not knowing what else to do dkfgh terra holds him, stroking his back, mulling over in his head how many ways he could apologize for this but then ven pushes himself away again, hes still so upset >~< and he sniffles "why. did you lie to me about it." terras face goes red and he fishes for his words "because i- i care what you think ven." ven scoffs, but his frown hardens and he wipes his eyes "you care what i think, and so you LIED to me? what am i supposed to think?" terra replies quickly "i dont know :'u i guess i just didnt want you to think..." ven holds himself and turns away. terra supposes he has to just- be honest then, its worth a try if it keeps him from losing the love of his life. "Look, I- I lied because the way you look at me matters to much. I care what you think of me more than anyone else, ven." ven sniffles, his back still turned to terra "oh yeah?" and terra glides over to turn him around and look at him, taking vens hands in his. "yes! ven youre the nicest, kindest, most pure hearted person i've ever met. i cant even imagine there being a darkness in your heart. who even says "slept with" and "courted" anymore besides a sweetheart like you? youre like an angel to me, but i- dont have the best reputation anymore. and the number of partners ive had seemed to disgust you. it broke my heart the way you looked at me the other day knowing that id slept with joshua. like you thought i was- i dunno.. im sorry i did it, i really am. i never wouldve done it if i'd known you really did want me too." ven reaches up and places a hand to terras cheek promising "Terra, I think the world of you. i wouldnt be with you if i didnt think you were a great person. the best even! you know how much i admire you. i just- was I just a fling? how do i know im not the next joshua or shiki you sl- have sex with and drop?"

and terra leans down to kiss his forehead and chuckles "because you're you, silly." that gets ven smiling again, the cornier the better with him<3 he presses his nose to terras chest and slides his arms up over his back for a tight hug and terra is so relieved they got through that dkfgjhdjl f ven tells him "I'm sorry for making you feel judged. i was way too rash about that whole thing." terra tells him its alright, imeanididlietoyouafterallahem.. ven goes = _= for just a second, cuz yeah that sure wasnt cool dfkjgh but he removes it cuz mostly hes back to smiling and he pulls himself away to look up at terra again, admitting with a blush "i guess i'm still in disbelief that youre really mine. maybe in 5 years or something i'll believe it" ven chuckles at his joke, but terra smiles down at him very sincerely and says "then i'm counting the years with you til then~" and that just tickles him and he jumps up to give terra make up smooches for a while<3 eventually they emerge from the locker room, ven clearly looking like hed been crying but smiling away again, even feeling okay enough to go to class now, cuz hes a good boy who wouldnt just ditch at that point like i would xD terra looks relieved too. aqua breaks formation when she sees them come out and runs up to ven to ask if hes okay and hug him if he needs, but ven says "everythings fine :) thanks aqua~" and aqua looks up at terra to double check that and terra nods affirmatively that yes, everything is fine. ven nudges aqua "see you at practice today~" and waves at terra too, knowing he prefers not to smooch in front of the other seniors;; but terra tells him to hang on and he runs over to give him a smooch goodbye and all is well after that<3 and axel snarks "tchh- drama queens :/"

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nicolejopia · 4 years

Text

Performance Task

Pre-test

1. What do you mean by the word Privilege?

2. What do you think is the job of news reporter and documentarian?

3. In your own opinion do you think it is right to rally in times of pandemic?

4. Define the word Frontliners.

5. Who are considered frontliners?

A. Medical personnel

B. Food Delivery Driver

C. Wet Market Vendors

D. All of the above

Privilege

How do you define privilege people? a thousand square meters house? Designer bags? luxury cars? huge amount of money in different bank accounts? capability to eat at a fancy restaurants which the amount of their tip to the waiter is the same amount as their bill?or what about the people who are able to eat three times a day without leaving the four corners of their house? Or the ones who are on the top of the triangle?

I am laying on my soft and comfortable bed with my breakfast ready on my side table when I decided to watch the news with our 75 inches tv. Its 4:00 o'clock in the morning and I need to wake up this early to go to work. The news is outrageous and very stressful, I said to myself. My name is Seri Janica Davila I am working as a news reporter && a documentarian here in the Philippines for eight and a half year. In that period of time I was able to build my own house, buy two luxury car, save money, raise my three kids on my own and send them at an exclusive school. I got divorce with my husband 6 years ago and never heard anything from him since that and started raising our three kids without asking not even a single centavo from my him. I guess that was really the essence of being a woman continuing to go && grow without needing a man in their lives.

It was now 4:30 in the morning and I need to get my day ready I'm done preparing food for my kids and so I can now leave the house. I been doing this for almost 9 years I can say its really exhausting but this is really my passion. Witnessing peoples daily lives, understanding their reasons and knowing how social status affects. It is a very frustrating job however when you get use it you'll realizes that there are things you're not in control, You can report it, you can flash it on national television but still when those higher officials don't give a single damn about them, the poorest ones will still remain at the bottom. Just like the usual poverty really sucks.

I arrived 5: 35 am at the GMA building I was on time. Today is the 1st week of the community quarantine at the whole vicinity of Luzon. I wait orders from my superior and they told me I will be in one of the border of metro manila while I was on the way I can see people walking and looking so tired when it fact it is only 5:50 am which supposed to be just the start of their day. I can see people waiting for buses, traffic enforcers giving reminders of social distancing, taho vendor who seems to be so weak, and the face of different frustrated employees who desperately wants to make it to their work. On the other hand I also saw silk-stocking people bulk-buying grocery items coming out from SnR. The world is crazy I sadly utter to myself.

It was 6:45 am when I finally headed to my destination. I hear people different opinions and sentiments. A jeepney driver who is being interrogated by the police caught my attention, I hurriedly go towards them with my microphone on my left hand and my cellphone on my right hand and I urgently call my camera man to go with me. I asked one of the police men whats happening he said " Ang kulit e sabi ng wala munang babiyahe hanggat may quarantine, Eto naman si manong sige pa rin sa pasada hindi mapagsabihan " The jeepney driver heard him and he said " pag hindi po ako kumayod wala po kaming kakainin pano naman po yung pamilya ko pano kami mahirap lang kami hindi kami pwede tumunganga sa bahay mamatay kami sa gutom " he was in tears and so I was. He's right, how about them? How about those isang kayod isang tuka? How about the people who are in what we called "laylayan ng lipunan"? How about the vendors? The drivers? They are the one who are much by affected by this situation.

My phone rings it is my boss is I answered it and he told that there's a rally at Quezon City, We hurriedly go to the exact location, In 18 mins we arrived, I could'nt help but to stare at them. They are mad, no they were not mad, mad is too shallow to describe they were furious. The AFP showed-up and the people began to run others successfully escaped but the others are caught. They are shouting "bigas lang po" "asan na ang ayuda" "ilang araw na kaming naghihintay bakit wala pa ding tulong". They are yelling for help, asking officials to remember them. That mess was heart breaking they were just asking for a little help yet the laws are not fair to everyone.

It was 11:57 in the evening I was about to sleep when someone knocks on my door. It was my sister who just got home from work asking for a phone charger. "I left my charger at the hospital can I borrow yours?" she said and sat on my bed. "Sure" I answered, and quickly look for my charger, "How's work" I asked, "Exhausting and frustrating, those senators and higher officials wants themselves to be priority for testing. They are'nt even PUI's nor PUM's yet they want to get tested." Shes a Doctor at Makati Medical Hospital for 9 years. "Those privilege people always wants to put themselves first before others, they are selfish as hell. People are dying and they're still thinking of their own sake yet they called themselves leaders and frontliners. They are the worst virus in our country." She added, You can see how exasperated she is by the she talks. "I need to get some rest, Goodnight" She utter and then left my room. She left me hangging. How can those self-centered individuals sleep tight at night thinking that our country is suffering from pandemic and people are lack in food yet they have the guts to think first of themselves. Our Doctors and their constituents are dying yet one of them have the guts to walk through SnR and go for shopping and even go to hospital to accompany her pregnant wife. I mean, who the fuck do you think you are.

It was 2:00 in the morning and I couldnt sleep it feels like I need to do something. I browse my phone and an idea come up to my mind "why not raise a fund?" I told myself. I urgently posted my idea and a lot of people are willing to donate I was so thankful that people wants to help in this midst of calamity. I raise a fund of 3 million pesos and turned it into a groceries. I asked my neighbors and friends to help me in repacking. After 2 days were done and ready for distribution. We gave the grocery items to the poorest one and to those who needed it the most like the beggars, scavengers, drivers and we also do house to house distribution. Their smiles are priceless even though its just a little help they are still grateful and smiling from ear to ear.

It was 9:40 pm and Im finally home. I am eating my dinner alone cause my kids are at sleep and my sister isnt home yet when i decided to browse my social media account. People on the internet are arguing the dds and anti. I continue scrolling reading and reading. When one post pop up to my news feed " One netizen ask me for help pang kain lang daw may apat daw syang anak nahihirapan na daw sila lol hindi ko obligasyon buhayin kayo" that was the post I just read coming from a famous vlogger who are earning half a million in just a month. I roll my eyes "wow this ill-mannered && inconsiderate human have the audacity to shame?? didnt your momma taught how to have helping hand??" i freakingly talking to myself.

In this cruel world I hope people can have each other. I hope we can be an extension of blessing. Set aside our selfishness instead we should have a heart that will always care for the others. A little humanity and compassion will do to surpass any circumstances that China, the universe rather may throw to us.

Its been exactly a month since this pandemic started in our country. The number of cases arises and there is still no concrete solution to this calamity. It will be a long run, I hope our frontliners won't get tired in solving this. To our Nations frontliners, Thank you so much && Keep safe! 🖤

Post-test

1. According to the story, What is the essence of being a woman?

2. Why does the sister of Serica Janica becomes frustrated and exasperated by the higher officials?

3. Why does narrator said that it was cruel world?

4. Do you think laws are unfair?

5. What is the mood of the story?

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let-it-raines · 5 years

Text

Second in Command (Epilogue - Part Seven)

Summary: Life as the “spare to the heir” isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be when you’re the supposed screw-up of the family, but people don’t know what really happens behind closed doors.

Rating: Mature

A/N: You guys are totally going to be annoyed with me for how I left it on a cliffhanger when I totally didn’t have to except to show some character growth and how things change...which I guess is exactly the reason I ended it that way :D

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr Chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Epilogue Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Tag list: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @kmomof4 @wellhellotragic @ekr032-blog-blog @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615@a-faekindagirl @mayquita @captainsjedi @captswanis4vr @kristi555 @teamhook @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @alys07 @andiirivera

“Can I come in, son?”

“Yeah, of course,” Killian answers automatically, the shock of his father just showing up at his door stunning him for only a moment. It’s not like he never visits. He usually just calls or texts first. “I didn’t know you were coming over, dad. Why didn’t you call?”

“Oh, I was visiting the kids and thought I’d drop by since I knew that the two of you had returned home.” His dad steps inside, squeezing his shoulder before leaning down to pet Indy. “Hello, darling,” he then greets Emma, kissing her cheek before wrapping her up in a hug. “How are you feeling today?”

“Good, good,” Emma insists, her eyes still blown wide as if she’s actually been shocked. He knows she’s still a bit rattled from the flight and her nausea. The same thing had happened when they went out sailing the morning of their anniversary, before the disaster of the rest of that day, and even though he had been wary of it, Emma insisted she was fine. She never said she wasn’t, but the green of her face told him otherwise. “How are you?”

“Kicking pretty high for my age.”

“You are not old,” she laughs, tugging on Indy’s leash. “Do you mind if I take Indy for a quick walk? Let her run around a bit. She’s been told she’s going outside, and I’m afraid she’ll freak out if she doesn’t get to go.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll chat with Killian, and the second you two come back inside, I want to hear all about how you’ve been since you left us to go holiday in the warm sunshine. I swear it’s rained for the past week.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Emma takes a step over toward him, leaning up and kissing his cheek, whispering that she’ll be right back before taking a step outside with Indy and leaving him with his dad.

“Do you want something to drink? Eat?”

“I’m fine.” His father begins walking to the living room, settling down into the recliner he prefers when visiting all while Killian sits down on the couch next to him, only a side table between them. “So how was your holiday?”

He almost chokes on his own saliva thinking of all of the things he absolutely cannot tell his father about their holiday as well as wondering if he should bring up the privacy issue just yet. He doesn’t know, is never truly sure about these types of things. He could have a nice, normal conversation with his father or it could turn into another tense, stressful one. He’s had enough of those for a lifetime, but he also knows that he doesn’t have all of the time in the world to fix this. He’s got fewer than four months, really.

“It was wonderful,” he finally answers, his lips ticking up on one side. It really was wonderful to get away with Emma and only have each other for awhile despite the disaster that was their anniversary. It got better, though. It wasn’t completely bad. They had the sailing trip and the takeout meal that was better than anything else they’d eaten if only for how comfortable they both felt. He felt his son move for the first time, which was bloody brilliant and most definitely his new favorite thing. “It’s a gorgeous island. Emma mentioned something about asking you to make our beaches like that.”

Brennan barks out a laugh, the wrinkles on his face all gathering together while his gray hair shakes the slightest bit. If Killian was a betting man, he’d guess his dad is getting his hair cut in the next two or three days, keeping up with his lifelong schedule of haircuts. “If only I could. That would be bloody wonderful. But I like the way she thinks.”

“She’s definitely a brilliant dreamer.” He trails off toward the end of his sentence, looking down at his hand and twisting his ring around his finger, his constant physical reminder of his lifelong commitment to Emma, as if he really needs one. “Can I talk to you about something, dad?”

“Of course.”

“I know, well, I know that things were different when I was a kid, that technology wasn’t as advanced, that I was a bit of a surprise child and that you were on the older side when I was born.”

“Well, why don’t you just call me elderly then, Killian? And you have absolutely no proof that you were a surprise child.”

His dad laughs when he speaks, but Killian isn’t finding a lot of humor in it, knowing that he’s likely going to upset Brennan with his words.

“What I mean is, I know you weren’t really, truly involved in my life. And I’m not blaming you or trying to make you feel…upset, but I need a very particular kind of advice that really only you and mum or Liam and Abigail can give. And I’m honestly not even sure you can give it.”

“What’s wrong, Killian?”

He takes a moment to collect himself, hundreds of words on the tip of his tongue but none of them feeling quite right. But he has to say something, so he might as well speak the truth.

“How the hell am I supposed to be a father in a world where I can’t protect the privacy of my wife and my child? There were, um, photographers who rented out a house and used scopes to take pictures of us on the beach. And Emma and I got into a pretty nasty argument about it. She’s worried…I’m worried about Andrew’s privacy. We want him to live a life as normal as possible. We don’t want photographers following him to school or to the park, and I just – I don’t know how to fix it.”

He’s been clenching his fist all while he talks, the tenseness in his hand almost painful while hot tears form in his eyes, every fault and every insecurity he’s had long before the fight with Emma coming back and assaulting his senses, making everything a dark, cloudy blur.

Brennan looks calm, secure, the blue of his eyes not changing while his eyelids rapidly blink, his brows furrowing and the lines on his face increasing. Has he said too much? Shown too much emotion? Asked for the impossible?

“The fact that you have very obviously beaten yourself up about this proves that you are a better dad than I ever have been.”

“That’s not what I meant, dad. I didn’t – ”

“I know, Killian. I’m not taking offense to anything. I was a poor excuse for a father for the majority of your life. I was focused on Liam, on my job, on the protocol and the way that my father raised Albert and me. All I knew was that fathers were not supposed to be close to their children, and as much as that hurt me as a child, I stupidly believed it. The fact that you have forgiven me is something I still can’t believe.”

He leans over and places his hand on Brennan’s knee, patting him before leaning back and wiping at his eyes. “I did it for me, but with the way you’ve worked to change, you deserve it.”

“Thank you, my boy.” His father smiles, settling back into his chair and crossing his hands together in his lap. “But this is not about me. This is about you and your family. So you don’t want Andrew in the public eye? At all? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I mean, we haven’t discussed it in serious length, but yes. I’m sure that Emma will be okay with releasing the occasional photo or having him join us when we go overseas so we don’t have to be apart from him, but I think we’re going to have to take a step back in traditions. And when he gets older, I think we may need to move somewhere much more private.”

The front door opens then, the alarm beep sounding at the same time that he hears the click of nails and the squeak of sneakers as well as Emma’s voice. He straightens up, fixing his hunched back and sitting against the couch in as much of a relaxed position as he can.

“Go find, Killian, girl, yeah,” Emma coos, her voice getting louder the closer she gets to the living room. And then she’s in view, Indy running in first and jumping up on the couch before getting down once she spots Brennan, less familiar people always more exciting than him. Emma walks toward him, sitting down in the seat Indy just vacated and reaching around him to tangle her fingers in his hair, stroking the strands. “What’s wrong? Your shoulders are tensed.”

How the hell does she always know?

“Killian and I,” his father answers for him, seemingly understanding that Killian wasn’t sure what to say, “were simply talking about how you two seem to be suffering from some privacy issues and are worried about your child’s future, that you want Andrew to lead a more private life than normal.”

“Oh,” Emma gulps, her hand stilling in his hair before beginning again, “well, yeah. I know that we all grew up differently and that my childhood isn’t really an option, but that’s what I want, what we want. We want him to be able to be a kid, you know? I don’t want him to be used to cameras everywhere he goes. I don’t know how we’d fix that, but that’s definitely my top priority right now. And forever probably.”

His hand finds Emma’s knee, thumb running back and forth over the material of her leggings while she speaks. He’s here with her, for her, consistently, and he hopes that she knows this.

“Why don’t you two give me some time to think things over? I’ll meet with security. We’ll work out some plans and ideas. You two should probably talk to Liam and Abigail. It’s not, well, it won’t be exactly the same. You have more freedom than them, and they’re not quite as private as the two of you. But they do have experience in all of this.” “Thank you, Brennan,” Emma sighs, leaning back into the couch and scratching at his neck, his eyes fluttering closed for a quick moment.

“Of course, but at the end of the day, above everything else, we’re a family. How you two feel is far more important than any sort of duty and tradition we have, even if I do ask that we stick to the important ones.”

“Actually, I have something else that I want to talk about.”

His head snaps to her, eyes searching for what she has to say, but she’s not looking at him, her gaze trained on the wag of Indy’s tail while her fingers tap over his on her leg, the hand in his hair having stilled.

“What do you want to talk about, love?”

She looks at him then, the smallest of smiles on her face that comforts him the slightest bit, before directing her gaze to Brennan. “I don’t want to walk out of the hospital all made up hours after giving birth. Kudos to Abigail. She is a badass woman for that, but that’s not what I want. Andy doesn’t need to be exposed to so many people as a newborn. I don’t need to be all dressed up when I’ve just given birth. I don’t care about tradition when it comes to this. This is what I’m doing, and I really feel like it’s the first step in taking a stand about him not being some kind of public property.”

He didn’t know she felt that way about any of that, nearly every word she said news to him, but he gets it, supports it. If that’s what Emma wants for this, that’s what they’ll do. He’s never quite understood that tradition anyways, and he likes the idea of a more private celebration with just them and their families while Emma heals and they adjust to the terrifying process of being parents for the first time.

“I’m not sure we can do that, dear.”

“What?” His head snaps over to his dad, trying to process the words. “You literally just said that how we feel is more important than any duty we have.”

“But that we need to stick to the important traditions, yes. New family members are an important tradition.”

“Brennan,” Emma grits, her voice strained as she tries to keep it friendly, “I respect our family and all of the traditions we have, but I am not some kind of human machine who’s only here to produce babies. Yes, of course this is a big deal, but it’s a big deal for us as a personal family, not as some part of the institution. You can still put the sign up, make any and all announcements you want. Hell, I’ll release a picture if we have to, but all I’m asking is that we’re allowed to leave and travel home in peace.”

“I agree, dad. I mean, really. Of all of the things we break and bend, of all of the things we change, surely you can let this one thing go? It’s not hundreds of years ago where people are faking pregnancies and paternities to keep the line intact, which was ridiculous then. I think letting family be family is the most important thing, don’t you?”

“Aye, it’s just…you’ll have to forgive me.” Brennan runs his hand over his face, visibly warring something within himself, the lines on his face stressing. “You were right earlier when you said things are different now. These are not things that I really went through with you, not as prevalent as you. Emma, dear, I’m sorry. I don’t…I shouldn’t have ever considered making you do something you’re not comfortable with. I love you dearly, and you and Killian know what’s best here, not me.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you,” Emma says, getting up from the couch and sitting down on the edge of the coffee table so that she can squeeze Brennan’s hand. “You are so brilliant, and you uphold this family so well. I know that I’m different, that it was difficult to accept me, but change can be good, you know?”

“I know.”

Brennan stays for a little while longer, hashing out a few more details with them before accepting a cup of tea and some food, finally listening to them talk about their holiday all the while scratching behind Indy’s ears, her eyes closed in bliss the entire time. It’s peaceful, relaxing, and he feels his shoulders loosen the longer the conversation goes on, Emma’s laughter and joyful voice sounding throughout the room. In the back of his mind, though, he keeps replaying the conversation, thinking of everything he said, everything they all said, and he’s amazed it all went as smoothly as it did, surprised that his father acquiesced to their private exit from the hospital so easily. He had no idea that Emma wanted that, and he wonders how long she’s been toying with the idea, how many late nights she’s spent worrying about bringing it up. He knows she didn’t just think of it now, that it wasn’t spur of the moment, and he tries to remind himself to ask her about it later, to make sure that there’s nothing else she’s hoarding inside.

She goes through enough, has gone through enough over the years, and she shouldn’t feel like she has to hold things back from him.

But he saves his thoughts for later, letting his dad leave and letting Emma take a nap, her eyes falling shut without her even laying down on the couch. He wakes her before she can get into too deep of a sleep, though, knowing that it’ll hurt her back, and helps her go upstairs to their room, ignoring the curses she’s muttering under her breath about him waking her up. While she sleeps, he goes downstairs to his office, answering emails and clearing out his inbox that he left alone while they were in Spain.

Summer is normally a slow time for them, June and July full of engagements while August is usually taken off to spend in Balmoral. Emma’s due in September, though, a few days after his birthday, and she’s not working after August begins. He is, though, doing his regular work and making a few short trips, making sure never to never travel more than three hours away in case he needs to be home.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have things to do now, organizing his files and reviewing the financials for Kidding a Goal until Indy comes walking into his office, her nails clicking against the wood until she’s staring up at him with her mouth wide open, tongue practically falling out of her mouth. He checks his watch and sees that it’s far past seven. He’s surprised she didn’t come and get him two hours ago.

“You ready to eat, my girl?”

That gets her tail wagging before she takes off, running toward the kitchen at such a pace that she’s probably there before he even gets up from his chair. Sure enough, she’s already waiting next to her bowl like the most well-behaved dog in the world, which is not something he expected when he and Emma decided to get a dog last year. But she’s done well, their training working most of the time, but Indy does have the tendency to lick his face when he’s sleeping. He’s not a fan of that.

But she’s his best bud and a constant companion on his runs, so it all evens out.

After feeding her, he hears footsteps coming down the stairs, Emma wandering into the kitchen with sleep-rumpled hair and pillow streaks on her face, her pajama top falling off of one shoulder. She immediately heads toward the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and some yogurt before settling down on a barstool.

“How’d you sleep?”

She grunts in response, opening her yogurt and eating a large spoonful. “I hate being pregnant sometimes.”

“So not well then?”

“Nope. I felt like my guts were all being squeezed out, but do you know who’s not moving now that I’m awake and out of bed?”

“Andy.”

“Yep.”

She keeps eating her yogurt, quickly finishing it up before getting another carton. He should probably fix something for dinner so she doesn’t consume the entire yogurt supply in their fridge.

“Hey, sweetheart?”

“Yeah?” she mumbles, pulling her spoon out of her mouth and looking up at him, her hair deflating the slightest bit from when she came down.

“You want to tell me what that was earlier? With my dad. When did you decide you didn’t want to do the public announcement?”

“Oh, um, I first thought about it a few weeks ago, but it was really driven home after last week. Why? You have an issue with it?”

“No,” he laughs, leaning down across from her and propping his elbows on the counter. “I think it’s bloody brilliant, that you are brilliant. I like that you want to do things your way…our way. It’s very sexy.” “Oh boy, if you’re looking to get laid right now that is not happening.”

“Well damn. Now I have no reason to compliment you.”

“Shut up,” she groans, tossing her spoon over into the sink, the metal clanking. “But seriously, you’re okay with all that, right?”

“Of course. I want you to do what makes you comfortable. I’m not the one giving birth.”

“Damn right. I think I’m going to give your dad a heart attack though.”

“Aye, definitely. I know he’s trying and he’s being accommodating, but I could practically see the fear of breaking traditions rolling off of him in anxiety-filled waves. But he’s seventy-three. Some things just aren’t going to change.”

“So basically we hit the jackpot today?”

“Yep.” He walks over to the fridge, opening it up and seeing what they have left over from before they left. “What do you want for dinner?”

-/-

“Bloody buggering hell,” he curses, bringing his thumb to his mouth and soothing where he just jammed his finger on the wood.

Building a crib should not be this difficult, but it apparently is. He’s been following the instructions exactly, making sure that each piece is doubly secure, and he’s not sure how it’s taking this long. He should be finished, this crib should be made, and he should be able to move onto the shelves or Emma’s glider that she was insistent on them getting.

He’s spent more time in this room in the past month than he has in any other room in the house, June somehow running away with itself all while he’s been hidden away within these four walls. It took a month and a half for he and Emma to decide on a simple light gray, one that he’s pretty sure is also in their bedroom, but honestly, once they both agreed on the color (likely because they have agreed on it once before), he wasn’t going to say anything else. He did pick out the gray-ish blue that’s on the wall with the shelves (or at least where they’ll go once he gets to them), so he’s pretty proud of it.

Neither he or Emma are much one for designing, though they have gotten a bit more into it since the remodel of the apartment, but he’s pretty proud of how Andy’s room is shaping up, even if the lad will stay in the bassinet in their room for awhile. It’s a simple room, clean lines and clean colors. All of the furniture are different shades of white and warm browns, woods really, with natural accents. Abigail gifted them a large wooden giraffe along with some leaf and animal prints, so those are sitting in the corner waiting to be placed after all of this furniture is built.

His favorite part, though, is definitely going to be the little sitting area by the shelves and the changing table. He’s not under any impression that this is going to be a calm room, a place to relax, but he figures there have to be times when he’s rocking Andy back to sleep in that very spot, the shelves filled with colorful children’s books that’ll become routine reading one day as well as being filled with several stuffed animals and photo frames that he can’t wait to update with pictures. Of course, the cabinets below will be filled with the essentials, the things no one likes to talk about like diapers and nipple cream (that was something Emma did not want to know about, and he honestly doesn’t blame her), but they’re definitely still in the dreamy, picture perfect nursery phase where the messiness of a child isn’t quite a factor.

Really to him, as much as he knows this is real, as much as he sees the physical proof, feels the physical proof (which holy shit is it incredible to be able to feel his son move), it’s still difficult for him to comprehend that in two months he and Emma will have a child. It’s something they’ve talked about for years, something they were planning on, but it’s difficult to put into words just how much love he has for his son.

And his wife.

She’s a rockstar in every sense of the word, and if he doesn’t mention it enough, Emma sure as hell will. He loves her fiercely, and that love is another thing that he can’t quite put into words. He honestly doesn’t understand men who moan and groan about their wives constantly. If anything, he finds it disgusting. Yes, you’re going to have disagreements with your significant other. That’s natural when you decide to spend your life with someone who has their own wants, needs, and opinions, but at the end of the day, his wife is his best friend. If there’s anyone he wants to spend time with, it’s her. No question.

If the answer to who your best friend isn’t your spouse or the person you’re marrying, he doesn’t understand why the hell you’d bother getting married. His mates are great, but they’re not Emma.

Maybe he is a bit of the cheeseball that Emma always claims him to be, but he likes it that way.

He’s definitely going to embarrass his kids. All of the time. He can’t wait. He’s got a few years, but he can’t wait.

“You know we can hire someone to do this, right?” Emma asks, a bit of laughter in her tone that makes him roll his eyes. His best friend, most definitely. The teasing is just a small part of that.

“Aye, but I’ve started it, and I intend on finishing it.” “Okay, but the crib doesn’t need to fall apart while there’s a baby inside of it, and the glider doesn’t need to fall apart while I’m sitting on it. That’s, like, a double disaster, and I know you lived by yourself for a long time, but I’m pretty sure you’re not capable of that anymore.”

“Oh, really? Because I was just going to make them as unsafe as possible so that I could live by myself again. I miss being able to stretch out in the bed.”

“You’re so funny,” she teases from the other side of the nursery where she’s putting away the washed clothes in the closet, organizing them by size. He swears they have enough clothes to last Andy for the first two years of his life, and that’s not counting the piles of things he knows David and Mary Margaret have at their house. “I think I may have bought him too much stuff. I don’t even think I own this many things.”

“You don’t mess your clothes up multiple times a day.”

“Good point.”

“I tend to make those.”

“Eh. Debatable.”

“Not at all debatable.” He turns back to the crib, looking at the instructions to see if he can remember where he left off before Emma distracted him. “Shit, this is impossible.”

“I can call my dad, babe. It won’t be a problem. He’s a bit handier than you.”

“Please, I am plenty handy.”

“Okay, well being handy with me is not the same as being handy when it comes to building things.”

“If we call your dad, he’s going to take over. I want to do some of this myself.”

“I will tell Dad just to help. Come on, babe, you love spending time with my dad.”

“Only now that he doesn’t give me the scary speeches anymore.”

“Yeah, I bet those were a lot of fun.”

“I mean, it’s been a solid half a decade since I’ve gotten one, but he still shakes me to my core.”

He hears Emma laugh, snort really, before she makes her way over to him, slowly settling down on the floor next to him and waving her hand until he gives her the instructions. She looks over them while looking at the crib, her eyes continuously darting between the two.

“You put part G in backwards. That’s why nothing after that is fitting.”

“Bloody hell,” he curses, reaching over and taking the instructions from her hand and checking to see if she really did just solve his problem, “how did you see that when I’ve been staring at it for the past hour?”

“Fresh eyes, my love. Fresh eyes.” She leans forward and kisses his cheek before falling back against the wall. “And that’s exactly why calling my dad and asking him to come over in the morning will be a great idea. I bet Mom will want to come too, and she does a mean job with a power drill.”

So Emma calls her parents who agree to come over in the morning. On top of moving, they’ve also begun to change around the hours of the pub, opening it earlier and letting Will close it out at night. And it’s because of this that they show up at eight in the morning, he and Emma both still asleep when their doorbell rings. Emma groans when she hears it, burying her face into his chest and making it impossible for him to get up without disturbing her. He can feel Andy summersaulting around in her belly, and he smiles to himself knowing that she’s going to have get up. She can’t sleep when he’s moving around like that.

He can’t sleep when Emma’s basically running marathons in bed, but that’s not something he’s going to voice out loud. He can get up and sleep in a guest room if he needs to. Emma can’t get up and walk away from the person who’s running marathons in her stomach.

There’s two human feet inside of her. That’s pretty weird if he thinks about it too much.

Okay, so really weird.

Slowly but surely he gets out of bed, letting Emma flip over into his spot, and heads downstairs to open the front door. David and Mary Margaret have a key, but they never use it, always waiting for either he or Emma to open the door for them, which he appreciates after one too many times having them walk in on he and Emma.

“Hi,” he greets, opening the door and ushering them inside. “Emma’s still asleep, but I’m sure she’ll wake up soon. Do you guys want some breakfast?”

“We ate at home, sweetie,” Mary Margaret greets, giving him a quick hug before David does the same. “So Emma said you guys were having some issues in the nursery.”

“I believe that it was more like Killian not being able to put together a crib in under three weeks.”

“So funny, Dave,” he bites, rolling his eyes and locking the door. “I did eventually figure it out. I just think this mid-July heat is obviously getting to me. Or maybe nerves. I’m not too sure.”

“Well, let’s go help then. We’ve got to be at the pub at two, but I think we should be able to get things done.”

After he fixes himself some coffee, not nearly as wide awake as David and Mary Margaret, they head upstairs and begin working in the nursery, assembling the shelves and drilling them into the walls in half the time that it would have taken he and Emma had they done this by themselves. So maybe help isn’t all bad. Before Emma even wakes up, they have the shelves installed and pictures securely nailed on the wall. There are books already being stacked, stuffed animals and knick knacks being placed, and all of the fun nipple creams and breast pumps being placed in the cabinet.

They’re working on the glider when Emma finally wanders in, her hair falling out of its band so that half of it spills down her back while the other half is piled on top of her head, and she’s got her glasses on, something she only does when her eyes feel too puffy to put her contacts in.

“Hey, sweetheart,” David greets, finishing tightening the screw he’s working on before getting up to embrace Emma. “How are you feeling?”

“Rough today. I think the little dude’s a giant or something because he crushes my lungs and my bladder at the same time. So I can’t breathe, and I have to pee. So, yeah, it’s fun.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, dad. It looks fantastic in here. You guys have done so much. I feel like we’re not going to have anything to do in the next two months if we finish all of this.”

“That’s kind of the point, love.”

“Yeah,” she yawns, covering her mouth, “I know. Mom, do you want to come and rest with me in my room? My back hurts today, and I just can’t sit on the floor in here with you guys.” “Of course, hon,” Mary Margaret answers, walking away from the closet and stepping over to Emma before she rubs up and down her back. “Are you sure you don’t want Killian to join you? David and I would be fine to work on our own.”

“No, it’s fine. I bug him all day, and I’m kind of thinking that you can paint my toes for me or we can watch movies or something. It’s been awhile since we’ve done that.”

“Text me if you need me, love,” he tells Emma, his eyes tracing over her in a bit of concern. It’s difficult watching her be uncomfortable or miserable on some days when he literally can’t do anything about it.

“Yeah, babe, I will.”

Emma and Mary Margaret walk out of the room, their voices fading away as they walk into their bedroom one room over, and he’s left with just David who promptly gets back to work finishing building the chair. Music plays in the background, an eighties’ playlist he thinks, and it doesn’t take longer before the chair is completely together and he’s sitting in it testing it out. It’s comfortable, probably one of the best seats they have in the house, and he can definitely understand why Emma insisted on this one after shopping around a bit.

“How does someone so small have so much stuff?”

“My child is twenty-eight years old, we don’t even live in her childhood home anymore, and I swear things of hers still pop up all of the time.”

“That’s likely because Emma leaves everything all over the place.”

He folds his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and rocking back and forth while Cherry Bomb plays in the background, which is definitely not a nursery appropriate song. Or maybe it is. Who needs Mozart when you can have The Runaways?

“So is Emma like that every day?”

“Like what?” he asks, popping an eye open to look at David who’s sitting against the shelves, which can’t be good for his back. God, how old is he getting if his first concern is for someone else’s back?

“Exhausted.”

“No, not every day. She’s usually got a hell of a lot of energy, even if there’s always a nap. I think she had a restless night. She’ll tell me like it is, though. If she’s having a bad day, she’ll let us know.” “What about you?”

“Well, I don’t have a baby crushing my lungs and my bladder.”

“True,” David laughs, running his hands through his short hair. Killian swears it’s gotten more gray in the past year, the blonde nearly disappearing. David is only fifty-two, so he’s not exactly older. Hell, if it weren’t for the wrinkles on his forehead and the gray hairs outnumbering the blonde, he’d look much younger. “But I remember being a dad for the first time. It’s terrifying, so you’re allowed to be scared.”

“I am. It’s…” He reaches up and scratches behind his ear, his hair getting long enough that he knows he needs to get a haircut soon. “Emma and I try to make sure that we keep up our normal routines, that we have our normal conversations without talking too much about the baby, but it’s kind of hard, you know? It’s like we’ll be talking about going out to eat and two minutes later we’re making a list of middle names or speculating if he’s going to look more like me or Emma.”

“I know. But it’s an exciting time, Killian. There will never be anything like it, and if you want to talk about the fact that you’re having a kid, you should. You and Emma have been together for so long, and I really don’t think your relationship is going to struggle if you’re not sitting around making references no one else understands for hours on end.”

“Oi,” he protests, resisting the urge to pick up the toy elephant next to him and throw it at David, “that is your daughter you’re mocking, and she can still kick your ass.”

“Trust me, I know. Who do you think raised her to be like that?”

“Mary Margaret.”

“You’re walking a thin line.”

He winks at David, his lips ticking up on the right into a smirk. “I know. You and Mary Margaret did such a good job, still do such a good job, and even with all of the times you’ve messed up – ”

“ – which is a lot more often than even Emma has probably told you.”

“I just…you’re a good dad, Dave. To Emma, to me. I hope I can do half as good as a job.”

“You’ll be great, Killian.” David smiles at him, something genuine, and Killian’s reminded of how much David really has impacted his life in all of the best ways. “I promise. And as much as I love you, I do love my little girl more, and she’s going to be amazing. She’s always…she’s never been too open to a lot of people, but the people she loves, she loves so fiercely, you know? And she’s already doing so well at being a mom. She’ll call me at nights, and I can just hear the happiness and excitement in her voice. At the end of the day, that’s all you want, you know? For your kid to be healthy and happy.”

“Yeah, I know.” He smiles to himself, thinking of how happy he is. “Also, how dare you imply that you love your own daughter more than me. I thought I meant more to you than that. I thought we had something special, man.”

“I can still give you hell. I’d watch yourself.”

He and David finish up in the nursery for the next few hours until David and Mary Margaret have to go to work, leaving after the three of them eat lunch down in the kitchen, Emma staying upstairs for a nap. When the Nolans are gone and he’s finished eating, he heads upstairs, bypassing the nursery and walking into their bedroom where Emma is sitting up on the bed watching TV.

“Your toes look nice,” he compliments, grabbing onto her big toe and moving it back and forth. “Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah,” she sighs, twisting onto her back and scooting up the bed, “it’s just one of those days, you know? I’m not usually this miserable.”

“I know, but it’s okay to have bad days, love.”

“Come here,” she tells him, crooking her fingers and motioning toward him before she turns on her side and wraps her arms around her pillow. He does as she asks, kicking off his sneakers and crawling up into the bed, the mattress moving against his weight until he’s pressed up behind her, his knee stuck between her thighs and his arm wrapped around her waist while the other rests above her head. This is how she’s been comfortable lately, and he can’t say he minds. “Did you guys get a lot done?”

“Aye, it’s almost all finished.” He moves her hair off of her neck, placing a kiss there before resting his chin on her shoulder. “It just needs your finishing touches, I think.”

“And we have to unpack all of the boxes that are in the guest room and put them away in the closet.” “That too, but we’ve got time, Emma.” She hums, and he can feel the vibrations as well as Andy moving around under his touch, the movements following how he taps his fingers. “Has he been active today?”

“Not since I woke up, but he always responds to your voice.” “Yeah, he recognizes me?”

“Of course, you talk so damn much. How could he not?”

He turns his head and presses a kiss against her jaw, biting a bit just to tease her. “You are not a very nice woman, my love.”

“Oh please, I’m, like, the seventh nicest person you know.”

“Seventh?”

“I figured it was conceited to put me at number one.”

“Possibly.” He moves his hand against her stomach again, snaking his fingers up under her pajama top so that he can feel the warmth of her skin. “So he really does get more active when I talk?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty weird to think about, but it’s true. He likes when you talk. I think it’s because you’re a much better story teller than me.” “I mean, obviously.”

“And that he’s probably just glad to hear someone else besides me. Imagine being stuck with someone for nine months. Good God.”

“Well, I’m stuck with you for forever. Good God.”

She groans and curses him under his breath before she scoots over and turns in his arms, slowly but surely moving to face him. “Don’t be an asshole. Also, so I was talking to mom today, and she wants to be called Mimi. I think Dad wants to be called Papa, which I like as long as that’s not what you want. I know that’s what some kids call their dads.”

“Aye, it’s what Lizzie calls Liam, which is weird since Alex doesn’t do that. But I’m okay with dad or daddy, so David can be called Papa.”

“Yeah, I kind of like it. Mimi and Papa. And then your parents are Gammy and Grandpa, right? That’s what Alex and Lizzie call them.”

“Aye, but I know Mom didn’t want to be Gammy. It’s just what happened. She says it makes her feel old.”

“Your mom is not old.”

“I know, but considering your parents are barely fifty while my parents are in their sixties and seventies, it doesn’t help.”

“I’ll tell my parents to get older then.”

He smiles at her before closing his eyes and settling into his pillow, letting his head sink down into the softness. It’s calming in here, the lights turned off and curtains closed while the ceiling fan hums a steady rhythm above them. He could fall asleep like this even if he’s not the biggest fan of naps, always somehow ending up groggy when he wakes up, and it doesn’t help with the way that Emma is playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, her fingers scratching into his scalp.

“Are you working tomorrow?”

He pops an eye open, looking at Emma and smiling when her nail hits a particularly sensitive spot on his neck. “Aye, I’ve got the Investiture ceremony at ten. Why?”

“Just wondering. I was thinking we could go somewhere. Just us. Maybe take Indy to Berkshire and let her run around, spend some time outside.” “We can do it in the afternoon, if you want. I think the weather is supposed to be nice.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, leaning forward and sliding her lips over his for a brief moment, “I think that would be nice.”

The next day after he’s finished with the ceremony, he hurries home, changing out of his suit and into shorts and a t-shirt, slipping a baseball cap onto his head and grabbing something to eat for lunch while Emma does the same, her hair falling out of the back of her hat in a long ponytail. They’ve got all day, but the afternoon’s weather is pleasant enough that he’d like to go now so they can stop by a café for dinner, even if that’s the absolute last thing that Thomas will want them to do.

They want their privacy, but they should be able to go out to dinner.

So he and Emma load up into his car, letting Indy sit in the backseat with the window rolled down so she can feel the mid-July breeze blow through her fur. It doesn’t take long to get to Windsor, pulling into their parking garage less than thirty minutes later, and instead of going inside like they’d usually do, he hooks Indy up to her leash while Emma grabs some water bottles and they head to the private gardens, avoiding the visitors wandering around on tours.

As much as he prefers the spring, mild July days are near the top of his list of favorite things. Everything is brighter, more pleasant. The grass is actually greener, the flowers contrasting against their background to create a landscape of whites and shades of purple, while everything is covered in a clear blue sky, only a few white clouds scattered throughout. New life blooms, and he gets to be the one to appreciate it, to revel in it. England can be so dreary sometimes, the weather somehow reflecting the moods of most people on their morning commute to work, so he appreciates when it’s not. He’s always loved the outdoors, and if there’s any complaint he has about his home, it’s the small private garden that they have to themselves. He’d like something larger, more space to run around, and sometime in the future, he and Emma plan to spend more time in Bucklebury so that they have the privacy.

That’s what they’ve decided on since returning from Spain last month. There’s been more lengthy, draining discussions with his parents and their security team than he’s ever wanted, and as much as he feels like they haven’t really accomplished anything, he knows it’s a slow process. Of course, there are drawbacks to every positive. They’re still going to have to spend most of their time at Kensington. It’s closer to their work, to their families. Hell, Emma’s parents just bought a house so that they could have the ability to spend time with their grandchild, and now they’re going to move away from them. It’s less than an hour drive, but it’s not nearly as close as they currently are.

But everyone understands, and they don’t plan on moving any time soon, not until Andy’s a bit older. They want to be near all of their loved ones when he’s younger, and they’ve spent so much time working on their home, making it exactly how they want. It’d be difficult to leave full time, so it’ll be nice to have the option of both.

It’ll be even nicer to give Andy the most normal life that they can possibly give him.

Emma whistles next to him, her fingers between her lips, while Indy runs back to them from where they let her loose. She was about five seconds away from jumping into a pond full of fish, and as much as they’d usually let her swim, they don’t need to have a wet dog with them for the rest of the day. So she runs back to them as quickly as she can, her legs leaping in the air with her black and white fur bouncing the slightest bit. He’s convinced that she shouldn’t be able to be that quick, but she’s still just a young dog, less than a year old, and though her legs will get longer, he doesn’t think she’ll ever be full of this much energy again.

If she is, he and Emma are definitely in over their heads.

With the dog.

He’s going to choose to not think of what it’ll be like with a toddler than can run and a dog that he can run after.

After she calms from her almost pond dive, Indy walks along in front of the two of them, occasionally wandering off the stone path to sniff around in the plants, nearly tearing up several flowers until they call her back to keep walking. They stay wandering for a little over two hours, not caring where exactly they’re going or if they’re circling back around in the same spots. Indy and Emma get tired around the same time, so they settle down onto a stone bench with a patio cover that’s next to another small pond.

In the distance, he can see the Chapel where they were married, the steeple rising up above the other buildings and stone walls, and he smiles to himself thinking of that day. In the grand scheme of things, he knows that when it comes to he and Emma, as important as it was, they had so many smaller, inconsequential days that he holds just as fondly in his heart.

But that was a pretty damn good day.

He stretches his arm out over the back of the bench, wrapping it around Emma’s shoulder and tangling his fingers into the ends of her ponytail while she leans her head on his shoulder, the bill of her hat hitting him in the chin for a brief moment. He’s glad she suggested them getting away from London for a little bit, for suggesting that they change up the routine and spend a day enjoying summer, especially since they’re missing out on Scotland with the rest of the family.

A month in the same place as everyone is likely a bit long, anyways. He loves his family, but that’s a lot for anyone.

“I love you, you know?” Emma asks out of nowhere, her gaze never falling away from the rippling of the water in front of them, a fish leaping up out of the water while the lily pads float around.

He squeezes her shoulder, rubbing up and down her arm and kissing her head even if she can’t feel it through the hat. “I know. I love you too.”

#second in command #cs ff #cs fic #captain swan fic

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votometrash · 5 years

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Love Choice Review

Okay so I had no idea Masquerade Kiss would be Love Choice, but this title has managed to tempt me into reading it anyway. I can’t say I’m happy about it but there are a lot of things I have to say, since the whole Love Choice (LC) system has been controversial, or just incredibly detested/undesired, ever since its conception. And it does suck since I’ve been wanting Voltage to release more mature titles (and the whole female spy thing was just a plus, I guess). Voltage did a really good job of hyping up this release and I love/hate them for it lmao. But yeah here are my two cents on the LC feature. Sorry for the longass rant in advance. If you only care about my opinion regarding Masquerade Kiss and Kazuomi Shido’s route then you can check out my review later on my blog (if and when I get to it). But I still mention the title here and there in this review since it is the first LC main story that was released.

For most people who have been with Voltage for a long time, LC is probably one of the worst things on the planet, right after the Love 365 app debacle which caused many to lose their stories if they weren’t aware of the transfer dates or not able to transfer their data (technically they’re losing the right/license to access those stories, cause they don’t own them) and all the other customer service horror stories you can think of. Generally, for people who think that converting coins into hearts and not being able to read the story however they want are terrible ideas, they will outright avoid LC titles/stories. Since LC is F2P, it isn’t much different from the other otome/visual novels that have premium options where people have the option to spend money.

But let’s just think about it for a moment.

The appeal of LC is that you can read the stories completely free of charge. Yes, there is a countdown timer which prevents you from reading the next episode immediately and you would have to spend hearts to bypass that. But let’s keep in mind that Voltage Entertainment USA (aka the subsidiary which creates apps catered towards Western audiences) is also doing something similar with the ticket system. Plus they don’t even give you the option to buy routes anymore, which is why we should be thankful that Voltage Inc hasn’t done that with their Japanese apps yet. I just want to make the best of what we are given (and hopefully try to get a little enjoyment out of it), even if LC is terribly implemented.

So just hear me out for a second. A very long second.

If you’re not one of those people who need every single CG and ending AND don’t mind the wait, this post is mainly for you.

PLEASE JUST READ THE DAMN STORY. LIKE READ MASQUERADE KISS RIGHT NOW WHILE THERE IS NO WAIT TIME (until 2/17). It costs you nothing and you will still get a pretty complete experience. Don’t be stupid and believe that you’re missing out if you don’t get the CG’s. Go look the CG’s up online or something if you have to because I’m sure someone has posted them regardless of whether it’s allowed or not. It has a decent plot that doesn’t make me want to ram my head into a wall from secondhand embarrassment. Sure there are aspects of it that weren’t written well (will be explained in my review later) but it’s still a good story and I don’t regret reading it. It would be a shame to miss out just because you’re too busy hating on the system. If you don’t want to spend your free hearts (or don’t have enough) on CG’s that cost you 20-30 hearts and options that require hearts, just use it towards reading the next couple episodes (for when they go back to subjecting you to wait times). At least you still won’t be using as many hearts. Yeah the CG’s and love choices are hella expensive and they shouldn’t be. It might even feel like you’re being punished for not choosing those choices because in the end you won’t be getting the happy ending. But they’re not NECESSARY. However, if you still want the CG’s/happy endings, just reread it again later when you get enough hearts. I don’t know, that’s not a priority for me so I can wait on unlocking those CG’s.

From Episode 1 up to the second to last episode, you’re getting the same. exact. content. Let me repeat that. YOU GET THE SAME EXACT CONTENT. The only thing is that you won’t get all of the CG’s or the super happy ending, which are what people are really paying for. Is it really worth it??? Voltage apps don’t have bad endings. They’re either the romantic/passionate alternate endings or it’s happy(or normal)/super happy endings. No endings where it’s game over, you’re dead or oops you screwed up this entire thing. You’re essentially getting the same ending, just a slightly different view of the events. Just more vanilla, if you don’t get the “better” ending. Slightly fewer lines of text, less description. Big whoop. That and well, you don’t get the CG. Too bad. No personal bragging rights for me to put on my metaphorical trophy pedestal. For me, reading the visual novel is the main goal. The art and CG’s are just a plus, a very much appreciate plus. I would care more about the plot because if you are reading a terribly written story, what’s the point in having good art anyways? You look at it for a bit and just move on to something else that isn’t a waste of time.

And like....come on. If you hate the LC feature, that’s all the more the reason why you should try it. It won’t even hurt you to read the story if you’re adamant on not spending money/converting coins. Even if it’s terribly written, you didn’t pay for it like you would have with a P2P story. No monetary loss there, just lost time and feelings of disappointment. And if you hate waiting or think LC is a waste of time, just think of reading an episode whenever you have time. You don’t have to commit to it. You could speed read an episode in a minute or two and then go on doing whatever else you want to do with your day. It shouldn’t take up that much of your time. And if you forget to, it’s fine. Not something you’ll be too invested in.

They’re not charging you for anything, so suck it up. I’m sure you have other things you can do in the meantime while you wait for the next episode. Your life doesn’t revolve around otome games (unless you’re adopting an unhealthy lifestyle in which case you have more things to be concerned about). Don’t be a whiny bitch about it. And that’s why the hearts system exists... for the impatient people. They WANT you to spend money on their products, since that’s the whole point of running a business. Yes you’re paying for a one-time access when you’re using hearts to read episodes. Yes you have to start over if you want to reread a specific episode. Ultimately it’s up to YOU to choose whether you want to spend money or not for LC stories, but you don’t HAVE to.

Again, I’m emphasizing the word ‘time’ because if you really don’t have time, then seriously just do whatever you’re supposed to be doing jesus christ. Don’t feel like I’m calling you out for not wanting to read LC stories because you don’t have time to wait around for it. I’m not telling you to prioritize LC over Voltage’s other stuff. Just give it a chance if you can afford to do so, because money isn’t the issue here if you can read the story for free. I know people look towards Voltage apps as a way to relax and so that I understand that reading a LC novel would not be a choice if you have limited time. Because why go for LC if you have perfectly good apps that you’ve already paid for and can read whenever you want? I understand. I really do.

In regards to people complaining about Masquerade Kiss being a LC novel, I have a couple things I want to say. Voltage has the right to choose whichever title they want to be LC. Besides, what criteria do you expect them to use in choosing which titles should be LC? It’s not as if they’ll be like “oh let’s choose an okay title to be Love Choice”, just to make customers glad that they don’t have to waste money. That’s not practical. And ideally they wouldn’t want to be writing shitty stories anyway. They need to make money off them or else it’s a waste of all the money and time they invested into producing the title. For the most part, all the newer titles have been decent, if not good. There will be people who love them and people who hate them. So how would you decide the best choice to be LC among all the good titles? And it wouldn’t make sense to make a title both LC and P2P because that would be when people will REALLY start to hate LC, especially when you have to fork out a ridiculous amount of hearts for the CG’s. Then there will be even more customer complaints yay. Also, if they made it P2P how many coins would they even charge for the whole route, considering how many hearts they have to spend for the CG’s? The CG’s are “free” only if you have enough hearts for those in-game choices that you want to choose, but if you’re paying for them that would mean it’s like $2-$3 per CG.

Since they announced this feature, it’s here to stay unless they decide to get rid of it (which I doubt). YOU DON’T GET A SAY IN IT. Their company, their products, their choices. They will make whatever choices in which they benefit the most from. Sometimes those choices will align with what customers want. Sometimes they won’t. You don’t like it then you leave. That’s what most people would do anyway. Even if you do leave, there will always be more people getting sucked into the Voltage trap anyways. If you don’t, then you will continue to rot in the sin bin that is Voltage and there goes your money. Sadly, that’s how the world works.

So yeah if you’re still reading, thanks for reading my very long winded, unpopular (probably) opinion. You’re a trooper. I have respect for you. I’m just here to get this off my chest. Please don’t hate me.

#review #voltage otome #masquerade kiss #love choice #voltage inc

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tumblunni · 5 years

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Ehh i think i finally summed up why all of this steven universe diamonds stuff has been so underwhelming.

YES you can redeem a villain

but you have to

actually

TRY

Yes you can write a story about the world’s most fuckin horrible person being really actually sad at heart

Yes you can write a story about an abusive parent actually being able to change

Yes you can write a story about some wild genocidal alien civilization of asshole space rocks actually only doing it because something something societal pressure DESPITE BEING THE ONES IN CHARGE WHO SET THE DAMN RULES I GUESS

But fucking hell its not gonna be EASY and you shouldn’t treat it that way.

All of this shit was SO fucking quick?? And everything else WASNT!

You spent SO long hyping up these guys you spent SO long convincing us that they WERE evil and that they had entirey different motives for what they were doing and EVEN WITHIN THIS FUCKING EPISODE you spent more time showing us White Diamond being absolutely ridiculously existentially horrifyingly awful and refusing every offer everyone gave her to help and refusing every chance and fucking fucking goddamn violating people’s entire minds and just.. fuck.

After all that you cant just fuckin have steven walk up to blue and yellow and say “hey everything you did was bad” and them go “GEE WE NEVER KNEW!” for some reason this time they’re convinced in a single sentence despite it being the same sentence steven said before in every damn episode and pink said to them years before and every person they abused and enslaved and mutilated and KILLED said while they were DYING

And you can’t fucking have white diamond never redeem herself and never change and never admit she’s wrong and steven SOLVE IT WITH FUCKING FIGHTING WHILE SAYING HE DOESNT WANT TO, WHILE THE ENTIRE SHOW TRIES TO CLAIM THE REASON THEY ARE DOING IT THIS WAY IS BECAUSE OF PACIFISM

because seriously he?? just defeated her?? and this made her?? change???

redeeming a villain shouldn’t be easy. redeeming a villain has to have the villain TRY. white diamond has done nothing to prove she really has a heart, prove that she really did all this for sympathetic reasons, prove that she’s able to change, AND ESPECIALLY NOTHING TO MAKE IT UP TO ANY OF THE PEOPLE SHE’S HURT

she just got defeated and basically admitted she’s wrong cos she has no other choice. and i guess her blushing because steven issued a SICK BURN to her is meant to be enough proof that her entire motivation so far has been because of self confidence issues forcing her to put up a false front aka her entire personality we saw so far. If you wanna tell me she’s entirely different to what we saw so far then please could you please give it more screentime than twelve goddamn seconds.

This is like how yellow and blue just suddenly were accepted as part of the family and steven agreed to go with them to homeworld literally just because they realized he “is really pink diamond”. Like they never fucking repented or actually learned to empathise with humans or ever explained why they dont empathise with humans no nope the only answer we got is that they were sad about their sister/daughter/friend dying even though they were already doing all the same evil stuff before that and its what caused her to leave in the first place. no we’re gonna just completely trust them instantly and not even continue making an effort to convince them? we’re gonna trust them so much we’re gonna trust that white diamond will also change just cos we beat her up? COS SERIOUSLY STEVEN FUCKIN DEFEATED BLUE AND YELLOW IN A FIGHT AND THATS THE END OF THEIR ARC, HOW IS THIS PROVING THE POWER OF PACIFISM!! beating everyone up and then saying the same singular sentence again and somehow now it works!! or saying “my mum was pink diamond” and it doesnt convince them but hey if we say it again with magical proof its true then i guess it works now. wow that sure does argue the power of words i guess

everything EVERYTHING they did was just a fuckin misunderstanding cos they dont UNDERSTAND they were doing bad and thus they dont have to face any form of consequences beyond being mildly embarassed i suppose.

if you wanna make that the ending then you need to work to disprove all the hours you spent implying that.. yknow.. they were doing things because they were evil

and even if theyre sympathetic they still did evil things and they still need to work to prove that theyve changed

and ESPECIALLY if you’re making a show very heavy on subjects like LGBT discrimination it shouldnt be FUCKIN WOW UNEXPECTED that the audience would see this plot as a metaphor for stuff like homophobia and abusive parents and.. yknow.. societal oppression in a law system that forces you to live in the closet in constant fear of being discovered and killed. and all the other apparantly accidental undertones of racism and extermination of indigenous people in stolen land which YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED PEOPLE TO SEE WHEN THE PLOT IS LITERALLY EXTERMINATING PEOPLE TO STEAL THEIR LAND

all of that means you need to do MORE work to prove that that isnt actually what the plot is supposed to be, and more work to redeem villains who are very heavily goddamn triggering to a large part of the vunerable audience YOU SPECIFICALLY MARKETED YOURSELF TOWARDS

this was just so fucking overwhelming and somehow rushed despite being an hour long episode, and i hate it because the show spent so much effort on so much other stuff yet decided to half ass it at the really important part that NEEDED to have thought and time put into it if it was gonna nail the landing

especially after ALL THAT FUCKIN TIME AND EFFORT INTO THINGS THAT ONLY AMPED UP THE VILLAINY AND TENSION OF THESE GUYS AND MADE IT SO MUCH WORSE

like fucking hell how can you be so tone deaf??? this has been in the planning for so damn long and theyve been working on it forever and THIS is what they chose to rush over? this is the priorities they thought were important? even just within this episode if youre struggling to fit it all in then like seriously cut out some of the stuff like the montage of unseen fusion forms that did basiclaly nothing but a few jokes, and the equally as rushed bad lars and sadie romance resolution. Which is another thing that needed a lot of work to fix when the introduction we got to these two was a really unhealthy relationship and a dude who refuses to change despite being given twelve chances but suddenly changes COMPLETELY on the thirteenth one and i guess cos he died that proves he’s all good now. Except he acts all weird and creepy in the very next episode and endangers his new friends by acting all possessive over sadie again and getting angry that she has other friends????

i hate it because ive had to deal with the fandom telling all the people who were rightfully uncomfortable with how these subjects were handled that oh we’re just overreacting and oh wait and see cos they totally have a big plan for the ending or something that’ll make it all make sense. And comparing people being triggered by child abuse and racism to “huhu those dumb su criticals who hate the art style” or whatever...

god, man, its just a deflection of what the issue really is

“oh youre saying NO VILLAINS can EVER be redeemed and NOBODY can EVER talk about dark stuff in shows without being SECRETLY BAD AND SUPPORTING IT IN REAL LIFE?”

no im not saying that im just saying the subjects are fucking depressing to people who’ve suffered from the real life stuff and the villain redemption should be GOOD and should THINK ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE if it wants to make up for it

like fucking hell look at how much zuko from avatar went through before his redemption. look at how long he struggled with his morality and how long it took him to realise he was wrong. look at how much detail they showed us on all the people who negatively influenced him into making the bad choices he did. look at how much he went through to make up for what he did and apologise to everyone he hurt. look at how everyone he hurt didnt believe him at first and it took a while for everything to work out. look at how sometimes he messed up and took steps backward before getting to where he needed to be. and look at how he actually changed as a person and continued learning and growing and trying to be a good person even far into the future after the story ended.

hell, fuckin look at PERIDOT! peridot had a full goddamn zuko arc! peridot had more screentime than all of the diamonds combined, and it was way better utilized! she had a full process from being introduced as a scary villain BECAUSE OF MISUNDERSTANDING WHO SHE REALLY WAS, then being revealed as having a fully rounded personality, flaws and redeemable traits while still being a villain. and moments of her proving that she did indeed only become a villain because she didnt understand what she was doing was wrong, and a personality that matched with that reveal rather than having NO INDICATION she was like that until it suddenly happened only after she was defeated. and her redemption came slowly through friendship with steven and it had moments of the other characters not instantly trusting her and also of her making mistakes and struggling with believing steven’s philosophy when it went against everything she knew about life. and speaking of which it was established that she had a very different life which had negative influences pushing these ideas upon her, and tough stuff that made her scared and pressured. Not just being in a high position of ruling over a planet in the lap of luxury and ONLY AFTER BEING DEFEATED do we learn that they feel pressured by the societal expectation to be perfect and they actually would have agreed all along with dismantling the system but they were just too afraid to be honest. Or whatever the fuck that rushed ending was trying to go for! And man even after peridot joins the team she’s NOT redeemed yet, she’s initially only halfway doubting herself and only teaming up with steven because they’re both afraid of the cluster. And she messes up and says horrible shit to her new friends and feels the consequences of her actions and chooses to change. And her ultimate choice to switch sides is REALLY hard, she gets so close to going back to the diamonds and its a great personal sacrifice on her part when she chooses to give it all up and make an enemy of the person she was so scared of!

and GAHHH that good redemption is one in a million episodes that really set up the diamonds Being Bad and should have been a goddamn tally in the “effort required in the fuckin ending” chart!

could we not have even just had one ten minute episode of blue and yellow going around earth and experiencing human life and realizing there’s things worth protecting? or a few damn scenes foreshadowing white being actually insecure and lying to protect herself, rather than GENUINELY ABUSIVE BECAUSE SHE’S BAD?

and seriously even if you hurt people because you hate yourself YOU STILL HURT THEM

a sympathetic backstory should be a reason why they COULD be redeemed, not proof that they already are redeemed just because the backstory was stated in words and nothing else has fuckin changed.

imagine if zuko just lost one fight to aang and said “yes but my dad abused me” and aang was like “oh no now lets team up with zuko to beat up his dad” and none of the bad things zuko did were ever mentioned again and also he keeps his season 1 personality throughout the entire series

imagine if peridot fuckin.. just changed sides cos she’s funny and we like her. people wantedher to change sides as soon as she acted funny and likeable but they still made the effort to actually prove she had changed! the diamonds didnt act remotely harmless or remotely good until they just suddenly are in the very last episode.

hoo

fucking

ray

also why are we constantly just ignoring all these dark things about homeworld? like the episode with holly blue agate and the famethyst slave caste and all the creepy ways the entire place operated. i totally thought thatd.. yknow.. EVER BE REFERENCED AGAIN?? its never even mentioned that anyone even WANTS to go back and save them?? and the human zoo were outright stated to be like.. unsaveable. “oh theyve never known real human life and theyre happy in their slavery so itd be cruel to take them away from it” One off episode, forgotten about. And the creepy as fuck scenes of gems being BUILT INTO THE WALLS AND DOORS AS SECURITY SYSTEMS and the confirmation that more lapis situations are constantly going on yet somehow that singing hairbrush person doesnt get all the sympathy that she did. And steven going daww at the pebbles instead of being horrified that theyre born to work as servants and forced to live in the walls because the noblewomen dont want to look at them? and he asks them to make him a new outfit?? and theres no plot anything involving them except them puttering around in the background outfitting?? like was none of this meant to be seen as PROOF THAT THE DIAMONDS WERE EVIL and PEOPLE WHO NEEDED TO BE SAVED????

goddddd

please say they were rushed or something please say this is all the faultof being given less time than they expected please say there were other plans for other episodes we didnt see that would have given at least slightly more substance to any of this

also why wasnt this even advertised as the last episode if its the last fuckin episode

hhhh well at least obsidian was a great character design and so were the other fusions and new outfits even if they only appeared for twelve seconds. and white’s whole scary evil mind invasion stuff was really good even if it actually hurt the episode by being good, kinda

man im not even mad or anything i just feel mehh and bored and like im actually glad its over. i never wanted to feel that way about a show that used to be so good. i kinda wish the earliest episodes werent so good if the answers to all those well set up mysteries were gonna have so much less effort than the setup itself

...man i should make a whole post about all the mistaken ways i THOUGHT the show was gonna go that actually would have been way more interesting than the real answer.

i’m just super glad that my last theory was wrong cos wow that would have been the only thing worse than this ending! when white pearl first appeared before we’d actually seen white diamond, and it had all this thing that white diamond hadnt been seen in ages.. well i was worried it was setting up some sort of reverse twist where actually white pearl is bodysnatching white diamond instead of vice versa. So the whole evil empire would actually be run by a member of the slave class that its oppressing, and the diamonds/representative of the upper class would actually be poor victims all along. dear god i am so glad i got that wrong! tho im weirded out by how evil white/pink pearl looked in that first hint that she was originally pink pearl??

anyway basicallly im just so fuckin tired

#su spoilers #su critical #more like su dissappointed from someone who started off so damn su positive #su bored su rushed su i just wanted you to care as much about making this redemption good as you cared about other things #it really felt like in general the crewniverse just lost interest in the story around the third hiatus or so #whyyyy did they take so long to reveal anything if all the reveals were gonna be so fast and so bad #you gotta learn that if you hype up a thing you actually have to deliver #like fuckin hell it took a whole season to even introduce a single other gem at all #and so long to introduce homeworld and so long to introduce the diamonds and then whoops blink and its over i guess #also why was jasper hyped up so much and then shitcanned for practically a decade #and her only narrative purpose in the end was just a brief hint at the pink diamond arc

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