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#the time zones i got are kinda complex but all u need to know is that like. they're working on elf times
luck-of-the-drawings · 3 months
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OH ARTHUR BENNETT.. such a gorgeous and intriguing character. terribly burdened by a GRUESOME set of crimes, his light suffocated by a HEAVY century of GUILT. so tragic, so dark and broody, and yet PAINFULLY awkward in any social setting ever
#jrwi fanart#cw blood#jrwi show#jrwi suckening#arthur bennett#OUHH THIS ONE WAS SITTING IN MY WIPS FOR SO LOOOONGwhen i took it out there was mould on it :sob:#BUT i think i was able to fix it up okay#i keep seeing SO MANY MISTAKES RRAAAHHH BUT YOU DONT SEE THEM RIGHT?? THATS ONLY ME. RIGHT?? EXACTLY.#THE KEY IS TO SAY. AND REPEAT AFTER ME. 'FUUUCK IT WE BALL#so anyway. arthur bennett huh? grizzly says that arthur is reaal fuckin difficult to play. and i SUPER get that. i mean LOOK AT HIM..#grizz often needs a minute to think abt what hes gonna say in a way that matches w that Stoic Personality. which is FAIR but also that#ends up making way for awkward confrontations like: the lady in the parky lot. he took too long to answer and scared her away.& I LOVE THAT#arthur is tragic and sad and cool and stoic but hes ALSO awkward and silly and kinda dumb and short sighted. HE HAS COMPLEXITIES#I LOVE WHEN TTRPG CHARACTERS HAVE A GOOD SET OF SHORTCOMINGS. ESPECIALLY WHEN U FIND THEM ONLY AS U PLAY THEM.#I COULd go on and on saying the same things w different words abt arthurs intriguing and entertaining character but i shall spare u. for no#ILL ALSO MENTION HOW MUCH I LOVE HIS FLAVOR THO.. I LOVE TALL HOT BOY WHOS ONE W THE DARKNESS.. I REMEMBER WHEN HE FIRST MENTIONED THE#BADLUCK. N I WAS LIKE OOOHH THATS WHY HIS DESIGN IS SO COOL N CHAOTIC N ASYMMETRICAL. HES UNLUCKY!!! i love love love his design so much...#GRaaauruguguraguhhghghgh what else what else is there for me to spew on abt...i think im reachin a limit here..OH MAGNUS. i hope that#we get to know more abt how magnus and arthur met.. like How they became besties... ouuhh... I ALSO WANNA KNOW MORE ABT MARY DAVIS. LIKEHOW#he also apparently spent alotta time in a zone dominated by edward twilight? all he remembers is constant partying? I WANNA KNOW MORE..#i think i got room 4 one more ramble SO. THE ART PIECE.as i said its gone a lil stale BUT. im still very proud o the bits where hes allScar#I WANNA SEE HIM GET SCARYMORE. I like the idea of shadows solidifying to make him strange and eerie.like TEETH n CLAWS n SPINES n YESS#also the SILVER EYES.no1 does silver eyes like the show Claymore. they make em look so striking and eerie...i also like to think that#human arthur had deep beautiful brown eyes.just in my beaitufl heart.i mean look at him..i wanna cook him n eat him.ANYWAY#i think thats all my ramblin for this piece. now i gotta go cancel a single day i had ata hotel bc my work schedule change last minute FUCK#feel free to ramble in my tags aswell tho i read all of them and i chew on thenm and i love them so sos os mcuh
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lexiepoch · 9 months
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How You Meet For The First Time
Warning: Almost all of the following short fics contain cursing. If you are sensitive to that sort of thing you have been warned.
Word Count:4135 (this does not include the characters name before their part or the A/N at the end)
Tony Stark: You wander into a coffee shop around the corner from your apartment when someone bumps into you, spilling hot black coffee all down your scrub top. "Ah shit! Fuck! That's really fucking hot!" you exclaim, pulling the fabric away from your skin.
"Oh my god! Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going! Let me buy your drink!" says a males voice. You don't look up at his face but get the feeling that you know who this man is.
"No, it's fine. It's fine. Just leave it. This thing needed to go in the wash anyways. Holy fuck, you're Tony Stark." you say, finally looking up at the man who spilt his drink all down your front.
"Yes I am, my dear. Will you please let me buy you your drink?" he says, smiling softly.
"No, honestly, you don't have to. And don't worry about my shirt either, it's been through worse at the childrens hospital. But thank you for the offer. It was lovely to meet you, Mr. Stark." you say, trying to leave the conversation.
"I insist. I need a new drink anyways, seeing as most of it went onto your shirt. Come on, just let me buy you a drink and something to eat. You look exhausted and in need of some nutrition."
"Alright, thank you very much. My name is Y/N Y/L/N, by the way."
"A beautiful name for an equally beautiful woman." He buys your usual drink in a large and a few scones as well as himself another black dark roast coffee. A week later you get a gift left at the front desk for you.
"Was dropped off by Mr. Stark himself. He asked for you by your full name, Y/L/N. You got a lover I should know about, kid?" says the clerk, winking.
"No Brent, not a lover. I bumped into him last week, he spilt his drink down my shirt and insisted on buying me a drink and a bite to eat. Thanks for holding this for me," you say, taking the package from his hands before heading down to your locker. When you open the package later that day, after your shift, you see that there is a handwritten note along with a new set of scrubs.
Pepper Potts: "Good morning! Welcome to Starbucks! How are you and how can I help you today?" comes your faked cheery voice through the speaker.
"Good morning Y/N. It's Pepper again. I'm pretty good today. I'll get my usual sweetheart."
"Alright Pepper, that will be a grande iced caramel macchiato with a double espresso shot and extra caramel drizzle?"
"That's right Y/N."
"Alright, I'll see you at the window." When she drives up to the window she had a slip of paper prepared as well as her card.
"Card and this is for you sweetie. Text me when you get off your shift, cutie." she says handing you the slip of paper as you stick the machine out the window for her to pay. Your nose scrunches in happiness at her little pet names. You hand her the drink and she throws you a wink before driving off.
Peter Parker: "Peter, you're going to be paired up with... Y/N," says your biology teacher before moving onto the next pair. When your teacher finishes going through his list he lets you go off into your pairs.
"Hi, uh, I'm Peter. Nice to meet you," he says, sticking a hand out for you to shake.
"Hi, I'm Y/N. Can you explain to me what we're doing? I kinda zoned out when he was explaining what we were doing."
"Oh, yeah totally. You did look kinda blank faced for a while. Is anything wrong?"
"No, just tired. So, the project?"
"Oh yeah! So we're..."
Sam Wilson: "Watch out!" comes a yell from above you. You're sitting on the edge of your apartment complex, not expecting a man with a metal wings to be coming in for a landing, aimed right where you sit.
"Shit!" you exclaim, rolling back onto the main part of the roof, leaving the edge for the man to land safely.
"Thanks!" he says, as the wings fold themselves into a pack on his back. He pushes his goggles up on his head and smiles at you. "Sam Wilson. Nice to meet you," he sticks his hand out towards you.
"Y/N Y/L/N, you too," you says as you climb back onto the ledge. You ignore his and and pull your phone out of your pocket.
"What'cha doing out here? Sitting out on the ledge isn't exactly safe, you know."
"Oh I know. I'm fine. Just waiting for the right photo op. I should've taken one of you, now that I think about it. That would've been a really cool shot," you say, holding your phone in your lap.
"Photo op? Are you a photographer?"
"Oh no, I just like taking pretty photos in my free time. It relaxes my brain after a long day."
"I'd love to get to know you some more. Would you let me take you out for coffee sometime?"
"Sure! I'd love that! Here, put yourself in my phone." You hand the man your phone. He types in his number.
"Text me sometime beautiful." he winks at you before heading to the other side of the roof before leaping off and spreading his wings.
Steve Rodgers: "Miss. Y/L/N? I'm here to see Nick." says the blonde super soldier coming through the door.
"Hello Mr. Rogers. Mr. Fury is on a phone call of a personal matter at the moment. You'll have to wait a moment until he hangs up. Please have a seat. These calls sometimes take a few minutes." you say, not looking up from your laptop.
"Do you really call him Mr. Fury?" asks the man, sitting in the chair across from yours.
"When speaking about him yes, when speaking to him no. I try to be professional, you know."
Bucky Barnes: You're sitting curled up in a chair in your favourite little cafe on Broadway, tears streaming down your cheeks as you continue to read on your laptop. "Y/N! Need another drink, love?" calls one of the baristas.
"Yes please. The usual, please. Just add it to my tab."
"Sure thing! I'll bring it out to ya in a minute." she calls. You refocus on the words in front of you and scroll to the next page of the book. When she places the drink down next to you, you absentmindedly reach for it and accidentally grab a mans hand.
"Hi there doll," he flirts, interlacing your fingers together. Your cheeks flush under the tear stains.
"Hi, sorry. Didn't mean to grab your hand," you mumble, trying to pull your hand away.
"It's okay doll. Do you want to talk about why you're crying?"
"I'm editing a book. Its a sad romance novel. It's my job. My name's Y/N by the way."
"I'm James but my friends call me Bucky," he says softly, thumb rubbing softly against the back of your palm.
"Can we stay holding hands for a while?" you ask shyly.
"Of course doll. You can lean on me as well, if you like. I won't mind." You blush harder than you did before as you tilt yourself to lean against his shoulder.
Bruce Banner: As you walk into the lab at the Avengers complex for your first day, what you weren't expecting to see was Mr. Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner waiting for you. "Um, hi?" you say, grabbing a lab coat off the wall.
"Hello, good morning. I take it that you're Y/N?" says Stark, coming forward to shake your hand, a flirty smile on his face.
"Yes and it's Dr. Y/L/N to you Mr. Stark, same as you Dr. Banner. We are not to the point where you can address me as my first name, we just met. Dr. Banner, where do you want me to start this morning?" You say, ignoring the billionaires hand, slipping the white coat on.
"I have a stack of chemical equations that need reviewing. If you wouldn't mind, Dr. Y/L/N. They are at the back, on the lab bench."
"Not a problem." You nod to the pair of men infront of you and walk away.
"Hardass."
"I heard that Stark," you call over your shoulder.
Natasha Romanoff: "Morning Romanoff. Have you met Agent Y/L/N yet?" calls Maria Hill as the Black Widow enters the training room at the Shield Head Quarters.
"No I haven't, but I've heard about her a bunch from Clint."
"Not surprised. That's her doing pull ups over there. Hey! Y/L/N! Get your ass over here."
"I'm busy Hill!" you yell back, completing another rep before hopping down to the floor. You walk over to the treadmills and start one up for a brisk jog. A couple minutes the red headed assassin joins you, running on the machine next to you.
"Hi, nice to meet you Y/L/N," she says as she runs at the same speed as you.
"You to Romanoff. Big fan of your work with the Avengers Initiative," you say, calmly.
"Thanks. Wanna go for dinner sometime?"
"Sure, why not. Get my number from Clint." You hop off the treadmill without another word, grab your towel and walk out without looking back. Your actions leave the red head stunned.
"Yeah, she does that a lot. She's got ADHD or something, forgets about social formalities a lot. Don't worry, Nat. That means she likes you and her brain was to fogged over by your presence to remember that it's not normal to just leave a conversation hanging," says Hill, coming up behind Romanoffs shoulder.
"Okay then. Real cutie she is though, don't you think?"
"Oh hell yeah. She's fucking adorable, especially when she gets really excited about something. When Fury assigned her her first mission, she was quite literally bouncing in place. She's so fucking cute Nat."
Clint Barton: "Y/L/N! Your four o'clock is here!" yells Samantha from the front desk. Your head whips up from your desktop at the sound of her voice and you push your chair back as you stand up.
You open the door to your massage studio and step out. You stride down the hall as fast as your heels allow to the waiting area. "Mr. Barton? Come on back." A dirty blonde man stands up and begins to follow you back to your studio. When you get inside and the door is shut, the man in front of you visibly relaxes. "Have a seat Mr. Barton. This first session is to mainly just get to know your needs. First things first, hello, my name is Y/N Y/L/N. Where did you hear about me?" you ask softly, returning to your seat at your desk. You gesture to the man to sit alongside you.
"My best friend, Natasha Romanoff, is one of your clients and she suggested I come to get help for some of my past injuries that still hurt. I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and you're like the only approved massage therapist on the list they gave me."
"Oh! Nat reccomended me! You must be the man she affectionately refers to as 'BirdBrain' am I right?" You giggle, thinking back to your last session with the ginger woman.
"Yep, that would be me. Call me Clint, please. My shoulders and lower back have been killing me recently. Tasha says you do wonders for her phantom injury pain, figured I might as well give it a try."
"Well I'm glad you did. Let's get started, shall we? If you wouldn't mind taking your shirt off and laying face down on my table, that would be great. I'll give you a moment of privacy." You say, leaving the room briefly. "You don't mind if I use oil, do you?" You ask as you re-enter a couple of minutes later.
"Not at all. Tasha said you have a really nice lavender one, could you use that?" You roll your eyes at his comment and pull out your lavender oil from your pot of boiling water.
"Nat does love this one. You might not, it's pretty strong." you warn, pouring some onto your hands before you begin.
Wanda Maximoff: "What's in that crate?" Asks Wanda, pointing at wire crate in the middle of the lab floor. As she stares, the crate rattles, as if whatever is inside is throwing itself around.
"That is another experiment, Miss. Maximoff. Leave it at that. Someone take the twins back to their quarters. It's time to unveil our masterpiece," says one of the scientists. The twins are pulled away and forced into their induvidual cells. A couple hours later a limp female body is thrown on the bed in the cell across from Wandas.
"Hello? What is your name?" calls Wanda through the fiberglass. The girls head raises up slightly, and she gives the twins a confused look, pointing to herself weakly. "Yes! You! What is your name, dear?"
"Y/N... Y/L/N."
"Hi Y/N, I'm Wanda this is my twin Pietro. What did they do to your ears?"
"I- I don't have human ears. I have the ears of a cat. I'm what they called a Panthera pardus hybrid. I don't know what that means, but my teefs hurt and so does my back," the girl, Y/N, slurs before passing out.
Pietro Maximoff: You sit on a bench, in the midst of Central Park and just close your eyes, notebook in your lap. You had just finished an interview with a witness of a story you were writing, and it was a tough one. You let the tears roll down your cheeks in silence. You feel a cold gust of wind blow past you then you hear someone rapidly backpedal before a heavily accented voice speaks to you. "What is a beautiful lady like you doing crying?"
"I'm fine sir, just leave me be please." you say, not opening your eyes. After a moment you assume he left, but when you open your eyes the man still stands there. You let your eyes scan his frame as you take in his foreign beauty.
"Please, miss. Don't cry. Sadness doesn't suit a beautiful woman's face, such as yours." He runs off then, a blue blur leaving you shocked.
Thor Odinson: You wander through the royal gardens as the sun begins to set in the far off distance. You hear footsteps behind you but think nothing of it, probably someone else taking in the beauty of the gardens."Hello," booms a voice behind you. You freeze in your tracks, you would recognize the voice of Prince Thor anywhere.
You twirl around on your heel, your abnormally short skirt flaring out around your thighs, presenting the Prince with a pleasant smile. "Good evening, my Prince." you greet, beginning to bow.
"No need for the formalities outside of the palace m'lady. May I join you on your walk?"
"I would be honoured!"
"Wonderful! Would you mind telling me your name, m'lady?" he asks as he offers you his large arm.
You slip yours through his and let him lead you forward. "My name is Y/N. It is an honour to meet you, Prince." you say, your cheeks flushing red as you tilt your head to peer up at the man.
"Please, call me Thor. Do you come here often, Y/N?"
"As often as I can."
Loki Laufeyson: "Y/N! Hurry up! We can not be late to the banquet!" your sibling shouts. You roll your eyes as you lace up your dancing shoes.
"We are fine! The banquet doesn't start for another half hour!" you yell back. Fluffing your skirt as you drop it back down your legs, you make your way over to your mirror to fix your hair. Adjusting a few strands, you also touch up your lipstick.
"Are you finished yet?"
"Yes! Yes I am! I'm coming! Gods, you're so impatient!" you grumble aas you throw open your bedroom door.
~Time Skip~ *Fourty Five Minutes Later, At The Banquet In The Palace*
You stand against the wall, watching all of the people twirl around as they dance along to the music. Suddenly you feel a light tap on your shoulder, causing you to jump with surprise. To your great shock, Prince Loki is standing next to you. "Hello. May I have a dance, m'lady?" he asks, holding his hand out towards you.
"Oh! Yes! Yes, you may! I must warn you, I'm not a very good dancer," you say, placing your hand in his.
"No worries, love. I'm very capable of leading you in a simple waltz." he says, winking at you. You let him wisk you onto the dancefloor and into his arms. His hands are very gentle as he leads you through the steps with practiced ease. When the song ends you expect him to let go of you, but to your surprise he doesn't. "Come with me to the balcony. We can chat a little better out there." He says, a light hand on your lower back, leading you from the bustling crowd.
Lady Sif: "Hello? Is there anyone in here?" calls a females voice from the doorway of the armoury.
"Yes! One moment!" You call back from the curtained half of the room. You put the blade you were mending onto a nearby anvil before wiping your hands on your apron. You slip past the curtain and are faced with the legendary warrior Lady Sif. "Hello, Lady Sif! What can I do for you this morning?" you greet, heart fluttering in your chest.
"Hello, my blade is becoming slightly dull right here along the edge. Could you sharpen it for me quickly? And it's late afternoon now, sweetie." she teases, pointing to a spot along her sword’s edge.
"Is it really?! Wow! I've been back there all day mending blades, so I guess I really wouldn't know all too well. I'll go sharpen that for you now, shouldn't take long." You take her sword from her and walk back behind the curtain. Grabbing your sharpening stone you quickly sharpen the dull part off the edge before wiping off residue of the stone with bottom of your apron. You walk back out to the woman and hand her the weapon back which she sheats with ease.
"Thank you..?"
"Oh, sorry! My name is Y/N!" you giggle, holding your hand out for her to shake. She shakes your hand and smiles lightly at you.
"Nice to meet you Y/N. I'll see you another time, sweetie." she winks at you before leaving. You jaw drops as you stare after her.
Stephen Strange: "Who's that?" asks Stephen, pointing at a woman floating ten feet above the ground as she meditates. He points to her floating form, confusion etched onto his face.
"That is Y/N. She is one of most advanced people here other than the Ancient One. She's been here for years and refuses to leave. The Ancient One continuously reminds us to stay away from her when she meditates, she can hurt you immensely without an eye opening. So stay the fuck away from her, Strange. I know she is gorgeous but she is not one to be fucking with. The woman could kill you in a heartbeat," warns Wong, as he watches you float with ease.
"How long has she been here?"
"Roughly six years if I remember correctly. She came here in worse shape than you. I remember her first day clearly. She refused to speak to any of us, but was clearly accepting all the information, unlike you did,"
"How powerful is she?"
"No one really knows, she refuses to spar or demonstrate any form of power. She also isn't one for speaking to strangers. Someone she tolerates would have to introduce you to her, though this is one of the few times a month she leaves her room."
"Does she not leave her room very often?"
"No, she doesn't. She isn't one for people or disturbances. Shit, she is going to hit the branch! Fuck she's gonna be pissed at lunch."
Carol Danvers: "Fury, who's the newbie at the computer?" asks Carol.
"That is Agent Y/L/N. She's been here for a few months now, she's not all that new. She's a great field agent and she's comfortable behind a desk. She works really well with most of the agents I've paired her with, except Hill. The pair of them despise each other for some reason. I find it extremely amusing to force Y/L/N to sit in a briefing or debriefing held by Hill. All the kid does is roll her eyes at her and Hill glares at the kid the entire time."
"Cute. I'm going to ask her on a date. She seems my type. When's her next day off?" asks Carol, glancing towards Nick.
"Thursday. Her next day off is Thursday."
"Thanks Nick!" she says, walking towards you. "Hey, I'm Carol Danvers. Nice to meet you." she perches on the edge of your desk.
You glance up at her and gape. After a moment you collect yourself enough to actually speak to the woman in front of you. "Hi, I- I'm Y/N! It's nice to meet you Miss. Danvers! Is there something you need?"
"Yeah actually. I was wondering if you would wanna go on a date with me. Just something small, to get coffee or something. I was thinking this Thursday, if you like?"
"Uh, yeah I'm off Thursday so, why not! Where do you want to meet?"
"Oh, no. Give me your number, text me your address and I'll pick you up at eight." She hands you her phone and you quickly type your number in. "There, I texted you. Text me sometime, cutie."
T'Challa: As you slip out of your office building you notice a small crowd around a single man. You roll your eyes as you walk down the street. Throwing your hood up against the slight wind, you keep your head down. "Hey! Hands up!" yells one of the men.
Your head jerks up as you look behind you, thinking they were talking to someone else. "What?" you ask confused, seeing that you were the only other person on the street.
"Put your hands up!" the same man yells again.
"No! Fuck off! I'm just trying to go home! I'm not doing anything illegal." You shout back, stepping onto the road to walk around the group. After you walk past them you hear a slight muttering from the group.
"But Your highness-"
"No! Ma'am! Could I have a moment of your time?" calls a kind voice behind you. You stop in your tracks and turn back to face the man speaking.
"What is it? I've been at work since six this morning, I'm tired and I really just want to go home." you say, looking up at the man in front of you, eye bags prominent under your eyes.
"This won't take long. I just wanted to apologize for the way my men reacted. My name is T'Challa, I'm the King of Wakanda, I just wanted to give you my number. You're a very beautiful woman and you're clearly very hard working. That is the type of person I like to put myself around. If you ever need a break from the city, send me a message." says the man, handing you card with a phone number scrawled on it.
"Thank you sir. Apology accepted. I might just take you up on that offer," you say as you turn away from him. You slip the piece of paper into your pocket as you continue to walk down the empty street.
A.N: I know Pepper's wasn't necessarily their first time meeting but it's cute so oh well
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ruthlesslistener · 3 years
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Btw ch. 6 hit me like a baseball bat to the shins. Love that. Thanks for that.
Sorry if this has been stated before but how long did Hollow spend in the egg and how old is Hornet now?
First off, sorry for how long it took me to answer this! A mixture of irl chaos mixed with me trying to figure out how to answer this caused a bit of a delay.
The answer is...it's complicated. Hallownest works like a fae realm in my mind, where time within does not equal time spent in the outside world- that's why you have people like Elderbug in Dirtmouth who are ancient bugs that barely remember the fall of the kingdom, while bugs under the surface like Sheo (who seem relatively young and healthy) remember meeting the Great Knights. The closer you get to the White Palace/the Abyss, the slower the effects of time are felt, so a day spent in the White Palace can roughly equal a year in the Wastes, where magic is corroded away and time works as intended. Factor in shit like different age spans for different species of bugs, and things get even weirder.
So the question with Hollow is...kind of roughly 100 years in the Temple, by the count of the Wastes? But not nearly so long in the City of Tears, where people still remember the Infection and are still at work recovering from some of the major damage that it left behind. Hornet, however, is only around 11 or 12 years of age, because a combination of her being the child of two naturally longer-lived species and her spending her time in the White Palace drastically slowed down the time it took for her to age.
Sorry its so complicated! I figure for the civilians of Hallownest, the way the time difference works is less that time feels different to them and more that they're just a lot hardier than outsider bugs, if that makes sense? So to them, they're going at a normal pace, it's everyone else who's aging and dying super quickly. Though to poor Hollow, spending those years in the temple was an eternity...and in canon, they would have spent another 100 years slowly declining in health as the Radiance took over their body, so they didn't exactly have a fun time there :,)
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13thdoodle · 2 years
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can you explain to me the levi au? i read the original post and i still don't get it
Okay so this is the post about Levi's origin but to summarize
Levi(athan) is an OC of mine who is the Ancient of Heroes (like how Clockwork is the Ancient of Time) and was the First Ghost King.
But he didn't like being the king like at all, so at some point he appointed the next King (my partner's OC Auberon ) and then he jsut left, hiding away at the edge of the ghost zone realm so no one can bother him there
He only come out of isolation just once to help kicking Pariah's ass to the sarcophagus and then peace out again
--
the AU kinda starts off with Danny finding out he looks like the first Ghost King and later on just.. accidentally found said guy just hanging around in middle of no where fighting monsters or sth
it's basically just grabbing this short feral man by the scruff and get him to meet and talk to ppl again
--
so when I refer to og!Levi, I meant this version of Levi, the I-haven't-talk-to-ppl-for-thousands-of-years-and-also-am-absolutely-a-feral kind of Levi
there's a reason for him going that far for isolation and I'm gonna explain it under cut bc it is long
So, I have drew this for angst week but in case it's hard read
Levi in this AU, his og AU, actually had lived through this timeline twice. On the first run, he was way more brass and way way more impulsive.
And he didn't really know how to properly do a King's job? so instead of getting help with the whole ruling thing, he took on everything on himself and it weigh him down really bad
I mean that's what heroes do, helping others by taking the burnt of it on themselves. and yes, Levi have a bad case of Saviour/Hero Complex because he literally was made from one akjsdnkajsd
oh yeah, in my AU, I hc that Ancients are made of concepts or stories ppl made. kind of like gods and such, stories and concepts given form. Levi is made from stories of heroes, ones who saved people and protecting others
so that's what he do, thats what his core is
which clashes with being a King all about, because when you're a King, esp on times of chaos n war, you WILL have to make sacrifices. And it cannot be yourself, bc ppl would still need you to lead them. And that fucks him up, because the whole thing with Heroes complexs are sacrificing themselves to make sure everyone else is safe
so he took everything on his own, stretched himself thin, and eventually got caught off guard n he failed to safe a town/village. It was literally destroyed right in front of him n that just broke him
he asked Chronos (the first timeline's Clockwork) to turn back time so he can fix this n Chronos refused bc duh its bad. .....so Levi tried to turn back time himself
But the problem with that is, time magic.. requires compatible magic user to use them. And Levi, who is very much not a time ghost, cannot use it. But he IS a very VERY strong ghost, so he brute force it, and basically broke the timeline all together
Chronos got there in time (lol) and tried to fix/sealed it, but it drains all his power, but before that, he sent Levi back in time to prevent this from happening in the first place
So here's Levi, back in time, to when he was supposed to meet Chronos the first time. But Chronos never showed up, bc he lost all power and essentially died, and have to reform again, to the one we now know as Clockwork.
And now Levi get to live through this timeline knowing what will happen in the future and can react accordingly. But it also made him a bit more distant? Keeping everyone's at arm length bc he is way older and more tired than he was the first time.
like if u know whats going to happen it'll be a bit harder to get super invested into what is going on basically?
So he's now keeping ppl at distance and doesnt really bothers as much to befriend ppl anymore bc what if he fcked up n got em killed again?
and then time goes on and he crowned Auberon and then he leave for good
So, there's Levi.. who haven't had.. or tried to make any meaningful relationship since (he did make frens but he left all of em behind so) and now are being dragged kicking n screaming to socialize agian lmao
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sleepovers (chapter 1) (Spencer Reid x Reader)
Summary: Spencer and profiler!reader seem to be sleeping over at each others places a lot. 
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cw: alcohol?? and none other than that
A/N: This is my first fic ever and I am nervous!! This will be a multiple part series and you will have it all: fluff, smut, and a lil angst. Hope you enjoy and please let me know if i need to add anything to the cw list!
word count: 2k :)
“Here you go, a glass of water for you and a glass of wine for me.” you said as you place his Lego Movie glass down on his desk. Spencer didn’t raise his eyes from the case file he has been reading but didn’t hold back on his comments.
“You really should drink more water Y/N,” which you replied, faking an offended voice. “Hey, I drink enough water, okay?” 
“Funny you say that, because I actually have been keeping track of your water intake. You drank 1.26 litres of water today and with your daily intake of 2 cups of coffee, several cups of tea and well, alcohol I can guarantee you that isn’t enough.” Spencer said as he smirked proudly. 
You rolled your eyes at his smug face. “How- ugh fine Spencer, I will drink more water,” you admitted . “After I drink this glass of wine.” It was your turn to smile now. 
He furrowed his eyebrows and turned to the case file he was studying while you finally got to relax and turn to your book on his nice sofa. 
You have been doing this with him a lot. Hang out. Casually. In silence. You guys would come back from a case, you would carpool to yours or his place and then watch a movie, have dinner (or breakfast, depending on what time you guys land in D.C) or this. You would relax together, enjoying each other's company silently. 
It started after a very hard case, not long before you started and the resident genius offered to take you home because he assessed that you would probably break down, said something along the lines of how dangerous it is to drive while crying. He wasn’t the best or the most experienced driver out there but he wanted to make sure you got home safely. 
You were very shaken up that day, not having seen a brutal murder-suicide happen before your eyes in your life, so you took up his offer and followed after him to the parking lot. Both of you walked quietly to your car and when you got to it you just stood there.Not moving a muscle, just out of it. Spencer was sure he made the right choice to offer his help. Spencer slowly raised his hand and touched your arm slowly. “Y/N, the keys.” You were so zoned out that you flinched when he touched you.
“It’s okay, I’m sorry Y/N, it’s just me. Can you hand me the keys?” said Spencer with the softest voice he can make. “Oh, sorry,” You said with a dead tone then started scrambling through your bag. You couldnt find them. You were sure you were hearing the jingling sound they made as they rolled around your bag but you couldn't get your hands on them for the life of you. That’s when you started crying. 
Spencer wasn’t the best when the case was touching people but he had to get you out of that parking lot and get you to the safety of your home. He shook his hands to remind himself that you were a clean person and he could touch you, then reached for your handbag. He slowly took it out of your hands and put it on the hood of your car. 
“Spen-- Spencer- I’m- I’m really,” you tried to apologise in between you sobs.
“Y/N, shh, I’m right here and you have nothing to be sorry about,” That’s when he wrapped his arms around you and you started sobbing on his very nice sweater vest. He had put one hand on your back that he rubbed softly and one on your head that pushed into his chest like he was trying to get you to hide in there. He didn’t even realise how naturally affectionate he was, but you did. 
The waterfalls that are your eyes were still running but you calmed down a little and the embarrassment of getting your mucus,ugh, on your very new colleague was starting to dawn on you.
“Spencer, I’m fine, let’s just go home, okay?” You managed to muster out while you squeezed yourself out of his embrace and tried to hide your face from him. You reached for your bag and once again out your hands into it looking for your keys. There they were, stuck underneath some papers that you threw in your bag. 
Spencer stood there, doubting himself. Did he cross the line? Was hugging you unprofessional? Did he make you uncomfortable? He had once read a research about hugs calming down the sympathetic nervous system under distress so he tried to help you calm down a little. It wasn’t his intent to make you uncomfortable. Oh god, he thought to himself, now Y/N thinks I’m weird too. 
He was pulled out of his little freak out by Y/N handing him the keys. He pushed his lips together in a really awkward smile and started stepping towards the driver’s side.
The drive was pretty weird. He drove too carefully and there was his colleague silently crying in the next seat to him. His mind was still swarming with the ideas of him doubting his choice of hugging Y/N, her quiet voice took him out of it. “Spencer, I can’t thank you enough. You really helped and I know I’m not very good with words but I really do appreciate this.” 
Spencer was shocked. He wasn’t expecting this. He wasn't expecting a talk at all. So he stammered trying to answer her. “Uh, yeah- yeah, sure,” 
While his conscious mind was going between doubting himself and oh shit, she’s crying, what do i do, his subconscious mind had led him to his house. He realized it when he was at the last traffic lights before home.
“Y/N, I’m afraid I drove all the way to my house,”
She raised her head from her hands on her knees slowly and looked around her, clueless. Spencer was quick to apologise. “I’ll turn around at the next U-turn and we’ll get to your place. What's your address?”
You didn’t want to bother him driving all this way and back, also you were starving and sleepy. “Spencer, if you don’t mind, can we go up to your place? I don’t really wanna bother you with driving all the way to mine, also I am so tired and I assume you are too?”
Y/N kept surprising Spencer tonight. “Yeah, yeah that’s fine- Yeah, we can order takeout too, yeah, yes.” She almost giggled at his nervousness.
He pulled up to the parking spot of his apartment complex and you two silently walked up the stairs to his apartment. He welcomed you in, “So, this is my place, ugh so sorry this is very messy,” 
Spencer was very skittish about touching people and letting people into his place. He did both of them with you that night and he was weirdly okay with it.  
“It’s perfectly fine Reid, hell, looks a lot neater than mine honestly.” You smiled while you awkwardly stood in the entrance. Spencer had already taken his coat off and was walking into the depths of his house. He kinda yelled from across the house, “Please come in Y/N, I will be there in just a second to take your coat. What do you wanna eat? I know this Indian place that makes great chicken tendoori that delivers.” His voice was getting closer and closer while he got back to his living room. 
“Spencer, I am a vegetarian.” you said while he took your coat and hung it over a chair.
“Oh, sorry, I somehow didn’t know, but they should have vegetarian items on the menu, let me go find it for you. Do you want a drink? I have water, coffee, all kinds of tea you can ask for annnd,” He was scrambling through his kitchen cabinets now. “Wine, yeah, what can i get you?” 
“Wine would be nice,” you kind of yelled from the living room. You did not want to yell but you also didn't want to follow him around or go looking for him, invading his place. 
He came after a few minutes, a glass of water and a menu, you assumed, in one hand and your glass of wine in the other.
“Here you go, a glass of water for me and a glass of wine for you, are you sure you don’t want a glass of water?” He put the classes on the coffee table and handed you the menu. “While I’m not completely sold on the idea of you drinking before dinner, what do you wanna get Y/N? I can also call the pizza place that’s close and we can get all the toppings you’d like.” When you thought he stopped talking and opened your mouth, he started to ramble again. “I’m sorry I know I said we could get all the toppings you wanted but I have issues with grouped foods and can we maybe stick to the basics and get a mushroom pizza?” He was embarrassed but you smiled so widely that his embarrassment washed away and his chest filled with relief.
“Yeah, Reid, I’d like that.” 
Thus began your sleepovers. That night he had given you a spare toothbrush, some of his clothes, clean towels for your shower in the morning, and his bed. Genius took the couch that night, “That’s the least I can do,” he said, even after all he had done for you. You would much rather have him beside you but you would never admit to that and he would never agree to it anyways. 
Second time you two had a sleepover, it was Reid who was struggling and you offered your sweet but lonely home to him. This kept going on between you two, there were rarely nights where you slept at your place alone. 
Spencer called you from his grocery store run one day, asked you about your shampoo brand. And would you rather use a vanilla or lavender body wash. 
You texted him asking about his after-shave and razor brand he uses after he slept over at your place and had to go to work with a scruff. You felt bad for people making fun of him and his “big boy beard”. 
Spencer was really glad, while he didn’t have a lot of affectionate relationships like this, he didn’t mind having you around at all. You were really glad, you didn’t go to bed in a lonely house, that you made really good friends with Dr. Spencer Reid.
You finished your wine while flipping pages on your book and your eyelids started to feel heavy. “Spencer, I’m really sleepy,” 
He had moved to the end of the couch with you, you were lying down but your legs were barely close to him.
“I’ll be done in just a second and I’ll let u sleep Y/N,” 
You were feeling the wine and you felt courageous that night. You carefully got up to your knees and crawled towards him on the sofa. When you got to him you slightly nudged his arm to let you in and he lifted his arm to embrace you. “Oh, hi,” he said. “I thought you were sleepy.” Was there a smile in his voice or were you just hearing things? “Yeah, and I am using my favorite pillow.” Stupid wine talk.
He chuckled slightly to my words. “Okay, let’s go to bed, I was almost done anyways. I can finish it up tomorrow.” Now, you felt bad for interrupting his work. Stupid wine.
“Oh, no, no, nooo! I can wait for you to finish, really, look! My eyes are all open,” You opened your eyes wide while you looked up at him in his arms. He chuckled again. Oh, that chuckle. Stupid wine.
“You look a little flushed.” Spencer said while dragging his hand over your flaming cheeks softly. “Yeah, wine does that.” No, Spencer does that, Y/N, don’t lie to yourself. 
His eyes were looking into yours so tenderly that you debated if this was a dream or not. Then something happened that raised your suspicions of dreaming.
He slowly put his lips on yours. Oh, stupid wine. 
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imagineurfavs · 4 years
Text
Astro - Cha Eunwoo A-Z
Who deleted all their requests before pasting it into here...?? ...this bitch...
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A - Aftercare Aftercare usually just consists of taking a super quick shower and changing the sheets if necessary. It’s very much a joint thing; he does stuff for you, but he expects some care in return lmao
B - Body Part (their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner) On himself he likes his eyes, he’s a sucker for deep eye contact as he pushes himself into you. On his s/o he likes their thighs/butt, the softer the better lol.
C - Cum He can get a little messy when he cums, which he’s honestly not a fan of. So he prefers to finish inside you purely for ease of clean up. Doesn’t mind using a condom, to him its just the most convenient.
D - Dirty Secret (a dirty secret of theirs) He has quite a lot of more dominant tendencies that he tries not to show too much just bc it doesn’t fit too well with his “flower boy” image, but anyone that knows Dongmin knows that he can have quite a bit of a temper (he is an aries after all lol). So he sees sex as a perfect outlet for all that pent up stress that he can’t let out anywhere else, a place where he can finally be the one setting the rules, not following them. 
E - Experience This is a tricky one...it’s no secret that he’s incredibly popular with the ladies; but he’s also a lot more shy than he usually appears, not to mention how busy he always is. He’s got a little experience, but he’s by no means an expert lol
F - Favourite Position Usually just ends up being missionary with your legs thrown over his shoulder. That way he can maintain eye contact and set the pace as much as he wants.
G - Goofy (are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous etc) Really not that goofy in the moment, he really gets in the zone and is definitely on the more serious side. It’s afterwards, when y'all are finally cleaned up and settled that he lets his soft ass self come out
H - Hair (how well groomed are they) I don’t think it’s something he’d really pay too much attention to. He wont let it get too out of control, but it’s not a priority lmao
I - Intimacy (how are they during the moment, romantic aspect) Eeeeh...I don’t think he’d be all that intimate tbh. He thinks it’s a given how he feels, otherwise he wouldn’t be sleeping with you. So he doesn’t really see the need to outwardly show any emotions in the moment, when he’s busy focusing on the task at hand lol.
J - Jack Off (Masturbation) Boy does it alot lol, it’s his favourite way to de-stress. You can almost guarantee before any big event or TV appearance that he’ll take himself off to the bathroom and go at it lol
K - Kinks (one of more of their kinks) A lil bit of pain; biting, spanking etc. Nothing that hurts a crazy amount but stuff that’ll for sure leave a mark. There’s nothing he finds sexier than watching a red hand print appear on your butt. He likes receiving this kinda stuff as well, aside from maybe the spanking, but he loves being bitten, scratched, etc...just keep it somewhere it wont be seen.
L - Location (Favourite places to do the do) Literally just the bedroom. That’s it. He’ll try it out in as many different places in said room; in the bed, on the floor, against the wall, on the desk etc but it has to stay in the bedroom.
M - Motivation (What turns them on) Loves it when you touch his thighs, even if it’s just in passing or even accidental, it riles him up so much lol. He loves it when he catches you staring at him from across the room too, bonus points if there’s a lot of people around, you can bet that he’ll be eye fucking you right back lol
N - NO (something they won't do, turn offs) Absolutely nothing that involves even anything slightly public. He doesn’t wanna risk any part of his private life getting out, largely for the sake of your privacy also. Everything saucy happens behind closed doors...alone...probably with the door locked also.
O - Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc) He’s so messy with it omfg. He loves to make soooo much noise when he goes down on you like it’s honestly enough to make you blush lord almighty, he really goes out of his way to make the most lewd noises. Highkey loves going down on you for that exact reason, he likes to make you all bashful and embarrassed lmao. When receiving he likes to just lay back and let you do what you want to him lol.
P - Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc) He tends to keep more of a steady medium pace, but on certain days he can for sure get super rough...hold on tight lmao. He keeps a vice grip on your hips, there’ll always been tiny little marks left there from his fingertips.
Q - Quickies (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc) He wasn’t always a fan of quickies, but he’s grown to like them a lot more bc sometimes they're the only option. He’ll still only see them as a last resort though, if either of you have got somewhere to be but reeeeally can’t wait any longer.
R - Risk (are they down to experiment, do they take risks?) Nooooooope nope not down at all, sorry. Although, if you can promise him that it’ll be fun, and it wont leave the bedroom, then he might me down...maybe...but most likely not.
S - Stamina (how many rounds can they go, how long do they last? etc) I feel like he’s a one and done kinda guy lol. The rounds would be pretty average in length, but you’ll only get one out of him
T - Toy (do they own toys do they use them on a partner or on themselves?) Doesn’t own a whole lot, mainly bc he just doesn’t see the point, “why buy something to do what you could just do yourself...?” The most he might buy would maybe be some super fancy silk ties to use on you...they’d have to be super pretty though, can’t forget the aesthetic lol
U - Unfair (how much they like to tease) He’s SUCH a tease. He deliberately takes his time with every move he makes prior to actual sex lol, foreplay with Dongmin is a lengthy process lol. He loves testing your patience, watching you get more and more frustrated with him.
V - Volume (how loud are they, what type of sounds they make) He mainly makes more whimpery kinda noises and sighs. He can get pretty loud, but he’ll only let himself get loud if you are as well, he doesn’t wanna be the only one making noise.
W - Wild Card (a random headcannon) Is a bratty dom a thing? Bc that’s the energy Dongmin gives me lol. Like, as opposed to giving you any form of punishment if you dont listen to him, he’ll get kinda whiny and annoying. He for sure has a lil bit of a prince complex lol, like he wants to almost be kinda served and worshipped, and will definitely get bratty if he doesn’t get his way...
X - X-ray (what's going on inside those pants) Average in length, maybe a tiny bit thicker
Y - Yearning (How high is their sex drive) Honestly, I dont really think it’s all that high. BUT with that being said, when he does get in the mood, it happens all at once and very intensely sdsdg 
Z - Zzz... (How quickly they fall asleep afterwards) He’ll stay awake for a while afterwards. Depending on the time of day, he’s perfectly happy to get up and go do stuff, he doesn’t get too sleepy afterwards.  If you wanna sleep though, he’s more than happy to settle down and drift off with you 
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sleevesareforlosers · 3 years
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also! i know you’ve mentioned quite a few times before in posts/fics about how party and kobra really only met right before they left the city? and i’m not entirely sure if i’ve just missed it but i would LOVE for elaboration specifically on that. i just!! am super interested to know about them and their lives in the city...and how everything shakes out regarding that 👀
!!!! okay thats def one of the more obscure bits of my canon? bc in universe party and kobra dont rlly like talking about it and on a meta level city life isnt rlly something i wanna devote too much energy to writing but i HAVE thought abt it!
i covered it a little bit in this fic but some details have shifted a bit just irt kobras job/timeline bc its over (i think?) a year old and its short so. not super elaborate
so when i say that they hadnt really met before leaving the city its like. they knew each other and lived with each other but they weren't really themselves. party bc of like. reeducation and kobra bc he was really fucked up with a combination of dysphoria and city drugs both prescribed and not (which i *think* ive mentioned arent a given in the city? most people dont get medicated the same way kobra did and not all the city meds are bad)
i will say that they were pretty close before party got reeducated. as close as u can be when ur thirteen and eight at least. but ofc he got taken and came back Completely different and kobra was a smart kid and kinda realized that directly confronting him abt the change would end really badly for both of them. party was rlly susceptible to the reeducation and its not their fault in any way but they definitely would have reported kobra if he'd tried to make a move.
so then once kobra snapped and cut his hair and party snapped out of the reeducation (combination of time since getting bleached and like. still being a caring and loving person under it all and knowing that he should care abt kobra) they escaped obviously and had to do a little crash course in 'how to be siblings' bc until then they were more just. people that lived in the same house and had nothing in common to talk about so they jsut didnt. i hope that makes sense? they knew each other but they didnt Really Know each other
as for what life in the city looked like for them!
i feel like its kinda important to know that their parents were low-level workers so they grew up in the slums on the edge of the city. not the worst part of the city (the lobby) but not downtown or even a suburban area.
party (post reeducation) became a total model student and ended up in a mid/high-level admin position in hq as soon as he graduated, set to get a promotion when he turned 20 and was in the process of trying to move out to a place of his own actually. kept getting their applications rejected bc they didnt have an "approved reason" to not live w their parents (no long-term partner and not a high enough level to qualify for one of the downtown studios). wasn't necessarily getting frustrated with the company but was getting frustrated with not being able to "start his own life" in his own apartment yknow? also a bit of a superiority complex/classism thing bc of having a higher-level job than their parents, wanting to live in a nicer part of the city like the rest of their colleagues. he had a Few friends, mostly from work, but it was nothing like the crew and friends hed had pre-reeducation bc. you know. obviously. it was just a little group of polite, well trained late-teens bli drones who got up to just the right amounts of bli-approved trouble (android girls and mood synthesizers but only on saturdays type deal). um. probably the least bli-approved thing they did was give spare carbons to broken-down droids in street corners and pretend to listen to the ones preaching the graffiti bible. This is all actually a huge reason Why party is so wanted by bli, like apart from the obvious of being a killjoy and fucking up a lot of shit for the company, he was also So close to being a perfect citizen that rebelling and escaping is a real lemon-juice-in-the-papercut for bli
kobra, on the other hand, was about one and a half Minor infractions away from getting reeducated himself. bli mostly saves reeducation and bleaching for people with confirmed rebellious biases or actions, people they dont think would be trusted enough to take their pills basically. theyd get fed up after enough violations though. kobra was on watch as a nuisance, but not a rebel, so he got away with attempts at medication and therapy that were... kinda effective? but he was Really pushing it especially once he got his job in the lobby and started running with lobby kids. really just imagine an absolute menace shithead of a fourteen year old breaking every law he could get his well-manicured but grubby little hands on. i think at some point ive mentioned that half the reason kobra was so good with tech and wiring was bc he picked it up from fucking with scarecrow cars and reprogramming shit about them? yeah. im not gonna say kobra's friends were like. a bad crowd. they were just chafing against city culture in a very specific way. lots of sex, violence, vandalism, underage mood synthesizer use (and by underage i mean even below the technically-underage-but-bli-looks-the-other-way-bc-they-know-people-need-to-feel-rebellious-sometimes age that like. party and his friends started trying them at). this is when he learned how to knife fight too which definitely saved both his and party's life the first night in the zones. on top of this all is the whole trans thing which isnt something thats necessarily frowned upon in the city, but when kobra finally realized what was up he went about it in a non-city-approved way (hacking his hair off with a set of nail clippers rather than like. submitting a transition application) and that absolutely would have been the last straw for him for the city if party had reported him rather than stuffed him in their car and left.
i dont know how to tldr this one but like. they both led really different lives in the city, kobra being rebellious and breaking laws but not in a killjoy way and party being So close to being a perfect citizen as a result of getting reeducated when he was thirteen, so they weren't honest with each other until party's bleaching broke and they left the city and THATS why i say they hadnt really met until they escaped.
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palmett-hoes · 3 years
Note
hello!!!! how do u feel about the pairing of kevin day and allison reynolds, if u dont mind me asking
uuuhhhhhhhhhhh,,,
in all honesty i have very few thoughts on the matter
like i've scrolled past the handful of fics for them and seen maybe one fan art and just kinda went "okay" and moved on
it doesn't really do much for me, though i can definitely respect bi4bi relationships
so i did spend a little extra time thinking on it to answer this ask, and my conclusion is that i don't think it would really be a stable, healthy relationship, which is usually what i talk about when i talk about good ships bc i'm a romantic and a coward who tends to only like ships that i think should get married and grow old together
to comment on their dynamic though, i think they could be good bitchy, judgemental friends and i think allison would be a good person to pull kevin out of his head and force him out of his comfort zone and away from exy. as a romantic relationship though? i think she would steamroll him
look, i love allison, but she's a ball-buster tbh it's part of the reason i love her, she's totally unapologetic
we see it with seth, and later a little bit with neil, too: allison does not tip-toe around your problems, and she's not nice about confronting them either. she throws them right in your fucking face and she doesn't give a shit if you can't handle it. and then in return, she expects the same back. she likes to yell and she isn't afraid of being yelled at
in fact, the thinks that the yelling and the insults is all a part of airing out grievances. she's from a very stuffy, uptight world where no one actually says what they think, where issues never get addressed head-on and where resentment can fester underneath a smile for years or even generations
her attitude is a direct response to the superficial, two-faced world of the super-rich. it's a powerful statement of her own identity and individuality, and to her it's the most direct and most effective way to solve problems
unfortunately, this also means that her relationships with other people are going to be ROCKY
when she's upset, her focus is on feeling and expressing all of her emotions in the moment, not preserving someone else's. she doesn't care about harmony and she doesn't care about the long-term consequences of her words, but she also probably hits a lot of nerves that don't blow over in a day. just because she doesn't internalize insults doesn't mean everyone is like that
allison and seth had an explosive relationship, but they seemed to be on the same page about this, and it's probably because they were both the types of people that dealt with their emotions like this that their relationship lasted as long as it did. the other upperclassmen got used to allison over time, but it was rough, and it was clear in the summer practices in tfc that she wasn't always on their sides, and was just as open to starting fights with them as her boyfriend
and that brings us to kevin
kevin seems very tough on the outside. he's rude and condescending and judgemental and picky, just like allison. but unlike allison this attitude doesn't really go both ways. kevin is actually somewhat delicate
kevin is from an environment of open, constant criticism. of high achievers aiming for perfection. but that criticism wasn't a two-way street. he couldn't tear down riko or the master the way they tore him down, he could only transfer that censure by proxy onto the lower ranking ravens or take it to heart and internalize it
remember "As brutal as Kevin could be toward the rest of the team, he was hardest on himself"?
kevin has an inferiority complex enforced by years of abuse, and he's been taught to shut up and bend the knee to people with more power than him
i think that kevin and allison could go toe-to-toe, tit-for-tat for a while, but i think that there are lines kevin has that allison would be willing to cross that would bring him to his knees, and she wouldn't even realize. but once she did her relationship with kevin would never fully be the same
it's not the same as with riko, allison doesn't actually have power over him, but ince the association is there even subconsciously it would color the way he sees her. he would become afraid of her
she probably wouldn't even know what she'd done, let alone know how to fix it
but yea, that's my take on kevin/allison
i really think that kevin needs a partner who is supportive and kind. (in the same way, allison needs a partner who is confident and opinionated)
i think a good way to determine what someone needs out of a partner is what they look for when they're under stress.
when kevin is scared he seeks goes to abby. he seeks out comfort and compassion. he seeks out kindness.
people like allison or neil or andrew confront the issue head on. they prepare for the worst so they want the bitter, jagged truth
kevin wants to be told it's going to be okay
if there are any foxes that i think kevin would be compatible with, it's either matt or renee or maybe even nicky tbh. i also like,, just don't care for any of those options as ships so pls don't ask me for more on this i'm not about to become a mevin content machine
i'm also actually pretty shocked that kevin/jeremy isn't a bigger ship, given that it was all but stated out loud that kevin has a crush on him, and tbh it's kinda sad that kevin's crush gets written off as a joke because of the popularity of jerejean which ive spoken about my feelings on before. like,, jeremy is kind and genuine and fiercely committed to exy, and in just the one scene he appears in it's very clear that he's super familiar with kevin, knows that he's a grumpy asshole, and is extremely fond of him anyway
like,,, what's not clicking?
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thatbookgirl1118 · 3 years
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Aight y'all.
I keep seeing these Snape hate posts, and it's driving me nuts. I think a lot of people are just jumping on the bandwagon because of the disgusting things JK's been saying lately, and while I agree that she's being terrible, it doesn't have anything to do with Snape and I don't think that warrants condensing this man's entire complex, conflicting background into "guy got friend-zoned and didn't leave her alone."
So here's why Snape is not the horrible character y'all been making him out to be lately:
Number one. Lily. One of the favorite reasons for why Snape is terrible is that he's a 'creepy stalker' and wouldn't leave Lily alone.
Let's take a look at the facts.
Lily and Snape met when they were, like, eight. They were the only people who understood each other, and Snape was the one person Lily could go to when Petunia was being a royal biatch. They were BEST FRIENDS.
Then they go to Hogwarts, and they're sorted into different houses. Not just different, OPPOSITE. SLYTHERIN AND GRYFFINDOR. And you know what happened? NOTHING. LITERALLY. NOTHING. THEY STAYED FRIENDS. Yes, it was a bit of a strain, especially once Lily and James became friends, but in reality the cause of their falling out had nothing to do with her being a Gryffindor. And before she became friends with James, let's remember: she HATED him. VEHEMENTLY. And Snape agreed, especially considering he was FREAKING BULLIED BY HIM. James was a good person at heart, and he did a lot of good things, but let's please not forget that he made mistakes, too. It doesn't discount the good things about him, it makes him human, and let's please remember that THAT'S KINDA THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SERIES. So how things stand: Snape and Lily are inter-house friends, James is an ass. (Also, part of the reason Snape hated James initially was that he liked Lily, and so did Snape. The difference, of course, was that James was a complete ass to everyone INCLUDING Lily, and Snape was her best friend.) Then Snape starts falling in with the wrong crowd. And his friendship with Lily becomes a liability, because she's both a Gryffindor and, far more importantly, Muggleborn.
Now. I'm NOT saying that everything Snape did was okay. A lot of it was disgusting and despicable and generally horrible. But again. He's HUMAN. He's kinda the biggest grey area on earth, and that makes him HUMAN.
So, one day, when James is, as usual, being a complete ass, Lily stands up for Snape. And he's feeling scared, and embarrassed, and weak, and all the other things VICTIMS OF BULLYING tend to feel, and the girl he likes just stood up for him. Which had to hurt, because Snape wants her to see him as a protector, because he likes her, but she just saved HIM. Add this to all the conflicting emotions he must be having about the future Death Eaters he's hanging out with, and his desire to both have and protect Lily, and he's basically a ticking time bomb. And he explodes. And calls Lily a mudblood.
Major wtf is wrong w u moment.
But that's the point. He SCREWS UP. Because he's HUMAN.
At this point, Snape knows he's gone too far. He probably could've salvaged the relationship, and he probably knew that somewhere in his heart, but he was probably mostly feeling horrified and sick to his stomach and had also, lets remember, kinda convinced himself that Lily liked James and she could never be his. He didn't feel worthy of her. So he decides to distance himself from her, because he knows he's getting mixed up with the wrong people, but it's what everyone expects from him. But she doesn't belong there, and he wants to protect her (also one of the main reasons he probably got involved with these people in the first place, to try and protect her), so he tells her to stay away from him.
Now, if I remember correctly (I could be completely wrong because it's been a bit since I read the last book, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), Lily didn't actually stop. I'm pretty sure she tried to talk to him several more times after the incident. That's not the behavior a victim of stalking and abuse would exhibit, don't ya think? But even if this didn't happen, I think we've made a firm case for them being CLOSE FRIENDS. Honestly I wouldn't blame her for immediately abandoning his dumb butt after what he said to her.
So fast forward a bit. Lily marries James, and Snape joins Lord Voldemort. Then he hears the prophecy Trelawney gives, and not knowing who it pertains to, tells Voldemort. Voldemort then becomes convinced that it means Harry.
Now, Snape has not only just discovered that the love of his life is about to be killed, but that it was HIS FAULT. He told Voldemort about the prophecy. So he goes to Dumbledore and literally BEGS him to hide Lily. In return he turns traitor to the Death Eaters and risks his life over and over, all for the arbitrary promise he's been made that Lily and her family will be protected. AND HER FAMILY. HE DIDN'T PULL THE THING WHERE HE ONLY SAVES HER AND LETS THE REST OF THEM DIE HE SAVES ALL OF THEM BECAUSE HE KNOWS LILY DOESN'T LOVE HIM BUT HE. STILL. LOVES. HER. AND HE WANTS HER TO BE HAPPY AND SAFE EVEN IF IT ISN'T WITH HIM. Y'ALL THAT'S THE EXACT DEFINITION OF TRUE LOVE YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.
And then, after all that, Lily DIES. As does James, and while he may have been Snape's rival, I think we've established that Snape is human, and that had to hurt if only because he was the man Lily loved and the father of her child.
And after all this, after risking his life for a promise that wasn't even kept, do you know what he did?
He stayed and helped Dumbledore. He was one of the main reasons Harry was able to defeat Voldemort. Yes, in the beginning, it was probably just a convenient way to avoid Azkaban. But he did what Dumbledore instructed EVEN AFTER THE MAN WAS DEAD. He could've easily killed Dumbledore and then joined Voldemort for real, but he helped Harry instead, because he was still atoning for what happened to Lily.
And speaking of Harry, let's talk about that relationship. From even a conceptual standpoint, before they ever met, think about what this boy represents to Snape. He's Lily's son, yes, but because of that he's a constant reminder of her and everything that happened with her. He's also James' son, Snape's bully and the man who got Lily. And to top it all off, he's the REASON SHE'S DEAD. If it weren't for him and the prophecy, she'd still be alive. Now, these are not things that are okay to think about an innocent child. I'm not saying he was justified in treating Harry like shit. In fact, I loathed Snape with my entire soul for the first 6 books. I'm saying LOOK AT THE FACTS. Snape is not a normal person. He's a Death Eater, who's done and seen terrible things, and only switched to the right side because of Lily. So he's not going to think to himself, "this isn't this innocent child's fault." Hell, even if he did, he's not going to take it into account when he interacts with the kid. And on top of it all, as is said several times, Harry is INCREDIBLY like his father. He looks like him, talks like him, and has a penchant for getting into trouble. So when he clashes with Snape (and honestly I think even if they didn't have a history these two would've clashed, they're just too different), Snape takes it personally and treats Harry like shit. AND YET. First year, when Quirrel tries to kill Harry, who saves him? Snape. Third year, when Lupin transforms into a werewolf (and Snape's been making his potion all year and whether Dumbledore forced him or not, let's remember that Lupin was a Marauder and while he probably didn't take direct part in the bullying, he certainly didn't DO anything about it, so frankly it's a miracle Snape didn't poison him), his first instinct is to protect the children - and frankly I think that would've been his first instinct no matter who those kids were, because regardless of the terrible things he's done, Snape is first and foremost a teacher. Fifth year, while he didn't do anything to help the kids directly, he takes the warning Harry gives him (they've got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden) and sends the Order after the kids. I don't think it's ever directly stated that it was him, but how else could the Order know they were there? ALSO. I'M NOT GLOSSING OVER ALL THE SERIOUSLY HORRIBLE THINGS SNAPE DID FIFTH YEAR. But he DID send the Order, so let's give credit where credit's due. He also gives Harry Occlumency lessons, which he made exceedingly unpleasant but he was still trying to protect Harry. Sixth year he hurts Harry in about a billion ways, but to be fair the majority of those ways were ordered by Dumbledore (I have a separate rant on why he's not a bad character either but this essay is long enough). He also tries to protect Malfoy this year, yes on both Dumbledore and his mother's orders, but Snape does recognize that he's just a child and shouldn't have to do something like this.
Now. Seventh year. Snape does a lot of really horrible things this year. Yeah, he does them because he needs Voldemort to trust him so he can bring him down, but that doesn't excuse them. I'm not going to unpack all those things here, because this is already really long, but I'm NOT just ignoring them. Actually I think that they're pretty important to his development, and how he loses himself a bit. But let's look at the two moments that really show the good in him.
Number one. He refused to fight McGonagall. This woman has not only been his colleague for many years, she was his TEACHER. He's known her since he was 11. She's witnessed everything he's gone through, every choice he's made, good and bad, and even not knowing all the reasons and details she STILL forgave him. She treated him with respect, as a fellow teacher. She TRUSTED him, and as far as she knows, he betrayed that trust. That HAD to hurt, knowing she thought he was a bad guy. So in his final interaction with her, when she attacks him to keep him from Harry, he doesn't fight. He can't tell her he's on her side, because he still has a job to do, but he just deflects her spells. His refusal to fight her is the last good piece of him, fighting its way out.
The second time was, of course, his final moments with Harry. After everything he's done to him, after the years of abuse and killing Dumbledore in front of his eyes, Harry still feels pain when he realizes Snape is about to die. He still feels the need to talk to Snape in his final moments, to carry out his final request (to take the memories to the pensieve). This is personally one of my favorite Harry moments, because it shows just how good and kind he is, that he even feels pity for a man he hates and doesn't even know why. But let's take a look at Snape. He's literally dying, but his first reaction to seeing Harry is to give him the memories, so he can defeat Voldemort. He is, to the very end, loyal to Dumbledore. And his second thought - his last - is Lily. He asks Harry to look at him, so that he might see Lily's eyes one last time, even if they're not really hers. His last thought on this earth was of her, and if that isn't love, I don't know what the hell is.
The point of all this is, Snape is human. He isn't necessarily a good person, but he isn't necessarily and a bad one either. Even as a child, he was never as kind as Lily, but she made him kinder. The time when he lost his way the most was when she stopped being there to keep him good. He thought she was happy without him, so he didn't think he mattered, and he did some pretty horrible things. People go dark when they think they don't matter. That was the entire reason for Voldemort's thirst for power. And when he realized she was in danger, and there was something he could do, he did it. Immediately. Without hesitation. He joined the good side and risked his life for the chance that Dumbledore would protect her and her family, even knowing that she'd never know what he was doing. He didn't do it to "get the girl." He did it to save the girl, to let her be happy. And when she died anyway, he spent the next 16 years trying to bring Voldemort down, and let's be honest, he probably didn't do it because it was "the right thing." He did it because it was what Lily would've wanted. He did it to honor her memory, and to protect her son. Snape wasn't some creepy stalker who got rejected and turned bitter. He fell in love with his best friend and spent his entire life trying to protect her and keep her happy, and then trying to honor her memory. He was a man entirely motivated by love, and honestly, I don't know what's more beautiful than that.
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innittowinit · 3 years
Text
Abandoned amusement parks are the best place for young children (Chapter 19)
Fic summary: 
Techno, Tommy, Wilbur and Phil have been hanging out at the abandoned amusement park in the woods since they moved in. Techno likes knowing he's definitely alone with his brothers Tommy likes climbing on the old rides Wilbur likes having a place to play his music Phil likes spending time with his younger brothers
That is, until a group of brothers calling themselves the 'dream team' move in down the road. Will the sleepy boys give in and share the park or will they succeed in scaring the new kids off?
Chapter summary:
Eret's been acting...strange Techno senses somethings definitely off
Chapter word count: 1726
AO3
Friendships were a complex thing. Techno had known that as long as he could remember. People come and people go, it was nothing, especially not to him or Wilbur. Inherently, they knew all they had was each other, maybe their other brothers would also always be with them but what they had together was a special bond. Neither Phil nor Tommy would ever be able to understand them the way they understood each other and that was fine, they had lived every day side by side, they shared almost all their core memories and so their rationality was incredibly similar because of it, meaning they could very easily understand each other. 
Never had they asked for a friend that would feel the same way as the friendship they had with each other, and yet they always seemed to be asking for too much. That’s the part that confused Techno. 
Never had they needed to be understood. Never had they needed something complex. All they needed was someone to accept them so why did it feel like everyone always ended up leaving? Were they the problem? It always felt like they were trying so hard so why did it feel like they were pushing people away? 
You see, recently Eret had been acting….off. 
He had been stumbling over words, fidgeting, leaving quickly with the excuse of ‘being late for something’, and taking hours to reply to any kind of message. Each of these things would be fine on their own but with them all together, they felt a little strange. 
It didn’t seem like Wilbur had noticed the recent shift in behaviour yet so Techno didn’t dare bring it up, it wasn’t uncommon that he was overly cautious and he didn’t want to risk upsetting his brother over something that might not even be a big deal, especially when he had just started to get over the incident with the ticket booth. 
“So....He’s been busy a lot lately” Wilbur sighed, draping himself across the couch and clutching his phone in one hand. Niki had insisted they add some stickers onto it since letting them live off a ‘boring flip phone’ (as she had called it) was apparently not okay.
“Do you think he’s okay? Maybe something’s going on at home..”
Oh. Techno was positive everything was okay at home. Of course there was a possibility that he was just being protective of Wilbur because he didn’t want anyone hurting his brother but seriously! In his opinion, if you had enough money to eat fucking burger king as a school lunch you were doing fine financially, and really, that’s all that mattered right? Money had always been the reason why their parents were never around.
It was probably just his jealousy talking but he had always had a bit of an underlying anger for people with a big disposable income, how was it fair that their parents had to work so much at minimum wage jobs that they could hardly see them just to keep them warm and fed and yet other families could have their parents around by the time they were home from school /and/ have extra money for treats.
“Wil, don’t worry about him.” Techno sighed, trying to choose his words carefully. He knew Wilbur was always more sensitive to rejection than him.
“He’s more..social than we are, he probably just has other friends that he doesn’t want to ignore or something”
“Maybe.. I wish he’d tell us though, I don’t like being left on read” 
With a sigh and a gentle prod for him to sit up a bit more, Techno wrapped an arm around Wilbur, feeling how he melted into the contact straight away. Of course it hurt Techno too to be ignored by the one person they thought actually could be a good friend but he needed to put on a brave face for Wilbur. Of course it felt like a stab in the gut to have trusted someone so much to be able to start talking to them and then they just disappear but Wilbur needed him right now, it was obvious to anyone that he was the one with the bigger connection issues. 
“Wil, trusting people is a part of being friends. We can talk to him tomorrow alright? And we can explain that it would make you feel better if he said his plans before disappearing”
-----
It was Tuesday night and other than a few memes she had screenshotted off of instagram and sent them, they hadn’t really heard much at all from Eret. She hadn’t hung around them long enough at school for either of them to really bring it up with her and honestly, Techno was getting incredibly worried about what was going on. He’d never had a real friend like this before, of course Skeppy always made him laugh but he was family so he didn’t count, if he messed up with family he knew as long as they weren’t adults they’d still love him afterwards, friends worked differently though. He had his Hypixel friends too but they didn’t count either since they were online and he could type to them on days when he was struggling more. By now he’d known them so long they were basically family, they’d all taken hours out of their own time to research Techno’s problems to try and be as accommodating as possible- all in all he really couldn't compare them with Eret.
It was tricky and he knew communication was one of the more important parts, which was ironically what he struggled with the most. Maybe on one of his worse-off days, where he normally would have had Wilbur doing most of the talking for him, Eret had assumed he was angry with her or giving her the silent treatment, maybe she had taken offence to the fact that Wilbur and Techno were very obviously closer than she was with each one of them. The thought that somehow they might have made her feel left out made him feel a little sick, had they not explained well enough what had led to this point? Maybe it was selfish for them to relish in the fact that she rarely bugged them for explanations.
All in all, Techno was sure they had done something for the sudden shift in attitude and, not wanting to make Wilbur feel worse than he already did, he wasn’t sure who could help him. 
Maybe he could wait up until his parents got home? People on TV were always getting advice from them but then again.. His family wasn’t really like those on tv, if he was being honest he was half sure he’d be yelled at for being awake before he could have a chance to ask for help. 
He could also ask Phil, but then again Phil was already beyond stressed trying to make sure they were all okay, he really didn’t want to bother him. Niki was closer to Wilbur than she was with him and he was sure his hypixel friends were all still at school because of the time zone difference. 
The only other person he could really think of talking to about this was Skeppy, and so, hopping out of bed, trying his hardest not to make too much noise and wake up Wilbur, he made his way to the PC. 
11:36PM 
From what he knew, Skeppy usually stayed up late and slept so late he often missed his bus anyway so he probably was still up.
Clicking onto discord, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the green dot next to his cousin's icon, immediately messaging him. 
11:36 OrphanDestroyer: Hey nerd
11:36 OrphanDestroyer: U awake?
It took a few minutes for him to answer, Techno was just about ready to give up and accept he had just chosen the one night he may have gone to bed on time to try and message him.
11:42 japanesesymbolforbeginner: 1 sec ina call wiv bbh 
Writing ‘bbh’ off as one of Skeppy’s friends he had forgotten to tell them about, Techno waited patiently for Skeppy to say he was free. 
11:46 japanesesymbolforbeginner: ok im done, what you need
11:46 OrphanDestroyer: SO
11:46 OrphanDestroyer: Do you remember Eret?
11:48 OrphanDestroyer: Okay well basically for like the past few days he’s been ignoring me and Wilbs and I’m really really worried we offended him or something like maybe we hurt him or he’s mad or maybe he decided he's too good to be friends with us which tbh I don't blame him for because we kinda are losers and maybe people won't be friends with him because he's friends with us or something? Idk idk I just really wish he’d tell us something because like Wil is freaking out and idk what to tell him, he really struggles with this kinda stuff and I wanna help but idk how. 
11:48 japanesesymbolforbeginner: Ok...fuck
11:48 japanesesymbolforbeginner: Has he replied to any messages or anything? Maybe he’s busy?
11:48 OrphanDestroyer: Not really 
11:49 japanesesymbolforbeginner: Okay okay so here’s what I think you should do
11:49 japanesesymbolforbeginner: If he’s ignoring you you're gonna need to confront him next time you see him and don’t just agree when he makes an excuse to leave, like say you NEED to talk
11:50 japanesesymbolforbeginner: If u think he’s offended bc sometimes you don't speak a lot maybe just message him some resources or whatever on the type of mutism you deal with, even if he doesn’t reply he’ll probably still open it.
11:50 japanesesymbolforbeginner: like he might just be in the position where he’s nervous he’ll offend you if he asks something about it? Like maybe he doesn't understand fully and he just needs one of you to open the discussion 
11:50 OrphanDestroyer: okay you're probably right
11:50 OrphanDestroyer: There’s a link I have to one I normally email teachers whenever we have a new one so i'll probably send him that
11:50 OrphanDestroyer: Tomorrow though, my dads gonna be home soon and he’ll kill me if im still awake 
11:51 japanesesymbolforbeginner: aight, night Techno, good luck and btw you're all always welcome to come over if things get tense over there with ur parents
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skizzlers · 4 years
Text
A list of every Sonic game I've played in the order I like them because I couldn't sleep at 3am. (Didn't include Sonic Advance 1-3 because it's been too long since I've played it. Also 90% of these have good soundtracks so I didn't really touch on it.)
1. Sonic Mania
All time favorite because I'm a very nostalgic person and this game feels like a love-letter to my childhood. Every detail is thought of, it feels like you're playing every side-scrolling Sonic game at once!
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3
First Sonic game I really remember playing. I adored Tails (still do!) And I used to fly around all the levels to see what Sonic couldn't reach. Also the save feature and ability to re-visit levels was super sweet!
3. Sonic Adventure 2
My favorite 3d Sonic game. I love the different gameplay styles that come with the different characters, and THE CHAO GARDEN!!! The bosses are a little weird, considering you're kinda beating yourself when you switch sides? (Knuckles vs Rouge, Shadow vs Sonic) Also this game has a sick soundtrack!
4. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
This game was much easier for me to get the hang of as a kid compared to the original. Took me years to beat because of the lack of a save feature though, and I never got past the third special stage. Overall just generally fun to play! You really feel like a speedy blue hedgehog, and the stages are memorable.
5. Sonic CD
Never really got to play this one until my teens. Haven't beat it yet, haven't had the time. I like the added challenge of making good futures too instead of just g o f a s t. The levels are a bit more complex and more puzzling than your other 2d Sonic games, but not frustratingly so like in the original.
6. Sonic Generations
Ironicly enough this was my first introduction to the modern boost mechanic. I liked how the stages worked in both styles, and the hub-world is fun to jump around in and isn't confusing at all. Also, I like collecting things in videogames, and there is a bit of that required to progress, although Cream beating my ass in the chao levels is frustrating to say the least.
7. Sonic Adventure
I understand this is an old videogame but the graphics make it a little hard to take seriously. When I know where I am supposed to go the stages are fun but who the fuck thought fishing would be fun in a Sonic game? Big's entire character is like someone sat down and said, "do you know what Sonic isn't? Slow and tedious! Let's add that to the game!" Also I like the variety in character options and story perspectives. (Not to mention classic memes like Knuckles' oh no)
8. Sonic Spinball
Another classic! Few but interesting levels. Not much else to say really, I liked the text commentary.
9. Sonic 3d Blast
I've noticed a lot of people say this is one of the worst Sonic games but I enjoy it! Like I said earlier, I like collecting things though.
10. Sonic Riders
I always kinda sucked at this game. Might've been more fun if I wasn't a solo gamer however. I liked the battle royale mode better than the main game to be honest. I like the character variety and the differing skill sets, and the stages themselves are fun to ride through and mess around with but the cpus are t o u g h. I would like this game a bit better if you could adjust the difficulty.
11. Sonic & Knuckles
I loved Mushroom Hill Zone and how it phases through the seasons, but I always died in Flying Battery Zone, and if I didn't Sandopolis zone would usually drain my will to go on with it's looping segments and light gimmik. I really enjoy being able to climb walls and access different spaces with Knuckles though! And the special stages were pretty fun.
12. Sonic the Hedgehog
Ah, the game that started it all. Classic. Green Hill Zone is fun as can be even without the spindash, but Marble Zone really takes all of that speedy fun to a halt with its small spaces and lava pits. Don't even get me started on goddamn Labrinth Zone... nothing kills my drive to continue the game than that zone. Aside from the two afformentioned zones, the rest are pretty fun!
13. Shadow the Hedgehog
I feel like this game is a bit underrated because it stars Sir Edgelord, but I enjoyed it a lot! The style and feel reminded me a lot of Sa2, and I like how your actions can affect your alignment and your ending. Unfortunantly my copy was badly scratched and I could only achieve a handful of the endings.
14. Sonic Unleashed
I only recently got this game. It's ok. I liked playing the normal stages as Sonic, but I wasn't a huge fan of the werehog stages, they just don't feel like Sonic to me. They're growing on me a little but that goddamn fight music is annoying as fuck. Sonic games are known for good music, but what do we get anytime you touch an enemy at night? Bland generic fight music that sounds like it belongs in the Incredibles or James Bond. It doesn't fit sonic at all. If something as simple as the battle music was better, I'd like this game a lot more. The werehog stages in general just don't feel like Sonic. They're slow and focus on brute strength. They could have just had Knuckles fill that role. I like a little-bit of the puzzle solving but again - Tails. Sonic doesn't need to do everything.
15. Sonic Heroes
Wow, Heroes at the bottom of my list? Shocker! I know this is a more popular one but I'm just not a fan. In theory it sounds like a good idea to handle teams of characters with different abilities, but I prefer to control these characters one at a time. I don't like constantly needing to shift between characters just to progress in one stage. I must confess, the game is growing on me however.
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ballisterboldheart · 6 years
Note
I think I might start watching bf5 so can you tell me why I should watch it
bro you’re going to get a giant block of text because hot wheels battle force 5 is a series that is really near and dear to my heart.
ok first off the plot is kinda simple but it’s really fun: it’s a group of six teens that have to drive cars real fast and battle some aliens. the second season gets more complicated but its. fun.
the aliens are called the sark (robots led by a tyrant), and the vandals (tribal dictatorship). there’s never any doubt about them being evil—not only are they conquerors that have destroyed worlds, the vandals practice slavery (which is a minor spoiler) and the sark are led by zemerik who is. just a fucking asshole. however, the show plays with this tradition model of heroes vs villains a lot in s2: zemerik Because Of Reasons ends up on the heroes’s side. this does not mean they trust him. they have to help kallus (the leader of the vandals), too, but they know for a fact the second there isn’t a greater evil to unite against, they’re back to throwing fists. 
there’s another race of aliens called the sentients which are like. gods. they created the universe and all the battle zones—this is the place where our heroes fight/race the bad guys. also ps battlezones are some of the COOLEST concepts we get out of this show. they’re usually unique in design but there are reasons our heroes sometimes revisit them that makes narrative sense. battlezones are unlocked by battlekeys, and getting the battle key is pretty much the premise for every episode in s1, except for a couple near the end that build into the main conflict of s2. anyways, back the sentients. they’re dicks. i don’t trust them. they also have slaves but it’s like. lowkey slavery? it’s. yeah. also, they are 2 kinds of sentients: the blue ones and the red ones. the red ones you THINK are dicks but then u find out the blue ones. weren’t that nice either. so it’s. spicy. sentients also had like. a couple of civil wars.
anyways, let’s talk about our main heroes!
there’s vert wheeler
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he’s kind of a dork and you can tell he’s probably like. 18. he’s the leader and he’s kinda arrogant but he always manages to keep his team together. he makes bad jokes sometimes and you can argue he’s a little op but honestly? as skilled as he is he clearly needs a team at his back. i stan him so hard. he drives the saber which is a car with a chainsaw on it. a chainsaw.
vert’s second is command is agura ibaden, this beautiful lady:
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she made me into a lesbian. she doubts herself sometimes and gets a couple of episodes about learning to be in control and eventually she’s a great leader in her own right. she drives the tangler which is a beast of a vehicle and she’s good at planning and hitting the enemy in ways they don’t expect. i love her so much.
next up we have the cortez brothers, spinner and sherman.
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they’re latino but it’s implied they’re mexican because spinner’s gamer name references a specific city in mexico. also, side note, bf5 was ridiculously popular in mexico. like. reruns every other hour. it was the life. but anyways, they’re the technical brains of the team. spinner is good with computers and sherman is an engineering genius. although they’re both the tech support, i love that they have different skills!! they love each other very much but they also get on each other’s nerves. in one episode they dare each other to eat increasingly gross things it’s hilarious and they’re peak sibling culture. also sherman is big and still the brains! there are however a couple food jokes about him which is :( but they’re not like. his entire characterization! he’s complex and i love him. they drive the buster which is. basically a tank. 
anyways, next up is zoom takazumi, resident ninja
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alkjd actually he’s a mixed martial arts fighter! he’s the youngest and i would protect him with my LIFE. also i don’t have the episode on hand right this moment but he’s south asian! yay diversity. he gets flak for being the baby of the team but he really finds himself and he’s an awesome scout. also i love alessandro juliani, his VA so. stan him. he drives the chopper which is a bike that becomes a helicopter. i don’t make it sound very cool but it IS.
we also have stanford isaac rhodes 
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he’s our moron representation. he’s vain, self obsessed, and thinks he should be in charge (the villains literally. know him as “the vain one” it’s hilarious). if the writing for this show were weaker, i’d hate him. however! he learns to not be such a dick. he becomes ride or die for his friends. as much as he thinks he should be in charge and clashes with agura, he learns to be better! i appreciate this dumbass white boy. he drives the reverb which has guns. a car. with sonic guns. this show goes ridiculously hard.
in s2 we get two more characters, tezz and aj. 
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tezz volitov is like stanford, but ridiculously smart. he strands himself on an alien mood at the age of NINE, and spends the next 9 years alone. it’s kinda sad. it takes him a while, but he eventually learns how to be a good teammate and i love him so much. he’s also russian, i think, but he’s. probably not white? it’s complicated. this is an issue i got with the show but i’ll tack it onto them wanting to be diverse whilst being white people. tezz drives the splitwire which i. legit want. it’s so fucking COOL.
finally, we have aj who i dont have a gif for, i just realized. he’s white n blonde, tho so. just imagine that. he doesn’t have too big of a role in the series, but he’s vert’s friend so i trust him and also the times he does show up he doesn’t steal the spotlight or anything, which i respect. they knew he was a bland white guy and they committed to that.
but yeah the characters are really interesting. also, the animation? is god tier for a show from 2010 that had the graveyard time slot. there are so many little details and the SCORING IS TO DIE FOR, also the way they color skin tones? is something you rarely see in 3D cartoons. they understood that dark skin in different lighting doesn’t react the same as white skin. there is no moment in the show where you can’t see the difference in the skin tone of the characters. it’s amazing and i love it so much.
a couple of details from the animation bc i love it
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but yeah! this show is very colorful and what i call “lovingly animated”
another great things about it are. the jokes. the way they write dialogue is literally. to die for:
“bro, what would you do without me?” “live to see my next birthday”
“who wants to help me destroy a pack of killer robots?”
“a great warrior has fallen. an ally, an enemy, but, mostly a dismal failure, and a loser”
“believe it or not, i’m too exhausted to humiliate you”
“you’re risking our lives based on artwork made of STICK FIGURES?”
“if a 50ft statue of one of us showed up in a battlezone, what would we do?” “i’d blog about it” “no one reads your blog”
“the brains of this operation?” “he’s the left hemisphere. i’m the right”
some of them have visual elements which i love in jokes!!
but yeah. this is long enough i guess.
to sum up:
diverse cast
great animation
great music
solid plot
solid writing
funny joaks
some AMAZING foreshadowing 
the webisodes are funny and cute
the theme song SLAPS
WORDBUILDING TO DIE FOR
there’s so much i’m leaving out because this show is SO MUCH AND SO GOOD but yeah. i made some gifs if you want to see the flavor of this show
there’s no romance like. at all. the focus is solely on the action and i love it
however, i am known for being a salty little bitch so issues™
could have used more women
there are a couple of jokes which are kinda cheesy
the diversity is the kind written by white people so take that as you will. also it’s a show that’s like. as good as white people can write. nothing super revolutionary.
it doesn’t entirely have. a solid ending. it has a tv movie that wraps it up but 1. it’s in spanish (yours truly wrote a translation) 2. it includes a cliffhanger which was. unnecessary. it’s more that they wanted to leave the door open for more but. didn’t make it. however! all the main conflicts get resolved so it’s not too a big issue
there’s probably more stuff but honestly? it’s a solid kids show. flaws n strengths. i love it
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constablegoo · 6 years
Text
alright so i have. a lot of questions and thoughts on changeling physiology
tldr it’s quite unorganized so; asexual reproduction, shifting is a natural instinct but can be expanded through study and discipline, Form is easier to reproduce than Function, changelings passively absorb energy via background radiation, conservation of mass... ha, energy efficiency, regeneration is an aware but subdued/vulnerable state, you can sneak up on odo but not most changelings, exaggerated and inhuman movement, language and body language learning, Viscosity tm, vital organs exist, injury and physical tolerance, focusing the senses...
asexual reproduction. loads of possibilities here. they might split in two (which could mean they’re really all clones of one another or else slight variations on an original) or lob a bit of themselves off which then begins to form a new individual. they might fragment off and start growing more individuals from themselves until they’re mature enough to carry on, or they might produce spores!!! OR they might reproduce the way coral do. the main complication is that this is meant for simple or single-celled organisms and also maybe leaves them all more vulnerable to that Clone Problem of being wiped out by a single virus. but perhaps their ability to mimic other types of dna is involved in providing new individuals with a robust enough mix of original genes to be baseline Adaptable
also a problem with simple organisms is that they propagate Extremely quickly and tend to be short-lived and. unintelligent (think fruit flies) so - changelings could have a fair few ‘simple organism’ traits but are ofc complex in reality
the mimicry -- do they actually become the material?? if you scan a changeling as a rock, they have the make up of a rock. but what about more complex materials? or systems? like fire? that requires energy input. im gonna go with: 1. depends on skill level 2. some things like fire they can mimic visually, maybe even with proper light and heat, but does take energy to do so.
speaking of which HOW do they get energy. i think i rambled about this a little in another post, but basically im going with the idea that they’re sort of filter feeders on the dust of the universe... they’re just VERY energy-efficient and collecting these little bits of radiation being thrown around space is a passive activity. i.e. odo probs wouldnt even know he does it, even though he does it constantly.
um. conservation of mass. the biggest thing ive seen odo turn into is that blob-monster, which was maybe 10′x10′ ? 15 at most? large, but probably somewhat unstable, and not huge. the smallest thing in canon is probably the mouse. ive seen the idea that humanoid-formed odo might be. hollow? there’s no need for him to actually form internal organs or any of that, its all surface-level, and besides. if we’re going with the idea that they can reproduce Form more than Function, they wouldnt actually work. he doesnt even eat anyway, so why waste that kinda energy?
that said!! there are probably some basic object functions they can reproduce. im gonna say that maybe your average changeling isnt going to be able to make a microwave that actually microwaves (not without a great deal of practice and scientific understanding), but could more easily become a lamp, for instance, that does actually turn on. that means they have some ability for bioluminescence, but again that requires energy and would shorten the time they can hold that shape.
regeneration obvs. is a chance to re-acquire energy, but we’re told odo doesnt sleep - it’s still a resting state, but maybe he’s still at least somewhat aware of his surroundings, if a bit unable to focus. he certainly seems to still undergo thought processes, etc. but if attacked in this state, he’ll be quite vulnerable, esp if he’s just reached hour 16, but he wont be completely defenseless. WAY more likely to hide than retaliate though, esp depending on where in the cycle he happens to be at the time -- even if that werent also kinda his personality. maybe its like bein rly rly rly tired but ur brain wont keep quiet.
kinda enjoy the idea of changelings becoming a little translucent or misshapen when they zone out. it takes some effort, practice, skill to remain present. a habit!
im sure he doesnt really bother to maintain constant humanoid-shape unless someone’s likely to look at him. could see him MAYBE being caught unawares, on occasion, whoops. very rarely, but how embarrassing
on that note, if you’re able to sneak up on odo and surprise him, he might momentarily jump a little out of shape (like a cartoon, exaggerated). other emotions like disgust or haughtiness might come off a little exaggerated too
at large, humanoid body language is a learned language for changelings, even if they can pick it up very quickly
odo’s got his humanoid walk cycle down pretty good but probably not perfectly, actually. i sort of imagine it could be a little more flowing -- not always -- but if he’s doing something he normally doesnt do, he moves a little less like a human bc he hasnt practiced it enough
ok whats the viscosity of changelings? like..... really runny and liquidy? j.... jelly? i kinda refer back to single-celled organisms again. cytoplasm w control.
in fact odo probably has some very simple (or maybe very complex, considering, but able to disguise themselves accordingly. so simple-appearing?) organs going on in there as well as cytoplasm of some sort
they dont sweat, they dont bleed, they dont smell, they dont taste, they dont sleep
they DO see, hear, are tactile, and feel most emotions that humans do. some of that emotions stuff is cultural
losing a little tiny bit of themselves (injury, i.e., a bit chopped off by a weapon) probs doesnt really hurt much more than getting a scrape, but if u like chop em in half thats gonna be Bad. but most surface level damage is just like getting a haircut or something, no pain. re: that scene with odo stopping the turbolift like.... that could’ve been painful
FOCUS!! sight, sound, etc - im writing senses as things that dont necessarily need to be located in the. face. bc they dont. but im thinking odo tends to concentrate it of course to better interact with others. that means technically - he could. .. . ‘accumulate light sensors’ and see out the back of his head, for instance, even without forming eyes, but because odo’s odo and he’s really trying to fit in he usually wont do that sort of thing and you can still sneak up on him. sometimes he even forgets he can do that kind of thing, when he’s humanoid-formed (unless he’s startled -- then he might revert to more ‘natural’ reactions) - bc he really hasnt spent any time with his people at all
this doesnt even get into the Great Link and changelings being a little bit touch-psychic
another thought !! i like the idea of one limitation being that he has to have seen / experienced in-person / studied / encountered / been exposed to an object, person, or animal to really become it. that’s where skill comes in -- some things are going to come very naturally, like shapes that are common in the universe such as rocks or. plants, in star trek .  they can learn by description or by looking at images and making their best guess, but its not gonna be totally accurate. so - some shapes come from study, like humanoids, and others come more by instinct like rocks and dirt and water, like learning to talk.
so when did odo meet a klingon targ omg
also means they are instinctually EXCELLENT observers, both of material and behavior
but imagine a bird or smth speaking in odos voice yikes
speaking of speaking, odo speaks bajoran and doesnt really know any other languages on his own, except workable cardassian. i.e. he’d have to learn to speak seagull
what if bc odo’s learning and sort of stunted in skill bc of his upbringing and inhibitions his face is..... actually made of latex, sometimes, like when he needs to save energy he goes Low Poly Rendering cos its close enough, and easier, and he’s interacted with plenty of latex and other Made materials bc he’s hardly lived at all anywhere that wasnt built-up by life forms. (probs partly why he seems so interested in practicing other animals and plants -- natural shapes are not shapes he’s been as exposed to, so they’re more interesting - and dynamic - than say, furniture / appliances)
he gives off no body heat, but neither is he cold. room temp, with a wide tolerance
can survive in space and vacuums
they seem somewhat naturally stronger than humans, esp as a sturdy material
some of them can become a magnet, thats just aligning poles / can then reproduce some basic electronics functions
at least they seem to have pretty comparable intelligence to humans so that’s relatable
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acabloe · 6 years
Text
Soon Goodbye, Now Love: chapter six
new ppl who r just seeing this it’s a guardian angel A/U
find all the parts here ☟
Ao3   ff.net
tw’s: swearing, mentions of depression and anxiety, loss of memory
still based on this song lol
here is the moodboard for ambience purposes if you’re that kind of kid
a/n: its been very long yada yada please just tell me if you want the next chapter because im stuck in au land, if you would prefer a Jane Austin au literally ill drop everything 
once the lights go out
Higher City, Angel Habitat/Complex - 2:45 AM
Half an hour post-transportation and five hours after Chloe’s accident.
Beca stumbled on her footing as she grasped around the edge of the doorframe, looking for a switch or a pull to shed light into the pitch-black space that expanded beyond the doors of her residence for the next who-knew-how-long.
Her neck whined in an aggravating crick from sitting hunched over Chloe’s bedside for so long and her mind was mushed from the weight of stress, overtiredness, excessive adrenaline usage and above all else, of course--grief. The only thing keeping her from collapsing on the ground in the doorway of this small concrete hallway and weeping herself to sleep was the sentence she continued to recite to herself repetitively under her breath: “Chloe’s alive, everyone’s safe, you’ll be okay.”
She far from even entertained the possibility that the last part was rest assured, but the act of mouthing it repetitively had a numbing effect on her currently fragile mental stamina.
After fumbling for a few seconds, she huffed in exasperation and gave up trying to find a switch. Sleep was the only thing she had the brains to carry out. Deliberation over everything else that had transpired in the past four hours would be performed when her brain was a just little further away from falling apart.
The man at the front desk of the grey building had given her a small but heavy and lumpy grey drawstring rucksack before dropping her off alone in the dingy hall of her new quarters. She set it down by her feet now, using it to prop open the thick black door to let as much light into the room as possible.
Hands outstretched, she shuffled inside and waited until her eyes adapted to the murky black interior. It took a few seconds but eventually the slight outlines of shapes faded into view and she finally spotted what she assumed was a thin standing-lamp in the corner. She stepped blindly towards it and jumped backwards a little when it suddenly flickered on, sensing her hand in the air a few inches before it.
The space was little more than a closet. Beca had little mind to care, too exhausted to be grumpy. Besides, it was pretty comfortable considering her own size. The walls and ceiling were simply white-washed cement and there was a foot by foot square to serve as a window at the farthest wall from the door, though it had little to no effect at this time of the night. She wondered briefly about the concept of daylight here and if there even was sun or moonlight. The sparse furniture was a bed, an old wooden sea-trunk, and a tiny porcelain sink in the corner. Beca placed her rucksack in the trunk and sank onto the stiff but not wholly uncomfortable pallet, lacking any sufficient drive in her to take anything off, including her shoes, or even get under the soft linen sheets. Her eyes fell shut and the relief of deep sleep ebbed impending in her mind’s eye.
Yet her head pounded and her heart still fluttered at a sickening pace under her ribs. She found it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes closed; the image of Chloe, pale and fragile in such a battered state after the accident, had etched itself clearly behind her eyelids. Her breathing was difficult to regulate (she was unsure if this was due to her thinking so deeply on the act of regulating it, or an actual physical anxious reaction) and the room was uncomfortably cold.
She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. Everything was gone. Everything she and those she loved had worked so hard to build from so little was over and erased without trace. She had trudged heavily from wholly miserable to the happiest she had ever been without ease and certainly not in good time. All of that happiness. Up and gone like passing something eye-catching for its possible beauty in the sand on the beach, but upon running back to find it, its existence is nothing more than imagined.
A distinct memory faded into view. It was more of a moving image (a gif, so to speak) than a memory, but she could hear distant and muffled voices as if she were standing outside the door of a closed cinema to a movie she wasn’t familiar with.
The image was of her and Chloe in their late teens resting under a filter of broken apricot sunset through a canopy of birch leaves shimmering above their heads. Chloe’s head rested on Beca’s shoulder as she ripped up the grass beneath her, spreading it over Beca’s legs like dirty confetti.
She didn’t remember the scene as such. She only knew that it felt real. And that it ached her chest and throat and burned her eyes with the threat of tears.
Now she could no longer withhold the prickling tears and shuddering sobs and resolved that if tiring herself out would be the only route she would be able to take towards a somewhat restful night, she would charge down its’ course at a thousand miles per hour, foot stomped on the gas pedal.
She stretched and bided in the memory as deeply as she could.
Her sobs reverberated softly in the small stone room.
Underneath this, a soft irregular ticking noise sounded from above and outside her window. She ignored it. As it got louder she recognized it to be rain, heavy and sheeted. This prodded her curiosity just enough; still shaking, she stood from the bed and wobbled over to the hand-sized window. Sure enough, though it was dark outside, blue light from a nearby pathway lamp lit up tiny cascading waterfalls down the thick pane.
“How fucking ironic,” she whispered.
-
Chloe called in sick the next day to work. She wasn’t positive why, she simply knew that the exasperation of her most mundane course of existence would eventually wear whatever mere being she had left into the shell of a personality akin to that of a tired old cat.
The events of the past two days had stirred in her a sort of awakening for what it felt like to experience happenstances outside of her citadel of repetitive routine and emotional hibernation. Though it was not the most merry or enjoyable topics to mull over, she found herself wrapped in reflection often and began finding a need to force herself not to dwell on it so much as not to overthink to the point of obsession.
The urge to constantly check in on her odd rescue-project was difficult to quash but necessary. Chloe reminded herself that her relationship was barely visible with this human being--all she had done was let her stay the night and drive her into the city. They had barely even conversed. Still, the event had shaken her, and she had little else to think about. She convinced herself to only inquire into Beca’s situation in two days time when she was sure Beca had become a little more settled. She was confident that Flo was good hands and that she would care for her guest appropriately, especially since now she would be living above the cafe.
Except that Chloe found a bracelet resting on the coffee table by her couch that wasn’t hers. So she kind of had to go back to the cafe. Kind of.
-
It had taken the entire remainder of the day and most of the next to finally situate Beca into a somewhat habitable situation. After Chloe had left, Flo closed up early and she and her new employee spent several hours behind the counter and in the bakery as she showed her the ropes. Beca was happy to see how surprised and pleased Flo was at Beca’s natural agility and skill around the oven and the baked goods. Flo easily taught her to bake the four most popular pastries, specific to her family’s recipes, and how to make four of the simplest drinks on the menu to start out, as well as her way around the cash register. As the day came to a close, they left the cafe to rush their way through several more monotonous but still critical errands like setting up both a bank account and a small, temporary mobile phone. They stopped at Flo’s apartment a few doors down from the cafe before calling it a night and Flo piled Beca’s arms with enough food to last for a week or so. The following morning, Beca set out on her own to blunder her way through a T.J.Maxx and a shopping center to find some clothes that were--well, some clothes. Once she returned to the cafe they worked a little past 6:00 which came oddly fast (her orientation of time and its passing were still muddled and the work at Flo’s came naturally to her.)
Succeeding the whirlwind of toil they had conducted over the past two days, Flo expeditiously suggested that a trip downtown was in order and after twenty minutes of walking briskly through the chill of the celebratory evening, the pair dropped into two rotating stools in a colorfully-lit bar home to some very happy and boisterous company. It had been so long since Beca had had any alcohol, so she ordered the most obnoxious drink on the menu and four jello shots to split between them.
“So, first real day back! How are you feeling?”
Beca sipped her syrupy cocktail and grimaced at the unaccustomed flavor of alcohol.  
“I don’t know. Everything’s kinda’ blurry right now, but my brain is sort of slacking off a little in the staying-awake-during-the-regular-daytime department. The time difference is so much more insane than when you swap from different time zones on earth ‘cause there are an extra four hours of daytime and an extra two of night. There aren’t sunsets either, the sky just goes black for a while which is actually really depressing.”
“Wait, so, do you have, like, powers or anything? Can you fly? You don’t have a halo, right?” Beca again decided to refrain from divulging her distressing ordeal concerning her glowing appendages. She had blissfully forgotten about that situation until Flo had mentioned powers, which threw her in a temporary whirlpool of apprehensive unease.
“Not really, and no, I can’t fly. I mean, I can kinda’ tell when something is wrong with whoever I’m guarding, and I can slow down time by a couple of seconds, but that takes so much energy and I can only use it in emergencies. And you know about bringing the memories back, but that’s only if the memories have been taken away by heaven. They mostly spent time training us how to deal with any situation; so like, CPR, difficult-situation negotiation tactics, advanced martial arts and stuff.”
“Oh. That is boring.”
“Yeah, kind of.” Beca sipped her drink again which was less foul the second round, but still jarring.
“So how does this-” She gesticulated vaguely at Beca’s body which she understood as metaphorical- “work anyways?”
“Oh, well after you die, you can request to be a guardian and they put you through this huge crash course for protecting a human. After training you’re assigned one person to guard on earth for their whole life, starting whenever heaven thinks that person needs the most guidance. Sometimes that means bumping into them and becoming best friends with them or marrying and growing old with them. Sometimes you never even meet them in person, just help them from afar. You do what heaven dictates is best for them, so no complicated attachments. When they die, your memory is replaced in the mind of everyone you’ve ever met as someone else, so no one will recognize you when you go back to earth and you get sent back to heaven and reverted to the age you died to start with another assignment. You can never, um, retire or whatever, and apparently you can only stop once you’ve worn out your brain. And then they, you, know, cease you ‘cause you’re no good to them anymore.”
“Shit.” Flo had sat through staring at the dark brick wall behind the bar with a blank expression enunciating her contemplation of what Beca had revealed.
“‘Shit’ is right. I guess it sounds kind of cool when I describe it, but when I thought I was actually going to have to do it for, like, thousands of years, I was really fuckin’ bummed, dude.”
“Understandable. But you hacked the heaven system, how does that work?”
“Yeah, hacked, or something. I don’t even know if they’ll be able to tell. They’re supposed to be able to connect with their angels but I severed that attachment when I changed my assignment. I think they-” Flo brought Beca’s expatiations to an abrupt halt, holding up her palm to signify silence and raising her phone to her ear, an apologetic glance tossed in Beca’ direction.
“Chloe! Hi! What’s up?” Speak of the devil. Beca squirmed a little on her stool at the sound of Chloe’s voice on the other end. She couldn’t quite make out what she was saying, but she didn’t sound particularly troubled. Even so...
“Oh, okay. We’re at a bar downtown right now…uh huh. Yeah, she is all settled, we finished a few hours ago.”
Flo removed her phone from her ear and hid it under her chin to bring her attention to Beca. “She says she has a bracelet of yours?”
“Oh, um. I guess? I don’t really remember having one but-”
“She says it is not hers.”
“No, Flo, I said it might be.”
“Okay...it is hers. You can drop it off at the café. Anything else?”
Beca seized Flo’s phone from her grasp. “Will you give us a sec’ Chloe?” She placed it on mute.
“Hey! What?!” Flo scrambled and stretched, trying desperately to reclaim her confused friend on the other end of the line, but Beca held it out of her reach, exasperated.
“Flo, why are you being like this?!”
Flo sighed heavily off of an exaggerated voiced inhale and rested her hands on Beca’s arm. Beca grew uncomfortable with the sudden sincerity in her voice.
“Okay, listen. Beca, I know you did not come back for the Bellas. I know you just came back for Chloe. I think you really need some time to adjust on earth before you do anything rash. I don’t think you should be getting too close to her and I think that you are idealizing your situation. Por el amor de Dios, Chloe doesn’t even know who you are! You need to slow your ass down, girl! We have the Bella reunion soon. You can wait that long at least.”
Beca chewed on her lip thoughtfully. This was the first vocal confirmation of what she had been refraining from thinking over fully past the whispered voice of reason behind a closet door barely ajar in the very recesses of her mind. For the thousandth time that day she swallowed the reflection of how careless and hasty her actions had been.
Beca had never dwelled so long and hard over someone or something as she had over Chloe whilst in heaven. Only her mother’s death came as remotely close a subject to how ruthlessly Beca obsessed (Obsess - used very much in the dictionary sense; not lightly. See also; beset, consume, haunt, etc.) over Chloe and her accident. Considering this, a complete and detailed plan would definitely make sense in this context; however, obsession to this point considers little factual influence in a non-idealized, material world. Hence, Beca’s rash behavior and her reactions to Chloe in palpable physical situations.
“Okay... maybe you’re right. I guess I was really weighing everything on Chloe liking me for me, and not all the stuff we shared in the past, you know? Sorry about not saying anything about it, and I really am so happy to see you. I love you so much. All of you. Please don’t think I didn’t come back for you guys. You mean everything to me, we’re family. I just, you know... Please schedule the reunion soon?”
“Yes. Fine, I will.” Beca slowly retracted her arm and placed the phone in Flo’s expectant (but now softened and more sympathetic) outstretched palm. She unmuted the call.
“Hi, Chloe, sorry about that, drunk asshole was bothering us. You can bring the bracelet to the reunion. By the way, do we have some dates for that yet? Aubrey should be here this month, right? Yes. No, uh-huh. Okay great, perfect, text the group-chat about it? Okay, bye!” She hung up and grinned at Beca. “Two weeks, as long as everyone is free!”
“Ugh, dude what am I gonna’ do in the meantime?”
“Well, I know that you only came back for-,” Beca threw her a glare and Flo surrendered, hands in the air. “Sorry, right, a couple reasons, and it is all you have got your heart set on, but you need to take a few steps back. I have to say Beca, you really didn’t plan this very well. You need to establish a solid base here because this is your life now. You may be an angel, but if you think about it, I am, like, definitely a saint for doing all this for you.”
Beca flipped her off and returned to wincing down the copious amounts of fluid she had spent an annoying amount of cash on.
“For real though, you’re right. And I really... appreciate everything you’re doing for me Flo, it means a lot.” Flo smiled and nodded.
-
Perhaps if Chloe hadn’t felt so out of place, she would have asked Flo to let her join the girls at the bar. But for some reason, something about the phone call and the whole situation whispered a sense of exclusion -- well intentioned or not, she couldn’t tell. She hadn’t felt this socially anxious in a while. Her mental health was not even anything she had thought about in depth for a few years and she had long ago passively accepted the concept that with age came dampened emotions, and that such was a perfectly natural sequence. If nothing would ever give her real pleasure again, so be it.
Another walk. Another achingly familiar song. Another foot in front of the other. Another fifteen minutes later and she stood in front of a deep, deep dark pond, rocky banks powdered with grey-blue frost. The water reflected with the perfection of a mirror the nothingness of the ashy sky.
Chloe now stared into this nothingness -- the sort of staring where everything at once is what those who are staring can see, but they aren’t looking, just seeing and thinking. She stood, leaning slightly in a gentle trance as she remembered the time she had dived into this same water. She had choked and snorted through her nose as she had come up for air and swallowed some accidentally. A friend on the bank had been slumped over in hysterics at her fruitless efforts to cease wheezing and laughing and coughing and yelling at her friend to stop. In her mind she imagined that it was Beca who sat beside the water giggling at her. Stupid and weird that you’d think of her, she thought, but she couldn’t properly remember who it had really been, and the image of Beca fit comfortably well in the situation.
She closed her eyes and settled deeper into the memory, in place but outside of time. In vein, she tried to remember who had actually been there to witness the moment. She couldn’t even remember when it had happened. This was not a memory she had thought about in...well, truthfully, she had completely forgotten about it since it had happened. The age of the memory prevented her from remembering details. Only present, was the sweet feeling of the moment, a honey-like residue, resting delicately in her conscious.
She was now fully trying to convince herself, however, that Beca had not been there. She finally shook her head as if to dislodge the memory and sharply inhaled cold air, opening her eyes to see, hunched over on the side of the banks with chin rested on knees, none other than the subject of her specious nostalgia. Chloe blinked several times and recognized the figure to be but a log, dark and rubbed to clump from weather and wear. Now freaking herself out she rose swiftly and promptly speed walked for her home, holding herself firmly from looking around for fear of misreading another inanimate object.
She wasn’t there, obviously she wasn’t there. Just someone who reminds me of her, or looks like her. Obviously.
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lovedlovingly · 5 years
Text
Okay so I had the craziest dream that I just woke up from imma copy paste it here as I wrote to a friend on disc horse
Okay I just had the craziest dream....
Like... Holy shit I'm trying to just.... Capture it all all feelings and wow
I think I was in Stockholm but it still felt like home, and all of a sudden looking up at the sky there's like... We have an asteroid belt? Everyone's just???? It's a clear blue day and there's so many big boulders in the sky :O it ws so pretty
Only thing is... They start getting closer hahaha super slowly
So basically I had an end of the world nightmare/cool dream
It was all about finding a shelter, while still roaming around seeing those big ass stones in the sky closing in and it was like???? Idk how big they'll be closing in? Also why hadn't anyone gone out with a warning about this long before?
I talk to two girls who I noticed the sky fenomen with and one of them is like "I know a guy who has a bomb shelter let's go ask him" and I was like aight I'm with u! (my last apartment complex actually had one Idk if this one does 😅 so in my dream I didn't know of anything safe and it was a relief a stranger was willing to help)
So she leads me maybe... Idk it's not far more like tricky to get there, the distance to the shelter varies in my dream it feels like it's around the corner but it's maybe a 20-30min walk
So this farmer guy is all "oh yeah we've seen that too, if u buy something of my produce I'll let u in on my shelter" and there's a lot of ppl around, that has taken his deal and that are gonna take it, but there's no hurry it's a feeling of everyone will fit I'm just a bit panic mode because I don't have any of my belongings on me hahaha
I buy two super big paprikas and they were so fucking yummy,, he was so proud of them and it was so understandable
A lady was making usual banter after a while like "oh I'm never able to make mine taste anything when I grow them at home" and im like ha ha okay
Again I look up into the sky and the asteroid belt is way closer now
Like those stones are HUGE and they're falling down in a like... Slowmotion feel but u know in space it's FAST
so me and the girl is like how long til they hit? And farmer is like "Idk but most likely 1.5h" and then someone from the shelter shouts for a mirror and I'm like "I have one I can bring" and he doesn't mind, like that guy is all super chill but if I can keep the ppl in the shelter calm why not
So i call my dad (it turns into a family heavy dream at this point) and tell them about the shelter, idk why but he shouts at me angrily, and is like "I have my bag at your place u have to bring it!!!!" and I was like... Ok? Sure? I just have to try and put everything I need in a bag first and time is running out and he's like "just being it to the shelter" - like I have to carry two heavy bags 30min trip to my place, do everything I can in a hurry, get back 30min with everything - before they close the shelter
I was sweating Lmao all I could think of was my pad, I was like I need it, I can draw on it it'll calm my nerves when being in a dark bunker lol
So omw home (which now is omw to my parents house, probably because I was at a farm so my head was like oh country side) all of a sudden it gets harder and harder to move forward and some girls out playing in their yard is like "it's the magnetism and gravity from the asteroids, they're starting to mess with us" it was like moving through water and I was running out of time :/
Still it was like a clear sunny day, so everything was peaceful in that sense and again the asteroid belt was so visible
What I still tried to figure out was like... Ok... This belt is gonna cut down on earth like a whip, am I really so unlucky I'm in the hit zone or is it gonna miss me and were all just gonna sit infront of the TV and be like "holy shit that's happening in other parts of the world rn? Scary!!" orrr is it actually gonna hit me full force on and do I really need to get to the shelter for my own life
While at home (now I kinda lived in a 2ft square place with a bunkbed Idk but yeah messy dream) I kinda gave up
Another dream started in the middle of it kinda like a cartoonish thing, and it felt like I woke up from that back to the end of the world scenario so... Inception?
And I was a guy at this point 🤔I think it was the apartment as soon as I got out of it I was myself again hahah
But it took me a while to get out of it :/ I was depressed, I had no motivation, the earth was going to hell, I had fallen asleep instead of packing.... Yeah I was like... Apathy panicing
So somehow I still got myself together, I still don't know how or why I know it involved my family but I don't know how if they were just "were at the shelter" and I was like "oh right shelter" Hahah could have been that simple
Anyhow it was... Like... No chance of me making it by running back :) so my kind dream world dreamt up a helicopter for me
I saw someone else had landed one too on the farm and the farmer just closed the door to the shelter from the outside so I was hiiii wait for meeee
And he was calm as ever and just, Ofc there's room for u (: head on in
He closed the door behind me
It was a super big place, u know those nuclear war scare bases from like was it 70ties? 60ties? Whole ass house down here
Still I was scared because the shelter wasn't a bunker, it was above ground, all we could hope for was the walls being strong enough to take on asteroids
In the beginning there were lots of ppl, when the real moment grew closer it was just me and my family in that space
Idk what happened with the rest
The farmer never got inside Idk what happened to him
But there was this big panorama window, which again made me nervous like how much it could take, but it was also like... Ok... Live right here and now what is gonna happen
And then the first asteroid hit, and it smashed the car out front and everyone was kinda nervously joking like "hate to be that guy" but also it was a ok... It has started...
Are we in the middle of it, how many more, was that it? Did it all hit at once or were they in different distances?
And then is kinda starts raining boulders
Like these things are all from x5 to x20 my own size but I'd have nothing on their weight lol
Whole ground starts shaking like the room breaks free because it kinda shoots up from the force of asteroids hitting the ground, room starts to move and were in for a ride that we all can watch from that window... It was surreal
I know one of the smaller asteroids bouncing off a big one and hitting the window and it left a good dent so we were like "okay and that was a baby one" so we all knew if a big one hit we'd probably be smashed like the car
Nothing around us was looking the same anymore, it was just explosion after explosion and since we didn't have a view of the sky (we were sliding downwards the mountain side towards the lake so we were kinda more facing down than seeing the sky) so we had no way of knowing if it was over or not
If any boulders were chasing us or not, waiting to crush us loll
Then we got to a halt and the first second we did mom opened the door and was like "tahats it?" and I was like???? It might not be??? Close the door??? For all our sake???
And she was just like naaah who cares, as usual it's about what she wants and she knows best uwu
So I ditched them LMAO
I got out of the shelter, found some girl that had survived, she was all happy and giddy because scientists would have so much new data to work with in the future, and we were both like wow that happened
Idk if that was it or if there were more asteroids coming, anyway it didn't feel scary anymore and I woke up :O
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confusedunit · 3 years
Text
Universe of Unreality - Chapter 9
Chapter 9 -  "We're in this together."
Dr. Freeman dreams. The Science Team make a plan. Bubby talks with Tommy. Gordon doesn't say goodbye.
While Dr. Freeman sleeps, he dreams of falling.
Over and over again, he falls, before returning to where he was just standing. He's somewhere that's vividly familiar, but indistinct, blurry as if he lost his glasses. It's bright, he thinks, reaching out to things he cannot touch, hands just missing as he tries.
He's trying to move somewhere else, somewhere that's almost within reach, if he can just make a few jumps. He hears the sound of splashing water, grass blowing in the wind. The ground squishes under his shoes like mud. He needs to get over there. He's not supposed to be here.
"Help!" He cries out, as he leaps and falls again. He stumbles as he returns to his previous spot. "Someone, please!"
A musical sound plays from over the nearby mountain, and as he turns he sees a large figure slowly loom over both the mountain and himself. The song gets louder, and something large and bright heads right for him-
...
Dr. Freeman startled awake, as the song from his dream kept ringing in his ears. Where was he? He glanced around quickly, relaxing as some things came back to him. He was in Black Mesa. There had been an accident. He had his team, his Science Team, by his side.
Quite literally, in that moment. At some point during the night, Bubby and Tommy had joined Dr. Coomer and himself in the corner of the room, turning their resting huddle into a cuddle pile. Bubby was pressed up against Dr. Coomer's right side, head on his shoulder, both his arms tightly wrapped around his one. Meanwhile Tommy had leaned against the wall next to Dr. Freeman, sides lightly touching each other.
He realized slowly that the song was still ringing in his ears because it was still being sung, by the alien pretending to read across the room. Benry flipped through the pages of his paperback, but wasn't even really looking at the words. It looked more like he was zoned out, flipping the pages out of habit as bubble-like orbs poured from his lips. They were all shades of blue, and felt comforting even just to watch and hear.
Benry blinked once, looking over to Dr. Freeman. "oh. sleepman's awake. it's like...4am bro. gotta get that snooze cruise goin back to sea."
"You're singing." The words are slurred with sleep, but they fall out of his mouth before his brain decides to think.
"...yeah and?"
"It's beautiful."
"...." Benry glanced away for a moment. "...thanks." He quickly looked back. "...let benry help you please?"
"Sure." He smiled sluggishly. "How...how d'you wanna...?"
Benry closed the book, and quietly made his way across the room to sit right in front of him. "song, uh...helps. can i help you? please?"
He nodded. "...Yeah. Thanks, Benry."
Benry shifted from side to side, before he closed his eyes and started to sing.
The first orbs that came were that same blue, and as they circled and bumped against Dr. Freeman he felt himself relax, let go of tension he didn't even know he was holding. Next came the gradient bubbles, some sort of blueish color to a green. He remembered that the colors meant something, but in that moment he couldn't remember any translations. "...Blue..."
The singing stopped. "blue, uh...tommy'd translate it as, uhm. 'blue like at dawn, means feel calm'. it's...not quite right, but translating colors to lame human language doesn't work so smooth."
He laughed. "And the...bluegreen? ...Teal. Teal to green?"
"healing beam. that one works clear." The singing started again.
He slowly blinked. "...You're healing me?"
He nodded.
"...Thank you."
The singing didn't stop this time, but he did smile, a single bubble of yellow floating up from his mouth.
He closed his eyes again, letting the song carry him back to sleep.
...
When Dr. Freeman woke up a few hours later, his head felt the clearest it had in days. He could think, focus, he didn't feel like he was pushing through a fog anymore. He still hurt, and he imagined that would remain, but to have his mind back in crystal clarity...that alone set him more at ease.
He looked around, smiling as he saw the rest of his group up and moving about. He cleared his throat. "Can, uh...we have a Team meeting?" He smiled wider. "Benry included. You're part of the Science Team now, bud."
The others returned, sitting in a circle on the floor.
"Good morning, G- Dr. Freeman! You seem to be in good spirits!" Dr. Coomer grinned, knee bouncing until Bubby rested his hand on it.
"I am. I feel a lot better now, actually. Which kinda brings me to why we need to have a meeting." He took off his glasses, trying to clean the dust off of them.
"Here, Mr. Freeman! I'll do it!"
"Thank you, Tommy." He handed the glasses over. "So...everything's gone to hell here. Sector C is in trouble, and who knows the state of the other sectors. So." He ran a hand through his hair. "...What's the plan?"
"We need to get to Biological Research." Bubby spoke, adjusting his own glasses. "There's information there that is vital for Dr. Coomer and I to obtain, before we leave this goddamn place."
"Okay, Biological Research department. Where is that?"
"It's...on the other side of the facility."
"But!" Dr. Coomer grinned again. "If we can make it topside, maybe we could travel above ground to get there! That would shave off hours of time!"
"Alright!" He pumped his fist in the air. "That sounds like the start of a plan to me. Any other stops we need to make?"
"U-uhm," Tommy held out the glasses. "My dad needs us to- to get to-
"we gotta get to lambda, bro." Benry spoke up. He looked antsy. "it's important. gotta go. mandatory field trip."
Tommy gave the other alien a look, eyes glowing lightly as they flipped through a few colors.
Benry sang out a few colored orbs in response.
The other three sort of looked between each other, not knowing if it was a good idea to interrupt.
Tommy finally sighed, eyes returning to their non-glowing yellow. "We're- we're talking about this, later."
"yeah. sure. whatever, bro." Benry shoved his hands into his pockets. "whatever."
"...So...is that a yes, on the-"
"Yeah, Mr. Freeman. We gotta- gotta go to the Lambda Complex!"
"Okay. In that case, I have a question."
"Go for it, Dr. Freeman. We're all ears!" Dr. Coomer nodded.
"Does anyone know where we can find a non broken laptop?" He pushed on before the others confusion could grow too much. "I've got, well...okay, this sounds crazy as hell, but trust me, okay? I think I know how to shut down the anti-mass spectrometer, but I need a laptop to be able to do it. It needs to have two consoles in the main room, and...and the bottom one is busted. So we need a laptop that we can hook up where the console was."
Bubby's eyebrows raised. "You want to shut it down?"
"I mean, we gotta, right? That should stop all the hostile creatures from teleporting in, and should stop the place from shaking itself apart. Then, hopefully...more people can get out of here. We can all evacuate and get the hell out of dodge."
"But- but Lambda is all the way across, even further than Biological Research!" Tommy wrung his hands. "How...how are we gonna get back?"
He thought for a moment, before it hit him. He grinned. "The tram! I remember reading on the walls, the tram map. There's a tram line that runs directly from Lambda to Sector C! I always wondered why the hell the reactor complex had a direct link to Anomalous Materials," He noticed Tommy's flinch, but didn't say anything. "but now that just works in our favor!"
"And if the trams are still out, genius?"
He looked over. "Then we'll adjust the plan accordingly. Right now, this is what we've got, Bubby."
"Darnold has a laptop." Dr. Coomer spoke up, his tone lower than usual. "He may be able to assist."
"Darnold? Who's Darnold?"
"He's, uh- a friend, Mr. Freeman! He's in the- the old Cybernetics lab, right by Lambda!"
He clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Then we'll make our way topside to get to Biological Research, cover ground on foot to get to Cybernetics, head through the facility to the Lambda Complex, and then catch the tram back to Sector C and fight our way back to Anomalous Materials to stop the apocalypse!"
"You make it sound so easy. You know it's going to be hell out there, right?"
"Yeah, Bubby, I know. But this is what we can do." He gave a nervous smile. "...If you're all down for that?"
"Oh fuck yeah, I'm not leaving you behind."
"We can do this together, Dr. Freeman!"
"Nothing- nothing will stop us, working together!"
"sounds like a plan, bro."
Dr. Freeman smiled, slowly pushing himself to his feet. "Then let's get the hell out of here."
-
Tommy sighed, rubbing at his temples. Progress had been so good...until the personnel tram that almost threw Dr. Freeman into the toxic waste, and encountering more toxic waste, which had led to finding the entrance to the reactor, and...
"We're not fucking going in there! Dr. Coomer, listen to me- I have a hazard suit, right? Even if I had my damn helmet, if I went in there? I'd die! Radiation would cook me to crisp! Let alone you all, who don't have any protection!"
"i don't know if that's what rads do, man."
"Dr. Freeman, I literally cannot explain to you why, but we really do need to get into that elevator and go up."
"Well, Dr. Coomer, I like you guys too much to fry you to death!"
God, he was so tired, and they'd just started. He'd moved back away from the others, to try to get some distance from the yelling. He knew he could just convince Dr. Freeman that it was fine, but he really just wanted to sit down. He needed-
"Here. Looks like you need it."
He looked up, surprised to see Bubby standing in front of him, holding out a can of Sprite. He gladly took it, cracking it open and taking a sip. "...Thanks."
"Don't mention it." He sat down in front of him. "I'm well aware of the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal, though yours seems more severe of a dependency, to already be hitting you."
"Alien genetics." He shrugged. "Curse humans and their...their addictive substances, right?"
He laughed. "Yeah. Humans fucking suck." He smiled a bit. "Coffee's still good though."
"Always preferred soda. Coffee's so- so bitter."
"Yeah, I get that."
They sat quietly for a while, as the other three talked in the distance.
"...Tommy."
He knew this was coming. "Hey, Bubby."
"I'm not...I'm not gonna ask about tests. It doesn't really matter, and I know you'll probably tell us later. So..." He looked up at him. "...What's the plan at Lambda?"
"...Well, you remember the portal, last time?"
"Yeah. How can I forget?"
"Well, my- my dad said he should have a way to get us out of here by the time we...we reach Lambda. Or at least, have an idea."
His eyes widened. "So we need to get to Lambda to meet up with your dad."
"Basically? I think? I don't...entirely know his plan." He finished the soda, setting the can next to him. "My turn."
"Oh shit."
"Why do you need to get to Biological Research?"
Bubby looked away, before taking off his glasses to rub at his eyes. "...They did something to Harold. He can't...when he tries to remember certain things, it causes him pain. I want to find his records, and figure out what the hell they did to him. And figure out a way to undo it."
Tommy's eyes widened. "That's why he- he can't..."
"Process what we're saying about reality, yeah. I think so, at least. Not one hundred percent sure, but...it lines up at the moment."
"So why Bio?"
"That's where they did the cloning work. That's why I got to see him so much."
Tommy nodded. "...Okay. I'll do whatever I can to help Dr. Coomer be okay again.”
Bubby slid his glasses back into place. "And in return, I'll do whatever I need to once we meet up with your dad."
The two smiled at each other, before a yell echoed through the hall.
"Benrey!! I swear to god if you jump in that shit- BENREY!"
They scrambled to their feet, running back down the hall.
-
Gordon woke slowly, feeling groggy, as he often did when he fell asleep on the couch during a movie. He smiled though, as he looked down at Joshua, who was curled up on his chest fast asleep.
Joshua was always clingy, that was sort of something Gordon had gotten used to by then. Even at a young age, Joshie would cry and panic if Gordon was running late from class, if he took too long to come home. Separation anxiety, his doctor had called it. It was why he'd stayed with Gordon, when their dad had moved.
It was also a bit part of why he hadn't been over to see his mother in months. Joshua hadn't had a flareup like that since Gordon lost his arm, but out of nowhere a nightmare had hit the young kid, and he'd been petrified for the rest of the day. It ended up working out, as that was the day that friend of a friend had come to Gordon's house to give him the laptop and the game disk, even if it had taken him weeks to finally get to playing around with it. Joshua had taken priority. He always did, in Gordon's life.
He sighed quietly, before gently nudging him. "Hey, Joshie. Gotta wake up, bud."
Joshua whined, but woke up, sliding off the couch as he yawned. "Sleepy..."
"I know. Go get teeth brushed and dressed, okay? I think your mom's gonna take you out for breakfast." He slowly sat up, wincing as he rubbed at his right arm. He'd forgotten to take off the prosthetic that night, and it ached.
"...Will you come to breakfast?"
"I'm sorry, buddy, I can't. It's a mom and you breakfast, like when you usually see her." He gently ruffled his hair. "But I'll give you a big hug before you go."
They parted ways to get dressed, and after Gordon was ready he set a coffee to brew. As Joshua came out of his room, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Joshua called, scampering down the hall to open the door. He laughed. "Mama!"
"Oh, Josh, look at how big you've grown!" She lifted him into her arms, laughing as well. "My baby boy..."
Internally, Gordon winced. He was glad that Joshua could have interactions with his mom, he just wished...well, he wished for a lot of things. He walked over. "Hey, Cassie."
"Oh, hello Mr. Dyson." She gave him a look.
He didn't rise to the bait. "Gordon."
"Right, Gordon. Of course." She immediately returned to ignoring him, setting Joshua down. "You ready to go, Josh?"
"I...yeah." He picked up his backpack, his old stuffed dog poking out of the top of it. The fur was orange, except for one leg, which had been torn years ago and was now replaced with a green limb instead. He called it his 'Gordie', and always felt more comfortable when he had to be away if he could have the plushie with him. Gordon took gentle care when repairing it, always.
"Hey, Joshie." He smiled, as the young boy turned. "Here, gimme a hug."
Joshua ran up, hugging him tightly.
He hugged him back just as tight. "It'll just be a week until you see me, okay? But I hope you have fun with Cassie." He gently set him down. "Ready to go, partner?"
He shook his head hard. "No-"
"Josh, we do need to get going...we're going to have a nice breakfast, and go out today!" Cassie grinned, though to Gordon it felt harsh.
"Hey, Joshie, look at me." He held out his hands, smiling as his brother took them. "You're gonna be fine. And I'm gonna be fine too. I hope you have a lot of fun, and I'll see you next week."
"...Okay..."
"Joshua?" He smiled a bit more. "I'm not saying goodbye. I'm just saying 'see you soon'."
Joshua relaxed a bit, at the familiar phrase. "Not saying goodbye, just 'see you soon'."
"Have fun, buddy." He stood up. "And you can tell me all about it when you get home!"
"Okay! See you soon!" He waved, as he walked out of the house.
"See you soon, Joshua." He waved, before slowly shutting the door.
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