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j4gm · 4 years ago

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TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

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1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

#adventure time #together again #finn the human #jake the dog #lorepost

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 4 years ago

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Lila Rossi: I’d Say She’s a Good Villain, but Then I’d Be Lying (300 Follower Special)

Deception and cunning are easily two of the most important traits an antagonist could have. It shows that even if they don't have the strength to overcome obstacles, their wit is more than enough. This kind of trait is why characters like Lex Luthor, David Xanatos, and Princess Azula are so beloved, simply because of how intelligent they can be as villains and pose a real threat to the heroes.

It's clear that the Miraculous Ladybug writers want Lila to be seen as this, but the writing seriously fails to back that claim up.

Easily one of the most controversial characters in Miraculous Ladybug is Lila, mainly for the writing surrounding her. But there was a time where she was actually more of an ambiguous character, mainly for the lack of screentime she had until Season 3. But unfortunately, the more appearances she's had have painted a very poor portrait of an antagonist.

Lila's Tragic and Sympathetic Motivation for Hating Ladybug

Lila's first appearance was at the tail end of Season 1, “Volpina”. She was a new transfer student from Italy, and quickly made friends with a lot of her classmates for the lies she told, including being friends with Ladybug (which Alya blindly believed without doing any research like any excellent journalist). But because of how close she was getting to Adrien, Marinette, in a rare act of selfishness, transforms into Ladybug just to chew out Lila for lying about knowing her, humiliating her in front of Adrien. And this is the only motivation we get for what Lila does afterwards.

I'm not saying that it's wrong for Lila to get upset at Ladybug for doing this, and I like the moment of weakness Marinette has, but this is literally the only explanation we get for Lila deciding to side with Hawkmoth, a literal terrorist. As much as I hated the way the arc turned out, I could still understand Chloe siding with Hawkmoth, as it was clear that Hawkmoth was manipulating her and taking advantage of her ego. Lila? Ladybug's mean to her one time, and that inspires her to conspire with a complete stranger who brainwashes people to attack the city, which endangers innocent people and causes God knows how much in collateral damage if not for Miraculous Ladybug fixing everything.

I just don't get how a single negative interaction with someone is enough to conspire with a literal supervillain. Even in Season 3, when Marinette and Lila truly became enemies, it was because she risked exposing all the lies she told, which could damage her reputation. Sure, it's petty, but it makes sense for Lila to want to keep up the illusion. If she was simply an antagonist to Marinette in her civilian life like Chloe was before “Miracle Queen” , I'd be fine with that, but the writers clearly want her to be seen as on the same level of evil as Hawkmoth. I'll get into why that doesn't work later on.

Why Lila is an Excellent Liar

In my Master Fu analysis, I had pointed out that despite all the flaws he had, the narrative insisted on portraying him as an incredibly wise mentor. The same problem applies for Lila as well. We're supposed to see Lila as an expert manipulator and liar, but her lies are insultingly obvious. She always claims to be friends with celebrities and does all these awesome things, and in an age where we can have almost any question answered thanks to the internet, nobody ever stops to question her.

It's even more frustrating when you hear Lila talk about saving Jagged Stone's cat, when Jagged Stone is established to be very fond of Marinette (evidentially more than his own daughter), and nobody ever points that out. I think if Lila's lies were more stories about her travels around the world than outright lies about real people, it could have worked. It'd still be hard to believe, but it's something.

But this is a problem with writing shows aimed at children. As much as we hate writers who need to spell out things to kids, sometimes, they just don't understand some of the media they consume. Seriously, I never got this joke in SpongeBob as a kid, and I can't believe Nickelodeon actually approved this.

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So the dilemma when writing a show with children in mind is finding that sweet spot between assuming your audience can figure it out, but not being too vague in your details. It's even harder when you need to find a way to convey the fact that someone is lying without being too obvious. Unfortunately, the show clearly fails to do that

Okay, this is going to sound like an incredibly weird thing to cite, and I only know about it because I used to know someone who was a huge fan of the franchise, but the movie Monster High: Friday Night Frights does a better job of subtly explaining to the audience that a character is lying. Please, just hear me out.

The movie follows the main characters competing in their high school's roller derby for the season after everyone on the usual team gets injured, and the championship match is against another school whose team tends to cheat to win matches. How they manage to do this without getting caught is anyone's guess. While the main characters are practicing, their coach, Clawd, notices a spy for the enemy team taking video of them to study their moves. In response, he calls over one of the athletes, Operetta, to chew her out for her showboating attitude. In reality, he's alerting her to the spy. Only using facial expressions, he clues her, and by extension, the audience, in on the fact that they know what the opposing team is trying to do.

This soon leads to Operetta pretending to tell the enemy team about their secret plan for the championship match, which was really an attempt to outsmart them to gain the advantage in the final stretch. The brilliance of this is how the audience is informed of this with no dialogue, and there's no scene afterwards spelling it out for those who don't get it. It manages to convey deception without being too obvious that Clawd and Operetta are being deceitful.

I think if there were more subtle hints to show the audience Lila was lying, she would be seen in a better light. As it is, Lila's lies are just pathetic, and it's ridiculous that everyone believes her. Which leads me to...

Lila, the Master Manipulator

I once read a Star Trek: Voyager fanfic that poked fun at the series by claiming that the reason a lot of the dumber episodes like “Threshold” and “Twisted” happened was because one of the crew members was an alien who unintentionally produced mood altering pheromones, with Captain Janeway actually realizing they were all high because of said pheromones, while two of the unaffected crew members were wondering what the hell they were doing before they found out the cause. Why do I bring this up? Sometimes, it feels like Lila is an unintentional parallel to the alien in that story.

Like so many characters, it's clear the show desperately wants the audience to view Lila in a certain way, but her actions do very little to actually back up that claim. When she's not using lies to tell stories about so many famous people she knows like her uncle who works for Nintendo, Lila is using strategies to manipulate everyone that are so obviously deceptive, the Thermians could pick up on them. Everyone and their mother knows how ridiculous a lot of what Lila does in episodes like “Chameleon” and “Ladybug” are, and I've talked about them before, so I'll try to be quick.

First off, as someone who had access to accommodations through high school and has had assistance in college so far, there is no way in hell that Ms. Bustier should take Lila's tinnitus at face value in “Chameleon”. If a student has a disability that could interfere with the education process, physical or developmental, not only does the school have to evaluate their performance, and determine if they're eligible for an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, but her teachers would have to be notified in the first place. As her primary educator, Ms. Bustier would be part of the team to oversee Lila's IEP and determine what accommodations she needs to help her learn better with her tinnitus and arthritis. But because the writers don't know what Google is, they just ignore it, assume that Lila can just say she has a disability, and have everyone believe it. Even when Eric Cartman pretended to be disabled to compete in the Special Olympics, he put in more effort to look the part, even if he looked like a caricature.

Then there's the fact that that in “Chameleon”, everyone just believes Lila when she says Marinette stole her grandmother's necklace when not only is said necklace from the Agreste line of jewelry, but Alya, who is Rena Rouge, can't pick up on the fact that it's a fake. All she does to justify these lies is come up with a sob story about how nobody believes her, yet nobody ever tries to defend Marinette except Alya one time, and it was after she got expelled.

Or what about in “Oni-Chan”, where Lila thinks having Kagami kill Ladybug while claiming she'll back away from Adrien is a good idea? Let's say Oni-Chan does kill Ladybug or at least take away her Miraculous, what then? We know Lila wouldn't go through with this promise, and as soon as Kagami sees her harassing Adrien, she'll be ripe for akumatization again. Overall, not a great plan.

And yet somehow, this last example is what made her worthy enough to become one of Hawkmoth's most trusted agents. I'm just going to say it: Lila is not a good fit for the power of illusion. Whenever she's Volpina or Chameleon, she always goes out of her way to make a big show instead of being subtle with her deceptions. “Chameleon” is the worst offender, as even though Lila gets the power to shapeshift into someone else, instead of being discreet and cornering people into kissing them and gaining their appearance, she just runs around to get Ladybug's attention instead of being subtle. Even Felix had the bright idea to pretend to be Adrien to catch Ladybug off guard. How do you lose to something that happened in “Felix”?

Despite all of these screw-ups, we're still supposed to see her as this master of deception worthy of allying with Hawkmoth in both his supervillain and civilian form, when really, she's a terrible liar on the schoolyard and on the battlefield.

Why Lila is an Important Character

In the grand scheme of things, Lila just isn't as important of a character that the show loves to parade her around as. She's nothing more than a plot device used to raise the stakes in an episode, given how much reality seems to bend over just to accommodate for her lies. Even when the show alludes to her being part of bigger things, like her deal with Adrien, or her rivalry with Marinette, they don't even go anywhere.

She just feels pointless when you remember Astruc's brilliant idea to force Chloe into being the final Akuma for the season while Lila isn't even mentioned once. She only really makes appearances whenever the writers feel like it, which is why it’s hard to take her seriously. Why should I take this character seriously as a threat if the writers refuse to take her seriously as a threat? Why build Lila up as a big threat and not give her a major role in the finale? Why even include her in the show in the first place when you could show Chloe being more manipulative to fill in the plots Lila plays a big part in?

As of the time I am writing this analysis, four episodes of Season 4 have aired, three of them have been about lies or deception, and Lila hasn't been mentioned at all. It honestly seems like she won't appear unless the writers need a easy way to drive up the conflict, so they can justify it by saying that Lila's “superpower” of lying is more powerful than the common sense of everyone else.

I'm sorry this post was shorter than the last one, but compared to Master Fu, there's not that much to say about Lila that I haven't already said. Even the show barely gives her any attention, so it's hard for me to really find a lot to talk about.

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friggsdc · 4 years ago

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Title: little delinquent pt iii

part ii | part iii | part iv

Warnings: Female!reader (bat!sis), mostly family fluff, AU, hurt/comfort, Jason’s language

Word Count: 4700~

Synop: It had Bruce and Dick sharing a look for a moment before the latter spoke up, “It’s not like I’m against continuing to expand the family, but…” he eyed the child you held nervously, “please don’t start bringing home every child you find…” he tilted his head, “he’s bad enough.” Bruce settled a light glare at his first son (that definitely wasn’t what Bruce was thinking), though Dick was stilled by the way your eyes narrowed at him instead.

“His name is Terrence,” that was all you said, brushing past as they were suddenly on guard at the inherited Wayne-scowl on your face.

A/N: tbh I cut the last chapter in two, this is the second half ee;;;; but I rewrote it to be it’s own chapter tho haha. Hum… this doesn’t pick up exactly where the last chapter ended, but it’s still all here. c’: Also, if you wear glasses, just know grumpy ol’ Bruce would probably force contacts on you in public (he’d see them as more ‘professional,’ and glasses as a danger/hazard in the field). Glasses are for home only sighs.

Ngl I see lexcorp similar to westworld’s delos, lotsa fancy designs ee;;;; Cadmus like nasa test rooms, clinical as heck with little to no windows, and wayne ent with Alien franchise’s archaic but advanced spaceship tech, or dracula’s castle with cubicles lmao

“Hey, Jaybird…”

Normally he knew what to expect, normally he’d open the door braced for a tackle, so when the rush of wind never came, he was at a bit of a loss. There you were, dressed like Bruce for some irritating reason. A size-too-big of a jacket, zipped up over a uselessly thin black turtleneck, a pair of black gloves, pants covering everything, and a pair of black lace-less… boots… with red… soles…?, and a suspiciously familiar-looking kid in your arms…

There was a slight guilty look on your face as you gauged his reaction, he could tell, you were nervous.

Wait.

He eyed the kid something scary, his voice grounding out, “so, who do I have to murder?”

“You weren’t gone that long, you know.” Snorting, you pushed past him into the small safe house, frowning at the bareness of it all before situating Terrence on the floor mattress. “How you sleep on this thing is beyond me…” he just shrugged, “too used to it? Answer the question,” he pointed at the kid while closing the door, “who?”

Agitated.

“Terrence,” said child was looking around, but there was only so much that would grab his attention, as empty as the room was.

“His name is Terrence, and he’s no one else’s, he’s… mine.”

“You just said it hasn’t been that damned long—” his frustration was building; he wasn’t liking where this was going, not that you were aware which direction his head was headed at the moment, you’d just gotten here.

You shook your head, “don’t tell me you…” his anger settled into a dark scowl, but you refused to look at him, “you can’t seriously bring more kids into that fucking prison.” He was so conflicted, it was you, but you were still a Wayne. It scared him to think of more children stuck in that lonely mansion, becoming bitter like he had.

You remembered what Dick had said days earlier when he first saw the child,

“Jason—” you began, a slight warning to your tone.

He didn’t care,

“Don’t be like Bruce.”

His voice was so cold.

Terrence had crawled his way over to the legs of the table in the makeshift kitchen, eyes on a prize as he began trying to figure out how a chair worked.

“You know, that actually hurt.”

You didn’t hate your father like Jason projected, but you knew the way he spoke about him, the way he expressed his feelings, that he ‘hated’ him. It was a half-truth, you knew. Jason preferred not hurting you, next to Alfred, you were more tolerable than the other family members.

Somedays Tim and Dick made that list. Somedays.

But that didn’t mean he was actively trying to be kind, he wanted it to stab.

Petty. Resentful. Haunted.

He went to say more, but stopped, fists shaking slightly from anger.

You were staring him down, that same look of disappointment Bruce would give him when he made an obviously stupid decision, as if he were still a Robin in training. Like your father, you could read him like an open book when you tried, it made him feel vulnerable, guilty, small.

Fucking frustrated.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he was at a loss for words, “…shit.” He turned away from you, coming back to the moment as he tried to reign in his temper, “it’s just…”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.”

Instead of continuing to argue the point, too used to his outbursts (Alfred and your family primed you too well for dealing with the unstable emotions of others), you walked over and wrapped your arms around him, head resting on his clothed chest, “missed you, Jay.”

Almost hesitantly, his arms returned the hug, his head burying itself in your hair, “sorry…” he breathed out, almost too quiet. He was tense as you pulled back a bit, reaching up to grab his face in your gloved hands as you leaned up on your toes, pulling his head down to yours. You touched your forehead to his, making certain to be gentle, “Honestly, it’s okay Jay. I forgive you, okay?”

“Cold,” his hands cupped your (oddly chilled) gloved ones, eyes searching your face before he shifted, head nodding slightly, rubbing yours. A heavy sigh escaped him, an awkward smile forming, “so, how’s my cutest little sister been?”

Glad that he was trying to get past his guilt, you shook your head, “a roller coaster. Dad’s upset at me.”

He just snorted in amusement, relaxing a little as you continued, “And how was California? The Titans? I miss Kory…” you blinked at his flat expression, “what? You were at the Tower, right? With Kory and Roy, and the others?”

Wow you ruined the moment fast.

“Aaaand that’s where you stop being cute. I swear this family is full of creepers. I think Dick’s the only normal one,” you tilted your head as he kept his hands firmly on your shoulders. “Honestly, you and Tim are terrifying, your brother is a demon, and I don’t even want to describe Bruce.”

“Glad you didn’t include yourself in that, zomboy,” he groaned, “that’s hurtful,” then he pouted, finally getting a good look at you.

Terrence was old enough to stand on his two legs as he held onto the chair, but he kept stumbling as he moved uncertainly. His eyes were focused on his mission as he started trying to climb further up.

Something clicked in the back of Jason’s brain, sudden realization dawning, “what…” you sighed, his hand moving from your shoulder, “is this…?” You refused to meet his stare as his fingers hooked on the zipper of your jacket, “uhm…” you flushed as he pulled it down, a bright red bat in his face.

There was a sudden sparkle in his eyes.

“Huh, didn’t expect you to be that much of a fan.” You were burning from head to toe now, refusing to look at him at all, rubbing the back of your neck with a thick swallow. “That… that’s kind of the problem…”

“What, that you’re walking around with my colors?” His grin seemed disappointed, but turned a bit more concerned at the frown you leveled at him, “it… let me explain… I think I need help…”

“Definitely gonna need explanations. A lot of them.” The kid was one thing, this outfit was another. He made to sit down, and you followed, leaving Terrence to his own devices for the moment.

It’s not like there was much trouble to get into, everything of worth or danger was out of his reach.

“…yeah.”

“…”

“What is it?”

“…Why’d you think I slept with someone? When you first saw Terrence in my arms?”

He leaned away from you, chin resting on his palm, propped up on the arm of the couch with his elbow, “I’m your brother, and he looks like… it’s… I’m supposed to get upset about that… just… answer…” he did his best to keep a straight face, but eventually he had to turn away, looking at the wall, ears burning.

“Hm…?” you leaned towards him and he didn’t have to look at you to know you had a less than innocent smile on right now.

“Creep.”

You just laughed as you leaned into his side, causing him to crack a small smile, still not looking at you.

[“So… How to start this…”]

[“The suit, first, Terry after.”]

[“Terry?”]

[“The kid. Just explaaaaain already, uuugh I have patrol in a few hours…”]

[A heavy sigh, “Okay, then... So, you know how Lex helps fund the Society’s shenanigans?”]

[“…oh.”]

[“Yeah.”]

When it came to most places, breaking and entering was always easier at night, but for the LexCorp building? Nighttime came with problems, it came with heightened security, rigorous control, and the easy ability to spot something that was out of place. There was also your youngest brother who had filled you in on his adventures with Jon once, not a single detail of the LexCorp building having been left out; he was a thorough kid.

It was far easier to infiltrate during the day, the number of staff on the security team, the cliques of scientists and researchers, and the average workers meandering about made it easy to blend. You had donned a pair of (older prototype) smart glasses, normal from the viewer’s perspective, an integrative matrix mapping AI system from the wearer’s. Well, it could do more, but this was what you needed, the constant reconstruction of old building plans for more accuracy as you walked around.

Tim’d made some amazing things over the years, such as his matrix encryption to keep your work phone quiet, scrambling any noticeable connections that could be traceable. But this one was probably the coolest in your opinion, and he had yet to see the return of said glasses since you wouldn’t give them up, and he could never find where you’d put them. The glasses were a useful subtle change from the norm, a quick disguise, the security barely giving you a glance-over as you entered the passcode for the ID tag you wore, walking into the building.

With a slight wave from you, and a “Good Afternoon!” from them, getting in the backdoor was always the easy part. There were two more women next to you chatting in excitement and you made to stick close to them, parting only when you came upon the women’s locker rooms. The badge number Tim’d tracked down for you was useful until it wasn’t, Lex’s problem was needing levels three and above extensive background checks on anyone hired, and Tim knew exactly where to look.

[“Like I said, terrifying.”]

[“You do the same thing.”]

[“That’s a bit above my paygrade, usually I ask Tim for help when I need information from behind top-of-the-line security walls.”]

[“Oh.”]

[“Yeah.”]

Next was invasion of personal privacy and property, and a lot of it. You’d have felt worse if it weren’t for having been raised this way, “you’ll find out that people are just that, some sick and twisted, some happy and kind-hearted, but in the end, we’re all the same. Eventually, nothing will surprise you,” your father would say.

It didn’t take long, going through a few lockers and purses, letting your glasses do most of the work. They were able to see in a three-dimensional matrix, constantly being constructed behind most any material or metal. There were plenty of lab coats in varying sizes to choose from, and you spotted one badge and wondered who the dumdum was. You had plenty of electromagnetic strips for your ID if you needed a switch, but it seemed unnecessary. Some people left their everything when they clocked out, too.

You’d secured your purse around your stomach and under your shirt, the bulge flattened at your side, tying the ends in place. It would uncomfortably dig into you, but you couldn’t leave it behind and it would only be for a short time.

No one had paid you any mind, too busy rushing to get in and out of the locker rooms, and you made to escape with a group of women in the same coats as yourself. The group and yourself came to an elevator, and you let them do all the work. One of them scanning their ID for the group, the rest blurting out the number of the floor they needed to get to, and yourself joining in. A strange calm settling as you got more into the coworker attitude.

Seventh level Research and Development wing.

[“Not his office?”]

[“Why?”]

[“I dunno, there’s probably some terrible top-secret info in there.”]

[“I mean, I was on the main R&D floor, how much more top secret can you get?”]

[“Touché.”]

The entire R&D area was made up of floor to ceiling glass window dividers, a white and chromatic color scheme, and a lot of tightly sealed doors. You honestly didn’t even need the glasses to find the head researcher’s office, it was written in huge bold letters next to the dumb door on a plaque.

Weaving through a few people with their eyes busy reading clipboards and cellphones, you eyed each inch of the floor, and wondered if the other stock standard R&D floors at LexCorp were similar. No one paid you any mind as you stood in front of the group of office doors, all packed neatly in a little corner, and each leading to a different R&D office. They were mostly empty, only one occupied, most of the techbros and techgals were out and about doing work.

Again, the glasses did the decoding work for you, getting you the set of numbers you needed to enter the room. Unlike the rest of the lab, this office had less windows, though the few it did have were still large. Though they faced out rather than in, and it also wasn’t as large and as roomy as you’d have imagined. The Wayne R&D offices being waaay bigger in comparison.

Taking out two small flash drives, you shoved the sticks into the lone computer on the desk, booted it up, and just let them do their thing. Having the computer start with the flash drive, it acted as an executable program, letting it bypass any needed passcodes or security clearance for now.

One for unlocking the system, the other for information storage.

No doubt someone will notice that.

You wondered briefly if this was how the Cyborg felt, only ever having gotten to see him briefly before he utterly devastated an entire operating system. He then rebuilt it to his preferences, all in the matter of seconds. Tim had always lamented not getting to watch when you described it.

Notably, it was quite lovely how LexCorp’s researchers had everything organized in a folder subsystem so well. You were able to track down the needed information in less than a few minutes through the root directory.

Gotta be faster.

However, as you stared at the processing bar on your information download, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. Clicking the monitor’s sleep button to dim any light, you stood up and strode over to the door.

Being the lookout for a computer program was a new one.

[“Pfff.”]

[He snickered behind his palm as you smacked him on the shoulder.]

[“At least you got in without needing to hack anything yourself. Get dunked on, Dick, Damian.”]

[Light laughter echoed.]

Nothing had happened by the time the computer let out a small ding, indicating the download had finished. With both flash drives now pocketed, you turned to the next problem: getting out.

It really shouldn’t have been that hard, it was so stupidly easy to get in, thank you new temporary coworkers, but as you eyed the group of security detail by the elevator, you made a hard turn to the side.

Had you gone through the front doors instead of the employee entrance, you would have seen a ton of security. Through the back however, they really were only at certain check points, it’s not like just anyone could get in. So of course, there was no way they would have been able to get so far as the head office of any department.

How long had you been gone from the others? How long did you still have on Tim’s encryptions?

Oh heck.

The options were now trying to squeeze by the security, which was doubtful, they were checking everyone, or figure out a way to base jump without any gear. Neither option sounded appealing, you had no wings or grappling hooks with you, and it was still midday.

The corridor you turned into went from full on glass to a partition supporting windows, half and half, split horizontally to allow for more privacy, probably.

This was also exactly where you didn’t want to be.

Frick.

Most of the rooms looked like chemistry labs, charts everywhere, huge gravity convection and forced-air ovens, and thermo-freezers that looked like they belonged in meat markets. It was almost overwhelming at how cool some of these things looked as you searched for an exit. So filled with anxiety and adrenaline as you were, you almost missed it out of the corner of your eye. It was the red shimmering of a glass bowl on your face that made you notice it, the barely-there stream of sun that caught it just right.

You wasted no time getting to work, the door just as easy as the others, passcodes, they were all passcodes. Where were the fingerprint and retina scanners? Hell, where was the facial recognition scanners? You’d come prepared for so much, so you were incredibly confused at the lax security features. But again, this wasn’t the ground floor and security clearance was stricter this far in, your badge did most of the infiltration for you.

Was your dad that paranoid that now, so were you?

[“The civi world is full of sub-par idiots.”]

[“You sound like Dami.]

[“Gross.”]

[“…it’s uncanny, really, he said the same thing.”]

[“Shit.”]

The room looked similar to the others, less windows, more wall, plenty of graphs and charts, but there were a few different things as well. A few of which you pocketed; the only expensive looking laptop was also grabbed straight off a table to the side of your quarry.

The most notable thing however was glaring you boldly in the face, all black and a giant red bat on the chest.

A batsuit.

[“Yeah, I’m gonna want to know why baldy even had this thing.”]

[“Tim’s going through the drives right now, Dami dropped them off…”]

[“Damn.”]

Why did Lex have a batsuit? Where did he get it from, or did he help develop it? Terrence was part of all this, and what about your fa… the Batman? Why was Cadmus part of all this? Why was Lex? Were there more suits? More clo— children?

Shit shit shitshitshitshi—

To say you were freaking out a bit was an understatement.

Hearing heavy footsteps, you panicked and grabbed the garment from behind it’s glass case and took a dive behind the nearest desk. They hadn’t come in yet, they hadn’t gotten to this room, there was still time, but… still time to what?

You eyed the suit in your hands, it’s size horribly different from your own body type (but you could probably still fit it) and you decided to make a really dumb decision then and there.

You were gonna get caught regardless, might as well suit up and try to fight your way out. If you were lucky, you could get out of this without ruining your father’s reputation (or Batman’s identity.)

You began stripping behind the desk, fully intent on donning the batsuit. If nothing else, these things usually came with masks, even though you hadn’t seen a single one near it.

The moment you pulled the fabric over your legs, heels sliding effortlessly into the red soles, you watched almost in amazement as the fabric melted to your skin, reshaping to fit you. There was going to be a lot of bagginess in the suit when you wore it, a lot of tightness in weird places, too, and it had looked fitted to a larger male. So you hadn’t expected the suit to fit perfectly on purpose. It even had a built-in utility belt. Suddenly you were a bit giddy.

Again, what the hell was Lex Luthor doing?

“So freaking cool.”

The material felt almost like a second skin, there was also no sensory loss from wearing it, you could feel the floor as if you were barehanded.

You’d never thought about it before, but now you couldn’t take your mind off Dick and his skintight suit. You felt almost nude in this suit, not used to something showing everything off like it was.

Did Dick enjoy this?

Your ears burned brightly as you finished suiting up, no longer able to think about a large portion of superheroes and villains.

How could you ever face some of them again?

How could you ever look Dick in the eyes again?

“Oh no…”

Perverts. All of them.

[Loud laughter.]

[A very red face.]

You had to admit though, it was so much cooler than your heavier and bulkier recon gear. It didn’t weigh you down and the sensory adaptation was something you’d never come across before. Speaking of, reaching up, you took the glasses off to get a clear view of your surroundings and immediately regretted it.

The suit seemed to come to life on it’s own as something came out of nowhere, engulfing your head in complete darkness.

A silent scream, too terrified to let out any sound.

You about died then and there.

The suit wasn’t that cool anymore.

Without missing a beat and calming your fears of being bagged or worse, the darkness faded, and you could see your surroundings. Blinking for a moment to adjust, you tried to get your bearings on what the hell just happened, your hand gingerly coming up to feel your face.

[Booting...]

Were you hearing things or did the suit just...?

Unfortunately, that was the exact moment the door to the room you were in opened, and you panicked. It was a dead-end room, you weren’t as good at fighting as your brothers, and the security here could be scary when hunting down an intruder.

Stupid Lex.

Without thinking, you grabbed your things now bundled up in the labcoat like a bag, slung it over your shoulder, and bolted towards one of the windows looking out.

You were so used to recon jobs that you hadn’t taken into consideration that you had none of your gear (but your brothers did this kind of stupid thing constantly, so you’d be okay, right?).

You were too caught up in the moment.

You hadn’t heard the sound, mind too blank, but the glass falling around you was enough indication of just what you had done.

Base jumping it was.

You were in a batsuit, after all.

Falling seven stories was terrifying, but definitely brought you back to reality. Securing the makeshift bag on your back, tied around your neck, you began thinking as fast as you could. Claws? The suit had them, you had noticed, but you were too far from the building, having jumped a distance, then... The suit had a built-in utility belt, right? Maybe there was something useful in one of the —

[Servo-Motors engage…]

[Checking system function…]

[Loading protocol…]

…huh?

[84 feet till impact.]

…wait—

[75 feet till impact.]

“Yeah I see that.”

[71 feet till impact.]

“Thanks.” Sarcasm, “What else can you tell me other than my unfortunate demise at the hands of gravity?”

[Thrusters not online.]

[68 feet till impact.]

[Grappling gun unavailable.]

[Batarang lines unavailable.]

[67 feet till impact.]

[Retractable wings availa—]

“Yes, that one, wings, please! Wait… thrusters?” you had little time as your whole body suddenly started tumbling, a set of red wings expanding between your arms and the sides of your torso. “Shitshitsh—” and then you were gliding, your arms having spread on their own from the force of the fall. “Oh… Oh my…”

The suit was cool again, “Dang this is… nice… Like a bird or… him.” You reeeaaallllly didn’t want to chance him hearing you say his name.

You wanted to try this higher up now, in a sea of clouds… It was like floating, an almost weightless feeling taking over. The wind currents were a bit to get used to, but it wasn’t terrible, having imagined it would be worse higher up, in them dang fluffy clouds... sigh.

[23 feet till landing.]

The suit helped guide you to an area with less people, something akin to your own Gotham alleyways (to a point, Metropolis’ worst streets were like Gotham’s safest ones). The small alley that led to several businesses’ back doors was rather clean, and there weren’t many places to hide. The best you could do was a growing shadow next to an empty dumpster.

“Alright then…” you sighed aloud, hands doing their best to find any seam in the suit, and after a few minutes, your—

[Heart rate at 142bpm.]

[Heart rate rising.]

[Blood pressure at—]

“—No kidding,” you thought, mind racing, and unfortunately, there wasn’t a single seam on the suit.

Anxiety was building in your chest,

“Frick.”

[“Wait, the suit talks?”]

[“I think it has an OS on it? I haven’t tried the cowl since…”]

[“You should.”]

[“…Nnnn”]

“Why do you look like Nightwing?” All you did was take the clothes from Damian and began to dress yourself over the suit, not certain at all on what you could say to this situation. You’d called Damian the moment you lucked out and made the cowl… come off?, and in his eagerness to leave Jon behind, he showed up quickly.

“You will tell me,” he was sounding just like dad.

“Dami, I uhm…”

“…I won’t tell father.” he could deduce a few things this pertained to, including but not limited to the child you had brought home, and how you avoided Bruce.

You could only sigh and nod at him, resigned. You really hope this didn’t come back to bite you in the bottom.

“What are you two doing?”

The clothes you had couldn’t cover most of the suit, the clothes Damian had brought you were able to do just that. Strangely, you weren’t feeling overheated, even though you looked like you were ready for cold weather.

“Ah, Jon.”

“You look silly.”

“…thanks.”

[“…”]

[”...”]

“Nightwing? Screw that brat.”

“Please don’t speak like that…” you sighed, your head in your hands.

He just huffed in annoyance, “I wear the colors better,” he muttered, “it sounds like a lot, what's your next plan of action?”

You let yourself slump forwards as he pulled you into a side-hug, arm slung over your shoulders, “it’s this suit. I can’t get it off, and—"

BAM

You and Jason about had twin heart attacks.

Without missing another fraction of a second, the larger male was on his feet, flipping over the back of the couch ready to attack before he swore at the sight in front of him. Striding over to the table in two long steps, “What the hell, Terry.” He haphazardly picked the kid up, a red helmet falling on the table with a clang, and turned to you, “your kid just tried to kill us, you realize.”

Having slid to the ground out of need to instantly roll to the side, you stopped, staring at the smoking gun that’d been pushed off the table, lying on the floor near you. Your eyes then shifting to the hole in the safehouse’s wall, “Uhm… The safety…”

He just snorted, “I don’t always have it on.” He wasn’t great at taking care of himself, sadly. You did your best with your busy schedule and budgeted time constraints, but when he wasn’t here, he easily fell into old habits.

“Please don’t let the demon spawn near him.”

“Please keep the damned safety on your guns.”

Batman was straining so hard that it looked like he was in the middle of a fight, an obvious aura of unrest around him.

“Whoa, you gonna punch yourself in the face? Wait, wait a minute, I gotta…” Batman groaned, irritated as a red blur came into the room, jabbered on too quickly, then took his phone out and pointed it at the big bat.

“Okay, I’m recording now, do it!”

It took a moment as Batman thought, rubbing his temples.

“I trained my kids too well,” at that, Flash put his phone down, tilting his head in confusion, “and that’s… bad?” He looked up at the League’s computers in front of him, noting the blinking [[ALERT ALERT ALERT]] off to the side.

“Because,” Batman reasoned, “I have to deal with them,” he ground out, glaring at the sign of intrusion.

“Ooooh, your kids hacked into the system again, huh?” Flash let out a low whistle, clearly amused by Batman’s misfortunes. Batman did his best to ignore the red nerd, calling on Cyborg to assist him, even though he had already been on his way, noticing it moments prior.

“Family, amirite?”

Batman said nothing in response,

Tim almost got away with it.

Almost.

#tim drake x reader #dick grayson x reader #jason todd x reader #stephanie brown x reader #duke thomas x reader #bat!sis

61 notes · View notes

crowmero · 4 years ago

Text

MCL UL final review

2020 was the year I took the resolution to make peace with MCL and the last thing I wanted to do before taking a break from the game was finishing UL season. I also wanted to follow tetrakys example just to make it more meaningful for me.

For starters I want to thank my boyfriend because he just got super interested to know more about all the games I enjoy or used to and just encouragement to keep playing if I feel like having a hour for myself to enjoy something because he knew how I was super busy and worn out with work at the time. I think he deserves credit on this because he was there supporting me in all this process and was the truly person who would hear me talk and rant about the game and hype with me at a time I didn’t have anyone to hear me because everything was complicated and some of my friends who played the game were also trying to come to terms in their own private way. It was wonderful to have someone cheering me in a positive way, to enjoy the things I wanted to have fun with without regrets. Thank you my dear!.

I feel like 2020 and 2021 have a impact in my general relationship with otome games, between some of my favorites games ending and me slowly drifting away from them. I feel like I’m not the same person that I used to be and that things have changed too, but I don’t feel bad about it. I wish eventually I could go back to many of the games that I used to enjoy but I wonder if in the future there would be another game that would make me hype so much and I that I would devote and dedicate as much of myself as I used to.

Also a lot happened since 2018 and how much hurted for all what happened with MCL. I was tired of feeling bad about it so I felt like I have to come to terms with it. I have carried a lot of weight for other things in my life but never for a game. Is the first time that something like this didn’t worked as a way to cope but more as a way to hurt us. I do wonder a lot of things but are things that probably will never know. The only thing that could have made perfect my way out from the game if that we weren't in the middle of covid and trapped at home.

All that said, let's start talking about every topic on the list below:

LIs and routes

Non-LI characters

Favourite episode

Favourite scene

Favorite Outfit and/or Favourite illustration

Conclusions

LIs and routes

Priya

Priya was my main LI and the one I was more excited about when UL launched before knowing the true about who she was replacing. I’ve get to date her and fulfilled that fantasy. This was the season were we got to know her better, apart from knowing that she was not that good with art (and working on it) and that she loved to write fiction in her free time. I loved that she got more context to her motivations on becoming a lawyer and her family past life on india.

I think for me, the flirting was subtle but it was enough to understand, or maybe was because I was into her since many others just viewed her as a good friend. But that was also actually cool for me, it was cool to have at ally, specially with the assault situation at the start of the game. She was fierce and protective and smart and caring.

But also I felt like the game keep pushing her aside or putting her in the back burner. Several times I was quite annoyed for the little time we get to spend with her (I mean, yes this was a general issue with all the LI’s since all five have to make an appearance in the short span of the episode) and the game will cheat on me when we have a good moment at her side making her run away because he needs to do/to be somewhere else.

I think since the season focused too much on Nath, Priya was one of the characters that got neglected and the sad part is that we actually had time in the last episodes that could had be filled with more trivia, more learning about her. We also didn’t get to meet her parents or family and get to know more about her past than what was said.

Hyun

Hyun is a character I didn’t expect to like on the long run but ended appreciating a lot. He become my second favorite after Priya. I think was the character that got me more confort looking at his illustrations. I wish I knew him better and I think he deserved more, it makes me feel bad that people look down on him as a character.

He is really nice! I really have a change of heart with him. I get that the game will push him onto us, but he is not bad at all. He is really thoughtful and worries about Candy and has cute details with her. Also my boyfriend is like him *shot*. I don't really get the hate on him, I think is just because he is the most normal of the love interest, thus why people find him boring or plain (because he is not a rockstar, not a bad guy, not our teacher).

So he is like "the safe guy" you choice in real life because he is not full of BS and drama, he is just normal and tame, and some people just want that, but I get that doesn't work as a fantasy for some people. He is the guy who is prepared for everything and is there for you if you need him. Still impressed to where Hyun finds the strength to organize a party after all the stress with the thesis and cook for a whole army.

Castiel

I have really few thoughts for Castiel since my Candy and him don’t liked each other much in high school and the few moments I came to feel ok with him was because he was Lysandre’s best friend (My Candy’s LI). He really changed, he become more calm and collected and overall mature while he softened his original nature. It was a surprise he was not the first to start a fight but Nathaniel. I think I was lucky to spend time with him since he was more busy with his own life and personal business.

There were really sweet moments from him like when he give us his old MP3 while we are in the infirmary, and some more chill like when we are waiting for the oral presentation at the end of the season and we share some company. We also find that he tries something with Candy if we’re not dating him, so that was unexpected and thrilling, it was a surprise he have this feelings for Candy or he wondered for her all this time. On the bad side, he tried to patronize Candy sometimes or just butt in Candy’s business with unrequested help and I’m glad Candy called him out on that.

Rayan

I don't find him creepy, I was actually interested in him because I'm almost his age and I find also interest in more older characters like him. Also I reflected that I can relate to him in some personal stuff (My thing wasn't as tragic, but I can understand him). Sadly I think his personality type is not for me and that's why I was kinda disappointed. What I was thinking that could have worked better with him is that instead of making him feel interest for our character since the start, for me would be more natural that our character makes the first move instead. So in that way, people who wanted to go for him from the start could unlock this path and players who don't want that, just carry on without worrying about him. I understand that people could change his mind over the course of the game and choosing his path from the start could be extreme, but also the option in episode 8 was not better. I don't think that an option like the one I suggest is that crazy. Overall, I don't think he was creepy, he just feel odd for me, and everything happening with him in a romantic way just didn't make sense if you're not into him, even the drama is pointless. Also It's weird because I don't feel he is the creepy type at all, he was just victim of the writers who forced everyones to be in love with Candy from the start instead of just building a relationship more naturally. But yeah, they needed to move the story quickly, no time to bother that much.

Nathaniel

While revisiting my past notes about him, I more come to the conclusion that I really hated him and his guts in this season. It was worse because this whole season focus on him and how much he changed as a person. I was forced to deal with him and... I saw that as a waste of my time and AP.

I think Candy was really reasonable with him (I clearly remember how Candy would confront him and he just will go on circles and nonsense to try to avoid giving answers while acting like a poor lost soul). I also had to put with his nasty behavior and babysitting him when things got worse like when he was stabbed. Like at some point I couldn’t care less but the game would keep shoving him on my face.

I’m surprised myself of having a heavy negative opinion about him. The sad thing is that despite my Candy being dragged in his whereabouts, being dragged for other characters like Amber (because Candy is the salt of the earth) to look for him and all the things, at the end Nath manages to disentangle himself all alone without our help or presence needed, and I understand how disappointing that was.

Like I feel sorry for the poor souls who loved Nathaniel in HS just to have a alien put on his skin and be someone completely different. I know this change also helped to bring attention to new players who love this kind of characters or he acted as a replacement for the old players in the crowd who needed to fill the gap that the old deleted characters left.

Non-LI characters

Chani was my favorite and I think was the favorite for many on this season. She became one of Candy’s BF and she also is caring, smart and supporting. I loved her own whole aesthetic and vibe, I wish I could have such a good and interesting friend like her. The episodes I enjoyed the most involved her (included all the weird trio wet dream haha) and she actually make me feel better and reassured in general while confronting all the bad arcs and misfortunes of the season. She also gift to us a pretty amulet and was one of the few extra items we got for free like in the HS times.

Yeleen was a character than for starters I really wanted to get to know better and become friends with. It makes me sad all the hate she received and also I got myself some angry person calling me out for liking her (that was awkward buddy). But i loved her developed and how she changed as a person. The bad side is that I wished we could develop a more intimate relationship with her, but I’m happy with the good influence that was Candy for her and she take the bull by the horns at the end of the season. Her farewell letter was really touching.

A side character I liked from the beginning was Morgan because he was pretty handsome and I wish we knew more about him since he was also good vibes but got eclipseted when he becomes Alexy’s boyfriend. I still remember when we though he was Kentin in the trailer.

I don’t really have positive opinions for the rest of the cast or I just really don’t care much. The other character that got a bit of redemption in my eyes was Rosa. It was hard to be friends with her because how much she changed as a person but also how much her new self contradicted with her past self. It was worse because she was there supporting and cheering my relationship with Lysander since she was dating his brother Leigh in HS but in UL was pushing me to look somewhere else. It was also weird for me to be hanging of with Leigh but not Lysander when we weren’t that close to Leigh in the past. I still believe that what happened to Rosa (the drama!) It was done so that we felt pity and sympathy for her. The thing that probably make me feel better about her was when she organized that date at the beach for my Candy and Priya, it was sweet, it was the moment when I really felt guilty about how I feel about her.

We should talk about Amber and how much of a failed and inexistent redemption arc was that? Adding that when we got on the topic of cyberbullying she got to be on the spotlight but we couldn’t talk about what happened in HS. Also she was dragged my Candy around for the sake of Nathaniel and she also give us a big scare when she faints in that bathroom stall...

Favourite episode

For some reason, Episode 11 got good grades from my part as chillest long trip (I HAVE TO TRUST MY OWN SELF ON THIS) but of course Episode 16 was second best because the sex dates (If only we didn’t have to deal with Nath at the start of the episode...)

Episode 11 really got me thinking in a lot of things and make me remember some good memories. Chani was incredible in this episode, she really cares a lot about Candy. I wish a moment to chill right now the same way Candy and Chani go out to eat sushi and to the snake room, I miss doing this kind of things before Covid hit my country and everyone. In the same way, Chani has some very wise words to offer, things right now are so crazy and been stuck at home is just making everything just worse, taking care of you mental health is difficult, social media doesn't help either (Rosa did the smart call there deleting her social media) and fandom spaces right now are not doing that well.

In general, I enjoyed how chill was everything for Candy and how she focused more on herself than the rest of the world. Like I wish she focused more on herself that in trying to save the world. All with Castiel was a trip from start to finish. All the description of the new video got me thinking in whatever video from MTV from the 2000's! I'm also surprised with how smooth he was in the scene in the apartment, was not difficult to me to imagine all the situation, and for a moment I wanted, really wanted to go his way, but since Priya is waiting for me and because I didn't expect of my HS mate to be soo into Candy, I stopped and leave. Was a interesting develope. It also got me thinking how some old classmates would think very different of me right now that from the child I was 15 years ago.

An well, we got to the Priya's moment, and... I really don't get why all that jealousy with Tara haha, my Candy is not like that at all, BUT I really wished more time with her (I know, the drama), but this episode really got us the perfect ending we didn't get in the past episode, just my Candy chilling, hugging and kissing her beloved.

When I played episode 16 at first was with Priya and later did a replay with Hyun and honestly, Hyun date was bananas! I wish I could do all the dates to see how they play because all look cool on their own way. I didn't expect my Candy to be this horny for Priya (?).

After the traumatic events in the start of the episode, we get to chill with Chani because she is such a good friend and she also craft us an amulet to protect us from all the terrible things that happen Everything gets better in our date with Priya. We celebrate that she would be able to do her bar exam and we spend the day chilling on the park chatting, but Candy falls asleep in the middle lol. Priya invite us to spend the night since her roomie left for vacation. Our Candy reveals she still owns her HS underwear (?) so she proceeds to buy new one (I know underwear is expensive but five years is a lot, those things have holes already). We cross paths with Hyun and is hilarious, he was so embarrassed lol. Back in our date, time to get really nervous. I'm loving that all this characters are now into horror (Thanks Chino!) and Priya propose to watch " The haunting of Hill House". Anyway, it was hilarious how everything played because Candy rEaLly WanT It! but at the end, Priya falls asleep and Candy is too self conscious of Priya sleeping half naked next to her that she couldn't close her eyes all night long. Then morning arrives and everything gets really hot and yeah, I didn't expect that Candy was that thirsty omg. Coolest ending.

Hyun date was bananas! I have to say it again because was so fun and cute all along: the fact that Candy surprised Hyun in the Cosy Bear since he have to work that day, that he is up to solve conflict with actual talking when we got a cheating scare, that he is a good person to helps people, even novices in online games. Yeah we also learned his weird thing for shoes that don’t reflect in his actual fashion lol. AND THE DATE! It was so hilarious that they were about to watch the wrong version of Toy Story! POOR HYUN! This dude was fucking prepared for the day, he brought everything in that magic bag, the ending was hot and satisfying, he really surprised me.

Favourite scene

NATHANIEL SHOWS IN THE MIDDLE OF CANDY’S STUDY SESSION WITH EVERYONE THERE AND PRIYA IS ABOUT TO KILL HIM BECAUSE MY CANDY CONFIDED ON HER AND NATH IS COMPLETELY CLUELESS ABOUT IT AAAAH YEAAAAW!

This was the indiscutible winner because despite there was great moments to talk about, this was the only that really make me feel actual excitement for this game (IS WEIRD I KNOW!).

Favorite Outfit and/or Favourite illustration

Illustrations

This priya Illu is one of my favorite among the rest.

This one was when I noticed Hyun’s great body.

This is illu with Priya is also very sweet too.

I felt really touched with this illu with Hyun.

Candy’s expression is so funny.

This was one of the cutes too and really funny<3

Honorable mention

I think this was one of the most controversial Illus we got and hot too.

OUTFITS

Ep 5 & 6 (and I forgot to add Ep 4!) but a big part of this season clothes were incredible.

Ep 11 & 12

Ep 15 & 20

Honorable mention

Ep 9 party!

Conclusions

Was I angry and disappointed when I started UL?

Yes

Have I made peace with it?

Yes, that’s what I wanted to achieve doing this. I also feel like there is not much I can do or think at this point, I’m kind of resigned.

Did this stop me from enjoying UL?

The “angry and disappointed” part sure played into my original run and perception of the game. I think that this was the case for many others since the wounds were open fresh at that time. But it really took me until the middle and end of the third season (!) to change my perspective (aka like 2-3 years later). I would said that after all that time what bothered me the most that was stopping my enjoyment of the game was how long it takes to play it for free and how that limits you from the whole game experience.

Would I have enjoyed it more if BV hadn’t done us so dirty?

Of course! I ended enjoying the change of tone. I do think many players were precisely looking forward to see our favorite characters in a different phase of their lives. When the company lied to us is when everything burned. I think is a matter of opinion at this point: if Lys, Armin and Kentin stayed, I wonder how people would have taken this whole season since there was a lot of negative critic and people saying that it was for the best that the old boys weren’t there because they probably would have ended totally changed like Nathaniel. They also could have ended in the back burner like the new LI’s and that also wouldn’t be fair. But I’m not sure how much of that negative critic is fueled by resentment or is biased by nostalgia since many didn’t bothered to play and just took what others were telling them without making their own opinion. For me was important to make my own opinion.

This season had their ups and downs, was hard to navigate with all the imposed changes, it was baffling to see how all the characters changed for good or bad, the dialogue options we got where I couldn’t relate at times especially at the begin, the thoughts on reflecting in all the very good things we got that also make me think I wished Lysander was around for all that.

I definitely don’t like the idea of replacing Lysander with Priya, both characters were unique in their own way and both deserved love and respect. Now that the first generation of My Candy Love ended it’s weird to be in this position were everyone is throwing a party around you in slow motion and feeling you don’t belong there because you weren’t lucky enough when picking your LI.

I was thinking on coming around at some point to play LL in the future (who knows) despite right now I don’t think I can make myself to do that and because I have the feeling that I will got more of what I got from UL. UL ending was fitting for me as a “what if...” My Candy got a different path in life where Lysander is not around and having the extra of looking forward to a happy bright future. I still sincerely wish that I could have had more than what we got.

#my candy love university life #mclul review #long post #this took a lot of me #mclul #review #mcl #cdm

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kinetic-elaboration · 4 years ago

Text

June 2: 2x21 Patterns of Force

Took a nap after work today!! Perhaps a bad idea.

Anyway, some thoughts on the... awkward Patterns of Force.

Another story about Jim looking for his hero, I see. That never (always) ends badly.

Definitely getting an image of little Spock (teenage Spock? young adult Spock? all little Spocks) reading about Earth history.

Oh no, an armed drone. That does not bode well. Why do Kirk’s heroes always betray him?

A subcutaneous transponder. That seems like a useful device to introduce into the narrative. (Slash remember for future purposes...)

Also it reminds of me “He’s a...a... a transponster!”

Spock in a hat. I guess the Ekosians and/or Zeons don’t have pointed ears, then.

“It’s our old enemy...fascism.”

Well this guy literally was not subtle in his references to Nazi Germany. (I’m referring in universe to what’s-his-face but this also applies to the episode writer.)

“The evidence is clear... someone did interfere.”

“You look quite well for a man who’s been utterly destroyed, Mr. Spock.” This man canNOT stop flirting for one second.

Lol, using Spock to distract the Nazi.

“It’s logical to pretend to be a Nazi? Okay, I’m convinced. You said the magic word.”

“Look! I captured him!” So proud.

Kirk’s face when Spock says he would make a convincing Nazi. Bb, you’re not doing the compliment thing right. (I’ll actually be quite honest... I find the humor in that moment but it also makes me uncomfortable given both these actors are Jewish.)

That said, Kirk is canonically better at blending into undercover scenarios than Spock is. He thinks better on his feet, creatively.

How do these people NOT recognize two whole-ass aliens.

...Maybe they do.

I do like when Kirk is being interrogated and still tries to be charming..

That Nazi really lost a lot of authority after being dressed down by his superior in front of the captives.

I like this Zeon.

“The flaw in the plan is this locked door.” Thanks Spock. It’s this subtle humor that I think people often miss in him. Like where you can’t tell if it’s intentional or not.

Kirk is so smart!!! He never gets credit for being this smart.

Hmm, taking out the transponders is such a weirdly intimate scene.

The Zeon wants to be included in this adventure so much but they’re obsessed with each other, like “What Zeon?”

“I’ll be your platform, Mr. Spock.”

This is such a weirdly humorous interlude for a story about Nazis. Kind of reminds me in a way of that conversation with the police man on City on the Edge of Forever. I mean that ep was much better but just like the sudden switch in tone.

Spock’s like “Oh, that was cool. Made a laser.”

I heard Kirk say, “You, over there,” as in directing Spock to stand over there, but the subtitles say “Beautiful. Over there.” As in, “we did a beautiful job getting out, now Spock, stand over there.” But combine them...?

Not gonna get a disguise for Spock huh? Just gonna let him be shirtless a little more for no apparent reason.

Poor Zeon. These aliens are inscrutable and not letting him in on anything.

“Alien pistols.”

“Who would win? the entire military force of this planet or two phaser-less space husbands?"

I probably shouldn’t laugh every time Kirk impersonates a Nazi but I do. "Don't mind me... completely believable Nazi here..."

The unsubtle of the Hebrew names. And of course.. .Zeon.

“We’ll be just as bad as the Nazis.” No, actually, you’re not and never will be that’s not how it works. BUT you definitely should help the aliens. Like, that phrase grates because it’s usually used to refer to, like, use of violence, use of “censorship” but here’s it more about turning away people who are different or minority and so then it does make sense but....the connotations.

Spock’s like, “May I... get away from this emotion? Has enough time passed for me to ask that?”

More Nazis! Following them everywhere!

Oh, psych. Not Nazis after all.

Spock’s like “Betraying your own father, you say? I have never thought about that.”

“The Fuhrer... is an alien?” Actual real line AND a correct summation of the situation.

This ep does not paint the Federation in a great light. Although to be fair... John Gill was breaking the rules so.

Documentary corps... I love it. Great disguise. Flash lights in people’s eyes, have an excuse to stay in a group, no on looks at you. Genius.

Spock is honestly so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about EVERYTHING. He cannot be tamed. Again, really an aspect of him I miss in the reboots.

Kirk really is the captain of everyone in his vicinity.

“Think positively, Spock.”

Uhura is unflappable. “A Nazi Colonel’s uniform? Of course, Captain.”

Send him down naked if you have to!! Yes, please, send him down naked.

Spock giving McCoy detailed instructions on how to put on boots... Why was dialogue like this not in the reboots?

McCoy is so polite. Polite first, confused later. “Nice to meet you, Nazi--wait, Nazi???”

I love how McCoy immediately put on his drunk face and Spock was like, "An opportunity to insult McCoy?? Awesome.”

So I assumed the Chairman was either dumb or didn’t recognize them with their shirts on but apparently he was yet another mole, so. At least it’s not a plot hole.

“The speech has no discernible pattern or logic.” Hmmm, I wonder what it feels like to have a leader who speaks with no discernible pattern or logic?

Guys. Pals. Awful people. Did he really give orders, or did he just say random shit? People will flock to anything. I'll be honest, I actually think this is one of the subtler and better parts of this episode: how chilling it is to contemplate how people will rally around any non-speech that has the right tone and a few key words. This is garbage language. But it incites people to kill.

McCoy and his stimulants again.

Spock and his mind probing again.

Wow Spock really messed with his mind there. “He can answer questions but not otherwise speak?” What kind of crazy shit is that?

They are being so mean to Spock. “Malformed ears.” “Low forehead.” That’s not a low forehead, that’s bangs.

Nice triumivirate scene at the end. Feels good, feels organic. Kirk likes to hear his two BFFs bickering because it feels like all is right with the universe, and I agree. Nature is healing.

This episode has a very weird (and very hard to swallow imo) backstory. Like, who primarily associates the Nazis with efficiency? And even if you do, if you think there’s something to the way they put together the country so fast post-WWI, all of this “efficiency” is directly tied to hatred and violence. Like Isak said, the Ekosians have nothing to hold them together BUT hating Zeons. That's at the center of the design. It's not like Gill’s plan backfired it was just... a horrible plan?? It doesn’t even make sense to me that his “effective regime” was co-opted by one hateful person because what was at the center of the “Nazi” regime before the hatred of Zeons? What could it have been? There are no other alternatives provided. Also, even if it could have been somehow accomplished without the use of a scapegoat.. is fascism really an ideal? Like the story never reckoned with that concept at all, which I find disturbing.

Here’s the thing about Gill. He is a certain real type and I appreciate his inclusion up to a point. He’s the Naive, Hubristic Intellectual. He thinks because he’s studied something, academically, he knows more about it even than people who experienced it, and he can fix all of its problems. “I can do this, but better. I am so smart, I am so well-informed, I have no flaws.” I can even see this sort of person being someone a young Kirk would admire because there’s an optimism and idealism to this naivete. I don’t think Kirk is arrogant but he is very idealistic, and when he was a young man, still in the market for heroes, or at least idols or mentors? Yeah, someone with that kind of attitude toward life--that we can deeply understand and then improve upon history--would have appealed to him. It’s possible that Gill even was the “compassionate, gentle” person that Kirk thought, or that he had that side to him.

Where I think the episode erred is in absolving Gill of most of his guilt for this state of affairs. He does die and he does admit he was wrong, but his biggest sin is allegedly in introducing a regime that could be co-opted for evil rather than one that was inherently bad. He is literally drugged (tortured in a way), to emphasize just how non-culpable the narrative thinks he is. Also, while he does apologize for interfering at all, even this is fairly brief and not expanded upon in the rest of the narrative. The truth is he shouldn’t have interfered in general, because that’s not his place or his right, and he shouldn’t have interfered in this way specifically. Even if Malakon hadn’t risen and taken over, the ideal Gil was imposing was one of unthinking uniformity, lack of autonomy, worship of a leader over the rule law--these are not the values of the Federation, the show Star Trek, or me. But he’s used more as a device to explain why the show is so unsubtly Nazi, rather than a real villain or object lesson. Even though Gill is a much better object lesson than Malakon.

And what about Malakon? The ending presents him, literally and in so many words, as the “one evil man” responsible for all of this. I think we know both from studying history and, unfortunately, from our own times, that this is untrue because impossible. One evil person is just a lunatic ranting on the street corner. One evil leader became leader because others agreed and gave him power, or agreed in part, or made a deal with the devil, or disagreed but said nothing, or spoke but were overwhelmed. It’s a disservice to the subject matter to say that dictatorships or authoritarian regimes are that simple. I get that the episode is only 50 minutes and it needs to wrap up, and it’s simpler to say “Okay, killed the Villain, now we can go back to being Not Evil, all the Ekosians will be as happy as the Zeons because we never really wanted this.” But Hitler and his henchmen weren’t the only Nazis. Regular people--and in this context, regular Ekosians--weren’t Nazis too.

Overall, the episode was okay. Very awkward though. Very blunt. I think it would have been better off not using the Nazi symbology so literally. Like the idea that a human would come into a society and purposefully create something from our history is interesting (and “what if Earth but alien?” is certainly something TOS likes doing and finds various ways to do--like the gangsters in A Piece of the Action or Neo-Rome in Bread and Circuses or even literal Greek Gods in Who Mourns for Adonais?) but not worth it given which society was being emulated. It seemed to be too much an excuse to dig out the old WWII movie costumes (and put Jewish actors in Nazi regalia which... is very... distressing) and not so much an excuse for some kind of commentary along the lines of what I said above re: the hubris of historians, the hubris of time. That aspect leaves a bad taste. It had some good ideas but I think, again, it was hindered rather than helped by how literal it insisted (for some reason) on being. Compare it to A Private Little War, which was just about as obvious a Vietnam allegory as you can get, and yet still didn’t literally transport anyone to Vietnam, and this ep looks all the more clunky. I’m probably judging it more harshly than I have on previous viewings, but I really feel like... you can use sci fi to make a commentary on the rise of authoritarianism, but the delicacy of the subject matter requires you to be particularly thoughtful in the way you do it and the actual statements you’re making.

Anyway, the Enterprise Defeats Nazis is a good episode summary at least.

I think in my last attempt at a whole rewatch I stopped at around this point. I seem to have watched the next two episodes, according to Amazon, but I have a weird feeling I only watched one, the next one, By Any Other Name, and then stopped. I don’t remember either of them so we’ll see how that goes! Will they seem familiar or not?

#the year 2021 #2021: fandom thoughts #2021: star trek #star trek tos

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basketballandtextbooks · 5 years ago

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Bat how do you feel after watching the special

There are multiple levels to my thoughts.

On a satire level, they bungled a lot of the information. They were trying to take an “all sides are stupid stance” on an issue where people are dying daily and there are actual medical reasons for one stance to be factually incorrect so taking an “all sides” stance is... fucking tone deaf. To be fair to them, I enjoyed the amount of meta that informed their episode about knowing that their episode was doing more harm than good and using Randy as a tool for that particular satire was a smart and effective mood. That said, it was a mixed message that promoted a lot of misinformation. While the meta parts were funny, lamp-shading how poor your satire is doesn’t actually make your satire good. It just means you’re lamp-shading the issue. It was disappointing because I had hoped for better as they frequently write good satire. Stan’s character journey was the only cohesive one throughout the episode and while it was a good one, there was so much of the episode that was tone deaf to the severity of this issue. While I think it’s valid to bring levity to the issue and I was hoping they would, they missed the mark by a long-shot. That said, they usually don’t do well with medical issues. The last time they bungled their satire this badly was the vaccination episode. And they infamously bungle literally every trans-related episode. There were aspects of the episode that were poignant, well thought out, and well executed, but the majority was an under-researched in-cohesive mess. Which to some extent I think that’s what they were aiming for because they view the pandemic as an in-cohesive mess. The issue is that one of the reasons that pandemic is such a pervasive issue (especially in the states) is the mass spread of misinformation so when they spread misinformation to criticize the spread of misinformation... it’s just stupid.

However on a character level I very much enjoyed the episode. It was yet another Randy focused episode and as I’ve expressed on a few occasions I just don’t find him funny. Oh no, he jizzed on the weed, that’s sooooo surprising. Honestly Randy is a very one-note character. He does something horrifying, people are horrified, he faces no consequences, rinse, repeat. That all established, I think it’s important character information that he cheated on Sharon twice in China with no guilt whatsoever. He only wanted to hide his crime because “my wife is a bitch”. Also considering he cheated with non-human entities, I think this is strong proof of Rowelie’s viability so take that as you will Rowelie shippers. Also the fact that people grow Randy mustache’s if they ingest his cum and Sharon had a mustache at the end... I sort of hate that Randy took that as proof that she smoked his weed. Now, even if she had smoked it his behavior still is completely and disgustingly inexcusable but also... everyone in South Park is openly smoking so she could have very easily gotten second hand Randy-stache. Or just given her husband a blow job. Also it’s interesting information that within universe Randy’s cum has mutagenic properties. Again for the Rowelie shippers: you could use this as an excuse as to how Towelie turns into a human, Randy’s cum mutated him. Also I think it’s likely that microwaving his balls could be what caused his radioactive jizz. Or one of the times he was experimented on by aliens. Or both. Altogether Randy was a repulsive bastard within the episode who I find boring at best BUT the amount of meta information that he introduced will be very useful to inform my theories. (Also again, the fact that he so easily and guilelessly cheats on Sharon tells me that he that he has done it a multitude of times. My theory is that after he gave Gerald a handy in the hot-tub and was forgiven he just never stopped, basically assuming the permission to do it once was broad permission to do it forever) (oh and second note: this is the second time within canon that Randy has poisoned people’s weed so uh... that’s fucked up)

Freaked out a lot about Jimbo dying, I’m really scared they’ll kill Jimbo but also since they already killed Ned I wonder if the two of them can be happy in the afterlife together because no one can convince me that Jimbo and Ned aren’t canon. Also Randy’s blatant racism and lack of empathy for Jimbo’s illness was really yikes. I dunno guys, I’ve always had a soft spot for Jimbo. He’s a stupid stereotypical red-neck but he had a sort of charm to him and I thought he was funny. I miss when him and Ned were regulars on the show.

CARTMAN DANCING AND SINGING WAS ACTUALLY THE CUTEST THING EVER ON THIS FUCKING EARTH, FIGHT ME I LOVE THIS STUPID SELFISH LITTLE CRETIN also it’s yet another episode to add to the list of “times Cartman shows he can grow into a better person” and list of “times Cartman seems to show a special soft spot for Stan”. Cartman does tend to listen more frequently when Stan asks and less frequently for literally anyone else. So the Stanman was strong in this one. Also really enjoyed the Stutters. While yes, Stan was completely using Butters as a tool to project his own feelings of unease I think it really says something that he chose Butters for that role. I think to some extent he felt that Butters might be feeling the same mortality-panic he was feeling (whether it was true or not) and that kinship he felt with Butters led him to feel that Butters was also feeling the way he did. He was panicked and he thought out of all his friends that Butters was the one who might share his feelings. I enjoy that sort of subtle connection between them and it’s been a consistent thread within the show that Butters and Stan just treat each other a little different than they do literally everyone else. It’s worth thinking about.

I think Stan was also at his limit because he was already suffering from isolation issues due to Tegridy Farms from before the pandemic. He’s always been a social boy and this brought him to the brink of what he could handle.

THEY SHOT TOKEN AND I SWEAR TO GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LOUD I WAS SCREAMING AT THE TV I THINK I PISSED OFF MY NEIGHBORS i fucking knew it was coming too. The fucking SECOND they shoved those fucking corrupt ass cops in the same room as Token.... I fucking feared for his life. They’ve killed off fairly major background characters before and killing Token would be... topical. I will make it my mission to personally destroy every fucking cop in South Park (Barbrady gets a pass... BARELY). I hate them all. I’ve hated them all for a long time but they murdered several children (including Kenny, the bastards) and they SHOT MY BOY TOKEN I WILL RIP OFF THEIR FUCKING ARMS SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN SHOOT THEN YOU TRASH BASTARDS

Nothing big Kenny happened this episode, insert sad fanboy noises

There were some strong Kyman moments. Cartman went to Kyle’s house for help at the beginning of the episode, obsessed over whether or not he’d be in the same room as Kyle, tried to vomit on Kyle, AND THEN KYLE FUCKING JUMPED HIM AND BEAT HIS ASS DOWN, FUCK ALL OF YOU WHO INCORRECTLY THINK DIFFERENT KYLE IS A FUCKING DOMINANT TOP, HE DOESN’T TAKE IT, HE GIVES IT

Adding that to my long list of “episodes where Kyle shows he isn’t a pushover, is very violent, and can easily kick Cartman’s bitch ass” because every so once in awhile I have to break out that list when someone insists upon how submissive Kyle is. Bitttttttccchhhhhh, you haven’t watched the show if you think that. My favorite kid doesn’t take your shit

Very interested in Red’s new canon last name (McArthur) but I’m also unsure about it because in the scene’s where it’s shown I couldn’t quite tell if it was actually Red or Powder. She kept being shown from odd angles and her hair looked a little shorter than normal. That said, I’m happy if it is her because I’ve been wanting a canon last name for Red for a long-ass time. Even presuming you go by the cousin’s headcanon for Craig and Red, there’s no guarantee they would have the same last name.

Let’s see, I think I had some other thoughts but those were the main points

OH PAUSE THE SCREEN WHEN THE PARENTS ARE ON ZOOM it’s really cute/funny what the usernames are. For example Annie’s mom is totally just using Annie’s account so she’s probably not very tech savvy. There’s actually a lot of minor character detail that you can infer from those screen-names.

Yeah those are my major thoughts: Randy is trash, nothing new, Cartman was ADORABLE and also lots of good meta for him (I have some hcs that one of the reasons he adored the social distancing so much isn’t because he hates human contact because we know from previous seasons that he’s a bit of a lonely boy, but he likes the social distancing explicitly because it gives him an excuse to reject other people before they can reject him), good stutters moments, good kyman moments, good stanman moments, there were some style moments if you squint? Kyle was one of the people Stan consulted about his feelings of unease but since it wasn’t just Kyle that he consulted it didn’t really feel like that was a special personal part of their relationship, moreso that he wanted Kyle to kiss his booboo and make it better. Although further proof that Kyle is the dom in that relationship. Kyle was agitated over the situation but overall rational, Stan was flipping the fuck out. Stan came to him submissive, scared, and asking for Kyle to make him feel better. Kyle remained calm and logical. I swear to god if I read one more cutesy-innocent Kyle post I might flip a table. Literally Kyle’s canonical self is RIGHT THERE

OH YEAH MY BUTTERS THOUGHTS there’s nothing really new here but it continues the trend of Butters being a self centered prick. (I love him but he is) Instead of even trying to understand the number of people dying or the gravity of the situation, he’s just upset and throwing tantrums because he doesn’t get to play at Build a Bear. And it’s made explicit in the writing that unlike Stan he isn’t struggling with the nebulous fear of death (probably brought on by his uncle getting sick). Butters is just bitter that he doesn’t get to have special things. Also Stan was the only one who tried even a little to save Butters from getting taken by the guards. No one else tried to stop or warn Butters. So again, very cute Stutters moment where Stan is overtly worried for Butters’ well-being even when he’s throwing a bratty tantrum. (I don’t know how anyone perceives Butters as an altruistic person, he’s a selfish twat. he’s a lovable selfish twat, like Cartman, but he’s still a selfish twat. and none of his shitty behavior in this episode was even remotely related to Cartman so you can’t connect it to him. Butters, on his own and without anyone else’s influence, does and acts like a shit-head). There is the excuse that he’s only ten but literally everyone in that cafeteria is only ten. But Butters is the only one kicking other people’s food because he didn’t get his special prize.

This all sounds like I hate Butters. I love Butters, warts and all, I just get really annoyed when fandom ignores his warts because his warts are PART OF THE REASON I LOVE BUTTERS. Also it’s like... blatantly and observably canon that he’s selfish.

I’m going to happily ruminate on Stan feeling a strong pang of protectiveness towards Butters though. That was quite illuminating.

#official ooc tag #official ask tag #timmytimmytomcats

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coldflasher · 5 years ago

Photo

Part of Femslash Week, organised by @flarrowverse-shipyard :D Femslash Week Day 6 - Snowed In

Pairing: Caitlin Snow/Iris West

Rating: Teen (mentions of sex)

TW: mentions of sex

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23031847

Safe As Houses by coldflasher (capriciouslouis on ao3)

“I just can’t understand where this blizzard is coming from,” Iris says, staring out of the window in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Caitlin says guiltily. “Me neither.”

Iris and Caitlin are investigating an abandoned cabin in the woods when a mysterious snow-storm strikes out of nowhere. It’s pretty cold inside the cabin, but luckily for them, there are a lot of ways to keep each other warm.

“I just can’t understand where this blizzard is coming from,” Iris says, staring out of the window in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Caitlin says guiltily. “Me neither.”

When they arrived at the cabin in the middle of the woods, it was a cheerful spring day and sun was streaming between the leaves of the trees overhead, gold spotlights dappling the moss. Just a few hours later, the snow is piling up thickly on the windowsill outside and the glass in the windows shimmer with frost. The front door is stuck shut as if glued. Iris shakes her head at the snow piling up outside while Caitlin looks at the bluish tips of her fingers and flexes her hands to shake off the last remnants of the icy fog that swirls and clings to her like an aura.

The cabin is part of the investigation they’re conducting into a series of mysterious meta attacks that S.T.A.R Labs has been looking into, and Iris has been working on an article to try and set the city’s minds at ease. Caitlin, who’s been acting as her medical consultant and making sure Iris keeps the science straight, agreed to tag along to check out the scene of the crime – not that there’s any evidence left now, everything cleared away, including the markers that stood on every surface like the flags Caitlin used to stick in sandcastles on the beach when she was a kid. It was supposed to be a short trip, but with the snow outside showing no sign of letting up, it looks like they’re in it for the long haul.

“Super weird,” Iris says, shaking her head and letting the curtain fall back into place. “I don’t suppose you can do anything about this, can you?”

Caitlin shakes her head. “Frost and I create snow and ice. We can’t get rid of it.”

“Figures. Oh well. If we’re stuck here, we might as well get settled in.” She unzips her laptop bag and slides her computer out, getting settled on the sofa. “You don’t mind if I get some work done, do you? Maybe being trapped here will get me in the right mindset.”

“Sure, knock yourself out,” says Caitlin. “Uh. I’m just going to…” She gestures vaguely. “Make use of the facilities.”

“Okay,” Iris says absently, already typing.

Caitlin walks into the cramped bathroom, the bathtub so close to the toilet she could sit on it and dangle her feet into the tub – not that she would. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone had been killed in there, and there’s a reddish stain around the rim that someone has tried and failed to scrub away. It could be rust or could be blood, but either way she doesn’t trust it. Looking at herself in the rust-flecked mirror, she hisses, “Frost. Frost!”

What?

Caitlin glares at herself in the mirror. “You know what. Why’d you snow us in?”

Chill out, says Frost. There’s no way that pun was unintentional; Caitlin fumes harder. I’m doing you a favour. This crush of yours is getting super old; it’s time to do something about it.

“You created a blizzard just to get me to admit that I have a crush on Iris?”

Clearly it’s working, Frost points out. Now you just need to tell her that.

“You couldn’t have just given me a pep talk?”

Like you’d have listened. Now you have no choice. Besides, it’s romantic – like one of those tedious romance novels you love so much.

“You call this romantic?” hisses Caitlin. “It’s a crime scene.”

A knock on the door makes her jump. “Cait? Everything okay?”

“I’m okay,” she calls, and watches the shadows of Iris’ feet shifting through the crack under the door before she walks away.

As soon as she’s gone, Caitlin’s head snaps up and she glares back into the mirror, clutching the sink. “Don’t you dare leave me to deal with this, you asshole. Frost? Frost!”

Her head stays silent. Frost has abandoned her, leaving nothing but a sense of unbearable smugness in her wake.

Closing her eyes, Caitlin resists the urge to throttle her own reflection and settles for flipping herself the bird. Then she flops onto the toilet and buries her face in her hands.

Being alone with Iris was already starting to make her nervous, and now they’re trapped in close proximity for god knows how long. But the longer she hides in here the weirder things will get when she finally emerges. Taking a deep breath, she smooths the front of her blouse and makes eye contact with herself in the mirror.

“You got this,” she says.

Iris is on the couch with her laptop when Caitlin comes back into the living room. “You good?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. There was a spider,” Caitlin lies, “so…” She gestures vaguely at the bathroom.

“You want me to handle it?” offers Iris.

The thought of Iris heroically taking on a spider for her makes Caitlin fuzzy inside, especially since she knows from past experience that Iris isn’t too fond of them. “I got it. Thanks, though.”

She goes to join Iris on the couch, and notices that Iris still has her jacket on and has zipped it all the way up to the throat. She keeps rubbing her hands together in between sentences.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s pretty cold in here. No central heating, I guess.”

Caitlin hadn’t noticed. Then again, she wouldn’t. Like Elsa, the cold doesn’t bother her much.

“There’s a fireplace,” she suggests.

“I don’t know how to start a fire,” Iris admits.

Caitlin shrugs. “We’re smart,” she says. “We’ll figure it out.”

Being busy helps. It keeps her from becoming too awkward and stumbling over her words. She finds a matchbook in one of the kitchen drawers, which makes things easier. Iris rips a bunch of pages out of the back of her notebook, stuffing the grate full of scrunched up paper. When they light it, it’s with bated breath – but the fire catches, and within a few minutes the room is flickering with a cheery light that glows like the sunset outside and fills the room with a pleasant warmth.

“Better?” Caitlin asks.

“Much,” Iris says, and goes back to work.

They both get settled on the couch. Caitlin has started carrying books in her purse, and she pulls out an old favourite, a Rebecca Silver romance novel about an alien warrior woman and her space pirate conquest. It’s the definition of a guilty pleasure read, and she all but folds the book in half making sure Iris can’t see the cover – but her attention keeps wandering anyway. She likes watching Iris’ fingers fly across the keyboard, teeth sinking into her lower lip as she concentrates. Every now and then she’ll pause and frown at the screen for a while, thinking, and when the right word comes to her she’ll nod her head with satisfaction as she continues. Aside from occasional interjections of “hey, what’s another word for ‘proponent?’” or “does this sentence make sense to you?” and the crackling of the fire, they’re quiet. It’s soothing.

“Crap,” Iris says eventually. “My laptop’s almost dead.”

Caitlin looks up. The snow has stopped falling, and outside the night sky is almost black with the shadows of the conifers silhouetted against it, flat as paper cut-outs.

Iris double-saves before shutting down the laptop. As she leans forward to add a few more pieces of paper to the fire, she accidentally knocks Caitlin’s book onto the floor.

“Crap, sorry.” She reaches for it.

“No, wait –”

Caitlin tries to intercept, but she’s too late. Iris is already picking up the book, and as Caitlin’s ears grow hot, she wishes – not for the first time – that the covers of Rebecca Silver’s books were a little more subtle. It’s hard to deny the subject matter of a romance novel that has an underwear-clad, three-boobed alien lady straddling a buccaneer on the front. She really needs to invest in an e-reader.

“Is this Rebecca Silver?” Iris says.

“Yeah, but it’s – I mean, she’s –”

“I love her,” Iris says, flipping the pages enthusiastically. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re super gratuitous and a little heavy on the smut, but they’re so fun. I really love the heist scenes; the woman has a mind like a supervillain. So many details!”

Caitlin blinks. She’d been expecting a similar reaction she’d got from Cisco, who had made fun of her mercilessly when he found one of Rebecca’s novels in her purse but later been caught reading one under the desk in the cortex. Instead, Iris is checking the blurb.

“I haven’t read this one.”

“It’s one of her first,” Caitlin says, finding her voice at last. “The prose is a little rougher, but the plot is awesome. She gets a little more formulaic in her more recent novels; I guess it’s hard to keep up with such a huge demand from her readership.” After a moment’s hesitation, she says, “You want to read it?”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll totally borrow it after you’re done with it.”

“Or we could read it together. It’ll give us something to do.” Her brain catches up to her a second later and her thoughts all pile up like a bunch of kids all landing on top of one another at the bottom of a slide. “I mean, maybe not the sexy parts.”

“I like the sexy parts,” Iris says, but she’s grinning.

“Me too,” admits Caitlin, “but they’re a little graphic.”

“We’ll skip the sex scenes, then. Not sure how much of the book will be left, but we’ll figure it out.”

Iris is a good reader. She’s not embarrassed to do the voices and her own voice has a pleasant cadence to it, smooth and relaxing. With that and the fire crackling, Caitlin can’t remember when she was last so relaxed. She closes her eyes for a second, enjoying the warmth on her face and letting Iris’ voice fade into the background…

When she wakes, someone is stroking her hair.

She’s too sleepy to acknowledge it at first. With a happy mumble, she snuggles down and rubs her cheek against the soft fabric she’s resting on, enjoying the sensation of fingers carding gently through her curls, lingering at the nape of her neck. Over and over, like she’s a cat. It feels nice, and she’s about to let herself drift off again when suddenly it hits her.

She sits bolt upright, alarmed, and there’s a slithering sound as Iris’ jacket – which had been draped over her like a blanket – falls to the floor. The fire has died down to almost nothing. Caitlin looks at Iris, who’s startled and has pulled her hand back like Caitlin burned her.

That’s when she realises she fell asleep with her head in Iris’ lap.

“I’m sorry,” Iris says, “did I wake you?”

“No, I –” She’s mortified. How long has she been napping with her cheek resting on Iris’ thigh like that? “How long have I been asleep?”

“Not long. Just a couple of hours.”

“Oh my God, I’m sorry –”

“Don’t worry about it –”

“I can’t believe I did that –”

“It’s fine, really –”

“I wasn’t even that tired, I closed my eyes for just a second and then I woke up and I was –”

Iris silences her with a kiss.

Everything stops. The world. Her heart. The flurry of panicked, anxious thoughts flying around her brain like sharp-edged snowflakes, creating a blizzard she can’t seem to see past. All of that fades away and there’s only Iris, who reaches up to caress Caitlin’s cheek as she kisses her, tucking her hair behind her ear and stroking the red mark on her face where she’d slept strangely, then sliding her fingers into Caitlin’s hair until her hand rests on the back of Caitlin’s neck, a reassuring weight.

They part, and for a moment Iris’ forehead rests against hers in a gesture almost more intimate than the kiss before she pulls away.

“Oh,” says Caitlin, startled.

“Oh,” Iris says, smiling.

For a moment Caitlin sits there, dazed. Iris reaches out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“You with me? Seemed like you were freaking out on me for a second there.”

“Maybe a little.” She hesitates. “Um. Do you kiss every person that starts freaking out on you?”

The smile becomes an impish grin. “Only the ones I really like.”

Another oh, but this one inside. The sensation of things clicking into place, the realisation that this isn’t as one-sided as she’d thought. Things are beginning to make a lot more sense, now. The fact she’d been invited along as a medical consultant but hadn’t been asked a single question about biology, for example… and the way Iris had kept glancing at her as she read aloud from the book. The hand in her hair when she’d thought Caitlin wasn’t awake to see it.

She feels a rush of warmth that was nothing to do with the fire.

“Well, it worked,” Caitlin says. Then, unable to believe her own daring, “Maybe you should do it again.”

“Yeah?” asks Iris, her smile growing.

“I mean, at this point it’s preventative,” says Caitlin. “Which is better than a cure.”

“Is that your professional opinion, Doctor Snow?”

“Absolutely. Super professional.”

“Well,” says Iris. “If it’s what the doctor ordered…”

She pulls Caitlin close to her and they collapse into one another like a snowdrift, sinking into the sofa. For once, Caitlin’s mind is silent. There are no thoughts to torment her, no worries or fears. Just Iris, her reverent touch and her gentle mouth. The fire in the grate is almost extinguished, but there are better ways to keep warm.

Outside, the snow is beginning to thaw.

#FSFFWeek20 #FSFFWeek20DaySix #day 6 #snowwest

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grisdidthis · 5 years ago

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strangetownies #3 aka everyone who’s left and also I give up on Loki he can stay fug

Well. I’ve made over Ophelia and Olive, the Curious brothers + Jenny and Nervous, and with this entry I’m wrapping up my detour into pre-made re-imagining. (As mentioned in the other posts, I’m not touching the aliens, which means no Chloe, Lola, PT9, Tycho, Johnny or Jill. And I’m not doing the Grunts because I don’t care for them.) So this will be all for now, unless I get really bored or really desperate for more townies and decide that what Platform 42 really needs is Don Lothario ho-ing around or for Bella to show up chilling on some rock.

1. Circe Beaker

The OG lady of mad science. If I hadn’t started out the story with original characters, she would 100% be the person running the place. Aside from my standard “Hi you are now twenty years in the future have some wrinkles!” gussy down, I’ve given her nicer hair and glasses that let you actually see this woman’s eyes. They’re nice eyes. They’ll devour your soul and rate its spiciness.

Circe and her husband are on P42 doing the obvious: exploiting the fact that over there, all is fair in the name of scientific progress and they have access to a steady stream of Actual Normal Subjects. She’s still a surgeon. Sometimes she even sews people back up after she’s done with them.

2. Loki Beaker

THIS GUY! THAT FACE! But I am, after lengthy deliberation and soul searching, semi-happy with how he turned out, despite the struggle it was to tweak that horrible mug into something vaguely decent. Most of the challenge resided in softening his very strong features (THAT BROW, I’LL HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT IT) without completely erasing them. (If I was going to do that, might as well just start with a random blonde dude.) Yes, the final result ain’t pretty, but it’s Loki-ish enough that we’re going with it.

Like his wife, Loki has found his footing on P42 quite nicely. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the arrival of a certain trio of brothers were to mess up his tidy life?

3. Erin Beaker

Erin here feels a bit like cheating. I used her template and changed nothing about her face structure, and left her a green-eyed blonde, but gave her a complete style overhaul. I’m sure I’ll find a plot reason for why she went from pink wearing everygirl to icy blonde in a formal dress. Am including her here anyway. She wasn’t aged-up as drastically because the Singles household girls always felt very YA to me. And because the hood is currently lacking in cute lesbian couples. Which brings us to...

4. Kristen Loste

Kristen! It turns out that she was beautiful all along. Great bone structure! Except for the nose! (It’ll be a cold day in hell before I leave a premade nose alone, WHY are they all so tiny, why do you hate harmony, EA?) As with Erin, she was only very lightly aged (she has some wrinkles that are apparently too subtle to be visible in screencaps this small.) And she’s a case of thank fuck I downloaded all that CC makeup that looks good on darker skin tones, because if I had tried to glam her up her before, she’d have ended up as frightening as my early Rita makeover attempts.

I gave her a leather jacket, because she seems like the type to rock one. This version of her has a job as staff and is dating Erin (my longest running Single household play-through had each of them date Chloe and Lola, but since those two have been erased from existence, they’re left with each other now.)

5. Ajay Loner

Lastly, Ajay! Ajay was my “what random household am I dumping him in today” guy. As is obvious, he hasn’t had much work done. Just different hair, a less shiny skin, a bit of face detail. Plus the unofficial “I made it past the zombies now I’m here” outfit. Ajay is getting married to Devika Nagarajan, because she has a shockingly large family for a townie (I got carried away making Nagarajans, and now I have three generations of them running around) and that way he’ll stop being a loner. (See what I did there?) I may even make him that one irresponsible guy who decides to reproduce during the apocalypse, just to see how the kids turn out.

#ts2 #p42 characters #p42 worldbuilding #p42 ts2 #ts2 premades

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aewriting · 5 years ago

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Jesse and Aliens: What did he know (and when)?

Earlier today, @manesalex posted a beautiful, detailed gifset of Alex and Jesse's interaction at the drive it. That gifset made me want to organize my thoughts about Jesse Manes and his knowledge of aliens (helped along by some comments from @acomebackstory ).

I don’t follow spoilers and behind the scenes info for Roswell NM super closely, but from what’s been posted (and casting info), it seems that we are going to get at least a little bit more information on the origins of the alien presence in Roswell. Based on Mimi’s comment to Alex about him looking like his father in 1x07, and the flashback to another, older Manes, it seems probable that Jesse has known about aliens, period, for a while. However, I have no idea how long he has known (or at least heavily suspected) that the “Pod Squad” (Michael, Max, and Isobel) are aliens.

My own personal head canon is that he has at least been suspicious for a WHILE. I imagine that, when three naked children turned up near the original crash site with no prior language or memories, Jesse was using any ounce of influence he had to gather information. After that, though, I think it gets hazy. Did he keep tabs on them from that young age? Was he aware of their names? I think it’s likely he’d be able to casually keep an eye on Max and Isobel, because they were local, but with Michael being shuffled around in the foster care system, I think that would have been more difficult (but not impossible).

This question first came up for me related to Jesse’s actions in the shed. I’m not sure that the show will ever give us a canon answer about this, but did Jesse know/suspect that Michael was an alien when he caught Michael and Alex together? And if so, did that influence his response to that situation?

My personal head canon was that his reaction was almost purely related to homophobia. In that scene, based on my rewatch, he’s addressing Alex when he says “This ends now. How dare you? Under my roof.” I can see how it could be ambiguous, though! Alex then shouts, “Dad, this has nothing to do with you!” This is when Jesse starts choking Alex and pins him. He is definitely addressing Alex when he then says, “Everything you do. Everything. And I will not be humiliated.”

To my mind, this is totally related to catching Alex “under [his] roof” with another guy. I think that, had Alex been with ANY other guy, Jesse would have reacted similarly (including initiating a physical attack, whether it was on Alex or whoever else got in his way).

Now, I think after this it gets more ambiguous. Like, I wonder if he knew that Michael was “Michael Guerin, potential alien.” I think if he didn’t know, in the moment, he would have found out quickly – if anything, maybe just to see whose hand he broke and if there were any potential consequences. I do think that Jesse considers himself totally above the law (and normal consequences), but I think a guy like that would cover his tracks (or, quite possibly, he at least had an idea who Michael was in the moment). But this, to me, is really unclear. Was Michael a total stranger to him? The bad-news foster kid? Or the potential alien?

That same night (which, really, show?) was the first murder. I imagine that would have amped up Jesse’s personal crusade against the aliens, and the subsequent murders would have strengthened his campaign. In 1x08, in the Project Shepherd bunker, Jesse tells Alex that Michael has been “targeting you for over a decade now.” He also says that Alex is “blinded by [his] perversions.” It’s my personal head canon that this is Jesse, ret-conning the events of the shed. Obviously, this exposes Jesse’s homophobia in explicit ways, but also in a more subtle way. I don’t believe that Jesse would ever accept Alex’s feelings toward another man as being legitimate (or vice versa), even if that man was a run-of-the-mill, normal human. This is just another example of Jesse devaluing Alex because of his sexuality, because in his mind, of course Michael wasn’t involved with Alex because he cared for him, because how could he possibly? That sort of love is not legitimate, in Jesse’s eyes. To him, of course Michael was targeting Alex – I’m just not sure when, exactly, Jesse developed this particular explanation. I think the timing of this self-crafted story depends on when, exactly, he knew about/suspected Michael of being an alien.

From Alex’s Project Shepherd bunker conversation with his father in 1x08, we know that Project Shepherd’s funding was cut in 2010. Jesse also says, “The project recently confirmed Michael Guerin’s involvement in terrorist activities.” So… does this mean it was recently confirmed that Michael was an alien? I think @acomebackstory brought up a really excellent point about this, because prior to doing this deep dive, I assumed that the drive-in was the first time Jesse saw Michael and Alex interacting in a non-official capacity since the shed (this could end up being completed blown up by the Lost Decade, of course, but this was my assumption). However, @acomebackstory pointed out that Jesse has security cameras that, in one scene, show that he is watching the Pod Squad. I remember this scene too, but someone – what episode is it in??? I thought it was 1x08, but I don’t think it is. Would love to rewatch that and see what exactly the footage is that Jesse has. If he was watching the Airstream, then did Jesse see Michael and Alex, like, together together? OR, did he not set up the surveillance until AFTER he saw Michael and Alex together at the drive-in?

Because, as I mentioned on the gifset that @manesalex posted, I think Jesse would have flipped his shit when he found out that Alex and Michael were still interacting. I think he would have seen that as a personal failure – of Alex, of course, but also of himself. Because if they are seeing each other again, it means that his attack didn’t work, the Air Force didn’t work – nothing actually stuck, and here Alex and Michael are, in public, at a Veterans’ fund raiser (of all events!) sitting in a truck together, sharing a beer. And so he tries to worm his way into Alex’s head.

Here’s hoping we get more info about this in the (at least two!) seasons to come! Would love to hear others’ thoughts on this as well.

#my meta #jesse manes #alex manes #michael guerin #what did jesse know #and when #malex #homophobia #roswell nm

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wearemage · 6 years ago

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What's your favorite magic system? Which fantasy worlds type of magic would you prefer to be in/use?

Hello Anon,

Sorry for such a late answer, lately I had very little time and it’s a very good question.

Obviously the short answer would be that I love every kind of magic. Divine included, I shall play again my fanatic priest on this weekend’s LARP.

A longer and more detailed would be that I have an affinity for low fantasy settings with mages and magic items being rare and uncertain. People there could live their whole lives without meeting a wizard or seeing a single spell or even a trinket. Of course, some would even say magic is just superstition... I love seeing them being proven wrong.

Also my personal preference goes to ritualistic magic. Circles, candles, incantation, sacrifices… Speaking of which, magic, especially its powerful forms, needs to come with a price higher than “just” years of hard work. Blood, very rare components, lifeforce, pleasures, loved ones… I live for the drama of such hard choices. It does work very well for both evil and good spellcasters, of course.

While I would probably sacrifice a lot to be able to cast fireballs, I have a special interest for universes where nothing can be done with a wave of the hand. Where mages, when the protagonist finally find them, explain finally that magic is hard, complicated and far less (or more) powerful and dangerous or just remotely alien, than whatever they imagined in the first place.

I’ve really fell in love with those ideas through Dragon Lance’s Raistlin Majere and Narrenturm’s trilogy by A. Sapkowski (mostly known for being the Witcher’s author). While the first one is a pretty classic DnD setting, Raistlin pays a very high price for more and more power which, when I was 12-15, seemed really cool… Don’t judge me. The second one relayed a lot on actual superstitions remastered for fantasy needs. It was like trying to using “Le Dictionnaire Infernal” by C. de Plancy (I’m referencing a re-print from XXXX) an actual spellbook. A lot of fun.

LOTR’s universe is also filled with magic in such a subtle way, I can only love it. Even the GoT show presents an excellent magical setting as far as I can tell. Of course we’re exclusively talking about magic here. I don’t want a war in the notes.

In RPG settings, my most obvious example is of course the Call of Cthulhu were every single spell comes with a price of sanity and requires both extensive knowledge, components, adequate places to perform the ritual and of course even executed perfectly comes with a great risk of failure and doom. And some of the, very rare, wizards will only perform one or two rituals in their lives… But the Chronicles of Darkness offer a lot in this kind of magic as well.

Recently, I’ve been posting here a little bit about the Shadows of Esteren (a French RPG). That’s the kind of magic setting I could live in. While the life on Esteren (at least in Tri-Kazel) is hard, divine, druidic and lovecraftian magics exist along with steampunk-like, Nature’s energy-powered technology. It seems like a lot, but most people don’t see much of those wonders. Using them is complicated, a lot of knowledge has been lost or is reserved for hermetic factions and their members. But savage and dangerous territories still covers most important parts of the Three Kingdoms and hide a lot of mysteries and dark secrets to unravel…

All of that being said… I would jump head first into the first universe that opens to me with a “Wizards Inside” sign on it.

I hope it answers your question, Anon. Feel free to follow-up.

#Anon #Ask the Mage

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thisspaceintentionallyleftblank · 6 years ago

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Try, Try Again (pt. 7)

(Cpt 1) | (Cpt 2) | (Cpt 3) | (Cpt 4) | (Cpt 5) | (Cpt 6) || (AO3) Just to preface, this chapter will include some OC characters. If you’d like, you can see art of them here. Chapter 7 (3518 words)

Emmet was crouched down, his eyes just barely peeking over the edge of the windowsill. Outside, past the thick, cold glass and a long stretch of the glastroid’s sheer surface, a second ship rested at an awkward angle.

The ship was probably white under all the dust, with long fuchsia fins and blue domed windows. In random places across its surface, faded stickers had begun peeling away from the hull. More interesting than its physical appearance however, was the fact that it appeared to be utterly and completely dead.

There were no lights or movement that Emmet could see, and Trinity’s readout when they initially landed had confirmed that the ship was, for all intents and purposes, inactive.

Of course, that didn’t mean that Emmet was any less afraid of the thing.

Watching the ship from his hiding spot, he tried desperately to push his fears to the back of his mind. He was a starship captain now. He was supposed to be tough now. And yet, here he was, cowering from a long abandoned ship.

He wasn’t especially afraid that the aliens might hurt him. He had, after all, been living in Apocalypseburg for years now and, even before that, there had been the events of Taco Tuesday. Threats of physical harm weren’t particularly alarming to him anymore.

What Emmet was afraid of, truly afraid of, was that he’d do the wrong thing. That he’d let his little team down, and then they’d look at him with that same pitying stare as the others, and it would prove that everyone had been right about him all along.

Logically, he knew that he shouldn’t be this worried, that his successful landing the day before should serve as proof of his abilities. But the fear still sat low in his gut, lurking like a shape under the water, whispering up at him that he just hadn’t let everyone down yet.

He tried to push the feeling away, tried to cover it up by imagining for the hundredth time how his return to Apocalypseburg would pan out. The swelling music, the applause of the raptor crew, the faces of his friends turning to joy as they realized that Emmet was back and, more importantly, that he was better. Things would finally be like they had been before, in that one shining moment left in the wake of Taco Tuesday. The moment when people had called him a hero.

The way his chest clenched at the thought was stronger than any fear.

“CAPTAIN!” A shrill voice rang out from behind him, causing Emmet to jolt in surprise. Turning, he could see the silhouette of a raptor approaching.

“CAPTAIN,” Tiberius repeated herself solemnly. “WE NEED YOU… ON THE BRIDGE.”

“Oh, uh,” Emmet leapt to his feet. “Of course!” Hastily pasting a cheery grin across his cheeks, he trotted off after Tiberius.

Upon entering the bridge, Emmet could tell that the little crew had been hard at work. Hawkeye was still in the sickbay, preoccupied with taking care of The Other One, but the other three had clearly been prepping for a while. Hovering in front of the main windshield was a detailed holographic image of the enemy ship. Little arrows and snippets of text rotated around the display, highlighting various details and areas of the ship.

Emmet gawked at the floating image momentarily, before Trinity drew his attention back to the moment.

“CAPTAIN,” she screeched, “WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY LOCATED A WEAKNESS IN THE ENEMY BASE.”

With a long tapered claw, she gestured towards a massive, complicated machine that seemed to occupy the majority of the ship’s interior. “THIS IS THEIR CENTRAL ENGINE.” She turned back to Emmet. “WHEN YOU DESTROY IT, THE SHIP WILL BE RENDERED COMPLETELY NONFUNCTIONAL.”

“I- Destroy it?” Emmet paled. “Couldn’t Snake do that part? Not- uh, not that I couldn’t, but I’m pretty sure she’s got like, three bombs on her right now.”

“YOU’RE RIGHT,” Snake hissed, “BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS A REQUIRED PART OF THE SEMINAR.”

“So what,” Emmet asked hesitantly. “You’ll just… loan me a bomb?”

“NO.” Snake stepped closer. “YOU HAVE TO BREAK IT YOURSELF. YOU HAVE TO BECOME A MASTER BREAKER.”

“A… Master Breaker?”

“LIKE REX.” Trinity explained. “A MASTER BREAKER IS SOMEONE WHO CAN REDUCE ANY STRUCTURE TO ITS CONSTITUENT COMPONENTS WITH A SINGLE BLOW.”

Emmet stared at her blankly.

“THEY BREAK STUFF WITH PUNCHING,” she sighed.

“And… you think I can do that?” His voice grew small.

Tiberius smiled down at him, as friendly as a velociraptor was capable of. “WE KNOW… YOU CAN.”

*******************

“So uh,” Emmet whispered, shivering despite the thick fabric of his spacesuit. “Why do we have to go so far just to practice?”

Snake twisted her long neck to face him. “MASTER BREAKING IS NOT EXACTLY SUBTLE. IT WOULD NOT DO WELL TO ALERT THE ENEMY TO OUR PRESENCE.”

“Makes sense,” Emmet muttered, glancing once again over his shoulder towards the distant pair of ships. “What, um,” his voice faltered. “What do we do now?”

Trinity clicked a button on her belt and a translucent screen flickered to life in front of her. Emmet couldn’t see the screen clearly, but it appeared to be covered in writing. Messy writing, he guessed, by the way Trinity squinted and cocked her head in confusion.

After a moment, she turned to face him. “YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU MAD.”

“What… makes me mad?” Emmet repeated, dumbfounded. Suddenly feeling very much like he was taking an unannounced pop quiz, he glanced around at the other raptors, as if one of them might somehow give him the answer.

“WHAT MAKES YOU MAD?” Trinity repeated herself, her eyes bearing down towards him.

“I- I don’t,” Emmet stammered. “I don’t know. I’m uh, actually pretty easy-going.”

Trinity’s eyes narrowed. “IF YOU WANT THIS TO WORK,” she screeched, “YOU NEED TO BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF.”

He stared back mutely, his throat feeling abruptly like it belonged to someone else.

“WHAT MAKES YOU MAD, EMMET?”

Unbidden, images of Apocalypseburg flashed through his head. Thoughts of people dismissing him or ignoring him played over and over in his mind’s eye. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but he could still see them.

“I, uh, maybe when people d- don’t use their blinkers?” He tried desperately. “Or- or when I forget about my coffee and it gets cold?”

Trinity simply shook her head.

WHAT

He thought about President Business, about how the man that was supposed to be in charge, supposed to care about them, had just left them behind as soon as it became inconvenient.

MAKES

He thought about Lucy, about the edge in her voice whenever she’d remind him how he needed to grow up. He could see that dreadfully familiar look of pity in her eyes each time he failed to do so.

YOU

He thought about his other friends: Batman, Benny, Metalbeard, Unikitty. He felt that gut-deep ache of being ignored, being left out again.

M A D ?

“I DON’T KNOW!” Emmet hollered. Shocked at his own outburst, he quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, as if he could shove the words back in.

Trinity and the others just looked at him with that same terrible pity as his other friends. He dropped his head, feeling the flush of embarrassment creeping into his cheeks. As the crew quietly walked back to the ship, he kept his head down, absent-mindedly watching his feet trudge along. His reflection looked back up at him from the glassy blue rocks. The slippery surface made the image of his face quiver and swim, and it was easy to pretend that it was the only reason his eyes looked so awful watery.

The heavy silence lasted until they entered the ship, when it became glaringly obvious that something was terribly wrong. Neither Hawkeye nor The Other One were in sickbay, nor any of the other rooms that the crew frantically checked.

“THEY’RE… GONE!” Tiberius wailed.

“But why?” Emmet asked, trying desperately to shake himself out of his earlier funk in order to focus on the situation at hand. “Could- Could they have just gone for a walk maybe?”

“NO.” Snake hissed coldly. “THE ALIENS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF OUR ABSENCE. THEY WERE TAKEN.”

Trinity shook her head dejectedly. “WE UNDERESTIMATED THEM...”

“What- what do we do?” Emmet asked, his breath catching in his throat.

“WE SHOULD RETREAT.” Trinity answered solemnly. “AFTER ALL, WE PINPOINTED THE LOCATION OF THE ENEMY BASE. THAT’S VALUABLE INFORMATION THAT NEEDS TO BE RETURNED TO THE REXCELSIOR.”

“You want… to leave them?” Emmet’s voice was soft with disbelief.

She met his gaze coolly. “WE AREN’T READY TO STAGE A RESCUE MISSION.”

“YOU’VE PROVEN AS MUCH,” Snake scoffed. “WE’LL JUST WAIT UNTIL REX COMES BACK.”

“No!” Emmet sputtered, his face growing hot. “W- We can’t just leave them behind! Please, I can do this. I promise!”

“CAPTAIN,” Tiberius hissed softly, crouching down to his level. “IT’S ALRIGHT. A RESCUE MISSION… WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE A PART… OF THE SEMINAR.”

“Okay,” he countered. “But learning how to take control of a situation and lead a team is part of the seminar, right?”

The raptors nodded hesitantly.

“So,” Emmet continued before he could change his mind. “How about I take control of this situation and lead this team on a rescue mission?”

Quickly, the raptors exchanged a few, fleeting glances with each other.

“ALRIGHT THEN,” they said, looking back towards Emmet. “WHAT’S THE PLAN, CAPTAIN?”

*******************

Vents… are not fun to crawl through, Movies lie. Emmet was more disappointed than he would have admitted. He didn’t feel like a cool action hero at all. Mostly, he felt cramped and sweaty.

“ARE YOU NEARLY THERE?” Snake’s voice crackled through the speaker of his walkie-talkie. Emmet grunted as he struggled to pull the device towards his face.

“Uh, ye-urgh, yeah!” His voice echoed in the narrow duct. “Yeah, I’m like, probably a hundred feet out?” He guessed, trying to visualize the map from earlier in his head.

“ROGER THAT.” Snake’s voice vanished into the hiss of white noise, which sputtered momentarily before Emmet could click the radio back into place on his belt.

With a grunt, he pulled himself back up onto his elbows, the metal groaning underneath him. Emmet paused for a second, but it was too late. With a slow, ear-splitting squeal, the bottom of the duct fell away, depositing him rather unceremoniously onto the cold floor below.

Emmet yelped as he hit the floor, a jolt of pain shooting up his spine.

Behind him, another voice yelped too.

In a panic, Emmet leapt to his feet, spinning about to face… someone he absolutely did not recognize.

The figure in front of him was seated in a tall, high-tech chair, illuminated on all sides by walls of dimly glowing monitors, each displaying seemingly random strings of garbled text. With a motorized whirr, the figure’s chair spun about and the monitors flicked off simultaneously, dropping the room into darkness.

Emmet blinked frantically, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. For a moment, all he could see was a pair of glowing green eyes, growing steadily closer.

“HELLO.” A grating, metallic voice crackled from somewhere in front of him. “WHO ARE YOU?”

“I, uh,” Emmet stumbled backwards, groping around his belt for the suit’s emergency light. “I- my name’s Emmet...”

His light clicked on, catching the mysterious figure in an impromptu spotlight. The yellow beam glinted off of their dark armor, accented with all kinds of buttons and bands that gently pulsed an acidic green color.

Their eyes narrowed from the sudden brightness, but didn’t waver from Emmet’s direction. They stared at him from behind a thick metal mask, a helmet split down the middle by some sort of intricate, hissing valve. As the figure continued to stride closer, closing the gap between them, a long purple cape swirled around their feet.

“I DO NOT RECOGNIZE THAT NAME.” The masked figure studied him intensely, their head cocked to one side in confusion. “ARE YOU… FROM BRICKSBURG?”

“Um,” Emmet choked out a response. “A- Actually we’re calling it Apocalypseburg now...”

“I SEE.” The figure’s helmet wheezed. They were directly in front of Emmet now, and he had to look down slightly to meet their gaze. “HOW VERY CONSIDERATE. WE WERE, OF COURSE, PLANNING ON VISITING EVENTUALLY, BUT IT IS AWFULLY KIND OF ‘ALPACA-LIPS-BURG’ TO COME TO USE INSTEAD.”

“And who, uh,” Emmet forced himself to ask. “Who are you exactly?”

The figure’s face was obscured, but Emmet could hear the smile in their words. “I AM MAJOR CATASTROPHE. I AM THE CAPTAIN OF THE S.S. GEMINI.”

“The… Gemini? You mean this ship?”

“OF COURSE.” Catastrophe reached up with a metallic claw, grasping the “R” shaped patch on Emmet’s suit. “AND YOU ARE THE CAPTAIN OF THE REX-EXPLORER, ARE YOU NOT?”

His mouth dropped. “How did you-”

“YOUR CREWMATES TOLD ME, SILLY BILLY.” The claw retracted. “YOU WILL BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT THE INJURED ONE IS FEELING MUCH BETTER. MUCH HAPPIER.”

“Oh, that- that’s good.” Taken by surprise, Emmet couldn’t help but feel relieved before the reality of the situation came crashing back. “Wait, no! Not good!”

“NOT? GOOD?”

“You kidnapped her! You kidnapped both of them!” Emmet pointed an accusing finger down at the Major. “And you need to give them back right now!”

Catastrophe laughed. It was a weird sort of metallic wheezing, like a squeaky radiator that someone’s father had been promising to fix for years now.

“I- ” Emmet froze, his anger dissipating in the face of Catastrophe’s clear disregard. “I’m not joking…”

Clapping him over the shoulder with a gloved hand, Catastrophe started pulling him towards the doorway at the end of the room. “THEY WILL BE STAYING. YOU ARE, OF COURSE, MOST WELCOME TO STAY HERE AS WELL, EMMA.”

“It’s Emmet-”

“I WILL HAVE NOVEL COME FETCH YOU,” the Major continued, oblivious to Emmet’s interjection.

“Wh- Novel?” He stammered, trying futilely to pull himself out of Catastrophe’s literal iron grip. “Is that a person? Who is that?”

“SHE IS THE PILOT.” Catastrophe raised a claw to press one of the gleaming green insets in his armor. “I AM CALLING HER NOW. SHE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU UNTIL THE TOUR CAN BEGIN.”

“What...” Emmet looked at the strange figure. “And what will you be doing?”

They laughed again. “I WILL GO COLLECT THE REST OF YOUR CREW, OF COURSE. WE CAN’T HAVE THE SHOW WITHOUT EVERYONE PRESENT. GOODBYE, ELLIOT.”

Emmet’s heart leapt in his throat. “W-w-wait!” Before he could interrupt however, the Major shoved him out into the hall, the heavy door slamming shut behind him.

For a moment, Emmet just stared at the doorway. As if in a trance, he reached for his walkie-talkie. In slow-motion, he raised it up to his mouth. But, upon clicking the button, the radio stayed frustratingly silent. It was dead. It was rather narratively convenient.

“Hey.” A voice shook him out of his thoughts. Turning a bit to look down the hall, he spotted a tall woman approaching him. Her suit was a much lighter purple than Catastrophe’s, and her face was unobscured. She had a short copper-colored ponytail, disinterested amber eyes, and warm brown skin that creased into well-worn divots at the corners of her frown.

She stopped next to Emmet, staring down at him impassively. “Are you gonna bite me?”

“What?”

“Are you. Going to. Bite me?” She repeated in a clearly exasperated tone.

“I, uh, wasn’t planning to?”

“Good,” she continued dryly. “Maybe you could convince some of your crewmates to think the same way.”

“Yeah, sure.” Emmet nodded, still stupefied.

“So,” she gestured for him to follow. “I’ll show you to your room then.”

“I- ” His voice trailed off. He was rapidly losing any semblance of control over this situation, and the panicked voice in the back of his head was growing ever louder. A part of him wanted to make a break for it - take off down the hall, try and find his crewmates, and then sneak back to the Rex-plorer together.

But… he knew that plan had a very low probability of working. The wisest choice was to go along with the aliens for now, giving himself a chance to regain his bearings, learn more about his enemies, and allow himself time to think of a plan.

“Ok,” he finally agreed, and began to trail after her, albeit at a distance.

She shrugged and set off down the long, cold hallway.

They walked in silence for a while, the tension growing until Emmet couldn’t stand it any longer.

“So,” he croaked awkwardly, before quickly covering up the sound with a cough to clear his throat. “You, uh, you’re Novel, right?”

“Oh my god.” She seethed, her expression swiftly transforming into one of smoldering rage. “My name is NOVA. That robotic dingus just can’t ever seem to get it right.”

Emmet couldn’t help but chuckle. “I guess I shouldn’t wait for them to get mine right then either?”

Nova shook her head. “Sometimes I’m surprised they can even remember their own name.”

“So, uh,” he paused for a second to wrangle his expression into something more cavalier. “What exactly do you guys do here?”

“What do we… do?” Nova looked at him blankly.

“Yeah, I- um, the creepy robo-dude said you were a pilot?”

Nova sighed. “Yeah, technically.”

“How does someone ‘technically’ pilot?” Emmet asked, genuine interest seeping through his bravado.

Stopping abruptly, Nova turned slightly to face him.

“I… We...” She paused again, her expression shifting as she thought, the crease between her eyebrows growing deeper.

“The Gemini is… non-operational. It has been for a while.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m a pilot on a ship that doesn’t work, a ship that literally doesn’t even have the power to turn on the lights half of the time, much less fly.”

“So,” she turned back around with a sharp shrug. “I wouldn’t exactly call myself a pilot anymore given all I ever do is clean the place up, wander around aimlessly, and occasionally try to beat the Major’s score at Meteor Blasters.”

“Oh,” Emmet breathed. “I’m sorry.”

There was a beat of awkward silence before Emmet once again remembered where he was.

“Wait,” he snapped. “No, I’m not. You guys are like, evil aliens!”

“Uh,” Nova stared at him blankly over her shoulder. “No? I mean, we are aliens sure, but like, the Gemini is a diplomatic vessel.”

Emmet scoffed.

Nova’s eyes narrowed. “Seriously dude, I don’t think this thing even has weapons on it.”

“Uh,” Emmet frowned. “I’m like 80% sure that other guy had laser eyes.”

“No, he’s just thinks it’s neat to make them glow.”

“But...” his voice stumbled out. “Then what’s the deal with you guys? Why are you out here? Why were you trying to get to Bricks- Apocalypseburg, I mean.”

“Well,” Nova sighed. “It all started about three years ago...”

#lego movie 2 #tlm2 #emmet brickowski #rex dangervest #featuring some ocs #that i am trying very hard not to feel cringey about #anxiety is fun!

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aprindea · 6 years ago

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The Gift

(summary) For his one year anniversary of his first date with Garak, Bashir gives Garak a gift.

(established couple: Garak/Bashir, M/M )

(PG13/no sex/kissing/fluff)

******

Dr. Bashir looked more disheveled than usual after working a double shift; his hair stood at awkward angles. His facial expression signalled concern, even as he stepped from the Infirmary into the hallway that led into the Promenade to the Replimat. Thirty-six more hours. Jadzia caught up with him.

“Julian, are you taking a break?”

He turned to her, unsurprised. “Hello Jadzia, yes I very much am! I’m going to have a meal, then go to my quarters, change, and go back to the Infirmary.”

“Are you all right?”

“Oh, yes, fine.” He attempted to handwave her concerns.

The two officers sat down, him with an anxious smile, her with a disbelieving look in her aquamarine-blue eyes. He ate quickly, inhaling his food as if he was in a big rush; she ate at her normal rate, politely and discreetly.

“And you?” he’d asked, in between quick bites.

“I … had a date with Worf last night. It didn’t go as well as I expected,” she confessed, still smiling.

He frowned in response. “What did he do?”

She replied, conspiratorially. “It’s more about what he didn’t do. Well! I’m not worried about it. We’ll stay friends,” she said with a wink. He nodded and continued eating, though his anxious body language gave him away. “Any plans these next few days for you?”

His shoulders tensed. “Actually, in thirty-six more hours is my and Garak’s… one year anniversary,” he said, and though he sounded pleased and hopeful, his foot still tapped underneath the table.

“That’s cause for celebration”.

“It will be a relief. I will finally be able to give Garak his gift.”

“You’re worried he won’t like it?” she questioned.

“I’m worried it won’t make it until then,” the doctor explained.

The Trill’s eyes widened. “You’re giving Garak a pet?”

“No, but something even more delicate, if that’s possible,” he said, leaning closer, and then, “I’ll show you, if you’d like... Keiko was supposed to be in charge of the “taking care of it” part but she got called to Bajor last minute on a dream project regarding formerly extinct Bajoran flora, and I could never ask her to turn down such a fascinating research opportunity.”

They went to his quarters; Bashir stepped under the sonic, was out and changed into a new uniform in record time. Jadzia had waited calmly, but her expression was curious the moment he stepped out, especially as his face betrayed worry. The station’s CMO tapped the side of his table, and a large secret drawer popped out, which had been outfitted with artificial light. Inside, under that artificial light, was a beautiful, violet-and-green coloured orchid, with four large flowers and emerald green stems.

“Julian, that’s so beautiful!”

“And difficult, beautiful and difficult. Requires quite a specific regimen, a meticulous sort of care… this is a type of edosian orchid of a rare coloration, normally grown on Cardassia Prime, on the most Western point of the coastline.” He checked the flowers and leaves of the plant with a small magnifier, seemingly looking for the tiniest details, and watered it with pre-measured container of room temperature water, which was absorbed into the dark soil, and took some small, sesame-sized plant food from another pre-measured container and distributed it carefully.

“You aren’t doing too badly! The orchid looks like it’s thriving.”

“I have to keep it alive for thirty-five and a half more hours,” he replied, matter-of-factly, trying to prevent himself from sounding desperate.

“Wait, you’ve never had a plant before?”

“I have,” he explained mournfully, “but they tend to… they tend to die under my care.”

“This one isn’t dying,” she pointed out, rightfully, as she smiled at him with her glittering eyes from the reflection of the artificial light.

Julian Bashir, enhanced human, chief medical officer above Deep Space Nine, regular performer of difficult surgeries gulped. His mouth was dry. He took a few breaths.

Jadzia, for her part, clapped him on the shoulder, and stood. “You’ll be fine. It’s gorgeous. He’ll love it.”

Julian smoothed his hair and uniform. Together, they stepped out of his quarters. The CMO went back to work, and the Trill lieutenant went back to her work station on the Bridge.

While in the infirmary, Dr. Bashir contacted Garak to make some excuse, but it turned out not to be necessary.

“Hello, my dear”, the Cardassian responded, a preoccupied expression on his ridged features. “I am afraid that I will not be available for a time; I am putting the finishing touches on a wedding dress, and the final fitting is tomorrow.”

“Ahh, right, of course. I’m sure it looks beautiful.”

“If I never see white Andorian lace again, it will be too soon,” he replied, frustration permeating his normally calm and smooth tone of voice. “Forgive me, it’s this veil; seems my customer’s Andorian’s family uses a lot of pure white as a tradition, and even in lower light it is uncomfortably bright. The material manages to be both thick and somehow too stiff, besides; fortunately, I’ve been able to tame it into what I trust is an acceptable shape.”

“I am sure she will love your design and the result,” tried Bashir for encouraging.

“I should hope so. We’ve worked closely for approximately eight weeks,” the Cardassian explained.

Dr. Bashir raised his eyebrows. “Difficult customer?”

Garak replied smoothly this time. “Nothing I haven’t dealt with before, my dear.”

“All right, before I go, I’ll remind you that you still have to drink and eat. Please, Garak.”

“I have eaten and I am drinking tea; I will be re-filling my cup soon.”

The two said their goodbyes and that evening, Dr. Bashir checked on the plant again, this time talking to it, since they were alone in his quarters.

“I hope Elim likes you. He works long hours, so there is an eighty-seven percent likelihood he will keep you on his desk, close by. It’s true he hasn’t mentioned anniversaries yet, but I have to assume Cardassians celebrate them, even if they are not married. Yes, your flowers look beautiful, look at you, great job.”

Not that Odo didn’t already believe that I am a very strange sort of alien… he thought to himself, sighed and went to his quarters and changed into his night clothes. Twenty eight and a half more hours.

He slept fitfully, dreaming the plant had grown to human sized. In the dream, Jadzia had nonchalantly helped him hide it from Sisko. His first thought upon awakening: Twenty one and a half more hours. Once more, he tapped the side of the table, and noted the plant was its regular expected size, the flowers looked happy, turning up towards the light, brightly coloured in appearance; the soil remained dark, which the doctor recalled it meant the plant was getting enough water. He once again deposited the water and plant food portion for the day, and checked the flowers and stems carefully. All appeared well, and so the doctor gently pushed the drawer shut and let out a breath he was unaware he was holding.

Upon stepping into the hallway, he rushed to the replimat, chose a sandwich, and ate it while walking to the Infirmary. Once in his office, he debriefed with Dr. Gilani, briefly recalled that he had twenty more hours and worked a while longer than strictly required.

Ten more hours. Dr. Bashir checked on the plant once again, including the soil moisture levels; he fed and watered the plant, and re-closed the drawer with the artificial light, which contained, for the last time, the fussy orchid.

The tired doctor headed to bed, sleeping for a few short hours before the computer awakened him for the day of the anniversary. He did his regular morning routine, checked on the plant again, with an elevated heart rate on his end (completely psychosomatic, stop that, heart) and sent a written message to Garak for a dinner invitation.

During his lunch hour, he received a response on his mini personal padd: “I am available, however, it will be a late, brief dinner; there is a slight alteration the customer asked me to make on the veil, and I must ensure its completion.” Bashir grabbed his padd as soon as he’d spotted the small green light alert and immediately replied with “Thank you”, pressing harder than was necessary, sending the message.

In his quarters, after his shift, Dr. Bashir checked on the plant twice; there was no change. He turned on his replicator, paced while trying to decide meals, and contacted Jadzia: “I’m doomed. There is a twelve percent chance he doesn’t want to even mention our anniversary.”

Jadzia replied shortly: “Not a chance, your math is off. Drink something for liquid courage. Plant picture?”

He sent her a picture of the orchid to which there was a speedy reply: “As beautiful as ever. He will 99% love it and he has likely handmade something for you.”

The genetically modified doctor’s heartbeat did not slow down by much.

Garak, for his part, had finished the veil; now, he was putting the finishing touches on what looked like a human suit from the 1950s, complete with silk tie. There was a subtle pattern on the green shirt, and the tie had a green and golden colour combination, and the same subtle texture pattern as the shirt. Carefully, he checked once more for stray string, found none, and so the suit was placed in a thin garment bag. The Cardassian tailor and designer picked up the gift, drank the last of the cold tea on his desk and headed to Bashir’s quarters.

The door to his doctor’s quarters opened without delay; the Cardassian quickly took in his surroundings, only to account for changes from last time. The lights were lower, the temperature was turned up, and his doctor was dressed in a delightful grey shirt with black slacks. There was that smile directed at him! Garak smiled back, having placed the gift on a chair away from him.

“Hello, Garak. I’ve set up for dinner, and your tea.”

“Thank you, hello, my dear.” He was tired, and his voice sounded like it.

They sat down and helped themselves to the dishes, while Bashir explained:

“I have something for you; it is small, but I hope you like it.”

“I also have something for you; something I made as an experiment.”

The Cardassian turned, and saw his doctor’s hazel eyes lit up, his pupils slightly dilated. Dr. Bashir stood to open the drawer to the short table; when he turned, Garak was holding the garment bag, and Bashir said: "You didn’t!”

“I had to, you see; I asked the database what I should do because it seems that this is a significant date. But doctor, tell me that isn’t a real edosian orchid. It is nearly impossible to grow them on this miserable station!”

“Nearly, yes… but it is indeed an edosian orchid, real and non replicated, it is your gift.”

They exchanged the gifts, Bashir excitedly opening the garment bag and admiring the suit, Garak gingerly taking the pot with the plant and carefully studying the flowers and leaves of the live orchid.

“My dear, this is… this is beautiful. I certainly did not expect- well. This gift is so thoughtful!”

“And this suit! The colours! I will have to try it on.”

“Please,” spoke the Cardassian, yet he was still looking at the flower, as if it was part of a dream and it would vanish if he stopped staring.

Even in the artificial overly harsh light of Bashir’s quarters, the flower petals shone with a wonderful depth; the shades of purple with a small section of orange complimented everything, even these dark grey quarters, which had been built for Cardassian military.

Bashir came out while he was doing his bowtie. Garak was instantly at his side, having gingerly placed the plant on top of the table and now finding himself standing too close to the doctor, yet Bashir didn’t mind. Instead, the human smiled at him. Imagine that, the Cardassian thought to himself, and looked at his partner, who had managed to tie his bowtie. Garak reached for it instinctively and straightened it slightly, touched his shoulders, and gently moved a stray strand of hair away from Bashir’s face.

“Happy anniversary, Garak.” the doctor began to lean forward, but stopped himself.

Instead, Garak closed the small gap between them. “Happy Anniversary, and please go ahead.”

It was at this moment that Bashir kissed him. Time stopped; the Cardassian responded with enthusiasm, reaching for Bashir’s head and applying varying degrees of pressure. The two were in almost perfect sync, until Garak pulled away, somewhat reluctantly, to breathe.

Then, breathless, Bashir blinked, and Garak did too, almost as if it were a reply: I feel safe.

THE END

#garashir #garak x bashir #elim garak #garak/bashir #fluff #julian bashir #doctor bashir

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the1rei · 5 years ago

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Little Moments: Reboot Chapter Twelve: Fumbling in the Dark By Ericobard and shadows59 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Fandom: Ben 10 Series Relationship: Ben Tennyson/Gwen Tennyson Some Additional Tags: Bullying, No proofreading, Family is Drama, Long burn

Old wounds don't heal as much as we think sometimes, but with trust, you can get through anything. Their second summer begins with a bang as the Tennysons' plunge into danger, proving they are still heroes.

Read my review below:

Wearing plumber suits was never something Max insisted they did in the series, even he didn't often wear his own, even when entering unknown situations, so why is he insisting they do so now? Not to mention the suit would cover the Omnitrix making it difficult to use.

What is the point of changing the bolder into a stump? Why would the Plumbers have the symbol used by the necromancer or whatever from the first chapter carved very conspicuously on the underside of it? It's also convenient that Gwen noticed it for a moment and then got so distracted by it that she completely forgot about it after that.

I find the subtle reference to the claustrophobia Gwen developed, due to nearly being killed, in the original to be a far better representation of Gwen's character then her having a panic attack.

"(He) glared at her with an eye that was only a shade greener than the rest of this body." Wildvine's eye was blue in the original series, the only series that counts, and the one Shadows59 didn't seem to bother reviewing before writing this story. Gwen also expressed a little anxiety at Wildvine's appearance in the original, but because he was Ben, she handled it.

"She remembered the first time she used that spell and how it barely blew away a mist. She'd gotten better." This story has explicitly shown that your magic is strong because of the chapter nine power up rather than your skill with it improving.

This chapter in the original captured the fun, high energy action of the series perfectly. In the reboot, however, like in the first chapter, the action lacks that fun excitement and is dragged down by unneeded drama.

Why is Shadows59 bothering to humanize the bug creature for it just to go wild and get squashed? It comes across as pointless virtue signaling of Gwen by making her seem like an overly moral person for trying to talk to something that is trying to kill her.

Why does Gwen have this weird obsession with thinking that if she cries, Ben will think less of her?

They have this big dramatic moment about Gwen being afraid of Wildvine and the tight, enclosed tunnel because of her near-death experience, but they resolve it and bond as partners. I liked this scene much better in the original when it was done more subtly in the first chapter of the story. To repeat from the chapter one review: "Gwen is having a nightmare in which Gluto doesn't reform to save her. Gwen wakes up to Ben, holding her and telling her it will be all right. She cries in his arms all night, and from his silence, it is obvious that he too will never fully overcome what happened to her." But they've faced that pain together so Ben knows Gwen can handle the dark tunnel and him turning into Wildvine, because he has shown her he'll always be there for her. How is the long drawn out drama in this chapter an improvement to the simple love and dedication expressed in just a few lines of the original?

I like how Ben listens to heavy metal and Gwen to classical. I'm a pop/rock fan myself, but even I know that if you're interested in music that takes great skill to make, you will listen to metal or classical. The music choice does a good job showing that they are complementary opposites. (The kind of opposites that really do attract ;)

Max really starts acting out of character in this chapter, more like he did in the 'Ultimate Weapon', but less severe. Dissecting these changes and why would take too much time and guess work as the nature and history of the Plumbers fluctuates even in the original series, the situation with the mudpuppies, for instance. In the original, due to the summer Ben found the Omnitrix and the invasion of the Highbreed the Plumber to become active again, including Max, and black-ops causing him to have to go underground and pretend to take the Omnitrix with him. In the reboot, the same seems to be happening except with extra drama, particularly about how much Max is lying to Ben and Gwen. In the series after the truth came out, he always was open with them, lying to them is broadly out of character for him.

"his green eyes shone yellow around his green irises" Blitzwolfer's eyes don't have irises or pupils for that matter, like most of his alien forms.

So just to be clear, Ben suggests that they use her as bait to get all the insect monsters to attack her while he stands safely on the sidelines. Ben would never suggest such a plan in the first place, and for him to do so after having had a moment with Gwen where they come to terms with the trauma she suffered by being dragged into a tunnel by an alien monster is beyond parody. The only reason this is happening seems to be so that Gwen can have more of the spotlight. How is it that these creatures have already created a massive hive?

Ben calls Gwen pretty; it comes across as a cheap replacement for the original when he calls her beautiful before they go on their first date. Why did Shadows59 trade that meaningful moment of realization for a cheap joke?

Shadows59 also replaced Gwen getting a little distracted by Ben's guns with her cracking jokes about how his guns are water pistols. Does making Gwen get distracted due to her attraction to Ben somehow detracts from her character?

Gwen doesn't think the damage to the plumber suits is possible then describes it as looking like someone stabbed through the suit when earlier she explicitly said the suit doesn't protect against stabbing weapons.

Ben uses his karate training to put Exoskull in a hold so Gwen can trap his head in an airtight magic sphere causing him to pass out due to lack of oxygen. This has to be one of the clearest examples of Shadows59 taking an accomplishment of Ben's, one that showed what an intelligent and capable combatant he was, and giving it to Gwen. In the original, Ben as Wildvine, learning that he can't overpower Exoskull, wraps him up in vines, squeezing him tighter with each breath Exoskull tries to take. It takes Gwen a moment to even realize what Ben is doing, when she does, she praises Ben before moving in to help him with his plan. Why change that, why take away from Ben to give to Gwen?

Do I even need to comment on the color of Four-arms eyes in the original series?

Ben is now pinching Gwen's ass; I guess it is supposed to be fine since Lili taught Gwen that's just how boys express that they like a girl. Wouldn't that be at least a little more appropriate in a few years when Ben wouldn't be doing it to another eleven-year-old?

The problem with italicizing dialogue that mentioned back in chapter three is far more noticeable here as several characters have all their speech stylized this way.

-Erico Every time I read this chapter I am reminded of everything this story has lost, fun, subtlety, and a balance between the main characters. In their place we have melodrama, clear proof that Shadows59's skills have eroded.

In the original, Ben wasn't afraid to use Wildvine because they had come together to come to terms with what happened none months ago. Gwen was afraid of not being there for Ben in the original as well. I don't know about minor details, but one major detail that has changed is Ben's willingness to send Gwen out into danger while he sits on the sidelines.

When I started reading this story I thought that not only did you have a big influence on Shadows59, but that you were the author because all the long rambly melodrama that I read in your story had wormed its way into the reboot. So let me assure you, you are having a profound influence on Shadows59.

(As always, please go leave Shadows59 a nice positive review he won’t delete.)

#ben 10 #bwen #ben x gwen #gwen x ben #benxgwen #gwenxben #ben and gwen #gwen and ben #fanfic #review #Little Moments

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