#‘what comes around goes around’ pretty apt for the situation actually

[ickypuppi3]

i have some thoughts

[pb-dot]

Today I read: Hide by Kiersten White

Well, I didn't read all of it today, but I had to title this thing something. Anyway, this one turned into a bit of a pleasant surprise. Going in, I expected a bit of a Death Game thing, as the "hide and seek reality show in an abandoned amusement park where there's OBVIOUSLY something spooky going on" setup seemed to beg for one of those cynical Most Dangerous Game-kind of twists. It certainly would be thematically apt, as our protagonist Mack is so deeply in the Survivor Guilt well after surviving her father going all Family Annihilator that having to go a little bit deeper to fight her way out would be one of those plot developments that'd make sense in the bleak headspace that a lot of horror operates.

That's not quite what is going on, though, and I'll get into it more under the cut on account of spoilers. Suffice to say that the book instead pivots on a twist that's just clever enough. It was a turn I didn't see coming, but looking back I see the book did put the work in. It does remind me a bit about how White's followup, Mister Magic, ratchets up the tension around the truth of what is going on in such a way that when it goes in a different way than you'd initially expect, it feels clever, like the inherent incomprehensibility of the forces at play kind of guides the story back down to the human elements, a bit of a lovecraftian "who was the monster and who was the man" kind of situation.

Alright, so spoiler talk from here on out. The quietly brilliant thing about Hide isn't that it turns out to be a "maze of minos" type of story as the abandoned amusement park being designed to function as a maze is indeed no coincidence, but rather that the beast at the heart of it certainly is minotuar-like, but also not a minotaur. It's shaped differently, it has too many horns, it's terrifying but also strangely pitiable, and it's invisible and intangible to everyone except the ones it serves and feeds on, the two groups is the same, technically. It is somewhat unclear whether the benefaction it provides can be separated from the privilege of those that feed it, or whether its ostensible masters merely sacrifice fourteen people every seven years to save their own asses at this point.

It's a marvelous take on the "necessary sacrifice," in part because the author, and by extension, the protagonist sees this ghoulish ritual for what it actually is. It isn't necessary, it isn't the lesser of two evils. It's a reinforcement of the heinous lie of founding mythology, an attempt to delineate between Us, the descendants of Hard Working Good People who made Hard But Necessary Sacrifices, and the Other, who as it turns out are descended from more or less the same people, but dilluted in some weird skull-measuring way. Never mind that these Good People created entire dynasties of suffering and want to keep the flow of people they were related enough to for the sacrifice, but of low enough status that they wouldn't mind their passing.

As a general rule, I prefer not to try to psychoanalyze authors while I read their work. That said, there's more than a touch of Mormon vibes to the villains of both Hide and Mister Magic, and while I think the symbolism matches pretty close to the general American folk myth of the pious, humble settler who through faith and Hard Work (and untold systematic exploitation and abuse of just about anyone not white, rich, and male) created the nation, I also get the distinct impression that looking deeper into the history of the Mormon church would have me unearth some very familiar-looking details. It is no surprise, I think, that White's horror protagonists struggle with Survivor's Guilt as they are pulled into unhealthy situations by wealthy legacy-obsessed crackers who don't like swearing, but I shan't make an ass out of myself by speculating any further.

White's characters are interesting to me. They're not exactly vivid, but there is something deeply relatable to how they're all compressed by their trauma, reduced to their most necessary functions by the stresses they go through. All the same, I can't help but feel for them. White is very efficient in how she shows those glints of personality, to the level where even Alpha Couple and Bog Standard Reality Show Douchebags Jaden and (Pretty) Ava have this desperate, cynical clinginess to them. They each only hold on to each other more or less to be the one to betray their ostensible partner first. Make no mistake, it's hardly a great tragedy when these two inevitably have their cards punched, but there is a certain melancholic humor to how their dedication to this sudden but inevitable betrayal rends them blind to the actual trick that's played on them until it's messily devouring them. It's a fun little thing to afford to the two most tedious participants in any given reality show.

In the end, I think I appreciated Hide more as a polemic than a horror novel per se. It's a book with some interesting thoughts, and its take on the conceptual minotaur is fascinating, if not quite as scary as, say, the House Of Leaves take on the same. That said, the book earns many points in how it resolves Mack's story, where she ostensibly surrenders to her own hopelessness and the heartless machinations of the piece's true villain, only to reveal that the petty, lazy, self-aggrandizing evil of the sacrifices have opened her eyes to the pathetic cruelty behind her own trauma, and now she's going to burn this mother down. It's a kickass turn, and while the finale feels a touch rushed, it's mostly because I want to see this great vengeance and furious anger play out even more. That said, the book ends absolutely beautifully, and pacing problems or no, there is something delightfully punk about it.

[idanit]

possibly underappreciated Good Omens fics I enjoyed once upon a time

Indirectly inspired by a video series about fanfiction I watched, I decided to pull together a list of Good Omens fics I have bookmarked as stories I enjoyed, but which have less than 250-300 kudos at the time I’m writing this. No particular order. They’re accompanied by short excerpts from my private fic reading notes (not originally intended to be read by anyone but me, mind), sometimes slightly edited for clarity—and, sometimes, the comments I left on the fics.

This list sat in my drafts for a long time and the recent S2 announcement reminded me of it. I’d love it if it inspired you to do something similar! Spread the love.

And mind the tags, please.

△ = general and teen ▲ = mature and explicit 

thermodynamic equilibrium ▲ 7K the author has such an ear for dialogue and is unapologetic about what they want to write the characters like. They think of the characters as a mix of TV and book canon, but they feel like a homemade blend to me. (...) It’s very funny.

such dear follies ▲ 6K I can really picture this Aziraphale—Crowley as well, but her especially. She’s rather distinct. (...) Nice writing.

The Words Were With - △ 1.2K post-Blitz vignette, Aziraphale realizes what he feels and wonders if they're human enough for this. I liked it, and I liked the tag "transhumanism, but in reverse?", too—what an interesting idea. I'd say it's a vignette in a dire need of a follow-up, but, well, there's the show. The show is the follow-up. It fits very nicely within the canon and I totally believe it could have happened, like a deleted scene.

Gossip and Good Counsel △ 19K/? I love their companionship and how they're set up to be opposites by the management even though they get on pretty well. It feels very in keeping with the canon, but I feel like the fact that it's an F/F set in this particular time period adds a meaningful layer to the situation. It's women supporting each other in the world of men, working with the personas that are created for them, but, privately, being normal, well-rounded people. (...) and of course your writing is always a pleasure to read. (...) SDHDGDHDHDG Maisie is truly an Aziraphale.

Crowley Went Down to Georgia (he was looking for a soul to steal) △ 6K This was nice. Based on a song I didn’t know. Crowley goes to a funeral in the USA, one of a fiddler he knew and lost a bet to once. (...) The fic has not one but two songs composed for it and embedded inside it and that makes it even better. I really enjoyed the experience.

The Thing With Feathers △ 18K WARLOCK you'rE HORRIBLE AND I LOVE IT I would read an entire novel-length fic just of Crowley fighting his battles with Warlock. Written like this? It would be a blast. (...) The OCs are believably characterized and well-loved by the story. (...) Everyone seems to need a friend in this house. (...) This was so fun, and at the same time, their mission has weight here (...) We wonder about what the future holds even though we know it.

Here Quiet Find △ 11K This fic aimed for my head and the aim was sure precise. It was a story of Crowley sensing Aziraphale's distress and finding him in a self-quarantined English village in the seventeenth century, tired and anxious. It's hurt/comfort, so there was washing and bedsharing and I had to love it, so I did.

outside of time △ 2K Post-Almostgeddon, (...) nicely-written, short, but strung with a soft kind of tension and unspoken words. There's no drama, just "can we really", and "do you really" of sudden freedom. They fall into being inseparable. Book canon, which I like for this story (sitting on a tarmac). I liked the footnotes. There's a mention of Eliot. All in all, very much yes.

She'asani Yisrael △ 2K It’s Crowley going through a two-hour service and drinking blessed wine. He also keeps an eye on a boy he was asked to. It’s 1946. It was pretty good, so far the best Jewish GO fic, I think, from the ones I’ve read.

To Guard The Eastern Gate △ 11K  I loved it. You really made Sodom feel lived-in; the description of Keret, Hurriya and Yassib's house and relationship were great. I got attached to both them and the city (...) Aziraphale and Crawley’s interactions were generally very entertaining. I laughed (...) Your rendering of their voices just lands so well (...) But then oh, the entire ending (...) hurt, hurt a lot, and your descriptions are so vivid.

If you’ve been waiting (for falling in love) △ 14K AAAAA a good ending line. The whole paragraph, in fact. I love a good smattering of philosophy in my fics, and this was really nice. I can get behind Thomas Aequinus's and Crowley's view on eternity. It's (...) a pretty simple fic (...) - the courage to express yourself and take a risk is awarded with winning what was at stake by the virtue of reciprocity - but the way it was intertwined with a study of how they would experience a forever was done well. 

Holy unnecessary ▲ 2.2K It's well-written. (...) this is my type of sexual humour if I have any. So subtle. Blink and you'll miss it. Lovely.

The Parting Glass △ 17K Through the ages, they're dancing around their relationship until after the Armageddoff. (...) Wow, this was really, really nice. Very simple in its concept and nothing I haven't read before, but very well-executed. (...) AAAAH I LOVED the first chapter. I always like abbeys as settings, that's a given, but the banter, the good writing, the moral ambiguity!

Name The Sky △ 33K This Crowley is different, but very intriguing. Without his sarcastic talk, and much more animalistic. (...) I love how expressive Crowley is. (...) This fic has a very nice balance of drama and levity. I don't love Crowley-before-the-Fall stories very much, but with this execution I can read about it. (...) Okay I've read Crowley offering fruits, and even Aziraphale biting fruits, but the two of them sharing the apple? Outstanding. Ingenious. What a take.

A Flame in Your Heart △ 5K post-Blitz (why are so many dance fics post-Blitz?), they go to the bookshop and have an actually believable conversation. Then they dance the gavotte. It was really nice! Believable writing, emotions, the dancing! (...) Of course it's too early for them, (...) but the author's note? yeah.

Put down the apple, Adam, and come away with me ▲ 32K At this point it's just reading original stories with characters with names and some personality traits that I recognize. (...) I really enjoy this, the careful dance, the opposition between their views. (...) This is well-written, wow. (...) it's not an easy read (...) this story feels very believably 50s, but also reaches out to the present time. 

Liebestraum ▲ 10K/? It really is like music. I'm enjoying the writing a lot. (...) oh my actual god. This, this? Wow, uh. This came for my throat. (...) THE MUSICAL COMPOSITION, THE MOTIF RETURNING, THE AUTHOR KNOWS WHERE IT'S AT (...) Excellent. This hits the right beats so precisely, (...) and with feeling, too.

Down Comforter △ 2.4K and they lay down in angeldown, a soft rug ‘neath their heads– alright. Well, Crowley lies under Aziraphale's wing on a Persian rug after the Apocalypse, and they talk (...). It was sweet.

The Corsair of Carcosa △ 5K Crowley wakes up from a nap, visits Aziraphale for some drinking, and they read The King in Yellow that he happens to own. Good writing, so I'm bought. Aziraphale mentions Beardsley, so I'm bought twice over. My god, a discussion of etheral/occult madness? Caused by some wrong/true reading? Yes.

Very Good, Omens! △ 6K It's rather well-written, well-pastiched. People don't do that too often, nowadays - try to write in the style of a particular writer. (...) I love wordplay like this.

Reviving Robin Hood: The Complicated Process of Crème Brûlée △ 30K it's well-written (...), has a rhythm to it, and quiet humour. (...) Finally some nice, good, light writing. The attention to detail! (...) I'm still reading most of it aloud, the rhythm of it compels me to. (...) okay this does sound like Pratchett&Gaiman, the Good Omens itself (...) The fic is meandering, hilarious, sensitive in all the right places, and overall lovely.

my dear acquaintance △ 1K Oh. Oh. Yes, yes! Aziraphale in Russia, Russia I've never been in, but I can feel the snow and the evening of. Very real, and the bar, too. Attention to detail - vodka flavoured with dill, what on earth? Yes. He would totally have a distinct taste in operas and he would totally complain about a subpar one. I'm glad Tchaikovsky's there.

there is a crack in everything △ 1.8K This was good! Ah. Inspired by a comment (...), I went looking for Mr. Harrison and Mr. Cortese fics—really, what a big brain moment someone had and why have I never thought to look for them? This is Crowley getting suddenly anxious and Aziraphale going out of his way, through all his layers of not-thinking and denial, to console him. I also really liked how the Arrangement is a carefully unacknowledged partnership-marriage.

Scales And Gold And Wings And Scars △ 6K  No conflict, no plot, one tiny arc like a ripple on the surface of water on a calm sunny day - of Aziraphale discovering Crowley’s scars. It's the South Downs and it's early summer. They bask and swim in a spring. Non-sexual nudity, love in the air like a scent. Nice.

Nineteen Footnotes In Search Of A Story △ 0.4K This is a Good Omens story told only through footnotes. Your mind can fill in the gaps. Fascinating (...). Also, it’s an experiment so apt for this particular fandom.

Hell on Earth △ 6.5K Oh, I loved it! How could I not love it: it's Beelzebub-centric, it's historical, it has classical painting, and even a hilarious scene with a cuneiform phrase, as if I didn't enjoy this story enough already. There are so few Beelzebub fics out there and I find searching for them very difficult (I accept recs if anyone has any), and it's such a shame, so this was really like a gift to the fandom. I absolutely adore the way you portrayed them, small, frightening, powerful, and confident. Also, it was super fun to see how different Crowley seems when we're not in his POV or in a story about him and Aziraphale. (...)

Go Up to Ramoth-Gilead and Triumph △ 24K Daegaer is... pure class. (...) hdhdhdh what pfttt why you so funny (...) I love this Crowley. (...) This got unexpectedly intense. (...) I love the little nods to the fact that Israelites, especially the poorer ones, still believe in other gods. I also really like that they sleep on roofs. It's just the kind of detail that grounds the story and shows that the author is, in fact, a historian. 

[tilliam-w-psears]

what's ur favorite Grelle ship & why?

also how do u imagine modern Grelle? Like her looks, personality, lifestyle, etc

hmmmm i cannot say i have thought of grelle from a shipping perspective often! i think that grelle and madame red’s dynamic was very interesting but i do not think that it was a healthy relationship. big supporter of @retrievaldivision’s helen and aphrodite (of iliad fame) takes and that whole thing they’ve got going on (follow tumblr user retrievaldivision). i’ve been pretty forthcoming on my stance that william t spears and grelle are homies but i don’t think i’d be entirely opposed to that but i’m also very. selective? about ship content so a lot of the existing grelliam content doesn’t jive with me especially with how a lot of people write their dynamic (ie grelle is the victim and has never done anything wrong william t spears is cruel and unfeeling etc etc bc that is simply not true and also william t spears is my friend. did they ever think of that.) this isn’t to say good grelliam content is nonexistent but it’s rare for me personally to find stuff i like. honestly i feel like grelle learning to live like on her own would probably be healthiest for her but that’s just my personal take [points at hermit the frog marina on my grelle playlist]. sebastian and grelle is kind of funny bc they both suck and have tried to kill each other but i’m a known sebagni truther. so ultimately for favourite grelle ship i’m gonna have to go with i truly don’t know chief if you’ve got any recs drop em

as far as modern grelle. i cannot say i have thought about this either. most of my. headcanons. are around like the existing kuro universe or some equally fantastical type fiction (i am actually currently writing an ericalan fic based off of the russian folktale the soldier and death in which alan is death and eric is the soldier and it’s going to be based. thanks) so. but as far as modern universe goes i have thought about like the human +1 gang in which sebastian is an agent for some secret organization or another assigned to ciel’s case (parents dying in massive house fire, etc etc) and is like. also undercover as his adoptive father and they live in richpeoplesuburbsTM. agni and soma are their neighbours (agni is soma’s bodyguard and also takes care of him bc his parents are away often). finny and mey rin rent out the basement (they came with the house). they meet at the midford’s white people barbecue/garden party. anyway. so in this situation the reapers are all staff for the middle/high school (shoutout to @retrievaldivision for helping me come up w this also). grelle is the thotty secretary, william t spears is the counsellor, eric is the gym teacher, alan is the gay history teacher (courtesy of retrievaldivision), othello teaches chemistry, and ron is the IT guy. in this universe, grelle and ron are roomies and rent a shitty apt together. they’re obviously not rich because they work at a highschool so it’s not glamorous or anything but it works. i imagine grelle’s wardrobe consists mainly of pencil skirts and button ups. probably wears heels every day. glasses chain stays ON. personality wise much the same but because i am in control she is not pervy and weird. also she does not commit mass murder. like grelle’s general obnoxiousness is an integral part of her personality so i would like to keep that but have her not make unwanted sexual advances at her coworkers. there is something charming about the characters just being like. regular ass people. so. yeah. that’s my take.

[inner-sakura]

Hypothetically Ever After

[childhood friends AU, adrienette, slowburn, fake/pretend relationship]

With only two weeks of summer vacation to spare, Marinette enlists Adrien’s help with a task of utmost importance.

“I need you to help me seduce your brother.”

Quite predictably, nothing goes according to plan.

a fic loosely inspired by @starrycove​’s Brothers AU from approximately 9835 years ago that has lived in my head and my heart ever since.

read it on: ff.net | AO3

< prev chapter | next chapter >

chapter fourteen

When they pulled up in front of the restaurant, Marinette’s first reaction was one of confusion.

It was hardly much of a restaurant at all. Calling it a hole in the wall might be a more apt description.

She had been fully expecting Adrien’s driver to drop them off at one of the swankier, more popular local places—somewhere that they could be discreetly spotted out together to get the rumour mill churning. Most of the usual date spots were situated along the waterfront, in the more upscale touristy part of town.

Tucked away on a little sidestreet barely wide enough for a car to pass, the tiny mom and pop shop in front of them could not be more removed from the hustle and bustle. Or farther from what Marinette had imagined.

Once they were seated on the patio—by the only person she could see who was visibly working there, apart from the man in the kitchen—she said as much to Adrien.

“Not to doubt your master plan or anything, but how is word of us dating going to get out unless we go somewhere a little...busier?” She gazed around, taking in the tables around them. By her count there might have been three inside, with another four out on the terrace (one of which they were currently occupying). Apart from the two of them, and another couple seated inside, every single table was empty. “We’re practically the only ones here.”

Adrien looked unbothered by her assessment. “You’d be surprised. It may not look like it, but this place is actually quite popular. It’s still a bit early now, but it’ll fill up later. Mark my words.”

“Plus,” he pointed out, “it’s also a pretty frequently used street for people heading down to the waterfront. Look.”

She turned, watching as a group of people did in fact come strolling around the corner, making their way down the street towards where she knew there was a busier thoroughfare.  

“And besides, the last thing we want is to be too obvious about this whole thing.” Adrien shrugged, leaning back in his seat as though he didn’t have a care in the world. “If we go out somewhere we know people will see us, it will definitely look like we’re trying too hard.”

He... was making a lot of valid points, she admitted, somewhat reluctantly. Almost like he’d prepared his arguments.

Well played, Agreste. Clearly you’ve done your homework.

“All right, point taken.” Marinette acknowledged with a proverbial tip of her hat. She still felt a niggling skepticism simmering under the surface, but she was willing to hold off on any final judgement. Adrien did have far more experience with the dating scene of the upwardly mobile after all, so she’d no choice but to place herself in his (hopefully) capable hands.

For now.

She had another burning question she needed answered, anyway.

“Why does it seem like everyone here knows you?” She leaned forward, keeping her voice low and staring at him intently.

That got a reaction from him. Adrien blinked rapidly, clearly thrown by the sudden shift in direction.

Marinette wasn’t sure why he would be so taken aback by her question though. If anything, she was the one who had been taken aback when upon walking in, every single person working in the restaurant or even remotely affiliated with it had come out of the woodwork, loudly exclaiming over Adrien, hugging him, kissing his cheeks, and marvelling at how handsome he had grown.

At first she’d assumed they must be fans, but then she had overheard an older woman (presumably the owner or the owner’s wife) asking about his family; inquiring after both his mother and his father as though she knew them well. Adrien had given a non-response, dodging her questions with the grace of someone who was used to being hounded by the press for information.

Still, Marinette had filed the interaction away, all but burning with curiosity and intent on getting to the bottom of this surprisingly warm welcome.

Adrien was saved from answering by the arrival of the waitress, a young woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to the older woman from earlier. A daughter, perhaps.

She set cutlery in front of them, before telling them the special for that evening. Marinette tried to discreetly look around for a menu, but came up empty.

“There aren’t any menus here,” Adrien explained, obviously catching her confusion. “Everything is decided by the whims of the chef and based on what food is available and in season. But everything is always delicious, trust me. It’ll blow your mind. Do you want something to drink?”

“Um, just water is fine,” she replied, surprised at how smoothly Adrien had taken the reins. He was behaving like quite the gentleman, which, combined with the atmosphere, was really starting to make it feel like a date. Everything from the little wrought-iron patio tables with their red and white checked tablecloths, to the twinkling lights hung above them practically oozed romance.

How bizarre.

“Two waters it is then,” Adrien said, smiling winningly at the waitress. The woman blushed in response, quickly darting back into the restaurant.  

Marinette watched her go, recognizing that look. Another unfortunate victim had fallen to the infernal Agreste charm. She silently saluted the woman in her mind, commiserating with her.

These boys really were too handsome for their own good. They should come with a warning label that read:

‘DANGER! Prolonged exposure to undiluted Agreste Appeal may cause sudden bouts of lightheadedness, swooning, and in severe cases, heart palpitations. Talk to your doctor if your symptoms persist, or if you start losing the ability to form complete sentences.’

Smiling secretly to herself at the thought, she turned back to find Adrien’s eyes pinned on her. He was giving her what she could only describe as a knee-weakening look, his eyes dark and fixed upon her.

He had one elbow on the table, his chin propped lazily on his fist. He looked like he’d just stepped out of an ad campaign for some kind of expensive cologne, or other unattainable luxury item.

In other words, he looked devastatingly handsome.

Or, as Alya might have termed it, like sex on legs.

“What?” Marinette asked, the Ghost of Tingles Past slowly rearing its ugly head. She squashed it down like a bug. That was the LAST thing she needed right now. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He smiled, a slow, sultry curl of his mouth. The Tingle gained strength, shivering with pleasure.

“Like what?”

“Like that!” She cried, pointing at him accusingly. He blinked back at her, the picture of innocence. “You’re giving me this look like...” She did her best approximation of The Face, trying to demonstrate for him.

Adrien squinted, considering.

“I’m no doctor, but in my professional opinion I’d say it’s either constipation or a stroke.”

They both burst out laughing.

Their food arrived moments later, diverting both of their attention sufficiently to other things. All it took was one bite for the last of Marinette’s lingering reservations to melt away. The food was incredible; fresh and flavourful and undeniably delicious. Earlier, she’d thought Adrien might have been exaggerating a little bit in his assessment of the place. If anything though, he hadn’t talked it up enough. She moaned appreciatively as she took another bite.

This might be one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It’s like heaven in my mouth.

“Oh my god, where have you been all my life?”

She stared in amazement at her plate.

Adrien looked like he couldn’t decide whether to be amused by her reaction, or uncomfortable at the borderline obscene sounds she was emitting.

“Glad you like it,” he said simply, eyes glued to his own plate in front of him. She thought his ears looked a little bit pink, but that could have been a trick of the fading light. The sun had all but set now, the sky deepening to a rich inky blue above them. The street was much darker too, the shadows stretching and spreading their way from corner to corner.

But the strands of lights strewn overhead cast the whole patio in a soft glow, fending off the growing darkness, and adding to the overall ambiance of the warm summer evening.

The restaurant was starting to fill up now, Marinette noticed with some surprise, taking stock of their surroundings for what felt like the first time in hours.

The street was bustling. Where there had been only a trickle before, there was now a steady stream of passersby, out enjoying the night air and all of the attractions the nightlife had to offer. Soft music began floating through the air, coming from somewhere at the back of the restaurant. Someone must have turned on the radio.

Even though she had always imagined that her first date would be with Félix, Marinette was willing to admit that being here with Adrien was... unexpectedly nice. She was actually surprised to realize how much she was enjoying herself so far.  

Not a bad date, even if it is only make-believe.

She caught Adrien’s eye and smiled at him with all of the warmth she could feel building in her chest.

He looked away quickly, blushing even more visibly.

When she was finished, it was all Marinette could do not to lick the plate clean. She’d have to bring her parents here next time they came into the city to eat. Her father would love this place.

That reminded her.

“How did you find this place anyway?” She asked Adrien curiously. Her family had been vacationing here for as long as his, and yet she had never heard of this restaurant, or even been up this street.

“I… used to come here occasionally. With my family.” Adrien looked quite nervous and unexpectedly bashful as he admitted it.

Marinette’s breath caught in surprise.

At her silence, he went on.

“My parents used to really enjoy coming here. My mother more than my father, I think, but he would do just about whatever she wanted,” here he laughed slightly, his eyes warm with remembrance. “So whenever they went out for date nights, this is where they would come. Although now that I think about it, I’m sure my father enjoyed how private it was.”

Marinette was mesmerized by the light she could see dancing in his eyes. Adrien was practically glowing, lost in his memories of happier times.  

“Sometimes on special occasions, they would take Félix and I along with them. I haven’t come here in a long time actually. Not since before Mom got sick…”

As if someone had flipped a switch, the light in his eyes dulled, and Marinette reached across the table before she could think twice about it, covering his hand with her own and squeezing slightly.  

Adrien took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly.

His eyes were downcast, focused on where their hands were joined on the table. When he made as if to pull away, Marinette retracted her hand, feeling the slightest sting of hurt at his apparent rejection of the comfort she had been trying to offer.

Adrien caught her hand though, flipping it so that he could lace their fingers together more comfortably. He gave her a soft look, communicating everything he could not bring himself to say aloud with his eyes.

Oh.

She swallowed, trying to ignore the way her stomach felt as if it had come alive with butterflies.

It must be the romantic atmosphere. The whole thing was going to her head like a glass of wine, leaving her feeling fuzzy and soft around the edges.

She had been surprised by the gesture, that was all.

Nothing more to it.

[voltimer]

'The Magic of Johto's Level Curve'

(or, 'a leisurely analysis of the singleplayer balance of Pokemon GSC and HGSS')

The Johto games - especially HeartGold and SoulSilver - seem to have a very good reputation. Some often put the aforementioned HGSS into their top 3 or describe it as the core Pokemon experience. I personally agree with this sentiment and HGSS is either #2 or #1 depending on my mood (it usually competes with Black 2 and White 2).

Despite all its praise though, there seems to be an incredibly consistent point raised against it: the level curve. I see it described as unbalanced, janky, and generally bad.

There are two main problems people tend to cite. First is the level progression in Johto itself, with Gyms 5, 6, and 7 not exactly being a smooth progression upwards and then Team Rocket's Archer and the 8th Gym having a notable level spike compared to those last three. Wild Pokemon levels are also usually a lot lower than the major boss fights they are ahead of, making raising new 'mons harder and grinding for boss fights longer. The other problem is Kanto, whose problems can essentially be said to take Johto's levelling issues and ramp them up. The jump from fighting Blue to the Elite Four rematches and Red is also very significant.

What I'm not going to do here is refute that the above isn't true - these level scaling inconsistencies are certainly present. It's also very different to the vast majority of main series entries, whose level curves are more linear and gradual. Gens 5 and 7 even have a feature which multiplies exp gain based on how much lower or higher you are than the Pokemon you defeat which in a way acts like a rubber band around each game's level curve, ensuring you can catch up easily but not go too overlevelled either. Playing GSC and HGSS when the rest of those entries are like that is a bit jarring. Pokemon is so well-known for having quite a formulaic design across its main series and when compared to that formula with regards to level progression and the like, the Johto games do seem a bit off-colour.

What I am going to do though is try to explain why this so-called bad level curve is at the very least not actually that bad, or, if I can convince you well enough, that the Johto games actually have a unique and (what I call) magical singleplayer game design not properly replicated in any other entry. It goes to the core essence of Pokemon's theming, and it fits with the fact that Johto's narrative also happens to put the most focus on those themes than the rest of the series.

When I say the core essence of theming, I mean the very basics of every Pokemon adventure: you, the player, leave home to go on a journey around your region, meeting various people and overcoming various challenges along the way together with your partner Pokemon. Challenges you overcome are all thanks to the bonds you share with your partners and how you raise them with love and care. As you get older, this is the sort of thing in Pokemon that you probably end up taking for granted. It's typical "power of friendship" stuff, and most people will tend to come to conclude through learning about the game mechanics that this sort of thing is superficial and that stats are all that matter in the end. The more modern Pokemon games also have such a big focus on larger-than-life stories with big climaxes featuring the box Legendaries that it's easy to lose this basic level, down-to-earth narrative theming.

Johto is significant for not having any larger-than-life aspects overshadowing its core. Instead, the core takes centre stage. There is no real overarching story besides your adventure. Team Rocket's antics take a sub-plot role but in the end act as a foil to your story, being one of the more major obstacles you overcome. Catching Ho-oh or Lugia is no cataclysm either, but rather a reward for your achievements throughout the game and thanks to your good and pure heart - recognised by the Legendary in question. Moments throughout the game like how you deal with the situation at the Lake of Rage, or the Dragon's Den trial where you're asked questions to test your ideals as a trainer (which, of course, you pass with flying colours) all contribute to this core as well.

The way Professor Oak congratulates you after defeating Lance ties the knot perfectly on the main campaign:

"Ah, <player>! It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, love, and trust for your Pokémon made this happen. Your Pokémon were outstanding, too. Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, <player>!"

These are just examples of the main story events, though,and Johto has a lot more than that. The region is filled with things to do beside the main campaign - Berries/Apricorns, Pokegear calls, the Ruins of Alph and other optional caves, the Bug Catching Contest, and (in HGSS) the Pokeathlon and Safari Zone, just to name a few of the more notable ones. Tama Hero's review of Pokemon GSC talks a lot about this and it's well-worth a watch even beyond the section describing the games' breadth of side content.

Tama Hero also touches upon the supposed level scaling issue, and her response to the complaints is that there is a "sprinkling" of opportunities for small bits of exp gain throughout the game which should help you stay on track in most cases, and where you can't match levels, you can outplay your opponent.

I certainly agree with the latter. It always feels entirely possible to beat bosses at a level deficit throughout Johto. The Johto League is one of the key cases where you'll probably end up at level disadvantage, but I've consistently been able to defeat it with a team of lv 40s on average (so nearly 10 levels behind Lance's peak), and I'm pretty certain that my not-even-10-year-old self did so as well, even though it took me many, many attempts. From various people I've talked to and bits of let's plays I've seen over the years, this seems to be the common experience too. I think only a minority of people have had to grind to match Lance's levels in order to beat him at all. Granted, it might take you a couple of tries at that level disadvantage (or a great couple of tries more, like little ol' me), but that's surely not an unreasonable expectation. The concept of getting stuck at a difficult stage in a game could be called a universal one, and I think most people agree that it's always pretty satisfying to finally surmount a challenge like that. This can even be said about other Pokemon games - Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh also all have large level spikes at the end. In fact, at least when it comes to the end of the maingame, I'd argue Hoenn and Sinnoh have a larger level spike than Johto, but they're not considered impossible or anything

Regardless, though: it's certainly possible to win difficult battles in Pokemon at a level disadvantage. Tama Hero argues that the strategy required to do so isn't something the game teaches you very well, but I think this is a tad pessimistic. In the end I think that most wins will just come down to understanding of more fundamental skills that you've probably learned through the course of the game naturally - using type matchups (gyms are all type themed), using moves with stat changes (the earlygame is full of moves like Growl and Tail Whip), using status moves (no doubt you're going to see the effects of Paralysis and Burns throughout the game at least), and apt use of items (bosses always use potions and often use held items). Players also have more control over the battle than the enemy, with the default Switch mode and a huge amount more items available. It's true that the games don't teach you the deeper, untold mechanics very well, but learning about those only unlock even more ways to succeed for the numbers-minded veterans.

On the topic of those deeper, untold mechanics I also want to talk about something which Tama Hero doesn't mention at all - Effort Values, or EVs. Most of you reading will probably know about these by now, but for those who don't, EVs are hidden values which can increase a Pokemon's raw stats by a certain amount based on the other Pokemon they defeat. They were present in a slightly different form in Gens 1 and 2 in the form of "stat exp" but the premise was the same: your Pokemon grow twofold when you defeat Pokemon, by gaining visible exp for levelling up and visibly gaining stats every time that exp bar fills, but also by gaining stats little by little every time they defeat any Pokemon. Your Pokemon's EVs weren't visible to you in-game until Gen 6 with the Super Training graphic, and numerically weren't until Gen 7 where you can press X on the Pokemon's stat screen to show what are called "base stats".

EV optimisation is crucial to competitive play because the stat boosts they give are quite significant. Competitive players will "min-max" spreads, putting as much as possible into 2 stats to maximise strengths and not wasting any on stats they aren't making use of. In maingame playthroughs, though, EVs will usually end up being a balanced spread because you'll invetivably be facing a variety of Pokemon with different EV yields throughout the game. EVs can also be increased with the Vitamin items (Protein, Calcium, etc.) which you find a handful of throughout the game (and can buy at a premium) and can be used to manually raise EVs, though only to a certain point.

In Gens 3 and onward, a Pokemon can have up to 252 EVs in 1 stat, and 510 in total. At Lv 100, 4 EVs in a stat grant 1 point extra to it. For the singleplayer campaign the conditions are a bit different, but if we assume as a standard that by the Elite Four your EV total is maxed out and you have an even spread, your stats will all be up to 10 points higher than they would be without EVs. In Gens 1 and 2, you can actually max out all of a Pokemon's stat exp values but you're unlikely to cap them all for a good while beyond the maingame so we can consider them about the same as in the later gens for this.

But why is this important?

Firstly, the difference EVs make in the above scenario account for what is usually about 5 levels' worth of stats. Depending on your exact distribution, it could be a couple more or less levels' worth in each stat but the bottom line is that they make your Pokemon's strength higher than it may seem based on level alone.

This means that the wild Pokemon grinding that is criticised for being too tedious in Johto as a result of low levels is also better than it seems because even when you don't level up, you're gaining EVs for every one of those you defeat. The stagnant levels in the midgame of Johto also contribute more to your Pokemon's growth than it may seem from the slow level gain. The Pokegear rematches which you gain access to after defeating Team Rocket before Gym 8 may also be a little infrequent, but they also very often give you Vitamins afterwards to add to all of this.

Secondly is what seems to be a fairly unknown fact: in-game trainers do not have any EV spreads. Thanks to the work of speedrunners, we have exact data of enemy trainers' Pokemon to show this. Trainers do have IV spreads based on their "AI level" (more 'advanced' AI levels will have up to 30 IVs across the board) but the difference near-perfect IVs will have on their Pokemon is not as great as the combination of random IV spreads and relatively balanced EV spreads yours.

That 10 level deficit vs Lance is suddenly more like 5 in practice. Some of his Pokemon also happen to have pretty high stats naturally in Gyarados and the Dragonites, and the level deficit will still be slightly present, but once we factor in strategy again, you can abuse their type weaknesses and make good use of items, status and whatever else have you to swing the odds in your favour.

The only way you can find out anything about EVs in Johto is from a NPC in Blackthorn City who gives your Pokemon the Effort Ribbon if they have reached their total of 510, and the only practical way for a player without the technical knowledge to have achieved this is to have spent time throughout the game doing lots of little bits of training - in other words, putting in the effort - to have incidentally capped their Pokemon's EV total. It's only fitting that you find this NPC towards the end of the Johto campaign because it's likely that by this point a couple of your team members will be eligible for the ribbon.

This finally ties back to the point of core theming. EVs are an invisible stat giving your Pokemon an extra edge over their in-game opponents, or, at worst, one closing a gap in strength between them, as a result of all of the time you've spent raising those Pokemon throughout the game. In other words, EVs are essentially the statistical representation of the "dedication, love, and trust" you have for your Pokemon which gets you through seemingly difficult challenges. Levels, then, are only a surface representation of your Pokemon's strength: they create the feeling of an uphill battle, but you can win against the odds by believing in yourself and your partners. It's probably exactly what you thought as the naive and uncynical child playing through a Pokemon game for the first time, and probably one of the ways you made such fond memories of it. In hindsight, this is definitely how it was for me. It is a sort of magic, really.

There is still a big Red elephant in the room, and I do think that the level gap between the end of the Kanto Gyms and Red is maybe too hard to go and beat immediately after even with the power of EVs and such, but Red is by all means a superboss and final challenge of the Johto games, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have to grind for a while to build up for and to finally be able to take his team of Lv 80s on. The same can be said about the Elite Four Rematches in this game and others, Steven in Emerald, or that one Barry fight in Platinum if you do decide to beat the E4 rematches 20 times to make his levels nearly match Red's. If you're setting out to fight a superboss like this, the grind is part of the prerequesites. It's definitely still possible to beat someone like Red with a 10 or even 20 level deficit if you play well, though. I admit, I haven't beaten Red in a long time, but I have beaten Emerald Steven with a ~15 level gap before. Tama Hero also said she has beaten Red with a team of level 50s in Crystal in the review.

I said before that the other games in the series haven't replicated this sort of thing as well. Gen 5 was the beginning of a marked shift away from this design, with its overarching story-driven style and a change to exp gain which would honestly be incompatible with the level curve in Johto. Gen 6, whilst returning to the exp system without level deficit multipliers, saw different means of statistical representations of the 'dedication, love and trust' trio in Pokemon Amie, which can break the game almost as much as the Exp Share when enough Affection is built up. Gen 7 brings back Gen 5's exp system whilst retaining the Exp Share and Affection systems, and actually ends up even diverging from the EV design which went before by having in-game trainers and Totem Pokemon with competitive, min-maxed EV spreads from as early as the Trainer's School. Whilst I am yet to play Let's Go and Sword and Shield, their Exp system with a 'permanent Exp Share' of sorts makes it a huge amount different and from what I've seen and heard, overlevelling is quite easy despite the game being designed around the feature. I really hope that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at least return to Gen 6's exp mechanics, or better, reunite us with the held-item version of the Exp Share which doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating whenever I use it.

Before I go too off-topic, though, I should probably return to the original thread of this post to make some concluding remarks. What can't be denied that the way GSC and HGSS are designed may not be for everyone. I know for sure that a lot of people prefer to be able to breeze through a Pokemon game at a brisk pace without many roadblocks, but as someone who in recent years has come to appreciate much slower-paced and immersive singleplayer Pokemon playthroughs, I can't help but love the way GSC and HGSS are designed in the way I've explained, or appreciate their unique identity amongst the rest of the series. Coming to think about this has also shed light on why I adored HeartGold as much as I did when I first played it way back 11 years ago. I poured hours and hours into the game, and as a result, its magical design put me under its spell.

_____________________________________________________________

Though I linked to the references I did use when they appeared, here they are again. Do check them out if they're of interest to you!

Tama Hero's GSC review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtMVKP2T6Y

speedrun.com trainer data for HGSS: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgss/guide/k2zij

speedrun.com trainer data for SuMo: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnsunmoon/guide/d2683

Tama Hero (YT) is one of the few people I know who actually makes longer-form Pokemon analysis content besides Aleczandxr (also YT), who whilst not being a 'PokeTuber' has made some brilliant analyses of storytelling through setting in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and just recently, Unova. I did not refer to them here but I can highly recommend their content, at least.

Thank you very much for reading to the very bottom here. This is my first time writing something like this and I appreciate it.

[pollylynn]

Title: Hoodwinked WC: 1200 Episode: Love Me Dead (2 x 09)

He supposes it’s only right that he take his lumps after buys absolutely everything Scarlett Prices is selling. Well. Not quite everything she’s selling, but he can’t exactly make a case for himself by announcing to the bullpen that he did not, in fact, take the call-girl-turned-pimp up on her offer of one-hundred percent free sex. But that is literally the only thing he didn’t buy . . . or wouldn’t have bought . . . or whatever. The point is Scarlett Price identified him as an easy mark and he lived down to the reputation, and now he’s prepared to take his lumps.

It’s not so bad, really. The external razzing he gets is mostly the rough-housing-among-family vein, and he’s still enough of the new kid that it gives him a perverse little thrill when they knock him around like he’s one of the boys. And in any case, the lame jokes and the picture of Huggy Bear taped to his chair really can’t compete with the internal, self-administered lumps he’s got going on.

He is cringing—positively cringing—in retrospect about how the entire scenario went down. His mind insists on replaying, over and over, the dumb questions he asked: What’s a perfectly nice call girl like you doing working for the ADA who is clearly the dirt bag in this scenario? He’s mortified when he thinks of the way she masterfully fed him the tiniest threads of a story, then sat back as he did all the heavy lifting, filling in the blanks until she’d risen to the lofty heights of the most tragic of heroines, continually failed by a cruel world until he came along.

You don’t have to be that person with me. The eye roll he has for himself over that hackneyed bit of dialogue might actually be Beckett league, so yeah. The external lumps that he’s taking kind of roll right off his back, because falling for the story isn’t the half of it.

He’d screwed up the case. He’d shouldered his way into the conversation, armor shining, and promised her anonymity and protection if she gave them information on the new Danton. He couldn’t wait fifteen seconds for Beckett, an absolute master at securing cooperation, to do just that. He’d knocked that domino right over and left Knox roaming the streets. He’d held on to the photo of Reverend He’s a Client Miller for dramatic effect, and set the stage for Knox’s murder, to say nothing of Scarlett’s ascension to the role of New York City’s third “Danton” in something like forty-eight hours.

So he lets the blows fall. Ryan and Esposito ride him almost constantly. The Captain gets his shots in. It’s a general free-for-all, regardless of who’s on shift or what time of day it is. He’s reasonably sure people he’s never met are swarming up from lower floors and raining down from above to get in on the action. Or it’s possible that the intense state of gloom that’s come over him is distorting his perception of Lumpville, population one, ever so slightly. In any case, he keeps his head down and wonders if maybe he ought not slink off entirely for a while.

She is, as promised, a major player early on. I told you so most definitely starts the morning after they bring Scarlett in, and for days afterward, she makes a show of asking whether any hookers with hearts of gold showed up on his doorstep overnight. She sacrifices what he assumes must have been an old pair of heels she didn’t like very much for the first of many wordless sight gags.

But she drops out of the proceedings not more than a few days in. He doesn’t exactly notice, though he vaguely misses the ingenuity of the lumps she administers. By then, the rest of the precinct has gotten to the point where they’re recycling their very best Miss Kitty jokes, and that’s damning with faint praise.

The world goes on as is. He knows this too shall pass, but so far, no one—not even Ryan—has done something boneheaded enough to get him out of the barrel. And then she pulls him out, literally almost.

“Come on.” She yanks him by the arm, up and out of the chair he’s been slouching in. “Take a walk.”

He’s still in his own head enough that he thinks she means alone. He thinks she might actually have realized that she should kick his gullible ass to the curb, but she’s walking with him. She’s marching him to the elevator, then out on to the street. She’s striking out north from the precinct and not looking back. He’s bewildered enough to fall ten steps behind, then he has to toil to catch up.

“Buy me a hot dog,” she commands. She gestures sharply to the cart that he’s pretty sure wasn’t there until she willed it into being two seconds ago. “And chips.”

She strolls off to nearby bench while he fills her order. He hands off the food and sits a careful distance away from her, almost at the opposite end of the bench. He’s not sure if this is a last meal or what, but whether it’s misery or wariness talking, something like minimum safe distance seems like a good idea.

She unwraps her hot dog and digs in. She crunches one, two, three chips before she wipes her hands on a napkin in business-like fashion.

“You and the whole thing with Scarlett Price,” she says, her voice clipped. “I did the same thing with Buckley.”

He doesn’t say anything. He’s not sure what he would say, given that he’s more than a little lost here. He’s reasonably sure she didn’t half kiss the very much deceased ADA Buckley, so he doesn’t say anything. But she doesn’t say anything either, and the noise of midday traffic settles heavily between them.

“He must have just wanted easy company. Must have wanted to get her out of the life.” She’s doing some kind of unflattering impression of herself. Ironic quotation marks abound, and he’s not quite sure what he’s witnessing here.“Why would he become a pimp, why would he get involved with a criminal.” She rolls her eyes and demolishes the last of her hot dog as though she’s holding a grudge. “Buckley was a dirt bag, but I couldn’t see it. Everyone said he was one of the good ones . . .”

“And you fell for it.”

“I fell for it,” she says, absolutely deadpan.

He gives her a sideways smile that gets about three-quarters of the way to the real thing. He remembers suddenly Alexis, returning from her secret meeting and tossing the word nice over her shoulder, re: Beckett. He’d almost laughed out loud at the time at the incongruity of the word in the same sentence with her name. But she’s sitting on a park bench crunching down chips she made him buy her and he can’t think of anything more apt to describe her in this moment. She’s really nice.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Beckett. It happens to the best of us.”

A/N: The amorphousness here is a definite "Beware of the Blob" situation; long day, got a very late start on this.

images via homeofthenutty

[baodurs]

i filled out this super cool button character profile by @extraordinarymage for sabrina! thank you for making this, it was a lot of fun to fill out <3 the bulk of it is under a cut and oh boy is it long !!!

Short, Quick Reference

Name: Sabrina Wiseman

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Love Interest: Kent

Main personality trait: Confidence

Secondary personality trait: Morbidity

Relationship with Nick: Full of love, haunted by unaddressed guilt and frustration. But mostly full of love.

Nickname for Nick: Saint Nick (used sparingly)

Resentful or accepting?: Slightly resentful

Main strategy (interpersonal, insightful, innovative?): Insightful

Ethical or expedient?: Expedient

GENERAL

Name: Sabrina Larkspur Wiseman

Nickname(s): Sab, used by anyone; Sabby, only Nick and Sally; and, of course, Button for Nick.

Birthday: I think I made her an October Libra for the purpose of a template I did months ago, but I’m not sure! No concrete birthday yet, I’m always very slow to nail down details like this.

Age: 20

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Hair color + style: Blonde. A little past shoulder length, sometimes wavy. Usually a middle part. For Aeon, tied back in a bun.

Eye color: Blue, entirely because of the section of Frank O’Hara’s “Meditations in an Emergency” that goes, “My eyes are vague blue, like the sky...”

Height: 5′5

Piercings: Multiple in each ear, but a couple have started to close.

Tattoos: None yet! Sab likes the idea of a tattoo but is worried about finding the perfect design, whether she’d end up hating it, that the pain might be greater than she expects and she’ll look like a baby in front of her tattoo artist. I’d like to think she eventually consults Sally and/or Glitch to come up with an idea that she falls in love with, but I haven’t come up with what that would be!

Clothing style: Mostly solid colors, not a lot of patterns. Nothing super bright, but a fairly varied mix of pastels, neutrals, dark colors, black. Partial to denim skirts and sweater tops. Ankle boots. Likes a good turtleneck. She’s bolder when it comes to formal wear, and especially loves suits. Big fan of silk and satin.

Since she has a pretty accurate face claim, I’ll link some gifsets I’ve rb’d for appearance ref if you are so inclined.

STATS

I’m always adjusting minor things and swapping scenes around, but these are from my most recent Sab run! Most scores hover somewhere around these values.

Personality:

Confidence: 53%

Humor: 5%

Morbidity: 22%

Resentful: 57% | Accepting: 43%

Strategy:

Interpersonal: 12%

Insightful: 50%

Innovative: 10%

Ethical: 43% | Expedient: 57%

KEY DECISIONS:

What is Nick’s nickname and why?: Saint Nick, used very rarely. It’s a joking reference to the time she thought Santa was an evil Ment out to ruin Christmas, and a point about Nick overdoing it with the cheer. “Saint Nick” is usually code for “I know you mean well, but please mind your own business.” Otherwise, she just calls him Nick.

What is their favorite type of cookie (and its name and why?): Salted caramel chocolate chip! No special name.

What was their initial reaction to Sally hugging them, as kids?: She just froze. That could just be me projecting adult Sabrina onto her childhood self; I don’t imagine that she was as uncomfortable around strangers or quite as cautious back then. But that’s what I’ll stick with.

How did they ace the ASE test?: The in-game option she takes is “My entire life has revolved around strategic avoidance,” but the one about being just plain smart also sounds like her. If Sab has the chance to thoroughly (over)prepare for something, she will do it. Her mind blindness also has her constantly (over)analyzing situations. So, hard work and relentless anxiety!

Did they manage to win their first assignment? How?: Yes, by having Sally block the door. I’ve headcanoned some slight differences in how it plays out, which I wrote about in-depth here. To summarize, Sab thinks of blocking the door as a desperate last resort, not a clever loophole, and she pushes back against Rosy’s praise because she wishes she could have done it the “real” way. Rosy goes from being impressed to being annoyed that she’s willfully missing the point.

What was the primary emotion Button felt during the Aeon bombing (love, gratitude, etc?): Guilt. She feels very guilty about how much Nick has given up for her in general, but I think that in the moment, it’s on a smaller scale. The fact that Nick was on the phone with her when it happened, coming to her rescue like always, becomes emblematic of their whole relationship for her, and she really fixates on that.

Who drove them home from the hospital from and why?: Glitch. Sab responds to her initial text with “Are you sure?”, and is relieved when Glitch takes that as “Yes, please.” She doesn’t relish the idea of being around someone more connected to her family or Nick at that point.

How do they feel about Nick riding around in their mind?: Worried, at first. Just because it’s so unknown and absolutely insane. After seeing Doctor Amari, she’s excited! Sab is thrilled to be a Pollard Five and intends to take full advantage of it. I am not looking forward to seeing how she reacts when that’s taken away from her.

Why did Button agree to do the undercover mission?: To prove she still deserves to be an MIV. Sabrina feels stupid and reckless for putting herself, Nick, and Aeon in this position, but she knows she’s smart, and she hasn’t worked this hard for nothing. She wants to prove what she could do with a normal Pollard Score and make herself too valuable to give up even when she’s back to Zero.

Told Glitch about your mind blindness?: Depends on the playthrough. I’m constantly going back and forth on whether Sab meets Glitch for coffee or wanders the city with Nick in her second chapter 5 slot (after trying to track down Kent). If she does meet Glitch, though, she absolutely tells her; with how touchy Sab is about privacy, she couldn’t stomach not warning Glitch that Nick could hear everything they said.

Figured out K’s secret?: Nope. She finds enough of the clues to be given the “I knew it!” option in-game, but she didn’t actually put it together. Sab is too angry and embarrassed by learning that Kent is an AMO to find any reason to interrogate it. “The random guy I met before school just happens to be a jerk” is a perfectly sound explanation to her.

Found Noh’s clues?: Not at the metro station. Sometimes she sees the Vengeance brooms in chapter 5 (again, depending on the playthrough), but that’s it.

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP:

Love Interest: Kent

Why them?: Sab feels an immediate kinship with Kent after learning about the NPO program. It’s kind of funny how quickly he moves from the least sympathetic position in her eyes (Ment who got past me and read my mind without my knowledge) to the most sympathetic (non-powered child of a prominent family aiming a league above where he “belongs”). A lot of new respect for his competence. Her fate is sealed when she realizes that his kindness at the hospital wasn’t him trying to make up for some wrongdoing, but just him being very sweet. (She had scoffed over “You needed help.” But now she’s like, “Oh. He meant that?! Fuck.”)

As they spend more time together, Sab realizes how weirdly similar they are in other ways, too. And she starts to feel safe/secure around him in a way that she’s extremely not used to. Growing up surrounded by Ments, Sab has a lot of issues about being too much, too difficult, needing to “be worthy” of love. So someone like Kent who is not a Ment, who has no “obligation” to care about her, and whose judgement she trusts implicitly? Being around him and being loved by him mean a lot, and I think will go a long way towards helping her reflect on her other relationships!

What are their first impressions of each other?: Okay, there are like 3 first impressions with Kent. First: he’s tall and handsome and secretly adorable, and they have similar career goals, so she’s drafting a five-month plan to woo him and get his number. Second: he’s a lying, self-obsessed loser who owes her many explanations. Third: oh no, the first impression was true! And he’s been continually, selflessly kind to her in spite of her overt hostility. Scratch the five-month plan, because the crush was only fun when it was entirely superficial; now she really, really likes him and that just sucks.

We know that Button makes a good impression on K by stopping for their dogs, but apart from that... I mean, the “we confused each other” from chapter 7 is very apt. Sab has lots of shifting personas, and Kent sees pretty much every one within 24 hours. The prevailing impression before everything gets cleared up is probably just that she cares a lot? About everything? Her stopping for the dogs, how seriously she takes the first assignment, the way she seems so deeply affected by something he said or did that morning. It’s a rare side of her to meet first because she usually pretends to be above everything.

What feature does your Button find most attractive in their RO (ex. appearance, personality, etc.)?: Probably his composure. And his... steadfastness? The way he seems unruffled by anything, his soothing presence. She really admires that about him and finds the calm contagious.

What do they do to spend time together?: Going on drives together! Kent driving while Sab plays songs she thinks he’ll like, talking or not talking. Cuddling on the couch while reading their own separate books. Museum dates. Walking the dogs together.

Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: I imagine that the first month or so of their relationship would be difficult, just because they’re both bad at expressing themselves and not used to relying on other people. Kent kind of negates a lot of Sab’s impulses to get defensive or hostile, so instead of arguments, I think there are more likely to be awkward periods where she’s just stewing in something without addressing it. Most of their fights would be, like, one of them becoming really distant for a concerning number of days until the other tries to awkwardly check in on them.

What does their future look like?: Uhh some random lore: I think eventually they do get married, despite neither of them caring that much about it. Sabrina would be excited to have something to plan, and she knows it would make the people around her happy. They have a long engagement; there’s never really an “official” proposal, just an acknowledgement that yeah, they’ll get married one day, and then eventually they get rings. The engagement is almost Sab’s favorite part, honestly. She likes planning and showing off her ring and calling Kent her fiancé, a lot of fanfare on her part for a wedding that ends up being very modest and chill.

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in depth!)

Relationship with Nick: When I first started developing Sab, I thought that with as difficult/prickly as she can be, her relationship with Nick would be worse than it is. Never bad, but certainly strained, with more jealousy/resentment on her side. However, she rejected this. She is resentful, but never towards Nick—she internalizes the negative parts of their relationship so they manifest as guilt instead. And that’s the problem, not resentment. Sab thinks he’s overprotective, but that doesn’t make her angry; it just makes her sad. She wishes things were different and he didn’t feel so responsible for her, but she also doesn’t know how she could manage without him taking on so many of her burdens. So, guilt! So much love, but always looming guilt.

Having Nick in her head has helped. It’s added a new kind of guilt (“I’m a horrible person for being so giddy that people can’t hear my thoughts even though that requires my brother to be in a coma”), but getting inside Nick’s head for once and really feeling his love for her changes things. Makes her feel way more secure, I guess? It’s easier to see her brother as human person, a friend who loves her, rather than a perfect selfless paragon who sacrificed everything to raise her, which is an important shift.

There are also Things happening with self-presentation in the fact that they’re both models, and flirts, and pretend to be shallow. And the ways that they’ve responded to vastly different expectations. And selflessness versus selfishness. But I have no idea how to talk about that yet.

Relationship with Father: Strained and distant. Sabrina doesn’t necessarily blame him for leaving, but she hates how he’s handled it. She’s incredibly frustrated that John insists on keeping them in this miserable limbo of uncomfortable visits, even though moving away was (to her) a tacit acknowledgement that she and her parents are better off without each other. He’s trying to force a relationship that Sab thinks is ultimately harmful for everyone involved. For Nick’s sake, she’s willing to grin and bear the visits, but it never works because John can obviously tell it’s an act. He pushes her, she gets defensive, and so on to infinity.

Relationship with Mother: Like with John, Sab doesn’t resent Hope for the incident itself, or for leaving afterward. It was terrifying, and the idea of being around Hope makes her panic—but she thinks of that as just another irrational anxiety symptom, and she’s trying to work through it. What she does resent Hope for is letting it get to that point at all. Sab is incredibly bitter that Hope will suffer silently to the point of almost killing her (during the incident) and potentially herself (with the BRS), while Sab has no choice but to be completely open. Especially because they’re so similar in that way—she’s almost jealous. “Oh, so your silence is allowed to almost kill me and it’s ‘nobody’s fault’ but I can’t pretend to enjoy a single lunch with Dad without him calling me out for lying?”

And even though she doesn’t hold the incident itself against her, Sab is very hung up on “Why are you never quiet? Why are you always there?” She knows, on some level, that this was not a Personal Judgement against her. But because Hope keeps so much quiet, this is the only honest expression of her mother’s feelings that she can remember! It would take a lot for Sab to believe that Hope was really, genuinely interested in reconnecting with her, rather than just pretending to love her "enough” this time because to do otherwise would reflect poorly on Hope as a mother.

Relationship with Sally: Besties <3 Sally is the only member of the Wiseman inner circle that Sab doesn’t have complicated feelings about. They both have hidden morbid streaks that they bring out in each other, and can laugh about. They both have competitive streaks that work well together because they’re always on the same team. And their wants/needs from the relationship complement each other well, I think. Sally has always felt valued because she’s useful and not because she’s loved, while Sab has always felt smothered by love/care without feeling like she genuinely adds value to other people’s lives. So it means a lot to both of them that they’re able to help each other practically, while also genuinely loving and supporting each other outside of that.

Relationship with Gray: Full of trust and genuine care, but predicated on distance. Sab loves him a lot for being so careful not to cross any boundaries, physical or emotional, with her. She’s grateful that he’s there for Nick in a way that she doesn’t feel she can be. But "I like Gray because he doesn’t push me and is good to Nick” means that any hand he extend makes her defensive, because she’ll either view him as an emissary of Nick or start to panic because their normal routine is being disrupted (she doesn’t tell him about Hope in ch 3, for example).

They get along very well in a friend-of-a-friend sort of way, and bond over being cautious counterparts to Nick. Also, Sab never had a crush on Gray, but she is not immune to tall superhero and thinks it’s fun to fake flirt with him. (You know Isabela’s “You have pretty eyes” routine from DA2? Sab does that to Gray when conversations steer towards things she’d rather not talk about.)

Relationship with Glitch: I’m really excited about these two! They click from the start, and Sabrina feels immediately comfortable around Glitch, which makes her feel distinctly uncomfortable whenever she catches herself. Externally, they have pretty different personalities, but they’re both perceptive and... socially manipulative? aware of their self-presentation?... in ways that they both pick up on right away. So it’s a lot of conversational maneuvering and trying to figure out what the other’s game is, while also genuinely enjoying each other’s company.

Relationship with Kent/Kenna: I could go truly insane here. See the romance section above instead.

Relationship with Kim: Sab wants him to like her sooooo bad. He’s one of the only people to ever really get through to her, re: my headcanon conversation after the first assignment. Authority figures tend to treat her as special, whether that’s negatively because of her mind blindness or positively because she’s such an overachiever. She had no idea how to respond to that not being the case (and didn’t handle it well at first), but chapter 6 solidifies her respect for him.

It also turns Rosy’s opinion of Sab around; he was impressed by her in class but left his office thinking she was self-absorbed and naive. But the bombing is a reality check, and her response is very measured and practical in a way that surprises him.

Relationship with Lev: She doesn’t mind the comparisons to Nick or the “maybe one day they’ll fix you” comments as much as you might think. They aren’t her favorite, but she prefers that sort of thing to the inspirational platitudes belied by coddling that she got from her family growing up. Sab has fond memories of Lev and is grateful that he’s always been kind to her, but doesn’t have any particular feelings apart from that.

Relationship with Clarence: Holds a grudge against him for causing a scene, making her late, and generally being a jerk. But she can’t fault him for being right, after what happened! Mostly she just wants to avoid him, but she’ll be thrilled to lord her success over him if/when she proves herself.

Relationship with Dean Branham: Like Rosy, another authority figure that Sab desperately wants to impress. But without the personal investment she has in Rosy’s validation, more “Oh, this person is in charge, so I should make her like me!” Despite Nick’s and Rosy’s reservations, Sabrina doesn’t really have a problem with being “strongarmed” or manipulated into cooperating; for now, she figures Branham was just doing her job and respects her tactics.

Relationship/attitude towards Ments in general: Mostly just uncomfortable and wary around them. Sab doesn’t want her mind read, and she figures that no Ment wants to be forced to read it either. So she has a pretty strict “no Ments” rule for close personal relationships (excluding Nick, Sally, and Gray, of course. But only Nick really counts because he’s the only one who can hear her thoughts whenever she’s nearby). Not out of hatred or resentment, just because she knows it will be easier for everyone in the long run.

Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): Not many, but yes! Sab dated around a lot in the 2 years before Aeon (more like year and a half, because she completely shut it down once she was more focused on preparing for the MIV program), but there are 2 relationships that were formative/important for her. A high school sweetheart, and someone Sab met through modeling. She doesn’t keep up with her high school ex, but the model is her best friend outside of Sally and Nick, and they still keep in touch! I’m still developing them/the relationships, and I’ll probably post more about them someday. They’re fun!

PERSONAL BIO

Describe their personality: Confusing and contradictory. She has two main modes that confuse people who meet both (e.g., Kent). She’s either cold, stuck-up, and sometimes hostile, OR she’s charming, frivolous, and sometimes flirty. Mode 1 is tense but stoic and inexpressive; mode 2 is seemingly relaxed but very posed and insincere. Mode 1 is for when she feels uncertain or has no agenda apart from “get to point B”; mode 2 is for when she’s more comfortable or trying to manipulate someone. Her actual personality is a bit closer to the second, but she doesn’t pretend not take things seriously or hide when she’s annoyed.

Strengths: Analytical, methodical, detail-oriented. Very driven and hardworking. May not always act like it, but does have social skills/charisma; a great liar, if you can’t read her mind. Unfailingly loyal and loving to her favorite people, so so so warm and affectionate and supportive if she really loves you. Very perceptive.

Weaknesses: Way too proud. Can be petty and vindictive. Self-absorbed (she doesn’t mean anything by it, but it’s hard for her to see past herself sometimes). Stubborn, hates being wrong. And... emotional isn’t the word, but strong negative emotions can really cloud her judgement. It ties into her being proud, petty, and stubborn; if she’s really upset about something, she can cling to that emotion instead of re-evaluating it or moving forward.

Phobias: From this ask about the phobias that are planned to show up in-game, there are a few that I could see fitting Sab, but I want to wait to see how they’re implemented before I fully commit. Which is very metagame-y, I know (and I am very metagame-y about IF), but “fear of X” is so broad that it really does depend on when/how it manifests in the text.

That being said, agoraphobia is almost a lock; crowds do make Sab very anxious if she can’t keep track of everyone within a certain distance, and if she can’t leave when she starts feeling antsy. Claustrophobia is a maybe. The choice that triggers it (in chapter 4, about hating MRI machines) suits Sab, but I’m not sure if she hates MRI machines because she hates tight spaces, or if it’s more related to her general anxiety about hospitals, medical tests, etc. Which she definitely has!

What activities/club did they do in school?: She avoided anything group-oriented as far as possible. She took piano (maybe violin?) lessons and did recitals, but wasn’t in orchestra. The one exception was maybe National Honor Society or some equivalent, which she would have joined for her resume’s sake. And I think she would have tutored!

Where do they escape to when they need space?: A little used library corner, where she can people watch without being seen/heard.

How do they feel about/cope with their mind blindness?: Sab hates it but tries not to dwell on it. She knows that it’s no one’s fault, and she mainly just tries to... minimize it? Drown out her thoughts, limit her contact with Ments. And, least healthily, very rigidly managing herself. Because there’s so much of her that exists outside of herself, without her control, she tries to either filter or completely suppress everything else. Part of why she got into modeling, she can perform and be perfect and have total control over the final product of her body in the photographs for whatever campaign. Some Day This Will Be Better. But definitely not where she is in current canon.

How has your Button changed since the Incident with Hope?: Developed many new anxieties and disorders and syndromes :) She also became way more self-conscious, as in literally conscious of and way more tightly monitoring herself, what she’s thinking, what she’s expressing, how she’s sitting, etc. Less emotive face, more rigid posture.

If they weren’t an Aeon student, what would they be doing?: Sab would have beaten herself up forever if she “proved everyone right” by avoiding Unity/Ments entirely, so she’d want to stay in the family business somehow. She probably would have ended up doing scientific research on mental agility. Maybe even working for Mirrortech or some other biotech company, which I imagine would have been an interesting conversation to have with the family.

RANDOM FACTS:

Zodiac sign: Like I said, I assigned her Libra months ago for the sake of a template. But I don’t know enough about astrology to commit. Libra or Leo, probably.

Hobbies: Music, reading poetry, “cooking” (i.e., sitting on the counter and not helping while Nick makes dinner)

Likes: Watching other people (Nick) play video games, dressing up, taking long showers/baths, dark chocolate with caramel, back hugs

Dislikes: Being patronized, hot weather, going to the doctor, driving, doing anything she is not good at

Type of bedsheets: Bamboo.

Drink of choice: Cucumber mint lemonade! For hot drinks, some kind of caramel coffee. For alcohol, she refuses to get drunk because she’s terrified of having even less control of her mental broadcast, but at home/around people she trusts she’ll have a glass or two of wine. Doesn’t know enough to be picky, but doesn’t like it too sweet.

Favorite food: Probably some pasta dish Nick makes with asparagus and tomatoes and a lot of garlic.

Favorite color: Like a light turquoise!

Favorite music: Music to her was another mind-shielding tactic before anything else, so she tends to like upbeat-ish electronic/pop stuff. Catchy and repetitive, and/or with lots of personality to drown out her own thoughts. On the other end of the spectrum, she does have a soft spot for crackly, lo-fi, old or old-sounding slow songs—something about fuzzy recordings simulating a weak telepathic signal.

Favorite season: Hmm, spring and autumn are both good. She likes either side of winter.

Anything else you’d like to share: My heart and a long, fulfilling marriage, with anyone who reads all this 💍

[little-lightning-lavellan]

if you're still doing otp asks 💖

8. What were their first impressions of each other? 15. What are traits they dislike in one another? 19. If they could each write a single line in their marriage vows, what would they be?

Never question if I will be answering otp asks for these dweebs 💖

Solas & Mellan make my little gay heart aflutter 💖💖

8 ~ Mellan’s was pretty straightforward. She woke first from the Conclave, and the first words out of her mouth were demanding to know where he sister was. However, she was completely out of sorts, so once she realized ‘Oh, she’s right beside me’, she hobbled over and held onto Aislin before falling unconscious again. Solas, being the one watching over them and studying their marks at the time, was the one she weakly yelled at, and she didn’t really get much of a chance of an impression on him. He was just a person that was there, and not important.

Once she was able to come to a bit more, and “meet” him for the first time, she was more curious than anything. No one in this place was answering her questions, really, except for him. At least, he was actually making an attempt to. Worry turned to relief, which then turned to thankfulness. As things became more comfortable, Mellan’s questions become more and more about his history, and thus following him around like a duckling began.

Solas’ impression was Mellan was a mix of many things. ‘How did these two people survive? They’re both marked, what happens now? How do we move forward? When will they wake up? Oh, wonderful, one of them is yelling. Oh, she’s disoriented… oh. Of course, they’re family.’ He found the fact that her first instinct being ‘Find and Protect Sister’ admirable. Once she had come to her senses more he found her lack of remembrance to that particular event amusing, and felt the exact opposite in regards to her frustrations. He helped where he could, and felt himself draw to her curiosity just as she was drawn to his knowledge.

15 ~ Solas’ irks about Mellan are more apparent… okay that sounds really bad, but they’re mostly there because they stem from love, and came up long before he felt anything beyond strictly platonic feelings for her!

Mostly, they’re all things that make him worry about her. Mellan doesn’t exactly have the best sense of self-preservation, and so Solas often finds himself in situations of ‘Mellan isn’t getting enough actual rest’, ‘Mellan you’re a mage, you cannot throw yourself into hand-to-hand combat,’ ‘Mellan for the love of everything holy please stop jumping into the rotunda you will break your ankles.’ Things like that. He loves her, but good gods, if he had hair she would have made it grey long ago.

Mellan’s are also worry-based, but more psychological than physical. She knows damn well how much Solas bottles in on himself, takes on alone, ruminates, and guilt-trips in his own mind. He hides it well at first, but the longer he’s with Mellan, the easier his tells become. It frustrates her sometimes, that he won’t see to let her bear any of the load, but she does as much as she can to help, and let him know that she’s there.

19 ~ (I haven’t actually decided on marriage for these boobs yet, but I would not be shocked if they eloped. No matter what, they would not have a big ceremony, so short vows seem apt no matter what. <3) Also I hope I’m understanding this question right in that their vows only get to be one line, and not that they add a line to each others’??? IF I’M WRONG OOPS.

For Mellan, the single line would be: “I promise to stand beside you and love you, come what may, i’banal y’solas.”

And for Solas: “Vhenan, I promise to watch over and cherish every breath you take, melenal in’nehn sule’din or melava, emma nas’falon.”

Now, to explain the bits in Elvhen! (Big thanks for the Elvhen Lexicon goes to our lord and savior @fenxshiral)

In Mellan’s, I chose to have her vow conclude with “i’banal y’solas,” which means “with nothing but pride.” This was to show not only her pride in both her spouse, their love, and their choices, but also as a play on his name joining with hers in marriage.

In Solas’, he uses a bit more Elvhen (because its Solas.) You all know what vhenan means, don’t lie to me, but “melenal in’nehn sule’din or melava, emma nas’falon” took a bit more work, and I honestly might have flubbed some bits. If I got it right, it should roughly translate to: “waiting in bliss until the end of time, soulmate of mine.” Poetic little sap (plus, hey, if the wife gets a name pun, then why shouldn’t he get to throw some Mels in there?)

[fairiesherefairiesthere]

The five proposals Freed Justine rejected and the one he did accept.

Fraxusweek by @fuckyeahfraxus day 7, with the prompt being  :  Proposal/Wedding/Engagement

1. A girl who's confused, but has got the spirit.

It's a precarious situation and Laxus doesn't know how to solve it. They've got the bad guy of the day cornered, but instead of going along willingly, the man thought it a good idea to get civilians involved. Quickly, the perpetrator had seen that there was no way to get out of his situation, with Laxus, Bickslow and Evergreen trapping him against the side of a building. So he had wrangled a little girl out of her screaming mother's grip and now, he has his one hand wrapped around her throat while he waves a weapon around with the other one.

To her credit, the little girl isn't going down without a fight, kicking and screaming as the situation keeps escalating. If the man wasn't wearing a mask, Bickslow probably could've done something about it. Brainwashing the girl herself is out of the question, as she's more likely to injure than save herself. Opening fire upon the man is completely out of the question, so now they're all stuck.

Rest of the fic under the cut!

The answer comes in the form of their ever so dependable captain kicking down the door from the inside, effectively smashing it into the man who had unwittingly been shielding the little girl from stray doors suddenly opening. With a dull thud, the man falls to the floor, unconscious.

As Bickslow and Evergreen cheer their captain on for a job well done, Laxus catches the surprise in his eyes and the 'oops' he silently mouths before looking around. When Freed comes to the conclusion that his habit of tresspassing for fun has not gotten him into trouble for once, he smiles at his teammates while telling them of the importance of 'seeing all the options' amongst other things. Later, in private, he'll tell the little shit that he knows he's full of bull, but for now Laxus will let him gloat.

Starry-eyed, the now saved little girl tugs on Freed's jacket, narrowly avoiding getting clocked by his sword. "Mister, you saved me!" she says and Freed nods with more confidence than he should have, considering his heroic act was one of mere coincidence.

"That means you have to marry me", she says in a matter of fact voice that throws all of them off. "That's what my books say", she continues before throwing a hopeful glance at Freed.

Behind his back, Freed makes a tiny gesture with his hand and with a bit of magic, he hurls a rather concerningly large rock at Laxus. Swiftly, he moves between Laxus and the rock, fending it off with his rapier. "Well young lady", he says, turning to the girl. "Now I have saved this man as well and now I have to marry him too. I hope you don't mind sharing."

With all the huffy- and puffyness girls that age usually possess, she turns her head harrumphs. "No, I don't like sharing. I'm not settling for trash", she continues, giving Freed the stinkeye. "So our engagement is called off, goodbye my sweet prince", she dramatically sighs before joining her mom. She does wave them all goodbye though, so that's a nice bonus.

2. A girl who isn't confused and hasn't got the spirit.

The second time Freed gets proposed to, it isn't even done by the bride to be. No, the bride to be stands there somberly, as her father tries to offer Freed her hand. "Surely", the man says, "A handsome young man such as yourself wouldn't refuse a gorgeous young lady. She knows how to cook and keep quiet, what else do you want?"

There's a quick flash of anger in the daughter's eyes and anger radiates off Freed as well, although he's more apt at hiding it. It's only because Laxus knows him so well that he knows how the other man really feels.

"What else I want?" Freed asks, voice carefully leveled before throwing on the biggest of smiles. "Why, your son would be a good place to start. He's gorgeous as well and I bet he's a fast learner, we could make our dinner together before having a ménage à trois in our kitchen."

The words immediately hit home and before they know it, the four of them are hightailing it out of there, but not before Freed has pressed a vial with suspicious liquid into the girl's hand with a whisper of: "Please feel free to use this however you want."

3. The spirit.

As far as Laxus knows, the party gathered in front of him is reaching the peak of their little roleplay game. He has no idea what they're actually prattling about, but Freed looks happy playing whatever it is, so of course he's there too. Although he isn't participating and merely laying his head down on Freed's lap, as he's done the past few session, he can kind of tell what's going on based on observations and little comments Freed gives now and then.

Wendy is narrating the story and honestly, her youthful spirit adds a gentle touch to it. Levy, Lucy, Mira, Freed and for some reason, Gray and Loke are the nerds participating and rolling dice. Throughout the story, familial bonds have been formed and right now, they're on the cusp on something more than just familial.

Loke and Freed's characters have been flirting since pretty much the first session. Laxus really doesn't mind, because he trusts Freed and also because both men are making a competition out of it. It keeps Freed sharp, so to speak and he only becomes better at flirting with Laxus in return. It's ridiculous how smooth he is sometimes.

In-game, Loke has proposed to Freed and the whole group is hollering and shouting until Loke rolls the dice. Then they fall silent, so naturally, Laxus presumes something bad has happened. Calmly Wendy shoots the group a warm smile before saying: "Alberion (the name of Freed's character) panics, thinking he's gotten too close to the enemy. He shoots Guryon (Loke) and flees, back to the dark castle where he was born and raised!"

A series of whats and hows raises from the group while Freed and Wendy bump fists. Seeing the indignant expression on the rest of the players' faces, Wendy merely shrugs. "It was on his character background sheet", she explains and leaves the group to deal with the betrayal.

4. A man who's had too much spirit.

"Justine, marry me", Hibiki Lates sobs into Freed's shoulder as Laxus watches in amusement. His boyfriend is looking mildly annoyed at the overly intoxicated man, but there's a hint of fondness in the set of his lips.

"Now why would I do that?" he asks with a sigh and Hibiki immediately straightens his back before putting a USB-stick into Freed's hand.

"There's a powerpoint on there", he explains before starting to list his good qualities. "I'll start with the main reason why you should marry me: I'm really, really cute."

"That's what you're going with? Not our 1 week relationship when we were both fifteen?"

"No, because we broke up you dumbass", Hibiki says before headbutting Freed harder than probably intended. "You're not good at providing comfort, I'm gonna look for someone else", he mopes before stalking off. Before disappearing from view completely, he turns around to yell at Freed. "This is why our teenage romance didn't last!" Both of them end up snorting and laughing about it.

5. A man who's lost his spirit.

To say he's nervous is a serious understatement. Laxus has been planning this proposal for months now, has lost a significant amount of sleep over it and will probably cry if even the littlest of details goes wrong. He's stressed beyond belief.

For now, everything seems to be moving in the right direction. His reservation at the expensive seaside restaurant hasn't magically been cancelled and the clothes he'd set aside for today still fit nicely. Freed has also been going along with Laxus' plans without demanding to know what they're doing. Seemingly sensing Laxus nervousity, he simply follows wherever Laxus directs him to be.

The first thing that nearly goes wrong, is transportation and Laxus really has no idea how that even happened. He planned this whole thing while giving his own weaknesses no thought. As the carriage had pulled up, Freed had commented how nice it looked before giving Laxus a teasing smile, while telling him how good it was that that carriage wasn't for them, as Laxus would've puked all over it.

Immediatle, he blanches and Freed, bless his heart picks up on it. He waves the carriage off, which isn't a problem since Laxus already paid for it and then sets up some transportation runes. "Just imagine the place where we need to be and we'll be taken there", he instructs Laxus.

The seaside view is luckily just as gorgeous as in the pictures and Laxus feels the repeated crashing of the waves soothing his mind. Maybe it would go alright after all. The two of them settle in their chairs and look at the menu, commenting on some of the stranger recipes. Swiftly Laxus decides what he wants to eat and puts the menu down to ask Freed for his choice.

It's then that he catches Freed drumming his fingers on the table while biting his lip. He's also tapping his feet, so Laxus knows that he's essentially screwed. "Is there something wrong?" he asks, nervousity returning in full swing.

"Ah...It's just a little something that hasn't really been brought up." Catching Laxus' questioning gaze, Freed winces a little bit. "I'm allergic to seafood. Deathly allergic actually", he admits sheepishly and Laxus wants to dig a hole in the ground and take a nap in it. "Don't make that face", Freed gently chastises him. "This trip isn't wasted." With a grin, he browses through the menu until he's found what he's looking for. Triumphantly he turns the booklet around to show Laxus the dessert section. "You best believe I am testing out as much of these bad boys as I can. I don't believe they'll put fish in there."

After something that could be counted as some form of a meal, the two of them want to take a walk on the beach. They are however dressed to the nines and after a brief moment of consideration, they come to the conclusion that neither of them wants to clean all the sand out of these clothes, so they let a walk on the sand itself drift from their minds for today. Instead they walk on the pavement until the sun sets.

During their walk, Laxus thinks that now would be a good time to propose. The setting sun is the perfect background and he bets it'd look really romantic if he were to pop out the rings right about now. Right about then, is when he realises he left the rings at home. After vehemently checking each and every one of his pockets, it's clear that a proposal isn't going to happen. To highlight this fact, the wind starts picking up and Laxus knows a gathering storm when he sees one. Defeated, he sits down on the sidewalk.

With more pep than Laxus'll probably feel for the rest of the week, Freed plops down next to him and lays his head on Laxus' shoulder. "My dear, do you want to cry about it?" he asks and honestly, he wants to but they're in public. Crying in front of Freed is one thing, crying in front of a crowd is another thing. "It's good that it's going to rain then", he adds gently before taking his head of Laxus' shoulder and opening his arms. "Get over here sweetheart."

It's a bit embarrassing, sitting there in the now full-on storm and crying while his boyfriend cradles him in his arms. But it feels too good to pass on, so he doesn't let go until he feels somewhat placated.

"My dear Laxus", Freed says softly but still audible over the storm, "You could ask me to marry you in the back of a dumpster and I'd wholeheartedly say yes. But you worked hard on this, didn't you? I'll keep that effort in mind. So ask me another day, when your nerves have calmed down. I just want to tell you now, I love you and I always will."

6. Two spirits, a shared love.

This time around, there are no theatrics or outrageously expensive restaurants. It's a simple breakfast prepared by Laxus, one he knows Freed'll like. After sliding the last egg on a plate, he goes upstairs to try to coax Freed out of bed for the third time this morning. A few languid kisses follow and reluctantly Freed follows, sticking close to Laxus because he is so very warm and comfortable.

"It's time for food, don't use me as your human blanket", Laxus softly admonishes him and Freed grumbles in return. With droopy eyes, Freed starts nibbling on his toast and although Laxus is very used to the sight of his boyfriend in the morning, it still elicits a smile from him.

"Yesterday I spent the day with Bix and he learned me some magic tricks", Laxus says and produces a set of cards out of his pocket. "Wanna see some?"

Vaguely interested, Freed hums and nods. Dutifully he picks out a card when Laxus asks him to and when Laxus asks him if he picked out Freed's card, the man shakes his head drowsily. "That isn't even a card Laxus, that's a box...", he complains quietly, yawning a bit afterwards.

"There is an accompanying card though", Laxus grins as he shoves the little box and the card to Freed side of the table. Predictably, Freed picks up the card first, reading the message and silently forming the words with his mouth.

Immediately the sleepiness seems to evaporate from his system as he quickly opens the box as well, revealing the rune-ingraved ring. Before even answering, he throws his arms around Laxus, planting a big, fat smooch on his lips before peppering a thousand little ones all over his face. "I love you", he gushes before collecting his thoughts a little bit. "And of course I'll marry you." They exchange some more kisses until Freed pulls back with a huge grin. "I'm going to brag to everyone. The guild, the lady at the grocer's, they'll be hearing it for months."

With a gentle tug, Laxus witholds the man from running out of the door in his bathrobe. "If they're going to hear about it for months, then you've got time to finish your breakfast, silly", he says warmly and Freed shoots him a cheeky smile and a wink in return.

[aion-rsa]

Resident Evil Village: Why Ethan Winters is the Worst RE Protagonist

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE spoilers.

I walked away from Resident Evil Village with mixed feelings about the whole thing, but the one aspect of the long-awaited sequel I had no mixed feelings about was leading man Ethan Winters and his status as the absolute worst.

While there have been other unlikable Resident Evil protagonists, Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village��s Ethan Winters is on another level. Unlike other RE heroes that were hindered by a combination of bad voice acting, bad writing, and questionable lore, Ethan Winters’ brings all of those unfortunate elements to the table and adds a couple of “qualities” that puts him cleanly in contention for the “honor” of being not just the worst protagonist in RE history but in all major video games.

Before you call that harsh, consider just a few of the many ways that Ethan Winters is the most insufferable part of two otherwise good games.

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Ethan Winters is a Terrible Husband

This is honestly a bit lower on the list of Ethan Winters’ character sins, but it has to be pointed out that Ethan Winters comes across as a pretty bad partner.

First off, there’s a world in which Ethan doesn’t even save Mia in Resident Evil 7 and instead chooses to give the serum to Zoe Baker: a girl he’s known for about a couple of hours. In that same ending, Mia still sacrifices herself for Ethan despite the fact that Ethan didn’t save her. Capcom wisely decided to abandon that ending pretty much entirely, but it’s telling that the writers created a character who could conceivably leave his wife to die when he’s able to easily save her.

Mind you, the version of Ethan we see in Village who did decide to save Mia is only slightly better than the one who abandoned her. The biggest problem here is actually the revelation that Mia is really Mother Miranda and seemingly has been for at least a little while. This use of the body switch trope always makes partners look bad (how do you not notice the supposed love of your life has been replaced?), but it takes a very dark turn in this instance when Mia is shot by Blue Umbrella operatives and Ethan barely reacts to his wife’s brutal murder.

Yes, it turns out it was actually Mother Miranda that was shot, but before Ethan knows that, he is seemingly able to process much of his grief with an “Oh God!” and an exasperated “Why?” After that, Ethan barely even talks about Mia. Sure, his daughter was just kidnapped, but this guy can’t shed a tear or do anything to indicate that he needs more than a minute to process this whole thing? Even if it was Mother Miranda who scolds Ethan in one of the game’s early cutscenes for not caring enough about their relationship, I’m starting to think she was right. No wonder she has to keep so much wine around the house.

Ethan Winters’ Quips Could Make an ’80s Action Hero Shake Their Head in Shame

I feel like I could spend several articles talking about Ethan’s awful one-liners and quips, but there’s one specific moment I have to talk about that really highlights the extent of this problem.

There’s a scene in the back half of Village that sees Ethan sneak through a mine in search of a flask containing part of his daughter. Against all odds, Ethan is able to retrieve the flask without drawing the attention of the creature guarding it, Moreau. However, Ethan (who, it must be said again, is the absolute worst) cannot resist taunting Moreau instead of just walking away. He then stays a little while longer to make fun of Moreau seemingly because he’s the first of the house leaders who he feels he is able to bully.

Ethan, why are you like this? Why would you possibly alert this thing to your presence when you’ve just been gifted an easy way out, and why would you exploit what appears to be a moment of weakness for this creature just to get a couple of insults and bad jokes in? For that matter, why do you constantly feel the need to chime in with some kind of quip or line that seemingly confirms you’re just good-looking enough to have never been told that you’re not funny?

It’s great that Moreau uses this moment to tell Ethan “You’re stupid! You talk too much,” but the fact that the game’s writers were seemingly aware of this problem makes it all the more baffling that they chose to have their games star this very stupid man who does, in fact, talk way too much in the moments he shouldn’t be talking at all.

Ethan Winters Has Never Been the Everyman He is Supposed to Be

When I first started playing Resident Evil 7, I gave the game the benefit of the doubt regarding some of Ethan Winters’ character and personality flaws. After all, he was supposed to be the player surrogate and something of an everyman who is just as confused by this situation as we are.

However, if Ethan really was ever supposed to be an everyman, he’s a pretty bad one. It’s easy enough to buy into the idea that Ethan is just some poor guy in a bad situation at first, but between his terrible quips, world-class bad decision making, and apparent inability to form a believable human connection with the few actual humans in his life, Ethan is less of an everyman and more of the random dorm roommate you got stuck with in college. The best thing you can say about him is that you’ve both got to find a way to get through this together.

Throughout Resident Evil, we also watch as Ethan alternates between struggling to understand things that we as the player have already figured out and not caring about obviously impressive moments. There are essentially vampires and other nearly mythological creatures in every corner of Resident Evil Village, and Ethan hardly ever conveys even a moment of surprise in response to anything he sees. There’s even a scene towards the end of the game when Ethan falls into an underground area only to find that Chris is already there and has apparently built a homemade tank. Does Ethan ask for an explanation about any of this or express any notable interest in these incredible coincidences/circumstances? No, he does not. It’s like the “cool guys don’t look at explosions” trope, but the explosions are the plot and the cool guy is Ethan Winters.

Seemingly realizing that Ethan wasn’t working as an everyman, Capcom decided to turn him into more of an action hero in Resident Evil Village. Unfortunately for everyone, that only made things worse…

Ethan Winters’ Powers Somehow Make Him an Even More Boring Character

Let’s get right into it: it doesn’t make any sense that Ethan Winters is able to defeat most of the threats he faces in Resident Evil Village, and the game’s attempts at making those moments make sense only make the character worse.

While Village tells us that Chris trained Ethan and Mia to some degree after the events of Resident Evil 7, there’s no amount of training you could possibly receive that would explain why the bullets from a shotgun you found in a shed are able to topple impossible creatures. Granted, that’s more of a game design problem than it is a personal issue with Ethan, but at some point, the fact that Ethan goes from “barely defending himself” to “defeating an entire village of monstrosities” with very little believable or enjoyable explanation between those moments ultimately becomes yet another reason to not like him.

Village later tries to explain Ethan’s regenerative abilities and impossible durability with a variation of the “dead the whole time” storytelling cliche, but that just makes matters worse. While “dead guy” is a pretty apt description of Ethan’s warmth as a human being, Ethan being just south of unkillable doesn’t make him any more interesting: it makes him a s****y Wolverine who hopes his powers will make up for his lack of personality. In reality, it just makes it more upsetting that it’s so hard to get rid of Ethan Winters.

Ethan Winters’ evolution from bewildered average guy to monster slayer could have been interesting. Just look at Gordon Freeman from Half-Life or the character Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy and Angel. Instead, the more we got to know Ethan, the more we wish we didn’t. It’s rare to have a protagonist that so effectively drags down the considerable quality of everything around him, but that’s just the kind of guy that Ethan is.

The post Resident Evil Village: Why Ethan Winters is the Worst RE Protagonist appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2SAA0jD

[inventors-fair]

Lyrical Poets

There was a pretty diverse set of musical interests represented in this competition - a wide variety of artists and genres, which definitely kept things from getting dull on my end. Without further ado, let’s jump on in!

@antmations​ - Erissa, Bog Witch

Flavour: Spooky big bog witch makes everybody feel like dying. I'm not sure it communicates why I'm better off that way, but I'm sure she knows what she's talking about. Mechanics: A deathtouch creature is already a pretty significant deterrant to attacking, so adding extra downsides makes it especially unattractive. Be careful with effects like this because they often put the opponent in a position where they feel they can't progress the game without dying, which just makes the gameplay grind to a halt. Templating/Nitpicks: Nope, nothin'. Overall: Bog Big witch energy.

Charmera - Bad Moon Risen

Flavour: I respect how literally you played into this, especially the references to old card names. Kudos. Mechanics: Obviously with taking things as literally as you did, the design kinda has to wind up all over the place. My biggest takeaway from this one is that it feels like it should be a Saga that just ticks up through the lines you're referencing. Templating/Nitpicks: On MTG.design, you can use asterisks (*) to drop bullet points into your modal effects. It's super convenient. Overall: The chorus of this song is commonly misheard as "There's a bathroom on the right." That would probably be harder to design. 

@corporalotherbear​ - Tranquility, the Trickster

Flavour: You chose a very simple effect which gave lots of room for flavour text. Just with the lines included I still don't totally understand the why, but it definitely conveys what's going on. Mechanics: This is repeatable removal, and pretty strong removal at that. Red is supposed to be weak against creatures with high toughness, but besides actual-factual walls this will generally circumvent that. Templating/Nitpicks: While a creature technically can fight itself, if you asked players what that means probably 9 out of 10 would get it wrong. The correct way to template this would probably be to just write out, "deals damage to itself equal to twice its power." Overall: It is a heck of a trick, tho.

@dabudder​ - Unbounded Truth

Flavour: The lyric you chose is really wholesome and pleasant. Revealing cards feels like "saying what we mean", though it fights the theme a bit that only our opponents get in on that action. Mechanics: Peek with some incidental lifegain tacked on sounds reasonable, I suppose. Control decks probably wouldn't mind knowing what answers they need to dig for while giving themselves more time to do so. Templating/Nitpicks: You're looking for "card", not "spell", and converted mana costs are "high" rather than "great". It probably comes out, "You gain life equal to the highest converted mana cost among cards revealed this way." Overall: Thanks for going to the trouble of submitting it until it went through. I expect next week to go a little smoother for you. 

@dim3trodon​ - Paladin of Silence

Flavour: The lyrics are pretty evocative, and I can imagine a paladin saying (or explicitly not saying?) exactly that line. Good choice to lean on the spell Silence to define what exactly that means. Mechanics: I'm not sure what's Blue about this one. Perhaps it was for the Flash, but it's worth noting that every color has access to Flash for effects that genuinely require it to work - this would be one of those. Templating/Nitpicks: Kudos on being careful around flicker effects, though also be wary when you have to do that. It can be a sign that the core effect isn't very fun. Overall: 

@dimestoretajic​ - Kawejitch, the Unrestrained

Flavour: Thanks for putting a face to the lyric that's been stuck in my head since my childhood. Only a little surprised that face has a trunk. Mechanics: This is functionally unblockable, but Mardu probably adds up to that. The rate could probably use some attention, as an 8/5 unblockable for six is better than anything that's been printed. Putting combat keywords on a creature that's nearly impossible to block feels like a miss; I think it's to really stick the "couldn't hold me back" thing, but I feel like super-menace delivered on that well enough. Templating/Nitpicks: I hope I'm not the only that gets unreasonably happy reading lines of text like this. Overall: I've been talking to myself out loud the whole time I've been typing this. 

@emmypupcake - Burden of Despair

Flavour: Between the art and the flavour text, I can certainly feel the despondency of the situation. Mood. Mechanics: This is reasonably flexible removal, getting rid of little dorks entirely and mosty disabling bigger ones. The power drop feels pretty irrelevant since the creature can't attack or block anymore, but I suspect it's just there for symmetry. Templating/Nitpicks: Yours is one of only a couple submissions that correctly represented both title and artist in the flavour text. I'll be clearer about it in the future, but gold star for you in the meantime. Overall: Bog Big mood.

@fractured-infinity​ - Erase From Time

Flavour: I'm not sure what the art is showing me, but the flavour text does more than enough to set the tone. Gone for good. Mechanics: This is quite the clever little innovation, a variation on White's more permanent exile removal that is relevant in multiplayer. I'm a little curious why it phases instead of exiling, since the nonlegendary clause means it wouldn't hit Commanders either way, and the two are equivalent in most other cases. Templating/Nitpicks: No need for hyphens in "nonland" and "nonlegendary". Overall: This is one of those moments where you come up with a cool concept, you develop an awesome design around it...and somehow that design just no longer fits that concept. The biggest thing keeping you out of the winner's circle this week was that your innovation played in the opposite direction of your theme by making the removal less permanent. Solid design work, though.

@gollumni​ - Guildless Anarchist

Flavour: I assume the flavour text is mostly connecting with the first ability. Some designs just need the added context of a set or cycle to really make sense, and that's okay. Mechanics: Part of me suspects the first ability is a little overcosted, because it doesn't actually net you a card - see Haunted Crossroads for reference. That said, the repeatable removal and/or Lava Axe of the third ability seems pretty strong to make up for it. Templating/Nitpicks: Magic is picky, so you only "return" cards to the battlefield or your hand; you'll just "put" this one where it goes. Also, you'll want to include "untapped" in the cost of the third ability; the rules don't strictly require it, but templating praxis does. Overall: "Slaughtermatic" is my new word of the day.

@hypexion​ - Ravenous Extraction

Flavour: I've never heard it, but even just reading it that flavour text seems catchy. It has a clear message, and the Treasure tokens have added meaning thanks to the "inheritance" line. Mechanics: This hearkens back to Squandered Resources, both mechanically and thematically. Moving it to Red is probably correct in the modern color pie, though admittedly I'm not sure at what rate either of these effects would be fair. Nyxbloom Ancient triples your mana more permanently for seven, so...maybe five is fine? Templating/Nitpicks: For poetry, line breaks are as much a part of the writing as the words. If it's not possible to fit with line breaks intact, you'll want to include slashes to indicate where they should be. Geist of the Moors is an example of what that looks like. Overall: I'm going to have to look up this song to see how close it sounds to how I'm reading it.

@ignorantturtlegaming​ - Angel's Song

Flavour: An angel's song is definitely magic-appropriate flavour, and has a lot of room for interpretation. "Eternal life" as doubling your life total makes sense, though the burn part feels more like punishing the gathering than calling it. Mechanics: Moving Sphinx's Revelation to sorcery speed does hurt its power level, though I'm not sure it does it enough to compensate for all the upsides this has. Having the option of using it as a sweeper is huge, and the life doubling on top of the first mode seems like it gets out of hand quickly. Templating/Nitpicks: Modal spells only really have their modes. If you want the conditional part to occur regardless of which mode you pick, the correct way to do that is to include it in both modes. I agree this feels weird. Overall: A song called The Gathering was such an apt choice, kudos.

@illharg-the-rave-boar​ - The Key and the Gate

Flavour: I'm definitely picking up the "thrall to Yog-Sothoth" feel. And the card is powerful enough that it communicates a sense of powerlessness against cosmic forces. Mechanics: This card is quite the beating, but I suppose three-color, seven-mana spells generally should be. This is a pretty clear 'game over' in most cases - unless your opponents have another source of cards, the fact you're stealing one each turn and doming them for 7 every time they whiff should end the game pretty quickly. Templating/Nitpicks: There are enough details of the lyrics that lend themselves to Magic vocabulary (rainbow, cascade, even walls) that I wish the design were a little more explicit, but I understand there's only so much room. Overall: Songs these days really have nothing on great old ones.

@khyrberos​ - Neutral Physician 

Flavour: Few things make me happier than "deniability" on a card that  literally denies an ability. This has a few different things going on, but they're all pulled reasonably well from the text you're referencing. Mechanics: All the different pieces of this card kinda drag it in different directions. While they're clearly pulled from the lyrics, they don't really create a unified mechanical identity, which makes it hard to imagine how a card like this should be used. Templating/Nitpicks: If you want it to counter death triggers, you can actually just do that. "Counter target triggered ability if a creature dying caused it to trigger" does what you want without the weird timing restriction. Overall: I think there's actually something here, it just needs a little polish.

@macaroni-and-squeez​ - Rising Form-Claimer

Flavour: Using the untap trigger to show the creature "woke up" that way is really clever. Mechanics: The delayed trigger feels a little hard to track, and I can't help but think there must be a simpler way to achieve a similar feel. I do like the fact that the tap in the cost of the ability sets up the untap trigger, which makes the design feel internally consistent. Templating/Nitpicks: There's a comma missing between your costs, and you probably mean to say "When CARDNAME becomes untapped during your next untap step," otherwise the trigger hangs around indefinitely and goes off every time it untaps. Overall: Is this thing skinless until you activate the ability? Oh no.

@machine-elf-paladin​ - Goblin Firework Festival

Flavour: This line feels so much like a goblin rhyme, I'm really pleased that you felt that in it too. The unpredictability of the end result, and flavour of blowing up your friends and fireworks feels very resonant. Mechanics: This is a finisher, with a pretty clear multiplayer leaning. I think in practice this would generally kill whichever player is at the lowest life total, encouraging them to sacrifice everything they have, in turn possibly killing another player and encouraging them to do likewise. While the effect feels fun to read, I'm not convined the actual gameplay would feel interesting most of the time. Templating/Nitpicks: Gold star for the use of slashes to indicate line breaks in your flavour text. Overall: I hope this song is as fun as this design implies it is.

@martian-june - Blood Pact

Flavour: Combining a group hug effect with a group slug effect to convey "friends who bleed" is pretty clever. Mechanics: This is an interesting combination of 'White' and Black effects. The card draw is something that Black can do at this rate, and the opponents drawing cards probably covers any cost of the life loss. I'm not sure precisely what deck is looking for the combination of these effects, but it's neat to see them done together. Templating/Nitpicks: I don't think there's any strong reason for the "if" clause, there are very few effects that would prevent that from happening anyway. Overall: I like centered cards too.

@milkandraspberry​ - Taunting Slander

Flavour: I can see how "stupid butt" might get one's hackles up. Them's fightin' words. Mechanics: A fight effect with a little extra reach seems sensible enough. You'll often lose your creature along with theirs, so it's a little bit like a Heartfire. Templating/Nitpicks: "...each get +1/-1..." is the template you're looking for. Apart from that, I'd just like to see the flavour and reminder text italicised - it subtly communicates that I should be reading it differently, which is surprisingly helpful. Overall: Not too strong, not too bad.

@misswamyn​ - Bardic Inspiration 

Flavour: I can definitely imagine how a great song could get your troops a-movin'. I do wish there was a little more to make me feel why this song has this effect, but the overall effect definitely makes sense. Mechanics: The biggest miss is that there's nothing particularly White about it. Otherwise, perfectly solid. Templating/Nitpicks: This is a really simple line of text that has apparently never appeared on a Magic card before. Those are always a treat. Overall: Makes me wonder what the actual greatest song ever would do.

@mistershinyobject​ - Ghastly Grasp

Flavour: Drain is definitely a classically Black way to illustrate the concept of touch. The impression I get is that the creature is the one overwhelmed by your touch, though I'm not sure I immediately connect with the "almost convinced me I'm real" line. That part seems especially poignant, so I'd love to see it show through in the mechanics. Mechanics: You expressed some concern over whether this was allowed in Black - personally, I don't think it's even a bend. Because Black can get full drain at roughly this rate, it certainly wouldn't be a break for it to get only half of that. Dealing damage without any lifegain would have to be a bend then, but this sets itself up to gain life almost every time it's used. I think you're fine. Templating/Nitpicks: Power seems like an odd choice over toughness, just because it feels like it's operating on an entirely different axis. Overall: Killing a Rampaging Ferocidon with this would be so satisfying.

@misterstingyjack​ - Keeper of the Fourth Mystery 

Flavour: I wouldn't have picked up on what this card's flavour text was saying without your explanation, though with the explanation I can pretty clearly see what motivated your decisions. Mechanics: Expanding your tutor effects is an interesting space to play in, I wonder if there's a good way to make it work. Templating/Nitpicks: Unfortunately, this template probably doesn't do it. I don't believe an effect can really look forward to see where the searched card is going to be put, and I'm not sure the search replacement would work as intended anyway. This is a tough templating challenge though, so I think this was a valiant effort. Overall: A honestly hope to see a more polished version of this in the future.

@morbidlyqueerious​ - Lethal Prominence 

Flavour: It works a little hard to convey its theme, but I think it gets there. Mechanics: You're right that it came out a little wordy, and I suspect there's probably a more elegant way to deliver on the notes this is trying to hit. I think it gets dragged in too many directions trying to incentivise everyone (the counters, the Gold, the attack requirement). That said, I do like where it's aiming. Templating/Nitpicks: Nothing stands out, which is good. Overall: This is exactly the kind of lyric I had in mind when I created this challenge.

@nine-effing-hells​ - The First Home of Crafters 

Flavour: It does do the work of tying Dwarves, Artifacts, and Artificers together thematically. Mechanics: Lands that tap for multiple mana are often a problem, and there are enough cheap artifacts that I would expect the other two types to be largey irrelevant. That deckbuilding restriction is a limitation, but history has shown that cheap artifacts tend to be good together without a lot of extra help. Templating/Nitpicks: You noted that the wording on the trigger is hard to follow, and I have to agree. I think it does function correctly though, so points for that. Overall: It's definitely a song.

@quillpaw​ - Mercury in Retrograde 

Flavour: It's hard for me to connect what the flavour text is telling me to the resulting effect, which is unfortunate because each of them seems cool on its own. Mechanics: This is definitely a variant of Kruphix that feels Red. I think it feels a bit bad that it costs so much, because by the time you can start holding onto your mana it's going to kill you pretty quickly trying to do so. I think the downside feels appropriate though. Templating/Nitpicks: Those are two different abilities, so they should be spaced a little differently. And generally you'll want quoted flavour text inside quotations marks. Overall: I still can't figure out if it's a friend or not.

@real-aspen-hours​ - South Wind 

Flavour: Cute to evoke the spell Hurricane for a song of the same name. The second half is...Shatterstorm, which I suppose is on the storm theme? Mechanics: Suspend is something we probably won't see much of soon, and this isn't the kind of effect that plays especially nicely with that mechanic. When your opponent knows a sweeper is coming, they just know not to play into it. Templating/Nitpicks: I put the card image together for you. I think I do good work. Overall: You've got at least three more winds to design now.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ - Question to the World 

Flavour: The design itself asks questions without answering them, which is kind of an interesting place for this to be. Mechanics: The coolest part of this design is that it asks your opponent whether they want to bother dealing with it (and giving you cards) or just letting it live as a minor inconvenience. This came close to winning, and my only problem with this design is that the combination of evasion and hexproof takes most of your opponent's ability to interact with it away, leaving that one interesting question pretty moot. Templating/Nitpicks: Cards would be exiled "with" it, not "by" it. Overall: Did they ever get an answer?

@scavenger98​ - Horizon's Turn 

Flavour: I definitely get the sensation of leaving the surface world behind and taking to the skies, which is a neat story. Mechanics: This a tough one. It's a six-mana (twelve, if you count the skipped untap) sorcery that can often do actual nothing depending on your opponent's deck. The frustrating part is that there's no real way to build around it, because it relies entirely on your opponent's things. Also, skipping untap steps is just rough. Templating/Nitpicks: Nope, nothing in particular. Overall: I feel like there's more story to this than I'm picking up on, and it genuinely makes me want to know more.

@shakeszx - Leave Breathless 

Flavour: The "doesn't untap" clause is normally used for ice effects, but I can see it being used for breathlessness. Adding the activated ability bit certainly sells it as something different. Mechanics: Split second isn't a favourite of mine, but I suppose it's there to make sure the activated ability line gets to do its thing. This is only moderately better than normal freeze effects, so I'm not sure the color-intensive cost is really necessary. Templating/Nitpicks: It's a little weird that the effects last for different periods. I'd probably just attach the activated ability limitation to "until it becomes untapped", as many activated abilities won't be usable until then anyway. Overall: That line is a pretty good choice, I gotta say.

@snugz​ - Caught in the Act 

Flavour: A song as well-known as this one is a bold choice because it comes with so many preconceptions. I'm not sure I'm picking up where all the different parts are fitting together thematically, and that could be part of it. Mechanics: This is some nifty little soft removal. It feels a bit like a Blue Stab Wound - most often, this will be used to immediately kill small opposing creatures (by leaving up a blocker big enough to eat it in combat), but occasionally it’ll be stuck on something harmless to achieve the recurring effect. In most cases, mill two each turn is not going to be too scary (and is even an upside at times), but in a mill deck every recurring source of mill is key. Templating/Nitpicks: Reimagining the artist of the song as a character was an interesting little addition. Overall: I would not be at all surprised to see something like this printed in an upcoming set.

@sorustyitshines - Fire-Forged Bond 

Flavour: This definitely conveys the theme of two creatures fighting and enduring hardships together. I feel like you have the space to do a little more to really sell the theme, but it's certainly clear from what you've got. Mechanics: This is an effect that doesn't exist yet, which means it's got that much going for it. I think the theme gives you space for a little more innovation than what you took advantage of; something like "those creatures gain indestructible for as long as you control both of them" is a slightly more unique space that leans a little harder into the story you're trying to tell. Templating/Nitpicks: The effect wants "each of two target creatures", otherwise it sounds like you're splitting the one counter between them. Overall: It probably doesn't need to be rare, but otherwise this is a very printable card.

@teaxch​ - Sink and Drown and Die 

Flavour: I had to actually listen to the song to piece together what was going on, as the flavour text only went so far. That said, aligning the three effects with the three verbs was really cleverly done. Mechanics: My only real qualm here is that your opponent makes all the decisions. This would probably be in the winners’ circle if you picked the three permanents and they picked what to do with them (a kind of Kiss, Marry, Kill effect). Templating/Nitpicks: The existing templating looks perfect, so instead let's imagine the Kiss, Marry, Kill version: "Choose three nonland permanents controlled by the same player. That player returns one of them to its owners hand, puts another on top of its owner library, and sacrifices the rest." Overall: Just hoping the flavour text wasn't aimed at me.

@tmstage​ - The Lone Digger Club

Flavour: You were correct in assuming I'd seen the video, so I did have a sense of what was going on here. That said, I warned that the card was the context I was most interested in, and it doesn't serve to communicate all of that itself. Mechanics: This is a really cute way to evoke the effect you were going for. Forced blocks (and attacks, for that matter) can be done within Blue, and the aggressive feeling definitely justifies the Red inclusion. Templating/Nitpicks: Nowadays attack restrictions refer to "combat" rather than "turn", so that it's clear how they interact with multiple combat phases. Overall: The purple art on a Blue-Red card is so satisfying.

@whuh-oh​ - The Demon Within 

Flavour: I can see how each of part of the lyric is supposed to correspond to one of the activated abilities, though it's not immediately obvious which effect is which line. Mechanics: Free mana is often very strong, and being able to turn 2 life into three mana each turn feels strong - I suppose it's only a turn sooner than Gilded Lotus with a higher color requirement, but it's also a lot more flexible than that. The fact that the third ability doesn't seem to interact with the other two makes it feel a little out-of-place, especially since three abilities and the activation restriction means you could pretty easily have them work cyclically (i.e., have the last ability read "BBB: You gain 2 life."). Templating/Nitpicks: You'll want it to read "only once each turn", because templates. Overall: Form of the Demon is a pretty neat idea.

@wolkemesser​ - Memnarch's Manic Plan 

Flavour: The strongest flavour points for this card go to the fact that it makes you think like the character; you immediately start to imagine the payoffs for doing the thing, and the costs just become an afterthought. I think that was really cleverly done. Mechanics: The biggest obstacle is that this is a bit of a one-card combo. As long as your deck has any game-winning combo somewhere in it, you just build up a lot of permanents and play this, hoping to draw into your combo and immediately have the mana to play it out. Either you succeed and win on the spot, or you don't and your opponent picks you apart while you try to piece things back together. It's possible this gives you enough resources when it works not to immediately fold to pressure, but if that's the case there's just not much risk to playing it after all. Templating/Nitpicks: Looks like you missed the word "cards" after "draw X", otherwise you're golden. Overall: I was really pleased to see Memnarch show up on this, thanks for that.

--

That’s our feedback this week - I wanted to get it out of the way so that you all could focus on @teaxch​‘s challenge starting today. Thank you all again for letting me share one of my favourite design exercises with you, and I hope that some of you will keep it in mind the next time you’re struggling to nail an idea down.

Until next time,

~Mod [ @3smuth​ ]

[imaginesixguys]

Matsuno has been kissed on his cheek, by his crush. Reaction?

 A cute, simple one to start off with! Thanks anon!

Osomatsu

If Osomatsu got kissed on the cheek by his crush he’d be over the moon basically. I mean we’ve seen how he reacts in canon even getting a super short hug from someone he likes and it was essentially the equivalent of flustered keysmashing. He’d get a really deep blush, his eyes would turn into hearts or spirals and he’d start stammering and grinning like an idiot, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, all that stuff. Honestly I think he’d be pretty sweet about it. The boy is all talk so when it comes to someone actually showing him physical affection, he’d be super flustered. I don’t think he’d fluster quite as bad as Choromatsu or Ichimatsu though, but he’d definitely get butterflies. He’d probably be tempted to hug them but decide against it if he’s still in the crush stages. I honestly believe that when Oso genuinely cares about someone, he does take measures to try not to be too forward aside from like “haha what if we put our minecraft beds together lol” jokes.

I think once he managed to calm down from the kiss, he’d try and play it off casually or make a joke about the situation to try and make his crush less obvious. He’d definitely be thinking about that cheek kiss the rest of the month though.

Karamatsu

Karamatsu can be difficult to get a read on sometimes but I think if he were kissed on the cheek by a crush he’d be very, very internally flustered but remain rather “unchanged” on the surface. However, unlike Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu who would be good at not drawing too much attention to it, Kara’s a different story. There’d be an obvious blush and some sweating, as is the case with all of them, but he would immediately use the opportunity to draw a ton of attention to the fact you just kissed his cheek, even with a crush. He’d be absolutely ELATED that someone took time to show him physical affection and make a huge deal about it. He’d give a “Heh”, push his sunglasses up and then immediately say something like, “It seems as though my Karamatsu [blank] is quite affectionate today!~ How lucky for me... Heh...”

While I do think Karamatsu is actually pretty easy to fluster, I also think he’s just gotten so good at masking how he actually feels that he’d be able to hold a pretty good poker face, even around a crush. Like he would obviously be flustered and would probably later sigh to himself and clutch his chest and romantically yearn and pine and be all cute and lovey dovey once he was alone, but in public or around someone he’s really trying to impress, he’s going to keep his Dreamworks or “Bishie” face on... Or at the very least try his damndest to. If you noticed, he doesn’t change his expression very often when he’s trying to come across as “cool” or “likeable”, again, unless it’s to give himself shiny bishie eyes.

Choromatsu

Choromatsu is very easily flustered, if he got a kiss on the cheek from a crush he’d be a complete wreck. He’d be blushing, heart eyes, sweaty, the works, totally frozen, totally shocked. I mean he’d react pretty much the same to how he reacts to cute people in the show, minus the fanboying. I guess how he acted with Iyako is a good basis really. He’d probably gasp and like freeze up, have no idea what to say but look completely flustered and shocked, deep blush, super wide eyes. It’s probably not something he was expecting at all, even if you are his crush. If you tried to question him about his behavior, all he’d be able to do is stammer and stutter... You’d probably have to wait a couple of minutes before he’d be able to form actual sentences.

If he was talking a lot earlier, he’d probably be much quieter afterwards too once he calmed down, getting caught up in his own thoughts about you. If you tried to question him about it once he had calmed down he’d probably still stutter but at least be able to explain that he isn’t used to physical signs of affection. He’d probably be very apologetic.

Ichimatsu

Oh poor Ichimatsu... Like Choro he would also be a wreck, except even worse. Out of all of the Matsus, I feel like Ichimatsu definitely flusters not only the most easily but the most violently as well (and no I don’t mean him being violent, I mean like... He’d foam at the mouth or pass out or catch fire... Something like that). Aside from the blushing, there’d probably end up being some gag where he just... Dies. He’s so overwhelmed, he just dies. It’s okay though because he’d be alive again almost immediately after. If he got kissed on the cheek by his crush, he’d be absolutely shocked and in complete disbelief... In fact it might take him a bit to register that it happened at all and assume it was just some super lifelike daydream. If it did register though, he’d be a complete mess the rest of the day, and extra scatterbrained for the rest of the week. Since he’s someone that thinks so little of himself on top of being touch-starved and inexperienced with anything dating-related, he’d probably still have some trouble believing it happened even if it obviously did. He wouldn’t bring it up again or acknowledge it unless you started kissing him on the cheek consistently.

He’d definitely react to it the most overtly, but at the same time he’d also be the most likely to be in denial that it actually happened. Ichi is someone who takes a lot of convincing in the early stages.

Jyushimatsu

Jyushimatsu is an interesting case. He’s one of the few Matsus where we sort of have an idea how he acts in a romantic relationship, but of course there’s still inquiries to be made. If he got a kiss on the cheek from a crush, I think he’d react comically, like think blowing steam out of his ears or getting those cat eyes he does. Still, even with the comical response, I don’t think he’d actually fluster quite that badly. He’d do a “WOOO FLUSTERED” sight gag to make you laugh, but Jyushimatsu seems surprisingly calm and well-adjusted when it comes to interacting with potential love interests. Yes, there’s the “HARDTY” joke and his penchant for yelling inappropriate things carelessly, but for the most part (especially with someone he’s interested in), he’d be pretty civil.

Aside from the comical reaction, I don’t think he’d mention it or acknowledge it afterwards for fear of seeming like a “creep” or something. He’s surprisingly respectful with potential love interests, though if he's known said crush since childhood he’d be more apt to make dirty jokes or say stupid things since his guard would be a little more down.

Todomatsu

Todomatsu, per usual, would react to it the most “normally” at first glance. He’d play it off very casually and maybe even turn it into an attempt to flirt back, kissing your cheek and saying something like, “Now we’re even!~” He’d try to be cute about it of course and on the surface he would seem very calm and collected about the situation, but internally... 

Internally he is still a Matsu, and thus at some point would politely excuse himself to use the bathroom only to go in there and lose his absolute mind. It’d be very similar to the scene in the Sutaba job ep where he goes into the employee background and does his whole “BINGO!” shtick. As much as he likes to act calm and collected for the sake of not coming across as socially inept, he still can’t help but get excited by the rare chance at physical affection. He’s just as strange and hilarious as the rest of his brothers but is admittedly a lot better at seeming collected on the surface. 

[moonlightreal]

Fate episode 4

Welcome back to Fate Elemental Academy!  Or should I call it Fate: The Elemental Academy Saga? Fate: Tales From Elemental Academy?  I kinda wish I had an actual following now, we could push changing the name all over the fandom. Fate’s a bad Winx show but it’s not a bad show.

When we left our cast Beatrix just murderized a dude, Terra was suffering, Musa was finding love, Stella was mysterious, Bloom was destiny-ridden and Aisha was getting bored with it all!  What will happen now?

Also, is Rosalind evil?  I assumed she was the “she” who got rid of all the Burned Ones and thus was a hero, but she’s got some serious resting evil face.

Episode 4 opens with a gorgeous shadowy shot of Alfea in the twilight of day twelve-ish I assume.  In Dowling’s still badly lit office the adults are investigating Callan!  Whose real name was Callum, I think, but he’s dead and so won’t mind what I call him.  But Dowling says he hasn’t been seen “for days” so we’ll jump to it being day twentyish.  They’ve searched Callan’s room and found “metal-amalgam” which seems to be mercury, which someone would use to try to get past the trap on the door to the undercroft. Harvey charmingly starts a lecture on its properties before realizing Silva and Dowling want to get on with the infordumping.  Dowling says Callan wouldn’t have known about the mercury, it’s “archaic fairy knowledge” and he’s not a fairy.  

But couldn’t anyone study the lore even if they don’t have powers? Dane was doing potions/chemistry in the greenhouse with Terra and he’s not a fairy.  There’s usually some magic stuff that muggles can do just by having an enchanted thingamabob.  Fate, your worldbuilding leaves much to be desired.

Silva guesses Callan had help.  And Harvey’s made magical fingerprint mist!  He’s got a pitcher on a stick and smoke is coming out to track the magic used in the room!  Does that make Harvey a fairy?

The smoke outlines Callan’s vanished form, where he was sitting paralyzed before Beatrix zapped him.

Dowling: “At least we know where he went.”

Silva: “And that there’s a murderer in our school.”

The murderer herself is looking at her phone, scrolling through Bloom’s social media selfies.  Bloom’s online name is bloomerang04 which is a dumb online name.  Of course the fact that we pick our online name at age 15 or thereabouts means most of us have dumb ones.  Riven asks B what she’s obsessing over and Beatrix says, “Your fault for spreading it around that she’s a changeling. She’s now the most interesting person at school.”

WHAT is it about changelings?!

Riven says everyone will move on in a few days and asks Beatrix if this is “one of those movies where you dye your hair and take her life...” and Beatrix looks… hmm.  

Do I smell Plot or am I imagining it?  But then Riven decides to claim Beatrix’s attention in smoochy ways and I’m pretty sure they’re Doing The Sex.

Opening!

In the cafeteria, people stare at Bloom as she gets her breakfast!

Aisha has taken over Callan’s job to snoop on what he knew!  Bloom “suggested” she do it.  Or more like, begged.  And thought Aisha is such a suckup she’d do it just to get brownie points with the headmistress.

The vibe of this scene is like nails on a blackboard.  Bloom, you are awful people.  And Bloom wants to eat breakfast in here to avoid the stares because she’s a changeling.

Musa comes in cheerful, “Bloom still pretending she’s not upset by the gossip?”

Bloom: ‘still pretending you’re not dating your roommate’s brother?”

And Terra comes in right in time to almost hear that.  Bloom, you are awful people.  But Terra’s got her own gossip: Stella’s mom is coming!  Stella is “dreading being outshined by her mom” and Terra is kinda loving it.  For which I can’t entirely blame her since Stella is also awful people even if my suspicions are right and there are circumstances that made her that way.

Bloom tries to be non-awful and says the girls don’t have to come eat breakfast with her “like I’m some kind of loser-mess.  I’m fine.” Friendship music plays.  The girls smile. Then Bloom heads off to finish her “poison paper” before the assembly.  Musa says, “For the record, she’s not fine.”

In the arched walkway above the cafeteria Riven, Dane and Beatrix and talking about changelings!  B: ‘Changelings were a way for pissed-off fairies to get revenge on the first world.  Swap a fairy for a First world baby and wait for it to wreak havoc.  Changelings are bad news.  That’s why we stay on their good side.”

One of the boys had asked about “is that true about changelings?” presumable Dane, since Riven knew enough to spread the truth around. So not everybody knew all this.

FINALLY! Thank you, show.  And, this is neat!  Those would have to be some very pissed-off fairies to sacrifice their own baby, what’d the first worlders do to them I wonder!  Though it still doesn’t explain why Bloom should be “bad news” any more than any other fairy.  Does growing up in the human world make for more powerful fairies?  I mean, that IS the lore, human food, human milk, human soul… but did the writers of Fate know that?  I’m not trusting the writers of Fate to know much of anything at this point, even if they did get all those Yeats episode titles.

But we get interrupted by teen drama, Dane sees Terra down below and goes to see her.  Sigh.

But then to muddy the waters, riven says Dane “believed all that changeling bullshit you just fed him!”  but B says it “isn’t all bullshit, changelings can be dangerous.  You did everybody a favor.’ warning them about Bloom, I assume she means.

Show, I hate you now.  WHY are changelings dangerous?  What was true and what wasn’t?  Bloom’s changeling nature is the central bleeping worldbuilding of this story and we get dragged around?

Next I see black SUVs, tell me it’s Silva and his army people coming to do cool competent stuff so I can like this show again!

Nope, it’s Stella’s mom.  Stella and Sky are waiting to greet her, Sky says it’s only half a day and Stella says, “Half a day of everyone adoring her like she’s literally the sun.”  Sky says, ‘She is the queen of light.” which is an awesome title.  She’s here to do an assembly about Burned Ones… what, like those  PSA assemblies we had about the dangers of drugs?  Hahahaha!  That kind of PSA might be more apt, I’m pretty sure there’s more drugs at this school than there are Burned Ones.

But Stella is terrified, I think, behind her Stellaishness.  Says her mom is really here to “check on my progress.”  Sky suggests getting the rest of the girls to be a buffer but Stella says, ‘I don’t need them.  I have you.”  But Sky can’t stay physically, he leaves Stella to meet her mom alone

Stella is wearing a long coat of pale pink with gold and diamond star barrettes in her hair.  I would love it if at the end of Stella’s character arc when she grows past whatever it is that’s squeezing the life out of her, she’ll switch to bright bold colors and teenage rather than middle-age fashion to celebrate her freedom.  At the moment it makes sense that she dresses rather dumpy and too-mature, she’s dressing under pressure.

The black cars, they’re not all SUVs, pull up.  there’s a flag, faded blue above, red below split by a diagonal line with some kind of crest in the middle.  Solarian flag?  No yellow, no sun or moon.

Stella’s mom looks noting like Queen Luna, she looks like a middle aged lady with brown hair, her hairdo and clothing juuuuust like Stella’s! In season 8 the real Stella designed a dress after her mother’s gown out of love, but I think this Stella dresses like her mother because of pressure.  Also there’s nothing queenly about the queen. She’s wearing a business skirt and jacket, big chunky necklace, no crown.  Political royalty not magical royalty.  She gives Stella a kiss on the cheek and says, ‘You look stunning.” and Stella grins.

In the greenhouse Harvey, Terra and Sam hang out.  Where’s their mom? Harvey wears a wedding ring but no mom in sight.  Harvey is working on a special project, filling a vial with something.  Terra asks if she can help but Harvey says he’s got this.

Dane comes to see Terra.  Both her family members give Dane a serious Look.  Heh.

Terra: “Whilst I appreciate that it is the historical perspective of the patriarchy to save women from upsetting situations, I’ve got this.”

Props to Terra’s actress for delivering that in a not at all groan-y way. Every time this show tries to be woke it is groanworthy and awful and they should just not, but every time the actors pull it off.  

So Dane says “You didn’t answer my texts… you’ve been really great to me...” and Terra shuts him down!  “Yeah I have.  I’m a good person, Dane.  I think you are too, but I’m not really sure I care to find out.  Anymore.”  and leaves him with “A word of advice.  Be careful who you trust.”  

Sam: ‘Still kinda want to punch him.”  Heh.

Harvey gets a text and takes his project off to meet the queen.  When he’s gone Terra immediately goes to his workstation to check out what he’s up to.  

The queens party goes to Callan’s office, which is now Aisha’s office.  Aisha greets the queen, whose name is actually Luna!  And she knows Aisha’s name, but does not need any help.  The adults go into Dowling’s office to talk.  

Aisha accidentally knocks some papers off the desk then, grumpy at this spying job she’s taken on and isn’t having any luck with, slams a filing cabinet door.  And finds something.  A mechanical ring the size of a jewelry ring, stuck in between two parts of the filing cabinet.  Aisha thinks it’s part of the cabinet, but then it begins to whir and she hears voices.  It’s the receiver for a bug!  Callan bugged Dowling’s office and now Aisha can listen in on the adults!

Only she… hides the receiver back under the cabinet?  

The only thing she overheard was the fact that Callan is dead.  Seems that Dowling’s telling everyone he left for a family emergency. Aisha tells Bloom this and Bloom is even more keen to get at those old records, from before Dowling became headmistress.  Maybe they’re in the east wing, and everyone’s going to be at this mandatory assembly so now would be the perfect time!

Aisha says it’s a bad idea.  Bloom says it’s a better idea than getting stared at by everybody and “I can’t just sit and listen to people make stuff up about me.”  

WHAT are they making up?!  I wanna hear these rumors!

Anyway Aisha is finally convinced to cover for Bloom, say she was too sick to come to the assembly.  But for reasons of Plot Beatrix was right above them on the upper walkway so she knows where Bloom’s off to.

Gorgeous outdoor shot of the castle.  Pardon me while I look it up… it’s a stately home!  You can go there, they have a farmers market and everything!  Ok, mark that down on my travel list between my Lost Crown tour of Polperro and my Higurashi tour of the real Hinamizawa…

Whilst I dream of seagulls and cicadas, Bloom is back in the dark east wing past a keep-out looking for clues.  Sky catches her!

Beatrix is outside looking for Bloom.  Riven catches her.  She says, ‘mandatory assembly’s a mandatory ditch.”  they pass a keep-out sign on some big doors as rain begins to fall.

Mysterious big doors in the school!  Another Winx Club sort of thing here at Elemental Academy.

In the cafeteria benches have been put in for the assembly,  Lots of students chat and the adults talk together.  Outside the arched windows we see bright blue sky.  Are the windows enchanted?  That’d explain why I never know if it’s day or night around here!

Queen Luna walks in her heels on a sort of stage in front of the windows. She holds up her hand and snaps her fingers and the light in the room goes purple and the sunlight streaming in from outside dims as if dusk has fallen outside.

Stella, wearing a brighter pink coat and double star pin, sits in the very front between two of her mother’s bodyguards.  The pin could be just because of Stella’s name, but in Winx Solaria does have two suns.  I like this pin, for Escape to Witch Mountain reasons, so I looked it up.  Stella’s pin is gold but the silver version is… oh dear… three dollars on amazon!  Methinks this show spent its whole budget on the Irish castle!

Terra and Aisha admire the queen.  “Massively powerful fairy, zero ego, boss goals.  Bet it drives Stella crazy?”  Stella glances back. She can hear them.  

Musa and Sam are knee-nudging each other, it’s pretty cute.  They text with phones on laps, sam asking if Musa’s into all the sneaking around hiding their relationship from Terra.  He asks, ‘is it a kink?’ and Musa texts back, ‘Meet me after the assembly, you’ll find out.”  Tell me you two aren’t dumb enough to start Doing The Sex in the same suite Terra lives in too!  Maybe they’re just gonna hang out and make out.

Hilariously Queen Luna is saying, ‘I’m here to treat you like the adults you are” as these two plot that most teenage of plots, meeting up to have a good time!  Luna says she’s here to talk about the Burned Ones, it’s been years since one was sighted…

Terra nudges Musa.  “What’s Stella going through right now?  She’s miserable, right?”  Terra has noticed what I’ve been suspecting! Poor Musa, distracted from flirting with the cute guy, sighs a little and says a polite, ‘Please wait.’  

She turns her powers to read Stella’s emotions… but there’s interference.  Dowling is walking by and she’s using her mind powers as well!  Musa says, ‘This assembly isn’t just about the Burned Ones.  Something else is up.”  Harvey is standing in the audience and Dowling takes a position among the students also

Queen Luna is talking about, “...for decades, families and villages suddenly torn apart by one of these monsters that left our world in chaos...”

The teachers are here to scan for Callan’s killer, I assume.  Since it’s a mandatory assembly every student will be present… except for Bloom and Beatrix, who ditched!  Gee, I hope Beatrix doesn’t try to pin it on Bloom!  But how could she when Dowling can read minds?

Back with Bloom and Sky, Bloom says she was born in 2004—the year Winx Club was first broadcast, seventeen years ago!  Our beloved show, may it survive to see eighteen.  Bloom’s idea is to look for pregnant teen fairies in the class photos, and she has oddly specific details to look for: baggy clothes, girls holding books in front of bellies.

There’s some conversation about how Bloom is tired of being whispered about and wants to yell at people they’re all assholes, and Sky agrees that most people are but you have to find the good ones.

Then he finds a picture of adults.  His dad is in it, along with Rosalind, Dowling, Silva and Harvey.  Bloom says, “you look like him” although we don’t really get a good look Andreas at the photo.  Sky mimicks Silva’s accent, “And act like him, and maybe one day if I work hard enough I can be half the warrior he was.”  Heh.  Bloom also giggles at the accent.

Sky also said, ‘his commander was a woman” presumably Rosalind.  So Rosalind was a leader of soldiers.  Was she a fairy or a specialist?

Bloom asks if it’s weird that everyone knows his dad better than he did, and Sky says ‘Alfea’s been my home my entire life” so I guess he grew up here with Silva being much more father than mentor. Wonder what happened to Sky’s mom.  They’re having a nice moment and here come Riven and Beatrix to join the party!

Back in the assembly, Musa scans the adults.  Dowling and Silva are on edge, and Harvey is really scared.  Terra says her dad was making something with the crystals from the vessel, so he was putting crystals in a little vial.  A magic tracking device.  Now Dowling’s got it.

Queen Luna is saying, ‘conflict is now on the horizon!  We are tracking at least five Burned Ones throughout Solaria.  The threat is serious. And growing.”

Back in the vaults B says, “people who think history is rubbish are rubbish.  Don’t be rubbish”  Ah Beatrix, there’s the like 10% of your personality that I like!  Then she reverts to the other 90% and suggests Bloom and Sky were down here to have The Sex.  Riven says nah, Sky’s not that interesting.  Bloom, who heard all that, says ‘But we were alone and that was pleasant.”  Heh.

They find a locked door.  Sky says he can ask Silva what’s behind it but bloom wants to get through now.

Riven: ‘The more you say no the more she wants it.  Give in.”

Beatrix: “Do we need to have a talk about consent?”

The more this show throws woke verbiage into random conversations the less woke it looks. 9_9

Bloom sensibly: “Why are you guys down here, again?”

Anyway Beatrix says she’s on Bloom’s side, which I do not believe for a minute.  Bloom says no thanks, don’t need help from someone who posted a nasty video about terra, Beatrix says she was an innocent bystander which I do not believe for a minute, and says Bloom should be mad at riven for starting the Changeling rumors.  Bloom and Sky look at Riven.

Riven: “Not exactly the way I thought you’d screw me today, B.”

Sky if it’s true, Riven flees to escape a lecture from “Saint Sky” and Sky goes after him to deliver the lecture.

And he does, out in the rain.  Riven says he really likes Beatrix, that B is the only one who likes him the way he is.  That Sky thinks he’s better than riven.  And that Sky should maybe not be talking about bad life choices while he’s chasing Bloom while still having Stella.  Sky says that’s not what’s really going on and Riven says that’s what everyone else sees, including Stella.  And Riven says, ‘that’s probably why she told me Bloom was a changeling in the first place.”  And he walks off, leaving Sky in the rain with the knowledge that Stella is mean-girling Bloom.  Unsurprisingly.

Sky of Elemental Academy is having just as much trouble here as his animated counterpart keeps having with Diaspro!

Back inside the girls haven’t figured out what the adults are after. Terra finds it hard to believe they have “some big ulterior motive.” and Musa says, “people have more stuff going on than you’d think, especially parents.”  Heh.  Then she takes off for a snog session with Sam! Sam says he’s like to make their relationship public, but Musa likes the secrecy.  If everyone found out, she’d have to feel everyone’s reaction, ‘good bad, positive or negative.”  Sam says she has to feel it bu does she have to care?  And says being an empath seems to suck, which it sure does seem to!

Would “everybody” even care that they were dating?  I mean Terra would but at a school full of teenagers dating how many people would care?

I read a book… Burning Glass, about an empath so powerful that when a starving mob approached she let them in the gates because she forgot she wasn’t one of them, caught up in the mob’s need to get in to where the food was.  She didn’t just feel people’s emotions, she acted on them because she couldn’t tell which of the things she was feeling were coming in from outside.  I keep thinking the writers are trying to imagine Musa like that and failing completely.

Over in the east wing Beatrix guessed that it was Rosalind who left bloom in the human world and Bloom realized that Beatrix lied the night of the party about not knowing who Rosalind was.  B says Rosalind was “a fierce bitch.”  I’m still feeling this great big hole where someone should say “Rosalind destroyed the Burned Ones in the war with her great magic.” or something and nobody says it.  Bloom knows Rosalind was headmistress before Dowling and is dead, we viewers know Rosalind is not dead, did something important with the Burned Ones, and has an evil face.  I dunno, like the changeling thing it feels like there are these weird blanks in what the show is giving us.

Beatrix suggests Bloom light the locked door on fire as a way to get it open. She knows Bloom’s powerful enough.  Bloom says power is not the problem, lighting the whole school on fire is the problem.  Then sky texts and Bloom lies and says she’s not down here anymore which will definitely be back to bite her later.  She suggests she could “fry” the hinges off the door, but Beatrix has already picked the lock.

With a machine custom made for picking locks, not with bobby pins.

On the other side of the door they find… a war room.  A round sand pit that, when B enchants it, the sand lifts up to create a miniature of the school.  Beatrix calls it, “A place where dangerous, shady-ass people decide who lives and who dies.”

Dowling is giving Stella a magic lesson.  She creates an arc of colored light between her hands, mimicking the chains on her brooch.

Queen Luna is not impressed.  A little mini rainbow is not much of a display of power.  Luna and Dowling proceed to ignore Stella and talk over her head.  Luna sent Stella back to be “fixed”--the same word Stella used about bloom after she taught Bloom the way of the Sith—after the “incident with Ricki.”  Dowling says rehabilitating magic is a process and it takes time.  Luna: “would you like me to recite the list of threats we’re facing while you take time?”

Me! I would!  1)Burned Ones 2)???  And how much can one fairy do about them?

Stella tries to interrupt and Luna says, “Do not speak when I’m speaking.  Solaria is the strongest realm in the Otherworld, she is its heir, an extension of that strength.”  Stella protests that it’s working, she is getting stronger, and her mother just snaps at her not to speak again.

Stella says she blinded a Burned One and Dowling has her back, praising her for how skillfully she did it.

Queen Luna makes a full illusion, disappearing the room and leaving Stella in a VR forest.  With wind-howling sound effects, not sure how light did that!    Stella is terrified.

Queen Luna: ‘when you control light you control what people see.  And despite what anyone says matters in this world, appearance is everything.  You know that better than anyone, Farah.  Especially given my efforts to help you maintain them.”

Dowling just says they’ve both done a great deal to preserve Solaria’s reputation.  Hmm!  That’s interesting!  And she lets Stella go.

Outside the office, Aisha is working at her desk.  She asks Stella if she’s ok and Stella says of course she is, but Aisha’s using the listening device again!  She overhears Queen Luna basically threatening to have Dowling removed as headmistress!

Outside in the still cloudy day, Sky is taking his mood out on a punching bag.  He gets a text from Stella saying, “She’s a monster.” before Sky can go give her some much deserved sympathy Silva walks past demanding an update.  On what?

In the greenhouse Harvey is worried.  His magic bottle, which is very pretty, didn’t work.  Terra comes to ask if everything’s ok and he yells at her, then apologizes.  Terra turns to go then turns back and asks, ‘if there was something going on you would tell us wouldn’t you?”  and Harvey lies and says of course he would.

Aaaaaaaand now I’m looking up potion bottles on amazon wondering if this prop is also something I can have.  Not obviously.

Terra, Musa and Aisha are talking about it in the suite.  Aisha is sure the grownups are doing what they think is best.  Terra would rather just be told there’s a secret rather than be lied to.  But they do work it out.  The crystals read magic, there’s a dead person, the adults were looking for someone who kills by magic but didn’t find them.

Then Sky bursts in looking for Bloom.  The girls ask if Silva told him what’s up, but Sky is out of the loop.

Terra: “Dowling’s assistant died, the faculty think a fairy did it. They held the assembly to find out which fairy, but they didn’t because he or she wasn’t there, so now we don’t believe or trust literally anyone.”

Sky: “Shit.”

Sky, smart cookie that he is, realizes immediately that it’s Beatrix.

The murderess and Bloom are reading scrolls in the war room—in the DARK, everything’s shadowy how are they even reading?

In 2004 Rosalind was “leading the crusade against the Burned Ones” Beatrix says so finally there’s that laid out.

Bloom was born December 12 2004, just like the real Bloom.  Beatrix seems oddly interested in that fact.  I’m beginning to have a suspicion.

Bloom’s phone is blowing up with messages but she’s busy reading.  Beatrix stealth zaps bloom’s phone to break it so she doesn’t get Sky’s warning call.  

Rosalind was in a place called Aster Dell.  This also seems to interest Beatrix, who suggests they just go there right now.  She knows where it is, it’s not far.  Bloom has a rush of common sense to the head and hesitates to leave school with someone she barely knows but Beatrix points out that they’ve already broken into a secret war room and maybe now is not the time to stop before they get somewhere. Not completely without a point there, so Bloom agrees.

Sky finds Riven and demands the whereabouts of “The unstable sex addict who’s been leading you around by your dick.”  Pfft!  Also, not very understanding after Riven admitted he really does like Beatrix and feels accepted by her.  But Riven doesn’t know, anyway.

Stella bursts in, “I sent you twenty texts and you’re here looking for Bloom?”  And Riven gets to say, ‘Have fun with that!” as he escapes.  Sky blames Stella for starting the changeling thing, Stella says, “I didn’t want to hurt her.” which is not true.

Sky: “You say you don’t want to be like your mother but all I see is someone who treats others exactly the same way that Luna treats you.” And he says he’s done with this.

Harsh but true.

Beatrix stole a car.  Bloom is very impressed!  Heh.

The other three girls have had a rush of common sense to the head and gone to Dowling to tell her about Beatrix.  Dowling’s first response is to ask why Bloom was down there but Terra pulls out their deductions and says “can we please drop the bullshit?” and when her father tries to stop her she calls him out for putting them in danger by not telling them!  Go Terra!  Silva comes in to tell them someone knocked out one of the queen’s guards and stole an SUV.

Beatrix must be extremely badass to take out a bodyguard!  we’re only in episode 4 but I don’t think she’s planning on coming back to school after this.

Black SUV drives on a dirt road between trees.  I do love how there seem to be no other buildings and no paved roads in the Otherworld.  I guess I’ll take what worldbuilding I can get.

Bloom and Beatrix have arrived at an absolutely stunning location, a cliff over the sea.  Bloom wonders if this is the right place.  Isn’t Aster Dell supposed to be a town?  Then she realizes there are skulls at her feet among the heather.

But no time to ponder it, Beatrix is getting lightningy!  She throws lightning—shorting out an invisible barrier concealing ruins. Aster dell was a peaceful town until it was attacked by Burned Ones and “a military unit from Alfea” decided to go all scorched earth on the place and killed everybody.  Queen Luna set up the illusion to hide the ruins.  “Leader of our realm tried to cover up a war crime.’

Beatrix says this is where she was from, and where her family died.  Two days before Bloom’s birthday.  This is where Bloom is from.  Rosalind rescued Beatrix too, and gave her a memory of the Alfea adults destroying the town.  Rosalind was the only one of the adults with a conscience about killing innocent people.

Bloom protests, the adults are lying but they aren’t monsters.  I’m skeptical too, because us viewers know that Beatrix is Beatrix and has said all sorts of things. 

On the drive back Bloom asks Beatrix if she’s a changeling too, but no.  Rosalind left B with “a close friend” and Bloom in another world.  Bloom asks why Dowling would recruit her as a student after killing her family and Beatrix says she doesn’t think Dowling realizes yet what Bloom is, and Bloom shouldn’t tell her.

Bloom: “Which is exactly what you’d say if you were making this up.  To keep us from comparing notes.”  go Bloom!   Beatrix asks what she has to gain from making up a story about murderous teachers, and the two of them can work together to find out more.  Rosalind is alive and imprisoned at Alfea, and Beatrix came to break her out.

...for “him”?  Mysterious “him” not mentioned yet.  And where does the return of the Burned Ones fit in?  Hmm.  I admit my main reason for not believing Beatrix’s story is that it’s Beatrix telling it.

Also in these sorts of stories the birth parents are never dead.

But no time to ponder it, the teachers are here!  They stop the car, Dowling slaps some magical cuffs on Beatrix and Silva and Harvey grab Bloom.  They deliver her back to Alfea into a group hug from her suitemates.

The girls were worried that Bloom was off with a murderer but they heard that from the adults who Bloom just heard are liars and murderers themselves.  We know the adults are telling the truth about Callan but Bloom doesn’t.  Sky is there, also worried that she’d been kidnapped by Beatrix—but Silva calls him away.  Paranoia intensifies.

As they head for bed Terra rants about her dad lying to her and acting like it was for her own good.  Terra ends with, ‘you don’t lie to people.  Not if they matter.’

And Musa feels guilty and spills the beans about her and Sam!  It’s been weeks!  Terra bursts into giggles and hugs Musa and says Sam looks just like their dad and he went bald early.

Looking down from the walk they see the queen’s guards rolling Stella’s suitcases towards the door.  The one thing the two Stella’s have in common apparently is their love of lots of luggage!  Yep, Stella’s been moved out.

Stella is in the car.  Back home her mother will teach her.

Stella: “You could’ve let me say goodbye to my friends.”

Luna: ‘”They’re not your friends, Stella.”

Which, evil mum kinda right.  Apart from taking out a Burned One together, every interaction between Stella and the others has been nasty and catty and mostly Stella’s been avoiding them whenever possible. They aren’t friends.  They might be later, but they sure aren’t yet.

Beatrix has been thrown in a cell.

Silva locks the door—with Sky there watching, and I’m sure Silva’s trust in Sky will come back to bite him later.

Then interesting conversation.  Silva asked Sky to keep an eye on Bloom, and now he wants Sky to get all the details of what just happened out of bloom and report back.  Silva actually says the “a soldier’s job is to take orders” and “your loyalty is to me, no one else.” which, I like you Silva but that is the wrongest tack you could take right now!  Silva is very scared and it’s making him make bad choices.

Bloom has gone to Dowling’s office to ask what she did to Beatrix.  The cuffs were “runic limiters” which prevent a fairy from using magic.  Bloom says ‘They were barbaric” and “You tore her skin open.” which I guess the cuffs did kinda burrow into her skin.

Dowling is just worried if Bloom’s ok and then asks what they talked about. Bloom says it was just a joyride, she and Beatrix talked about clothes and boys.  Bloom leaves.

Dowling immediately phones up Bloom’s parents on Earth and says Bloom’s been having a bit of trouble and would they please report to her if Bloom says anything weird.

Sheesh. Could these otherwise smart, capable adults who have years of experience with teenagers be handling this any worse?

Well that was… something.  Terra is badass.  Stella’s mom is exactly like I expected her to be.  Beatrix spilled a lot of important Plot and I’m sure some of it was true and some of it wasn’t.

Next time on Elemental Academy!  Will the girls rescue Stella from evil mum?  Will Bloom bust Beatrix out of the dungeon?  Will Sky be forced to choose between his father figure and his crush?  Will Bloom’s parents accidentally betray her?  And what’s Riven gonna do now that his smoking and boinking buddy is under arrest?  Half the cast is being set up to make some really dumb life choices!  Tune in next time!

[calitraditionalism]

Arc One: Chapter Eleven

Flyfang’s first impression of this apprentice was of a shrunken, half-drowned snipe with a long, muddy tail. The little thing was shivering with not an inch of dry fur – even her belly was dripping water – and she looked like she was trying not to seem as stressed as she obviously was. It had never occurred to Flyfang that other cats outside of the marshes would not have pelts made to be dunked in water without getting the undercoat wet. Wherever this cat (she had to be a brand-new apprentice, she was so small) came from, she clearly did not have to deal with water very often.

“Well…” the apprentice said, and shook out her fur too, scattering droplets that were smaller than the raindrops pelting the both of them. “Maybe we can help each other. I’m from the Hillock, and I’ve never been this far away from there, and I’m completely lost. I was trying to find someone who might know where the Margays are.”

Flyfang blinked. “That far away? What are you doing out here alone?”

The apprentice looked around, as if expecting someone else to be listening in. She leaned in to say quietly, “I actually ran away this morning. I’ve been traveling nonstop since I woke up.”

“Wow,” Flyfang said, and laughed. At the apprentice’s surprised and mildly offended look, she added, “Don’t worry, I’m a runaway too. Just left the Marish myself.”

“Really?” The apprentice’s offense vanished, replaced by distress. “Well, then…then I must be pretty far south.”

“I have no idea.” Flyfang looked behind her. “Once the rain clears up, we’ll be able to tell.” She turned back to the apprentice. “You must be freezing. Here, come on, I saw an empty den close by. We can wait out the storm there.”

The apprentice hesitated and looked Flyfang up and down, scrutinizing.

“I’m not going to take you home, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Flyfang said, offering a confident smile. “I know how it is, wanting to leave. It’s just that you’re going to get sick if you stay out here.”

The little molly’s blue eyes lowered as she thought, and eventually she nodded. Flyfang turned and started off, the apprentice squelching along in the mud behind her.

The entrance to hollowed-out earth beneath an old stump was close enough that Flyfang found it easily despite the weather. She ducked her head and dipped into the den, which was completely dry and almost warm compared to outside. She didn’t bother shaking out her fur again, the water not having even started to penetrate her double coat. Instead, she got into a corner and settled down with a sigh.

The apprentice did shake out her fur, not that it did much good, and followed her in, choosing the opposing corner to rest in. She started grooming out her pelt, tail trembling a little from the cold.

“I didn’t get your name,” Flyfang said after a moment of silence.

The apprentice paused and lifted her head. “I’m Littlepaw.”

“Apt,” Flyfang remarked, and added, “My name’s Flyfang.”

“Hello,” Littlepaw said. “Thank you for showing me this den. I’ve probably been passing by tens of them, but I don’t know what to look for.”

“They’re doing their job, then,” Flyfang said as Littlepaw resumed grooming. “We couldn’t really make our own dens in the ground at the Quag – mostly grass-coverings and such – but when you’re close enough to the north, you get to learn how to locate burrows. But wouldn’t you make your own dens in the hills?”

“No,” Littlepaw said between licks. “We have some scrapes, but we never dig for ourselves. They were there already, and they’re pretty easy to find.”

Flyfang hummed a response and let Littlepaw continue with her grooming. Meanwhile, she considered what her next course of action should be. This was a tiny and very young apprentice out here on her own and, like Flyfang, fleeing some situation at home. Living with the Marish was miserable. Were the rest of the families that bad? How many apprentices were running around, trying to escape their parents and deputies? Would Flyfang have to find more of them and guide them like she did her sisters?

“So what’s your story?” she said abruptly, her words sounding much louder in than she intended, ringing in this carved-out den. “Why did you leave?”

Littlepaw stopped again and swallowed air. Slowly, she turned fully to Flyfang and gave her front paws a nervous shift.

“Well,” she mumbled, looking down, “It’ll sound dumb, probably, but... my mother is really overbearing, making me be a seer, trying to push me to work for the leaders - and no one was telling her to leave me alone or let me be a normal warrior. And I didn’t really have any friends there, so I thought… I thought I’d find the Margays and travel together, and make friends with them.”

She had been shrinking further and further into herself, getting quieter and quieter as she spoke. When she finished, she was almost crouching, wet tail curled as far around her body as it could go (which was quite an unusually long distance), looking deeply ashamed of herself.

Flyfang felt a sharp stab of protectiveness and anger in her chest. “Hey, I know how that feels. The Marish are just the same way. They try to control every aspect of your life, down to how you raise your kits.”

Littlepaw looked up. “Really?”

“I have sisters there,” Flyfang said. “Their father is worthless and tried to give control of their lives to the deputy, so I stepped in to raise them with the freedom to be whoever they wanted to be.” Her voice darkened. “The rest of the family isn’t very fond of me for a lot of reasons, but that’s the biggest one. I know they’re going to try and take the spirit out of my sisters, so as soon as they turn nine months old, I’m going back and getting them out of there.”

Littlepaw said nothing at first, drawing out the silence and giving Flyfang time to make herself relax. After a while, Littlepaw spoke up.

“How come you left them there?” she asked. “Instead of just staying with them?”

Flyfang sighed. “I couldn’t stand another second in the marshes. I made sure they have good mentors who will encourage their personalities… or about as well as one can when you’re in the Marish. The broad in charge of that stupid family made sure to tell me that I wasn’t going to be tolerated if I kept getting involved after they became -paws, anyway.”

“Oh,” Littlepaw said softly. “That sounds a lot worse than what I had to deal with.”

“No, no,” Flyfang hastened to assure her. “It’s about the same. If your entire family wasn’t helping you with your mother, they might as well have all been against you. Did the deputy even say anything?”

Littlepaw shook her head. “Never. She kind of…deliberately ignores bad things that happen.”

“And my deputy was overly focused on everything and treated it all as bad.” Flyfang’s smile returned, bigger than before. “So we’re in the same stream, more or less, just facing different directions.”

Littlepaw did return a faint smile at that, though it looked like it took a lot of effort. Silence fell in the den as she continued clearing off the water and Flyfang took to thinking again. The only sounds were the rasp of Littlepaw’s tongue on soaking fur and the steady pummeling of the rain outside.

“You’ve got it rougher, though,” Flyfang said finally. “You might have to go back, being as young as you are. Unless someone were to claim you, or-“

Littlepaw’s head jerked up. “I’m nine months old. I can travel.”

Flyfang gawked at her. “You are?”

This time, Littlepaw managed a tiny, weak laugh. “I’m just runty, that’s all.”

“That could be to your advantage, you know,” Flyfang said. “Just pitch up your voice a little and come up to older cats asking for prey. You wouldn’t have to hunt until you became a warrior.”

“I actually caught my first prey today.” Littlepaw straightened further to puff out her soggy chest. “I was never taught how to. I guess I got lucky.”

“Your mom wouldn’t even let you learn how to hunt?” Flyfang guessed, angry again.

“She said it’d distract me from my connections with StarClan,” Littlepaw replied, and smiled a little wryly. “And yet they were the ones to tell me to do whatever I wanted. So joke’s on her, I guess.”

“Thank the stars, eh?”

“Thank the stars.” Littlepaw’s smile melted away. “But now I don’t know where to go. I have no idea where the Margays are going, and I’m worried my mother will track me down and drag me home.”

Flyfang felt a sudden pressure to be the experienced, smart adult and make decisions for the both of them. She knew Littlepaw probably wouldn’t travel with her, but she couldn’t just let someone who only hunted once in her life wander into the great big world with no one to help.

“What about the Clast?” she blurted.

Littlepaw blinked.

Flyfang fumbled for further ideas. “Well, no one goes to the Clast unless they’re looking for a fight, right? And your mom wouldn’t expect that of you, would she? You don’t seem like the fighting type.”

“I’m not,” Littlepaw admitted.

“And they might have someone there who knows where the Margays are going,” Flyfang continued, quickly becoming enthused by the idea. “No need to stay there for long, but it’ll throw everyone off – your mom, the Marish, if they come after me-“

“Ah-“ Littlepaw interrupted, immediately looking apologetic and shy. “I didn’t know we would go together.”

“Is that an issue?” Flyfang tilted her head. “I can hunt and fight, and do both pretty well. I could teach you what you need to know. And I’d feel bad just leaving you alone after the storm’s done. Plus, I’d like to see the Margays myself. I’ve never gotten to watch their stories, but I hear they’re great.”

“They’re awesome,” Littlepaw said with such enthusiasm that Flyfang almost drew her head back in surprise. “I saw one yesterday. It’s amazing. They have so many stories memorized! I’d love to learn them all.”

Flyfang laughed. “I like stories myself. I have pretty much all the ones about Derecho and Calcine memorized.”

“The disaster stories?” Littlepaw said, paw lifted to her mouth to poorly hide her amusement. “Those are a little grim.”

“They’re action-packed,” Flyfang corrected her. “Very exciting. I’m sure they’re popular in the Clast settlement too.”

Littlepaw gazed at the ceiling, head tilting back and forth in thought. She eventually looked back down at Flyfang, beaming. “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

Flyfang nodded her affirmation with a grin.

[fullofmemories]

Rosy Haze: Do they react well when they develop feelings for someone and if not why?

Rosy Touch: How do they show affection nonverbally? Are they likely to show affection with their words as well?

Apatite Tic: Does your muse have any sort of verbal tics or impediments?

Garnet Shadows: Is your muse apt to stab someone in the back in any way? If so, would they admit to doing so or would they lie to cover it up?

Makeshift Stone: What does their internet search history usually include? Are there any parts of their searches that they’re embarrassed by?

Fluorite Bearings: How strongly do they listen to their intuition? Is their intuition usually correct or incorrect?

Peridot Ghosts: What kind of things get them frazzled or anxious? Do they tend to handle them well or get swept up in the moment?

Quartz Cluster: What kind of textures (e.g. silky, rough, slick, etc) do they prefer?

Amazonite Comfort: What sorts of things bring your muse comfort in trying times? Are there any habits they have when things get difficult to help cope?

Opal Wonder: How big is their imagination? Do they tend to share these ideas or keep them to themselves?

stonework headcanons 

Rosy Haze: Do they react well when they develop feelings for someone and if not why? Her reaction isn’t the best. She handles it by uh… not handling it. Given she doubts others will reciprocate those feelings (or maybe she’s even a bit scared that they would), she tends to try and push her feelings down before they get too strong. She worries if she doesn’t, she’ll just get hurt. So she compartmentalizes. A lot. And sometimes it works, and a stupid little crush or physical attraction doesn’t grow into anything else. But sometimes shoving it down doesn’t help, which is… frustrating. And leads to more shoving it down until it finally goes away. But if someone were to reciprocate that affection, and she were to find out, that might be a different story.

Rosy Touch: How do they show affection nonverbally? Are they likely to show affection with their words as well? Well she definitely takes some time to warm up to people in terms of physical affection. Touch is something she can be a bit wary of, but once she’s grown comfortable around someone and has come to trust them at least a bit she does enjoy it. But one of the ways she shows love - platonic, romantic, whatever - is quality time. Whether it’s a deep conversation or just watching a movie, she likes to just be around people and have a place where they can both be themselves. And as for affection with words… she tends not to be great at expressing strong emotions with words, but she definitely does make some effort when it comes to verbal affection. Even if it might not always be perfect. Also, if someone she knows also enjoys competition, she will 100% challenge them to friendly competition as a way of showing affection. Whether it’s sparring or 1v1 soccer or just “race you to that tree,” she will lovingly try to kick your ass.

Apatite Tic: Does your muse have any sort of verbal tics or impediments? Not really many tics - though sometimes she does repeat words/phrases over and over when she gets really anxious, almost like a stim - but she does have an accent! However now that she’s learned, she tends to mask it most of the time when speaking in English. She did not appreciate German accent jokes. Sometimes it’s a bit more noticeable when she’s upset, but for the most part she hides it pretty well. She also actually has an accent when speaking in German! Since she grew up with an Austrian dialect, she tends to use Austrian slang and have an Austrian German accent. She doesn’t have to mask this one as often, but she knows how to make it sound like she’s from Germany, mostly just for the sake of it being handy when undercover. 

Garnet Shadows: Is your muse apt to stab someone in the back in any way? If so, would they admit to doing so or would they lie to cover it up? No, it would take a lot for her to betray someone she cares about. A lot. Trust is something she doesn’t take lightly, and she wouldn't ever want to betray the trust of her loved ones just like she wouldn't want them to betray hers. If that situation did arise and she was confronted, she would likely confess, even if it might mean losing a friend. 

Makeshift Stone: What does their internet search history usually include? Are there any parts of their searches that they’re embarrassed by? Her internet history is honestly kinda boring. Anything strange on there is probably the product of something random coming to mind or coming up in conversation and her looking it up. I wouldn't say there’s anything she’s embarrassed by - though she might not share with her coworkers the music she puts on repeat in her free time due to it not fitting her more professional image. Dancing to music in your apartment doesn’t exactly scream “talented strong spy.”

Fluorite Bearings: How strongly do they listen to their intuition? Is their intuition usually correct or incorrect? Well, she’s gotten very good at observing her surroundings and being able to discern when something’s off. She’s been hurt by people who had gotten close to her, so she especially listens to her intuition if she thinks there’s something off about a person. Even if she might stick it out to investigate, she definitely always at least notes her intuition and makes sure she knows a way out if she needs one. 

Peridot Ghosts: What kind of things get them frazzled or anxious? Do they tend to handle them well or get swept up in the moment? It can be hard to shake her, but just like with her anger if you press the right buttons it can flare up very quickly. One of the easiest ways for others to get to her would be to point out things that she personally struggles with, especially those related to the guilt and self-hatred she’s worked so hard to try and get out of her head. Situations where she feels vulnerable and unsafe can also make her very anxious, especially if that vulnerability is forced, as can situations where she would become unconscious or lose control in similar ways. They remind her of her experience with sexual assault and her time in HYDRA, and the possibility of being hurt like that again terrifies her. Most of her triggers are related to the specific traumas she’s been through. In terms of how she handles it, she can definitely get swept up in the moment. It definitely tends to initiate her fight-or-flight instinct, which varies depending on the situation. She’ll usually fight back, and sometimes that is in an attempt at flight, but if she’s anxious enough at times she won’t even try to fight. She just wants to run. 

Quartz Cluster: What kind of textures (e.g. silky, rough, slick, etc) do they prefer? She doesn’t really have a huge preference! None of them in particular really bother her. Though, some are definitely better for some things than others. Most people would probably prefer a smooth countertop and not a fuzzy one. 

Amazonite Comfort: What sorts of things bring your muse comfort in trying times? Are there any habits they have when things get difficult to help cope? It differs depending on what’s bothering her. Sometimes she just needs to be alone, sometimes it’s best to do something fun with a friend, sometimes it’s neither. Over time she’s learned what works for her and what doesn’t, and she’s developed some coping mechanisms. But when she’s just having a bad day or week, one of her favorites is to just sit on the couch with a snack and watch a fun movie. Sometimes with a friend. (Her and Ariane have watched D.E.B.S as a pick-me-up so many times.)

Opal Wonder: How big is their imagination? Do they tend to share these ideas or keep them to themselves? It can be pretty big! Especially since when she was a kid, her and her brother had very different tastes and so if she wasn’t able to play with friends she would mostly play by herself. Her imagination also gave her some solace in HYDRA - imagining that she would one day get out and go places gave her a bit of hope that she really would. And, it comes in handy when she visits her niece. She tends to keep most of those ideas to herself, partially just because there’s never really any reason for her to share them. If she thinks of something interesting or funny she might joke about it with a friend, but that’s about it most of the time.