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shadowbriar · 2 years

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Bill Weasley - Untitled

Pairing : (F/M) || Bill Weasley x Professor!Reader Word Count : 2.3k Warning : None I think. Synopsis : Inspired by Sabrina Carpenter - Paris. A quick gateway has somehow turned into a labyrinth of conflicted feelings with no escape as she spends more time with the oldest Weasley sibling. Notes : Long overdue, but I hope this is good enough to make up for the long wait. If you like this story and would like to support me, please visit my kofi page and perhaps get me a coffee?☕

Easy. That word would do justice for the relationship she's having with her lover. He was dead head over heels for her. Whipped beyond saving, she knew he would jump off a cliff had she asked him to. He was everything a girl could ever ask for. Someone who would willingly devote their life for their lover, worshipping her as if she was the goddess that has blessed his Earth.

Yet even for all the risks he's willing to take, she still feels like it wasn't enough.

She wanted to feel the thrill of fighting for something. She missed the nervous jolt of anxiety whenever an argument's about to erupt. She missed the fright of being left alone in the relationship. She missed the torture of bending over backward to keep them in her grasp. She missed it all.

With him everything came with ease, almost as if she didn’t even need to ask for it. Everything she could ever hoped for would be handed to her in a silver platter, complete with its rose petals and golden goblet. She knew that she was being ungrateful to admit that the gesture was turning dull for her and she knew he wouldn’t let her go, even if she was to be cruel and told him the cold truth, therefore she seeks for an instant getaway instead.

“You know,” Bill begins, making her look up from the book she holds in her hands “I could get used to this life. I don’t mind having croissants for breakfast with you, sipping the most bitter coffee in my life and guilt tripping myself into thinking that it isn’t that bad cause I can see the Eiffel Tower from my bedroom everyday.”

She rolls her eyes, “Don’t get too attached to it.”

“Why not?” He smiles, leaning closer as he rests his elbow to the table “Do you not find my companion to be entertaining?”

“We’re here for a mission, Bill.” She says as she closes her book, putting it away as she reckons she won’t be continuing her reading this morning “Dumbledore sent us here for a reason.”

He shrugs, “Does not mean we can’t grow fond of the life we’re living right now.”

Oh but that’s the source to all her problems now, isn’t it? She’s grown too fond of this new life. Parisian nights, Parisian high, Parisian breeze, feeding her like medicine. Perhaps had Dumbledore paired her with someone else, she wouldn’t have been this blinded by Parisian lights. She might be able to see its flaws then, how the Eiffel Tower is not as pretty as the pictures or how the food isn’t much better than her Mother’s cooking.

William ‘Bill’ Arthur Weasley, the prefect every girl in her year would swoon about. He was that one senior every girl is holding a crush on. With a brilliant mind, bravery as bold as his fiery hair, and manner as kind and gentle as morning breeze, Bill was the very definition of perfection. Though he wasn’t the guy she had her eyes trained on during their school year, she still would admit that he did catch her eyes once or twice in the corridors.

And now to have spent weeks alone with him, she knew that she shouldn’t have looked past him.

“How much longer do you reckon we have to do this?” She asks, putting out her poker face so he wouldn’t be able to decipher her true nature.

“Dunno,” He shrugs, taking a sip of his coffee “Can’t say I miss the life behind Gringotts walls.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

“Well, life as a banker isn’t really the most thrilling there is now, is it?” Bill argues, his award winning smile decorating his face “Why would I go back to seeing ugly goblins when I could just see you?”

And there it is, his flirtatious banter that would always heat her cheeks. She’s convinced that he’s only doing such a gesture to harvest her bashful response. In the beginning she would return his words, batting her eyelashes and making him beam in a bright smile, yet lately it’s been harder for her to maintain her breath whenever he’s around. Her quick gateway has somehow turned into a labyrinth of conflicted feelings with no escape.

Was it wrong for her to have fallen in love with another when she’s got someone wrapped around her fingers back in London? Sure. But who in their right mind could ever deny him? Who could ever have the power to not fall into his magnetism? Who could ever not yield to the charms Bill Weasley has?

“They’re here.” He says, the merriment on his face gone in an instant.

She glances over her shoulder, noticing Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback walking away, “They’re really recruiting the werewolves, aren’t they?”

Bill hums, his brows furrow.

Jaws clenched.

Veins on his neck are visible.

Merlin.

“Come on.” He says as he stands from his seat, leaving the amount of money they owe for their breakfast on the table.

“What?” She asks with a raised brow “Where are we going?”

“Following them, of course.”

“Are you mad?” She exclaims “We are not following them, William.”

Bill grins, taking her wrist as he stands from his seat, “Don’t worry, Sweetheart, I’ll protect you.”

—-

Her ears were ringing, heart pounding as beads of sweat layers her skin. Her cheeks were flushed red from all the running and adrenaline pumped in her veins. Perhaps barging into the Death Eaters’ lair wasn’t the brightest idea Bill has ever come up with in his entire life, yet in his defence, who would’ve known that they have quite the amount of followers here in Paris?

Now their bodies were pressed in the narrow alleyway, trying to hide themselves from the angry mob. The piece of information they’ve gathered would surely be useful for Dumbledore and everyone else back at home, but it would also mean that their heads are now the most desired item by the Death Eaters.

So much for the thrilling life Bill’s constantly talking about.

“I think we’ve lost them.” He whispered quietly, his hot breath hitting her face as he turned to see the alleyway “I don’t hear anything anymore, do you?”

She shakes her head.

Bill was still alert. The veins on his arm were visible, as he protectively pinned her to the wall. Now that the fog slowly descended, she could feel her heart hammering as if it was bursting through her ribcage. He was close. Too close for her liking. She could only hope that he wouldn’t hear nor feel the loud beating of her heart.

Now looking back to her, she could see the realisation of their close proximity in his eyes, how his pupil dilates for a second before they turn soft. His shoulders no longer tense, but the veins on his neck were still visible. His adam’s apple bobbled as he took a gulp, seemingly in a frenzied state himself. She buries the idea that he could have the same reasoning as the one she’s having right now. Surely the disordered gesture he’s showing only stems from all the running and fright of almost being killed mere minutes ago.

But Bill didn’t move. Instead, he moves his hands closer, pinning her tighter that she has no space left to go. It wasn’t like she was planning to flee anyway, but the closer he is, the harder it is for her to hold onto what is right and what is wrong. With him, everything feels right and wrong at the same time.

“Bill-”

With no warning, Bill leans closer and seals their lips. It was a mix of everything, washing over her like a tidal wave. There was passion, desire, thirst, and hint of apology in the way he kissed her. She knew that he wanted to pull her close, to eliminate whatever space left between them but his hands didn’t move. It was as if they were glued to the walls, perhaps becoming his only anchor to not go any further than what he’s doing right now.

And because of that too, she didn’t pull him closer. Nor did she kiss him back.

“I- I’m sorry.” He said as he pulled away.

She could see the disappointment and anger polluting his eyes before he took a few steps away, back now facing her as he ran his hands through his hair. She was stunned, unable to give him the comfort she knew she should give, but her feet felt heavy to move. Guilt began to seep into her as she knew that the one thing she loved most in her life is something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

“I wasn’t thinking.” Bill continues, now turning to see her “It was just the rush from all the running, I’m really sorry.”

Of course, the rush from all the running.

“Right,” She nods, looking down to her shoes now “Of course, I understand.”

“Brilliant,” He exclaims with a forced smile “Can we agree that the last 10 minutes never happened then?”

She wanted to say no, she wanted to pull him back, return the kiss the first time it happened but she knew that she couldn’t. Not when she was still attached to someone else. It would be unfair to her lover and for him and she would rather die than to put Bill to such a miserable position.

And so she nods, holding onto the pieces of her breaking heart beneath her phoney smile, “Of course.”

—-

The whole journey back to London was spent in complete silence. Neither dared to steal glances at each other. It pains her to know that the only thing that could set her soul ablaze would be something she needs to hide from others, a sin that would take a lifetime to be atoned for. She knew that she’s lost the spark with her lover long before she met Bill, but what good would ending the relationship now when they’re about to get back to their lives? The lives where their paths would never cross. Him behind the Gringotts wall and her back to teaching at Hogwarts.

“So I guess this is where we part ways.” Bill says as they stop in front of Dumbledore’s entrance stairs, having just finished reporting their mission to the Headmaster.

“I suppose so.”

“Well, it’s been quite a thrilling experience,” He sighs, his smile waters just a degree as he holds his hand out for a shake “Partner.”

She takes his hand, shaking it gently with her eyes glued on the contact. A thousand questions run across her mind. Would it be different now if she kissed him back then? Would it be different now if she pulled him back? Would it be different now if she would just say something?

“I’ll find it hard adjusting back to my old dull life.” Bill tried to joke but the sadness seeped out of his eyes “A life without you.”

“Bill, don’t.”

He flashed a sad smile, “Why?”

She looks away, fearing that her fortress would completely crumble if she were to lock gaze with him for another second.

“I’ve seen the way you look at me,” He says, his tone gentle and careful “You see me the same way I see you, so tell me, what are you so afraid of?”

“It’s not that simple, Bill.” She exclaims “I just- We can’t, alright?”

“Why? You don’t love that git anymore, perhaps you never did. You hardly even sent him an owl, never excited to read his letters, and you never for once talk about him if not for me to ask. So what exactly is holding you from me?”

She bites her lip, wanting to run away and hide under her bedsheets, but the tender grip he has on her hand is so alluring that it drowns her completely.

“Please,” Bill begs “All I ask is one chance.”

“What if it was just a short lived infatuation, Bill? What if it was just something that brews in the heat of the moment? A product of nothing but rush and thrill?” She asks with a voice barely above a whisper “What if it was nothing close to what you think it is?”

He smiles bitterly, a shuddering breath escapes his lips, “Then I’ll burn down with it to ash.”

“No, no I can’t have that.” She shakes her head, finally taking her hand away and taking a few steps away from him “I think it would be best for you to leave now, Bill.”

She was facing away from him but she could feel his shoulder fall, the desperation and disappointment was felt both ways. She knows exactly what he’s feeling right now but this is for the best. Even if she wouldn’t end up with her lover, letting Bill go would be the only kindness she could grace to the both of them now. Perhaps the future could be kinder and would give them a second chance.

Beads of tears begin to decorate her lashes, vision getting blurry as she fights for her tears to not fall. Her fight proved to be fruitless as they flowed down her cheek the moment Bill kissed the crown of her head from behind, being ever so kind as to not look at her crying face. He gives her shoulders a gentle squeeze. A last tender touch he gives before his steps echoes through the corridor and eventually disappears altogether.

#bill weasley #bill weasley imagine #bill weasley imagines #bill weasley fanfic #bill weasley fanfiction #bill weasley scenario #bill weasley scenarios #bill weasley fluff #bill weasley angst #bill weasley x reader #bill weasley x you #bill weasley x y/n #bill weasley x oc

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froggie-recs-fics · 3 years

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Fic Roundup (up to 9/26/21)

I'm gonna start collecting fics I've read recently to recommend them, because making trope lists takes too long and many fics fall by the wayside. Let me know if you like this new format!

The fandoms in this list are as follows: Marvel (SamBucky, HTP, SpideyPool, WinterHawk, WinterIron, Stony, Stucky, SpiderShield), DCU (Bane/Blake), Inception (Arthur/Eames), Teen Wolf (Sterek).

A * signifies a particular favorite (though I love all these fics)

Marvel

Sam/Bucky

double back by flowermasters (E, 12K, Post-Endgame, Time Loop, Time Travel)

Sam gets stuck in a time loop. In 1943.

Things could be worse, but they could certainly be better.

Companion piece here: quick time

I'll explain everything to the geese by napricot (Post-Endgame, E, 50K, Sam can talk to birds)

Bucky is so competent that it hurts my feelings is not a rational complaint to have about a person, and yet, after a year of being Captain America and partnering up with Bucky for the new and improved, post-Blip Avengers, that’s kinda how Sam’s feeling.

It’s not great. It maybe leads to Sam making some rash, ill-advised decisions like claiming he has a previously undisclosed superpower, and then getting caught in a web of lies when he ends up actually developing that surprisingly inconvenient superpower. Talking to birds had seemed like a harmless superpower, but it turns out that birds have a lot of opinions, and they don’t hesitate to tell Sam about them, especially when it comes to his supposedly subpar courting skills. Which is ridiculous, because Sam isn’t courting Bucky. Right?

Rumlow/Bucky

**blueprints for a better world series by itallstartedwithdefenestration @astralhux (CATWS, Post-CATWS, Noncon, E, 115K, Dark Main Character)

When Pierce discovers the asset is no longer capable of getting himself hard during recreational use, he tells Rumlow to figure out what the problem is, and to fix it. The solution turns out to be more complicated than anyone expected.

I can't recommend this series enough

Peter/Wade

*Dead Men Walking series by doctorestranged @lazystrawberrymilkshakes (E, 235K, Identity Porn, Slow Burn)

When a series of murders take place, Peter Parker goes undercover in Sister Margaret’s to get intel on Tony Stark’s prime suspect: Deadpool. Peter goes in hoping to get enough information so that Spider-Man can save the day, but like everything in Peter’s life, it becomes a bit more complicated than that and it soon becomes apparent that he might not be the best fit for the job.

All About Chemistry by TwiceBakedPotato @sedatedkoala (No Powers AU, M, CNTW, 74K, Teacher-Student Relationship, Slow Build)

After serving his 20 years in the Marine Corps, Wade Wilson is cashing in his GI Bill and going back to college. He feels like the old man on campus, but that doesn't matter. He likes his classes. He likes learning. And he especially likes his Chemistry professor with the messy brown hair.

Clint/Bucky

Making Me A Habit by Kangofu_CB @kangofu-cb (No Powers AU, T, 20K, Pet Store, Slow Burn, Pining, Misunderstandings)

Bucky is a disabled vet struggling with reintegrating into civilian life. He has a routine and a rhythm, and he doesn't like to let anything - big or small - disrupt it. That all changes the day Bucky finds himself inside CATastrophe, the local pet rescue, recovering from a panic attack in the back room of the shop.

He’s used to walking by the place, not visiting, but the next thing Bucky knows, he’s hanging signs and being used as a climbing tree for a bunch of freshly-acquired kittens. And he just...keeps going back. First for the kittens, then for the disaster shop owner who rescues actual kittens from actual trees and teaches archery as a side-gig, and eventually because he’s hopelessly in love.

(Clint was in love before Bucky ever walked in the door.)

*Nameless by AvaKelly (Post-CATWS, M, 101K, Time Travel, Time Loop, Slow Burn)

A gun is pointed at him before he can even move from his position, the Soldier's metal arm steady in its aim. Clint sighs.

"Nemo," Clint says. "It's tattooed on your wrist, right here," he lifts his right hand and taps his left index finger where his palm ends.

The Soldier's eyes widen. "How do you know this?"

"I put it there."

Glitter, G-Strings and Other Mission Hazards by flawedamythyst @flawedamythyst (T, 16K, Undercover, Stripper Clint)

“Which is why you need me to shake my booty for cash,” said Clint.

“Precisely,” said Coulson. “You’re the only agent we have who wouldn’t need additional training in the skills of an exotic dancer to take on the mission, and we want to get someone in there as soon as possible.”

Clint nodded, shutting the file. “Okay, awesome. I’ll dig out my sequined g-string.”

“You’ll have full access to requisition any costumes you might need,” said Coulson.

A mission requires Bucky to be Clint's back-up as he goes undercover as a stripper, which gets more difficult with every new costume he comes out in.

Paternal Error by EVVS @skylarkevanson (Post-CATWS, T, 33K, Kid Fic, Established Relationship)

Bucky has never once thought of being a parent. Not since the Winter Solider happened.

Until he falls in love with Clint Barton. And that idiot just keeps collecting children for his flock.

Now Bucky has to pretend like he's good at parenting.

Bucky/Tony

Forms of Love by bear_bell (Post-CACW, E, 33K, Split Personalities)

Months after the Avengers' dispute in Germany, the team returns to the US and moves back into the tower. As always, everyone pretends that nothing happened. Tony is just fine with this. He's used to pretending, and he'll be damned if he lets any of them see him flinch.

Tony's the bad guy, after all. He's used to it. He's fine with it. He's good at it.

Only now, there's something far worse loitering around the tower - The Winter Soldier. No one notices the guy at first, but when they do, Tony figures that he should have the soldier's back.

Birds of a feather should flock together, and the bad guys should start a book club.

Steve/Tony

While You Were Sleeping by betheflame @betheflame (No Powers AU, M, 65K, While You Were Sleeping AU)

It's been years since Steve Grant Rogers Drysdale has spoken to his twin, Ransom. So it was quite a shock when he was summoned to a hospital and found out that Ransom was in a coma.

Even more shocking? That Ransom is engaged. To Tony Stark.

Steve/Bucky

The Road Goes Ever On And On by PipGraham (Omegaverse AU, M, Noncon, Graphic Violence, 20K, Road Trip, Pre-Serum Steve, Past Domestic Violence)

When Brock's continued domestic abuse puts not only Steve's life in danger, but also that of his unborn pup, he flees into the night with just a small backpack of clothes and almost no money to his name.

Steve quickly runs into trouble as he tries to embark on a 3-day cross-country bus journey back home to New York City.

He meets a kind veteran when he most needs a helping hand.

Just Words by LadyRazzle (crimegimp) @ladyrazzle (Pre-CATFA, Soulmate AU, T, 2K, Fluff)

Inspired by that now legendary post: "soulmate AU where you wake up on your 18th birthday with the first words your soulmate will say to you tattooed on your body so you’ll know them when you meet them." Well what if they appear the moment you turn 18, rather than just the day? And what if by the time you turn 18, you'd already fallen in love?

Bucky wasn’t eager to discover what the words said. He already knew what he wanted them to say. He always had.

Peter/Steve

Forgetting It's There by spinstitcher (stygian) (NR, 8K, Crack, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Porn)

“You’re Captain America,” he blurts out.

“What?” says Captain America, looking a little wide-eyed. He casts a nervous glance at the girl at the counter – he has nothing to worry about there, she’s rocking out to her iPod and could care less what they’re talking about – and says, “No, uh, Steve, it’s just, I’m Steve.”

“Right,” says Peter, and then because his brain-to-mouth filter had apparently been completely destroyed in the fight on Oscorp Tower: “Hey, your butt really is as tight as it looks on TV.”

DCU

Bane/Blake

7 Deadly Ass(as)sins by teacuphuman @teacuphuman09 (AU, E, 23K, BDSM)

Bane and Barsad own a sex shop and John needs a job.

Straws by Menirva (Bane/Blake/Barsad, AU, E, 38K, BDSM)

John works in a smoothie shop.

He has a knack, a second sense if you will, for being able to look at a person and know what they're going to order. It's not the most spectacular gift in the world but he likes being able to figure people out and he's never wrong.

Except for this scruffy asshole who is clearly just ordering the wrong thing to fuck with him.

How is he even finishing an extra-large?

Inception

Aurthur/Eames

Rough Trade by Whisky (whiskyrunner) @whiskyrunner (AU, E, 23K, Internalized Homophobia)

Arthur is an investment banker. He is professional and efficient. He's a halfway decent cook. He's totally independent and has been since the age of eighteen. Maybe he's tired all the time because he works about ninety hours a week which is twice what normal people do, but he's rich and he's competent at his job. He's almost thirty, and already a success.

And there are some things Arthur is not. For instance: Arthur is not gay.

Lucky by earlgreytea68 @earlgreytea68 (M, 37K, Kid fic)

Arthur finds a baby.

Teen Wolf

Stiles/Derek

Cut to the Bone by standinginanicedress (Omegaverse AU, E, 112K, Secret Relationship, Enemies to Lovers kinda)

“Not that it’s any of your god damn business, but my name is Stiles. Do you need something?”

The alpha grins. All teeth, shiny white, straight as an arrow. He’s got this sculpted perfection to him that Stiles is sure has worked on all the omegas he’s ever encountered before, but Stiles stands his ground and narrows his eyes. “A date.”

Stiles looks him up and down, slowly, from the black shoes on his feet, to his uniform khakis and blazer littered with pins, to his face. He frowns, makes a face, and says, “pass.”

Cornerstone by Vendelin (Human AU, E, 83K, Marine Derek, Blind Stiles, Friends to Lovers)

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

Stand Fast in Your Enchantments by DevilDoll, Rahciach (AU, Graphic Violence, E, 76K, Captivity, Feral Derek)

"Stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf." An AU in which Derek is feral, Stiles is magical, and they eat a lot of fast food.

The Payoff Pitch by Leslie_Knope (Sports AU, E, 83K, Coming Out, Friends to Lovers)

Derek is on the cusp of his second season with the LA Dodgers, and as the reigning runner-up Rookie of the Year, the pressure’s on him to become the team’s star pitcher and lead them to the playoffs for the first time in five years. He’s trying to deal with the burden of expectations and really has zero desire to spend any extra time or energy on anything that isn’t baseball.

But then he meets Stiles.

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blackinquisitors · 2 years

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still love fenris btw. made an rdr2 au for him and hawke bc I'm very normal

basically danarius was still an evil piece of shit and fenris escaped, then with hawkes help killed danarius. yay! except not bc they were caught and then became wanted men. they went on the run and decided to get lost in the vast amounts of Englishmen travelling to the new world or whatever. they get there and mostly wander around bc danarius was a high profile guy and killing him racked up a LARGE bounty and the us govt knew abt it as well

fenris hates America, hawke is fine w it. hawke is halfway decent w a gun and likes how silly the American accents sound and fenris IS good with a gun but has weird morality around it. like he's fine using it for hunting but he doesn't like killing ppl with it bc he thinks killing shouldn't be easy and it should be a bloody battle so close you look your enemy in the eye. whatever. fenris also is not good with horses (he's afraid of them and they sense it and dislike him)

anyway they're a stranger mission that Arthur can find if he goes out w someone from camp. fenris and hawke are running from a cougar and they burst out from the trees and Arthur has to dead eye shoot the cougar. yayy they're saved. well anyway hawke and fenris thank him and then argue amongst themselves ("I hate this fucking country this was YOUR idea to come here" "then let's go back to England and get hanged if youre so arsey") while Arthur skins the cougar

then Hawke asks Arthur and companion to give them a ride to the nearest town bc [gang in area] ambushed them and tried to rob them and killed their horses. this is one of those "do the right thing or leave them to fend for themselves" decision screens but it's dependent on who Arthur's with. like Charles will not let you deny them a ride. then when hawke and fenris get on the horses they have companion specific banter

like hawke will make fun of Micah's facial hair, will say that him and Bill are practically twins except hawkes not balding, that Javier has a nice jacket, that the wind keeps blowing Charles' or sadies hair in his mouth, etc etc. fenris' dialogue is mostly in response to hawke, but will have a conversation w Charles about their ethnic backgrounds ("fenris, what's your race?" "me? I'm Afghan and Indian. actually Indian, from India" "ha I'm black and Indian. from here" "ha the two of us together"). he will make some snide comments to Micah but otherwise keeps his mouth shut aside to banter w hawke

Arthur drops them off at whatever town is closest and they thank him. as they walk away you can hear them talking to each other high honor -> "he was a nice lad I'd like to get a drink with him sometime" "hes decent for a Yankee. I liked his horse" low honor -> "not to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything but he seemed a bit dodgy" "lets hope we do not meet him again. I have a feeling he won't be so generous if we had money"

they can be seen sometimes around the map travelling or pretending they're not flirting w each other in a saloon. and if you get a high approval with fenris, he'll teach Arthur a new combat mechanic + give him a unique knife. high approval with hawke will make him name the stray dog he adopts "Artie"

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fgodestinyawakenings · 3 years

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FGO Destiny Awakenings: CDD #4

Once again surprisingly, this isn't dead! And a perfect time to release with the banner out of a certain sussy moth! Remembers guys, simp for your waifu/husbando healthily! Lest you wanna be catfish by them...

Author Note's: Some context may seem normal, but those who reached the Solomon Singularity will notice there are some things of that finale taken into here!

For a certain idol's appearance, please just immediately refer to Prototype Merlin for your reference. Those who haven't reach Solomon Singularity yet, I'll say she's the closest thing I think of on the idol's appearance. And for those completed Solomon Singularity, you already know why I'm using her appearance

Ritsuko: My brother has been in the infirmary for a while now… Ritsuko: Do you think they’re… Ritsuko: Making out?! *Cut to Romani and Ritsuka in the Doctor's room holding a Magi*Mari light stick and waiting for the next livestream Ritsuka has missed out to start* Romani & Ritsuka: This is gonna be so sick!!

-- Meanwhile during the training lesson for Magecraft on Ritsuko's end

AO3 || Fanfiction.net || Ritsuka & Ritsuko's Profile

Ex-idol otaku simp for idol again by another idol Otaku

“Hmm, hm, hmm~!” Along the corridor towards the infirmary, Ritsuka hummed to a cheery tone with Fou resting on his shoulders.

“Fou?” The white squirrel creature tilted his head while observing the raven-haired Master’s right fist. When he clenched his fist closed, a blue light lit up, opening to display a small pebble. Then he closed and repeated the same trick to open and showed a golden key.

“Fooou….?” Each item projected from his hand showed both interests yet curiosity to Fou. He tipped his head as the right hand now opened to reveal a small candy Ritsuka remembered with nostalgia. Unable to bear it any longer, Fou squeaked for his attention, “Fou!”

“Hm?” Blue orbs noticed Fou’s own purple gazing at him, later back at the projected candy. An apologetic grin curled on Ritsuka’s lips. “Oh, sorry for ignoring you, Fou.”

Followed the white squirrel’s gaze, Ritsuka concentrated with both eyes and right hand closed for a second. He opened after the blue light faded, his fist revealing a small rubber duck toy. He gave a few squeezes to produce out squeaky noises. The raven-haired Master showed a slight grin, “I’m just practicing on what Sadakuni-san told us yesterday.”

“Fou foooou fou!”

“Right, this wasn’t what I’m supposed to be working on….” Ritsuka expressed an uncomfortable grin on Fou’s cry. He dug out from his pants pocket, showing a small bronze coin to him. “We’re expected to be doing more practice on strengthening today.”

But an exasperated sigh left the raven-haired Master’s lips upon remembering.

“Still, it’s partially my fault in forgetting I owe Doctor Roman a checkup….”

Before Sadakuni showed up to train, Mash mentioned to them off-hand that Romani would announce their first mission soon.

And expected, spending the entire night studying the library books of magic and Arthurian history….

“Kyuu!” Fou squeaked as though seeking to cheer his guilt away.

Ritsuka returned with a slight smile, lifting his free hand to rub Fou’s chin, which nuzzled against his cheek. “Sorry about this, Fou. I made Mash and Ritsuko unnecessarily worry about having you come with me. Let’s get this over so that we can head back to the lesson.”

Fou shifted to the hand, caressing his chin to purr, “Kyuuuu…. Fooou…..”

Soft chuckling slipped from Ritsuka’s lips, seeing how Fou enjoyed his touches. However, an idea came into his mind, “Oh!”

“Fou?” Fou’s face written with puzzled expression, seeing the raven-haired Master pulled back his hand away. Both pairs of arms stretched outwards, showing both palms opened before them. His right hand holding the bronze coin. The other held nothing.

Noticed at the increasing interest, Ritsuka simply suggested to his furry companion, “Look carefully.”

“Fou…”

The raven-haired Master brought both arms to his back. He shrugged his shoulder to ease his tense muscle from devoting the night to work out plausible ideas of Mash’s possessing Servant’s True Name. After bringing both fists forward and turned over, Ritsuka prompted. “Which hand is holding the coin, Fou?”

Small white pointed ears twitched as Fou’s purple orbs examined to pick out any hints of the raven-haired Master’s act. After sniffing in the air a few times, he went towards the left fist and tapped with his paw. “Fou!”

Ritsuka opened his left fist to expose the familiar bronze coin. However, the coin instantly vanished before Fou, alarming him in surprise as the Master proclaimed. “Bzzt, wrong one!”

“Fou?!” Disbelief was written on the white squirrel creature’s face. He scurried from Ritsuka’s arm and shoulder to his right fist and squeaked, “Fou, fou!”

“You’re close too, Fou,” Yet again, when opened, the bronze coin on Ritsuka’s right fist vanished before Fou’s eyes.

“Fou?!” The white squirrel creature’s tail lift high at how shocked he was at Ritsuka’s trick again. He scurried to snoop through his right sleeve, going on the same as he moved to the left. Then Fou headed towards his shirt collar to search for the coin, yet… No matter high or low, it was anywhere to be found.

Another laugh slipped from Ritsuka at his furry companion’s attempt to investigate his whole body. He lifted one hand to Fou’s cape beneath and pulled out the familiar bronze coin. “Here we go.”

Fou halted his action upon seeing the coin. Purple orbs widened as he peered back and forth between his cape, the coin, and Ritsuka. “Fooou fou!”

Ritsuka gave a slightly amused beam to his confused furry friend and examined the coin. “Surprise, huh? I’m not an expert on actual magecraft, but magic reminds me of tricks like this. Brings back memories every year from elementary to high school; I would consistently do magic tricks. Be it school festival or anything, those times are so peaceful unlike now….”

Those days of hanging out after class with their school classmates, their holiday plans for Summer and Winter….

School festival preparations for Student Council and Classroom duties…

Last, studying for their final entrance examination for university… Then, he could—!

As those memories raced through his head, the raven-haired Master felt eyes on him. Turned over, he noticed Fou staring at him with an expression, wondering what weighed in his mind. Fou’s purple orbs furrowed reflected as the frown came on his lips.

With an assured yet melancholy smile, Ritsuka moved his hand to ruffle Fou’s fur. “Strange, isn’t it? That I’m thinking about the past… I’ll do whatever it takes to bring those times back. For ours and you guys too, Fou.”

“Fou, fou!” Fou squeaked to agree with his words.

Though, it implied to Ritsuka more that Fou loved the tickling, judging by the purring sound he made. While ruffling his head, Ritsuka’s smile switched to a peculiar expression upon noticing Fou. “Hmm…?”

It was Fou’s turn next to tilt his head with an odd expression when Ritsuka stopped his caresses. “Fou?”

“Now that I think about it… You looked kind of familiar…,” Ritsuka uttered.

“Kyuuu?”

Blue orbs narrowed to examine Fou on his shoulder. The familiar purple orbs filled with curiosity instead of sly mischief flickered from time to time. White fur on Fou’s head forming a similar hairstyle, Ritsuka felt he saw it somewhere once. Last, the white and light blue cape around his neck…

Like a light bulb turned on in his head, the raven-haired Master exclaimed knowingly. “That’s right! You looked just like Merlin!!”

Surprised transformed into fury, Fou’s ears twitched in rage.

He let out an irritated growl before biting Ritsuka’s hand, “Fooou, fou!!”

“Yeowch!” Ritsuka yelped and retracted his said hand as fast as he could. He shook it, wincing at the small reddish bit mark he received from provoking his furry companion’s wrath.

“Fooou, fou, fou! Kyuuuu, fou, fou!”

“W-W-Wait, I’m sorry, Fou! M-My mouth just blurts out on its own—!” When Ritsuka apologized with a panicked face, Fou’s glare only showed he added more oil into the fire. He raised both hands to calm his aggravated friend. “I-I’m really sorry, Fou-sama! I didn’t mean to compare you to him or anything at all!”

However, from the final hissing, Fou answered. He turned his head, and his tail moved to shoo away the bitten hand. Even another attempting to call his name, Fou returned with an annoyed grunt to express the Master to go away.

“Guess he’s a little despised by everybody in current times thanks to his own shenanigans…,” Ritsuka muttered to himself.

Hardly a wonder to him if the wizard’s mischief outweighed his good deeds in aiding King Arthur.

Even with good intentions, Merlin remained enigmatic to his behavior and motives.

Though, that’s an issue for later. Right now, the raven-haired Master shifted his head to Fou to bow, clamping both hands together. “I-I’m truly sorry, Fou-sama! I have my own reasons for why did I think of Merlin suddenly. Please hear me out!”

A nervous gulp swallowed down Ritsuka’s throat, waiting for the white squirrel to let him a chance to speak. What were hours actually literal minutes when Fou opened one of his eyes to peer at him.

Along with the frown on his mouth and ears perking high, Fou expressing to Ritsuka he’s willing to listen to his reason. The raven-haired Master breathed out a relieved sigh, “Um… Why I said you look like Merlin is because….”

Scanned in every direction to make sure it was both of them alone, Ritsuka leaned into Fou’s ear and confided. “I haven’t told Ritsuko or Mash, but…. I’ve seen and spoke to him in my dreams.”

The raven-haired Master’s revelation led Fou’s both eyes opened wide, looking at him with an absolute disbelief expression, “Fou?”

“Yeah, I’d like to lie about this. But three encounters suffice to suggest I’m not having hallucinations in my sleep,” Ritsuka nodded with a sigh. Then a shiver chilled his spine. He noticed Fou’s glare remained, if not severer than before. “I-I didn’t mean you and him are similar! Your appearance, that white fur, and cape of yours! You are way different from him, Fou-sama!!”

Even at his remarks, Fou remained skeptical. After staring at the raven-haired Master with doubt, he looked away. “Fou!”

“I’m truly, sincerely sorry, Fou-sama! It’s wrong for me to compare you with Merlin! You’re so much better and even cuter than that problematic wizard!”

“Fou, fou!”

“He’s even more pissed than before…,” Ritsuka winced at the sharp-pitched angry squeak. He held back his tongue; any further reference of Merlin would just add more oil. “Fou-sama, is there anything I can do to make you forgive me? It’s my fault blurting out like an idiot without considering your feelings, so please… I’ll do anything you ordered!”

The raven-haired Master attempted to bow his head to the white furry creature.

A silence enveloped between them as Ritsuka awaited a squeak from Fou.

Another minute afterward, a familiar squeak from Fou cried out to the Master.

“Kyu, kyuu…. Fou!”

“Fou-sama…?” Ritsuka opened his eyes to see Fou facing right at him.

The furry white tail wagged up down as the furry companion repeated its cry. “Foooou, fou! Fou!”

An eyebrow raised from the raven-haired Master, confirming his furry companion’s terms. “You want all the meat I have for our meal to give to you? Including the juiciest and crispiest ones I picked?”

“Kyu, kyu!”

“Wouldn’t Mash worried about you over-eating—!” Ritsuka flinched at the hissing noise coming from Fou. He gulped before smiling nervously. “Sure, I promise. Thank you very much, Fou—I mean, Fou-sama!

“That’s right,” Raising a pinky finger to the white squirrel creature, the raven-haired Master suggested. “How about this? I’ll not merely offer you all of my meat, but also your favorites other than those. In return, will you keep this a secret from Mash and Ritsuko, Fou-sama?”

Stared at his pinky finger for a moment, Fou faced him with an odd expression. A wry smile appeared on Ritsuka as he clarified. “I wished to tell them, but that’s the last thing they should worry about. It’s a secret between you and me, or something like one of your blackmails, to force me to keep my promise.”

“Fou…,” Between his pinky finger and his smile, Fou detected there’s no hidden resentment but pure truth in his words. Eventually, he lifted his front paw to tap at Ritsuka’s pinky finger to trust his words. “Fou!”

Surprise flickered in Ritsuka’s orbs briefly, then giving his brightest grin, “Thanks a lot, Fou-sama!”

After Fou scurried back to sitting at the raven-haired Master’s shoulder, he resumed his trip towards the infirmary. On his left and right at each door, Ritsuka muttered to himself. “His office should be up ahead….”

“Right, here we are,” The simple green cross symbol showed the infirmary found at last for Ritsuka. He came to the black-colored intercom, pushing the notable silver button. “Doctor, it’s me, Ritsuka. I’m here for the check-up you asked me to last time.”

The raven-haired Master stepped backward and waited for Romani to open the door… As he supposed to. Silence only returned as the answer, be it any movement or any verbal communication. Ritsuka went to the intercom and called again. “Doctor Roman, are you in?”

“Kyu?” Fou tilted his head confusedly and stared back at the door.

Ritsuka huffed after his third attempt and decided. “Guess he must be out for a meeting. I’ll find him later. Let’s go back to the training, Fou-sama.”

Just as Ritsuka spun his heel after proposing, Fou leaped off from his shoulder when he’s about to go off. The raven-haired Master turned his head behind and wondered. “Fou-sama, what’s wrong?”

Scurried and stood in front of the infirmary door, the white furry creature turned back and squeaked. “Fou fou!”

“You’re saying he’s in?” The raven-haired Master repeated what he understood his companion while approaching. His blue orbs switched to the door, again to Fou. “Maybe, but he’s perhaps still asleep so–!”

When Ritsuka stepped closer towards Fou, the door before the pair slid open to reveal a pitch-black office. He widened his eyes briefly at the lack of security in maintaining the office shut. “Did he also forget to lock his office—Hey, Fou-sama!”

Fou ignored the calls from the raven-haired Master and dashed right inside. The latter followed his furry companions for a few quick steps before losing him in the dark. “Wait, Fou-sama!”

Before he made any step further, Ritsuka stopped to mull over.

From his rational side, it’s wrong to trespass into a room without permission, despite how friendly Doctor Roman was.

However, the same logical side was concerned with the dangerous possibility of robbery and assault.

The raven-haired Master concluded, carefully treading in and surveying the office. “Any day should be fine before our next mission… But, just to be sure….”

Except for the scattered paper and files on the work desk, no trespassers came and ransacked the office. Ritsuka made another step further but halted at the noise of clattering ahead of him. “Who’s there?!” Blue eyes sought to dart around in the darkness for a visible shadow in the office. Yet, Ritsuka’s gaze settled on a white hair-like shape behind the wall partition on the ground. He tipped his head and called, “Fou-sama…?”

No response from his furry companion as he approached, the raven-haired Master blinked his eyes to clear his view…. Instead of the hair-like shape, a recognizable set of matching white pants and shoes entered his vision.

Ritsuka’s eyes widened upon recognizing whom it belonged to, “That’s—!”

Rushed and spun over from the partition, the raven-haired Master’s heart sank in horror at the sight.

The familiar orange-pinkish-haired Doctor lying unconscious by his stomach on the ground.

His ponytail loosened into long, messy hair. Instead of his coat, a tight-fitting black shirt was worn.

“Doctor Roman?!” Kneeled on the ground, Ritsuka flipped him over carefully to have him lying on his back. He shook him to awake the Doctor while investigating any symptoms of injuries. “Hey, Doctor Roman! Are you okay? Doctor Roman!!”

“Mm…,” Romani’s groan swelled relief in Ritsuka’s heart.

Yet, it was temporary, as his groans also meant he could be in pain by his pale and weak-looking face. Ritsuka asked again while investigating for the cause of injuries. “Are you hurt? Where is the pain coming from?!”

Unfortunately, only more groans were emitted, and no apparent injuries on his body. Ritsuka glanced around in the room for Fou. But his furry companion was nowhere to be found. Teeth gritted in frustration at the disappearance, he switched back to the unconscious Doctor. “Hold on, I’ll get Sadakuni-san over—!”

GRRROWWWWLL

… He didn’t hear it wrong, right? Not when the loud rumbling noise of a stomach growling again in front of the raven-haired Master. After seconds of silence, his brain processed and uttered. “…. You are joking, right?”

“He fainted…. Because he’s been skipping his meals?!” Ritsuka would’ve facepalmed at the cause but put Romani’s arm over his shoulder to move him to a proper resting place.

Thankfully, the raven-haired Master located a sofa by the light from the entrance. And it was also where he found Fou sitting at the sofa’s arm of the far end. Once settling Romani down, he whipped his head to Fou. “Sorry, Fou-sama, can you stay here and look after Doctor Roman? I’ll bring him Emiya-san’s yesterday leftover food here!”

Leaving behind the two, Fou moved his head to stare at the said Doctor once the raven-haired Master ran out of the office. Fou shook his head exasperatedly at Romani’s now awaken with a dazed expression sitting in a slumped position. “Fou….”

-0-

Half an hour later, the now lit up infirmary filled with the noises of a person gobbling down their food hungrily.

Or rather, Doctor Romani devouring down every leftover cooking by Emiya to satisfy his empty stomach.

On the opposite side of the table, Ritsuka observed seeing the colors returning to the Doctor’s face. “How is it?”

“It’s good! Thanks for bringing in food over here, Ritsuka-kun.”

Romani exclaimed, gobbling down his meal faster than ever, whether his hunger or how delicious Emiya’s cooking was.

As he took a sip of his brewed green tea while breathing a relief sigh, the raven-haired Master made a wry smile. “Sure, but that was absolutely a shock when you’re lying down on the floor there. And if you’re still hungry, there are still more servings in the cafeteria.”

“Sorry, I have been swamped running around managing Chaldea. I’m glad you found me, or we’ll have more problems before your next mission.”

Ritsuka shook his head at the jovial answer from the orange-pinkish Doctor. He set down his cup and reminded, “Don’t neglect to eat to sustain your strength too, Doctor Roman. I’m positive that cakes and sweets alone aren’t enough, as much as you like them.”

“But you still can’t deny sugar is likewise needed to keep your brain functioning.”

Romani laughed assuredly that earned the young Master to nod and murmured thoughtfully in agreement.

His green orbs soon settled on a unique figure sitting on the table between him and Ritsuka. “Oh?”

Purple orbs staring in silence as though appraising the Doctor, the latter exclaimed in surprise. “Is… Is that the mysterious creature I’ve heard so much about?!”

Followed to the Doctor directing his gaze, Ritsuka grinned and answered, “That’s right, his name is Fou-sama.”

“Whoa, nice to meet you! Mash told me a lot about him, but I didn’t really think he existed….” Romani set down his one-quarter empty rice bowl aside to examine closer at Mash’s companion.

Holding back his laugh at Fou’s weird expression towards Romani studying in 360 degrees direction, the raven-haired Master added.

“Mash told me Fou-sama rarely approaches other staff in Chaldea aside from her, along with my sister and I.”

“I see, I see,” After nodding twice to Ritsuka’s remarks, an idea brightened inside Romani’s head. “Hey, why don’t I teach him some tricks?”

Lifted out his right white-gloved hand to the furry creature, Romani beamed to Fou. “Okay, shake hand. If you do it well, I’ll give you a snack.”

“… Fou!” Narrowed his eyes in irritation at the hand later to the crazy Doctor, Fou squeaked what seemed to be a sneer and looked away before leaping off the table.

Before he scampered out of the infirmary, Fou paused beside Ritsuka to squeak again, “Kyu, fou, foooouuuu!”

“Huh, what?!” After seeing the white furry creature rejected him and left, Romani dropped his head down in dejection. “He gave me a really pitying look and then completely ignored me….”

Ritsuka sighed, after understanding Fou’s message to head back to Mash for the umpteenth time, and casually reassured in a deadpan tone.

“It’s always better than pity for a corpse who died from skipping his meals at such a young and tender age.”

The doctor’s face winced at Ritsuka’s blunt comeback, then letting out a weak chuckle in hoping to deflect away from the now embarrassing encounter.

“A-Anyway, you mentioned you were searching for me, Ritsuka-kun?”

“Yes, I’m here for my overdue check-up days ago after you have told me to gain some rest,” Ritsuka answered.

“I see! Sorry for coming all the way here when you’re training from Sadakuni, Ritsuka-kun. Why don’t you take a seat there while waiting for me? I’ll finish up the meal soon as possible.” Romani gestured towards the empty white stool beside his office desk.

Ritsuka nodded and stood from his seat. “Sure. Hope you don’t mind me intruding your office.”

“It’s alright!

“Just don’t mess up the papers on my office table, Ritsuka-kun.”

Romani added to the raven-haired Master going to his desk before returning to his meal.

“Will do, Doctor Roman.” Pulled the white stool and sat down, Ritsuka pondered in his mind. “Between brittle and hardening… I should also try to make the coin shinier—!”

However, a worn brown hardcover leather book caught his attention before the raven-haired Master returned to his practice via hardening the coin.

A quick peep over to appease his interest, Ritsuka examined closer, inspecting the gold and silver patterns embedded on the spine and front cover.

“Was Doctor Roman reading before collapsing from his hunger?” The young raven-haired Master wondered to himself. When his blue orbs landed upon the large golden words embossed on the front cover…

“OH MY GOD, IT’S KING SOLOMON!!”

PSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ritsuka’s abrupt and loud exclamation in the office caused the poor Romani to do a loud spit take while drinking down his green tea. Coughing noises followed with wheezing noises to clear his throat. He whirled his head over. “K-King Solomon?!”

“Yeah, King Solomon!” Ritsuka lifted the said book to bring it up into the doctor’s view. Blue orbs sparkled like a newly polished aquamarine gem, darting back and forth between the book and Romani. “Is this from Chaldea Library?! I didn’t realize there’s a copy of him in Chaldea here!! Gods, I’ve been searching for a specialized book about him everywhere, and I can’t believe they have it here!”

“O-Oh, so that’s what you mean…,” Romani muttered his own relief with his head turned aside unheard to the now excited Master.

He returned to see and chuckled with warmth at the giddy joyfulness radiating from Ritsuka.

“Yeah, the previous director has his own collection together with Mages Association and Atlas institute donated into our library.

“It’s helped to research and understand Servants summoned into Chaldea and the enemies we may face.”

“I see…!” The radiance in Ritsuka’s eyes shone more clearly as his eyes inspected the book.

“Then, they have many records for historical and mythology figures from the world throughout history?”

Stood from his chair, Romani headed to the sink to pick up the wet cloth and added. “Not all of them, but majority one’s established and record in human history. We can’t fit every single book in the library. So, there are some remains in the archives with their artifacts used as a catalyst for summoning.”

Nodded in understanding, Ritsuka returned with a bright smile.

“Hmm… Then, I’m glad Chaldea has a massive collection other than Arthurian legends I found in the library!”

Flipped open the book with love like a new treasure he discovered, the raven-haired Master paid his attention to the content page. Every utterance from his lips was with curiosity, amazement, and awe at what the King Solomon book covered.

Yet among all those emotions, they shared one point in common that made Romani stop cleaning his spitted-out tea. He turned back to the raven-haired Master and inquired in an unusual mindful tone. “…. Ritsuka-kun, do you like King Solomon?”

“Hm? Yeah, of course!” Ritsuka answered as though it was the most ordinary thing to him in the world.

He shut the book closed and hugged to his chest with much care, and faced Romani. “I love him the most, Doctor Roman! Or one of the many historical figures I admire, to be exact. His kind benevolence to his people made him decide to ask gods for wisdom on prospering his kingdom.

“It’s incredible that even when he was just a teenager, he’s giving everything he could to keep his father’s legacy.

“That’s why I’m so pleased I’m able to find more books about King Solomon to learn better about him.”

“Is… That so…?” Romani’s strange voice didn’t least discourage the pure admiration from the raven-haired Master.

The latter smiled and continued further cheerfully, “Not only him….

“Everyone in history and mythology is the best, too.

“Enkidu, a being created from mud, becomes more humane than anyone.

“Francis Drake, the pirate who circumnavigates the world….

“The world-renowned genius Leonardo da Vinci, Charlemagne twelve Paladins, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table…

“Almost all historical characters I respected as heroes! To think of meeting any of them, let alone finding material of them, is a dream come true!!”

“I… I see…”

Finally caught onto the skeptical tone, Ritsuka’s eyes recognized the Doctor’s face perplexed with discomfort and other emotions he couldn’t decipher or understand why.

He cleared his throat and hastily apologized, “S-Sorry, just forget that. I got carried away suddenly…

“It’s not only uninteresting itself, but even strange that I’m spouting this for someone my age.”

And he didn’t need his sister to tease him with boring people about rambling about his interest. But Romani, who picked up the young raven-haired Master’s guilty tone, jerked him out of whatever thoughts he was deep in.

He let out a light-hearted, assuring smile. “Haha! Of course not. I’ve known a few who are interested in history. But, you’re the first person who worshipped and even like every historical and mythological person. It must be a dream come true, isn’t it?”

Ritsuka agreed with a wide grin. “You can say that again! I didn’t consider this job Ritsuko dragged me in allowed such a wonderful opportunity.”

Returned with another smile, Romani returned to clean his table. “So… What made you interested in history, Ritsuka-kun?”

Unbeknownst to him, Ritsuka let out a relieved sigh that the Doctor didn’t mind his ramble earlier. He thus answered, “My real mother possesses an enormous collection of books used to learn their behavior for cognitive therapy and counseling at work. I enjoy reading, so those books back at home were like a treasure to me as a child.

“Back then, fiction and fairytale are things children would be absorbed in. But their records are way better than any fairytale at all! And the way how my real mom helped people with their problems connecting to them is the most amazing—!”

The unusual long pause caught Romani’s concern once more. Diverted his head to where the raven-haired Master, a sunny smile, established on Ritsuka’s lips. “I mean, how these individuals left such a tremendous imprint on human history will impress me the more I learn about them. A-Anyway, I’m sorry that I talked so much….”

Romani shook his head and laughed, an adorable person the young Chaldea Master Ritsuka was, to learn and admire every person he met. He reassured the young Master again. “No, it’s fine, Ritsuka-kun. I’m still reading that book, so… Maybe when I’m done, I’ll let you borrow it?”

Blue eyes widened utterly in shock at the Doctor’s proposition. Ritsuka switched his head between the book and Romani twice before confirming. “Is… Is that alright? Won’t there be overdue issues if you lend the book to me?”

“Yeah, it’s repaying you for taking care of me when I fainted back there.” Romani nodded, headed back to wash up, and squeezed dry the wet cloth. “The previous Director was the one who lends the book indefinitely and hands to me before his death. So, I hope you don’t mind waiting a little longer.”

“Of course not!” The raven-haired Master’s eyes light up with the excitement of getting his hand onto this very book in the prospect. He then bowed gratefully and responded, “Thank you very much, Doctor Roman!”

Romani gave one last grin to the raven-haired Master, down the wet cloth, and put a white-gloved hand onto his waist. “Alright, then. I’ve finished my meal; we can start your checkup.”

-0-

“I’m done changing.” Ritsuka pushed the curtain while trying to button up with a white long sleeve coat. A simple checkup Romani explained to re-examine his magic circuits taking about 15 to 20 minutes long.

The said pinkish-orange, now ponytail-haired Doctor flipping through the report, looked to where the raven-haired Master was. “Good, just take a seat over here!”

Approached to the gesture same white stool beside him, Ritsuka seated down to finish fixing up the collar of his coat. “How is it, Doctor?”

“A lot better now. Your magic circuits took quite a while to get used to contracting two Servants for the first time. But now you’ve re-summoned that Caster from Fuyuki, it doesn’t wear you out as badly before.” Romani answered with a smile.

“That’s good!”

Romani added with his own grin to the raven-haired Master’s energetic beam. “But try not to overwork yourself, Ritsuka-kun. The pace you’ve been practicing magic with Sadakuni is more than just fine. Knowing you, there shouldn’t be an issue in seeing how well-trained you are. Just be ready with your sister for your next mission on the first Singularity—!”

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!

“Hm?”

“Huh?” Both blue and green orbs landed their eyes on Romani’s wristwatch for the origin of the alarm.

The latter orbs widened on seeing the time appearing on his watch.

“C-Crap, Magi☆Mari’s Livestream is starting in a few minutes!!”

The Doctor leaped off from his seat to view the so-called Livestream, leaving Ritsuka behind dumbfounded.

Ritsuka tilted his head with confusion and wondered aloud, “Magi… Mari?”

He headed into Romani’s private room, watching the Doctor hurrying to dig out from a cardboard box labeled with the name ‘Magi☆Mari.’

It rang familiarity inside Ritsuka’s mind but questioned if what the Doctor spoke and his recollection weren’t the same.

Soon enough, the answer sang beside the raven-haired Master.

On his right, the table was placed with two speakers and a familiar white laptop showing a webpage of video, Livestream.

Though, what captured his attention to confirm the notion was a colorful brand of pink and purple…

Ritsuka yelled with his jaw dropped in disbelief upon recognizing it, “No way, you’re kidding me… Magi☆Mari?!!”

“What?!” The raven-haired infectious surprise exclamation made Romani returned with his own.

He stood and spun wearing an ‘I ♡ Magi☆Mari’ head bandana and a pink and orange flowery summer haori of a beautiful, long, white-haired young woman.

“You know Magi☆Mari too, Ritsuka-kun?!”

Ritsuka switched back to the startled Doctor and nodded frantically. “Of course! She’s the world’s biggest net idol of all time, Doctor Roman. How would one ‘not’ know her at all?! She is not really the first AI net idol, but fans worldwide consulted and even asked her out. Heard CEOs and politicians came to her for guidance for their company and judgments!

“Her cuteness and elegance that transcends any no.1 Miss Universe model…. Her intelligence is as great as the genius Da Vinci himself…. I’m not even surprised when she disclosed to the world that she advanced herself from just a simple AI to this…!”

“….. Ritsuka-kun, are you a fan of Magi☆Mari by any chance?” Romani summarized.

His green eyes blinked twice for his brain to process the raven-haired Master’s fervor rant.

“Hm?” The passionate fever faded away in Ritsuka’s mind, realizing his earlier behavior on rambling of his admired Solomon repeated.

“O-Oh, I mean….”

He quickly cleared his throat to return to his indifferent face and amended. “Yeah, I am one of Magi☆Mari’s fans. Or was her biggest fan since she first debuted on the internet. Though, it’s been four years since I have been a fan of her—!”

Whatever answers the raven-haired Master given cut off by Romani, dashing to where he stood and seized both his hands. His own green orbs now shared the same sparkle as he proclaimed aloud. “Then you and I are comrades, Ritsuka-kun!”

“…. Hah?” Ritsuka’s turn next to express a stupefied face at what the Doctor declared.

Were there any medical experts besides Romani himself to investigate if he received any brain damage when he collapsed earlier?!

Romani missed the dumbfounded expression on the young Master’s face and went on.

“To realize there’s another fan in Chaldea aside myself, I’m really happy about this!

“Well, not myself, there was personnel who were formerly Magi☆Mari’s fan, but—!”

Ritsuka cut short to prevent the misunderstanding deepened any further than called for. “H-Hold it right there, Doctor. I said I’ve been her fan, but—!”

“Don’t worry about it, Ritsuka-kun!

“Magi☆Mari is ever forgiving and welcoming to the fans that left and returned to her!”

“I know that, but listen to—!”

Attempts were to dissuade or convince the other abruptly came to a pause by a piece of cheerful sparkly music familiar to the two men.

Both Romani and Ritsuka turned to the laptop playing Magi☆Mari’s website Livestream.

In the broadcast, a familiar short with a long messy white-haired woman with pinkish lavender eyes in a white with lilac and the pink frilly dress.

Her hands in a pair of white with reddish-pink ends at the wrist of the gloves raised. She waved towards the crowd and greeted. “Heeeeeeellllllllooooooo, everyone!”

Spun a quick twirl, the idol bent forward to the camera and did a cute wink. “Hope everyone is feeling good today. Your favorite idol, Magi☆Mari, is here!”

The loud applauding noises gave the idol a cue to lift both her skirt sides to do a bow before continuing. “Today’s Livestream is an exceptional topic I will share from a fan’s request! I hope everybody will stick around to watch and listen to the very end.”

Panned close to her face, Magi☆Mari raised both hands below her chin. Her eyes were in tears and pleaded in her softest and sweetest voice. “You will, right…?”

An invisible arrow struck Ritsuka’s heart of being charmed by her as ever. Just like in his middle school days when he was still a massive fan of Magi☆Mari, easily and readily willing to obey her words—!

No, hang on…! This wasn’t the time to watch her stream. Ritsuka shook his head. He’d already promised himself he’d given up on being an Idol Otaku since that day... And, there’s also Sadakuni’s training he needed to get back to. “W-Well…”

Before he explained himself, the raven-haired Master felt a tap on his shoulder. His face looked to see Romani wearing the same puppy teary eyes as the AI Idol. “You wouldn’t reject her, right….?”

This had to be illegal for both the fluffy Doctor and Magi☆Mari to gang up on him like this! Reluctantly, Ritsuka sighed to surrender. “… Alright, just one show for her, Doctor Roman. I’ll be in trouble if I miss my practice with Sadakuni-san. In exchange…”

A quick glimpse around Romani’s room. The raven-haired Master’s sight settled on a light yellow cake box and pointed. “Cake!”

“Cake?” Romani questioned and followed his gaze to where the young Master focused on.

“Treat me to your most delicious cake, and we’ll call it even!” A bright, cheeky grin curled on Ritsuka’s lips and reminded him. “Come on, you assume I would forget of your promise to treat me, right?”

The unexpected request caught the Doctor off guard. He expected the young man to ask for something far worse.

Yet, the pure-like innocence from the raven-haired Master made Romani laughing seconds afterward.

“Of course not, Ritsuka-kun.

“If it’s the cake you want, I’d be even willing to share with you my other sweets collection!

“I’ll even recommend which other sweets are considered my all-time favorite.”

Ritsuka nodded before Romani returned to retrieve out his Magi☆Mari merchandise for their use in the stream. “Then, we have a deal, Doctor Roman!”

-0-

Any plans Ritsuka had in his mind, like leaving halfway through the stream... Thrown out in favor of becoming too absorbed to the very end. Aside from the regular coverage of her next song or vlogging, the fresh stream discussed her trip to meet one of her bedridden fans.

Left within weeks of his incurable illness, the young man was content to have been her fan till his last moment.

That heartbreaking yet bittersweet confession not only touched Magi☆Mari’s soul, along with the doctor and the raven-haired Master.

After plucking a few pieces of tissues he brought in at some point during the stream, Romani wiped tears from his bloodshot eyes and wept. “I’m glad I didn’t miss this week's Livestream. That fan could make his wish come true of Magi☆Mari visiting him in video calling before his illness takes a toll on his life.”

Beside him, Ritsuka’s face swollen red and bloodshot eyes streaked with tears, lifted a hand to wipe, and sniffled. “Megami-sama* is indeed more amazing than the last time… She saw how bad his cancer was and did her very best to cheer him to fight on. Yet, her soul is pure-hearted like the heavens, to grant him peace before his death. How could I’ve been so foolish to leave her behind?!”

“Ritsuka-kun… As I thought, you truly love her, don’t you?” The doctor turned to him, fresh tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve always had admired and love her, Doctor Roman. But with this Livestream, my love for her has been renewed…!”

Ritsuka whirled and agreed tearfully, “Doctor Roman, from today onwards, let us be brother-in-arms to support Megami-sama!”

“Of course!” Romani blew his nose into the tissue and bawled. “Any fan of beloved Magi☆Mari is my comrade, Ritsuka-kun! We’re glad to have you back with us.”

“Doctor Roman!”

“Ritsuka-kun!”

The pair latched onto each other in an embrace. Tears shed in mourning of losing one of their comrades to the illness…. All the while for Ritsuka, wholly forgotten how much scolding he gained later from skipping his class to indulge back to his old Otaku habits again.

End of Issue #4

*Megami-sama: Goddess

Some Romani and Ritsuka (Gudao) relationship development and bonding over their favorite idol! For Ritsuka calling Fou as 'Fou-sama' is one way to differentiate between him and his sister.... And mainly for Fou to assert dominance that he's still better than Merlin at one part LOL

Those who read the bio and this chapter is what inspired me for Ritsuka's magecraft. One is mainly the canon dreamscape is helping to connect his backstory, serving certain important roles and I wanted a magecraft relating to illusion on a character who has the opposite personality of trickery and deceit. Or someone whose heart while I won't say it as pure heart to become Mary Sue... But one least who went through tons of betrayal and bad experiences yet retain his idealistic innocent side towards people around him. This one does play a big role after LB6 is up on why Ritsuka (Gudao) is able to go into Avalon....

No, he's definitely not related to Artoria line by blood. However, in still some way, he's connected to them one way or another!

Finally regarding King Solomon... My favorite scene and those who completed Solomon Singularity going to read this in a completely different light especially how Ritsuka easily profess his admiration to him without realizing XD

Anyway, I'll try to finish this whole Fuyuki arc so that I can move to Orleans... But can't promise when or how if my motivation goes on.... At least good to know IRL situation still not looking that well with my Dad now back to hospital again. More or somewhat full details of it is in my blog you'll need to dig with precaution because it's infested with LB6 spoilers

#fgo #Fate Grand Order #gudao #romani archaman #fou #magi mari #fgo destiny awakenings

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haiky-u-lously · 4 years

Text

King Kuroo and the Red Knights (2)

Summary: A Camelot AU where King Arthur is Kuroo Tetsuro, and the Knights of the Roundtable of characters from seasons 1-4 of the HQ anime. Eventual Kuroo X Reader.

Themes: Fluff, Angst, Humor, Eventual Romance

Warnings: Mentions of stalking and abuse of power, Language, Angst in feelings, Eventual gore and fighting

Word Count: For Chapter: ~1600words

Questions/Comments/Concerns/Ideas welcome as always. Enjoy! –Admin Red

Chapter 2: Traveling

“Princess (Y/N),” your friend and traveling companion yelled up to you, “Can we not stop and rest for a bit?”

Halting in your next step, you turned to look back at him. He was walking alongside his horse just as you were, but he looked much more affected. The fact that he was nearly 20 feet behind you besides the point, you could see the slump in his shoulders.

“Fine, we will rest here for a bit. Remove the bags from Mapo as well so that he can also rest.” You indicated to his horse before looking after your own. “Isn’t that right Tofu? You guys want to rest too, if the big bad Suga needs a break.”

As though he understood you, your horse blew air through his nose and whinnied after your comment.

This made you giggle, but seeing Suga’s frown made you double over in laughter. “Oi, Suga. That face you’re making is priceless!”

He shook his head at your antics before plopping down on a rock on the side of the path. “Hey, I just still find it hard to believe we raised two horses named Mapo and Tofu without your father dispelling them for our stupidity. I think that’s a bigger miracle than Tofu there understanding your tease.” He stuck his tongue out at you in retaliation.

Sitting down next to him, you bumped his foot with yours. You were happy that you were finally doing something out of the compound of your father’s place. Being a princess had its perks sure, but it also had more downfalls than anyone would ever tell. You watched the grass flow along the direction the wind blew and wondered how you’d been lucky enough to be chosen to go on this mission, and with your best friend at that. “Suga, I know it was just orders and all that, but thanks for coming with me. I’m really glad it was you and not one of the others.”

“You’re only saying that because I agreed to your little scheme. Noone else would have listened to you.” He argued with a smile.

Smirking a bit, you leaned your arms on your knees and chin on your arms, “That may be the majority reason sure, but you are still my best friend. So it comes with the territory that I expect you to follow my schemes.”

He shook his head with a grin, “Yea, but you gotta admit this is one of your more outrageous ones. Like, it’s worse than the time you made Yaku put a wig on and hide in your bed all day pretending to be you, sick...just so you could go mountain climbing with that tourist.”

You laughed at the memory, “Oh gods, when I came home father was in a fit. I thought he would kill Yaku!” You continued laughing as you tried to speak clearly, “He was so angry and then when he saw my hurt wrist his entire attitude did a full twist and it was though he’d hadn’t just been screaming until he was red in the face.”

“Well, thankfully Yaku wasn’t killed. And you walked away from the whole ordeal with 2 days grounding and just a sprained wrist. But it could have ended so much worse. Just like this.” He gave you a pointed look that said he was no longer joking. “I know how much you want to prove to your father that you can be a knight, I know you feel it unjust that he refuses to accept you even though he accepts other females as Red Knights, and even more so that both of your brothers were knights. Despite it, that they died when you were still too young to form any real bonds with them. But, and I mean this in the nicest way possible (Y/N), don’t you think it’s a bit self-centered of you to plan up this scheme despite your King’s fear and concerns?”

It was a serious topic indeed, and one you thought you’d hashed out enough when you explained your plans to him, but apparently your friend needed more.

“I know it’s selfish. I know it’s going against his wishes. But I have begged him for more than half my life to let me officially join the ranks of the knights. Every year I asked, he told me the next year. Until my 18th birthday came around and he suddenly told me he would never accept me as a knight because I didn’t have what it took. You had to spend the night with me back then Suga, because everyone was afraid I’d do something drastic and no one wanted me to be left alone.” You shook your head as if to clean away the negative memories that came from your current topic of conversation.

“I kept at my training, I did everything the knights did on top of my princess duties, I proved to him I could do both and years later he repeated those same damaging words to me. And why?” You asked aloud though you both knew the answer. “Because when he looks at me he doesn’t see me for who I am. He sees my brother’s before they died with the honor they earned. He sees my mother in her prime before she died in childbirth, me being the last piece of her he has. He sees the helpless little girl who cried when the gypsy travelers killed her pet dragon when he accidentally destroyed one of their tents. No, Suga. He doesn’t see me, and that’s why he will never accept me as a Red Knight. So, if this is the only time I will ever get to be one, then I will come to those terms. But for once, once in my life. I have the chance to fulfill my dreams, and I won’t let you stop me or convince me to change my mind. I can’t.”

Finished sharing your thoughts, you turned to face your childhood friend, a solemn look over your features as you awaited his response.

He just sighed, and stood back up. “Yea, I figured you’d say all that. Well,” He smiled down at you, silhouetted by the sun shining down behind him. “We may as well get on with then. So, how shall I introduce you to the court of Camelot, Princess?”

You laughed at how quickly he managed to be back to himself, and were thoroughly impressed by how much he knew you that he’d expected your monologue. “Hmm, well you’d be considered my squire if I walk up in uniform, huh? So, just introduce me as the Red Knight?:

Blinded by your lack of a true plan, Suga just stared at you in disbelief. “Just...as...are you kidding me right now? (Y/N)! That is ridiculously stupid even for your standards.”

“Well it’s not as though the Knights are permitted to talk while in uniform, so it doesn’t really matter what they refer to me as, does it?” You questioned offhandedly. Moving yourself to prepare your horse for continuing the journey.

He rolled his eyes, getting his own horse prepped as well. “That isn’t the case in point at all. You’ll need a name. You know that Camelot refers to their knights as Sir something or another. And I must keep my name as a ‘knight-in-training’. So, what shall it be, Princess?”

“First, we have to stop with the whole ‘Princess’ thing. Even if it slips up as a joke, we could get in trouble.” You sighed as you pulled the last bag strap tight around the horses saddle. Wishing things could be as simple as just putting on the armor and that be the end of it. “What if we use brother’s name? Azekiel, Of course, it fits because he was a proper knight.”

Shaking his head, Suga faced you and leaned against the side of Mopu. “But we don’t know who went with Greine back in their visit to Washijo all those years ago. No, shouldn’t risk it.”

You hummed in response, thinking his concerns fair. “Then what do you suggest?”

“Yomimasu,” He laughed to himself at his suggestion. “They’d be confused as to why someone would name their offspring the action of reading.” His laughter continued as he imagined their reactions to the introduction.

After considering the name for a moment, you ultimately agreed. “I imagine they’d be so caught off guard they wouldn’t question it if you said it in the most serious tone you could muster.” Chuckling at the possible outcomes running through your mind, you mounted Tofu and looked back over your shoulder. “Any more details you want to hash out before we continue onward?”

“Just one more thing,” Even though I can’t call you ‘Princess,’ can I still call you ‘Royal highness’? Because you are a royal pain in my butt, and I don’t believe a name or costume change will diminish that.”

You stuck your tongue out at him before you both kicked your horses into high gear, racing one another towards Camelot, laughing all the way.

“WAIT!” Suga screamed from his position behind you, “I WAS ASKING A SERIOUS QUESTION!”

Laughing harder, you just knuckled further into your racing horse. A face-splitting grin settling upon your features as you thought about the best way to fulfill the Knight’s mission with the chance to be a knight yourself.

Table of contents Chapter 1 Chapter 3

#haikyū!!#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuuwritersnet #kuroo x reader #Kuroo Tetsurō #futakuchi kenji #sugawara koushi #camelot au #eventual romance #fluff #angst #humor #KKATRK #admin red #reader insert #chapter 2 #traveling

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returnn-of-the-mac · 5 years

Note

How about the companion (+faction leaders) react to Sole taking Elder Maxson’s coat with them as a souvenir after a night of riding his “rocket 69?” Bonus points if Maxson doesn’t realize it’s gone until he’s already given them their marching orders and sent them on their mission for the day, and doesn’t get the chance to ask for it back until they show up wearing it to lunch three days later with a shit-eating grin. Double bonus if they ask if they can keep it. Triple bonus if he lets them.

Wow, now that I actually live in a home with furniture, I can get right back to reacts! This one was kinda a wild ride, and the intro is really long but. It was entertaining. I hope this how you wanted it; please enjoy!

FO4 Companions (+Faction Leaders) React: Sole Stealing Maxson’s Jacket After a One-Night Stand

After having a few drinks with Ingram and their companion at Prydwen’s bar, an exhausted Sole sauntered back to the Quarters to call it a night. At the end of the hall, they saw Maxson approaching, wearing a skin-tight Brotherhood uniform,

his battle coat off and draped over his arm.

“Good evening, Knight [name],” he greeted, “I spilled some wine on my coat. You haven’t happened to see any Initiates up and wandering, have you?”

Sole ignored Maxson’s question, as it immediately dawned on them that they had never seen the Elder without his signature coat on. For the first time ever, Sole noticed everything: his broad shoulders, his muscular arms, his perfectly sculpted ass.

“Knight? I’m speaking to you.”

Sole caught a whiff of his breath; it smelled like sweet red wine.

“I’m sorry Elder, I have not seen any Initiates. I highly doubt there are any awake at this hour. But if you’d like, sir, I may have some stain removal in my quarters for the time being.”

Maxson nodded and Sole beckoned for him to follow.

When the pair got to his Quarters, Sole closed the door behind them and locked it.

“Knight, what are you—“

“I always lock my door at night. You can never be too safe,” Sole explained. They then began removing their clothing.

“Put some clothes on! This is highly inappropriate! I could have you terminated!”

“I’m just changing into my night gear,” Sole hummed. The Elder rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Now let me fix up that jacket of yours.”

Sole fumbled around their Quarters, looking for the stain remover they knew didn’t exist. As they bent and turned, they made sure to arch their back and emphasize their ass.

Maxson remained on the bed, taking in the scene. He never realized just how shapely Sole was. He turned beet red as he tried to eliminate all his dirty thoughts. Must be the alcohol.

Sole noticed their charade was working and let out a “frustrated” moan.

With that, Maxson’s bottoms got tight. Extremely tight. And he got hot. Very hot. He quickly threw his jacket over his crotch. “I need to get going now, Knight.”

Sole walked over to him, internally grinning. “Oh but we need to take care of this jacket,” Sole defended, lifting the coat and revealing Maxson’s massive erection.

Sole looked at Maxson in the eyes. He looked like a deer in headlights. They then looked at the large bulge in the Elder’s pants.

“Elder are you—?” Sole began, pretending to be surprised.

“Knight, I apologize for my indecency, I should get going.”

“But Arthur,” Sole began, running a careful finger up his chest and up to his chin, “I feel the same way.”

Sole leaned, lips parted, and to their surprise, Maxson reciprocated by slipping his tongue into their mouth. Sole moaned and pushed Maxson down on the bed.

...

The next morning Maxson awoke, naked and in bed with Sole. His heart skipped a beat.

“Fuck Arther,” the Elder cursed to himself, “If anyone finds out about this...you’re reputation is destroyed.”

With that, Maxson sprinted out of the room, leaving Sole alone in bed.

...

When Sole finally awoke, their heart fluttered. Last night was exhilarating! They eagerly turned to greet their lover when they suddenly noticed they were in an empty bed. Sole put two-and-two together and realized that Maxson had bailed. Sole sat up, feeling hurt and betrayed. It was then that they noticed his battle coat resting on the bureau. In his haste, the Elder had forgotten it. A sinister smile crept over Sole’s face as they hatched an idea. They headed to the main deck to receive their marching orders, internally plotting their scheme.

...

Three days layer, Sole entered the Prydwen’s cafeteria for lunch, wearing Maxson’s battle coat. They sat down between Maxson— who had choked on his water at the sight— and their companion, who suspiciously eyed the jacket:

Curie:

“[Madam/Monsieur], is that the Elder’s jacket,” Curie asked, surprised, “Did he give it to you?”

Sole deviously smiled and beckoned at Maxson, who was sitting beside them. The synth curiously eyes Maxson, expecting an answer.

“Y-Yes. Yes. I did give my jacket to Knight [name]. I ordered a new one and thought they deserved my old one as a token of appreciation for their loyalty to the Brotherhood.”

Curie beamed, “Oh yes, [Madam/Monsieur] really does care deeply about your cause! I’m so glad their hard work is being noticed and appreciated!”

Codsworth:

“[Sir/Mum], why on earth are you wearing the Elder’s jacket? And why would you sit next to him while wearing his coat? Do you have a death wish?”

Just as Sole opened their mouth to speak, an anxious Maxson cut them off.

“I gifted it to them,” the Elder began, “They deserved a token of appreciation for their dedication to the Brotherhood.”

“Well...I can’t argue with that,” Codsworth chucked, “Congratulations, [sir/mum]!”

Cait:

“So what’s the story,” Cait began, “Why’re ye wearin Maxson’s clothin?”

“That is none of your business, ma’am,” Maxson hissed.

Cait smirked and redirected her attention to her companion. “Ye keepin it as a trophy for a one night stand?”

Sole grinned and Maxson turned beet red.

“No. That isn’t it at all,” the Elder fibbed, “It’s merely a token of appreciation for this Knight’s loyalty to the Brotherhood.”

“Yeah, and I’m the princess of Ireland,” Cait scoffed, “If that were true, why hasn’t that fellow Danse gotten any appreciation yet? He’s been bustin his arse for years, it seems.”

Maxson remained silent.

“Don’t lie, Elder. It’s against Brotherhood protocol.”

Piper:

“Nice outfit, Blue,” Piper started, “It’s not yours, though.”

Sole smirked and waggled their eyebrows and Piper gasped.

“No way! Oh my gosh. You’re full of crap,” the reporter laughed. She then leaned forward, directing her attention to Maxson, who was avoiding eye contact, “Right Elder?”

Maxson bit into his sandwich, pretending not to hear Piper. This made the reporter squeal.

“Blue, you’ve gotta let me write about this. This is definitely a front pager. Just imagine it: Brotherhood of Zeal? Elder Maxson’s Passionate Night Out.”

“That’s enough,” Maxson shouted defensively, “How dare you spread that fake news!”

“Fake news,” Piper mocked, “But Elder—“

“If you must know, I gave this jacket to Knight [name] as a gift for their unwavering loyalty to the Brotherhood.”

Piper giggled, “Yeah, okay. And what about the loyalty of the Recon Team who risked their lives in Cambridge? Rhys? Danse? Haylen? Are they not important enough to get recognition? Does the Brotherhood play favorites?”

“I’ve had enough of this,” Maxson spat, standing up, “Please excuse me, I have some business to attend to.”

Preston:

“General? Isn’t that the Elder’s battle coat,” Preston asked, “Why are you wearing it?”

“I gave it to them,” Maxson insisted, “It was a gift for Knight [name]’s loyalty to our cause.”

Preston smiled, “That was extremely thoughtful, Elder. [Name] sure is an incredible individual. I’m glad you’re recognizing their dedication.”

Gage:

“Yo boss,” Gage chuckled, “How did you manage to snag a treasure?”

Sole flaunted the coat and Maxson clenched his fists.

“How much ya think that’s worth? Maybe 3000 caps?”

“It’s not for sale,” Maxson spat.

“Oh shit, boss. He caught ya. Whatchya gonna do? Want me to take him out for ya?”

“Actually, I gave the jacket to Knight [name],” Maxson announced, “It was a gift.”

“Huh,” Gage paused for a moment, then smirked, “Wanna gift ya boy somethin too?”

“No.”

“Damn,” Gage turned to Sole and shrugged, “Well, it was worth a shot, boss.”

Hancock:

“Ain’t that Maxson’s battle coat,” Hancock asked, “Takes some serious balls to wear that, my friend. Did he give it to ya?”

Sole smirked.

“Oh, I get it. One night stand memorabilia?”

Maxson nearly choked on his sandwich. “No,” he chimed in, “If you must know, ghoul, it was a gift.”

Hancock scoffed, “Alright, big guy. Chill out. No need to get your britches in a bunch.”

Strong:

“Why human wear leader coat?” Strong asked.

“None of your business, creature,” Maxson hissed.

“Strong no care about drama anyway. Just care about meat,” the super mutant announced, taking a bite of the brahmin meat in front of him.

Maxson grimaced and redirected his attention to his food.

Deacon:

“Hey! Nice getup! Ya look snazzy,” Deacon complimented, “How’d you manage to get your paws on it? Did you pickpocket it, you sly dog, you?”

“No, they did not,” Maxson firmly stated, “I gave it to them as a gift.”

“What? You could’ve given it to me! I’m always down for a charitable donation to my costume closet!”

Maxson scoffed, “It would be an insult for such a sleazy individual to sport my apparel.”

“Says the guy who prides himself in his pursuit of genocide. Yeah, I’m definitely the sleazy one here, bud.”

Desdemona:

“Cute jacket,” Desdemona complimented, “I’ve definitely seen it before, but not on you. What’s the catch?”

“It’s a gift.” Maxson piped up.

“For..?”

“Knight [name]’s loyalty to the Brotherhood and their cause.”

“Ah,” the synth mused, lighting a cigarette, “Looks more like a trophy to me. But that’s none of my business, Arthur.”

MacCready:

“Isn’t that Maxson’s battle coat,” MacCready laughed, “He’s gonna be ticked.”

“It’s fine,” Maxson mumbled from the other side of Sole, “I gave it to them.”

“What’s the catch? You don’t seem like the sharing type.”

“There is no catch,” Maxson insisted, “I wanted to reward them for remaining loyal to the Brotherhood.”

MacCready raised an eyebrow suspiciously but ultimately decided to drop the subject.

Longfellow:

“New look? I like it,” Longfellow complimented, “Very suave, I must say.”

Sole smirked.

Longfellow raised an eyebrow, “Hey...Isn’t that Maxson’s battle coat? Or..?”

“Yes, it is mine,” Maxson confirmed, “But I gave it to them as a token of appreciation.”

“For what?”

“Their dedication to the Brotherhood’s mission.”

“Is that right then,” Longfellow raised a glass full of whiskey, “Then cheers to [name]!”

Nick:

Nick eyed Sole as they casually sat down between himself and Maxson, casually sporting the Elder’s prized battle coat.

“Do I even want to know how you obtained that?” Nick asked flatly.

Sole chuckled and Maxson turned beet red.

“This isn’t what it seems,” Maxson began, “We—“

“You know what? I don’t want to know.”

X6-88:

X6 looked up from his lunch when Sole sat next to him. He immediately noticed the battle coat but didn’t say anything.

After about five minutes of silence, Maxson cleared his throat, attracting the attention of both Sole and the Courser.

“I know you haven’t said anything, but silence can speak louder than words,” the Elder began, “That jacket your friend is wearing, yes, it is mine. But I gave it to them as a gift. A gift to honor their unwavering loyalty to the Brotherhood of Steel.”

X6 looked up from his food. “Sir, I am trying to enjoy my lunch. I don’t care about your personal life.”

Father:

Father stated angrily at his scrambled eggs when Sole sat down next to him. He gave them a venomous side glance but remained silent. After several minutes, he finally spoke.

“Having an affair with the leader of the Brotherhood is not a good way to earn the approval of the Institute.”

Before Sole could react, Maxson leaned around Sole, looking directly at Father.

“Who said anything about an affair,” the Elder asked, “I gave this to Knight [name] as a gift for their unwavering loyalty to the Brotherhood.”

Father raised an eyebrow, “If that were true, I wouldn’t be here right now, now would I?”

Maxson gritted his teeth as Father redirected his attention to his food.

Danse:

Danse’s eyes followed Sole as they took a seat between himself and Maxson.

“Soldier,” Danse began, “Isn’t that Maxson’s battle coat?”

Sole promptly nodded.

Danse raised an eyebrow, “May I ask how you acquired it?”

Sole and Maxson both remained unusually silent. An oblivious Danse pressed further.

“Well?”

“Paladin,” Maxson piped up, “When was the last time you polished your power armor?”

“Yesterday, why?”

“Well, it looks filthy. Deplorable, Paladin.”

Danse turned bright red, “I-I sincerely apologize, Elder. I‘ll clean it up immediately.”

Ada:

“[Sir/Ma’am], that is not your usual attire. But it does look familiar...” Ada was quiet for a moment to process the information, “That’s right, it belongs to Elder Arthur Maxson, leader of the Brotherhood of Steel.”

“Correct,” Maxson piped up, “It was mine. But I gave it to Knight [name].”

“Why?”

“Because I appreciate their dedication to the Brotherhood.”

“According to my auto-polygraph, you are lying.”

Maxson turned red. “There must be a mistake, then.”

“I can assure you my polygraph diagnostic scans are very accurate, sir.”

“I think you need a tune up. Go find Proctor Ingram.” Maxson insisted, “I gave it to them as a gift.”

Ada scanned Sole, and then turned back to Maxson. “I have detected the presence of foreign bacteria in their system. Sir, did you give them the gift of chlamydia, too?”

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bssaz97 · 5 years

Text

RWBY Ancestries Chapter 5 Part 1 of 3

* Hello everyone, here’s the new chapter of 2020. Sorry for late update and yes I know I’m evil for sliptting this chapter in three parts but I couldn’t find a way to include this chapter without it being too long to read. Also this will be interconnecting some characters we haven’t seen in this story. Hope you enjoy! *

*WARNING! Just a heads up we’re going to be seeing some sensitive material near the second half of this current part, related to abusive manipulation of family (Take a guess from whom) and if you are a victim of squeamish towards this kind of treatment I would advise skipping over the part I’ll mark as such ‘^^^^^^^^’, so be advised it gonna get fucked up.

- In Mantle, Wyvern Crash Site -

In a open space, a multitude of Atlesian Knights are shown to be dismembered, beheaded, and destroyed beyond any repair. In the middle of said destruction is the Grimm Queen looking very much disgruntled. Why? Well for one, she started the day with the best of news she had heard in over a millennium.

She found out that she had a descendant from her one of her once thought to be dead children and that they were in this kingdom. So naturally she wanted to meet the boy in person. Unfortunately she didn’t account for one important thing. She hadn’t left her castle in a very long time so....she got lost. One would think that with a kingdom with a flying city in the sky kingdom it would be easy to spot. Sadly that didn’t help much when said kingdom was in a land of mostly ice and mountains, so almost every landmark would look the same. Not to mention the fact of said kingdom to have multiple military battle stations all over the place, so she had a long time getting pass them all. She didn’t even attempt to attack them, since she was in a good mood, she was simply going to ignore them. Too bad the Atlesian military didn’t share such sentiment.

Salem: I swear I don’t know what’s more annoying. The fact the these machines share the same ‘shoot first’ mentality as their creators or the fact that they tried to bomb me out of the cursed sky!

Salem turns towards the Wyvern and sees it nursing its injury. Salem thinned her lips. This wouldn’t be good at all, with her only transport to this wretched kingdom not being able to fly it would prove to be a major setback. So with a sigh she approached said Grimm and placed her palm on the injury.

Salem: There, there my companion. Your time isn’t through yet. I still need your presence if I am to leave this place. So here’s a small comfort.

Her hand begins to glow a purple hue and slowly spreads throughout the Wyvern’s wings. Witb her magic she is able to heal the Wyvern’s injuries and makes them more durable, so that they wouldn’t be so vulnerable again. She removes her hand away from the Grimm and look towards it.

Salem: Good, good. Now I still require your assistance, I need to create a diversion of some kind to get those huntsmen off our backs. At least until I’m able find and separate my grandchild from the others.

The Wyvern nods in understanding, the Grimm begins to flap its wings and ascend to the sky.

- Meanwhile with Teams RWBY and JNPR -

Ruby: Ok everyone the Wyvern’s weaker now. So we can execute the next phase of the plan. Killing this Grimm and saving Mantle!

Blake: I have to admit this has been going to plan far more easily than I originally thought it would be.

Yang: Come on, Blakey! It’s us we’re talking about here. We probably just haven’t got the chance to really see how we’ve improved since coming here.

Weiss: Not to sound the skeptic, but Blake does have a point. This is going far too easy than what was originally planned for.

Ruby: What do you mean Weiss?

Weiss: I mean does this feel like the night that Beacon fell when we first saw a Wyvern. Shouldn’t we have gotten reports of multiple Grimm attacks all over Mantle and not just the Wyvern.

The group was silent after the former heiress made her point. It was true, they hadn’t seen any more Grimm besides the Wyvern showing up. The also haven’t heard any reports of anymore attacks going on over the comms. If such a massive Grimm like the Wyvern were to come to the kingdom, why wouldn’t others follow?

Ren:(Whispering) Something doesn’t feel right? The Grimm have never been this easy to take down. It’s almost like it wasn’t even fighting.

Nora:(Whispering) Ren, what do you mean? We saw the Wyvern attack the battleships when it got to Mantle.

Ren:(Whispering) Maybe, but back at beacon when the Wyvern first appeared their was a sense of dread in the very air. But I don’t sense that right now.

Nora:(Whispering) I guess I see your poi....have you noticed that fearless leader’s been acting strange.

Both look towards the direction of their blonde leader and they see that he seemed to be staring off to space again, almost like he was in some form of trance.

Ren:(Whispering) Now that you mention it he does seem unfocused. You don’t suppose he suffered any head injury when he landed on the building, do you?

Nora:(Whispering) He seemed fine from the landing though. But I think he’s been like this even before the meeting started.

The two of them have finally had enough time to question the subject before they confront their leader on his state of being. Being the more negotiating of the two, Ren lightly grips his leaders right shoulder. Unfortunately, Jaune was it paying attention towards any of them as he still seemed to be in some form of trance. Hearing a voice only he can hear.

???: Jaune, where are you?... Jaune?...Jaune?...come to me...

Ren: Jaune?! (Shaking his shoulder hard)

Jaune: Gah?! What!

Jaune looks towards his friend and sees that he has a very concerned look on his face. So does Nora and Oscar for that matter.

Jaune: What happened? Why is everyone looking at me?

Ren: Jaune you have been unresponsive to us for the past five minutes. Like you were standing dead. What’s going on with you? And don’t say it’s nothing because you were acting like this even before the mission started.

Jaune: I...something’s wrong...

Ren: What?

Almost like a crazed man, Jaune leapt towards the cockpit. Once inside the second pilot takes notice of him.

Pilot 2: Hey, you’re not supposed to be back here!-

Jaune: You need to turn us back right now!

Pilot 2: What? What’re you on ab-

Pilot 1: OH SHIT! TARGET ON SIGHT! TARGET ON SIGHT!

Both the pilot and Jaune see the Grimm Wyvern flying towards their ships at a very quick pace. Jaune sees this and moves quickly back to the main deck towards his teammates. But alas there was no time

Jaune: Guys!!! BRACE!!!-

Just then, as he was warning his friends the Wyvern struck the airship. Using its new armored wings, the Wyvern hit the two airships with a mighty flap of it’s wings, causing damage to the transports that contained both teams. The resulting collision caused both the airships to lose stability and the began falling out of the sky. One of the pilots see that they had lost one wing entirely, making them spin uncontrollably.

Pilot 1: EVACUATE! EVACUATE THE SHIP!

Pilot 2: WE DON’T HAVE TIME I CAN’T STABILIZE!

Pilot 1: EVERYONE BRACE!

*CRASH!* *EXPLOSION!*

- Atlas Academy, Battle Room -

Ironwood: Blue Hawk! What is your status, Blue Hawk! Gold Eagle do you copy!

Comms: *///Static///*

Ironwood: Damn it! (Slams his desk)

Qrow:(On Comms) Ironwood! What’s going on, did something happen!

Ironwood:....We just lost contact with both team RWBY and JNPR.

Qrow/Winter:(Both on Comms) What?!

Ironwood: It seems the plan didn’t follow through.

Qrow: Well that’s obvious enough! I’m going to go look for them.

Ironwood: No Qrow! You need to stay in position, I can send a team to look for-

Qrow: They won’t get there on time! Jimmy we both know that I can make it there much faster than you can assemble a rescue team. My nieces are out there, god dammit!

Ironwood: Qrow I know how much this means for you, but you need to think more cautiously. What if they are stuck under a building, there won’t be anything you can do to help them, this is why I have rescue teams for.

Winter:(On Comms) Sir with all do respect but our forces are stretched thin as is, and we still have a Wyvern flying around the kingdom, I think it would be quicker if to send a two man team.

Ironwood:...What do you have in mind Specialist.

Winter: (On Comms) Sir, send both Branwen and I to recover the teams. With my semblance I can easily be able to aid the teams if they are in any position where they are immobile. Just lend us a pilot and a ship to retrieve both teams.

Ironwood: That would be more faster than assembling a rescue squad in the middle of all this. Very well, I’ll have my forces keep the Wyvern occupied while Qrow and you retrieve both teams. But exercise extreme caution. We don’t know if this Grimm is intelligent enough to prey on smaller ships.

Winter:(On Comms) Understood Sir!

Ironwood: Ironwood out. (Turns off Comms) ...please be safe.

- Schnee Manor -

From inside the office of Jacques Schnee, said CEO was scrambling to get a scroll message through to his secret informant. Saying that he was more than ‘unpleased with the current situation’ would be a understatement.

Jacques: Arthur! Arthur! Answer your Scroll, damn you!

After for the sixth time of not receiving any response he threw the scroll towards his bookcase with a snarl, almost breaking the device on impact.

Jacques: Damn that man, why can he never be around when you need him! ‘Huff’

Originally their partnership was intended for the goal of making sure that he won the election despite his low poll numbers and keep his position on the council, frame Ironwood, and beat that vigilante leader Robyn Hill and her group of thieves. But what does he get instead. A GODDAMN WYVERN ATTACKING HIS KINGDOM AND THE DAMN CHEEKY BASTARD NOT RETURNING HIS CALLS! Was this the plan from the start to let him into his fold and then frame Jacques with this occurrence instead. His anger started to turn to paranoia.

Jacques: If somehow Ironwood gets word that Watts is alive and that I tried frame him, he’ll have me outcasted as a traitor....No he wouldn’t do that I’m still a member of the council and he has no proof that we tried to sabotage the election....but what if he catches Arthur, where does that leave me. I need to do something.

Jacques Schnee look towards his old portrait of a much younger looking version of himself. That was taken back when he was an ambitious up-comer in the business world, where he was able to skillfully manipulate his way to power through forming a close bond to the late Nicholas Schnee, the original founder of his company and the father of his wife and grandfather to his children. He helped the old fool during his last days, getting on his good side and persuaded him to have him take over the company and marry his only daughter. Clearly a masterful manipulation to win over the foolish old man.

While he may have been the eager and ambitious opportunist back then, he clearly knows that he was not the same man as he was back then. Where there was a youthful man full of vigor to Turing a small dust company into a empire, now resides a frail old businessman much out of his prime. While he was CEO of the largest company in Remnant, he no longer could intimidate his opponents with his power plays.

Not even his two oldest daughters considered him intimidating anymore, the former latched on to Ironwood’s side and the latter leaning on her new ‘family’ for support. While he still had Whitley under his influence, he didn’t see his own son being anything more than a tool to extend his control over the company. While the boy was obedient, intelligent, and talented in musical instruments, Whitley would never live up to his standards. While he spend many years having him and his other siblings to learn how the economic world works, only Whitley took those studies seriously. However, he could plainly se that the boy was much too eager to please and did not have enough spine to ever question why he was told to do certain tasks, didn’t help that he was much like his mother in demeanor than how an actual boy would act his age. The perfect pawn, but only that. His wife, Willow, was a shadow of her former self. He knew that if he didn’t break down the woman so much to the point of alcoholism, he would have never gone as far in life as he has. But alas he seems to have come to an end of his road.

There was no doubt in his mind that Ironwood will find a way to link this back to him and prosecute him in front of the council and he will lose everything, while Watts is able to walk invulnerable to any charge due to his powerful connections and the fact that he is believed to be dead. So really there was only one option left for him that he could at least save some dignity left. He moves towards his portrait and pressed a secret button on the bottom center of the frame. From there the frame moved to the side and revealed a empty suitcase and a black box. This would ensure that he will escapes this unscathed.

Yes, the only option now was to leave. Leave Atlas and all this old life behind a live the rest of his days in hiding in a safe house he acquired a long time ago in remote island off the shore of Mistral. There he could live a relatively peaceful life and avoid any attempt against his life or imprisonment. At least with this black box he could still have connection to his secret bank account and still live like a king.

He grabs his suitcase and pockets the black box, then closes his secret compartment and moving the portrait back in place. Jacques Schnee will finish his career his way, and that won’t be in a cell. As he goes to leave his office he opened the door and there he finds his only son outside looking like he was about to knock.

Jaqcues:(Shocked) Whitley!- For crying out load you nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing standing outside my office!

Whitley: (Steps back and looks down) M-my apologies, Father, but I was coming to see if you were in your office.

Jaqcues:(Annoyed) Well congratulations, you’ve found me. Now step aside I have important business to attend to!

Whitley moves out of his Father’s path and watches him go down the hallway to toward the main stairway. He follows after at a close distance but not too close to be shoulder to shoulder but behind him. He observes that his father has a briefcase, much like the one he takes to go on a business trip but he hasn’t seen this one before. Another thing puzzled him though.

Whitley: Father, what exactly did you mean by having ‘important business to attend to.’ We’re in the middle of Grimm attack.-

Jaqcues:(Turns to side glance him) Did I say you could follow me boy.

Whitley: N-no, of course not Father! I meant no disrespect at all, I was just worried-

Jaqcues: Well you did just disrespect me, right now. You’re following me without permission and you are also talking aback towards me. If I were you, I’d watch my next few words.

‘^*Trigger Warning: Scumbag Jaqcues Imbound**^^^^^^^’

Whitley keeps his mouth shut and does not look towards him. Knowing better that it is foolish not to do as he wishes. When he is sure the boy wouldn’t question him further he moves back towards the stairs. But gets held back again from his son.

Whitley:...But Father where do you intend to go at a time like-

*SMACK!*

Whitley jolts back from his Father and holds right side of his face. He could feel the stinging sensation of his cheek getting struck harshly across his face, not only that he think the strike may have stuck his nose as well. Causing a small trinkle of blood to run down his right nostril. He could feel wetness forming from the corner of his eyes due to the pain, but they don’t fall. He looks towards his Father who just struck him and saw the dead eyes stare he gave towards him. Quickly he looks down, now too afraid to look at him in the eye.

Jaqcues: Didn’t I just say to watch your next few words... Answer me when I’m speaking to you boy!

Whitley: Y-y-yes sir.

Jaqcues: ‘Huff’ Now what do you have to say for yourself.

Whitley:(Hold back a sob) I-I’m sorry for di-disrespecting you F-father.

Jaqcues:...Look at me boy.

Whitley:(Looks at Jaqcues)

Jaqcues: Now what have you learned. Once again, for the eleventh time.

Whitley:... It’s f-foolish not to do a-as Father asks.

Jaqcues:(Nods) Now go clean yourself up before any of the help or your mother sees you. Or we’ll have a repeat of what happened last time when Klein was let go after seeing your correction for letting your sister leave.

Whitley:(Nods shakily, holding back more sobs) Y-yes, Father.

Jaqcues: Now you may leave.

Whitley turns around and heads towards his bedroom to tend to his nose. As he usually does. Alone, and holding back sobs.

Jaqcues: Such a waste of DNA. Maybe I should have had that operation to stop having children.

‘^^Trigger Warning Ended ^^’

Jaqcues now with this son out of the way makes his way down the main stairway. But once again he stops dead in his tracts, not by any of his help or family. Rather by a unfriendly looking group of people. Consisting of two youths, a Faunus, and a familiar looking bastard.

Watts: Hello Jaqcues. We have much to discuss. Hope you don’t mind us spending the night.

- End of Chapter 5 Part 1 of 3 -

* Oh lord that was hard to write, hope you all enjoyed the first half of the chapter. The second half I’ll admit was hard to write for me personally, so if you want to skip that part if you don’t wish to see sensitive material, please by all means skip it. Anyway I’m going to have part 2 uploaded around two days from this post so stay tuned. Be good people *

#rwby theory #team rwby #team jnpr #james ironwood #winter schnee #qrow branwen #salem #jacques schnee #TRIGGER WARNING SCUMBAG JAQCUES #jaune is salem's descendant theory #rwby ancestries

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funeral-clown · 5 years

Text

beth i diagnose you with baby syndrome ok anyway here’s part two of the trifecta aka cablepool

Nathan Summers was the most powerful telepath alive. He was more powerful than his mother. He was more powerful than her mentor. He could reach every mind on Earth at once.

Every mind except one.

Wade Wilson.

Deadpool.

The one person he wanted desperately to trust the most, yet also seemingly the least trustworthy man alive. He was insane, truly insane, and his mind was a beautiful fractured thing. Nathan couldn’t touch it without cutting himself on stray shards of broken psyche. Wade was an enigma. Seemingly transparent, yet always a surprise.

Nate loved him. Did everything in his power to help him, in his own quiet behind the scenes way. Nothing about Wade was quiet or behind the scenes. Nathan appreciated that about him.

But sometimes he had to ask himself how much of it was real.

Wade flirted, yes, but Cable had once seen him flirting with a headless, armless statue, then crying when said statue gave him the cold shoulder. He was warm and convivial, but he shot people in the head convivially. He broke into his apartment regularly, despite Cable happily offering to provide his own on Providence, and he had the habits of a half feral cat. He would slink in at all hours, covered in blood and smelling terrible but still nuzzling himself under Nathan’s considerably large shoulders and practically purring. He kept odd hours.

Nate didn’t always know where he went, what he did, what he ate, but Wade had a habit of coming back after you’ve fed him once.

In a way, Wade reminded him of home. Not the mansion, not Providence, not even Greymalkin, but the war torn world he grew up in. The ravaged hellscape he learned to walk and talk and love in. It had no shortage of scars, of sick, of twisted minds. Wade was a walking talking reminder of the inevitable, if Cable ever lost sight of his mission.

But aside from all that, there was a man. Underneath everything, there was a funny, kind man, with a sense of right and wrong, who loved food and kids and dressing up and watching Golden Girls marathons. And Nate loved that man. And Wade said he loved him, too. And he believed him. He really did believe him.

But he couldn’t be sure. No one on Earth could lie to him, except for one man.

Wade Wilson.

Deadpool.

He tried not to let that sting. He tried not to let it show. Wade, in his own way, deserved better than that. No matter what anyone said. He just wished he could be sure.

Apparently, despite his best efforts, Wade caught on.

He was at the large communal breakfast with his people, laughing, smiling, watching the children play. He was content, until he heard the noise of the teleporter belt. A heavy weight draped itself across his lap, and he looked at a familiar red masked grin.

“Did you miss me?”

Nate snorted, a fond smile teasing at the edge of his mouth.

“Why, Wade? Were you gone?”

The theatrical shocked gasp made him want to laugh and bury his face in his neck, but they were in public.

“Why, Priscilla! Was that a joke? I’m rubbing off on you! In more ways than one!”

Wade waggled his non-existent eyebrows and stroked Cable’s TO arm.

With a roll of his eyes, he adjusted his body to better support his companion while still allowing himself to eat. Wade pouted before digging into Nate’s plate of fruit.

“Aaaannnyway, Natey-baby, I come here on a specific mission.”

He grunted an acknowledgement.

“Very sexy caveman. But we have a problem, Cable.”

He froze, staring concerned into his eyes. Well, his eye holes. Wade broke into a grin, bottom half of his face exposed.

“Youuuuu don’t trust me!”

Cable blinked, pushing down his slight guilt.

“Wade,” he said softly, “I don’t know how you got that idea, but-”

“Shush your handsome mouth, you emotionally repressed beefcake.”

He snorted.

“OBVIOUSLY you trust me in battle. You know I’ve got your sexy backside covered. I meant emotionally!” He drug out the last word, making an arch with his hands. Some kind of joke, no doubt. “It’s not a surprise, Nate. You’re the world’s biggest control freak, and I’m the world’s biggest wild card. There was bound to be some issues. And don’t get me wrong, if Bea Arthur’s ghost looked my way, I’d leave you in a heartbeat. For at LEAST a month. BUT! That hasn’t happened yet, so for now I’m all yours.”

“You don’t have t-”

“Shushushushushushushushushhhh!” A gloved finger pressed hard against his mouth, contorting his lips. “I don’t blame you, lover! But!” He flipped open one of his many pouches. He pulled out a glowing container, twirling it in his hand theatrically. “Thanks to our good mutual friend, Doctor Strange-”

“You stole something from Strange?”

“I was GIFTED something from Strange! And not something! THIS, my overstuffed burrito of love, is a truth potion.”

Cable’s eyebrows creased.

“Do you want me to drink it?”

Wade snorted.

“No, dummy.” He flicked the cap off. “I’m gonna drink it.”

And with that, he tossed his head back and swallowed it down. Nate tensed, eyes scanning him for any adverse affects. Wade grinned lazily.

“Hey, there, blue eyes,” he crooned, “Were you worried about me?”

“You know I was,” he muttered tersely.

“Awwwwwwwww, Bable, that’s why I love you. I’m literally indestructible, and you still worry a silly old magical potion is gonna treat me bad.”

Nate’s shoulders relaxed.

“Wade-”

“That,” he continued cheerfully, “And your enormous dick.”

Nate choked.

“I mean. Talk about proportionate. I know you didn’t get THAT from your dad, me and Wolvie have been talking-”

“Oh my god,” he whispered, head starting to hurt.

“But baby, wait, that’s only one of the reasons I love you! I also love you for your stupidly naive plan that’s going to get you killed! I love that you think it’s going to work! I love your hope. And your hands. Just. Great hands. Can your TO hand vibrate? That’s irrelevant. But only sort of. I gotta say, I was disappointed that you didn’t have more metal on your, uh, ROD, if you know what I mean-”

“Wade.”

“I’m just saying, the writers are cowards for not going all out!”

“Wade!”

“Oh, right, I’m talking about your dick again. I really love your dick. And your everything. I even love that you’re a bossy jackass! ESPECIALLY in bed. Like. Yeah.”

Nathan’s eyes shut as his face burned red. Wade’s voice had a way of carrying, and several dozen people who had chosen to breakfast there were all staring. Their expressions ranged from shocked to amused.

“Wade there are CHILDREN-”

“That reminds me, it’s not weird that I want to call you daddy like burning, right? Especially considering my relationship with my father, and-” Wade’s own hand shot up, covering his own mouth.

He laughed, tense, before letting go.

“Right. Yes. Small children. Anyway! What I’m trying to say is, I don’t care if you can read my mind or not. I love you. Emotionally. And mentally. Ha, get it, because I’m cra-”

Nate cut him off with a kiss, chest warm with an unfurling emotion.

“Wade,” he whispered, “Thank you. Really. I love you, too. Emotionally.”

“And physically?” Wade shimmied suggestively.

“And physically,” he laughed.

“And I can call you daddy?”

“Why not.”

“And I get exclusive rights to your enormous pe-”

“Wade.”

“Personality, jeez, Nate, get your head out of the gutter!”

Nathan shook his head, grinning. The entire cafeteria was chuckling and avoiding eye contact, and his own face was burning, and he was in love with the man on his lap, and that man loved him. Enough to ask Stephen Strange for help proving it.

“Wade,” he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too, big guy. I would even love you without the huge dick, because I love you that much.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.”

“But please don’t get rid of it anytime soon, I would miss it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Ok. Good.” With a loud smack to the cheek and a not-so-subtle grab at the last of his breakfast, Wade got up and started to click through his phone.

“What are you doing.”

“I’ve got to buy enough glow sticks to refill this jar and put it back before Strange notices it’s missing. See ya soon, lover-boy,”

Nathan laughed.

“Good luck, handsome.”

Wade blew him a kiss, winked, and vanished.

Face still pink, Nate went back to his breakfast.

#cablepool #needless to say strange is pissed #they're lovers in love #this is more comicsverse than movieverse

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hollyplays · 6 years

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I Don’t Know How To Write About Red Dead 2

At this point, you’ve probably played Read Dead Redemption 2. If you haven’t played it, you at least have absorbed it by virtue of being online- it had the biggest opening weekend in entertainment history, after all. I bought it when it came out, like the rest of the world apparently did, and I’ve been struggling to talk about it ever since. It feels way too massive, too comprehensive, for me to talk about it in one sitting, so I’m giving up on that. I’m gonna say some things about it, and if I don’t say everything I could, I’ll just have to fucking live with it.

Red Dead’s scope works in its favor in many ways, but it helps them critically especially. Smarter people than I have written about how time helps the comics industry dodge criticism- somebody points out that it’s shitty to make Cap a Nazi, and the writers say “just wait til the whole thing is out. just wait.” and then by the time the whole thing is out, the world has moved on, and it doesn’t matter that the ending is even shittier.

Red Dead 2 has a similar problem, at least for me- I don’t want to read about it. The story is so insanely long and full of turns and twists that the potential for spoilers is unmatched. I find myself avoiding content related to it at all, lest I find out something I didn’t want to know.

The scope of Cowboy Game (that’s what i’m calling it from now on. sorry. that’s what it calls. “red dead 2″ is dead. long live Cowboy Game.) helps it in my estimation, too. It’s a massive game, with an insane amount of activities- does it really matter if some of the mechanics are clunky? Does it matter if it tackles important issues in shitty ways?

The answer, obviously, is yes. Just because I can play dominoes in my video game doesn’t mean I should overlook the fact that the KKK are a massive, powerful force that shaped American culture for decades, and not bumbling dummies like Cowboy Game wants to pretend they are. Just because there’s a mission where Arthur Morgan plays bodyguard for some suffragettes doesn’t make up for the fact that he can also ride suffragettes out to the train tracks, tie them down, and wait for the six o’ clock.

In many ways, Cowboy Game is more simulation than it is video game. People can’t ride on your horse with you if you have a pelt on your horse- using a rifle or even a pistol will dramatically lessen the pelt quality of animals you kill. Every time you get punched, your hat fucks right off your head. If you don’t feed and brush your horse, it gets tired easier. If you don’t feed Arthur, he gets skinny, and weaker. If you feed him too much, he gets fat, and his stamina worsens. (Supposedly.)

We’ve all heard a marketing campaign call an open world game a “living, breathing world” but Cowboy Game seems to genuinely live up to that promise. These mechanics are minutia designed to emulate reality, to challenge your assumptions about what a video game can do and be. Cowboy Game doesn’t want you to think of it as a video game. Cowboy Game wants you to think of it as an experience.

Because labor abuses are things that happen in the video game industry, and not to experiences. Tedious, frustrating looting mechanics occur in video games, not experiences. Binding ‘look at person’ and ‘draw gun at person’ to the same button is something a video game dev would do, not someone crafting an experience. A bug which erases whole characters from the game so common you’re more likely to hit it than not is a video game thing. Not for an experience such as this.

Don’t get me wrong. I am thoroughly enjoying Cowboy Game. It’s absolutely beautiful. Even hunting, which generally frustrates me in video games, is satisfying and rewarding. The characters all feel distinct and three-dimensional (except Micah, who feels like a poo wrapped in a poo tortilla). The game feels genuinely alive, and that’s a massive feat that should not be understated.

The most frustrating part of Cowboy Game for me is it’s protagonist, Arthur Morgan. The game wants you to make a decision, embodied by it’s “honor” track, about whether or not Arthur Morgan is a good man. It tasks you again and again with deciding whether or not Arthur should do good- and then it takes great pains to undermine your decision. Arthur stops on a ride to help a man who’s lost his horse, and then immediately remarks to his companions “If you hadn’t been here, I would’ve robbed him.” Well no, Arthur, you wouldn’t, because you’re my goddamn avatar and I’m calling the shots here and I say you’re a good guy.

To some degree, this is necessary for the story. Arthur is, after all, a train-robbing, cop-killing bandit- it makes sense that he would have a bit of a cold side.

And to some degree, this is cowardice on Rockstar’s part. There’s no good reason to let Arthur kidnap and murder suffragettes. There’s no reason to let Arthur stay quiet while his Native American companion avenges the needless death of several bandits. There’s no reason Arthur should do nothing about his black friend’s attempted lynching. Rockstar wants Cowboy Game to feel limitless- but in doing so it sits the player down on the fence and resists just about every attempt to climb off and onto a side. And in 2018, that’s a dangerous position to be in.

I’m gonna keep playing Cowboy Game. I’m going to keep trying to do good out here in the world, and I’m gonna keep trying to make Arthur Morgan do good there in Lemoyne.

#holly talks #red dead redemption 2

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holy-honeybees · 4 years

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Snowdrift

AO3

Rating: T+ (for swearing)

Summary: Three friends and their dog get lost in a snowstorm while investigating the paranormal. Amidst swirling flurries of white, some lose their way and get lost in their memories, others lose sight of their friends and loved ones, and an unforgiving winter quickly fills in the footprints one would follow to get back home.

A/N: I started this back in November but sadly never finished the work. I was thinking of holding off till it started to snow again, but figured now was as good a time as any to try and finish this.The title is taken from Snail's House song "[snowdrift]" which you can check out here!

Also, did I mention that this story was going to have a snowball fight in it? :)

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Chapter One

Chapter Three

Vivi rushed her two friends out of the van before Arthur could even fully put on his hoodie and knit gloves. Once he’d stumbled outside though, the mechanic had immediately gone to inspect the damage to the side of the vehicle. Meanwhile, Lewis, in his usual formal attire, floated above the ground with an awestruck expression as he surveyed the snowy landscape. Vivi had to suppress a shiver. As someone who normally ran around in a sweater, even in the scorching heat of Texas, she’d layered up with her thickest, coziest sweater, fleece-lined leggings, and a pair of ear muffs clamped firmly over her head before even considering heading up north in wintertime.

“I’m cold just looking at you,” she said to Lewis, breaking him out of his trance. The ghost stared at her for a moment, before manifesting a pink scarf around his neck with a flourish of his arm. Vivi thought she might have even seen the end of the scarf flicker, like the spectral fire that simulated his hair. A dozen questions popped into her head about what else he could conjure and what other hidden abilities he had. She’d have to ask Lewis about it later though. She couldn’t afford to get distracted now, she was a woman on a mission. A mission of fun and friendship! Truth be told, the reports of the haunting they were on route to investigate were iffy at best, but she had jumped at the opportunity to drag her two best friends out for some much-needed bonding time. Progress had been made since that dreadful night in the cave and the hectic encounters that had followed, but things still weren’t back to normal. Now that she finally remembered what normal had been like, it was hard to let things stand the way they were with the old memories so fresh in her mind. Maybe it was a little selfish to try to force a more complete reconciliation when there were still so many issues for Lewis and Arthur to work through, but she could see that they were caught up in their own feelings of self-recrimination and just waiting for the other to make the first move. Between the mechanic’s fear and the ghost’s almost too considerate nature, Vivi knew they would just give each other space until something else pushed the once close friends back together. She was happy to play that part, and the impromptu snow day would suit her purposes just fine. The snow was still coming down steadily, a few inches having already accumulated on the ground. She could still see her footprints in the snow, crisscrossed with pawprints left behind by Mystery, tracing looping paths through the otherwise pristine white. Already the details of the treads of the boots she’d swapped out for her usual Mary Janes were disappearing under the snowfall. It was perfect. It had been a while since she’d seen the snow, not since she’d moved to Tempo in fact, and she’d been missing winter weather. She could tell that Mystery missed the snow as well, judging by the way he’d abandoned his usual decorum to frolic, pounce, and roll in the snow. It almost made her forget that he wasn’t actually a dog.

“Isn’t this great?” She said, turning to her companions. Lewis had a pleased expression on his skull, but Arthur was still fretting over the fresh scratches and dents on the side of the van. The mechanic gave a sigh and stood, kicking at the ground with his high-tops. A little pellet of snow rolled off the toe of his shoe, giving Vivi an idea. She swooped down and grabbed a handful of snow, deftly sculpting it into a sphere between her mittens. Arthur was still staring morosely down at his feet when she lobbed the snowball at the bright yellow star on his hoodie. Bap! Bullseye.

“H-Hey!” The mechanic sputtered, his tone more amused than annoyed as he brushed off the powder still clinging to his hoodie. Vivi giggled and scooped up another lump of snow, just as a snowball whizzed over the top of her head.

“Oh, now you’re gonna get it!” She said, mock dangerously. She let her freshly made snowball fly in Arthur’s direction, the mechanic just barely ducking out of the way in time. She and Arthur traded blows, the evidence of their battle the snow still clinging to their clothes from where they’d been struck. Vivi had just cornered Arthur against the side of the van with an armful of snowballs and a devilish gleam in her eyes, when there was a sudden whap as something struck her square in the back. She whirled around to see Lewis, floating a few inches above the snow with an innocent expression on his face. Without saying a word, he pointed a finger to where Mystery sat beside him.

“Really?” the kitsune scoffed, “You’re going to blame that on the dog?” Vivi let one of the snowballs she had in her arms loose, hurling it in Lewis’s direction. The snowball sailed through the ghost’s chest as he turned intangible.

“Hey, no fair!” Vivi cried, “That’s cheating!” Another snowball was launched from beside her, this one passing through Lewis’s stomach.

“C’mon Arthur,” Vivi said, “There’s no way he can fend off the both of us. We shall not be deterred!” Vivi and Arthur continued their attempts to hit Lewis with a snowball, but every single one passed through his incorporeal form. Once or twice, one of Vivi’s snowballs would accidentally strike Arthur instead, having thrown them without realizing he was on the other side of the ghost.

“Give up yet?” The ghost asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Never!” Vivi cried, before ducking behind the van under an assail of snowballs from the specter. She regrouped with Arthur, the mechanic likewise taking cover from Lewis’s snowy assault.

“We need a plan, Artie,” Vivi said breathlessly. Arthur looked thoughtful for a moment before responding.

“Well, he’s not intangible all the time. He’s gotta re-solidify when he actually makes a snowball.”

“Sounds like this calls for a sneak attack.”

“A sneak attack? Then that means…”

“We’re going to need a distraction,” Vivi said, grinning at the mechanic.

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Arthur sighed.

“So what are you guys talking about?” Lewis asked from above. Arthur and Vivi’s heads snapped up to where Lewis floated overtop the van, his skull propped up on one hand and another snowball casually tossed up and down in the other.

“Retreat!” Vivi shouted, scrambling out of the line of fire as Arthur darted in the opposite direction. Lewis looked between the two, weighing his options, before deciding to target Arthur. Vivi watched as the snowball hit its mark and Arthur stumbled to the ground.

“Augh, I’m hit!” Arthur cried out dramatically, as Lewis floated over to ensure he’d not done the mechanic any true harm.

“Everything…going dark,” Arthur said, his eyes sliding shut as he reached feebly towards the sky, “Tell Gala-ham…I love him!” Arthur collapsed fully into the snow with a final dramatic gasp, Lewis kneeling over him to inspect the mechanic. The fallen man cracked open one eye as Lewis began a slow clap.

“Brilliant performance. I give it a ten out of ten,” the ghost said, his voice rumbling deep in his chest. Arthur laughed breathlessly, beginning to slide his arms and legs back and forth across the snow.

“What are you doing?” Lewis asked.

“Making a snow angel,” Arthur replied blithely, before he paused and frowned, “Do you…not know what a snow angel is?” Lewis never got a chance to reply though, as Vivi finally finished her stealthy approach, and dumped a large pile of snow into the open collar of his shirt. There was a pause as everyone held their breath, waiting to see Lewis’s response. The ghost merely turned his head and gave Vivi a look.

“Really?” Lewis said.

“Aw, man…I thought for sure that would get a reaction,” Vivi griped. Arthur sat up from where he had sprawled out in the snow. There was a distinct mischief in his look, something about the small smile on his face and his otherwise carefully neutral expression.

“M-Maybe you just need to try something…colder?” Arthur suggested as he stood beside Vivi. She screeched at the sudden freezing sensation on the back of her neck, pulling away from the mechanic quickly. He waved the ungloved hand of his metal prosthesis at her, grinning. And so it began again, with Vivi hurling snowballs after the fleeing mechanic, until she finally managed to dump a load of snow into the hood of his jacket and pull it down over his head.

“Alright,” Arthur laughed as he brushed the snow from his hair, “I yield, I yield!”

“I am victorious!” Vivi cried, raising both her fists in the air as she backed towards the van to inspect her work. There was a unexpected fwoomp as a large pile of snow was deposited directly on top of her, burying her underneath it. Working herself free, Vivi gasped as she broke the surface, looking up to see Mystery in his kitsune form, shaking the snow from the six tails he’d just used to push all the snow off the top of the van and onto Vivi’s head. Even though Arthur was clutching at his arm warily at the sight of the kitsune, he still laughed, Lewis accompanying him with his deep chuckle. Vivi couldn’t help but join as well, and even Mystery contributed to the merriment by wagging his tail as he shrank back down to his dog form. The four of them spent a couple hours in the snow altogether, having snowball fights and teaching Lewis how to make snow angels. The ghost had just gotten the hang of it when Mystery put a stop to their fun.

“Alright, I think it’s time we go inside,” the dog said, “Arthur is starting to look as blue as you, Vivi.” The mechanic was indeed shivering slightly, rubbing at the port where his metal arm connected with his flesh. That can’t be comfortable in the cold, Vivi thought, frowning and hoping he hadn’t been toughing it out to try and appease his friends. It had gotten darker outside as well, and the remaining light was fading fast.

“Okay,” Vivi said, ushering the others inside, “I’ll get the electric kettle going. I’ve got some packets of hot cocoa to help warm us up!” Vivi took one last look at the snowy landscape before joining the rest of the Mystery Skulls piled in the back of the van, marveling at how fast the snow had come down. The tracks she and Mystery had left when they’d first exited the car had long since been buried, now nowhere to be seen. Closing the rear doors shut behind her, Vivi immediately reached for the electric kettle, starting some water boiling as she emptied packets of instant cocoa into three waiting mugs.

“So what’s the plan, oh fearless leader?” Lewis asked from beside her, “We were just planning on parking until the snow let up some, but it’s still coming down hard and it’ll be night soon.”

“The plan still stands, we’ll just be waiting the weather out a little longer than we thought,” she said, “I’m sure by tomorrow we’ll be able to hit the road again. In the meantime, just think of it as camping. Van camping. Vanping.”

“I’ve got an electric heater here somewhere,” Arthur said, shuffling off to look for the device in question, “It shouldn’t be too cold with that thing running.”

“Lewis, you’re on blanket fort duty then while I finish the cocoa.” The ghost nodded his head before cobbling a pile of blankets and pillows together in the middle of the van as Vivi poured the boiling water into the mugs. She took a sip of her cocoa, chunks of the powdered mix still not fully dissolved. It was hot and watery and wonderful. She quickly distributed the other mugs to her friends as they all settled into the blanket pile on the ground.

“Here you are, Lewis,” Vivi said, passing the ghost a mug with an alpaca on it, “I know you can’t drink it really, but, well…I dunno, was that insensitive of me?”

“Not at all,” Lewis said earnestly, “Thank you, Vivi. It’s nice to be included.” Lewis held her gaze for an extended moment, and she was almost painfully reminded of what they’d been before he’d died. They had both agreed that it would be best to put their relationship on hold until things settled down for what their new lives were like—and in someone’s case, afterlife—but with her memories recently returned and still so close to the surface, it was hard not to miss what they’d had what seemed like only yesterday.

“Where’s my hot cocoa?” Mystery said, breaking Vivi from the spell she’d fallen under.

“Chocolate’s bad for dogs,” she tutted, quickly recovering from having stared at Lewis for probably an awkward amount of time.

“What, you didn’t think I might like to be included?”

“Do you want some cocoa?” Vivi asked flatly.

“No, I’m fine, thank you,” the dog said with a cheeky grin.

“You mutt!” Vivi teased, ruffling the fur on Mystery’s head until it was sticking up every which way. The dog couldn’t help the vigorous wagging of his tail in response. Eventually, the four members of the Mystery Skulls settled down in the back of the van to prepare for what Vivi had dubbed “vanping”. Mystery curled up at her knee, already lightly dozing by the way his paws twitched in his sleep. Vivi hoped he was dreaming of something pleasant, rather than a certain regenerating plant person with big-ass garden shears and an even bigger grudge. Lewis was huddled next to her, his knees drawn up to his chest as the giant curled up in the tiny space, the mug of hot cocoa slowly cooling in his hands. Vivi was cuddled in a fluffy blanket, well on her way to joining Mystery in falling asleep, and Arthur…Arthur seemed almost to be trying to put as much distance between him and the others as the cramped space the back of the van provided would allow. She hoped that her awkward staring contest with Lewis hadn’t put him off; that was a whole lot of baggage they’d had yet to unpack. He was absently rubbing at the place where his prosthetic limb connected to his arm though, and Vivi recalled the freezing touch of metal against the bare skin of her neck. She couldn’t imagine that it would be much more comfortable for the man actually attached to the arm either.

“You okay, Artie?” Vivi asked, snapping the mechanic out of his funk.

“What? O-Oh, yeah…just a little achy, I guess,” he replied, giving her what she figured was supposed to be a reassuring smile that did nothing of the sort. The girl in blue gave a heavy sigh, before spreading her arms wide, hands still clutching onto the blanket she’d wrapped herself in. She briefly thought of a bat unfurling its wings and valiantly fought off a giggle.

“Join me, Arthur,” she said, her voice low and serious for dramatic effect. Mystery twitched an ear at her side. The mechanic looked at the invitation wistfully before his eyes flickered uncertainly to Lewis. She frowned internally at that, remembering the times before where Arthur hadn’t hesitated to be included. Thankfully, Lewis put the mechanic’s doubts to rest.

“She’s not going to stop until you come over here,” the ghost said, jerking his skull in their direction to bid the other man to join them. Arthur got up, tripping over the other blankets, settling down next to Vivi with a sheepish grin that gave him a dopey and, in Vivi’s humble opinion, adorable expression on his face. She quickly bundled them up in the fluffy blanket together, hugging Arthur tight. She heard Lewis chuckle and the tell-tale beat of Mystery’s tail hitting the floor of the van as it wagged.

“Get over here, ya’ big lug,” Vivi mumbled sleepily, addressing the ghost. Lewis obliged, floating closer to join where the other three had cuddled up. They spent the rest of the night comfortably in each other’s presences, reliving the highlights of their earlier snowball fight. One by one, they drifted off to sleep, sprawled over top of each other in the back of the van. Vivi was the first to fall asleep, as usual, her enthusiasm requiring more energy than the others in order to recharge. As she drifted off, she was reminded again of how happy she was to have her best friends here with her. She’d almost entirely forgotten about the paranormal adventures that awaited them at the end of their journey as she fell into a deep, content sleep, surrounded by friends as the snow continued to fall outside.

#mystery skulls animated #msa #msa fanfic #mystery skulls animated fanfic #arthur #lewis #vivi #mystery #arthur kingsmen #lewis pepper #vivi yukino #Snowdrift #snowball fight!

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ciathyzareposts · 4 years

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Game 118: Eric the Unready (1993) – Introduction

Written by TBD

Eric the Unready is the next graphic adventure game from Legend Entertainment, and the highest rated adventure game ever, according to Computer Game Review.

A quick glance at a screenshot shows that it uses essentially the same interactive fiction (with graphics) engine as Legend’s other games, Spellcasting 101, Spellcasting 201, Timequest, Gateway and Spellcasting 301.

This is their penultimate[1] game using that engine, with the final game Gateway II: Homeworld, coming later in 1993. Their other game in 1993 is Companions of Xanth, which is a more standard 1990s graphic adventure.

As for the game, the title and name of the protagonist, Eric the Unready, likely gets its name from the historical English king, Ethelred the Unready. Though Eric’s character has no basis on the historical person, and the name was likely chosen just because it seemed funny.

Ethelred the Unready, after learning the ways of the Force and constructing his own lightsaber

The designer of this game was Bob Bates, co-founder of Legend Entertainment. We’ve seen Bates’ writing and design so far in Timequest (1991) and Gateway (1992). Joe Pranevich should also get to Bates’ Infocom work during the Infocom Marathon, with Sherlock (1988) and Arthur (1989). Bates’ love on Interactive Fiction hasn’t waned, as his most recent work in Interactive Fiction was in 2017 with the kickstarted Thaumistry: In Charm’s Way.

Thaumistry’s main character is named Eric Knight – a clear homage to this game’s protagonist.

Like many games of 1993. the game came in both a diskette and a CD-ROM version, with the CD version released some months later. Unlike most CD versions, this CD version doesn’t contain voiceovers for the characters, instead just adding animations, Super VGA graphics and a soundtrack. I’ll be playing the Steam version, which appears to the the CD version, based on its not letting me forget that it has Super VGA graphics during the intro.

Wow. You really are proud of your colour pallette, aren’t you?

Okay – enough with the Super VGA thing – I feel like I’m using the demo version of a word processor?

The introduction cutscene has our hero, Eric the Unready, go out to fight the dread Knight of the Black Pauldron.

The game gets its tone clear right out of the gate by playing happy, whimsical music and throwing out jokes about Eric’s unreadiness.

If he didn’t even bring that book with him, would he be called Eric the Extremely Unready?

He wins the battle in the standard comedy style of Inspector Clouseau – accidentally. Eric drops the book and his visor falls down. While trying to lift his visor he happens to be poking his lance upwards into what happens to be an apple tree. Apples rain down on the Knight of the Black Pauldron, knocking him off his horse and giving Eric an undeserved victory.

“Zounds!” quoth the Knight. “I thought thou were just happy to seest me.”

After his success, a feast was held in Eric’s honour, where he knocked over a pot of oil while toasting, burning down the entire feasting hall.

I think the guy in the green shirt died, because while the other guests left in the next frame, the green guy stayed there, transfixed by the flames.

It wasn’t a surprise that this is not the first time Eric’s clumsiness has caused problems, as his Shop Steward listed his previous highlights and put him on the equivalent of light duties suitable to his limited skillset.

And thus starts our first mission

The game then gives us our Legend Entertainment interface screen, which I expect to see a lot of.

From seeing the intro in both CD and Diskette versions, the most obvious difference, apart from the overly colourful SVGA stamp over the title card, was a pig squeal sound effect in the CD version and the higher resolution graphics, as seen below.

The graphics on the top have higher resolution, but is that enough difference to slap a big SVGA watermark all over the title?

As for how good the game is, though I believe I’ve heard the name, it’s not what I would call a famous or popular title. But it seems it might have been more popular than I thought.

It won Adventure Game of the Year from Computer Gaming World, along with Star Control II (a game that didn’t even apppear in our list – mobygames lists it as an RPG)

It was Computer Game Review’s highest rating adventure game ever – considering it’s come after our current top games in Monkey Island 2 and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, that’s an interesting statistic.

In an interview on Adventure Classic Gaming, Bob Bates said Eric the Unready was his favourite of all the games he’s designed.

Even some of our other adventure game protagonists give their testimonials on the back cover.

So will I rate this game as the highest rating adventure game ever? Will it get our Adventure Game of the Year Award? Is it more fun than a barrel of monkeys? While I’m not expecting an all-time great, I am expecting to enjoy it. Playing through the first mission has been a good time so far, so I have high hopes for the game.

To give you a guide in your score guesses, so far our Legend games have scored, Spellcasting 101 – 48, Spellcasting 201 – 51, Timequest – 47, Gateway – 65 and Spellcasting 301 – 45., giving us a Legend average of 51!

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

[1] Editor’s footnote: TBD keeps trying to use the word penultimate instead of the more common term second last, which is easier to understand and contains less syllables. He won’t stop until he finds the occasion where penultimate gives more information or less confusion, and is therefore the appropriate word for the occasion. This is not that occasion.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-118-eric-the-unready-1993-introduction/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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preserving-ferretbrain · 5 years

Text

Been There, Done That

by Wardog

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Wardog is also having thoughts about Dollhouse.~

“I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you wanted it like that. You and father have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life. Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald.”

Given my willingness to talk extensively about Dollhouse, I thought I’d probably better actually better watch the thing. Given that I’m in the UK, let’s not think too deeply about how I managed to do that.

So, as all the world knows by now, the Dollhouse is a top secret facility containing a bunch of hot young people (mainly female, it appears, but I did see some Ken-like men in the shower scene) who have had their memories and personalities wiped so that they can be fitted with new ones in order to carry out missions for those wealthy and powerful enough to be able to afford to hire them. The scope of these missions is limited only by the writer’s imaginations. In the pilot we had our heroine doll – Echo – playing companion to a sleazy playboy and then being refitted to negotiate with a bunch of kidnappers. Between assignments, the Dolls are childlike and obedient and sleep in weird coffin like things fitted into the floor, for no apparent reason whatsoever beyond the production of a creepy atmosphere. This being a Whedonwork, as well as the individual episode plot, the pilot is also rife with hints at longer, deeper story arcs – there’s a random FBI dude is seeking the Dollhouse, Echo is showing very slight hints of a developing sense of self, who did Echo used to be, what is going on here etc. etc.

Although the pilot isn’t precisely gripping, it is – I suppose - intriguing. The eerie, dystopian atmosphere is very successful and Eliza Dushku is actually surprising competent in a role demanding a high degree of versatility. She is also hot as mustard, but more on this later. Sadly, the episode-storyline itself is much less successful and, as yet, there are no characters in this show, which I cannot help think is mildly problematic. I mean, there are people in it – there is “immoral tech guy” and “melancholy, scarred Amy Acker girl” and “morally concerned black dude” and “cold, British woman who might be in charge” and “I seem to be Russian chap” – but none of them are really presented with sufficient force for them to be any more than a succession of faces. I know it’s only the pilot but I didn’t care about any of them, I wasn’t even curious. It’s a combination of lack of screentime and rather depressingly bland dialogue. I don’t know how long it will take Echo to develop sufficient self-awareness to be a person but there are real problems associated with a show without a protagonist. It feels shallow and empty, and there’s nothing really to keep you watching except perhaps intellectual curiosity about the premise.

I know, arguably, this is kind of the point. But, again, this only highlights some of the problems with Dollhouse. By reinforcing the emptiness of the fantasies offered by the Dollhouse by confronting you with an empty show … what you’ve still got there, Joss, is an empty show. And there is something fundamentally quite problematic in a text that chooses to explore themes such as exploitation and social roleplaying, by forcing its viewers into a weird state of complicity with the more exploitative aspects of the show itself. There’s plenty footage here of Eliza being wild and sexy and/or wide-eyed and helpless and/or wearing a very short skirt and/or any of the other things that you can’t help but find titillating, but without these bits the show is ponderously melancholic. There’s no snappy Whedon dialogue to enliven it. And, as I said above, at the moment there are no actual characters to utter it. So, yes, I did spend the pilot wondering when I was next going to see Eliza do something fun but this is not me being exploitative (aaaah d’you see?), this is Whedon being manipulative. If Dollhouse had more to offer me as a viewer, I’d be less interested in Eliza Dushku’s legs. Maybe.

It’s just a cheap shot, really. You can’t keep up a parade of beautiful people in revealing outfits and expect that to constitute a criticism of society’s attitude to beautiful people in revealing outfits.

It’s like Ricky Gervais using his current fame to whinge on about how hard it is being famous.

I think I’d have reacted less badly to this if Dollhouse wasn’t so self-consciously gendered all the damn time. So it feels very much like you’re watching the show with Joss Whedon sitting next to you and yelling in your ear: “Isn’t it terrible the way society treats WOMEN?” and “Do you see the way we all unconsciously exploit WOMEN” and “Look at the way the televisual standards of female beauty to which you yourself subscribe abuse WOMEN” and “Sometimes WOMEN never get over the horrible things that happen to them.”

The main story of the pilot involves Echo taking on the personality of a hard-as-nails, super-experienced kidnapping negotiator. Let’s not spend too much time dwelling on the fact she looks like Eliza Dushku (i.e. about 21 and super hot – but they put her in glasses, so that’s okay). Of course, it turns out that the reason why she’s poured all her life and energy into Getting Really Good At Something is because she was kidnapped at the age of 9 and horribly abused by her captor.

Because WOMEN, you see, are incapable of empathy and we’d never bother to lift a finger to help other WOMEN if we didn’t have direct experience of abuse ourselves.

I was really annoyed by the sex abuse plot (the real woman who suffered the abuse ended up killing herself because society does terrible things to WOMEN, or had you forgotten that?) because for a split-second I half-believed the Dollhouse setup had a whisper of moral complexity to it. I mean, having your personality erased so you can become the idle hour plaything of a pointless playboy is, y’know, unspeakably awful but genuinely being able to saving live and do things you couldn’t otherwise do is another matter. It still might not be the worth the death of yourself, but it’d be worth consideration.

But, no, the Dollhouse is evil. Because it’s a metaphor for how society treats WOMEN.

The truly tragic thing is that it’s an awesome premise for a TV serial. It’s like all the best bits of Quantum Leap and all the best bits of Alias smooshed up together. The scope is practically limitless and I think I could accept an argument that you might agree to have your personality erased if it was going to allow you kick ass and save lives on an entertaining weekly basis. I think it would even be quite empowering.

But, no, the Dollhouse is evil. Because it’s a metaphor for how society treats WOMEN.

And the show continually reinforces this by showing you attractive women in sexy outfits and then condemning you when you look at them.Themes:

TV & Movies

Whedonverse

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Arthur B

at 17:15 on 2009-02-19

I think I might have guessed where Joss got the idea from.

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Rami

at 17:47 on 2009-02-19Yep, Joe 90 is acknowledged (I think even by Whedon) as one of the major influences...

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Nathalie H

at 21:53 on 2009-02-19Ooh, very interesting! I still haven't seen it and probably won't bother, so it's interesting to hear about the gender angle because I haven't read one really decent review on the internet so far. allecto did one but she's a bit mad, and everyone else is like 'oh it's Joss, he is a feminist so it's amazing.'

And considering how dicey it sounded before, it makes a lot more sense to me that he's using sexy mind-wiped prostitutes to make a really heavy-handed feminist point than that he hasn't even noticed, (because I think it would have been too stupid if he'd never thought the women would be looked on as sex objects, considering how much he supposedly knows about feminism).

Of course, the other problem then is that by setting up a sexy premise and condemning you for being taken in by it, is the question of how much this counts as reinforcement. And of course the fact that being aware of your own prejudices is a very important part of the lib movement (for example the problems of l/b women in being feminists and viewing women as sexual objects) so condemning the viewer is maybe a little too holier-than-thou when I'm sure he likes Eliza in a mini-skirt too.

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Arthur B

at 23:49 on 2009-02-19Natalie, where's allecto's

Dollhouse

review? I agree that she's a bit mad (in the same way that the Sun is a bit hot), but I find her rants weirdly compelling. But I can't find the review anywhere...

As an offering I present you her take on the

Buffy "Season 8" comics

. Gems: allecto opines that lesbians simply "don't look like" the girls depicted in one of the panels she depicts, sneaking a little homophobia into her heterophobia, and in the comments she reveals that

Buffy

almost brainwashed her into being straight.

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http://descrime.livejournal.com/

at 05:51 on 2009-02-20I was disappointed by the dialogue too. (Hello, new person. Pleased to meet you.) It was especially jarring because earlier that day, I had looked up an episode summary of a Firefly episode where people had submitted pages of funny quotes and memorable lines.

Joss is good at humor, one of the best in television at the moment, I would say. It's what allows him to take otherwise silly ideas and make them work in a way that actually lets the audience take them seriously. The Scooby Gang might have quipped their way through Sunnydale High and Vampire Master Ascensions, but they dealt with real issues teenagers faced. If Buffy had been serious, it would have been depressing as hell.

At a time when every show seems to be trying to one-up each other to be seen as the most Serious (aka depressing as traumatic things happen one after another and people make stupid decisions that serve to make them even more unhappy), I had been looking forward to Joss's brand of comedy-adventure. Dollhouse left me alternatively bored and laughing at their Hollywood spa dungeon.

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Arthur B

at 09:47 on 2009-02-20

If Buffy had been serious, it would have been depressing as hell.

And when it was serious, it was terrible. The magic-is-heroin plotline being a case in point.

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Wardog

at 12:55 on 2009-02-20I might re-watch Firefly and sob quietly to myself.

so condemning the viewer is maybe a little too holier-than-thou when I'm sure he likes Eliza in a mini-skirt too.

Nathalie! How can you say that?! Joss Whedon is a FEMINIST, he would never objectify Eliza Dushku!

I was disappointed by the dialogue too.

I'm glad it's not just me; I mean obviously it's a darker, setting etc. but everybody is so terribly bland and dull, that it's hard to remember who they are. I read a book on the linguistics of Buffy once, and it was actually fascinating to trace the complexities and cleverness of Scooby Gang slang. I know he was quite consciously creating something that would sound like "youth culture" but not date the show and there's no particularly *need* to do that for Dollhouse but ... blah.

Joss is good at humor, one of the best in television at the moment, I would say

I have feeling that are things that are funny are meant to be less worthwhile than things that aren't, hence his move ever more towards "darker" shows. Buffy Season 2 still strikes me as one of the most painful story arcs I can call to mind, albeit tinged by adolescence (eeek, I have slept with my boyfriend, and now he is a different person) - but it's done with such a light touch that you never get bogged down in woe.

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http://sistermagpie.livejournal.com/

at 17:10 on 2009-03-02I've seen a number of comments about this show (which I haven't seen) lately referring to the skimpy clothing, for instance, where people claim that the only reason it's there is because "the network" forced Joss to put that in. Which I think is kind of bizarre, and reminds me of those elaborate theories about how co-stars are having sex but "the network" or "the producers" made them sign a contract that says they're not allowed to openly be together.

It just seemed like a really interesting addition to the "Joss is a feminist therefore it is amazing" idea.

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Dan H

at 18:41 on 2009-03-02

I've seen a number of comments about this show (which I haven't seen) lately referring to the skimpy clothing, for instance, where people claim that the only reason it's there is because "the network" forced Joss to put that in.

It's something you always get with auteur-types. Everything that is brilliant about their work is a result of their genioos, anything that is less great about it is a result of other people interfering with their genioos.

To be fair, I can see that it's unfair to criticize Whedon for having to work within the limits of his medium - a TV drama about a hot young woman will get made, a TV drama about a dumpy unattractive young woman won't get made. On the other hand, one cannot be entirely absolved of responsibility for the standards of a group of which you are a part (and this, again, is my problem with the whole Man!Feminism thing).

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Arthur B

at 21:33 on 2009-03-02Also, for the love of god, it's Whedon. He's one of the few people in TV whose name next to the words "Writer", "Director" or "Producer" is, in and of itself, a massive draw. (Auteur writer/directors tend to be vastly more common in film because it's a medium which is just plain friendlier to them - witness David Lynch's failure to get the coherent half of

Mulholland Drive

accepted by ABC). Whedon is arguably more free of the networks' meddling than 99% of the other writers and directors in his medium, simply because the networks

want his name attached to the product

Which of course brings its own dangers. When

Firefly

wasn't working out for the network, they didn't try to change it: they just killed it.

#Ferretbrain #Dollhouse #Joss Whedon #Wardog

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theinvinciblenoob · 6 years

Link

It’s been nearly a decade since Rockstar Games introduced Red Dead Redemption, a massive open world game with a story about as reflective of American culture as the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Tomorrow, Red Dead Redemption II goes live after months of breathless speculation. And yes, it’s as good as you dreamed it. That’s not to say that the layers of interactivity, which are a huge step forward for the next generation of open world games, are not without their faults. But the level of attention to detail, the way that the various components of the game work in conjunction, and the intricacy of even the most mundane activities makes playing Red Dead Redemption 2 feel as authentic as being Arthur Morgan yourself.

But before we dive into the review, it’s worth noting that Devin and I each spent less than a dozen hours playing this game before sitting down to write. In fact, according to the progress bar in my game, I’m less than 20 percent of the way through the story, with even less completed of the challenges and the Compendium (index of items discovered/found). This game is so massive, it would be impossible to bring you thoughtful analysis of the story. We haven’t finished it yet.

We do, however, have some early impressions of the game below. For those looking to avoid spoilers, don’t worry — everything we talk about takes place in the first couple hours of the game and we’ve shied away from naming places, characters, and missions.

A world of details

For a game this big, it kind of makes sense to start with the details. It’s evident that this is an environment not just crafted with care, but presented with directorial intent. That’s important to say right off the bat — this isn’t just a big chunk of land for you to wander, but the stage for a story, and a stage that has been dressed with more care than perhaps any game to date.

It’s easy to talk about square mileage, about how many buildings can be entered, about the hours of dialogue you may encounter. But those are quantitative measures when what matter are the qualitative ones.

The details are what set RDR2 apart. Everywhere you look there are details, from the seams and rips on the dozens of coats you’ll see and wear, to the fact that you have to clean and oil your gun regularly, to how the items you buy are actually on the walls of the general store you visit. The dialogue too is remarkably consistent and well acted, and largely free from anachronism while retaining personality and a sense of humor.

Look at that SNOW.

Although it’s difficult to forget that you’re playing a game, these details make it very easy to fool yourself that the world in which you’re playing is a real place. Nearly everything you do, and how you do it, retains the conceit of the Old West.

I can’t even begin to wonder how much work it took to put this together. I had similar thoughts when I was playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, but while the scale and visual grandeur of that game impressed me, RDR2 hits those same notes while also hitting home in the much more difficult areas of authenticity, believability, and consistent direction.

From RDR to L2

One of the loveliest characteristics of RDR2 is how reminiscent it is of the original Red Dead. Riding my horse along a beaten path, normally near a railway, takes me back to 2010. All the things players have done before — shooting, riding, walking through the world — feel similar to the last game, albeit slightly smoother. The cinematic camera (a page out of the GTA playbook) is particularly delightful, especially in autopilot alongside NPCs leading the way.

The world itself is far more alive and full of detail, and this time around, there is something deeper behind each item, NPC, and animal in the game. Red Dead Redemption taught us that our left trigger button was about aim, and aim only. In the next iteration of the game, L2 opens the door to everything else that this immersive world has to offer.

And it’s this untethering of every single object and character in the game that pushes RDR2 steps toward reality, and leaps forward for gaming.

During Story missions, Arthur can use L2 to make real-time decisions about how to ambush a camp. If he focuses on an item on a shelf in the store, the player can open up a menu through L2 to buy or inspect that item. Focus on an NPC walking around camp, and L2 opens up the options to greet or antagonize them. Approach Arthur’s horse, and L2 opens up a larger menu to feed the horse, brush the horse, or pat the horse. But these aren’t just empty actions. Feeding and cleaning the horse fill her health and stamina cores, and patting the horse increases her bond with Arthur, all of which affect the quality of the horse as a tool.

It’s important to note that, if Arthur gun is equipped, L2 defaults to aiming down sights, which sure can frighten a horse or an innocent NPC.

Like a crow bar, L2 cracked open the whole world of Red Dead Redemption. If you can inspect a letter on a nightstand, flip it over and read the back, and put it down again, what should stop you from inspecting a live animal to see if it’s worth hunting. L2 brings up information about the animal like its name, its quality, and what you can get from it.

Intuitive until it isn’t

You can look up from a treasure map (handy) but have to dig through menus to pull it out in the first place.

Not all of the game’s interfaces are so fluid and convenient. Trotting along through town in my horse, I tap L2 to see if I can sketch a bird flying by, or study a farm dog, or hail a passerby (“hey, pardner!”). But then I see my horse is tired and I want to feed it an apple.

To do this I have to hold L1 to open the radial menu, then simultaneously hit R1 twice to get to the horse menu. Then I hold the right stick down in the direction of the item category I want to use, then (while holding L1 and the stick direction) pull the right and left triggers to find the item I want, and let go of L1 (but still hold the stick!) to use it (X and other normal “OK” buttons don’t do it). Are you kidding me?

Meanwhile time continues to pass in the background, albeit slowly, so you’re doing all this under pressure. Hell, someone might even be shooting at you and you’re trying to quaff a health tonic before returning to the weapon menu to pull out the rifle from your horse storage before you get gunned down.

It seems to me that although much of the world and your interactions with it are smoothed and interpreted from context, whenever that wasn’t possible the developers crammed it into this overworked radial menu system. I’ve gotten more used to it as I’ve played, but it still feels like something that started simple and quickly lost its elegance as it turned into a catch-all bucket for “video game stuff.”

There are also systems that are inadequately explained even when there’s opportunity for it. An early mission has you traveling with one of your bandit companions to hunt a big bear he saw a day’s ride away.

I happened to succeed in killing the bear, and loaded my ‘legendary bear pelt’ on the back of my horse. What was I supposed to do with it? Make a rug? I’d heard a little about pelts but precious little. Then I saw on my map that there was a trapper nearby — surely he would provide the tutorial I needed! But although the item’s description specifically said a trapper could turn it into a talisman, the trapper seemed to be able to do no such thing

Did I need to park my horse closer and hail him with it nearby? Did I “have” the pelt, or did it need to be there? Did I need to sell it to him first? Did I have to craft something on my own? Did I need to talk to my mission guy, or the cook who handles pelts in the camp? I had no clue and the game gave me no indication either. I couldn’t just keep it, since it took up valuable space on my horse — I had to turn down giving a lady a ride home because I’d have had to leave the pelt behind.

Ultimately I brought it back to camp, but couldn’t make anything out of it there either. Carts and boxes were everywhere but I couldn’t store the pelt in any of them. I dropped it on the ground and found myself and it teleported to the edge of camp; a message told me that “items dropped in camp will appear in a convenient place” or something. Oh, so the whole camp is a storage area! Nope. As soon as I rode away I was told I’d “abandoned” the pelt and some of its parts would go to the nearest trapper. What?

I don’t envy the developers and the info dumps they have to place like mines throughout this enormous world and story, but it felt like this was just one stumble after another, with relatively core gameplay elements that were almost completely unexplained. It’s an unexpected and forgivable failure given how much goes right, but the contrast is all the more jarring when it happens.

Nothing mundane about it

Eating stew with a beautiful view

RDR2 sets the bar high in a number of ways, but the overarching achievement is how closely this game tries to mimic reality. In some ways, this opens the world up, and in others, it limits you.

Arthur can’t carry around seven guns at once, so his horse stores the guns he can’t carry. If he forgets to equip his guns before running into a shootout on foot, he’s probably in trouble. Likewise, if Arthur goes hunting and loads a bear skin on the back of his horse, there isn’t any room to bring back a bounty target.

But Arthur isn’t just hunting for sport, or even for food. Whereas the last Red Dead focused on hunting as a way to make money, eat, or simply collect animals in the index, hunting now comes with its own system similar to Dead Eye and is paired together with crafting (which I’ll get to shortly).

The hunting system is called Eagle Eye, and it’s slightly reminiscent of the Instinct mode in Hitman. This system lets Arthur track animal trails, paw prints, animal dung, etc. to find his desired prey. Clicking L3 and R3 simultaneously activates Eagle Eye, and then pressing R1 lets you follow the track without remaining in the slow-mo world of Eagle Eye.

Tracking doesn’t work so well for aquatic animals like fish and alligators, but fishing is an easy, laid-back way to gather food or turn a small profit.

Inspecting animals, via L2, ensures Arthur is targeting the right size and quality of animal, and the method by which Arthur hunts affects the quality of the skins. This seems unimportant, but in the exotic world of crafting, you might find yourself caring a lot.

Crafting allows Arthur or other NPCs (like the Trapper, or the camp cook Pearson) to create new items from stuff they’ve gathered in the wilderness. That could mean mixing up some meat with an herb to create a specific dish, which would have its own specific effect on health and stamina, or bringing back a few pelts to have more comfortable and colorful accommodations around camp.

Again, this method of hunting and crafting is more in line with how an outlaw might actually live off of the land in 1899. And in adding Eagle Eye and the ability to craft, the more mundane parts of Red Dead Redemption have come alive. In the last game, hunting was something you stumbled upon. The most interactive piece of it was buying and setting bait. In RDR2, hunting big game like bears and buffalo is nearly as enjoyable an activity as the story missions.

Stone cold or heart of gold?

The honor system from Red Dead Redemption is alive and well in RDR2, but with some added flare. Because the game tries to mimic real life, with all its opportunities and limitations, the honor system is even more consequential now.

Deeper interactivity through L2 allows you to interact with almost every NPC, even those that aren’t involved in challenges or side missions or story missions. What’s more, those NPCs remember you.

In one instance, a man had been bit by a snake and was screaming out nearby a road. I stopped to help him, sucked the poison out, and went on my way. Later, when I rode into town, he was sitting on a bench outside the gunsmith and he called out to me. He said thanks and offered to pay for any gun I’d like to buy inside the gunsmith. My decision to save him, instead of killing him and looting his body, not only gave me honor points but resulted in a reward.

In another instance, I accidentally pulled out my knife when I got in a bar fight. Instead of innocently beating a dude up, I killed him. The townspeople mentioned the murder the next time I came into town, and the only way to get rid of the bounty on my head was to pay it off at the Post Office.

These decisions and their respective results are pretty straight forward. More nuanced, however, is the effect that Arthur’s honor has on the atmosphere of the game. Honor level changes the way that the story plays out, affects the kill cams, alters the music in the game, and changes the way Arthur dreams and writes in his journal.

In the short time we’ve been able to play the game, it’s hard to tell how extremely this affects the game. I did notice, however, when my honor was at its highest level that one of the shootouts was accompanied by up-tempo (almost celebratory) banjo music, and that kill cams had a goldish tint to them. It’s unclear if that was directly related to my honor or not, but it felt like a subtle dynamic change.

This game offers no shortage of customization options, from your horse to your gun to your clothes to your camp. But there is perhaps no more influential factor that separates one player’s experience of the game from another than Honor.

Dear diary

I want to give an especial callout to the detail lavished on the catalogs and books in the game, as well as Arthur’s journal. The tongue-in-cheek period-style descriptions of equipment and clothing items sometimes run to multiple paragraphs, and as there’s no particular hurry for much of the game, why not take the time to read them?

Arthur’s journal is a treat as well. Although it is in some ways just a way to recap the story for you, it’s a pleasure to read the hand-written entries and the main character’s thoughts on events as they played out; missions will be described differently depending on how they ended or choices you made. And meanwhile every place you visit, and every critter you “study” will be sketched in the book in the order you see them.

[gallery ids="1737189,1737190,1737207,1737201"]

This isn’t explained or anything, and I was tickled when I figured it out. I had made a long trek back from a mission and stopped by a few places, scoped out a squirrel, some chickens, a deer and some other things in passing. When I went to my journal a few game days later, there they all were in order, as if (as is the intent) Arthur had in fact been jotting them down while I wasn’t looking.

It’s a shame the journal and books aren’t more prominently presented — the journal is in your horse’s pack, or that’s where it ended up for me. Take the time to read it and anything else you come across; as much effort was put into the writing here as it was everywhere else in the game.

Not-so-final word

Needless to say RDR2 gets a hearty recommendation from us despite some nitpicks and even a couple serious cracks in the carefully-constructed facade. It’s a landmark game in the open world genre and an artistic achievement in its own right. It’s worth your money.

That said, our limited time with the game, and choice to play it as though we were regular players and not blast through to the end, means we’re unable to evaluate the entirety of the game. I find it exceedingly unlikely that the game gets worse — if anything, it likely gets better as the story and gameplay concepts progress.

Still, there are a few specifics we should mention that we plan to look at over the next few weeks.

Online isn’t live yet and won’t be for a while. This isn’t core to the main game but will surely be a huge draw as the game ages and its quality will affect whether it’s worth picking up again or recommending to a friend a year or two from now.

The honor system, though we touched on it, is pretty hard to test thoroughly even with two people playing in parallel. We haven’t been able to experience how the game changes significantly to accommodate your choice of amorality or virtue.

The story is in many ways just beginning, not to mention the side stories of your camp members and other figures you encounter. Did Rockstar frontload all the good acting and setpieces? Does it fizzle out at the end? Doubtful but we can’t say one way or the other. Once we’ve both finished the game or gotten far enough to feel confident in our opinions we’ll issue a followup review and link it here.

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

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haiky-u-lously · 4 years

Text

King Kuroo and the Red Knights (7)

Summary:

A Camelot AU where King Arthur is Kuroo Tetsuro, and the Knights of the Roundtable of characters from seasons 1-4 of the HQ anime. Eventual Kuroo X Reader.

Themes:

Action/fighting/killing, dead bodies, Fluff, Angst, Humor, Eventual Romance

Warnings:

Mentions of stalking and abuse of power, Language, Angst in feelings, Gore and fighting, mention of explosion, mention of seeing dead bodies

Word Count:

For Chapter: ~3900words

Questions/Comments/Concerns/Ideas welcome as always.

Enjoy!

–Admin Red

Chapter 7: The Castle Stands

Kuroo had been frozen in shock as he’d watched the Red Knight jump through the new hole in his castle’s wall. His eyes trained on the squire that followed screaming at the top of his lungs.

He’d never expected such an action, and his men looked to him for a response.

He had to shake his head to get control back over his body, and he sprinted the few steps to the edge of the corridor to check for himself that the Red Knight hadn’t died. His relief was short lived as he saw the fighting below.

“Your highness, let me apologize for the Red Knight’s recklessness. This is your castle and kingdom and we should have waited for your word before moving.” The squire addressed him, bowing in the biggest show of respect the King felt from the man since their meeting.

Kuroo tsked, half because he was pissed that a complete stranger took to fighting on his behalf without so much as a wave of instruction and his own guards were standing there waiting for him to tell them what to do, and half because the squire was right that as guests they should have been the last to step up. If anything were to befall the Red Knight or his companion on their first knight in Camelot he could kiss any possibility of reconnecting with the Order to fail.

“Guards, get Sugawara some protection, lead him to the square. Then all of you go help defend the front gates.” He instructed the few guards standing among his men, letting the squire go to be besides his partner. The light-haired male bowed his head in thanks and took off with the royal guards. “Now, Aone.” He called, addressing the strongest amongst the men there, “Find Yuurei, keep her in her chambers and do not let anyone enter unless it is me.”

The giant soldier nodded before taking off to complete his orders.

“Osamu, you will come with me to check the south gates.” He waited for the man to recognize his orders before continuing, “Bokuto, Teru, you need to find Satori, Atsumu and Futa. They aren’t below in the square, so I have no idea where they are. If you come across anyone you don’t recognize, kill them on sight.” The men nodded once before turning and sprinting down the hall, splitting directions to search for the other knights.

“Sire, you wanted me to join you and not Bokuto?” Osamu questioned the King’s orders even as he followed in running with the man towards the south end of the castle.

Kuroo shook his head, “Bokuto needs to find Futakuchi. If we can get Futa, then the enemies have no chance of beating us completely. Besides, if you went in search, you might just give up searching for the others if you found Atsumu first. Letting him dictate your moves all the time, I needed to make sure two of my best fighters didn’t just go off and do their own thing.”

“Atsumu is a bad influence on everyone, not just me, Kuroo.” Osamu responded, the venom in his voice telling how he did not appreciate the King’s tease.

The King turned to grin at his friend, and missed the man coming around the next corner, sword drawn and ready to swing. But Osamu was in prime position and latched his hands around the attacker’s sword wielding appendage. Turning into the man and forcing him to flip, the strength of the throw making the adversary release the sword as he screamed in pain landing on his backside. Osamu quickly spun the blade and thrusted it through the man’s heart.

“Thanks.” Kuroo said to the knight in appreciation.

Osamu nodded once before withdrawing the sword and bringing it with him as the pair continued their trek across the castle.

_____________________________________________

Aone had made it to the Queen’s chamber with ease, only coming across one enemy. He took them down quickly and commenderred their weapons. Having rushed to the hall where the explosion had been heard from he hadn’t grabbed his sword or armour, all he wore was his chainmail, like all the other knights bore at dinner. He was happy to have a weapon in his hands as they were better shields than simple links of chain.

He slowed as he met the hall to the Queen’s room hearing the distinct ting of metal on metal from clashing swords. Looking further ahead he saw Futakuchi barely hold off a swing of the enemy weapon as he tried to dodge around his attacker and two dead guards at his feet.

Aone quickly stepped up and sliced through the foe. Stopping the man in his tracks, another thrashing and the enemy fell to Aone’s hands.

Futkuchi looked at him in amazement, “Aone, that guy took down two royal guards and you beat him like it was nothing.”

The knight squinted his eyes, thinking, ‘You could have flung him across the room with half a thought if you’d just use your magic.’

“Oh! Did I hear that correctly?” The Queen’s voice carried through the door, “Thank goodness.” She’d opened the door to meet the knight, “Futa tried to protect me but honestly I feel safer with any of the knights guarding my door. It’s just terrible how quickly the royal guards fell.” She murmured to herself in annoyance, going on about how stupid it is for people to attack such a well guarded palace such as Camelot’s and how they must be cowards to attack right after dinner and just before the darkness of night sets in. “Why must the enemy come for me anyway?” She questioned, approaching the dead man and kicking his side, checking he was really dead for good measure.

These were the moments that Futakuchi and Aone forgot about the Queen’s bad sides, the pieces of her personality from before that shone brightly and overshadowed the more recent transgressions.

“Your majesty,” Futakuchi notioned for her to re-enter her chambers. “Aone is here to be your guard, he will wait inside with you until the King comes. So, if you will?”

She huffed, but followed the directions. “Aone, grab the guard’s helmet and sword. You too Futa. You’ll need all the protection you can get if they’ve made it this far in already.” Yuurei’s orders were based on all the battles they’d faced since she moved into the castle, and the men knew what she said was correct. As poor form as it felt to take the pieces from their allies, both complied.

Futakuchi even took the breastplate from one of the fallen, commenting about how he needed the piece since Aone had strength and chainmail.

“South gate,” Aone said once his friend had finished tightening the metal around his body. “You go, I’ll protect the Queen.”

Futakuchi nodded and left the giant knight to his mission.

“Aone,” Yuurei called, grabbing his attention as soon as he’d closed them inside her room. “Are the others safe?”

He thought a moment before informing her of the King’s orders and the Red Knight’s actions. “After he jumped, the King went into high gear giving everyone orders. I was the first as he wanted to ensure your safety. I only presume he went to the South gate and told Futa to meet him.”

She nodded in understanding and moved to look out the rail-guarded window besides her dresser. “They need to be okay. Everyone, Kuroo of course but the knights as well. We can’t afford to lose anyone right now.”

Aone just nodded an agreement before moving a chair to face the door directly between the side of the room the Queen occupied and the direction the door would open. He sat down, with his weapon held in his hand, ready to perform his duty for as long as needed.

____________________________________________

Bokuto was running down one of the halls on the west side of the castle, eyes out for opposing forces, but he had not crossed any and figured he’d chosen the free side of the castle.

As he rounded the corner to check one of the chamber halls he ran smack into another body, he quickly corrected his footing to stop from falling and held up his hands, prepared for a fist fight. Only to drop them when he saw the person he’d hit. “Well this is where you were Atsumu?”

The man before him just scoffed from the ground, having fallen from the sudden collision. “Why are you here Bokuto? Shouldn’t you be with one of the royals?”

Holding his hand out to help his comrade stand, the golden-eyed male explained the King’s orders. “Me and Teru were sent to find those that Kuroo hadn’t immediately seen from the location of the explosion. I see you took time to get dressed?” The man ended, laughing out in half question of surprise and half being impressed by the quick thinking of the blonde.

“Like hell I’d fight without protection. Do you want me to die so easily?” Atsumu scoffed in response, headed back down the hall.

“Wait!” Bokuto called, grabbing his friend’s shoulder, “Our orders are to find the others, I believe it’s also so that there are knights posted around the castle to make sure the enemy is defeated.”

Atsumu sighed and faced the other knight, “So, what you’re saying, is that I got all this crap on just to guard a practically empty quarter of the castle?”

When the silver-tip-haired knight just smiled in return, the blonde growled in annoyance, but moved to search the wing with the other knight.

__________________________________________

Terushima was fighting three enemy forces that had ambushed him as soon as he’d entered the east wing of the castle. While he was happy for the action, he was still pretty full from dinner and was not nearly dressed for the fighting occasion.

“Woa! So here’s all the action!” He heard called and suddenly the rear guard of forces waiting to take a turn against him were being cut down and attacked.

Within minutes he and his savior had taken down a whole ten members of the attackers’ forces. “Thanks for the assist Satori, but this doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you in the tournament.” Terushima smiled at his friend.

Satori just looked down his nose at the blonde knight, “I think this just proves how much better I am than you.”

“How’d you even know to come this way?” Terushima ignored the ploy and asked his thoughts aloud instead.

Though the red-haired knight didn’t answer verbally, the shrug and smug grin pairing told Terushima that the knight had just guessed to come down this way. And as was generally the case, got luckily correct and it was indeed where he was needed most.

“Anyway, we should clear out any enemy forces here and go meet up with Kuroo and Osamu at the South Gate. Want to make a game of it?” The blonde questioned with a wide grin.

Satori smiled back, “Yes, let’s do that. But we should make it a bet instead. Whoever kills less foes has to do stable duty for the other for the next month.”

“Deal!” The knights shook their hands in agreement, face splitting grins over their features before splitting off and taking down any enemy to cross their paths.

______________________________________

After what felt like an hour of fighting, the advancing forces finally began to dwindle. Kuroo raised orders to the guards and Osamu to push the enemy back out of Camelot, he felt they’d turned the tide of the battle.

Futakuchi had done his part in shielding their fighters so that none defending the South Gates could be cut down. It was pure luck that Aone had crossed him so quickly and led the magician directly to the place Kuroo wanted the magician.

“Futa,” Kuroo called, after taking the life of the last aggressor in front of him. “Presuming our assumption that one of them has magic, is indeed true, then the front should be fine also. Right?”

The attendant thought for a moment, trying to decide how much to share about information that isn’t really his right to tell another. “If they do hold any powers, and I mean, I’m not saying they do or don’t. Just if they do, then I think they’d do their best to help without making it obvious they have powers. I mean, I didn’t share my powers with you all for a long time, and even now it’s only shared with those I know I can trust.”

The King nodded at his servant’s explanation as he watched the enemies retreating forces be cut down even further to size.

“Wow, it’s already over?” He heard Terushima call from atop the stairs into the southside of the castle, “Guess we took too long cutting down the enemy that made it in. Satori, how many did you get?”

Satori proudly puffed out his chest, “Seventy-six. Pretty great isn’t it?”

Terushima clapped in a fake-being impressed manner, “Wow, so cool. Very many. Great job.”

“Well how many did you take down then, baka?” The red-haired challenged.

Now was the blonde’s turn to stand with pride as he shared his own body count, “Eighty-one.”

The two started going at it further when Satori called Terushima a liar. Their interactions crack up the King and magician who’d turned to watch their fronting.

Before long another pair approached, “Well, isn’t this a lovely sight? The best fighters in Camelot all just standing round while the castle is just coming off an attack of great degree.”

“Oh Bokuto! You found Atsumu, great!” The King called in response, ignoring the tease his best friend had tried stirring the pot with.

Atsumu looked around, and spotted the hair of his brother among the forces returning from running out the attackers from Camelot’s grounds. “You sent Osamu to fight with the guards? What a waste of his skill set.”

“Well if the best fighting twins were here together, then we could have used everyone to their best potential,” Futakuchi threw back, sticking his tongue out in defiance of the knight.

Atsumu, took after the magician, fist raised to throw down.

The other men just laughed at the pair’s actions, having also distracted Satori and Terushima from their own argument.

“Is this really all the knights of Camelot can do after a battle? Fight with one another?” Osamu questioned, a bored look on his face as he finally reached the others.

“It’s fine, I am sure the front is well taken care of.” Kuroo admitted, though he started walking towards the South entrance as he said it, making the others want to follow just to double check that the main entrance was in fact no longer being breached and that the aggressor’s forces were well taken care of.

Bokuto was the closest so he moved to open the doors, only stopping in his tracks as soon as he peeked his head inside.

“Bo, move your ass!” Satori yelled at the knight, while Terushima and Atsumu kicked him in the butt, sending him falling inside and pushing the doors open enough for the other knights to see what had made him pause.

The Red Knight stood there, sword drawn as if prepared to fight in defending the path inside the castle. When the knight seemed to recognize the group of men as the members of Camelot’s most trusted and royal court, they sheathed their blade. Nodding once, and moved to exit the area, only stopping when called.

“Red Knight!” Kuroo yelled, and seeing the fighter stop to listen, the King continued, “If you are here does that mean the front is freed of the enemy?”

The Knight turned to face the King directly and bowed his upper body over his arm, a sign the King had read meant that the Red Knights were happy to fight alongside Camelot’s forces.

“What of your squire and my knights?” He asked, after understanding that the foes were all taken care of.

Nodding, the Red Knight told him all he really needed to know. His friends and guests were okay, while he may have lost a number of royal guards, his friends and guests had survived this test against Camelot’s forces.

“We will hold a tournament in a week. In apology for how we treated you and as a thanks for your assistance in this fight. You and your squire are welcome to participate as fighters. Please let me know if you choose to, as it would mean a great deal to us.”

The Red Knight seemed to consider his words, after a brief silence where his friends looked to one another in question of how the Knight would respond, the King watched as the Knight held a thumbs up.

“Very well. Futa,” He called his attendant up to his side, “Please take our guest to meet up with his friend and then move them to a room down Daishou’s wing.”

Futakuchi’s eyes grew wide, and for the first time since their arrival, the Red Knight watched as the magician rejected the King’s order, “Yea, that’s not going to happen anytime in the near future. I’ll take them to literally any other hall.”

“Kuroo, let them stay in my hall with Satori! Anyone willing to rush into battle like that is a-o-kay with us!” Terushima excitedly yelled before the King had a chance to yell at his servant’s attitude.

Atsumu and Osamu looked at one another before the gray-haired twin commented, “We wouldn’t mind sharing a room so they could stay down our hall. It would be interesting to be given a chance to get to know the Red Knight’s way of doing things better.”

“Woah woah woah,” Bokuto sounded, as he smiled with his hands held out as if he was the star of the group, “If they are moving out of Aone’s hall they should move to mine. The most private hall of the entire castle!”

The Red Knight’s head shot up hearing that statement and nodded twice in quick succession, apparently deciding that was the best offer they’d heard amongst the King’s friends’ outbursts.

Sighing, the King just mentally agreed that after having given them a rough time at dinner, shit rooms to begin with, and having them fight on Camelot’s behalf, letting them have some privacy would be a good way to start mending the relationship with the pair. “Very well, Futa. Find the squire and lead the pair to Bokuto’s wing. If you see any of the maids, tell them the rooms need curtains and bedding.” The King then moved away from the group to go check on his wife.

The men who’d cleared out the castle and protected the rear side followed the magician and Red Knight back to the front to meet with the others.

___________________________________________

To both groups’ surprise, the rear and front groups of fighters met inside the castle. Futakuchi quickly took the Red Knight and the squire to move their bags and get to their new rooms. Immediately running into a maid as the three split off from the others and giving them the King’s orders.

“Soooo,” Dacihi drawled out, not sure how to bring up his thoughts without seeming too random to his fellow knights.

“The Red Knight is definitely someone we want on our side,” Semi bluntly said, not nearly as timid about sharing his thoughts.

Iwaizumi nodded, “The way he took down all those bodies, I would hate it had we gotten on his bad side.”

Yamagata agreed with the three, “Having been saved a few arrows in the back by his quick movements and steady hands swinging his blades, I concur. We are lucky Futa stopped you from making a permanent enemy of him, Atsumu.”

“Yea, well, we didn’t see him fight so how do we know you aren’t exaggerating his accomplishments just because you all fought side by side?” The blonde retorted, still refusing to acknowledge that he’d made a terrible decision trying to remove the Knight’s helmet.

The group from the front looked to one another before silently leading the others to see the square.

Once everyone was atop the steps, they could see the hundreds of bodies laid out, even with the royal guards moving limp forms into stacks on carts to be wheeled out and burned, the group of knights could tell it was hundreds of dead enemies.

“More than two thirds were taken out by the Red Knight and his squire. And the Knight took out almost twice as many as his squire.” Yamagata informed, and those who’d questioned the four stood in complete shock.

Iwaizumi shook his head before turning to face the castle, looking up to one of the towers and pointed out two bodies hanging over the edge, “The arrows meant for us that he stopped, the Red Knight threw back at the shooters, killing them and saving us from an onslaught of shots we held no defense against.”

“When the Knight jumped out of the window, it felt as if all of us got strength from his show of solidarity.” Semi added, wondering aloud, “But when his squire came to assist as well, that strength seemed to double. I had felt like giving up with as few enemies I faced compared to them, but every time I looked up at either of the pair I felt a new surge of energy and continued.”

Daichi nodded, “We aren’t exaggerating. Had he been made an enemy, Camelot’s front gates would have been breached more severely than they were.”

Atsumu admitted defeat in his principals, “I will apologize to him first thing in the morning.”

“We were surprised too though.” Bokuto commented, explaining why as soon as he saw the four men from the front lines were paying attention to him. “Kuroo told him about the plan for the tournament and we all thought he was going to reject the offer to join, but he held his thumbs up at the King instead.”

“Oh sure, you’re just saying that because the newbies are moving down your hall,” Satori complained.

“Right, they would have been better off with us,” Terushima cried out in agreement with his friend.

Osamu just rolled his eyes before explaining to the confused four that were not present for the room reassignment. “Kuroo wanted to move them from those shit rooms on Aone’s hall. He told Futa to move them to Daishou’s hall and the idiot refused. So, basically everyone offered their own hall before the hot-headed King could make a scene of yelling at the stupid magician.”

“Ah, that makes way more sense.” Yamagata smiled in understanding.

Semi just shrugged, “Well your hall is the most private of the options he was presented with, Bokuto.”

“And maybe having the Red Knight so close will discourage the Queen from bothering you as often as she does,” Daichi laughed.

The other knights joined in laughing with the dark haired male. Even Bokuto himself, though he was trying to save face. Of those around him only Iwaizumi knew what was really going on with the Queen, and to Bokuto’s gratefulness the knight never gave any indication to tell the others. Always waiting to discuss with Bokuto himself, Futa, Aone or Ushijima, the only other three members of the court who knew of the trouble she brought him.

“So the festival is really happening then?” One of the men asked aloud. The group smiled to each other before heading towards their respective chambers to get a good rest before preparations started the next morning.

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Table of contents:

Chapter 6 Chapter 8

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thegloober · 6 years

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Red Dead Redemption 2 sets the bar high for the next generation of open world games

It’s been nearly a decade since Rockstar Games introduced Red Dead Redemption, a massive open world game with a story about as reflective of American culture as the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

A world of details

Look at that SNOW.

From RDR to L2

And it’s this untethering of every single object and character in the game that pushes RDR2 steps toward reality, and leaps forward for gaming.

It’s important to note that, if Arthur gun is equipped, L2 defaults to aiming down sights, which sure can frighten a horse or an innocent NPC.

Intuitive until it isn’t

You can look up from a treasure map (handy) but have to dig through menus to pull it out in the first place.

Nothing mundane about it

Eating stew with a beautiful view

RDR2 sets the bar high in a number of ways, but the overarching achievement is how closely this game tries to mimic reality. In some ways, this opens the world up, and in others, it limits you.

Tracking doesn’t work so well for aquatic animals like fish and alligators, but fishing is an easy, laid-back way to gather food or turn a small profit.

Stone cold or heart of gold?

Dear diary

Not-so-final word

Still, there are a few specifics we should mention that we plan to look at over the next few weeks.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/red-dead-redemption-2-sets-the-bar-high-for-the-next-generation-of-open-world-games/

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