#How to cure a grump (8) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

beautifulletdownfics · 4 years ago

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Terrible to Meet You - A Harry Styles One Shot - Act 2, Let not the time discern

Harry wants to get out of the house. Alex wants to get home.

Alex meets Harry at at crossroads. Harry meets Alex on a one way street.

A coffee shop OU fic feat. lattes, lamingtons & that Great Unfathomable Feeling.

Story Page Here My Masterlist Here

Read Act 1, If at first we meet Here

Two of Us: 'This universe ain't big enough to keep us apart'

&&&

Harry went back to the cafe the next day. (And, after that, every day for a medium while)

There was something about it. Something about the tiny cafe he must have walked past a hundred times before but never took much notice of. Perhaps it was the way he felt the rest of the day after having been there. Or the fact the coffee was fucking good. But also maybe it was her—kind eyes, a foreign accent and a quick wit. It would take Harry's mind and body marginally longer than his heart to recognise what pulled him there.

Alex was surprised when he returned. Part of her was relieved, too. The other part of her was busy extracting the dagger of guilt that shot through her chest. Seeing Harry reminded her that she forgot to tell her flatmates the juicy The Daily Dose gossip about Harry Styles. And Harry walking up to the window a little before 8 am with a calm but reassuring smile on his face made something in her still, and Alex realised he wasn't gossip at all.

"Hi," he greeted her pleasantly, seemingly thinking nothing of the way his hand was tucked into the top of his running shorts to extract his phone for payment. (Alex's heart did a lusty little backflip) She saw a slither of a toned tummy and the way the elastic of the shorts folded over itself, "I'm back for more," he said.

More coffee, and more of whatever else it was packaged into the takeaway cups with it. Alex and Paul were Harry's first human interaction after returning from LA. And, where 24 hours prior his aching need had been to see literally anybody, it was now just a need to see more of this somebody. A person whose name he didn't know yet and who Harry had absolutely no reason to feel connected to at all. Knitted hearts aren't visible to the human eye, not when it isn't Looking.

He did though. Although the way she was now watching him with a completely blank expression on her face and a far off look in her eyes made Harry's confidence falter. He repeated what he'd already said over in his head looking for where he might've gone wrong. Harry came up blank. Was she completely freaked out by him already?

Paul rescued her from what Alex was sure was turning into a flushed moment for her. Did Harry really not realise what he'd said with his fingers beyond the elastic of his shorts? Paul's head appeared over her shoulder as a frown started to appear on Harry's face, "Careful Harry, she's a grump today."

Nobody blinked an eye at Paul using Harry's name before it was technically given to them.

"I am not," Alex insisted too quickly, too forcefully. Her elbow launched backwards, trying to catch Paul's gut. She really was a grump. But last night's wine was still causing her head to thump and her throat to ache. Tears and a bottle of red worked well in the moment but weren't as comforting the morning after.

Paul's eyebrows rose in Harry's direction, and he waved a hand out in front of him, expertly weaving away from her attack even in the tiny space, "See?"

"Ah," Harry nodded awkwardly and briefly looked at his feet.

"Doesn't like it when I start talking about universe stuff," Paul explained loudly, despite nobody asking for him to. "Very spiritually pragmatic, the Australians."

"Didn't know that," Harry added, expression turning to one of interest. He wasn't involved in this part of the conversation the previous day.

"Long black?" Alex asked because yes she remembered his order, and she had the defence of it having been less than 24 hours since she last made Harry's coffee in case anyone started raising eyebrows for another reason.

"Uh, yeah," Harry fumbled over how quickly the exchange turned to business, "Thank you."

She got to work but felt Harry's eyes on her as her hands ran on autopilot, stepping through the process. The click click of the bean hopper, the churn of the grinder, packing the head … Alex put the machine on to run and internally cursed Paul, who took himself into the back room, mumbling something about them running low on serviettes. A blatant lie.

Now, when she turned back to Harry, she tried to look calm and serene, like him. But she was already covered in coffee grind and couldn't be sure there wasn't a smudge of it across her face. Paul never told her when there was. Harry's heart was waving to hers widely.

"So … You're definitely not in a bad mood then?" Harry had an expression on his face that told Alex he was testing the waters, but the teasing note was there in just the right amount.

"I'm hungover, which is completely different," she provided.

His smile turned into a grimace, "Oh yeah, completely … Nothing worse … Self-inflicted misery."

Alex tried not to let Harry's awkwardness affect her and in doing so fell into an old pastime of hers; filing the silence with mindless chatter, "Exactly. And then if you add in some idiot going on about the universe and it's wonderful, eternal plans for my existence … I could just kill a man, you know?"

Paul, Paul is the man I could kill, she thought.

He didn't know, but Harry nodded obediently anyway, "You need carbs and coffee, not the cosmos."

"Thank you," Alex gave Harry a look that told him she thought it was obvious the two of them were right, "I mean, the downright gall of that man, trying to put the universe on me this year of all years. Absolutely bloody insane."

Harry tried to hide the instant smile that came to his face hearing her accent navigate absolutely bloody insane. "I'm Harry … By the way … Feel like we're at names."

"Alexandra. But it's Alex." She added quickly, ignoring the lovely, melodic chuckle that came from Harry, "Do you really think that this year, with a global pandemic, anyone can claim that the universe is conspiring for their specific good? Like, 'Sorry everyone about the pandemic, this is really about my destiny, so you're all just going to have to hang tight while that all falls into place!' This is a terrible year. The universe isn't setting up shit."

"Well, it's terrible to meet you, Alex," Harry grinned, stealing her word. She really was in a grump, and he loved it. But if there was one thing Harry knew how to do, it was charm and disarm. He had a feeling nothing would look as lovely as Alex with a blush he'd put there.

Alex paused where she was about to put the lid on his coffee. She felt her cheeks heat as the last few moments played over in her head—her ranting, Harry's introduction, threatening to murder a man—and then she took in the way he was watching her. A little pink-cheeked himself, amused but not appalled, a waiting look of anticipation on his face for what might come out of her big mouth next.

"I think I might still be a little drunk," she excused meekly. Despite herself, Alex thought she might have a little crush.

"You're handling it well," Harry provided kindly, taking the coffee from where Alex put it down in front of him. He waved his phone over the payment portal, waiting for the beep before locking the screen and going back to looking at her, "Drinking for any particular reason?"

"Oh," Alex's eyes widened, "I—

—"Sorry, that was intrusive of me."

"No, it's okay," she continued quietly, not seeing the way her softening had Harry frowning in concentration to tune into what she was about to say, "I've been trying to get home—back to Australia—for a while now. Flights keep getting cancelled or, on Saturday, I was bumped from one at Heathrow…. So we're back to square one."

Dread filled Harry instantly. He could see how upset Alex was, the heartache in her voice—the homesickness—and he hated this look on her, the opposite to the one he'd just daydreamed about. If there was one thing Harry knew it was what it was to miss home. There was no cure for it. A dozen ways he could offer to help burst to the tip of his tongue, but he held them back.

"I'm sorry, that's really shit. Have …" he hesitated to ask, "Have they put you on another one?"

She smiled through glassy eyes, "It's complicated, that's not really how flights home are working at the moment … But it's alright! I'm fine. I'll get there eventually. I got the refund for the first one, back in April, last week and Paul's let me come back to work here three times now so … This can't last forever, right?"

Harry didn't have an answer for that, he was in no hurry to return to his house as he took a sip of his coffee, "How long has it been since you were home?"

"I went back for a visit a little over two years ago," Alex flipped a button on the espresso machine in front of her, to distract herself from the subject but also the way Harry was watching her. If only she could see the way the hearts were watching each other. She started rinsing out her coffee mug under the stream of boiling water, "My sister came over for Christmas last year, though."

"I just got back from America," Harry provided without knowing where the urge to comfort this stranger was coming from, "I was only gone a few months, and it was a little hard to get back, it felt dreadful, so I can't imagine what it's like for you. That's a long time to be so far from home, especially now."

While he spoke, Alex started making herself a latte, for something to do in the moment and for something to hold onto if Harry stayed at the window.

"How long have you been in London?" He asked. How long have you been just around the corner? Harry thought.

When she looked over at him, Harry felt like she was seeing through him. There was something about her soft, brown eyes and the way they exuded kindness that had him buoyant with giddiness at the same time as feeling incredibly self-conscious.

"Four years now," Alex told him, "Was supposed to be just a 12-month adventure."

"Your family must miss you then."

She shrugged, "I think they're used to it now. Life moves on without you, which is strange at first. Tough to get used to, that the people who own you suddenly have lives you only know about from catch-ups and Instagram posts."

Harry didn't know how to tell her that he knew exactly what she meant. He'd been struggling with that very notion for years now. Home never left like the same home he remembered, and wherever he found himself living—LA or the road—never quite felt right either.

"I've loved it though," Alex added, "Wouldn't have stayed if I didn't. This year though … I just want to be home, London's… Lost something."

Harry watched her shake herself out of the sad moment, her face brightened, and he barely registered the way Alex said in a genuinely upbeat fashion that she'd just have to wait for her time. He smiled along with the rising of her cheeks and felt like he saw a transition between two feelings that was entirely healthy and okay. She wasn't pretending. Her graciousness and patience with life were astounding, despite the fact he'd equally seen her sadness as being genuine as well. The balance there was enlightening.

"Need to make the most of the bonus time you've been given here then," he tried hesitantly. The hearts nodded at each other, gleefully.

That had been the right thing to say, the smile on Alex's face amplified in agreement, "Exactly.”

3AM 'She's got a little bit of something' &&&

Alex was sitting on an upturned milk crate as Harry rounded the corner.

His step faltered but only because she was looking right at him as if expecting him to arrive. He smiled under his mask and tugged it down while he was still a reasonable distance away. Alex smiling at him, holy hell did that taste—the flavour of her spirit—feel good in Harry's chest. Each day for nearly a month he'd felt the same way every time he saw her.

Alex received a text message from Harry just after 7 am that morning. Unlike the ones he sent every other day telling her he was on his way (an old fashioned tip from his sister, to demonstrate to Alex that Harry was thinking of her) that morning Harry told her he wouldn't see her until the afternoon. All day, she waited. Her heart tapped its foot impatiently in her chest, a nervous ticking that made Alex clumsy and disappointed when every new customer wasn't him.

"Hello," Harry grinned back at her, because that was all he could do, really. In her presence happiness exploded out of him and charged his whole body faster than caffeine ever could. His shoe scuffed the concrete path again as he looked at the closed cafe behind her, "Did I miss something?"

Harry stopped a safe distance from her, not sure how this new level of interaction would go. He'd never seen her whole body all at once, part of her was always obscured by the cafe window. Alex in the flesh—in the whole—was like the first taste of chilli on his tongue, invigorating in a way that stole the breath from his lungs.

"We close at three every day," she stayed seated but pushed another crate towards him with her foot. There were brown smudges of coffee grind all up and down her shins, and he guessed the black jeans she wore to work were strategic.

Harry squinted the sign on the window by the door, he was always occupied by her and didn't need arbitrary activities like reading signs to keep him entertained waiting for his coffee, "Really?"

"You usually come in the morning," Alex said pleasantly, waiting for him to sit down opposite her, "Here."

Harry was overwhelmed, he really was, by the sight of a white takeaway cup in her hand, and he reached for it carefully, "What's this—Alex."

"Can't have you missing your coffee … Made it right before closing, had to put the tiniest drop of milk in there otherwise it would shit itself and taste horrendous," she laughed at his wrinkled nose at the mention of milk, he sniffed the lid just to tease her or to get her to roll her eyes at him blithely. It worked, "It won't kill you, promise."

"Says someone whose intestines know how to handle lactose without making you shit yourself," he borrowed her phrase. Sounded better when Alex said it, with the wideness and the breadth of her accent.

Alex tilted her head back and laughed. Really laughed and Harry didn't have it in him to be embarrassed or scold himself for how he just spoke about his bowels in front of her, because the sound is marvellous and so Alex. It's unapologetic and genuine and a touch off-beat, which he loves.

"Holy shit," she let out a long, shaking breath afterwards, holding a palm to her rib as if in pain. She was pretending not to notice how Harry stared at her while she was laughing as if extremely happy with himself. "You wear white bottoms far too often for that to be a daily worry for you."

"Oh, it's a worry," Harry insisted, mainly to keep the joke going. He felt like his face was about to crack in half, "I can't have people spiking my coffees without my knowledge," Harry took a sip but then pointed his finger at her playfully, "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you."

As if he wasn't already.

"Busy day?" Alex asks, watching Harry take a hearty sip of the coffee she made him.

"Yeah, I um … I had some, ah, work stuff."

"Oh?" Alex crossed one leg over the other and looked at Harry with (mock) interest, "What do you do for work?"

Harry's eyes bulged involuntarily, and his mind went completely blank. Did she actually not know?

Alex only let the horror play on his face for a few seconds, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Jesus, Harry, sorry. I was just having a go."

"You're an excellent actress, as it turns out," he swallowed down the moment of panic. It only ever happened once before, years before, that a girl he'd been interested in hadn't known who Harry was beforehand. It hadn't ended up going down well.

Alex asks Harry about the book recommendation she sent him the week before, whether he'd started reading it yet.

Harry held up a finger at her, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, "But I haven't had lunch … I'd promised myself one of Paul's ham and cheese croissants."

"Well, you're shit out of luck, unfortunately," Alex told him, "He takes the keys with him, I can't break in and make you one. But the cafe on the high street around the corner stays open until five. You could try there?"

Harry felt like he was about to defecate himself, but it wasn't from the lactose, "Will you join me?"

Alex's eyes brightening instantly, but Harry didn't miss the way her cheeks reddened, "Sure. Of course."

"Great!" Harry coughed down his too-enthusiastic response then worried—as everyone did in 2020—that his physical reaction to her saying yes, the cough, would be interpreted as a symptom of something else entirely. He checks the time on his Apple Watch, "Should we go then?"

They walk in step away from The Daily Dose, and away from the previous pattern of their friendship. It strikes them both that this is the first time (both trip over 'first' in their minds as having the possibility to suggest it happening more often but their hearts have known all along, of course) they were out in the world together, the first time they were more than barista and customer.

Harry's hand touched Alex's forearm when they got to the cafe's door as he held it open and encouraged her to go inside. They ordered takeaway, Harry got a croissant (he was still working on the coffee Alex made him) while Alex ordered a tea. They then walked back a little way to where there was a small park with vacant seats Harry noticed on the way past.

"So, the book …" Alex asked him, the lid of her tea is off to let the heat escape. She’d crossed her legs and angled her hips towards him on the bench seat. Harry faced forward, heart hammering as he tried to remember how to use his voice.

Harry struggled to look dignified while biting into his too-hot croissant, the cheese burnt his lip, but he tried to hide it, "Oh, yeah, well, I haven't started it."

"I thought you said you wanted to speak to me about it!" She laughed.

"A ploy," Harry admitted sheepishly, "Was trying to figure out how to ask you to come with me."

In her head, Alex squealed. Her heart held two thumbs up at Harry's.

"How's the coffee," she asked, eyeing the cup in his hand.

Harry grins, knowing his next line is a winner, "Best in London, easily."

+++

GIve me all your best Alex & Harry theories Act 3, Hearts beat not fail - coming soon!

+++

Tag list: @afterhoursharry @beautifuleclipses @bumbershots @coffee-doodle-doo @decadentdonkeyflowerzonk @elemayox @ficsthatmakemeswoon @finelinesupremacy @greatestview @hatnightin2008 @ifiwereaboy2323 @just-damn-bored @kakaym @lifeandsomethingelse @luminescencefics @micurq27 @miorni @monpetitchouchou16 @morethanamelodyy @piawhat @rubytersteege @stepping-into-the-light @steppingonoranges @stylesfics-xx @stylishmuser @toalltheboyswhowastedmytime @ursamajor603 @veryplatoniccircunstances @whatevarandomlygoes Sign up for the tag list here

#fic: terrible to meet you #1dff #harry fic #harry styles story #harry fan fic #harry styles fanfic

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glitterwolfvi · 5 years ago

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Can you talk abt ur favourite fallout character and your hcs for them?

OK YEAH I CAN! this is going to maybe get a bit long tho because I have.. a few favorites from each game

also in general, I want to smooch all the ghouls

Fallout 3

Butch DeLoria: ah yes, the boy, the bastard. I love him and his whole look, and the Tunnel Snakes! first off, I like to imagine he is a GNC Trans Masc dude, he’s gay, and he’s 5′1. he/him pronouns! he HATES how short he is and will fight anyone who calls him that, don’t test him. huge fear of radroaches AND the dark, don’t mix them. he’s bipolar and autistic, and favors vocal stims. echolalia!!! growing up he was forced to be pretty feminine and hated that he was forced, so when he first came out, he tried to be as masc as possible, but later at 19, he started letting himself being as feminine as he wants, but not forcing it, y’know? smokes and drinks. later, I imagine he absolutely gets his gang up and running again, with better people. they stab transphobes. Tunnel Snakes Rule!!

Charon: heart eyes motherfucker. I love him. he’s a big dude, and I mean big. 6′10. he’s bi! he/him pronouns! he’s always super nervous to act on his attractions, because not only is he a ghoul, he’s honor bound to a contract. Azrukhal said he got hypnotized to follow it I think?? I imagine he actually did! he’s not a pre-war ghoul, but a more recent one. maybe ghoulified during the what the people did to hypnotize him. canonly, he has a 3 Intelligence, and I like to think before he got hypnotized, he had a higher Int. but still had a low Charisma heh. probably also has a brain injury. selective mutism! BIG softie under all that grump

Sergeant RL-3: love this Mister Gutsy! I think he sounds way too like.. charming to be a Gutsy, but I love it. good robot! they’re definitely demi-bi/ace and Masc Nonbinary! He/They pronouns for this bot. they’re protective of the Lone Wanderer, and he just wants them safe and secure. I think he should be a companion that doesn’t have karma requirements to have them. despite his... patriotic comments, I feel like he doesn’t really care who you are or what you follow, as long as you don’t harm those they care about. the patriotism is just how he was programmed anyways. they love to just be called Sarge, rather than Sergeant RL-3

Gob: ;o; I want him to be safe and ok. Trans Masc and bi with a preference for men. He/They. 5′6. PTSD, anxiety, depression. he’s autistic too! vocal stimming and hand flaps. but he can’t because of stupid Moriarty. loves his lesbian moms and just wants to go back to them, where he’s safe. crush on Charon!

Fallout: New Vegas

Raul Tejada: love this old ghoul and his voice. augh I just can’t get over it. anyways, he’s gay, 5′8, and he/him pronouns. he absolutely hates being alone, but is scared to get close to anybody. if you do manage to get close to this man, he’s a ride or die kind of friend, y’know? he’s also the type of guy for lots of platonic ‘I love you’s and cheek kisses if you’re close. he doesn’t like when those he cares about wanders far from him when they’re traveling, and gets super nervous, and just wants to run and make sure they’re ok. he respects boundaries, but still worries over them. sweet man, jokes a lot, but also complains a lot about being old

Arcade Gannon: I haven’t known him for very long, but I love he. he’s a Demi-Boy, he’s gay, and he/they pronouns. 6′0. autistic and will go on and on about certain topics, there’s no stopping him. not like you’d want to, but still. likes the sound of a clicking pen and stims with it. more stims than that, but y’know, his favorite. he has lots of anxiety, but does have plenty of ways to cope. he gets crushes super easily. you’re nice to him? he loves you. that cute guy over there that said hi to him? love. dhfgkjgf

Lily Bowen: don’t have much for headcanons. but just... grandma. I love her. lesbian grandma. she/her

Yes Man: the best bot in the Mojave!!! good bot!!!! baby boy. baby. anyways, Masc Nonbinary, bi, and He/They. just loves everyone! easy to make friends with. when he’s allowed to feel other things and say no, he’s still super friendly and happy. he just... he’s filled with love. shaped like a friend. relationships with them? lots and lots of affection, and sweet gestures, and gifts. he tries his best, and likes making people happy. but he’s also a sarcastic shit at times, and can get very passive-aggressive

Fallout 4

Deacon: stealth egg!!!! Trans Masc Genderfluid, Demi-Bi, and He/They/She. 5′5. the sunglasses are to hide who he was. jokes about his depression and anxiety and ptsd. which is.. not good. he’s super good at sewing. he has lots of wigs, but that pompadour is his favorite! it’s so so so hard to get him to open up, but when you do, it’s only in private, with said person, but when he is, he’s super sweet and soft-spoken, makes less jokes. sensitive, but has it easier time hiding it when not being... himself

RJ MacCready: trash husband. rude garbage weasel. I want to smooch. Trans Masc, Bi, and he/him. 5′2. don’t call him a mungo, he gets super whiny and pouty. he’s a good dad tho and loves his son very much. probably spoils Duncan a shit ton when he’s cured. he’s very awkward with relationships but is very loving. he’s very nervous something will happen to his partner a lot, considering what happened to Lucy. loves dogs a lot

Nick Valentine: ahh, the reason for my last name. synth detective. BETHESDA LET ME ROMANCE HIM. Questioning his gender, Bi, and He/They. 6′0. it’s easy for him to defuse a situation. one of the sweetest people alive. he’s comforting, and if someone he cares about needs it, will sit by them while they sleep, just to make them feel safe. good singing voice. pre-war Nick wasn’t a movie person, more of a book person, so everyone’s favorite synth detective is the same. puts himself down a lot, because he’s an old synth. especially if you confess to him. doesn’t feel like he deserves whoever is his partner, but is so sweet and loving

Ada: not many headcanons for her yet. tiny lesbian bot, she/her. gives you anything that reminds her of you ;o; and random junk to help build settlements

Oswald the Outrageous: LOVE. good ghoul. Trans Masc Nonbinary, Demi-Bi/Ace, and He/They. 6′2. autistic, love performance and painting. tbh? water is a big sensory issue, especially now because water has been described as ‘sludge’ now. often covered in paint

Kent Connolly: I love him and his excitement. Demi and He/Him. 5′7. autistic and his special interest is The Unstoppables! specifically the Silver Shroud! sweet man. easily flustered

Fallout 76

Mordecai McCoy: good ol Morty-Mort. Trans Masc, Bi, and He/Him. 5′6. wants to make a name for himself, besides just being able to go into heavily irradiated places for people. a sweet man and easily excitable, but always tries to put on like.. a kinda tough guy act. but it’s super easy to break. likes to joke around a lot, and can be a flirt

ok to rb!!!

#answer #booshwash.txt #Fallout #my headcanons #Anonymous

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nuka-nuke · 5 years ago

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Ford: 8, 21, 28, 94 || Rey: 2, 12, 51, 58

Dino busting out the deep lore unknowns over here....

Ford Euler

He’s Red’s dad!! boogie woogie woogie

008. What is their favorite fairy tale?

I dunno shit about fairy tales, wtf.

So I googled a list of fairy tales, I’m gonna go with “The Wonderful Musician”, because it sounds hilarious.

021. How do they display affection?

With his extreme anxiety and also his ghoulification, Ford often does not feel well enough to ever give much affection, much to Red’s chagrin because he is an emotional wreck who likes to hug and hang all over people he loves. Before the War, Ford and his brother Jack (one of my Sole Survivors) would spend time together quietly working on cars for hours on end, and that kind of comfortable silence is his favorite way to show he cares- just existing in a space with someone, and not feeling anxious. He also likes to show he cares through acts of service, like cooking dinner, getting rid of the radtoads, or maintaining their family home.

His deceased wife Alyce was more like Red with the over-the-top emotions, but she always gave Ford the space he needed to figure out what he was feeling on his own.

028. What makes them laugh out loud?

Not much makes Ford laugh anymore, but watching Lorna May suplex Red off the mountain edge can sometimes get a chuckle from him (I mean, how could it not??). When the grand-kids are born and he is mostly ghoulified, even though he barely speaks anymore, he does laugh with the little ones more often.

094. Name three things most would not expect your character to be able to know.

He can play the banjo very well.

He can build anything from anything. Seriously.

He has a lot of useful little hobbies, like making soap, making cheese (important) and curing meat.

Rey Euler

Dizzy’s brother who knocks up [REDACTED] and tries to murder Ace (their dad, whom I love)

002. Do they do anything to celebrate their birthday?

Rey’s a Grade A Debbie Downer. He wouldn’t celebrate if given the option, but their mother and aunt perpetually try to make him. For that reason, he usually tries to be conveniently out on the road for the whole month of May, because he doesn’t usually remember when his birthday is.

012. What makes your character embarrassed?

Dizzy.

Nothing else. Just Dizzy.

051. If they knew they would die tomorrow, what would they do today?

Rey, while a big grump, does still care deeply for his family (besides Ace) and particularly his daughter Ani. He would spend as much time with her as possible and try to make her understand why he wouldn’t be around anymore, tell his mother he loved her even though he doesn’t say it often, and do whatever he could to make sure they’d all be taken care of even if he was gone.

058. What is your character’s idea of a perfect day?

He enjoys his days out on the road, but it is always good to be back home in Freeside. He would like to spend time with his kid and her mother without needing to deal with anyone else for once, that would be a pretty perfect day to him.

#THANKS FOR THE ASK!!!#Rey Euler #Ford Euler #my oc #76 oc #nv oc #oc asks #long post

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megabadbunny · 6 years ago

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No Place Like Hohm (7/8)

***

(Aka the obligatory post-GitF fic, for anyone else who ever wondered what might have taken place between a trip to France and an adventure in a parallel universe. Ten/Rose, all ages, full of angst, fluff, a pinch of romantic bickering, a dash of mutual pining, and a dollop of swashbuckling adventure!)

***

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Chapter 7 | Ch 8

Perhaps later, Mickey thought, he’d have an easier time picking out the discrete parcels of what happened next, establishing some sort of sensible timeline.

(He was, of course, magnificently wrong.)

At the moment, what he knew was this: he was pinned to the ground with the business side of a sharp blade pressed to his throat, until suddenly he wasn’t, and then the crowd went absolutely mad around him, screaming and shouting and stomping their feet until Mickey thought he’d drown in the noise, and what had riled them up like that anyway?, but maybe it didn’t matter because a bunch of those Golden Guards rushed in, and there was lots of shouting amongst the Champions and their captives, and the Guards might have been splitting everyone up or they might have been making everything worse, and there might have been a bit of a scuffle, and Mickey might have punched one of those pratty Guards in the face, which they Very Much Did Not Appreciate, and then he might’ve got a punch-to-the-face of his very own, which might’ve hurt quite badly actually, and now here he was, in some sort of alien infirmary, wondering exactly how he’d come to be in this position, thousands of miles and years away from home, nervously awaiting the decision of a council of humans and horse-people who would determine whether he and his friends deserved a reward or an execution for their impertinence, watching the events of the day play out before him on one of a dozen hi-res screens as he iced a bloody nose.

It was more than a little disconcerting, watching yourself get tackled to the ground. More than that, though, it was a little annoying to watch it while someone poked fun at you in ceaseless mocking commentary.

“All right, but this is my favorite part,” Vareem said gleefully, pointing at the screen as Rose yanked Mickey to the ground to avoid a barrage of dragon-fire. “Look at your face! Your face, Mickey!”

“What was I supposed to do, pout like a supermodel?” Mickey grumped. “That thing was gonna kill me!”

“I didn’t even know faces could make shapes like that!”

Huffing in frustration, Mickey pushed up from the plush bench, pacing round the room for what felt like the hundredth time. Certainly it had to be the hundredth time they’d watched these bloody clips from the stupid Championship, the giant screens in front of them blaring Mickey and Rose and the Doctor’s faces over and over and over again for all in the room to see.

But that, though, that was a thing all its own—it was like ancient Greece out there, how comes it looked like an Apple store exploded in here? It wasn’t just the jaw-droppingly huge television screen, either; it was the gentle music that played from some unseen source, the lights overhead whose color slowly changed with the mood in the room, the curved clear windows that displayed facts and figures and useful tidbits at a mere touch of the glass, the doors that went whoosh in and out of the walls like something out of Star Trek, all of it posh and polished and spotless pristine white. It was almost like the further they got away from the town and the townspeople, the fancier this weird little planet got. It just didn’t make sense. Nor, Mickey thought with a frown, did it make sense that their lot had been tossed in here amongst all the other winners while the City Council decided their fate, instead of being chucked into some sort of alien jail.

If they had access to the TARDIS, Mickey imagined they would have grabbed Dyana and Vareem and hopped out of here lickety-split, but since those Golden Guard blokes had confiscated the TARDIS to whereabouts unknown, that complicated things a bit. At any rate, Mickey supposed he should be grateful, however grudgingly, that the whole instant-death-round thing no longer seemed to be on the table. But there was still time enough for that, he thought glumly.

“How much longer d’you think it’s gonna be?” he asked Dyana. “Feels like it’s been hours.”

“It has been hours,” replied Dyana, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against a pillar. “Not that I’m too keen on them rushing into things. Don’t really want to become someone’s property any sooner than I have to, thanks.”

“Nah, it won’t come to that. The Doctor will talk some sense into the Council, if nothing else.”

Dyana offered a wistful smile. “That would be nice. Wouldn’t get your hopes up, though.”

“Trust me, he’s got a talent for it. Only took him six words to uproot our entire government back home.”

“Sure it did,” teased Vareem.

“It sure did!” Mickey replied. “I wasn’t exaggerating. Just six words, and he toppled the whole thing. Poof! Done and done.”

Vareem frowned. “That’s sort of terrifying.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Well, I reckon it’s not so great for Harriet. And probably not for the people who work for her. And probably it’s causing some problems in the long run,” said Mickey thoughtfully. “But I’m sure it’ll be fine. Point is, he takes care of things. That’s what he does. And sometimes Rose ‘n me, we help. Isn’t that right, Rose?”

Rose did not reply, lost in thought as she sat still on a fluffy white hospital bench, staring at nothingness like it wronged her. A flash of silver peeked from her wrist and upper arm, two of several high-tech mesh bandages peppering Rose’s body, slapped here and there over bruises and cuts. The bandages were good stuff, futuristic high-tech mesh infused with something that would greatly expedite the healing process, or at least that was what Mickey had garnered from the physician’s explanation—the physician, not the Doctor, because he’d waltzed off the moment they’d arrived. Strange, that; Mickey would have expected the Doctor to insist on tending Rose’s wounds himself, or at least he’d hover over the physician while they did it and drive them batty explaining everything they were doing wrong. But no, he’d vanished almost immediately. Mickey wondered why.

A flurry of raised voices erupted from the monitors, pulling Rose’s attention and Mickey’s, too. They both watched as an onscreen Doctor and Rose bickered heatedly. Mickey had every intention of teasing Rose about it, but stopped upon glancing back at her; her gaze sharpened into a glare, her mouth tightening at the sight of the Doctor onscreen, tiny and digital and utterly confused, and oh dear, but this would be a very bad time for teasing, wouldn’t it?

Mickey’s brow furrowed in concern. “Rose?”

Wordlessly, she pushed up from the bench and stalked out of the room.

“All right,” Rose said impatiently, pushing aside the privacy screen—didn’t matter how he might try to hide, she’d recognize the telltale whir and buzz of the sonic screwdriver anywhere. “We can’t keep dancing around this, Doctor. We’ve got to—”

The Doctor’s gaze snapped up to hers, eyes wide in alarm, but that wasn’t what killed Rose’s words, left her breathless, nor was it the sight of him shirtless and exposed, though that was certainly unusual in its own right. No, it was the bandages, dozens and dozens of them. Some of them were wrapped round his arms, others pasted on his shoulders, others still slapped on his flanks, curled around his ribs and peeking round from the back; stepping to the side, Rose could see even more bandages slathered along his spine. What few patches of skin left uncovered by the bandages were dotted with little pink cuts and bluish-yellow bruises and angry purple welts, a perverse sort of rainbow playing out across his skin.

Bruises and cuts and wounds, a whole tapestry of hurt, and—and how long had he been wearing those special healing bandages, now? They’d been waiting here for hours, hours, and the bandages had already helped Rose and the others so much—so why did it look like the Doctor had fought and lost a round with a heavyweight champion? Or were the original wounds just that bad? When had he even gotten those wounds?

Had he been hurting this entire time, and Rose just hadn’t noticed, somehow?

“God,” she breathed, aghast. She reached out to touch him, but drew back at the very last second. She didn’t want to put pressure anywhere he hurt. “What is all this? What happened?”

“Erm, like you said earlier, average line-of-duty stuff,” said the Doctor just a little too quickly, avoiding Rose’s gaze. He continued his work with the sonic, scanning something in his hand--that pet-chip-thing, by the looks of it--and he frowned. “Just a couple of action hero wounds. Normal stuff. Standard. Run-of-the-mill, even. Nothing a couple of Beznisian battle-bandages can’t cure—and isn’t that funny, that they’ve got battle-bandages here? Definitely unexpected, considering the technology outside these walls doesn’t appear to have advanced much past the Middle Ages, but then, I suppose we’ve encountered stranger and more out-of-place things, haven’t we?”

Rose swallowed against the suspicion bubbling up sickly in her stomach. “Doctor, how’d you get hurt?”

“I just told you,” said the Doctor, pocketing the sonic and the pet-chip. “Standard stuff. Nothing worth discussing. Certainly nothing worth worrying about.” He stood up, grabbing his shirts from where he’d discarded them and pulling the tee-shirt over his head, only wincing a little as he did so. “Now, they did offer me some acetylsalicylic acid to help with the discomfort, and that actually is worth worrying about, because you know what they say about Time Lords and acetylsalicylic acid: they don’t mix. Or rather, they shouldn’t. They occasionally do. But that’s why you always have a handy spare bar of chocolate on hand!” He pulled on his oxford and hastily buttoned every other button. “There’s a bit of advice for you: Always keep spare chocolate around, Rose Tyler; you never know when you might need a good source of simple trigclycerides.

“Anyhoo, now that we’ve all had a chance to rest and recover a bit, I rather think it’s time to get going, don’t you? Shall we collect Mr. Mickey and the TARDIS and call it a day?”

“Doctor…”

“Speaking of chocolate, it’s probably time we restocked, or added to the current stock, as it were. You can never have too much chocolate, you know. It’s demonstrably proven to be the one thing in the universe you can never have too-much-of—”

“Doctor, please,” Rose interrupted, firmer this time. “Would you just—”

“Finish saving the day, first? Yes, of course,” said the Doctor. He grabbed his suit jacket and pulled it on. “Give a good speech, give a good glare, give the baddies a good what-for, don’t you reckon?” He whipped his coat about his shoulders with only the tiniest of grimaces. “Oh, and good job on recognizing what the pet-chip-thing was, by the way. It gave me a couple ideas, so I scanned and poked around a bit and I think it might end up being rather important after all. But isn’t that always nice, when something so small actually ends up being rather big in the grand scheme of things? Always a fun revelation, never a dull moment there.

“All right, shall we?” he asked, setting off before Rose had a chance to answer.

She hung back for a moment, hesitating. Even if she didn’t recall every moment of the adventure today—which she did, in startling detail—the footage playing on the screens overhead, over and over and over again, would have reminded Rose that there was no rational explanation of how the Doctor had sustained those wounds. There was no moment when he would have received them, no time he could have received them, and there was certainly no reason. Except as she watched the scene playing out onscreen, following the progress of her tiny digital self as she struggled to steer a sickly-glowing dragon, and it disappeared behind the mountainside in a hail of fire and a thunderous boom that shook the speakers around her, Rose realized that there was, in fact, a moment when the Doctor could have been hurt, and moreover, there was certainly a reason.

(And the screen flooded black with smoke, and Rose remembered awakening, groggy and sore but relatively unhurt despite everything, and what had happened to the dragon, and where was the Doctor, and was he hurt, and later, Mickey couldn’t believe she’d survived, and how…?)

Worrying her lip between her teeth, Rose followed after him.

The Doctor, Dyana thought with a sick-clenching throat, was going to get them all killed.

(It was not surprising that the guard had no inclination to bring the Doctor and co. before City Council; what was surprising was how easily the Doctor managed to convince them otherwise, and how suddenly, in a matter of seconds it seemed, the group was bursting through the Council doors.)

“About time,” Mickey muttered under his breath, but everyone else stayed quiet as their Golden Guardsman guide typed a series of characters into the keypad next to the chamber door. Dyana couldn’t guess what held Rose or the Doctor’s tongue, but a look over at Vareem let her know that Vareem, too, was likely clenching her teeth against the urge to vomit, fighting all of the instincts screaming at her to run, run, run while she had the chance, that they were both silent for the same reason:

This was it, for them.

Their entire lives had been building up to this single event, this single conversation, this one moment, a slice of time dangling their futures precariously over the knife-sharp edge of a narrow precipice. After this handful of moments, one way or the other--whether they were punished for their insolence, executed for their crimes, or maybe, just maybe, pardoned and offered freedom--their lives would forever change.

The robotic chime of the keypad sliced through the silence, paving the way for the heavy groan of the doors as they swung inward, revealing, bit-by-bit, the darkened chambers within. The second the doors parted enough, the Doctor surged on ahead, Rose and Mickey following immediately after; Dyana and Vareem hung back, frozen in uncertainty and fear. It was all good and well for Rose and her blokes to forge ahead without a second thought, but they didn’t know the Council like everyone on Hohm did. They didn’t know enough to be afraid.

(For all her plans of rebellion, Dyana had never imagined she’d meet the Council in the flesh--she had hoped to escape the Championship with her freedom intact, or die trying. Never had it crossed her mind that fate would bring her here, face-to-face with her planet’s own personal devils, confronting the pieces of filth responsible for so much death and destruction. The very same monsters who had sanctioned the her sister’s murder.)

Dyana closed her eyes against the memory that fought its way to the surface, her fists clenching in anger. She forced herself to drink in a deep, calming breath. It didn’t matter how terrified she was. She would do what she could with this chance--a chance her sister never got.

Swallowing hard, she grabbed Vareem’s hand, squeezing it; Vareem squeezed back, as if in thanks. Dyana led them both in.

Blinking against the dark, Dyana waited for her eyes to adjust as the Councilors murmured in response, and she grimaced at what she saw. It was about what she’d expected, a mixture of old money and new tech, marble pillars and velvet curtains blossoming out of the semi-darkness amidst softly glowing lights and screens. A grand table spread out before them, a great polished wooden thing that cost more than Dyana’s family could earn in an entire generation; behind it, gilded in the finest golds and silks and gems and slim electronic accoutrements the surrounding systems had to offer, sat a half-dozen humans and horse-people, gazing down imperiously.

The Council. Dyana felt Vareem shudder next to her.

Rose glanced back at the two of them and offered an encouraging smile; Dyana knew she was telling them, without words, the same things Mickey had said earlier. The Doctor will help fix everything. It’ll all work out in the end.

Gods, Dyana hoped they were right.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded one of the Councilors.

“Six hours and fourteen minutes,” the Doctor announced as he strode confidently forward. “And eleven seconds, in case you were wondering.”

The Council stared down at the group, each of them distinctly unimpressed. “Guard, we did not send for these offenders. Why have you brought them before us?”

“And counting,” continued the Doctor, consulting his wrist as if he wore a timepiece there--which, he didn’t. “That’s more enough time to collect the facts and render a decision, wouldn’t you say?”

“We would not,” said another Councilor. “We have not yet decided your fate.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about your decision,” the Doctor replied cheerfully. “I’m talking about mine.”

The Council stared down at them, unimpressed. “Guard, remove the offenders,” ordered the Prime Councilor, “and report to your superior for suitable punishment.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said the Doctor, waving his hand dismissively before the guard could reply. “In fact, here in a few moments, none of this--” he continued, gesturing to the room around him, “--will be necessary, because here in a few moments, none of this will be in operation. See--”

Flashing the Council a cheeky grin, the Doctor rummaged around in his pockets, presenting a slim black wallet that he flipped open, displaying its contents for all to see. Normally Dyana might have delighted in seeing all of these stuffy upper-crusts breaking out of their dusty indifference, some of them stiffening in alarm at the sight of the wallet while others grew pale, but she didn’t understand--when the wallet flashed her way, all she saw inside was a small white paper that simply read: Trust me :D.

She and Vareem glanced at each other in confusion, then turned to Rose, a question half-formed on their lips. Rose shot them a little wink.

“See, things are about to change around here,” said the Doctor, absolutely beaming with mischief.

Even the Prime Councilor seemed surprised at what she saw in the wallet--which, Dyana could only imagine, must have differed wildly from what she and Vareem each saw, somehow. “I see,” the Prime Councilor murmured. Her gaze switched back to the Doctor, her mouth pressed into a thin smile. “My apologies, High Commander. We were unaware the Shadow Proclamation had chosen to honor us with their presence today. Were we not?” she asked, glancing at her fellow Councilors, as if perhaps one of them had invited a guest to the party without her permission. Dyana wondered if any of the lower Councilors would end the day without a head attached to their neck.

“Had we known a member of the Proclamation would deign to enter our humble competition, we would have proceeded quite differently,” said the Prime Councilor. “Forgive us, High Commander. You and your party are, of course, free to leave, winnings and usual fees fully intact, and we will deliver your ship promptly.”

“Excellent, most excellent. And after that, you’ll dismantle the Championship, lift your technology ban, and all of you will resign from office, effective immediately.”

The Council broke out in a murmur, but the Prime Councilor simply glared at the Doctor, her smile tightening unpleasantly. “We beg your pardon?”

“Which you most certainly will not receive,” replied the Doctor. “I’m not interested in winnings or usual fees, whatever they might be--”

“Sounds an awful lot like bribes,” muttered Rose darkly.

“--which, I suppose, sort of makes me your worst nightmare, doesn’t it?” the Doctor laughed. “After all, you must have had great success bribing anyone who came before me, mustn’t you? It’s the only thing that makes sense with all of the statutes-violations and felonies bloodying up your ledger. No way you’d have been permitted to run things so poorly for so long, otherwise.”

The Prime Councilor drew back, eyes flashing. “High Commander, those are very serious allegations, none of which, I assure you, you have any evidence to support.”

“So you’re not forcing people into your stupid little knockoff Olympics, then?” Mickey demanded.

“Or promoting the use of kidnapping and date-rape drugs?” added Rose.

“Or denying us access to vital and sometimes life-saving technology?” blurted out Vareem.

“Our people have been denied nothing,” the Prime Councilor said sharply. “The Honorable Council ensures that the people of Hohm do not descend into anarchy and chaos. We are not your mothers and fathers; it is not our place to award trinkets and treats. We cannot be blamed for those of you who have not earned your way.”

“And what about giving us away as bloody prizes, huh?” Dyana spat out before she could stop herself. “What about pawning us off on a bunch of rich off-worlders, just moving us like we’re so much rubbish? You gonna tell us you don’t do that, either?”

The Prime Councilor turned Dyana’s way. Dyana forced herself to hold the woman’s gaze even as she shuddered at the cold.

“Certainly the Honorable Council would never do such a thing,” replied the Prime Councilor. “But should any member of our population choose to volunteer themselves as bride-prizes in the Championship, we will not stop them; your lives are your own, to do with as you choose.”

“Horse shit,” Dyana tried to say, but her words were trampled by the Prime Councilor’s continued insistence that “Freedom, on Hohm, is valued above all things, even the freedom to devote oneself as a winning token. We cannot strip our people of their liberty to make such decisions, however inadvisable they may seem to others. We will not deprive our people of the right to choose.”

“Except we don’t choose at all,” Dyana argued. “Your Champions choose for us.”

“And is it not a great honor to be chosen by one of our Champions? For our Champions to pay a generous price in your name, to fight and compete and strive for your hand?”

“No!” shouted Dyana. “We don’t want that--you know we don’t want that!”

“Save your breath, Dyana,” said Vareem, pulling her back with a gentle hand on her arm. “It’s not like they can hear you over their jangling purses, anyway.”

Dyana managed not to pull out of Vareem’s grasp, but only just barely, and only because she was surprised at Vareem’s candor in front of the Councilor. She didn’t think Vareem felt so strongly about all of this. She’d never been happier to be wrong.

“It is unfortunately true that few things speak louder than money,” the Doctor agreed. “Which, I suspect, is why most of your Champions, especially the wealthy offworlders, pay such a hefty fee to enter the Championship. Does that sound about right?” he asked Dyana and Vareem. “Forgive me if I’m wrong; it’s just a hunch, as Mr. Smith and I didn’t exactly enter the competition via the usual circumstances, sort of bypassed the whole exchanging-of-money bit.”

“You’re not wrong,” Dyana replied. “They call it an entry fee or a fee to participate, but everyone knows what it really is. They put out a call to everyone in the surrounding systems, and anyone with money can pay a fortune to come here and either compete for a wife or watch the blood spilling from the stands. We’re out there risking our lives, stripped of our freedom, and rich offworlders just sit there and watch it like it’s bloody theatre.”

“All while the Council sits up here with their silks and their gold and they watch everything from behind their pristine screens,” Vareem spat.

“And they don’t even allow us to own so much as a telecommunications device.”

“Of course they don’t,” scoffed Vareem. “Otherwise they know we’d band together and stop them getting rich off violence and selling us as slaves!”

“We’re Hohm’s greatest export,” Dyana said bitterly.

“As I said,” the Prime Councilor replied, her voice as smooth and cool as the marble surrounding them, “you have no evidence to support your claims. Nor, I assure you, will you find any.”

“You know, on some level that may be true,” the Doctor admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. “On the other hand, I’m certain there are scores upon scores of native Hohmish citizens who would loudly object to their mistreatment at your hands, if given the opportunity to do so--is that an accurate presumption, Dyana? Vareem?”

“Yes,” Vareem nodded, as Dyana muttered a sharp, “Very.”

“Although, if pressed by the Proclamation, I’m certain you would do your utmost to convince your citizens into stating otherwise,” the Doctor continued, to the Prime Councilor, “via your usual methods of coercion, pressure, threats, violence, et cetera et cetera. There’s the video footage of the Championship, of course, but certainly that could be easily erased, if it hasn’t been already. And unfortunately an official investigation into your many (many) sentient-beings’-rights violations could take weeks, months, possibly years, even if we did have physical, tangible evidence at our disposal. Sadly, folks like Dyana and Vareem don’t have that sort of time.

“You know what they do have, though?” the Doctor asked, and here his smile grew downright manic. “They have us,” he said, gesturing to Rose, Mickey, and himself. “And one of us has some of your oft-requested evidence conveniently hiding right in his pockets.”

He withdrew something from his coat-pocket, a small, rectangular silver thing with a series of numbers stamped across its face, and tossed it onto the table before the Prime Councilor. It clattered over the wood and slid to a stop beneath the Prime Councilor’s nose; unmoving, she peered down at it, lip curled in a disgusted sneer. “What is this?” she asked.

“That, my dear Prime Councilor, is an identifying integrated circuit, also known as a passive integrated transponder tag, outfitted with the very latest in local radio frequency identification and remote control technology; in short, as my brilliant friend here just happened to notice, it’s a pet chip,” the Doctor explained. “But Doctor, whatever are you doing with a loose pet chip floating about your considerable pockets? you might ask. Why, I’ve got a loose pet chip floating around my considerable pockets because I found it in the arena after the oh-so-mysterious explosion of a dragon, and it has yielded a surprising amount of helpful information, I would answer. In fact, I would go on to say, a scan of this particular pet chip just so happens to inform me that its original host was a squamata basilisk draconus, a species that is massively illegal to be imported, purchased, or otherwise owned in this quadrant of the universe due to its status as an endangered species.”

“You want to shut us down because of illegal animal ownership?” asked one of the Councilors, amused.

“No, I want to shut you down because you’re denying your people access to things they want and need purely in the name of control, you’re turning a profit off violence, you’re running a thriving slave trade, and you’re dabbling in illegal pet ownership,” the Doctor replied. “Oh, and the fact that you murdered a endangered animal in cold blood. Can’t overlook that.”

An uncomfortable silence settled over the Council, but the Prime Councilor did not flinch. “Once again, I must assert that you have no evidence to support your claim--”

“Ah, but I do! It’s right there on the chip. It’s oh-so-helpful and absolutely packed with information. For example, it tells me who engineered the dragon, and when, and where, and why, and most importantly, for whom. And that whom is you!”

The Prime Councilor glared at him. “The Honorable Council would never--”

“Now, admittedly the chip doesn’t tell me how or why you inserted a remote detonation device into your pet dragon, but it doesn’t have to; anyone with a working brain can tell you that,” the Doctor breezed on as if the Prime Councilor had never spoken. “You, being fully aware of this creature’s status as an endangered (and therefore protected) species, asked the engineers of this specimen to implant a remote detonation device in case something happened and you needed to take dramatic action very, very quickly--say, for example, a devastatingly handsome agent from the Shadow Proclamation just happened to drop by unannounced, or a pair of disgruntled Championship participants stole your dragon for a joy ride and flew a little too close to the sun, figuratively speaking, and you lot got nervous. All you needed to do was press a little button, and boom goes the dragon.”

He leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, “Unfortunately for you, the dragon might have gone boom, but that pet chip? It’s made out of none other than some of your very own Hohmish ore, and that stuff is nigh indestructible. The chip survived totally intact, with all your damning evidence written right across its face. Really, you should have made your money exporting your ore instead of your citizens, but you know what they say: hindsight’s 20/20, though there’s no time like the present to start sporting a pair of spectacles.

“Anyhoo, I may not have physical proof that you’re violating your people’s rights, but I have plenty of physical proof to charge you with multiple counts of violations of Proclamation Article 72.3 subsection 17-B, being the illicit breeding and destruction of an endangered, protected species,” said the Doctor, his hands clasped behind his back like an office manager delivering an only-mildly-unpleasant presentation to his wayward employees. “My report is on its way to my superiors right now, with the full details. Once they receive it, and find you guilty of your charges--which, make no mistake, they certainly will; dragon-breeders are notorious for turning on their clientele, no confidentiality amongst thieves I’m afraid--you’ll be stripped of your titles, fined of all your wealth, and thrown into a Proclamation prison for a minimum of ten years.”

A self-indulgent little laugh escaped his lips. “And once you’re locked away in prison, it’s only a matter of time before your other crimes are uncovered. After all, with you lot in the brig, who’s going to intimidate your citizens into silence for you?”

Finally, the Prime Councilor had the decency to look nervous, and inwardly, Dyana rejoiced.

“We could kill you where you stand,” the Prime Councilor said, her words slicing the air like shards of ice.

“Could do, but it wouldn’t stop the report from going through,” the Doctor replied. “It’s already on its way. No one can stop it going through, except me.”

Councilors whispered nervously amongst themselves in a low susurrus of mounting desperation. “What do you want?” the Prime Councilor asked the Doctor.

“Ooh, is that another veiled reference to a bribe? How exciting. It just so happens that what I desire is for you--all of you--to resign from your posts, effective immediately.”

“You can’t be serious,” one of the Councilors balked.

The Doctor laughed. “Of course I can! In fact, for every time you argue with me, or say any other silly or inane thing, I’ll add another punishment to the list. This time, you get to donate seventy-five percent of your total net worth to your citizenry.” He grinned beatifically. “Would you like to argue some more?”

“Please, be reasonable,” protested another Councilor, and the Doctor just chuckled in response. “And now I’m banning you from the planet Hohm altogether,” he said. “Tomorrow morning, you’re off the planet. All of you. It’s that, or prison for a decade.”

His grin grew sharp. “A decade, if you’re lucky.”

This time no one dared argue with him; the only response the Doctor received was a bunch of open-mouthed, disbelieving stares.

“Uh-oh, hear that?” asked the Doctor, pointing to the imaginary timepiece on his wrist. “Sounds like it’s make-a-decision-already o’clock.”

“You would really break our world like this?” asked the Prime Councilor. “Break our foundations, shatter our economy, leave our people leaderless and wandering?”

“I’m sure your new Councilors-in-interim will smooth things along nicely.”

“There are no other Councilors. We have not chosen successors.”

“Nor would any reasonable person permit you to. I am referring, of course, to Dyana and Vareem,” the Doctor replied, brow quirked in amusement, as if the Prime Councilor was terribly stupid. “Both excellent candidates for Councilor-ship. That is, if they’d like the job?”

All eyes turned to Vareem and Dyana, and Dyana’s throat ran dry. She had strode into the arena fully expecting to escape, or die trying. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined any of this would happen. Never had she dared hope that she would help make it happen! And now, this bright, shining gift sat just before her, the chance to help guide her world into the future, to make things better for everyone, to give every person on Hohm the choices they needed, the choices they deserved…

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She wished her sister had lived to see this. She would have been so, so proud.

“Yes,” Dyana whispered, warmth blossoming from her cheeks to her fingertips to her toes, bringing joy and hope and relief flooding with it. “Yes, I’ll do it.”

“Me too,” added Vareem, nodding emphatically.

The Doctor beamed at them. “Wonderful. You’ll both do brilliantly. I’m certain of it.”

He turned back to the Council, clapping his hands together in anticipation. “All right! You’ve got a choice before you, which quite frankly in rather generous considering the choices you’ve robbed your people of over the years; you can voluntarily resign, leaving behind most of your fortunate and all of your privilege and prestige, but living otherwise modest lives somewhere far, far away from the people you’ve hurt, or, my report goes through, my superior officers at the Shadow Proclamation get a nice little arrest warrant handy, and the swift hammer of justice strikes fast, hard, and without mercy.”

His smirk was one of the smuggest things Dyana had ever seen, as if he knew the answer even before asking, but wanted to savor the satisfaction of it, anyway. “So,” said the Doctor. “Which’ll it be?”

***

Rose was willing to bet the Councilors had never made a decision so quickly in all their pampered lives.

“How are you doing?” she asked in a low voice, sidling up to Dyana as they watched the Council exiting their chambers, some of them leaving with heads held high and proud while others slunk away like perhaps, if they tried hard enough, they might disappear into the shadows before anyone caught them. “You gonna be all right?”

Dyana shrugged, eyes wide. “I think so? I don’t know. I never expected anything like this to happen. I think I’m sort of in shock, actually.”

Chuckling, she shook her head. “Kind of funny, though--they’ve been so horrible, for so long, made such a huge mess and made things so bad for so many people--only to be brought down by something so small.”

“Ah, I sort of love it when that happens. Poetic justice.”

Dyana shifted, shooting Rose a glance full of suspicion. “And you deliver that sort of thing often, then? The poetic justice?”

“We’ve been known to,” said Rose with a smile.

“As agents of the Shadow Proclamation.”

“But of course,” replied Rose, tapping the side of her nose knowingly, and the two of them laughed.

They both fell quiet as a pair of Golden Guards wheeled in the TARDIS from its hiding spot somewhere in confiscation-land, watching as Vareem poked about the ship in confusion and Mickey excitedly explained it to her. The Doctor was oddly quiet as he looked on, patting the TARDIS doors in greeting, like the arm of an old friend.

“Wouldn’t have mistaken any of you for the authoritarian type,” Dyana said thoughtfully. “Doesn’t really seem like any of you care too much for any sort of rules.”

As if he could sense her watching, the Doctor glanced Rose’s way. Their gazes locked. His expression was neutral, perfectly inscrutable. But something about it twisted in Rose’s gut anyway.

“But then again I didn’t think the Doctor’s paper-thing said anything important, so, I dunno,” Dyana continued. “I guess looks can be pretty deceiving, huh?”

The Doctor ducked into the TARDIS, breaking their gaze. Rose frowned.

“Yeah,” she murmured, worrying her lip between her teeth. “I guess so.”

“Okay, look. I know you don’t want to talk about this,” Rose called out, closing the TARDIS doors quietly behind her. “Not really, not in any way that actually means anything. And that’s fine. You don’t have to talk. Just listen.”

Surprised, the Doctor looked up from the console, watching wordlessly as Rose fidgeted in place. God, why was this so difficult?

She swallowed, loudly. “You hurt me,” she said. “Back on that spaceship. Back in France. You said things and you did things that hurt me.”

Before the Doctor had a chance to reply, Rose shook her head, rushing along with, “Maybe you didn’t mean to, maybe you didn’t think about it that way. Maybe you didn’t think about it at all. And I mean, I guess that matters, at least a little. But when you share your life with someone--because that’s what we’re doing, Doctor, we’re sharing our lives right now, that’s what’s happening whether you want to call it that or not--when you share your life with someone, you have to think about how your actions affect others. You have to.”

The Doctor didn’t reply, just kept watching her, his brow knit in concentration, or maybe concern.

“I know you’re hurt because of me,” Rose said, her voice quiet. “Because you protected me. That’s what happened, yeah? I don’t remember, and it was too dark and smoky to make it out on the screens back there--but you kept me safe when we were falling. Right? Cos I don’t have barely a scratch on me, but you look beat to hell under all those layers. So you must’ve protected me, put your arms around me and broken the fall, somehow. You must have done.”

Now the Doctor couldn’t meet her gaze, scratching his neck uncomfortably as he looked away.

“I wanted to say thank you for that,” Rose said, forcing her words to stay clear and strong, not to shake the way they wanted to. “I’d probably be dead if it weren’t for you. Honestly, I’d probably be dead several times over if it wasn’t for you. Of course, the same is probably true in reverse. But that’s what we’re both there for, yeah? To watch out for each other, keep each other company, keep each other safe. To trust each other.”

Drawing a deep breath, Rose closed her eyes. “What you did a few days back--leaving us behind on the spaceship, kissing Reinette and bragging about it after--that was a violation of trust,” she said, her cheeks flushing red-hot with embarrassment. “Whether or not you meant it that way. It was--it felt like a betrayal.”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him; big mistake. He was staring into the distance, mouth tight, jaw taut, fingers clenched round the edge of the control desk. To an outsider, it might have appeared that he was fighting not to be angry at Rose; Rose knew him well enough to suspect he was trying not to show his anger with himself. The thought broke Rose’s heart.

She kept going.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way,” she said, carefully. “But you need to know how it felt to me.”

Silently, the Doctor issued a curt nod.

Rose suppressed a sigh. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but she felt disappointed, somehow. Although really, she’d given him the option not to speak, so maybe she shouldn’t be surprised he was taking her up on the offer. Still, she’d hoped…

But that didn’t matter. She’d said her piece and he’d heard it, and acknowledged it, at least a little bit. That was worth something, right?

Rose turned to leave, to give the Doctor some space, but stopped in her tracks at the sound of him clearing his throat.

“Rose?”

She turned back to look at him, her heart convulsing painfully in her chest, so hard she thought her ribs might crack from it. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” said the Doctor, slowly. “What I did--it was a betrayal.”

Now Rose’s pulse was hammering in her ears. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

The Doctor’s gaze met hers. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

Relief flooded Rose like waters through a broken dam. Before her brain had a chance to make any choice in the matter, her feet had carried her across the console room, up the stairs, and launched her straight into the Doctor, her arms wrapping snugly round him, purely of their own volition, she was sure. She squeezed him tight in a reassuring hug and he responded in kind, embracing her in a way that felt only a little bit desperate. Rose buried her face against his shirt and let out a long, pent-up sigh of release.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, her voice muffled by his shirt.

The Doctor did not reply, but hugged her harder instead.

***

Previous | Next

***

note: once again, as much as i wish i had come up with it all on my own, the conversation about semantics re: betrayal is heavily (heavily!) inspired by some writings from my good friend, the insanely talented @ksgsworld , who is super amazeballs <3

#picandchips #ficandchips #tenrose #tenxrose #ten x rose #gitf fixit #rose x ten #otp of legend #mbb writes #mbb fic #OMFG Y'ALL I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS OFF AND ON FOR A WHOLE. FUCKING. YEAR #and it's FINALLY READY #a;sldjflskdjf;lskdfj #ALDSFJSLKDFJSLDIFJWLOERJISLDKFJWAOIRJAOEFIJAWELRIJ

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alanfromrochester · 5 years ago

Text

saw this going around for Passover in the age of coronavirus

Passover begins the night of April 8 and for many families will be a very different experience this year. So may I present...

THE CORONAGGADAH A Passover Haggadah for this New Age of Plague

THE SEDER PLATE

The Seder is a ritual dinner that marks the start of Passover. During the Seder, we eat special foods, tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and drink four cups of wine.

The centerpiece of the Passover table is the Seder plate, which holds a shankbone, parsley, lettuce, horseradish, a roasted egg, and haroset, a mixture of apples, walnuts, and wine.

But Instacart can’t find any of that. So moving on…

THE FIRST CUP

Look, nobody likes Manischewitz, but it’s all we got, okay? Bottoms up.

THE WASHING OF THE HANDS

Near the beginning of the Seder, we perform a ritual washing of the hands. Seriously, go wash your hands. No, don’t just splash them – use soap, you maniac. Scrub. Scrub! Now sit six feet over there.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

How is this night different from all other nights?

Well, we’ve been stuck at home for the last three weeks, so this night is pretty much the same as all other nights – but with matzah.

1. On all other nights, we eat leavened and unleavened bread, matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?

Tradition. Plus everyone’s out of bread.

2. On all other nights, we eat all kinds of vegetables. Why on this night, only bitter herbs?

Look, no one’s going to the store anymore, and that’s all we had left.

3. On all other nights, we don't dip even once. Why on this night do we dip our parsley twice?

Because saltwater’s a disinfectant or something.

4. On all other nights, we eat either sitting upright or reclining. Why on this night do we all recline?

Because, seriously, I just can’t even.

THE FOUR SONS

In telling the Passover story, we are told to tailor our message and are asked to consider four types of listeners:

The wise child asks, “How can I help flatten the curve?” To him we say, listen to the scientists, stay at home, and wash your hands.

The wicked child asks, “Can’t grandma take one for the team? I’m too young to worry about Kung Flu. It’s a Chinese plot! Or a hoax! MAGA!” To him we say go lick a doorknob, dipshit.

The simple child asks, “Are we going to be OK?” And to him we say yes, son – we’re all in this together.

And to the child who does not even know how to ask, we say please sit down, Mr. President, and let us hear from Dr. Fauci.

THE PASSOVER STORY

Pharaoh was a dim and vulgar man who cared not for science or the welfare of his flock. He dismissed the White House pandemic team, cut funding to the CDC, and cared only for his own riches and tender ego. And finally God had had enough and visited a terrible plague upon his land.

Pharaoh heard his people’s cries and said it’s only one man from China. Let my people go! And Moses said you know what – I think we’re gonna stay put a while.

The people’s cries grew louder, but Pharaoh said it’s fifteen cases, and soon it will be zero. And the Israelites washed their hands and started to stock up from the store.

We have it totally under control, declared Pharaoh. Let my people go! And Moses told the Israelites to start working from home.

It will just flow through, Pharaoh proclaimed, and by April, like a miracle, it will be gone. So let my people go! And Moses said unto the Israelites – time to close the schools.

Have you seen our amazing stock market, Pharaoh asked. And Moses decided to sell, and told his people to stay indoors.

Pharaoh grew angry. Everyone who wants a test can get one, he declared. Now let my people go! No really, said Moses – we’re good.

I don’t take responsibility at all, Pharaoh grumped. And Moses rolled his eyes and went back to helping the young ones with their homework and caring for the old.

We can’t let the cure be worse than the disease, insisted Pharaoh. Let my people go! New phone, said Moses, who dis?

We’ll be raring to go by Easter, Pharaoh roared! Well that won’t be for another 1300 years, said Moses, so that sounds about right.

No one could have seen this coming, Pharaoh moaned. Let my people go! But Moses and the Israelites maintained their social distancing and stayed hunkered down at home, and in the fullness of time, with an outstretched arm and a mighty hand, the Almighty delivered them from Egypt and led them to the promised land.

THE SECOND CUP

This stuff isn’t half bad.

SECOND WASHING OF THE HANDS

Now go wash your hands again. Seriously – so much washing.

[Time to eat! Then after dinner, we resume…]

THE SEARCH FOR THE AFIKOMAN

Seriously? We’ve been locked in this house together for three solid weeks – there are no secrets anymore.

THE THIRD CUP

Three cupsh down, wandago…

THIRD WASHING OF THE HANDS

No, this isn’t really a thing – but do it anyway.

OPENING THE DOOR FOR ELIJAH

Are you crazy?! Don’t you dare come in here – unless you have some toilet paper.

FOURTH WASHING OF THE HANDS

I made it up. Just do it, okay?

DAYENU

If He had given us doctors and nurses, it would have been enough – dayenu!

If He had given us doctors and nurses, but not given us amazing teachers – dayenu!

If He had given us amazing teachers, but not given us the Internet – dayenu!

If He had given us the Internet, but not given us Instacart and Zoom – dayenu!

If He had given us Instacart and Zoom, but not given us Birx and Fauci – dayenu!

If He had given us Birx and Fauci, but not given us Inslee, Whitmer, and Cuomo – dayenu!

If He had given us Inslee, Whitmer, and Cuomo, but not given us truckers and grocery clerks – dayenu!

God bless them all.

THE FOURTH CUP

Come to papa.

CONCLUSION

Next year in Jerusalem! Or really anywhere outside this house.

#judaism #passover #coronavirus #quarantine

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ask-puppojiminnie · 8 years ago

Note

Numbers 200 to 1? \^-^/

200: My crush’s name is:Nyx ♥♥♥

199: I was born in:1998

198: I am really:Tired.......

197: My cellphone company is:MTS

196: My eye color is:Brown

195: My shoe size is:6.5/7

194: My ring size is:6

193: My height is:5 feet

192: I am allergic to:Nickel and perfume

191: My 1st car was:2002 Buick LeSaber

190: My 1st job was:Postal Clerk

189: Last book you read:Across the Universe by @jiminthefairyprince and @possesen

188: My bed is:Double bed....?

187: My pet:Puppo is Frejya, Kitties Bygul and Trjegul, geckos Leo and Princess Bubblegum

186: My best friend:Jenna, Nathan and Sydney ♥

185: My favorite shampoo is:Herbal Essences Body Envy

184: Xbox or ps3:PlayStation

183: Piggy banks are:a thing....

182: In my pockets:Nothing

181: On my calendar:Jin and Taehyungs birthdays

180: Marriage is:A big goal for me ♥♥♥

179: Spongebob can:Be my bestie

178: My mom:Tracy

177: The last three songs I bought were?You in Me - KardHush - Miss aThe Cure - Lady gaga

176: Last YouTube video watched:Dragons in Places Part 1 - game grumps

175: How many cousins do you have?15

174: Do you have any siblings?A brother

173: Are your parents divorced?Nope

172: Are you taller than your mom?By, like.... a quarter inch

171: Do you play an instrument?Not anymore.

170: What did you do yesterday?Skyped with @nyx-vesperia ♥♥♥ drew a new comic page and wrote a bit of story

[ I Believe In ]169: Love at first sight:Yes

168: Luck:Yes

167: Fate:Yes

166: Yourself:Fuck no

165: Aliens:Yes

164: Heaven:No

163: Hell:No

162: God:No

161: Horoscopes:No

160: Soul mates:Yes

159: Ghosts:Yes

158: Gay Marriage:Yes

157: War:Sometimes

156: Orbs:What.....?

155: Magic:Fuck yes!

[ This or That ]154: Hugs or Kisses:Hugs

153: Drunk or High:Gross. neither

152: Phone or Online:Online

151: Red heads or Black haired:Black haired

150: Blondes or Brunettes:Brunettes

149: Hot or cold:Cold

148: Summer or winter:Winter

147: Autumn or Spring:Autumn

146: Chocolate or vanilla:Vanilla

145: Night or Day:Night

144: Oranges or Apples:Oranges

143: Curly or Straight hair:Depends

142: McDonalds or Burger King:McDicks

141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate:Milk Chocolate

140: Mac or PC:PC

139: Flip flops or high heals:High heels

138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor:Sweet and Poor

137: Coke or Pepsi:Coke

136: Hillary or Obama:Obama

135: Buried or cremated:Buried

134: Singing or Dancing:Singing

133: Coach or Chanel:Chanel

132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks:Who?

131: Small town or Big city:Small town

130: Wal-Mart or Target:Target but we don’t have it anymore

129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler:Neither?

128: Manicure or Pedicure:Manicure

127: East Coast or West Coast:East Coast

126: Your Birthday or Christmas:Birthday

125: Chocolate or Flowers:Chocolate

124: Disney or Six Flags:Disney

123: Yankees or Red Sox:Neither

[ Here’s What I Think About ]122: War:Don’t like it

121: George Bush:I don’t know enough to have an opinion

120: Gay Marriage:Make that shit legal everywhere. I want to be able to travel around the world with my wife

119: The presidential election:Ugh.... no comment

118: Abortion:Pro-choice

117: MySpace:Never used it

116: Reality TV:Gross

115: Parents:I love them, but they can be bad sometimes....

114: Back stabbers:Fuck backstabbers

113: Ebay:Don’t use it

112: Facebook:Don’t have it

111: Work:Tiring

110: My Neighbors:I’ve never met them

109: Gas Prices:Pretty fucking bad

108: Designer Clothes:Sometimes amazing. Sometimes, very questionable

107: College:Scary

106: Sports:What is sport?

105: My family:My immediate family is nice.

104: The future:Don’t wanna think about it

[ Last time I ]103: Hugged someone:Sometime in september. My co-worker found out her cat had been run over by a truck

102: Last time you ate:4 hours ago

101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile:I saw my girlfriend after a year in the summer.

100: Cried in front of someone:April when my friend told me about her family emotionally and mentally abusing her.

99: Went to a movie theater:July to see Baby Driver

98: Took a vacation:July

97: Swam in a pool:Two years ago?

96: Changed a diaper:Never have

95: Got my nails done:May

94: Went to a wedding:Three years ago

93: Broke a bone:Never have

92: Got a peircing:July

91: Broke the law:Never have

90: Texted:Two minutes ago

[ MISC ]89: Who makes you laugh the most:@nyx-vesperia

88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is:My animals

87: The last movie I saw:Wolf Children

86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most:My girlfriend coming out here ♥♥♥

85: The thing im not looking forward to:Working in the Post Office during Christmas

84: People call me:Katy

83: The most difficult thing to do is:speak my mind

82: I have gotten a speeding ticket:Nope

81: My zodiac sign is:Libra

80: The first person i talked to today was:Nyx

79: First time you had a crush:6th grade

78: The one person who i can’t hide things from:Nyx

77: Last time someone said something you were thinking:Last night

76: Right now I am talking to:Syndey and Nyx

75: What are you going to do when you grow up:Hell if I know.

74: I have/will get a job:Yes

73: Tomorrow:Sleep

72: Today:Worked

71: Next Summer:Don’t even know

70: Next Weekend:I think I work

69: I have these pets:Doggo, Kitties and Geckos

68: The worst sound in the world:Ever heard of Justin Beibers song Baby?

67: The person that makes me cry the most is:Probably my mum and dad

66: People that make you happy:@nyx-vesperia @hyperkittyjkat @hobiisthesunfiteme

65: Last time I cried:last week

64: My friends are:THE BEST

63: My computer is:Acer

62: My School:Don’t go to school

61: My Car:2002 buick lesaber

60: I lose all respect for people who:lie right to my fucking face

59: The movie I cried at was:The Iron Giant

58: Your hair color is:Silver

57: TV shows you watch:Outlander

56: Favorite web site:This hellsite

55: Your dream vacation:Nordics with @nyx-vesperia

54: The worst pain I was ever in was:My concussion

53: How do you like your steak cooked:I don’t like steak

52: My room is:Blue and Green

51: My favorite celebrity is:BTS

50: Where would you like to be:With @nyx-vesperia

49: Do you want children:Maybe one day

48: Ever been in love:I am right now

47: Who’s your best friend:Jenna, Nathan and Sydney

46: More guy friends or girl friends:Probably more guy friends

45: One thing that makes you feel great is:Talking to my girlfriend

44: One person that you wish you could see right now:@nyx-vesperia

43: Do you have a 5 year plan:Hell no

42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die:Nope

41: Have you pre-named your children:I don’t remember

40: Last person I got mad at:Someone at work who yelled at me for not having their parcel

39: I would like to move to:New Brunswick

38: I wish I was a professional:Hairdresser

[ My Favorites ]37: Candy:Coffee Crisp

36: Vehicle:Camero

35: President:Obama

34: State visited:I haven’t been to the states

33: Cellphone provider:MTS

32: Athlete:Don’t know any

31: Actor:Kim Taehyung

30: Actress:I don’t know any....?

29: Singer:Park Jimin

28: Band:BTS

27: Clothing store:Dynamite

26: Grocery store:SuperStore

25: TV show:Outlander

24: Movie:Iron Giant

23: Website:This hell site or Youtube

22: Animal:Raven

21: Theme park:I’ve never been to one

20: Holiday:Halloween

19: Sport to watch:Figure Skating

18: Sport to play:Soccer

17: Magazine:I don’t have one

16: Book:Does Songbird and the Sea by MissterMaia count?

15: Day of the week:Friday

14: Beach:Bay of Fundy

13: Concert attended:Great Big Sea

12: Thing to cook:Alfredo

11: Food:Spaghetti

10: Restaurant:Don’t have one

9: Radio station:kkul FM 06.13

8: Yankee candle scent:Don’t have one

7: Perfume:I’m allergic to perfume

6: Flower:Hydrangea

5: Color:Pink

4: Talk show host:Don’t have one

3: Comedian:Nope...

2: Dog breed:Pitbull

1: Did you answer all these truthfully? Yuppers

F U C K

Y O U

S Y D N E Y

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

Text

December 9th-December 15th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from December 9th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019. The chat focused on Thirteenth Child by Sergio Ragno.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Thirteenth Child by Sergio Ragno~! (http://thirteenthchild.net/ThirteenthChild/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 15th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What moment related to theme of vengeance and revenge did you like the most and why? Overall, what do you think we can learn from the characters and story about the role of vengeance and revenge in our lives?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. How much of what’s going on behind the scenes do you think Alicia Graves actually knows? Is she just someone’s pawn as others have suggested? Also, what will she do now with many of her enemy’s exposed?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Queen’s goals actually are, and how is she intending to achieve them? What do you think Queen will do now that the plague sample is out of her grasp? In other words, what’s her future role in the story?

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene in the comic so far is probably when everything was going haywire at the gala event and everyone gets to the room to steal the sample but surprise, it's already gone. I just liked the delivery of the reveal of that in a lot of ways, since it was both fitting for Lisa while also just leading to a nice dramatic computer screen punch. Plus, given how much had gone wrong to that point, I was glad to see something go right for on Lisa's end. 2) The moment I liked the most in regards to the theme of vengeance was actually that moment where Lisa got recruited by Queen and she was just kind of sitting there like a grump. While not the most poignant moment regarding the theme persay, I did find it fitting in the retrospect. I feel this story and characters kind of promotes the idea that vengeance and revenge won't fill whatever empty void is inside you. So seeing Lisa in that initial kind of dead woman walking state I think really captured the essence of that, in that her path was not one that was ever going to make her happy.

3) My favorite character at the moment is definitely Darius. I love the sunglasses design for him. And I like that he has this strange mix of moral compass fixed on justice while at the same time being kind of smarmy. He's like the sort of "good guy" who you aren't actually sure you want to root for, until push comes to shove and you see he actually is kind of a stand-up guy. And I like that his character keeps you on edge like that. 4) Honestly, I don't think Alicia Graves knows jack of what's really going on. I'm not sure if I'd say she was a pawn, persay, as I don't think the people who do know everything actually have that strict of a control on her. However, she's definitely being used. So while I'm sure she has some idea about the Plague situation etc., I think she's not fully capable of understanding the origins or ramifications of what's going on around her through other people. Now that her enemies are clearer, though, I feel she will take steps to release herself from that used status. But that being said,, I kind of feel like she might go deeper on the villain side for a while, where she becomes really self-focused on getting what she wants, and then ya know, gets into trouble with everyone.

5) There's a lot of nice ones, but I'm a big fan of the middle panel on this page http://thirteenthchild.net/ThirteenthChild/index.php/comic/thirteenth-child-the-simulation/ I really love the machine design of the opponent. But what really sells the image for me is the bright blue moon(?) in the background. It adds a really nice pop of color that draws your eye in, and I think it creates a great contrast to create a sort of action-y mood at is were. 6) I think Queen's goal is kind of as she has said: she wants to destroy the current government. If I had to take a guess of what she's going to do, it's probably build an army strong enough to grab essential resources that will cripple the government until their demands are met. And then she'll probably eradicate the current system and potentially go for a more socialism route. As for what Queen will do now, she's definitely gonna hunt Ghost. I do not think Queen will take the events sitting down, and Queen seems like some super, super obsessed with revenge and like she's the type who will hold an eternal grudge. So Ghost is definitely gonna find herself hunted.

Alex_makes_comics

1) I am not super far into this comic yet, but so far I really enjoyed the shift from the action sequence at the beginning to the cool first day at work scene. It was nice to transition into stillness from motion. Likewise, I then like the introduction of all the new sassy friends. Basically, I think this comic does transitions really well, and I like the continual shifts in tone at the beginning.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What exactly is Mary/the Crimson Star? How did Mary come to be, especially given the information we have via the flashback? Will Mary return, and if so, what will the others do?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. What do you think the Order of the Plague will do now given the events of the most recent chapter? Can Lisa still trust them given Darius is intercepted by the CIA?

RebelVampire

7) I probably like seeing Plague/XIII and Lisa interact the most. They have a really interesting past history together despite not meeting in person until later. And I'm interested in how their similar but different views create conflict. Mostly, though, I think they make a very good duo who play off of each other really well. 8) I feel like the Crimson Star is some sort of AI machine that was created by Mary and was given her memories in a lot of ways. However, I think the process was flawed so it's basically a separate entity that just has Mary's motivational drives that compel it onward. Since I imagine this was maybe a failsafe measure given the sorts of experiments going on. We definitely have not seen the last of Mary, cause Mary seems to be a master class boss here. Granted, I imagine it'll take a while for Mary to get a new body.

9) I really like the story's attention to past details and how it brings them up later on. For example, the arcade cabinet that Lisa notices in one chapter actually hiding the secret entrance to a base. I really love callbacks like this since it works in comedy in ways that are actually relevant to the story. 10) I think the Order of the Plague is going to be kind of split in goals. I think half of them are going to try to find Plague and Lisa, since i don't feel either of them will be cooperating or making their intentions known. The other half I feel will be delving into the bigger boss villains territory with the CIA. Also no, Lisa should not trust them. The CIA is never good news. They are bad news bears, and at the end even if the Order doesn't mean it, the CIA is likely to stab everyone in the back.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What do you think Lisa and Plague/XIII’s next move will be, and what exactly will be their end game goals? How do you think the two will continued to be effected by the diseases and powers they possess?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Why do you think Lisa’s mother let Lisa think she’s been dead all these years, and what does this have to do with her role in the CIA? Also, what is the CIA’s interest in the current events of the story?

RebelVampire

11) I think this comic's strengths are what I mentioned for details. It's super good at weaving past history into present history and managing multiple plot threads. I never feel like I need to worry about anything getting dropped, and that gives me a sense of security while reading the story that things would eventually get answers. 12) I feel like Lisa and XIII are going to end up going to some gov facilities to do some research more into what's even inside of them, if they can. And also to make sure to remove a lot of people from positions of power that they're abusing. I think in terms of end game goals, I think it's just to stop a lot of corruption and then probably go into hiding (at least for Lisa). Although I think at the end they will have hard lives in general. Even if they succeed 100% in all their other goals, their powers will always make them targets, so they're kind of doomed for a life on the run unless they kind find a "cure."

13) I am most looking forward to finding out wtf Lisa's mom has been up to and what the CIA wants. Cause those are player's I didn't expect to roll up into the story at all. 14) Speaking of the above, I assume Lisa's mom was summoned for some super duper undercover mission that only she could do for some reason, and she was like "It's fine Lisa can take care of herself." And so she went to do that and since Lisa was kind of loosely fine she just continued to work with the CIA and became the big boss. And it's the CIA. Of course they're interested in what are basically super weapons. I mean their entire job is about protecting national interests, and the last thing you want is for the wrong people to get their hands on super peeps.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Thirteenth Child this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sergio Ragno for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Thirteenth Child, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://thirteenthchild.net/ThirteenthChild/

Sergio’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SergeXIII

Sergio’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sergexiii

Sergio’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sergexiii

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #thirteenth child #sergio ragno #studio sergexiii

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4thwallceci · 8 years ago

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Game Grumps RPG: For Wendy’s Sake ((A work in Progress))

So like... at some point last year I decided to try to create an RPG for the Grumps, and rn I’m just focusing on the Skills that each Grump and I figured that I’d show you them all here I guess! Oh yeah, this is gonna be looooong

> Game Grump RPG: For Wendy's Sake <

>> Danny: Magic - Support <<

>> Arin: Mixed Attacker (Offence and Magic) <<

>> Suzy: Support <<

>> Ross: Status Expert <<

>> Barry: Offence - Status Expert <<

>> Matt & Ryan: Summoners <<

>> Ninja Brian: Fast - Glass Cannon <<

>> Danny: Skills <<

> Jew Laser: Danny fires a fabulous laser of jew-ness from his Star of David (MP Cost: 5)

> Impeccable Aim: According to Danny, while in the shower, he can piss with perfect accuracy. This attack will never miss. (MP Cost: 11)

> Dinosaur Lasers: Oh yeah, hell yeah, just a classic dinosaur laser fight! (MP Cost: 19)

> Infinidagger: Hellooooooooooo! Oh uh… Danny fires off a laser sword. (MP Cost: 13)

> Nook Book: A certain greedy tanuki throws his book at enemies. Increases the amount of gold dropped by enemies by 10% (MP Cost: 20)

> Fired and Missed: Danny tries his best to fire at an enemy, but misses. This somehow gives allies a 10% Accuracy Boost (MP Cost: 27)

> Draconic Slayer: Danny seals the deal with his dragon slaying steel (MP Cost: 33)

> Dreidel Destruction: Danny summons forth a giant dreidel to grind down enemies, which also heals the party for 30% of each member's HP

>> Arin: Skills <<

> Fart Ripper: Arin unleashes a nasty one, causing enemies to have a chance to be inflicted with the Disgusted (Poison) Status (MP Cost: 6)

> It’s No Use: Arin just straight up chucks Silver at his enemies. Nuff said. (MP Cost: 11)

> Metal Gear Awesome: Embracing his inner Snake, Arin loads enemies full of lead (MP Cost: 20)

> Turnip Smash: Arin pulls out a giant a*s turnip from nowhere and smashes it on the target enemy (MP Cost: 24)

> F*cking Purple Plant: Arin unleashes his inner frustration for a certain giant purple plant in the form of an attack. (MP Cost: 31)

> Chin Cannon: I’m not even sure how this one works. A giant cannon appears from Arin’s many chins, and blasts the enemies to pieces. (MP Cost: 38)

>> Suzy: Skills <<

> Butt Pat: Much like what Mochi has her or Arin do, Suzy pats a party member's butt, healing them up for around 15% of their Max HP (MP Cost : 6)

> Tummy Rubs: Suzy rubs the belly of her fellow party members, to soothe their tummy rumblies, which cures an ally of a Status Effect (MP Cost: 13)

> Mascara Glance: By applying an appropriate amount of mascara to an ally, she increases the targeted ally’s Accuracy by 10% (MP Cost: 15)

> Concealer Spread: Using the power of concealer, Suzy can increase the M.Def of an ally by 10% (MP Cost: 15)

> Merciful Gift: Granted to her from a certain angel in a certain FPS created by a certain gaming company, Suzy can heal an ally for 45% of their max HP (MP Cost: 17)

> Table Flipper: I mean, why not right? I’m sure a FRICKIN WOODEN TABLE can provide SOME FORM OF DEFENCE. Increases the Def of an ally by 20% (MP Cost: 20)

> Group Mom: She’s like… the only female of the Grumps, so she’s kinda the group mom at this point. Heals all allies for 15% of their Max HP (MP Cost: 19)

> Polished Nails: Using the glossiness of Nail Polish, Suzy can (some how) increase the Attack of an ally by 15% (MP Cost: 25)

>> Ross: Skills <<

> Ripped: Ross tells the scrublords to come at him, as he says he is ripped. Boosts P.Atk by 10% (MP Cost: 7)

> Interruption: Just like how Ross would constantly interrupt Danny, he interrupts the enemy. Inflicts the Interrupted (Mute) Status. (MP Cost: 10)

> Shotgun Sh*t: By blasting enemies with his sh*t like a blast from a shotgun, Ross inflicts the Disgusted (Poison) Status on enemies (MP Cost: 17)

> The VVVVVV Effect: By constantly turning enemies upside down and rightside up, he inflicts the Vertigo (Dizzy) Status on enemies (MP Cost: 22)

> Bird Lover: Empowered by his bird lover, Ross can inflict the Quickie (Lucky) Status on allies (MP Cost: 30)

>> Barry: Skills <<

> Friendship Bits: Barry fires off "friendship bits", which TOTALLY don't deal any damage at all (except they do, you IDIOT) (MP Cost: 7)

> Door Kick: He wished that one day, when Danny and Arin asked him to edit something in, he would kick the door open and just yell “NO!” (MP Cost: 13)

> Mandolin Strum: Using his fine Mandolin skills, he’s able to inflict the Calm (Regen) Status on Allies (MP Cost: 21)

> Ever-seeing Editor: Harnessing his ever-seeing editor vision, he’s able to view the data of an enemy (MP Cost: 10)

> Double Barry Shotgun: With the help of Barry (the one from Resident Evil), they both fire off powerful shotgun shots at enemies (MP Cost: 29)

> Kind Shield: With the help of a certain aquatic warrior, Barry can inflict the Protection (Guarded) Status on allies (MP Cost: 32)

>> Matt & Ryan: Skills <<

> Burgie: Burgie comes down from the sky to deliver greasy justice upon all enemies (MP Cost: 10)

> Commander Holly: Holly flies down from space on a giant pigeon, firing space lasers from it's eyes (MP Cost: 15)

> Jon: One of the old grumps, Jon flies in on Jacques, and yells ECH, which somehow is able to harm enemies (MP Cost: 20)

> Wolfjob: It’s f*cking Wolfjob. Need I say more? (MP Cost: 25)

> Buntd, : The strongest Beedrill I have ever seen. He pierces the body of a single enemy with deadly power (MP Cost: 30)

>> Ninja Brian: Skills <<

> Keytar Swipe: Ninja Brian smashes enemies with his sweet keytar, which somehow doesn’t break. (MP Cost: 8 )

> Guy Blow: Just like how he did in his gay dreams, he’ll blow an enemy, much to everyone’s dismay. This can inflict the Orgasmed (Stun) Status on Enemies. (MP Cost: 13)

> Science Man: Using his extensive science knowledge, he can blow the mind of an enemy about how something doesn’t make scientific sense. (MP Cost: 21)

> Manticore Fury: Ninja Brian unleashes his inner manticore, and delivers swift death to enemies. But this attack often misses. (MP Cost: 31)

> Best Dad: Using his dadly strength, he bashes a single enemy to protect his daughter (MP Cost: 38)

> PhD Pummel: Brian summons forth copies of his PhD to pummel the enemies to pieces (MP Cost: 42)

>> Combo Skills <<

> Lactose Shart: Arin + Ross. Ross chugs down some milk, releasing a toxic gas cloud, which Arin powers up with the sheer power of his sh*t

> Ross Shot: Arin + Ross. Empowered by Ross believing in him, Arin receives a one attack only 50% Atk and M.Atk boost

> Nerd Duo: Danny + Ross: By embracing their inner nerds, Danny and Ross increase the party’s M.Atk by 20%

> Starbomb Smash: Danny + Arin: By absorbing the power of every game featured in Starbomb, Danny and Arin unleash a powerful laser blast of stars to blow away enemies… IT’S TIME TO MOTHERFUCKIN SMASH!!!

> Patch Power Pummeling: Using the strongest of all Metamortexes, Danny and Arin sew, stitch, iron, and many other fabric and yarn references the enemies to pieces

>> Support Skills <<

> Holly: Skills <

> Miitopian Magic: By harnessing her knowledge of the miitopian arcane, she blasts enemies with a powerful flame

> Jimmy: Skills <

> Pepsi Cannon: Jimmy pops open a cold one, which he then blasts towards the enemy

> Markimoo: Skills <

> Stache Smack: By growing his infamous mustache to obscene proportions, Mark slams his Warfstache down onto enemies

> Mother Fuckin Smash: That’s the last goddamn straw! Arin is fed up with it all, and deals large amounts of damage to all enemies.

>> Ultimate Skills <<

> Danny - 6969 - Using the power of his sheer f*cking sexiness and bangosity, Danny unleashes his full sexual wrath, dealing massive damage to all enemies

> Arin -

> Suzy - Merciful Maiden - Using her inner Mercy, Suzy both fully revives any fallen party members, but also heals damaged allies back up to full

> Ross - 7 Human Souls: Using the power of the 7 Human Souls, Ross grants the Determined (Brave) and Calm (Regen) Status on allies

> Barry -

> Matt & Ryan -

> Ninja Brian - Father Daughter Mollywop: Brian calls in Audrey’s robot, and using the power of their Father Daughter bond, they deal massive damage to all enemies

>> Buffs <<

> Calm (Regen) - Slowly restores HP over time

> Protection (Guarded) - Allies take 0 damage from enemy attacks for 1 turn

> Determined (Brave) - Boosts the Crit Rate of an Ally for a short time

> Quickie (Lucky) - Allies will evade enemy attacks more frequently

>> Debuffs <<

> Disgusted (Poison) - Slowly takes damage over time

> Interrupted (Mute) - Can’t use skills for a period of time (wears off after battle)

> Vertigo (Dizzy) - Inflicted could hit an ally

> Orgasmed (Stun) - Can’t perform actions for a few turns

#holy shit this longer than I thought it was #give me suggestions if you all wanna #Game Grumps #My Idea #Pls don steal #Worked too hard to have it all stolen

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holylulusworld · 5 months ago

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How to cure a grump masterlist

Summary: You’re losing your job on Christmas.

Pairing: CEO/Boss!Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, grumpy Bucky, awful boss, mistake identity trope, kinda fake dating trope, snowed-in trope, fluff?

MAIN STORY

How to cure a grump (1)

How to cure a grump (2)

How to cure a grump (3)

How to cure a grump (4)

How to cure a grump (5)

How to cure a grump (6)

How to cure a grump (7)

How to cure a grump (8)

How to cure a grump (9)

How to cure a grump (10)

How to cure a grump (11)

How to cure a grump (12)

SNIPPETS

Htcag - A post Christmas snippet

TBA

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x female reader #business au #ceo!bucky barnes #snowed in trope #bucky barnes x y/n #angst #fluff #enemies to lovers #slow burn

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cinful-stories · 8 years ago

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Rule: Answer 30 Questions and Tag 30 People

(I was tagged by my Tumblr pal @phantomchou a long time ago to do this, and I just now found the time! I’m sorry about that)

1. Nickname: I often get called by my last name, but I don’t want to give that information out. I also get called Pansy and Little Cricket.

2. Gender: Female

3. Astrological sign: Virgo

4. Height: 5'5’ or 165 cm.

5. Current time: 10:50 p.m.

6. Birthday: September 12

7. Favorite Bands: U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Cure, Cage the Elephant, the Lumineers, Florence + the Machine, Nirvana, Panic! At the Disco, Gorillaz

8. Favorite Solo Artists: Bon Iver, Halsey, Hozier, Sia, Lady Gaga, John Mayer

9. Song stuck in my head: “Someone New” by Hozier

10. Last movie I’ve watched: Kong: Skull Island. It was my first King Kong movie.

11. Last show I watched: does YouTube count? If so, Game Grumps. If not, Bob’s Burgers. I don’t really watch much television anymore.

12. When did I create my blog?: I actually switched my inactive main blog to this MidCin blog, so the actual account has been around for a few years, but I’ve only been active since July.

13. What do I post?: Anything MidCin related. Stories, headcanons, art, character aesthetics, moodboards, etc.

14. Last Thing I Googled: "Astrology Natal Chart"

15. Do I have another blog?: No

16. Do I get asks?: Only when I’m holding a suitor ships event. I don’t get asks without being prompted. I’d love to receive some though!

17. Why did I choose this name for my blog?: I used to frequently write fanfiction on Quotev (I still do on occasion), and the title of one of my stories was To Infinity and Beyond. I also consider myself to be a pretty talented artist; therefore, I combined my passions of writing and art in my URL since I anticipated it being my main blog…but as you can see, plans change.

18. Blogs I’m following: 110

19. Followers: 82, and I’m really grateful for that!

20. Favorite colors: mustard yellow and wine red

21. Average hours of sleep: 9 on the weekends, 6 during the school week

22. Lucky number: 17

23. Instruments: Piano and the French horn.

24. What I’m wearing: Baby blue blouse with red/ purple flowers. Bell bottom jeans, brown sandals.

25. How many blankets I sleep with: I use one blanket and a single layer of bedsheets

26. Dream job: Psychiatrist in a private practice while balancing enough time to be a creative writer.

27. Dream trip: Backpacking across Western Europe.

28. Favorite food: Kraft Mac & Cheese. I know it’s horrible for my health and it’s a kid’s meal, but I can’t shake the taste for it.

29. Nationality: American (if you haven’t been able to tell already from my excessive use of the word ‘y'all’)

30. Favorite Song: “New Year’s Day” by U2

(And that’s a wrap! I know a lot of people have already been tagged for this, so I’m going to skip that step and not annoy people. If you haven’t been tagged and want to be, leave a reply and I’ll change it!)

#thirtyquestions #tag #personal #not midcin related #fyi

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curious-traveller-lumiro · 8 years ago

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1 TO 19 @W@

SHITTUS @W@

1.) What’s your first name? Murilo, ey owo/

2.) How old are you? 900 year old, legit \owo

3.) What’s your favorite subject in school? English, I destroy dat shit. (also chemistry)

4.) Coffee or tea? Both, fuk yu ;w;

5.) What are your main ships? I dunno, I like all kinds of ships \owo\

5.) Do you have any NOTP’s? I think NO o3o

6.) What is your sexuality? Straight owo/

7.) What is your current relationship status? Taken, by my bed (jk, she also doesn’t like me dat much, so single \owo)

8.) Who is your favorite singer/band? *Indecision noises*

9.) Use song lyrics to describe your current or last relationship I don’t know any lyrics that are better than “I fucked it up” \;w;

10.) If you were immortal, what would you do with your life? Get stronger, eat a lot, run a lot, study a lot, and be sad by seeing friends die around eventualy, having to go forward and make things like cancer-cure (Yes, I have immortality plans \owo\)

11.) If you only had 24 hours left to live, who would you spend it with and what would you be doing? Make text saying that I’ll die and send to friends, hug mom and pets and family hard, and think about a nice sentence to say before dying.

12.) Do you have any scars? Only emotional ones wakeymiupinsidu

13.) What is your favorite type of flower? Azaleas e3e

14.) What are your dreams for the future? Be great youtuber/streamer \owo/ (call me super stupid)

15.) What is your current favorite show? Game Grumps? It internet show o3o

16.) Would you like to have kids one day> If so, how many? Nu, but maybe if waifu really REALLY wanted \owo

17.) Use song lyrics to describe your best friend *Indecision-noises-cuzbestfriendusaretoocuullandstuffuomg*

18.) Use song lyrics to describe your life. wakeymiupinsidu

19.) Any advice you would give to your younger followers? Don’t mind the shitposts e3e

BOM THERE IT IS @W@

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lalka-laski · 5 years ago

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1. State your name: Elizabeth

2. State the name that your parents almost named you: My name was either going to be Catherine Elizabeth or Elizabeth Catherine and they drew slips of paper out of a hat to determine which.

3. Which of your relatives do you get along with the most? My sisters or my cousin Rachel

4. What was your first job? Camp counselor

5. Which of your relatives do you despise the most? Uhh, there’s some I don’t get along with and there are a few I consider not so great people. But I don’t despise any of them.

6. Did anything embarassing happen this week? Not that I can think of

7. Do you miss your ex? Not even a little bit! I have everything I could’ve ever wished for in a partner now and nothing else could compare

8. Do you ever dream about your ex? Not really

9. What is your favorite color of clothing to wear? I gravitate towards pastels and feminine colors, but I love classic black too.

10. How do you wear your makeup? Pretty natural and normal looking. The “no makeup” makeup look is my go-to.

11. What are some of your nicknames? Lala, Little Bit/Lil Bit, Enebis, Ela, Lizzie, Liz

12. How many bedrooms are in your house? One

13. How many bathrooms? One

14. Do you have a job? Sure do

15. Do you have a car? Sure don’t

16. Do you think you will go to college? Been there, done that. Wait actually, I’m considering going back for a Master’s at some point so...

17. Tell me what you think hate means: I don’t feel like getting all philosophical. I’m here for a good time, ok?

18. What is your definition of ugly: Physically or emotionally unappealing, I guess?

19. What is your definition of beauty: There is no singular definition of beauty and that has been one of the most freeing and empowering realizations of my life.

20. Do you have muscles? We all HAVE muscles. I just don’t have very defined ones.

21. How about abs? See above

22. Do you work out every week? Not even close.

23. Did you brush your teeth this morning? Of course

24. Name a fact that you think is bullshit: I don’t believe that we swallow seven spiders a year in our sleep or however that tidbit goes.

25. Have you ever seen Pen and Tellers Bullshit? Nope

26. Do you like Obama? I do

27. Did you like Bush? For sure not

28. Something about your neighbors that you hate: My upstairs neighbors have incredibly perfect timing for thumping around and making a ruckus. And by perfect timing I mean- as soon as I start drifting to sleep.

29. Something about your neighbors that you like: The only one Ive ever interacted with beyond a polite “hello” is the guy who lives across the hall. He’s a friendly dude!

30. Has your neighborhood ever thrown a block party? I don’t think so

31. Have you ever kissed someone you never saw again? Yes

32. Have you ever held hands with someone of the same sex? Yeah, what a weird question

33. What kind of bathing suit do you wear? I have a few different styles

34. Do you like your eyes? I have a greater appreciation for them now that my boyfriend is obsessed with them. Every day he examines them and goes “alright, what color are they today?”

35. Do you think you are pretty? I am growing more and more comfortable with myself/my appearance thanks to my boyfriend.

36. What do you think of girls who are ugly, who think they are hot? If you think you’re hot, you are hot. And I respect the hell out of that!

37. Have you ever called someone fat? Yes but I wouldn’t do that again.

38. Have you ever confronted someone who was making fun of a stranger? I don’t think I’ve ever been in such a situation

39. Are you a bully? Absolutely not

40. Have you ever called a complete stranger fat before? This survey is WILD lol

41. Do mean people lack a soul? I’d say so

42. Have you ever put a curse on someone who said something mean about you? Daily

43. Have you ever practiced witch craft? It’s debatable

44. What do you think of Satanists? I respect them

45. Did you know people who practice satanism could curse you? That’s not what satanism is about. In my experience with it, it’s about the rejection of organized religion and the exposure of hypocrisies and injustices. They don’t actually believe in Satan and they certainly don’t worship him.

46. Do you believe in hexes? Maybe

47. Do you believe in vampires? I’m sure there’s actual blood suckers out there.

48. Who was the last person you cussed at? I can’t remember. That’s not really my style.

49. Do you have a jacuzzi? I wish!

50. How much money is in your pocket right this moment? Zero dollars and zero cents. I don’t even have pockets in these pants

51. How much money is in your checking account? I don’t know the exact dollar amount and I wouldn’t disclose it even if I did.

52. How much is in your savings? See above

53. Are you well off? I’m getting by

54. Do you have kids? Not yet. But I have two little girls I watch who keep me very busy and satisfy all my baby urges!

55. Do you want kids (for those who dont have them)? Someday yes

56. What do you think of people on welfare? That’s not my business at all and I’m happy there are resources available for those who need it.

57. If we had a war over a tax on tea, why the hell have we accepted a tax on everything else? Uhhh...

58. Are you smart? I’m book smart.

59. Did you ever get left back in school? Nope

60. How many times have you gotten after school detention? I did once in sixth grade because I forgot my homework so many times in a week. I was always a strong student and got top grades. However, I’m also easily distracted and a bit absentminded. So it wasn’t that I didn’t DO the homework, it’s that I didn’t turn it in.

61. How many times have you gotten in school suspension? Never

62. Have you ever been expelled? If yes, what for? Again, never.

63. What is your worst subject in school? Math of any sort and most forms of hard sciences. I excelled in humanities and arts though.

64. Tell me what your back pack looks like: I don’t have one

65. Who is the ugliest person in your school? Based on 'the inside': I’m not in school. Not that I would even answer this question regardless...

66. Who is the happiest person you know? Hannah, the 2 year old I’m watching right now. Her laugh and smile could cure even the most severe grump!

67. Who is the loudest perosn you know? That might also be Hannah

68. Who is the most annoying person you have ever met? No response

69. What celebrity do you think is hot? Idris Elba, Brandon Flowers, Shakira

70. Did you read Twilight? Shamefully, yes. I think only the first one or two books though. Not that it makes it any less embarrassing. But in my defense, I was a teen girl at the height of its fame!

71. Last movie you saw in theatre: Toy Story 4

72. Are you dating the same person you dated last year? Yep!

73. Has someone you were dating ever cheated on you? Yes

74. Have you ever cheated?

75. Have you ever flirted with someone online that you never met? I guess sort of?

76. Have you ever met with someone you met online? I did a brief stint on Tinder but only went on two in-person dates. God, I’m so glad to be past that phase!

77. Have you ever been mean to someone just to make yourself feel better? Maybe when I was younger and less self-aware. Of course that’s not behavior I’d exhibit anymore though.

78. Tell me one thing, about yourself, that makes you an ugly person? This survey is obsessed with beauty and ugliness, huh? Well I’d say my least appealing trait is my jealousy but I’m working on that

79. Have you been honest? In this survey? Yes

80. Have you ever done drugs? No hard drugs

0 notes

anautisticdragon-blog · 8 years ago

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Sonic Kids: An Introspective

I'll open this with a bit of truth that's going to leave a lot of middle-aged men angry with me, unfortunately. I didn't think that Sonic Mania was very good, at all. In fact, I don't believe that it was even necessary.

In my opinion, Freedom Planet did more to move the genre forward than Sonic Mania had at any point. Mania is no more than a mere revisit to a different time, it hasn't really evolved beyond that at all. It still has the same litany of poor design choices that don't stand up to modern scrutiny.

Take that timer, for example. The one that forces you to rush through a level rather than taking the time to actually examine, explore, and enjoy your environs. That's such an archaic, outmoded concept to even begin with. If I were involved in the development of Sonic Mania, that's one of the first (of many) elements I would've dropped. Though to put it frankly, my attempt would've just looked like Freedom Planet.

Freedom Planet is essentially why we didn't even need Sonic Mania. I think that anything that Sonic Mania does with at least some competence, FP does better on every level.

So why does it exist?

Middle-aged men. And don't fool yourself, the people who complain about Sonic OCs on forums aren't youngsters. I'm too familiar with their lexicon to be fooled by that argument, their terms and language are too outdated by even contemporary teen standards. No, these are middle-aged men.

So why are middle-aged men clamouring for Sonic Mania, whilst putting down everything else that dares to be something different? Why did the same kind of middle-aged men try to tell us that Science ruined dinosaurs when we learned that many had feather-laden hides? Nostalgia.

It appears to me that the more lacking a person is in self-awareness (which some hipsters would like to rebrand as its hip, shades-wearing uncle 'Theory of Mind,' but let's not go there), the more prone to nostalgia they are. They're frozen forever in a moment of time, unable to free themselves.

I mean, sure, there are periods of time that I liked, too, but I'm not beholden to them. Nor do I see those as being superior to any other. If I were riddled with nostalgia then -- being in their age bracket -- I'd be all about the 8- and 16-bit eras. What I've found is that under modern scrutiny, those don't really stand up to contemporary examination.

I have been known to wistfully long for development houses and genres lost to the sands of time, but that isn't quite the same as nostalgia. That's more of a feeling of disappointment that a form of entertainment was robbed of its potential to evolve. Consider that most of the Japanese video games industry has disappeared, then look at titles like Xenoblade Chronicles X to see what they could be if they were still at the height of their power.

That there's so little like Xenoblade is a point I mourn, but it isn't quite the same thing as the nostalgia goggles worn by the hordes of middle-aged men who're clinging to Sonic Mania as though it were some kind of fursuit-clad son of Christ.

Saying that, I do want to see Jesus in a fursuit.

And here's another unfortunate truth for those lost in their special moment in time: I enjoyed Sonic Forces. I thought it was aces because I was able to see beyond myself and understand why it would appeal to children. To give a child the opportunity to create their own character and play alongside another that they love the media of? That's something special, and I'm pleased with Sonic Team for realising what their core demographic actually is.

Children. FYI. In case you hadn't figured that out.

You see, SEGA is pandering to the middle-aged men with average titles like Sonic Mania, which are essentially dressed up fan-games so that these unfortunate individuals can rant on about a 'return to form for Sonic,' showing the least amount of self-awareness possible. All the while, the youngsters get to enjoy Sonic Forces, unbeholden to this nostalgia.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that SEGA is figuring it out. They're getting smart about it. They're throwing scraps (Mania) to the middle-aged men so that Sonic Team can work on titles for younger audiences without drawing so much attention from a crowd of adults who really shouldn't be paying attention to it in the first place.

So, I suppose this leads to the question of why these middle-aged men feel so angry and violated when a developer chooses to make a title that's clearly aimed at a younger audience, eh? That comes down to the incorrect perspective they have of 'what kids enjoy.'

Before I get into that, though, you know it's funny that even Game Grumps had the self-awareness to understand that there would be kids who'd be absolutely delighted with Sonic Forces. They were able to abstract themselves with the possibility of growing up in today's world, and they realised they'd be smitten with a game like Forces. Good for them!

All the middle-aged men reviewing a game like Forces and smiting it with their angry, bile-ridden words because it isn't Mania? Well... Let's just say that Mania/Forces is turning into the most successful litmus test of self-awareness that I've witnessed in quite some time.

So! Middle-aged men tend to view console gaming as 'for them.' They grew up with it, so they 'own' it, you see. It's their 'territory,' and children don't 'belong' there. Now whilst you might roll your eyes at this (understandably!), that is how many of these middle-aged men feel. So I'm rolling my eyes right alongside you, here. It's not exactly a great situation.

Every G4M3R out there, the kinds of middle-aged men that made up G4M3R-G4TE! for example? They think that they own the entertainment medium of video games, and that all titles should be crafted to suit their needs and desires. This isn't that different than the privilege problem that cishet, white, and healthy people experience.

"PROPERLY DRESSED BLACK WOMEN AS HEROES IN MY VIDEO GAMES????"

And that's one of the reasons we have the Alt-Right, conversely. Angry middle-aged men who can't deal with an ever changing, evolving world that's left them behind.

And Sonic is one of the things of the Olde Wurlde that they cling to. So they cling to Sonic Mania with dear life as a sort of shamanistic totem of what their reality used to be like. That's part of how nostalgia functions and why individuals like myself (whatever the fuck makes me like I am) aren't so beholden to the allure. Nostalgia preys on a lack of self-awareness.

Feathered dinosaurs were a litmus test of self-awareness. And now Sonic Mania/Forces is a litmus test of self-awareness. It's actually helpful, though, to find out the kinds of people who're worth bothering to listen to and to try communicating with as what I've found is that people who're devoid of any form of self-awareness are equally devoid of empathy as well. They're not exactly the most fantastic people, even though their ilk seem to be the most commonplace.

And if you doubt anything I've said? Consider the facts.

Middle-aged men really do consider console gaming to be a field that they exclusively own. Do you think that those who're reviewing video games now are younger than 30? I invite you to research this as I have! You'll find that most of them aren't. In fact, a lot of them are approaching or even over 40.

Middle-aged men are clinging to Sonic Mania like it's some second coming or however that works. I'm not a very religious person even though I do try to practice tolerance so forgive me if I get any of my terminologies wrong, here. They treat Mania as though it's the only kind of Sonic game that anyone would want to play. Thing is? Kids don't really like Mania at all.

It's funny. Sonic Boom, the game, was a deeply flawed title to be sure, but at the same time it was a bit of fun and certainly a title that the kids could enjoy. It had that Skylanders magic about it. I noticed, at the time, that there were some younger folk putting up videos saying that they quite liked it despite whatever flaws it had. Do you remember that?

Probably not. They were drowned out by middle-aged men spamming YouTube with videos of how awful it was and that SEGA needs to learn from this and make another 2D Sonic game because self-awareness is a sin, everyone! Did you hear the news? Self-awareness is a sin!

Yes, yes. I know, I know. Sonic Boom was an over-ambitious, buggy mess. I know. However, it understood the much younger audience that SEGA was trying to tap into and that younger audience actually enjoyed Boom for what it was. And despite middle-aged men raging about the 'terrible designs' of the Sonic Boom TV show, there are plenty of kids who simply love the show. Thing is? It seems like SEGA knows how to listen to those kids better than their own nostalgia-laden parents do. That's... kind of sad.

Then again, as an autistic person I've noticed that neurotypical parents would rather listen to Autism Speaks (as horrible and unethical as they are) telling them that their autistic children are demons who need cures, rather than realising that their kids are simply different and that they need to learn to accommodate to their child's differently functioning mind as opposed to demanding that their child be some kind of witless clone of their parents.

And it all comes back to self-awareness, doesn't it? I wonder to myself sometimes if the reason autism is becoming more prevalent is because humanity is -- in general -- too lacking in self-awareness to be able to survive. I usually want to think that autistic people appear to be, on average, fairly great at introspection and self-awareness. I’m prone to thinking that we're here to do the thinking that other kinds of minds aren't really able to. At least, that's how it feels, sometimes. I am making efforts to not think like this any more, but some days are more trying and difficult than others. It's just false association, of course, I feel that because I am actually autistic and because neurotypicals are always telling me I lack 'Theory of Mind,' I tend to reflect that back on them and attribute my self-awareness to autism out of my association with it and my spite toward them. I'm aware of that. It's not great. Definitely a character flaw.

So... I know that's simply not the case, but it feels like so many people out there are so lacking in any kind of self-awareness and/or empathy that they can't see beyond their own nose. They can't ask why any particular game might be popular with their own kid. Instead, they'd rather force their kid to like the same kinds of games that they like. Which is likely why many kids have felt obligated to turn to mobile gaming just to get away from their... over-enthusiastic parents.

"Oh! You're sitting at the console! Turn off that Minecraft junk! Here, let me put on this game that I like and you can play that instead! It's called Sonic Mania, you'll love it! I just want to watch you play it, okay???"

Essentially, there are kids out there who'll love stuff like Minecraft, Sonic Forces, Skylanders, and so on but because it isn't like what their middle-aged parents (who also grew up with consoles) enjoyed? It's not the kinds of games that their parents think they should be playing. Their kids should go through the same gaming history that they did.

I actually had a moment in the past where I wondered if I'd introduce any kid I choose to have to my history with games, it was an interesting exploration in my head but I realised that it would lead them to resent me for forcing them to be out of touch. Introspection for the win, I suppose. I realised it'd be okay to present them with a lot of options, both old and brand new, and let them figure out what their tastes and opinions then are. I'd support them in whatever they wanted.

Sadly, most parents don't even think about this. They don't seem to think about a whole lot of anything, frankly, which is why most of them go into parenthood unprepared and fail spectacularly at it. Even though I don't know if I'll ever choose to have a child (it's a huge responsibility, and I'd adopt rather than procreating due to the feelings my partner and I have about over-population), but if I did? I'd be ready.

I watch most parents stumble into it, though. And... well, their kids end up scarred, fucked up, and generally a mess because their parents weren't even remotely ready. I know mine weren't. I didn't exactly have a great childhood, and I see many kids out there being exposed to the same. There's this part of my brain that just nags at me and says that every would-be parent should have to apply for a license and pass tests of introspection, self-awareness, and responsibility to even have their first child, and then even those who do should be limited to just one child regardless of their financial status and privilege (or even lack thereof).

This has been a very weird little piece and I apologise. It's just why this journal of mine exists, isn't it? I vent here, I do so because I feel that need. Sometimes I look at this world and I want to say something about it, though I'm not the sort to burden anyone with it so I'll just leave it here.

Anyway, to wrap up? My experience is that Japan has been better at understanding what a younger audience wants than the West. I think that, generally, this comes from being a more introverted nation that has a more natural introspection. That might just be my biases at work and I accept that, so I'm not saying that that's absolutely the reason but I do know that they're better at paying attention to what kids want.

Sonic Forces is just Japanese developers being attuned to what would make children happy these days. And injecting their own characters into a Sonic game is what the younger generations have wanted to do for quite some time. Consider how many kids created 'zoosonas' when Zootopia happened, it was such a hit with younger audiences that their imaginations ran with it and they all wanted a character of their own to live in this world. Being a kid is all about imagination, after all.

Sadly, it seems like a lot of people leave imagination behind when they leave being a kid behind. You hit 18, your brain gets pruned, and now you've no longer got any imagination, or any capacity for self-awareness, introspection, or empathy to speak of. You know I'm not generalising when I say that this applies quite broadly. I might be being a touch cynical in saying that it even goes as far as most people, but it's not exactly wrong.

Sonic Mania teaches us that it's not wrong.

See, what's actually happening here is that these middle-aged men are longing for a time when they had an imagination. They envy kids for still having one, it's a sort of secret, subconscious envy that they aren't aware of but they'd ruin something kids love just to feel better. That's how people are. It's sad. It's genuinely pathetic. Still, that's people for you.

Yeah, there are exceptions but unfortunately they tend to be those that prove the rule, rather than being enough to disprove it. The McElroys stand out by being an exception, if everyone was as accepting, open-minded, and as capable of the levels of self-awareness, introspection, and imagination that they are? Well, we'd have a lot of goddamn funny podcasts now!

But we don't, do we?

What we do have is a bunch of angry, middle-aged men ranting about how Sonic has changed, hating the Boom incarnations and their designs, and generally just... yeah. I know that Chris-chan is exemplary of a certain kind of mental disorder but the sad truth is is that if these middle-aged men had impaired impulse-control and didn't feel any shame?

Well, they'd all be Chris-chan. Every last one of them. Chris-chan is just a middle-aged man with no shame or impulse control. He's a low functioning sociopath, which is very unfortunate for him but he serves as an example.

And whilst these middle-aged men would ridicule Chris-chan, they hold Sonic up in exactly the same kind of way as he does. They treat Sonic like a holy symbol, a religious icon.

And that's why Sonic Mania exists.

I don't like Sonic Mania very much, you know. I'm just not a fan. I don't think the game is all that impressive, but I also generally don't appreciate the scene, either. I wish these middle-aged men could just enjoy Sonic Mania and allow younger audiences to like whatever it is that they like.

And yes, I am saying that fans of Sonic Mania are effectively Chris-chan but WITH impulse-control, the capacity for shame, and even less imagination. Is that wrong? I don't think it is.

If the white-striped, red shoe fits...

So hopefully that's going to be an overdue jab in the arm of self-awareness for anyone who happens to read this.

#sonic #sonic mania #chris-chan #self-awareness

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