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emsylcatac · 5 years

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Oh man, really appreciating the extra French cultural insight on ML, so thank you for all of your elucidating! Have you made any posts covering common school events/milestones, and/or how teens tend to celebrate holidays in Paris? I know exams are different and that proms aren't really a thing, and the show has given us some insight into field trips (not too different), but do you know of anything else fandom tends to miss?

Heya!! :D

Thanks for your feedback & you’re very welcome!!

I haven’t done any post regarding school events or holidays yet, so let’s do that now!

School events/milestones:

First just a quick explanation of the French scholar system:

Maternelle (= Kindergarten): 3 years, from 3-4yo to 5-6yo – Petite section · Moyenne section · Grande section

Primaire (= Primary school): 5 years, from 6-7yo to 10-11yo – CP · CE1 · CE2 · CM1 · CM2

Collège (= Secondary school | Junior high school): 4 years, from 11-12yo to 14-15yo – 6ème (said sixième) · 5ème (cinquième) · 4ème (quatrième) · 3ème (troisième) – school start around 8:30am and ends around 4:30pm, with 1h lunch-break and 15min break in the morning & afternoon. – except on Wednesday ends around 11:30 or 12:30.

Lycée (= High school): 3 years, from 15-16yo to 17-18yo – 2nd (said seconde) · 1ère (première) · Tale (terminale) – Same about breaks & lunch breaks & start of school, but usually ends around 5:30pm. – except on Wednesday ends around 11:30 or 12:30 (or if you’re unlucky like I was the school organises exams on Wednesday afternoon from 2 to 4h straight but most schools have free Wednesdays afternoon)

Currently, Marinette & Adrien are in their finale year of ‘collège’ so in ‘3ème’ (called ‘troisème’).

So about major end-of the year exams:

End of 3ème (around the end of June usually): ‘Brevet’ – it’s a national exam and every student in the whole France have the same examination questions. They have to revise courses they had during the whole year and can be pretty much interrogated on anything they’ve learned. One exam per subject. Writing exam subjects are: French, Mathematics (main ones), History/Geography, Sciences (with Physics/Chemistry and/or Earth&Life Sciences and/or Technology). Added to that, they have an oral exam. It’s about Art History or a project they’ve conducted throughout the year (alone or in groups, however they get an individual score) Side note: this one is pretty ‘easy’ to have and you really need to want to fail to actually fail. It also takes into account the general score you have during the year and allows you to have a few points in advance. For instance, I was a good student and my general score was high enough for me to have enough points to already have the ‘brevet’ before even taking up the exam. It’s usually the case if your general score is equal or above 16/20 I think)

End of Terminale (around mid-June): ‘Baccalauréat’ – it’s again a national exam but much more important. You can’t pursue your studies if you haven’t passed it and will need to repeat the Terminale year. Subjects vary depending the course students chose when they entered their “1ère” year (it’s kind of a lot to explain everything there especially because the system have completely changed this year and teachers & parents are complaining about it, so I’m going to quickly talk about the ‘old’ system where basically you chose between scientific course, economic & social course or arts course; there’s others but those were the main ones). Again, you need to revise everything you’ve learned throughout the year and can be interrogated on anything. There’s writing exams as well as oral exams and practical exams (for sciences).Side note: Contrary to the ‘brevet’ this one is harder to get. I’m not saying it’s super hard, but students with school difficulties can fail even if they worked for it. Only the score you get at this exam is taken into account, not the general score you got during the year so you can’t “have” your Baccalauréat before taking up the exam.

End of 1ère: some exams of the “Baccalauréat” occur in the 1ère year but not a lot as well as a group project.

Proms, holidays & others undercut to avoid long post:

Regarding school proms, we indeed don’t have them as much as people in Canada or the US. It mostly depends of your school: some will organise them at the end of 3ème or Terminale because it’s the end of a ‘cycle’ sort of, but they’re mostly just events with food brought by everyone and music. You rarely have to find a partner to go to a prom with you, except maybe if the school you’re in has decided on that. Some schools don’t organise any.

Other special event that can be organised in your school (and again it depends how strict the director is and all) is carnival. We all come with disguises for the day. My ‘lycée’ was pretty strict about it but we managed to allow it during my finale year and organise a concert during lunch-time. We had to be recognisable though so no full-mask or full-makeup. But the previous years it was forbidden. We didn’t have any carnivals during collège. It again also depends on your school’s policy.

________________

Holidays

We have 4 in-between holidays and one summer holidays:

“Vacances de la Toussaint” (vacances meaning holidays): 2 weeks around end of October & Beginning of November, including the 1st of November. Usually, people tend to stay at home or visit family members that are living far from their home. Some might travel a bit as well but it’s not often. So some teens will visit their friend, maybe celebrate Halloween but Halloween isn’t that big of a thing here and it’s disappearing more and more.

“Vacances de Noël” (= Christmas holidays): 2 weeks including Christmas day and New Year. Mostly spent in family, some might go skiing but it’s rare and there’s less chance to have enough snow for that in the mountains.

“Vacances de Février” (February holidays): 2 weeks in February, sometimes a bit in March; dates change every year because all of the French regions don’t have the same dates for these holidays so teenagers will be in holidays 1st, 2nd or 3rd depending the year & region. Lots of people who can afford it will go skiing in the mountains one week; it’s pretty expensive so not everyone do that but still a lot.

“Vacances de Pâques / vacances de printemps” (Easter holidays / Spring holidays): Again 2 weeks, with dates changing like in February. Mostly around April, sometimes end of March. People tend to stay home or go a bit in the South of France if they can afford it or have enough time where the weather is warmer, some will visit family members, etc.

“Grandes vacances” (= big holidays or as you would say, Summer holidays): Lasts 2 months in July & August. School ends either end of June or beginning of July depending the grade you’re in and the end of the year exams you have, and will start again at the beginning of September. Some teens would go on family holidays somewhere (mostly to the sea or the mountains or abroad), some in summer camps, some would stay at home, some all of those.

Anyway, in all those holidays teens can meet-up and hang-out with their friends, do sleepovers, etc.

________________

School trips

School trips always have a cultural & educational purpose and will depend on the subject they’re being made for. You can visit museums, special cultural or historical places, etc. Most of the time you leave for the day by bus.

In some cases you can do a 3 to 5 days (or more depending your school) trip to another European country like England or Spain or Germany, maybe Italy. Those are opportunities to learn more about the other country’s culture (I know that when we did those trips we stayed in hosting families) learn and speak a bit the language, and learn history of the country depending on the outings of the day.

________________

Anything else fandom tends to miss?

Ok so it could take a lot of time and everything isn’t coming to my mind but one of the main thing I tend to see in fics is “Americanisation” of the French school system if that makes sense. Which is logical because it’s kind of hard to understand how everything works in another country without living in it.

For instance lots of people in fics write things like “they share maths classes together but not French, so Adrien takes Marinette to her class before going to his” and not really: you stay the whole year with the same classmates and share all your courses with them. Only exceptions are if you took some particular options (like someone took Latin and the other took ancient Greek or nothing), or depending the 2nd language you chose to learn (German or Spanish usually but some schools offer more choices). Or if you’re in a practical course, then you class might be split in half but with Marinette & Adrien’s class, they’re already not numerous so I’d say the whole class would share them together.

There’s a lot of other things but they’re not coming to my mind right now or are too long to detail there (for instance what I said above about scientific/economic&social/arts courses), but I’ll make sure to share them if I think about it :)

Thanks for the ask, I hope I answered what you were looking for!! ♥

#ask #mirthalia #ml french culture

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seaside-stories · 3 years

Text

Macbeth-Theatre Kid AU

This is my Macbeth fanfic. It is an American High School Theatrea Kid AU. Characters: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Malcolm, Macduff, Lady Macduff, Siward, Seyton. Word Count: ~4500

Macbeth walked into the first day of school with a sense of pride. His junior year. Almost the oldest in the school. His last year he didn’t have to worry about college. He was going to have such a good time this year.

But of course not without his best friend Banquo. Macbeth spotted him next to a vending machine.

“Banquo!” Macbeth called. “Banquo! Over here!” Macbeth ran over and clapped Banquo on the shoulder. “Good to see you,” he said.

“Macbeth it’s only been two weeks since I last saw you,” Banquo said.

“I know, but I miss you.” Macbeth hugged Banquo. Banquo chuckled.

“Always so dramatic…” he mused. Macbeth let go of Banquo.

“How else would I get the lead in the school play?” he asked. Banquo gave him a knowing smile and the two of them started inside.

The duo walked down the hall asking about the other’s summer, even though they knew full well that they had spent the better part of it together. Suddenly, a door to Macbeth’s right opened and a pretty blonde girl exited the room.

“Lady!” He greeted the girl. “Walk with us.”

And she did. Lady was Macbeth’s sister. She was somehow always surprised when he acted like they hadn’t seen each other in a million years, even if they had only seen each other last a few hours ago.

“Hello, you two,” Lady greeted Banquo and Macbeth rather impatiently. “Where are you going?”

“To see what show we’re putting on, duh!” Macbeth exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Banquo rolled his eyes.

“You know auditions aren’t even until the end of September…” he said.

There was a large bulletin board at the end of the hall. It was covered in posters, both new and old. The actual cork had so many holes one might mistake it for a sponge. But lo and behold, right in front was a rather large poster for the show “Guys and Dolls”. The poster read:

Guys and Dolls Auditions

September 28, 29, and 30

Make an appointment today!

[email protected]

“Oh my god!” Macbeth yelled. “I love ‘Guys and Dolls’!”

“I know, me too,” Banquo said, not matching Macbeth’s enthusiasm. Lady side-eyed them both.

“If you like it so much, audition,” she said. Macbeth wouldn’t stop staring at the poster.

“I know I’m going to get Nathan Detroit! I just know it,” he said with confidence. Banquo nodded with a smile.

“Ms. Weird practically told you that you were going to get the part last June,” Banquo remembered. The three of them stared at the poster for just a bit longer before remembering that they had other classes, too.

…

The first day of school. As a junior, no less. Macduff had to admit, he was a bit excited. For school in general, but also for the school play. Last June, Ms. Weird, his best friend and stage manager, Malcolm and he had picked “Guys and Dolls” to perform this year.

What he wasn’t so excited about, however, was Macbeth. Macbeth was one of the most arrogant people Macduff had ever met. Macbeth thought the whole world should revolve around him and that everything should tailor to him. Sorry, kiddo, but the world just doesn’t work that way, Macduff thought.

Macduff walked into the Dunsinane Academy courtyard and caught Malcolm’s eye. Malcolm walked over to him.

“How was your summer?” Malcolm asked.

“Great, and yours?” Macduff deflected. His summer was horribly boring, to say the least.

“Oh, it was amazing. I went to this sleepaway camp that was a lot of fun. They have a Christmas program too for families. I think I’ll go.” Malcolm said.

“Don’t go for too long,” Macduff warned. “I don’t want to be alone with Macbeth while you’re gone.”

Malcolm’s happy demeanor quickly changed after Macbeth was brought up.

“Oh, right. I forgot how much you don’t like him,” he said.

It was truly a wonder how Malcolm could forget after Macduff had nearly been suspended last year for getting in a fistfight with Macbeth.

“It’s alright,” Macduff said. “I’ll be okay. Let’s get to class before we’re late.”

…

Late August turned into Early September turned into almost October. Leaves were falling off trees and some ambitious people began putting out Halloween decorations. Macbeth’s family was one of those families. They had lots of big, gaudy decorations. But there was something more important than the rapid arrival of Halloween: auditions.

Macbeth wanted to get his audition over with quickly so he could be cast, so he made his appointment for the 28th of September. Banquo’s wasn’t until the 29th.

He had prepared “Wait for it” from Hamilton as his audition piece. Ms. Weird had thrown a fit last time someone tried to audition with a pop song.

At Dunsinane, they were lucky enough to have a small black box theatre in which rehearsals and auditions could be held. Macbeth opened the door at exactly 3:24.

“Macbeth? Is that you?” Ms. Weird called from out of sight.

“‘Tis I!” Macbeth said in a loud voice. “The great Macbeth!” He ventured farther into the room and found Ms. Weird sitting behind a desk with her back to the door.

“Are you ready to begin?” She asked. “You have your song and scenes?”

Macbeth nodded. The audition commenced.

“So? How’d it go?” came Banquo’s voice over the phone.

“I think it went very well,” Macbeth said. “Ms. Weird practically told me I’d get the lead.”

“What did she say?”

“She said ‘Very well done, Macbeth. I should think that you will get a sizable role this year!’”

“That’s great!”

“I know!”

…

Macduff walked into Ms. Weird’s black box theatre. It was arguably one of his favorite rooms in the whole school.

“Hey, Ms. Weird,” Macduff greeted.

“Macduff! Wonderful timing. Malcolm and I were just going to get started on casting.” Ms. Weird indicated to her left, where Malcolm was sitting with a computer in his lap.

“Hold on, hold on,” Malcolm requested. “A few more minutes, please. I am no tech genius over here.”

“They’ve been recorded? I’ve always wanted permanent documentation of complete showoffs!” Macduff said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Once Malcolm had finally figured out how to work the video program, the three of them huddled around the laptop to watch the videos.

There was one that stood out to Macduff: A senior called Duncan Inverness. Macduff told Malcolm so, and Malcolm agreed.

“Ms. Weird? What do you think about Duncan?” Malcolm asked. Ms. Weird took a moment to consider him before giving her answer.

“He seems great! He’s a senior, right?” she asked. Macduff and Malcolm nodded in agreement. “Good. We can cast him as Nathan Detroit.”

…

The cast list went up on the morning of October 2nd. And that was the day Macbeth’s life was ruined.

GUYS AND DOLLS CAST LIST:

Nathan Detroit - Duncan Inverness

Miss Adelaide - Seyton

Sarah Brown - Lucy Duff

Sky Masterson - Donalbain Inverness

Nicely-Nicely Johnson - Macbeth

Macbeth didn’t read any further than that. He was utterly devastated. He wanted to scream and shout and break some things. How is this possible? Macbeth wondered. Ms. Weird practically told me I was going to get a lead! Nicely-Nicely Johnson? What kind of a role is that?

“Hey! I got Harry the Horse!” Banquo’s voice ripped Macbeth out of his thoughts. “And you got Nicely-Nicely Johnson! Awesome! I love his part in “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.” Macbeth stumbled past him, down the hall.

“I need to find Lady,” he mumbled, dazed.

Lady was outside, under a tree, completely oblivious to Macbeth’s devastation.

“Lady!” Macbeth called. “Lady!”

“What do you want,” Lady said, exasperated. She marked her book with her thumb and looked up and him expectantly.

“Lady, I got Nicely-Nicely Johnson,” Macbeth explained. Lady did not see what was wrong.

“That’s great!” She said. “Doesn’t he have a solo song?”

“That’s not the point!” Macbeth lamented. He collapsed on the ground next to Lady and buried his face in his hands.

“Dear God,” Lady swore. “If you want that lead, why don’t you do something about it. I mean, you said you’d do anything just last night, didn’t you?”

Macbeth looked up at her.

“I did say that, yes,” Macbeth agreed. Lady looked at him with a sly look. Macbeth returned it with a blank one. It was a few moments before he realized what she was implying. Then a crafty smile took over his features.

That night Macbeth sped through his homework even faster than usual. Then, he opened his computer and began to type furiously. Google, Facebook, Dunsinane Academy website, the city newspaper, anywhere Macbeth thought he could find dirt on Duncan. He was going to get that role no matter what it took.

…

Macduff saw Duncan walking in the opposite direction from him. He seemed to be going somewhere in a hurry.

“Hi, Duncan,” Macduff greeted. Duncan threw him a dirty look and sped past him. Macduff was confused--he got the lead part! What did he have to be upset at him about?

Macduff opened the door and stepped inside. There he saw Macbeth, with a smug look on his face. His friend Banquo stood next to him with a pained smile on his face.

“I’m so happy for you,” Banquo said, sounding insincere.

Macduff turned to see what the two boys were looking at. There he saw Ms. Weird erasing Duncan’s name on the whiteboard as Nathan Detroit, and rewriting Macbeth’s name.

No.

This cannot be happening.

Macduff tried to play it cool, and not freak out. He wanted to keep his position as set designer, after all.

“What’s going on?” he asked, even though he knew full well what was going on.

“Macbeth found some rather...unsavory information regarding Duncan,” Ms. Weird explained. “As a reward, I agreed to recast him. He was going to be our second choice, after all.”

Macduff had forgotten about that. He had only agreed to let Macbeth be the secret understudy because they had no one else who had enough talent to do it. Something felt wrong about this though…

“What did Duncan do that we had to cut him?” Macduff asked.

Macbeth looked even smugger than before (if that was even possible).

“I heard that he cheated on his Physics final last year. And, I figured that Ms. Weird would want to know,” he said. He pointed to a handwritten sign on the door that read “We support academic integrity in this classroom”.

Macduff recalled when this sign was put up. It had been because a few actors had been cheating on their tests. The administration had asked Ms. Weird to cut them from the show. It hadn’t hurt the production much since those actors were in the ensemble, but since then academic integrity had been a very serious topic in Ms. Weird’s classroom.

“Duncan’s not the type…” Macduff mused.

“No, but he did,” Ms. Weird said seriously.

Macduff shook his head and sighed. He was sorry to see Duncan go. He looked up at Macbeth, to see if he showed any sign of remorse at all, but he was still smiling brightly, oblivious to the fact that he probably cost Duncan his theatrical future.

…

Despite his smug demeanor, Macbeth was terrified. Duncan had not actually cheated on his physics final last year. What really happened was that he took a practice test with notes. The test was not meant to be open book, so his teacher let it slide with a few docked points. All Macbeth had to do was fudge a few details and bing bang boom, Duncan was cut and Macbeth was now the lead.

Macduff seemed less than thrilled about this, but Macbeth wasn’t miffed. He knew that Macduff didn’t like him much anyway.

Malcolm came in behind Macduff and pushed past him.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Macduff asked him.

“I just saw Duncan throwing rocks and screaming outside,” Malcolm said. “What’s that all about?” Macduff thew Macbeth a cool look.

“I’ll let Macbeth explain,” he said.

Macbeth was getting sick of explaining this more than once. He wasn’t prepared to have to tell everyone who came in the door.

“Duncan violated the academic integrity rule so he was cut,” Macbeth said simply. Banquo nodded behind him.

Malcolm threw up his hands.

“Are you serious?” he shouted. “This can’t be true.” Malcolm stabbed an accusatory finger at Macbeth. He left in a huff, muttering to himself. Macduff put his bag down and ran after him.

“So, when’s the first rehearsal?” Macbeth asked.

…

Macduff sped down the hall after Malcolm.

“Malcolm! Hold on!” Macduff shouted. Malcolm kept speed walking until he found the room he was looking for. He threw the door open and slammed it behind him. Macduff followed him inside.

“Malcolm?” Macduff asked the room. The two of them were alone. All of the desks were stacked at the back of the classroom, the walls were barren, and the lights were off. The classroom appeared to be unused, but even so, it was open.

Macduff caught sight of Malcolm as he was throwing a script at the wall. He threw it with force and papers exploded everywhere. Malcolm covered his face with his hands.

“It was supposed to go well this year,” He all but sobbed.

“Hey,” Macduff said consolingly, setting aside his own anger for a moment. “It’ll be just fine, okay? We can fix it. We’ll figure it out.”

The two of them sat on the floor for a few minutes, not saying a word, before picking up the script, which was quite a few pages, and heading to the woodshop to begin working on the set.

…

Macduff and Malcolm didn’t come back that day. Banquo and Macbeth sat together while Macbeth highlighted all of his new lines. Banquo, who had been in the ensemble before, took on Macbeth’s previous role as Nicely-Nicely Johnson.

“I love his song,” Banquo had said.

“I know, Banquo,” Macbeth said.

When the final bell rang at the end of the day, Macbeth was anxious to find Lady. He had to confide his troubles in her.

“Lady,” he said. “Are you sure this was the right thing to do? I mean, Malcolm and Macduff are really upset. They’re probably going to bust me!”

“It’ll be fine, Macbeth. You’re going to seem suspicious. You got this far, just stay on the down-low.” Lady told him. Macbeth took a breath of confidence and stool taller than he had before. He put on a smile and escorted Lady out of the school.

Later that evening, Banquo called. This wasn’t uncommon, so Macbeth had no qualms about answering.

“Macbeth?” Banquo asked.

“What’s going on?” Macbeth replied.

“Macbeth, I feel like something fishy is going on,” Banquo confessed.

“Like what?” Macbeth was getting nervous.

“Like, in the show.”

“You mean how Nathan and Adelaide never get married? I know, it’s so weird.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean, then?”

“I mean...I don’t mean to say that you’re a liar or something...but Macduff was right, I think. Duncan isn’t the type to do something like that. It feels wrong to have ruined him like that. You know?”

Macbeth felt like the floor had been ripped out from under him.

“No, I don’t know. I’ll see you tomorrow, Banquo,” he said coldly.

“Macbeth, wait-”

Macbeth ended the call.

…

That day after school Macduff went home with Malcolm. They had started planning out the set for the show that afternoon but could hardly focus, so they put it off until later.

Later is here.

Macduff scribbled an idea down in his notebook.

“I was thinking we could do something like this,” he showed Malcolm. “It could either be a drawing on plywood or a drop or something but I don’t think we should have any other drops.” Malcolm nodded.

“That looks cool. You can draw it on or something and then we can get some ensemble people to paint it. For techie points.” Malcolm said.

“Yeah,” Macduff agreed.

The design was a cartoonish New York skyline. Windows were yellow, the sky was navy with white stars, and each building had a long spire.

“Okay, what else?” Malcolm asked. Macduff consulted his notebook.

“Shop facades, The mission, something for Havana, a platform for the Hot Box, and so, so many other things.” Macduff said, burying his face in Malcolm’s bed.

“We can draw up some plans and delegate this stuff to the newbies. Ms. Weird will show them how to do it.” Malcolm told Macduff.

“Are you sure?” Macduff asked.

“Yes,” Malcolm said with determination. “Because while they’re doing that, we are going to sabotage Macbeth.”

…

Macbeth was enjoying his time at the top. He truly was. But it was not without this horrible guilt following him wherever he went. He was avoiding Banquo today--partially because Banquo was also avoiding him. But also…

There were a few people in Ms. Weird’s room when Macbeth got there. It was lunch hour, after all.

“Ms. Weird?” Macbeth asked with trepidation.

“Yes, sweetheart?” Ms. Weird acknowledged him. Macbeth could hardly bring himself to say the words. But he needed this assurance.

“I caught Banquo cheating on an important project last night.”

Ms. Weird looked down at the table and sighed before looking back up at Macbeth.

“Thank you for telling me, dear,” she said. She turned around and began editing the cast list on the whiteboard again.

“Macduff and Malcolm are going to have my head on a plate…” Macbeth could hear her muttering. Me too, Macbeth thought. He left quickly to find Lady. He figured she could give him some respite before he had to face Banquo.

But when has Macbeth ever been that lucky? As he was leaving, Banquo came through the front doors of the school building.

“Hey,” Macbeth tried. Banquo sped past him into Ms. Weird’s room. It was only a few moments before he came storming back out again. Banquo slammed his shoulder against Macbeth’s on his way back outside. Macbeth was alone in the hallway.

Macbeth found Lady sitting alone in a secluded corner of the school yard. When he sat down next to her, she startled.

“Are you okay?” Macbeth asked her.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Lady said very unconvincinly.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just don’t want to see certain people right now.”

“Oh, should I leave?”

“No.” Lady put her hand on Macbeth’s thigh. “You can stay.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Banquo got cut today,” Macbeth said.

“What? Why?” Lady demanded.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.” Macbeth regretted telling her anything.

“I swear to god, Macbeth, if this was your fault I’ll kill you. Duncan, already hates me because I’m your sister. Why don’t you keep adding people to his army, huh?” Lady berated him. Macbeth was at a loss. There was no way he could come out of this on top unless he let Lady take the fall. Which,

“You seem to be handling it pretty well,” Macbeth observed.

Lady slapped him in the face.

“I changed my mind. Go away.”

Macbeth obeyed and left quickly. As he approached the school doors he saw Banquo leaving out of the corner of his eye. Macbeth decided to go back to Ms. Weird’s room.

Ms. Weird wasn’t there when Macbeth arrived. He decided to sit on the long table at the front of the room.

Macbeth noticed a magic 8 ball sitting near the white board. He decided to ask a few questions.

“Will I become rich and famous?” he asked.

Don’t count on it.

“Okay…” Macbeth was a bit disappointed. He decided to ask some more questions.

“Will Guys and Dolls be the best Dunsinane production yet?”

As I see it, yes.

“Sweet!” Then he remembered Macduff and Malcolm.

“What about Malcolm and Macduff?” He asked.

Concentrate and ask again.

Right, Macbeth thought. I can’t be vague.

“Will Malcolm and Macduff hinder my greatness?”

Better not tell you now.

“Fine, be like that.” Macbeth said and set the 8 ball down.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a girl walked in. Macbeth recognized her as Maduff’s younger sister.

“Is Ms. Weird here?” she asked Macbeth.

“No, sweetheart, she isn’t,” Macbeth said, an idea forming. He had a bad feeling about Macduff and Malcolm, and he knew exactly what to do about it.

…

Malcolm and Macduff sat down next to each other in their next class, their fingers intertwined. They both gave each other a look of knowing: this was their last respite before rehearsal today. It was not the first, but they were nowhere near their last. Malcolm and Macduff were not excited, to say the least.

After class, Macduff and Malcolm split up, albeit begrudgingly. Malcolm had to supervise the rehearsal and answer any stupid questions the actors undoubtably had, while Macduff was taking Siward and a few other freshmen to the woodshop to work on the set. One of those freshmen was supposed to be his sister, but she was not here.

“Has anyone seen my sister today?” Macduff asked the group. He was sure he saw her going to first period this morning but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

They all shook their heads no. Let me ask Malcolm if she’s in Ms. Weird’s room, Macduff thought. He took out his phone.

Macduff: hey is my sister near you

Malcolm: no why

Macduff: i cant find her

Malcolm: so why don't you text her

What a great idea. Why hadn’t Macduff thought of it before? Macduff opted to give her a call. It rang a few times before she picked up.

“Hello?” came a shaky voice.

“Hey,” Macduff greeted. “Where are you?” All Macduff could hear was the sound of ragged breathing for a few moments.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll see you when I get home. Oh, and by the way, don’t try to get me back while that group of jerk-wads are still there,” Macduff’s sister said through quiet sobs.

“What jerk-wads?” Macduff asked nobody, since the call had ended. Macduff knew everyone on the cast, and they were all so friendly and kind, except…

“I need to go,” Macduff told the freshmen. “You all can go home.”

…

Macbeth was running lines with Seyton when Macduff burst in. He had a determined glint in his eye. Malcolm walked up to him and they started chatting animatedly. Macbeth was having trouble focusing on the scene.

Macduff and Malcolm both looked back at Macbeth before leaving the room, leaving Macbeth with a sinking feeling.

Once he was sure Macduff and Malcolm wouldn’t come back, Macbeth grabbed the 8 ball again and shook it.

“Are Macduff and Malcolm plotting against me?” Macbeth asked it.

Outlook not so good.

This put Macbeth somewhat at ease. The rehearsal continued as usual. Afterward, Macbeth went home with no qualms about Malcolm and Macduff.

…

His first mistake, arguably. Macduff had seen Macbeth shaking the 8 ball through the little window in the door.

“What are you looking at?” Malcolm had asked.

“Macbeth is consulting an 8 ball,” Macduff had said, chuckling.

He and Malcolm came up with a plan to get Macbeth expelled from the theatre program: confront him. It was so simple they almost didn’t consider it.

“Really? Who’s gonna believe us? Who’s gonna prove him wrong?” Macduff had asked.

“Duncan, and Banquo. And your sister,” Malcolm had reassured him.

“And after this ordeal is all over?”

“We’ll restore people’s old roles. And continue as normal.”

They set the date for Friday. That meant they had Wednesday and Thursday to talk to Banquo and Duncan and to formulate some backup plans. They would not leave for Christmas break before this was set right.

…

Macbeth walked into school on Friday morning nervous. He had felt confident on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday, but walking into school was giving him second thoughts. He saw Duncan and some of his friends hanging out together, side-eying Macbeth. Banquo eyed Macbeth from afar and Macduff’s sister had a strange glint in her eye.

On Thursday evening, Lady came down with a fever. Their parents wouldn’t let her come to school. Macbeth was alone and paranoid.

Macbeth walked from class to class trying to be as big and intimidating as possible, to hide his fear. He would not let these people, who were arguably lesser than him, know that he wanted to become as small and invisible as possible.

Dread could not even begin to describe what Macbeth felt when he approached Ms. Weird’s room that afternoon. He pushed open the door with immense trepidation. Seyton and Siward were chatting in the corner, but there was no one else there.

Macbeth snuck behind Ms. Weird’s desk and grabbed the magic 8 ball one last time.

“Will I perform in the show this winter?” Macbeth asked. A direct question has to work, he thought.

The 8 ball landed on the tip between two responses. Macbeth shook it again.

Ask again later.

At that moment, Malcolm pushed the door open, followed by Macduff, his sister, Banquo, Duncan, Ms. Weird, and Mr. Birnham, the principal.

“Hello, Macbeth. Nice to see you,” Macduff greeted Macbeth with a cool tone. Macbeth gave a small wave.

“Macbeth,” Mr. Birnham said. “Have a seat. Please.”

Macbeth sat and Macbeth listened. He listened as Mr. Birnham recounted what had happened in the last two weeks. Macbeth’s peers nodded along with Mr. Birnham and gave each other premature celebratory smiles.

“Now, you understand that you will not be able to participate in the Dunsinane Theatre Program anymore, yes?” Mr. Birnham asked.

“What?” Macbeth exclaimed. “That’s ridiculous!”

“This is what you get for stepping on your friends,” Banquo said.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Macduff gave Banquo a high five.

Macbeth stood and walked toward the door. He took one last look at Ms. Weird’s classroom--which he would never see again--before leaving to go home. Macbeth just barely saw Ms. Weird editing the cast list on the whiteboard out of the corner of his eye.

…

The door closed quietly. The people in the room just stared at it for a moment. Then, Malcolm enveloped Macduff in a bone-crushing hug.

“Finally, we can get on with the show!” he exclaimed.

Someone started playing Green Day’s “Good Riddance”, and someone else put a box of cookies on Ms. Weird’s desk. The celebration was well under way.

It was a few days before Christmas vacation was supposed to begin. Dunsinane’s production of Guys and Dolls was about to close.

Malcolm stood in the wings. Macduff was in the booth. The actors were ready for the show to begin.

“Cue 1, stand by…” Malcolm said.

“Standing by…”Macduff responded.

The lights in the house went down.

“Cue 1, go.”

Macduff pressed the play button in the program. The music started.

“I’ve got the horse right here! His name is Paul Revere…” The actor began. This was going to be the best Dunsinane Production in a while.

#I really thought this would be longer #I was writing this for like 4 days #thats kind of disappointing #macbeth fic #fanfic

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quirkswriting · 4 years

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cocoa, cookies, and carols (or, the recipe for a very tendou christmas)

Overview: It’s your first Christmas spent with your boyfriend, Tendou, and it is definitely a good start to all your future Christmases together. (Aged Up) Pairing: Tendou Satori x GN!Reader Word Count: 1.9k Warning(s): Literally just fluffy goodness. Plus mentions of Ushiwaka? Author’s Notes: HAPPY HOLIDAYS NOYA! I was your Secret Santa for the Haikyuwu discord server event! I hope I did Tendou justice, and that you enjoy your present!

***

Honestly, this year, the holidays kind of snuck up on you. Not really in the way you were expecting, either. Time had felt like it had ticked on, and on, and on, to the point where it felt like yesterday you were in the middle of June and now all of a sudden it was December. Where had the time gone? You had absolutely no idea, but there was a small sense of relief now that the year was almost over.

Your boyfriend had called you early in the month to see what your plans were; Tendou didn’t so much ask you to spend Christmas with him as you informed him that you’d come over on Christmas Eve and spend some quality time with him. You knew he wasn’t going to be seeing his family (which you’d heard about from him, in bits and pieces, and knew he’d open up to you when he was comfortable) and while he did live with his best friend, you knew that between him and Ushijima things would probably make for a pretty quiet holiday. And that wasn’t something you wanted for your boyfriend. You worried about him sometimes, even though you knew he could look after himself just fine. But that was just something you did, and that was coming through now that the holidays were getting closer.

Though, to be fair, you really had no idea what to expect. You and Tendou had started seeing each other in April, so this would be the first Christmas you’d spend together. You liked him, you did! But he was… well, Tendou. And you liked him, eccentricities and all, but sometimes things had a way of going much differently than you were expecting (like the Shiratorizawa Halloween Party/Volleyball Club Reunion, where somehow Semi ended up with pink hair, Shirabu was missing half an eyebrow, and you and Goshiki had ended up stealing almost all the candy in your boyfriend’s apartment without anyone noticing. Neither of you had told anyone, and you had spent the following morning making sure the guys were all taken care of before sending them back home). But that was all part of the fun of dating Tendou.

You’d asked him what he wanted you to bring with you (aside from his gifts from you and your family, he didn’t have a choice when it came to those), and when he told you that he had everything covered (including a step stool for you, which you knew he was only saying to get a rise out of you, and the frustrating thing was that it worked) you were skeptical, but you let him run with it. As long as the two of you got to spend time together (whether Ushijima was around to awkwardly drink his water and talk about his latest plant-child or not) then you’d be happy with that. But as the month passed by much quicker than the entire rest of the year, you found yourself getting more and more excited.

And then, in a whirl of cold weather, bright lights, and entirely too many people and too little hot chocolate, it was Christmas. And you left home mid-morning to freezing temperatures and grey skies to see your boyfriend, bags of presents in hand. And thankfully he didn’t live too far away.

Tendou buzzed you up pretty quickly when you reached his apartment building, and you rubbed your hands together in the elevator to try and warm up. When you got to his floor, you knocked twice before pushing the door open. He usually left it unlocked when he knew you were coming, which he’d done this time, and you shuffled inside and closed the door behind you. You made quick work of getting your winter gear off, and placed your boots next to his much, much larger ones on the mat by the door (though you did notice that only Tendou’s boots were sitting out, so Ushijima must not be home at the moment). You grabbed the bright blue pair of house slippers you’d left here after your second visit to the apartment (seeing as Tendou and Ushijima had ridiculously big feet and the spare slippers they had never managed to stay on your feet) and pulled them on before walking down the hallway and turning right into the kitchen. You could see the light from that room spilling into the darker hallway, so you assumed that’s where someone was.

And there he was, in the middle of the kitchen with his arms outstretched. “Welcome! Welcome!” Tendou greeted, a smile on his face. You put your bags down near the kitchen door, coming over to give him a hug. He wrapped his long, thin arms around you and squeezed you into a hug. “Brr, you’re cold! That just won’t do,” he told you, letting go of you and walking over to the kitchen table. His favourite red hoodie, one he’d told you before that he’d had since his second year of high school and worn from years of use, was hanging on the back of a chair before his nimble fingers picked it up and held it out for you. You smiled, taking it gratefully and pulling it on.

“Thanks, Satori,” you said, and he responded with an even bigger smile and a double thumbs up. You looked around the kitchen, seeing a bunch of baking tools spread across the counter--not an uncommon sight, really, given that your boyfriend was currently enrolled in the culinary arts program at school and more often than not used you, Ushijima, and whatever other friends he could rope into coming over at any given time to be his taste testers. “What are you up to here?”

“Well,” he said, drawing out the last syllable as he gestured to everything lining the counters, “I was looking up things we could do, y’know, for couple-y stuff, but most of it sounded super boring. So I thought, why not do something that we can share? And what’s better to share than food?” You shook your head, but there was a smile on your face. “Hey, hear me out! I thought we could bake some cookies together! Shortbread, gingerbread… other kinds of bread cookies? Not that I think there are any. But we can make cookies, and I even found this amazing looking recipe for little snowmen cookies I was thinking we could even decorate like the guys, and then eat them and refuse to share.”

“Hey, don’t be mean,” you chastised lightly. “We at least have to share pictures of the cookies with them.” Tendou laughed and walked over to press a kiss to your cheek before grabbing two aprons off the table--purple ones that you’d seen him and Ushijima wearing together more than once--and pulling one over his own head after handing you the other. You did the same, pulling the apron on and tightening it appropriately before coming over to stand next to the redhead at the counter near the sink. As you took stock of the bowls, utensils, and other items taking up all the space, you were reminded of the hulking young man who was usually here. “Is Ushijima coming back later? I saw his shoes weren’t here.” Tendou shook his head, opening up the cupboard in front of him as he consulted his phone sitting in front of him in its cute little chicken themed stand.

“No, Wakatoshi’s out with his dad. It’s just you and me,” he told you. He took down a bag of flour, two bags labelled, “White Sugar” and “Brown Sugar”, and a few other things you couldn’t quite see as he piled them wherever they would fit on the counter. Tendou started handing you ingredients and a bowl and whisk, before moving over to the fridge. “So I’ll get started on the gingerbread cookies, you do the shortbread, and we’ll make some snowmen later. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” you replied. The two of you fell into an easy rhythm as you went on, with Tendou giving you the measurements you needed (though really, telling you to “measure the butter with your heart” really didn’t help as much as he seemed to think it did) and you handing him different things he needed.

As you were mixing ingredients in the bowl, the soft silence between you two was interrupted by music--and you were thankful you had the bowl on the counter so you wouldn’t have had any reason to drop it with the unexpected noise--and you looked over to see Tendou grinning and pointing to his phone. He started humming along, before breaking out into his own rendition of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, complete with his own lyrics as he set about getting his own batch of cookies ready.

“You’re a tricky one, Mr. Gingerbread,” he sang, pouring brown sugar into his bowl, “You really are a treat!“ You couldn’t help the laugh that came out at that, and Tendou took that as encouragement to continue on. He kept belting out his own lyrics as the two of you kept baking, often pointing to you from the oddest of positions (bent over backwards, with one knee up in the air… you name it, and he was doing it while still complying very loosely with food safety guidelines). By the time the cookies were even in the oven your sides hurt from laughing, and Tendou’s cheeks were pink from a mix of laughter and exertion, and the two of you took a very well deserved break. Or, well, you sat at the table while he whisked something that smelled absolutely delightful in a pot on the stove. You watched him, seeing him sway slightly to the tune of the music still coming from his phone at a softer volume now, and couldn’t help but think of how boring Christmas would have been without someone like Tendou in your life.

“We should do this every year,” you said. Tendou turned off the burner he was using and moved the pot to rest on the counter while he grabbed some things out of the cupboard with his back to you.

“You think so?” he asked. You nodded, though he couldn’t see it, and after a moment he was turning around with two mugs in hand. “Ta da! Hot cocoa! I experimented a little with the flavours so you’ll either love it or you can have a bottle of water from the fridge.” You rolled your eyes, but gratefully took the mug he held out for you. It was big and blue and full almost to the brim with hot cocoa and marshmallows, and you held it in your hands. He sat across from you, putting his own mug down and running his hands through his hair. “But I’d really like that. We can bake cookies and have cocoa and I’ll suffer through your terrible rhyming skills when it comes to singing together. That sounds like a great Christmas tradition to me!”

You kicked his foot underneath the table and he laughed as you took a sip of your cocoa. The two of you stayed like that, talking and laughing together, until the cookies had finished and then you moved to the living room to let them cool before you decorated them. You sat together on the couch, some cheesy Christmas movie that Tendou was providing his own (and much more entertaining) running commentary for, and you loved every minute of it (not that you’d tell him that, of course).

Yeah, this was definitely something you wanted to make a tradition of together.

#tendou x reader #tendou satori x reader #satori tendo x reader #tendo x reader #tendo satori x reader #hq x reader #haikyuu x reader #hq fic #haikyuu fic #hq imagines #reader insert #x reader

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merakiui · 4 years

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I'd like to request the reapers and their manager in halloween,, where their costume was too realistic it got manager scared and on the verge of crying because the manager is scared of the costume (clown, zombie etc..) i think it'd be cute how they try to calm the manager down by taking off a part of their costume to make it less scary

Too Realistic

(I hope these don’t sound too repetitive! But this ask is so cute~)

Ghilley wanted to give you a little spook. It’s Halloween, after all, and he’s feeling mischievous! But he didn’t think you’d get so startled. He’s removing his mask and putting the fake knife down the minute you start sniffling so that he can explain that it’s not real and that he didn’t mean to scare you. He offers a compromise: Why don’t the two of you team up to scare the others?

Ell feels so bad as soon as you start crying! He’s immediately going to comfort you while frantically explaining that he didn’t intend to scare you. He’ll do everything he can to calm you down, all while apologizing profusely.

Jamie is shocked when he notices your teary-eyed expression. He’ll talk to you in a soft voice while he removes any part of the costume that you deem scary. You’ll feel much better after you see that it’s just Jamie under the mask. He means you no harm, and if it makes you feel better he’ll get you your favorite snacks in order to make amends.

Licht is so upset at the fact that his costume startled you. He’s not a scary person! Poor Licht will do everything he can to console you, as he’s genuinely worried that you’ll dislike him for scaring you. He’ll remember this moment for your next Halloween so that he doesn’t make the same mistake twice.

Theo probably knew it would scare you, but he didn’t think it’d scare you this much. He’s disheartened at the fact that you’d be afraid of him. Time and time again, he’s told you he’d do anything for you. He’d probably go through the Underworld if you asked him. But seeing you tremble in blatant fear... It hurts his heart and convinces him to change out of his costume. You’ll feel better once you see him and not the spooky costume. For the rest of the evening, he’s dedicated to cheering you up.

Louis looks perfect in anything he wears, so it’s only natural that his costume reflects this. Maybe he happened to put on the wrong mask or maybe he did with the intention to try something new. Either way, it’s got you spooked and he just can’t understand why. What’s so bad about his elegance? That’s hardly frightening! You’ll probably have to explain the reason to him before he realizes it.

Ethan is calm about the entire thing, slowly removing his mask and gloves until you calm down. He doesn’t approach you because he’s worried you might run away, so he waits before you’re able to look at him. Even if you’re still shaken up, he assures you that there’s nothing scary about his costume. “It isn’t real, and even if it was I’d make sure it couldn’t hurt you, Manager.” With Ethan by your side, you have nothing to fear.

June probably startled you with his boisterous laughter. You hadn’t expected it and then to see him in a clown mask... That was more than enough to have you shaking like a leaf. “Fear not, Manager! I’ll protect you during this night of spooks!” June will probably misunderstand, but when he realizes that his mask is the issue he’ll cast it aside with a quickness that has you smiling. “I won’t let any clowns get near you! Hahaha!” You know he’ll stay true to that vow.

Cyrille couldn’t help but get inspired for a Halloween experiment. He wants to compare the fear levels in the immortal Soul Reapers to that of his human manager, which just so happens to be you. But he didn’t realize that you scare easily and aren’t exactly a fan of blood, real or not. So you can imagine Cyrille’s surprise when he shows you the nasty laceration on his arm and you nearly almost faint at the sight. He'll have to reassure you that it’s just special effects makeup, and he makes note of your aversion to blood and gore for future reference.

Noah can’t help wanting to tease you a little. It’s always cute to see your reactions to his teasing. But he knows when to stop. This time he seemed to go a little too far. In retrospect, he should’ve known you're not a fan of spooks, but it’s Halloween and you’ve got to have fun on this night! When he sees the tears in your eyes, he becomes protective at once, apologizing softly for teasing you too much and inevitably scaring you. Next time he’ll stop so you won’t get upset.

Sian should’ve known his costume would spark a reaction, yet he didn’t anticipate this! For some reason, he’s a little offended when you get so scared. But that’s just because he’s used to scaring others with his brash appearance and tsundere personality. He knows you don’t mean to offend him and so he’s doing his best to calm you down, all while turning cherry red. It would be embarrassing if anyone saw this, but he does like seeing your smile once you’ve realized it’s just him under that scaly mask.

Kati is giggling victoriously over the fact that he was able to scare you. In his eyes, it’s a win against Noah. Obviously his costume was the spookiest and therefore Noah loses! But he doesn’t even realize you’re shaking, on the verge of crying. Kati’s too busy celebrating to notice, but when he does that happy expression instantly falls. He’s worried that he might’ve done something to cause this, so he’ll be all over you, asking what’s wrong and if he can help.

Aitachi thinks a vengeful spirit attacked you and so he gets into a defensive stance, ready to protect you. But then you’re nervously poking his shoulder, asking if he could take off his mask. He doesn’t understand it at first. Isn’t this what Halloween is all about? Once you explain it to him, he’ll nod and take it off, saying that even without a mask he’s still a strong warrior who’s dedicated to helping you.

Kirr is surprised. What’s got you so scared? Is there a monster or a ghost? Do you need his protection? It doesn’t occur to him that he’s the one doing the scaring until you’re trying to explain it. Once he understands it, he’s doing his best to prove to you that he’s not scary. For a little while, he’ll look at Halloween masks with narrowed eyes, almost certain that they’ll jump out at you with ill intent.

Nine has such a gentle aura. It’s almost impossible for him to appear threatening. But then Day decides to dress him up in a goblin mask and you were not prepared at all. To think the graceful Nine would suddenly look so monstrous! Nine senses your fright at once and slowly removes the mask, chiding Day and assuring you that he means no harm.

Day is so bubbly and happy. He’d never scare you! But his costume might give you a momentary fright. In the case that it does, he'll gladly step out of it if it’ll console you. He’s practically on the verge of tears as well. Seeing you in such a state puts him in a gloomy mood. He won’t feel any better until you’re smiling again. And he’ll probably offer to share his candy with you as an apology.

Verine doesn’t normally have a frightening aura, so he’s absolutely shocked when you start trembling in fear. He starts blaming himself, wondering what part of him has you rooted to the ground. When he figures out it’s his costume, he’s already fumbling to take the scary parts off. “It’s just me. Please don’t get upset...” He’s sad to see you so scared, so he’ll do whatever he can to make you feel better.

Quincy laughs at you the minute you gasp. Now you finally understand the true fright a devil can cause! He’s so proud of himself for scaring you that he doesn’t even notice you’re crying. It takes him a second to register what’s going on, and then he’s looking at you with wide eyes. “Hey! Why’re you crying? What did I do?” Quincy will feel bad once you’ve stopped crying, and he’ll make a mental note not to scare you next Halloween. As for the others, they’re fair game.

Mori is confused. Was his costume that scary? At first he thinks you’re pulling a trick on him. When he approaches you and you start to shudder, he realizes it’s not a joke. Mori’s a little awkward as he tries to explain that it’s him under the mask and not some horrible monster. Once you calm down, he’s relieved and decides to leave the mask off.

Youssef wasn’t expecting this sort of reaction from you. Nevertheless, he’s calm as he removes part of his costume until you’re relaxed. He’ll apologize and offer to get you a snack or anything else that’ll soothe you. Youssef knows that Halloween isn’t for everyone, so if you’re someone who gets scared easily he’ll make sure you feel safe and happy on Halloween night. Besides, a fun movie marathon is far better than subjecting yourself to endless scares!

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rpgmgames · 5 years

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November’s Featured Game: Grimm's Hollow

DEVELOPER(S): ghosthunter ENGINE: RPG Maker 2003 GENRE: Indie RPG, Adventure WARNINGS: Discussions of death, losing a loved one, grief SUMMARY: Grimm’s Hollow is a spooky, freeware RPG where you search the afterlife for your brother. Reap ghosts with your scythe, explore haunted caves, and eat ghostly treats on your journey through death.

Download the game here! Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *BB: My name's Bruno and I did some of the music along with Nat! I’m super happy to have participated in this game! *NW: I’m Nat Wesley, a.k.a. Natbird! I’m a composer available for hire with a few projects in the works. I’m honored to have had the chance to work on the soundtrack to Grimm’s Hollow! *GH: Hello! I go by ghosthunter online; I started developing RPGs with a friend in school when we found out that we both enjoyed RPG Horror. I enjoy art, webcomics, cartoons and narrative-driven indie games a lot. I bought RM2K3 on sale and started pouring pixel art into it, before learning how to do things like chase scenes, cutscenes, etc. I used to fantasize about making my own game, drawing dungeons and ghosts in the back of my sketchbooks, before I finally started Grimm’s Hollow. Now I’m near the end of high-school, and I’m hoping the best for uni!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create this game initially? *GH: Grimm’s Hollow, originally, wasn’t as ambitious or personal. It was simply just going to be “my first game”, something that I could finally put my doodles and RM2K3 skills to. I wanted a game that a younger me would have enjoyed, back when I first discovered the classic RPGMaker games and replayed them constantly for those endings. That was my initial inspiration. It eventually evolved into an action turn-based RPG that relies on timing, yet it’s mostly narrative-driven. You traverse death in search of your sibling, and try to make an escape. There are unexpected pieces of me that ended up in this game, some of which I’m still noticing even now.

How long have you been working on your project? *GH: Since the summer of June 2018.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *GH: Standstill Girl, OFF by Mortis Ghost, Undertale, Over The Garden Wall, and the animation medium in general.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *GH: Many! Making your first game is such a giant learning curve, that the list of challenges goes on. I would say that the most difficult issue I encountered (and that, in some ways, I am still facing after release) is working around the limitations of the game engine I am using. I wanted to see whether creating an engaging but simple 1-party RPG in RM2K3 (without going completely custom) was feasible, and I experimented with quick time events as part of that. I worked around the engine’s built-in formulae so players could see progress when they upgraded their stats - although the game might display as defence as “10”, in reality the game stores it as 40 since the engine splits defence by 4. Since I did not want to create an RPG which was too complex for my first game, I also scrapped traditional staples such as armour or weapons. There were also issues such as having an appropriate “game over” handling event which wouldn’t shoot you back to the title screen after you lost a battle; getting RM2K3 to play a small cutscene where you faint and respawn somewhere else was tricky. I felt that if the player had to reload after a loss, it would disrupt the game flow.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *GH: Like I mentioned before, the game started off impersonal. I just had a soft spot for a spooky cute aesthetic, and I wanted to indulge in that. It was (and in its essence, still is) meant to be a short story, to keep the player invested for the short game length - nothing grandiose. The original draft did not have Baker play a role in the narrative - he was just an ordinary shopkeeper NPC. For a long time during development, Lavender did not even have a name. In the very first draft, she was a silent protagonist the player could name and customize. But she played a very active role in the final outline, so it was hard not to give her own unique voice when one emerged from the narrative naturally. I am glad I did; she grew on me quite quickly! Grimm was virtually unchanged from beginning to end. The only difference was that a close friend suggested that he seemed like he would be into drinking Oolong tea - so that’s what he offers you when you meet him. Timmy also did not go under massive overhauls like Lavender and Baker did, but his relationship with Lavender became much more fleshed out as I wrote the narrative. In other facets of the game’s design, there were not many changes to the original prototype.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *GH: It was just myself, doing the art, writing, programming, etc. But halfway through creating the second cave, I realised I would need a very specific sound for Grimm’s Hollow. So, I contacted Nat for music, but I also created a post on tumblr calling for a composer since there were many tracks to make. I met Bruno as a result! I am very happy with their work and I am so grateful I’ve got to work with them! (Some players are asking for an OST release, which is in the works).

What is the best part of developing a game? *GH: I really enjoyed the early stages of development: creating new tilesets, sprites and maps and piecing them together in the editor, then taking a small screenshot and sharing it with my friend over summer vacation … It was nice to see the game’s world slowly come together. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most from beginning to end: that sense of world-building, that sense of relaxation from making a small cosy game. The latter started to disappear as work and other responsibilities started to intrude, and pressure began to seep into development time - but I never stopped loving making the world and characters. I also want to say that, by lucky chance, I have met a lot of kind people from making my first game. I’m very grateful for that, so thank you to everyone.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *GH: All the time! Other RPG Maker 2003 projects are great inspirations for pixel art tilesets, as well as how to code harder features such as custom menus. They’re also just fun to play.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *GH: Lavender and Timmy are relatable to me in multiple ways. I can’t elaborate on Timmy since that would go into spoiler territory, but I somewhat relate to Lavender’s insistence on managing her life on her own - sometimes to her own detriment. I’d say the most fun character to write for was Grimm. He can be unintentionally silly while speaking in the most formal way, but also very caring too. Everything he does and says was easy to write, whereas I had to think harder for the interactions between everyone else - especially for very crucial scenes regarding their development. That being said, my favourite is still the game’s central two siblings. I can not pick between them for the life of me.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *GH: I wish I started testing even earlier! Not only does it give you a good sense of what’s missing, but seeing people enjoy what you’ve made yet get hindered by bugs is a very strong incentive to fix your game immediately. When I was lacking motivation or was stuck, I found that good feedback and support made me motivated again. I also wish that I could have pushed the deadline a little further, or perhaps released the game on Early Access since it will take me a while to refine post-release bugs - but as it is, the 31st of October really was the deadline for my game due to external circumstances (no, that deadline wasn’t just because it was Halloween!). Other than that, I wonder if using an updated version of RPG Maker would have produced the same game …? It’s hard to tell, but I hope people enjoy it for what it is - I will be working on that post-release patch soon!

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *GH: There are no current plans, but I would be happy to have the opportunity to improve and expand on the game. As it is, the game’s released for free and done as a hobby, so I would struggle to do that by myself.

What do you most look forward to now that you have finished the game? *GH: Earlier on, I was really looking forward to players’ reactions. Games are made to be fun, and I would have felt distraught if my game didn’t achieve what it was set out to do. Yet it was not just about the gameplay; it was about the narrative. I hoped that what I found funny, the player would too; what was heartfelt to me, was heartfelt to the player as well. Like sharing a laugh, or just a good experience together. I hoped they would enjoy the feeling that went into it, despite the struggle of making it against circumstance and limitations. Now, I look forward to resting and sleeping once this over. I want to explore my other interests, improve, and explore new media. I want to relax, and refocus again like I was before the heat of development.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *GH: Bugs! Some are easy to fix, but others are harder due to the limitations of the engine (e.g an error in one ending is caused by an overflow error).

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *GH: Show your game as early as possible, to as many people as possible. As soon as you have something playable, it’s ready for feedback. You’ll see if that game mechanic you spent hours refining works, or if it doesn’t work and why. You’ll understand what players enjoy and what they want more of, but also what they don’t like or don’t enjoy. And you will definitely encounter bugs. You’ll be able to pinpoint and fix minor problems early on that can easily become a larger issue later. You’ll be able to fine-tune your game so its best bits shine, and the difficulty is just right.

Question from last month's featured dev @dead-dreams-dev: Is there anything you’ve added to your game for no other reason than because you’re hoping fans will get a kick out of it? Fanservice, fourth wall breakage, references to other games, jokes, abilities that are just ridiculously overpowered and badass, etc? *GH: It’s hard to say; game design is trying to find the intersection between what’s good for the player, what the developer enjoys, and what’s feasible to implement. Every decision made should be conscious of that … I think a lot of the game’s early light-hearted jokes was not only made because I enjoyed it, but I hoped the player would “get a kick out of it” too. But more so, I think it’s because I would struggle to write a story which is serious and bleak from beginning to end. The game is a little self-indulgent in the narrative that way.

We mods would like to thank ghosthunter & team for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Grimm's Hollow if you haven’t already! See you next month!

- Mods Gold & Platinum

#rpgmaker #rpg maker games #indie games #pixel games #rpg #adventure #cute #grimms hollow #grimm's hollow #gotm #game of the month #gotm 2019 #2019 #game of the month 2019 #november #november 2019

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set-phasers-to-whump · 4 years

Text

home

Prompt: water (alt no.12)

Whumpee: Neal Caffrey

Fandom: White Collar

what’s up everyone! welcome to my last fic for whumptober!! i can’t believe i’ve done this for the second year in a row that makes me so so happy!!! i hope that you enjoy this fic :)

The water is cold. So very, very cold. It bites at his skin and grabs at his clothes and makes his muscles nearly seize up with how much they’re shaking. Still, he keeps going, swimming deeper and deeper, his whole body fighting against him.

Finally, he catches sight of it - the silver wristwatch which their suspect had chucked into the water the second he’d seen Neal and Peter approaching. Clearly, there had been something important on it, because the man had tried desperately to stop Neal from going after it. He hadn’t listened, of course. He’d jumped right over the railing and into the icy water without a second thought. The case was an important one, and they’d been able to turn up virtually no evidence so far. They needed this watch, so he was going to get it.

Neal’s hand closes around the watch at last, and he pushes himself off the ground and up towards the surface of the water, his thoughts of finding the watch replaced by the constant repetition of cold, cold, cold…

His head breaks the surface of the water, and he sucks in a deep breath of fresh air, which stings his throat and makes his eyes water. He coughs, then looks around for Peter, spying him on the riverbank. Neal tries to focus his hearing in Peter’s direction, sensing something is being said, but he can’t hear anything over the chattering of his teeth.

Slowly, he swims to shore, wishing he could go faster but shivering too hard to do so. Eventually, he staggers out of the cold water and into the just-as-cold air, dropping to his knees and letting the watch fall from his hand. Everything is a constant, suffocating cold, and it hurts in a way he’s never really felt before.

Immediately, though, Peter is there, removing his suit jacket and draping it around Neal’s shoulders, providing the merest bit of warmth. “Why did you do that?” he asks, pulling Neal to his feet and keeping an arm around his shoulders to help him stand.

“We don’t even know if there’s anything valuable in this watch” he continues, picking up said watch and stuffing it into his pocket.

Neal tries to respond, but he’s far too cold to form a coherent sentence. “Could be…” he gets out, his voice shaking along with the rest of his body.

Peter sighs. Neal leans heavily into his shoulder. “Cold,” he says, as Peter starts walking, pulling Neal along as best as he can.

“I know,” Peter says. “You jumped into a river in the middle of February. What did you expect?”

Neal shrugs, somewhat chagrined. “Know it was s-stupid,” he says, stumbling over the words. He’s never been this cold in his entire life. “Sorry.”

Peter rubs a warm hand down Neal’s back as they continue their slow walk. “I’m not mad, Neal,” he says gently. “But you put yourself in real danger for something that might turn out to be nothing.”

Neal doesn’t respond, partly because he’s still freezing and speaking is not the most pleasant activity at the moment, and partly because he senses a but.

“But I think it was the right idea. I’ll be shocked if we don’t find something of value on this watch. Good work. Maybe don’t do it again.”

Neal can’t help grinning at this, a shaky smile stretching over his face, providing a tiny bit of warmth. “Won’t,” he manages to agree, though he’s pretty sure both he and Peter know he will.

After several more minutes of walking, during which Neal has grown increasingly colder and quieter, they arrive at the Taurus. Neal fumbles with his door handle for a bit, his trembling hand refusing to hold on to the cold metal.

Eventually, though, he’s in the car and the heating is on high. Peter has rummaged around in the backseat and come up with a dusty old blanket, which is now draped over Neal, not doing a whole lot in terms of warming him up. But it does make him feel nice. Cared for, even. He pulls the blanket tighter around himself as an especially harsh shiver runs through him, and wonders vaguely where they’re going.

He looks at Peter, hoping to convey his question without needing to speak. Luckily, Peter can read him, and he says, “we’re going home. We can deal with the watch in the morning, when you’re not freezing to death in my car.”

Home? Neal doesn’t want to go home. June’s out of town for the weekend and he’ll be all alone and still cold and miserable.

Strangely enough, though, they don’t appear to be going home. In fact, Neal realizes, as Peter makes a turn, they’re going to the Burkes’.

Home, he thinks, making a realization that he hardly dares to think might be true. Maybe Peter is just dropping by, maybe he’s taking an alternate route, or...he lets himself think it, just for a second: maybe Peter does mean home, his home, but home for Neal too. He nearly cries at the mere thought, and surely would cry, were it not for the fact that his tear ducts feel frozen shut.

“Home?” he brings himself to ask, as Peter pulls to a stop in front of the Burkes’ house.

“Yeah,” Peter says, looking at him questioningly. “El’s making soup tonight, and there’s a game on. We can have a fire, warm you up. Come on,” he finishes, stepping out of the car and gesturing for Neal to follow.

Despite everything, Neal feels a sudden surge of warmth envelop him. Peter had meant home. He gets out of the car, this time barely fumbling with the door handle at all.

Not one minute later, El is fussing over him a great deal more than he thinks is necessary. Not that he doesn’t appreciate it, because he does. But El is absolutely relentless, bustling him into a pair of faded old pajamas that are slightly too big on him, grabbing blankets from all over the house and piling them onto the couch for him to pick from, pushing a mug of steaming hot tea into his hands, and generally fretting over him, while Peter tells her the story of their evening and she shakes her head fondly.

“Are you sure you’re feeling warmed up now?” she asks, a few minutes later, as the three of them settle around the dining room table with delicious-smelling bowls of soup.

Neal gives her a smile and holds up his hands, no longer shaking. He is still a little cold, particularly in his fingers and toes and on top of his head where his still-damp hair is beginning to dry, but mostly, he’s warm, and as dry as he can be, and very, very happy.

He’s home.

aaagh big huge thanks for reading this!!!!! i am so happy rn, i finished this and my friends are coming in a bit for halloween and my 18th bday is tomorrow and i submit my first college apps tonight and aaa!! very excited very happy i hope that you are having an excellent day!! thanks for reading this fic like i said, and for reading any of my other whumptober fics too!!! this was such a fun month and i had such a great time!!!!!!

#whumptober2020 #altno.12 #water #white collar #fic #neal caffrey #cold #wet #supported walk #my writing #i say things #supported

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amydancepants-peralta · 5 years

Text

we’re the fortunate ones

season five: enough of this terror, we deserve to know light. ♥️

Jake’s hand trails slowly up and down Amy’s back as they stand and talk to Terry, his movements ranging from palm-sized sweeps to finger tipped circles as the conversation wears on. One of his most favourite things in life is to listen to Amy flip into Nerd Mode, and right now her voice is bright and full of passion as she explains the origin of Auld Lang Syne to her audience.

“So really, it’s about acknowledging days gone by and raising a glass to all the moments - good and bad - that have passed,” she concludes, glancing at Jake out of the corner of her eye as she raises her own glass in example. Moving his free hand back up towards the base of her neck Jake takes the cue, finishing his own drink and resisting the urge to curl a strand of Amy’s hair around his fingers as Terry bids farewell a moment later, leading Sharon over to the bar for refills.

Once they are alone Amy shifts her weight to her right, leaning into Jake’s touch as his hand moves to her shoulder, and he presses a soft kiss to her temple. Emptying her glass and abandoning it on the table next to Jake’s, Amy glances around quickly before looking up at him with those gorgeous brown eyes that never fail to pull him in deep. “If you keep touching my back like that, Peralta, there is no way we’re making it to midnight.”

Jake laughs, dropping his hand to just the right spot on Amy’s lower back and pulling her closer. “We didn’t make it to midnight, Ames. If I’m remembering correctly, we didn’t even make it to eight.” Her responding blush makes him grin, and he throws her a wink knowing full well that Amy’s reliving the same memory.

They’d both arrived home from work late (it’s almost as though the criminals of New York have no respect for their plans), and in an attempt to save time Amy had squeezed herself in on Jake’s shower. And perhaps they’ve both been a little loved up lately - and maybe Amy just looked a little too sexy all soaped up like that - because showering quickly turned into other stuff and it hadn’t been long before Jake was being dragged out of the bathroom and into their bedroom (the rule was no sex in the shower after The Incident last June: fair, when he remembered the bruises they’d had in .. places). What happened next had been as awesome as ever, and if there hadn’t been a party they’d already said yes to, Jake would have found it far easier to convince Amy to stay right there in their bedroom for the rest of the evening.

“You’re still not off the hook for that one, babe.” Amy mumbles, reaching up to fiddle with the collar of his shirt and bringing his attention back to the present. “We were so late to the party, and I’m totally blaming that on you.”

“It’s New Year’s Eve, Ames. As long as we’re here before midnight, it’s totally fine.” He smiles at her, dropping his hand an inch lower as he rests his forehead briefly against hers. “And I think you’re forgetting who initiated what before, thank you very much.”

“Can a girl help it if her fiancée was particularly sweet at work today and she wanted to show her appreciation?” Tipping her head upwards, she bridges the gap between them with a kiss. “And besides, it was round two that made us late, and that one’s definitely on you.”

Jake’s heart skips a beat at the sound of fiancée, part of his mind still in disbelief that such a title could belong to him - even if he was the one on bended knee in the first place. Grinning, he shrugs in surrender, gliding his palm over her lower back again. “Right right, fair call ... I guess the sight of my fiancée in that setup you’ve got going on under there was just too much for me.” Amy laughs, her cheeks turning that soft pink that he loves to see, and he leans back in for another chaste kiss.

“Oh god, we’re totally that couple at the party that are all over each other, aren’t we?” she mumbles, tucking her head into Jake’s shoulder in faux shame. His smile is bright in response, sighing happily when Amy’s arms circle around his waist, telling him with her gentle grip that she has no intention of moving anytime soon.

“We so are babe. But you know what? I am totally okay with it.”

As Amy hums her assent, Jake’s eyes flicker around the room, taking in the black and gold decorations that covered a very good portion of the venue Boyle had rented for the night. He and Genevieve had gone all out this year, and once everyone learned to avoid the truly strange options on the menu, it was turning out to be a genuinely enjoyable evening.

He finds Rosa in one corner, the grip on her glass of whiskey tight as she stands listening to Gina, who is undoubtedly discussing the other party guests. Her stance is comfortable, and about as relaxed as Rosa gets, but still Jake waits until their eyes meet from across the room before he can be sure that she’s okay.

Their casual nights of drinking in silence had increased since they’d gotten out of prison, only now they weren’t so silent. Memories of the darker moments behind bars would often stay collectively pooled at the bottom of their glasses, jumbling into a heap along the edge of their table before disappearing with the barman. As the weeks and months passed by there were little reminders that would strike unexpected, stinging like a starving animal gnawing at unhealed wounds. Other times they simmered slowly below the surface, waiting for the perfectly inopportune moment to strike. The scars were fading, but they were there, and her family's reaction to her coming out had not helped things at all. Surviving this year had brought them closer together, and with everyone around them happily celebrating the year that was, Jake wouldn’t have blamed Rosa for a second if she’d had the sudden urge to be Anywhere But Here.

Gina turns her head to see where Rosa’s half smile is directed, and she gives Jake her best I got this face when his eyes flicker over to her. The bright pink 2018 crown that she had worked into her hairstyle was doing it’s very best to attract just enough attention, glitter catching the light as the redhead gives he and Amy a once-over, shaking her head in mock disgust. He brushes off his oldest friend’s glare, rolling his eyes in a completely mature response before returning his attention to Amy, tightening his grip around her in defiance. Gina didn’t understand what this evening meant to them, and in all honesty he didn’t need her to.

It had only been a few months ago that Jake had genuinely begun to believe that a life with Amy was only ever going to be a dream. The thing about prison was that it worked relentlessly at making sure that all inmates were aware that they’d become just another number - that the cement blocks that now made up your world would not acknowledge or mourn your disappearance when or if it occurred. Unsurprisingly, the nights had turned out to be the hardest, and his overactive mind would spiral around him as his deepest fears began to infiltrate - all with one undeniable theme: you’re never going to make it out of here.

But by the grace of all that is good - and a perhaps not-so-legal acquisition of information - Hawkins’ reign of terror had been brought crashing down, and both Jake and Rosa’s sentences had been overturned. Now; the air felt fresher, the sun looked brighter, and after a (slightly) hitch-less Halloween Heist, there was a sparkling diamond on Amy’s ring finger. This was going to be their only New Year’s Eve as an engaged couple, and wild horses couldn’t drag them away from each other tonight.

Amy’s hands sweep along his waist as though she can sense what he’s thinking about (let’s face it: she probably can), and she raises up slightly, dropping a feather-light kiss to Jake’s neck before whispering “We should probably go and at least pretend to socialise with the other guests, right?”

Shaking his head, Jake uses his free hand to curl the edges of her hair around his finger, the other maintaining it’s steady grip along her back, comfortable in the familiarity of her curves. She had been so much thinner when he’d gotten back from prison, his arms wrapping around her more than they’d used to. HIs observation of such on their first night back together had been shrugged off, added with the quiet admittance that their phone calls had fed her more than food, and it had cut him to the quick. He’d counted far too many hours in scratchy orange jumpsuits, desperate in his need to clear his name from this wrongful persecution, but through it all his fight for a future with Amy had been paramount. To see the physical proof that all of this had affected her as well somehow hurt greater than anything else he’d had to endure.

From that night on, their healing had been slow - but it was always together.

Mimicking Jake’s shake of his head with her own, Amy rests her chin against his chest, looking up at Jake with such an abundance of love that he truly wonders what good deeds he’s done in his life to be rewarded with her heart. Amy Santiago was undoubtedly the love of his life - he’d known it long before he’d ever felt confident enough to say it out loud - and next year they were going to be make it official.

“You know what?” Jake asked, cocking his head to the side slightly, grinning when Amy raises her eyebrows in a silent question. “In just 135 days, I’m gonna marry your butt so hard.”

“Oh yeah?” He nods his head enthusiastically, and Amy’s eyes begin to crinkle as she mirrors his grin. “That’s good to know, because in 136 days, I’ve got some pretty serious honeymoon sex planned for us. It would have been a shame for that to go to waste.”

“Not gonna lie, that sounds kinda amazing.”

“The binder I’m making is going to blow. your. mind. babe.”

Leaning down to kiss her, Jake whispers, “God I can’t wait to be your husband.”

It was true. Their wedding was going to be amazing (he’s been secretly compiling a list of Jock Jams to surprise Amy with, and its only halfway done yet already awesome), but truly Jake was beyond ready to be married. To wear a band on his finger that told the whole world that he loves one person above all others, and that person was Amy Santiago. To be able to refer to her as his wife, and to smile proudly when she called him her husband. They were the tiniest of things, but when it all came together it was a life he couldn’t wait to start.

Amy smiles up at him, craning up on her toes to steal another kiss and Jake sighs happily against her mouth. Wiping off a smudge of lipstick from his lips as she pulls away, Amy shakes her head slowly. “You know, it really is ridiculous how corny we’re being tonight.”

Digging his teeth into his lower lip briefly, Jake glances around the room again before shrugging. “This is just our engage-moon period,” he states, and when Amy stares blankly he continues. “I mean … there’s always a honeymoon period after you get married, right? Then … by that logic there should be an engage-moon period, when you’re freshly engaged and everything just seems freakin’ awesome.”

Amy’s mouth turns down slightly as she studies him, that cute concentration face taking over her features, and if he didn’t love her enough already he might just love her a little bit more as she nods in agreement. “You know what, you’re absolutely right.”

“And besides,” Jake continues, unable to contain his smile, “this year is going to be amazing. We’re going to get married, you’re going to become a sergeant -”

“We don’t know that, Jake …”

“You’re going to be a sergeant,” giving her a pointed look he carries on - “the nine-nine will continue to kick crime to the curb and you and I are going to have super-hot married sex in every single room in our apartment.”

Her laughter is loud, the carefree giggles bouncing onto Jake’s chest as her body shakes, and Jake can’t help but join in. This is what he wanted - all day, every day, for as long as they both shall live.

A steady voice breaks through their little bubble, interrupting their laughter with the statement - “If you two are about done with the lovey-dovey stuff, we can start counting down to the new year.”

Pulling away slightly, Amy wraps her right arm around Jake’s waist and clears her throat. “Oh, hey Gina.” With a smile, she accepts the glass of champagne that Rosa offers, taking a sip to distract herself from the embarrassment Jake can tell she’s feeling.

Reaching for the glass that Gina is holding out for him, Jake once again ignores her judgemental stare, choosing instead to secure his left arm around Amy’s shoulder in both comfort and solidarity. Let the world cringe at how ridiculously sappy they were being. If there was anything that the past year had taught him, it was that time was never guaranteed. And now that a happy future was finally in their grasp, he wasn’t going to give it up for anything.

The passing minutes are filled with casual conversation, ranging from stories about Gina’s newborn to the group comparing horror stories over what they’d discovered on the buffet, and as the hosts come over to join them, they begin to countdown to the end of 2017.

When he looks back on photos from the evening, Jake can tell there was a cacophony of party poppers, blowers and calls of celebration, adding to the showers of confetti surrounding them all as the countdown falls to zero, but in all honesty the only thing that he can remember from that moment is Amy. Her hand, curled around a glass of champagne and pressed to his chest as he pulls her in for a kiss that he definitely intended to be sweet but suddenly turned into so much more. The feel of her lips, soft and bewitching as their tongues begin to tangle; her feet pressed in up against his own and her free hand touching his cheek, thumb stroking softly in the way that has always, always made his heart pound like crazy.

They weren’t often ones for such public displays of affection. But the past few years had tested them more than either could have expected, and it felt so good to show that FINALLY, love was going to win.

Jake’s smile is wider than he can help by the time they pull away, and when Amy chases his lips for another quick press, he’s only too happy to oblige.

“Happy New Year, Jake.” Her voice is soft, and her eyes are so bright and full of elation that Jake can’t help but lean in for another kiss.

“Happy New Year, Ames.”

Still holding the champagne, Amy wraps her arms carefully around Jake’s neck and grins. “We’re getting married this year!”

“It’s gonna be the best year ever.”

The roll of Gina’s eyes is almost audible. “You guys are so gross. But you also look really happy, so I’m just going to let it slide for tonight.” With a shake of her head, she tips her glass upside down, shaking the last few drops into her mouth. “Damn, being a mother really changes a gal.”

Rosa chimes in, her tone as factual as ever as she nods her head in Charles’ direction “Also, you should probably know Boyle just took like twenty photos of the two of you kissing.”

“They’re for my scrapbook!”

“Dammit, Boyle!”

#my fic #b99 2020 vision challenge #okay so this was probably a little sappy #but ehhhh #they're engaged and in love #so lets just go with it #title from Joanna Newsom #because SHE #peraltiago fic #jake x amy fanfic #b99 fanfic #b99 fandom events #my writing

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irisbleufic · 5 years

Note

Happy 2020! Can I tag you to do that 2019 Fic Year in Review thing?

Happy New Year to you, too! Sure thing. I can’t remember the last time I did one of these; since 2019 is the end of a decade, it feels fitting. Here goes…

14 February 2019: After spending 14 of my 15 years (2020 marks the start of my 16th year) in Good Omens fandom working on it, I finally finished and posted the 75th and final installment of Crown of Thorns [The Walls, the Wainscot, and the Mouse] ’Verse. LiveJournal was still the fandom’s primary posting hub when I posted the first-ever installment, A Better Place, on 1 October 2005. The series didn’t get its second installment (The Walls, the Wainscot, and the Mouse) until 2010, but work on the series from that point forward was pretty much constant. 2012 saw a higher number of CoT updates than any year previous; that was also the year I transferred it to AO3.

25 February 2019: I finished and posted the last chapter of my third Good Omens collaborative fic ’verse with @procrastinatingbookworm, Turn In Your Arms. We couldn’t believe there was no Good Omens fusion with Tam Lin, so we went for it. Given our first collaboration in 2018 was a Good Omens fusion with Groundhog Day (Game Over, Insert Coin), that wasn’t a stretch.

27 February 2019: @aspiringjedi and I posted the first of our two Good Omens meta-essays, Making An Effort: Queer (Trans) Masculinity in the Ethereal & Occult Beings of Good Omens. Yes, it’s 1,990 words due to the novel’s publication year. When you’re just under 2,000 words anyway, why not?

28 February 2019: @procrastinatingbookworm and I followed up Turn In Your Arms with a brief sequel, Burn After Reading. All of our collaborations to date have ended up as multi-story mini ’verses.

25 March - 20 April 2019: I went about as livid over Gotham’s Season 5 as I did over Season 3 and wrote Darkroom to address how dirty the show did Bruce and Jeremiah. I had a stand-alone Season 4 fix-it story (focusing on Oswald and Edward, like most of my other Gotham work) called Triage from 2018 that had never quite felt like it was meant to be a stand-alone. Triage and Darkroom became the first two installments of a series called Playing for Keeps, to which I added another 6 stories by April 20th. Darkroom somehow got more traffic than any of my other Gotham pieces since When You Find It, Run over in DDO ’Verse (although those two stories are keystone pieces in much larger series, they can both be read as stand-alones).

4 April 2019: In the midst of working on the aforementioned, @aspiringjedi posted our second Good Omens meta-essay, Southern Pansies: Subversive (Trans) Masculinity in the Ethereal & Occult Beings of Good Omens.

8 May 2019: Brief blip back into Pacific Rim fic! I posted a missing Anthology correspondence/inset ficlet called L’amour, c’est comme la guerre. For anyone who ever wanted more of the email correspondence in Anthology’s final chapter, this fills in some gaps you didn’t know were there.

16 May 2019: Thanks to some behind-the-scenes persuasion from several really tenacious Gotham readers who didn’t want me to abandon it / shut down DDO ’Verse, I completed The Knights’ Tour after almost a year on hiatus from it. This turned out to light a fresh fuse on DDO, because TTK didn’t end up being the final story in the series like I had once planned.

18 May 2019: The only His Dark Materials fic I’ve ever written, also a Gotham fusion, got a belated new final chapter. Gold Dust is sort of an alternate take on DDO ’Verse, one in which Dust and daemons are present.

23 May 2019: I posted what I thought would be a stand-alone Gotham story called The Meaning of This City. It manages to be a marginally less dark and complicated take on the Bruce-and-Jeremiah situation (than Darkroom over in PfK ’Verse, that is) without sacrificing some of the most difficult features of what they need to overcome. More on why this didn’t remain a stand-alone in a bit.

6 June 2019: Good Omens requests came around, one of which led me to follow the Imagine Hastur Ficlets (which themselves exist thanks to the accidental prompts at @imaginehastur) interlude in CoT with The Imagine Hastur Epilogue. This was a sort of neat in-narrative way to deal with having gradually come out about my biological (inter)sex and (nonbinary) gender identity over the 14 years I worked on CoT.

15 June - 1 July 2019: I posted another Good Omens collaboration-set with @procrastinatingbookworm called Have Faith at the series-title level. The two stories in it, You Bloody Snake and Enough of a Bastard, focus almost entirely on Hastur and Ligur. Seeing Aziraphale and Crowley through different (and less favorable) eyes was a weird pleasure; seeing people indignantly realize they were enjoying fic about Hastur and Ligur was even more of one!

15 August 2019: @verumx persuaded me to watch Jamie Marks Is Dead with her and @one-eyed-bossman, and then implored me to fix it. Using Our Words is the stand-alone that resulted, which is no shock given I can’t resist ghost stories. It’s unique among this year’s stories in that it may be the only genuine stand-alone aside from the Gotham piece called Gold Dust.

17 August 2019: After an experimental in-character snail mail letter-writing exchange that lasted about 6 weeks, @verumx and I transcribed the letters and framed them in a piece of collaborative Gotham fic, We Were All Forgiven. Since about late April, I had been getting progressively sicker and sicker (didn’t know yet that I had cancer). Keeping busy as things got worse helped at least in the psychological sense, but by mid-August my exhaustion and difficulty eating were hitting their peak. I was hiding it from everyone except my partner.

1 September 2019: Returning to two stories I’d written for Batman: Europa, I created a series umbrella called Once Is Not Enough and explicitly placed London (Letting Go) and Five Love Affairs under it as companion pieces. Between Thursday Friday of this particular week, I experienced an increasingly more frightening set of symptoms that landed me in the ER and got a sequence of diagnostic tests finally rolling.

22 October 2019: After receiving a diagnosis of colon cancer on 10/1/19 and starting medical leave Monday of Halloween Week, I decided to complete the sequel to The Meaning of This City, which was a Gotham piece I’d left hanging mid-progress for weeks. The Maze of Your Ingenuity was hard for me to complete due to constant blood tests, CT scans, and outpatient procedures in the lead-up to my Thanksgiving Week major inpatient surgery, but I did it.

23 September - 11 December 2019: My longest Gotham fic ’verse (Delicate, Dangerous, Obsessed, a.k.a. DDO), having refused to die even once The Knights’ Tour was complete, got an entirely new ending stretch of stories focusing on, of all people, Jerome Valeska and Five (514A). They were the only two characters from canon who I had mentioned and/or shown briefly in passing earlier in DDO, but whose arcs from canon (and onward into my fic) I had done nothing to wrap up. Challengers, Thicker Than Blood, Take This Waltz (It’s Yours Now), Finally Fair (In Love and War), and What We’re For (And What We Want) may, collectively, be the best writing I did during the entirety of 2019 (unless you count what I wrote in February to finish CoT). The experience of terrifying, unexplained illness and harrowing treatment was entirely too timely to one of my two protagonists in this set of stories. They were worth their weight not just in distraction, but also in catharsis. Five survived, and so did I.

#good omens #gotham #wayleska #fic year in review #fanfiction

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shiro-0197 · 4 years

Note

Omg that sounds so cute 😭😭😭 I do that sometimes too. Mostly little faces and hearts and the beats turn out horrific 😳 I'm glad you had the time to do so, love :D

awww thank you, I feel much better about it now. You're right, taking a rest is suitable. I was just so focused on other stuff I never got around to studying, but I will definitely do so next month 😅😚

oh I see!! Good luck with those, you're gonna do so amazingly well xx 💖💖💖 hmm they're not the same. So we start our school year in January, and we have a first quarter exam in march, then another midterm in June/July, then a second quarter exam in September, and our finals somewhere in November (and then we get a break from November to December, and resume on the 2nd of January), tho we have many week-long holidays in between, like after our midterms (two weeks) and after the quarter exams (one week each). That's before quarantine. Now, due to quarantine, we didn't have our finals because school was out, so the school postponed it to January, when school reopens xD it sucks because we didn't even have lessons for most of the topics which are supposed to come out, and self studying is rubbish, honestly. But I think I'll be okay if I put in the hours <3

awww 😭😭 that's okay maybe use a pillow to muffle it. Oh how I'd love to give you a headpat rn. I love headpats, do you like them too?

RIVER PHOENIX BESTEST BOY. I love his name so much too, ahdbsksj!! I mean... LOOK AT HIM?? PRECIOUS, BEAUTIFUL, ANGEL.

(He's not alive anymore tho... He passed away on Halloween's day 27 years ago. His story is such a sad one, actually. I have to hold back tears when u think about it)

I'm glad you liked them!! I don't share classical music recommendations with people, you're the special exception, but I'm so happy you like it. It's very soft and soothing, and river flows in you is my favourite thing to play on the piano 😣💖

KSBSKSHSKJ CUTE CUTE CUTE YOUR VIRTUAL DATE SOUNDS ADORABLE GOSH IM MELTING. 😭😭 Poor Kuro, I hope the store restocks some of that juice for him skdjsksk. It's nice that you have someone to spend time like that with. Life is so much more fun when you have someone with you to spend the boring days away. I'm so glad you have Kuro, the two of you sound so wonderful together.

ah yes!! Abigail made it. She's hoping to start a baked goods business in the future, so she practices a lot, and that's nice because whenever I go over the house smells really good. I loved seeing them all too. I nearly cried when I saw Hri (anime protagnist friend sjdjsks it's such a mouthful to type, so that's his nickname xD) because I'd missed him a lot, so I was really really happy. He sat on the floor and let me braid his hair and tie it up, since it's grown so long now!!

Really? I didn't know that but I'm so glad you think so. You make me so happy, I hope you know that.

AHHH yes I really did miss you more, bae 😭💖 didn't not think about you :) I'm glad, it's always so nice to rant with a best friend. I hope things with his family get better!! and oof 😭😭 I never knew that about phones, but it makes sense, extremes of temperature would definitely affect the battery life :( shame that it happened tho!!

I love you too, my wonderful Shiro. Thank you for existing, and always putting a smile on my face.

—miss i'll-braid-your-hair-someday-too-shiro 💖

Heheheh, yes, every time the sounds are like music composed from the cries of the sinful souls right from Hell. It's too fun to pass, though

I'm really glad, also thanks a lot!!!

Damn ... school system is so differnet everywhere. Even the school start, ours starts at first of September😭 It's usually 3 exams per term for each subject, and there are 4 terms. 2 of the exams are for the unit we had passed, and the 3rd exam is what I like to call the final exam, and its has questions of everything we had passed in the term. Or semester. idk how it's called anymore😩 I just know that they're not divided equally (one is two months, one is three, one is 3,5, the other one is 2,5 or something🤨) and it bothers me a lot. Could've done it a little more organized.... pain😞😞

Yeah, selfstudying is really hard... you just lose focus and it's difficult to understand something with all those weird words. For me, at least. With a study buddy i could at least brag that I'm ahead of them XDD I'm sure you can do it, though! Good luck<33

I like to give out headpats!! But, I guess, to have one from you would be lovely😭

Omg!!!! He looks so gorgeous??!? It's such a shame he died at such a young age:((( rest in peace, River Phoenix😖

Ohhh!! Am I, now? That's cute, I'm glad🥺 I'd love to listen to you playing it someday🥺

Hahah, I know right!! I've been thinking about how cute it sounded, tbh I wanted to draw that but really haven't been feeling up to it XD I'm also very happy to have him. It gets lonely around here :( I'm also very glad to have you! And your sweet messages. It's really a relief, knowing someone so wonderful cares about you. Makes me feel even more special, you know?

Ohh that sounds so good!! I wish her luck, I'm sure she'll succeed. That cookie looked gorgeous, bet it tasted great too😋😋 Also that's so sweet omg???? I'm glad you got to see him🥺🥺 and he let you braid his hair what a wonderful man😍🤭

You make me very happy too!!<33

You're making my heart dance rn wth😭😭💞 you're right, it's really nice to just ramble on about stuff with you♡♡ I really hope so as well, but I think it's really better to hope that they can move out. I wish I could help them fjnancially:(

Yeah phones are kinda annoying like that sometimes >:(( it sucks, but at least they do what they need to hehe

Thank you so much for everything, for everything you've told me, for everything you showed me and everything you wished me, you never fail to make my day better💕💕💞💓

#Ari💕#from your dear mr. i-cant-wait-till-you-braid-my-hair-😩😩😩

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dat-fandom-losertown · 5 years

Text

Happy NHPC Day!

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

Chapter 1

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

Spideypool / Peter Parker + Wade Wilson

Warnings: Non-graphic Violence, A paragraph or two of homophobia, A single homophobic slur

Word Count: 6,122

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

Summary:

Peter and Wade have a tradition they've been following every Valentine's Day and National Half-Priced Candy Day for several years now. They patrol all day and night for Valentine's in their special "June-themed" suits, and on the 15th they spend their day cuddling, eating cheap candy, and napping to make up for the lack of rest from the day before. This year, though, Peter wants to do something slightly different for NHPC day. Something neither of them will ever forget.

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

~> Next

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

Hey guys! I know I haven’t written anything but D:BH here so far (and I may make a late Valentine’s thing for that fandom too), but it had always been my plan to be a multi-fandom account eventually, and I couldn’t miss out on the “Isn’t it Bromantic” Spideypool Discord server’s Valentine’s Day Challenge!

If Spideypool isn’t your thing, I totally get it and I don’t expect you to read this (and I’m gonna be making a post about what to do if you don’t want to see a ship or fandom you don’t like real soon), but if it is your thing, then Welcome! There isn’t much true fluff in this chapter, and this is kind of all over the place, but there absolutely will be tomorrow in the second part and things will tie together! So please hang in there, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

“Spidey-poo! Spider-honey! Web-darling!”

Peter quickly spots Wade’s bright suit and rolls his eyes as he quickly and sternly shushes him, knowing the other super can hear him even if he’s on the rooftop across the street. He swings over and meets Wade on the other side with practiced grace.

“‘Pool, it is five in the morning and normal people are still sleeping! You can’t just yell like that!”

Wade, as expected by this point, completely ignores Peter’s halfhearted chiding and instead sweeps him up into a large bear hug as if they hadn’t just seen each other thirty minutes ago.

“My baby boy’s looking extra bi for this valentine’s day!” He spins them around a couple of times for good measure, then sets him down, keeping his hands on his shoulders. “Did you upgrade the gay suit? Because this looks even better than it did in June!”

A few years back, Wade had jokingly made a comment about wearing pride colors on patrol during the month of June, just to rub it into the “old bigots’ faces” and to get a good laugh. After a day or two of not being able to get that thought out of his head, he figured that if cops can’t be at pride, then at least Spiderman and Deadpool should be able to join in to keep the crime at bay.

As soon as he told Wade this, the ex-merc went all out. He made an entirely new suit for the occasion instead of just taping a flag to his shoulders like Peter was expecting. He argued that “How are the people supposed to know we’re there to help and support if all they see is the usual red with black and red and blue?” and admitted he already had designs for their pride suits ready to go for ages. Wade’s was based off of his pansexuality with all the red parts turned bright pink, the black became bright blue, and all of his weapons (most of them being non-lethal now, thanks to Peter’s insistence) replaced with ones that are bright gold and yellow.

That first year, Peter refused an altered suit, mostly because back then their relationship was newer and he was worried about somehow paying Wade the favor back. Although, he allowed Wade to make it the next year since the design for it was much more subdued than Wade’s by far, and he seemed to have so much fun in his new get up. For Peter’s suit, the blue stayed the same, the red became magenta, and his eye-pieces and web designs became purple all in tribute to his own bisexuality.

The next February after that was when Peter (not Wade, surprisingly enough) came up with the idea to wear these suits on their annual Valentine’s day 20 hour watch, just to show the heteros that they still exist outside of pride month.

That, and “Bi-derman” and “Pan-pool” slash “Dead-pan” are kind of a big hit, so why the hell not?

Peter hasn’t done much altering to his suit beyond repairs, but since last June, he’s completely remade the suit in a tougher material and made the blue and magenta more vibrant and the purple web designs darker to help with the contrast. He also made his eye-pieces white because holy hell was it hard to see through those darker lenses.

“You have a good eye, ‘Pool. Do you like it?” He sticks his arms out and slowly spins as he continues, “I remade it with the extra money from that raise I got a while back.”

Wade quickly grabs Peter and pulls him close again, this time letting his hands roam over the fabric. He can feel the appraise Wade is silently sending him, and the part of him that was worried about making the protective padding on his chest and gut look more muscular rather than lean settles immediately.

“Mmmyes. Me likey this a lot.” He takes a step back and pointedly looks Peter up and down, “Where did you even hide this? I swear I looked in our secret closet and under the bed when I definitely wasn’t snooping for my Christmas presents again.”

Peter rolls his eyes, and he bets that Wade knows it even if his eyes are covered. “If I told you where then I’d have to find a way to erase your memory, because killing you isn’t an option.”

“I dunno, babe, you just might kill me with this damn suit.” He hesitates, then flops his head back with a groan, “Fuck, you’re right, I only get to see it on you for a month and a day a year. How did you even get this level of muscle definition to show through your suit? You look like you do in some of the comics! Clothes in real life don’t work like this!”

“Bullet-resistant padding thanks to Tony and a lot of neat seam-work to make it look like natural muscle.” Peter states matter-of-factly, “Get me the materials and I could do the same for your suits, since I don’t think Tony will offer to give you any.”

“Nah. I don’t need it, and I don’t want to distract from this gorgeous bod’–” he cups Peter’s face “–anytime soon.” Wade gently places his forehead on Peter’s, letting their masked-noses bump. He ruins the moment by murmuring “Is there anything I can do to make you wear this suit in the bedroom?”

“No.” Peter swiftly turns and walks to the edge of the building, waiting for Wade to hop on his back.

“But baby...” the man in question whines, “You wear your other one–”

“Only sometimes and only when you distract me before I can completely change, and I don’t want this one ruined before I can wear it this June.” He ignores Wade’s pout and says, “This fabric is much harder to wash.”

“Ugh, fine. At least I get to watch you flip around some baddies today” he wiggles happily.

“You won’t if you don’t friggin’ hurry up!” he sing-songs, casting a web out in preparation to swing away.

Wade doesn’t respond, but his spidey-senses tingle a warning of something incoming, so he braces himself as his boyfriend leaps onto his back. He loops his legs over Peter’s hips and his arms around his shoulders, then they’re off.

They swing for almost 45 minutes before the duo hear their first cry for help of the day.

Peter hastily swings over to where they heard the woman cry out, and from there it isn’t hard to find her being held hostage by a man in a wolf mask (seriously, why a wolf? Could he only afford a mask from the halloween clearance shelf?) while a well-dressed man shakily pulls out his wallet. Wade drops in, and Peter pretends he didn’t hear the crunch of one of his joints twisting wrong during the landing. By the time Peter drops in to help calm the couple down, Wade has already knocked out and tied up the perpetrator. The couple thanks the vigilantes, then hurry off to the subway, eager to get back to a safer part of the city.

As per usual on their Valentine’s day “event”, they personally drag the mugger to the police station themselves. The police usually have enough on their plate as it is without Spiderman and Deadpool calling them all day to pick someone up if the duo can just do it themselves. Besides, it gives the couple a chance to interact with the public, even if that’s sometimes less-than-pleasing.

Thankfully, they don’t run into too much drama on the way to the station. A young man on the way to work stops them for a picture, admitting that he’s been excited to see the pictures of them in their pride uniforms online later today while a stranger scoffs at them, but that’s hardly drama and is completely expected.

When it starts getting close to seven o’clock in the morning, things start picking up. By the time nine rolls around, they’ve stopped two more minor muggings and talked someone down from trying to commit a crime, which doesn’t successfully happen nearly as often as Peter would like. They buy an ungodly amount of breakfast and hand a chunk of it out to homeless people before they spot someone trying to break into a window on the fourth floor of an apartment building. Peter goes to take care of it while Wade skips away to pass out more food.

“Yo!” Peter calls jovially as he climbs up the wall, “You know, this is extremely dangerous for someone who doesn’t have spider powers, so if you could just–”

His spidey senses suddenly warn him and he jumps to the left, narrowly missing a metal skewer to the shoulder.

“What the hell?! Do you know how dangerous it is to carry those around–” he dodges another one “–normally? And, like, you’re on a rickety– woah!–” He twists his body in order to not get hit “–rickety old fire escape throwing them, so–” He narrowly misses the next one “–Damn it! Would it hurt you to stop for two seconds! Why are you even getting into this specific apartment? There are easier and sneakier ones to get into!”

“My ex wife lives here.” He confesses, throwing another skewer, “She cheated on me with two other people, then divorced me and is trying to take everything! See! I’m not some low-life criminal, so just leave me alone!”

Peter wasn’t actually expecting an answer, but he can try to make-do with this.

“Do you have evidence of her cheating?” he tries, and it must work on some level because the man stops throwing skewers. Just how many did he have, anyway? And why skewers of all things?

The man nods, still hesitating on the next skewer. Damn it, he needs to think of something fast. Well, he doesn’t need to, but he’d rather not send this guy to the cops. He seems like one of the dudes he can calm down.

“Okay, well, do you know if the people she cheated on you with knows she’s cheating on them?”

The guy ponders this for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”

“So… Why not try getting together and form a mini mob to maybe, I dunno, publicly humiliate her? Instead of breaking into her apartment or hurting her? Or both? Instead of making yourself out as the bad guy?”

“Ooo! Who are we publicly humiliating!” Deadpool calls from the bottom of the fire escape. “I want in on the action! I’m really good at scheming!” he rubs his hands together like some kind of mad scientist.

“Deadpool, now is not the time–”

“So you’d help me get revenge on my cheating ex-wife?”

“Wait–”

“Oh hell yeah! We’re gonna blow her cover just like I blow–”

“Okay!” Peter shouts over what was undoubtedly about to be Wade bragging about their nighttime activities again. Or maybe he was actually going to mention one of the explosives or grenades he has back at home, who knows?

This scenario is one of the “If you can’t beat them, join them” type, isn’t it? Well, in this case it’s probably closer to “If you can’t stop them, leave and pretend that it isn’t happening for as long as possible, then deny it did for even longer.”

He sighs and mutters “I can not believe I’m about to do this,” before shouting down to Wade, “Since you’re apparently going to actually do this, can there not be any bodily harm or apartment destruction? If not anything else?”

“Aw, but baby boo, arson is the third best crime to commit…” At Peter’s stern look, he relents. “Fine, but if we’re gonna do this right, but I want a little fee for this amazing plan I’m coming up with!”

Peter takes that and the man’s positive response as his cue to leave and pretend his boyfriend isn’t plotting to cause a huge scene with three other people today. It’s much easier to do once he catches some asshole slipping his hand up some girl’s dress while keeping her at gunpoint in some alley.

A web here, a punch there, and another punch, and a kick. Then one last kick and punch just for good measure, along with another web, and the girl is saved and the wrong-doer is unconscious and tied up. In the not sexy way, Deadpool would probably add if he was here.

“Thank you, Spiderman!” he hears the woman sobs before she pounces on him with a hug.

“Woah, hey, you’re safe now.” He awkwardly hugs the stranger back.

“He’s been stalking me for a while and I’ve just been hoping that I could get close to a police station or something but then he disappeared and cut me off and I couldn’t run in these heels and he got me–”

“Hey hey hey, he’s gone now. He’s not gonna hurt anyone anymore, okay?” He pulls away from her, and she gives a shaky nod. “Okay, do you have anyone you can call–”

“Spidey!” he hears the familiar voice sing at the end of the alley, “You left without me!” The footsteps suddenly stop, and Wade’s voice becomes much softer. “Hey, you alright? No one important is hurt?” He glances over to the webbed up man briefly.

The woman shakes her head. Knowing that Wade will probably keep quiet for now, Peter restates his question.

“Do you have anyone you can call for now so you’re not alone?”

The girl nods again, “I was just on my way to meet my partner. They’d come right away.” She huffs a wet laugh, “They actually adore you two. You helped them from a bunch of bullies at pride two years ago.”

“I’m glad we can get to them in time, then.” Peter smiles.

“Hells yea! The world could do with more people who say “fuck you” to gender rolls!” He points to nothing as he continues, “And you read that right, readers! Rolls with two L’s wasn’t a typo, because gender rolls are the nastiest kind of bread. Yuck!”

The woman huffs a laugh then looks up from her ringing phone, tilting her head in sudden confusion, “Readers? Typo?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Peter cuts in, “It’s just a thing he does.” He doesn’t want to take the time to explain Wade’s weird habits of doing something called “breaking the fourth wall”, and how he addresses some things to readers and others to viewers or watchers and other to his two internal “boxes” named “Yellow” and “White”.

Peter hears the person on the other end finally pick up the phone and ask if something’s up. The woman asks them to go to a certain coffee shop to meet her instead of the fountain– wherever that could be in a place like this– to meet her. The other person immediately agrees. Peter is also mildly impressed and rather touched that they also asked for her to stay on the line until they meet instead of just hanging up in a rush like plenty of people seem to do. This person is definitely good for this lady.

They end up walking with the woman to the aforementioned coffee shop, and they chat a little with the person on the line while Peter keeps a very close ear out for anything odd that may need his assistance and pays close attention to his spidey-senses. They get a photo with one group of kids and their parents on the way, then a few more pictures once they meet up with Kasandra’s (they finally got the woman’s name) partner. After that, a group of teens on a triple date quickly came up for pictures and complimented their pride suits.

Peter’s spidey sense starts going off before the teens can say much else. With Deadpool quickly and securely latching onto his back, he climbs up a wall to safely swing away to the danger.

After that, it becomes a pretty normal day, as far as patrolling goes. Despite the fact that most of New York City knows that Spiderman and Deadpool patrol all day and night long on most holidays, the crime rate still rises on them. It makes Peter wonder just how many people they don’t get to whenever they patrol; how many people call out for them specifically when Peter is too far away to hear them or sense them being in danger?

He doesn’t want to know the answer to that, and Wade does his best to help Peter keep his brain from travelling down those dark paths once he figured out it made his depression and anxiety that much worse.

He honestly doesn’t know what he’d do without Wade. They’ve been together for so long that Peter can’t imagine a day where he’d be gone for good. Yeah, he still sometimes spends weeks or, very rarely, months away for some SHIELD job, but he always eventually comes back. He’s almost completely immune to his “Parker Luck” because he’s technically immune to death and injury. So the thought that one day Wade may leave and not come back because something between them just couldn’t be worked through?

It’s terrifying.

The thing about that last thought, though, is that Peter can’t imagine not being able to work things out with Wade. They always work things out. They’ve been living with each other for years now, so that was something they had to learn how to do a long while ago. Even their various friends agree that, as much as they banter like best friends, they also tend to argue and compromise over small things like an old, married couple. He and Wade never try to argue their observations either. Peter isn’t quite so sure about his other half, but he feels like they’re already a married couple. There’s just no rings or legal papers to make it official yet.

Yet.

He abruptly pauses at webbing a group of home intruders to the brick wall in front of him to watch Wade with wide eyes as the other chatters away, searching for a cell phone to call the police with so these guys can be picked up.

Wade’s self-esteem would probably never allow him to ask Peter to marry him, even though they’ve been dating for over six years now and living together for about the same length of time. Even if they had been dating for twelve or twenty years, he doubts Wade would be able to do it without backing out or panicking just because he’d probably feel like he was trapping Peter or something bizarre but sadly understandable like that, especially if his boxes are in a shitty mood that hnypothetical day.

He doesn’t doubt for a moment that Wade loves him deeply, even with all the shit they give each other. Hell, especially with all the shit they give each other. It means a hell of a lot when people can make fun of each other and poke at each other and can trust wholeheartedly that the other person knows that it means nothing or comes from a place of pure love, especially for people with backgrounds filled with anxiety like Peter and Wade.

It takes a lot of trust to open oneself up completely to another person, and Wade is the first person like that for Peter ever since he became Spiderman, and Peter hopes he’s close enough to being that person for Wade in return. It takes a lot of love and trust on both of their parts to deal with the somewhat common panic attacks, depression dips, and self-punishments and the less common hallucinations and serious depression dips and still stick around after all is said and done.

They’ve been together through thick and thin, through grave injuries and actual death (on Wade’s account, anyway). They’ve stuck together through sickness and loss, happiness and wealth (there was a few months where Wade was apparently secretly convinced that Peter would leave once he was no longer dirt poor, but that’s been proven wrong a hundred times over by now). They’ve been through everything the traditional wedding vows mention, and the “until death do us part” really only works on Peter, but his powers and trained skills don’t make him an easy target, either.

Peter knows what he wants to do, or rather, he’s just now realized what he’s been wanting for a long while. And now that he knows what’s missing, he’s going to take the first steps to get it. Wade took the first steps in starting their relationship, so it’s only fair that Peter takes the first step or two towards their marriage. Probable marriage, he corrects himself, because if there’s one thing he’s learned from being with Wade all these years, it’s that if something has even one percent chance of happening, it’s plenty of wiggle room for the ex-merc to do it. And Peter’s only 99 percent sure that he’ll say yes.

That just means he needs to make tomorrow the best National Half-Priced Candy Day yet.

“Spidey?” Wade snaps him out of his thoughts, sounding like that wasn’t the first time he called for him.

Peter shakes his head. “Sorry. Just got a bit carried away in my head I guess.”

Wade nods thoughtfully. Peter can practically see the concern dripping off of him. “You need a break? We’ve been at this for–” he checks the stranger’s phone still in his hand, “twelve hours now. Dang.” He pauses. “I know right? But you know what they say, time flies when you’re having fun, and I’m always having fun when our snookums is around!” Wade’s bright grin stretches the bright pink and blue fabric of his mask.

“I usually have fun when you’re around too, ‘Pool.” Peter grins and turns away. He hears a gasp behind him.

“Baaabe!!” he whines, “Only usually? You wound me! I am always fun, especially when–” He abruptly stops. When he doesn’t immediately respond to whatever his boxes are saying, Peter turns around.

Wade is looking at Peter with a strangely somber expression, one that’s obvious through his mask. Then he picks himself up in what Peter can now tell is false cheer.

“You know, Spidey, if you ever get tired of me–”

“Never gonna happen.” Peter walks towards Wade and puts his hands on his undoubtedly surprised face. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, ya doof.” He pecks a kiss to his masked nose then pulls away. “Come on, then! We have more criminals to stop and people to save!”

Peter hesitates just long enough for Wade to jump on his back before taking off. As he swings them through the city, he starts thinking of a plan of action for tomorrow.

If there was any chance that he was wrong about Wade’s self esteem not letting him pop the question first, what the ex-merc just said squashed it, which means Peter will have to be the one to do it. He could go the easy way and go about their usual NHPC day and get down on one knee when they’re back at home (because for as much as Wade puts on an act of shamelessness and seems to constantly overshare, he’s strangely a rather private person), but he doesn’t particularly want to.

A quick look to the left mid-swing and he thinks he has the perfect thing.

His spidey-senses guide him to the right, so he follows. It doesn’t take very long at all for the pair to spot the dark smoke in the sky directly ahead of them. They make it there quickly, taking in the apartment building that is almost overrun by bright flames, the two fire trucks, and the group of firefighters on the street trying their best to evacuate people and put out the worst of the fire. Wade points out that the fire escape must either be engulfed by flames or has broken off or something because he can see a couple through a window on the top floor.

Without stopping to ask what happened or what’s needed of them– mainly because they’d probably say something that basically means “go away and mind your own business”– they enter the building through a window on the top floor (“Wade! You didn’t have to break it!” “The entire building is basically broken! It’s fine!”) since they both believe that, with the get up most of them are wearing, the firefighters are working on evacuating the people in the thick of the flames now and haven’t reached anyone in the higher floors.

Besides, the materials Peter and Wade use to make their respective suits aren’t exactly heat and flame resistant, so this is how they can be helpful.

Inside the building is, predictably, hot and smokey from the flames, and Peter knows it will get louder too as they reach the floors that are closer to the majority of the fire. They split up and work through the top floor first with Peter safely lowering two small families, two couples, and several animals down one or two at a time while Wade searches for any others and gathers them to their chosen window. Once Wade says it’s clear and the civilians are safe, they move downstairs to the next floor and set up the same system.

This floor is proven to be a bit more difficult when Wade comes back with two cats and informs Peter that their owner is a business man that recognized Deadpool as the mercenary he hasn’t been in a long while and accused him of setting the building on fire while simultaneously begging for his life. So Peter has to leave his post at the window and let Wade lower the few remaining people down while he goes and talks to the business man.

Peter easily finds the middle-aged man cowering in the corner and tries to calm him down. Although, it very quickly becomes apparent that he isn’t having any of it because “Anyone who works with Deadpool only thirsts for blood, and you will not have mine that easily!” Peter just huffs and picks him up like a potato sack, ignoring his shouting and struggling while he carries him to the window in his kitchen. Peter casts a new web and makes a quick harness, gets the man– who had stopped struggling real fast once he realized he was no longer inside– and lowers him down faster than he had for the others.

He meets up with Wade in the hallway, who apparently cleared the rest of the floor while Paranoid Man was causing a fuss, and they move down again. They hastily clear out most of the apartments on the third-to-top floor when Peter hears a shout and a gunshot from down the hallway. The only people there to lower the two small dogs he has on the line now are three siblings, the oldest being no older than 16 and the youngest no older than 10. Another gunshot forces Peter’s hand, though.

“Hey! Do you think you could lower these pups down while I go check that out?”

The oldest sibling, a girl with a pixie cut, ripped jeans, and a black sweatshirt, looks out the window and nods. She silently and shakily takes the webbing from him and starts to lower them. Peter doesn’t waste any time in sprinting down the hall to the last apartment where he last saw Wade disappear. Inside he finds a woman in her forties or fifties holding a gun to Wade’s unmoving body. Whether he’s dead or unconscious, he doesn’t know, but that doesn’t matter.

“Hey! What the hell, lady! We’re trying to help!” Peter stomps towards her.

“I’d rather die than be contaminated by freaks like you!”

His spidey-sense suddenly screams at him, and Peter jumps and rolls to the side just in time to dodge the bullet that would have hit his chest.

“What the fuck?!”

“Get out of my damn apartment!” she screams, pointing the gun at him again.

“Lady, there is literally a fire–”

“And I will not be saved by faggots like you!”

Oh… How fun… One of those people…

But she’s still a civilian, Peter reminds himself, and he really shouldn’t web her up in the corner of the room just because she’d rather die than accept help from someone who isn’t straight. No matter how much he kind of wants to right now. The fire probably won’t even reach this floor, anyway… But he still can’t.

“This is a matter of life and death for you, what the hell–” He jumps to the left to dodge another bullet.

“And I don’t fucking care!” She screams, “You can all go and burn in hell! But I won’t let myself be swayed by your cursed ways!” she shoots once more, and she should have only one shot left at most, if Peter’s counting right.

She doesn’t get to shoot again, though, because Deadpool comes up behind her and knocks her out.

“Do you know how close I was to killing her? Do you know how easy it’d still be to? God sometimes I wish I was still a mercenary. I mean, look at this! She got blood on my gay suit!” He complains, staring down at the woman disdainfully and poking at the single bullet wound in his chest.

Peter, instead of praising him for not killing her or explaining why they should keep her alive, just nods and jogs out of the apartment. He has other people he needs to save, afterall.

He pretends to not hear Wade’s gasp and sinister chuckle behind him.

He gets the siblings down, and Wade comes back with a dog and two cats in his arms, and the unconscious woman being dragged behind him by Wade’s new, golden whip (“Now I can be just like Wonder woman!” “Like who?” “Wonder Woman! She’s from the DC Universe and she’s my hero! Besides you, of course!” “Whatever you say, Wade…”). If anyone notices that he lowers the animals before he lowers the human, then they can deal with it. And if they notice that she has “BEWARE: HOMOPHOBIC ASSHOLE” written on her forehead in permanent marker, then it’s not his fault that he can’t control his boyfriend.

Looking out of the window this time, they realize that the fire has gone down quite a bit. Wade comes running back down the hallway– when did he even leave?– cheering that the fire escape was just covered in fire, but now it’s safe to walk on. Before Peter has the chance to ask if it was safe for civilians to walk on or just supers, Wade jumps in and clarifies that he pretty much cannon-balled onto it and it didn’t bend, and it was only pretty warm through his ruined suit, rather than very warm.

With that news (and after Peter tested it for himself), they waste no time in telling the other tenants they find to put thick shoes on and go down the fire escape. By the time they finish clearing the few people and animals left in the building, it’s pretty much dark out and some news stations are gathered around outside reporting what happened here for the nightly news.

“Excuse me, miss,” He hears Wade say to his right. He turns and finds him talking to a young police officer. “How did this fire start? And why’d it get so big?”

The young woman scowls a bit and opens her mouth to speak, but an older officer behind Peter interrupts her.

“Someone was trying to make a romantic dinner on the fourth floor and started an oil fire, then tried putting it out with water. It got so big because traffic was horrible today, and we just couldn’t make it here as quickly as we needed.” he smiles ruefully.

Peter turns to properly face the officer, “Do you know if anyone was seriously hurt?”

He shakes his head. “But we know that so far there haven’t been any deaths reported so far. Animal or human.”

Peter nods as Wade speaks. “Thank you, officer! We appreciate the work you do ‘round here, but we should get going!”

Peter takes his cue and starts walking towards the building across the street to climb up and swing off of.

“Hey,” the officer catches Peter and Wade’s attention, “I know a lot of other police officers don’t like you doing their job, but you’re doing some real good work out there. So thanks, Spiderman and Deadpool.”

Peter nods, not really knowing what else to do, while Wade openly gapes through his mask. He pulls the ex-merc towards him, and he immediately clings to Peter’s back. They’re gone pretty quickly after that.

“Babe! Baaabe!!” Wade shouts into his ear mid-swing, “That was amazing! We found someone who doesn’t hate us! And he thanked us!”

“I know!” He cheers back. It’s always nice to get some positive recognition.

Wade squeezes on to him tighter. “God, I’m so fucking glad I stopped murdering people.” He kisses the back of his neck through their suits. “I’m really glad I chose you. So happy... The happiest.” he continues quieter, more genuine.

If Peter didn’t know better, he would’ve thought he wasn’t supposed to hear that last part, that it was just meant for himself and his boxes. But, well, he does know better.

His brain decides to remind him of the ring he still has to buy by the end of tomorrow.

Peter’s spidey-senses start humming at the same time that Wade shouts that he saw a young man and a suspicious older woman in an alley shortcut. They easily stop the woman from assaulting the poor teen before she could try with the element of surprise on their side, then they escort him back to a more populated area where it should be safer. Both Peter’s and Wade’s stomachs growl at the scent of sandwiches, so they go in and order enough for an army before and climbing up to the nearest rooftop to take a very-much-needed food break. They sit down and start digging in.

Peter weighs the options of buying an engagement ring as Spiderman and risking outing his plans to everyone before he gets to properly propose to Wade, or somehow taking time out of their NHPC day plans (do nothing except go out to buy cheap candy together, cuddle, and munch on said candy) to buy a ring without being suspicious to the man whose job has always been finding people who don’t want to be found out.

“Hey Wade?”

Wade hums around his food and scoots more into Peter’s lap in lieu of a real response.

“I was thinking we could do something slightly different than usual tomorrow?” Peter leans a bit to the side to get a better view of Wade’s reaction. It isn’t a negative one, but it’s also not positive.

“Why? What’s up?” he asks once he swallows his food.

Peter shuffles a bit. “Well, I was thinking, since candy isn’t usually the only thing that’s half-priced tomorrow, we could maybe split up for, let’s say, an hour or two? Just to buy a cute present for each other or something–”

Wade’s excited gasp interrupts Peter. “Like those little stuffed animals that go right into clearance after Valentines? Or those super soft blankets and socks!” Wade squeals and waves his hands, flinging sandwich bits everywhere. “Petey-baby! You are brilliant! Like, I knew that already, but you’re just proving what we all already know! Even the boxes agree! Although, Yellow’s idea of a present is too close to Yandere simulator, but White thinks going down to Coney Island would be cool! But I don’t even think the rides are even open this early in the year. Besides! I just told you about it! So it isn’t a surprise anymore!” He points a finger high in the air and announces loudly, “Disqualified!”

Peter smiles as he absently listens to Wade go on and on about present-buying tomorrow. Now he just needs to find the perfect ring online and pick it up at the store. If he can’t find the perfect one on such short notice, he doubts Wade will mind if he got a unicorn plushie and a very soft blanket instead. The ring and proposal doesn’t have to be rushed, as much as Peter really wants it to be. How could he not, when his fiance would be a sarcastic asshole and secret sweetheart like Wade Winston Wilson?

Now the only important question left is, would it be Peter Wilson, Wade Parker, or Peter and Wade Wilson-Parker, or Parker-Wilson?

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

~> Next

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

#spideypool #peter parker x wade wilson #isn't it bromantic #spideypool valentine's day challenge 2020 #nirlan's spideypool fanfics #nirlan's marvel fanfics

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sagehaleyofficial · 4 years

Photo

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (5.20-5.26.20):

NEW MUSIC:

Machine Gun Kelly debuted the music video for his new, chart-topping track “Bloody Valentine.” The video stars actress Megan Fox, famous for her roles in Transformers and Jennifer’s Body.

The late Cady Groves’ forthcoming album Bless My Heart will make its way onto digital streaming platforms on May 29th. Prior to her passing, Groves had completed all vocals for the album.

Bring Me the Horizon posted a new video titled “00BMTHS2-prologue-.mp4” to social media. The video shows footage of all the members living in quarantine, confirming that the band has new music on the way.

We Are the In Crowd dropped two B-sides, “Waiting” and “Perfect Reason,” featured on physical versions of their album Weird Kids. Prior to this, they were announced to be playing the Slam Dunk Festival, now postponed to 2021.

Senses Fail are working on a second album, meaning fans will likely be getting two new records within a year of each other. The band entered the studio in February to start working on new music

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Crown the Empire announced that fans are now able to perform with vocalist Andy Leo‘s hologram from the comfort of their own home. This is done through the app Vadu, which Palaye Royale, Poppy, Pussy Riot and Vic Mensa are also on.

A new fundraiser, Rock for Hope, released a Ramones cover featuring Frank Iero, Frank Turner, Tom Higgenson of the Plain White T’s and more. The cover supports the Partners in Health coronavirus charity, providing PPE and other equipment.

OTHER NEWS:

Chris Cornell‘s daughter Lily Cornell Silver revealed a podcast dedicated to mental health awareness in honor of the late Soundgarden singer. She launched the Mind Wide Open podcast on her Instagram account on the third anniversary of his death.

Funko! is offering a new line of Zombieland, Edward Scissorhands, the Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride figures. The company revealed plans for a “Funkoween in May” line of vinyl figures including several Halloween-themed films.

Billie Eilish’s home has been blurred out on Google Street View following an incident involving a fan who kept showing up at her home. Other musicians such as Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page and Lily Allen have been granted similar requests.

Hayley Williams‘ debut solo record Petals for Armor acquired the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Albums Chart. This makes her the first woman to ever lead the chart both as a solo artist and with a group, according to Billboard.

Twenty One Pilots‘ Josh Dun and actress Debby Ryan are officially married, revealing that they were secretly wed on New Year’s Eve. Rumors about the couple being wed in secret began after the band released the video for “Level of Concern.”

Box Car Racer‘s self-titled record turned 18 last Thursday and the members celebrated with a post of an old photo of Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker. DeLonge shared the photo and told fans he chatted with Barker over FaceTime.

Despite its initial backlash, after revealing his “Cremated” eyeshadow palette, Jeffree Star revealed it sold out in 20 minutes. The cosmetics brand will be restocking the “Cremated” line, as well as the “Jawbreaker” palette in mid-June.

Beartooth parted ways with guitarist Kamron Bradbury for “personal reasons,” as the band posted in a statement on Sunday. Bradbury previously played with City Lights before joining the band in 2014.

All Time Low are launching a new show titled “Crash Test Live,” with the first episode available this Friday. Members and co-hosts Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat will be streaming the live episodes on Twitch and YouTube.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

#sage haley #posi talk #machine gun kelly #bring me the horizon #crown the empire #billie eilish #hayley williams #twenty one pilots #jeffree star #all time low #box car racer #beartooth #cady groves #we are the in crowd #senses fail #chris cornell #funko! pop

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arctimon · 5 years

Link

(Going to do something a bit different here on Tumblr. I’m going to post the link, but I’m also going to put the text in full here, just for the people who don’t want to go to DevArt for whatever reason. Just trying it out and subject to change.)

-----

So, we finally have some news about Big Hero 6. There's one episode premiering on December 7th, and the rest will, according to Bob Schooley, be shown some time in February. It sucks because we'll be waiting another three months for the arc to end, but that's another journal for another time.

The episode on Dec. 7th is called “The Present”, and the episode description is as follows:

When Hiro finds a wrapped present in the closet, he assumes it's from Aunt Cass and take it in order to figure out what it is; after a mix-up with Fred, the present is lost.

Over on Tumblr I ran into Ficsinhistory, who had some ideas about what she thinks the episode is going to be. I don't want to feel like I'm just piggybacking off of her entry, so I'm just going to give her proper credit her just in case.

OK? Here we go.

First of all, even though it's airing on the same day as the Big City Green's Christmas episode...nowhere is it mentioned that it's a Christmas episode.

And you're probably thinking “Jason, of course it is.”

...Is it, though?

(Yes, it is, but humor this old man for a bit.)

Because timeline wise, that doesn't make any sense, unless it's a special episode that has nothing to do with the plot.

Keep in mind that Season 1 took place in Hiro's first semester. The movie, if screenshots are any indication, took place in that summer. Granted, I don't know how fictional tech institutes split up their semesters, but if it's anything like real ones, they have two main ones: spring and fall.

“Obake Yashiki” explicitly takes place on Halloween. A few episodes earlier, we got introduced to Liv Amara and the whole Orso Knox situation. “Prey Date” specifically states that Liv has been giving the same canned time frame for when they're going to make a breakthrough on his condition, and that was two months ago. Even if you do the bare minimum of that, and take the other episodes of Season 1 into account...we're already past Christmas at this point.

So we really have two possibilities.

One, it is a Christmas episode, and it takes place between seasons and has nothing to do with the current Chief Cruz plot.

Or two, it's not a Christmas episode, but merely a regular one disguised as a Christmas episode. Because when do you also get wrapped presents?

On your birthday.

Not that I put too much stock into this theory, but if I’m not mistaken, we don’t know when Hiro’s birthday is. The internet seems to say it’s June 3rd, but I’m not sure if that’s been officially corroborated. Also fifteen is somewhat of an odd age to be given a present locked away or whatever.

Personally (and you can be done with humoring me), I think it’s something that Tadashi got for him for getting into SFIT, and obviously never got to give him personally, so Cass hid it away until whenever. I know that others have theorized that it could be a gift from possible Aunt Cass herself, which I suppose is possible. Still others have said it may be from Karmi, and as much as I would love for that to be the case, that is the most unlikely one of all. We haven’t had a single mention of Karmi in the second arc; I highly doubt we’re going to get our first one in this one.

...Although that would be killer.

I also don’t think this episode is going to have anything to do with the overall plot; it’ll just be a Breather Episode until the other ones air.

Speaking of which…

Disney TVA news (the unofficial fan-run Disney account) surmises that the “bomb” release of episodes will probably continue, and I would agree. After “The Present”, we have seven episodes left, and the account graciously reminded me (because I’m old and forgetful) that the season will end in a three-part finale, just like Season 1.

They could theoretically burn those off in a week. Four episodes during the first part of the week (one per Monday – Thursday) and then air the finale in its entirety on Friday. I still believe that the “bomb” release is not a good way to do things, but this is one of the singular ways that this makes sense. We’ll probably get episode titles sometime in January, and we can all start theorizing then as to if/when Karmi will be coming back.

Or maybe that’ll just be me.

They could also theoretically air them on a weekly basis all throughout the month of February (one per week, and the finale at the end of the month). That would be a nice change of pace from the other episodes…

And possibly open up the idea for a Valentine’s Day episode starring you know who.

Very unlikely (for both), but I can dream, right?

In terms of a writing update, I have four more chapter to go for Along Came The S.P.I.D.E.R., so it will finish right before “The Present” comes out. I do already have an idea for that episode story, so be on the lookout for that.

As for after that...I’m not sure. February is a very odd timing because I don’t think I could come out with another full story before the episodes drop, and I’m sort of hesitant to start something that I know I would put on hiatus while writing Continuity, Part 3.

Oh, and the next story’s starring Robbie and Go Go. You’ve probably noticed that Robbie’s missing what makes him the Ghost Rider of the comics. Trust me, that’ll be fixed soon.

See you on Friday, everyone. Until next time.

#journal #big hero 6 #big hero 6 the series #hiro hamada #bh6 season 2

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

Text

Chicago’s Black Road Announce ‘Witch of the Future’ & Drop Single

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

No two bands are the same. They all start out differently, and for their own reasons. Tim M. and Suzi Uzi of Black Road decided to form the band out of what felt like pure necessity. Tim had many riffs built up from almost two decades of guitar playing. Upon showing many glimpses of skill and songwriting knowledge to Suzi, she decided to try and form a band. There was an inherent need to get these riffs and songs out to the world. In June of 2015, Tim chose the name Black Road, and the rest is history.

Upon naming the band, the couple had an uncertain view of what direction the band might take. Anthony Petrucci was asked to join in on bass, and within one month of jamming, the trio recorded an acoustic rendition of a song Tim had brought forth from his past. “Innocent Woman” can still be found on the SoundCloud account for Black Road. After much reflection, the group decided they wanted to play out as a band and needed a drummer. Dennis Franco, longtime high school friend of both Tim and Suzi’s, was asked to join in on drums. A second guitarist was also involved, Eddie Salinas. Eddie and Tim had played alongside one another for years in high school. Along with Dennis, they were known as the main guitarists during the years they and Suzi all attended the same school together.

Photographs by Matthew Vineyard

After an unorganized, but ultimately fun first gig together, the band went through immediate lineup changes. Black Road lost its second guitarist, and became a 4-piece. Another gig opportunity presented itself in November of 2015, and then-current drummer Dennis was unable to perform. A fill-in was quickly found at the music store Suzi worked. Andrew Becker became Black Road’s full-time drummer going forward, after learning the entire set as a fill-in. For about 10 months, the band wrote more songs, became tighter, and performed several times together. The lineup then changed once more in September of 2016.

Former drummer Andrew was the first one to take a step out of the band for musical differences. Suzi had quit smoking to improve her vocals and had gotten much stronger and more confident. It was then that Tim had the “okay” to pull out the heavier metal riffs he had been holding back. Simply to allow Suzi time to get stronger and the fact that heavy songs can be harder and more taxing to sing, the band hadn’t written too many songs that would be considered metal. Since this was the direction Tim and Suzi wanted to go, Andrew and then one week later Anthony, both decided they wanted to pursue other musical endeavors.

Film by Billy Goate

A drummer who had previously made contact with Suzi online immediately stepped in, Robert Gonzales. It was clear from the first time jamming with him that he would become a member of Black Road. The last thing to find was a bassist, and there were some folks who auditioned and did not end up working. Without realizing he was under their noses the entire time, bassist Casey Papp stepped forward as a local who had already seen Black Road perform and supported the band. He came to audition and Tim knew right away that he fit his style of playing and would make an excellent addition to the lineup. A couple jams later, the band was announcing the new members on Halloween of 2016, and they remain to this day.

Black Road was eventually noticed by DHU Records label head Robert Black. There were several demos out online, all recorded by John Morrison. In August of 2016, Black Road had signed with the label out of the Netherlands for a vinyl and cassette release. This may have prompted the eventual split with the former members, but it was a great source of inspiration to everyone in the current lineup. In the time the band was going through all of this, BloodRock Records (Italy) label head Enrico Spallarossa took notice, and signed the band to another deal for a CD release. There was a sense of urgency but also excitement, knowing the songs the band was learning and eventually writing together would be printed on multiple physical formats. in January of 2017, local friend Brad V. Earl tracked and recorded the band’s debut EP. It was released October 6, 2017.

Photograph by Matthew Vineyard

There were many hard lessons learned during the recording process, and the same can be said with most bands. These experiences with demos and album recordings made the eventual full-length album much easier to conceive and execute. The “Black Road EP” was well-received, and completely sold out on all formats. The band knew what they wanted and now did not want to happen for the next time they attempted the recording process. The band went through many hardships, struggled financially, and survived some intense times together...only making them stronger. The songs were written from life experiences and shared interests. The full-length album “Witch of the Future” contains songs completely written by the current lineup, whereas the EP had songs written from both incarnations of the band. An initial, separate recording session of a single track for “Witch of the Future” was done prior to the full-length, to test the capabilities and sound at Roosterbat Studios. It was released late 2018 on Bandcamp in the digital format.

The recording sessions varied, as they always do. There were bumps in the road both technical and personal. The window of time to record was limited. Already planned were a music video shoot and two tours quickly following, so the album needed to seemingly be done by then. In the time the band and labels were waiting for the mixing to be done, DHU Records proposed a 7” inch single vinyl release, and Suzi immediately said yes! Thanks to original artwork created by Shane Horror, a mock-up became a reality in less than a month. 50 copies were printed and the tiny clear vinyl sold out in a mere 20 minutes. It was also thanks to the quick work of John Becker that the single was made possible. He and Alec Haley tracked, recorded and mixed the full-length album at Roosterbat Studios. It was then handed over to DHU Records favorite Tony Reed at HeavyHead Recording Co. for mastering on all formats. Over 2 years in the making, “Witch of the Future” can finally be brought to the present. It is the culmination of the band’s progress, triumphs, and failures.

Album Notes

Tim M. lead the songs as usual with his soaring riffs. Melodic and harmonic, they set the tone for the vocals. All lyrics and vocals are done by Suzi Uzi, with Tim doing backing vocals on a few tracks. There is synth and tambourine sprinkled throughout, but not overdone. Robert Gonzales took charge of the recording sessions! He absolutely nailed his drum takes during the live recordings, while Casey Papp complimented his every beat with some killer, amazing bass.

After having super solid takes, vocals and guitar solos were added, as well as percussion and synth, to round out the sound. The ambience of the studio and the relaxed nature of the entire process comes out in the album. The single "Witch of the Future" was first released as a live track in 2017, then again in 2018 as a standalone digital single. It was completely redone in the studio and is released as the title track for this album. “Blood on the Blade” was released for the music video and as a single, but has been remixed and remastered for the “Witch of the Future” album release. A bonus track in included in the digital release, previously released as Side B of the “Blood on the Blade” 7” vinyl single.

From The Band

“There were many people who helped bring this to the light. Artists like Nick Gurley have helped make a name for us by presenting one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by the music, that made a lasting impression. Music videos can be found thanks to Don Corthier and Liza Moon, which have been the source for thousands of people discovering Black Road. Friends have helped record demos, take photos, and get video up online for others. All of the support from reviewers, blogs, and interviewers have helped get people involved and interested in following the band. We feel so humbled by hard-working people like DHU Records and BloodRock Records, and we are honored to be on their roster! It is a community effort, and we are one big family. We wouldn’t be here without you all, and we are eternally grateful. We live by the golden rule and the future looks super bright. Thank you for being a part of this journey trippin’ down Black Road with us!”

First Single

And now, Doomed & Stoned proudly presents the single "Hash King" from 'Witch of the Future' (2019) by Black Road, coming to DHU Records on Halloween, with pre-orders beginning on Friday, September 13th.

Give Ear...

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

#D&S Debuts #Black Road #Chicago #Illinois #DHU Records #Stoner Rock #Blues #Doom #Metal #Doomed & Stoned

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twracehorse · 5 years

Text

Cringing at my own videos

Training Videos Edition!

I got bored, needed motivation to start editing, went back to take a look at my older videos, and now I judge and cringe at them because that’s a given at this stage

Under the cut to keep your dash shorter :3

Determined Horse Training, the title I came up with to be a little unique. I obviously couldn’t use something akin to Northena’s “Training Is Fun...Right?” and I wanted to give it a proper title knowing this would be a series of videos. I thought, and thought, and came up with the title after thinking of Undertale and how you are filled with determination in the game. “I am filled with determination to train these horses!” is what I thought and so the title of the series became that!

I use // as a way to separate different topics I’m talking about

Brave Rebel- First off...the thumbnail. He was originally themed sort of after Nathan Drake from Uncharted, since I was into that series at the time. So the map was, you know, for the treasure hunting. But I didn’t want to stretch the map to fit and somehow decided that a brown background was a good idea?? // AH THE CLOTHES! THE NECK!! AHHH GATORADE OCEAN BLEHH. // Oh yeah I have a spelling error in the video “Let’s go defeat this traning day!”. // Been training with Sage from the start of the series. I wonder how many fails of their’s I’ve caught XD // Ah the rocks, the rocks that I caught Sage stumbling out of in a later training video. // Let’s not forget the double mouse thing going on that makes its appearance in many videos before I figured out to click off of the web pages (which had a music playlist going while training). // Omg there’s someone with the club name The Babies standing nearby when I turn in the final race. // Low-key still love this horse. He was my first true Soul Steed before we were designated to our starter. I don’t take him out much, the difference in horse animations from new to old is getting bigger and for dynamic photos, it just doesn’t look good ( @~@)

Cool Hero- The horse based off of Markiplier back when he had red hair. I also uploaded the video on his birthday! // The song choice....I mean it fits the theme, otherwise I’d pick a better song. // The mini references I’m still low-key proud of. // There’s quite the amount of gliding pons in this video and some horror texture pons. // I obviously had to max Markimoo at the observatory! // I also mimicked Mark’s outros where an image is boomeranging. It took a couple tries with my friend in the background, but it was worth it!

Violet Mystery- I hope when I introduced her as “The winner of the Jorvik Wild horse competition” I mean, she was the first coat to be picked. Back when it was only one horse coat is being made. They added the top two coats afterwards. // Oh yeah the character’s whole head would move to the side to keep eye contact with the camera. // It’s so weird to think that I caught a bit of footage of Swifty just before meeting her. Then again I remember NOT editing this training video until months later and uploaded it in September. Mind you that I got Cool Hero and Violet Mystery at the same time and Cool Hero’s video was out in June...oops. // Ironic that I have the pandoric cracks around when the horse is based off them. // People running up from the riding arena, ah the fog glitch that would happen when you left your horse in the riding area, ran all the way to the dino valley elevator, took it, and there was no fog in the valley!

Megalove- Ah the first Undertale horse! I mean technically still the only Undertale themed horse I have, but I do have others planned. Haven’t gotten them yet and some plans changed. // The thumbnail....why did I make the stickers super tiny?? // Finally changed Elsa’s hairstyle to the ponytail I still wear to this day. We need updated ponytails with side bangs! I know we have the awesome braided ponytail in Mistfall, but there’s too much forehead! // Also the first training footage with the meet up....was 4 hours long. This was back when I recorded all stages of training and went through the footage in real time....I’m glad I changed strategy. // Can’t remember if crashing into a jump and the jump of the music timed at the same point was on purpose or if it was editing magic. // Oof cringing that I put comic sans as Sans “talking” in the video nnngghhhhh! // Ah my old club name Royal Ambassadors. I gave that club over to my side account Chiara Monsterhope for obvious reasons. // Annoying Dog in the credits, I still love that

Lucky Hero- I’m still proud that I came up with his nickname Vien short of Vienna where the famous riding school is. He, along with Brave Rebel, are my top horses. Please get an update eventually boys! // Finally Mac users had clear water! I was so happy over this you do not understand XD // Warriors by Imagine Dragons fits this horse, but quite a pain when I got Dark Warrior and didn’t want repeating songs. // Oh yeah early on, the Lipizzaners had a weird reflective tail glitch going on. // Vien was the first horse of mine that I got the day of release, bright and early in the morning! // I love how in the face of danger, an approaching bull dozer, I just stare at it. It wasn’t even a “oh no I should get out of the way” and instead was “huh that’s a thing”. // ALLY CHUM! I forgot that was a nickname to good friend!

Grey Ghost- OH BOY HERE WE GO!! Honestly my favorite training video. It was so much fun to edit with the music and the Halloween stickers hidden around the screen! Despite waking up at 5am to train for that aesthetic™. // Okay but that mushroom with the dark green sign did legit give me a spook. My body froze for a second and then I remembered that Slenderman doesn’t exist in Star Stable XD. // Ngl two of the stickers are hard to see cause of their surroundings. // GALLOPER THOMPSON MY MAN! Honestly I waited till midnight for him to be in Goldenleaf forest, just to see what would happen if you were racing and he caught you. By the gods of editing magic, the song was at a good point that fits perfectly with that scene. // For the scarecrow race I did actually take two different takes. I failed the first one and when I was editing I noticed that the two runs looked similar. So I put the first part of run 1 and cut before I failed and then put the remaining of the race with run 2. Looks almost seamless!

Silent Promise- My favorite mare in my stable! She ends up being my AoT cosplay photo horse...until I get the actual themed horse XP. // Shadows were a little glitchy at first. // Why am I using Rud instead of Rude. Like I know why cause that’s how we got around the filter, but I didn’t need to put it like that in the video. It’s like back in my WolfQuest days where I learned to use Cuz as a short version of Cause and it bled into my text vocab. // The witch bombs...I wanted to make it dramatic, but in hindsight it’s just tasteless really. Also to note that the sound which was fine before uploading, got more rough once it was on YouTube

Small Potential- Real cringe theme here, Hetalia. It was fun while watching and all that, but since then I’ve seen some well done anime! Growth! // I love the nickname Finny. Not too sure if I want to keep this pony or not, sadly. // The Christmas remix song is because I had no other ideas XD

Brave Eagle- Oh this is another slight cringe theme. Even more cringe is the fact that I had to re-upload this training video since it got blocked all over the world! due to the Hamilton musical songs. So I....had to layer over the songs with other songs....it’s a whole mess and was a whole pain since I had to re-edit the sound effects. // I’m proud of the thumbnail though....that’s it

Winter Dust- Why did I make the “there’s a new app with these foals you can train” with the dramatic music? // I think because I had less levels to train, I tried filling that space with “cool looking shots”. // Ah, yes, my How To Get Over A Jump wikipedia step by step

Hollow Phantom- Had to bring a creepy vibe even though it was February. So he’s like a Halloween not Halloween horse. // Can you believe that I found the main song from a Haikyuu!! crack video? XD. // That zoom on the pony surrounded by magic shires was weird. We’re saying “SO TINY” but the clip was so short it was done and over without much sense. // Mmm that slight irritation that the music and clip didn’t match with the drop. // Tried to blend the music together with itself....it’s obvious. // Of course had to max the Galloper horse where I first met the phantom himself

North Guardian- I wanna talk about the thumbnail....that background...is literally just the horse’s hindquarters. I wanted something mossy since the horse is sort of based off of Pelagia from Shadow of the Colossus. I couldn’t find good enough backgrounds, so I used the horse itself. // Again that urge to want to make the clip and music match but ahhh

Lucky Lucky- Still wish I could name this horse Gold Luck or something. // I think one of the camera turns during a race was just to show off the rainbow nearby. // Ahh! back when we could say “demon” in the chat. // Hmm instead of letting the clip run, I could’ve just cut to Reed calling the askew fence “a disgrace”. // Text was onscreen for just too long. // Trying to do the riding arena jumps with a good camera angle. But at that point, the camera kept moving and wouldn’t hold still. I’m glad it’s better now. Maybe I’ll try it again with a future horse. // Huh, forgot to add sound effects when I hit something on the last race

Silent Surprise- Cause I had to let the people know that I bought the horse after watching the Belmont. // AH STILL THE NECK! // 2 minutes in and we haven’t even gotten to the actual training yet. // Another day, another SSO glitch, this time it’s shadow rocks. // Oop missed a sound effect

Hot Spot- THE MUSTACHE! // I forgot I put a filter over the video to give it an old timey look. I should do more like that if it’s in theme. // Of course I had to have The Wanted be playing with this song since it’s old west sounding. // What was the purpose of editing the scarecrow race like that? XD. // Random running clip. // Walking the whole bobcat race would be nice if I didn’t keep moving the camera

Pumpkin Candy- As much as I love my Halloween horses, this training video isn’t up to the standards that the first Halloween training video set up. It’s still got Halloween themed music, it’s still got stickers hidden in the video, but it doesn’t feel the same. // Having text be their default instead of making them the same agh. // The spooky filter I overlayed the clips with changes at times. Would be nice if it stayed consistent

Dragon Dawn- Hmm now that I have more songs to choose from (getting into another artist as much as I did with The Wanted), I would have another song playing to fit the horse better. Maybe Euphoria or Mikrokosmos. Oh well those will be for future horses eventually! // Didn’t drop with the music...disappointed

Thunder Spirit- The horse that trains through three months. You can easily tell by the Valentine race, the rainbows of March, and April Fools. // Man I really need to work on making the text not be so BIG. // The first rainbow race had lots of sound effects. After that one I was just like “yeah not doing that again”

Sun Chaser- Eh the slowed down music is not the best idea. But I think it was also an intro to a remix of the song. So it was only so long and I had a bit to say for the intro of the horse. // The second clip of the mysterious Icelandic cryptid you can’t see them once it zooms in....annoying. // Too much of a slow build up with another cryptid spotting. // Also using the same sound but slower after just using it...smooth (not). // You know the very last clip of the horse as he’s turning around on the beach? Yeah that’s the exact moment I did the intro for the horse XD

Dragon Warrior- The contrast between me and Sage’s bantering vs the sadder song (I found the song because of a Zeno AMV) well it’s kinda weird having laughs and then sad melody. // YouTube again ruins the quality of the mic as it sounds fuzzier than it was pre-uploaded. // Low-key recording voices was fun aside from having to make sure the clips matched the voices and clicking of the mouse. // I’m still annoyed I couldn’t find the perfect snoring sound effect when Sage’s Connemara is sleeping and starts gliding away

Smoke Mirror- A little too much of a pause between text in the intro. // I love how I’m wearing a Halloween shirt because no other shirt matched with the blue of the hat except for the dress it came with THAT I GOT RID OF!

Obsidian Mystery- I love the thumbnail for her training video. It’s so spooky and cool! Favorite thumbnail of the entire series right there. // Ironic that with the three Halloween horses I’ve had. The two with the upbeat music are the ones where Galloper was present that year. The one where Galloper was missing that October, the music was softer, generic Halloween music. Not intentional, but it works. Though the first Halloween training video still gets the trick-or-treats because it has nostalgic music. // Some text isn’t easily visible

Dark Warrior- The horse I wish I could name Secret Warrior cause that would make SO MUCH MORE SENSE than Dark Warrior, but here we are. // Since Warriors by Imagine Dragons was in a previous training video, I had to search for another song to fit the horse. I literally went through those anime character theme song videos to find one! That was a terrible jump cut of the song

Ember Flame- Coming Soon

#Star Stable #Star Stable Online #SSO

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