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imuybemovoko · 2 years

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Hate-reading a Chick tract because I enjoy pain

O̶̟̠̩͙̒͑̃̄̌̐̀̚ḧ̶̙̥̝̬̳̪́ ̵̧̛̯̬̼͇̇̍̏͊̚͜͜b̷͖͉͈͖͇̬̠̼̩̌̏͑̔̑͝ō̷̪͗̉̎͝y̴̨̢̛̛̱͓͇̣̣̭̅̉̓͝.̴̡̢̥̼̻͎̦̟̪͊͌̍̔̓̕͝͠

Today we’ll be looking at the Chick tract “Bad Bob”. Given those circumstances, our true Lord and Savior Garfield is here with a reminder we’ll all be needing.

Also, this gets really goddamn dark. Content warnings for Christian abuse of power for proselytization, mentions of drug use, abuse/harassment directed against restaurant staff, possible homophobia (though it’s not explicit, I do get a vibe), and a cartoon depiction of someone fucking burning to death. (That last is not super graphic, but if you see the image you know damn well what’s happening.) Keep scrolling if that’s going to hurt you, please.

And if this is safe for you, let’s get into this disaster.

Let’s start with the cover because I think it plays at least some role here.

It’s arranged in the classic Chick style, with a picture and colored background on one end and the title on the other. Presumably the J.T.C. thing in the corner is meant to indicate who made this thing. In this case, an intimidating dude, presumably the titular character “Bad Bob”, is displayed. He has a long chaotic beard, unkempt hair, a black jacket, sunglasses, and what looks to me like a cigar butt in his mouth and is backed by a Confederate flag. I guess Chick felt the need to at least pay lip service to the fact that the Confederacy was bad, actually. This signals to the reader that Bad Bob is going to have some kind of encounter with God. It’s not clear, so far, whether we get to see him find Jesus or burn in hell. (Or maybe both in some sense. Foreshadowing.)

The first page gets ...immediately weird. This is a pretty fast dark turn even for Chick.

First, a nitpick. This verse from Job is part of Eliphaz the Temanite’s monologue to Job. Here’s the chapter. I’m pretty sure that a child being chaotic is not what this is referring to. Given that Job is going through hardship and his friend is talking to him in that time, this is probably meant to say, “yeah sometimes life gets fucked up, that’s basically a natural law”.

With that out of the way, let’s unpack the way this page pathologizes this kid. First, he’s literally crying and waving his arms as his mother holds him. Who the hell is this shriveled raisin lady to say the kid “has a mind of his own” and be angry about it? Why don’t we figure out if this literal infant is hungry or tired or made a mess in his diaper before we get angry at him for being loud? In the context, ...as we’ll see, this is clearly meant to frame the story as if Bob has been “bad” all his life. In the first panel, there is nothing wrong with what he’s doing, even if he is being obnoxiously loud. His brain isn’t even developed enough to plan some act of rebellion yet, yet that’s how this shriveled church lady characterizes him. Pretty cursed.

The second panel is a kid literally tossing some food around because he doesn’t like it. How the fuck is this meant to be an indication of his character being essentially bad? This is literally just a thing that kids do. But he’s growling, like a spooky demon child or whatever, and try as she might, his mother can’t do anything. Because apparently, in Chick’s eyes, spilling food as a two year old means you’re going to grow up to be a violent bastard.

This is going to be painful.

So this kid fucks up the neighbor’s house with a garden hose and gets into a bit of legal trouble for it. The mother is shocked at this, taking him to a guidance counselor after this and asking for advice. Good move on her part. The way the tract frames this entire situation, though, gets fucked up. Notice the mother’s words in the first panel. “But in his heart, he’s such a good boy!” She is obviously surprised that her kid would flood the neighbor’s house. But the tract starts to pin some of the blame for this kid’s actions on her here in a way that’s ...deeply unhealthy. Notice the Bible verse that’s included below the caption. That’s there to frame it as if she’s misunderstanding or not seeing some inherent evil present within her child. It suggests that she failed in some way that prevented her from being able to see this coming and prevent it. It suggests that she’s supposed to view her child as evil.

And then there’s the second panel. She’s taking the kid to a guidance counselor and, apparently desperate for solutions, she asks the counselor about spanking. The counselor responds by basically saying that it could be traumatizing. (Which, yeah, physical intimidation by parents isn’t good, and the way Chick juxtaposes this answer with the Bible verse below suggests that this was well understood even in 1999. Someone should’ve told my parents; they weren’t extreme but they did do spanking.) Meanwhile the kid is once again growling like some kind of demon child, because Chick tracts like to make people comically evil. Anyway, notice how the tract responds to this good advice. It adds a verse from Proverbs that says “the rod of correction” will drive a child’s inherent “foolishness” away. The tract is advocating for at least spanking here. We’re two pages in and it’s already saying that Bob is essentially evil and always was and that physical violence against him would have prevented this.

The scientific consensus on this coupled with the rest of the tract almost suggests that his mother ended up trying it anyway.

Here’s Bob a few years later being a vicious asshole, because according to Chick, tossing a plate of broccoli will lead to pouring drinks on the heads of restaurant staff for mixing up your order and worse. Notice the reactions. The guy behind the bar suggesting that he’s torn this place up before. The other people trying to leave. This guy has a pattern of doing this kind of shit. One way or another that kid grew up into a real bastard. The way this is framed so far suggests that this is something you can see coming because a literal six month old child cries a lot.

Fuck. We’re three pages in and I’m exhausted.

This page paints the same picture of him, only in greater detail, with these two women talking about how Bob is a bastard but a good drug dealer. Also, this is more vibes-based/a tangential connection based on the choice in scripture here than anything, at least here, but I kind of think Chick is being misogynistic here and also maybe implying that these two are lesbians. Romans 1 has the following passage here:

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

This is immediately before the chunk that contains the verse included in the page. This is part of the context of the passage. Call it a stretch, call it vibes-based, but I seriously think Chick is also being homophobic here.

Because of course he is.

Oops, found an undercover cop! A nice set up for one of the most cursed plots I’ve ever seen in one of these tracts, and that’s quite a thing to say.

Bob’s cousin didn’t know their “buyer” was a narcotics officer operating undercover. (What a ...@!!!**!? Chick, there’s like five words he could be using. I’m confused now, thanks for making me lose the plot! lol) Bob flies into a violent rage over this. Then there’s a visitor, and Bob flips out seeing what the visitor is carrying. He shouts that he’s had “enough of that ...@!!!**! crammed down his throat” (wait what the hell? You didn’t include that last exclamation point in the other one for grammatical reasons? That takes all the strength out of it Chick, surely you know the difference between “you bastard” and “you bastard!” It’s kind of important lmao) Chick builds suspense for some reason. We all know damn well that this person has brought a Bible. You don’t need to do that. But I guess dialogue through walls is nice?

Woop, there it is! “I just want to tell you abut Jesus!” the visitor says, shaking in fear at bob’s anger. Bob basically tells the visitor to use the Bible as a dildo and, once again, growls demonically. You know, as unbelievers do... (Chick what the fuck, why are you copy and pasting the same string of characters to imply swear words? At least shake it up a bit lmao)

“I hate God”, “I run my own life”. Classic trope here. “haha unbelievers hate god and hate authority”. Meanwhile, two verses on the side basically threatening people who don’t follow God with ... having shorter years?

(it’s death, that’s a death threat)

And Bob lashes out violently, and says “@!!!**!” again. Hello, persecution complex. (Is this Bob or Bob’s cousin lashing out here? I think it’s the cousin.) Either way, we have Chick casting the unbelievers as violent.

And then ... ah, problems?

Welcome to Jack Chick’s crash course in deeply fucked up power dynamics! Here’s a man who has authority over Bob and his cousin, saying “you deserve hell” and “you’re weak”. This is ...kind of abusive. Let’s look at the next few panels and watch him use his authority to force Christianity on Bob.

“You took the easy route. You’re blind. That kid wanted to help you.”

“We all deserve hell, but Jesus would save you, but you have rejected it.” Spoken from a position of authority. This is an abuse of power. He has the authority to enact violence against these two men if they behave in certain ways. Telling them they’re wrong to reject Christianity attaches that potential violence to his proselytizing. So that’s not good.

Then this takes a turn that I did not fucking expect.

That’s right, a fucking prison fire.

Conveniently centered next to Bob’s cell.

(Bob’s cousin is literally on fire, right here in this image, by the way. We’re literally watching someone burn to death. ...Perfect for general audiences.)

The design of the prison looks pretty fucking concrete/brick and not exactly flammable in this way. Prison fires are possible, but I’m kind of wondering what’s on the floor that would be roasting Bob’s cousin alive like this. Since this is the 80s or 90s, as far as I’m aware, the prison would have a concrete floor. Which means I’m kind of at a loss unless it’s a fucking accelerant.

Is this meant to imply that God came down and shat fire onto the concrete, or ...was this intentional?

Fuck.

After that, we see the warden talking to Bob. This is something that has very clearly fucked him up a fair bit. The warden is taking advantage of this. “Yeah so that never ended for your cousin. He’s in hell now. Remember him screaming and his skin boiling off? That will never stop happening to him. Oh, but God gave you a chance.” Exploiting this tragedy in that way is deeply, DEEPLY fucked up.

Notice the hell threats in the form of Revelation verses, by the way. “Reader: the same will happen to you unless you obey us.” Cursed.

Of COURSE this makes Bob see this shit in a different way. He’s been through a major trauma and the warden is there like a goddamn vulture. This is an abuse of power and an incredibly fucked way to respond to a traumatic event.

Fuck you Chick, anyone who’s been raised in this aggressively Christian society knows what “repent” means. Don’t lie.

More wall dialogue for some reason. The warden explains repentance and throws in a couple more threatening references to fire for good measure. Gotta capitalize on that trauma. Fuck.

Bro just said like four panels ago that Bob’s cousin is fucked forever, so “God is always ready to forgive” seems like a lie, but whatever.

And the warden’s shit worked. A question though. If this dude didn’t know what “repent” means, why does he know the cross bit? No one told him that story during the events depicted. I guess Chick assumes people know when it’s convenient to do that, and assumes otherwise when that fits the goal more. Anyway, guy’s a Christian now I guess.

lol, lmao.

yeah of course people change when they go through a really extreme trauma and someone with power over them uses it for manipulation. Abuse fucks with people. Chick’s going to assume Bob changed for the better after this; I’d be shocked. I bet he stops overtly bullying the staff of restaurants, which is a genuine improvement, and selling drugs, which is neutral if he was selling to adults, and he starts repeating the abuse this asshole warden did to him, maybe towards a wife and kids if that’s in his future but for sure towards others.

Meanwhile, these people have this conversation, just ...commenting on how the guy’s changed, and the one brings up that they’ll have to find a new plug if they want drugs. I don’t know what the fuck this has to do with the verse that’s listed here, it’s not like they’re that mad at him for this, they’re just noticing. Nothing in their words, expressions, or body language remotely suggests they’re anything other than confused or curious.

And that’s Bad Bob. After this frame is a panel that’s like a checklist or instructional pamphlet about how to get saved. I wouldn’t include it here, but there’s something I find funny about the “next steps” column.

That’s right. This motherfucker is a KJV-Only type. Bro has an entire tract about it. It’s an absolutely wild ride full of conspiracy theories about ancient history with an absolutely hilarious focus on the Catholic Church. Maybe I’ll unpack that one sometime. :^)

So, what the hell did we just experience?

Well, Chick likes to put people in unsettlingly specific fucked up situations in his tracts so that they have some kind of encounter with the Christian god, who is presented as this all-or-nothing ultimate judge. We didn’t see Jesus sitting on the throne he yeets people into hell from here, but this is the worst fucking example of someone meeting a weird nasty end on Earth that I’m aware of. It makes even less sense than the random fuckin heart attacks, and it’s just so goddamned brutal. It serves as a neat little illustration of how fucked this is as a whole practice. It’s using the inevitability of death and the possibility of something sudden happening as a cudgel to try to shove everyone into Christianity, presenting the warden doing that in the most fucked way possible as good actually because the whole practice is something they like a lot.

They just ...invent a bastard, moralize about some things, and then put him and his family through needless and unspeakable trauma and say it’s all good in the end because God fixed him now.

So that was a fucked up little journey, wasn’t it.

I guess come to the dark side, we try not to weaponize trauma?

if you’ve read this far, you probably need therapy now. sorry not sorry

#exchristian #religious trauma #chick tracts

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dissonancedance · 5 days

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Worth Keeping Chapter 2

This attraction isn't part of him, it is an aberration, a mistake, this isn't what he is. In a few days, he’ll be far, far away from this problem.

CW: incest, rape fantasy, blood, underage

According to Harvey, the best thing about funerals is that no one expects the bereaved to sing along to the hymns or act like you’re praying if you look sad enough. The worst thing is that everyone else will still sing along to the hymns and act like they’re praying. Between each transition, which are long enough to prevent the elderly from feeling outpaced, Roscoe leans over to whisper to Harvey.

“She's got a heart of gold, that girl. Don't know where she gets it. Don't get me wrong – Jack and Nan were decent, God-fearing people, but, well, you know what I mean. And she’s nothing like her mother, that's for sure. You won’t ever have to worry about her turning out like that.”

Harvey considers pretending not to hear him, but knows that doing so would only make Roscoe repeat himself louder. “Are you talking about Tabitha?”

“Well I’m not talking about the fucking- the freaking first lady,” Roscoe grouses.

The new pastor– who has been there for eight years but the congregation still refers to as the new pastor– invites them all to join the choir as they sing We Praise You, O God, Our Redeemer. Harvey continues to stare at the angular, forlorn face of Christ depicted in the carving of the crucifix behind the pulpit, just as he had every Sunday for as far back as he could remember until he left for college at 17. It is, as Harvey has come to find out, despite avoiding houses of worship whenever possible, an odd thing for a Baptist church to display Jesus on the cross. It is one of many ways that Home is an alienated and alienating place. The figure itself is large, but certainly not life-sized. Actually, he can’t say that. This Jesus is about the same size as Tabitha and she’s considered life-sized, though only by the technicality of being alive.

Before the new pastor moves on to talk about the Lord’s game of giveth and taketh, Roscoe leans over again and whispers, “You know that Nan had her taking ballet lessons since she was a toddler, right? Extracurricular activity is vital for kids. It's important to keep that going.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Nan never had a bad thing to say about raising Tabby. Sure, every kid makes trouble from time to time, but Tabby is a good girl. I don't see that changing either. Boys are gonna be a problem, though. She's gonna be a beauty when she's older.”

Harvey glances down at his niece seated at the other side of him. If she’s hearing what her godfather is saying, she gives no sign; all her attention is on the bullshit beginning to be shoveled on the pulpit.

She’s already a beauty and it’s already a problem , he does not say.

When the new pastor asks that they turn their bibles to somewhere in the Philippians, Roscoe manages to fit in, “Something I've noticed about her is that she never wants to be a bother, which you’d think makes looking after her real easy, right? Wrong. Get this: I see her limping on Saturday night, and I had to get stern with her for her to tell me that she strained her knee pretty good when she was trying to help Nancy out of the tub. She didn't tell anyone, didn't want to make a fuss. Drives me nuts! You gotta be careful she's not hiding that she needs something.”

“Yeah.”

Harvey supposes that it’s nice that her godfather is excited about her. It’s a more interesting topic than baseball or the weather. The extra Xanax he took before entering the church helps him leave it at that. Then, remembering about the Xanax, he second guesses it all. Perhaps Roscoe has been talking about Tabitha because the old man noticed him looking at her so much. It wouldn’t be a far leap for anyone to guess why a child-hating bachelor would suddenly take an interest in his very pretty, very emotionally fragile, very naive niece. The old man hasn’t gotten there. Not yet. Harvey can’t let him.

The next time Roscoe leans over and starts whispering, he cuts him off by saying, “Please, Mr. Walsh, I’m trying to mourn.”

By some miracle, the old man buys it and shuts up.

Harvey escapes while the crowd is still shambling and shuffling in the pews. No one catches him glancing back at his niece as he steps out. She’s already being swarmed with sympathy, presently in the form of being crushed to Mrs. Johnson’s doughy bosom while a circle of mourners wait for their turn at the effectively orphaned child. She really is a good girl, doing her best to reach around Mrs. Johnson’s mass and pat her back as she struggles to breathe.

He stops a safe distance up the sidewalk and lights a cigarette, taking a shallow puff off it every few minutes to keep the flame alive as he watches so many familiar faces dribble out of the chapel and head towards the church hall for the reception. The Walshes eventually appear. Roscoe sees him and gestures for his wife to continue to the reception. Harvey takes a long, languid drag as the old man marches towards him.

“You don’t smoke indoors at home, do you?” Roscoe asks, grimacing in the sunlight.

“No.”

“Good. Secondhand smoke kills too.”

Harvey doesn’t comment on this non-sequitur. The old man will always take the opportunity to say something preachy whether it applies or not.

“What day are you flying back to New York?”

“Tonight. 6:40.”

Roscoe’s grimace takes on an edge of disapproval. “Change that to Sunday night. Tabby needs more time and we need to get some stuff at Jack and Nan’s house.”

Harvey doesn’t feel the need to explain that he’s not someone Tabby should lean on for emotional support. It’s much more wise to continue avoiding discussing her at all.

“We’ll go to my parent’s house tomorrow and I’ll leave that night, then,” Harvey decides.

“You’re gonna have to start thinking about more than just what’s best for you, Harvey. Come on. Sunday.”

He drops the cigarette and stamps it out as he says, “I’m going to go back to the hotel in Omaha. What time do you need me to come over to talk about the will?”

The old man’s forehead scrunches into a deluge of folds as his eyebrows raise in disbelief. “You’re going to skip your own mother’s wake. Is that right?”

“That’s right.”

Roscoe shakes his head and sighs. “Alright, that's your choice. You should let Tabby know.”

“No, I'm just going to go.”

“Really?”

“Really. I'll be at your house later anyway.”

“Fine. Okay, we’ll be finished here in two, three hours, I'll let you know. Do you remember my address?”

“Text it to me.”

“Sure. Alright, Harv. We’ll see you in a few.”

The suffocating, claustrophobic feeling of Home that has been eating at him since knowing he'd be coming back becomes overwhelming as he drives to Omaha. The flat terrain stretches on all sides in monotony, each mile ratcheting that horrid familiarity. The instinctive urge to escape nags at him even in the hotel room with the curtain drawn to block out the view. He tries to distract himself with work but he can't focus. Even the air feels wrong, too open, too dry. He lies flat on the floor, stares at the ceiling, but the ceiling is here . He shuts his eyes, tries to conjure his apartment, the clean lines and sharp edges, the high gloss modernity, looking out of the windows to the extravagance of lights and buildings. That almost works. He needs something more, something stronger to flood the feeling of Home out.

“Tabitha.”

Her name falls from his tongue like a hex he casts out onto the world. He can see her lying beneath him on his bed, those darling Bambi eyes glittering with those pretty jewel tears. A warm, comforting pressure sinks low in his body. That's it . He presses his palm against his erection, coaxes himself to slip further into this feeling. She's so afraid. She should be. She will be . He unfastens his slacks, spits on his hand before he pulls out his cock. The wet friction is harsh, a poor substitute for the soft, smooth flesh he craves.

“Tabitha.”

Her neck feels good under his hands, fragile and weak like the rest of her. That fearful whimpering is lovely, it's almost a shame to silence her. He squeezes his shaft as he squeezes her throat. Her mouth gapes, desperate to suck in more air through her narrowed trachea, and he licks inside to the soft meat of her tongue. He strokes himself faster, chasing this thrill deeper, outrunning the sickening shame. Her thin legs are spread wide as he forces himself between them and he makes her watch as he presses his tip against her little goody-two-shoes cunt. She screams when he tears her open. Too young, too small. Her blood coats him, spilling hot and fast from inside her as though it's as eager for him as he is to release it. The blood of his sister, the same blood as his, taken and reshaped to belong to him as his again. Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.

“ Tabitha .”

His hips jerk and a groan scrapes out of his throat with each deep pulse as he cums. The frenzied pleasure recedes, but the desire she invokes is clearer, louder than before. He doesn't have to worry, though. This attraction isn't part of him, it is an aberration, a mistake, this isn't what he is. In a few days, he’ll be far, far away from this problem.

Roscoe and Barbara Walsh’s home has changed from what Harvey remembers of all those frequent barbecues and holidays that his parents would drag him and his sister to. Roscoe in his semi-retirement and Barbara in her full retirement have been busy remodeling and trading out the deplorable farmhouse and dated fake Tuscan influences for a more defined and current coastal style. It's heartening to see change occurring to Home. Even though the memory will not die, knowing that a piece of it has been killed and replaced in reality is comforting.

He's staring at an arrangement of teal glass balls in a driftwood basket on the coffee table when he catches something odd in Roscoe's rambling about the legal responsibilities in regards to Nancy's will.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Harvey says, leaning forward to listen carefully now. “What do you mean ‘once Tabby settles in with’ me?”

Roscoe waves him off. “You know, after you enroll her into whatever school is out there and get her a primary care doctor for the health assessment, the nuts and bolts stuff.”

Harvey’s gut clenches with a cold suspicion of something he's apprehensive to confirm. “But she's living with you. You're her godfather.”

Roscoe stares at him in bewilderment, the crows feet around his eyes deepening in a squint that widens when his confusion abruptly clears into shock.

“Nancy didn't tell you!”

A headache begins to coalesce in the back of Harvey's skull. “Didn't tell me what?”

The older man leans back in his chair, watching him in astonishment before asking, “Remember when your sister came back to the house a few months after your father died and robbed it?”

Harvey swallows his impatience with this man’s annoying non-sequiturs. “Yes. Katelynn has 16 years left to serve for that and the meth.”

Roscoe nods, then carefully continues, “After that, Nancy made some changes to her will. One of those changes was to remove Katelynn entirely. She gets nothing. Understandably so. Nancy also made some changes in regards to you and Tabby. I guess losing Jack and having her home broken into made her rethink the situation Tabby would be left in if something happened to her. I'm 70 years old. There's a strong chance that Barb and I might not even live to see her reach adulthood. She's already had three parents leave her, there can't be a fourth or fifth. Nancy wanted to make sure Tabby will be cared for, so… she named you as Tabby's guardian in the event that she becomes incapable of raising her. And that event happened.”

“But I can't…” Harvey starts, then takes a breath to calm himself. “I can't do that. I'm not… I don't have room in my life to do that. I decided to never have children, there's no way that can work.”

Roscoe nods again, a solemn disappointment etched into the deepened grooves of his face. “Well. That explains the conditions Nancy set around your inheritance.”

Harvey presses against the tension between his eyebrows. “Just tell me, Roscoe.”

“Before I do… I want you to tell me why you can't take Tabby in. Is it where you live? You have a room she can use.”

“It's not that.”

“Is it money? You won't have to worry about that, there's a trust to cover anything she wants or needs.”

“It's not about money.”

“If it's about not having time, Tabby is a very mature girl, she doesn't need 24-hour supervision. You can still work late, you can still go on business trips.”

“No, Roscoe, it's not-”

“Then what is it? What's stopping you? Out of the family she knows, you're all she has left. And she's all you have left. That kid loves you, she's crazy about you, are you really going to let her down? What is so fucking important that you'd turn away a little girl who only wants to be with you?”

“It's not that simple!” Harvey snaps louder than he meant to. He hadn't meant to snap at all. Roscoe only glares at him in disgust. Harvey buries his forehead in his hands and sighs. He doesn't need him to understand, but he explains anyway, “I'm not someone who should have her. I don't know how to care for a kid. I never had to know. I never want to know. I'm not good for her. If I had her, if I had Tabitha, I… I don't trust myself enough to have her.”

“You don't have to be good. You just have to be good enough. A roof over her head, a bed to sleep in, food to eat, family who gives a shit that she's alive… That's what she needs. That's good enough and that's what you can give her.”

“No. I have my life the way I want it.”

“The will explicitly states that you must adhere to your role as Tabby's guardian and have her reside with you until she comes of age or you get nothing.”

“I don't need any of it.”

Roscoe grits his teeth the same way Jack used to when he got angry. “Fine. If that's what you've decided, then you'll have to explain that to her. Go on and tell your niece that you're turning your back on her. Please leave when you're done.”

Harvey shoves down the urge to show his contempt for this judgemental interloper. He wants to remind him that he never agreed to this in the first place, but more than anything, he wants to leave. If this is the quickest way out the door, that'll do. It's better she hears this from him than from that vindictive asshole anyway. He pushes himself up from the couch and heads towards the kitchen where Tabitha and Barbara are preparing dinner, only to find Tabitha standing around the corner. The expression on her face is enough to tell him that she heard everything. That sad smile plastered over her pain.

“I'm sorry,” she says. “It's okay, uncle Harvey. I understand. It's not fair that you had this put on you. You never asked to take me.”

“Tabitha…”

No, she doesn't understand. He hates that this is what he's leaving her with. If she knew the whole truth, she would understand that this is what's best for both of them. If she knew the whole truth, she would run screaming from him.

“I'm sorry too, kid,” he says, actually meaning an apology for once.

“No, no… it's okay, I…” Her brave facade crumbles before she can finish and she turns away, her voice breaking as she rasps, “Please excuse me.”

She hurries away, retreating with her heart broken and leaving him standing there. He lets out a sigh, runs his hand through his hair, and walks out of that house. There was no other way for this to go, really. Nancy had to have known that he would refuse; it was vile of her to harm an innocent in this final spiteful act towards him. No. He's the one who hurt Tabitha. He had to hurt her now to avoid hurting her far worse later by trying to be something he can't.

He sits in the rental car in front of the Walsh residence, the engine idling as he lights a cigarette. Fuck the cleaning fee. He leans back against the headrest and sighs out the first drag. Smoke curls and billows along the ceiling as he stares. If he leaves now, he can probably make that 6:40 flight. He lets the flame in the cigarette die, relights it to take another drag, lets it die again. If he rushes, he can still make it. He'll be back in his dark, silent apartment in a matter of hours. He’ll have a couple more days to piss away ignoring his fake girlfriend and jacking off to ignore this feeling. Maybe one of the masochists who still haven't blocked him will let him use them to take this feeling out on, or maybe Judith has something that will screw him up enough to take care of it. Then he'll go back to work until next weekend when he’ll make up with Rebecca. He’ll go to another BDSM party to play those safe and sane games with safe and sane people who only like to pretend with him until they're done. Then he’ll do it all over again. This is his life. This is the way he wants it. Unattached and unattainable, keeping everything and everyone far enough away to stay in control, never surprised, never at risk of being known. Always the same, always alone.

“Fucking bullshit,” he mutters.

He lights another cigarette. It's better this way. It's safe. Tabitha is safe from him. What he wants from her isn't something he's allowed to have. If he had agreed, if he had taken her away from this shit hole that will only ever reduce what she might become into another God-fearing sow, he would be taking her from all that she knows. He would have her isolated from any other influence but his, completely dependent on him, susceptible in her ignorance, vulnerable in her innocence. He would make her into his in a way that would be impossible to do to anyone else.

The cigarette is cold. It's too late to make that flight. He kills the engine, gets out of the car. He has to ring the doorbell three times before Roscoe answers.

#worth keeping #fiction #dark fiction #writing

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ffxiv-swarm · 1 year

Text

prompt 30: amity

“You know,” Rimelnaud muttered, “when I first came to Garlemald, I—never mind.”

Portia lowered her cigarette and cast a sidelong glance at the Ishgardian engineer. They didn’t work in the same areas—she was more concerned with raw manufacturing—but they’d gotten to be something like friends nevertheless. Neither of them minded lounging outside in the cold for a smoke, for one thing, and they both had little brothers they occasionally wanted to strangle. (Rimelnaud had two. Portia had shuddered heartily and wished him luck.) But for all their friendliness, well, he was still Eorzean in the land of his former enemies. And she was one of those former enemies.

Casually, she finished his sentence for him. “You thought we were all a pack of savages and you were walkin’ into—what is it, the Fifth Hell that’s the icy one?” Not that she could blame him—she was pretty sure half her countrymen had actually been raised by almasties with the way they acted—but still. He’d been downright bloody rude at first.

Now, though, he was pulling an embarrassed face. “I used to fall asleep in church. But...uh.” As she watched, he steadily turned red. “...Aye. To—to both, really. I’m glad to have been wrong.”

She eyed him for a moment. “Because you wouldn’t’ve gotten the thing you’ve got goin’ with Appius if you hadn’t unwedged your head from up your arse, yeah?”

Rimelnaud choked on his own spit, which on an Elezen was a spectacular event involving his ears flapping about like a dog’s in a high wind. Honestly, Portia was hard pressed to keep a straight face. When he could breathe again, he wheezed out, “What thing, there is no thing—”

She didn’t even bother to try hiding her grin. “Oh aye, so he’s just making up all the poetry he spouts about your hands, is he?”

If possible, Rimelnaud went even redder. “He talks about me?”

“Mate, he does not shut up about you.” It was cute. She wasn’t going to tell him that. “Just you wait until the flowers bloom again and then clear off space by your bunk, he’s gonna be sappy.”

“Garlemald has flowers?”

“Hey! We have seasons, unlike your bloody frozen hellscape—”

“Our bloody frozen hellscape was green and—well, alright, winters were rather drastic, but we had seasons! Before your people dropped the moon on us.”

“Aye, well, they also dropped th’ moon on th’ man I was gonna marry, so you’re not the only folk that suffered.”

Rimelnaud looked stricken, his ears drooping. “Ah—forgive me, I didn’t mean—”

She waved a hand. “Nael van Darnus was a nutjob. We can both agree on that. You’re really not having me on about Ishgard?”

“I swear by the Fury.” Rimelnaud sighed, turning away from her back out towards the expanse of snow. “It was...beautiful.”

Once again, Portia couldn’t help but smile. He sounds like he’s talking about Locus Amoenus. I wonder how it compares. Affectionately, she reached out and knuckled his shoulder.

“Well, don’t just stand there sighing. Tell me about it!”

#portia #fire the headcanons #garlean #ffxivwrite2023

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talenlee · 1 year

Text

Game Pile: Volume, and the Hero as Persona

Watch this video on YouTube

And here’s the script:

In 1973, Disney released Robin Hood, a charming and delightful classic of the genre that taught a whole generation the story of Robin Hood and how many of them were gay furries. In this story, we see Robin Hood reimagined by the perspective of the Disney company freshly post-Disney. In this narrative , the act of taxation is a cruel evil. The mindset of this story is one where a dashing hero can steal and redistribute wealth, but only because the current system is doing something wrong with that wealth, heaping it in a big pile that the king can sit on. The king is bad, because he’s a bad king, but kings, well, kings are great. You can see how good things are when a good king appears. Giving up all your money to the state? That’s terrible. Giving it up to the church, though? That’s a good thing.

In 2018, Lionsgate released Robin Hood, a critically panned financial flop of a movie that taught the people who went to see it the story of Robin Hood and how Tim Minchin’s ability to improve work has its limits. In this story, we see Robin Hood reimagined again, where the story wants to talk about wealth inequality, if that wealth is being put to the wrong ends. The mindset of this story is one where wealth and power are bad things because they’re put to work feeding conspiracies. The wealthy aren’t bad because of what they are, some of them are just bad because of their choices about how to spend their money. The real thing to be afraid of, you see, is for rich interests to arrange terrible disasters so they can pull you into an unjust war in the middle east, and oppress white people with militarised police.

In this way, Robin Hood, a timeless story that largely stays the same, reflects the concerns and ideology of the people who tell and retell his story. It can be extremely specific to a particular point in time, or it can be very general, but it will almost always reflect what you think, in your place, and your time, represents a hero, and the things for a hero to fight.

Title card

I’m a massive mark for Mike Bithell games. At the moment I can think of three of his games I’ve played, Thomas Was Alone, The Solitaire Conspiracy and this, Volume, and every one of them is an enduring favourite of mine. I don’t presume to know anything about Bithell as a person, his ideology or his perspective, but what I can say is that when I look at the things Mike Bithell chooses to make his games about, I keep finding things that I like. I don’t find myself wincing or qualifying.

Volume is a stealth game from Bithell studios, which is, as far as I know, just Mike Bithell. It’s a game which casts you as Rob Loxley, in a cyberpunk future where you’re using a piece of corporate programming technology to orchestrate not a military coup, but instead heists on every single high-profile target he can find from the many different cronies and onsiders from Gisborne Industries, who have capitalised on economic disparity to institute a new class-based system in Britain where people are divided into categories based on what their family’s role is in life.

Which

Yeah, that’s pretty much how things go right now.

Anyway, Rob does this with the assistance of a stolen AI, given the reassuring and friendly name Alan. Bithell is really good at writing disarming AI, capable of managing that particular air of ‘a robot made by humans to be approachable to humans, but still definitely a robot,’ and Alan is a really solid version of that character.

Then, you arrange these heists by, well, just doing simulated versions of them. You run around in the levels presented by Alan that are based on real locations and with their real security measures, including the real security robots the real rich people use. The way that the society has become automated by the people with privilege means that they introduce a structural weakness to their own lives, and, well…

They can’t catch us all.

It’s a story under tension, knowing that, at some point, you’re going to be found, the stream is going to stop, and you’re going to be caught. But what’s more, the examples you’re presenting – the people in question are going to see them too. They’re going to have to change their security measures. It’s a call to act, to act now, and in doing that, every one of these targets is going to be panicking and paranoid and stressed and scared. It’s a kind of mass doxing event but for stuff not for people, an absolute salvo of information warfare.

You might not like that this story plays out pretty much exactly how you expect from its premise and even its starting scene. You might not like that, knowing it’s about ROB LOXLEY opposing GUY GISBORNE, that it’s about a cheeky hero who gets away and his band of merry folk that he collects throughout the story. You might not like that it’s basically a stealth puzzler, where you have only one real solution to any puzzle, and that is do stealth at it. You might not like this kind of game, and it’s not going to do anything to change your mind on the kind of game it is.

If you do like this kind of game, this kind of story, this kind of aesthetic, it’s a hundred levels of them, and it does them so well.

There are some genuinely interesting questions at the heart of what Rob’s trying to do here. Born into privilege (as like, let’s face it, if you’re listening to this, you probably are, in a global sense), and without the social contacts to build skills to capitalise on what he’s got in the name of making the world better, Rob is pretty much limited to only being able to immaterially support revolution. He can’t physically hand his money to people – he doesn’t know who to hand it to, and he doesn’t know who he can trust to do that to.

Instead, he basically spends three hours putting together a list.

Here are the people with the money.

Here are their houses.

Here’s what they’ve got.

Here’s how to take it.

This is really interesting to me. It’s interesting because we often think of the internet as being fundamentally limited in the good it can do. You can tell people thing, but how dangerous can any given piece of information be? What can a stream do? Entirely digital objects are very easy to distribute, ideas can fly freely, but what good are they? Are the ideas we share on the internet meaningful, are they as weightless as their instant transmission suggests?

What can you do, once you’ve sent money?

Well, one thing you can do is share useful knowledge – not just spamming it out there, clout hunting while I give untested, unuseful information about how to make a gas mask out of a leftover canteloupe, but actually actionable, useful information and to recognise where I cannot help. Another thing is to make sure that the people around me know that they’re not going to suffer social ill, at least from me, for the crime of opposing evil.

The game is so fundamentally about communication as power that it opens with a statement about how Bithell are happy for you to stream the game – a promise that this information, at least, is welcome to be shared. This may be a bit of a thing but back in 2015, there was a very real lurking threat of companies shutting down streaming of their games. Nintendo were trying to get an angle on things so that people had to sign up for specific Nintendo affiliation, for example. These days it seems that kind of noise has quietened down, but it’s wild to remember that there was a time when they were trying that, and even as I say that, there’s talk about restricting use of major platforms because of who owns them.

This is a game about practice. It’s not a game about being perfect and getting it right the first time – the game doesn’t even have a way of recognising that. Not Volume. If you want to 100% every level and get a cookie for it, the cookie must be self-prepared; the game will check your times and present those on a leaderboard, but there’s no reward for doing things perfectly versus doing them quickly.

When stories talk about Robin Hood, you’ll also see a lot of ways to represent how these stories involve people fooling one another. Picking pockets, emptying caches, blending in during fancy dress balls, and occasionally luring people into a save spot on the road so you can rob them – Robin Hood has a bunch of stuff in his stories about controlling and manipulating tension. For a narrative that almost never uses magic as a fictional construct, they often rely heavily on magic, the real world skill.

In magic, real magic, it’s never about things that look like they were done effortlessly the first time. You never see a trick the first time. You may even hear the magician say this is the first time – but that’s absolutely a lie. Every time, it’s a lie, because they have practiced it, over and over again. Volume gets remarkably hard as it goes on, even as it introduces more toys and tricks for dealing with its difficulty, and the way it keeps this difficulty ramp going and engaging is by making sure you have to practice, practice, practice. And diegetically, that’s what Rob is doing: Rob is showing the audience dozens of different ways that his attempts to steal from Gisburne and his associates don’t work.

It’s beautiful, it’s elegant, and it’s not something you can do in a lot of other games; you couldn’t make a second game about streamers fomenting revolution through streaming how-to-guides on crime. Any game that wants to reiterate on this idea space needs to build itself from the ground up, and there’s something really pleasantly clever about so blatantly using the scaffolding of the Robin Hood archetypes. Once you know that these things are from this space, a lot of the forgiveness is already there.

It wasn’t made to be about the current today, where terrible things that aren’t really AI being used to replace people who are really workers. It wasn’t made with a direct anticipation of a new rise of fascism. It’s a happy coincidence – of a sort – that the ideas Volume has are so important to the now. And a subtheme here is all about how Rob is constructing an identity, a face, that mask, and that then commentators look at what he’s doing and decide how good a job it is.

I love, so much, that one of the first voices you hear in this game describing how little they trust your identity, how you need to be able to project and commentate on who you are in what you do, is a character voiced by a pro wrestler. It’s such a nice little wink to the idea of identity as chosen, as expressed, as demonstrated.

I love this little gem of a stealther. I love its silly on-the-nose naming, I love its explicit connection to streamer culture, I love its Stephanie Stirling cameo, I love its robot guards and its collapsed-together midgame of levels that are, no lies, probably too difficult for me to do fairly. I love Volume and I love the things it tries to show you

So that you can learn about the value of showing, and sharing, and playing.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#GamePile #Games

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teyvatdreams · 3 years

Note

Hi Dani! May I request some blurbs for Kaeya, Beidou, Albedo, and Jean (separately) having an s/o who, despite having a heart of gold, doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together? They forget/lose things, ask obvious questions, or just sort of do things without thinking. They’re kind and brave and all that, they’re just kind of square-brained a lot of the time. Thanks, and have a lovely day!

i have no idea what to title this but i loved this idea

includes: kaeya, beidou, albedo, and jean

kaeya

tbh kaeya loves your… not-so-bright moments

he honestly finds them adorable

especially because when he first met you, he thought your personality was more on the serious side

he couldn’t be more wrong

whenever you’re having a moment he just sits back and enjoys the show, watching as you figure out your own problem

“wait!” you yell, stopping in your tracks.

kaeya does the same and turns to look at you. “what? you okay?”

“yeah, i just… i forgot my map.” you sigh, shoulders dropping in defeat. “i told you i would bring it and i forgot! we can’t go on this mission without it or we’ll be completely lost,” you explain.

a grin appears on kaeya’s face, and he crosses his arms. “are you sure?”

you furrow your eyebrows. “of course i’m sure! if i had it with me, i’d be looking at it right now!”

“do you remember right before we left when we stopped to talk to bennett?” kaeya asks.

you pause to think. “yeah… but what does that have to do with my map?”

“retrace your steps, love.”

you and kaeya were headings towards the entrance gates when you were stopped by the young adventurer, asking where you guys were going. you told him where, and let him join until he was pulled aside by another adventurer. he was told that some if the older guys were having arthritis problems again, so you and kaeya left without him.

“i still don’t… oh!” you reached into your back pocket and retrieved your map. “got it!”

beidou

tbh she doesn’t really notice if you ask obvious questions or ask her if she’s seen the book you’re holding in her hands

she finds it kind of endearing

and she doesn’t blame you for getting confused easily, you’re a very busy person after all

you’re so busy all the time she’s impressed you can even keep your head on straight

it wasn’t until you joined her on her ship that she started to think you didn’t have it on straight

beidou was more than excited to bring you onto her ship and introduce you to her crew. she just wasn’t really expecting to have to babysit you the whole time.

“do you guys have fishing rods? i can try to catch a fish for dinner!” you say excitedly, looking out to the sea.

“what? no,” beidou steps closer to you. “you can’t fish while we’re moving. you won’t catch anything.” she says, putting an arm around you. “i appreciate the sentiment though.”

later, when a storm started to brew, she had to drag you off the deck.

“no, let me stay!” you whine, trying to pull your hand out of her grasp. “someone has to look after the ship!”

“yeah, the people qualified for the job can do that, babe. i don’t need you getting struck by lightning…” she sighs.

she might be more aware of your silly questions not that it involves her area of expertise, but she’ll glare at anyone who looks at you funny.

“woah… are you gonna make him walk the plank?” you ask beidou after she practically shoots daggers at a crewmate with her eyes.

“the plank? no, that’s just a myth. there’s no plank walking here,” beidou replies, laughing.

albedo

don’t get him wrong

he absolutely loves you

but having you in his lab makes him a nervous wreck

he trusts your judgement for the most part

but his experiments are very tedious

and tedious is not really your forte

“oh, so i just pour this in here, right?” you ask, tilting a vial.

“n-no!” albedo, panicked, grabs it to stop the liquid from pouring out. “not this one. this one,” he says, giving you a different vial with blue liquid in it.

“right, right…” you say.

“pour it slowly—“ albedo sighs as you dump the liquid into the container in front of you.

you look at him, and then back down at the liquid. “sorry.”

he smiles. “it’s fine. nothing exploded, right? so we’re okay.”

you bite your lip, thinking. you set down the vial. “maybe this is better as a one-man-job,” you tell him with a sigh. “i think i’m doing more harm than good here.”

“no, no, no,” albedo grabs your hand. “it’s fine. you’re doing great! you just need to… uh, listen… a bit more. i’m just worried for your safety,” he says.

“right… i should pay more attention. this stuff is serious.” you grab the vial you were holding before. “is it time to add this one yet?”

albedo smiles. “unfortunately, no. that one isn’t even being added to this concoction.”

jean

jean loves and respects you very much

but whenever you go out adventuring

here anxiety skyrockets

she know you’re strong but

acting without thinking is a big problem of yours

so you usually arrive back home hurt every time

although to you, it isn’t that big of a deal

she was returning to her office after practically being dragged to the church to get treated for a headache that had lasted days when she saw you making your way there yourself, covered in scratches and bruises.

“oh my god! what happened?” she asks, putting her hands on your shoulders. “are you okay?”

you grin. “oh, i’m fine! don’t worry about me, jean.”

“but you’re all… beaten up! i shouldn’t keep you here… you should go get patched up.” she says.

“jean, really, i’m fine!” you tell her, grabbing her hand to keep her from walking away. “i’m just coming here so people don’t yell at me to get treated… it doesn’t hurt.”

“are you sure? you’re gonna be so sore tomorrow,” she points out.

“mmm, probably,” you say with a shrug. “but at least there is a tomorrow, right?”

her gaze finally softens. “alright. but… i do want to stay with you while you get bandaged up.”

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insertdisc5 · 3 years

Note

Hi!! I wanted to ask, in celebration of Deltarune CH. 2, do you have any updated thoughts and head canons about the game?? Like, y'know, similar to a previous ask about Kris in your Deltarune tag? Thanks!

thoughts on kris part 2 i guess???? (part 1 from ch1 here lol)

spoilers for deltarune like woah. this wont be kris focused just random thoughts on everything. thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk

not that many thoughts for this chapter tbh! EDIT LOL: this was a lie i have a lot of thoughts

-just in general i feel like the player isn't the only one controlling kris... like yes the player forced kris to do what happened in the snowgrave route but AT THE SAME TIME idk it feels like there's someone else too. just because of the terrifying voice i suppose. and also the jerky movement kris does every time they get their soul out? unless there's another reason for it... maybe getting your soul out means you walk weird lol

-BUT ALSO i feel like kris is 100% in control when they create fountains. idk it just makes sense kris would create them. to create another world, a better world, A WORLD WHERE THEIR BROTHER IS HERE PERHAPS? i do wonder why they get their soul out then though. i'm all for it sweetie! do whatever! i support you!

-(i am and will be playing deltarune with only kris' best interests in mind. i will not hurt anyone unless kris wants me to. dont worry my little meow meow im on your side! talk to me! no? okay ill stay under the sink its fine)

-speaking of asriel. SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER (starts crying) V-VACATION COLLEGE WHEN

-kris misses their brother so much it's so sad. if you make kris steal 5$ from asriel they take it "reluctantly"? talking to asriel online so often even alphys knows?? the google search?? GOING INTO ASRIEL'S GOOGLE SEARCH ROOM WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED BECAUSE THEY'RE CONVINCED THEY ALREADY KNOW WHATS IN THERE? THAT ONE IS LESS OF A MISSING THING BUT IM LIKE OH MY GOD

-the city walk with susie at the end makes it clear to me that kris really values susie's friendship... kris even sits with her if you spend long enough near the lake like aaaaah ;_;

-and even in snowgrave you spend your last acts with the final boss calling for your friends like YES there's a way bigger creepy aspect to this (kris as more of a Leader who Commands and commands their subjects to come) but still :'0 (and then noelle answers oh my god noelle im so sorry for the trauma)

-berdly. listen. listen. listen. liste

-berdly sucks but [berdly hurts his arm in the battle against queen if you don't save him because he doesnt want to hurt you] [berdly realizing smg's wrong in snowgrave and immediately taking steps to save noelle] berdly is my little crumb nugget. i will protect him.

-noelle. noelle. girlboss!

-like ooooh listen. hearing about the genocide path for undertale. made me go "that is SO COOL. i HAVE to experience it myself this is great. hehehe killing time" and like no regrets. i was fully enjoying the experience knowing i was an awful person. SNOWGRAVE THOUGH. i will never try this myself its too fucked up. casually grooming your childhood friend to murder people <3 and also acting like a weird stalker towards her <3 stockholm syndrome speedrun i will get all the info i can about this but i will never do this myself

-people remarking the kris/player>noelle relationship is similar to the relationship between player>chara in genocide path is like yes. chefs kiss. don't worry we just are making you stronger and everything will be fine "you made me kill my friend? and for what?" this is fine sweetie don't worry about it!!!!!!

-like the amount of details added to snowgrave, like if you equip noelle's watch she notices later? and her battle animations change as time goes on, she gets an ice shield and stops sighing in relief after battle? oh my god? oh my god.

-(berdly is not awake.) JUST KILL ME RIGHT HERE I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT BERDLY NOT BEING AWAKE!!!!!

-also why didnt he turn into dust. so many possible reasons. is magic a thing in the normal world and perhaps no magic means no dust (theres graves). maybe he isnt dead. maybe hes braindead. maybe he'll come back. either way that boy is now in the closet big enough to put someone in

-also dess' name probably being december AND THATS WHY NOELLE LOST THE SPELLING BEE?!?!??! FUCK ME UP!!!!! JUST FUCK ME UP!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!

-also so many good pixel art this chapter. too many? i didnt need pixel art of cardboard noelle falling on the statue. like thank you but please. please it hurts my game artist brain.

-the expressions in this chapter were also top notch. all the unsettling noelle expressions like (i fall over face first)

-i threw away the ball of junk (which i already tried in ch1) and this time the game was like "ARE YOU SURE BC THIS IS A BAD IDEA" and kris felt bitter :'( (it deletes all your items in the dark world)

-i uh fucked up and skipped the susie+noelle scene bc listen last time ralsei mentionned seeing what susie is doing we missed some PRIMO LORE. turns out it just makes you skip the scene and you dont get anything new. welp

-speaking of ralsei well you know. he exists. but im stuck on him going "i just wonder what being ralsei-like even is...?" ralsei my dude there's so much i could say about this. do you feel like you can't be ralsei-like because you feel like you have to be asriel-like

-but also that makes no sense bc susie hasnt even mentioned ralsei looks like asriel. and i cant imagine asriel being so meek. so WHAT GIVES

-ralsei as kris’ “i wish i was a monster just like my bro and family and i’d look like asriel but with red horns [THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME] and my name would be something cool like ralsei instead of a boring human name like kris and im sweet and cute because thats how i act with asriel because ASRIEL MADE ME” theory because that would be cute.

-ASRIEL GOING TO THE CHURCH TO CONFESS HIS "SINS" WHEN "SINS" AREN'T A THING IN THE ANGEL BELIEF LIKE I KNOW THIS INTERACTION WAS TREATED AS A JOKE BUT WHAT THE FUCK ASRIEL?

-kris definitely has a connection with the big red door in the city, judging by what the kids say they probably went there... i feel like this place's dark world will be the Final Dungeon you KNOW some shit happened there. also the sounds you hear when you go there is the phone dark world call's sound slowed down? AND AFTER SNOWGRAVE APPARENTLY YOU CANT HEAR IT ANYMORE? HUWAH?

-speaking of songs the songs were all so good, My Castle Town rules, the berdly snowgrave music is stuck in my head, flashback is uwah wuahah, Until Next Time is so good, AND ALSO A FRIEND NOTICED THE DARK WORLD CITY THEME IS JUST tHE SONG 74 (MOST NOTICEABLE WITH THE SNOWGRAVE VERSION)?????? WHAT DOES IT MEAN????? it might be just "hey its just reuse" BUT MR FOX YOU KNOW WE'RE GONNA READ INTO THIS IS NOELLE THE ONE SINGING IDK BRO!!!!!!!!!!

-asgore dreemurr fired from the force what happun!!!!! game theory is that asgore is related to dess' death/disappearance but eh who knows

-you start the chapter at lvl2 and get to lvl3 after the final boss, a friend mentioned this is probably because we destroyed a world and im :0

-to go back to kris it's still so interesting to figure out who they are based on how they act/people mention them. like kris shaking the ferris wheel car? yeah makes sense i can imagine a pranking kid do this. kris' dance? yeah thats a little silly but i can buy it. doing cool anime poses? well i dunno this doesnt line up PERFECTLY but sure. BUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN SNOWGRAVE... especially >proceed like that is such a weird thing that i can't imagine them doing, but i can't completely see the "player" doing either (compare with going to sans -which kris doesnt know- and going "SANS!" because of course the player would know sans), like THATS one of the reasons i feel like there's someone else in there. the weird robotic merciless actions. if im going super meta it feels like there'd be someone else like writing the choices into existence for us to pick you know? gaster probably? god i need to read more gaster theories i completely sidestepped the gaster shit bc i wasnt interested. anyway just spitballing

-(looks at big shot guy) please dont make him the next tumblr guy i beg you

-obligatory "queen was great" mention if only because this part made me laugh a little bit too hard

that was a lot. thank you for letting me talk

#ask tag #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #snowgrave spoilers

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ohworm-writes · 3 years

Text

BNA: Brand New Animal Relationship Headcanons!

bna masterlist

‼ General Dating Headcanons ‼

Featuring: Shirou Ogami, Michiru Kagemori, Nazuna Hiwatashi, Marie Itami, Pinga

Warnings: spoilers for BNA!, some angst amongst all of them, but mainly tooth-rotting fluff :,)

a/n - thank you for reading!!! BNA doesn’t have enough fanfiction content, so here you go!! i actually adore doing headcanons, so this was nice to be able to write!!! BNA is also my favorite/comfort anime soooooo I couldn't NOT write something for it!!! if you want to see more BNA related works, i’m definitely going to be open to writing them in the future!!! my requests open up next week, so drop one then if you’d like!!! thank you for reading <3

content below the cut!

shirou ogami

» wolf husband!!

» oh we all know he’s gonna be nervous when it comes to love

» he’s scared he can’t trust you at first

» it’s probably gonna stay that way until he gets comfortable with you

» which, albeit, takes quite a while

» but when he does?

» he’s all over you!!

» i like to think he’s a very cuddly person

» he doesn’t show it a lot though, but for you?

» he’ll let it slide

» he’s not one for extravagant gestures though

» so if you’re going on dates

» expect it to being either at his place, or something extremely simple

» i don’t think he’d be particularly for PDA

» but if someone were to flirt with you?

» he won’t be afraid to show them that you’re with him

» again, very cuddly

» he likes to be big spoon cause he wants to make you feel safe

» but he also likes to be held

» the memories of his comrades dying is a memory that’s painfully engraved into the very fibers of his being

» so please show him some love

» kisses!!!!

» oh he LOVES to smother you with kisses

» he’s very affectionate in private

» he just loves you so much!!!

» i like to think that michiru got the two of you together

» just like

» michiru: hey look at that beastman over there! they’re super pretty!!!!

» shirou: yeah, sure

» michiru: i’m going to go say hi

» shirou: w h a t

» also, going back to trauma-

» he doesn’t like to talk about it much

» it brings up bad memories

» so he won’t outwardly talk to you about it

» but if you want to console him?

» you’re one of the few people he can really trust and get vulnerable with

» VERYYYY LOYAL PARTNER

» he loves you, and is so scared of you leaving him

» he would never think about cheating on you (the best boy)

» maybe it ties in with him being a wolf beastman-

» shhhhhhhhhhhh

» very very very nervous to tell you that he’s the silver wolf

» he’s so scared you’re going to leave him or hate him or look at him different

» but the sweet kiss you give him when he tells you melts all of his worries away

» GIVE HIM PETS!!!!!!!!!!

» he’s embarrassed but he loves it!!!!!!!!

» his love language is quality time!!!!!!

» he just wants to spend time with you

» he’ll go out of his way to blow off unimportant things (like michiru-) just to be with you

» softie-

» but we love him <3

michiru kagemori

» AHHH MY SWEET GIRL!!!!

» i love her oh so much

» if she likes you, it’s obvious

» painfully so-

» she gets all flustered before you start dating whenever she talks with you

» tripping over her words

» making a fool of herself

» (somehow more than usual-)

» but when you express you like her back?

» you’re stuck with her

» loves cutesy dates!!

» you wanna just watch a movie???

» she’s got a pillow fort and a ton of snacks at the ready

» you wanna go for a walk?

» you’re dancing with her under the stars in the park

» she’s a sucker for that kind of stuff

» she loves showing you off too

» michiru: everyone, this is my partner, y/n, and they are the best person in the world

» y/n: michiru i-

» she absolutely introduces you to everyone like that

» she loves you too much not to express it!!!

» that leads me to her love language…

» words of affirmation!!!

» she’s going to tell you she loves you at any chance she gets

» and if you’re ever insecure?

» she’s your girl

» she’s also big on physical touch

» loves holding your hand out in public

» hugging you and peppering your face with kisses

» the whole lot!

» she’s such a goofball-

» she’d do something stupid just to make you laugh

» michiru: Y/N! I GREW WINGS! AM I GOING TO LAY AN EGG OR SOMETHING???

» when she first told you she wasn’t a real beastman, she was nervous

» but it all washes away when you hold her and tell her you love her no matter what

» she’d definitely cry at that

» she’s so grateful to have you

» and she would go to any extent just to make you happy

nazuna hiwatashi

» GOD SHE’S SO PRETTY I’M NOT EVEN GONNA LIE

» she’s a very caring partner

» when you first start dating though, she’s very nervous

» will you hate her for faking the silver wolf?

» or maybe because of her slightly dismissive behavior?

» but when you decide to stay? she know’s shes in love

» her love language is touch!

» she always wants to be touching you

» she’s not the best at expressing her love or gratitude through words

» so she lets the soft caresses, forehead kisses, and cuddles do it for her!

» oh i can imagine her being a cuddle bug

» just holding you while the two of you fall asleep

» or you holding her!

» she adores just being able to be near you

» when she introduces you to michiru

» it’s chaos

» y/n: in my defense, I was left unsupervised

» nazuna: wasn't michiru with you?

» michiru: in my defense, I was also left unsupervised

» just being absolute idiots together

» back to nazuna though…

» she gets jealous easily!!!

» you can’t change my mind

» if she thinks you’re giving someone too much attention

» she won’t be afraid to just come in and hug you until you pay attention to her

» it’s adorable

» with the church of the silver wolf tho…

» you probably met AFTER that was all said and done

» she doesn’t really have followers anymore

» and a few beastman still hold a grudge against her

» she gets insecure because of it

» make sure to tell her that you love her for her

» she really needs to hear it

» oh! she loves any romantic gestures

» fancy dates? walks in the park? sign her up!

» she loves too much not to show it

marie itami

» crime weasel

» cbhmasbbchasb okay but seriously i love her

» i like to think that she’s sly with her flirting

» but if you flirt back?

» she’s a flustered mess

» she lovesssss pet names

» she particularly likes using “baby”, “love”, “sweetheart”, and “hun”

» loves if you use some back

» her love language? acts of service

» she loves to help you with small tasks

» opening the door for you? absolutely. grabbing the remote for you? of course!

» she wants you to know she loves you, but mainly in smaller gestures

» not as much of a cuddle bug as the rest, but definitely appreciates it

» she’d never turn you down for hugs or pecks

» any time she has by herself, she wants to spend it with you

» her dates aren’t extravagant though

» cuddling on the couch and watching a movie are her specialty

» i like to think that she usually falls asleep after you

» she’ll talk with you until you eventually fall asleep

» it’s more of a protective thing if anything

» she wants to make sure that you’re okay before she rests

» she loves you so so so much

» you’re the only person she’s allowed herself to be vulnerable with

» she has her own insecurities yes, but she tends to bottle them up

» she doesn’t want to bother you

» she’s better at listening and giving advice than venting it out

» it’s not your fault, she’s just not very keen to it

» she likes to keep your relationship more private than anything

» her job is… not normal, and she doesn’t want to eventually end up making the wrong people mad and get you hurt

» so PDA is kept to a minimum

» but she’ll always make up for that in private

» telling you how much she loves and appreciates you being with her

» she doubts your relationship sometimes, thinking that you deserve better

» tell her you love her

» that you really love her

» and her heart is yours

pingua

» your honor

» i love him

» oh my goodness his love language is totally gift giving

» 100%

» you cannot change my mind

» if you look at something in a store for more than 3 seconds

» expect it to be in your possession by the next day

» he won’t say he did it

» but he totally did it

» taking you on flights???

» yes pLEASE!!!!

» he loves showing you the world from his eyes

» and adores it if you love it as much as he does

» wing hugssssss

» imagine him just draping his wings around you while you guys cuddle

» my heart-

» wait, here me out-

» y/n: mcdonalds! mcdonalds! mcdonalds!

» pingua: mcdonalds! mcdonalds! mcdonalds!

» HE WOULD THOUGH AND YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MIND

» not afraid to get vulnerable with you

» he’ll talk about his comrades and the stupid regulations with ease

» yes, it’s a tough subject

» but you have to talk about difficult things to get through them

» he has nightmares because of it

» he wakes up in cold sweats sometimes, those images ingrained into his head

» hold him

» please

» tell him that you’re here and you’re not going anywhere

» give him kisses and help him ride it out

» aside for that, another goofball

» loves, and i mean LOVES making you smile

» also a HUGE flirt

» he’s cocky about it too

» pingua: aside from being adorable, what do you do for a living?

» y/n, dying: cjsdbivcbhshdkcjbakjcbhsadbmc

» another one who loves romantic gestures

» i like to think that he’s quite the gentleman

» restaurant dates and dancing are right up his alley

» but dear god he loves you so much

» he has no clue where he’d be without you in his life

584 notes · View notes

hansolmates · 4 years

Text

shiver | 02

banner done by the wonderful @dnrequests

summary; jungkook changed since he moved out of his small town church community and attended college. when he returns for a christmas mass, you suddenly crave a taste of his fun and carefree life. in exchange, jungkook craves a taste of you pairing; bad boy!jungkook x church girl!reader genre/warnings; childhood friends to lovers, brief childhood friends to enemies, fwb!au, catholic guilt, jungkook is a meanie who eventually turns into a soft tsundere, bicuriosity, sexual exploration, virgin!oc, eventual smut—in this installment: mentions of sex w/c; 1.2k a/n; thanks for the overwhelming amount of love for pt1! now that the plot is p much set up in this installment, the drabble updates will be a lil shorter (around 400-1k) i hope that doesn’t deter anyone. hope this is a good start to your weekend babiesss, next installment will be jjk’s pov! [shiver masterpost]

“You live here?”

“You’re moving in here?”

Since the boxes started to pile up the doorstep, Jungkook was wondering all day who’d be occupying the room next to him. It’s a corner room, which made Jungkook doubly jealous because they had a great view of the city. Who knew his new neighbor would be the bobbing bunny who’d chase him in childhood (and all the way to adulthood, apparently.)

Conversely, you’re also shocked. Your parents checked out this place, and said nothing about Jungkook also living here. Then again, not mentioning it may be the point.

It’s the start of a new semester, and you haven’t talked to Jungkook since that whole Christmas fiasco. You avoided Jungkook for the rest of the holiday, refusing to let him play with you like this. No matter how big your crush may be, you have dignity and five minutes of fondling will not change that.

“Yeah, finally picked a graduate school.” you drop your last box on top of the pile, “this was the only school my family could compromise on.”

“Congrats,” his eyes flicker over to the boxes, stacked higher than you, “you need help moving in?”

You weren’t about to refuse free labor, so you open your door and let him set up. Jungkook knows your tastes, years and years of study groups having you and your friend visiting each other’s rooms up until high school. He color-codes your closet for you, diligently making sure to avoid your delicates and unmentionables. The frames are put up at straight angles, not a corner out of place. While the apartment is small and old, it’ll be your new home for the next year. You’re excited.

“Still needs that touch,” Jungkook holds his hand out like a frame, going over the blank nooks and crannies of your apartment, “something’s missing.”

Jungkook sees things you don’t see. You heard one Sunday lunch that Jungkook’s studying to be an architect. To you, whatever’s missing in this apartment is miniscule, even nonexistent.

You think the missing thing is him, although Jungkook doesn’t know it. He’s poking and prodding around, moving small furniture to different corners and then surveying the corners. Jungkook is the bit of home you’ll get when you’re tired and stressed over work. Maybe you two can be study buddies, or get lunch together on campus. The thought has you warm, wondering if Jungkook will be able to see you anything other than a childhood friend turned pretty.

“I won’t be bringing much here,” you say reluctantly, running your fingers over the polished kitchen counter, “I still have to go home for church every weekend.”

Jungkook’s eyes quirk at the revelation that you can’t stay in the city due to hometown obligations, and within reason. Jungkook doesn’t go back every weekend, yet your family expects you to. It was the compromise when you decided to go to graduate school here.

“Well, not this weekend though right?” Jungkook rocks on his heels, black toe socks rubbing against the dark hardwood floor as he meets you behind the counter, “since your parents think you’ll be too busy unpacking?”

“Maybe?” you throw the question right back at him, unsure of where he’s going with this.

“There’s a party at my friend’s house Saturday night. There could be some classmates in your major, meet some new friends?”

Jungkook’s inviting you to a party. Jungkook’s going to take you to a party to help you make new friends and socialize with people other than your nosy uncles and aunts. You don’t even have to answer, the adoration on your face evident. Jungkook will introduce you to people, show you off, get you drinks.

(Maybe he’ll even kiss you goodnight.)

You shake that thought off quickly, knowing that kind of desire will get you in trouble. You need to take things slowly if you have any chance of being with Jungkook. Going to the party as friends will be more than enough.

He tucks his finger under your chin, forcing you to look at him. There’s nothing romantic about the action, no matter how you spin it around. Your eyes are perpetually glued to the floor, painfully meek, “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“She’s so weird!”

You stiffen at the exclamation, clutching your red plastic cup with both hands as you lean against the wall that connects the kitchen to the hallway. They can’t see you if you act like a wallflower, so you hold your breath and wait for the blow.

“C’mon, church girls are like that,” that’s Park Jimin’s voice, the first friend Jungkook introduced you to when you walked in the house. His voice sounds kind through the R&B music blasting through the flat screen television, yet it still rubs you the wrong way that he refers to you as a “church girl.” Jimin’s no better than the girl who’s talking about you.

“But Jungkook isn’t like that,” It’s Nayeon that starts this, and it saddens you slightly because you wanted to be her friend. She was all smiles and sweet stares when Jungkook was by your side, but you suppose none of that kindness was directed towards you. “He’s cool. She dresses like a fifties school teacher and has barely said ten words all evening! I don’t know what Jungkook was thinking.”

Speaking of, where is Jungkook now? It’s been twenty minutes since you’ve last seen him. Twenty minutes of taking sips at a haphazardly mixed drink and twiddling your fingers as you try to insert yourself into a puzzle that you’re not cut into.

“Besides,” Nayeon’s voice twinkles through the room, clear as day, “He only invited her out of pity. I’m pretty sure he’s fucking Jungyeon in the bathroom right now.”

Bile rises though your throat like rain in a well, threatening to spill over and embarrass you further. Your fingers crush the plastic slightly, curling and bending at your whim.

To torture yourself further, you take slow steps towards the bathroom. What you hear has tears spilling over your eyes. Jungkook’s heady voice, a girl’s soft cries that penetrate through the walls and into your ears. It’s not the sex that gets you upset, nor Jungkook’s desire to leave you for another girl.

You’re not a charity case, you’re not an object to be pitied. You’re not a sheltered church girl. Sure, Jungkook may not feel that way. Yet Jungkook put you in an environment where others are typecasting you, making you feel like you don’t fit in. Jungkook didn’t even warn you when he ditched, a common courtesy that you know for a fact friends do for each other, even though this is your first real college party.

When you bolt out of there and drive home, you don’t go to your apartment. You set the GPS to take you straight home, back to your tiny town. You begin your recovery process early Sunday morning.

A scalding hot shower, to scrape away the smell of alcohol on your body.

You spend early morning cleaning the storage room and the classrooms, scrubbing away until everything’s shining.

You pray and apologize for the pleasure and pain—for giving into temptation on Christmas Day and the toppling results of that.

Once you get home, you spend a pretty penny on decorating your apartment. Clashing art pieces—anime posters, random florals, a cat mug. Things that you like, things to make yourself happy.

These are steps in the right direction. You need a cleanse. Specifically a cleanse for Jeon Jungkook.

#btsguild #btswritingcafe #kwritersworldnet #btsghostie #ficswithluv #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook fic #bts smut #bts fic #bts angst #kpop fic #hansolmates

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fallenwingzero · 2 years

Text

Frozen Teardrop Translation

Finally, another chapter, sorry for the wait! Full translation under the cut.

More Edits of names for consistency: Lanagulin to Lana Green.

Frozen Teardrop

Volume 7: Rhapsody of Loneliness

Chapter: MC File 5

“I’m not afraid of wolves. ‘Peter and the Wolf’, ‘The Three Little Pigs’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf’, ‘The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats’, they are all defeated.”

“Those stories are all ones where the wolves tell lies, the wolf is never strong.”

“Well, lies are not good… By the way, do you know of Fenrir?”

“I don’t know… Is that a wolf?”

“Yeah. Fenrir is the wolf in Norse mythology who defeated Odin, the strongest god. It’s cool, isn’t it? So, when I think of wolves, it’s Fenrir.”

“Fenrir?”

“Fenrir, Fenrir, let’s remember.”

-MC-0018 Schbeiker church-

Duo & Naina

MC-0022 Next Winter

Pacifism is shit. You have to fight. We have to fight and fight and let the peace-blurred guys and the war idiots understand their weaknesses. It’s not hatred or resentment. I don’t need a normal life. I don’t have high hopes for a place to go home. I’m happy if I have a place to sleep tonight, surpassing the hunger of the day.

Justice is not a pattern. It’s been decided that there is no god. I don’t need family, friends or comrades. I can live alone.

Well, it is much more dangerous to be united in principles and claims. The history, ideas and doctrines that they insist on is just a lie.

If you rely on such things, you will be trampled by your own feelings of self-loathing. I only believe in what I think and feel and fight. I think that’s fine, that’s how I’ve lived so far on Mars anyway. If you die on the battlefield, you’re in luck.

Oh, I know, I’m sure it’s foolish.

Who am I?

I’m a “wolf in devil’s skin”. Well, all the guys besides me call me “Duo Maxwell” and it’s annoying to rephrase all the time, so I also call myself that.

Mars is now at war between the Martian Federal Government and the Republic of Lana Green. It seems that the Preventer organization on the Earth side is not in either camp and is settling fights between each side.

I seem to be a member of the Preventors, but I don’t know the details and I don’t even think about it. I don’t know what they mean by “fire extinguisher” or a “fire”, but it sounds hilarious.

For the most part, Relena Peacecraft of the Federal Government of Mars and Zechs Merquise of the Republic of Lana Green are nothing more than selfish bastards. You can tell whether it’s right or wrong just by smelling it. It’s more accurate to feel it with the sense of smell than to try to understand it with your head.

Well, anyway, I just don’t like to deceive myself by twisting obsolete words. My shitty dad used to say,

“Act with your senses! Don’t think with a small brain!”

You can laugh, huh! I may be a kid, but I didn’t think I was so different from the arteriosclerosis brain of the old man. I didn’t say that though.

In recent months, the power hold of the Republic of Lana Green has become more and more confusing. Since the Martian Federation has proclaimed the ideal of “perfect pacifism”, it has been too vulnerable to the invasion of Lana Green.

My shit dad says, “Diplomatic powerlessness is the same as a “painted hamburger””.

He thinks this situation is the same. Hamburgers smell delicious, but the hamburger drawn in the picture only smells of paint.

“If you want to have a decent negotiation, you have to have the power to compete.”

That’s right, I was convinced. He seems bogus, but he’s only been able to travel across Mars because of his strength.

“Hey, idiot boy.”

Fucking dad always calls me that way.

“Is there anything that has been resolved through discussion?”

“No,” I replied.

When I was a wanderer, searching for food was usually a fight. I didn’t quarrel back when I was at the Schbeiker Church but that’s because I was scared of Sister Hilde’s intense structuring. In other words, it was peaceful because of power.

Well, I don’t care about such old tales. What I want to say…. is... No matter how noble the debate is, if you shoot a pistol, it all ends.

…What I’m saying is.

“If you leave it to nature and instinct, people will definitely enter a state of war. That is humanity.” as my shitty Father would say.

Moreover, I think it’s a natural outcome because this is the “planet of the god of war”.

In the unarmed Martian Federation, there is only a small group of Naina’s family who are resisting with a small force. It seems the unmanned weapons are useless for shit, such as the main force of the federal army and I can see that they are being blown even by a timid wind. It’s the same with or without those guys. It’s not a threat, it’s just decoration.

In fact, mustard and mayonnaise tomato sandwiches are much better than pacifism. Anyone can do it if they just talk about those foolish pictures that aren’t real. If you really want to talk about peace, you should know that you need to be quite prepared.

In that sense, I don’t think that it’s a bad thing for the Winner’s daughter to turn over to the “Peacecrafts” in the Martian Federation. But I have decided to buy the fights being sold here, though. That’s why I’m fighting…..

It wasn’t the case as I was mumbling to myself at the bottom of the Elysium Sea. At any rate, I have to get into Relena City with my buddy, Warlock.

It’s dim in the cockpit, and it smells like iron rust. My buddy is not the reason for the rusty smell. It’s a unique scent that permeates from the sea of Elysium.

The outside view on the monitor shows a dark brown, mud-like liquid that looks like watercress soup mixed with ketchup. The red sand of Mars and the algae of Europa may have been the cause of such a color. The sea of this planet is muddy everywhere.

Only “Lana Green Sea” was clear. It was really beautiful over there. The scent of the tide riding on the wind was also the best. It was refreshing and resembled the smell of spring meadows. There was a kindness to it like a sun bath.

I liked the small port town there, but it’s gone now. I hate the sea, no, being in the water. I’m remembering what I want to forget. People’s “memory” is important, though.

I have passed the Freknaf Islands, but so far there is no sign of interception. There seems to be no idiot trying to fight underwater in such a place.

It is known that “Chouxhook 2” seems to have been taken to Elysium Island in the Martian Federation. I can confirm visually once I surface.

As predicted, the ones on board that ship were my senior Heero Yuy, a young-middle aged looking man named Professor W, a tall older looking man named Doctor T and Catherine (if I say an older woman, I’ll be beaten again…. I don’t have to worry though because she’s not here) so four people all up.

I have no intention of rescuing the crew. I don’t care about them, and I don’t know them. These are the useless people who didn’t resist. My buddy and I instead can get on the fast jet tide and head to the coast of Elysium Island at once.

If we land there and enter Relena City under the cover of night, we can attack the presidential palace. The only target is Relena Peacecraft. We just need to kill that arrogant female president so Katrine and Naina will give up on pacifism. It seems that hundreds of millions of people will die, including the Father, at the same time as killing that president but I don’t really care. There are too many people anyway. Mars should start over with fewer humans. It might seem crazy but that’s fine by me.

After killing Relena, next is Zechs. Lana Green Republic’s senior special commander Zechs is a mass of grudges. He wants to fight only for hatred and revenge. If we let him go unchecked, he could end up destroying all of mankind with the slogan “War for Justice”.

A communication came in as I reached the surface of the sea.

“This is ‘Scheherazade’, ‘Warlock’ Respond.”

The sun was about to dawn over the sea. There was a lovely sunshine on the eastern horizon. The odor resembling rust was somewhat faint.

“Yo…. Do you need me for something?”

“Message from Professor W” was displayed.

On the monitor, a guy called Phobos wearing a knitted hat appeared.

“Go and rescue the doctors being held hostage. Join us. The confluence is---”

I interrupted Phobos who kept on talking.

“Do it yourself! They have nothing to do with me!”

“Understood,” Phobos was easily convinced, “End of communication.”

Communication was unilaterally cut off.

He’s a very bland guy. No, he’s too bland.

I could smell gunpowder. In my mind I had a premonition.

“I’m being targeted! But from where?”

I could see the shadow of Elysium on the monitor. It’s still two or three kilometers away. I magnified the image and examined the ridgeline of the island.

At that moment, a small flash of light ran straight ahead. It came from a steep cliff and in an instant the light came towards us. I didn’t even have time to do evasive maneuvers. The light looked like a bird.

As I got closer, the bird resembled a huge crow with white light.

“You’re kidding….”

Suddenly, the surroundings raged like a great storm. I tried desperately to keep my buddy stable, but several tornadoes appeared and engulfed us, sending us soaring into the air.

A jet-black tornado was clinging to my partner.

“Fuck you!”

I thought that this must be an illusion. I suspected that my specialty, nanomachine crackling, had been destroyed but it was different to that. My partner and I were caught in the tornado and were being drawn towards the land of Elysium.

Then, just as I thought the tornado had finally subsided, we were slammed into the ground.

It was a sandy beach that stretched under the cliff. I somehow managed to switch to manual altitude control, so there wasn’t much damage but under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid instant death from the impact of the collision.

Still, I had been hit on the back of the head and chin in the shaking cockpit.

“C’mon….”

“Just as expected from you Duo.”

A strangely gentle voice echoed in my head.

“Now here’s the jet black of the seven dwarfs.”

On top of the cliff, there stood Snow White wearing a white hooded cloak. It held a large crossbow in its hand and an arrow in the other. Professor W was the one who was communicating through it. Apparently, he’s in the cockpit of that Snow White.

“It has the characteristic of ‘Wind’ but I was able to control its posture from that state.”

The scary thing about this man is that he hides serious hostility behind his gentle expression. There is no hesitation in the blue eye’s reflected on the monitor. I could feel the unique smell of gunpowder from that man’s gentle words. It’s terrible when you’re dealing with this kind of guy.

“This time it’s the white of the seven dwarves… There’s no point in trying to avoid it. Its power has a wider range than the previous black one.”

“Geez.”

I decided to ask about my current situation. I really didn’t want to say this about myself it, but I had to.

“I’ve been fighting all this time… I don’t even remember the last time I slept properly.”

I counted the number of opponents I had since piloting my buddy.

“Forty Maganacs piloted by the daughter of the Winner family, three Lana Green Virgos, Epyon, 500 lightweight air combat aircraft, plus 12 ‘Merciless Fairies’ and Prometheus! I dealt with all of them.”

Just thinking about it makes me sick.

“Five hundred and fifty-seven craft in all… not a big deal.” Said Phobos from behind.

Before I knew it, he was behind my partner and me. There was no scent coming from this guy.

“Besides, you weren’t the only one who came up against them.”

Scheherazade was reflected on the rear monitor, wearing a transparent cloak that shines in rainbow colors. The armor that can be seen through the gaps is unfinished here and there, and the internal structure is exposed.

But it’s eerie. Even if the color can be made transparent it should not be able to make the smell transparent as well.

I had only seen it in the blueprints, but it was definitely a Gundam type of the same system as my buddy.

I spoke to Phobos.

“Listen to all of what I have to say… What I want to say is- “

I don’t want to hear him complain, I just want to buy time.

I continued to speak while flicking through the console’s combat mode.

“-I’m already tired. I’m at my limit… But I can’t show you the kindness that allows me to go easy on you!”

From under the black cloak, I took out a beam-scythe and turned around to attack Scheherazade.

I’m completely worn out. Just as I thought…

“It seems like you’re really tired… you’re too slow to get into it.” I heard Phobos say, as Scheherazade stood in front of Warlock. “But you were bluffing when you said you wouldn’t hold back, weren’t you?”

“Tsk…”

In close quarters combat, I believed there was no way that there could be another aircraft that surpassed my buddy. I thought so, but Phobos’ Scheherazade had a similar blade to my partners beam-scythe.

There was no doubt that the machine was in the beam-scythes range. What I can deduct, is that it dodged in the opposite direction where the tip of the blade was heading.

Then, in anger, I raised the beam-scythe from the bottom up. Even if they can move quickly in the horizontal direction, there is no way for them to respond in the vertical direction. This time it looked like it had been sliced in two.

That’s how it seemed but that Scheherazade was an afterimage. Predicting the outer circumference of the circular motion, it jumped back with one step.

“You’re kidding me!”

I pulled another beam-scythe from under the cloak. At the same time, I made my partner rush forth. If I’m dual wielding, they can’t escape horizontally or vertically. Especially at this speed.

I tried to swing my right beam-sword down from above and the left beam-sword horizontally. Scheherazade took out something like a dagger. It is protruded at the midpoint of the two crisscrossing beams and the power of both were received with one hand as sparks and crackles were scattered.

From the corner of my eye, I could smell the burnt residue of fireworks.

“This jambiya is made of MG alloy…” Phobos on the monitor seemed to be explaining the dagger with a cool face. “It’s lighter and stronger than Gundanium…”

I couldn’t believe it, my partner was losing strength, it couldn’t push back. Even so, I pretended to be fine.

“Heh, is that so…eh, does that M in MG Alloy stand for Mars?”

“No, it’s M for mad.”

I’m crazy too but this guy is even crazier and a real mad bastard.

“For close quarters combat, your machine is the best.”

“Then, what is your machine?”

As soon as I said that my partner’s right wrist was severed and “Light Manipulator Abnormal” lit up on the console.

I felt a piercing coldness in the back of my nose.

“Scheherazade excels in close combat- No, it’s a machine that excels in close combat.”

A chill ran down my spine. I decided to leave here for now. I had also thought about using nanomachine illusions to play around with his vision, but the chances of success were low when the surroundings were bright like this. Also, the number of nanomachines built into my partner is quite small as I overused them in the previous battle.

Come to think of it, since the opponent is also wearing a cloak coated with nano-defenses, I can’t expect my nanomachines to have the desired effect.

My partner and I used all our strength to push Scheherazade away and ran away at full speed. If we stayed there my partner would have been dismantled. Yes, I had the impression that it would be dismantled rather than destroyed.

Deep inside me, I could smell the same scent as when I lost my way in a blizzard. It was an indescribable commotion, like a wild intuition. The beach below the cliff stretched north and south. I headed north regardless.

It’s best for me to run to the rock wall to avoid the sniper attack from Snow White. The mobility of Scheherazade must have been inferior to that of my partner. As I reached the northern end of the sandy beach, I could hear the crashing waves. It smelled of iron rust.

I thought it would be fine if I escaped this far and stopped.

“You’re a guy who runs a lot…. You’re like a puppy-dog.” Phobos’ voice was heard nearby.

It smelled of snow, no, it smelled of ice. When I turned around, Scheherazade was standing there.

It reminded me of when my shitty dad was smoking right behind me. Anger welled up in me.

“Who’s the puppy-dog!” I yelled out.

Me and my buddy leaped south. I had also used the shoulder thruster to escape at several times the speed as before.

What an annoying bastard. He called me a “puppy-dog” when I am a “wolf in devil’s skin.” That’s it. I’m a wolf. The long braid down my back is the tail of a noble lone wolf. A long time ago, Naina also told me so.

“You’re cool, Duo! When I see you running from behind, you look like the mythical ‘Fenrir’.”

I can’t forgive a guy that calls me a dog.

The southern end of the sandy beach came into view. However, there was someone standing ahead of me. My buddy and I stopped running. A rusty sea breeze was blowing. There he was, as expected.

“What’s wrong? Are you at your limit, Puppy-dog?”

Scheherazade and the nasty bastard were waiting. I felt like my whole body was losing strength.

You must be hungry, right Duo?”

When did Professor W come down from the top of the cliff? Snow White was standing by his side. How did I not notice it? There was no longer the smell of gunpowder. How could my buddy’s mobility be defeated by Scheherazade? I’m not convinced.

I’m hungry- I sure am. Okay, it’s decided. Come to think of it, I haven’t put anything in my mouth since I ate Naina’s sandwich.

“Okay…” I stopped being stubborn. “I’ll work with you…”

Hunger, drowsiness and exhaustion all at once rushed over me.

After that, he seemed to talk to me about various things, but I can’t remember what too well. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep in the cockpit.

I had a dream where I was a kid. It must have been a recurring memory I always had, but I really don’t remember it at all. However, “Memories of Smell” came from the port town of Lana Green, so I’m sure it’s true. By any chance, I might have said things like “Naina” or “Fenrir” in my sleep.

Half asleep, I prayed to heaven that they hadn’t heard me.

Wait did I pray to heaven properly at that time? I don’t believe I prayed properly to heaven, no way, don’t think I’m relying on that old man.

Sometimes I have flashbacks that I don’t like to think about, so much that I hate it. In the heart of a devil-skinned wolf lurks a stray puppy drenched in rain. I just don’t want anyone to know.

It was already evening when I awoke. Professor W had finished repairs on my partner’s right wrist. Come to think of it, that man was the one who assembled this machine. I guess he can handle that kind of trouble before breakfast.

Just before dinner time, as I was leaving the cockpit, Professor W called out to me.

“Hey are you awake?”

There was a fragrant smell. Phobos was making a bonfire on the beach.

“Now Phobos has prepared a delicious meal, so let’s eat together.”

Professor W led me to the campfire.

“Two corrections,” said Phobos, holding out a skewered chunk of roasted meat from the campfire. “It’s just grilled locally procured meat, so I wouldn’t call it a ‘delicious meal’.”

I silently stuffed my mouth with meat. It tasted like crab, but it was subtly different.

“Hey, what is this meat? It’s not crab. Is it shrimp?”

“Hahaha… Those who don’t know will surely be able to enjoy it.”

Professor W took some kind of capsule out of his pocket and swallowed it. He doesn’t seem to eat food like me or Phobos.

“What is the other correction?” Professor W asked Phobos after he had finished his mug of water.

“I am no longer Trowa Phobos.”

I thought he was a weird bastard. But if there was such a way, I would like to change my name too.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m giving up the name ‘Duo’ too. I’m Fenrir! Fenrir Maxwell! A lone wolf in devil’s skin!”

“Puppy-dog is better.” No Name interrupted.

“Puppy-dog Maxwell… It suits you very well,” Professor W burst out laughing. “I can’t give you both a passing grade. Isn’t it fine to stay the same as before. Please be prouder of your name.”

I was silent. Even No Name didn’t seem convinced.

“Hey, why don’t we make a pact?” I whispered in No Names ear. “Only between us, we’ll call each other Fenrir and No Name.”

“…I’ll think about it.” He answered curtly.

It seems like he really wants to treat me like a dog. I really don’t like him.

It was a quiet night. The sea breeze had changed from the smell of iron rust to the smell of black oil. Since I had slept through the day, I stood as the sentry. The other two are sleeping in the cockpits of their respective machines.

It was a boring watch. None of the Federation Forces on Elysium Islands have a cloak with a nano-defensor coating with stealth functionality. According to Professor W and No Name, Prometheus’ dark green cloak had been burned off by Snow White’s ‘Seven Dwarfs’.

In other words, if the Federation Forces approached, they would trigger the alarms we had set up. In this instance we wouldn’t need a sentry. Still, I volunteered.

Why can’t I sleep? I don’t want to run away anymore. I couldn’t help but feel that if I tried to act alone, I would be stopped by the two of them.

For the time being, I want to help the taciturn and unfriendly senior. After all, I approve of the skills of that guy named Heero Yuy. One of the best guys I’ve met. For some reason, he smelled of sadness.

When I have too much free time, I make a point to polish my nails. I like to fiddle with machines, but my fingertips inevitably get blackened with oil and paint. I can’t stand it. I do it carefully with my favorite nail clippers and files.

The smell of this frictional heat is similar to the smell of re-entering the atmosphere from space. I was made to experience it several times during Father’s training. I don’t like it but it’s not a smell I hate.

After just a few minutes of polishing, your nails will be shiny like pearls. For the record I don’t wear manicures. Even though I have a braid, I’m still a boy. And I don’t like the smell of that paint. Absolutely unacceptable.

My partner has a strange name called ‘Warlock’, so I started doing magic tricks as a hobby. So, my fingertips have people watching them a lot.

When I was finally satisfied with the brightness, I felt a presence on the cliff. I had a bad feeling. It smelled of additives and compounds.

The radar hadn’t sensed movement and there is no change in the heat source reaction.

There is no sandstorm blowing, so no magnetic anomaly will occur. Which means that the enemy alert device is functioning normally. However, my bad premonition never went away, and this tense atmosphere was undoubtedly an impending sign of danger.

I turned on the communication switch and whispered,

“No Name, Professor, wake up.”

The two awoke immediately.

“Something isn’t right…”

When I said that, Professor W replied with a smile.

“It looks like they’ve come to pick us up.”

“Who’s picking us up?” I asked.

Professor W’s eyes were serious, but his mouth was smiling.

“Yes… My little sister, Duo’s older sister and Phobos’ love rival…”

There were so many things I wanted to say back but I kept my mouth shut. No Name’s face reflected on the monitor seemed to be the same.

There were three manned Mars suits on the cliff. The shapes of their faces were symbolic of playing card suits. Hearts, spades and clubs, each were glowing eerily. The silhouette of the machines resembles the mobile suit ‘Leo’ of old times.

I don’t think it’s going to be that tough of a fight on Mars’ ground. Not if their opponents are our Gundams, even armor like that is not enough. Even more so if they intend to fight Lana Green’s Virgo and Epyon.

In the middle of the three is the Queen of Hearts. It’s my sister Naina’s craft, which I recognize but tonight it’s wearing a red riding hood. The edges of its hem are adorned with elegant gold. It’s probably made of the same material as the nano-defense coated cloak with stealth function. I can see why there was no alert reaction.

On the right is the King of Spades, Jack of Clubs on the left. The left and right Mars suits are each wearing a long red muffler.

There are only two kinds of people on the battlefield. The ones who get killed and the ones who survive. Both are painful situations. The guy who was killed must be unhappy because it’s “the end” for them there. There is no reason for happiness.

I’m not dead, so I don’t really know.

Also, I guess it’s hard for the family and acquaintances of the murdered guy. In my case, no one would be sad if I died, so I don’t care.

On the other hand, the survivors have to take on the souls of those who died on the battlefield and continue to live, so that situation is really painful too.

War is about killing each other, it’s far from beautiful, so it seems that the burden on the mind is heavy.

Those who aren’t prepared to do that have no choice but to run. I’m not paralyzed but I try not to worry too much about the burden on my soul or heart. Even so, I intend to remain prepared. The same is probably true for No Name and Professor W here.

The front monitor shows three Mars suits images captured with the night vision scope. In the night sky beyond that, a small star emits a vague light.

“Now then, we have three options.” Professor W, displayed on the sub-monitor, told us. “One, is to defeat those three Mars suits, then rush into Relena City and rescue the hostages.”

I wondered if there was anything else I could do. That seemed like the only way to rescue my seniors.

“The other option is to maintain a neutral position, watch as the Virgo landing force sent by the Lana Green Republic arrive and see them battle from a safe place. After that, we proceed with the same as the first option.

I was surprised at Professor W, who able to say such things without hesitation.

“A landing party?” There was no radar response on the console. The night sky and black sea remained silent. “Where’s that?” I asked skeptically.

“It’s still out of enemy search range… they’re currently on the ocean about 20 kilometers southeast now.”

“How do you know that?”

Professor W replied calmly.

“I don’t think you’ll be convinced that the heart of the universe is-,” he pouted. “Well, it’s just a simple guess. I thought you would have noticed it right away.”

Professor W’s expression didn’t look like a friendly smile, instead like he was somehow mocking me, that’s how it felt.

“First of all, those Mars suits don’t know we are here, they can’t see this side from the top of the cliff and there’s no way for them to detect it before us.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say they can’t detect us?”

“No, I didn’t say that.”

In fact, I happened to sniff out a strange sign and found the Mars suits first, so Naina and the others couldn’t figure out where we are whilst we were wearing the nano-defensor cloak with stealth function.

“If Katrine is among them, isn’t it possible to read the ‘heart of the universe’ and predict our actions?” No Name, wearing a knitted beanie, interjected from another sub-monitor.

“I don’t think so. If she had noticed, she wouldn’t have appeared so defenseless. It is a theory though.”

That’s certainly true. Even Naina prepared ‘Merciless Fairies’ and was carefully waiting when she was about to intercept me and my partner.

“Then why did they appear in this place-?” Professor W continued on. “Basically, there is no doubt that this is the easiest place for a large force to gather and land. The sheer cliff is suitable for interception points. The visibility is good so you can take the initiative. Also, if you look at the equipment of the Mars suits, there are several features prepared for mobile dolls.”

There seemed to be more reasons, but No Name interrupted the explanation.

“In other words, the fact that they showed up here without intending to fight us can be judged as preparation for battle with Lana Green.”

“That’s right. As expected of you Phobos.”

That was refreshing to hear.

After that, Professor W explained the recent trends in the political situation in the Republic of Lana Green, the direction and deployment pattern of the Virgo army’s invasion and took into account the weather conditions of Mars on top of that.

There was no point in listening quietly.

“The problem is the third option!”

I decided to prioritize my own interests over convincing explanations.

“I don’t think so- That’s sharp, Duo but that’s not true.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, was that the bad premonition or the feeling of impending doom that I’ve been having for a while?

“The third option is to work with them to prevent the landing of the Lana Green Virgo unit. Once that’s done, go back to the first option and force your way into Relena City to rescue the hostages.”

I was speechless, just as I thought. However, is it possible to cooperate with the Mars Federation at this point in time? Since they advocate complete pacifism, the Mars Federation is in a disadvantageous situation. That’s their own fault.

I thought we had to kill Relena Peacecraft as soon as possible. I had feeling it was going to be a game on Mars.

“At this time, it’s better not to think about hostile forces or strategic superiority.”

I don’t have a grudge, but I don’t have the merit of helping either.

“Hey, is this some kind of joke? Why do we have to protect their country?”

Professor W seemed surprised when said that in disgust.

“That doesn’t sound like you Duo. You don’t need a reason to help people, do you?”

Naturally I had no words to reply. However, I wanted to point out the ridiculousness of whether this situation is at a comfortable level to be helping people.

“The choice is decided by looking at the progress of the battle, isn’t it?” No Name confirmed before me.

Professor W nodded with a smile.

“Yes… That’s what I mean.”

“How do we make a decision?”

“How about a majority vote?”

“Ok”

“I’m fine with that too”

I nodded without making any retorts.

At least the first option was not ideal for me.

At first, I thought that was the only way but the story changes when Lana Green’s Virgo unit shows up. I can’t beat Naina and her friends as well as mobile dolls. More than anything else, my pride won’t allow it.

In this case the second option, ‘viewing from the cliff,’ would be best. I’m sure No Name thinks so too. Only this older Professor W seems to be thinking the other way.

We moved to the northern end of the coast as instructed by Professor W. He explained that I was a special seat where he could ascertain the progress of the battle but the place smells pretty dangerous, just like the tactically important left flank.

I suddenly thought – Is Naina really unaware of us? Am I and No Name just being pushed by Professor W? Such a question crossed my mind. He reminds me of my shitty father who always lied to me. In some ways, I feel that Father and Professor W are similar. Those guys are really shady.

After a few minutes, there was a radar response. Five large MD transport ships from the Republic of Lana Green are approaching from the southeast. This type of transport craft can carry up to twelve Virgos. A total of sixty Virgos will be part of the landing operation.

Three Mars suits await – The Queen of Hearts, the King of Spades and the Jack of Clubs, facing twenty times their force. It was normal to expect that it would be a tough battle.

The three MS that were previously on top of the cliff were gone. A large number of Virgos were dropped from three large MD transport ships that flew ahead near the central coastline.

Naina’s Queen of Hearts suddenly jumped out alone. It seems that there is no intention of setting up a joint force with all three Mars Suits. She was charging in a straight line, a bold attack.

It seemed that the purpose was to pre-emptively disturb the enemy. The Virgos enemy search system doesn’t react to the Queen of Hearts whilst wearing the Red Riding Hood, so she can jump into the center and act freely.

The Virgo, who tried to defend themselves, were instantly preyed upon by a large beam mace. However, even Virgo, which is powerless by itself, jumps up in power several times as soon as it is incorporated into a group. The defensive posture of the Neo Planet Defensor becomes an impregnable wall, and the wave attack of the beam rifle becomes effective.

Naina’s Queen of Hearts was being bombarded with a barrage of high-output beam rifles. That said, they couldn’t land a decisive blow on the Queen of Hearts, who wears a Nano Defensor-coated red riding hood. She had subtly derailed Virgo’s sensors and confused the aiming of their beam rifles.

Professor W with Snow White stood to the right of me and my buddy.

“Virgo is the most troublesome when grouped together. It becomes a huge multi-headed, multi-legged monster that is driven by a single will… Its frenzied energy hides an insidious and malevolent will.” Professor W said quietly.

Even though I was told that it was a huge, multi-headed, multi-legged monster, I couldn’t visualize it. In my head, I came up with things like spiders with lots of eyes, squids and octopuses and forced them together. Anyway, I’m not good with those kinds of creatures.

No Name in Scheherazade standing to the left of me, spoke.

“But in the end, it’s an unmanned weapon. It has no resolution and no responsibility.”

That’s why I believed it was too troublesome.

When I faced forty mobile dolls called Maganac by myself, I had a hard time fighting to the death. It was a good strategy for me to knock out the only three Virgos that were with Gundam Epyon. No matter how cowardly the Martian Federation’s lightweight air combat is, we will have a hard time fighting if they come in large numbers.

I thought so at least, but I didn’t say anything.

It’s useless to use words to teach someone who has no real experience. My senior, Heero, forced that kind of thing on me in actual combat. Done without explanation. It’s annoying but thanks to that, I’m still able to survive.

Just like before when I fought Naina’s Queen of Hearts, she takes a straight line of action. On the other hand, nearly twenty Virgos attacked in waves in a circular motion, cutting of retreat routes and chasing them into the center.

But I soon realized that this was a ‘decoy’. It looks like Virgo has cornered her but in reality, its actions have formed a pattern and there are many openings to take advantage of.

If the Virgo forces form a spiral attack formation, the allies will shoot each other. Mobile Dolls don’t hesitate to shoot each other. Naina was planning for that. Three Virgos exploded in no time.

“This is a comedy,” Professor W blurted out. “What happens once is said to be a tragedy if it happens twice, and a comedy the third time.”.

Even as he said that there was no smile on his face. He continued his words in a painful tone.

“The first time was in AC182, when the Sanc Kingdom of King Marticus Peacecraft collapsed after being attacked by the Allied Forces for the Unification of the Earth Sphere… The second time was in AC195, when Relena Peacecraft inherited complete pacifism and restored the Sanc Kingdom. But it was attacked by OZ, surrendered completely and the nation was dismantled…”

I was fed up. It’s the same with my crappy father but I felt sorry for the old folk tales. Perhaps Professor W guessed what I was thinking and ended the conversation with just a few more words.

“Actually, the second time, I was also on the battlefield. Just like now, a large force of Virgo was rushing to the coast.”

“Hmph, is this the third time a country has been destroyed by pacifism?”

“Heh… Really, it’s a comedy that can’t be laughed at.”

The peaceful nation collapses because of Relena Peacecraft, the second president of the Mars Federation government. Stupid people made such a stupid choice. No need to feel sorry.

“What do you want to do? Shall we make our decision here?” Professor W said coldly.

I agreed with the proposal, but No Name still seemed undecided.

“No, It’s still too early… Let’s see the movements of the remaining two Mars Suits before making a decision.”

The Queen of Hearts of Naina was fighting fiercely, its long red muffler leaves a trail of glitter.

The Mars Suit ‘Jack of Clubs’ appeared. The beam tabar in its hand possesses tremendous destructive power with its spear-shaped beam sword and heat axe. A weapon that can attack both linearly and in a circular motion.

However, that weapon type is unusually difficult to handle because it’s the same beam size as my buddy’s. If you can’t move agilely, you will be attacked immediately but Jack of Clubs overwhelms the Virgo.

When I saw that it was fully demonstrating such mobility, I thought that the pilot must be the daughter of the Winner family, but Professor W and No Name denied it.

No Name says that Katrine is more precise and delicate and that her bold fighting style is similar to that of Naina’s twin brother.

Professor W asserted that it was Milou Peacecraft. Two people who know the daughter of the Winner family better than me say that, so there’s no doubt about it.

What surprised me was that Milou Peacecraft had a fighting style similar to that of old Master Chang. The breathing of the interval, the timing of approach and withdrawal, were exactly the same. I thought he was also doing image tracing, but I knew that was impossible.

Preventor’s top-level piloting cannot be traced so easily.

The Jack of Clubs was following the Queen of Hearts while attacking boldly. They combined a seemingly reckless charge with a sweeping defense.

Certainly, there is no way the selfish old Master Chang would be able to fight in such a caring way. Also, such co-operation is impossible for the daughter of the Winner family.

All along, I believed that Milou was just a weirdo who played a dissonant chord whilst remaining silent.

Due to the coordinated attacks of the Jack of Clubs and Queen of Hearts, the number of Neo-Planetary Defensors gradually decreased from 60 to 50. Even so, since they were facing a force twenty-five times as strong, I knew that they would eventually weaken.

The King of Spades, on which the daughter of the Winner family rides, wielding its weapon - the beam lance, started its assault.

It was a way of fighting like pushing with brute force. I was wondering what was so delicate and precise about the attack but when I looked closer, the aim of each attack was accurate, the defense was perfect and there was no waste in every single action.

The King of Spades hung over the rearmost Virgo, whose Neo-Planet Defensor defense had weakened, slashed at it and mowed down the three machines that were clustered in front of it.

I was impressed that she was the skillful young lady that I’ve fought twice before.

When she was manipulating Maganac Mobile Dolls, she used her advanced tactics to toy with me and my senior, Heero, while fighting with Prometheus. At the time, she was using a gattling gun in combat. But now I’m watching her defeat Virgo in hand-to-hand combat at a speed that I can’t keep my eye on.

The impression is that she immediately chooses the most suitable way of fighting on the battlefield on the spot. No, it would be more accurate to say that the strategy is matched to the machine. I can’t imitate that kind of thing.

Apart from that, the King of Spades seemed to be fighting pushing out a group of Virgo to a specific location.

Looking at it from a bird’s-eye view, it turned counterclockwise, disturbed them and gradually moved toward the north-northwest side. The northern end…… of the northwest coast. In other words, it was an attack that guided the enemy toward the direction where we were watching.

I clicked my tongue as my heart raced. Somehow, it’s going to be the third option, isn’t it? That’s what I was thinking at the time.

Virgo switched attack methods. They narrowed down the scattered targets to one and focused on the King of Spades in the back.

“You’re being too cocky, Katrine,” muttered No Name.

“With that way of fighting, you’re always the only one who gets hurt.”

“Yes, the enemy’s attack pattern is to check the King first and then move to defeating each one.”

“And that’s a position to assist Milou’s Jack.”

Perhaps it was just my imagination, but No Name sounded angry.

The Queen of Hearts stood out too far in the avant-garde. The Jack of Clubs was isolated in the center. It was the King of Spades who supported them from the rear.

However, even with my own eyes, I was able to see that the group of Virgos repeated dispersal and combination to prepare themselves and that they had formed a formation that would destroy each of the three Mars suits with a counterattack.

“Professor, let’s take a majority vote.” No Name said in an unusually fast tone.

Ah yes, I see. I’m the one who was put on board from the beginning. I felt bad for myself for not noticing this sooner. I guess this No Name and foolish Professor W also intended to do so from the beginning.

Majority decision, it doesn’t make any sense. There was always only one option.

“This is annoying! It’s the third time, so it’s a comedy, right? If so, I’ll end it here!” I yelled out.

This is a comedy that can’t be laughed at.

“I will take care of my sis Naina!”

When my partner and I were about to take off, No Name and Scheherazade were already moving on ahead.

“Forty-two remaining… It’s an assignment for one person.”

No Name’s face appeared on the sub-monitor.

“It’s an easy win, isn’t it, Fenrir?”

He’s an annoying bastard but I was honestly happy that he called me ‘Fenrir’

“Ok! Let’s do it!”

I spread my partner’s black cloak to the side and took out a beam-scythe with both arms.

“Hey, c’mon! The wolf in devil’s skin is here!”

Too bad it’s got to be like this.

My partner and I rushed into the Virgo unit in the form of an interception. My crappy Dad always used to say that warlocks don’t use tactics like that but how I use my buddy is up to me.

Virgo’s Neo-Planet Defensor was already out of defense. Due to the relentless attacks of Naina and her friends, the electro-magnetic output had was weakened considerably. Repeatedly dispersing and combining graceful attacks had caused a gap to take advantage of.

I was able to cut Virgos’ main body in two with a single stroke.

If you can get inside the Virgo aggregate, the fights yours. The cut and cut and cut. If you go as wild as possible, you’ll get the hang of it fast.

“Can you help me, Duo?”

I heard Naina’s voice through the secret line from the communication device. If she can use that line, does that mean our conversations are leaking? Now is not the time to worry about such things.

The Queen of Hearts, wielding a very thick beam mace, was fighting next to my partner.

“Don’t let them see you!” I spoke. “You can’t just keep hanging around this scum.”

“Ufufu, thank you.”

Scheherazade disassembled the Virgo around the King of Spades one by one. From here I could only just see the trail of light from his jambiya.

“Trowa Phobos, I will not thank you,” said the daughter of the Winner family through the same secret line.

“Do not worry… I don’t expect that.” Anonymous said without intonation. “And I’m not Trowa Phobos.”

The Queen of Hearts’ beam mace and the Warlock’s beam scythe used their respective characteristics to attack. They alternate between straight lines and circles. It was the same offensive movement line as Jack of Clubs beam tabar but neither of us could do both at the same time, so together we were able to destroy them much more effectively.

The number of Virgo had decreased by about half and all of the Neo-Defensors had been shot down.

I had defeated four and Naina defeated three. I’m sure No Name, the daughter of the Winner family and Milou Peacecraft would have been defeating them at the same rate.

At that moment, Professor W’s voice echoed.

“This is Snow White. Everyone please stay away from the sea… Shoot the white of the ‘Seven Dwarfs’”

Snow White, in its white cloak, stood on the northernmost shore and had an arrow aimed towards me and my buddy.

As instructed, we left the Virgo aggregate and headed for the coast.

“Stance… set.”

Snow White had adjusted its feet and decided on its center of gravity.

“Knocking…setup”

It then attached an arrow to its bow. Milou’s Jack of Clubs and the Winner daughter’s King of Spades had not yet reached the shore, but Professor W had no intention of waiting.

“Drawing….”

Show white was drawing its arrows and the target had already been set.

“Full draw….”

At last, the Jack and King were able to stand clear on the sand at the water’s edge.

“Release!”

Snow White shot a white arrow. It became a dazzling flash of light and headed towards the Virgo aggregate. The white flash turned into countless pure white doves along the way, spreading and falling over a wide area of the sea, turning the black sea into a pure white.

A tremendous spark occurred. A violent electric shock struck up as a reverse lightning that went from the sea to the sky.

It was a powerful plasma discharge.

The remaining twenty or so Virgo received a direct hit and instantly stopped functioning. I was a little appalled that Professor W had tried to use such a dangerous thing on me. He is dangerous after all.

It doesn’t smell like gunpowder rather it smells like explosives, like nitric acid or nitroglycerine.

It’s settled. If you have that many weapons, I think you should just use them from the beginning, but I also have a secret trick that I often use, so I can’t say anything.

“Wrong,” Professor W laughed on the sub-monitor. “I didn’t think I’d end up using the white arrow as a secret.”

It seems that had he read my complexion.

“It has the properties of ‘lightning’ but the electromagnetic field is similar to Virgo’s Neo-Planetary Defensor and when there is another electromagnetic field, it becomes electrically saturated and has no effect.”

So, he was waiting for us to shoot down the Neo-Planetary Defensor? I’m the type of person who wants to take it easy and win but Professor W seems to be that type of person too. No should I say “efficient”?

From now on, I will have to choose my words carefully. You should be careful with dangerous people.

At that time, I intercepted Milou Peacecraft’s communication with the Winner family’s daughter.

“Katrine… you have received a message from the retreating MD transport flying ship of the Republic of Lana Green.”

“To me?”

“Turn over to there.”

“Greetings Katrine. -”

I listened in.

“It’s been a while since Saint Minerva.”

The voice sounded like that of a young woman.

“Stella? Is it you Stella?”

The Winner daughter seemed quite upset.

“Ufufufu… It looks like you’ve made a lot of new friends. I envy you.”

On the other hand, the voice of the young women on the other side sounded rather high-handed.

“Why are you with Lana Green?”

“I’m going to excuse myself for today, but next time I won’t take it easy.”

Communication was cut off.

I don’t know what kind of relationship this woman ‘Stella’ had with the daughter of the Winner family, but she’s obviously an enemy.

I imagined that there must be some sort of fate in communicating directly to my side. Also, I sensed some sort of willpower in the Virgo Aggregates’ fighting style, so it’s possible this woman named Stella was operating the Mobile Doll System.

I thought about telling the Winner girl about it but now is not the time to be “close buddies”

I spoke to Professor W.

“Now we can finally have a 3 vs 3 match! Let’s start the first option now!”

Professor W replied with his usual smile.

“No, we’ve come this far.”

I didn’t quite understand what he meant.

Professor W switched to an external speaker and yelled at Naina’s Mars Suit.

“We will drop our weapons and surrender!”

“Hey, why!!!”

I panicked. No, I was the only one who panicked. The sub-monitor showed No Name with a face that looked like it was only natural.

“Calm down.”

Excuse me, how can I calm down?

“This is a strategy. We can’t rescue Miss Catherine, Doktor T and Heero Yuy unless we go to Relena City.”

“Well, yes, but…..”

“Perhaps you can meet Relena Peacecraft.”

“If we get caught, wouldn’t it be difficult to assassinate her?”

“…..Oh really?”

No Name had a face that said, “if it was me, I could easily do it”.

“……..”

No Name and Professor W are total gurus. No, when I thought about it all, everyone here besides Naina, were people I didn’t know very well. Maybe everyone is friendly and trying to trick me.

“Understood. I accept your surrender.” Naina’s voice was heard through the Queen of Hearts’ external speaker. “Duo! You made a good decision!”

What a joke. I’m still not convinced.

For a moment, I thought about hiding in the shadows and running away alone but I decided against it. I felt that this wasn’t the place to fight.

There was a brown band at the end of my braided hair. Four years ago, on Christmas, it was Naina who gave me this as a present.

“I used to like you.”

“Huh, well I agree…” I thought I’d be best to keep my mouth shut. “I liked me too!”

I had no choice but to agree to be taken prisoner.

A few hours later, we were put on a hover transport boat with simple handcuffs and transported to Relena City. Indeed, handcuffs of this size can be easily removed, the rest is timing and weapon replenishment.

Whilst being taken away, I felt hungry again. Come to think of it, what was that meat I ate this evening? I asked No Name.

“Hey, what was that meat?”

“It’s a Mars ammonite.”

“Huh? ammonite?”

“Several years ago, a genetically engineered creature seems to have settled in the Utopia Basin and bred, but the details are unknown…”

There must have been fossils left on Earth.

I think that they were ancient creatures that were already extinct, but I don’t know for sure. I remember seeing an eerie picture of squid-like legs growing out of a conch shell. There was a story that there was one that was thought to be about two meters because it was so large.

It’s surprising such things are increasing on Mars. Could it be that the ancient Earth’s oceans are similar to modern Mars oceans?

“Is it ok to eat that kind of thing?”

“I don’t know…”

Humans – no, all the creatures living in this world take the lives of other creatures by the act of “eating things”. If humans have souls, then birds, pigs and cows will too and maybe even ammonites.

But if a wolf eats it, the market is set for a piglet or a lamb, or at least a cute Little Red Riding Hood. And yet… I felt like I was carrying an extra burden. My hunger was instantly quelled.

At dawn, we arrived at Relena City. The three of us were taken to the president’s official residence, along with Naina. In the back room of the long corridor was the Oval Office. The fragrant smell of grilled bacon wafted from there. It felt like a frenzy as the bugs in my stomach groaned.

On the other side of the door was Doktor T and Catherine, who were having an elegant breakfast. On a white tablecloth lay a platter of bacon, eggs and green salad and a small plate next to it was a freshly baked croissant. A clear amber onion soup was next to that.

The silver tableware was dazzling. To my surprise, the basket in the middle was full of fruits such as muscat grapes, apples and bananas.

Doktor T put down his dishes, wiped his lips gently with a napkin and spoke.

“You’re late…”

Professor W was calm.

“No, thank you for waiting.”

“Phobos, I saved a banana for you.” Catherine said with a smile.

No Name smiled dryly for some reason.

“Ah, Ah…”

My senior wasn’t here.

Naina, the daughter of the Winner family and Milou Peacecraft started eating the breakfast dishes that had been prepared in front of us. I wanted to complain but before I could Professor W spoke.

“Please behave yourself. We are prisoners of war.”

It seems that he read my complexion again. But aren’t there breakfasts for the poor prisoners of war? Should such discrimination be allowed? In addition –

“Aren’t the Doktor and Catherine prisoners?”

“Yes…”

Doktor T threw a piece of croissant into his mouth.

“We are guests.”

It looked extraordinarily delicious. When the croissant was cut into strips, I wanted to eat even the small flakes that fell off.

“Guest? Why are you a guest?”

“Because I’m with Heero, who is a state guest.”

Doktor T turned his gaze toward the office desk in the back. A weak morning sun streamed in through the large windows. A simple office desk by the window had a swivel chair with its back turned.

When the chair turned towards me, sitting there was Heero Yuy wearing a black virtual visor. It was the same kind of thing my father had back at the Arctic base. My senior coldly told me to remove it.

“It’s over, Relena….”

From the next room appeared the Martian Federation’s second president, Relena Peacecraft and her aide, Lucrezia Noin.

They seemed to have already finished eating and they were holding blue flower-patterned cups of tea. There was an elegant scent that I had never smelled before.

President Relena spoke while offering a teacup to my senior.

“How was the ‘Peacecraft File’?”

“…..”

My senior said nothing. He didn’t even drink the tea.

Even though we’re in this place, we’re surrounded by an atmosphere that makes me feel as if we don’t exist. Feeling alienated is not such a great thing. It was as if those two couldn’t see us.

“Should I look?”

Relena was there, not the president but the girl. I could only see that in her eyes. Relena let out a small sigh. A long time ago, Naina often sighed like that.

“I’m really hesitant…”

His eyes were closed, and his small shoulders were drooping.

“If it was you before, you wouldn’t have hesitated…”

The surface of the black tea shook slightly. My senior had a pistol in his hand. He looked down, then slowly pointed the muzzle between Relena’s eyebrows and said quietly.

“I’ll kill you when you’re done watching….”

Relena took a deep breath and opened her eyelids to reveal her beautiful clear blue eyes and spoke.

“Yes…”

She didn’t seem to hesitate anymore. Relena put the black virtual visor over her face-

<<Continued in volume 8>>

#gundam wing #frozen teardrop #gundam wing frozen teardrop #translation #my translation #my post

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k3rm1e · 3 years

Note

heyo!! i was wondering if you would mind writing hc’s for a reader who just had a major accomplishment but their parents don’t really congratulate them or anything, and then philza celebrates with them instead and tells reader how proud he is. i kinda want some dadza comfort rn :’) anyway, thank you sm!! have a great day <3

accomplishments

hello anon! i’m sorry i took a while to answer this. i went a bit off track with this and got A LOT more angsty, so i’m really sorry about that. If you want me to make a much more fluffier or mellowed-out version, i’d be happy to. please, read the trigger warnings before reading this.

i don’t plan on writing more angst-y things like this, especially not this angsty, so don’t worry. once again, please, if you would like me to rewrite this into a less emotional version i’d be happy to

cw: swearing

tw: talk of god and the church, slight manipulation, repetition of words

accomplishments:

holy shit. you were in disbelief. a state of shock. one million twitch followers. one. million. followers. you were silent. shock can have many effects on a person. some scream and laugh out of joy, or a misplaced sense of mania. others cry, because they cannot handle it. some remain confused, because their brains are unable to conceptualize the event. you were silent.

what should you do? would a “thank you” tweet be good enough or would it come off as insincere? should you wait to stream? or would that make people feel you didn’t care because you took so long? through the anxiety you could feel the true realization that you now had one million followers. like a truck, you were hit with the most excited feeling ever. getting up, you jumped around your room. you spun and jumped and cheered and whooped and yelled and smiled and danced and were overflowing with joy, with the acknowledgement that you had done it, you had really fucking done it.

opening the window above your desk, without a single fuck, you screamed. “WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!!” let’s just hope your neighbors don’t wake up.

you stayed up all night, celebrating. tweeting out a thank you, you received congratulations from your fans and friends while you talked with the people in your discord vcs.

in the morning, your mother and father had woken up. with a newfound determination, you ran downstairs. streaming was your passion and you wanted to tell the world what you had done. but, because of limitations, your mother was your metaphorical world.

“mom! mom! mom! mother, mother, mumther!!” you shouted, dashing down the stairs, tripping over your feet. stupid wood flooring and slidy socks.

from your place at the bottom of the stairs, you heard her sigh, “yes, sweetie?”

you bounded over to her, setting your arms on the kitchen counter. from the hallway you could see your dad, who was sitting on the couch drinking his sunday morning coffee. “mom! guess what?” without giving her time to respond, you shouted, “i hit one million follows on twitch! one freaking million!”.

your mother didn’t seem as enthusiastic as you. “is that why you were causing such a ruckus last night? and, watch your mouth, even though ‘freaking’ isn’t a ‘true’ curse, i don’t want you swearing. especially not on the lord’s day. i couldn’t fathom going to church everyday, only to allow you to have a mouth like that.” she continued to stare at her work papers.

“oh, uh, okay mother. dad? did you hear me? i hit one million on twitch.” you awkwardly turned your head over to your father.

“she’s right, you know that, don’t you sweetie?” your father stood up, and made his way into the kitchen. “language like that, it’s shameful. surely, we don’t need you to have a private session with father paulson, do we?” your dad stood next to your mother, rubbing her back as he stared at you.

“no, no, of course not. um, i’m gonna go upstairs now.” you turned around, wishing you could simply disappear.

“without breakfast? are you truly that upset with us? we can’t have you ending up like those people, committing sinful acts and going to hell. god would never forgive you. we’re already taking a risk allowing you to stream, putting yourself out there.”

both your mother and father stared at you. your blood felt like ice in your veins. the white walls of your house seemed so much brighter, yet duller at the same time. everything felt a white-pure-pink-orange. your breathing got uneasy. choppy. in, out, out, in, in, in, out, in, in, out, out for different increments of time. 5, 3, 2, 7, 10, 9, 6, 4, 1, 6, 8, seconds, over and over and over.

“we just wanna protect you, dear. we love you, don’t you get that?” your mother stared at you.

you felt like a scene in those movies. the ones that directly cater to teens who thought their lives were shit when in reality they just hadn’t grown up enough to make sense of something yet. were you one of those teens? or is this actually wrong. you don’t think it is, but you don’t talk to others about this. family matters stay in the family was a common phrase repeated in your household. the church was family, they could know. your mother and father, they could know. others, they must not know, never know.

“of course, mother, father.” you wanted to force yourself to speak, but syllables were incapable of getting past your lips. your mouth was full of peanut butter from the sandwiches served in your elementary school cafeteria. but, the partly frozen chocolate milk always washed it down. “of course. i love you guys too. love you.” you smiled, a disgusting smile that felt violating to exist on your face, violating, violating, violating.

you dashed up the stairs, to your room, up, up, up. running in, you wanted to slam the door, scream out the window, puch your pillow, smash your pc, cry, whatever you could do to get out your emotions. but instead, you lightly shut your door and slowly walked over to your desk chair to see who was online. you would go live later. it was only 5 AM, after all. they could wait. at least, you hoped they could.

opening discord, just to see what everyone was doing, you saw philza minecraft was online. you went over and messaged him, ‘phil. philza. philza minecraft. vc please?’ in response, you received a short, ‘sure m8, gimme a minute’ you waited, until you heard the noise confirming he had joined.

“good morning phil.” your energy from before had receded back into the confines of your chest. the prior excitement was gone and replaced with a feeling of fatigue.

“morning mate, how are you? congrats on the one mill!” phil sounded excited, happy for you. you smiled, chuckling a bit.

“i’m alright man, just tired. how are you? and, thanks for the congrats.” you smiled, feeling the fatigue set in.

“i’m good. but you, you don’t sound very good. couldn’t sleep, could ya’? that was how i was when i hit one mill. way too excited to sleep.”

“yeah. yeah, i’m just tired.” you were getting a bit too tired to talk. the day had barely started, and yet the full-body emotional exhaustion had set.

“‘just tired’? the hell happened kid?” phil’s voice sounded concerned. fuck. the last thing you wanted to do was worry him. he had his own life and you had already caused enough trouble today.

“it’s nothing big phil, seriously. just my parents.” there, a slight bit of information. family matters still within the family, just a few words.

“they being shitbirds? or are you lying, and something big did happen?” he was being inquisitive, which was dangerous. questions were dangerous.

“no, why would i lie?” his inquisitiveness would continue, you knew. so you spilled the metaphorical beans. “they just, just weren’t as supportive as i’d wished they were when i told them. i was really psyched, y’know? and them, just sort of, not giving a shit? i don’t know man, it just feels bad.”

“i get you. it’s shit, when people don’t care about your accomplishments. my parents never really saw streaming as a true profession in the beginning, which led to shit like you describing. i promise it gets better though, even if it feels like shit now. and, for what it’s worth, i’m proud of you.”

“it’s fine phil, you don’t need to try to make me feel better. i’m okay, seriously.” you didn’t need or want his pity. accepting it would feel patronizing.

“no, you need to understand that i’m not fucking around. one million is a big fuckin’ thing, especially for you who hasn’t been streaming all that long to achieve. it’s fucking amazing, mate. be proud of yourself, for christ’s sake.” his fake anger chimed through your headphones. even though you were being berated, you still felt better.

“thank you, phil. i needed that.”

“your welcome, mate. and look, anytime your parents are being shit, don’t try to hold it all in. call me, or wil, or someone, okay? don’t hold that shit in.”

you fake sighed, just to piss him off. “okayyyyyy….”

“good. now, go take a nap or some shit. i love you, kid.”

“love you too, dadza.” this time, your words didn’t feel forced. the smile on your face wasn’t violating, but an invitation to better times. it would be alright. okay.

#mcyt x reader #mcyt x reader angst #philza x reader

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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

Text

Dream SMP Recap (April 26/2021) - L’Sandburg

Foolish and Puffy are both reeling from the events of the Red Banquet. Foolish confronts a familiar foe in his mind while Puffy works through her grief.

After Foolish’s lore, Bad, Antfrost, Purpled, HBomb and Foolish get involved in a new conflict, as Bad declares his walled-off tollbooth on Foolish’s road a new nation called “L’Sandburg.” Foolish, mad that Bad would attempt to occupy a spot on his land, intervenes. Bad ends up declaring war.

Later, after things settle, Puffy is invited to L’Sandburg but instead attempts to take over the nation, declaring it “L’Puffburg.”

---

VOD LINKS:

Foolish

Captain Puffy

---

- There’s a flashback to the Red Banquet from Foolish’s perspective, watching as Puffy and Antfrost argue.

- As Foolish dies, the screen goes black. The Egg speaks.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME AGAIN.”

- Foolish gasps and wakes in the green beacon light within the Temple of Undying. He’s confused -- he’s immortal. But that was different.

The Egg makes noises, then speaks -- but not in reverse.

“I...am..in your mind...”

“I am IN YOUR SOUL.”

“No, no no no no, this is -- this is just tricks! Games! This is just something new!”

“IT IS NOT A TRICK.”

“Is this -- is this the Egg? It’s tough to forget a voice like that.”

“CALL ME WHAT YOU WANT. I HAVE MANY NAMES AS YOU KNOW, BUT YOU’VE FORGOTTEN.”

“What do you mean? No no no, I have never heard you before, it wasn’t that long ago that I first met you. You’re something new, something I’ve never met before.”

“I AM AN ANCIENT ONE. EVEN MORE ANCIENT THAN YOU.”

“So I guess...I guess I was wrong -- I’m not afraid of you! Even after all that, I am still not afraid.”

“AFRAID? YOU ARE TRULY FOOLISH IF YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE STRONGER THAN ME! YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID.”

“Maybe...maybe I had it wrong. Maybe I thought I was stronger. But...but I’m still here! I’m still here. And where are you? How’d that Banquet go?”

“FOOLISH...WHEN WE MET, YOU SAID YOU FEARED NOTHING. BUT NOW? I CAN SENSE YOUR FEAR, FOOLISH.”

“No...no.”

“YOU FEAR DEATH ITSELF, DON’T YOU?”

“No, no...you don’t know! You don’t know anything about me!”

“I...KNOW WHO YOU ARE...EVEN THOUGH...YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN SOME OF WHAT YOU ARE.”

“And? Enlighten me, tell me something. Tell me something that only I would know!”

“I KNOW...OF YOUR SECRET PLACE THAT YOU HAVE TOLD OF NO OTHER!”

“Be more specific.”

“FOOLISH...I KNOW WHAT YOU KEEP IN THERE. FOOLISH...”

“You could be lying. Where?”

“HOW CAN I BE LYING, WHEN I CAN HEAR YOUR VERY THOUGHTS?”

“How do I get you out of my head? I’m not -- you’re still trying to get me to join your side, that’s not gonna happen!”

“FOOLISH...YOU ARE WEAK! FOOLISH. YOU ARE CAPABLE OF SO MUCH MORE! BUT YOU CHOOSE PEACE. AND YOU WASTE YOUR DAYS BUILDING...PATHETIC. YOU HAVE MORE POWER THAN YOU KNOW.”

“No...no, you have it wrong! I’ve tried that, okay? I’ve tried power in the past and it doesn’t work! It doesn’t work. You can’t just use overwhelming force. It worked for short term at best.”

“POWER! POWER IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS, FOOLISH! YOU OF ALL SHOULD KNOW THAT. HOW ELSE CAN YOU SAVE YOURSELF FROM DYING, FOOLISH?”

“You think...you think I’m weak? You think there’s strength -- there’s strength in what I do! Let me explain to you. Let me explain to you why I build.”

“Before, I was reckless and wild. I used to believe wielding godlike powers and a sword gave me some sort of control. But it all led me down a path of violence, and anger, mistrust. I can’t control the actions of the world through overwhelming power. It doesn’t work, just doesn’t. But building provides two important elements in my life. Creation and control...”

- Foolish walks back to the mainland as the Egg continues to speak with him.

- Foolish heads to Church Prime as the Egg keeps asking to join him. It says that it knows about Foolish’s deal with Ranboo.

“Hm. So maybe you do know something. Which is all the more reason I need to be rid of you. And you can go back to whatever dark abyss of the Nether you came from!”

“FOOLISH, STOP. WHY ARE WE FIGHTING? IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR YOU TO JOIN ME. I WILL MAKE YOU STRONG AGAIN. DEEP DOWN YOU MISS THE POWER YOU ONCE HELD.

GO BACK TO BEING A TOTEM OF DEATH, AND TOGETHER, WE CAN RULE AND CREATE PEACE. PEACE IS WHAT YOU WANT. RIGHT, FOOLISH?”

- Foolish tells the Egg it doesn’t work that way. The Egg says it can and it will. Foolish asks if it has any last words.

“I AM A PART OF YOU, FOOLISH. YOU CANNOT GET RID OF ME.”

“No...then I mean this in the most polite way possible...”

“Go to Hell.”

- Foolish submerges himself in the waters of Church Prime as the Egg shouts. When he emerges, it’s gone.

- He wonders if anyone is still alive from the Banquet. He walks down the Prime Path, not understanding why he’s afraid of death.

“There was that brief second before that sword...I don’t see beauty in mortality.”

- He jumps down into the spider spawner and makes his way down the hallway, but he hesitates. He needs to calm down.

- Foolish heads back home. Did the Egg know better than him? Is it saying things that he’s afraid to admit?

- He makes it back to the temple, wondering if it’s really safe. Even if he can die, why is he so afraid?

- He opens the secret door and walks down the staircase. He still doesn’t fault the members of the Eggpire for the Egg’s control. He retrieves his things from the basement.

- He just needs to rest. Foolish returns to the beacon light.

---

- Bad creates a three-block-wide area on Foolish’s path to the Nether portal and claims ownership of it. He constructs walls around it and declares it the Town of L’Sandburg.

- As a gift, Foolish gives Bad a bed and the HBomb catmaid service coupon.

- Bad creates Halobucks. Antfrost arrives to help Bad, and they request more sandstone to build with.

- Foolish gives Antfrost the Sword of XD to kill Bad with. Now, Antfrost and Bad have defenses for L’Sandburg. They refuse to give the sword back.

- Foolish attempts to negotiate with Antfrost to kill Bad in exchange for the supplies. Antfrost is reluctant, as Bad is the ruler of L’Sandburg and he doesn’t with to betray his country.

- Antfrost changes into his maid skin. Foolish asks for his sword back.

- They do an exchange of supplies, but Bad doesn’t give Foolish his sword. Foolish, frustrated that he is unable to break his vow of pacifism, calls in some help: he tells HBomb about the possibility of maid service for Bad.

- Purpled joins the call and logs on. Bad invites him to join L’Sandburg.

- Bad and Ant inform Foolish that he must pay a toll to pass through the path.

- Purpled arrives to join L’Sandburg. He is their lawyer.

- Foolish gets Purpled to kill Bad and then pays him. Purpled also kills Antfrost.

- Foolish says he’ll give Purpled a block of Netherite. Antfrost offers emeralds, but Purpled weighs the options and decides Foolish’s offer is better and continues to kill the L’Sandburgians.

- Bad threatens to declare it an international incident.

- Purpled starts mining bits of L’Sandburg, but Bad stops him, saying he has to take it up with the court. Purpled isn’t one for politics. Bad warns them that if they continue, he’ll have to declare war.

- Bad says they’re bringing HBomb over to act as a judge. Purpled says that’s his cue to leave and heads off. Foolish lets him know that he might need a favor later.

- HBomb arrives in his catmaid outfit and Ant asks him to join L’Sandburg. HBomb becomes a citizen of L’Sandburg.

- Bad hands Foolish a representation of the court papers (a single arrow) as HBomb exits L’Sandburg to carve out his own country neighboring them. Ant says he can have dual citizenship.

- H creates a running stream of water and a wall of wood and declares his new country: L’damburg.

- He also creates a seat in the sun and offers Foolish take some time in L’tanburg.

- He then makes a ton of cars and welcomes Foolish to L’jamburg.

HBomb: “Wait, are you streaming?”

Foolish: “Yeah.”

HBomb: “Welcome to L’camburg.”

(Foolish tells chat to never become a pacifist)

- HBomb lights a piece of TNT and explodes L’tanburg, declaring it now L’bamburg.

- Bad declares that L’Sandburg’s borders, now the entire chunk, have now extended into L’damburg. They now have territory for agriculture.

- Foolish asks, how are they even a country? Do they even have a declaration? One way or another, Foolish says, they can have their little fantasy for a bit but then L’Sandburg is getting destroyed.

- Rat is a canonical L’Sandburg member

- He asks how to make a TNT cannon. Bad warns him against that, saying it would violate their peace treaty.

- Bad declares war on Foolish’s summer home over a piece of cake.

- Bad annexes a block of cactus into L’Sandburg. Foolish is outraged, insisting that this is his land.

Bad: “You will rue the day, Foolish, you started war with L’Sandburg.”

- Bad starts building a wooden one-block-wide pathway to annex territory to the cactus. Foolish gives in and says that they can have this strip of land officially, but not anymore land or else Foolish will have to bring in necessary forces.

- After learning that the cactus has been around for centuries, Bad realizes that L’Sandburg must be older than Foolish’s summer home!

Bad: “Everything the eye can see must be L’Sandburg!”

...

Foolish: “The strength of my patience is the reason you’re alive.”

- HBomb gets injured from falling outside the strip and Bad says Foolish needs to pay for the damages.

- To be good neighbors, Bad offers to let Foolish keep the strip and the cactus, and L’Sandburg and L’Damburg will stay within their chunks. In exchange for the ancient cactus, Bad requests stacks of sandstone.

- HBomb pulls Bad aside, suggesting they form a new nation: L’hamburg. They claim another chunk.

- Bad starts building a statue to Rat. Foolish blurts that he doesn’t want a statue of that “ugly creature” and Bad and H both stop and look at him. HBomb immediately starts building a wall between them.

- Foolish walks into L’Sandburg, checks a chest and is outraged when he finds that the L’Sandburgians/L’damburgians have been stealing supplies from him.

- Foolish insults how ugly L’hamburg is. Bad leaves.

- HBomb explains that he is not a citizen of L’Sandburg now, but L’damburg, and that L’bamburg and L’damburg are the same.

- Foolish tells HBomb that he will wait and get rid of L’Sandburg later. HBomb asks if that’s a threat.

Foolish: “That wasn’t a threat, just a promise.”

Foolish: “We strike at dawn.”

- HBomb points out that Foolish hired Purpled to kill them. He’s the judge.

- While H continues to work on L’damburg, Foolish performs the Shift Dance.

- Bad returns. H has to leave, but he tells Bad to keep an eye on the ‘burgs. Bad suggests he and Foolish create a peace treaty. 50% off toll, and in exchange they have peace.

- Foolish asks, what if someone else isn’t peaceful? Bad would consider that an act of war on his part. He offers to gift Foolish L’hamburg.

- The only thing, Bad says, is that Foolish can’t get rid of the L’Sandburg capital. With that, he departs.

- Foolish says he might keep the tower, but he’ll have to do this later.

---

- Puffy examines her Netherite axe. The axe that she killed her best friend with. She still can’t believe what happened. Worse than Foolish dying, she stooped to their level and took a life. She swore she wouldn’t be like them.

- Antfrost was right. She failed. She understands why people didn’t fight for L’manburg now.

“Chaos always wins. Despite all odds, despite everything you think you can do to fix the situation, to help each other, to persevere...you can’t.”

- She doesn’t know where Foolish is, but killing Antfrost didn’t fix anything.

- There’s somewhere she hasn’t been in a long time. She’s done with Bad, done with Ant -- but at least Ant has a reason to hate her now. By killing Foolish, they’d hurt her more than if they’d killed her.

- Nothing excuses what she did. She’ll face the consequences for killing Antfrost later. She acted on her emotions, but she’d do it again.

“Maybe the only way to have people listen to me, to take me seriously, is to instill fear in them. And that’s not who I want to be, but if it’s who I have to be, if I have to be the villain in everyone’s story? Then that’s the choice I’ll make.”

- The Captain’s Log was meant to document her progress as a knight. Now, this book is her undoing. She goes down into her underground base, looking at the signs on the wall.

“You can’t connect the dots, you can’t see anything coming because everybody you think you know about everyone on this server is a lie! Everything you know, you can’t trust anybody!”

“Even the sweetest of people, the closest of people, the people that you have trusted since day one? They’ll turn, because everybody on this server has a dark side, whether they like to think it or not, whether it’s been shown yet, whether it’s been revealed, everybody -- everybody including me! Including the quote unquote ‘mother,’ the ‘protector of the server,’ even me! Because I could be worse than all of them! And the best part is is that they’ll never see it coming.”

“Some people are predictable...I’m not one of them.”

- Puffy writes in her Captain’s Log, changing “What it means to be a knight” to “What it means to be a villain...”

DON’T TRUST ANYONE.

NOT EVEN YOURSELF.

A DAY WILL COME WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND BE THE PERSON YOU RECOGNIZE LEAST IN THIS WORLD.

“Trust...trust is the biggest weakness there is. Trust is what separates strangers from friends. From security, from vulnerability. Trust is weakness, and...on this server, you can’t have any weakness, because if they find out, if anybody finds out you have a weakness, they’ll use it against you.”

- A new era of peace isn’t going to happen. Puffy will bring a new era of darkness. There are few people who haven’t broken their loyalty yet, and she’ll keep an eye out. But to the people that failed her,

“To those people, I say...’welcome to Doomsday.’“

---

- After discussion about Puffy’s height, Bad tells Puffy that he’s forming a new nation if she would like to join. A nation called L’Sandburg.

- Puffy arrives at L’Sandburg. The capital tower has been renovated, the base reinforced with obsidian.

- Puffy asks if this is canon. Bad says yes, this is his tower. (After Puffy gets mad at him for killing her son, Bad says it’s maybe not that level of canon)

- Bad lets Puffy into the L’Sandburg capital.

- Puffy asks what the point of L’Sandburg is. Bad explains that it’s a sort of tollbooth on Foolish’s road. The toll depends on how much armor a person is wearing. The more shiny, fancy armor, the higher the toll, because that person can afford to pay more.

- Puffy starts twerking to test the road durability. She pays a toll of carrots with one steak. Bad plans to increase toll amounts as the nation improves infrastructure.

- Bad tries to arrest Puffy and put her into toll jail for bypassing the toll, but he gives up and walks away when she says no. Puffy points out that his security system is not very good, and Bad starts to see the problem here.

- Puffy walks into the toll booth and Bad asks her to pay a toll of five carrots this time. The price has gone up due to inflation. Puffy turns the tables and starts charging Bad toll to enter L’Sandburg, declaring this territory “L’Puffburg.”

- Bad bypasses the toll by saying he’s ready for hot girl summer and agrees to let Puffy keep ownership of the top floor of the capital.

- L’Sandburg is apparently Bad’s “vacation country.”

- Bad and Puffy hang out in L’Sandburg/L’Puffburg some more and Bad plays around sticking his head out of sand and doing various voices.

- Antfrost arrives.

- Ant changes into Badboyhalo in a maid outfit.

- Bad and Antfrost fight. Antfrost runs out of L’Sandburg and Bad chases after him, threatening to take his second canon life, telling him to accept his death like a good potato.

- Antfrost kills Bad. Puffy tells them to put their weapons away so that they can have a proper duel. They fight a second time.

- Ant and Puffy say goodnight and leave Bad to work in L’Sandburg.

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

#caps tw #dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts

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