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songofwizardry · 3 years

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after everything is done, the mighty nein stay with each other.

not all the time, of course—but they have Sending spells, and letters, and at one point Essek gets hold of an extra sending stone, but still. they stay together.

Caduceus visits them all, one by one. makes the long journey down to Nicodranas, and meets Jester and Fjord and Kingsley on the beach. he brings dried fruits from his garden. they picnic in the shade of the Wildmother's lighthouse. he finds work to do wherever he wanders—there are hundreds of people, dozens of towns, in need of a healer, or someone to help with a farm, or someone to listen to them through their grief. the Wildmother occasionally guides him, the winds urging head East, or, find this gnome in this town. usually, though, he lets his feet guide him.

Fjord and Jester make their way up, down, the Menagerie Coast. after so long in the Empire and the Dynasty, they both find they've missed the coast they grew up on. Fjord picks up new crew, sometimes—young people looking for work on the docks, older ones who give obviously-fake names and don't answer questions. he pays them fairly, and teaches them the ropes, and treats them with kindness as someone once treated him with kindness, and lets the salt water and sea-air do their work. Jester finally sees Port Damali, and Feolinn, and Port Zoon, and they are lovely, even if she still thinks Nicodranas is the best. she leaves dicks in temples and on street corners, and once or twice, she sees a green-cloaked figure admiring her work. she sends messages every day, working her way through their family—just updates, about the dragon turtle they just saw, or how Kingsley is trying his hand at painting, or about the new crew members they've picked up.

the two of them find trinkets wherever they go. it starts off as a joke, Fjord saying, oh, we should definitely buy that box of buttons for Veth, I can tell her we found Buttonbeard. but then they keep going—a book of Lucidian folk-tales for Caleb, a strange pepper plant for Caduceus, an ocean-blue set of fighters' gloves for Beau. wherever they go, they find something that reminds them of their family, and they bring it back.

an expositor's work is never done, so Beau ends up back in Rexxentrum or Zadash at least once a year, often more (and maybe she goes back more often than she strictly needs to, but nobody needs to know that). she sees the house Caleb's found, a small place, not on the academy grounds, but close enough. she stays a few nights, and watches Caleb light the stove with a snap of steady fingers, and is introduced to a loud, demanding black cat, who doesn't have Frumpkin's infinite patience for their bullshit.

the seeds Caduceus gave her serve Yasha well. she goes back to the Blooming Grove in the spring, spends time with the Clays. learns more about the earth. gets more seeds. she and Caduceus spend time together, walking the grounds, tending the plants, tilling, and they don't say much.

when Marion goes back to Nicodranas, they all visit. Jester stays for the longest time, bouncing between spending time with her mother and teaching Luc prank ideas catching up with the Brenattos, but eventually, all of the Nein end up there. they take over several rooms of the Chateau, and stay up far too late (and let Luc stay up far too late with them), swapping stories and sharing drinks: Is Vandran re-reading Tusk Love again? You need to introduce him to more literature! and Wait, so when you say you and Essek were stuck in a snowstorm without the tower, that to-tally means you had to cuddle for warmth, right? and Did you actually just... walk to Uthodurn, Caduceus?

they don't let Essek disappear for long. sure, he does eventually drop off the face of Exandria, researching this or that, at one point sneaking back into the Dynasty to see his brother, but he always shows up again. Jester sends him messages. he and Caleb keep up a continuous stream of letters, eventually finding magical means to get them to each other faster. and with Teleportation spells, he's always visiting—a week in Rexxentrum, heavily disguised; almost a month with Caduceus, using his rose-patterned gardening gloves; a brief stint in Nicodranas, helping out at the Brenatto Alchemists. (a few years after Aeor, he spends more time in Rexxentrum. stays a month. then two. then six. then a year. eventually, he and Caleb get a second cat. and he cannot stay forever, but he still stays.)

for the first time in his life, Caleb has time. and so he takes it. slowly, he walks the streets of Rexxentrum, learning to love it again (he's not sure if he ever really stopped loving it). he works, slowly, with Beauregard—it might take their whole lives to dismantle the mess of power and abuse that the Assembly is; it will probably take even longer. but he keeps at it anyway. he goes back and forth between the Academy and the Soul; when Beau combs through questionable documents, Caleb asks questions; when the mages of the Academy and Assembly hold meetings, Caleb goes to them and keeps his eyes on the Martinet.

he starts teaching. he's not sure about it, at first—the Academy hurt, not just him, but so many others. but with Trent gone, he thinks—there can be a change. and he wants to feel the joy of new magic again, to watch new eyes come alight with it, he wants to show people how it can be used to help, and heal, and love, instead of hurt. so he starts teaching. it's joyous, and energising, and exhausting, and he watches his students – his students – all the while, for the slightest hint that they are being hurt, or forced, or coerced, or trained into something they don't want to be. he watches them grow, and learn. he pushes the envelope of treason, just a bit, talks of magic and wonder beyond the empire and its structures. and with every group, he teaches them the spell find familiar.

the Brenattos open up a new apothecary in Nicodranas. it's bigger, and brighter, and busier than the one in Felderwin—they get more herbs and more customers here, and with both Yeza and Veth in the lab, they're soon coming up with new concoctions, experimenting together. when Veth gets the itch in her bones (and she does, numerous times), she tracks down one of the nein, and wanders with them for a bit—visiting Rumblecusp with Beau and Yasha, a trip investigating Halas' halls with Caleb, a few weeks on the Lucidian ocean. she never stays long, and she always comes home. she hasn't broken that promise yet.

Luc grows up on the coast, and learns to swim. sometimes, she joins him.

when they get a house, she and Yeza – by unspoken agreement – find a place with two extra rooms, a sitting room large enough for several people to fit on the floor, and a garden. Yeza's food is almost as good as Caduceus', so it's no surprised that the nein come and visit, often. Yasha helps them grow beds of flowers in the garden. Jester and Fjord bring all manner of strange mementoes from the oceans. when the academy is closed, Caleb stays for months on end, helping her teach the teenagers of Nicodranas basic cantrips and how to pick locks during the day (we are unleashing a menace, he warns her, but he's smiling), and reading to Luc in the evenings.

they gather, together, in her house, too. sometimes for a special occasion (she and Yeza renew their vows in the garden), but often, for no reason at all. just to be together. there is space for all nine of them—she made sure of that. they talk, and laugh, and fall asleep in a chaotic pile in the Brenatto's living room.

in a few days, they will embrace, and separate, and head back to whatever they've been doing. but they will come back together, eventually.

after everything, the mighty nein stay together.

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mcu-fan-fics-blog · 3 years

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The Helping Hand

This is a Repost from my Ao3 I wanted to bring it to Tumblr. I hope you like it Its currently 5 chapters I will be uploading the rest throughout the rest of the week.

Word count: 1660 approx

Summary: Y/N Krast Illegitimate Daughter of Tony Stark. Product of an unwanted teen pregnancy. What would Howard Stark be capable of doing to assure his sons future? What will happen when Tony meets our Beautiful, young, genius, rich philanthropist.

Tw: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Drug use, Drug addiction, Teen Pregnancy. (If there are any I missed please tell me.)

Introduction Ch.1

Ch.2

Back Story

(AU Howard and Maria Stark were not killed by the Winter Soldier.)

Your name is Y/N Krast First Born Daughter of Tony Stark. Sent away by Howard and Maria Stark. You being the result of an unwanted teen pregnancy. You don't know who your mother or father are. Howard Stark secretly kept in contact with you, until he passed.

Howard gave you a comfortable life and a bountiful trust fund that you gained access to on your 18th Birthday also the year he died. You are a Genius having finished college and high school at the same time with a master’s in Computer Engineering with a minor in Biology.

After Howards’ death, you were lost… you decided to help others. Thinking that maybe that would help you feel a semblance of happiness. You went to the one place you knew people needed help Sokovia.

You weren't there for long when you realized that you loved being there. The people and the culture were so welcoming and loving… at least towards you. The people definitely had their reservations, but you didn't mind.

You did as much as you could… you lived a simple life. Gave up the luxury in which you were raised and traded it for a small two-bedroom apartment that you shared with a friend who needed help with the rent. You opened a medical facility it was by no means the best but it could do the job.

You taught people basic medical procedures, not surgery… but everyday accidents and the occasional riot scene. Stitches and patch-up jobs.

"Hey, y/n what do you want me to do with these boxes here?" You look at him confused when you realize what he is holding.

"Umm… just leave them there I want to go through them before I leave." David gives you a fond look as he moves to sit next to you. "It's crazy to hear you say that… It seems like just yesterday you were that fresh-faced kid trying to help people."

You clear your throat as you see where the conversation is heading. "Don't go getting all sentimental on me… not now David." You give David a reassuring smile, but to your luck, he doesn't buy it. Now looking at you more seriously he says "Y/N it’s ok. We all understand why you're leaving, no one is mad or angry, just sad you will be missed around here."

You feel your eyes start to water and you quickly turn away from David trying to hide your tears to no avail. "It's just that I’m going to miss this too." He holds your shoulders and turns you to face him. He holds your face, the tears building in his own eyes, and pulls you into a hug.

"You will always be welcome back, you hear me. Now we are both going to stop crying on the count of 3… and were going to pretend that didn't just happen alright." You nod your head slowly agreeing to the terms you collect yourself. What David and you had is the closest thing either of you had to family. He pulled away slowly but determined.

"Okay, no more sad stuff alright… the town wants to throw you a going-away party. And you can't say no they just want to say goodbye." You sigh a smile slowly forming on your face and agree. After all, it had been two wonderful years in which you found yourself.

You are interrupted when you hear a knock at the door. It was rather startling but you've grown used to it by now. Shortly after the loud bangs, you called knocks you hear the door open and close. "How are my two favorite people in the world doing?"

Vivian or Viv for short. "Just peachy" you reply, hearing her laugh at your snarky reply. "I'm in my room and David went out to get things situated for the party."

"Oh well, I just came here to… well you know say goodbye. You are my best friend and I will not forget what you did for me and for my family."

You walk out of your room wearing black jeans and a leather jacket. "You know I would do it again in a heartbeat." Viv hums disapprovingly trying to play it off buy fails. "You see that's exactly what I'm afraid of. You jumped into that building because you didn't care if you did. As heroic as it might seem it was suicidal and we both know it."

You stumble looking for the words " I umm… I was there's no point in lying, but it's not like that anymore." She nods subtlely but you see it in her eyes she's relieved. You take the "out" and change the subject.

"Come on Viv lighten up it's my last night here and we're missing out on my own party." You nudge her and within seconds you get out of your apartment and into the streets that have seen you grow into the person you now are.

The party was more than you deserved… There were home-cooked meals and homemade desserts. People that you have grown to be acquainted with saying goodbye and wishing you luck. You can't help but thank them all sincerely. Once the party is over you head back home with David taking in the last of your stay here.

Once in your apartment you hesitate but end up calling David to your room. "I don't know if you noticed but I never unpacked this box. It was Howard's stuff." David's eyes open showing his surprise. "The Howard… why didn't you open it."

You sigh not knowing exactly why you didn't "Well we're opening it tonight." You make your way to the box and as if you were a wild animal you ravage the package open not realizing how much you actually wanted to open the box.

As you analyze the things in the box your eyes begin to water. There are pictures and mementos of your greatest moments stored in a single place. There's a picture of when you first met Howard you were 11. You chuckle lightly causing David to Burst out laughing. "I umm… I'm sorry but you were one ugly kid." You playfully slap his arm.

"I was, wasn't I. Howard saved me you know in this picture I had just gotten out of the worst foster home I'd ever been in." You'd never said much about your time in the system so David let you talk. "They would hit us, starve us, and some were even sexually assaulted."

David processes what you had just confessed to him realizing that it's probably not even half of what you've been through. "Howard was my saving grace… I was quite the ugly kid inside and out. I was a kid that had no hope in the world, but Howard changed that."

David collects his thoughts and says "I'd say he did a damn good job you brought hope to everyone here… you know kids here aspire to be like you… you are a great role model." You give him a sincere smile and give him a hug.

"David, I'm going to miss you, but it's time for me to go. Never doubt calling me for anything no matter how big or small. And I hope that you and Viv continue the work in the practice. Also, you know that Viv likes you, give her a chance. I don't want either of you to be alone… be alone together. Also she could help you with the rent of the place." Your say laughing. "Now go to bed and we'll leave early tomorrow."

David chuckles while leaving your room. When you hear his door close you continue looking through the things in the box.

Flashback

"Krast come downstairs there's someone here to see you." You jump up startled and cautiously make your way downstairs. You hear part of a conversation but don't invest yourself. You're too frightened when you get to where you heard voices there is a man standing there.

"Ah, you must be the young Y/N Krast. How are you, I'm Howard." You don't reply but rather look at Mr. Evans who nods ever so slightly giving you your cue. "I’m doing well." He's silent for a moment then continues "I hear you're quite the genius." You simply nod. When Mr. Evans decides to cut in rather tactlessly.

"Well, Mr. Howard is here to take you to a new home." You look at him incredulously then turning to Howard and asking him quite bluntly "Are you adopting me?"

Howard simply says "Not exactly, but you will have a family to care for you." The look in his eyes gives you some reassurance. That same afternoon he took you to "your new home."

You quickly find out what he meant by "Not exactly" while you were living in a better home, you were being raised by employees. Howard would come around every week a couple of times. You both enjoyed each other's company and quickly you grew fond of him.

"Y/N hurry up we're going to be late" Howard yelled "Yup im coming, you know if you'd given more than a couple hours heads up id be ready." Howard only chuckles and let that comment slide. You both knew that was a lie.

End Flashback

The morning went by rather quickly. Now you're on the tarmac waiting for your plane to arrive. David was holding your hand while neither of you mentioned it you could not have been more grateful.

"You go and kill em all. Alright I want to see you in a magazine or something. And don't forget to mention me as the greatest inspiration, your daily motivation, and the drive behind you."

You can only chuckle "Those aren't the words I would use to describe you but you are the best." You jug him and wave him off as you board your plane. You cant help but feel guilty as you're currently lying to everyone you care about, but there's no going back now.

#natasha x y/n #natasha romanoff #reader x avengers #avengers #tony stark #wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff #pepper potts #wanda x reader #steve rogers #fanfic #marvel #chapter

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oscopelabs · 4 years

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Christopher Nolan: The Man Who Wasn’t There by Daniel Carlson

So, we’ll start with the fact that all movies are make-believe. It’s a bunch of actors on a set, wearing costumes and standing with props picked out by hordes of people you’ll never see, under the guidance of a director, saying things that have been written down for them while doing their best to say these things so that it sounds like they’re just now thinking of them. We all know this—saying it feels incredibly stupid, like pointing out that water is wet—but it’s still worth noting. There is, for example, no such person as Luke Skywalker. Never has been, never will be. He was invented by a baby boomer from Modesto. He is not real.

And we know this, and that’s part of the fun. We know that Luke Skywalker isn’t real but is being portrayed by an actor (another boomer from the Bay Area, come to think of it), and that none of the things we’re seeing are real. But we give ourselves over to the collective fiction for the greater experience of becoming involved in a story. This is one of the most amazing things that we do as humans. We know—deep down, in our bones, without-a-doubt know—that the thing we’re watching is fiction, but we enter a state of suspended reality where we imagine the story to be real, and we allow ourselves to be moved by it. We’ve been doing this since we developed language. The people telling these stories know this and bring the same level of commitment and imagination and assurance that we do as viewers, too. The storyteller knows that the story isn’t real, but for lack of a better way to get a handle on it, it feels real. So, to continue with the example, we’re excited when Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star because he helped the good guys win. For us viewers, in this state of mutually reinforced agreement, that “happened.” It’s not real, but it’s “real”—that is, it’s real within the established boundaries of the invented world that we’ve all agreed to sit and look at for a couple of hours. Every viewer knows this, and every filmmaker acts on it, too. Except:

Christopher Nolan does not do this.

There’s no one single owner or maker of any movie, and anyone who tells you different has their hand in your pocket. But there’s an argument to be made that when somebody both writes and directs the movie, it’s a bit easier to locate a sense of personhood in the final product. (This is all really rough math, too, and should not be used in court.) Christopher Nolan has directed 11 films to date, and while his style can be found in all of them, his self is more present in the ones where he had a hand in the shaping of the story—and crucially, not just that, but in the construction of the fictional world. Take away the superhero trilogy, the remake of a Norwegian thriller, the adaptation of a novel, and the historical drama, and Nolan’s directed five films that can reasonably be attributed to his own creative universe: Following (1998), Memento (2000), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Tenet (2020). These movies all involve themes that Nolan seems to enjoy working with no matter the source material, including identity, memory, and how easily reality can be called into question when two people refuse to concede that they had very different experiences of the same event. Basically, he makes movies about how perception shapes existence. How he does this, though, is unlike pretty much everybody else.

Take Inception. After a decade spent going from hotshot new talent to household name (thanks to directing the two highest-grossing Batman movies ever made, as well as the first superhero movie to earn an Oscar for acting), he had the credit line to make something big and flashy that was also weird and personal. So we got an action movie that, when first announced in the Hollywood trades, was described as being set within “the architecture of the mind.” Although this at first seemed to be a phrase that only a publicist could love, it turned out to be the best way to describe the film. This is a film, after all, about a group of elite agents who use special technology to enter someone’s subconscious dream-state and then manipulate that person’s memories and emotions. The second half of the film sees team leader Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the rest of the squad actually descend through multiple nested subconsciouses to achieve their goal, even as they’re chased every step of the way by representations of Mal (Marion Cotillard), Dom’s late wife, who committed suicide after spending too much time in another’s subconscious and lost the ability to discern whether she was really alive or still in the dream-world.

I say “representations” because that’s what they are: Mal is long dead, but Dom still feels enormous guilt over his complicity in her actions, and that guilt shows up looking like Mal, whose villainous actions (the representation’s actions, that is) are just more signs of Dom not being able to come to grips with his own past. It’s his own brain making these things up and attacking itself, and it chases his entire crew down three successive layers of dream worlds. You get caught up in the movie’s world as a viewer, and you go along because Nolan is pretty good at making exciting movies that feel like theme-park rides. You accept that Dom and everybody else refer to Mal as Mal and not, say, Dom. Dom even addresses her (“her”) when her projection shows up, speaking to her as if she’s a separate being with her own will and desires and not a puppet that he’s pretending not to know he’s controlling. It’s only later that you realize that the movie is in some ways just a big-budget rendition of what it would look like to really, really want to avoid therapy.

Which is what makes Nolan different from other filmmakers:

None of this is actually happening.

Again, yes, it’s happening in the sense that we see things on screen—explosions, chases, a fight scene in a rotating hallway that’s still some of the best practical-effects work in modern action movies—but within the universe of the film, none of what’s going on is taking place in the real world. It’s all unfolding in the subconsciouses of Dom’s teammates. In the movie’s real world, they’re all asleep on a luxury jet. They’re “doing” things that have an outcome on the plot, but Nolan sets more than half the movie inside dreams. It’s a movie about reality where we spend less time in reality than in fantasy. Half the movie is pretend.

For Nolan, filmmaking is about using a dazzling array of techniques to create a visual spectacle that distracts the viewer from the fact that the real and true story is happening somewhere else: in the fringes we can’t quite see, in the things we forget to remember, or even in the realm of pure speculation.

Memento arrived like (and with) a gunshot. It seemed to come out of nowhere and leave people struggling to describe it, and they usually wound up saying something like “it goes backward, but also forward at the same time, except some parts are actually really backward, like in reverse, so it’s maybe a circle?” Written by Christopher Nolan from an idea originally shared with him by his brother, Jonathan (who eventually turned it into a very different short story titled “Memento Mori”), the film follows a man named Leonard (Guy Pearce) who has anterograde amnesia and can’t form new memories, so every few minutes he sort of just resets and has to figure out where he is, what he’s doing there, and so on. He’s on the hunt for the man who attacked him and his wife, leaving his wife dead and Leonard in his present condition, which you can imagine does not make the gathering and synthesis of clues easy.

What’s more, Nolan puts the viewer in Leonard’s shoes by breaking the film’s linear timeline into two halves—call them A and B—and then alternating between them, with the added disorientation coming from the fact that one of those timeline halves plays out backward, with each successive scene showing what happened before the one you previously saw. So, if you numbered all the scenes in each timeline in chronological order, they’d look something like this when arranged in the final film: Scene A1, Scene B22, Scene A2, Scene B21, Scene A3, Scene B20, etc. You get why it messed with people’s heads.

As a result, we spend most of the movie pretty confused, just like Leonard, whose suppositions about what might or might not take place next begin to substitute for our own understanding of the film. It’s not until the end that we find out the shoe already dropped, and that Leonard killed the original attacker some time ago and has since been led on a series of goose chases by his cop friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), who’s planting fake clues to get Leonard to take out other criminals. In other words, we realize that the story we thought was happening was pretend, and the real story was happening all around us, in the margins, memories, and imaginations of the characters. The most honest moment in the movie is the scene where Leonard hires a sex worker to wait several minutes in the bathroom while he gets in bed, then make a noise with the door to wake him, at which point his amnesia has kicked in again and he briefly thinks that the noise is being made by his wife. He’s wrong, of course, but this is the only time in the movie that we actually know he’s wrong. It’s the only time we truly know what’s real and what isn’t.

Yet you can’t talk about Memento without talking about Following, Nolan’s first feature. Although the film’s production was so extremely low-budget you’d think they were lying—the cast and crew all had day jobs and could only film on the weekends, so the thing took a year to make—Nolan’s willingness to dwell completely in a make-believe world that the viewer never knows about is already evident. It’s about a bored young writer who starts following strangers through the city for kicks, only for one of those strangers to catch him in the act and confront him. The stranger introduces himself as Cobb—I kindly submit here that it is not a coincidence that this is also Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s name in Inception, but you already knew that—and reveals himself to be a burglar, spooked by the tail but willing to take on an apprentice. Cobb trains the writer to be a burglar, only for the situation to ultimately wind up implicating the writer himself in a complex blackmail plot. You see, the writer didn’t latch onto Cobb in a crowd; Cobb lured him in. The whole movie has been Cobb’s story all along, with the writer as a patsy who doesn’t understand the truth until the final frame. None of what we saw mattered, and everything that actually happened happened off-screen just before or just after we came in on a given scene. It’s like realizing the movie you’re watching turned out to be just deleted scenes from something else. You can’t say Nolan didn’t show his hand from the start.

That same general concept—that the movie we’re watching is actually the knock-on effect of a movie we’ll only glimpse, or maybe never even see—underpins Nolan’s latest movies, Interstellar and Tenet, too. Interstellar has some concepts that are iffy even for Nolan (it makes total sense for someone to do something for another out of love, but somewhat less sense that that love somehow reshapes the physical universe), but it’s still a big, bold approach to exploring how time and perception shape our actions. As the film follows its core group of astronauts while they search for potentially habitable new worlds, they encounter strange visions and experiences that turn out to be their handiwork from the future reflected back at them. Sure, it raises the paradoxical question of whether they had a first mission before this that failed, so now their future selves are intervening to make the second one (which feels like the first one to the astronauts the whole time) successful, and all sorts of other stuff that your sophomore-year roommate would like to talk with you about in great detail. But so much of what we see isn’t the stuff that happens, or that winds up being important. There’s the great scene where the astronauts land on a planet near a black hole, which is wreaking havoc on how time passes on the planet. A minor disaster delays their departure for the main ship still in orbit, but when the landing team returns, they find that more than 20 years have “passed” since they left, with the one remaining team member on the ship having spent more than two decades waiting for them to return. It’s a moment of genuine horror, and it underscores the fact that what we thought was the one true reality was just the perspective of a handful of characters we happened to follow for a few minutes. There were whole things happening that changed the plot and story and direction of everything that would follow, and we never saw them; we didn’t even know we’d missed them.

Tenet is, of course, the latest and most recursive exploration yet of Nolan’s obsession with showing us a story that turns out to be mostly fake. It is almost perversely hard to even begin to explain the film (Google “Tenet timeline infographic” and have fun). One way to think about it is to imagine if the two timeline halves from Memento somehow existed at the same time, with people moving both forward and backward through time while inhabiting the same location. Basically, some scientists figured out how to “invert” the basic entropy of objects, so that they exist backward: you hold out your hand and the ball on the ground leaps up into it, because you’ve dropped it in the future, so now you can pick it up, etc. … Look, it doesn’t get easier to understand.

The upshot is, though, that we spend the film following the Protagonist (that’s his name), a CIA agent played by John David Washington, as he’s tasked with tracking down the source of the inverted stuff to figure out what’s unfolding in the future and why it’s suddenly started to make itself known in the present. He gets marginally closer to understanding the truth by the end of the film, but because this is a Nolan film that is maybe more expressly about the nature of reality than anything he’s ever done, his journey doesn’t so much take him forward as it does in a large circle. Because, and stop me if you’ve heard this, the true story of Tenet is taking place outside the Protagonist’s actions and knowledge, alongside him but invisible, often steered by people who themselves are moving “backward” through time and thus have already met the Protagonist in the future and are old friends with him by the time he meets them in his youth. Even more brain-liquefying, some of these people have been working under the orders of the Protagonist himself—the future version, that is—because his past self has already achieved the victories that allowed him to send the future people backward through time to meet his younger self so they’d achieve the victories that allow him to etc., etc., etc.

With Tenet, Nolan didn’t just make a movie that challenged perception, like Memento, or that dwelt in fiction, like Inception. He made a movie that can only be understood (to whatever degree true understanding is possible) by rewatching the movie itself, over and over, as the multiple timelines and harrowingly complex bits of cause and effect come into some kind of focus. The whole movie itself isn’t happening, in a sense, but is just the ramifications of something else, the echoes of a shout whose origin we’re straining to pinpoint. It both is and isn’t.

Christopher Nolan is a talented director of action-driven suspense thrillers. He’s canny at controlling the audience’s emotions, and he knows how to put on a dazzling show. Plus he’s fantastic at picking when to deploy non-computer-generated effects for maximum impact. But you could say that about a lot of other directors, too. What sets Nolan apart from the rest, and what makes him a director to keep watching and returning to, is the teasing way his movies wind up being just deceptive enough to fool you into thinking that you know what’s going on, then just harsh enough to disabuse you of that notion. Looking at what seems to drive him, I don’t think Tenet is his best movie-movie, but it’s his most-Nolan movie. It’s almost a culmination of his continuing efforts to tell stories where what you see and what actually happens are two different things. It’s not that he makes puzzles to solve. There is no solving these movies. Rather, it’s that he sculpts these delicate artifacts that only let you see two dimensions at a time, never all three, no matter how you twist your head. Craning back and forth, you can almost see the whole thing, but not quite. Some part of it will always have to exist in your memory. And that’s where Christopher Nolan likes to be.

#chrisopher nolan #tenet #memento #following #following movie #christopher nolan film #inception #inception film #memento film #tenet film #interstellar #interstellar film #oscilloscope laboratories #musings #film writing #beastie boys

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deadontheinsidebut · 4 years

Text

✨Birthday Wishes✨

This is a Birthday Fic dedicated to my one and only @kenmakodzu !! You have become so important to me in such a period of time and I hope this fic shows even a tiny fraction of that. Happy Birthday Gab!! To a better year with great health and successes mwah 💕✨(○’ω’○)✨💕

Pairing: Gabma x Angelshima

Word Count: 1.6k

Gab awoke to the sound of the neighbourhood crows squawking and pushed two pillows to her ears to block out the noise, but after staying up until 3am to talk to Angel about which mazesoba place is the best, the pillows did nothing for her sour mood. She groaned into her bed before a gentle hand caressed her hair.

She turned to see Kenma’s soft features looking at her until the meekest whisper of “happy birthday” escaped his lips. Gab couldn’t help but smile at her boyfriend. She knew he had been up just as late as she had, hearing her and Angel bickering about the stupidest of things and appreciated how much he put up with.

It was time to start the day with neither of them able to fall back to sleep. Kenma’s hair was never messy like Kuroo’s but he always managed to have a tuft of hair out of place that Gab loved to brush out for him. To be honest, mornings are slow at the Gabma house with each of the introverted lovers preferring their alone time until the morning grogg is gone.

Kenma offered to make Gab her breakfast and she was pleased as she watched her boyfriend prance around the kitchen with eggs in one hand and spatula in the other. Gab drummed her fingers on the table patiently before hearing the familiar ring of her phone. The caller ID read Angel and she answered it to hear a very loud “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” blare through the phone. Gab’s ears were practically bleeding as she answered Angel.

“Could you save the noise for… you know… not the morning?” Gab joked.

“What else are sisters for if not to ruin their sister’s mornings?” Angel countered, adding a devious giggle for emphasis.

Gab sighed into the phone before starting a back and forth banter with Angel. Kenma brought over the eggs and toast, seating across from Gab, munching on his own breakfast as he listened in on his girlfriend’s conversation.

After a couple minutes, Kenma outstretched his hand, motioning for her to hand over the phone and mouthing Tsukki’s name. Gab asks Angel if Tsukki was there and after some passing of the phones, the boys were now able to start a conversation of their own.

Kenma scuttled away and Gab eyed him suspiciously but continued to eat her meal, simply content with just having food. Ah yes, we love ignorant Gab.

When Kenma returned, the phone no longer displayed Angel’s name and Gab pouted because she had not yet finished her conversation with her stupid sister. As Kenma cleared the plates, he brought up some activities the couple could do today and Gab was mildly surprised at his sudden urge to want to go out.

They decided on a mini shopping spree. The two of them deserved it after spending the previous months of quarantine in nothing but kitty onesies. The stores were pretty much empty and the sales were high. Discounts were basically Gab’s last name and when Kenma urged her to buy the pretty lavender dress that was 60% off, she was on it.

She slipped into the dress and it was a perfect fit. The dress attenuated every one of her curves but flared at the bottom to give off a classier look. The final thing that made her realize that this was the dress were Kenma’s cat-like eyes trailing every part of her, taking in the beauty that Gab radiated by just being her. He was truly looking at her like she was a video game that had just been released.

She decided to stay in the dress with a little encouragement from Kenma and pecked his cheek for his efforts today. This honestly would’ve been enough, but Kenma slipped his hand into hers and began to guide her to their next destination.

As simple as it was, she had always wanted to just explore the city as the sun explodes into a million different shades of red. What more can you ask for than seeing the sunset with the love of your life… is what you thought until you were led to one and only mazesoba shop you were talking about yesterday on the phone.

Gab gasped because of how beautiful the restaurant was. The light from the sunset shone in through the huge glass windows and created the most romantic of all atmospheres. But what was inside surprised her most of all.

As Angel leapt into Gab’s arms, squishing her cheek to Gab’s, she knew her birthday was complete.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” Angel exclaimed, “lavender is your colour!”

Angel adorned a baby blue dress and Tsukki in a dress shirt of his own. All that was left was Kenma and he excused himself to go change, admitting that he also bought himself something while shopping.

“So this is what my boyfriend and yours were discussing over the phone this morning?” Gab inquired, raising an eyebrow at both Angel and Tsukishima.

Tsukki shrugged slyly before guiding the both of the girls to their table. Kenma came back in a matching lavender dress shirt and Angel shrieked as she suggested the group take pictures to commemorate the occasion.

The waitress volunteered to take the pictures for the four of you and to be honest, they were the most instagram-worthy photos the four of them had ever seen with the sunset shining in as the background and the four of them wearing their fancy-wear. It was definitely going on Angel’s instagram at least.

After they seated themselves at the table and the waitress took their orders, conversation sparked with everyone practically bouncing in their seats.

“We’ve been planning your birthday for months,” Angel started, beaming at herself for being so responsible.

“It wasn’t easy getting a booking for this place, you know,” Tsukki added, wrapping an arm around Angel, “you have expensive taste, Gab.”

Gab chuckled at Tsukki’s comment, realizing the bickering from last night was simply a ploy to find out what her favourite mazesoba place was. She looked to her boyfriend who had remained quiet all this time.

“Thank you for everything!” Gab said to Kenma.

“No, thank you for coming into my life and being what I needed,” Kenma blurted, “thank you for being a million blessings in one.”

The deep blush on Gab’s face was priceless and she moved her hands to cover her face. Tears pricked her eyes, the few words her boyfriend offered having a bigger impact than anything she’s ever heard.

“I second that!” Angel agreed with Kenma.

“Me too I guess,” Tsukki finished, turning away.

At this point, Gab was no longer holding her emotions in and the tears rushed out.

“GROUP HUG!!!” Angel screamed out before pulling everyone into a pile over the table.

“I don’t think I can handle any more love, guys!” Gab whined through the tears, giggling in the process.

“We’re not done yet!” The other three chorused.

It was now time for the gifts and they lined up to present Gab her gifts. Tsukki was first and handed her an aromatherapy gift set. It contained a bunch of essential oils with lavender being one because Gab loves it of course, a diffuser, therapeutic body washes, and more!

“This is for you and Kenma but mostly Kenma because only God knows how he’s able to handle your chaotic ass,” Tsukki explained, “I can barely handle my own,” he adds while resting an elbow on an irritated Angel’s head.

Gab had to cover her mouth as she tried to process the gift. It was both funny and generous considering how expensive these setes go for and she thanked him while stifling a laugh.

Angel was next and she was giddy as she watched Gab unwrap her gift. The first one was a scrapbook that held little mementos from fun times they’ve had in the past. There was even a picture of them piled on each other at the ice rink (refer to the double date drabble I wrote MWAHAH) which Gab stared longingly at until moving onto the next gift.

When she unwrapped it, she gasped deeply. It was a body pillow of Kenma and Angel was bent-over laughing.

“OH MY FREAKING-- WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??” Gab shrieked and even Tsukki was snickering despite knowing Angel’s special little gift.

Kenma was blushing madly and scratched the back of his head before commenting “why use the pillow when you have the real thing?”

This whole day was a serotonin booster and Gab hugged the pillow to her chest. The mazesoba had finally arrived and Angel and Tsukishima were sharing their food with each when Kenma dragged Gab to the corner to present her with his own gift.

It was a small little box and he opened it to reveal a beautiful golden necklace with a heart charm. It was clearly intricately made with Gab’s initials ingrained onto the necklace with diamonds.

“Open it.”

And she opened the heart locket to see a picture of the four of them inside, looking at the camera with the most genuine smiles. This was the most wonderful gift anyone has ever given her. And Gab will cherish it, just like the promise she’s made to cherish her friends until the end of time.

BONUS: They went to the Gabma house for a sleepover afterwards and after everyone changed into their onesies, they started making mochi donuts. Unfortunately, the house burned down The End.

Happy Birthday Gab! I hope you have an amazing day. And I promise I won’t burn your house down when we meet irl hehe

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drunklander · 5 years

Text

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 505

ADSOOO!!! AND CLAIRE!!! AND ADSOOOOO!!!

My floofer was not amused when I woke her up to show her the cat on the teevee. Bqhatevwr, boo boo, you’re stuck with me. #TeamSocialDistancing

Oh, I guess the voice overs are back in a big way. Super...

And also like, this whole running bit about God and stuff would work so much better if they’d included Jamie and Claire’s faith a bit more throughout the show. *cough Jamie’s prayer cough*

Do we have to pour one out for science!jizz? This is the book bit where the science!jizz happened, but maybe they’ll do it later? Probs not. Le sigh.

Marsali being all excited with Claire and Claire being all fuck yeah I found it gives me the warm fuzzies. I LOVE THE TWO OF THEM A LOT OK.

This montage makes me dizzy. Not a fan, tbh.

Oh hey, the old Hancock building! With a park that looks nothing like Boston, haha. But I appreciate the effort lol, my main office is like a block from the old Hancock building. Not that I’ll be seeing it any time soon. Living that work from home life until the plague times are over.

But for real, social distance. No joke. Stay the fuck home.

I love 60s Claire if only because damn girl, look at dem legsss.

Hi, I’m Der and I’m very shallow sometimes.

But Claire has objectively great legs.

Omfg, Roger, stop being a butthurt whiner. You suck at being a soldier. You know you suck at being a soldier. And instead of being like yeah, let me learn and get better, you just bitch about it.

Sam is gonna kick his horse in the head at some point. Why the fuck does he dismount like that. It’s literally bugged me since season one.

So they’re pardoning everyone. Probs not Murtz though. Cool that instead of doing a continuous ramp up to the inevitable confrontation, they’re going the book route of lol, jk, all this was kind of a waste of time for now...

Really, Knox, you did something excessive? Cool way to say murdered a dude.

Ok well if Knox is getting the Ardsmuir roll, then he’s def gonna die, right?

Jamie’s 100% gonna intentionally miss Murtz’s face.

Boom, called it.

I do not like spiders. Please move this VO along, Claire.

I’m fucking glad we finally get Doctor!Claire. We should have gotten more Doctor!Claire in season three. Jamie got to have all aspects of his 20 years examined but fucking Claire’s side was literally just about Fred and how shitty he is.

Fuck you, season three. Fuck yeah, Doctor!Claire!

“It’s my married name.” Lulz. And not the married name she wants...

GRAHAM SAYS THE THING JAMIE SAID WHEN CLAIRE WAS STITCHING HIM UP IN SEASON ONE AND I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT IT OK.

Graham makes me miss when the show was in Scotland like whoa. I miss the Squad. There are so many characters now that are like kind of always around but they’re not part of the Squad. And the main Squad is always separated. So like there’s barely any big group adventures anymore where we actually give a shit about everyone involved.

I JUST WANT THE FOLKS I CARE ABOUT TO HANG OUT MORE, OK!

Needle!jizz 2.0 is gonna be the closest we get to science!jizz, isn’t it. Whomps.

Can the show please just be a period procedural with Claire and Marsali being badass doctors? Thx.

Because for real though, Marsali being like “scalpel” is my favorite thing ever.

I feel you, Jemmy, I’d cry if I were stuck hanging out with Roger too.

I DO NOT LIKE SPIDERS, CLAIRE.

“My lass is more concerned wi’ words and deeds.” Which is why it baffles me that she’s still with you, bro, because your words and deeds fucking suck.

How Bonnet doesn’t accidentally swallow the diamond is beyond me.

Ok so if your wife was violently raped and you know she’s had some PTSD about it, because you’ve seen the drawings and stuff, you should maybe act completely the opposite way from how Roger is acting.

“And you kept it? A gift...from Bonnet.” Yes, you giant fuckwit, your traumatized wife went to hang with her rapist for shits and giggles and accepted a present because she really wants a memento to remember him by. They’re on such good terms and all. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! HOW IS HE SUCH A DOUCHECANOE?!

You do not get to judge or question how someone processes their trauma you raging asshat.

He is such a fucking Fred.

Do I think what Bree did was smart? Or a good decision? Hard no. But it’s what she thought she needed to do to move forward with her life. And so she can do whatever the fuck she wants. Yeah, words have consequences and it was a stupid move, but Roger needs to step all the fucking way off.

“You’ve never said as much to me.” “I didn’t think I needed to.” I HATE ROGER SO MUCH. I HATE HIM WITH THE PASSION OF A THOUSAND FIERY SUNS. HOW DO THE WRITERS NOT REALIZE THAT THEY’RE MAKING THE CHARACTER WHO’S SUPPOSED TO BE THE SECOND ROMANTIC MALE LEAD AN IRREDEEMABLE PIECE OF SHIT. OH WAIT BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOTS OF PRACTICE FROM FRED 1.0 THAT FRED 2.0 IS JUST A NATURAL PROGRESSION.

Lol at this “Boston” priest sounding vaguely southern. Is he one of the pedos the archdioceses just kept shuffling around?

(I’m not a fan of organized religion and being forced to grow up Catholic sucked a lot for me. I did some therapy about it.)

Ok so is Claire’s knife on her belt the hand job antler knife? I mean, Jamie doesn’t give it to her until Echo, but I’m gonna pretend like it’s the hand job antler knife. Also, some witches use a white handled knife called a boline to cut herbs and stuff so it’s fitting that Claire constantly-being-witchy-to-her-own-detriment Beauchamp has a white handled knife for collecting herbs.

“Yeah, Frank and I... no, we had a very complicated marriage.” Well that’s one way to put it. *keeps rage bottled up on the inside*

“Frank and I, we still managed to make it work, for Bree’s sake.” Except it didn’t fucking work. He was terrible to you. You basically put up with 20 years of emotional abuse for the sake of your kid and then he used her as a weapon against you. Because he is garbage. Much like Roger.

Claire is always the bigger person. She was with Fred and now with Roger. Like, I’m still pissed that she never got to let out her side of things. She just keeps framing it through rose colored glasses, never speaking ill of Fred when he didn’t do that for her.

WE DO NOT DESERVE CLAIRE BEAUCHAMP AND NEITHER DO MOST OF THE MEN ON THIS SHOW.

Fergus deserves milady.

They’re really going hard with the Roger, Bree and Jemmy have to go back stuff. Are they gonna bump them going back up to the season finale this year? They bring it up basically every fucking episode. I’d be down with moving that along tbh. Except then we’d have to have just the two of them as their own story line and I hate that part from the books.

“We are but humble servants to the law.” Really, Javert Knox. Would you say your duty’s to the law?

“Those who follow the path of the righteous shall have their reward.” Yes, bible and shit, but also a veRY FAMOUS LINE FROM A VERY FAMOUS SONG FROM A VERY FAMOUS MUSICAL.

“Scotland, eh? I never stopped missing it.” HARD SAME, GRAHAM. HARD SAME.

Pledged their oaths to the militia. Not the governor. Miiiinor detail, haha.

“It is a relief, to finally put down the sword and pistol and pick up the axe and shovel.” So, Jamie, you’re saying you’re gonna walk behind the plough-share, you will put away the sword?

Oh hey, it’s Joe! Another person we should have spent more time with in season three.

“Something about Graham Menzies...” Maybe the fact that he could easily have been part of the OG Squad?

I MISS THE OG SQUAD.

“Principally that men like Fitzgibbons never change.” Really, Knox, men like [him] can never change? A man, such as [him]?

“OUR DUTY IS TO THE LAW. WE WILL SEE JUSTICE DONE.” OK BUT THEY’RE LIKE LITERALLY TRYING TO SHOEHORN IN ALL THE LES MIS LYRICS THEY CAN LIKE THE TIME I DID THAT WITH I’M ON A BOAT IN THAT ONE RECAP...

“What kind of deceitful devil wears the guise of honor and talks of justice and mercy?” Valjean Fraser, at last we see each other plain...

“Believe of me what you will,” there’s a duty that he’s sworn to do. Protect his Murtz.

“As god is my witness, I will do what must be done.” You never shall yield? ‘Til you come face to face?

“Damned if I’ll be in league with a traitor.” Would you rather live in the debt of a thief?

“But I will not stand by and watch my kin hunted like a dog.” Like a dog on the run, Jamie?

Called it! Broski needed to die. You’re not gonna make sure the letters are burned all the way, Jamie? Like didn’t that dude who brought in the letters see you there? This seems like it’s gonna backfire *rull* quick.

Also, speaking of dead bodies, is Rando McWhatshisface still in the basement?

Is Adso Gavroche in this scenario?

Jamie Fraser, murder to kitten snuggles in 0.3 seconds.

IF YOU HURT ONE HAIR ON MY LITTLE BEBE’S HEAD, I WILL END YOU, JAMIE.

Slash finally, I thought this episode was turning into Waiting for Gadsot...

(I made myself chuckle a little too hard at that one, tbh.)

“I found him in an alley, couldn’t leave him behind.” AKA how Jamie Fraser adopts all of his children, haha.

“How would you feel about taking a trip to London with me? Your father wanted to bring you there before he died.” You mean, when he threatened to steal your kid from you? It fucking speaks so highly of Claire that she won’t ruin Bree’s impression of Fred. Even though Bree knows by now that he was a terrible person.

“Thank you for my gift.” YOUR GIFT LOVES YOU TOO, CLAIRE!

(And I’m still a sucker for the Claire calling Jamie “soldier” bit.)

#*#outlander starz #outlander 5x05 #drunj!der yells about outlander #and yes i am still using bqhatevwr #seven year old memes from politicians who elizabeth warren crushed are my fave

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ithinkthingsaboutstuff · 5 years

Text

What is with Birds of Prey criticism?

i have seen BOP

and i have read comments and review’s from different people (male and female) and i have decided to throughout my observations into the void.

now personal taste is personal taste and everyone is allowed to like or not like whatever they want.

but i will be looking at this from a ‘structured’ pov so i will be breaking the movie down into what others have got to say about it.

and with that in mind i will be taking things out of context but i will be summarising and linking to the sources when possible.

i will be looking at how people have persevere them (again male and female) and why this might be so (but i will say now that it is only my best guess, and i will try to be as fair as possible)

and i will also add i have only seen the movie once at this point so i may miss some things or misremember others

so from here on out we this will be nothing but

------------------------------------------SPOILERS-----------------------------------------

ok so with that out of the way.

PLOT

the plot is basically

Harley and the joker have broken up (joker, dumped her)

this makes Harley lose her immunity in Gotham as she was protected by the fact she was the jokers girlfriend.

black mask is one of these people and is one of the most powerful in Gotham.

but he needs a diamond (that belongs to Helena) to be the most powerful in the city,

but when Zsasz and Black canary, get it take off them by a street girl (Cass)

Harley says she will get it back to square herself with mask and he will protected her afterwards

(there is also a b plot with Helena going around kill everyone who was involved with the death of her family)

things happen

and they all end up fight Black Mask men in a amusement park

and Harley kills him on a dock.

then they all part ways.

now this is an oversimplification.

but that does allow the movie to explore the characters and their relationship's with the world and the story.

but over all an average plot but no so more them say

-the avengers (2012)

-thor (2011)

-age of ultron (2015)

-spider-man homecoming (2017)

and so on.

Criticisms

this is what one critic had to say about the movie

review from Mick LaSalle

“but no, even that makes things sound better than they are. There’s no character there at all. There’s a look. There’s an attitude, and there’s an assemblage of mannerisms, but these are all veneers surrounding a vacuum.”

“None of them suggest a personality, beyond some generalized zaniness.”

now i am no expert but is having a look, an attitude and mannerisms all things that make up someone’s personality?

i can see if he was trying to say she has not much to add to the overall story or if it over shadowed everything in the movie, for sake of being “zany”

but it was integrated into the movies narrative as a the main story telling tool,

e.g. Harley’s narration and the cartoons/ animation that came with. those where there to add character to the movie through Harley’s, so basically Harley’s personality is the films personality.

and this is what he had to say about the plot

“If she wanted the Joker back, that would be something. That could be a movie. If she wanted revenge, that would be a weak motive, but it would still be something.”

now this has some interesting connotations,

what he was trying to say with this sentiment is only something i can guess, but i will want to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was asking for a story similar to ‘mad love’ from the s4 of the Batman new adventures.

looking more at the sickness of that relationship (that some people admired and fawned over in suicide squad) so if that is the case then its not a bad thought,

however the way it is phrased makes it sound like more like Harley needs the Joker to be major part of the story for it to be any good.

but Harley has had comic’s for year’s that prove the opposite.

now to compare this what he had to say about the Joker (2019)

“What’s terrifying and brilliant about Phoenix’s Joker is that he seems to be operating from an intricate yet alien form of logic. There is very little common ground between the character and the viewer, no shared understanding of right and wrong, real or unreal. He erupts into laughter without warning — a terrifying, piercing laugh that he can’t control. He sits in the audience at a comedy club, joyously and maniacally laughing at setups, not punch lines.”

now i am not saying Joker is a bad movie, I am just saying that he complained about the lack of story and character in one film and praised it in another.

now i also understand that these films are different, and they have different tones and messages. and ever genre (one is action, the other is drama)

but basically

he is saying Joker’s lack of clear “personality” made the movie good and Harley’s made it bad (again this is apples and oranges, and way to simple)

but the main point is that he has failed to look for WHY Harley is that way, or how that adds to the movie like he did for Joker.

now moving on to

Anthony Lane

“ No one could call Harley Quinn a recluse. She loves to go out, get wasted, meet people, and fight them. In onscreen graphics, she proudly reports what it is about her that vexes her opponents. (“Voted for Bernie.” “Have a vagina.”) Yet Harley is often alone in the frame—marching toward the camera in her T-shirt and shorts, smiling madly through lips of fire-engine red, and peppering us with unceasing chatter, as if words were buckshot. She lives on her own, too, with a stuffed beaver in a tutu and a pet hyena named Bruce. (As with the title, note the surfeit of nuttiness. Rarely have I seen a movie strain so hard to seem out-there.) Our heroine needs some kindred spirits, and quick.”

ok benefit of the doubt this is just a colourful way to describe the movie and Harley’s set up,

however with the next paragraph that follows i don’t think so

“No surprise, then, that Yan’s movie, peopled as it is by women who talk among themselves, with only fitful reference to men, doesn’t so much pass the Bechdel Test as ace it, while also ticking the profanity box, the ear-splitting box, and the bone-snapping box—every box, in fact, except for the tricky one that requires a motion picture to be good”

the strange thing is that he was so close to an epiphany

yes Harley is social but she is lonely that is the point of her being with the BOP, taking in Cassie.

and saying someone who is social is not able to be lonely is the dumbest thing i have ever heard.

and i can name dozens of movies off the top of my head that is a group of guys ‘talking among themselves, with only fitful reference to women’

- the hang over (1,2 and 3)

- die hard

- pulp fiction

- fast and furious (all 9 of them)

- the other guys

- Sherlock (RDJ movies)

- the dark night

- scarface

- any Adam Sandler movie for the last 20 years

-memento

- rush hour (all 3)

- fight club

like damn dude your getting all bent out of shape for women having the nerve to want to tell story’s about other women.

(and i would also like to point out that very on in the movie was a ‘bad guy’ or did bad things all throughout the film and the men are just what they are up against you know like some kind of antagonist??? fucking wild idea right, and as we all know every female villain in movies are always written with respect and dignity, can you feel my sarcasm)

and this is what this man also said about ‘ford vs ferrari’

“Ford v Ferrari” is directed by James Mangold, and it may be his strongest film.

like dude you are showing your hand here.

but i am not wasting any more time on this dude.

let us move on to the lady’s

MOLLY FREEMAN

“the movie ultimately embodies different kinds of liberation - not only of women breaking free from their abusive boyfriends, psychotic employers and the restrictive boy's club, but also the freedom and power that comes with finding a group where they feel accepted and supported.”\

“Cathy Yan's directing and vision for the film, which is realized in the action, costumes and music. The fighting sequences are absolutely brutal and choreographed in a way to showcase the characters' respective abilities. Harley's gymnast moves make a return, and when she gets her hands on a bat, the Cupid of Crime really lets loose - and it'll leave audiences breathless with exhilaration. Birds of Prey stands out because it's uniquely female, from the characters' fighting styles down to the details of Harley pausing mid-fight to give her friend a hair tie. This further extends to the costumes, designed by Erin Benach (A Star Is Born), which are exquisite and perfectly showcase each character's personality.”

Susana Polo

“Each character’s storyline is given a slightly different genre and tone, as well, one of a number of tactics the production employs to mimic Harley’s manic internal life. Huntress stalks around Birds of Prey like it’s a Kill Bill-esque revenge epic, while Renee Montoya is in a hard-boiled cop flick. The main heroine ensemble actors all breathe a wonderful amount of life into little-known characters overdue for mainstream attention.”

“Winstead delivers a comedic twist on the Huntress’s classic personality that I hope makes its way to comics as soon as possible, and the 13-year-old Basco deserves particular credit for holding her own alongside Robbie in their many scenes together. Robbie’s Harley Quinn is just as scene-stealing as she was in Suicide Squad, appearing to operate on at least 20 percent cartoon logic at all times — a useful skill for an occasionally fourth-wall-breaking narrator. Cartoon-channeling is also a useful skill for the star of a movie with such splendid fight scenes.”

now i am not saying every man hates the movie, and every woman loved it that is insane and dumb.

but what does seem to be a common theme is that positive or negative, men and women are looking at different aspects of the movie

women look at the movie on its own terms and men seem to look by comparing it to other “guy movies”

now this a generalisation but this is a common idea that seems to run through it.

and here is some general thoughts from some people who have made comments, online.

female

“I am sick and tired of being told what movies I need to like as a woman, this is a bad movie. It isn't a zero nor is it a ten and anyone rating it that way isn't being honest either with you or themselves. The storytelling is odd and the flashbacks are weirdly placed to the point where they take you out of the movie. This movie has too much exposition and then not enough which I congrats I guess. I don't think men are rating this film low because they are "man babies" I think they are rating it low because there are far better superhero and anti-hero movies out there to choose from.”

this is based on personal taste and why it didn’t sit right with them (and that’s fine)

male

“A rush movie without any type of storyline and God knows where they are heading with DCEU and it's characters..It's only Harley and Harley who has never been in BOP in comics...Mis usage of characters and movie..Just make a decision where do you wanna go with your movies”

now this interesting, when this people has the same feels as the person above

they don’t look to the movie itself they look to find out evidence to discredit instead of anything in the film itself.

again i am not saying this person is wrong to feel this way i simply think the method of expressing it, is interesting.

(and for the record this is actually an incorrect statement Harley and Poison Ivy have been apart of the team at different points)

male

“The girls looked terrible like they were going Break-Dancing or something and Harley Quinn was dressed up like a Bird with makeup?? The ending was ridiculously stupid and predictable and the misogynist male pig attitudes towards the females in the film were jaw dropping cringe moments, like who acts like that??”

now this is about appearance, and the male characters, now this is showing that men see a violent, man who literally gets someone to cut a MAN’s face off

and the only thing they focus on is that ‘oh he is mean to women damn SJW’s’

that is the weird’s thing? like you the bad guy is bad to the hero’s? shocking.

now i am not saying that the character is perfect and well crafted like loki or kilmonger but he serviced the purpose he was meant to, he was powerful intimidating and unpredictable.

(and black mask has always been a nut case)

but i also think its interesting that these men who cry about SJW’s and how they mock men (and that does sometimes happen, it would be dumb to say they didn’t)

never seem to mind that that women get called bitch’s and whores in every other movie.or that women are used shallow props to move the movie along.

almost like it is distressing when you see someone you can identify with is treated like the peace of garbage.

female

“The Film was decent enough for a lowkey Friday night out with the girls. Nothing you'd rant & rave about or even remember seeing in a few months but it was entertaining in places. The script felt a little bit underbaked & the story itself felt a bit disjointed. The direction of the film was lacking for me. In a world where Todd Phillips pulled off Joker (2019) this seems like a more rushed project that would've been better at Netflix or even Amazon Prime for release. I think the deserve another crack at this movie & another attempt at something with a bit more substance”

honest to the point and is looking at the movie on its own term's

notice how she does not need to devalue other women to get this across, not the character’s, not the write or director but was looking at it from a personal taste and rewatchablity,

the anger about this movie is so strange

like how many hero movies have been worse then this and was not taking very chance they get to bash the creators and that they should not do their job’s because the movie had women as most of the cast and was mainly about them.

anyway i hand it over to all of you.

#Birds of Prey #birds of prey movie #Harley Quinn #bop #long post

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nadziejastar · 5 years

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The Origin and Meaning of the Recusant’s Sigil

Death

Xehanort: “X”… A most ancient letter. Some say “kye,” but the meaning is the same. Death… A letter that spells endings.

This has been something I’ve been meaning to discuss in-depth for a long time---The Recusant’s Sigil, otherwise known as the Mark of Heresy. It really bothered me how this aspect of the story was left totally unexplored. It was obviously going to factor heavily into BBS Volume 2, explaining Xehanort’s obsession with darkness, his ambitions, and even his ability to time travel. What exactly is the Recusant's Sigil and why does it mean so much to Xehanort? What does it have to do with the X-blade? And why does it mean "death" and "endings"?

Well, one reason is that “X” is thought to be the Mark of the Beast. It should also be noted that in Greek, 666=XXX. Interestingly, in Judaic kabbalah the number 666 is actually used to represent the creation and perfection of the world. Which is probably closer to how Xehanort sees it.

But by far the most familar usage of “X” meaning death is the skull and crossbones. In the Middle Ages, it was a common tombstone decoration, and appeared in many “memento mori,” which were illustrative reminders of mortality. In more recent times, the skull and crossbones signifies poison.

Endings

The skull and crossbones is also an important emblem in Masonry, where it symbolizes the transience of the material world, and it is used in initiation rituals. It symbolizes the gateway to the higher realms of understanding only achievable through spiritual death and rebirth.

Freemasons use the ‘X’ to symbolize transformation. For example, the first sign is that of crossing the hands over the chest, “cross my heart and hope to die”. This phrase demonstrates that the initiate will be penalized with death if they ever reveal the secrets.

One must go through various initiation rituals before attaining the next rank in their journey of enlightenment. The 17th degree is considered the transformation, or change of the initiate. There is a certain part of the ritual called “the crossing of cordons”. They cite this as a reference to the point in the heavens where "the celestial equator crosses the plane of the ecliptic", basically referring to changes made over time.

The cordons used in this ‘X’ transformation ceremony are depicted with black and white---the classic symbol of duality secret groups like these are always referencing. That’s why you always see the black and white checkered floor in Masonic imagery. They are pushing the idea of joining opposites and finding a new equilibrium. It's the same with Xehanort.

The χ-Blade

If Kingdom Hearts is a lock, then this blade from the age of fairy tales was the key.

It could be argued that without the χ-blade, the Keyblade War might never have been waged; after all, you cannot possess what you cannot find or unlock.

It is clear the blade was the inspiration for human-wrought Keyblades. The letter χ can be pronounced both “key” or “kye” (leading to some confusion) and symbolizes the perfect crossing of light and darkness. The χ-blade can be forged via a high-dimensional clash between those two poles.

It is believed that the Recusant’s Sigil also derives from χ.

—Glossary (KH3D)

In hermetic kabbalah, the skull and crossbones are related to the chi-rho, which symbolizes time, death, and rebirth. It became an important Christian symbol when it was adopted by the Roman Emperor Constantine, representing the first two letters in the name of Christ---chi and rho. The chi-rho is also the origin of the tradition of abbreviating “Christ” in “Christian" or “Christmas” to “X.”

Before it became the monogram of Christ, the chi-rho was the monogram of Chronos (whose name also begins with a chi-rho), the god of time. The small letters in the image are the alpha and omega; the beginning and the end. The chi-rho was also used in hermetic alchemical texts to denote time. It was used as an emblem of several solar deities, as well. Young Xehanort's ability to time travel is therefore integrally linked to the Recusant's Sigil, and whoever taught him about it.

Recusant’s Sigil

But why is it called the Mark of Heresy or the Recusant’s Sigil? A recusant is defined as a person who refuses to submit to an authority or comply with a regulation. Which is basically the same thing as a heretic.

The Crook and Flail are the emblems of the Egyptian god Osiris. They were the symbols of divine authority carried by Egyptian Pharaohs in state ceremonies. The Recusant’s Sigil is the symbol of Osiris upside-down.

The “X” is also used in ancient Egypt as a symbol of the dead. You see it in Egyptian pyramids and temples, where Pharaohs are buried with their arms and legs crossed. This is because it was the symbol of Osiris. He was ruler of the dead and the underworld, and this was done in devotion to him.

Was it easy to decide on the design for the three main characters?

Tetsuya Nomura: “No, it was actually pretty difficult. Especially since all three of them would change into armor, when I began to work on their design I had decided that they would hit a round device to change into the armor. But how I could incorporate that device into their clothing was pretty difficult to decide. Also, since one of the secret keywords in the story is "X”, I decided that I had to put that somewhere in the design of their clothes.”

Unlike with Sora, Xehanort didn't literally put the "X" on their clothes. Nomura used it to symbolize their unfortunate fates, as “X” was the secret keyword for the story. Terra was his destined vessel, Ventus was half of the X-blade, and Vanitas said Aqua was a backup.

What is the meaning of the ‘x’ in the Organization member’s names? Also, was adding the ‘x’ to their original names difficult? Nomura: It was Xemnas’s decision to add the ‘x’. I think the meaning will become clear in Birth by Sleep. Think of the circumstances of the Organization member’s names with an ‘x’ added. We came up with many name candidates the with ‘x’ added in together with the staff, we rack our brains while we consider them.

Xemnas planned to use all the original Organization members as vessels once the artificial Kingdom Hearts was completed. In anticipation of this, he also added the "X" to their names as well. The "X" is the mark of an intended vessel.

異端の印 (Itan no shirushi, lit. "Mark of heresy”) is a symbol designed by Xehanort to represent the rejection of a Nobody from his original persona. It is incorporated into the new names of each of the original members of Organization XIII, and is derived from Xehanort’s sleeping memories of the χ-blade.

—khwiki

But Xehanort needs that person's original self to die first. That is the ONLY way he can use them as a vessel. All of the Organization members have been marked, to signify the death of their original self.

Xemnas: Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind, and convince it to renounce its sense of self.

But it's especially true wth Saix. He was the only successful vessel from the original Organization, besides Braig, who was totally willing. Roxas was a good candidate at first, but he became too self-aware, and thus was no longer usable.

Xemnas: As your flesh bears the sigil, so your name shall be known of that as a recusant.

That's no doubt how Saix got the scar on his face. To signify the death of Isa, and the creation of a successful vessel. It’s also a mark of submission to Xehanort’s “divine” authority. The whole idea is…pretty dark, actually. But it was also so interesting to me. It was why Lea and Isa became my favorite characters in the first place. There were so many intriguing concepts in their story line and their whole relationship had so much potential. Especially since Isa might have even allowed himself to become a vessel in order to protect Lea.

The Key to Return Hearts

Where did the Organization’s coat and mark come from?

Nomura: Xemnas remembering his human years. One year after BbS, Xehanort as well as the five other apprentices toss aside their hearts. Then the Nobody Xemnas was born, and the Organization which he creates take a lot of things from his memories as a human. But as Xemnas had two people whom he came from, Terra and Master Xehanort, he takes from both of their memories. The coat used by the Organization was something that Master Xehanort originally wore. The Nobody mark used by the Organization is a similar shape to the mark Terra used. Xemnas gives Organization members names with an X in them. This has something to do with Master Xehanort’s interest in the χ-Blade.

So, the shared destiny of Terra, Aqua, Ventus, and Isa was indeed to die---but also to be reborn. The game that introduced all these concepts was called “Birth By Sleep,” after all. Nomura implied that Xemnas based the Nobody emblem on the mark that Terra wore. His words suggested that the meaning of these symbols was important and that we’d eventually get to learn more about their origin.

But, of course, we never did. But we do know that although Xehanort followed the darkness, Master Eraqus was a defender of the light. Well, if “X” is the symbol of death and endings, then what is the symbol of life and rebirth? Is that the true meaning of Eraqus’ symbol?

The press release for KINGDOM HEARTS III unveiled by Square Enix discusses the search for the “Key to Return Hearts.” Is there anything you can tell us about that?

Nomura: There are two possible meanings of the “key.” One of which is the “hardware” key, which opens doors - this is what keys are in general (laughs), and the other is the “light” key, that opens something else. In this case, it is currently unknown as to which type of key Sora must find. This is the main storyline of KINGDOM HEARTS III - Sora must go on an adventure to find the “key” without knowing what or where it is. But as you know, we can’t really say anything else on the subject (laughs).

The ankh is the ancient Egyptian symbol of life, fertility and the union of male and female. It appears frequently in Egyptian writings about rebirth and was also called the Key of Life. Early Christians adopted it to symbolize the resurrection of Christ. I obviously can’t know for sure, but I think it’s possible that Eraqus' symbol was integrally tied to the whole concept of the “Key to Return Hearts”.

The ankh was used in funeral rites as well. It was sometimes held upside down by the loop, where it resembled the shape of a key. It was considered the key which opened the gate to the the realm of eternity. When someone died, their corpse carried the ankh. At the time their souls were weighed, or when they would board the Boat of the Sun God Ra, it was a sign that they sought this same immortality from the gods. Therefore, the dead were sometimes referred to as “ankhu”, meaning possessor of life. In the dark occult, the ankh is still used as a symbol of evil and death when it is used upside-down. That might be the true origin of the Nobody symbol---an inversion of the symbol of life.

It's fitting that the Recusant's Sigil is based Egyptian concepts and imagery. To the ancient Egyptians, the Sun represented light, warmth, and growth. This made the Sun deity, Ra, very important, as he was seen as the ruler of all creation. When Ra was in the underworld, he merged with Osiris, the god of the dead. Osiris is usually distinguished as the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead. But more appropriately he is the god of transition, resurrection, and regeneration. And it's worth mentioning that ancient Egyptians always used a red Sun to symbolize Ra.

#kh meta #kh #anti-kh3 #kh terra #kh aqua #kh ventus #kh xehanort #kh xemnas #kh axel #kh saix #kh isa #kingdom hearts #kh theories #kh3 theory

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camillemontespan · 5 years

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the abc of love [drake and camille]

For those who wish to know more about Dramille (yes that’s their couple name which I’ve just made up on the spot, come at me!)

@cora-nova thanks for creating these amazing questions, I enjoyed filling them out!

TAG LIST IN CASE YOU WANT TO READ AND MAYBE DO YOURSELVES FOR YOUR OTPS:

@sirbeepsalot @pug-bitch @jovialyouthmusic @katedrakeohd @drakesensworld @notoriouscs @moonlightgem7 @ifyouseekheart

1. A - ANNIVERSARIES

They always celebrate their relationship anniversary. They do the same thing each year - sit in front of the fire out on the terrace and make smores. It’s simple but it’s cute and it suits them perfectly.

2. B - BELIEFS

Camille likes to think there is something after death. Drake is the opposite- he doesn’t believe in God and he thinks that once you’re dead, you’re dead.

Camille says she doesn’t believe in star signs but she will still sneak a peak in the horoscope section of magazines, you know, just in case.

3. C - COLLECTABLES

Drake has kept the receipt of their first dinner date together. He also has an album on his phone which are just photos he has taken of Camille. He looks at it whenever he misses her or just wants to feel warm and fuzzy.

Camille got into scrapbooking, thanks to Maxwell. She keeps photos, receipts, restaurant napkins, theatre tickets... everything they have done, she will keep a memento of.

4. D - DRINKS & FOOD

Drake does most of the cooking, which is surprising to some people - they only see him when he is mocking the tiny finger food at court. When he cooks, he prepares hearty meals that are meant to be feasted on.

Camille likes white wine. She also loves Espresso Martinis, which are perfect for a night out because it gets you drunk and keeps you awake at the same time. Drake thinks cocktails are unnecessary but if Camille asks him to join in, he will. He will always choose a Manhattan (unless he is at brunch and has a mimosa. More on that later).

They both love going to this seafood restaurant that is right by the harbour in Cordonia’s Old Town. The fish is caught that day and they will both sit outside, looking out at the harbour, eating grilled fish and drinking white wine (Drake will actually drink white wine if he is having fish, and red wine if he is having steak).

Camille’s comfort food is mac n cheese as it reminds her of home.

5. E - EXERCISE

Camille enjoys barre class, Pilates and spinning. Drake prefers just sweating it out in the gym, but if it’s a sunny day, he will hike up the mountains. He feels free when he is high up, away from civilisation.

They both watch NFL. Camille supports the Giants, Drake obviously supports the Texans. They host Superbowl at their house every year, which is always fun as they get really into it, with bets and hotdogs and whiskey. Hana and Maxwell don’t understand the rules, Liam is too busy checking his work emails and Olivia gets bored but they enjoy the entertainment.

6. F - FIRST

Their first dance was at a ball in court and both wanted the other but couldn’t do anything about it. For Drake, that first dance was torture as he held her close, wishing he could kiss her.

Their first kiss was over a bottle of whiskey. Drake remembers Camille tasting of whiskey and watermelon lip balm.

Their first time together was, again, after drinking whiskey. Drake had taken her back to her room to sleep off the whiskey but before she could go, he couldn’t help himself and kissed her. One thing led to another..

7. G - GOLD

They both don’t care for wealth or material possessions. Camille was working class and got her first job aged 14 to help her grandmother with the rent, food shopping, bills. She views money as a way to survive; not to flash the cash and spend on designer items or cars.

Drake’s most prized possession is his grandmother’s engagement ring, which he proposed to Camille with. To him, it is priceless.

8. H - HOME

Camille’s parents died when she was five from a drug overdose. Camille was adopted by her grandmother, Gisele. They lived in a small house in the outskirts of New York. Camille is part French on her grandmother’s side - they are descendants of Madame de Montespan, mistress of Louis XIV. Gisele always talked about it - Camille doesn’t as she thinks nobody would believe her, plus she doesn’t like to brag.

Drake visited the ranch in Texas every summer and it’s a place where he feels happiest.

9. I - ISSUES

Camille isn’t keen on Kiara (Kinky Kiara). They sometimes argue when Drake starts thinking that he doesn’t deserve this life, which Camille always takes great pains to tell him he does.

10. J - JOLLY JOKER

Drake loves humour when comedians say the very thing they shouldn’t. Anything that’s controversial, Drake likes.

Camille is incredibly ticklish and Drake knows it. Drake takes advantage of this all the time.

11. K - KIDS

Camille loves babies and gets broody easily. Since she lost her parents so young, she has always wanted babies and a home to create.

When they had Lily, Drake was over protective from the start. He would watch over her while she slept, scared she would stop breathing.

Camille is very hands on and loves Lily with every fibre of her being. This child will never feel lonely or lost.

12. L - LOOK

Camille will wear Prada, Gucci and Chanel when she is on Duchess duty. When she is off duty, she likes to wear Anthropologie and The Kooples. She takes skincare seriously, and has the wrinkle free skin to prove it, and her favourite perfume is Gabrielle by Chanel - her mother was called Gabrielle, so the perfume holds a special meaning to her.

Drake relies on the old faithful - denim shirt and jeans. But, when he suits up for court events, he really suits up. Armani suits. His favourite perfume is Bleu de Chanel, which smells woody and masculine.

13. M - MEDIA

Drake doesn’t like social media as he doesn’t see the point in it. Who cares what you ate for dinner? Why are people taking photos of their dinners?

They both have Netflix. Drake likes Stranger Things (he fancies Nancy). Camille loves Queer Eye (can you believe?!)

14. N - NETWORK

Their core group consists of Liam, Maxwell, Hana and Olivia. They don’t like Madeleine but will tolerate her if she is around. Camille is the people person of the relationship; she sparkles and knows all the right anecdotes. Bertrand taught her well.

15. O - OBLIGATIONS

Camille focuses more on Duchess duties. She hosts an open house every Thursday from 1-4, a tradition that was abandoned more than 200 years ago but which she has brought back. It means the citizens of Valtoria can visit the estate and speak to her in person regarding any issues they have. Drake deals with things around the estate such as land conservation.

16. P - PAMPERING

Camille goes to the spa with Hana and Olivia once a month. Drake likes the plunge pool.

Drake makes Camille breakfast in bed every Sunday. It is their couple time. They will sip coffee, eat waffles with nutella and bananas and read their papers. Sometimes, if he is feeling fun, he will make them mimosas (Hana introduced him to mimosas and he was ashamed to really like it).

17. Q - QUESTIONS

They are both private about their personal life as they don’t court attention. They share everything - Camille had to teach Drake to trust her with his secrets. It was another wall which she broke down.

18. R - ROUTINE

They both get up at 8am to have breakfast on their balcony. Camille attends meetings and Drake talks to landowners. They both have a meeting together for one hour in which they discuss their duties, progress etc but after that, they talk about normal things. They have dinner together every evening and they don’t talk about work.

19. S - SENSUALITY

They both love sex. They are both passionate and like to focus on the other. Drake is very generous and gives all of himself to her. They aren’t crazy in the bedroom but they have handcuffs and have used hot wax before. The balcony is one of their favourite places to have sex. Camille likes to be dominated over; any time he picks her up against a wall, she loves it.

20. T - TOGETHER

They are such a cosy couple. They are always touching; whether its kissing or holding hands, they find a way to touch. Olivia says they are sickening.

21. U - UPS & DOWNS

For Drake, he only needs Camille and their daughter to be happy.

He likes the simple things. He loves whiskey, the outdoors, the smell of wood burning in a fire. Texas. Endless summers in Texas. He loves the scent of Camille’s hair - coconut- and her watermelon lipbalm when she kisses him.

Camille loves Drake and Lily. She adores their dog, Maxwell, named after their friend of course, and she loves New York.

Camille is the eternal optimist while Drake can be very pessimistic.

22. V - VACATION

They enjoy hiking up the mountains and city breaks. Rome was a particular favourite of theirs as they wandered round the city unnoticed, getting drunk on wine and overeating on pizza and pasta.

23. W - WEDDING

They married at the Walker ranch at sunset. Camille had planned most of it and had kept the location secret from Drake until she was forced to tell him (basically when the invitations were ready to be posted). He got quite emotional and had to have a moment alone. So much joy.

They spent their wedding night by the lake at the ranch. It was really warm outside and they hadn’t wanted to be cooped up indoors. Drake found pillows and blankets and they consummated their marriage by the lake.

24. X - EXs

Drake has slept around but has no ex-girlfriends. He didn’t think any girl deserved to be ‘saddled’ with him so he made sure he was distant and aloof. It didn’t work; the ladies loved it, wanting the chance to ‘help him’. He didn’t like many of the girls at court anyway as they were too spoiled or giggly or annoying.

Camille had a boyfriend when she was 7 years old called Patrick which lasted one day. When she was 16, she had a boyfriend called James who she was with for two years.

25. Y - YELLING

Camille gets emotional. Drake is rational. This swaps around when Drake is drunk; if they fight when they’ve been drinking, he shouts. Camille will treat him like a child, which only annoys him more.

They fight when Drake relies too much on whiskey to cloud his negative thoughts.

Camille is fantastic at the silent treatment.

26. Z - ZOOM

They were made for each other. Drake can now die a happy man having been with her and Camille finally feels safe and loved and wanted. They are best friends wrapped up as lovers.

#coranovawrites #the abc of love #drake walker x mc #cora-nova

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unfortunate-stranger-losers · 5 years

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Six Baudelaires AU, Part Two {AO3} {Masterlist} {Part One}

Chapter Two → in which the Baudelaires move into a nice shack

The six Baudelaire children, six months ago, once would have said that they absolutely could not wait to all move out of the house and never see each other again.

That would have been a lie, of course; they’d’ve loved to see each other on holidays, and when one of them needed a favor. But as many siblings will tell you, being forced to spend two decades of your life cooped up with other people will oftentimes make you very sick of said people, whether those people were your siblings, or, in some cases, your cellmates, or your guardians, or other volunteers, or fellow students. Though the Baudelaires desperately hoped that, in present circumstances, they would not spent two decades with other students.

And in the present circumstances, they were starting to wonder if they’d ever want to be apart from each other again. Especially Nick, who rarely released Solitude from his sight since she was ripped from him to dangle precariously in a birdcage, and now looked like he might never release Klaus, who had recently been hypnotized into almost causing a murder. But Lilac was also feeling this way, as Sunny curled up against her and sucked on her own finger, and she looked over at Violet, who was staring blankly ahead at the door across the hall. They were waiting for their new Vice Principal to come out and tell them what they were to do in their new school.

Lilac glanced back at Sunny, starting to stroke her hair, which had been tied up in a ponytail that morning. Lilac often tied her own ponytails, as did Violet; both girls did that when they were thinking of something they wanted to fix or invent. Lilac was the mechanic, and Violet the inventor, though they occasionally dabbled in each others’ fields. But lately, their repairs and experiments had not been for use of fun, but for use of saving their lives from their former guardian, Count Olaf, who was out to kill their guardians and kidnap them in an effort to steal their fortune. Sunny was not yet old enough to tie her own hair, so her sisters had to do it for her. Lilac had to do a lot of things for her siblings; as the oldest, she considered it her responsibility to protect them, and that was a very difficult job in the present circumstances.

Violet herself had a lot on her mind. She remembered how, very soon before, she had gotten her siblings into great danger with her impulsive and stubborn decisions, and she had trouble deciding if it was worth it. They were all alright, sure, but they might not have been. But her decisions had not made for the thrill of it, but in an effort to preserve the legacy of their recently deceased parents. They had a lot of recently deceased relatives, such as their Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine, but their parents’ death stung the worst because it was the first real grief the children had experienced.

The twins, Nick and Klaus, sat inbetween their sisters, and Nick took Solitude off of his lap to stretch slightly. They’d been sitting for hours, and Nick was already easily bored, even when they weren’t in a dull hallway listening to a horrible violin playing. Klaus stood up, too, also wanting to stretch.

Both twins were avid readers, but Nick liked reading about places he could go to and things he could see, while Klaus was fine just hiding and reading about whatever he pleased. But both had almost perfect memories about their reading, which became very useful when they were in danger and needed some knowledge very fast.

As he stood, Nick turned to look at his brother, and after a second, he realized something. “Wait a minute.” he said. “Are you… taller than me?”

Klaus blinked at him, as if bewildered that this could be considered important in the current moment. “What?” Nick repeated his question, and Klaus said, “I don’t know!”

Nick walked up to Klaus and stood back-to-back with him. “Vi, measure us.” he said.

Violet groaned and stood, and Solitude said, “Winnie,” which meant, “We could have Babbitt judge; they’re good with numbers!”

Though Soli was only a toddler, who only occasionally spoke in full English sentences and was much more likely to speak in small phrases or her own babytalk that she shared with Sunny, both she and her infant sister were incredibly intelligent, and Solitude herself was a budding herpetologist, a word which here means someone who is obsessed with studying reptiles, especially snakes and frogs in the second youngest Baudelaire’s case. And “Babbitt,” as Solitude said, was a word that here meant the name of the frog Solitude had smuggled along with her as a pet. They were a very tiny, genderfluid, talented frog, who could fit in the toddler’s pocket and sleep on her shoulder, and who could also be used as a projectile weapon.

“Babbitt can’t count in inches or centimeters.” Violet said. “But we don’t need measuring at the moment, we just have to see whose head is above the other’s.”

“Is this the time?” Lilac said.

“Fight!” Sunny cheered.

Sunny was still an infant, though she was fast approaching toddlerhood. She spoke almost exclusively in her and Soli’s babytalk, though she occasionally spouted a word in a language that others who were not her siblings couldn’t understand. While “fight” was one of her favorite words, her most favorite was “bite,” as her current favorite thing to do in the world was bite and tear with her sharp teeth. She was the youngest of the six children, but she was just as brave and noble as her siblings. She also loved to participate in the fun sibling bickering that they all enjoyed, as much as they pretended they did not.

Violet put a hand on Nick’s head, and then said, “Yeah, Klaus has a few inches on you.”

“When did that happen?” Lilac asked, stunned.

“Excuse me?” Nick turned around, glaring at his twin. “You can’t be taller than me!”

“I don’t have control over it!” Klaus said.

Ignoring him, Nick said, as he liked to, “I’m the older brother! I should be taller!”

“You’re only older by thirteen minutes!” Klaus said, as he liked to.

“Still older!”

“We’re not identical, we weren’t gonna be the same height forever!”

“Meaning I should be taller!”

“Could you two shut up?” Lilac asked, leaning her head against the hard back of the bench.

“We’ll shut up when the Vice Principal finally decides to get off his ass and come get us.” Nick said.

“I’m so bored, Li.” Klaus said, sitting back down and adjusting his glasses. “I don’t care what happens, so long as something does.”

At that moment, they heard a tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, and a girl danced down the hall, sliding to a stop in front of the six children.

“Hello, cakesniffers!” she said brightly.

She had a dress that was fluffy and fancy and as pink as the barrettes that pushed back her short ginger curls, and, well, the only articles of clothing she wore that were not pink were a bright red brooch on her chest and her black tap shoes.

“Uh, hello.” Violet said, as Lilac stood up and lifted Sunny. “I’m Violet Baudelaire, this is my older sister Lilac, and these are my other siblings Nick, Klaus, Solitude and Sunny.”

“Cool. Nobody cares.” said the girl. “Everyone here knows that I’m Carmelita Spats, the prettiest, most talented, most bright, most brilliant, most adorable girl in the whole wide world!”

“Most humble, too?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Of course.” Carmelita grinned.

“How come you don’t have to wear a uniform?” Lilac asked, looking sour. “I’d give anything to wear black instead of this drab maroon.”

“I’m too adorable for a uniform.” said Carmelita Spats. “I’m supposed to give you a tour. That’s the Vice Principal’s office. Vice Princey Nero says I’m the best and he’s totally right. Follow me, cakesniffers.”

“What does ‘cakesniffer’ mean?” Klaus asked, having rarely come across a word he didn’t know.

“It means you’re stupid cakesniffers.” Carmelita said unhelpfully. “Come along.”

She tapped away, and Violet said, “I don’t think it’s a compliment.”

“And I don’t think I like her dancing.” Nick said. “I don’t think I like her much.”

He bent down and picked up Solitude, and she patted her pocket to make sure Babbitt was still asleep inside. Then the six siblings, in itchy and drab uniforms, followed the adorable girl down the halls.

Carmelita’s tour was about as helpful as a coat would be in the Sahara Desert, or on the surface of Jupiter. While she did indeed show them places, she mostly talked about how the teachers in the classrooms thought she was adorable, and how the students in the dorms all did everything she said, and how she got lunch from the kitchen for free because she was so perfect and wonderful. When she finally got them out to the gym field, and explained how they were still trying to replace the gym teacher that had fallen out the window yesterday, and how she had been put in charge of making students do jumping jacks whenever she wanted, the Baudelaires were starting to get very tired of her voice.

“Oh, and there’s our school motto.” she said, pointing up at a sign above some tattered goalposts; everything around the school seemed to be tattered or worn or gray.

“Memento Mori.” Lilac read.

The children fell silent. They all knew basic Latin- they’d learned from their father, who liked to remind them that several languages were derived from it so they’d be easier to learn if they should wish to later. Meaning that they didn’t need Carmelita to translate for them, though she did anyway, as if they were idiots.

“Remember you will die.”

“Cheery.” Solitude said.

Carmelita tapped them away, and as they passed the students jumping jacks, the siblings noticed their stares.

“Ees?” Sunny asked, which meant, “Why are they all staring at us?”

“Maybe they’re staring because we’re new.” Violet said.

“It’s because your home was destroyed and you’re orphans now.” Carmelita said off-handedly.

She tapped them back into the building, and back to where they had started.

“You’re five minutes late.” Carmelita said, and then she hmmed.

“Hmm?” Klaus echoed.

“It is customary,” said Carmelita, “to give the tour guide a tip.”

“A tip?” Violet raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Are you blind and deaf, cakesniffers?”

After a moment, Nick said, “I’ll give you a tip.”

“Yes?”

Nick smiled slightly. “There’s a book, about the mother of a girl who reminds me a lot of you, in that everyone thinks she is adorable and perfect. The mother gets scared when the girl’s classmate drowns on a field trip and her daughter steals something shiny off of him, and she then finds out that she has a very suspicious genealogy.”

Carmelita looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “What kind of a tip is that?”

“A useful one.”

Carmelita glared at him, and then kicked the door behind her.

The door swung open after a second, and a tall man shouted, “Who dares interrupt a genius musician while he’s rehearsing!”

“The Baudelaires are late for their meeting with you.” Carmelita said.

“How dare you be late!” said the man, who the children figured out quickly was Vice Principal Nero. He then turned to Carmelita and said, softly, “Thank you, Carmelita, for telling me. That is a lovely brooch.”

“The original owner really liked it!” Carmelita said. She spun away, and the Vice Principal gestured for the Baudelaires to follow him inside his office.

The children walked inside, and as they did, placing the toddlers onto the floor, Vice Principal Nero picked up an old violin and started to play.

It sounded awful. Sunny threw her hands over her ears, and Solitude hid her head in the fabric of Nick’s pants. The older siblings just stared at Nero, trying to mask their own horror.

When he finally finished, after what felt like forever, they continued to stare, and he said, “It is customary to applaud a great musician when he has finished his performance.”

Slowly, the older Baudelaires clapped. “Bravo.” said Violet, unenthusiastically.

“Congrats.” said Nick.

“Thank you.” Vice Principal Nero sat down at a desk chair, and said, “So, I have been told all about your misfortune. Your dead parents, your dead uncle, your dead aunt, the destruction of a mill, and a horrible man who has been following you for a while.”

“Count Olaf.” Lilac said.

“Yes.” Nero said. “But rest assured, he will not enter here, thanks to our state-of-the-art computer.”

He gestured to a computer in the corner, which looked very complex.

“How does that computer stop Count Olaf?” Klaus asked.

“How does that computer stop Count Olaf?” Nero imitated. “As if children like you would understand. Now, Violet, Nicholas-”

“Nick.”

“Nick.” Nero rolled his eyes. “You will be studying with Mr Remora in Room One.” he said. “Lilac, Klaus, you will be studying with Ms Bass in Room Two. Solitude and Sunny will be serving as my secretaries. I could use some of those, I have letters to write.”

“I don’t wanna split up!” Nick said quickly.

“Solitude and Sunny should be in nursery school.” Lilac protested.

“Solitude and Sunny should be in nursery school. Well, we don’t have a nursery school, so it’s that or let them rot in the Orphans Shack all day.”

“In the what?” Nick and Violet both asked.

“Well,” Nero said. “The dorms are only accessible to students who have permission slips signed by a parent or legal guardian. And, seeing as you have neither-”

“Couldn’t Mr Poe sign it for us?” Violet asked.

“Couldn’t Mr Poe sign it for us? Mr Poe is not your legal guardian,” said Nero, “He is the executor of your parents’ fortune. If you do not have a permission slip, you will have to sleep in the Orphans Shack until more orphans arrive and you are transferred to an empty room in the dorms.”

“If there are empty rooms,” Lilac said, “Couldn’t we stay there anyway?”

“If there are empty rooms, couldn’t we stay there anyway? You could not, that is not the rules. Rules are the way the world runs. Speaking of rules, we have several. If any of you are late for class or work, your hands will be tied behind your back during meals, and you’ll have to lean down and eat your food like a dog. If you come to the administrative building without being asked, you will have your silverware taken away during meals. If you are late to lunch, you will have your cups and glasses taken away.”

“You can’t be serious.” said Violet.

“You can’t be serious.” Nero rolled his eyes. “In the auditorium every night I give a six-hour violin recital, and attendance is mandatory. ‘Mandatory’ means that if you don’t show up, you have to buy me a large bag of candy and watch me eat it.”

“Aregg?” Sunny asked incredulously, which meant, “What? I can’t believe it!”

“Now, go along to your shack, it’s behind the kitchens.” Nero said, not even caring to ask for a translation. “Should you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, there are plenty of bushes.”

“Ew.” said Sunny.

Lilac picked up Sunny, and Nick picked up Solitude, and the children left without even saying goodbye. Nero did not say goodbye either, and instead he continued to badly play the violin.

“Our shack has crabs.” said Violet, looking down at the floor, where several crabs scuttled around.

“Our shack has fungus.” said Klaus, looking up at the ceiling dripping with fungus.

“Our shack has no room.” Nick observed, realizing very quickly that with the crabs, fungus and hay bales, there was not enough room for six children to sleep.

“Gah-ahc.” said Solitude, which meant, “Let’s sleep outside.”

#asoue #asoue netflix #asoue movie #a series of unfortunate events #six baudelaires au #the austere academy #six baudelaires official fic #mine #my fanfic

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persona-minty · 5 years

Text

Robot Revival AU

Sooo I was talking to @friskyghost about a certain AU they created (link) and they were kind enough to indulge me and talk about it for a while. It was really fun! Anyway, I asked and they said I could make a post about what we talked about and they said yes, so I’m going to do just that. @friskyghost is the primary creator of this AU, but this post is mostly mine with my own headcanons and details that may not hold true for friskyghost’s version of the AU. Persona 3 and 5 spoilers abound and this is a pretty long post, so be warned.

Premise/TL;DR

Minato, Hamuko, and Ryoji are all resurrected several years after the fight against Nyx, except there’s a catch. While their souls are still around and unable to naturally move on, their bodies have long since decayed, so SEES finds a way to infuse their souls into Plumes of Dusk and then crafts three Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon bodies to put those Plumes of Dusk into. Later, Hamuko, Minato, and Ryoji are sent off to Shujin Academy along with Labrys and Ken during the same year the Phantom Thieves will be active. Naturally, they get caught up in the goings on of the metaverse.

Appearances

Minato, Hamuko, and Ryoji all look like they did back in 2009, except with several clear Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon features, like the headphones and metallic shoulder and leg joints Aigis had. Labrys looks essentially the same, and Ken and all of the other members of SEES save Aigis are just older versions of themselves, likely similar to what we saw in Ultimax.

Prelude

Elizabeth and Theodore figure out a way to permanently destroy or detain Erebus, perhaps thanks in part to Yaldabaoth’s creation/birth. From there they dismantle the seal and set Minato and Hamuko, twins in this AU, free from the seal. Ryoji is there with them, has been since the creation of the seal, and decides that if the twins are leaving then he will too. Liz and Theo relay all of this information to SEES, and SEES acts by creating robotic bodies for the three of them. So Hamuko, Minato, and Ryoji all come back to life.

Of course then there are happy reunions. Hamuko, Minato, and Ryoji are happy to be alive, and their friends are happy to see them again. It’s great for everyone, but despite the fact that all of this is generally seen as positive, there are drawbacks. Hamuko and Minato have to get used to having suddenly jumped forward in time several years, all of the friends they’d worked so hard to make being so much older than them, technology being so much more advanced (a bit ironic coming from two robots), and so many world events having come to pass while they were in stasis in the Great Seal. Ryoji is less affected, having only existed for a couple of months in 2009 before. The matter of them finishing high school comes up, because Mitsuru has always been a bit of a stickler about that, though she is gracious enough to say that they don’t have to if they really don’t want to.

The original plan is for them to attend Gekkoukan, but they realize that most of the teachers that taught them back in 2009 are still teaching at the school, and furthermore, some of their friends/social links are still living in the area. They’d surely be recognized if they hung around the area, but they’re not ready to answer any questions about their miraculous resurrection to those not in the know yet. So Ken suggests that they attend the same high school that he does: Shujin academy. Originally he transferred to investigate the mental shutdowns that began occurring some time ago and showed several similarities to Apathy Syndrome, but despite that he was unable to find any potential crossover points where shadows could get access to those affected by the mental shutdowns in order to cause those shutdowns like how they caused Apathy Syndrome. Still, he stayed at Shujin partially because it was a school on par with Gekkoukan so he felt no need to transfer back, and partially because Shinjiro, not dead but permanently injured and therefore basically incapable of fighting shadows without putting himself at great risk, now lives in Tokyo and since waking up on graduation day, he and Ken have become closer and closer and healed past wounds.

It’s then that Labrys decides that she wants to attend school as well, and transfers to Shujin with them, both for her own curiosity’s sake, and to help them adjust to living in robotic bodies. So Shujin gets five transfer students that year: Minato, Hamuko, Ryoji, Labrys, and Akira. Minato, Hamuko, Ryoji, and Ken are all third years, while Labrys is a second year.

Entering Shujin

So the twins, Ryoji, and Labrys begin their year at Shujin Academy. Immediately there are whispers that one of the transfer students is a dangerous criminal, but it’s quickly determined that it isn’t the twins, Ryoji, or Labrys. Instead, it’s a second year transfer student that none of them know. Among them it’s decided that they shouldn’t make quick judgements on this student, but that they also have no reason to get involved with him and should just focus on adjusting.

For the first two weeks or so, they just hang around and try to get adjusted. There seems to be five new rumors about the criminal transfer student each day, while Minato and Hamuko are gathering several admirers akin to Akihiko or Mitsuru in P3 because of their maxed stats. Ryoji, Ken, and Labrys share in that popularity to an extent.

Hamuko, excited about playing volleyball again like she used to, wants to sign up for the volleyball team. The coach of the volleyball team, Mr. Kamoshida, seems very supportive of this, but Hamuko discovers that her new robotic body might be harder to hide if she were to begin playing volleyball. This majorly bums her out, seeing that they can’t risk revealing themselves, but her friends are there for her and promise to play volleyball with her outside of school. She joins a less risky club, like the cooking club, and Minato joins something like the light music club. Labrys, meanwhile, takes interest in the student council and makes it her goal to become the student body president next year, after the current president has graduated.

Then, two weeks in or so, the twins have a very strange dream. It’s a place that’s a very familiar shade of blue, but so different from what they remember. Instead of an ever moving elevator, they find themselves trapped in a prison cell, peering out at Igor from behind steel bars. Liz and Theo have been replaced by two little girls named Caroline and Justine, and even Igor himself seems very different. He tells them of a place called Mementos and how to get there, and then they are released from the dream. They wake up, discuss amongst themselves, and then discuss it with Ryoji, Ken, and Labrys at school. They all decide to investigate after school.

Entering Mementos For the First Time

After school, they go to investigate the place called Mementos. It’s similar to Tartarus, and Ken theorizes that perhaps this is what he was looking for when he first began investigating the mental shutdowns. They run around for a little bit and discover that though Ryoji has no persona, he can still operate just fine as a navigator. Meanwhile, Minato and Hamuko have been “reset”, kind of, so they only have their respective versions of Orpheus and Messiah right now, but they still retain the ability to gain more personas through Shuffle Time. At the end of their investigation session, they venture into the Velvet Room once more and are told by Igor that Mementos is a manifestation of humanity’s sins.

Once out of Mementos, they discuss what they should do next. They agree that Igor must have shown them Mementos for a reason, and that it very well may have something to do with the mental shutdowns and/or psychotic breakdowns. So all of them agree to head back to Mementos again. Admittedly, it also feels good to fall back into the groove of fighting shadows. For Minato and Hamuko especially, since they’re struggling with the drawbacks of their new bodies and their sudden jump in time, so something familiar is extremely welcome.

The Calling Card

The next day at school, a calling card is posted about Mr. Kamoshida. It’s from a group calling themselves the Phantom Thieves, and claiming that they’re going to take Mr. Kamoshida’s twisted desires and change his heart. The next day, Mr. Kamoshida doesn’t show up for school. Nor the next day, and so on and so forth until the assembly where Mr. Kamoshida confesses his sins onstage and vows to kill himself. Mr. Kamoshida is taken into custody by the police, apologies are made to the people who Mr. Kamoshida’s actions affected, and rumors begin to swirl.

Minato, Hamuko, Ryoji, Labrys, and Ken are intrigued by the Phantom Thieves, but not overly interested right now. They’re more focused on discovering why Igor showed the twins Mementos, and they don’t yet consider the possibility that the Phantom Thieves may be persona-related.

Mementos Exploration (1)

They investigate further and further into Mementos, until they discover that they seem to have found the end of it. Mementos was much smaller than any of them imagined, and Ryoji even says that he was almost positive there was more. They discover the answer when they talk to Igor, and he says that they have barely scratched the surface of Mementos, but that to access more of Mementos the public would need to be aware of their existence.

(This is around the time that the Phantom Thieves first enter Mementos, but they do not cross paths with our group).

Making the Public Aware of Them

They discuss whether or not they should go forward with the exploration into Mementos. They are all a part of the Shadow Operatives, so taking care of shadows seems almost natural. Minato and Hamuko also trust Igor, despite him seeming very different, because of his assistance in the past, and the fact that it was Liz and Theo that freed them from the Great Seal. However, they have no idea how to proceed in Mementos, as they have to find a way to become known to the public. Ken, Labrys, or Ryoji then points out that the twins are musically gifted, and if they became famous that way then perhaps they’d be able to get further in Mementos.

After a quick brainstorming session, they come up with the idea to post a video of themselves on YouTube (or an equivalent), hoping that will be enough. Their video is a good enough quality that it draws in many people, but not enough to get them much further in Mementos. They try posting a few more videos, but the results are the same. They lament the fact that this does not seem to be working very quickly and debate just giving up on Mementos, but word of their struggle makes it’s way to the rest of the Shadow Operatives and the next day they find that their videos have skyrocketed in views because Rise promoted one of the videos they made.

(I haven’t decided quite what I want these videos to be about. Since the twins are always wearing headphones I definitely want it to have something to do with music, but I don’t know what yet. If need be, just imagine them posting covers to idol songs.)

Mementos Exploration (2)

The popularity that ensues from Rise’s actions is enough to get them further into Mementos, and it’s here that they discover that some people have actual shadow selves in Mementos. That’s when they decide that the mental shutdowns could be from someone killing these shadows, and first consider the possibility that there might be another persona user in Tokyo, and not one with good intentions. Remember, Ken was investigating the mental shutdowns from the perspective of someone who had dealt with Apathy Syndrome and automatically assumed shadows were the cause of the mental shutdowns.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Thieves take care of a few side requests in Mementos while looking into the Madarame case and Yusuke. When our group finds out about these requests, they officially determine that the Phantom Thieves can access the metaverse and are likely persona users if they can navigate Mementos without dying. That means they become suspects in the mental shutdowns case, at least to our group, but it’s not definite. They have no proof aside from both the assumed culprit and the Phantom Thieves likely having personas and being able to access Mementos, and the Phantom Thieves only showed up a little while ago while the mental shutdowns have been happening for a few years at least.

Still, our group makes the decision, with the approval of the other Shadow Operatives, to investigate Mementos and the Phantom Thieves further. If they wouldn’t, the Shadow Operatives would send others to check it out, because this seems important. As is, Mitsuru wants to send others in, protective of the twins after everything that’s happened, but they all but beg her not to. I think the twins would probably see this as a very good opportunity to get used to living again, especially in these new bodies in this new time. They really became comfortable with living their lives when they fell in with SEES, and this is a similar enough situation that they’re eager to get entangled with it.

Conclusion

I don’t currently have anything more for this AU imagined, but I think it’s a strong start and has a lot of potential. The story from there would continue with the Phantom Thieves doing as they do in the game while our group investigated them and ventured further into Mementos. Meanwhile, Minato and Hamuko would be dealing with all of their emotional turmoil from being resurrected, being robots now, and being six years into the future. Like honestly, that’s a triple whammy right there, but at least they have each other to confide in. Meanwhile, we could get a more in-depth look at Ryoji, Labrys, and Ken’s characters, or at least a fan-written version of them.

I have what I believe to be a really interesting idea for the progression of this AU that involves our group joining Haru and Morgana in Okumura’s palace, but I haven’t fleshed it out yet so who knows if I’ll ever make a post about it. As it stands, if you like this AU you should go check out @friskyghost, who created the original concept for it. I think they’re a really cool person.

Thank you for reading this suuuuuper long post, whoever made it this far, and FYI, if anybody wants to come chat with me about any persona AU you or I create, I’m always up for it. Message me anytime. Seriously. I love fleshing out AU’s.

#persona 3 #persona 5 #minato arisato #hamuko arisato #robot revival au #ryoji mochizuki #labrys #ken amada #friskyghost #persona au #persona 3 spoilers #persona 5 spoilers

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elizabethtarington · 6 years

Text

Closure

I wanted to write a piece on a post break up situation that some people can go through. A lot of times anything can happen where both parties are to blame, sometimes it’s just one person in the relationship who is to blame. Sometimes we internalize it and other times...not so much. Sometimes we bounce back like nothing happened. Sometimes we just completely break down and it’s been years since we’ve let go of the past.

I also wanted to write more about a companion type AI in the future, mostly because my husband and I both think it will be one of the big revolutionary tech pieces that we’ll have in the next 100-200 years. The concept of an AI living in your head, helping with your personal life while simultaneously growing up with you seems almost the most anti-apocalyptic way to have an AI. I am also kind of tired of the narrative where an evil AI takes over the world. This was kind of my solution/interpretation of how it might go.

Pairing: Reader x Internal AI Warning: Post-break up, mentions of depression, therapy, meditation, self care. Word Count:2150

There was never a time when you didn’t have your companion AI’s voice in your head. It was installed when you were young and you had given it different names and identities over the years to suit your wants or desires. At one point you had named it Mister Bun-Bun, its voice taking on an almost goofy clown like speech pattern. Then it became Selene, a soothing and airy voice that calmed your nerves once you hit your teen years. But since high school, your companion had become and stayed Taylor. You liked its name. It went with Taylor’s androgynous voice, a mixture of equal parts male and female blending seamlessly into one that you couldn’t even tell the two apart.

Growing up with Taylor was what most would consider a typical experience. It was the voice in your head that let you know when you were feeling intense emotions and give suggestions based on what you liked and didn’t like. More often than not, Taylor was constantly reminding you to drink more water or that eating potato chips was an unwise decision for a meal substitute.

Your own personal assistant. One that didn’t judge you. Didn’t do anything to hurt you or call you hurtful names. Didn’t cheat on you with some young new thing that looked like a doppelganger of you.

“You’re thinking about him again.” Taylor’s voice spoke softly, interrupting your thoughts as you stared blankly ahead.

“That’s kind of what happens when I’m trying to meditate.”

“The doctor said the point of meditation was to clear your mind. You are reminiscing and then you started to think about-”

“Yes, I know. Thank you, Taylor.” You huffed, shifting your weight from side to side as you sat in the silence of your home. “Maybe if I had some white noise in the background, it might help.”

“I shall turn on the OceanScapes soundtrack with the volume at 20 percent.”

“Thank you, Taylor.”

You tried closing your eyes again, straightening your back with your hands resting in your lap. The soothing sounds of waves crashing against rocks filled your head. One deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

For a moment it was working, you were blanking your mind, letting any lingering emotions or thoughts fade away, but as soon as you heard a knock at your door, you gave up.

“Turn it off, Taylor. I’ll try again later.” You stood, stretching as you walked to the door.

“Shall I turn on the alternative station?”

“No. Just the quiet is fine.”

Opening the door, you were greeted by a drone with a package. It spoke your name and asked you to sign before giving you the small box. You knew what it was and had been waiting all day for your medication to be dropped off. Your doctor had given you a new prescription to help cope with your depression. Coupled with therapy once a week, you were starting to feel a little bit better since the inevitable break up.

It was still hard. All of it. You had moved to a new place, unable to stay in what you had considered your home for a long time despite the fact that he left first. Four years of being with someone and you just couldn’t bear staying in the apartment you had once shared. Now, a year later and you still had boxes that needed to be unpacked. Still had a hard time getting out of bed, brushing your teeth or washing your hair.

The therapy was helping. You had to be retaught how to take care of yourself and you couldn’t imagine doing it on your own without Taylor. The companion AI was always able to coax you out of bed, always explaining that while it was hard, you’d feel better by taking care of yourself.

Often while you showered and got ready for the day, even if it meant only changing into clean pajamas, Taylor would use the house’s robotics system and cook you an adequate breakfast. Usually egg whites with toast and a fruit smoothie that Taylor put any vitamins you were lacking. You would eat it down, never complaining as Taylor only informed you of basic news, careful not to telling you anything remotely depressing. It knew your mood would tank and you would head back to bed, not crawling out until the next day.

It all helped. The anti-depressants. Therapy. But mostly, Taylor helped, you thought to yourself as you opened the package, taking out your new prescription

“You don’t do yourself enough credit, you know.”

You stared down at the label on the bottle, double checking everything, “Well, I’m sure I’d just be sleeping in bed for the rest of my life.”

“You’d get up eventually, it might just take some more time.”

“Probably longer. Much longer for sure.”

“Since meditation wasn’t doing anything for you, should we tackle another box?”

You glanced to the corner of the living room, seeing your pile of boxes that was substantially smaller than last month, or the month before that, “Yeah. I should.”

“Remember, you can stop at any time.”

“I know.” You set the bottle down on the counter and did your best not to drag your feet across the room. “Just one box, right? I can do that.”

You mentally counted the boxes, only seeing five left. You swallowed nervously, knowing that these last boxes were very likely going to contain pictures or mementos that would bring back a flood of memories. Cautiously, you looked at each of the labels. The word decorations scrawled in your handwriting was on every one of them.

“For the next time, perhaps labeling them more specifically might be helpful. I will make a note on your behalf.”

“Thanks, Taylor.”

You did your best not be sarcastic or rude as you took the box on the top. Carrying it to the coffee table and setting it down, you couldn’t help but wonder if you chose the wrong box. You bit your lip and folded your arms closely to your body, before glancing back at the pile once more.

“The chances of grabbing a box that has things in relation to him is very likely regardless of box. However, this box is smaller than the others, so it should be easier to deal with than the others.” Taylor’s voice didn’t urge you forward as you turned your attention back to the box in front of you, “Remember, you can stop whenever you’d like. This is a big step and while it’s good that you’re trying to move on, be patient with yourself. If it’s too much, why don’t you go tidy up your bedroom and do some laundry instead.”

You closed your eyes and took a breath, “I want to try. I need to move on and the only way to do that is to actually look at this stuff.”

“Okay, you can do this. I believe in you.”

You laughed, feeling your muscles relax as you opened your eyes and reached for the box. It was smaller. But just because it was small didn’t mean that whatever was inside would hurt less. You knew the very opposite was often true.

Wasting no time, you peeled the tape away and opened the top, stopping to breathe and stare up at the ceiling. Finally, you worked up the nerve and looked inside. You stared down blankly unsure of what to feel as you saw several mementos from him. Pictures. Stuffed animals. Trinkets and movie stubs. You had put it all into a small box, tossed it angrily, not caring if anything got busted.

Sure enough two picture frames were broken with glass scattered across the bottom of the box, bits and pieces caught in the fur of the stuffies. You frowned down at the box, for a moment not daring to breath as you held it in your chest until finally the burning sensation caught you. Exhale. Inhale.

You weren’t sure how you would react. You had imagined throwing the box. Crying. Screaming. But as you stared down at the contents of the box you sunk down into a chair, cradling the box against your chest.

“Is this everything, Taylor?” You asked, tenderly picking up a picture.

“Yes.”

“You knew it was this box, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

Careful to avoid any glass, you picked up memento after memento, each one bringing back a different memory. A different emotion to linger and burn into your heart. Some flaring you up with happiness, others with laughter, some with sadness. But as you stared at the entirety of your past relationship you found yourself hit with a realization.

“It wasn’t all bad.”

“I don’t believe so, but I think that perhaps you two were a less than perfect fit.”

“You’re right. We were very different in many aspects. I thought that perhaps maybe the idea of opposites attract suited us, but I don’t think I realized just how opposite we were.” You paused, looking at a couple of movie stubs, “He always wanted to hang around with other people—always wanted to go out, and I just hated it. I always had a miserable time and I didn’t like his friends either. We’d always come home with me being overly exhausted and cranky. Why didn’t I just tell him I didn’t want that? Why did I compromise so much when I clearly didn’t want to?”

“You liked him and you wanted him to like and appreciate you and the sacrifices you made for him.”

“That’s—really stupid.” You chuckled, shaking your head as you tossed the movie stubs back into the box. “I should have just done what I wanted and stayed home. He could have easily gone out without me. It’s not like we needed to be joined at the hip.”

“Indeed, you did not.”

“Still—it wasn’t always bad. He still did a lot for me—for us.”

“He did, but he still should have broke it off instead of cheating.” Taylor reminded.

“I agree. We both should have ended it earlier. I wasn’t happy after the second year. I was stressed with college and just couldn’t handle balancing a relationship and the schoolwork. Then my internship happened and I was just beyond miserable.” You paused, picking up a different picture, pulling it from it’s broken frame, “He must have been unhappy too.”

A smiling couple from the not so distant past smiled up at you. It was taken during a party that your friend had dragged you to and where you met him. He was average, but he made you laugh at the party and saved you from what could have been a potentially embarrassing situation when someone passed you the karaoke mic. He sang offbeat and out of tune with the song, making it seem like you were a normal singer by anyone’s standards.

“It wasn’t all bad.” You murmured, touching his smiling face as you smirked only pulling them back as an idea struck you, “We have a fire pit in the back, right?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Is there a burn ordinance in effect right now?”

“Nope.”

“I’m thinking I just get rid of this stuff. There’s no need to unpack it and put it anywhere.”

“I agree.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. The fire stick is in the drawer opposite of the oven. I suggest we do it now before the winds pick up later today.”

Tossing the mementos back into the box, you carried it into the kitchen, finding the fire stick with little problem. Feeling a strange and almost foreign sense of giddiness, you walked outside and found the stone pit undisturbed. You placed the box in the middle and lit the edges of the box before stepping back to watch it burn.

“You planned this didn’t you?”

“It was your doctor and her companion AI’s idea actually. I just happened to agree with them.”

You stood back, folding your arms as a small smile rose from the corners of your mouth, “Most people do this right away after getting jilted.”

“I’d say about 50 percent would do this right away. The other 50 percent would do what you did.”

“Blame myself, squash down my feelings until I could barely function as a person, only now reaching a point where closure might be attainable?”

“I’m surprised you were paying attention during that session.” Taylor chuckled in your head.

“I pay attention, whether I believe it or not is a different story.” You paused watching as the fire reached the stuffed animal, singeing the plastic fur. “This is kind of therapeutic for now. I don’t imagine tomorrow is going to feel like this, or even later tonight. But right now it feels good.”

“It will get better, I promise.”

You smiled and nodded, “I believe you’re right, Taylor. I believe you are right.”

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#ai #robophilia #voice in my head #post breakup #closure #mild angst #depression #let's light things on fire #relationships are messy #reader x ai #ai x reader #futuristic #scifi #sci-fi #therapy #self care #meditation #elizabeth writes

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amassingeffect · 6 years

Text

Ficlet Prompt Friday: Saudade - mReyder

@trajektoria asked for: Reyes sharing something personal with Scott? Bonus points for fluff and romance

Reyes had made a clean break of coming to Andromeda. He’d easily left behind his past and the heavy, crushing burden that would have trapped him. He’d given it all up for Andromeda, to come here and be somebody, to make something of himself. After his brief stint in the Alliance didn’t pan out, he had been looking for the chance. Any chance, really.

But here he was, nearly 600 years later, staring at a link that he had thought long severed. Just an innocent looking little package that he’d scanned to hell and back before bringing it in. Inside the package was a plain, polished ebony box. It was the embossed crest on the top of the box that really held his attention. Well, it looked embossed but it was painted on. Trompe l’oeil, as the French would say.

That one symbol brought up too many memories, some not so bitter while others weren’t as sweet as he wanted. But there was no denying the hollow feeling they left inside. It was something Reyes had through he had worked through on the Nexus before he left.

“Reyes?”

He nearly jumped, seeing Scott sitting up on the couch with a worried expression. He glanced back at the box in his hand, tightening his grip on it. It had been so long since he shed that damned name. He was Reyes Vidal now. Scott had understood about the whole Charlatan thing. This wouldn’t be so bad. He took a deep breath, steeling himself, but Scott was already peering at the box in his hand.

“Why do you have a box with the Hanasius family crest?”

“Funny, you ask,” Reyes tried for levity as he held out the box. Thank god his hand didn’t shake. “Because they were my family.”

For a moment, Scott just stared at him. Then, the laugh Scott gave was a little wild, and Reyes felt his stomach drop out but then Scott was shaking his head, and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Thank god we’re literally in another galaxy, otherwise, I think I’d have been hauled in like in one of those old mobster movies. So, who went to a lot of trouble to get this to you?”

The heady rush of relief that coursed through Reyes almost made him sick to his stomach. But he reached out and slowly opened the box. There was the creak of an actual hinge, smooth polished wood under his fingers and when the holopic flickered into view, it was the familiar eyes and face with a salt and pepper beard that made his vision blur.

“Entiendo. Conviertete en el rey que debes ser.”

The familiar burr of his father’s voice sharpened that hollow feeling inside into a pang. Reyes suddenly missed him more than he could even comprehend. Missed all those nights they spent in the study, talking. Or when they took little trips to his father’s hometown, the sun beating down overhead as they rode ponies. The sure advice from a man who married “far above his station” was always worth Reyes’ time. His father had fallen in love, reached for the stars and found the love of his life. Suddenly, Reyes found himself missing his mother too. For all the ways that they were complete strangers to each other, there was no denying she had left her mark on him. His pragmatic drive and a streak of ruthlessness tempered with intelligence and cunning… definitely not from his father. His brains came from his mother and his heart from his father.

“Hey, hey, Reyes,” Scott was murmuring softly, pulling him into a hug. “I’m not upset you didn’t tell me you’re a stupidly rich trust fund kid.”

That got a laugh out of him, and Reyes wiped at his eyes. Damn, he’d been crying more than he realised. He wiped at his eyes a few more times before shifting back a bit to look at Scott.

“I was <i>not</i> a trust fund kid.”

“I dunno,” Scott scratched at his chin in mock thoughtfulness. “I mean there’s rich and then there Hanasius rich. I mean, wasn’t there some news story about your grandfather buying a colony or two for shits and giggles before the Alliance program got rolling?”

Reyes grimaced. “That was their money. My mother made it clear that I had to toe the line before I’d even be considered to get my inheritance.”

“And?” Scott got more comfortable on the couch, pulling him in to get comfortable again.

Reyes didn’t fight it, settling his back against Scott. “Do I look like I toe any line but my own?”

Scott gave a laugh and his smile eased some of the heartache. “No, thank god. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.”

“Odalis Vidal,” Reyes reached forward, picking up the box, the holopic flickering a bit from the motion. “He took my mother’s name when he married her. Apparently it was a huge scandal at the time. But they loved each other. And here I am.”

“And here you are,” Scott agreed. “But now I’m really curious. Why leave it all behind?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I came here to be somebody. I just wanted to be somebody under my own terms. Not what nearly 400 years of family tradition said I should be.” Reyes was quiet for a moment. “That’s why I tried the Alliance. My last name was a bigger hindrance than help. Not suited for the front-line, despite having the aptitude for it. Piloting on supply routes, I was good at it, but it’s not what I wanted.”

“Hm,” Scott nodded his head. “Can’t have you getting killed and pissing off the family.”

“Exactly. So I changed my last name and dropped off the grid for a bit. It was amazing how many so called friends dropped me when I came back and wasn’t living up to the Hanasius name.”

“You know, this kinda explains why you didn’t want to tell me some things right off the bat,” Scott sounded serious now. “You were waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

All Reyes could do was shrug. Agreeing with that out loud made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. As if he should have had a little bit more faith in Scott. That was the problem with getting badly burned the first time around. Not to mention the second, third and fourth. It tended to leave one with thick skin, layers of protection and a very healthy skepticism about people and motivations.

It had been so different with Scott, as if he couldn’t help himself. So here he was peeling back the last few layers. There wasn’t anything else that Scott didn’t know now.

“You’re a million miles away tonight,” Scott murmured as he plucked the box from Reyes’ hand to rest it on the coffee table. “Want to come back?”

Reyes gave a quiet little laugh. “I miss them. My father especially. He would have thought this to be a grand adventure.”

“And your mother?”

“Risk analysis probably not in favour of coming. Sometimes, my dad could persuade her.”

Scott was quiet for a bit. “Do you think they would have liked me?”

“My father, absolutely. My mother…” Reyes trailed off.

“Risk analysis?” Scott quipped.

“Absolutely,” Reyes laughed. “And with your dad doing work with AI, she would have told me in no uncertain terms to never see you again.”

Scott gave a little sniff of offense. “Her loss.”

“Undoubtedly.” Reyes smiled as he turned to give Scott a quick kiss. “I just never expected to get something from my father ever again.”

“He cared enough to figure out where you were coming to and send this memento. I would have liked to meet him.”

In a perfect world, Reyes mused. Soctt was shifting, reaching for something in his pocket. A few moments later, Scott whispered softly,

“Close your eyes.”

“A surprise?”

“Hopefully. C’mon.”

Reyes rolled his eyes with a smile before he did so. He felt Scott take his hand and drop something cool on it. Then he gently curled Reyes’ fingers back over it. What struck Reyes as peculiar was the deep breath Scott took, with a little huff at the end as he was bracing himself.

“Okay, you can look.”

Scott drew his hand away, fingers trailing down over Reyes’ arm. For a moment, all Reyes did was look at his closed hand. It felt round, cool and had a pleasant weight on his palm. He unfurled his fingers, the black metal looking matte until Reyes tilted his hand and then like it was a ring of the night sky glimmering on his hand.

A ring.

He stared at it for a bit, brain trying to think of any possible explanation for this and only coming back to one. When he looked at Scott, he found the brunet nervously chewing on the corner of his lip.

“Scott, are you sure?” Reyes glanced back at the ring on his hand. “This is—”

“Marry me. Please.” Scott blurted out, a blush coming to his cheeks. “Oh fuck, I had something better but I can’t remember it now. I mean, I didn’t even plan on doing this now, but I couldn’t wait any more and —”

Reyes couldn’t hold that ring any tighter in his hand as he kissed Scott, leaning into him. Scott’s hands slid down his torso, settling on his waist, thumbs gently rubbing against the jut of hipbones. Never in his life, would Reyes ever get tired of the feeling of Scott’s stubble against his skin, those plush lips and just him. After a few minutes, he drew back, taking in Scott’s grin and the twinkle in those blue eyes.

“So… that’s a yes?”

Reyes raised a brow as he took the ring and slid it on before giving Scott a quick kiss. “Just say when and I’ll make it happen.”

Scott looked pleased for all of ten seconds before he frowned. “Uh, if Drack asks, just make something up.”

“Drack?” Now Reyes was confused.

“Yeah. Pretty sure if you tell him that I basically begged you to marry me, I’ll never hear the end of it. He gave me enough shit about that first Pathfinder meeting I ever held.”

“What were his words? Begging is an interesting strategy?” Reyes laughed as Scott groaned, giving him a wink. “That’s not how you should be begging, mi amor.”

“Oh, my apologies,” Scott licked his lips, looking at Reyes through his lashes. “Please enlighten me, sir.”

Reyes gave a slow smile as he leaned in to kiss Scott again.

#mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #mryder #reyes #reyes vidal #mreyder #ficlet prompt friday #fanfic #writing #trajektoria

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ladyseaheart1668 · 6 years

Text

Endless Summer Book 4: Daughter of Vaanu (Chapter 2)

Description: Alodia has returned from wherever she’s been. But celebrations may be premature.

CW: Strong language. Just take that as assumed.

Chapter 2: The Long Night

Aleister

For a pregnant moment, the only sound is my son, wailing with irritation at having been awakened. Grace instinctively puts her arms around him and bounces from side to side, stroking his back, but even she isn't taking her eyes off Alodia.

“Alodia!” Jake breaks the stunned silence, dropping his glass and racing to take his wife in his arms, sinking to his knees with her tangled in his embrace. Alodia holds him back, pressing her face into his shoulder. Jake's whole body spasms with sobs. The rest of us start to edge closer to the treeline as Jake pulls back to press his mouth to hers, tears streaming down his face. “Alodia...Princess...are you real? Are you here? Please be real...”

“I'm here,” she murmurs back. “I think I'm real...”

“...Holy shit!” Craig finally exclaims. “It worked!”

A part of me can't believe that after five years, anything that comes out of Craig's mouth could be absurd enough to stop me in my tracks, but somehow he keeps finding ways to top himself.

“What in the heavens are you talking about?!”

“Alodia's back, dude! Five years we've been doing this voodoo, and it's finally paid off!”

“Wha...voodoo?! For heavens' sake, it was a ritual of remembrance! A way to honor our old friend, not ressurrect her!”

“I dunno,” Zahra murmurs. “I'm looking at pretty convincing evidence that it might have been a little more than that.”

“I think I'm with Zahra on this,” Quinn agrees.

“Do you honestly believe we've been unknowingly casting magic spells for the last five years?! Why would it suddenly work now?!”

“Aleister, shut up!” My head snaps towards Diego, who is kneeling beside Jake and Alodia, stroking the back of her head tenderly. Something in his voice makes any desire to snap back at him wither. He turns his attention back on Alodia. “...Allie? Are you okay?”

Alodia peers over Jake's shoulder, casting her eyes over her surroundings. She spots the manorhouse on the hill. “Are...are we on Sharktooth Isle?”

“No...we're on the main island...The Celestial...” he trails off. “...Wait...what's the last thing you remember?”

“Th...the last thing I really vividly remember is being on The Celestial's rooftop. I touched the crystal to let Vaanu take me back. ...It...all gets a little fuzzy after that...”

We're all silent for a moment. Then Raj pipes up. “Hey, why don't we go inside and see what's left over from the feast. We can bring you up to speed while you eat.”

Alodia offers us a shaky smile. “I...think I'd like that...” She yelps a little as Jake shifts, wrapping his arm over her shoulder and lifting her up in a bridal carry. “Woah! Jake, I'm pretty sure I can walk...”

“Princess, if you think I'm ever letting you go again, you're nuts.” Alodia doesn't reply, but the way she winds her other arm around his neck strikes me as consent. We all start to file toward the manorhouse. Estela hesitates as we pass the pool bar, where the twelfth cocktail is waiting. I pause, watching my half-sister as she studies the glass. Finally, she plucks it off the counter, marches down the beach and dumps it into the sea.

“What was that about?” I ask softly as she returns.

“It's what we do every year,” she murmurs back. “...Call me superstitious, but with Alodia standing in front of us, it feels like bad luck not to complete the ritual.”

“Do you really think--”

“I don't know what to think, Aleister. I didn't think this island had anything left for us but sad memories. If there's still any magic at all left here...if it's enough to really bring her back...”

“...If there is any magic left, we shouldn't tempt it. ...Perhaps you are right.” She nods, and we silently pick up the pace, catching up with the others.

At least whatever has happened to her over these past five years does not seem to have damaged Alodia's appetite. We get her into the manorhouse and Raj fixes her a plate of leftovers, which she immediately tears into like she hasn't seen a morsel in days. I doubt she even tastes it. Jake and Diego stay close on either side of her, passing glances between them. Jake's arm stays firmly draped over her shoulder. Ocassionally, Diego glances over at me and Grace.

When Alodia starts to slow down a little, I clear my throat. “...I am sure you must have questions about now...”

Alodia pauses, a forkful of citrus jasmine rice halfway to her mouth. She lowers her hand. “I'm sure all of you do, too. ...I'm sure a lot of our questions are the same.” She pauses for a moment. “What year is it?”

“2023. Five years since we left La Huerta. It was January of 2018 when we got back to the United States. ...My father was arrested and convicted of kidnapping as well as several counts of murder and attempted murder. He is currently living in a hospital for the criminally insane. By some miracle, which I suspect Iris had a hand in, Estela and I were named as joint heirs in his will. We each own half of Rourke International, and the whole of La Huerta. ...It's officially a private nature sanctuary now. The Vaanti are left in peace, and the eleven of us have come here every summer since you left us.”

“...Then...the Vaanti survived...?”

“Varyyn abdicated his throne,” Diego adds. “Seraxa is the elyyshar now. ...Varyyn is living with me in London. But yeah, in general, the Vaanti are thriving. ...Though we haven't seen hide nor hair of the Anachronists in five years...”

Alodia's hand finds Jake. “...What about Mike...?”

I see Jake's fingers tighten around her hand. “...He's alive, Princess. We found him Stateside. ...Lundgren, too. But we beat him. He's locked up for good.”

Her free hand flies to her mouth, tears gathering in her eyes. “...I can't believe I managed that...I didn't know if I would be able to...I was basically begging Vaanu to turn back that moment...”

“...Guess that explains why Lundgren got brought back, too,” he murmurs with a rueful smile. “I ain't complaining, long as I got Mike back...”

A tense silence settles over the table. There is a proverbial elephant in the room, the one big question that no one dares to ask, because we somehow know that Alodia will not have an answer for us: how did she get here? And then the follow-up question to that one, whose answer I dread: is she back to stay, or will we lose her again?

It's Zahra who finally braves the unknown. “...Okay, so...you don't remember any of where you've been for the last five years?”

“...I wasn't even sure how much time had passed,” Alodia answers. “I only knew that time had passed at all because you all look different enough that I knew it wasn't the same night I left. ...Plus Grace has a baby strapped to her chest...”

“Oh!” Grace exclaims. “Goodness, you haven't even met Reginald...”

“...Not officially. But I've seen him. In one of the visions Vaanu gave me.”

Diego sighs. “...Jake...I think this might be a good time to tell everyone what's been happening since the Prism Gate incident. And...” he glances at me and Grace in turn. “...it might be time to talk about the Prism Gate incident in general.”

“...Ohhh...” Raj winces. “...Did you guys see that, too?”

“I did,” Craig confirms. “And Z. We...figured it would come up here tonight.”

“Wait...so did everyone see the same thing we saw?” Diego looks around the table. All around, nodding heads confirm it. Alodia slowly raises her hand.

“...Um...I didn't...”

I run a hand through my hair, exhaling nervously. Slowly, I explain about my father's rivalry with Silas Prescott, and Prescott's crystalline-powered project called the Prism Gate, and its failure on the night of its unveiling. ...I slowly fold in my suspicions about the crystal's origins. Alodia watches me silently, her expression unreadable, which is more than a little unnerving. In all the time I knew her, she was never guarded with her emotions. I realize in retrospect that because we needed her to be warm and open then, that was who she became. But the thought of her being different from the girl we knew then scares me.

“...But that doesn't make sense,” Raj points out. “After Alodia merged with Vaanu, the crystals disappeared.”

“The crystals on the island disappeared. Silas Prescott said in his speech that he and his wife discovered the crystal on an expedition twenty-five years ago. And people were coming and going from the resort here well before the eruption...”

“...The island itself existed for millions of years,” Alodia confirms softly. “...I may not have come into being until the eleven of you entered the time bubble, but the island was here.”

“Right. I don't know how much power such a crystal would have outside the island, but evidently, it has enough to cause quite an explosion...”

“...And you think that's the reason Alodia was able to come back?” Michelle asks.

“I don't know.”

“Is she going to stay back?” Sean adds. “...Or is Vaanu basically broken again?”

“Surely you don't think I know the answer to that,” I answer irritably.

“No, I don't, Aleister. ...But it's a question someone needed to ask aloud. We're all thinking it.”

Silence settles over the table again, heavy with dread. Diego finally speaks again. “Look...Jake and I have some news. We were waiting for the right moment to share it. And I don't think we're going to find a better one.”

With obvious reluctance, he stands and retreats from the room. He returns a few minutes later with an old shoebox in hand.

“What is that?” Alodia asks.

“...It's...mementoes from my past. ...From...our past, Allie. I was watching the Prism Gate coverage from my parents' place in Riverside. Over the next few days...things started appearing that shouldn't have existed. ...Evidence of the past we built up for you before the cycle was broken. Our childhood in Riverside together.”

Jake rubs a hand over his face. “...There's...there's also a missing persons report. On you, Princess. It's a cold case. Five years old. Alodia Chandler, disappeared the summer before her senior year at Hartfeld University. My sister's a cop in LA, and she says she found it cleaning out the cold cases. ...I never told her what happened to you, but I did let her know I'd been married to a woman named Alodia...”

No one speaks for a moment. Diego puts the box down on the table in front of us and lifts the lid. One by one, he lifts out pieces of evidence. Pictures of the two of them as children. At their senior prom. A newspaper clipping about a junior gymnastics team, complete with a photo of Alodia and four other small, slim girls holding up medals and grinning into the camera. A friendship bracelet of silky woven threads. A birthday card.

“...The big thing for me is that I can remember growing up with you in Riverside,” Diego says softly. “...And I can remember growing up without you. ...I remember the small disaster that was our senior prom, and I can remember spending my senior prom at home alone...”

Alodia's placid facade starts to crack. With shaking hands, she reaches across the table and pulls the birthday card toward her, opening it carefully. Her mouth twists a little as she starts to read aloud.

“...'Happy 18th Birthday to my favorite dork. Hope it's more fun than a laser battle in space with pirates and dinosaurs. May the force be with you. Love, Allie'...”

Her voice breaks, catching in her throat. She takes a breath, then another, then promptly dissolves into tears. Jake pulls her into his arms.

“You're okay, Princess. You're gonna be okay.”

He can't know that. But I don't believe I should say that in front of her. Not when she is clinging to Jake as if he is anchoring her to existence, trembling so violently that I can feel the vibrations through the table between us.

I find Grace's hand and grip it, perhaps just a little too tightly, but she doesn't complain. She squeezes back. I glance over and see that tears are slipping down her dark cheeks as well. Quinn and Raj have also given in to the flood of emotion filling the dining room. It feels strangely like grief, even though the very person we're grieving is sitting right in front of us. Then, so abruptly that I don't even register it at first, the mood shifts from heavy sorrow to urgency and alarm. Michelle's eyes go wide.

“Jake, let her go.”

Jake hasn't felt the shift yet. He grips his wife tighter. “I ain't letting her go.”

“Jake, she's about to hyperventilate! Get off her!” She leaps up, running around to the other side of the table as Jake pulls back sharply. Alodia, her breath coming in shallow, violent gasps, abruptly pitches forward, crumpling to the floor.

“Alodia!” Jake cries, barely managing to break her fall. Diego drops down beside her, and Michelle kneels at her other side.

“All right, everyone except Jake and Diego out!” she orders. “Give her some space, please!”

“You heard the doctor.” Estela takes Quinn gently by the shoulders, leading her out. “Come on, everyone.”

We reluctantly trickle out of the dining room, gathering in a crowd just outside. A scream from Alodia follows us out. We collectively grimace. The agony in her voice is unmistakable.

“...Dammit,” Estela growls. “What the hell is happening?”

No one answers. What could we say? It isn't as if we have any idea. For all I know, Craig was right, and our little ritual of remembrance was indeed some sort of magic spell we were weaving without our knowledge. Or...more likely, it has to do with Silas Prescott's Prism Gate. It was after the Prism Gate incident that Diego started to find evidence of her existence before the island.

Another cry of agony goes through us like a knife. Quinn chokes, pressing a hand to her mouth. Of course, Reginald starts to wail again. Grace sighs. “I...should feed him...” She looks hesitantly at the door to the dining room. I shake my head.

“I don't think anyone will flinch if you feed him here,” I murmur. She nods, and sits down against the wall, opening her blouse. I sit down beside her while she exposes her breast and guides our son to latch on. In spite of the fearful sounds coming from the dining room, he settles down, suckling contentedly, his tiny fingertips working the fabric of his mother's blouse. I scoot closer to my wife, stroking my son's head, capped with a dark layer of fuzzy hair. ...Would he exist without the woman screaming in the next room?

The dining room doors burst open. Jake emerges with Alodia cradled in his arms, Diego and Michelle close behind. Sean catches Michelle's arm as she passes.

“What's happening? What's wrong with her?”

“I don't know, Sean,” she answers grimly. “Right now, though, she's in a lot of pain, and all I think any of us can do is help her ride it out. ...I'm going to get my med kit. I don't know if I dare to give her anything, but I need to keep an eye on her vitals.”

Sean reluctantly lets her go as Jake and Diego disappear into Jake's room. Eight Catalysts are left fearful and bewildered in their wake. Eventually, it seems there is nothing else to do but drift back to our rooms and try to sleep.

* * *

I sleep for an hour or two, and I think Grace does, too. But when I wake again, around two in the morning, she is standing over Reggie's crib, peering down at him. I come up behind her, winding my arms around her waist. She leans back into me.

“...Do you think she's going to be okay?” she asks me.

“I don't know,” I admit. “...I suppose it depends on what we would consider okay...”

“...I'm not sure...”

“If she rejoins with Vaanu and disappears again in the morning, does that make her okay?”

“...I don't know. ...But I know it would make Jake...not okay...”

That gives me pause. “...He has not been doing well. I know Diego said as much, but actually seeing it...”

“What will happen to him if she does disappear again?”

“...We'll take care of him. All of us. For her sake, we'll take better care of him than we have been.” I kiss her cheek. “...Do you want to look in on her?”

“We probably shouldn't leave Reggie alone...”

“He's asleep. And we can turn on the baby monitor.” I reach over to flip the switch on the monitor clipped to the edge of the crib. The light turns green. I pick up the other and gently lead Grace away from our room towards Jake's.

The lights in his room are dimmed, but not off. Jake and Diego lie still on the double bed, Alodia sandwiched between them with her face pressed into Jake's chest. The two men have their arms draped over her and each other. Sean sits on the floor, leaning against the wall. Michelle is curled up with her head on his lap, a throw blanket draped over her shoulders. He rolls his head towards us as we enter, bringing a hand up to rub his eyes.

“Hey...” he mumbles.

“...She's still here?” Grace asks.

“Yeah. She's still here. And she's sleeping, sort of...” Before I can clarify his meaning, Alodia twitches on the bed, whimpering. Jake and Diego both startle awake and immediately set to quieting her, whispering comfortingly and stroking her hair. It puts me in mind of the first time Reggie got sick, when Grace and I kept vigil through the night with our son on the bed between us. After a moment, she stills. Diego glances up at us, nodding briefly in acknowlegment of our presence. Jake doesn't take his eyes off his wife.

Sean sighs. “...I think the pain has eased a little, anyway. Michelle thinks she's still in distress, though. But her vitals are strong.”

“She is still in distress,” Diego mutters. “That's clear from here. ...Goddammit, I wish I knew what was happening. I just feel so helpless...”

“Perhaps a few of us should travel ahead to Elyys'tel in the morning,” I suggest. “Let the Vaanti know what's happening. At least Varyyn ought to know. If she's still struggling a few days from now, it will be difficult to travel...”

“...I don't want him to worry,” Diego concedes.

“Yeah,” Jake sighs. “...Can't have that.”

“...Sean?” Grace asks. “What are you thinking?” I look over at Sean, whose brow is wrinkled with concentration. He appears to be studying intently the socked foot stretched in front of him.

“...Diego...you were saying you have memories of her before the island? ...That they just recently started coming to you?”

“Yeah. After the Prism Gate thing. ...Why?”

“...Because one just came to me. ...Sophomore year at Hartfeld. Second game of the year. The dance team was selling hot dogs and bratwurst at the game. I saw her while I was warming up. She was showing off some gymnastics moves. Using the bleacher as a balance beam.”

“...She was in our European History class...” Grace murmurs. “The one we had together, Sean. With Professor Franco. She got into that argument with him over whether Lady Jane Grey should really be considered an English Queen.”

As they are speaking, a memory drifts to the surface of my mind. A blonde-haired young woman in the campus coffee shop, sipping from a paper cup with a cardboard sleeve while pouring over a history textbook...entering the library a few yards ahead of me and pausing to hold the door open...chatting with Diego on the tarmac outside Jake's plane as we prepared to board in Costa Rica...

“...She was there in Costa Rica,” I murmur. “When we boarded the plane for La Huerta.”

Jake's breath shudders. “Oh, God...Goddamn...I saw her boarding pass...I checked her passport...” Alodia suddenly goes rigid, crying out. Jake sits up sharply, taking her hand. “I'm here, Princess. Just hang on. Everything's gonna be okay.”

Michelle sits up blearily, pushing the blanket off her shoulders and fumbling for her med kit. I'm not sure if she realizes that Grace and I are here before she's stumbled over to the bed and begun examining her patient. Sean sighs.

“She's been doing that all night.” He shakes his head bemusedly. “She doesn't even flinch. She accuses me of pushing myself too hard on the field, but an intern's hours make my job look cushy, even factoring in the risk of head injury.”

“...It's been a long night already,” I murmur. “And I think it's only going to get longer.”

Jake

In spite of Aleister's prediction, Alodia seems to finally fall into a restful sleep not long after three in the morning. Diego drops off not long after, still spooning his best friend from behind while I cradle her head against my chest. I don't get much sleep myself. I'm too scared that she'll disappear the moment I close my eyes. That this is all some cruel dream. I have dreams like this sometimes. The first year or two after La Huerta, I had them a couple times a week. I'd be walking on a beach on the island and she would appear in front of me, tell me how much she loved me, how much she missed me. We would make love and lie together in the afterglow, and she would slowly slip away as my traitor brain forced me to wake up and face reality.

...The others were never with us in those dreams. And she was never suffering, never in pain like she has been all night. But that's not much of a comfort, even if it does seem like evidence that she's real. About the time the sky starts to turn gray with the early light of dawn, exhaustion wins out, and I drop off.

The next thing I am aware of is a hand gently stroking my hair. Followed quickly by the fact that my arms are empty. I gasp sharply, my eyes flying to the face above me. Alodia, seated on the edge of the bed beside me, gazes down at me as she runs her fingers through my hair. She puts the index finger of her free hand to her lips and bends to brush my mouth with hers. She nods at my left. I turn my head to see Diego, huddled on the other side of the bed. She gestures with her head to the balcony, taking my hand and standing. I rise slowly, letting her draw me over.

We've barely made it out to the balcony and shut the sliding door behind us before need overtakes me and I pull her into my arms, kissing her hungrily. She winds her arms around my neck, kissing back. She tastes just how I remember her, fits in my arms so perfectly. The sparks that fly between us, the way the earth shifts under our feet, the fiery heat of our bodies together is intensely familiar. We're both breathless when we break apart, pressing our foreheads together.

“...Five years, and you still kiss me like it's our wedding day.”

“There's five years' worth of missing you in that kiss, Princess.”

“...I haven't been replaced, then?”

“No one could replace you. Ever. I won't claim I've been celibate, or that I haven't loved anyone I've taken to bed. But none of them could hold a candle to you. No one made me think I could stop running like you did. And ain't a one of them loved me back as much as you did.”

“...I almost can't believe you still love me after everything...”

“What do you mean by everything?”

“...Everything I did...”

“You mean saving the fucking world?”

“...I left you.”

“Because you were saving the fucking world.”

She smiles weakly, but it doesn't last. “...No one has really smiled since I turned up here.”

“Yeah, well, we were all kinda shocked at first. And scared you were gonna vanish. Then you started screaming in pain and that didn't exactly put anyone in the mood to tell knock-knock jokes...”

“Did I scare you?”

“Did it scare me to see the woman I haven't stopped loving in five years screaming and crying in pain for hours when I couldn't do anything but try to help her ride it out?”

“...Ask a stupid question, I guess.”

I feel the first ghost of a smile on my lips. I reach up to cup the side of her face in one hand. “At least you seem better this morning.” I sigh. “...I admit, I ain't had the easiest time of it since I lost you. We'd just got married. We were supposed to have our whole lives together. And then just like that...nothing.”

“...There was just no way to have it all, Jake. Letting Project Janus go ahead would have remade the world in Rourke's image. I could have stayed here with you and the others forever, but that would have meant letting the world burn. ...The eleven of you mean everything to me. ...And the price for giving you all everything you deserved was losing myself.”

“...But...now you're here...” I let the question hang unspoken in the air. She is quiet for a very long time. I don't let go of her for a moment. When she speaks again, her voice is low and husky with emotion.

“...I made the choice that I thought was right because all of you deserved everything. I put on a brave face because I didn't want any of you thinking I was doing something I didn't want to do out of fear or panic. ...But don't think for a second that I wasn't fucking furious. It was right, but it wasn't goddamn fair. ...I wanted to exist. I wanted to stay with all of you. I wanted the life that had been imagined for me, and I wanted to have it all without giving up the world. ...I wanted our little cottage by the sea, maybe a few of your kids if you were game. I wanted to look in the mirror one day and see the Endless staring back at me with a wrinkled and balding Jake McKenzie beside me.”

“I'd wince at the image, but it's what I wanted, too. These last five years, I've pictured us slowly growing old together. I wanted to hug you to my beer gut and tell you that you were beautiful while you fretted over every wrinkle and every gray hair. Every liver spot...” I grin a little and tap her chin. “Every hair sprouting where you didn't want it to...”

She laughs. “Never has chin hair sounded so romantic.”

“There'd be hot flashes, digestive distress, hemorroids, flatulence...”

“Don't push it, Top Gun.”

I chuckle, but it quickly dies in my throat. “...I don't think you realize how badly I wanted it. I'd take all the gas and backaches just to have you beside me again.”

“...I gave my energy back to Vaanu so that it could finally leave Earth. ...But after all that time, living as myself, living as the Endless, loving all of you, being loved back by all of you, needing you and being needed by you...I was too much of my own person to fully merge with Vaanu. Trying to take me back with it was like...trying to but a baby back in the womb once they've been born. We broke apart not long after leaving. That is...Vaanu released the part of our consciousness that had become Alodia. I...didn't have a body per se...but my consciousness was always reaching back to the earth. To all of you. ...I couldn't fully get back right away, though. Then...suddenly...I felt energy. The same kind of energy that had willed me into being in the first place. The next thing I knew, I was falling...and then I was here. On La Huerta, and all of you were gathered around a bonfire. And...now I have memories of an entire childhood spent in Riverside, growing up beside Diego, doing gymnastics and dance, majoring in history at Hartfeld...getting trapped on La Huerta...That's why I was in that state last night. ...All those memories rushing back was kind of overwhelming, and...it hurt. A lot.”

“Thank god it's over. But...Alodia...” I take her face in my hands. “...Does this mean you're back? For good?”

She bites her lip. “I...think so...? I mean, I know Aleister was talking about the Prism Gate thing, and if it really is powered by one La Huerta's crystals, then it seems like a pretty safe bet that's what brought me back. If what I remember from being merged with Vaanu is correct, that crystal will still have a great deal of power, enough to do some damage if it's used incorrectly. But nothing on the level of the Island's Heart or Vaanu itself. ...And I don't think that any amount of damage it could to would be undone if I merged with it. I'm not even sure that I could.” She smiles at me. There's something a little anxious in her smile, but it doesn't seem forced. “...As far as I can tell, Top Gun, you're stuck with me.”

Tears seem appropriate right now. I can feel them in my chest and my throat as I grab hold of her and pull her close. But instead, I find myself laughing. I clutch her in my arms and rock her joyfully, laughing like a madman.

“Princess, you crazy fucking miracle. Goddamn, I shoulda known you'd fight your way back if you had half a chance.”

“I love you, Jake. I love you so much.” We pull back and our lips meet in a wild frenzy, everything we've stored up over five years of separation, grief, anger, heartache, and longing turning to desire. She bites at my earlobe, her voice husky as she whispers, “I want you...”

I reluctantly pull back, just enough to press my forehead to hers. “I want you, too. ...But why don't we get the others up to speed? Way you were last night, there's no way anyone's gonna give us any privacy before they know you're okay.”

She laughs. “Right now, they could watch for all I care. ...But you're right. And I do want to see them again now that my head's on straight. I've got five years to catch up on.”

#Endless Summer #play choices #choices stories you play #pixelberry choices #Diego Ricardo Ortiz Soto #Jake McKenzie #sean gayle #raj bhandarkar #Craig Hsiao #aleister rourke #michelle nguyen #grace hall #zahra namazi #estela montoya #quinn kelly

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