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#belated Talk Like a Pirate Day post
wolfgang1097 · 5 days
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I meant to post THIS in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, but crud, I'm a day late. Oh well. I swear Black looks so badass in that pirate attire he is fantasizing. Anyhow, happy belated Talk Like a Pirate Day, I guess.
Taken from the fourth strip from the first portion of "Spy vs. Spy Casebook of Craziness." I do not claim ownership of any content. Spy vs. Spy belongs to the defunct MAD magazine and Antonio Prohias.
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ducktoonsfanart · 3 days
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Darkwing Duck as Darkwing Doubloon vs Negaduck - Pirate Donald Duck with Fearsome Four, Launchpad, Fenton and kids - Huey, Dewey, Louie and Gosalyn as pirates ducks - Pirate ducks - Pirate AU - Happy Talking Day with a pirate - Music to My Eyes, Culture Couture and Pinups Please - Duckblr Fashion Week - Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack AU - My version
Sorry for the delay, but in order not to miss this event, I even connected this with a very interesting day of the year called International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is celebrated every year on September 19, at least in the Western Hemisphere of the world. And being a fan of pirates myself as well as the pirate lifestyle and movies (especially Pirates of the Caribbean), I decided to draw my favorite characters from the Duckverse, but dressed as pirates as they wore during the golden age of piracy (between 1670 and 1730), as well as later until 1800.
Yes, two episodes from two different series came to my mind, the episode "Darkwing Doubloon" from Darkwing Duck and "Captain Donald Duck" from Quack Pack so I combined it into one, but I drew two drawings. The first drawing shows a sword fight and a fight between Darkwing Doubloon (the supposed ancestor of Darkwing Duck who was also a pirate) and the scary pirate Captain Negaduck, although this is a redraw from that episode, but they are fighting on a ship, and I used my own style a bit. Another drawing shows Donald Duck as a pirate captain along with the kids, the Fearsome Four (Bushroot, Liquidator, Quackerjack and Megavolt), Fenton Crackshell and Launchpad McQuack dressed as pirates (except for Quackerjack, he's a jester) and they're all friendly. I used their pirate outfits from the aforementioned Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack episodes, and Donald's pirate outfit from the Disney Lorcana cards. Yes, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck and Gosalyn Mallard are all teenagers together and from the present day, and check out pictures of the pirate and sailor outfits they're wearing here: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/662818207696076800/although-im-late-and-i-apologize-for-that#notes
Yes, I drew everything in my own style. Plus there's a treasure that pirates love, and Donald also likes to play the little accordion, a well-known instrument that pirates used to sing. Otherwise, a little pirate songs on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92DlHJ3U5O8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfpmhdsuE_k
Yes, unfortunately due to quite a number of my commitments I didn't have time to do certain themes for Duckblr Fashion Week, so I combined three themes into two drawings. I hope that's ok?
I hope you like these drawings and feel free to like and reblog this, but please don't copy my same ideas without mentioning me. Thank you! Also this is dedicated to @tealottie, as the organizer of Duckblr Fashion Week. And happy belated Talk Like a Pirate Day once again! ARRRGHH!
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inked-out-trees · 2 years
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Bit belated on this but some questions for the writing ask meme:
Do you listen to music while you write? If so, share a song that’s been inspiring you lately.
Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?
In Bean's Beans, what is a happy, post-fic headcanon you have about Robert and Chris?
hi ho! always great to see you in the inbox. remind me to uno reverse the writing asks one of these days :)
Do you listen to music while you write?
often yes i do! during a wip it'll probably be the accompanying playlist (ttau does have one wink wonk) or perhaps something that matches the mood that i'm trying to get into. two songs NOT on the playlist but i've been using very specifically to write are the ocean grew hands to hold me by the wonder years (an attempt to describe its general sound and structure for a different, fictional song) and still though we should dance by radnor & lee (marriage and joy).
Is there a trope you haven't written yet but really want to?
well i am currently delighted to slip one of my favourite angst tropes into ttau, fulfilling a longtime desire to cause immeasurable grief and also be very evil. beyond that i don't know about tropes per se, but there are several au shapes i'd love to deal in if only my brain and hands were strong enough to write Everything At Once. recent "cool aus i'd write one day" include ghost hunting / paranormal, pirate (the lookouts infected me), space pirate (same can be said for firefly ngl), and other action/adventure fun cool stuff.
on a "totally unrelated" note, if anyone has some silly favourite action/adventure movie recommendations to share i would love to add some enrichment to my enclosure. bonus points if they have family feels.
Bean's Beans post-fic headcanon for Robert and Chris!
i think their journey back to friendship is a long and awkward process, not linear by any means, but once they talk about it in the daylight (when they're not trapped in a coffee shop together) and get a handle on maybe trying to learn each other again, things ease up a little bit. in between the still-numerous fights they have these moments of perfect synthesis, where they have the same reactions to things or insult someone simultaneously and it's just like. a little off-putting but also they look at each other with the same knowing look they used all those years ago and it almost does feel like nothing ever changed in the first place. (and then they both get boonked by it and panic and never speak about it again.)
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love-elizabeth · 2 years
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Earlier today, I found a few more Renfest pictures on my computer that I never shared and decided I’d share them the next time I had a reason to post something pirate-y. And now I’ve just learned that yesterday was #talklikeapirateday so I’m gonna just share these now, especially since the reel I posted of making this corset has been so popular! 🏴‍☠️ Happy belated Talk Like a Pirate Day! 🧵 Corset pattern: @simplicity_creative @americanduchess S8162 Fabric for corset and skirt: @goodwillint @goodwillmanasota Necklace: @fairywood_grove Shirt: Goodwill Other materials: Thread and ribbon from @scrapitupcincy 🧵 Grommets and bias tape from @joann_stores 🧵Zip ties as boning from @loweshomeimprovement 🧵 🪡 ✁ #renfest #renaissancefestival #history #historicalcostuming #costume #corset #stays #fashion #renfaire #1700s #18thcentury #secondhandfashion #upcycle #sewing #imadethis #florida #centralflorida #dadecity #pirate #pirateship #milkmaidbraids #memade #diyfashion #secondhandfirst #vintagefashionnotvintagevalues #simplicity8162 #s8162 #handmadewithjoann #lowesgoals (at Bay Area Renaissance Festival) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiwHgNPoR2T/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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missallsundaes · 3 years
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Kinktober 2021 | Day 27 | Jealousy MINORS DO NOT INTERACT
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(belated kinktober prompts, posting the ones I didn’t now.)
Buggy The Clown x F!Reader (afab, wearing a skirt and panties, mention of afab genitals) WC | 1501 CW | Jealousy, misuse of devil fruit abilities, detached limbs, punishment (cockwarming), exhibitionism, teasing, fingering, oral (reader receiving), oral during penetration, creampie, marking, hickies, overstimulation.
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Maybe you had pushed a button, but you weren't the one flirting with him, quite the opposite, the red haired yonko leaning over you pinning you against the wall, his cute teasing words making you flush. He didn't know your Captain was also your boyfriend, surely. Not the way he was looking at you with half lidded eyes, wagging eyebrows suggestively at you.
“You'll make Captain Buggy jealous if you keep this up, Shanks,” you said, with a giggle, leaning your head up to look at the pirate.
Unfortunately, the only part of the conversation that Buggy caught as he rounded the corner was Shanks with his arm above you, and your sweet laugh.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Buggy shouted, rage evident in his high pitched shriek, “I leave for two seconds and you're off with this prick?”
“Buggy, nothings happening between us,” you started, pushing Shanks away, hand on his exposed chest. “He’s just a handsome flirt!”
Shanks Perked up, “You think I’m handsome?” You turned from Buggy, shooting him a warning glance, before looking back at your boyfriend.
“Buggy it didn't mean anything,” before you were even finished he had grabbed you, throwing you over his shoulder and carrying you around, trapping you in the stairwell that led below deck.
“Bugs, it wasn't anything, I promise,” You said again as he advanced towards you in the dark of the stairwell, his height towering over you, hands fumbling with the zip of his pants, “I just said he was handsome—” you whined, knowing exactly what your punishment was going to be for making your Captain jealous. He lifted you skirt, moving your underwear to the side, detaching his cock and sliding it inside you.
“I don't care if he's handsome,” the clown spat, voice tinged with his possessive anger, “you belong to me and me alone,” he seethed.”Let's see how you like talking to him with my cock inside you.” He pulled your panties back into position, zipping his own trousers up and patting your ass to shoo you out of the corridor.
Blush across your face, you sat down at the table that Shanks had joined when Buggy carried you away.
“Oh,” Shanks said with a charming smile, “I didn't expect you back so soon,” He looked at your neck, expecting it to be at least marked, “How’d you get away from your captor,” he laughed.
Buggy sat next to him on the other side, fire in his eyes, “I wouldn't take to be so possessive if you didn't always take my things,” He seethed, cracking his knuckles as he leaned back in his chair. You could feel him controlling his cock inside you, and you bit your lip, trying not to moan, picking up a tankard of ale to hide your face as the blush deepened at the feeling of him inside you, the stretch of your panties as he pulled out and fucked you while you sat at the table surrounded by the pirates you called your crewmates, and of course, the person who got you into this, Shanks.
You hid your face behind the tankard as you gasped silently, he smirked, watching your face behind your drink, pressing firmly inside you before stopping his motions, leaving you wanting more, but forced just to cockwarm him. You almost whined from the sudden stop of friction, biting your lip to stop yourself, forced to join back into the conversation as Shanks asked you a question that snapped you back into the real world.
The party went late into the night, but despite your sleepy eyes and drowsy head, you knew you weren’t going to be able to rest yet. Throughout the whole night, everytime he got jealous of the attention you gave to Shanks, or vice versa, he would torture you with slow languid strokes from inside, your were constantly pressing your thighs together, trying to keep the slick dripping down your thighs contained, your panties long taken by the Captain to toy with in his pocket.
It wasn't until Cabaji helped you up when your knees buckled and caused you to fall; you hadn’t noticed Buggy’s finger independently maneuvering between your legs until it pressed against your clit, sending a new shock wave through your body, that the crew sent you off to your room, assuming that you had had too much to drink. Too much to drink would be preferable to deal with rather than the tauntingly slow circles your Captain was rolling on your clit as you tried to say goodnight to your crewmates.
Buggy must have excused himself after you, or maybe just snuck away from the drunken crew, but he grabbed your hips from behind.
His face visible in your peripherals as his voice spoke, deep and sultry in your ear, “Did you like that, baby?” You felt the butterflies in your stomach as the digit in your panties teased you, his voice doing more for you than he would know.
“Buggyyy,” you whined, leaning against his chest, “You tease too much, please, I wasn't even flirting.” You caught his scarf as you turned to face him, pulling him to your face and kissing him, full of your lust for him, the passion behind the hours of cock warming and edging on the tip of your tongue. “You know I only have eyes for you, you big, jealous, clown,” you spoke against his lips, your nose nuzzling against his.
He lifted you up into the kiss, wrapping your legs around his waist and walking blindly to your bedroom, where he kicked the door open, pushing you against the wall. He pulled his gloves off between your bodies, looking away from the kiss only to see what he was doing. His finger, slick with your juices, returning to his hand. He sucked his finger clean, sliding his now bare hands under your top, pushing your bra up to cup your breasts and tweak your nipples.
He was obsessed with your tits, hands on them every second he got the chance. This was no exception, he was teasing you relentlessly, pulling at your stiff buds and twisting them between his fingers, kneading your soft globes between his hands. You pulled your shirt off of your head, hands behind you unclasping the bra he had pushed out of the way and throwing both garments to the floor. You tossed his hat off of his head and to the pile on the ground, pulling his scarf from around his neck and tossing it to join the rest, before pulling his shirt over his head, him not missing a beat and detaching his wrists so he didn’t have to stop fondling you.
Your skirt pushed up to your waist, you felt him lifting you with his forearms on your hips, setting your thighs on his shoulders. Your back against the cold wall you arched your body as his kiss met your slick cunt, his skilled tongue lapping at your already overstimulated clit. He continued to fuck you with his disconnected cock, moaning into your clit, and eagerly pulling at your sore nipples to send you over the edge into your first orgasm after hours of being edged.
Barely stopping for a moment after you came, he tossed you to the bed, hips sliding with ease between your legs to meet his groin to his cock again, Able to put more force and pressure into fucking you now that he was joined again. He gripped your thighs, using them as leverage to pull you into him as fast as he could, jack hammering into you and leaving your cunt aching, your breath coming out in shaking moans.
He leaned forward, hands still on your breasts, your nipples past the point of sore, the aching pressure he was putting on them making you writhe beneath him. His mouth found your neck as he leaned into you, voice a low whisper as he panted against your neck.
“Let’s show everyone who you belong to,” and with that, his lips clamped down on your neck, sucking on the soft vulnerable parts of your neck, breaking blood vessels and leaving hickey after hickey in his wake.
He moaned into the sore skin of your neck, his thrusts becoming more shallow as he pumped into you, getting close to his orgasm, biting down hard on your soft skin, rolling his hips up into yours, thrusting deep, his thumb circling your clit to urge you to another orgasm as he started shooting red hot ropes of cum inside you, filling your aching core. You came soon after, toes curling and hands gripping with nails into his back, pulling him close to you as he tortured your clit past your orgasm until you were begging him to stop.
“So,” He said, panting as he lay down on the bed next to you, “Did you learn your lesson about flirting?”
“I wasn’t even flirting!” You pouted, laying your head on his bare chest.
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knowledgequeenabc · 4 years
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you belong to me, my snow white queen, there’s nowhere to run
I’ve been so dead inside I never posted my NNQ fics but, happy belated tenth, Ninjago! the fandom has been wonderful and I’ve made so many friends, seen so much beautiful work, made it through so much because of this silly little plastic ninja show. <3 This fic’s title comes from “Snow White Queen” by Evanescence (yeah I know don’t @ me), if you wanna. set the mood for this one. We’re gonna be following Nya after Skybound for a bit and it won’t be pretty.
Nya remembers it all.
It never happened, of course. That was the condition of Jay’s last wish: that none of it had ever happened in the first place. 
Yet she remembers.
It’s good that she does, honestly. She’ll recognize the threat if it ever presents itself again. Plus, the others don’t remember, so they can’t worry themselves about it.
Jay wanted to tell them. “No more secrets,” he said. She’s proud of him, she really is, at least he’s learned from dragging them through hell and back …
But she can’t do it.
She remembers Jay’s eyes, glinting bright and worried in a dim room, as he asks if she’s sure about this; Nya remembers her voice hardening to keep vulnerability from bleeding through as she nods. She’s well aware it’s unwise to keep a secret this heavy, thank you, but they’re both heart-wrenchingly familiar with secrets. What’s one more?
Getting angry at Jay for keeping secrets and then turning around and asking to keep this one … it’s hypocritical. She sees the recognition of the fact in his eyes, but there’s understanding mixed with it; it’s his secret, too. It’s their burden to shoulder behind closed doors, afraid to face their family. After losing Zane and getting him back, after Chen and Garmadon, after Morro, peace feels fraught, like walking a tightrope over another storm. How would the others react to knowing they’d broken again? She doesn’t want to deal with the answer to that question.
So Nya does what she does best. She squares her shoulders and marches through each day, reminding herself with each skip of her heart, each flash of her life before her eyes, each time the world blurs that it’s over now. It spits in the face of every lesson life’s beaten into her bones, reverting to stubbornness and pride and the kind of independence that would rather see her amputate an injured limb than get help for it, but it’s a twisted kind of easier to wrestle her pain in silence. The sky pirates made it clear that she needs to stop being afraid to rely on her team, and with a distant sense of guilt it occurs to her that applies to her emotions about this situation, too, but ...
But that fight’s over. And Nya honestly wants nothing more than to take the lesson to heart and put the rest behind her. Let sleeping dogs lie, and all.
Slight problem with that plan: she’s beginning to get the feeling they don’t want to stay asleep. Nya’s good at compartmentalizing, and has been ever since she was an orphan child balancing school and keeping the forge afloat, but the neat dividers are starting to give.
All she can do is watch as the cracks spider out like the Tiger Widow’s web.
~~~~
Lloyd sits on the edge of the ship’s deck at night, sometimes.
Who knows what he’s thinking. Nya knows her little brother would rather sort through his feelings behind curtains, and they’re all working on helping him open up, but sometimes there’s nothing to do but be there with someone while they watch the world turn.
Tonight, thoughts zipping through her head with manic intensity and no distraction to stop them, she joins him, letting her legs hang over the edge of the Bounty. He acknowledges her with a smile and inches closer, then turns back to face the clouds, eyes searching the scene like there’s a cosmic answer somewhere in the moonlight poking through the blanket of grey. The sky roils in dark, angry sheets, air thick enough to slice with a knife. Nya remembers another storm out at churning sea, splinters from a shipwreck, a missing friend and her bubbling fury in the aftermath, and shudders.
Lloyd doesn’t speak, but he’s gripping a photo of his father with white knuckles and a pinched face. And she understands.
Never once has Lloyd gotten to choose his path. His only crime was wanting Garmadon in his life, and the gift he received in return for it was becoming fated to finish his father off, once, then twice. It’s a painful game, to be destiny’s plaything.
Self-centered as it is, Nya wants to think she gets it. Rarely does she get to choose, either. Being folded into the fate of Ninjago via kidnapping from blacksmith shop had been exciting until she was relegated to damsel in distress and left on the wayside. Then when she’d forged her own path as Samurai X, she had to give it up and be the water ninja instead. Water ninja. Kai’s sister. Jay’s love interest. The girl. Nadakhan’s prize.
Never a thought for what Nya wants to be. Just roles and labels to live up to whether she likes it or not, forced upon her like a wedding dress sewn for someone else.
And the one choice she could make ended up …
Her chest tightens until she’s dizzy.
Once the world sharpens back into focus, Nya casts Lloyd a sympathetic glance and quietly traces the feathery outlines of the clouds with her eyes. It’s a good night for commiserating, and she’s not feeling talkative, either.
She wonders what she is now, and her throat tightens.
~~~~
Nya catches, out of the corner of her eye, the breathless headline on the tabloid lining the rack at the grocery store—“DEVASTATING FACTS ABOUT THE GIRL NINJA!!” —and bites back the urge to scream herself hoarse.
The public eye is an unforgiving one, she knows that, she’s long since resigned herself to it. But sometimes it grates, the way everyone seems to presume they can weigh in on Nya.
The people out there don’t know anything about her.  All they care about is that she’s the girl, and there’s drama behind her they can gobble up like starved mutts.
She doesn’t let on about it much, because being imperfect is kind of one of her worst nightmares, but she knows she’s made mistakes in the past. She was prideful, even haughty. She strung Jay and Cole along for way too long because the attention got to her head, and the paparazzi will never let her forget it. Nya should have been the bigger person and cut it short, instead of letting Cole keep going with it because he was mad Jay didn’t trust him, or letting Jay’s jealousy fester as long as it did. Bit late for that, though.
It’s hardly like her faults stop there. Being hunted by Nadakhan and upset by Jay’s refusal to understand her “no” meant no, on top of the fact that her independence would only ever be conditional sinking in from becoming the water ninja … it was a perfect storm of stress, and it made her nasty. Jay keeping secrets and endangering them all was the last straw. She blew up, lashed out, furious that she couldn’t trust anything to go right.
She still regrets it. The bruises on his skin after his rescue are still imprinted on her eyelids when she wakes up, sometimes.
So she’s not perfect, by a long shot. But …
(Greedy eyes following her every movement, wanting her as she runs. Blinking to find another family member gone. Fighting for her life as the pirates capture her. Being wrestled into someone else’s gown. Pushing desperately against Dilara’s spirit snatching away her autonomy. Venom seeping into her gown, frigid then BURNING, the ability to think slipping—)
Nya loosens the death grip she has on her basket. Takes a deep breath in, then out.
They don’t know anything about her. Tabloids and TV hosts and publicists can gossip all they want about Nya’s mistakes; they’ll never convince her she deserved to die for them.
~~~~
Kai is many things, and stupid is definitely one of them, sometimes. But he isn’t stupid when it comes to how Nya’s doing, and she knows this. If anything, she’s the idiot for thinking she could keep herself under wraps from him for long. Kai must have noticed the tough veneer she’s painted over herself, and how secretive she’s being with them, because Kai knows she doesn’t like to be open about feeling unwell, and Nya knows that it worries him.
Ironically enough, that worry is why she knows she can’t ever tell Kai what happened. Ever since she revealed herself as Samurai X, he’d learned not to hover, and Nya’s endlessly grateful that he’s understanding enough to trust in her strength. Nowadays, Kai’s concern manifests in significant glances, questioning hands on her shoulder, hugs a little tighter and lingering longer than normal, discreetly asking if there’s anything she wants to tell him.
He’s taken to all that behavior in hyperdrive, of course, because there is no way Nya’s snippiness and constant tension and nights in the kitchen making tea after nightmares slipped his notice.
But that’s fine. Nya would rather deal with the quiet apprehension radiating off him now than the full-blown panic she’s bound to have on her hands if Kai ever found out that she’d lost her life and he’d been helpless to do anything but watch.
She has an idea what it’ll look like, too. He’d taken Lloyd’s possession hard enough—Nya had caught him pummeling punching bags in the training room until his knuckles bled, noticed the heaviness in his eyes when he looked at their little brother, or at Cole, and no matter how much she insisted that he hadn’t failed, Kai refused to let himself believe it. Uttering a word about the Sky Pirates to her older brother, Kai who had practically raised them both, Kai who had only ever become a ninja to save her, Kai who had blamed himself so ruthlessly for Zane and Lloyd and Cole?
It would break him.
She just can’t do that to him. She’ll stitch her lips shut if that’s what it takes to make sure he never finds out.
So when Kai fixes them both mugs of chamomile tea at 2 in the morning, and casually remarks on the strange amount of repairs she’s been doing on the perfectly intact Bounty, Nya just smiles tiredly at him and fires off some sarcastic retort that’s sure to rile him up.
She loves her older brother, which is why she made the decision to take this secret to her grave.
~~~~
Nya notices while brushing her hair, one day, that she’s neglected to pay attention to it; the sleek black strands are almost to her shoulder, rather than brushing against her chin like she’s used to. Once she’s teased out every last snarl, she goes to cut her hair, but hesitates right before the scissors snip.
When she looks in the mirror, sometimes it’s Dilara’s face flashing before her eyes, not her own. She has to look for the minutiae, the details that count, like the flinty sharpness in her own eyes, the scar near her chin, the odd mark forming on her cheek, obsessively contrasting them to wide, sweet eyes on a deceptively cherubic face.
Nya wishes—no, not wishes, look where wishing had gotten them all—that Nadakhan had cared to see the differences. Maybe that way, she wouldn’t have felt the eyes on her back, always following her, waiting for her to fall into his grasp. Maybe she could have avoided the desperate game of cat-and-mouse. And just maybe, she wouldn’t have been grappled into a suffocating gown, or had her agency ripped from her as Dilara took her face, or died—
Right, that had happened. How Cole and Zane go about their days knowing they’ve walked through the doors of death, she can't begin to fathom. Nya wonders when she’ll stop feeling like she has to hide in her own home from eyes that are no longer watching, wonders when she’ll stop feeling the white-hot burn of venom leaching into her blood, and it’s Dilara’s face that brought it upon her.
Nya sets the scissors down, and tries not to flinch at the way they klink against the counter. She doesn’t want Dilara’s face anymore.
Maybe she’ll let it grow out.
~~~~~
It wasn’t even that rough of a touch, Nya despairs later. Cole, even in spars, always knew his strength, and he barely glanced her sternum with a ghostly hand as she knocked him off balance.
Apparently, on a bad day, that chilly touch was enough to send the phantom shock of Tiger Widow venom racing through her system; Nya forgot how to breathe for a second, and the next she broke her stance and pushed. Already off-kilter, Cole stumbled, his back hitting the ground with a heavy thud. In the instant before the others could be alarmed, they locked eyes, concerned meeting terrified. She forced her voice to stay even as she said, “I think that’s enough training for today.” Then she ran.
Now, here she is, her door slammed shut and locked, and her back’s pressed against it as she tries to remember what it feels like not to buzz like an entire hornet’s nest. She’s fine, she repeats to herself. The mantra is soothing simply in its repetitiveness; it gets her mind off of the sensation that won’t leave her alone ever since she lived it. She’s fine, she’s alive, and she’s not losing her grip on consciousness because all her organs are shutting down. Nya is fine, not actually feeling the venom seep into her skin through the coarse fabric of the wedding dress, cold for just a millisecond before erupting into white-hot pain across her skin. If her vision is off, it’s because of the tears welling up despite her stubborn efforts to blink them away, not the spots that danced across her world as Flintlocke’s fatal accident slowly claimed her life-
Her breath catches in a sob. Nya furiously muffles it behind her hand.
It didn’t even happen. She’s been through so much, she’s been in danger so many times, and this is the one that sticks? So it killed her, yeah, admittedly that’s a big step above the other times, but it hadn’t happened to anyone else except her, and Jay, and she can’t, won’t, make those words leave her lips. Every other problem in her life, she’d risen above, she’d fixed and wrestled back into her control, and then she’d gotten to square her shoulders and quip to the boys how easy it had been.
How does she fix something that’s only broken in her memories?
~~~~~
Nya remembers it all.
She almost wishes she didn’t.
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taliaquinn · 4 years
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Why Me!? Chapter 19
Authors Note:                                                                                            Hiya peeps and geeks, I finally published chapter 19. I hope you Peeps like it. Dont forget to reblog, comment and like!! (They make me happy)
“Think about it, why would she want to talk to you,” Chloe mumbled struggling to shake off the sleepiness “Right now she only sees you as the boy who refused to stand up for her, Against the girl that threatened her in the bathroom”. 
Adrien was silent at the other end of the phone. “She told you about Lila threatening her in the bathroom?” Nonono. That was the worst thing that could happen. Now rumors are going to spread.
Chloe could only scoff in response. She knew exactly what Adrien was worrying about.
“Pfft uh yeah, Mari told us everything, gotta say Adrien I wasn't that surprised when she told us, Kagami on the other hand….”
“SHE TOLD KAGAMI!?!?!?” Adrien shouted upset. Upset at Marinette for telling everyone, even Kagami. He’s noticed that Kagamis been blowing him off and sometimes even downright refusing to talk to him at social events they both attend. 
Marinette told Kagami and Chloe everything about Lila, Adrien, and Alya when she called them a week ago. Chloe's heart broke at hearing the girl sob. Kagami was enraged, in fact, that was what spurred her into starting to plot revenge. Karma would wreak havoc on everyone who dared hurt the bluenette
“Yes Adrien Kagami Knows and before you go off and get all flustered, No we haven't spread rumors or told anyone. At Marinette's insistence." She spat. Adrien didn't deserve to be protected. But poor Marinette still refused to take any drastic actions.
“Thank you, Chloe” The Model still had the nerve to thank her and ignore Marinette's kind act. She's had enough. Sitting up straighter in bed Chloe opened her laptop and started typing an email to Marinette.
“You know who else she’s been helping Adrikins?” she said in a honey-laced voice, sickeningly sweet. 
This familiar voice caused a sense of growing dread in Adrien's stomach. He wasn't talking to P. M Chloe aka “Post Marinette” Chloe anymore, he was talking to the old Chloe Bourgeois, and Plagg help him if he somehow pissed her off. Swallowing down the sense of dread he asked.
“Who?”
“Nino, you remember him right? The guy you claimed was your best friend? But then again you turned your back on him, that seems to be a trend with you these days”
Nino. Of course, he remembered about Nino. Nino called him tearfully seeking comfort from his best friend after his breakup with Alya. Adrien could only weakly offer some comfort. HEY! He was dealing with his own stuff. Ladybug stole Plagg from him. He wasn’t Chat Noir anymore. Also, he didn't want to get dragged into the conflict. Plus he thought that Nino was overreacting. Alya deserved a second chance. Right?
“W-we’re still best friends” he stuttered out. Nino has Marinette's number!? That's great he can get her number from him!!!!
“Hmmph yeah sure whatever helps you sleep at night.” Chloe had the right to speak her mind. She was tired and grumpy. A deadly combination. If she had eye bags in the morning because of him she was going to block the boy,
 “I'm beginning to think that you’re new bestie is Lila” she mentioned
“That's ridiculous, we're just friends”
Chloe scoffed. “Your standards for friends are ridiculously low. But whatever apparently sleazy Liars are your type”
Adrien was starting to get upset at all these sly remarks he was getting from Chloe. He called her for comfort. Who did she think she was? If he wanted sly comments he would have called Marinette, but he still didn't have her number. Wait a minute. She's been talking to Nino!!! He could just call Nino and get her Number from him!!! He didn't need Chloe! 
“Fine Chloe, you know what? turns out I don’t even need your help anymore,” He said smug, happy to have the upper hand. To be honest he half expected Chloe to beg him to not hang up on her.
“Why even bother calling me then?” that....was not the response he was expecting. Fine, it was probably all an act.
“I needed Marinette's number but then I realized that my bro Nino probably has it, so yeah I don’t need your help”
“But he b-” Ha now she was going to beg him not to hang upon him. Well, he wasn't going to give her the chance. 
“Goodbye Chloe” 
Hanging up he quickly tried to call Nino. After only receiving a dial tone, he shot him a few texts, expecting Nino to respond quickly. He always has.
After receiving none Adrien couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed. Nino probably forgot to charge his phone due to him still being sad over the breakup. This is why Adrien needs to convince Nino to get back together with Alya. He was a mess without her! His phone suddenly binged. Quickly checking, he was disappointed to see it was Chloe. Probably to try and get back on his good side. Ha.
Queen Bee: Nino told me to tell you that he is uh not in “The mood to deal with you and your b.s” tonight.
What!? No Chloe was obviously lying in some weird attempt at getting Payback. Adrien NEEDED to talk to Nino right now because Adrien was going to the states for some gala for the weekend! 
Adrikins: Chloe stop fooling around
Queen Bee: Trust me I'm not kidding around, I'm here trying to get some sleep and instead I'm serving as Nino's secretary apparently
Queen Bee: Leave him alone, if you had listened to me earlier you would have realized that Nino added your number to a nice Lil ol place known as the ~block list~
Adrikins: CHLOE YOU HAVE TO TALK TO HIM PLEASE DON'T LET HIM DO IT.
Queen Bee: hmmm let me think about it
At that Adrien let out a sigh of Relief, Chloe will talk some sense into Nino and everything will be back to normal between him and Nino. Even Marinette once he got her number from Nino!!
Queen Bee: I thought about it
Hope bloomed in Adrien's Chest, everything is finally going to be back to normal again!!
Queen Bee: N o
Queen Bee: You’re getting muted for the rest of the night, consider that payback for waking me up so early, I have a trip this weekend. I need all my beauty sleep, you should consider learning about it
Wait a minute if she is going where Adrien thinks she is then there's hope for him after all!!!
Queen Bee: Toodles~
Adrikins: Wait a minute where are you going this weekend
Queen Bee: None of your business
Wayne Manor                                                                                        Gotham, USA                                                                                                8:00 a.m
“Marinette, I’m just happy you managed to leave that toxic situation before it got worse,” Dick said as he engulfed Marinette in a hug, although not as strong since his ribs were still in pain. Dick slightly grimaced in anticipation of the humongous lecture he was going to get from Bruce later.
“Trust him, Mari, here in Gotham I always see..” Jason trailed off at Dicks pointed look “I mean WE always see....uh in the news how those situations escalate quickly," Yowch talk about a blunder. He still needed to get used to having a sibling who wasnt involved in the nightly adventures. "only not everyone is lucky enough to have Batman swoop in and save the day” Jason quickly added. He threw a prayer of thanks that his adorable baby sister was now safe in Gotham, well as safe as Gotham gets anyways.
Dick racked his brain looking for something to cheer up his little sister in his arms. For once his big brother instincts were being slightly overwhelmed. All of his siblings have gone through awful stuff. This isn't the first, and he doubts it's going to be the last time that he's been there to comfort one of his siblings, or friends for god's sake.  
“Wait!!! Dick, doesn't Bruce have that trip in a few days?” Jason piped up.
Oh, Crap. Dick almost forgot about that. Oh god, he couldn’t possibly subject Mari to that disaster….on the other hand it WOULD be a good distraction for her. Hmmm. 
“Fine, Mari, pack your bags, You’re not even going to school yet so you won't miss anything,” Dick announced.
“Pack my bags?” Marinette couldn't help but get a bad feeling at the sight of Dicks smirk.
“Yeah no, you’re right. Don't pack your bags make your dad pay for new clothes.” Jason teased. It's what he always did. Billionaire Brucie wouldn't even gawk at the price of a new pair of jeans. Heck, He was paying for his New Truck!!! 
“Wait where are we even going?” She asked slightly disturbed at the sight of Dicks growing grin.
“New York City”
Authors Message:                                                                                        I hope you guys enjoyed todays chaoter. Next chapter some new characters are going to enter the fray. Can you take a guess as to who they may be ;)                                                                                           Also Happy Belated Birthday to Our Beloved Timothy Jackson Drake  Fun fact I was listening to Hamilton was writing this chapter and its given me the idea to possibly create a Hamilton AU involving the Batfam and slight Adrinette, What do you guys think?
Taglist:
@purplesundaze @silvergold-swirl @k-poplunardreams @pepelachanel @laurcad123 @maribat-is-lifeblood @kass-is-weird @another-fan-of-anotherplan @damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @thezestywalru @dreamykitty25 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochinek0 @shamefullove @mochegato @souleateralicestein @thestressmademedoit @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticnpoetic @mysupporthyperfixations @itsmeevie01
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Flatbush & Atlantic: part v
Here we have part v! Took me a little longer than usual, but I’m really happy with how it turned out - it’s All Star Weekend with our favorite couple, folks! I haven’t been getting as much engagement as usual with the posts, so please feel free to reblog it and pop into my inbox!
part i part ii part iii part iv
part v
January 28
Cass sat on a metal bench at JFK, legs propped up on her carry-on, eyes flitting between the departures screen and her phone. Mat walked through the sliding doors to her left, catching her eye with a quick wave and smile. If he wanted to travel incognito in Long Island, though, the suit bag and “these-are-more-expensive-than-they-look” sunglasses weren’t helping his cause. “You’ve got the tickets?” She asked. After much convincing, Cass finally agreed to let Mat buy the tickets; he said it would be easier to make sure they were seated together, and had told her to think of it as a belated Christmas present if she’d like. 
Mat nodded, gesturing towards the check-in counters. “Shall we?”
Cat grabbed his hand in her own as they walked to the counter. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that they’d be travelling anything but economy — she never had, after all — so she was more than a little surprised when he steered her and their bags towards American’s first-class check-in. He looked down at her. “What? You think I’d let you go to the All-Star Game in anything but the best? Nah, we’re travelling in style, babe.” Cass flushed, handing over her bags to be weighed and taking the boarding pass from the flight attendant with a harried thanks. 
“Qu-est-ce que c’est, chère?” Mat asked, brushing a kiss over the top of her head as they headed up the escalator. French had been her foreign language in high school and college; it had gotten rusty, but Mat and Tito had been more than happy to practice with her, though Beau’s Québécois accent sometimes proved a little difficult to understand. 
“I’m just really excited for this weekend. I know how much it means to you to be on the team and competing in the skills competition again, and I’m lucky to be able to see you do what you love.” 
After a less-than-ideal forty minutes in the security line, Cass handed her license and Mat’s passport over to the TSA agent, who gave them a cursory once-over before marking their boarding passes and letting them through the scanner. 
They boarded the Delta flight some 40 minutes later, after a much-needed pit-stop at the Starbucks. The flight attendants took their coats and showed them to their seats, and before Cass knew it she was seated in a very large, very comfortable chair that had more legroom than she thought humanly possible, a glass of champagne perched on her tray table. “Is this how you live? All the time?” She whispered to Mat, stunned. 
“Sometimes,” he admitted. “The team charters a plane for games and I usually don’t do first class to go back home, but this is a special occasion. It deserves it, you deserve it.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, pulling out his Airpods. “We’ve got just enough time to get through Pirates of the Carribean before we land. What do you say?” 
Their plane landed a few hours later, the two catching an Uber to the hotel about twenty minutes away. Apparently there had been “a car” coming for them, but Cass balked at the idea, insisting that the Toyota Corolla coming to pick them up was more than enough for her. 
“Hi, checking in for Barzal,” Mat said, smiling at the receptionist. 
“One moment,” she replied, tapping on the computer and turning around to grab two key cards. “You two will be in room 307, third floor. Elevators are that way. Enjoy your stay!” Mat took the cards, handing one to Cass as they turned towards the row of elevators. As excited as she was, Cass was also just the tiniest bit apprehensive about sharing a room with Mat for a whole weekend. She had spent the night once or twice since the Christmas party, and had officially been granted “a drawer” in his dresser, but it was still the longest (relatively) uninterrupted time she’d spend with him. 
There were a few hours before the festivities kicked off with some sort of red carpet-type thing, so Cass pulled out her laptop and got to work while Mat went off to exercise in the hotel gym. None of her professors this semester recorded lectures, so she was relying on good friends and a strong Wifi connection to get the notes from the one class she was missing. Cass wasn’t one to skip out on responsibilities and she did feel bad about not being there, but she had earned a break. 
Mat came back a little while later, and Cass took that as her cue to start getting ready. After he got out of the shower, she took over the bathroom, spreading her makeup, brushes, and precisely-3.4-ounce bottle of hairspray over the counter. This was the first big event she was going to as a WAG, and nerves were flying. Cass was already well aware that she didn’t fit into the typical mold, and hated the fact that she felt like she had to justify herself everywhere she went. And it didn’t help that Mat wasn’t just one of the best young players in the NHL in recent memory, but also a total smokeshow of a man who had hundreds of women falling at his feet. 
But galas, parties, extravagant events were nothing new to her. She had been the president of her sorority at UConn, organizing and attending more than her fair share of her own formals and semiformals or accompanying a friend or boyfriend to theirs. And law school called for dressing up more than occasionally. She was no stranger to impressing people. The dress was light blue to coordinate with Mat’s suit, heavily beaded, and absolutely gorgeous. This was the one part of the trip that she had absolutely refused to let Mat pay for, even though he offered. The league covered the room and he had gotten the flights, and her ego needed to pick up at least a marginal part of the expenses. 
She twisted her hair up into a bun, bobby pins stuck in her mouth as she pulled out a few strands of hair. Setting spray? Check. Lipstick? A deep rose shade that she’d had since her first year of law school, so, check. “You almost ready to go, chou?” She asked, leaning down to her suitcase and grabbing the strappy heels she’d picked out for the night.
“Uh, yeah,” Mat said, buttoning his suit jacket. He usually had pretty good taste even before they started dating, but the navy blue velvet suit he was wearing was really something else. “Wow, you look amazing, Cass.”
She smiled, stepping towards him. “The lipstick’s kiss-proof, you know.”
He raised one eyebrow. “You wanna try that out?”
---
It was a fifteen minute drive to the venue, the car the league had sent packed with players and their partners, or whoever else had managed to wrangle a spot. She thinks there were some cousins involved? Mat got out before her, holding the door open while he leaned down. “The reporters are usually fine, they get that most of you guys aren’t used to this,” he murmured, “but you don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to, I’ll say something if I see it getting out of line.” 
She squeezed his hand in appreciation, taking a breath to steady her nerves before following him onto the red carpet. After posing for a few photos, they moved onto the reporters, Mat getting steered towards someone who Cass was pretty sure was from SportsCenter, but she couldn’t be positive in the crowd of hundreds. Cass briefly introduced herself, stepping slightly to the side as the conversation’s topics veered towards strategy and expectations, how best to manage playing with only three players and how he was feeling about his chances for fastest skater. 
“And you’ve brought your lovely girlfriend Cassidy along, how did you two meet?” Cass heard her name mentioned, quickly snapping out of the daydream she had been lost in. Fluff pieces were nothing new and she knew it would come up, everyone loved getting to know the players outside of a strictly hockey context. 
“Yeah, so I’m in law school, and I got an internship with the counsel’s office for the Islanders,” Cas started, “and I helped Mat with some visa stuff. He kept trying to drop hints that he was into me, but—”
“They weren’t hints. I was being as obvious as possible,” Mat deadpanned. Cass giggled. 
“Well, yeah, in retrospect I was just being incredibly oblivious, but came to one day, and the rest is history.” Mat leaned down, brushing a kiss over her cheek, and Cass could see camera flashes go off in her peripherals. She’d have to track that picture down later.
The interviewer nodded, asking a few follow-ups on her exposure to hockey growing up, her dress, and one more. “So, you hardly live the typical life of a hockey girlfriend. What do you think about that?”
Cass was confused. “Pardon?”
“Law school, being a lawyer. That’s not something that you typically see WAGs pursue, especially considering the salaries NHLers make. It’s not like they have to do much.” Cass was floored. How could someone be so disrespectful, not only to her, but to every other woman in her position? She was struggling to come up with a response. As it would happen, she didn’t need to. 
“Excuse me?” Mat’s response was dripping venom. “Why would you ask something like that?”
The interviewer tried to backtrack, but ended up digging himself into an ever deeper hole. “Well, I just meant that you don’t see it often, which is true—”
“Maybe you don’t, but that shouldn’t matter,” Mat said. “Being a stay-at-home mom or running charity events is awesome if that’s something that they want to do, but it’s not for everyone. And don’t you dare ever suggest that Cass hasn’t worked hard as hell to get to where she is. She’s graduating in five months from an Ivy League law school, and she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. Don’t ever talk about her that way. Don’t ever talk about any woman that way.” He turned away, his hand on Cass’ upper back. “Don’t ever let anyone undersell you. You’ve worked too damn hard and come too damn far.”
 Jan. 29 (fri)
 Cass smoothed out her dress, taking a last-minute look in the mirror to make sure nothing was stuck in her teeth. “How do I look?” She asked, turning to Mat. 
“You look great, babe. Stop stressing.” She had picked a floral dress and denim jacket for breakfast with Mat’s family, but couldn’t stop wringing her hands in worry. Mat crossed the room in three steps, holding her hands still and looking at her more intensely than she had ever seen. “Remember when I was losing my shit meeting your parents?” Cass gave a tearful nod. “And it all turned out okay and now I text your brother probably more than you do?” 
She laughed. “Noah worships you, and my dad loves you. Thinks you’re ‘good for me,’ whatever he means by that.”
“I think,” Mat said, tapping her temple with one finger, “that sometimes you get a little stuck up here. You’re so smart, and it’s incredible, but you overthink things sometimes, pretty girl.”
She ducked her head. “That’s probably true.” 
“But what I meant to say is that it turned out I had nothing to worry about. And neither do you, my parents will love you and Liana’ll just be excited to have another girl around to complain about me to. It’s going to go great,” he added with finality. 
“You promise?” Cass asked.
Mat kissed her, soft and sweet and slow, the kind of kiss that wasn’t born of passion and lust but of just genuine deep trust and affection. The kind of kiss that brings your feet back to the ground when your head’s stuck off in the clouds. “I promise.”
Cass flashed a small smile, squeezing Mat’s hand in hers and heading towards the door. “Then I guess we’d better get going.” She had been up late the night before, searching on Yelp for the perfect restaurant, despite Mat’s continual claims that they’d “love wherever, they just want food.” Though, she’s not sure what she expected when asking a 20-something man what he wanted to eat. There was a cute place a ten minute drive away, with four-point-seven stars and reviews that said their quiches were the “best thing on this godforsaken planet,” according to IridescentGymRat44. Cass loved quiches. 
It was a quick Uber over, Mat’s mom having texted him that they had already arrived and snagged a table in the back for privacy. It may have been a family event, but it was still All-Star Weekend and Mat was still, well, Mat. It wasn’t likely he could fly under the radar for too long. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand reassuringly as they turned the corner, and his face split into a wide grin at the sight of his family. Hugging each of them quickly, he stepped back to introduce Cass, one hand lightly resting on the small of her back. “This is Cass, my girlfriend.”
“Yeah, we figured,” Liana said pointedly, causing Cass to poorly cover up a snort of amusement, which in turn just caused everyone to laugh even more at their efforts trying not to laugh so hard. 
As it would turn out, Mat was right. She really had nothing to worry about; his parents embraced her (literally and metaphorically) as soon as she set down and his sister immediately whipped out her phone to show his worst baby pictures. “Hey,” she said, as Mat glared at her, “you deserve to know what you’re getting yourself into.” They were interested in her work and school, and Mat gladly took the liberty of explaining how they met, earning a slap on the back of his head from his mom when he got to the part with the visa slipup. They said their goodbyes sometime around eleven; Cass would have liked to stay longer, but everyone needed to get back to their hotels and ready for the skills competitions in the afternoon. 
“Excited to defend the title?” Cass said, bumping her shoulder against Mat as they walked down the hallway to their room. 
“Yeah, I guess,” Mat said, shrugging slightly. “Obviously it would be great to win, but there’s still McDavid and Eichel and a ton of other guys that have just as good of a chance to run away with this thing.” After his win last year, it was no shock that Mat had been picked for the fastest skater competition again, but the hordes of fans and reporters who were expecting him to go back-to-back weren’t helping his nerves. They reached the door, Mat shoving his hand into his pocket to dig out the key card. 
“Look at me,” Cass said softly, once they had gotten their shoes off and were propped up next to each other in bed. Mat’s head turned, his hand still absentmindedly tangled in her curls. “You’re going to do great. Win or lose. I believe it, your family believes it, the other guys on the team believe it. Now all we need is for you to believe it yourself.”
---
Cass was walking through the tunnels of the BB&T Center, phone pressed to her cheek as she tried to listen to her dad on the other end of the line. A few players and their families were milling about, some getting ready to compete in their skills competitions, others catching up with old friends. “Oh, and you booked the tickets to Hermosillo, yeah?” It was a family tradition for them to spend a few weeks every summer back in Mexico with her grandparents; they had split their time between San Antonio and their hometown ever since retirement. Cass always tried to make it, but the past summer she wasn’t able to wrangle the two weeks off from her job that she’d need for the trip, and it had crushed her. They weren’t getting any younger, and her abuelo had suffered a nasty stroke the year prior that made her all the more anxious to visit. 
“Yep, layover in Mexico City like usual, I’ll send you the ticket when the trip gets closer,” Patrick responded.
“And you’ve got everyone’s passport info?”
She could imagine her dad rolling his eyes. “Yes, Cassidy. Everything’s booked, everything’s fine. Have fun in Florida, tell Mat good luck from us.”
“Okay, I will. Love you, dad.” Cass said, running a hand through her hair. 
A voice that she didn’t quite recognize called her name, and as she turned around she was more than a little surprised to see Auston Matthews waving at her. “It is Cassidy, right?”
She nodded her head. “Cassidy, Cass, I’ll answer to both.”
The confusion on her face must have still been evident, because he followed up. “I follow Barzy on Instagram, he brags about you all the time.”
“Yeah, sounds like him,” she said, tapping her fingers on her thigh. 
“Are you going to introduce me?” His mom asked from beside him. 
“Oh, yeah, ‘course,” Auston said, stumbling over his words. “Mom, this is Cassidy, obviously. Cassidy — Cass?” He questioned, looking over at her. She nodded. “Cass, this is my mom Ema.” She greeted her with a warm hug, and Cass just about melted. Moms really do give the best hugs. 
Ema spoke up. “Do you have family in Hermosillo? I heard you mention it on the phone.”
“Mhm!” Cass’s head almost bounced from how fast she was nodding. “My grandparents split time between there and San Antonio, we try to visit for a few weeks every summer.”
“That’s where I grew up,” she responded, beaming. “It’s wonderful, but the summers get so hot, don’t they?” Cass and Auston both nodded. 
“I think it got up to 110º when I was there once? Maybe 115º? I want to lock myself in a freezer sometimes, I swear.” The whole group collapses into laughs, and spent a few minutes talking before Cass had to tear herself away and find her seats with Mat’s family for the fastest skater competition. Ema had left her with no fewer than three restaurant recommendations, making her swear to try them all. “Best tacos I’ve ever had,” she had said about one. 
Cass greeted Mat’s family with a wave as they settled into their seats, one row up from the ice on the right side. The players had just come out, and it only took a few seconds to make eye contact with Mat. She was wearing his — her — jersey, and had long since abandoned trying to roll up and cuff the sleeves. It wasn’t going to happen, and she kind of liked the feeling of being buried in it. She blew him a kiss as the announcers voices echoed through the stadium, and the heat was on. 
Mat was slated to go last, which was either the best or worst thing depending on how you thought about it. Cass was always someone to sign up for the first slot for speeches and presentations, and hated having late games in tournaments during her lacrosse days. She liked being able to get it over with. Mat was the opposite. He was competitive and stubborn to a fault, needing to size up the competition and get ahead of the game. Needed to know what to expect. There first few she didn’t recognize, a few first-time faces to the All-Star competition, a rookie from Winnipeg who was a favorite for the Calder. Everyone was doing well, really well — all the times but one were under 14 seconds, but nobody had broken Mat’s time yet. 
Eichel got close, McDavid got closer, and then Mat was up to defend his championship. She blew a kiss to him as he stepped up to the line, murmured a prayer, and the whistle blew. Clean straightaways, tight turns, gaining speed on the curves, and in the blink of an eye it was over. Cass knew he had won, the roar of the crowd told her as much, but she didn’t realize his time. She didn’t realize until the announcer reported that with a time of 13.080 seconds, Mathew Barzal had just set the record. His face was stunned for a moment, looking up at the screen and then down at the ice and then back up at the screen again, while being hugged and congratulated from all sides, as if trying to process what had just happened. 
It was the last one of the night, so Cass said her goodbyes to Mat’s family, with a promise to meet up before the game the next day, and hurried down to meet Mat. There wasn’t anything formal scheduled for the rest of the night, so he came out of the locker room in just a pair of athletic shorts and an Islanders t-shirt. Cass ran up, jumping into his arms as he dropped his bag to catch her. “Woah, babe,” he said, steadying his hands on the back of her thighs, “coulda given me a warning there.”
Cass kissed him. “Wouldn’t have been nearly as fun that way, though, huh?”
“You’re right.” Mat shrugged good-naturedly, setting Cass down and grabbing his bag and her hand. 
“How does it feel having beaten the record?” Cass asked. 
Mat ran his free hand through his hair, still shower-damp. “So surreal. I wasn’t even sure I’d win, not with how stacked the lineup was, let alone get anywhere near breaking the record. It’s ridiculous, but it’s amazing.”
“You’re amazing.”
 Jan. 30 (sat)
 Mat was busy doing media and catching up with some of the guys before the game later that day, and Cass had elected to stay in the room. Mat had offered for her to come along, “you might think it’s interesting?” he had noted, but she’d be damned if she let herself fall behind in her last semester, she was just too close. It had already been a bit of a stretch for her to take a day off and come for the whole weekend, so her afternoon was instead filled with some utterly thrilling reading on advanced contract theory and a thick-as-all-hell review book for the New York state bar. She leaned back in her chair, taking the last remaining sip of the mediocre Lipton tea she had snagged from the basket by the room’s coffee maker. She could finish it later.
Cass picked up her phone, pressing play on a voicemail from Fiona that had been left earlier in the afternoon. 
Uh, hey, it’s me. Cass, I don’t know if this is what you want to hear, but I don’t think I’d be a very good friend if I didn’t say it. Uh-oh. Conversations that started like that never ended well. I’m happy about you and Mat, I know you like him a lot, but I’m worried that he’s distracting you. I know you told us you’d be gone, but we missed you at the study group, and I know you skipped your law review meeting today. The rest of the message was more of the same, but one sentence stuck out to her. Think about where your priorities are. Think about where you want them to be. 
Fiona Chan had a one-track mind. And Cass loved her for it — she was one of the most dedicated people she knew and an incredible friend. But she sometimes found it hard to understand when people had priorities that extended beyond the bounds of law school, when their sole focus wasn’t on their Contracts final or clinic or clerkship they were doing for some top-tier appellate judge. 
She flopped back on the bed. Think about where your priorities are. She had been spending a lot of time with Mat lately, but no more than anyone would spend with their significant other — right? And it wasn’t a sin for her to have a life outside of law school. She was still more than competent at her job, got most of the reading done, was prepared when professors would cold-call on her. She still showed up to meetings. 
But even she would admit that her head wasn’t in the game all the time, if she could hazard another High School Musical reference. She’d sneak texts, meet him for lunch instead of going to office hours, and now, take weekends off to be with him. But that wasn’t a bad thing. Or was it? Her grades weren’t really suffering, and nobody else had mentioned anything. Friends notice things, though, Cass thought. And Fiona was one of the most perceptive people she knew. She groaned. Why wasn’t there ever an easy way to figure these things out? She really liked Mat — she might even love him — but Cass couldn’t help but feel like she was gambling on something that wasn’t a sure thing. And her future wasn’t something to play games with. 
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sparring-spirals · 5 years
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ep 98 belated lb, for the sake of not flooding dashes betw this and hopefully catching up on posts after i finish. Don’t be fooled, I will probably still make individual posts for the parts of the ep I still want to yell about. this goes up until the battle, for the sake of length.
- making note of the cad/nott convo about justice and vengeance. fascinating. fascinating.
- THE HAT. all the hat convos. absolutely hilarious. “Someone just up and snatched it in the middle of the party.”
- Marion: “I can get you a new one”. Fjord, with the most pained expression known to man: “s...ure “
- Jester: “Let what you want be known to the world.” Fjord, confused and emotionally turbulent after the back and forth: “Fuckin pick one. which one is it.”
- everyone other than jester is fucking awful at messages, apparently. And lbr jester is her own brand of chaotic with messages. We give them shit for never giving heads up but tbh sometimes its a miracle the M9 communicates info at all. :D
- Case and point, Jester: “he was just going, caleb kissed me caleb kissed me”. The M9, completely unphased by jester-interpretation of messages and/or shadowgast shippers: “...yeah that checks out.”
- fjord caleb interaction re: the argument at the start. damn. what a fascinating callback.
- these dumbasses. encounter a magical storage artifact and their first question is “can WE go in it???” i love them.
- yasha having a self care day!!! :’) good. she deserves it. <3
- “i have no idea whats in it but i’ll sell it to you for 200 gold” is this??? a gacha machine?
- oh man yeza is trying so hard to support her and veth is trying so hard to look at everything pragmatically while doing her duty to her husband. This is simultaneously already resolved and also painfully not. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
-”You are like the greatest husband ever, can I just say.” :’) <3 <3 <3 
- also pshhh what do you mean luc should learn things other than how to use a crossbow. nonsense.
- “Please don’t get in too much danger.”
“I can’t promise that but I can promise my friends will do their best to protect me.” AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH.
“I want my wife. I don’t want a poem.” CHRIST MATT NO PULLING PUNCHES HUH.
- ... beau giving off mild camp counselor vibes. this is the best sign of growth: she no longer effortlessly exudes the delinquent vibes she used to. 
- ngl im surprised that immediately after exploding a bird with wind beau didn’t just gloat at professor thaddeus, wherever he is.
- idk if the gift is related to the whole “got beau high by accident” thing but its a very sweet gift nonetheless.
- Fashion Show Beau :D please tell me there’s art of this. i love the m9 for shit like this. they all got on board (haha) so fast. Shouting suggestions, compliments. Caleb casts dancing lights. these 
- a 26 on a natural 1. what. what.
- Arts and craft on a boat. :D
- I am reminded that i missed so much of the last pirate arc. is “fighting a random storm guy” when the stormlord sent down angels to kick yashas ass?
- Ongoing course, “Getting Ass Kicked By Lightning Beasts”, 3 credit hours, participation required. 
- BEAUYASHSTER CRAFT NIGHT. and Jester opening up about her feelings! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. *makes more notes* 
- (tbh this conversation makes me feel a lot better about the Traveller. :D)
- I’m so glad that they’re all having this conversation, oh my god. Its very good and very open and it makes me very happy. ot3. sorry who said that. 
- i looked away for thirty seconds and it turns from craft night into clay-tasting, wh-
- yasha someone just chucked you into the water until you learned huh.
- also: major green team (i have to rename them maybe) vibes with: “no i won’t do what you ask. but. i will help.”
- oh fuck im gonna have to rewatch this fjord caleb conversation. its so good.
- “I don’t know if I’m more comfortable or if I just care less.” AAAAAAAAAAAAH FJORD. 
- “This is more life than I ever thought I would see.” brjeaus out here bein like “damn weird how life is going okay” aaaaaaaah.
- I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE THAT THEY WOULD LET THIS CONVERSATION HAPPEN AND THEN *redacted redacted redacted* >:((((
- caleb having all these emotions giving me all these emotions talking about how he killed a family and now has this one.
- CALEB AND FJORD SHARING FAMILY FEELINGS? IM? WOW YALL WHAT. “You’re a good person.” “no U” (this whole convo in a nutshell)
- fuck tbh this deserves its own post. 
“If your eyes are on them, our eyes are on you.” GODDAMN. 
- “STORMS A BREWIN-” “why does your voice change-” I adore these two ribbing each other and beau as an overenthusiastic pirate. captain and his first mate <3
--- I took a day long break to handle some shit. Alright. Fine. Lets do this. Lets do the battle. ---
- oh just kidding its not the battle its yasha Goin Thru Some Dream Shit. 
-there is Something Incredibly Poignant about yasha, falling through the air, reaching a hand out at her god, asking for help-ohfuckshegothitbylightning.
- i dont like stormlord taking after ukatoa with the ominous 1 word statements. that is NOT a good role model, stormlord. you dont want to stab yasha in the chest do you. .... DO YOU.
- SCREAMS TRIUMPHANTLY FOREVER ABOUT YASHA OPENING HER WINGS AND FLYING OUT OF THE CHASM GOD HOW MUCH SHIT HAPPENED THIS EPISODE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
- wow no one is getting rest 2nite.
- i am confused if this is happening happening or a dream and also wow he got stabbed real early in
- okay but also i love the cast for how they always collectively scream whenever a battle map comes out. also WOW WHAT A BADASS SHIP/MAP.
- CAN YOU IMAGINE JUST WAKING UP TO BEING FUCKING STABBED AND THEN CHOMPED. GOD. POOR FJORD. MY BOY.
- the psychic damage just sprinkled in there because he is having a Bad Time.
- do you think that initially the crew was like “huh guess our captain accidentally sleep-teleported off the ship, damn- OH FUCK ENEMIES”
- okay yeah i’m gonna make a separate post for the battle just because this is getting unreasonably long
- c h r i s t this battle.
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laschatzi · 5 years
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My fic masterlist
Here I’ve listed all my fics - list is constantly updated. Here you find the summaries and ratings - fics without an M or E-rating are all G. The ff.net and ao3 links are included in every fic if you click on the link.
I tried to list them in a way that makes most sense... if you’re looking for more specifications like hurt/comfort etc., word count, just click on the link.
Multichapters (there’s only one so far):
Smooth Sailing (With A Chance Of Definite Passion) (M) Set post 3x22 - I wanted to explore the question where the relationship was going without obstacles like Elsa and Marian. Later, though, other obstacles might appear, because as we know - there’s always a crisis. My very first CS fic, 12 chapters.
Fics with three or more parts:
So Far And Out Of Sight (M in the epilogue) A post 3x20 canon divergence in five parts: Zelena’s portal never opens, and so Emma never has the revelation about missing her parents and Storybrooke being her home. She takes Henry back to New York, just like she’s planned, determined to go back to their life during the missing year. But with her blissful ignorance gone and Henry being less than cooperative, it’s not as easy as she thought. And then someone comes knocking at her door, determined to make it even less easy…
Cute Little Heartbreaker (M in part 4) Modern AU in 4 parts: Emma Swan is a vagabond. She never stays in a place longer than for six months. The night before the first day at her new job, she decides she needs a little distraction and walks into a bar looking for a one-night-stand and finds her object of choice in a good-looking guitar player. Oh, and he sings, too. From that moment on, nothing goes as planned.
Never Hurts (M in part 2) Modern AU in 3 parts, based on a prompt: We are coworkers who hate each other, but on the staff Christmas party you drunkenly confessed your feelings for me, and now I don’t know how to act around you (except, Killian knows exactly how to act). This is also a Christmas fic.
You Can Walk Under My Umbrella Modern AU: 3 parts, based on the prompt  “I forgot my umbrella and you offered to walk me home in the rain and I thought this would be the beginning of a cute love story but you’re really shit at this oh my god my shoulder is so wet, hold the damn thing properly wth man”
Neverland fics:
Sugar And Spice Killian is preoccupied that Emma endangers herself by eating something she doesn’t know. Turns out, actually it’s something he doesn’t know. Set somewhere pre-kiss.
Trying Something New The Nevengers have arrived on Neverland only shortly ago, when Killian overhears a conversation between Emma and her mother about whether it’s really wise to trust a pirate.
Fair Fight The day before the big showdown with Pan to get Henry back, he finally confronts Emma with the fact that her sword fighting skills are not as good as she thought. Is she willing to take lessons from him?
In Pain, In Need Set after Killian’s betrayal of Ursula. He returns to the accursed island full of more self-loathe than ever. Tinkerbell tries to help.
Not The Time To Be Jealous Observing a conversation between Killian and Tinkerbell causes Emma to think back to Neverland and her jealousy of the fairy. 
I Bathe Quite Frequently Emma goes to a lake to refresh herself a little before the final battle with Pan. Killian had the same idea, and she just can’t keep herself from watching. 
Christmas fics:
Since We’ve No Place To Go Modern AU: After a car accident in the middle of nowhere of rural Maine, Emma Swan almost freezes to death, but is rescued by a three-legged dog named Smee and his grumpy master Killian Jones who can’t seem to get rid of her soon enough to have his self-chosen hermitage back.
Pardon The Way That I Stare Modern AU: When Emma Swan meets Killian Jones, he seems to be too good to be true. Good she doesn’t have to ponder over it, but then she meets him again.
Home Alone or How The Grinch Found Christmas Modern AU: Emma Swan and Killian Jones both planned to visit their siblings for Christmas… both were thwarted by the weather. Does it have to be a lonely Christmas for them?
And A Teaspoonful Of Love The first Christmas Day dinner at Emma’s and Killian’s new house, and Killian and Snow get into a fight over the perfect recipe for Christmas Pudding. Will this end well?
Belated Gifts (M) Holiday smut about unwrapping the wrong gifts.
Never Hurts (M in part 2) Modern AU in 3 parts, based on a prompt: We are coworkers who hate each other, but on the staff Christmas party you drunkenly confessed your feelings for me, and now I don’t know how to act around you (except, Killian knows exactly how to act).
Mistletoe And Wine (M) More holiday smut. Emma is giving Killian a hard time while putting up their first Christmas tree. Until he has enough.
Let Your Heart Be Light Killian and Emma are about to celebrate their first Christmas together and realize that it’s their first truly happy one.
Dark One fics:
Dark One Lies, Dark One Tricks A spec fic about Dark Killian having a secret agenda, and that is to save Emma and destroy the darkness.
It Creeps Up In You The fight of the darkness Vs. the light inside Emma, a spec fic written from the darkness’s POV.
Broken Toy What if the Dark Swan wasn’t able to save Killian in time after he jumped off the roof in 5x08?
Exit Light, Enter Night, Take My Hand (M) Killian is still trying to find a way to save the Savior gone dark. A spec fic written before we knew that he was a Dark One, too.
Other one-shots or two-parters, smutty (some are M, some E, some in between):
In My Wildest Dreams Emma just can’t get enough of Killian - quite literally. And that leads to her having a dream. And it’s wild. But also loving. (This is a threesome fic, so skip it if that’s not your thing. But it only happens in a dream, if the sort-of-cheating aspect is what puts you off.) 
Corruption And Consequences Driving lessons taking a turn? Idk my dudes, this is basically pwp, slightly kinky.
In The Good Way Yes, this is what you think it’s about. Handcuff shenanigans at the sheriff’s station.
Just Another AU Emma Swan has a stressful job and a demanding family, and sometimes she just needs to unwind. Killian Jones is always willing to help out when he gets a distress call.
In The Wee Hours, part 1 Emma wakes up in the middle of the night, and well… she just goes with the flow. This is very tender pwp.
In The Wee Hours, part 2 Killian wakes up from a pleasant dream only to find he isn’t really dreaming. Still very tender pwp.
A Hard Day’s Night Emma sends Killian an indecent selfie, and like Regina once said: never thinking of the consequences…
Fuzzy Feelings A neat pile of smuff, Killian’s fuzzy butt is the heart of this ficlet.
Where We Belong Set between 5x21 and 5x22, pretending there’s at least one day of peace to breathe and take care of some wounds before hell breaks loose again. Killian and Emma deal with the aftermath of being the Dark Ones.
Do You Think Of Me? Killian comes home from a sailing trip unexpectedly early and finds Emma engaging in a little self-love.
Up To No Good Emma claims that Killian is predictable. But is it really wise to challenge a pirate?
Consider Living A Life During the peaceful 6 weeks: When Killian doesn’t show up, Emma goes looking for him nervously - and walks in on him when he’s just leaving the shower, seeing him naked for the first time.
It’s In His Kiss Killian’s fingers are even talented enough to braid Emma’s hair. And there’s more.
The G-spot Killian learns something new about the modern world every day. For example, what a g-spot is.
That Damn Bar Wench I Kissed What if Killian actually remembers the encounter of his past self with Emma in the Enchanted Forest?
A Birthday To Remember Emma finds out by accident when Killian’s birthday is. He doesn’t want any fuss over it. Emma and Henry are having none of that. Set in season 4, before Killian got his ship back.
A Few Planks, A Sail, And A Red Vest After Killian gets his ship back, he and Emma inspect it and, when Emma finds a certain garment she remembers, reminisce on their adventure in the Enchanted Forest.
All Of The Hell I Had To Walk Through Set after 4x11 - how it should have gone after Emma restored Killian’s heart.
Other one-shots or two parters, non-smutty:
It’s Forever A ficlet set roughly in the peaceful six weeks between 4A and 4B. Smee is surprised when his Captain approaches him for a chat.
What His Captain Needs A ficlet set in 3x17. After his unsatisfying talk with Killian, Smee watches his Captain from afar talk to Emma Swan and her son. And suddenly he understands a few things.
Lay Your Weary Head To Rest Missing scene from 5x21. Right before moving on from the Underworld Killian meets his father. Can they forgive each other and find closure?
Hook’s Smooth An ode to Killian’s body hair... and Emma’s obsession with it.
A Sorrow That Never Was Said Snow discovers something about Killian's childhood and uses the occasion to assure him of his place in their family.
Not Today Killian’s state of mind right before he follows Emma through the portal in 3x21.
A Vision Softly Creeping Set post-wedding:  Killian keeps having nightmares he can’t quite remember. With Dr. Hopper’s help, he discovers one of the reasons for them, and that might require a painful, in-depth talk with Emma.
It’s You Set in 4x16: A continuation/divergence of the conversation Killian and Emma have about the wooden man child.
The Man You Want To Be Set after 6x10. Killian tells Emma story how he found out that he had a little half-brother. Yeah, painful. 
Thirteen Snow just wants to make sure that Emma is really happy. Slightly crack-ish fic about Emma being grilled by a curious Snow in the style of “Was there a goodnight kiss?” 
Privacy And Pancakes You’d think Snow has learned not to use her spare key. Well, she hasn’t. And this time, she brought David. 
Unhappy Beginnings During the peaceful 6 weeks after Gold’s banishment, Emma is determined to find out more about Killian’s beginnings.
Smiles A little 3x20 canon divergence where Killian is not left out at the hospital but is unexpectedly included.
The Past And All Its Scars After his return from Neverland, Killian finds that Emma has already packed away his belongings, and he’s upset. So much for always believing the best in him. A post 6x17 fix-it fic.
The Life That You’ve Lost Set in 3x12: A drabble about Emma’s thoughts and feelings right before she takes a leap of faith and drinks the stuff the weird leather-clad guy is offering her.
Family, Kind Of Alice Jones from Hyperion Heights, Seattle, comes to Storybrooke, Maine to finally meet the man who looks like her papa’s twin… and to hug the woman who saved his life.
The Way These Stories Go Set between 2x05 and 2x06: A glimpse into Killian’s thoughts and feelings during the walk from the ogre lawn to the beanstalk.  
A Part Of Something A post-3x20 canon divergence where Zelena’s portal never opens. Just when Emma has made up her mind about a possible future for herself and Henry in Storybrooke, she discovers that Killian is planning to leave.
Done With You While fighting Hook for the magical compass at Lake Nostos, Emma catches a glimpse of his soft side, and she thinks back to their last encounter in Rumple’s cell…
What This Family Does Killian comes back from Neverland, and some things should not be swept under the rug. Another 6x17 fix-it fic, because I felt that Killian deserved a little more than just being forgiven.
A Favor Returned Modern AU. Emma is scelebrating New Year’s Eve with her girls, and they are having fortune cookies of a special kind. A handsome, but infuriating stranger doesn’t help to lift the mood…
She’s A Marvel Killian wants to propose to Emma and is nervous about her reaction - but first, he has to seek approval from the other important men in her life: David and Henry.
Every Little Thing She Does Post Underworld: Emma’s magic goes haywire every time she and Killian get intimate, causing the power in Storybrooke go crazy. This doesn’t remain unnoticed.
All Hope Abandon Ye Who Enter Here The rescue mission for Killian shows up in the Underworld. But first, they need to convince him that they’re not just one of Hades’s cruel tricks. Written as a spec fic before season 5 aired.
Dexterity Devotee Just a little anatomy study of Killian’s hand.
Not Black And another anatomy study of Killian’s hair.
That’s What They Said It takes Killian and Emma a long time, for various reasons, before they say the three little words to each other. But not really.
Home A little ficlet about the 3x22 kiss from Killian’s POV.
Lullaby Emma wonders why her daughter always wants Killian to bring her to bed.
Persistence Killian and David are sharing a beer and memories about memory losses and how not to break them.
Home Again Cross The Sea Killian takes Emma and Henry on a sailing trip.
Blown Fuses Modern AU in 2 parts: Emma Swan and her son Henry are on holidays in a secluded beach house at Cape Cod, away from people, just like she loves. Unfortunately, there are other beach houses for rent, too, and Henry has taken a liking to their temporary neighbor.
Little Girl Lost While Killian and David bicker, they lose sight of more important things, such as their children.
When You Love Them And They Love You After Emma takes the darkness and disappears, Killian’s first impulse is to set sails and go find her. Mary Margaret wants to convince him that they have to do it together - as a family.
More Than Words Modern AU: After another breakup, Emma moves into a shabby apartment. Every night, she hears someone playing guitar and singing through the air vent. She never believed you could fall in love with a voice.
Save Me From The Nothing I Become Set in 2x14/2x15: What happened after Emma knocked Hook out in New York and chained him in a basement room?
Lie Down With Me A little daddy Killian ficlet.
Sleepless Emma can’t sleep, several talks she had with Killian are weighing on her mind.
Expecting Sequel to Sleepless: Killian’s reaction to Emma’s news.
Rotten A little 4x11 divergence where Emma defeats Gold and restores Killian’s heart and assures him that it is, indeed, not rotten.  
Black As The Devil, Hot As Hell Sequel to Rotten: Emma and Killian go on their second date. This time, the loft isn’t as crowded as the last time, and so she invites him in, for coffee.
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kiwi-le-survivant · 5 years
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Belated Talk Like A Pirate Day post, but this cracks me up waaay more than it should.
youtube
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kinsie · 6 years
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Overly Belated Game Impressions from PAX Aus 2018
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Every year I go to PAX Aus with some close friends to check out the Incredible Future of Games that everyone else already checked out six months ago. This is usually coupled with checking out some wonderfully well-preserved old games and hardware, along with some typically wonderfully weird indie stuff I've never heard about before. Every year, I've written up a little review of things I've played (or watched get played) on an old private forum some friends maintain, but this year, I've figured, fuck it, I might as well post it publicly, right?
Not Indie Games
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Super Smash Bros Ultimate sure is a Smash game. That's not a bad thing, but since this was the same demo build from E3 (so before the Castlevania reveals) there wasn't a huge amount of surprises - just a damn good fightfest. Amusingly, the demo booths were split into two groups - For Fun (items on, Switch Pro Controller) and For Glory (items off, the new Gamecube controllers). New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe has a nonsensical name and spawned an even more nonsensical meme. The demo had six levels to play - three from the base game, three from the Luigi expansion - with both the new and old characters to play. It doesn't look like anyone other than Toadette can get the meme crown, meaning players using that character won't have to jostle for powerups in multiplayer. I didn't play Pokemon Let's Go Eevee because the queue was like 90 minutes long, but my friend braved it and gave it a resounding "ehhhh" with a hand gesture resembling a teetering see-saw. Apparently the co-op stuff wasn’t available in the demo, either, which concerned my friend since that was specifically what he was interested in.
V-Rally 4 looks nice aesthetically, but the gameplay seems pretty "eh". The name seems to be about the most interesting part. Dragonball FighterZ for Switch seems like a pretty decent port. I don’t know much about the source material or original game, but it ran fast and I didn't notice any obvious hitching or whatever.
Luigi's Mansion for Nintendo 3DS is... a 3DS port of the Gamecube launch title. It ran at a solid 30fps... a whole lot better than I recall Luigi's Mansion 2/Dark Moon running, but I was also using a vanilla 3DS for that game while the demo units at PAX were New models.
Indie Stuff
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The Xbox Adaptive Controller was present as part of a demo setup for a version of One More Line. I wasn't expecting to have to push the Big Novelty Button as hard as I did, I thought it'd be a lighter touch for some reason. Although I know the button kinda isn't the point of the thing...
Supertrucks Offroad is a PC adaption of a mobile take on old top-down racing games. There's promise here, but the current handling and physics leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully it continues to develop and evolve.
Infinity Heroes is a card game with some simplified mechanics and animated versions of all the card graphics. Has potential, but still plenty of rough edges and pre-alpha grit to sand out.
Metal Wolf Chaos XD sure is a port of an Xbox game. It feels pretty well done, all things considered - the framerate is great, the controls are responsive, and the English subtitles are sometimes even connected to what's being said by the characters!
Ghoul Britannia: Land of Hope and Gorey is a point-and-click adventure game that, unexpectedly, uses a Fallout-esque isometric perspective instead of the usual side-on.
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Table of Tales is a VR tabletop RPG where you control an entire party of Scoundrels by moving pieces around a constantly-changing board and playing ability cards. Since it was a VR game, there was a long sign-up queue to play, so the developers set up a little booth where Arbitrix, the game's DM (and, incidentally, a mechanical talking bird), would cheerfully explain the game for you. He said my goatee was perfect for a pirate adventure. It was probably intended as a compliment.
Supermarket Shriek is very similar to a game I prototyped years ago, except it's got a Supermarket Sweep theme and shrieking goats. Also, it's actually getting finished and has more than one level, which is another differentiator. Use the shoulder triggers to make the characters inside a shopping trolley scream their lungs out, propelling the trolley and allowing you to steer it through silly retail-themed obstacle courses.
You probably think, based on the squat protagonist and camera angle, that Tunic is a riff on Zelda: A Link to the Past. Surprise! It's actually a riff on Zelda: Ocarina of Time! The combat is very similar, with a dodge/roll button and Z-targeting (although I guess it's more RT-targeting now) that jumps to the next enemy upon beating your current one. I can't say enough nice things about the graphics... One thing that's interesting is that the entire game is in a fictional language. This includes stuff like the pause menu!
Dash Blitz is a pretty amateurish attempt at a Smash-esque platform fighter. The "feel" just isn't there, sadly.
Nom Nom Apocalypse is a top-down dual-stick roguelite about fighting off food monsters. It looks pretty interesting, but sadly I didn’t get to go back and give it a hands-on look.
Henry Mosse and the Wormhole Conspiracy is a good old-fashioned point and click adventure. The graphics are wonderfully drawn in a cartoon style, but they suffer from really puppet-y animation like an old Flash cartoon, and it breaks my heart.
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No Moss Studios bought along Beam Team, a couch co-op game about fighting a giant donut that I didn’t get to try, as well as a collection of weird little Patreon-funded oddities like Sprout Up, a simple little mobile game about weaving through vines, and My Magpie, a bird-aiding simulator of sorts. 
Little Reaper is a platformer with a fun movement twist in that you can throw your scythe - which travels in an arc like a hammer in Mario - and teleport to where it lands. I'll have to give this a closer look.
Mars Underground is an Earthbound-esque RPG-style adventure game with a Groundhog Day-style conceit of being stuck in a time-loop. I can't really say it struck me, to be honest.
Scout's Honor is a co-op party game where four players team up to set-up a camp-site in a limited amount of time while dealing with hazards and such. It looks kinda cute, reminds me of Overcooked a bit.
Ice Caves of Europa is a rather odd-controlling game where you pilot a hover-drone controlled by an artificial intelligence. This one probably takes a bit more time to wrap your head around than a convention center allows.
Introspect looks really cool - a Shadow of the Colossus-style boss rush with an emphasis on movement tricks and agility. I didn't get to play it while I was there, but the developers were handing out download codes for the show floor build. It seems pretty fun, although it still needs a good deal of polish.
Soundfall is a dual-stick rhythm-shooter where you have to get to the end of a course before the song ends, with rewards for shooting and slashing to the beat ala Crypt of the NecroDancer. One to watch. 
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Ticket to Earth is a tactical strategy RPG ala Fire Emblem with a tile-matching mechanic that makes how you move to your enemies even more important by limiting your movement and charging your special abilities. The comic artwork is nice, although the talking heads only seem to have one or two facial expressions.
Nova Flow is a first-person speedrunner that reminds me of a blend of Mirror's Edge's DLC maps and that one paint game that got incorporated into Portal 2. One of the demo levels was apparently one of the hardest levels in the game, and the developer was quite impressed at my getting within inches of completing it before the demo timer ran out...
Dawnblade seems to be an attempt at doing the whole Diablo thing on a phone, with the player hacking their way through short, pre-made maps. Visually, it looks like any of a million other games riffing off of Warcraft 3, and it seems to have some weird mobile game trappings like a stamina system to limit the amount of time you can play in a period of time.
Little Bit Lost is a survival game where you've been shrunk down to the point where ants tower over you and are powerful monsters. This one felt real early. It has promise, but needs a lot of polish to truly deliver on it.
Rogue Singularity is a 3D platformer with procgen levels. The feel didn't gel with me, and I can't really say I liked it all that much. It didn't help that the Switch port I played seemed to lack anti-aliasing entirely, giving the entire scene an unpleasant jagged look.
Ashen looks utterly fascinating - an open-world Souls-esque action RPG with Journey-style "passive" co-op where you can occasionally meet other, anonymous players out in the world and either help them or leave them to their fate. It looks really pretty.
Speaking Simulator is a hilarious puzzler where you have to manually operate a human mouth in order to say Entirely Normal Phrases in order to convince people that you are absolutely a human and not a murder robot in disguise.
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Untitled Goose Game had a massive queue that I was absolutely not going to fuck with. :(
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yeop
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plush-anon · 5 years
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plush reviews: pirates ahoy! (collected)
for my own personal reference, decided to collect the singular posts into one, w/ breaks between each original post below the cut
I will say this, the opening credits for this one are pretty dang good - nice visuals flow together with some wonderful music to create a compelling overview of the Bermuda Triangle and some of the wild theories commonly associated with it, as well as how far back these myths go. Kudos 🤗
also, I did not realize how short this movie is - paused it for a second and it’s only 70 minutes long apparently. huh
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oh man, good times - I forgot how stilted and choppy the WNSD animation could get in some shots.
annnnnd there’s the cotton candy fog. it moves like it’s on a skateboard being pulled across the screen XD
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finally cut to the gang - i honestly like this shot of everyone in the car. daphne paints her nails like my sister used to when we were young - on the dashboard on long car rides 😅 the nausea from the smell led to some “fun” trips, lemme tell ya 
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oh Casey Kasem, even in old age your Shaggy was memorably good
also the joke on Fred’s age never gets old XD like, you guys grew up together as kids in this continuity, how could you not know his age, much less that he’s obvs not in his 40s? still a fun one tho
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another thing i forgot about WNSD continuity - Shaggy’s character model being like 2 feet taller than Fred in some shots
also the gang being legitimate friends and liking each other and getting along, unlike some portrayals *side-eyes sdmi*
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i think this is my fave version of fred’s parents, although i do love Professor Huh from be cool scooby doo. they are EXACTLY how i picture the people who raised the sdway/wnsd version of Fred to be 
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holy crap, i forgot Kathy Najimy was in this 
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actually, here’s a thought: why haven’t they graduated Frank Welker to playing Fred’s dad in a show, and hired someone else to play Fred?
granted, the man still (uncannily I might add) sounds exactly like he did in the 60s (hOW?!?) but it’s strange they haven’t tried to do that yet apart from maybe pup named sd, where he played fred’s… uncle, i think and i guess kind of with the new scoob 2020 movie, where he only plays scooby
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…i think the captain of the ship just got beamed aboard the Enterprise o_O 
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the alien has the general head shape of the ones from Alien Invaders and the claw hands of dr claw from inspector gadget
also, whoever designs fred’s facial expressions in this movie is having waaaay too much fun (although kudos for actually… you know… making them. some characters have very minimal face movement and it’s rather unsettling, especially when the voice acting is actually pretty decent)
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i gotta say, good on fred’s parents for encouraging their son’s interests and talents, as well as getting him a birthday gift that he can not only enjoy, but also inviting his friends along for.
…unlike SOME incarnations *glares at sdmi*
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holy fcuk shaggy just brought back the ghost of captain cutler, glow-in-the-dark diving suit and all O_O 
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dang, velma’s lounge wear looks cozy. i’m glad they haven’t tried to force her into something weird
camp scare put her in a white bathing suit, which was… really odd for her, color scheme wise. altho the storyboard artists reaaaaaally wanted to do a drawn out, slo-mo play-in-the-water thing with velma and daphne in that one, so maybe that contributed to it? idk
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i do like that the gang inadvertently solves every mystery on a mystery cruise - that cracks me up 
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cripes, they keep cutting back and forth between a decently animated shot of the gang on a polished background, and this almost MS Paint looking rough animation of the castaway being guided on the deck, which is all flat colors and rough black lines. it looks terrible
the animation quality is all over the place here
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and suddenly man in a jetpack
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RON PERLMAN?!?!?
how the FRICK did they get him on this movie cast?! this is post-hellboy!
( also apparently arsenio hall voices the captain. who the heck had all these high rollers on speed-dial at the studio that day)
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actually, here’s a thought: given the voice cast we have, and how i’m actually able to follow this without having to look at the screen all the time (i’m folding laundry rn), this could make for a really decent comedy mystery radio show.
think about it! get a decent voice cast and writing team, and there’s a lot you can do with Scooby on the radio. you may not be able to do the chase scenes as well, but those can be worked around pretty easily with a solid writing team. i’d be interested in seeing that come to reality in all honesty - it could be fun!
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another thing i just noticed: Scooby hasn’t talked NEARLY as much in this one as he does in later shows/movies. I forgot how much I missed that from him 
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wait a tic that’s Dan Castellaneta as the hypnotist
seriously, who was able to get all these people on board for a Scooby Doo DTV about pirates
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now here’s an interesting moment/snafu: Shaggy and Scooby canNOT be hypnotized, according to this movie, but the clown in SDWAY was able to hypnotize them both using the exact same method - a gold circular object on a chain swung back and forth.
then there was Legend of the Phantasaur much much later able to hypnotize Shaggy so successfully he overcame his panic disorder
was it because they weren’t allowed to eat prior? their meal was continuously interrupted before they were dragged onstage. maybe being actively hungry and denied food when it’s right in front of them blocks them from being hypnotized properly…?, idk but it’s food for thought, for sure 😁
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ehehe, one of the background guests is wearing a Tin Man costume from the Wizard of Oz
alas, this is prolly as close to a crossover as I’ll ever get between my first two fandoms ever and maybe that’s for the best
(honestly kind of surprised there's never been a scooby themed oz-related adventure tbh public domain and recognizeable)
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it took about half an hour into the movie for the title villains to actually encounter the gang, or almost exactly halfway through the movie. that’s actually pretty odd for a scooby movie, isn’t it?   especially when they haven’t encountered any other mystery except the fake-y ones (a lot start off with an in-progress mystery to finish up before being introduced to the main)
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welp, villain’s been spoiled, it’s ron perlman’s character as the pirate captain…
*sighs* Pirate Captain Skunkbeard
like… you get freaking Slade from the teen titans, Hellboy Himself, to voice your baddy… and you give him a name like Skunkbeard.
could have been something cool like Capt Barnaby Bones, or Cuthbert Butcher the Red Pirate, or SteelHook Slater, or Morgan “Moonscar” McWright (okay, that one’s been used before, but the point stands dammit!)
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holy moly, one of the pirates just tried to cut scooby and shaggy’s head off with an actual blade
it cut clean through their costume heads with one swipe
jesus christ on a bike, what is WRONG with you?!?!
(sometimes these scooby dtvs have moments like this. moments that explain how it is shag and scoob have what is likely ptsd for days)
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*gang follows trail of oozy green liquid sheen to the pirate ship*
now see, i thought those wooden ships weren’t supposed to pollute the oceans back in the day
(tho it does work as a solid clue i’ll grant em that)
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shaggy, why aren’t you more excited to go into the cotton candy fog? it’s clearly grape and green apple flavored! 
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…i think one pirate just killed another one during that sea shanty there
brutal
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so i didn’t mention earlier, but tim conway is fred’s dad, and i think he’s the only voice star in this i’m not surprised at - he’s been on the new scooby doo mysteries as their celebrity guest of the week, so him coming back is more like a belated reunion
that being said, his voice work here varies wildly between ‘what the heck take was that’ and ‘hysterical’ - it’s quite odd
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and suddenly the cruise ship is sunk, and the gang is on an island
alrighty then
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the captions are cracking me up right now - not a single one has spelled “bananas” right
it only spells it as “banas” 🤣🤣🤣
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“Prepare to suffer the wrath of Capt Skunkbeard!”
…nope, that’s still not intimidating. try again sir.
(truly i am made to sail the seas, for i am salty af on this name)
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‘Seize them!’
fade to black
come back in on gang tied to the pirate ship mast
…really? the gang has escaped far worse than a group of pirates before (and usually to some funky tunes), and you’re saying they were captured just like that?
fred, please tell me this is a plan of yours, otherwise this is just dumb
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sooo the pirates want to find a place that matches a painting of stars from 200 years ago… without ever stopping to consider that the painting could just be a pretty picture?
it’s a small painting, and i don’t think that star maps were really used like that back in the 1800s when it was purportedly made (at least not from what they look like on wikipedia… none of them look like pretty wall paintings)
these pirates are kinda dumb, methinks
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the ghosts of the bermuda triangle, including world war fighter places, old exploration ships, and a sea monster are apparently trying to stop the pirates
because the pirates want to time travel and rule the sea throughout time
and they needed the pretty pretty picture to lead them to the time travel macguffin they want to retrieve… which is also the sole reason the Bermuda Triangle is all bermuda triangly to begin with, when it fell to earth from space itself.
…say what now?
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...that has to be one of the dumbest time travel plots i've ever heard and i sat through endgame twice
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the macguffin is a solid gold meteor
a giant hunk of gold literally as larger as twenty of the pirates put together, and you want to use it to time travel instead of selling that shit and being made for life
why are none of you smart
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yet again i see scooby shoot someone with an item that should have killed them outright and ended the mystery right there
moon monster madness had scooby shoot the alien with a missile on the moon, and pirates ahoy has him shoot a cannon at someone point blank with only a wooden door immediately between them
shrapnel should have shredded that pirate to bits, if even that much was left after that
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okay, the time travel thing turns out to be a hoax the hypnotist uses to convince the billionaire to finance his search for the literal meteor of solid gold located in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle
that’s a relief at least - Scooby Doo has done some weird shit in its days, but time travel does not need to be one of them
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well, at least we finally have the answer to who would win in a fight - homer simpson or scooby doo?
(obvs scooby, of course :D)
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according to velma, everyone on the cruise was hypnotized into believing they were pirates (including fred’s mom), but doesn’t hypnotism only work if the person actually subconsciously agrees with/goes along with the suggestions?
does that mean that at least one person on the cruise ship wanted to behead someone, since they nearly succeeded with Shag and Scoob? does that mean the fred’s mom secretly wants to kill her husband, since she tried to have him thrown overboard the ship while she was hypnotized?
the questions this raises, they are unsettling thoughts indeed 😨
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“Wouldn’t you like a nice ski trip to the Himalayas?”
“And risk a run in with the Abominable Snowman?! Forget it!”
exactly one year later (no joke, it came out exactly one year later):
“Join Scooby and Shaggy as they run in terror from the Abominable Snowman in the Himalayas, in Chill Out Scooby Doo!”
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And that was Scooby Doo Pirates Ahoy!
That was a relatively fun, if dumb, done-in-one mystery. What really saves this one (especially given the REALLY inconsistent animation quality, from acceptable to ‘someone used MS Paint didn’t they?’ levels) was the voice cast. I don’t know what blackmail they had on these guys, but the voice acting was really dang good.
Probably too good - the bad guys’ voices are so memorable you know immediately who they are when you hear them.
The time travel spiel was unbelievably dumb, only saved by the fact it was a hypnotic ruse, and some of the stuff doesn’t quite mesh that well? Like the padding on the desert island, and some of the really weird plot contrivances like the painting being the exact map to a giant ass solid gold meteor :/
Still, a solid set-up (mystery cruise in the Bermuda Triangle) with some new elements (Fred’s parents, an absolute delight) make it a fun film for the wee ones. I’d call this a keeper at the end of the day.
Then again, I really have forgotten how nice it is to see the gang as actual supporting friends and have it feel sincere. Be Cool Scooby Doo was mostly for humor, but the kids still felt like they liked each other well enough.
WNSD on the other hand really made them feel like actual friends, based on body language around each other, general closeness, and a warm comradery that’s hard to replicate. For the flaws this show has, this is certainly not one of them.
That’s all for tonight folks. Sleep well, me hardies yo ho!
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aion-rsa · 4 years
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Mulan Box Office Flops in China While Tenet Drops in US
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Disney and Warner Bros. both recently attempted to discover new routes to blockbuster success in a time of pandemic. Both have showcased how the path forward remains troublingly unclear. Hence the less-than-rosy numbers facing both Disney’s Mulan and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet after the second weekend of domestic release for each.
In Mulan’s case, the film that was made specifically to appeal to a wider Chinese audience flopped at China’s box office this weekend. Grossing only $23.2 million over the past three days, Mulan fell well below the Chinese debut of other American blockbusters. By contrast Avengers: Endgame grossed an astounding $175.9 million over its first weekend in China and over $300 million over its first five days; Frozen II grossed $52.9 million its opening weekend; Aquaman earned $93.4 million. Conversely, while Mulan was the biggest movie at the Chinese box office this past weekend, by Sunday it had lost that perch on the daily scale to local blockbuster The Eighth Hundred.
This is a remarkable disappointment for Mulan because, unlike the animated 1998 movie, the Niki Caro-directed remake was made with a Chinese audience in mind. Thus the removal of musical numbers, talking dragon sidekicks, and even the deletion of the word “Hun.” But despite featuring Chinese stars like Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, and Jet Li, the film failed to capture the local imagination. This is likely due to a confluence of factors.
In addition to the pandemic, the film is opening in a Chinese marketplace that now has many homemade blockbusters with sufficient spectacle and understanding of native history and culture, including the use of Mandarin Chinese. Additionally, China has produced their own movies about the Mulan legend for a century, including the relatively recent hit Mulan: Rise of the Warrior (2009). It seems Disney’s English language version failed to excite large Chinese interest despite a greater fidelity to the legend. It likely also could not help that by becoming available on Disney+ in North American and European markets, Mulan was almost instantly available for online pirating, including in China.
Altogether, it makes for one more slight suffered by what once appeared to be a global box office juggernaut for Disney. Originally slated to open at the end of March 2020, Mulan was among the first major blockbusters to be delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, first to late July and then to Disney+ on Sept. 4. Yet while the actual numbers from Disney’s PVOD release of Mulan via the company’s streaming service remain a mystery, the $30 priced purchase, like the belated theatrical release of the film in China where COVID-19 is still affecting moviegoing, has apparently failed to generate the kind of grosses and pop culture penetration Disney normally expects. Indeed, the studio frequently dubs their big tentpoles to be “events,” and not mere movie openings, yet Mulan’s entire rollout seems muted.
When coupled with the recent fact a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers have sent a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek demanding to know just what exactly are Disney’s ties to the local government of the Chinese Xinjiang province—an area of the country where the Chinese government has been detaining Uighurs and other Muslims in what is recognized by the international community as human rights crimes, including the U.S.—it creates a cloud of disappointment and increasing controversy around the movie.
While Warners’ Tenet didn’t suffer quite as grim a development as U.S. senators suggesting one of their film productions was cozying up to a government committing human rights atrocities, Tenet has still failed to jumpstart theatrical moviegoing in the U.S. in the way director Christopher Nolan intended. During its second weekend at the North American box office, Tenet grossed only an estimated $6.7 million. This makes for a whopping 66.8 percent drop from its already soft $20.2 million reported gross during Labor Day weekend.
Ironically, Warners may have worsened the perception by allegedly inflating the opening weekend numbers during its Labor Day rollout. While the official studio number is $20.2 million over the course of four days, in truth that North American total included previews throughout that week in the U.S., as well as more than a week of box office grosses in Canada. When those numbers are removed, Tenet likely grossed somewhere between $10 million and $12 million during its first real opening weekend in the U.S. While that’s an even more anemic number than $20.2 million, it suggests the film really dropped less than 50 percent, and possibly as low as under 40 percent.
Granted with such small grosses, a much healthier drop is still disappointing news, and yet it still suggests the film’s word-of-mouth from those comfortable enough with returning to movie theaters is not nearly so poor as the 67 percent drop implies.
The takeaway from both of Disney and WB’s experiments, however, is one of disappointment and likely increased wariness from studios when it comes to releasing blockbusters via the theatrical moviegoing market and the VOD alternative. Mulan’s PVOD rollout, whether due to a cost-inhibiting price point or not, is not generating the kind of money the movie likely would’ve grossed in a healthy global box office. Yet Tenet proves the box office marketplace remains far from healthy and will likely stay so until the pandemic is under better control in the U.S. It is perhaps not surprising then, though disappointing, nearby studio fare like Wonder Woman 1984 and Candyman have already evacuated October.
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Perhaps an even more uncomfortable question is also rising in the whispered margins. If until the pandemic is under control there is no smart way to release a $200 million blockbuster, in theaters or online, then is the entire current tentpole studio system on which Hollywood is built in the 21st century in danger of going bust?
The post Mulan Box Office Flops in China While Tenet Drops in US appeared first on Den of Geek.
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