#gabe released a response. i read through it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pizzalordmike · 2 years

Text

The famous quote by Gabe Newell, the CEO of Valve Corporation, the company which created the following critically and commercially mega-successful franchises:

Half-Life,

Counter-Strike,

Team Fortress,

Portal,

DOTA 2,

and the biggest digital store for buying games, Steam, goes something like this:

“One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue. The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.” (Source: “How Valve Experiments with the Economics of Video Games.” GeekWire, 23 Oct. 2011, www.geekwire.com/2011/experiments-video-game-economics-valves-gabe-newell/. )

And thus, pro-piracy advocates have taken that statement and ran with it. They tell you how successful Steam is in places that have had huge issues with video game piracy such as Russia, and they talk about how music piracy cratered once Spotify and Soundcloud and Bandcamp and all the other music streaming services came out, and they jump up and down and say “See? See? People WANT to spend money on things! They WANT to give artists and large companies money! They want to spend money on books and movies and TV shows and video games and other consumer media! Just let them have easy access to it at an affordable price, and people will stop pirating! It’s not because piracy lets them have it for free, it’s because piracy just lets them have it at all in the first place!”

My response is two-fold, and has been for a long time:

1: Anyone who pays money for media they can get for free is an un-serious idiot and should be ignored completely.

2: How can anyone make a better service than piracy?

For point 1: Several months back I was at a local Barnes and Noble. I was looking through their bargain bin section when I saw a book called The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid. It looked so new, it seemed like it had just been pulled from the shelf. A “Cheap $5″ sticker was attached to it. The MSRP? $17.99.

I saw the book, picked it up, read the synopsis on the inside of the dust jacket, and figured that I wanted to read this book and support this author by buying it. But I realized that I had a choice on how to do that. I could purchase the $5 book, which was in as near pristine a condition as a book in the bargain section could be, or I could go and purchase the full price, $17.99 version of the book, either online or at a different store.

Anyone with a basic understanding of economics will probably look at that dilemma and go “That’s so stupid! You OBVIOUSLY pick the $5 book! You get the exact same thing at a lower price!”

So piracy advocates: Why should I, a reasonable consumer, pay money to any streaming service like Netflix or HBO Max or pay any amount of money to any store when I can find a place to have access to all of it, in one place, for free, without any ads or other interruptions?

For point 2: Steam is one of the biggest video game digital storefronts in the entire world. It has more video games for sale than anyone can feasibly keep track of, with more being released on the platform for purchase every day.

Except for Nintendo products.

If you like Pokemon, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Smash Bros., Kirby, Splatoon, or any other product made by/for Nintendo game consoles, you’re shit out of luck. You have to buy Nintendo made game consoles to play them.

Unless you pirate them. In which case you can play any of those games on an emulator on your computer.

So, Steam isn’t the best possible service, right? It doesn’t have the most video games accessible to their audience, piracy does by having games for nearly every console you can think of and even a few you might have forgotten about. It doesn’t have the best price, because piracy is free. And it doesn’t even consistently have the best product; time and time again people who release pirated versions of games also take the time to make a better version of it. Case in point, when Metroid: Dread was released, Kotaku had a whole article about how the pirated emulator version had a better visual quality than the official version available for sale by Nintendo for their Switch console. (Source: “Metroid Dread Is Already Running on Switch Emulators.” Kotaku, kotaku.com/metroid-dread-is-already-running-great-on-switch-emulat-1847833403. Accessed 6 May 2022. )

This extends to movies, tv shows, but particularly to stuff that’s made outside of the United States like manga or anime. The manga and anime you can have access to from your bookstore or retail store or even from websites like Amazon or RightStuf is constantly limited by licensing agreements, companies going bankrupt, and other factors that result in “official” material becoming out-of-print and much more expensive than it should be. My personal favorite manga ever, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, has been out of print for YEARS and despite an anime adaptation coming in the near future as of writing this, there is no way to legally purchase the five omnibuses that make up the series without being willing to spend HUNDREDS of dollars.

Now, before anyone calls me a consumer whore licking the boots of the corporations because I’m criticizing people who advocate piracy, I want you to understand something: I am 100% in favor of having art of all kinds being readily accessible to everyone, everywhere, all the time. I work at a library, for God’s sake! A library! A public service that lets people access more books, movies, TV shows, music, and other media than you can shake a stick at for the low, low price of $0! Newspapers, cookbooks, art instruction books, craft instruction books, audio books and large-type books for the visually impaired, children’s books, young adult books, multi-lingual books, databases, books about local history, books about world history, documentaries, magazines, poetry, short stories, stories with BIPOC characters, stories with LGBTQ+ characters, books written BY BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors, even some video games in some libraries, and if we don’t have it physically in the library, we can either place a request for it to be physically shipped to us for you to check out or you can probably find it online with one of the MANY library apps that let you check out EVEN MORE THINGS! Everyone should LOVE libraries and have a library card and check out all the things you want for free! Libraries are AMAZING! Everything should be like the library: readily accessible to the public, free, and easy for anyone to use.

And piracy, time and time again, has proven to be the closest thing to a library that I have ever seen. Piracy is the best way for the consumer to find what they want, get what they want, and keep it forever.

But so rarely do I ever see people who claim to be “pro-piracy” ever behave like they are IN FAVOR OF piracy. They always talk about piracy as if it’s a bad thing, that it’s a thing they HAVE to do, that they wouldn’t pirate stuff if they had any other option. And as someone who doesn’t pirate on purely ideological grounds (the “Piracy feels like I’m stealing and I don’t like stealing” argument) that do NOT stand up to scrutiny in any way besides being 100% emotion driven, I have to say you all sound like unserious idiots and bigger corporate bootlickers than I could ever be. The corporations who make the media you want do not care about you, have never cared about you, and will never care about you; why do you spend time trying to change that?

Just say “Fuck ‘em”, and take what you want. You don’t have to bend yourself into pretzels over who it is or isn’t morally correct to pirate from, you just pirate.

Of course, that makes you sound like entitled assholes who just want shit for free, but hey, at least it’s honest and straight-forward.

13 notes · View notes

hockeylvr59 · 4 years

Text

A Christmas Bride || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: I mentioned a Christmas wedding..so here’s a Christmas wedding. Shoutout to everyone who helped with details like nicknames, the dress, and everything else and to those ladies who let me use their names for bridesmaids. See ‘tagged/037′ for inspiration post and first dance song.

Warnings: I honestly don’t think there’s anything here I need to warn you about.

Word Count: 6,914 (~250 of which is a reading attributed to its author as mentioned)

~~~~~~

Sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV your fiance was driving, you took in the city lights of Calgary as they slowly disappeared into the rearview mirror. It was three days before Christmas and the Avs had just defeated the Flames on the road. Cale’s parents had left you behind to wait for their son, declaring that they would see you at home soon. When Cale appeared from behind the locker room doors, he was all smiles. With his arms wrapped around you, he’d kissed you softly and then asked if you wanted to go for a drive with him.

“Well, you’re kinda my ride so I guess so…” You’d teased, leaning against Cale’s side as he took your hand and guided you to where the second car his parents had driven was parked. You had no idea where you were going, but you trusted that Cale did and just relaxed, his hand in yours over the center console as he drove, Christmas carols playing on the radio.

You’d been on the road for about an hour when you saw Cale glancing over at you.

“Hey sweetheart, do you trust me?” He asked. You made a face because of course you did, but you were confused as to why he was asking.

“You know I do…” You simply replied. It was only then that Cale released your hand for a moment, opening one of the many small compartments in the vehicle to pull out something which he dropped onto your lap.

“Put this on for me?” He requested and when you picked up the item you realized it was a blindfold.

“Cale?” You murmured, even more confused now as to what was going on.

“Just trust me and put it on okay?” He insisted. “I promise it’ll all make sense soon and that nothing is going to happen to you.” And because you trusted Cale with everything, you complied, pulling the blindfold over your eyes before leaning against the door again. Moments later Cale reached for your hand and you sat in darkness with him rubbing patterns over your palm just softly singing to the carols playing. About eight songs later you felt the vehicle stop and Cale squeezed your hand in his.

“Go ahead and unbuckle and sit up.” He instructed. “But don’t touch the blindfold. I promise we’re almost there.” He added. You followed his directions as the sound of his car door slammed shut and then a blast of cold air hit you as your door opened. “Alright, sweetheart...come here.” Cale breathed, offering a hand out to help you from the car and onto your feet. Two more car doors slammed before his hand was taking yours again.

“Alright. Just come with me. I promise I won’t let you trip. Just a short walk and then I swear you can take the blindfold off.” You were beyond confused and anxious, but the feeling of his hand was soothing as he indeed started guiding your steps. It was a little more than a short walk, but that was only a minor point and after three doors, an elevator ride, and just a few minutes, you were finally stopping, Cale’s hand falling to your hip.

“Can I take this off now?” You pleaded softly and Cale’s chuckle filled your ears before his fingers drifted up to pull it off of your face.

“Yes, but just look at me.” He teased, his features appearing across your vision in the dim space.

“Where are we...what the hell is going on Cale?” You inquired next and Cale ran his fingers across the back of his neck before handing you a wrapped box.

“Open this...it will explain everything,” Cale promised, his hands cupping your cheeks to pull you in for a kiss that you melted into, your brain swimming. “But I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Stealing one more kiss, Cale moved back through the door that was behind him, as you called his name trying to understand.

Left alone, you panicked and immediately reached for a light switch. When the lights turned on and you turned around you couldn’t help but gasp. In front of you, off to the left was a jacuzzi tub and a few more steps into the room revealed a king-size bed tucked behind a dividing wall to the right.

Running your fingers through your hair you made your way over to the bed and plopped down. Remembering the box in your other hand that Cale said would explain everything, you looked at it, quickly pulling off the envelope attached to the top. Inside was a letter and you felt yourself holding your breath as you started to read Cale’s familiar handwriting.

Y/N,

I’m pretty sure it was on our first date that I learned just how much you love Christmastime. And it wasn’t long after that before your friends and family were telling me about how you’ve always dreamed of a Christmas wedding. Watching you light up this time of year is one of my favorite things about you.

I know being with me isn’t always easy, I know what my career has caused you to give up, will cause you to give up in the future. Yet through it all, you’ve stayed right by my side. I can’t express to you how much that means to me.

When I proposed, I promised to make all of your dreams come true if you’d just let me make you my wife.

But since that day I’ve watched you struggle. I’ve seen the pressure of supporting me and taking care of our home weigh on you. I’ve seen the tears you cry when the media is critical of my play or when people who have no business in our personal life butt in on social media. And I’ve seen you struggle to pick a date, decide on a venue for our wedding. In order to make things easier on me, you’ve been trying to wrap your head around a summer wedding, even though we both know that’s not what you want.

So...without me rambling too much...I know you have questions. Likely, where am I and what the hell is going on?

Where are you? The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta.

What the hell is going on? Open the box now.

Tossing the wrapping paper to the floor, you opened the box, pulling out a cotton robe from the tissue paper. Turning it over, you held it up, the words ‘Mrs. Makar’ staring back at you in a forest green script. Under that, in a similar deep red script, was ‘12.23.20’, and suddenly swallowing was a lot harder. Picking the letter up again you continued reading, tears forming quickly and streaming down your cheeks.

I took note of tonight’s game against Calgary on the road from the moment the schedule was released. And it stayed in the back of my mind until that night at Gabe’s where Mel and Courtney grilled you about wedding planning and you came home and cried yourself to sleep.

Y/N...it absolutely killed me to know that planning our wedding, one of the happiest days of our lives, was making you so upset. If you’ll recall, the next morning I told you to take a break and that it would all work out.

That morning, I called my mom and your mom on the way to the rink and told them that I wanted to make this particular dream of yours come true. With both our families on board and a very limited date window I started making some calls and with a name drop or five, some luck, and a LOT of hard work, here we are.

I suppose I should briefly apologize for my slight manipulation of you with insisting you go dress shopping, come up with your half of the guest list, and taste cakes with me but I hope all of that will be quickly forgiven when you see the results of my efforts.

I love you Y/N and all I’ve ever wanted was to see you happy because from that first day on UMASS’s campus that’s all you’ve ever made me.

So relax. Everything is taken care of. You just sit back and enjoy.

Anxious and extremely excited,

Your soon-to-be husband

P.S. Text your mom when you pull yourself together so she can bring you your bag.

P.P.S. Shower tonight. Breakfast will be brought at 7:30 with your hair and makeup artists arriving around 8:15.

Cale was truly the absolute best guy on the planet and it all still felt completely surreal. Just yesterday you were stressing over how you were going to get through Christmas with everyone asking about wedding plans and now..now tomorrow you were actually getting married.

A quick text to your mom and she was there, wrapping her arms around you after setting your bag on the bed. You hadn’t expected to see her until Cale’s first road trip after the holidays when you had plans to fly home and have a belated Christmas with your family.

“This is really happening?” You found yourself questioning, still unable to shake the shock you were feeling.

“Yeah, baby girl.” Your mom assured you. “You found yourself a pretty incredible man who would literally give you the moon if you asked for it.” Once again you were blown away by the weight of Cale’s love and though your eyes still watered, your smile was quickly growing.

After your mom caught you up to date with a few more details, ones Cale’s letter hadn’t provided, she bid you goodnight and told you that she would be back for breakfast in the morning, urging you to try and get some sleep.

Keeping in mind Cale’s advice to shower tonight, you quickly but carefully ran through an extensive beauty routine in the shower. Since you were still too anxious to sleep, you only quickly dried your body before moving to the jacuzzi tub. Tucked into the warm water with jets soothing your muscles you texted Cale, unable to help yourself.

You’re insane and incredible and I love you so much. Also...I can’t wait for you to see the dress. xoxo Your Bride.

You weren’t expecting a response, so you set your phone aside and just tried to relax knowing that morning was already creeping up on you. Feeling your skin start to prune, you finally climbed out, dried off, and crawled into bed. Though your mind wouldn’t stop racing, you did eventually drift off.

___

The sound of your alarm going off pulled you from sleep and it took you a moment to remember where you were. Suddenly it hit you that you were getting married today and wave after wave of nerves crashed over you. It was an excited nervous but one that almost left you feeling dizzy all the same.

Pulling yourself out of bed, you threw on some sweats, just in time for a knock to sound at your door. Moving over to it, you saw that it was your mom and you let her in, hugging her again.

“Did you get any sleep?” She inquired a warm but nervous smile on her face as well.

“A little.” You replied. “My mind won’t stop racing though.” You admitted.

“You’re worried about all of the details…” Your mom mused. “I’m sure Cale’s note already told you this but relax and just enjoy your wedding day baby, Cale has everything under control and he didn’t forget anything. I have never seen a man so detail-oriented regarding his wedding before.” She laughed and it made you giggle as you fell even more in love with him.

Any further discussion of your nerves was interrupted by the door again and this time it was in fact breakfast. Within minutes of its arrival, your best friends and bridesmaids arrived and wrapped you up in so many hugs, their joy infectious. Catching up with them over breakfast made your heart flutter because it had been too long since you’d seen them.

“We need to find us men like Cale.” Your college roommate, Rachel, mused a wistful look in her eyes.

“Good luck with that. He’s kind of one of a kind.” You smiled. “But I mean I can introduce you to his teammates, I think you’d get along well with Andre.” You teased, sending her a wink.

Breakfast had included mimosas, which was working wonders to take the edge off of your anxiety, causing you to be your usual open and bubbly self. As you finished breakfast your bridesmaids disappeared to grab their own robes to change into as well as to grab their dresses. While they were gone you slipped into your robe as well, your mom already starting to tear up at that sight alone.

As your bridesmaids returned, dress bags in hand, the hairstylist and makeup artist arrived. They both got to work on your mom, and you turned to your bridesmaids a curious look on your face.

“So...I know I didn’t pick these dresses. Do I at least get to see them?” You asked. Each of your bridesmaids zipped open the dress bags revealing different style dresses in the same dark forest green color.

“Cale suggested the color to us and then told us to use our best judgment.” Your childhood best friend, Anne, explained. “We think he was right on point but what do you think?”

“I think I’m going to have some pretty hot bridesmaids to set up with my hubby’s teammates.” You joked. “I don’t know anything really about this wedding but I’m sure they’ll be perfect.” You added, taking a deep breath to calm the next wave of nerves.

For the next few hours, you bs’ed with your girls while each, in turn, got their hair and makeup done. At some point, a photographer and a videographer arrived popping in and out of the suite. Before long it was your turn to sit in the chair, and when a mirror was handed to you when they were done, you almost burst into tears at the woman staring back at you, hardly believing that it was yourself.

“Wow…” You whispered, letting out a shaky breath.

“Cale isn’t going to know what hit him.” Your best friend from your major, Moni, declared.

“Yeah...you look smoking hot Y/N.” Rachel agreed. It felt like everything was a blur as you finished eating a quick snack before watching your bridesmaids slip into their dresses. When your mother returned, Cale’s mom was with her, both dressed and ready to go.

“Oh, sweetheart....you look stunning.” Cale’s mom declared, pulling you into a hug. “He’s gonna lose it. He’s fully admitted he’s sure he’s going to cry.” She laughed.

“Should we get you dressed?” Your mom inquired and with the photographer and videographer on standby, they helped you into your dress, settling the straps onto your shoulders before zipping you in. It fit like a glove and your friends all gasped, having not seen it before.

“Y/N…” They murmured, each having tears form in their eyes.

“You aren’t allowed to cry or I’ll cry.” You chastised, feeling yourself get emotional. This was the day you’d been waiting your entire life for and so many different emotions were swirling through you. Taking a sip of water, you tried to calm your racing heart as you carefully sat on the edge of one of the chairs in the room. Fanning yourself, you saw Laura grab two small boxes, handing them to you with a smile before she took the seat across from you.

“Cale sent the top one, says it’s your something new and blue. The other is from me and it’s your something borrowed.” Laura explained. Your mom quickly came over with the necklace Cale had given you last Christmas, an eight-sided snowflake so that you would always have a piece of him, or at least his jersey number, with you.

“Cale suggested this as your something old.” She declared, fastening it around your neck. Opening the box Cale had sent, you couldn’t help but laugh. Inside was a blue and maroon colorado avalanche garter.

“Oh boy.” You breathed. “Yeah, I guess that works.” Your expression caused everyone else in the room to laugh as you shook your head, working the garter onto your leg. “If this is the only inclusion of the avs besides as guests, I suppose I should be happy.” You teased, dropping your dress back down to hide the garter. Finally, you took the box that Laura had brought and opened it to reveal a diamond tennis bracelet, worn with age.

“That was my mother’s, she gave it to me when Cale was born, and I plan to give it to you someday.” She expressed. “But I think you should borrow it for today because it just feels right.” Leaning over, you wrapped her in a hug as you thanked her.

“I hope you know how grateful I am for the man you birthed and raised.” You murmured, trying not to cry. “He is...he is everything I ever could have asked for and I know so much of that is because of you.”

“Oh honey, you’ve taken the man I raised and made him an even better man. I am so grateful to be able to call you my daughter.” This moment with your mother-in-law was so special and you had to take another sip of water to pull yourself back together. “Now I’m gonna go check on my son because I think it’s time for your dad to come see you. We’ll see you downstairs.” Her words were full of excitement as you hugged her and she squeezed your hands before leaving the room, taking a load full of things belonging to your bridesmaids with her.

Your grandmother made her way up to the room just before your dad and when she arrived she immediately started crying at how beautiful you look. By the time your dad knocked on the door, you were just trying to keep distracted so you wouldn’t start crying, telling stories about dates with Cale and how you knew he was the one almost right away. You hadn’t expected your dad to cry, but he did get a little emotional as he wrapped you in his arms. With all of these moments captured in photos and videos you knew you would certainly fully cry over them in the future.

As the clock ticked closer to the ceremony time, you felt more nerves roll over you in waves, slowly becoming overwhelming. Looking at your mom and dad you let out a shaky sob.

“I...I know Cale doesn’t want to see me before...but I...I need to at least hold his hand for a moment...please?” You requested, now noticing that your hands were shaking. You weren’t getting cold feet, that certainly wasn’t what you were feeling, it was all just so much emotion in such a short amount of time.

Nodding, your mom reached for her phone and stepped into the hall. After a minute she returned and motioned for you to follow her, your bare feet padding down the hall until you reached an alcove.

“Cale is on his way up.” She assured you, kissing your head before stepping away to give you some privacy. Nodding, you just focused your breathing until footsteps approached from the hall to your right.

“Hey, sunshine, what’s up...you’re not getting cold feet on me are you?” The sound of Cale’s voice was music to your ears and you reached a hand out around the corner.

“No...no cold feet.” You promised. “I just…” You started but paused feeling Cale’s hand lace in yours. “I...I needed this.”

“Mom says I’m going to lose it when I see you.” Cale breathed. “I’m so excited to finally marry you.” His words in combination with the feeling of his hand around yours, soon had you feeling like yourself again, some of the overwhelming emotions lessening.

“So I told Rachel I’d set her up with Burky.” You chatted, loving the sound of Cale’s laugh in reaction to your words.

“I’m sure he’ll have no complaints about that,” Cale replied. “You okay now?” He whispered. “Or do you need a hug because I can just close my eyes.” He offered.

“I will never turn down a hug from you.” You said smiling. “But I am better now…” You added.

“Come here then. Quick hug and then scurry along because we’ve got a wedding to get to.” His voice was happy and light as he pulled you around the corner and into his arms, his eyes closed. The hug was quick but settled all of your remaining nerves and when you pulled away you stretched to press a kiss to his rosy cheeks. As you scurried down the hall you noticed the red splotch on his face and called back.

“Take a rag to your cheek. I love you!”

Letting yourself back into your room, you noticed that it was basically cleaned out of everything from getting ready.

“Better?” Your mom asked though it was clearly visible on your face that you were.

Nodding you moved to slip your heels on, ready to get the show on the road. Now that you had pushed back all of the excess emotions, you were bouncing in excitement and you couldn’t be told fast enough that it was time to head downstairs. When you got there, you were handed a bouquet of red roses and greenery. From the hallway outside the venue, you could hear music playing and you hugged your mom one more time, wiping at her tears before handing her off to Gabe who was escorting her to her seat.

“He’s gonna lose his mind when he sees you Y/N.” Gabe winked. “You look incredibly beautiful.”

Cale’s mom was being escorted by Matt Calvert and once both mothers had been taken to their seats, it was time for your bridesmaids to make their way down the aisle. Left alone with just your dad you let out a deep breath.

“Are you ready for this?” He questioned and you immediately nodded your head.

“I’ve been ready since the moment I met him.” Wrapping your arm around your dad’s, you took one more steadying breath as the music changed. Then the doors opened again and for a split second your mind took in how beautiful the venue was before you turned and were facing a crowd of smiling faces, Cale all the way at the end. Pacing yourself, you walked toward him, his face the only thing you could really focus on. He was crying, just like he’d said he would, and you blinked back tears of your own. When your dad handed you off, you squeezed Cale’s hand, giggling softly when he murmured to the officiant that he needed a moment.

Once Cale had pulled himself together, you proceeded, his hand now holding yours more firmly as he stared at you with nothing but affection and love.

“Today we are gathered here to witness and bless the marriage of Y/N and Cale.” You were half-listening and couldn’t help but focus on Cale as he mouthed a ‘wow’ in your direction.

“Who has the honor to present Y/N to be married?” Your father answered that he and your mother do and hearing his voice you glanced over at him with a reassuring smile. Moni reached over to take your bouquet from you and with two hands free, you held both of Cale’s, smiling up at him.

“Now close friends and family tell me that this day was only a matter of time from the moment Y/N and Cale bumped into each other on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I’m told that right away both secretly expressed that it was the best first date they’d ever been on and that they could see this relationship being one that lasts.” You could remember your first date like it was yesterday and you remembered even then having never felt like you just clicked with someone the way you did with Cale.

“Speaking with Cale I can see the amount of love and affection he holds for Y/N. I’m sure most of you are in the loop but Cale is the one that planned this entire thing in order to give Y/N the wedding she always dreamed of but was willing to give up to marry him. His teammates tell me the effort included a lot of time on the phone while on the road and even some missed team dinners.” Some chuckles went up in the crowd from the direction of Cale’s teammates and you smiled because you loved that rowdy bunch so much.

“And though I haven’t gotten the privilege to speak with Y/N...I can see now in the way she looks at him that all of that love and affection is returned. And while I’m sure that there’s more that could be said about the two people standing in front of me I’m pretty sure they’d both like me to just get on with things.” The whole space filled with laughter and you nodded your head like ‘yeah kinda’ as you continued to smile over at Cale.

“After speaking with Cale, I searched for a reading that seemed fitting of the relationship with Y/N that he described. In the end, I decided on “Blessing for a Marriage” by James Dillet Freeman.” Your officiant paused before launching into the reading.

“May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.

May you always need one another — not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete. The valley does not make the mountain less, but more.

And the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another, but not out of lack.

May you entice one another, but not compel one another. May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another. May you succeed in all-important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.

May you look for things to praise, often say, “I love you!” and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.

May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of one another’s presence — no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.

May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.”

By the end, the feeling of Cale’s fingers brushing patterns on your palm was all you could focus on. Lost in thought, you just watched him until he started speaking.

“I love you, Y/N(Full). You are my best friend.” Hearing the sound of his voice, you realized that he was repeating after your officiant one sentence at a time. “Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you and to always hold you in the highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life.” As he finished, he squeezed your hand and you let out a deep breath.

Repeating the same vows to Cale you laughed at using his full name ‘Cale Douglas Makar’ and then swallowed down the lump in your throat as you attempted not to cry as you continued. Once you’d shared your vows, your officiant asked for the rings and you watched as Cale’s brother handed them over.

This time, they started with you and you took Cale’s left hand into yours sliding on his wedding band.

“With this ring, I thee wed.” You stated confidently. Cale struggled just a bit to slide your ring on and you giggled as he spoke those six life-changing words as well.

“Well...we’ve made it through the vows, you’ve exchanged rings, so I suppose there’s just one thing left to do.” You officiant declared, causing Cale’s teammates and friends to start hooting and hollering. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Go ahead and kiss your bride.” Your officiant spoke over the cheers and as soon as he finished, Cale’s arms slipped around your waist and he leaned down to kiss you breathless.

“It is my honor to present to you, Mr. & Mrs. Cale Makar.” Taking your flowers back you walked back down the aisle with Cale, leaning against his chest as he kissed you once you were back in the hall.

“So this is what I could have seen earlier if I agreed to a first look huh?” He inquired, spinning you around so that he could take in all angles of the dress.

“Mmhmm.” You agreed, your arm wrapped around his as you smiled up at him contentedly. “But I’m kind of glad you didn’t.” You admitted.

“Me too.” He clarified. “But you’re so gorgeous.” He murmured, stealing one more kiss.

While your guests hit the cocktail hour, you, Cale, your immediate families and the wedding party headed to have photos taken. Your jaw ached from smiling, but every time Cale looked at you, you couldn’t help but feel your smile grow. You were his wife. You were going to get to spend the rest of your life with him.

Thankfully, as your stomach started to growl, the photographer announced that you were done with photos. You had to make a quick detour with Cale to sign the marriage certificate but after that, you returned to the same ballroom following your bridesmaids and groomsmen inside as once again all of your friends and family went nuts. You settled into your personal table with Cale and immediately reached for the glass of water, taking a long sip. As you waited for food to be brought out, you leaned into your husband’s side, your hand resting on his knee.

“So how did I do?” He whispered in your ear and for the first time you took a true look around the venue. There was a Christmas tree on either end of the room in front of the large windows and every balcony was strung with lit greenery. The tables were draped with white, red, or green cloth and the centerpieces were either red roses or poinsettias. It was absolutely beautiful and screamed Christmas.

“I’d say this is probably the equivalent of scoring a hattrick.” You replied, pressing a kiss to his jaw. Cale kissed your head in return and the two of you sat watching as your friends and family mingled as food started to come out of the kitchens. Sipping at your wine, you devoured the delicious food quickly, more hungry than you had realized. When your plate was empty you watched as Cale picked his up and used his fork to transfer his mashed potatoes to your plate.

“I had a heavy breakfast and lunch.” He insisted between bites. “Go ahead I know you’re still hungry.” Nodding, you quickly finished off the additional food your husband had provided you before snuggling back into his side to digest. Now that they had noticed you were finished eating, Cale’s teammates, particularly Gabe and EJ, got obnoxious with the glass taps trying to get you to kiss. You complied the first half dozen times but then just rolled your eyes and glared, enjoying just being tucked into your husband’s side.

After Cale’s brother gave a speech, your three bridesmaids tag-teamed one, and soon it was time for the first dance. Cale took your hand and led you onto the dance floor as Sam Smith’s version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas began to play.

“Now you’re just outdoing yourself.” You whispered pecking Cale’s lips as he swayed you back and forth. This...this was everything you had ever dreamed of right here. “And I don’t think I’ve mentioned it but you look very very sexy today.” Almost immediately, Cale’s cheeks took on a deep flush and you giggled running your hands down his chest. “I love how easily I affect you.” You grinned, squealing softly as he dipped you as the song came to a close.

“You’re a brat.” He mumbled, kissing you again gently before handing you off to your father for the father-daughter dance. Wrapped in your daddy’s arms he asked about you being happy and you couldn’t help it when your smile grew even wider.

“I’m so so happy.” You assured him. “You know Cale has always been good to me, good for me.” He nodded, agreeing that he knew that but wanting to make sure you knew that you were always his little girl. As you turned slightly, you saw Gabe dancing with Linnea by their table and immediately your brain dashed to the idea of Cale dancing with your daughter someday. You were both young and not ready for kids just yet but sometime in the semi-distant future, you were certain he’d be an amazing dad. Kissing your dad’s cheek as the song ended, you watched Cale drag his mom onto the floor for their dance. While he danced, you stopped to hug your mom before making your way over to Gabe, Mel, and Linnea.

Immediately Linnea reached for you and though Mel tried to discourage her, you eagerly reached for the toddler.

“She’s fine Mel.” You insisted. “Thanks for sticking around in town to be here today.” You were sure this was only the first of many times that that phrase would leave your mouth in the next few hours.

“Like we would have missed it. Cale has been talking about it non-stop for months. We all wanted to see what he was able to pull off.” Gabe smirked.

“Eh, just his bride’s dream wedding..no big deal.” You declared grinning.

“Plus now we can all chirp him for months for crying when he saw you,” Gabe added and immediately Mel smacked his head as the two of you in unison responded.

“No, you will not, Gabriel Landeskog.” Gabe threw his hands up in defense and chuckled softly. The DJ announced that this next dance would start with just the wedding party, then family could join in and by the end everyone else and you bounced Linnea on your hip, looking to where Cale was already working to get Z’s daughter to dance with him.

“I’m stealing your daughter, you can have her back at the end of this song.” You announced, cooing at Linnea who was enamored with you. Making your way onto the dance floor, you rocked Linnea around, making her laugh. Cale was doing the same with Sophie and when the two of you met up in the middle of the floor you smiled at each other, your shared look communicating the same thing. Someday.

The next few hours were a blur of mingling and dancing, though you certainly did more of the latter while Cale did the former. There were moments that stood out in your head though. First, you remembered how hard you laughed when you introduced Rachel to Andre and saw the expression on his face. You’d threatened him not to break her heart and while you weren’t certain it would be a long term thing, it certainly seemed like they would both at least have a good night tonight.

Second, you remembered cutting the cake and the rush of heat that ran through you as you licked the icing off of Cale’s fingers as he fed you. You’d both been nice, neither smashing it into the other’s face like Cale’s teammates had been egging you to do all night. Then he’d held you as you shared a full piece making your way from table to table to talk to people that you hadn’t yet. You weren’t so worried about your immediate families, your grandma mentioning that Cale’s family had invited everyone to stay through Christmas to do one big family thing. But teammates, friends, you wanted to make sure you stopped and told each of them how much you appreciated them being here given that it was so close to the holiday.

Finally, you remembered being pulled onto the dance floor by Matt Calvert. Not only had he and Courtney opened up their home to Cale, but they had also opened it to you, allowing you to spend time with him during a period where everything was changing so quickly that your relationship very easily could have cracked. In addition to that, Courtney had been a lifeline in helping you navigate your way through the life of a better half.

“You know...when Cale first mentioned you, I had my reservations,” Matt admitted. “But then I met you and I immediately knew it wouldn’t be long before we were standing here. The two of you complement each other so well. I truly don’t think he could have found a better match.” Hugging him, you expressed silently how much those words meant to you. As you continued to dance, you watched Cale with Courtney, his cheeks flushed from alcohol and the day as a whole. To their right, Moni was dancing with Matt Nieto and you giggled to yourself as your eyes went wide. Over by the tables, Josty, who had caught the garter, was chatting up Anne, who had caught your bouquet, making her laugh probably by saying something completely ridiculous because he’d had quite a few drinks today. And though deep down you already knew it, today had proven one thing. You belonged in Cale’s world just as much as he belonged in yours. The two of you just blended seamlessly and it was probably one of the most important reasons as to why it just worked.

Like your feet had tired hours ago, eventually, the rest of you started to tire as well and you tucked yourself into Cale’s side, leaning against him.

“Should we make our rounds and say goodnight?” Cale whispered softly in your ear and when you nodded, he started to guide you around the room. Soon, you had said goodnight to pretty much everyone who was left and then Cale grabbed your shoes, walking you up to your suite.

Popping the door open, Cale lifted you bridal style and carried you over the doorstep, setting you down gently on the bed.

“Today was perfect, but I’m exhausted.” You breathed, already feeling like you just wanted to melt into the mattress. As much as you wanted to consummate your marriage you just weren’t sure you had the energy. Cale paced around the room for a few minutes and when you finally pulled yourself to sit up, you saw that he had changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and was walking toward you with a makeup wipe in his hand.

“Let’s just get you ready for bed.” He proclaimed, gently wiping as much of the makeup off of you as he could so that washing your face would be easier. “We have all the time in the world.” He continued. “So let’s just get some sleep and then maybe we can take advantage of that jacuzzi in the morning since checkout isn’t until noon.”

“I like the sound of that.” You murmured, sitting still as Cale worked to take down your hair so that you could actually sleep on it. When all of that was done he pulled you to your feet, helped you out of your dress, and then into one of his t-shirts. Pulling him close you kissed him, your lips melding together lazily. “I love you. Thanks for everything today.” Your words were muffled against his lips but Cale groaned softly at them all the same.

“You deserve all of it. I can’t believe you’re my wife.” There was a glint in his eyes that you loved so much and you wrapped your arms around his waist.

“Believe it buddy...because I fully expect you to make love to me after we get some sleep.”

“Tomorrow...for the rest of our lives...whatever you want is all yours.” He agreed.

“How about we start with some cuddles and go from there?” Tucked into Cale’s arms, you felt your body settle and start drifting off to sleep.

Though you’d received a lot of Christmas presents in life, you were 100% sure that being married to Cale was forever going to be the best Christmas gift you could have ever received.

#cale makar #cale makar imagine #colorado avalanche #colorado avalanche imagine #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #cavalanche #037

178 notes · View notes

snkpolls · 3 years

Text

SnK Episode 67 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 254 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

RATE THE EPISODE 246 Responses

The response to this week’s episode remains overwhelmingly positive, with 97.6% of responses giving it a score of 3 or higher.

This is the first episode where I have absolutely no criticisms, so im quite happy with how it turned out.

Voice acting was top tier

perfect

Emotional

Great Job! I'm glad my favorite character's death was so emotionally misered.

Forget Attack on Titans, this episode was Attack on my Feelings ! 😭

I want to rate it a 1 because of Sasha but a 5 because of how well it was done... so 1.5

Absolutely loved it

Perfect

ASIDE FROM SASHA’S DEATH, WHICH MOMENT WAS THE MOST EMOTIONAL FOR YOU? 247 Responses

Connie’s heartfelt admission to Jean seems to have stolen the hearts of the plurality of responders (36%). That is followed by a tie of 18.2% responses noting Eren’s breakdown or EMA’S tense reunion as the most emotional moment for them. In third place is Gabi’s tragic declaration about her struggles with 11.3%. Other responses were, in order, Jean lamenting all of the deaths occurring, Gabi and Falco realizing that Zeke betrayed them, Hange scolding Eren for forcing the SC to intervene in Marley and Levi and Eren’s confrontation.

Connie telling Sasha and Jean that they're special to him made my heart hurt knowing what was going to happen mere minutes after. I honestly saw me and my two best friends through them, and it was gut wrenching seeing Connie and Jean's reactions. Even Mikasa's reaction broke me, to be honest. They all lost a huge light in their lives.

WHICH MOMENT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST? 222 Responses

So this question was meant to only go on the anime watchers poll and ended up here somehow. Thanks to the 222 who were good sports and responded anyway! :P The most shocking moments that took place in this chapter/episode was the revelation that Eren went rogue from the Survey Corps, that Zeke was collaborating with the Survey Corps, how the Survey Corps treated Eren, and that some Paradisians seemed to be turning to nationalism, in that order.

Not sure why we're being asked as manga readers which moment shocked us the most since we already knew everything that was going to happen this week

HOW MUCH DID SASHA’S DEATH HURT YOU? 249 Responses

When it came to Sasha’s death, it would appear that it broke the hearts of the overwhelming majority of responders, with 81.1% giving it a rating of either 4 or 5 on the tragic scale.

Broke my heart and I'm still crying over it three days later. Honestly though, it was greatly done.

3 years later it hit me, Sasha is dead ;_;

Cried my whole soul and body. Rip sweet Sasha

I thought Sasha's death would've been more emotional.

WHOSE REACTION TO SASHA’S DEATH AFFECTED YOU THE MOST? 250 Responses

Sasha’s death elicited various reactions from the main cast. Two different responses tied at 36.4% noting Connie and Mikasa’s reactions to Sasha's death as the one affecting them the most. This was followed by Eren’s at 13.2%. The rest were, in order, Armin, Jean, Levi and Hange.

I don’t cry at fiction much, but Sasha’s death got me more than I thought it would. I feel like seeing Armin and Mikasa’s reactions in particular is what got me.

The way they animated Armin and Mikasa bawling over Sasha's body and the inclusion of Call Your Name made it all the more emotional. I think by "Assassin's Bullet" they also meant a bullet through my heart because man did that hurt to watch. 😭🤧

WOULD YOU PISS YOUR PANTS IF LEVI WAS GLARING AT YOU WITH MURDEROUS INTENT? 248 Responses

A bit of a joke question, but we wanted to know if Levi appeared as threatening as he seemed. 80.2% seems to think so, admitting their incentive to piss their pants. In contrast, 19.8% don’t think the Captain’s such a scary guy!

THE FULL VERSION OF “ASHES ON THE FIRE” BY KOHTA YAMAMOTO (THE PREVIEW SONG) IS NOW OUT. IF YOU’VE LISTENED TO IT, WHAT DO YOU THINK? 236 Responses

“Ashes on the Fire” has been released to rave reviews, with 88.1% of responses giving it a 4 or a 5. Nobody gave it a 1, either. Yamamoto-san, thank you!

OVERALL, HOW WELL DO YOU THINK MAPPA ADAPTED THE MARLEY ARC? 251 Responses

In spite of the relatively vocal complaints about the adaptation of certain elements of the Marley Arc, it would appear that the overwhelming majority of responders seemed pleased with it, with 51.4% giving it 5 and 37.1% giving it a 4. 1s not present.

I've been a bit bothered how Mappa follows the Manga like a slave, using the panels as scenes and not adding anything in between. Sure it works for Manga, but it feels weird to me to watch in Anime how Eren grabs Armins hand and they don't give a transition where Armin pulls him in, but just show him inside the airship next. Just little things, but bothers me a bit. Overall I'm really enjoying their choices.

The show looks BETTER

I was fine with the episode. The quality of animation dropped but I understand that every scene cannot be animated on highest level. MAPPA has done a great job with the Marley arc. They shown the character development and bonds between the warriors perfectly. We had some cuts here and there but overally was okay: 8/10 for me.

I’m so pleased that MAPPA has taken the anime. I’m still more of a fan of this particular series’ manga than anime though.

DID SASHA’S DEATH AFFECT YOU MORE WHEN YOU READ THE MANGA, OR SEEING IT ANIMATED WITH VOICES AND MUSIC? 249 Responses

As noted above, Sasha’s death seemed to be a hard hitter for most. Comparison of the adaptation vs the original allows to discern which hit the readers/watchers the hardest. Just one percent shy of a majority (49%) thought that the anime made it much more tragic. 30.9% noted that the impact was roughly similar across both mediums. On the flip side, 10.4% thought that the initial depiction of it in the manga was the hardest hitter. There were also a couple of write-ins.

I dont remember I sped run reading the manga, kinda regretting it

I knew it for the first time in the manga, so it had a more powerful impact (I cried for a whole week. Not kidding) and the anime managed to make me cry as hard as in the manga. Though, I already was aware and grieved so it wasn't as bad

Got Spoiled :( so kinda meh, saw it coming

When the music kicked in after Connie announced she was gone, my heart broke into a million pieces.

Let's be honest, Sasha's role was over after she killed the titan in the village and saved Kaya. After that she was just there. She got zero development, zero important moments, zero depth. Her death effected many characters and helped them to develop. Sasha's death was sad but at least brought some important changes in others.

Not a Sasha fan so I was not really that affected but having a death in the series always feels sour

I think for me, they're both even.....mostly. There's just something about having been waiting for the chapter leaks on reddit with a bunch of other people and most of us collectively grieving at the same time. Once bigger pages of the chapter started coming out, it made me cry. I didn't even cry during serumbowl when I first read it and that had plenty for me to be even more upset about.

Honestly while reading manga I hated that Sasha’s last word was „meat”, it seemed so ridiculous. I’m happy MAPPA made it look more serious with music. Actually everyone’s reaction for Sasha’s death had more impact on me than the death itself

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SAW GABI KILL SASHA IN THE MANGA? AND HOW DO YOU FEEL SEEING IT AGAIN NOW, KNOWING HOW GABI’S ARC DEVELOPS? 247 Responses

Gabi is perhaps the most controversial character introduced post-time skip. Whether you’re a proud member of the Gabi Gang, proud hater of the 12 year old or just a neural party, everyone can admit that. With Sasha’s death at her hands, many seemed to offer up their opinion on the kid, back then and now. A slight plurality, 31.2%, stated that they did not hate her back when 105 first released and they don’t hate her now. 23.1% note that although they were rather upset with her back down, they are not (upset/angry) any longer. On the flipside, 25.5% state that they still hate the kid, as they did back then. Finally, some were simply neutral. Classic.

Quite a few write-ins, as well.

I hated her in the manga but after watching the anime, I’m not happy about it but I understand why she did what she did and don’t hate her as much anymore.

I was extremely upset about it before and am still extremely upset about it now, but for different reasons. I hate her less but am not any less annoyed by her brainwashed hatred of the Paradisians, although I understand her much better and realize and empathize that she's just a kid who's been used by her country in the worst way.

Gabi Braun Must Die

Broke my heart and was upset, but understood where she was coming from (thought about her perspective only)

Sasha shoulda killed this cunt while she had the chance

It’s war, she did as she needed to. Her arc is fantastic

love hate relationship

I didn't like her but not because of Sasha death (that's war consequence) and it's the same now

I really hated her with my whole heart and soul, but now that it has been all explained, that she had character development, I even like her now

I used to be angry about it but I understand why now, Gabi is just a victim of Marley’s control just like anyone else is, it’s a shame this is the results of it. She’s still at fault but I can’t hate her so much for it

I feel tired of Gabi hate. I disliked her in the manga back then but now I feel neutral towards her, because she has changed. Yet, I wish she took less screentime.

SORRY for ranting! I don't understand the hate on Gabe. Yes, I know she killed a Paradise character which was present in series since its beginning and I understand Sasha's fans are upset Sasha is not here anymore because of her. but those people do not analyse Gabe as they should be. Every character belongs to a different side and each side is blinded by what heir belives in. It is okay to not like Gabe but I don't tolerate hate on her. I THINK THIS QUESTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED AT ALL.

Initial hate, understanding after some thought

Understanding her situation I know I shouldn’t hate her, but I’m choosing to be petty and hate her anyway

I liked her much more than I like her now. She was a much better character back then, her killing Sasha (a one-note comedic relief) was cool and brought some spice to the story. Now she just exists to spout themes and convenient exposition and to be an aimbot

i dislike her, even if i understand her

I dont like Gabi. Never did. It isnt because she killed Sasha tho. I just dont care for Gabi tbh BUT i can totally understand her actions and do not blame her for it after seeing the destruction and killings

I was and still am upset about Sasha's death, but from the start I blamed it more on the circumstances than Gabi.

I loved her then, I love her now and it probably wouldn’t change even if she killed my favourite characters. She’s my cinnamon roll

Gabi did nothing wrong, killing a soldier in the battlefield is not a crime.

See, I WANT to like Gabi since she's obviously changed, but knowing she killed Sasha nonetheless will ALWAYS prevent me from having any love or respect for her. She will always be my most hated character

MAPPA ADDED AN EXTENDED SCENE OF FLOCH AND OTHER SURVEY CORPS RECRUITS BEATING GABI AND FALCO. HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? 240 Responses

MAPPA added an extra scene of Floch and Friends raining down copious amounts of gratuitous violence upon two 12 year olds (MAPPA is pro-child violence???????? Find out when 111 is adapted). 48.8% seemed to think that it was a decent addition, even if just for the SC’s characterization (or perhaps you enjoyed seeing that?). 22.5% thought it was a bit over the top to feature. Finally, 16.7% did not care.

I didn't like it. But, it was def a believable reaction from them.

I just wish it was enough to kill her

I liked the additional characterization of Floch & co.

Great addition, it was implied in the manga so the scene fitted well. Still, it was horrifying to see how vile the scouts were to two kids

How about an option where we're glad Gabi got beaten to a pulp but not when Falco was?

ORA ORA thing, but we viewers get hurt too.

Didn't feel bad about Gabi getting beat up, but I did feel bad seeing Falco get beat up. Poor boy didn't deserve that

A nice addition

I thought it was a great choice to highlight the continuing violence and feelings of vengeance from both sides even more. and I thought it contrasted really well with Jean's decision not to throw the kids out of the airship.

The people glorifying this scene annoy the shit out of me

It's a good way to hint the "Yaegerist" perspective to anime onlies

MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA

The Gold Experience memes are funny

It was an IC scene for people like Floch + I feel bad for the kids

The way they shot that scene made the recruits seem like mindless, gross-faced animals storming towards the kids to beat them up. I liked how they were dehumanised like that, considering that most faces amongst them belonged to the ones who support the rumbling.

It hurt to see that but good scene though

Feel empathy for Gaby. Violence don't solve problems

Now THAT'S what I call fan service! Who needs big-boobed, big-ass females or shirtless guys with and when you can just have the most hated character get the tar beaten out of them xD

I can see why they did it. MAPPA's not dumb and I'm sure they anticipated a massive onslaught on hate towards Gabi specifically, so it was their way of trying to satisfy the haters. Falco didn't deserve it tho.

It was a good addition

GREAT JOB MAPPA

I hate Gabi too but that was too much beating up a child, yet it also showed how shit Floch and the others are.

Apparently some people never noticed that Gabi and Falco got beat up, probably because it happened in the background. So it was good for MAPPA to call attention to it.

I love Gabi but she had that coming. No need to hurt Falco though. :(

OVERALL, HOW WELL DO YOU FEEL MAPPA EXECUTED THE REVEAL THAT ZEKE IS A TRAITOR TO MARLEY? 240 Responses

The reveal that ZOOK has been working against Marley for years on end is one of the most important ones in the series, really. So it was important to have it be executed in a rather decent manner. The vast majority of the fandom thought that MAPPA did a fine job. 52.1% gave it a rating of 4, 27.5% gave it a 5 and 17.1% gave it a 3. The couple of the other respnders gave it a 2, with no 1s.

IN THE END, DO YOU THINK EREN’S ACTIONS IN MARLEY WERE ULTIMATELY JUSTIFIED? 242 Responses

A question to remember… Were Eren’s actions in Marley ultimately “justified”? A plurality, 44.6% seems to think so. In contrast, 24% disagree. And 31.4% still aren’t sure to this day.

SIMILARLY, DO YOU THINK THE SURVEY CORPS WAS ULTIMATELY JUSTIFIED IN TREATING EREN AS THEY DID? 244 Responses

When it comes to the SC treating Eren as they did, the division is much less pronounced however. The majority, 60.7%, think that the SC had quite the justification for treating Eren as they did. On the flip side, 19.7% think that there was such justification for behaving in such a manner towards Eren. Finally, the same amount of responses stated that still can’t be sure to this day.

NOW THAT WE’VE GOTTEN A CLEAR SHOT OF YELENA, DID MAPPA DO HER JUSTICE? 243 Responses

YELENA is here. Queen 👑. Or well, maybe not. Who am I to say? In any case, her appearance was received well. 52.7% thought MAPPA did very well and 33.7% went on to declare their love for her. Just shy of 10% noted that MAPPA could have done a little better though.

Kinda wish her hair was like neon or something idk

Need more eps of her to decide, she didn't get much screentime and lines here.

I don't like Yelena, but yeah I guess they did good.

In the manga she was a creepy-looking person. MAPPA made her unique, interesting and mysterious. I love her voice and her stoic, relaxed self. MAPPA did a good job.

QUEEN!!!!!

Great adaptation but I still don't like her as a character

Don’t care about her

don't really care

I hate her and I don't care about her.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 247 Responses

Such a colorful chart for this one. It would appear that slightly over a quarter look most forward to seeing Crykasa at Sasha’s grace. Slightly less (21.9%) want to see Sasha enjoying Niccolo’s cuisine. In third place is the scene with Connie, Jean, Mikasa and Niccolo at Sasha’s grace. The rest are, in order from most to least, Onyankopon and Yelena teaching the Survey Corps about the Port, EMA talking at the shooting range and Hange and Armin learning about Marley’s technology.

HOW HYPED ARE YOU FOR THE UPCOMING TIMESKIP FLASHBACKS? 239 Responses

The time skip flashbacks seem to be a hit. A little over 51% are super stoked about seeing them animated. Slightly under 24% state that they’ll enjoy them, but are looking forward to other things more. In contrast, 22.6% are ready to go crazy (from a positive standpoint)! Wooo!

Enjoying AND dreading it at the same time

I just want the centipede

Boring. The only thing what interests me is Historia teasing Mikasa about her crush on Eren. The rest is too jolly.

I'm looking forward to see Yelena's insane self be animated. That, and more Zeke.

THE MOST RECENT LIST OF FUTURE EPISODE TITLES SHOWS THAT EPISODE 12 WILL LIKELY END AROUND CHAPTERS 109-111, LEAVING CHAPTER 112 (EMA’S ARGUMENT) FOR EPISODE 13. EPISODE 67 WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY ADAPTED FROM CHAPTER 105, PROVING THAT ADAPTING DIALOGUE-HEAVY CHAPTERS FAITHFULLY CAN EASILY REQUIRE THE FULL 20 MINUTES. WITH ONLY 16 EPISODES - AND SO MANY WHICH ARE DIALOGUE-HEAVY - DO YOU THINK THINGS WILL END OFF WITH THE INITIATION OF THE RUMBLING (CH. 122), AS HAS BEEN SPECULATED BY MUCH OF THE FANDOM? 238 Responses

The manner in which the Season will end is a mystery to even the manga readers. Where will it end? Will it have many cuts? These are the questions. 36.6% seem to think that MAPPA will somehow manage to both end it at Chapter 122 and cut as little as possible. 26.5% don't believe ending on 122 is possible. 12.2% do believe MAPPA will end the Season on 122, but only with many notable cuts. Finally, just a little under 20% are simply not sure. There were a few write-ins as well.

I hope not, too many cuts would be required

The is no way they're making it up to 122, at first I thought they were going to finish it off with Eren's head getting blown off in 119, but now that seems like a reach too. Now I think MAPPA is probably going to end this first half of the season with Eren and Pieck's "where is the enemy?" and the warriors arriving to Shiganshina

I’m not sure right now so I’ll have to see for later episodes for the cut-off point, if it isn’t the Rumbling then it’ll be when Gabi shoots Eren

MOVIE

I'm conflicted. I'm sure they'll end at rumbling because it's the only reasonable point to cut it, but I feel like they're running out of episodes. Then again I'm feeling the same about the state of Manga, there's just too little chapters left to end things up well.

I don't really want to think too much about it, I just want to enjoy the anime lol

I fully expect 119 to be the end

What was the point of rushing Reiner's chapters if you are going to slow down later. Goddamn it MAPPA.

It'll really depend on the pacing for the next couple episodes, but I'm with a bulk of the fandom that see Chapter 119 Two Brothers being the end point for The Final Season. IF they were to skip the opening and maybe the ending, I can see them transitioning from Eren's head getting blown off immediately into his transformation and the beginning of the Rumbling. But even that is quite farfetched.

I have no idea, I'm a little worried now. Wouldn't be the first time a lot of content gets cut but if they insist on reaching ch. 122, I just don't see how you do that without butchering a lot. If that happens, it would probably lessen my enjoyment of the season.

Yeah, I think it will have a lot of cuts, but I believe that it will get there because Ymir falling in the tree was in the trailer

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

It's amazing seeing how each week, something with SnK trends! ^^

It still baffles me just how much people insist on hating Gabi, especially when her arc has shown tremendous growth in the manga. Reiner was no better than her when he was a child and continued to insist that Paradisians are devils and chose to further destroy their lives even after sleeping under the same roof as the 104th for 3 whole years and forming personal bonds with them. Yet, his actions are forgivable but Gabi's are not? Both characters have shown remorse for their former beliefs and misdeeds against Paradisians. Both realized that they were in the wrong. The characters have forgiven Gabi. Why can't y'all do the same? People who want Gabi to suffer are no better than they accuse her of being.

Well done episode which managed to capture the emotions of sasha's death perfectly

monke

I really appreciate Gabi as a character. She has spunk and a strong character arc in which she changes and grows more than anyone in the last 30 chapters of the manga, save maybe Mikasa (ignoring how Eren, Reiner, Armin and maybe a few others changed during the timeskip). It makes me sad seeing people wishing for her to die and praising Floch and the others for kicking her.

Gabi absolutely deserves the hate she gets

I absolutely love to see the anime-onlies mass hate of GabBitch, does my heart good xD

Boring ,too much Gabi she is annoying

Time to strap in: wild ride ahead!

Gabi Braun is the WORST character, her arc was poorly written and the moment she kills Sasha solidifies her rightful place as most hated character

No development has made me stop hating Gabi. The wound of Sasha's death will ALWAYS overshadow any crocodile tears Gabi may cry.

Kudos to Jean's and Connie's voice actors. Emotions were so raw and natural.

so good! they're really nailing down the emotional beats so far!

Dialogue-heavy but still amazing! Also the music was great

I didn't felt anything when Sasha died. Even the first time, in the manga. She hasn't enough personnality for me to care. Erwin and Bertolt's death were more saddening for me. Stop hating Gabi. She was in grief and she did what Marley brainwashed her to. And Sasha killed people right in front of her, so…

1 chapter was too little to be adapted for an episode, you could tell some scenes were stretched to fit the runtime

The music they chose for the scene of Sasha passing was also the same music they used when the Survey Corps first donned their capes and Eren found out Marco was dead... man, that song is gonna hit harder than ever now

It didn’t help with the overwhelming amount of hate Gabi is getting. I hope Mappa does her justice because she’s a great character but the Anime only seem to hate her because its a “funny” “popular” thing but it really isn’t... shows who really is paying attention to the story and the people who are watching it because it’s popular and trendy

People who are hating on Gabi do not understand the themes portrayed in AoT

Pretty solid overall. Wonderful bits of animation such as the ODM bits and the solid character acting from Sasha going down, Mikasa and Armin is distress, personal highlight being Gabi's reload animation. Good ost choices, nice addition of Samuel and Daz to foreshadow their conflict later on in the story, and great work from Connie, Gabi and Eren's VAs.

Friendly reminder that just because we hate Gabi does NOT mean we don't "understand" the story or themes. We just don't care because Gabi is a bad character.

U mad at Gabi for what she did ? Did she kill Potato girl for no reason? Imgine a kid, at least 3 years younger than the 104th, made fighting on WARS and praised for it, brainwashed by Marley that Paradisians are devils, and these devils came in her home, killing her friends and this WOMAN killed in front of her eyes two people who tried to protect her. Don't be mad at Gabi. Grieve for Sasha, okay, but stop hating Gabi. You're the worst when you do it

Hey Gabiatans: as long as you're not threatening the VA or other RL p olle, it's PERFECTLY fine to hate Gabi. Period. We don't have to like her, and it's not like we don't "understand" her just because we hate her. I "understand" a lot of Germans were forcibly coerced into joining the Nazi regime, but I don't have to pity then for any consequences that came for them.

Leviiiiiii

I was surprised that Mikasa and Armin crying over Sasha had no voice over. I thought it was still effective but I'm not sure if I prefer it. Other than that, the character animation was amazing this episode. Gabi's hands as she reloaded the rifle and Armin crying were my favorites. Overall, everything was pretty perfect and I love it when a chapter gets adapted in full with basically no cuts. One of the best episodes in the series and a proper send off for Sasha.

Wonderfully done episode! They truly did Gabi and Falco's perspectives justice. Also, seeing Eren's expressions and reactions in animated format was clarifying and super well done, too!

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 227 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk s4 #snk spoilers #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot

17 notes · View notes

hockeyboysiguess · 4 years

Text

untitled | m. rantanen (fic preview)

a/n: i’ve been talking about this fic a lot, so here’s a little 1.6K. it’s very much not done. it doesn’t even have a title yet, but i hope you all like mikko and jo as much as i do! i ended up writing with an oc so i could write this how i envisioned. let me know what you think!!

Jo tugged at her sweater, pulling at the sleeves, at the slightly too tight bottom band, at the neckline, really any part that was touching her skin. It was itchy beyond belief, but she was pretty sure that she was about to take home the non-existent prize of ugliest Christmas sweater at the party tonight. Jo had been out with Helena for dinner, so she threw the sweater on in the car on the way over to Gabe’s and was regretting never having tried it on before this moment. But, the look on Mikko’s face when he saw just how ugly the sweater was would be worth her temporary discomfort.

She punched in the gate code at Gabe’s and made her way up the driveway, smiling the whole way, something Jo had been doing a lot more of lately than she usually did. She told herself it was the hometown air, mile high and clearer than any other city. She told herself it was the fresh snow falling regularly now, deep into December. She told herself it was Christmas and a lot of people were happier around Christmas. Jo’s happiness wasn’t temporary though. It was a shift, slow and steady, a constant pressure forcing her out of the mindset she settled in years ago, the one where she always needed to be pleasing other people to be happy, the one where she needed everyone’s approval to find her own joy. She knew the clearer air, the snow, and the holidays weren’t the pressure. The pressure was a tall, somehow clumsy Finn who wanted nothing more than to see Jo smile every single day.

He didn’t try to make her happy with jokes and gimmicks and other things that were essentially bandaids to Jo’s heaviness. He didn’t try to pull a funny face while jumping just high enough for Jo to see from the other side of the walls she has built to protect herself, the ones she thought were too high for anyone to climb. Mikko wasn’t climbing them, knowing full and well that him getting over them wouldn’t truly help Jo. It would make her just okay for a little while longer, make the way she lived a little more bearable, until it destroyed them both. Mikko was taking the walls apart, brick by brick, his patience and his steadiness guiding the way. He never got frustrated when some of the bricks went back up in the middle of the night while he slept. He got up the next morning all the same and went back to work, taking the walls apart piece by piece, at whatever pace Jo would accept. Mikko hadn’t given up in four months, and he wasn’t planning on it, not until all the walls were gone and the bricks were destroyed, crumbled back into dust, and Jo could see herself the way he saw her the few times he managed to make a hole in the wall and actually see her behind all her defenses.

Jo opened the door into Andre Burakovsky. It was an accident and he shouldn’t have been standing directly in front of the front door and he wasn’t hurt in the slightest, but Jo felt bad about it all the same.

“I’m dumb, it’s my fault,” he assured her. His mouth dropped open when he saw her sweater as Jo hung up her jacket in the front closet. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen and I wish we had a contest because you’d so win.”

“I would so win,” Jo agreed, fussing with her curls to get them reasonably back into place

“There should be a contest. Maybe you can bully Gabe into getting some sort of prize anyway because you deserve it, ” Andre told her, his signature wide smile on his face. “He’s in the family room last I saw him by the way, since I know you’re looking for him.”

Jo blushed at Andre’s words. He had caught her eyes tracking over the party that was in full swing, looking for the guy who had technically invited her, but she probably could’ve shown up anyway without his invite. She ducked out on Andre, blush still deepening with him laughing in the background, and made her way through the living room and kitchen into Gabe’s family room. She was old news by now, a days old newspaper no one wanted to read anymore, and it was Jo’s favorite thing about the Colorado Avalanche. She was Mikko’s friend Jo. Full stop. No additions necessary.

“Jojo!”

Jo heard Mikko before she saw him. She technically felt him before she saw him either as two heavy, muscled, ugly sweater covered arms wrapped around her stomach and lifted her off the ground, making her squeal.. He was laughing as soon as her feet left the ground. Jo’s hands gripped one of Mikko’s forearms around her waist to steady herself as Mikko rocked slowly side to side, weight shifting from foot to foot, with Jo in the air in his arms.

“Mikko!” Jo shouted through her laughter. “Put me down!”

“You’re so easy to pick up though, and now you can actually see the party,” Mikko pointed out unhelpfully.

He set her down anyway, knowing that when Josephine Evans made up her mind, such as wanting to be put down, she was a woman who would figure out how to get her way, Mikko’s shins be damned if that’s what it took. Mikko had a game to play the day after today and wasn’t excited about doing it with shins bruised by Jo’s boots.

“This sweater,” Mikko breathed out as Jo turned to face him. He was in disbelief as he looked at it, “Jo, this is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

“Are you proud?”

Jo spun slowly on her heels, letting Mikko take in the absolute monstrosity she had bought to wear just for this. Mikko was in disbelief, written plainly all over his face, as he observed the sweater in all its terrible glory. Jo had more than delivered when he texted her and said it was an ugly Christmas party. Mikko loved the sweater, a true ugly beauty, but he thought the best part was that Jo put her hair in those little half space buns, the rest of her hair in curls falling down her back. He thought she was the cutest person he’d ever seen and he only knew one way to deal with it in a healthy way Jo would actually appreciate.

Appreciate might have been the wrong word.

Mikko reached out with two large hands and gave her little half buns a squeeze while saying, “Your antlers are cute.”

“Mikko, I swear to god, one day you’re going to die and it’s because I kill you,” Jo informed him with a tone so casual you would think she had just ordered a breakfast sandwich.

“And what a way to go,” Mikko just laughed in response. “Mel made spiked eggnog. You interested?”

Mikko knew Jo was interested before he had even asked, which is why it didn’t surprise him in the slightest that she took off for the kitchen, dragging him by his hand to get to the eggnog. Mikko had released when he stepped into Jo’s apartment on November 3rd, almost two months ago now, just how much Jo loved Christmas, because it had already been decorated that day he walked in. She had offered no explanation for the decorations being up so early other than that it was her apartment, she could do what she damn well pleased, and if Mikko didn’t like it, he could damn well leave. He stayed. Mikko always stayed when Jo was involved.

“Those are some pours there, Jo,” Mikko told her as he eyed the cups Jo was already filling for them from the pot. “Trying to get me drunk?”

“You’re a growing boy,” Jo countered, shoving a full cup into Mikko’s waiting hand. “Drink your milk and maybe you’ll grow big and strong.”

Mikko couldn’t help but laugh. He might make Jo laugh a lot and Mikko laughed a lot in general, but no one made him laugh more than Jo. Even on his worst days, even on Jo’s worst days for that matter, she could always pry a full bellied laugh out of him. It wasn’t even prying. Mikko would willingly give it over to her even when all she offered him was a shitty joke in exchange. It wasn’t lost on Mikko why that was. It wasn’t lost on anyone in the room, or really anyone who had ever spent four minutes in the same room as Mikko and Jo. Mikko looked at Jo differently from other people. Debate what you want about loving someone or being in love with someone, Mikko knew Jo didn’t want him to be in love with her and he respected her wishes more than how he wished she felt, but Mikko Rantanen loved Josephine Evans and it had taken only a few months for it to happen. Mikko realized it the other day on the plane coming back from a road trip. All he wanted was for the plane to get to altitude so he could turn on his phone and text Jo about something funny that had happened since his phone had been in airplane mode. All he wanted to do was get home and see her. All he wanted was her. And that’s not how you feel about people you don’t love.

#fic preview

34 notes · View notes

smileyfics · 4 years

Text

It’s a human thing

Hi everyone! Back with another fic. Please let me know what you think :) I hope you enjoy and have a great day!

Fandom: Supernatual

Characters: Cas, Gabe, Crowley, Sam, Dean

Warnings: This is a tickle fic, please don’t read if that’s not your thing. Mild language. Long-ish.

Summary: Sam and Dean have been fighting constantly, and the three staying with them in the bunker come up with a solution.

Words: 2,988

Really, the bunker is only so big. Sure, it was larger than any of the motels they used to stay in, it had a whole library, a huge garage, they had their own rooms. But with two hunters, an angel, an archangel, and the king of hell all under one roof- any venue would seem too small. Especially after two full weeks. Gabriel had walked in with an injured Cas slung over his shoulder, proclaiming that if he hadn’t been there Cas would have died, and that he needed to stay there to make sure Cas got better fully. Cas had tried to claim he was fine, but Gabriel ignored his protests and made himself comfortable in the library. Sam and Dean had agreed to let Gabe stay, begrudgingly, as they didn’t want anything to happen to Cas. But at this point, Cas was pretty much better and Gabe was just staying, it seemed, to annoy them.

If that weren’t enough, the boys had Crowley locked in the dungeon. He had learned of the exact location of the bunker and they couldn’t risk letting him go. But after a week, Gabe decided that it was boring keeping Crowley locked in a room and released him while Sam and Dean were out on a hunt. The cuffs were still on, but Crowley now spent his time drinking champagne and lounging on the couch.

When the hunters returned, they began yelling at Gabe for being so immature and releasing Crowley just because of boredom. To which he responded, “I didn’t release him. See? He’s chained.” he pointed to the cuffs. The fighting escalated until Cas had gotten irritated enough and pushed a table between the two fighting sides.

“ENOUGH! It’s going to take me longer to get better if I have to keep listening to this nonsense.” Sam and Dean huffed away from the others, annoyed at being told what to do in their own bunker.

That was a week ago, and the tension had only escalated. The boys were trying really hard not to start anymore fights with their three “guests,” so resorted to taking out their frustrations on each other. This was the second one of the day and it was only noon.

The two stood on opposite sides of the library, facing each other.

“This is ridiculous, Dean! I’m so sick of you and your dumbass ideas.” Sam yelled crossing his arms.

“It is not a ridiculous idea! I’m just trying to shake things up a bit, Sam! I can’t help it, being stuck here with you has been incredibly boring.”

“We know how to kill vamps, Dean! You’re just like Gabe. We AREN’T testing a new way to kill vamps just because you’re BORED.”

“I’m right here, boys.” Gabe interjected.

“Shut up, Gabe!” The hunters said at the same time before turning back to each other. Dean continued and took a couple pointed steps toward his brother, “Oh like I’m the only one around here with stupid ideas? What about yours to let the actual king of hell roam free around the bunker.”

Crowley sipped his drink and glared at the two of them, “We can hear you.” Sam and Dean were too focused on each other to even respond.

“Come on, man! It’s not like I’m the one who let him out! Gabe would have just let him out again!” They had moved closer to each other now, both looked about ready to punch the other. Sam yelled again, “This is so typical of you, Dean! You don’t always know better than me! You didn’t even have another idea on what to do.”

“Oh, I have plenty of ideas-”

“STUPID ONES! That keep getting us into these situations in the first place. Why don’t you just take your stupid car and go hunt by yourself since you don’t want to listen to anyone else anyway.” Dean reached out and grabbed the front of his little brother’s shirt.

“The hell did you just say about baby?” Sam raised a fist toward Dean and tried to pry his hand off his collar.

“You know, I think I’ve had about enough of this.” Gabe joined the conversation, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, both Sam and Dean found they were frozen in their current positions. Gabe had to admit, it looked pretty funny to have them frozen in place mid fight.

“Let us go, Gabriel, or I swear to God I’ll-” Dean commanded from his frozen position.

“Oh. I’m shaking. You’ll do what exactly?” Gabe leaned in cupping his ear as if waiting for a response. “That’s what I thought. Now, I am sick and tired of the two of you fighting all the time. It’s making for a very unpleasant stay here.”

“Then why don’t you get out.” Sam grumbled.

Gabe chuckled in response, “I have a better idea. I think a little punishment is in order.” Crowley, who had been watching this all take place from his position on the couch, decided it was time to join in on the conversation.

“I couldn’t agree more.” He interjected, “If you’d be so kind as to remove these cuffs, I am an expert at torture.”

“Not a chance, bucko. You think I’m that stupid?” was Gabe’s response. Crowley shrugged. “No, I have my own type of torture that would work great on these two.” Crowley looked confused but intrigued. Gabe snapped again, and the hunters found themselves lying flat on the floor, arms above their heads, and unable to move.

“Let us up, NOW!” Dean demanded as they both tried to get up, to no avail. Despite hearing the archangel deny Crowley’s request to remove the cuffs, neither Sam or Dean was thrilled to be unable to defend themselves while in his presence, or in Gabe’s for that matter.

“I don’t think I will. Are you two, by any chance, ticklish?” Gabe wiggled his fingers at them for emphasis. Sam’s eyes widened at that and he struggled even more to break free from the invisible force. Dean got scared, but he tried to hide it as he continued to try and get away.

“Well, I’m not. But Sammy here- man you wouldn’t believe-”

“Dean! Shut up!” Sam glared at him as best he could from his position, Dean chuckled. “You’re such a liar, Dean, you are SO ticklish.”

“I am not!” They both continued fuming at each other as they tried to escape. Crowley stood and walked over to where Gabe was standing, smirking at the boys who were stuck to the ground. “Even in this position, they’re fighting.” Crowley started with a laugh, “You better hurry up with that punishment.” A huge grin spread across the archangel’s face as he snapped his fingers again. The effect was immediate. It started lightly, floating between ribs, sides, feet, knees trying to find their worst places. Dean had clamped his jaw shut, trying desperately not to give in and laugh. He was succeeding, so far. Sam was trying this strategy as well, but evidently was more ticklish than Dean. He hadn’t laughed yet, but his eyes were watering from the effort.

Eventually, it seemed the grace gave up on floating around and decided to just spread to every ticklish place at once, with doubled effort. It wasn’t quite as bad as someone actually tickling you, but still pretty damn bad. Neither of the boys could hold it at this point and began laughing. Dean tried to hide his arm in his sleeve to avoid the embarrassment, while Sam was laughing too much to think about anything else. He shook his head from side to side and continued to try desperately to get away.

“STAHAHHAHAHAP PLEHEHEHAHAHAHAHSE” Sam shouted at Gabriel, who just shook his head in response. Dean stayed quiet, he really didn’t want to give the dick angel the satisfaction of him begging. But as the pressure increased on his hips, it became harder. “Ga-habe!”

“What is it Dean? Is it too much for you? Need me to stop?” The archangel teased. Dean didn’t respond but rolled his eyes as he continued laughing into his shoulder. “HAHAHHAHAHA STAHAHAHA-” Sam continued to laugh.

“I don’t think so, Samsquatch.”

“BUHUHUT IHIHI CAAHAN.” He couldn’t get the words out through his laughter, “IHIHI CAHAHAN HEHELP WITH DEHEHEAHAHAN!” This intrigued the archangel, and he snapped his fingers again making the tickling stop on Sam, leaving Dean in agony. Sam was still giggling as he tried to catch his breath.

“What do you mean you can help with Dean?” Gabriel questioned.

“SAHAHAMMY! DOHON’T YOU DAHAHAHARE!” Sam ignored this request.

“His hips are the worst, and his ribs are pretty bad too. I bet if you tickle those spots and also keep the grace going, he’ll beg.” Sam smirked at his brother, “Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned how ticklish I was.”

“IHIHIHI’M GOHOHONNA KIHIILL YOHUHUHUHU!” Dean yelled as Crowley and Gabe both walked up to him. It was that moment that Cas arrived back at the bunker and rushed to see what was happening at the noise.

“What’s going on? Who are you killing?” Cas questioned, confused by the scene before him.

Sam snorted, “He’s killing me. Although I’m not sure how he’s is going to manage it if he can’t stop laughing.” Sam was really proud of himself, although he noted that though the archangel had stopped the tickling he hadn’t released him from his hold so he still couldn’t move. Cas turned a puzzling look at Dean and the two who were poised over him with wiggling fingers. “Why are you killing your brother, Dean?”

“BECAHAUSE HEHEHEHE’S A TRAHAIATOR!” As he finished his sentence Crowley and Gabe began tickling his worst spots at simultaneously. Coupled with the grace, Dean lost it.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOOHOHOHOH PLEHEHEAHASE.” Cas looked concerned.

“It’s just a bit of tickling, Cas.” Crowley answered the confused look, “If I had it my way there’d be some actual torture.”

“THIHIHIHIS IHIHIS TORTUHUHUHU!”

Sam laughed at his brother’s predicament, then turned to Cas, “You’ve never heard of tickling, Cas? How is that even possible with a brother like Gabe?”

“Guilty as charged.” The archangel laughed, “It’s a human thing, bro. When you touch them in a certain way it causes a weird feeling and makes them laugh.”

“Does it hurt?” Cas still seemed worried.

“Nope. They love it.” Cas seemed relieved, but Dean shook his head more,

“NOHOHO WEHEHE DOHOHOHON’T! STOHOHOHOP!!” Sam was too busy laughing at Dean to speak.

Crowley suddenly looked over at the younger hunter and stopped his attack on Dean, while Gabe continued. “You think this is funny, huh Moose? Considering this was your idea, I wouldn’t be so smug.” Crowley had a smirk growing on his face as he stood up and took a small step toward Sam. Gabe caught on to what Crowley was thinking, and stopped his attack on Dean as well, also releasing his grace to let the hunter breathe. Cas sat on a nearby chair and watched in amusement. He’d never seen anything like this before, but he liked that the Winchester’s weren’t arguing for the first time in weeks. Dean put an arm across his forehead and another across his stomach, laughing and trying to breathe. Crowley and Gabe backed away and gave him space. After he had calmed down Gabe released him from his hold on the ground and asked, “So, Deanarino, it seems we have a predicament here.” Both Gabe and Crowley were smiling mischievously at him, which was a really bad combination. He was briefly worried that Gabe had changed his mind about the whole letting Crowley torture them thing.

“What would that be?” Dean replied hesitantly, still trying to get ahold of his breathing as he sat up.

Gabriel’s grin deepened, if that was possible, “Well you see, my little brother needs another demonstration on what tickling is, and your little brother just told an archangel and the king of hell how to torture you more effectively.”

Dean glanced at his brother, the same mischievous grin appearing on his face. Sam was suddenly very aware that he was the only one still pinned by the grace.

Dean made his way over to Sam whose eyes were wide as he tried to squirm, no longer finding his brother’s situation so funny.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like a predicament to me at all.” Dean sat above his little brother’s head, fortunate that he didn’t have to worry about pinning him. “I think I know just the way to solve that.” Dean motioned for Cas to come sit by him for closer observation, and he obliged.

“Dean, Dean look I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please don’t.” He begged, knowing it was pretty much pointless after giving Dean up like that. Gabe and Crowley sat on either side of Sam, and Dean rolled up his sleeves for effect.

“Please don’t what?” the older hunter inquired with a grin.

“Dean I’m not falling for tha-ha!” Sam couldn’t even get the words out before his brother began scratching at his sides. Dean ignored his brother and began explaining what he was doing to Cas, “So right now I’m just lightly going over his sides, which isn’t his worst spot but still tickles. If I pressed a little harder,” he did this for emphasis making Sam’s laughter hike, “it would tickle more.” It was even worse than he imagined having Dean actually use him as a demonstration for the angel. Cas was watching with genuine interest, while Crowley and Gabe chuckled from the side.

“Hey Gabe can you turn that angel mojo back on?” Gabe was about to snap his fingers when Cas held up a hand, “Wait, can I try?”

Gabe chuckled, “Wooh! Taking after me little bro. Couldn’t be prouder.” Crowley rolled his eyes and Dean smirked at Cas.

“Be my guest.” Dean continued to tickle Sam’s sides as Cas snapped his fingers and the ticklish grace began to spread again.

“Noho, pl-plehease!” Sam tried to hold back his laughter but couldn’t help a couple of small giggles that escaped.

“You’re pretty good at this for it being your first time.” Gabe noted to Cas, who seemed to be proud of himself.

“Alright, Moose, time’s up.” Crowley said, losing patience about the hunter trying to be stoic. He began to dig into his hips. Dean took this opportunity to move up to his brother’s ribs and underarms, and Gabe filled in the space in between by swirling his fingers around Sam’s tummy.

“GUHUHUYS! IHIHIHI GEHEHEHET IHIT! PLEHEHEHEAHAHSE!”

“Finally.” Crowley said putting on an irritated tone, but he was clearly trying to hide a smile.

The hunter’s laughter seemed to motivate them even more. Dean advised Crowley to go for Sam’s knees, and when he did all of his worst spots were being tickled at once. That, plus the angel mojo, was absolutely terrible.

“HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAH! STOHOHOHHOP! LEHEHET MEHEHEH GOHOHOHO PLEHEHEHEAHAHASE!” After a while Sam seemed to be worn out. He was breathing hard and his face was a deep shade of red. Dean gestured for them to slow it down to give Sammy a chance to breathe.

“This isn’t even real torture. Humans are so weak.” Crowley muttered to himself. Cas stopped his grace, his concern evident.

“Are you alright, Sam?” Cas inquired. Sam slowly nodded his head in response.

“Good! Then you won’t mind if we continue-” Dean quickly responded.

“NO! PLEHEASE NOHO!” Dean, Crowley and Gabe had never stopped the light tickles so Sam was still a giggling mess.

“Apologize for telling them my worst spots and we’ll let you go.” As Dean said this, he intensified the tickle attack and the others followed suit, making it harder for Sam to speak.

“NOHOHOHO FAHAHAHIHIHIR! HAHAHAHHAHAAHA! OHOHOOKAHAHAY! IHIHIHI’M SOHOHORRY!”

“Foooor?” Gabe prodded.

“FOHOHOR TEHEHEHELLING THEHEHEM YOHOHOUR WOHOHORST SPOHOHOTS!” Sam barely got the words out, and Gabe and Crowley stopped their attack, laughing as they sat back. But Dean continued, “AND admit that my ideas are NOT stupid.”

“NOHOHOHO WAHAHAHAY!”

“Okay then I’ll just keep doing this.”

Cas laughed, but said, “He did what you asked, I think it’s only fair to stop.” Dean gave Cas an annoyed look but stopped, backing away from Sam to let him breathe.

“Cas saved you, man. But as soon as he’s gone, I’m gonna get the rest of my revenge. I promise.” He said with a chuckle and then got up to grab a beer. Gabe released his grace that had been holding the hunter down and he immediately curled into a ball, rolling onto his side.

Both hunters were feeling better about themselves. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted and the petty fights they had been having seemed pointless now. Dean brought back beers for all of them-except Crowley- and went to Sam to make sure he was okay.

“You good, Sammy?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed his forearm and helped him up, tossing him a beer.

“You know,” Dean glanced at Sam and then back at their guests, “I don’t appreciate being tickled by unwelcome guests in our own home.” He teased. “Yeah, what’s that all about?” Sam played along, and they each took a menacing step toward the other three.

“I know what you’re thinking boys,” Gabe chimed in, “and it’s not gonna work. Tickling is a human thing.” Both hunters squinted at him in disbelief as Sam continued,

“Wanna test that theory?” Gabe’s eyes widened and he grabbed Cas and left. Crowley was still cuffed, but was backing away from the brothers with his champagne in hand. Dean chased after him to put him back in the dungeon now that Gabe was gone. He grabbed ahold of the chains and quickly turned to Sam,

“Hey, at least we know how to get rid of the trickster now.” He smiled, “Oh and by the way, Cas is gone.”

Sam’s eyes widened remembering his brother’s threat. This was going to be a long night.

#ticklish!dean #ticklish!sam #supernatural tickle fic #supernatural #ler!gabriel #ler!cas #ler!crowley #brothers #fluff #angst #sam winchester #dean winchester #fanfic

72 notes · View notes

arlakos · 3 years

Note

Why do you think seasons 2 and 3 of Miraculous are particularly bad compared to the first? #curious

Oh boy where do I even begin...? Ok first of all, for the sake of not sounding biased and condescending, I'm not going to try and be mostly factual here, focusing only on plot points and structures of the shows episodes. No attacks on ships, no salt any characters, and no discussions about Chloe or whether or not she can be redeemed, since that always sets the fandom against each other for some reason.

ALSO MINOR SEASON 4 SPOILERS UP TO EPISODE 3 BE WARNED!

With that out of the way... Let me explain starting with season 1

The structure of how season 1 works is that

someone was introduced,

someone gets akumatized because of something in said episode,

and then there is a cool akuma fight at the end.

Each of the episodes had no connection to each other, and could pretty much be watched in any order, barring a few like origins and Volpina.

While this was rather basic for a superhero show, it worked for season 1, because it introduced a lot of characters that would be loved by many fans, allowed the show to explore locales of Paris and explore the world of miraculous as a newcomer. While I do think season 1 does have its issues, its overall...fine. It was good. Not everything I found to be perfect, but Im tired of being a Negative Nancy here, I enjoyed season 1.

Then season 2 came along and I was excited. The very first episode takes off from where Volpina left off, a first in the show, Gabriel turned out to be hawkmoth (which I later disliked but at the time found cool). We learned about the guardian and learned about his mysterious past. It was all lookin to be great! ...But then as the episodes started coming out, I found myself to be less and less excited. The episodes, while having new villains, didnt really change the formula all that much. It was pretty much all the same as season 1...but I found myself getting bored, which was when I started noticing all the flaws in the show and found myself less and less liking the show. Which is when I started seeing problems

The structural formula of the show was still the same as season 1.

Seasons 2 and 3 still followed the same beat as season 1, with the only differences being that some characters were now being reused instead and the new character that WERE introduced were mostly just one-offs that never really had relevance to the episode again. Even Marc, who is now miraculous token “gay dude for woke points but not confirmed in show because we’d get cancelled in certain countries” character, had relevancy in only one episode and was never heard from again, becoming just another background character. They do not do anything new, such as focusing on developing characters through anything BUT akumas, or even trying to explore the show more.

The show started to have a lot more tonal whiplash as a result of wanting to have a story but also wanted each episode to be separate plot-wise.

The best example of what I mean would probably be the season 3 premiere, Volpina. Aside from opening the floodgates of more toxic aspects of the fandom, it really sets up a plot different from the main show. Lila is apparently going after Marinette and the show seems to want to make that the key plot point of this season...

...but then the very next episode released is either Animaestro or Weredad (depending on where you watched it), neither of which follow upon that plot point. In fact, Lila wouldn’t do anything for (canonically) another 23 episodes, which itself did nothing to change the formula of the show or even advance the plot.

Even though the plot of the premiere hinted Lila to be the villain of season 4, she did practically nothing for a majority of the season, and even the finale, which should have been Lila’s time to “shine”, ended up being overtaken by Chloe. Again, not going into the whole Chloe thing , but season 3 ended up being false advertising for what the rest of season 3 would be.

The Ship between Adrien and Marinette progressed nowhere....then became even more confusing.

I'm not going to win points here, but I feel like, despite 3 seasons worth of episodes, the relationship between Marinette and Adrien has not progressed in any sort of way.

Yes, Ladybug and Cat Noir do interact with each other, but aside from the fact that most of their interactions involve hero battles, i don't really count those.

Most episodes they featured together in didn't have them really doing anything, most of the time just involving Marinette blushing and stammering, and although some people do say they are friends, I only feel that's the case because their own friends are dating each other (Alya and Nino) and I feel that if that wasnt the case they never would interact at all.

So how does the show fix this? By introducing two more people into the love square and still have no interactions! At least till the finale that is.

Look, I’m not attacking the ships themselves, Im fine if you like Lukanette or Adrigami or whatnot, but I still think them being included as “love rivals” is just more annoying because...well they also didn't really do anything with those ships as well until season 3.

And even then it was jarring to have them go from “characters that were only introduced once” in season 2 to “i suddenly fell in love with you after coming back out of nowhere” in season 3, to finally dating in the s3 finale. And the worst part? 3 episodes into season 4 both relationships were immediately terminated and now Marinette and Adrien are both single again. Aside from meaning this will mean more Adrienette teasing for another season, it's kinda sad that they couldn't create a plot about either ship and have it be a multi-episode plot, it just...ended.

Also, ignored and Dropped Plots!

A lot of plot points in this show happen out of nowhere, and those that do seem to be ignored before being remembered 1.5 seasons in and then being answered half-heartedly.

The destruction of the Order we heard about in the premiere of season 2? ignored for nearly 2 whole seasons before it turned out that the whole reason the order fell was that Fu was hangry, making him look incompetent rather than tragic.

How does Hawkmoth have no timer? It takes 3 seasons before it turns out that Adults have no timers for free! Aside from being a lazy response, it begs the whole plot hole of...why didn't Fu recruit young adults instead?

Gabriel caring for Adrien and being his only moral vice like in Gorizilla? Chat Blanc ruins that and has Gabe beat his own son after being shoved down our throats why Gabe would never do that.

Its a running trend on this show.

There are many more reasons, but I feel like this is enough to explain my issues? Thanks for the question and sorry if this was too much to read for ya, I tend to go a bit overboard. XD

5 notes · View notes

unityghost · 4 years

Text

Release

For the 27th installment of Post-Asmodeus Sabriel Feels, I'm fulfilling two requests from Twistedlove on Archive of Our Own: write something that takes place a little earlier in the series, and show Sam's response to one of the fainting spells to which past stories have alluded.

“You mentioned this chapter [’To Slip and Fall’] about him losing consciousness in the past. I wonder how Sam reacted to that.”

I envision this as taking place somewhere between the second and third entries ("Heavy" and "Midnight Blue"). I've said it before: continuity is a little out of my reach because this was never supposed to become a series (whoopsie), but I do what I can to keep things as smooth as possible.

Got me thinking about the time I fainted in front of a crowd while giving a poetry reading. Womp womp.

Thanks for reading!

On the seventh consecutive day of rain, time began to feel crooked. Gabriel fell asleep at lunchtime and woke two hours later to his door creaking open.

Sam smiled when Gabriel rolled over to look at him. “Hey, Gabriel.”

Gabriel groaned and pressed the heels of his hands over either temple to try and ease an oncoming headache. “Good to see you, Sam. My favorite part of the reunion was when you didn’t knock.”

“You must’ve slept through it. We haven’t seen you in a few hours. Everything okay on your end?”

“I’m fine. What do you need?”

“Just wanted to let you know we saved some casserole for you in case you were hungry. I mean, you haven’t eaten since …”

Gabriel shoved himself upright. “I don’t remember either.”

Sam frowned at him, then glanced over his shoulder into the hall. “Hey … is it all right if I step in for a second?”

Gabriel scanned Sam’s face, his hands, his body. “What for?”

Sam looked a little surprised by the shift in Gabriel’s tone. “You can say no.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“I’m not …” Sam offered an uncertain smile. “I’m not here to punish you or whatever, if that’s where your mind went.”

Gabriel cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “No, that isn’t what I thought. Um, yeah, make yourself comfy, champ.”

Sam stepped inside and shut the door behind him. “I was only looking to check up on you. Figured maybe you wanted to talk to me.”

Gabriel almost asked, Why? What am I doing wrong? Instead he answered with, “About what?”

“Well,” said Sam, “For one, you look kind of … awful.”

“That’s according to plan. The last thing I’d want to do is make any one of you feel jealous.”

“And also, you - ”

“Wait.” Gabriel held up a hand. “Listen, Sam: I’m sorry, but at the moment I’m not sure I have the stamina to rifle through a scrapbook full of bad memories. You know better than anybody how much that kind of works takes out of the both of us.”

Sam shrugged. “We don’t have to do anything like that. We could just … hang out.” He waited for Gabriel to reply. When Gabriel said nothing, Sam declared, “No problem. In the meantime, I guess maybe I’ll go get some coffee and hang out in the library. Dean just now told me he thinks he might’ve found us a case to work on in Connecticut. Nothing’s for sure yet, but might as well use the time to dig up whatever info might end up being useful, right? So if you need me - ”

“Don’t know why I would.”

“ - I’ll be in the library.” Sam turned, and placed a hand on the doorknob.

“Hold on,” said Gabriel, and Sam turned back. “Don’t go all the way to Connecticut.”

“We don’t have plans yet. Plus, I don’t have to be the one to go if it makes you nervous.”

“No one’s nervous; I just … I … you know.”

Sam looked puzzled. “No. I don’t know.”

What was Gabriel doing? It was ridiculous - not to mention wildly imprudent - that he should try and dictate Sam’s actions. It was even more absurd that he should feel threatened by the prospect of Sam not being nearby.

“Ah, never mind,” said Gabriel. “You can totally go to Connecticut. Pennsylvania. Arkansas. Colorado. The Pyrenees. Anywhere that tickles your fancy, Sam.”

Sam let go of the doorknob. “Gabriel, don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you’re spending too much time alone.”

Gabriel glanced at the floor, thinking of the nightmares and flashbacks to which Sam had been witness since Gabriel first arrived at the bunker several weeks earlier. He was afraid that, if he said anything now, he would be perpetuating a trend that he did not want to continue. “There’s some way to describe what’s up with me, but I’m not confident about getting it right.”

“Bad dreams?”

“Yeah. For sure. Always.” He continued to avoid Sam’s gaze. “They come at odd hours when I can’t keep track of day and night. The rain, you know? Not like we can see it from here. But I feel it. It’s weird, actually; it’s like I can sense it in a way I couldn’t before. Near-gracelessness and whatnot - makes me tired, causes pain … everything feels different now. But it’s not about the nightmares - that isn’t new.”

“So what else, then? Can you tell me?”

Gabriel remained silent.

“Gabriel,” Sam said, “You’re the only one who knows what you’re feeling.”

Gabriel shook his head. “I’m the only one who feels what I’m feeling. But I don’t know what it is, or how to give an accurate picture. Headachey, I guess. Exhausted.”

Sam waited for him to say more. When Gabriel didn’t go on, Sam took a few cautious steps toward the bed and sat beside him.

“I feel like you might be getting worse,” Sam said softly, “Not better.”

“Yeah, well ...”

“You’re spending a lot of time by yourself. And whenever any of us tries to get you to hang out, or eat, or go for a walk, or whatever, you just sort of … hide.”

“I don’t hide.”

“What would you call it?”

“Voluntary seclusion.”

“I’m not prosecuting you. You know that, right? It isn’t wrong if you need time to yourself. It’s just that I’ve never thought of you as a wallflower.”

“Excuse you. I’m the prettiest of all wallflowers; I’m a whole-ass bouquet.”

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Sam’s tone was gentle. “As best you can?”

Gabriel fidgeted. “I mean … sure. I can give you what I know. But that’s all I’ve got.”

“Yeah, tell me.”

Gabriel took a deep breath, released it, and began: “You guys have a good, solid rhythm going. Your own thing. Your own little family. Who am I to look for a place in that, huh? Plus - and I know you won’t be happy about this, Sam, but it is what it is - sometimes I prefer not to be around the others. Dean is … intense, Cas is hard to read - especially when my grace is low and I can’t always communicate with him in ways I might have before - and Jack is … look, the fact of the matter is Jack is a stranger. I’m sorry, but you’re the only one I can trust even a little bit, and otherwise I’d rather be alone.

“There’s one more thing, and it doesn’t make a lick of sense: most of the time, I wish I wasn’t by myself - but I feel like I have no choice. Now, obviously, nobody’s depriving me of the option to saunter out there and say, ‘Screw it, I know not one of you is looking to throw me around like a bargain-bin Raggedy-Ann knockoff.’ But here I am, some castaway watching a cruise ship glide past on still waters, and I’m not doing a damn thing to get myself rescued.” Gabriel clenched his jaw. “So I go with plan B: lock myself in here like a sick kitten and cry.”

He heard Sam shift beside him.

“The point is,” Gabriel went on, “None of this makes sense. I don’t make sense.”

“I think it makes sense.” Gabriel tried to catch any revulsion or annoyance in Sam’s voice and couldn’t. “All of it makes sense to me.”

“Bully for you, Sam. I don’t know what metric you’re using, but something ain’t adding up.”

“I think you just need to let yourself adjust. Give yourself some space to heal. And time - you gotta give yourself time before you can expect to really feel better.”

Gabriel raised his eyes to meet Sam’s. “Time and space sound fantastic, but they’re not what I need. I need my grace. I need to forget about Asmodeus. And - ”

Sam furrowed his brow. “And?”

Gabriel swallowed. “And I need that now.”

Sam lifted a hand. “Can I - ”

“No,” said Gabriel, “Please don’t touch me.”

Sam lowered his hand. “Look ... Gabe … there’s no forgetting. That isn’t what you need. And you can’t hold yourself to that standard, because you’re setting yourself up for failure if you decide that the only way to improve is to forget.”

“Yeah, well, no one’s trying to make a case for its likelihood. All I’m saying is that’s the only thing that could ever make a difference. You asked me to talk, we can talk - but if you can’t handle the truth then maybe find another conversation partner. However, if you think you can metabolize it, you want to know what I’ve learned since coming here?”

“What’s that?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yeah, Gabe. I really do.”

“Dandy.” Gabriel made sure to hold Sam’s gaze this time. “Here’s your appetizer: on my first night here, I learned that sleep doesn’t have anything to do with rest, and that the unconscious brain can hold about ten different storylines at one time. A little meatier: after that I learned just how committed a graceless body can be to purging itself of phantom danger even when there’s nothing left to throw up. By now - and here’s your entree - I’ve learned that getting out of Hell doesn’t mean I’m not still there. How was I to know I’d be scared of my own brother? Scared of Dean? How was I supposed to plan for that? And how was I supposed to anticipate just how much help I was going to need when I ought to be damn well capable of helping myself?” Gabriel turned away. “Hope you enjoyed. Don’t forget to leave a tip.”

“Gabriel …” This time, Sam simply took Gabriel by the shoulder.

Gabriel jolted away. “Stop it, I told you not to!”

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Sam softened his voice. “I really didn’t think. Listen, buddy, don’t be so hard on yourself about all this.”

Gabriel gave a cold smile. “Even when it’s happening all the time?”

“‘It?’ What’s happening all the time?”

“I see Asmodeus everywhere, Sam. Around every corner, behind me, next to me, in every one of you. Even you - sometimes. And I … that’s not all right, and I’m sorry.”

“You won’t get better by being sorry, Gabriel.”

“You worry about me holing myself up in here, away from the rest of you? You worry about not being able to monitor me all the time?”

“No. I get that there’s no reason to keep tabs on you twenty-four/seven. I worry because it’s nothing like you to pull yourself away from everyone around you and I feel like you might need … I don’t know. Something.”

“Yeah? And what do you think you’re gonna do when I finally agree to set the party ablaze with this killer personality Asmodeus cultivated for almost a millennium? You know, Sam, sometimes humans throw around this idea that it’s better to get it all out - to let yourself be messy, to break down freely. Because sure, all right: your kind aren’t built to house your pain in those bodies indefinitely. And then there’s me.” Gabriel laughed, harshly and quietly. “I can hold it. I can keep myself together. But, just like you, like any human being, I reach a tipping point. Fair enough; I can accept that. Except here’s one other fun tidbit I’ve learned: losing control doesn’t help. Sobbing myself into a coma never does a damn thing to make the pain anything but more real. Think twice about whether you’re prepared to see that for yourself, Sammy.”

There was a lengthy pause after he finished. Gabriel listened to the footsteps in the hall, the occasional click of a door, Dean shouting a question to Castiel.

When Sam didn’t speak, Gabriel kept on: “It’s easier, Sam. It’s just plain easier to hide. For me, and for you. For all of you. The truth is I’m - I mean - I’m scared out of my wits, and I don’t know how to change that.”

“That’s how you’re supposed to feel after somebody hurts you,” Sam replied before Gabriel could add I’m sorry. “And do you really think it’s easier to lock yourself up?”

“Why else would I be doing it? When have I ever done anything other than take the easy way out?”

“You don’t think maybe you’re making this harder for yourself on purpose?”

“I have no idea what I’m doing to myself!” Gabriel was beginning to feel sick. “I don’t know how much is me and how much is him.”

“You aren’t going to feel any better, any freer, if every time you feel like you’re back in Hell you reinforce it by holding yourself hostage. Gabriel - look - I won’t make you listen to me or talk to me, but I need you to know that I’m not as scared of seeing you in pain as you are. You don’t have to dedicate any amount of time to me or anybody else, but we’re here. I’m here. And I really don’t think you have anything to be ashamed of.”

Shut up, Gabriel wanted to say. I have everything to be ashamed of. But he couldn’t speak: his throat was locked tight, exactly the way he locked himself in the bedroom when he didn’t want the rest of them to see what was happening to him.

“You have the power to drown him out,” Sam continued. “He’s gone and you have the power to make sure he stays gone.”

Gabriel shook his head. He hadn’t had any kind of power for a long time now.

“And you’ve got more than that,” Sam reminded him. “You’ve got us. Me especially, if that’s all you want right now.”

“I don’t want anything,” Gabriel whispered.

If there could be no forgetting, he realized, then there had to be acceptance. Letting the others in - letting any of them, especially Sam, any nearer - would facilitate just the opposite by bringing the pain into the full sight of everyone, including Gabriel; allowing the others to see, to watch, would be to keep the pain alive.

Acceptance necessitated tolerance. Welcoming their gestures of goodwill not only showed intolerance for the memories that haunted him but signaled that he was prepared to fight what he knew would never, ever go away unless he could erase it from his mind completely.

He leaned forward, so that his forehead was close to his knees, and buried his fingers in his hair.

“Are you okay?” asked Sam.

“Yes.” But the truth was that Gabriel was struggling to breathe against the tightness in his throat. His headache had, within the last few minutes, grown exponentially stronger.

“Gabriel,” Sam murmured, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” His heartbeat increased as he struggled to draw breath. He knew that he was able to breathe, knew that this was simply an unwelcome byproduct of the battle, but he struggled nonetheless.

“Gabe, what’s the matter?” He felt Sam put a hand on his back, and this time Gabriel didn’t startle. “Can you sit up, maybe? Are you gonna be sick?”

He sounded worried. Gabriel wanted to tell him not to worry, that nothing was seriously wrong; that sometimes, this was what it looked like when he decided not to give in, not to let go.

It occurred to Gabriel then that Sam had seen him break down before, and perhaps there was little point in going to these lengths just to shield Sam from something he’d already witnessed.

Then he remembered that thinking in that direction - the direction of maybe just this once - would trick Gabriel into believing that it was all right to put himself on display, to showcase this obscenely vulnerable side of himself to anyone who might toy with it; or, worse, to someone like Sam, who would probably never do any such thing and allow Gabriel to take advantage of him.

Way to breathe, dumbass, Gabriel thought as he grew dizzy; and then he realized that somebody was calling his name and that he was on the floor with no recollection of having placed himself there.

He tried to piece together the last few seconds - moments? Minutes? - and found that he couldn’t. Then he realized what must have happened, but why was there another presence? Who was standing over him?

“No,” Gabriel groaned, and tried to sit up just as a pair of hands seized hold of him. “Don’t - ”

“It’s just me, Gabriel, just me.”

“Let go,” Gabriel ground out, and Sam did. Gabriel lay back down again.

“What the hell was that?” Sam demanded. “What happened? Gabriel, man - you wouldn’t wake up for about two minutes.”

“Oh.” Gabriel closed his eyes.

“No!” Sam commanded, and Gabriel’s eyes flew open. He stared up at the ceiling, not daring to move. Sometimes moving, trying to get away - that only made it worse.

“Just stay awake,” Sam said, softening his voice. “Just - I need to know you’re all right.”

Gabriel turned his head to get a better look at Sam, who was knelt on the floor beside him, pale and wide-eyed but apparently not as angry as Gabriel had believed.

“I was going to call someone else in,” Sam explained, “But I figured if you woke up and there was another person here you might get nervous.”

“Sometimes,” Gabriel slurred.

“What? Sometimes what?”

“Happens sometimes. Like oops.”

“Gabriel,” Sam said, “I need you to give me a single coherent sentence before I decide not to get help.”

“No. Not a big deal. I get a little upset. Tired. Whatever. And then this.”

“Do you know where you are? Who I am? What year it is?”

“Floor; Sam; post-moon landing, pre-teleportation.”

“How do you feel right now?”

“Floppy.”

“Why’d you pass out?”

“I don’t know.”

“Really?”

“I mean … it’s like when I get sick, sort of. Moderately less degrading.” Feeling a little more alert, Gabriel pushed himself upright. Sam looked tempted to assist, and Gabriel was grateful when he didn’t try.

“A stress response,” Sam said. “One you didn’t mention.”

“Never came up.”

“So right now, just now - you worked yourself up to the point that you couldn’t even stay conscious?”

“Good at it, aren’t I?” Gabriel leaned against the bedframe and pulled his knees to his chest. He couldn’t tell what Sam was feeling, but he sensed a certain level of frustration. Perhaps Gabriel was confusing desperation with anger; but whatever emotions were driving Sam’s reaction to this episode, there could be no mistaking what Gabriel himself was feeling. He told himself not to be afraid of Sam, and yet …

“I didn’t mean to,” he told Sam. “I really didn’t mean to. I didn’t - ”

“I know you didn’t mean to.” Sam sighed. “I’m not mad, all right? I’m sorry. I’m not. That was just really weird to watch. You went white and started falling off the bed. I grabbed you when half your body was already on the floor, so you didn’t hit your head or anything, but - ”

“Thank you, Prince Charming. My head already hurts like a bitch so I’m glad to be spared.”

“This happens a lot?”

Gabriel tethered his gaze to the floor. “No. It happens when I decide to fight.”

“Fight? Fight what?”

“My instincts. When I decide not to buy into what I said about letting yourself just lose control. There’s no reason to indulge in a breakdown if all it does is make me feel worse. Sometimes this is a … a, ah, side effect of that.”

“God, Gabriel. This is why you need to look for someone instead of running away from us.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah. Of course. What?”

Gabriel peered up at him. “Can you look me dead in the eyes and tell me that you know from firsthand experience that giving yourself space to parade your emotions around for others to witness and potentially ransack has proven a helpful strategy?”

Sam blinked. “I … no. I can’t.”

“Then what the hell are we doing?”

“I never had a chance to find out for myself.” Sam gave a rueful smile. “But I know what I needed.”

“You’re not - oh.” Gabriel looked away again. “I didn’t mean to be an ass.”

“None of this is about me. I’m more interested in making sure you don’t collapse again.”

“I won’t. That only happens when I’m grossly inconvenienced by my own coping mechanisms.”

“Can I help you up?” Sam offered his hands, apparently to hold onto Gabriel; but Gabriel, who didn’t take well to the notion of being touched like that when he was too weak to retaliate, grabbed Sam’s hands instead and let him pull him up that way.

“Wanna lie down?” Sam asked as Gabriel retook his seat on the bed.

“No. No sleeping. No nightmares. Not right now. I just - I can’t.”

“Not even if I stay here with you?”

“You busted in here to talk, didn’t you? Not to watch me while I sleep. Don’t be weird.”

The mattress creaked as Sam sat back down.

“Oh, and for what it’s worth” Gabriel added, “I appreciate your discretion. Thanks for not bringing anyone else in.”

Sam smiled. “I’m glad you’re not too banged up.”

“Well, I’m sorry. For being such a diva. ‘Look at this, Sam; watch me swoon.’ Have you ever seen such melodrama in your life?”

“It’s not melodrama. If you’re struggling that bad - if you’re sick and tired and passing out and crying - that means something’s wrong. It means you need help. What good is there in bullying yourself just for needing help?”

Gabriel surveyed him. Sam looked alert, concerned - perhaps even a little frightened. “Sam … you know the feeling of when someone wants to hurt you and you’d do anything to escape? And the panic is so strong you forget how to put up a rational fight, and all you can do is throw yourself around like a trapped insect? Being kidnapped, or tortured, or held in place - you know that violent, helpless, hysterical feeling?”

Sam looked vaguely nauseated. “Yeah.”

“That’s what I feel whenever I know help is nearby. And if I give in to that feeling, I’ll scream myself raw and it won’t do any good. Losing control doesn’t make things better. It hurts. It hurts me, because I can never get it all out; I’m never empty, Sam, and that feeling is never gone.” His voice trembled. “Frankly, everything made way more sense in Hell. It all added up to an even integer. I was afraid because I was locked in a cell at the mercy of a narcissistic screwball who’d been handed complete power over me. But now? Now I have no reason to feel trapped and alone.”

“And you need one,” Sam said, “So you give yourself one.”

“No! I mean - do I? See, what does that tell you? I’m nuts. I’ve gone off the freakin’ rails. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. All I know is I need help and I’m not going to be okay no matter how much I get. So what’s the point in wringing myself out for something that’s not even going to make a difference in the end?”

Fragments of memory crept forward: Gabriel, screaming and sobbing through the stitches across his mouth, while Asmodeus laughed above him.

“I can plead until time flips itself inside-out,” Gabriel told Sam, “And nothing - nothing - is going to make all that fighting worth it.”

“Not with Asmodeus.” Sam offered his hand. After a moment’s deliberation, Gabriel accepted it. “He liked to waste your time. Here, with us, you don’t have to beg for anything. Food, water, help. Whatever. You don’t have to tear yourself apart just to get what you need.”

“It doesn’t do anything,” Gabriel pleaded. “Letting go, losing control - it just makes things worse. It makes the pain stronger, Sam. I can try and try and it’s still caught inside of me and it won’t come out no matter how hard I pull at it.”

“When you’re by yourself, sure. It’s not a one-man job.”

“I should be stronger than this. Stronger than any of this. Stronger than him, stronger than my own mind, stronger than this feeling. Sam - I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to be whatever it is he turned me into.”

Sam squeezed his hand. “He didn’t turn you into anything. You’re still Gabriel.”

“But that’s not … I don’t …” Gabriel didn’t know how to explain that “Gabriel,” whomever that might be, had always been diseased, and that Asmodeus had simply hurt what needed to be hurt.

“I’m confused,” said Gabriel. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”

“You’re trying to heal. I think sometimes that can be as rough as whatever it is you’re trying to heal from.”

“I’m tired. Tired and terrified and - and I hate what I am, and how I see everything now; I hate that I don’t know how to keep myself under control. I hate that I come in here to cry. I don’t know; I don’t understand. I’m not - I don’t - ” Gabriel used his free hand to cover his face. “Everything is wrong with me.”

“But in what universe are you not supposed to be scared and upset and confused after everything that happened to you?”

Gabriel shook his head. His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “I don’t know.” He felt tears glide over his cheeks and kept his face hidden as best he could with the one hand.

“Well,” Sam said, “If anybody would know, don’t you think it’d be you?”

Gabriel didn’t reply.

“Look.” Sam’s voice was gentle. “I really think you should consider swallowing your pride once in a while and maybe pushing back against your own instincts. Don’t bury yourself in whatever it is Asmodeus put into your head.”

Gabriel gave a strangled laugh and slid his hand from his face, forgetting for a moment that Sam could see the tears. “Is that really what you think? That my instinct is to hide and not come running to you? Sam, the only instincts I ever have tell me to throw myself at your feet and grovel.”

“Grovel? For what?”

“For understanding. For affection. For touch. I don’t know; all I can tell you is I need something from you and I have to push myself in the opposite direction so that I don’t disgust you. And so that I don’t get cozy, because that could be taken from me so fast. The number of times he laughed at me, Sam, or kicked me in the face because I didn’t stop crying when he told me to …”

Sam looked repulsed. “Gabriel, I would never do that to you!”

“He used to say, ‘I wish you could get a glimpse of yourself; even you wouldn’t believe you were looking at an archangel. You know what you are, don’t you? You’re a roach with a busted leg and guts all over the floor. You’re lucky I don’t just squish the life out of you here and now.’”

“Yeah,” said Sam, “Okay. Stop. I don’t think that about you; none of us think that. Don’t trust anything he told you. The guy was a monster.”

“Well, so is this thing inside of me, Sam. This thing that tells me to go looking for help - this thing that makes me so afraid and panicked and desperate - it’s insatiable and trying to feed it just makes it hungrier.”

“With him it would have. Yes. Because you tried to get what you needed and he didn’t let you have anything. If you really wanna look at it like that, as something that needs to be fed - I mean, what are you supposed to think if it’s always been starved?”

Gabriel couldn’t think of a response.

“I’m tired,” he said at last. “I feel sick and exhausted. I’m not - ” He leaned against Sam, who released Gabriel’s hand to put an arm around him. “I just don’t feel well at all.” He turned to press his face into Sam’s shoulder.

“This has been a hard time,” Sam agreed. “I know that. Trust me, I know. And that isn’t your fault.”

“I should be - ”

“Who’s holding you to anything, huh? You’re not supposed to be any one way about this. Really.”

Gabriel almost asked, Then why isn’t it acceptable for me to lock myself away? Then he thought better of it, because Sam had been right: it wasn’t like Gabriel to make himself unknown. He had run away, certainly - but he had not remained in the shadows. Gabriel had never kept himself entirely hidden. Never.

He didn’t often think of who he had been before his imprisonment. For all he knew, that version of himself was the one Asmodeus hated most, the version that had deserved the most punishment.

But the thought that Gabriel might never get that part of himself back, the possibility that Asmodeus had forced him into wanting to stay hidden - somehow this notion flooded him with horrified grief that came on like a surge of nausea. He didn’t miss whatever it was he had been - at least, he didn’t think he missed it, although since he deliberately paid so little attention he couldn’t be sure - but the absence of something that had made him who he was suddenly felt unbearable.

The tears came silently, blurring his vision and stealing his voice. The knot in his throat stung like needles and tightened his chest, so that he had trouble breathing again.

I’ll never get that back, Gabriel thought. It belongs to Asmodeus now.

Sam pulled him in closer and Gabriel grabbed onto him, afraid that Sam would let go. He remembered moments like this with Asmodeus - clinging to him in exactly the same way. It was only when Sam muttered, “I know, I know it’s rough; I know,” did Gabriel realize that he could distinguish between the two experiences.

Gabriel heard himself make a horrible, choked groan into Sam’s shoulder. He gritted his teeth against the urge to scream - an urge that soon became too much and manifested not as a scream but as fractured moaning.

“I know,” Sam murmured again. “I know. But it’s gonna be all right. You’re doing just fine, I promise.”

Gabriel tried to speak, but the words slid into each other and ricocheted off of each breath so that nothing could be understood.

“What?” Sam asked.

“I - I can’t,” Gabriel sobbed. “I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

“Stop. I can’t stop. I’m trying. I’m sorry.”

“Nobody’s telling you you have to stop. Especially not me. Take whatever time you need.”

“I don’t know.” Gabriel shuddered in Sam’s grasp. “I can’t - can’t stop.”

“Then don’t. Nothing wrong with that.”

“No, I want - I need - I can’t stop; I need it to - ” He was gasping, choking. “Because it won’t do - won’t change anything, and I need it to stop.”

“Don’t think about that. Just relax. I’m here. You’re safe.” Sam paused, then added, “I didn’t mean to make you so upset. I just wanted to check on you because - ”

“Because you knew I was already upset.” Gabriel gave a shaky laugh. “Because you knew that I - that this was - ”

Somehow Gabriel couldn’t say it, but perhaps Sam understood: Gabriel had needed this, or something like this, to remind him that he was no longer in Hell. That there was no pain, no punishment, no derision. There was no clawing at the bars of a filthy cell and howling into a damp chamber full of bloodthirsty phantoms. Certainly, there was self-disgust; there was shame just as powerful as any he had felt with Asmodeus - but there was no fear.

Did that mean he truly would never be able to stop?

Gabriel pressed his face deeper into Sam’s shoulder.

Even if I can -

“All right there?” Sam asked.

- this will still happen again.

“I’m so sorry,” Gabriel whimpered.

“No.”

“I am. I really am.”

“What for?”

“For all the times you might have to see this.”

“Hey, no, come on.”

Gabriel didn’t ask whether Sam meant Come on, it’s not gonna happen again or Come on, of course you don’t have to be sorry. He was afraid of the answer.

“Think about it this way,” Sam said after a while. “If it were one of us - ”

“I know, Sam.” Gabriel closed his eyes. “But it’s not.”

“Yes it is.”

There was a knock at the door. Gabriel wrenched himself away from Sam.

“No one else needs to see,” he explained.

“Okay.” Sam got to his feet. “Let me handle it, then.”

Whoever it was knocked a second time. “Gabriel?”

Dean.

Sam opened the door. “Can you give us a minute?”

“Nope. Because if he ain’t gonna take what’s left of the casserole then it belongs to me.”

Sam sighed. “Dean …”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules, Sammy. But I did make the casserole.”

“He hasn’t eaten; can’t you just - ”

“It’s perishable. It’s a delicate recipe. Gabe!”

“Don’t,” Sam said quickly. “He’s - let me ask him.”

“It’s fine,” Gabriel said. He tried to speak loudly enough for Dean to hear, but his voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and repeated, “It’s fine, Dean. Take it. I don’t need your germs.”

He heard Dean shift - perhaps trying to step inside. “Sounding a little rough there, bud.”

“Dean,” said Sam, “Go away.”

A pause. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Sam told him. “Just …”

In the silence that followed, Gabriel had the sense that Dean was trying to read whatever signals Sam might be sending.

“You know what?” Dean said at last. “I’m suddenly in the mood for burgers. Gabe feels up to it, he can have the casserole. So I guess I’ll, uh … I’ll catch you two later.”

“Yeah.” Sam sounded relieved. “All right. Thanks.” He closed the door.

“Thanks yourself,” Gabriel said as Sam came to sit down again. “No need for him to see me like this. But hey, Sam - you know I’m not trying to monopolize your time, right? Because you have a lot of other jobs besides babysitting a whiny recluse.”

“Man, you have got to stop talking about yourself that way. Besides, I don’t have anything more important right now.”

“What about the case in Connecticut?”

“We don’t even know if we there is a case.”

“So go do a little digging, find what you can find; maybe it’ll help you decide what you’ve got on your hands here.”

“Really. There’s nowhere I need to be.”

“Sam, I’m gonna feel better if you move on from what just happened without any fanfare, all right? My energy is shot. I think it’d be good for me to take a hot second to breathe and you to get done whatever work might lower the odds of you getting yourself bloodied up in some elitist New England suburb.”

Sam looked both surprised and hesitant. “Do you wanna come with me?”

“No. Just give me a few minutes and then I’ll … if I need you, I’ll get you. How’s that sound?”

Cautiously, Sam stood up. “If that’s really what you think would be helpful.”

“Yeah. Go. And thank you.” Gabriel glanced away. “You had a point.”

“About what?”

“About - come on, don’t make me say it. You know what.”

Sam considered him. Then he nodded, and Gabriel hoped he remembered: It’s not a one-man job.

“I’ll be close by,” Sam told him. “And please - don’t try to pretend, okay?”

“Fine. But I’m good, Sam. For now, I’m good.”

Sam remained in place for a few more seconds, contemplating whether to heed Gabriel’s request. Then he smiled, tentatively, and moved toward the exit.

“But you can leave the door open,” Gabriel called, and Sam did.

Gabriel could hear Dean, Cas, and Jack somewhere in another room - although he couldn’t be sure which one. He slid off of the bed and moved toward the sound. They were in the kitchen.

The three of them, seated around the table with bottles of beer (When did those melonheads start giving Jack alcohol? Gabriel wondered), all fell silent when they saw him.

“Hey fellas,” said Gabriel. “Got room for one more?”

#supernatural #fanfiction #sam winchester #gabriel #dean winchester #asmodeus #post-asmodeus sabriel feels #sabriel #gabriel/sam winchester #hurt/comfort #angst

18 notes · View notes

griimreaping · 4 years

Text

@owlsector ⟶ ❤ for teasing kisses along hipbones and lower (from the drabble meme) (u know from who)

Tasting your own medicine always turns out more bitter than you initially realize. This is why Jean sulks over the last few manila folders of debriefs that she'd been putting off to the previous two weeks, much to the chagrin of both Jack and Gabe. Of course, she'd meant to get to them, just as she'd meant to get to the growing stack of NATO briefings that she needed to be read into. Jean groans, one hand propping up the woman's chin as a pen scratches along the many signature lines and evidence record boxes. That suffocating whiff of too much printer ink and official bureaucratic nonsense lingered around every one of those folders, putting Jean in worse spirits.

For all the times that she'd slipped into Gabriel's office when the woman is aware of the mountain of paperwork he sits on only to leave him flushed and covered in her lipstick, the woman wouldn't have thought to have the same treatment bestowed upon herself. That ghostly tingle of his calloused fingers pressed around Jean's throat as his mouth fervently claimed her own.

There's always a type of fierce restrained hunger when they kissed, knowing they didn't have enough time to savor one another – like feeling a lashing storm from the other side of a door. From the way, his hands roamed Jean's form, trying to feel the heated skin beneath scratchy issued PJs, to the way her nails left stinging lines along his scalp. Parting breathless and lips still wet with the other's taste, he had growled that one word, which still echoed in Jean's mind.

❛ Later. ❛

Easing her fingers along the place where his had graced an hour or so before the woman sighs, scribbling her signature in another box. Two more and freedom would be hers. Gaze sliding from the paperwork for just a moment, Jean taps awake her datapad sending a quick text message to Gabriel ( wherever he might be roaming ), then closed it.

Reclining back on the standard-issue bed's rumpled sheets with the finished papers around her, Jean has the decency to collect them all and stick them on the desk. While standing next to the small work littered metal desk, the woman clicks the lamp off, casting the room in a dim glow provided by the chemical yellow lights that line the perimeter of HQ's compound. Padding into the small bathroom attached to the larger bedroom area, Jean rolls through the steps of her nightly routine, the prospect of finishing what they had started already beginning to fade disappointingly. There's a mutual understanding that free time is hard to come by in professions such as theirs, so when it went weeks or even months with no contact with each other, it didn't spark surprise.

What did spark surprise is when the soldier moves back into her bedroom and sees Gabe sitting on her bed, features cast in relief by the lights outside. Deep brown eyes glittering as they deliberately drank in her form, making Jean's stomach twist in a way she hadn't felt in months. Seven missions and more time than they'd realized went between now and the last time they'd even gave a passing nod in the hallway. Releasing a breath that she hadn't realized was being held, there's a split second of two predators eyeing one another — palpable anticipation of the first move.

Crossing the room in three quick steps, Jean's hands find Gabriel's jaw instantly bringing his lips to hers. A low starved groan vibrates into the embrace as her knees hug his sides, sinking into the gunman's lap as if she'd always belonged there. Slowly grinding her hips down as every thought is kissed away, Jean tries to breathe properly through her nose, not wanting to break. If there's one thing that always held true for people in their profession, you can always tell what they do simply by the smell of gunpowder that seems to be ingrained into their skin. Under the soapy clean military facade are the guns and blood and danger.

Words are sparse as hands pull at clothing and that bone-deep fire of arousal begins to flare from its embers. Gabriel's teeth make imprints on the tender skin of Jean's throat, pulling a breathless sound that goes straight through him. Shirts are tossed into some unimportant corner of the small room, pants joining them soon after. It's then that the animal rush of needing to feel bare skin seems to lull for a moment. Laying there beneath Gabe's broad frame, Jean fixes him with a dreamy ponderous look. Fingertips gingerly tracing the curve of his throat that boldly displays her marks, the woman's touch is a stark comparison to how rough they'd been a heartbeat previous.

There aren't quite words for what she wants to express, yet Gabe understands, all the same, turning his head so he can press his lips to the inside of her palm. Then lacing more chaste kisses along Jean's wrist and arm, he expertly exhibits the strength in his body, smoothly making his way down the small bed to kneel on the floor before Jean. That doe-eyed look that she gives him has his cock throbbing where it's trapped within his boxers. Gripping an ankle in one calloused hand, Gabe pulls Jean to the bed's edge, grinning as she squeaks from the rough handling.

Taking the time to massage the soldier's legs, he leisurely pushes them apart, taking note of the way Jean's fingers knead the sheets with a muffled whine. Mouthing along the inside of her thigh, Gabe none too gently grazes the pad of his thumb along with Jean's panties, feeling how damp she is already.

❛ Been missing me, huh? ❛ his voice is raspy as those brown eyes fix the woman with a wickedly greedy look that has her squirming beneath the deliberate touch. Reaching the underwear's lace hem, Gabe works a hickey into Jean's skin just above the cream-colored frill, kissing it afterward as if it would soothe the angry bruise. Leaning back to tug Jean's underwear off and flick them over a shoulder, Gabe resumes where he had left off, kissing lower and relishing in every little breathless sound the woman beneath him makes in response. That electric tingle that came with sharp nails across his scalp had the gunman growling deep in the back of his throat as he came to his prize.

❛ Let's see if you still taste as good as I remember. ❛

#‘ﾟanswered » JEAN MASTERS — ❝ here the light only dies to remember ! ❝#verse﹕OVERWATCH ► these bright ideas always ﾟ* BURN #‘ﾟships » OWLSECTOR — ❝ told me pick my battles and im picking them all ! ❝#i'll admit that i got carried away #am i mad?#no #was it worth it?#absolutely #is it over 1000 words?#you bet #it's actually like 1100 words lmao

0 notes

cartoonfangirl1218 · 4 years

Text

EoA ships fluff headcanons part 3

Who does the puppy dog face? Eleteo: Elena, Elenaaa of Avaalllooor! She’s a master at it and Mateo is helpless to resist. Though it works both ways. Mateo unintentionally leashes his adorable eager and/or disappointed face and Elena can’t help but fall too. Gababel: Isabel does. It’s a flores family thing. Only she doesn’t use it much because Gabe already falls over himself to serve her anyway😄 Estenaomi: I was going to say Esteban, but I can’t see young Esteban as a puppy dog face type. More like he’d try to smolder his way. It doesn’t always work but sometimes it does. Less because of the sexy but because it amuses Naomi so much. Estoma: Doña, only Esteban calls it her “wide eye doe look” that is totally a “see through ploy.” An hour later he is carrying her bags through the Mercado, wondering how the hell it worked on him.

Imitating their parents?

Eleteo: Elena always urges Mateo to join her in singing Dawn of a Brand New Day during the Sunflower Festival as she always saw that as one of *the* romantic moments between her parents. She also continues the tradition of reading bedtime stories and jumping on the bed with her kids and Mateo. Mateo repeats the story of how Rafa met his father by taking Elena on a date to that fateful spot and telling their story which touches Elena’s romantic heart and they muse on their own love story. Gababel: Gabe takes Isabel to olaball games as that is where his parents spent most of their time with Blanca cheering Roberto on and going out to eat afterwards. So that’s what they do, Gabe tries to impress Isabel with his moves and she ends up joining him in a fun one against one and then they go out to eat. Isabel brings Gabe to all her parents’ favorite date night spots and even arranges an gigantic dinner spread of food that neither of them can finish because they’re so busy talking to one another. Just like her mom and dad’s first date.

Estenaomi: What else do the do but go sailing just as how both Captains met each other followed by several rancorous jigs at the local bar. Of course, Naomi does spin him around a few times (girl’s got muscle) to dip him for a kiss which Esteban finds endearing. And there is chocolate. Lots of chocolate because that had been what Scarlett was transporting when Daniel rescued her ship. All in all a sweet date. Esteban pulls out all the stops just like his father did when wooing his mother with fun bantering sessions and serenading her under her window. Naomi thinks it’s so over the top but at the same time, she loves it and the attention and Esteban has such a nice voice. Estoma: Same as above, Esteban does some of the wooing that Joseligio was so fond of. Like on one date where Esteban made a rose petal trail leading to all the most romantic spots in the kingdom (you can see where Esteban inherited the flair for the dramatic from) or drawing pictures a la Jack from Titanic. Doña’s parents didn’t have much of a courtship, it was more like meet cute, write letters to each other for a few weeks, then elope and hide until the parental anger dies down. So not many romantic dates but they do write romantic letters especially when Esteban is away on his trips.

What hobby do they try for each other?

Eleteo: Mateo tries to learn how to play guitar. After all he already has a spectacular voice, now he can accompany himself. Besides Elena has such fond memories of learning from her abuelo and her mom and aunt. Admittedly, it is not that easy for him. He can wield his tamborita with amazing grace, the guitar strings not so much. But he considers it a challenge and he keeps trying. Elena has fallen in love with the traditional dances and new modernizations of it that had come up during her 41 years in the amulet and Mateo happily guides her through it, not that she needs much help. Gababel: Gabe tries to do some inventing himself to see what Isabel gets so hyped about it, and he finds it...confusing. He tried, he really really did, but high school math did not prepare him for those kind of physics at all. Even her suggestion to see it as battle strategy didn’t work. Oh well, it was the effort that counts. Isabel tried some of that guard training Gabe had to go through and surprisingly, she got into it. It was like her inner thrill seeker got released or something because she wanted to do the course again and again. Seeing Isabel rule that course also made Gabe fall a little harder too. Estenaomi: Naomi decided to try out ballroom dancing without Esteban’s help. I mean yes, he taught her how to waltz but she was determined to learn new styles by herself so she could impress him. And impress him she did. After Naomi nearly upstaged him in ballroom dancing and he learned how much work she put into learning it, Esteban decided to try rope tricks as she does. Unfortunately, he grew frustrated the more he did and the more he entangled himself in it even after he requested her help. Estoma: Doña usually read poetry during long rides to other kingdoms and sometimes with nothing to do, she’d read it aloud to him. It began Esteban’s appreciation for it. Especially during the Shuriki era. The meter and lyricism was the closest he could get to hearing music and he would start to ask to borrow her books. Doña tried to do the exploring the jungle that adventurous!Esteban is so fond of, but couldn’t stand it for more than an hour. What do they sometimes walk into?

Eleteo: Sometimes Elena walks in on Mateo napping after reading his spell books too long, reading, or working on some new potion. She has learned not to sneak up on him because that cause explosions but if it’s the former, she is totally prepared to kiss him or play that “Guess who?” Game. Mateo usually walks in on Elena working or singing. And sometimes he just admires her sing for a moment before making his presence known, because she looks so beautiful and carefree.

Gababel: Gabe walks in on Isabel talking to herself about her inventions, doing her inventions or sometimes rocking on her guitar-accordion and on the latter, like Mateo, Gabe waits to make his presence known because watching Isabel doing her solo is always entertaining. Isabel sometimes walks in on Gabe doing push-ups or some other workout, always a pleasant sight to see😉 Or going over battle strategies though Isabel always reminds him its time to leave work at the barracks, and their room is for them only. Estenaomi: Sometimes walks into the room where Esteban is primping his hair or deep into his moisturizing routine so she jumps at him from behind to startle him. Esteban sometimes walks into Naomi deep in thought and pacing around making plans for the next trip or whatnot and to take from your hc, he asks “Who has won the argument this time?” 😁 Estoma: Like above, oftentimes she walks in on him in the middle of his skincare routine. Others, it’s that booby trap dance (got to keep sharp yes lol 😆). He usually walks on her primping herself or leftover work of the day.

Who brags about their wedding? Eleteo: Neither. They’re both just thrilled to be married to one another. Plus it’s hard to brag when you know NO ONE will ever have a wedding like theirs. Royalty and magic...so much magic combined. Though Elena might bring it up a bit....after Val’s bragging gets too much. Gababel: Hmm I think Isabel would. Most likely in response to Val or someone. After all the ceremony is second to getting the chance to declare her love for Gabe in front of her family and friends and being blinded together forever. If anything she doesn’t brag but just loves talking about that wonderful day. Estenaomi: Esteban totally Esteban. Even though he doesn’t remember much of it. It’s more like bragging about how great his wife is, not that Naomi minds at all. Estoma: Doña. Though it was a smaller, more refined affair she embellishes some details when recounting it to the nobles who missed the event. A la Rachel Green. “And my veil was lace, made by blind, Belgium nuns.” “Blind?”“Well, not at first, but it was very intricate work and they said even though they lost their sight, it was all worth it.”

Trait they love/hate in the other? Eleteo: Mateo has a love/hate feeling towards Elena’s impulsivity. He loves it because it is so her to get fired up and passionate about something and try to fix it. But as we have seen, her not thinking things through leads to more trouble and though Elena can handle it, he doesn’t particularly like seeing her risk her life and limb like in To Save the Sunbird. Elena likes/dislikes Mateo’s concentration in magic. Like with her impulsivity. It is so him. She wouldn’t change it in the world. But that intensity and focus often derails him from thinking of other things, so caught up is he in his books. Or that he sometimes sets other things aside for his own goals (ahem Scepter of Night) Gababel: Isabel loves/hates Gabe’s protectiveness. She loves it because it’s Gabe. He cares so much, and it does make her feel safe. But when he goes overboard, he goes overboard and is super smothering and for someone who always feels like being treated as the baby she doesn’t appreciate it coming from her husband too. Gabe loves/hates how Isabel analyzes things. He loves to hear her talk about her information and the way her eyes light up. But she too can go overboard with information he doesn’t particularly understand or need to hear at the moment and sometimes she can be a bit oblivious to other people’s disinterest in it. Estenaomi: Esteban loves/hates Naomi’s sarcastic nature. Loves it because it’s hilarious and how else can they participate in their witty banter but at times he dislikes it because sometimes it can hit too close to his insecurities when he’s down and come off as unnecessarily harsh. Naomi loves/hates Esteban’s perfectionism. She can understand at a level like when she is party planning, but when Esteban branches out and refuses to stop what he is doing and chill because this one flower is out of place in the bouquet. Yeah it can get annoying. Not to mention, with the perfectionism comes the snobbishness. Estoma: Esteban loves/hates Doña’s honesty. Well a majority of the time it’s hate because he doesn’t *need* to hear about his flaws and her nagging at him and what she thinks of a particularly boneheaded action of his. On the other hand, when she does give compliments, he likes that honesty because he knows it genuine and real and she’s not mincing words to placate him. As if she would ever do that. Doña loves/hates how Esteban knows to push her buttons. She hates it because no matter how hard she tries to maintain a poker face or whatever, he knows just what to do or say to get under nerves. On the other hand, it’s sort of endearing that he knows her so well. Things they taught the other?

Eleteo: This is very short and pretty much canon. Magic studies all the dang time, but they always know how to make it fun with each other. Much more hc like would be Elena teaching Mateo how to play guitar and being ever so patient about it with lots of kisses as encouragement. Mateo taught Elena some small recipes that are Rafa specialities and are amazingly delicious and as we all know cooking lessons are very romantic indeed. Gababel: Just like in The Princess Knight, Gabe teaches Isabel to fence, only much more romantic with bunch of flirtations and some innuendo which surprises Gabe since he is so used to her calm that he forgets that Isabel is from the same line of indiscreet Flores. Isabel teaches Gabe how to map things based on the position of the stars which is always useful for days when he is alone on a stakeout and has to make next plans. Estenaomi: Esteban already knew how to sail but Naomi improved his knowledge tenfold with little tips on knots and parts of the ship and ship building and fixing. Even just generally woodwork like how to make those ships in bottles which is super hard and intricate but he also likes the feel of Naomi trying to fix the delicate mistakes and how concentrated she looks. Esteban teaches Naomi classic treasure hunting techniques he used to do with Victor as well as athletic activities like vine swinging. Estoma: Just like with Naomi, Esteban teaches her to dance. She grew up under Shuriki so dancing was not skill set to be encouraged. And well, *clearly* she needs more lessons. It’s better when it’s a partner dance and the other person can stop the unnecessary shimmying. Doña showed Esteban how to stay on a wild horse. Mainly because he didn’t want to learn the “boringly simple” rope tricks and he was going to do it anyway if she didn’t stop him. So far he’s stayed on for 2 seconds on a fake one. He’s working on it.

Height difference Eleteo: From what I can tell, Eleteo is almost the same height but at times Elena appears shorter than he. So I will go with the idea that Mateo is taller but not by very much and so the two are utterly connected, eye to eye like a symmetrical heart (damn that was sappy. Do you see what Eleteo does to me!). But Mateo also has the magic advantage so when neither of them can get anything, he just levitates up. Gababel: Even as Isabel grows to her full height, Gabe is taller than her no question. Not that either of them minds, it's perfect for them. Isabel adores being able to easy sit in his lap or be picked up in his strong, muscular arms. It makes her feel safe, and admittedly, his muscles may be hard but they are also cuddly. Plus there is something so intimate about going on her tiptoes to reach his lips or being swooped up in his arms. Gabae also likes it for the same reasons. Her in his arms, and admittedly when she does the tiptoe thing he becomes a blushy mess with her small smirk and the way her arms wrap around his neck like he is the only thing in the world she can hold on to and never let go. Estenaomi: Naomi is the shorter one because even young Esteban, he is taller than others like a freaking string bean so Naomi comes up to his nose, which forces her to look up into his eyes which sometimes gets her all blushy because intense Este-smolder. He is a weapon with that smolder. Not that it is all gazing lovingly into his eyes. Esteban can get pretty cocky about it when he is offering to reach things that she can't and she only has to remind him that the taller people are, the harder they fall which usually leads to him unintentionally tripping because he doesn't look where he is going. Estoma: They are at the same height, mainly because Dona wears heels. The few times she doesn't, she comes to his forehead which gives Esteban plenty of chances for those forehead kisses. But when they fight, Esteban would sometimes bring it up (She has this belief that it is bad to fight at a lower level like having to look up to someone) and teasingly ask her if she would like to pause the fight so she can get her heels and be able to glare at his eye-level which only infuriates her more. Who is the obnoxious winner and whose the sore loser?

Eleteo: Neither. I mean I really can’t see Mateo being sore or obnoxious, but Elena... hmm I wouldn’t say obnoxious winner simply because she refuses to admit defeat like in Nothing but the Blaze. She keeps insisting on another round and another round until she wins something, Gababel: Gabe wouldn’t be either. His lesson with El Guapo taught him that much. However Isabel can get pouty and sore if she loses at something that she is genuinely great at like chess or trivia games. Estenaomi: Esteban is both the sore loser and obnoxious winner and Naomi can be an obnoxious winner mainly because of Esteban’s bragging about how we was going to win, and then she does and so she takes the opportunity to rub it in his face. Estoma: Both are both. It’s the reason they don’t have one on one game nights that often. But it’s useful if they want the loser to do a particular chore or errand or something like that.

Favorite date night activity

Eleteo: Dancing, I know it's very very cliche. But they do love to dance together. It has all the pulse and energy and rhythm that Elena thrives on, the intimacy of slow dances where they are able to talk quietly with each other and also the physical touch. Always moving as one. Estenaomi: They enjoy sailing or hiking, something fast paced to get their adrenaline pumping at first. Plus it's an excellent conversation starter. They enjoy making new memories and though it seems like the same old same old, there is always some new hi jinks they get into while they are together and can laugh about it afterwards. Gababel: They would enjoy a quiet dinner and some cuddling as a way of connecting after a long day and so they could pay attention to each other face to face without any fuss. They enough hectic was already, their dates are more to enjoy the other's company and tell about their days. Maybe an archeological dig if they're feeling restless. Estoma: The theater or theatre if we're gonna be fancy about it. They just seem like the type.

Amusement park/modern AU date

Eleteo: Favorite thing to do is the Farris wheel just sitting watching over the horizon and enjoying each other's company, of course Elena is sitting in Mateo's lap by the end. She can't help herself. They also enjoying walking hand in hand at the boardwalk while eating churros from the vendors. Mateo always enjoys watching the street magicians and telling Elena the secret behind their tricks. Elena often tries to pursuade Mateo to show off too but he declines most of the time. The end the night enjoying a nice front row seat to the fireworks and star gazing. Estenaomi: These two are roller coaster maniacs. They try every thriller ride there is too see who can one up each other. They also enjoy the spinning teacups as they used their combined strength to go as fast as they can. Once they're dizzy enough and a bit reluctant to eat they spend their time at the arcade where Esteban tries his strong man routine but Naomi beats him out in throwing balls and water gun shooting. Gababel: Isabel and Gabe spend most of their time in the arcade and street vendors where Gabe tries to use the hammer to get to the top of the bell and win her stuffed animals and food while Isabel uses her smarts to guess the most jellybeans in a jar and of course, in finding the right angle to throw things. For rides the favorite is the carousal while eating cotton candy they got half off from Gabe's mom. Estoma: They spend the whole day at the arcade competing. Honestly, competition is like their default mode with each other. That doesn't mean they also enjoy some walking and funnel cakes as they try to carry their prizes.

#eleteo #elena of avalor #estenaomi #gababel #estoma #my hcs #my headcanons #headcanons #mateo de alva #elena castillo flores #isabel castillo flores #gabe nuñez #naomi turner #esteban flores #doña paloma

8 notes · View notes

theonyxpath · 4 years

Link

Because we’re all out this week, there was no Monday Meeting – but our emails have been flying all week as the kickstarter for V5 Cults of the Blood Gods funded in 50 minutes and it has been smashing through Stretch Goals since then!

It has perhaps been helped by a last minute change James and I made to the shipping costs for a bunch of our International backers – I mean I literally got the revised shipping costs from a new KS fulfilment shipper in the EU the morning the KS was going live!

Very glad we could bring those costs down – even if it is still an experiment until we get a few ship-outs actually out from these shippers.

As always, you can back at any time and you’ll get access to consecutive chunks of the manuscript as the KS rolls along – and you can cancel your pledge at any time before the KS is over if you don’t like what you read!

(And this is the case whether you have just stumbled on the Cults Kickstarter, are one of our long-time KS backers, or a friend of one of the creators!)

Also, related to our Kickstarter for V5 Cults of the Blood Gods, Modiphius has opened up the pre-orders for their V5 book, The Fall of London! You can find the info here on their website: https://www.modiphius.net/

You’ll recognize a lot of the creators’ names from our projects, so you know it’s at least worth a look: every pre-order for the hardcover physical book that’s yet to come gets a link to the finished PDF!

Chicago Folio art by Michele Giorgi

Since this is almost the end of the year, and is certainly a time when we can use some happy thoughts to go with the holidays, here are our Onyx Path Monday Meeting crew’s look back on what were some of our highlights from 2019:

Dixie:

It’s been amazing to streamline a few of our processes this year! However, to me the major highlights for me were holding certain books for the first time on which I and my colleagues have worked so hard, such as Trinity, Scion, Dragon-Blooded, and Chicago by Night. I’m glad we’ve been able to deliver so many great Kickstarters and am looking forward to those yet to come! Seeing our books go into stores has been amazing, too. Being able to walk into my FLGS and see a copy of Changeling 2e or Pugmire on the shelf is really rewarding.

Monica:

Community content has been a wonderful way to find new freelancers and those programs are giving fans an opportunity to create new titles for their favorite games. I think we’ve integrated the programs really well and I’ll be curious to see what happens in the coming months.

Ian:

Entirely self-serving of me, but: we ran the Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter, which did gratifyingly well. We released the Trinity Continuum core rules and Trinity Continuum: Æon, which have been in development almost as long as Onyx Path has been a company! The feedback we’ve gotten has been really positive and I’m really happy that we finally got these out to the public. Squeaking in before the end of the year are In Media Res and the Æon Æxpansion, and we’re working on a new edition of Adventure! and other exciting projects. It’s been a great year for visible tangible progress.

Mighty Matt:

Teaming up with the DriveThruRPG team to launch the new Phone PDF format with the Pugmire core rulebook. As the RPG community grows it is very cool to have the chance to try new ways of using our games and the Phone PDF format means Pugmire (and now Scion: Origin) are available in a mobile format, which can be great to read on the go, use at conventions, and more.

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Brian LeBlanc

Mirthful Mike:

Two pillars of the Storypath System saw release in 2019… Scion and Trinity Continuum. And yes, Scion did have some bumps both before and after release… but we did learn from those and implemented some new procedures since then to make sure those bumps never show up again. Yes, a month long implementation of the Trinity Mindmeld was kinda stressful for me… but way less stressful than Scion‘s release.

Matthew:

My favourite moment of 2019 was conducting the second proof of They Came from Beneath the Sea! It’s been nothing but a joy to review a game I’ve overseen from conception to (near) publication, and I’m confident the people who buy it, run it, and play it will love the writing, the art, and the layout. It really is a testament to the creative excellence of the team who worked on this, and I owe a lot to their ingenuity and humour, and the faith Rich put in me and this game.

Eddy:

One thing I think we did really well: Process. 2018 was a year of onboarding, getting people trained up, and establishing process for our company. This year we saw how well it worked, adjusted where it didn’t work, and generally got things out faster and at higher quality than we did before. Next year is a natural step of refining or looking at better processes.

Lisa:

For me the good is the improvement of our office systems. Going through our in-house developers for contracts and pay schedules helps to keep these working smoothly and to both eliminate or clear up problems as we go. Hopefully, this makes it better for our freelancers to have their paperwork and payments in a timely fashion.

RichT:

As for me, this last year has been one where we are starting to have things happen we set in motion years ago, like Ian mentioned about the Trinity Continuum, and also we announced Exalted Essence as another project we’ve been thinking about for quite some time.

Having the Trinity Continuum books available is particularly cool because they really illustrate how the Storypath System can be tweaked so that it meshes with the setting. Just wait until both Dystopia Rising: Evolution and They Came From Beneath the Sea! (and a bunch of unannounced projects) also become available and really put Storypath through its paces.

But also, in terms of other things besides projects, we’re working on new ways to print and ship our KS’d books, and how to build on the success we’ve had in getting our books into retail stores. Which might not really click until V5 Chicago By Night gets onto shelves. But that’ll be in our 2020 thoughts!

Memento Mori art by Brian LeBlanc

I’ve been thrilled by how our Terrific Trio of Terror have continued to post a new Onyx Pathcast every freakin’ Friday, and how we’ve ramped up our Twitch channel with fantastic actual plays and commentary pretty much every single day of the week! I really wasn’t sure we’d get so many loyal viewers, so thanks to all of you who’ve checked out our offerings!

Thanks to the always delightful James Bell, our KS Concierge, we were able to run 6 Kickstarter campaigns on our original KS account, and then James ran Mummy 2e and our friends at Handiwork Games ran the Creature Collection KS on our new Onyx Path KS account. Which is another thing we have been needing for years.

And we were able to continually roll out projects all year long that were created via our Kickstarter campaigns – both the main rewards and the Stretch Goal extra projects – which has been a juggling act as the older (ahem, later) rewards caught up and smashed into the newer projects that are getting made a lot more quickly under the updated processes Eddy and Lisa mentioned.

It was a satisfying year in that it felt good to demonstrate with all of our fantastic projects how we can create great and beautiful game books for both our licensed and our own lines. In a lot of ways, it was all of you and your responses – to our projects, to our posts, to our KSs – that truly made this an excellent year for all of us at the Onyx Path House of Ideas!

Thank YOU, for joining us last year in exploring our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

V5 Cults of the Blood Gods funded in 50 minutes last week, and has thundered forward despite the holidays!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast Is our Holiday Special 2: Mario Kart Episode! Say! No! More! Check it out direct on Podbean, or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

Topping the media list this week is Red Moon Roleplaying‘s actual play of Vampire: The Masquerade – Cults of the Blood Gods, to tie in to the currently running Kickstarter. Here’s part one, and do be warned, the content within contains scenes of a horrific nature: https://youtu.be/E_VtuU4y9JI

Additionally, Ekorren (of Roleplaying and Worldbuilding fame) has made a special V5 video, what with Cults of the Blood Gods being on Kickstarter: https://youtu.be/ir1MYLtD1EY

We’ve a festive line-up on Twitch this week, with a holiday special of Trinity Continuum, Dixie’s Holiday Twitch Takeover (which will be a hell of a lot of fun), another holiday special of Hunter: The Vigil, Uncanny Valley‘s regular Hunter game, Mage: The Awakening, and Scarred Lands!

Thank you to our streamers for such fantastic work this year, and even more thanks for those running games this week!

You can watch the games on our Twitch channel and subscribe to us over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Plus, we uploaded a barrage of content to our Onyx Path YouTube channel this last week, including videos for Pugmire, Aberrant, Changeling: The Lost, and more!

You can find our YouTube videos over on youtube.com/user/theonyxpath

What’s more, Matthew Dawkins continues his Gentleman’s Guide to Scion over on his YouTube channel, now covering the mechanics of consolation and Momentum! You can find Matthew’s channel at youtube.com/user/clackclickbang

If you’ve not been following the Occultists Anonymous series on Mage: The Awakening, do not despair! They have uploaded new episodes to their channel right here:

Episode 66: The Masters Songbird is called before his mentor, Colossus, to prepare for his initiation into an ancient legacy. Atratus begins to investigate a curiosity that Gabe has found. https://youtu.be/8HaJXY_iLk4

Episode 67: Baby, Take My Hand Atratus speaks with the dead, determining how best she can help the ghost of Katherine. Gabe steps up to play a supporting role in helping the newly dead. Songbird tries something new… https://youtu.be/h3g3v5ntHn8

The Story Told Podcast continue their fantastic actual play of Exalted Dragon-Blooded right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-21-shall-we-spare-the-ravages-of-war

Over with Vampire: The Masquerade now, as The Sacrifice from Chicago by Night is run in Spanish over on webvampiro’s channel! https://youtu.be/PXMzZ69pl4Y

Returning to Red Moon Roleplaying, those folks have a whole load of content coming out for us, including: Changeling: The Lost: https://youtu.be/svXWhcGTNmc

and The Sacrifice, for Vampire: The Masquerade: https://youtu.be/b4T23Zy7s-4

Have you checked out the Botch Pit‘s guide to the Winter Court for Changeling: The Lost? If not, here it is: https://youtu.be/A_huXzRyghY

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the final monthly PDF installments for Exalted 3rd‘s Hundred Devils Night Parade and Adversaries of the Righteous on DTRPG!

Conventions!

2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI. Check out David Fuller’s Athens, Ohio Scion actual play tie-in adventure (soon to be coming to the Storypath Nexus community content site) that will be running at Midwinter. The event url is below: https://tabletop.events/conventions/midwinter-gaming-convention-2020/schedule/402

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

RUST (Scarred Lands)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle – Finals coming in.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Art is in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – Sketches in and approved.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Contracted.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2

City of the Towered Tombs

Let the Streets Run Red – Art notes and contracts finishing going out this week.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Got artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens – Need sketches for fulls.

Deviant

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch – Getting stuff over to cartographer.

Legendlore (KS)

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – Got notes out to artists for halfs and splats.

Scion Companion – Reading through art notes.

In Layout

Chicago Folio – Halfway through layout.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – At WW for approval and they will be back after the New Year.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Backer PDF out to backers soon.

VtR Spilled Blood

At Press

V5: Chicago – Shipping to the KS fulfillment shippers. PoD proofs ordered.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Being printed.

Geist 2e Screen – Being printed.

DR:E – Being printed.

DRE Screen – Being printed.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – PoD proof on the way.

Trinity RMCs

Tales of Good Dogs – PoD proof ordered.

Memento Mori – Backer PDF out to backers, gathering errata.

M20 Book of the Fallen – PoD proof ordered.

Trinity Continuum Storypath Nexus Community Content – Getting it set up.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Happy Holidays to One and All!

#Onyx Path Publishing

2 notes · View notes

rosegardentwilight · 5 years

Text

Like a Moth to a Flame

A03

Summary: -A showdown between Hawkmoth and Chat Noir leaves only the truth as the dust settles. -

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories:

F/M

Gen

Fandom:

Miraculous Ladybug

Relationships:

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth

Characters:

Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir

Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Additional Tags:

Identity Reveal

Fluff and Angst

Feels

Hawkmoth Reveal

Chat Noir Reveal

Ladybug Reveal

The Confrontation- Les Mis

some adrinette - Freeform

Slightly Aged up

A.n.- You can blame this on my love for musical theatre. Once I listened to Confrontation from Les Mis, I knew I had to do this one-shot (I recommend listening to it at least once in reading this). It's a little different from what's usually in the fandom, but I wanted to write it. I hope you enjoy it.

The biggest thank you to @bluetreeleaves who is like the best beta ever. I love you so much.

Gabriel didn't know where things went wrong. This was supposed to be his moment, where he’d finally claimed both miraculouses and make the wish to restore his wife. They’d finally return to being a family once more. Everything had gone to plan up to today.

With the hope of Emilie slipping away, Gabriel had become more assertive bringing the fight to the duo catching them off guard by joining his Akuma. Chat was battling the akuma which meant he had the opportunity to face his biggest foe.

During the attack, Hawkmoth noticed Ladybug’s earrings were within reach, but when he dove for them, she dodged at the last moment. Even with her calculated moments to save herself, a misstep sent her flying off the Eiffel Tower. Hawkmoth could do nothing but watch in slow motion as Ladybug fell from a couple of stories high. She fumbled with her yo-yo, but when she threw it, the string came up short.

Crack .

He could hear the sound - followed by a loud cry of distress - then silence. He only took one step towards her, frozen as a red light encircled her body, leaving his arch nemesis in her civilian form. A gasp ripped from his lungs. No—it couldn’t be.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng?

He knew her. She was the one who had caught his eye to hire before she finished her time in university and competitors took notice. It was her all this time? He had hoped that she would make a suitable match for his son. He witnessed their flirtation every time he had been around. The sounds of their laughter often filtered through his office. The noise more often than not caused his lips to tug back into a smile.

This whole time his son had been fraternizing with the enemy - whether he was aware of the knowledge or not.

Hawkmoth inched forward, which seemed to release more white butterflies than he could count. Out of nowhere, they began to land around Marinette. He had never seen them act like this; as if they were protecting her.

She needed medical attention. Gabriel’s life had fallen into a pattern of jadedness and bitterness, but even he wouldn’t let a teenager die.

“Don’t think about taking another step towards her.” Chat landed in front of him. He opened his fist to allow the disintegrated butterfly to fall from his grasp. Without summoning his powers, the black glow returned to his fist; this time with a flicker of green. “I’ll kill you right where you stand.”

Gabriel stumbled back to put as much distance between them as possible.

“Chat!” Rena Rouge and Carapace called out as they rushed to Marinette’s side.

This was the distraction that he needed. He slipped away behind a metal pillar. Releasing his transformation, Gabriel instantly felt the inflamed spots on his side. Despite her age, Ladybug packed a punch when she wanted to. Maybe Natalie was right; he was getting too old for this.

Gabriel made a promise to himself: don’t cross the line again. Give up being Hawkmoth and his bitter ways.

And he’d kept his word - until today.

When Chat Noir appeared broadcasted on his screen, Gabe stiffened. Any lightheartedness that he was used to seeing was void, leaving behind a shell. Gabriel had meant to go see Marinette over the last two weeks, but his fear and guilt kept him away.

“Hawkmoth.” Chat’s voice matched his dead-set eyes. “I know you’re watching. It’s time to end this. The bridge over the Seine by the Eiffel Tower. 1 pm today. I have Ladybug’s Miraculous. But if you want it, you’ll have to fight me for it.”

The screen jumped back to the shocked reporter trying to regain her bearings. Gabriel rested his head in his hands. This was his last chance to save his wife with no one else getting hurt.

But everything about this screamed trap.

Nathalie burst into his office within seconds, eyes glistening. Before he could speak, she beat him to it.

“Don’t go.”

It seemed that all was needed to unwind the prim and proper assistant was a threat against him. Eyes still sealed shut, he stood from his seat, hands resting on the desk.

“I have to.” He had dug himself far too deep to avoid the consequences now. If he even had a shot to win—to bring her back.

“We both know it’s a trap!” Any concern laced in her voice was gone. In its place was anger bubbled up to the surface.

Gabe squeezed his eyes tighter. “I know,” he whispered, “But I have to”- his words faded and any remaining fragments died as they tried to flutter their way out of his mouth.

Nathalie reached forward and placed her hand on the edge of his shoulder. “If anything happens-”

Gabriel found his voice. “Take care of Adrien.”

“And Emilie.” She promised, offering a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Nathalie. You’re more than just an assistant you know—to Adrien and I— it’s like you’re part of the family.” It sounded disjointed, but the smile he received made it loud and clear. She believed him.

He stood tall on the edge of the bridge, tightly grasping the cane in his hand. He had an akuma waiting just out of sight in case Chat Noir had any tricks up his sleeve. It was the only way Nathalie would allow him out of the house. The streets were blocked off to prevent the curious Parisians from wandering into danger.

Chat Noir landed in one smooth motion, twirling his baton.

“I didn’t think you would come,” he said coldly.

“You thought wrong.” Gabe defensively slid his feet.

This is for Emilie; he reminded himself.

Before another word was spoken, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, and Carapace landed behind Chat. All of them looked angry. Beneath the suit, Gabriel started to sweat. Even with his extensive training, four against one was hardly a fair fight. His eyes slammed shut as he let out a breath.

He had promised that he wouldn’t release the akuma unless necessary. Chat was the one to change the rules. He was merely adapting.

“I see you didn’t come alone” Gabe tapped his cane against the cobblestone, a smirk forming, “well neither did I.”

The akuma jumped out into the open to make her presence known.

Like clockwork, Chat shouted to his teammates to stop her. A flame shot out of her hands causing them to scatter. The akuma let out a laugh and leaped from building to building, leaving fires in her wake. Her mission: to make Paris burn.

Chat was the first to pounce - unleashing the rage that had built in him over the last couple weeks. Gabriel could hardly blame him.

With each blow Gabe blocked, he watched the fires of passion blaze in Chat’s eyes. Hawkmoth used his cane to knock a blow to the hero’s stomach, winding him. But despite the setback, Chat managed to jump, and his claws made contact to the exposed skin not protected by the mask. Even without a mirror, Gabriel could feel the blood trickling down his mouth. He used his sleeve to wipe it away and made a mental note to come up with an excuse for his injury.

Chat called upon his cataclysm, and his eyes darkened narrowing at the villain.

Hawkmoth prepared to charge once more in hopes that the destructive power would dissolve his cane rather than himself. Because Chat wouldn’t kill him, right?—although, that wasn’t a guarantee; he did hurt Ladybug after all.

The attack fell short when an explosion rang out, shaking the ground where they stood.

That was close - too close.

The only thing that could cause that kind of shockwave was —no.

His face paled underneath his mask the moment he saw the smoke and fire raging from the Agreste Manor.

No—Emilie! Adrien! His life’s work!

Nathalie could tend to one, but not both. He had to get back there.

He hadn’t made it a few steps in the direction before a strong grip on his shoulder threw him back, his cane flying to the other side of the bridge.

“Chat Noir - Wait! Listen!” A thousand words sprang to mind, but he lost his ability to articulate while keeping the panic from his voice. “Before you say or do anything there’s something I must do.”

Gabriel didn’t care if it took groveling to save his wife and son. None of what he would accomplish would mean anything without them. “There’s this woman—“ now was not the time to go into detail, the manor was filling with billowing smoke and ash. “She needs my help to-to be reunited with her child, but she’s in danger because of the fire. Please, I need you to help her.”

“You must think I’m mad. Ladybug and I have hunted you for years, and you want me to let you go?” Chat scoffed. “You are responsible for all the fires in the first place.”

“I never asked for Paris to burn.” With every second passing, he could taste more ash. Gabriel gasped as a second explosion caused the west wing to cave in. He was running out of time. “Please!” He begged. “I’ll —I’ll give up my miraculous! All I’ll need is a few hours to help her then it’s yours.”

“That’s an excellent ploy to get out of here if I actually believed you. A man such as you can never change.”

Gabriel saw Chat swinging and took the opportunity to lunge for his cane in time to deflect the blow.

“If I can not convince you in my honesty,” Gabriel growled, “then I’ll fight my way through because I made a promise.”

A couple of parries had them deadlocked, but Gabriel had the height advantage.

“What promise?” Chat gritted through his teeth. “Do they know the destruction you cause?”

“To the woman I love.” Gabriel pushed, and Chat slid back. “That’s big talk from someone who wields the Kwami of Destruction. I guess that makes us the same. Is that why ladybug is so cautious of you?” The superhero was already wound up. If Hawkmoth poked at his weakness enough, he was bound to make a mistake and Gabriel could dash back to his house.

“Leave her out of this!” Chat began his next set of relentless attacks. Gabriel didn’t want to admit how close his rival was to overpower him.

“I’m nothing like you,” he hissed between a lunge. “I believe in honor and my duty to protect the city of Paris. You-you only think of yourself.”

“You know nothing,” Hawkmoth growled back. “All I ever wanted to do was save her, and now whatever happens to her is on your hands.”

Chat lips thinned into a line, “My duty is to the law—the law that you broke. You must pay for your crimes.”

“Not without her.” The phrase provided new rejuvenation in his attacks. “I’m warning you, boy. I’m stronger than you. There is nothing you can do to stop me. I will have my vengeance.”

“Then you condemn yourself to the darkness!” Chat cried.

“And If Marinette died the day she fell off the tower, you would too!” By the look worn by Chat on that day, he was one step short of losing control. If his teammates hadn’t arrived—who knows what would have happened. “You wanted to kill me, admit it!” Gabriel allowed his anger to bubble over.

“Everyone has a brush with the darkness.” It was a confession straight from the hero’s mouth if Gabriel ever heard one. “But everyone always has a choice.”

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t do anything to save Marinette?”

The sounds of the fire claiming more ground in the Agreste manor was Gabriel’s downfall. Chat Noir had been lucky for once and timed his blow the second he looked away. Hawkmoth let out a cry when the bruises from the earlier fight smashed into the ground. After the stars and blackness faded, he realized that the end of a baton jabbed his throat.

“You know nothing about me,” Chat spat. “For me to give in would make me just like you. I would grieve and find a way to move on because it’s what she would want. It’s what I did when my mother disappeared on my father and I years ago. It’s what I do every day with the life-sucking schedules as my father plans every part of my day because he can’t stand to be in my presence. He cares more about his fall line than he does me. So don’t you dare say what I would do because I will never become scum like you.”

“Adrien?” The name slipped off his tongue before Gabriel could stop it. Chat Noir sounded so much like his son when he had his flares of disobedience. Worse case, the superhero would brush off the name. However, that didn’t happen. Gabriel’s heart started to pound, watching a mixture of emotions flood Chat Noir’s face. His eyes blown wide and mouth stunned open, the superhero’s reaction could only mean that his hunch about his son was right.

“What did you say?” Chat whispered, but at Gabe’s silence, the temper started to flare. “Who are you?”

Gabe couldn’t bring himself to look at the hero. He was afraid— afraid if he turned his head, he wouldn’t be able to see anyone but his son.

Gabriel found himself at eye level when Chat pulled him up by his shirt.

“Who are you?”

A quiet rage reflected in the hero's eyes but Gabriel still couldn’t speak. Relief flooded his system. His son was safe and far from the blazing house.

That peace faded quickly.

He had spent countless resources to make sure Adrien was shielded from any harm in his endeavors, but now, to find out that all this time—and because of him—he was going to be sick.

An extra tug reminded him that he didn’t have the luxury of shutting down. Gabe had little confidence he would be able to get any words out, let alone explain his reasoning, but he managed to mumbled his phrase. His punishment: watch the horror creep onto his son’s face.

The grip that held him up released and Gabe had to stumble back to not drop back to the ground.

“No.”

His hollow whisper chilled Gabriel to the bone. By this reaction, both of them had hard truths to swallow.

“No—no, you can’t be.” Adrien stumbled back, mouth gaping open.

“This was the only way to bring Emilie back.” The explanation in itself wasn’t enough, but he still wished that Adrien could understand.

“You mean...” Chat Noir shook his head as he dismissed whatever thought running through his mind. “I can’t.” A sob encased his words.

Gabriel watched his son ran away.

Going after him would do no good. He was sure he was the last person Adrien wanted to see right now; no doubt he’ll retreat to Marinette.

A roll of thunder only provided seconds of warning before the sky opened up and rain poured down. How fitting: Paris came alongside Gabriel and wept with him.

Gone. Everything was gone. Gabriel stood at the edge of what once was his home with only charred ruins remaining. The lost of the mansion wasn't what weighed on Gabriel's heart - it was his son. As much as he wished that he could erase what Adrien said, the words repeated in his mind, again and again, torturing him further. He didn't know if his son would ever have in his heart to forgive his transgressions. Only time would tell.

Nathalie had been waiting for him with an umbrella, but he didn't deserve shelter. The one good thing that came of this: Emilie was safe, and the underground sanctuary was unharmed. He would have to move her eventually, but for now, he pushed his worry down. He dismissed Nathalie for the rest of the day. After all, what could she possibly do with a burnt down house? All Gabriel wanted was to lick his wounds in private.

However, that privilege was shattered at the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Out of a small spark, a great fire was born.”

The voice didn’t belong to Nathalie or Adrien, and to his surprise, he turned to see Adrien’s Chinese tutor. Why on earth was he here?

“But those who play with fire may become its victims.”

There was only one reason he could think of for why he was standing there. Out of the corner of his eye splotch of green hide behind the man confirmed his suspicions; not just any green blob, a kwami to be exact. “Come to punish me further, Guardian?

"Why would I punish you further when you have already punished yourself?"

"This is all your fault. You were the one to introduce her to this world - this magic. You used her love of helping people, and you exploited it until it was too late."

"She was warned of the dangers, but she allowed her good intentions to be overshadowed by fear of what tragedies could happen to her son. The same tunnel vision brought the events of today."

"We did what's best for our son!"

"And yet he was destined to wield the Miraculous of the black cat. There’s nothing you could have done to prevent fate."

Gabriel's fists curled by his side but he held his tongue.

"Where is she?"

The change of topic was abrupt, and Gabriel wondered how he knew to ask about her; unless Adrien had spilled everything to him.

"Right this way."

His first instinct was to shoo the guardian away from his wife. She had been a secret for so long; it was strange to see another person outside of Nathalie down here. The longer the silence lasted, the more his nerves tightened in his stomach.

"How long has she been like this."

"Since the doctors said there was nothing they could do for her. The machine made sure that her condition didn't deteriorate, but nothing worked.

"When Marinette fell off the tower, she unlocked a healing force from her miraculous. It is a slow process, but we've seen improvement in her condition."

"What?"

"If there's a way to save Emilie, would you do anything?"

"Of course, I would!" Gabe bellowed. What did he think he was trying to do over the last several years?

"Then I'll help."

Gabe's heart jumped inside his chest. He had wasted all this time thinking that the guardian was the enemy when they could have been working together.

"I have a couple of conditions," Master Fu warned.

Gabriel couldn't answer fast enough. "Anything."

“I need your miraculous.”

He had waited for this moment for years: the day that he got the privilege of marrying the love of his life. With the help of the Miraculous, Marinette had made a full recovery. Adrien had wasted no time and confessed his feelings at the first opportunity. They had been inseparable and more in sync than ever before. Eight months into dating, he proposed- and she said, “yes” and made him the happiest man alive.

The ceremony lasted in a blink of an eye, and now Marinette was his wife. He was able to provide her everything she wanted and more. The one sore point of the planning was Marinette asking if they were inviting his father. The question made him wince, but he knew she didn't mean any harm. Under guidance from the guardian, Adrien hadn't told her who Hawkmoth was. All Master Fu told them was that Hawkmoth repented his ways and he would bother Paris no more. Marinette simply thought that Gabriel and Adrien had a bad falling out, but never pressed the matter.

The papers had covered the Agreste fire; only Adrien knew the truth. But as time passed, thoughts of his father faded. He attended therapy, which helped, but not as much as Marinette was his rock.

"I can't believe we're married." Marinette's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "If I could tell a younger me, I would have died on the spot."

"I remember telling Ladybug that she wouldn't be able to resist me. I can't believe you had the biggest crush on me."

"Who could blame me."Her finger scratched the underside his chin playfully. "You're quite a catch, Kitty."

"Well, I'm all yours now." Marinette's bluebell eyes drew him for a kiss.

"Uh, M. Agreste?" One of the waiters leaned in, interrupting the lovebird's moment. "I have this note that I was supposed to pass on to you?"

Adrien took the note and blinked at it blankly. He was in the middle of his wedding reception, and almost everyone was here, so who would have a give him a note. No one was eyeing him more than usual for a wedding, and yet, he still felt a pair of eyes on him.

Adrien shot Marinette a reassuring smile before opening up the paper- and his heart stopped. Not much was written, but he could recognize the handwriting from anywhere.

I’m sorry.

Immediately his eyes scanned the crowd. His father must be here somewhere; otherwise, he wouldn't have pulled a stunt like this. At last, his eyes caught a flash of his father's signature red pants.

"Adrien, are you ok?" Marinette gained his attention as she placed her hand on his arm.

"Yes, I'm fine." The last thing he wanted was to worry her further. “I’ll be right back.”

Adrien pushed himself faster, hot on the phantom's trail. The closer he got, the more he was confident that his eyes hadn't deceived him. After one incident of running into a bell boy, the hope of catching up seemed lost. His pace slowed when he reached the front of the hotel. Looking further was pointless; he could have gone anywhere.

A car started to move, and his breath hitched when he saw Gabriel standing on the curb.

"Father!" The word ripped from his throat causing Gabe to turn. He crossed the gap being mindful of any cars. Maybe it was his imagination, but he heard his name mumbled.

"What are you doing here?” Gabriel asked. “I didn't mean to take you away from your big day with Marinette."

"You didn't." Quiet settled between them, but Adrien knew he had to push through the awkwardness. "Master Fu says that you're doing well.”

“I am. Recently, I’ve given a long thought about my priorities, and my therapist suggested that I try to make amends. I realize how selfish my motives were before and I’m sorry. I know that a simple apology won’t undo all the damage I caused, but I hoped it could be a first step.” A car pulled up and stopped right in front of them. “I’ll be in town until Sunday, and I was hoping we could meet.”

“I’m- not sure. You know with the wedding and all.”

“Right. Another time then. If you change your mind, I’ll be at the Four Seasons Hotel. ” He opened the door of the limo. “I have a meeting to attend, but I- I hope for true happiness in your marriage with Marinette. That’s all I want for you.”

“Thank you.”

Adrien couldn't divert his eyes from the retreating car. Years had passed since he had seen his father, but the second that he came face to face with him, air knocked him senseless. However, none of the negative emotions Adrien associated with his father were present. Seeing him only made him wish that things were different. The offer to meet up with him before he left on his plane was a tempting one. Master Fu had assured him that he had kept an eye on him over the years and he could see a difference.

And Adrien couldn't ignore the fact he missed his father.

"Who was that?"

Adrien spun on his heels as Marinette came into view. He hadn’t meant to take her away from her wedding. He should have known that he had been away too long.

"Uh- My father." Out of nervous habit, his hand rubbed the back of his neck.

Marinette's eyes furrowed. "And you didn't ask him to stay? I know you wanted him here today."

"No, he couldn't stay." Adrien’s eyes fell to the ground, suddenly finding his feet interesting. "But he did invite me to meet up with him before he leaves town."

"You should go,” she replied without hesitation.

Adrien’s eyes jumped up. "What about our honeymoon?"

Marinette reached out and brought Adrien's knuckles to her lips. "Our plane doesn't leave until tomorrow night. There's no reason why you can’t go meet him tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Adrien, if you have a chance to reconcile with your father, I'd say you can't pass that up. We have the rest of our lives together."

Adrien wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on her head. "Alright, I'll go. How did I get so lucky with a wife like you?"

"What can I say? You're my lucky charm."

He would argue it the other way around because things were finally starting to look up for Adrien Dupain-Cheng-Agreste.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfiction #mlb fanfiction #identity reveal #hawkmoth reveal #gabriel agreste #adrien agreste #adrien x marinette

19 notes · View notes

whenimgoodandready · 5 years

Text

Can we appreciate how awesome Thomas Astruc is? Thanks to his promo of the Ladybug PV back in 2012, we were all hyped to see a nicely anime-seque superhero show that’s edgy enough for children and then he gave us the revamped, Miraculous Ladybug, and we grew to love that! A CGI cutesy and yet dark growing magical girl/superhero show for children that teaches valuable life lessons from the new and successful company of Zagtoon. I’m glad I discovered this new show and fandom and cuz of that, I never would’ve met some nice people, collect the action dolls for my photos and write my reviews. Merci Hawkdaddy!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

*Animaestro-The “what-could’ve-been” of Miraculous Ladybug is living now as a show-within-a-show as an animated movie made by Thomas Astruc! He’s in animated form! So cool! Also, we saw a DVD of the movie in Alyas home from “Sapotis” and that could be after this episode? Depending on how long a DVD release is.

At the premiere of the movie, every celebrity we’ve seen is gonna be there, such as Clara Nightingale using her songs from “Frightningale” for the movie! Ladybug turned down attending the premiere as being a superhero is about responsibility and not publicity like she learned from “Prime Queen”. However, she regrets it when she sees Adrien is gonna be there. He voiced himself! Funny, he was worried about being Cat Noir in a music video, but not in an animated movie? Guess there’s a difference (shrugs). Luckily, her parents are catering there, so she serves as a waitress from the unfinished pic we saw in the classic French maid outfit. By the by, it was cute seeing Marinette in a new hair style (a bun), but we already saw that from a flashback in “Reflekta”. She tries to give a special macaroon she makes (every Sunday) to Adrien thinking it’ll win him over, but all goes wrong, when she sees he’s there with Kagami. She’s not the only one upset, Chloe is there too. Gabe and Kagamies mother are in some sort of “business” together from what he was planning in “Stormy Weather 2” and it may have something to do with them going to Japan from what Chloe assumed.

In a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” sceanario, they team up to put an end to Adrigami. So here’s the relationship between the three girls, Marinette, as we all know, hates Chloe and she also doesn’t like Kagami calling her an “ice queen” from “Frozer”. Chloe hates Kagami and she was the first girl to make Chloe sh*t herself when she told her to f**k off when Chloe tried to get her away from Adrien at one point. Both girls are obsessed with Adrien and hate seeing any girl he’s with. I also can’t believe it was this episode that Chloe discovered Marinettes crush on Adrien! Are you f**king me!? Seriously!? I thought she was already aware from the Season 2 finale!? Or even before that! Is she really that clueless!? Wow! Kagami doesn’t like Chloe from the incident I just mentioned and she seems neutral with Marinette. Keep in mind folks, Kagami supports Adrienette thinking Marinettes the girl Adrien keeps talking about and unlike the two girls, shes👏🏻O.👏🏻K👏🏻with👏🏻letting👏🏻him👏🏻go👏🏻for👏🏻another👏🏻girl!👏🏻 just as long as they don’t try any underhanded schemes. Sure Kagami has an indifferent attitude, but at least she plays fair.

The plans to drive Kagami away fail and it instead affects Thomas Astruc making his day worse after people don’t give him the recognition he deserves for directing the movie. Everyone’s so stupid to not know what a director is especially when the movie was his idea in the first place! He’s mistaken for the animator, the screenwriter, etc and he keeps trying to explain his role with the movie! Do you guys know what a director does? Let me give you the deets (ahem). You see, a friend of mine, who’s a screenwriter, @vulpineveritas , explained it to me when I was a little confused myself:

Director: The person who tells the group (actors, animators (for animated movies), composers, etc) how to run things. They instruct the actors how to portray their emotions, movement, facial expressions in order to do the scene, same goes for telling animators how to draw it out in that form, and telling the voice actors how to convey said emotions through their voice to the characters, they tell the composers which music to put in to set the mood and when and frame each scene on what comes first. Basically, it’s like they’re the almighty creating their vision to life with the group as they’re archangels making it happen.

✨The More You Know!🌈

I’m sure the real Thomas Astruc gets the opposite attention from his people than his animated self cuz poor animated Hawkdaddy gets so ignored, he gets akumatized! No, Hawkdaddy! Nooooooooooooooooooooo! He becomes Animaestro (and I was confused by the akuma name since we all thought it was an anime or conductor type of villain before the plot was released. The former was the closest), a moving swiggly line filled pencil outline drawing version of himself that can transform into any type of tradional animated being keeping the Ladybug mask on. It was such a nostalgic feeling seeing those childhood like character esque transformations from Mickey Mouse to Sailor Moon! So how do our 3D heroes defeat a 2D villain? Ignore it! It’s cruel, especially since it’s a harsh reminder that we’ll never see another traditionally animated movie again due to the shut down of the company, but it worked for our heroes in this case. Keep in mind, you can still do 2D animation for tv shows, TV movies and web series as it still has the same value as CGI animation. So if any hand drawn animator in the fandom is reading this, don’t stop! It’s just as beacutiful as computer animation.

It was such a delight seeing Astruc in CGI animation, but it would’ve been better if he voiced himself in the American version than just having Jason Marnocha do it, but I respect his decision. His home country would be more meaningful. The Ladybug PV for the show was cute and I’m glad he didn’t forget what started this fandom from the beginning. Soon, we’ll have our own Ladybug movie in the future and enjoy it ourselves. I liked how the episode used both styles of animation together to compare and contrast how they are with each other through art (also if you haven’t noticed, Cat Noir broke the fourth wall when he said, “How do you defeat a 2D character!?” Lol! Does this mean, he knows they’re 3D characters!? cuz that would be funnier than that guy saying, “Who would want to watch Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters!?”). The last time I saw something like that was The Amazing World of Gumball. I’m pretty disappointed in Marinette for doing something as low as sabatoging a close relationship between Adrien and Kagami with Chloe, Kagami is the “nicer” one of her rivals between mean girl Chloe and compulsive liar Lila for Adriens affections. She should learn about letting go from Kagami on what makes Adrien happy. However, the sweetest thing she did in that episode was hug Astruc himself, her Hawkdaddy! ღ (happily sobs).

#miraculous ladybug #animaestro #miraculous ladybug animaestro

29 notes · View notes

phantomwarrior12 · 5 years

Text

To Be Human

Prompt: To Be Human by Sia

Word Count: 1,961

Summary: He’s alive, but human. What does it mean to be like his Father’s creations?

Warnings: Mild swearing, angst, a lot of pain

A/N: Hey folks!

I haven’t done one yet, so here’s a human!Gabriel fic. :)

Leave a like/comment and let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

~ Phantom

----------

To be human is to love

Even when it gets too much

We're not ready to give up

-----------

He's stumbling and cursing and it's no use. He isn't fast enough, he can't get there quick enough.

Instead, the former archangel is thrown to the ground, explosion cracking, blood pounding, heart racing. He looks up and you've braced yourself against the cabinet, shielding your head from the splinters hurtling through the air.

He screams your name but it's lost in the cacophony when a second explosion erupts to his left.

Somehow he registers your command to get down and cover his head, somehow he doesn't see you scramble to your feet and tear through the rubble towards their assailant. Somehow, when he next lifts his head, you're at his side with a kind smile and an outstretched hand.

"You okay?"

He can barely register the sound of your voice, disoriented and lost beneath the ringing residue in his ears. He can offer little more than a nod, slowly shifting to a seated position.

"What was that?"

"A werewolf with a loaded armory."

"I guess you don't see that very often." It's a nervous chuckle, something to give him time to process, to calm the storm within.

"No, not usually." You stand, casting a glance towards the door before settling y/e/c on Gabriel, "can you stand?"

His nod is shaky, but he manages to accept the hand outstretched and hoists himself to his feet. Muscles tense and tendons scream as he struggles to get his bearings.

Humanity--how in his Father's name had they learned to cope with distress. Everything seems to be in slow motion as legs cave and suddenly he's collapsing back to the floor. Were it not for your arm looped around his waist and a solid stance, knees would have met cement long ago.

When whiskey finally settles on your features, he offers a weak smile, "Sorry, I--"

"--it's okay. Just focus on staying on your feet. Let's get you to the car and get out of here. It's gonna be all right."

A brief nod and the two of you begin your trek out to your car, a journey that takes far longer than what the archangel would like.

He's human, a mortal doomed to the same state of existence as his father's creations. When he was resurrected by his nephew, he never imagined returning graceless, at least, powerless for the foreseeable future.

Castiel assures him his grace will replenish, but it could be months or millenia before he returns to full strength.

Now he's left at the mercy of monsters, demons and cranky Winchesters alike. His only saving grace is you and the warmth you provide in his dreary existence.

You don't know how he feels, you've never known. He promised himself when he woke up in the Empty that he would tell you as soon as he got back. He hasn't--he can't. Not yet. He isn't ready and your answer is what scares him the most.

And now, with your body pressed so close to his, he wards off as many human hormonal reactions as he can.

He's lost in his thoughts as the engine roars to life and when glazed hazel finally find their way upwards, you're parking the car just outside the bunker.

"Are you okay to walk?" You question, quietly gauging the intensity in which his eyes are locked on the windshield.

He blinks once. Twice. A third time before honey settles on you and he can breathe again. "Yeah, might need some help with the stairs though. You know, the excessive death hazards that they are."

He tries, dear Father, does he try to offer a reassuring smile, but the upwards twitch of his lips seem more like a grimace to your seasoned eyes.

"Right, well, let me help you out of the car. You've probably stiffened up."

"No, it's fine--" the former archangel opens the car door and attempts to swing his feet out, only to find every muscle, every tendon in his legs protests any sort of movement.

There's an exasperated sigh before he turns with a sheepish grin towards your skeptical expression, "I think I could use some help."

"Hang on, feathers." You snort, climbing out of the driver's seat and starting towards the passenger's side.

Your fingers curl around his and he's tugged unceremoniously to his feet, immediately wrapping an arm around your shoulders to steady uncertain legs.

"Take it slow. Your very mortal body isn't used to being thrown around." You secure an arm around his waist and kick the car door closed.

"And yours is?"

You pause, seemingly considering his query before smirking and nodding, "Yep."

"How?"

"We don't have fancy grace to heal our every cut and bruise. Our bodies adapt, recover and become stronger. One of the perks of being human, feathers."

Gabriel snorts indelicately but offers little response beyond turning his eyes downcast to focus on walking on what you had informed him was probably a torn ligament.

It isn't until the two of you reach the bottom of the stairs--a feat that took close to thirty minutes--that Gabriel asks the inevitable question: "When's Cas getting back?"

"Tomorrow night. The boys just texted to tell me they wrapped up the case and are spending the night. Personally, I think they just want to take Jack to the amusement park in the morning."

"The place is what? Seven hours away?"

"Yep." You nod, tossing your gear onto the table and turning to face the pouting archangel. "Cas'll patch you up when he gets back. For now, let's get you off that leg and ice it up."

"I'd rather not--"

"Gabriel." Your tone left little room for argument, "I've been human a hell of a lot longer than you have. So, get your ass out of that chair and let's get you to your bedroom."

"Y/N, come on. I can wait here for Castiel."

"He's not coming home until late tomorrow night. You really want to wait more than 24 hours in that chair?" You gesture to the dated wood, the chair already causing painful jolts to run up Gabriel's bruised spine.

"Fine." He holds his hand out reluctantly, a gesture accompanied by an eye roll.

"On your feet, feathers." There's a triumphant smile and every ounce of contempt melts away from the former Messenger of God when his body collides with yours.

Y/e/c meets glistening whiskey and for a brief moment, time seems to stand still. For a brief moment, all he can feel, all he can see is the triumph's gradual reduction to what he dares suggest is adoration. For a brief moment, you're pressed flush against him and he wants nothing more than to close the short distance between you.

Sparks fly and electricity dances, fingertips laced with tension and exhilaration curl around yours. A calloused thumb brushes across the top of your hand, holding it a little tighter than absolutely necessary--as if holding you close will allow this fleeting moment to last for an eternity.

The former archangel's warm breath fans across your cheeks, his eyes baring into your very soul--as if he can still see it, vibrant and beautiful.

He isn't afraid to admit that he misses being able to see it. The very sight always assured him that you were all right, that you were strong.

Now--now he can't see and he doesn't know. He's never been good at reading emotion and with you so close, he longs for his now absent grace.

It's as if you could read his mind and offer a gentle smile, stepping to his side to swing his arm over your shoulder.

"One step at a time."

He nods slowly, eyes turn downcast in an effort to keep himself upright and moving. Each step sends a jolt up his leg, nerves scream and tendons plead, but they're moving.

By the time they reach Gabriel's room, there are tears pricking the corners of his eyes, jaw set in an effort to silence the agonized groans and grunts slipping past his throat.

He all but collapses onto the bed, biting back a growl when you help him hoist his leg onto the bed. His fists have wound around the sheets, clenching tightly for some sort of anchor with the pain singing through his skin.

He all but yelps when the pillow slides beneath his knee, your gentle hands cautiously adjusting the feathered sack.

"I'll get some ice--"

"--Y/N!" His hand snaps out and clasps around your wrist, tugging you back onto the bed.

"What is it?" For a split second, Gabriel swears he can detect a hint of terror in your voice.

"Please. Just, don't go." His grip slackens, realizing how tightly he'd gripped and how little you'd protested.

The adrenaline, the rapid pace of your heart begins to fade when you release the breath you'd been holding, "Gabe, I'm just going to grab some ice. I'll be back."

"To hell with the ice." His fingers entwine with yours, clutching your hand to his chest.

"I'm sure they'd like the ice down there--"

"--sugar." It's a broken plea. It's the first time he's uttered your nickname since he'd been back. His eyes alone beg and your heart aches as you settle closer to his trembling form.

"All right. I'm not going anywhere," you give his hand a gentle squeeze and brush a wayward lock of gold away from his brow.

His smile is soft and relieved as fingers tighten around yours, bringing them up to his lips for a quiet peck.

"Sugar, I have something that, that I should have told you a long time ago."

There are tears gathering in his eyes and he wants to wipe them away, but he doesn't dare let go of your hand. You're the only thing tethering him down, the only lifeline he has left. So, he clings a little tighter and stares down at the blankets spread across his legs as confessions fall from his lips.

"I didn't know how to say this before. I'm not even sure I know how to now," honey flickers upwards, meeting your eyes with a vulnerability you've never seen from the archangel before, "but after today--I need to say it."

"Say what, Gabriel?" Your gaze softens, subconsciously sliding closer as your eyes search his for answers that seem just out of reach.

"I love you, Y/N." He relinquishes one hand's grasp on your smaller one to gently cradle your cheek, "From the moment I met you, it's like I was drawn to you--like a beacon. All these years, all this time, I kept looking for the right time, the right way to communicate all of this."

His thumb brushes away a trailing tear, his own heart pounding in his ears, terrified of the disbelief in your glistening eyes.

"And when I woke up in the Empty, the only thing that drove me to stay awake was the thought of seeing you again, of telling you how much you mean to me. I can't show you, not like I used to, but, if you'll let me--"

He never gets to finish. Suddenly, he's pressed against the headboard and your arms are thrown around his neck. Suddenly, his lips are pressed against yours and he's holding you tighter than he's ever held anyone or anything before. Suddenly, all those years in Hell, all that time spent away from you: it's all worth it.

If he could relive a moment in his lifetime, in the thousands upon thousands of years he's walked both heaven and earth, it would be this moment. For this one moment, all is right in the world.

For this one fleeting moment, he truly understands what it is to be human.

-----------

Wanna be here? Send me an ask/message!

Tagging:

Gabriel Squad: @thewhiterabbit42 @erisunderthemoon @stuckoutsideofthebox @nuvoleincielo @lyselkatz @high-church-of-the-holy-dick

Forevers: @heaven-hell-imagines @spnfamily-alwayskeepfighting @currentlyfangirling99

#gabriel x reader #gabriel spn #gabriel #supernatural #spn #phantom writes

72 notes · View notes

solarbird · 5 years

Link

Old Soldiers, Chapter 29 of 30, as we are near the end, gets a cut. Rating, novel: M (Chapter: T) Pairings: Widowtracer, Pharmercy Warnings: Intentionally unused until complete Summary: Decisions are made, some with more impact than others... eventually.

This chapter is worksafe. Click through to read. [AO3 link]

[All text in «angle quotes» translated from the Spanish.]

"Ana is safely at our facility in Algeria," Amélie informed Angela, as they loaded up for their return flight, back to Alicudi. Sombra had already headed off, job well done, to her favourite listening station in the north and some overdue snuggle time with her girlfriend flying in from the west. "She has been informed of certain new realities, and is... rather angry, as one might expect. And not, I think the phrase is, giving an inch?"

"Of course she's not," whispered Angela. "But... she is alive. At least there is that much."

"You did not cause Jack's death, Angela. He brought it to himself. Aggressively."

The doctor looked up at her oldest friend, and her once more than that, and shook her head, no, denying the comfort.

"I am not lying, Angela," the blue assassin insisted. "We do not lie, amongst ourselves."

"Amongst... ourselves?"

"Talon."

A small laugh. "Of course."

"Angela," Amélie stressed, "Jack Morrison was going to die today, one way or another. It was a certainty, a thing I know in my way - and it would have been at my hands, if no one else's. Of the options, I suspect you gave him the quickest, least painful death he could've met."

"A Mercy killing, as it were."

Amélie laughed, low, and dark. Lena would've loved that. I will have to repeat it, later. "If you insist."

"And that may all be true, but I am, still, the one who did it, the one who chose to pull that trigger." The doctor sighed. "I do not regret it, if that is what you are asking. It was not always inevitable, or necessary, but it had become so, perhaps... perhaps long ago."

"Good," Amélie said, putting on a gentle smile. "I am glad you feel that way."

She offered Angela a small box.

"This is yours, if you want it. Should you wish to be with us again, in the future."

Angela looked at the box - small and wooden, finely inlaid with gold, carrying the Talon insignia - and opened it. The twin pins she found it contained would fit the tabs of her collar nicely.

"...as a medic, and only that?" she asked, for her own sake.

"I assumed that would be your desire." Amélie smiled. "But if I am wrong, and you wish to enter as an assassin..."

"No," Angela laughed, softly. "I have killed... enough. But... as a medic..."

She took the pins, and attached them to her collar, one at a time.

"I have missed you, Amélie."

Amélie hugged her, strong and cool in her embrace. "I have missed you so much, and I am so glad you have returned. Thank you."

"But only as a medic," she said, thinking of her wife.

"Naturally."

"Good."

-----

«So, Gabe,» Laticia asked, as the Overwatch transport lumbered its way, low and slow, along the eastern coast of Mexico. «Where's that Sombra character from?»

Gabe looked over at the Los Muertos gangster. «Why?»

«'Cause I'm pretty sure I know.»

That's... bad, he thought. Goddamn, girl, have you figured out all our secrets? «Puts you ahead of me,» he said, carefully. «Let's keep it that way.»

«What. Really? Why?»

«Yeah. Really. And why is because there are several things in this arrangement we make a point of not knowing, and that's one of them.»

«...oh,» she said, thinking about it. «Oh.»

«Yeah.»

«I'll... keep it to myself, then,» she said, chewing on her lip. «Like the rest.»

«That's what I'd do,» he said, «if I were you.» He grinned, lopsidedly. «Sometimes, girl, you're a little too smart for your own good.»

She grinned, despite it all. «Not the first time I've heard that.»

«I believe it.»

The two sat together in silence, Gabe's feet up on the console, but away from the controls, making himself look more casual than he felt.

«Y'know,» Gabriel said, after a couple of minutes, «...there's no reason you have to go back to Los Muertos. I mean, you can, we're almost back to Dorado. But... we don't have to get there.»

«What d'ya mean?» the gangster asked.

«You are smart. And clever, too, which is different, in ways that matter. And frankly, you're not bad in a fight.» And you have nobody left to back to, he did not add aloud, but did think. Except the gang.

She gnawed on her response, briefly. «Where else would I go?»

«Ever been to Switzerland?»

Laticia blinked, and thought about it, and blinked again, eyes wide. It had been in the back of her mind, but she hadn't let herself consider it, not really. «...Are you...»

«It's been a while since I've had someone to train up. Been a while since I wanted to, too, but...» He shrugged nonchalantly, his hands in the air. «Look, you'll be a hell of a gangster if you want to be, and if that's what you want out of life, so be it, but... have you considered maybe stepping up a level? Signing up for the good fight?»

«...you're really serious?» she asked, sitting a little straighter in her chair.

«Absolutely.» He took his feet off the console, and sitting properly in the pilot's seat. «On my authority as Tactical Operations Director, Overwatch, I officially offer you ... let's call it an internship. Reporting directly to me.»

«Paid?» Laticia asked, pointedly.

The Strike Commander chuckled. «Paid. Yes. Of course. I could use an XO, and you're not ready for that yet, not by a damn sight, but... I think you could get there. It'll be hard work, there are a lot of gaps in your training, but...» He tilted his head, looking directly at her. «Want to find out?»

«Will I get a ride on one of those, what'd you call 'em, Sparrowhawks?»

Gabriel Reyes laughed again, and leaned back in his chair.

«Yeah. I'll get you a ride on a Sparrowhawk.»

«Aw yeah,» the former gangster said, putting her feet up on the console where Reyes's had been. «I'm in.»

Thank god, he thought, both glad she was along, and relieved he had one less thing to worry about later. But on the outside, he just gave her a stern look, albeit one with a grin not completely suppressed underneath.

«Feet off the console, ensign.»

«Sorry?»

«You heard. If we're gonna do this? We're gonna start immediately.»

«Do I have to call you sir now?»

«No,» he said, as he leaned forward, sending a message to air traffic control. «Commander Reyes will do just fine.»

«Aye-aye, Gabe,» she said, grinning, but not moving.

«What'd I say about feet?» he said, swatting her boots off the console. «You gotta learn to take orders.»

«Sorry... Commander,» she said, grinning, and straightening up in her chair.

«Much better,» he said, laying in the course to Geneva.

A moment went by, in silence.

«...is Ambassador Winston really a gorilla?»

Commander Reyes laughed, a third time. «Yes,» he said, «he is.» And I think you're gonna deal with that just fine.

-----

"Well," Angela said, as her flyer approached Geneva, and the Lunar Embassy. "Here we are."

Lena nodded from the pilot's seat, controlling the approach - back in her Tracer kit, and not even minding it a bit.

"Long way of gettin' here, but yeah, it worked out in the end... despite everything." She let out a little puff of air, a hoo noise. "So... y'gonna tell Ree?"

Angela nodded. "I must. I... could not keep such a thing from her, I think. I should not."

Lena puffed up her cheeks, making more noises with her breath. "Yeh. That sounds about right. I'd still be happy t'take the credit, but..."

"No," Angela looked down, at her hands. "If I have learned anything from this, it is... to own what I do. Including that."

"Fair cop," Tracer agreed.

"And also, on that note, I..."

"Hm?"

"I..." Angela swallowed, and tried again. "I am sorry that I did what I did, some weeks ago. I should not have acted against your stated wishes. I broke my word, and that was... wrong."

"Ah yeah," Venom thought, thinking back to the illicit bodyscan, taken against every agreement Talon and Overwatch had. "Y'did the wrong thing, Ange," agreed Tracer. "For the right reasons, but still. Could've cost us everything."

"I know." She knew Talon wasn't big into forgiveness, not generally, but she also knew she had a very large edge in that department, even if she did not wish to lean on that too heavily. "Can you forgive me, and - not just say the words, as you have, but... actually mean it? It is, after all... not what you are known to do."

"That's the funny thing, innit?"

"What?"

"I meant it, back at Alicudi, when I said I would. I'm really, really not gonna hold it against you. Not the scan, not takin' Jack down - hell, I couldn't do it, not that that point... not a whit of it. And not just 'cause why it all happened, either."

Mercy's heart kicked up a beat, as a cord of tension still held inside her released. "Really?"

"Really." Lena snorted a little. "Sorry if I was keepin' you in suspense, I had to let it churn for a while, get it all straightened out in my head. It's not easy!"

"I have also had a lot to think about, as of late, and so that, I understand. But... if I might ask... why not?"

"Well, for one thing, you're one of us, now. But more... I think... " She adjusted the flight attitude controls. "I think I kept Morrison - the old Morrison - alive in my head for a long time. Kind of my personal bogeyman for way, way too long. Even when we all thought he was dead, I was keepin' him goin', in my brain."

She shook her head, as the flyer dropped for final approach. "And that whole time, he wasn't th'... I dunno... the giant I thought he was. He wasn't that kind of monster, he was... he was just... just a bitter, delusional old bloke who'd screwed up big, livin' out what time he had left on the fringes, not really matterin' to anyone. Him and Ana both, holding on to what never had been... and I fell into it too." She looked a little regretful, at that. "What a waste of my time."

"He mattered, to some, even at that point."

"Maybe. But he didn't have to matter to me. Not like he did." She shook her head, again. "I bought into that whole statue thing, I guess. The propaganda. The Great Hero." Another dismissive noise. "I was seein' the myth, not the egomaniacal prat he actually was."

"Do you want an honest opinion?"

"Always, luv. Between us."

Angela took in a big breath, fortifying herself before answering. "I agree. You are right."

Lena laughed, nodding.

"But you are also wrong, and I mean it," Angela insisted. "He had been a hero. In the Omnic Crisis, he had lived that legend. He had done great things, before... whatever went wrong, in the years after. None of that is changed by what he later became - but.. I think...." She put her hands down, flat, on her legs. "The combination of the hero he had been, and the conspiratist he became... the terrible synthesis you were hating, and fearing, I think... had never existed at all, at least not outside of your own head. Not even if all the things he'd done were real."

Lena hummed, letting that sink in a bit, as well, clearly deep in thought. It's kinda different, she considered, if it's not some sorta great plan, innit? If he wasn't always some kind of evil demigod, or some kinda mastermind, or just a fool. If it just... happened. If everything he did, he did just because he... because he was coming apart, inside, before anybody even knew.

"That's fair," she replied, after another few moments, "and kinda sad. But also kind of deeper than I was goin', really."

"It is?"

"Yeh."

"Then I presume you will enlighten me...?"

Tracer shrugged off all the heavy thoughts, smiled, and waved through the glass at Winston and Fareeha who stood by waiting to greet them. She settled the craft down on the pad before looking back to Angela with her famous half-grin, unlocking her flight restraints.

"I just think I'm done holdin' onto grudges."

14 notes · View notes