#part of me wonders whether all of the killings are planned like that one grandma that went viral and was shot by a sniper but the other part | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

robinofinashiro · 3 years

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sypnosis: he hears from Kuroo that you’ve been getting close to someone and he comes to put an end to that. taking you back with him in the process.

pairing: yandere! kenma kozume x fem reader

request status: OPENED

note: HEY BESTIES!! I’M BAAAAACK. kenma might be a bit ooc but this is a yandere au so deal with it.

both you and Kuroo had decided to attend the same college as you got into their honors program based off the results from your entrance exam. since you were Nekoma’s manager throughout Kuroo’s entire volleyball career, you both went into the sports management program at your college, hoping that you’d score some kind of volleyball internship while you still in school.

you were kind of upset that Kenma hadn’t decided to follow you both along to the same school. he had different aspirations at a different college and it broke your heart in an odd way. it was no secret to anyone on the Nekoma team that you had your heart taken by Kenma.

the two of you were as close as Kuroo and he were. whenever Kuroo wasn’t available, he’d end up at your house, playing games on your TV while you sat back and watched. at first, you thought that Kenma had reciprocated the same feelings but alas, once graduation came, he never ended up confessing his feelings for you.

you were upset when he slowly started to drop you over the summer. since you were a year older than him, he remained at Nekoma while you moved over to the city where your university was located at.

eventually, you slowly started losing those feelings for him at the start of your second year.

a part of you did hope that he’d come back for you but as the year progressed, you slowly started to forget about him. you started to indulge yourself in sophomore year internships and trying to get into different managerial positions with different teams throughout the year.

“morning Kuroo!” you whispered, sitting down at the table he was at. he gave you a smile, ruffling your hair, “you look exhausted. something keep you up at night?” he asked, seeing the dark circles under your eyes. you shook your head no, “I stayed up, face timing a friend and didn’t fall asleep until the late hours of the night,” you replied, taking a sip of your coffee.

Kuroo’s eyebrows fluttered in confusion, “who’s the friend?” he asked, now interested too hear. “he’s apart of the soccer team here,” you murmured. “I’m helping the team until the volleyball season starts up and they need me back for it,” you added on.

while Kuroo hadn’t responded, he already knew who the guy was. Kuroo had seen you walking around campus with him before and even heard through mutual friends that you both had gone out on a few dates. at first, he didn’t know whether to believe it or not but now that you were ultimately admitting to it, he knew it was time to tell his long time best friend.

Kuroo and Kenma although no longer attending the same university still had that strong friendship bond and one night, after both of you graduated from Nekoma, the two made a pact. one that they know would kill you if you had found out.

right at the start of both your third year at Nekoma, Kenma and Kuroo had agreed on one thing. they had this protective nature over you. more Kenma than Kuroo as the rooster haired boy thought of you as a sister than a potential lover.

Kenma knew that if he didn’t have a chance with you in high school, he knew the college reunion would be that much better when he saw you again. he would’ve grown more without you seeing it and he was sure that you would fall at the knees for him.

the plan was have you go to the same university Kuroo did until Kenma made his college decision and then persuade you to transfer over after he started going there. was it a very dangerous plan probably! but Kuroo nor Kenma couldn’t have cared less. you were Kenma’s and Kuroo refused to let you slip through his fingers for some random soccer boy.

as you were at the cafe, getting your very shitty breakfast for the morning, Kuroo made the call to Kenma. making sure to keep it short and simple.

“come tonight, it’s time.”

that was all it took for Kenma to understand where this was going.

there was going to be an unsanctioned campus party at one of the fraternity houses that was nearby. more than likely, you were probably going attend and have Kuroo come along as your plus one. you kept him close at all times as you didn’t trust anyone enough with your drinks or bag.

“you going to the party tonight?” Kuroo asked. you nodded yes tiredly, “yeah, a few of the boys on the team are attending and want me to come along. you’re coming right?” you asked. Kuroo shook his head yes, “yep! I have surprise for you too. make sure to dress nice,” he joked.

you gave Kuroo a look of pure confusion but remained silent nonetheless. he never really cared for what you wore when it came to going to parties with him so you couldn’t help but wonder why he cared now. you could see the small smirk on his face and tried to figure out what he was hiding from you.

after you finished your breakfast and headed to your first class, you kept trying to see what it was that Kuroo was going surprise you with. at first, you thought that it might’ve been Kenma but you quickly tossed that idea out when he scoffed at the guess and muttered a yeah right in response.

by the time dinner came, you were out of ideas and had no idea what he was going to bring. you walked out of your class, stomach rumbling and ready to eat dinner before heading back to your campus apartment to start getting ready for the night.

“Daiki, you’re coming tonight, right?” you asked the boy after his practice. he nodded, putting his arm around your shoulder, “of course. I’m your date tonight, aren’t I?” he asked a bit cocky. you rolled your eyes, trying to respond before Kuroo came up to you, “lets go. I have your dinner and don’t want it to go cold,” he stated, grabbing your wrist softly.

you gave Daiki a quick wave, “duty calls! see you tonight!” you yelled to the black haired boy before looking to Kuroo, “I was in the middle of a conversation, you ass!” you said, shrugging him off. Kuroo shrugged, “probably wasn’t important anyway,” he replied.

you looked inside the bag, seeing your favorite food from down the street. it was extremely hard to get dinner there and even worse to try and get it Friday nights.

“how the hell you’d pull this off? it’s always busy Friday nights!” you exclaimed, digging into the food once you back to the apartment. Kuroo chuckled, “not hard when you’re friends with the manager. say, have you kept your sweater from Nekoma?” he asked.

you nodded, “course I did! I have the managerial sweater as well as the one Kenma gave me one time. why do you ask?” Kuroo shook his head, dismissing the question with a simple response, “my grandmother found mine the other day and just shipped it in the mail.”

“your grandma is so sweet, I hope she’s doing well with you not being home,” you muttered. “she’s happy I’m not there anymore. she doesn’t have to feed me anymore,” he joked. you rolled your eyes before looking at the time, not realizing how late it was getting, “Kuroo! shit! it’s getting late and I still have to get ready!” you yelled, instantly getting up.

Kuroo muttered that he was already wearing what he was going to the party in, “well, I’m not about to go in a sweater and sweatpants,” you screamed from the bathroom.

you put all your makeup onto the counter and primed your face while you dug through you closet for your clothes. you had decided on a casual dress with white converse to seal the deal. the makeup was going to be on the lighter side as you had no chance to do an entire glammed face.

by the time you finished up your makeup, Kuroo was already pressuring for you to hurry up before it got too late. you slipped on your shoes, trying not to slip in the process, “come on!” you screamed, throwing him your bag to hold, “Daiki is waiting for me there too.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, trying not to make it seem as though he was bothered. at the end; however, he knew how tonight was going to end. you were going to be smothered up against Kenma as you would try and accept his offer to transfer over to his university.

even if Kenma had to act completely out of his element in order to do that, he had to do what he needed to do in order to get you back in your rightful spot. right next to him.

“ready?” Kuroo joked, seeing the way you were panic spraying your setting spray all over your face, “yeah, get my keys. they’re in my bag,” you yelled, walking in front of him so he could lock your door. you did the final touches of your makeup in the car as Kuroo parked it a few streets down.

you and Kuroo almost immediately got separated when you walked in. Daiki and some of the boys from the soccer team dragged you in one direction while Kuroo had gotten dragged by a few of his friends in the other direction. you knew you would be relatively safe with Daiki but every time you went to the bar to get a drink, you’d make sure no one was in close contact with it.

the music was blaring throughout the house as you danced with a few of your girl friends to it. you hadn’t been paying attention to who was walking in through the door so as you were in the middle of dancing, you felt someone tap you on the shoulder.

you turned around and felt your heart fall to your stomach as you realized who it was. “KENMA!” you screamed, dropping your drink on the floor and running to him. he chuckled, opening his arms for you as you engulfed him for a hug, “oh my god, Ken!” you whispered, holding him tightly.

Kuroo gave the two of you a smirk, knowing that the plan was working out smoothly. you pulled away and looked at him, “what are you doing here? Ken, oh my god, you ass, why didn’t you tell me?” you screamed, pulling him for another hug.

“figured a surprise would be the best idea,” he murmured, feeling his own heart race at how close you were with him, “I can’t believe you made the drive up here for this lame party,” you said grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the dance floor.

a few minutes later, Daiki had found you with Kuroo and Kenma as he tried to figure out who Kenma was, “hey, there you are,” Daiki said happily. Kenma and Kuroo looked at him and smiled mischievously, “yeah! this is my friend Kenma! why don’t you stay with them while I get all of us drinks!” you introduced.

Kenma looked at him with an unamused expression as soon as you gone. Daiki could feel the awkward tension radiating from the both of them, “I wouldn’t continue to chase her if I were you,” Kuroo told him, catching Daiki off guard, “he’s practically her boyfriend and it would take one kiss to make that official,” Kuroo added on.

Daiki laughed, “oh yeah, that’s pretty interesting to hear considering I had her in my bed, moaning my name like I was her god last Friday,” Daiki retorted.

Kenma’s eyes widened as Kuroo instantly shot up from his seat. before Kuroo could do anything, Kenma with all the strength he had pushed Kuroo aside and decked him in the nose, making sure to connect it as hard as he could. you got to the table to see Daiki on the floor, holding his bloody nose as others around them laughed at the scene.

“what the hell happened?” you screamed, no longer caring for the drinks you waited so long for. Kenma wiped the blood from his hand on his pants, “you want to repeat what you said about her or should I?” Kenma sneered. you looked to Daiki in anger as he didn’t respond, “come on! don’t be scared now! how about you mention what you said to us. everything about you using her in order to get into her pants and making sure you treat her like the slut you said she was,” Kuroo repeated.

your eyes widened as Kenma grabbed your wrist to make sure you didn’t do anything irrational yourself. Kuroo knew he was telling a complete lie but they needed Daiki out the way to fulfill the rest of the plan and the only way they could do that is if you absolutely hated his guts.

“you prick!” you screamed at Daiki who was still on the ground, “and to think we actually had something!” you continued. Kenma grabbed your wrist, whispering that everything would be okay. he slowly pulled you out of the house as they saw Daiki basically thrown out himself.

“wow, what an ass,” you whispered to Kenma as he shook it off, “how’s your hand?” you asked grabbing it. you saw it was a bit red and it would probably get bruised but at least there wasn’t any cuts.

“fine,” he whispered pulling his hair back, the way he knew you liked it. you smiled, “seriously, what are you doing here Ken?” you asked, sitting on the steps of the front porch. “I was in town for a book I need for class,” he lied, “and I figured I would pay my favorite girl a visit,” he added on.

bingo!

a warm feeling came across your face as Kuroo saw the entire interaction from inside, “I also wanted to ask you a question,” he said softly. your eyebrows fluttered in confusion, “transfer over to my university. I need someone to run my company with and you’re the only one I want to do it with,” he confessed, this time with no hesitation in his voice.

your eyes widened at the wild request.

“Ken, you haven’t talked to me in almost a year and now you pay me a visit and expect me to follow you?” you asked with slight annoyance in your voice. Kenma sighed, “I know but after both you and Kuroo left, I felt like you weren’t going to care about me as much anymore now that you were off to college,” he replied.

Kenma hated being this vulnerable to anyone and truthfully, what he was telling you was kind of a true but also not. he knew your schedule would be busier but he also knew that you would have made time for him if you would have kept in contact.

“Kenma, I would always make time for you,” you whispered, “you should’ve known that. we were practically best friends.” Kenma rolled his eyes at the end of what you said, “I know but I couldn’t help it. I really need you by my side for this though. you’re the only one who understands gaming as much as I do.”

you sighed, your heart not knowing what to do. you knew the university he attended would accept you but you also knew that just dropping your current university to follow a boy would get you killed by your parents, “and what am I going to tell my mom? that I’m transferring so I could go to school with you?” you joked.

Kenma laughed, taking your hand softly.

“you could say they’re raising tuition and say that my university is offering you s cheaper option,” he suggested, “I just want you to be right next to me when this takes off,” he pleaded.

he could tell you were still hesitant on the idea but as a last resort, he knew what he had to do would get you to say yes. Kenma pulled you closer and kissed you. you were completely taken back by his actions but for the first time in what felt like years, you felt that happiness you only had with Kenma crawl back up.

as soon as he pulled away, you smiled in a dazed state of mind, “well?” he asked. you thought for a few moments, “well, if you really need me that bad, I’m sure I can make a convincing argument to my mom on why I need to transfer,” you finally said.

Kenma smiled gleefully, pulling you in for another kiss. you ran your fingers through his dyed blond hair as he deepened it.

without your knowledge, Kenma looked through the window to see Kuroo standing in front of it. Kenma gave him a thumbs up, indicating the plan worked. Kuroo smiled in response as Kenma continued to kiss you with a smirk playing on his face.

what you didn’t know wouldn’t kill you, right?

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu imagine #yandere haikyuu #kenma kozume x reader #kenma kozume imagine #kenma kozume x you #kuroo tetsuro #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro imagine

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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

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B2:S - Chapter 3

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be Lujanne, Callum, Rayla, Ezran, Bait, and Soren goodness!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

Lujanne having excellent fitness for all her walking around the Moon Nexus, and she's so energetic that Callum has trouble keeping up with her! She seems like those active grandmas who almost never stop moving, who have a lifelong supply of endless stamina. It makes me wonder if Lujanne will need that level of fitness for some upcoming conflict.

Callum feeling really hungry over not eating grubs and then still deciding he'd rather be hungry. It makes me wonder all over again how Lujanne got to the point where she eats grubs, considering that other Moonshadow elves we know of back in the Silvergrove don't. I still love my hc that the giant leech ate all of Lujanne's moonberry bushes and she's taking her revenge. Whatever's going on there, Callum is definitely not at that point yet.

When Lujanne asks Callum how he knows she's real, he thinks to himself that he'd put up with just about anything from someone who was going to teach him magic. That's a great parallel and foreshadowing for Viren's student/master relationship with Aaravos! And it's telling that neither student gets exactly what they hoped to get. Lujanne doesn't actively teach Callum any spells, because she believes he can't learn Moon magic at all. Aaravos does offer Viren power, but it takes him to some very dark places - literally and figuratively - and the cost is terribly high.

Callum sees a moon shape among the ruins, and Lujanne explains that the Moonhenge layout is an intricate rune that uses the structures themselves as part of its symbols and power. That's apparently a thing even with ordinary Moonshadow villages like Hollow Wood in the east, which is the coolest idea I've seen in a while: city planning as magic runes!

Yes, that's the same shape as the pendants Ethari made for himself and Runaan. Protection? Home? Feelsiness? A sense of safety and belongnig for all cycles and seasons?

Wonder what this Moonhenge rune stands for, then, and how much of this landscape is included in that rune. I bet it's more than we think!

But it makes sense now, how toppling the stone pillars would disable the spell the druids would cast to connect with the Moon Nexus lake. Breaking the infrastructure of the Moonhenge breaks the rune.

There's a physical sensation involved with the visuals that Historia Viventem brings up! When that one ghostly druid walked through Callum, he felt icy cold. Like in ghost stories. I really wonder about what exactly Historia Viventem is doing when it activates. It shows truth, "what really happened here?", so it must have some kind of time-related element, maybe tied to how the moon always repeats the same cycles or something. But it also seems to draw on the spirits of any living people involved in the flashback, because Callum could physically feel that wispy shape passing through him. So very interesting!

Orrr... is that all wrong, and there's something else at work with this spell than time? Maybe the world beyond life and death can act as an imprint of the things that have happened in the living world, and the spell that Lujanne (and later Callum) casts taps into that place, with perfect recall. I'm looking really hard at the sentence that says "dozens of translucent elf ghosts" and "phantom Moonhenge" and "lost in their own world" here.

Lujanne says more here than in the show about the world beyond life and death, being her mysterious Moonshadow-mage self. She says that "beyond" and "between" might both apply to where this other plane of existence is, and she doesn't much care which. With all the relativity swirling around this place, and not much in the way of empiricism, it's sounding like perhaps multiple conflicting ideas might actually coexist in such a place, allowing more ideas to fit there than we might normally believe is possible. Which is a fascinating bit of worldbuilding. Basically, every headcanon anyone has ever had about the Moon Nexus could all be true at the same time, for all we know.

Oh oh oh, Callum coming in soft with a secret wish! He takes one look at the Moonhenge and immediately thinks of finding a way to see his mom again! Poor boy, my heart! I'd say that could be another interesting parallel with Viren, but then, who wouldn't hold that sentiment?

Oh my, is this another breath of life into Ye Olde Ley Lines headcanon? Lujanne mentioning the Nexuses again, so soon after talking about the runic design of the entire Moonhenge, makes me wonder if the six nexuses are in fact giant runes. On Earth, the places where ley lines cross are called nexuses, and there are those who believe those points got marked with ancient structures, like Stonehenge and many many others. If Xadia were crossed with magical lines which naturally formed nexus points where they met, and if powerful magical runes were built across those entire areas, well. That would be cool beans, fams. Can I smack a map of Xadia and release a spell like Luz Noceda does? Because ngl that is my first instinct here.

Lujanne has got to be missing some grandkids to spoil, right? The way she's always whipping out cake and ice cream for Callum, and she's so grandma-ish about it. Headcanon about her being Runaan's mom aside, she is canonically lonely and she's very sweet to Allen and Ellis and I think she's missing whatever family she once had in the past. She may never get to have that family back, so she's finding a new one among the humans who live nearby, and I think that's sweet. Found family isn't just for the young.

But Ellis is straight up gonna be her fave, I bet, because she didn't turn up her nose at Lujanne's illusion food!

Ezran and Bait have a lot more to their relationship than was visible in the show, and I'm so excited by it! Ez can tell by looking at Bait's colors that he's not truly jealous of Zym, even if he's really grumpy about the dragonling taking up his favorite human's time.

And Ez thinking a lot about his dad and the things he's taught him. They're soft leadership material, and I love that so much! "Pick your battles" and the importance of encouragement. Ahh, my heart. Ezran, you're going to be such a good king.

But wait a second: both times that Bait gets extra grumpy in Zym's first training session, Ezran has just mentioned something about flying. Guys, I think Bait wishes he could fly, really badly. And that's his biggest problem with Zym, and with Ezran teaching Zym to fly, instead of Bait who doesn't have wings so. Bait is so old that his secrets have secrets, and I'm really curious how flying fits into them now!

Rayla, Dramatic Assassin: "I need to patrol for dark forces." That's what Lujanne called the source of the purple wisps that found them. I wonder if that's an official term all Moonshadows know, or if Rayla is just taking her cue from a veteran Moon mage. And I wonder how far Rayla is falling into the apparent pattern of "one mage, one assassin", since she does spend a lot of her time patrolling without being asked.

When Callum tells Lujanne that he was bad at prince stuff, and she asks if he didn't give up and got good at those things anyway, it's an opportunity for Callum to embrace subverting his parents' expectations in favor of seeking his own path, which is a primary theme of the show. But Lujanne is a couple generations older than Callum, at the very least, and I have to wonder what her upbringing was like. Is her version of success the one she took? Was she bad at magic once too, but she persisted? She is very soft and doesn't want to kill anyone.

Maybe Lujanne had dreams of doing something else with her life, but she felt she had to pursue the destiny that others handed to her, so she studied magic as hard as she could, and she did get good at it, but using it to defend Xadia from humans is not what she wanted to do with her life. Whether there's a parallel between her and Ethari on that point, there's one between Callum and Ethari, I think. How much of your life are you willing to let others direct for you?

LISTEN I WAS DYING AT THE EAR BREAD SCENE OKAY

This is my new favorite Soren and Claudia moment ever. Soren loves him his bread, okay. Even as earplugs for Claudia's sleep ocarina tune. The fact that it's "super effective" makes me think of a Pokemon defense. The fact that he learned it at camp, where he also learned about Moonshadow Madness, is hilarious. Later on, Corvus doesn't know Soren by name, but I still love the idea of Corvus being a kind of Strider-esque camp instructor, filling the ears of his young charges with all kinds of useful tactics like ear bread for magic spell songs (which actually seemed to work as intended), and warnings about the enemy elves' blood-themed tactics (which may or may not come back around in BH)

I thought they were gonna go in a kind of deep direction when Soren still wanted his ear bread back, but then he just. Eats them. Just noms them. I love this kid. Give Soren all the bread!

#book two: sky spoilers #book two: sky #b2:s #tdp spoilers #ToX spoilers #gloaming glade spoilers #lujanne #callum #rayla #ezran #tdp zym #soren #tdp claudia #tdp bait

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frostedfaves · 4 years

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I Don’t Feel Alive (4)

Masterlist

Pairings: Jake Peralta x sister!reader (platonic), Rosa Diaz x fem!reader (romantic), Jake Peralta x Amy Santiago (also romantic)

Summary: Jake shows up for your big moment and you’re there to comfort him for his.

Warnings: drug mentions and use, anxious reader, a bit of angst

A/N: so sorry for the wait on this part, but I hope it was worth it! I did a time jump because I needed to move forward a bit, not only for the sake of the addiction part of the storyline, but also because I need to introduce Rosa and Amy soon. anyway, lemme know what you think!!

Previous part

To say you were nervous was an understatement. You were about to host your very first art show featuring your own paintings, something that you’d wanted for a long time, but you didn’t expect it to feel this overwhelming when you finally got it.

“Hey, there’s my celebrity sister!”

You turned away from the mirror at the sound of the familiar voice, a relieved smile falling onto your features at the sight of Jake coming toward you.

“You came,” you breathed out as his arms enveloped your frame.

“Of course! I’d never miss this.” He pulled away from the hug and grabbed your hands with a grin. “So how does it feel?”

“Oh, it’s the worst! My head is spinning, and I can’t feel my feet anymore. Not to mention the heavy weight on my chest reminding me that this is all I’ve ever wanted since I realized that art is the one thing in my life that consistently made me happy and if I mess this up I could ruin my chances at a career--”

“Okay, okay.” His thumbs lightly rubbed across the back of your now shaking hands. “Before we go out there, why don’t we just take a moment to breathe?”

You nodded in acceptance of the idea, and he led you through a few cycles of inhaling and exhaling. By the sixth cycle your mind felt a bit quieter, and the knots in your stomach seemed to loosen.

“Feeling better?”

“Much better, thank you.” You leaned forward to sink into his hold again, smiling when his hands began to rub your back.

“You’re not going to mess anything up, by the way. You’ve already impressed so many people with your art, and when they realize how awesome of a person you are, they’re going to love you even more!”

“I hope you’re right, Pineapples.” A heavy sigh escaped you. “God, I wish Grandma was here to see this. How’s living at her apartment, by the way?”

“Weird, but it feels right at home at the same time. You’re welcome to visit anytime, you know, when you get a break from being a famous artist,” he teased you and you laughed, poking him a bit.

“Whatever. I guess I should stop by one day. And now that I can legally drink, I can visit that bar you like so much and meet your detective friends.”

“Oh yeah!” He pulled away quickly and you met his eyes that somehow seemed even brighter than before. “You have to meet my friend from the academy! She’s super scary at first and she doesn’t talk about her life so everything I know about her is purely based on observation but she’s great!”

“Sounds like someone I might like to know,” you told him with a chuckle. “Is she the detective that just transferred?”

“No, that’s Amy.”

“In love with her already, huh?”

“Wh-what?! Don’t be ridiculous. Yeah she’s intelligent, gorgeous, and an insanely great detective but it just wouldn’t work. We’re too different.”

Before you could tease him further about his instant “heart eyes”, an announcement came over the PA system that reminded you the art show was starting soon. You suddenly wished you could fast forward through the night, which Jake instantly picked up on and offered you a reassuring smile.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Little Carrot. I’m willing to bet all of my money on it!”

“You’re in crushing debt. That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Damn, you’re right. Well, see you soon!” He dropped a big and obnoxious kiss on your forehead before scurrying out of the room.

“For a first timer, this was incredibly successful, Y/N!”

“Thanks, Ken!” You smiled gratefully at the guy who helped you pull everything together as he approached you. “I can’t believe how many pieces I sold tonight!”

“I can believe it. You’re talented, and the world is finally getting to see it. Speaking of the world…” He grabbed your shoulders and turned you until your line of vision focused on a man on the phone in one of the doorways. “That well-dressed and extremely successful guy wants to hire you for a project and I would recommend accepting because he has connections to help you with your Paris goal.”

Your eyes widened at this, and you turned back to Ken. “Wait, seriously?! What are we waiting for?! Let’s go over there!”

After finding out the details of the project and gratefully accepting the job, you made your way to the back room to make sure you weren’t leaving anything important behind, briefly remembering your spiraling moment and feeling thankful that you were able to move past it. You were just about to turn off the lights and leave when the door opened and Erica entered.

“Congrats on tonight, N/N! I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, E.” You hugged her with a wide smile. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“Yeah. I would’ve approached you earlier but you were either talking to buyers or with your mom and detective brother, and I didn’t want to get too close with this.” She pulled out a little baggie holding a joint, bringing it into your line of vision. “Wanna celebrate properly?”

“Damn, I wish I’d had that earlier. But yeah, just give me a second to text Jake and then I’ll be ready.”

She left the room as you pulled out your phone, sighing when you saw Jake’s text wondering if you were coming down to Shaw’s. After wrestling with your conscience a bit, you ultimately decided to stick with your original plan. Today was super successful but incredibly draining, and you needed to wind down properly.

I’m pretty tired so I’m going to head home but maybe we can meet tomorrow so I can tell you about my new job! Thanks for coming tonight and I love you.

It was just a regular night for you, sitting in your apartment and painting whatever came to mind while music played softly in the background. You were so lost in your atmosphere that if your phone had been on vibrate, you wouldn’t have noticed the text from Jake come in.

need you to come to the precinct asap

You were on your feet in no time, sliding on shoes and grabbing a hoodie on your way out the door, pulling your arms into it and zipping it as you waited for your cab. Within minutes you were arriving at the 99th precinct, getting out of the car and approaching the building as Jake walked away from a brunette woman while holding a box.

“Thanks for coming,” he greeted you while placing the box on the ground to hug you, pulling away to start typing something on his phone. “I just got fired and I really needed to see you.” He turned his phone to you and you read the screen.

its part of a plan for me to go undercover in the mafia for the fbi. could be gone for six months.

Tears instantly filled your eyes as you took in the message. Jake always made being a detective sound so fun that you forgot there were real dangers tied to his line of work. He’d be working among people that could kill him quickly or torture him slowly with one wrong move, and the thought made you feel sick. Not wanting to worry him further, you grabbed his phone and typed a response.

please be careful.

You hugged him after he read the words, both of you holding each other tightly as if you thought the world would collapse when you let go. You were quick to wipe away any escaped tears, smiling at him when you pulled away and gripping his hands in the same way he does to calm you down.

“I know it seems like it now, but this isn’t the end. You’re going to find something that makes you happy, and be just as good at that.”

“I hope so.” He squeezed your hands before pulling away to pick up the box again. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to drop this off at home and go drink away the sadness!”

He left you with one of his signature goofy grins, and you worked hard to burn the image into your memory, hoping it’ll last until you see it again six months later. Before you could decide what to do with yourself, your phone rang and you sat on the nearest bench as you answered.

“Y/N, hi! You don’t know me yet but I’m hoping we can change that soon! Tony Palmer here, and I saw your work on the HST project. Just wondering if you would be interested in spending a few months in Paris?”

“Absolutely I am,” you managed to answer, once the shock wore off a bit.

“Awesome! We can talk more about it in my office tomorrow.”

You saved his information in your phone, immediately heading over to your text thread with Erica when the call ended because you were curious about whether she knew any dealers in France. You weren’t sure you could handle being sober while worrying about Jake and living alone six time zones away for half a year.

Tags: @beeblisss @marie-03 @gaulty74 @xetherealbeautyx @makapaka11 @rosadiazswifey @ochrythum @halfofwhatisayismeaningless @hip-hopphile

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lenle-g · 5 years

Photo

So! This is my @tagsecretsanta for the super super lovely @such-a-random-rambler whose prompt I was SO excited about and I have never spent so long drawing, 3D rendering (a new skill!) and animating something in my life, oh boy XDD

John's “filing system”, if it's even acceptable to call it such a thing, is nothing short of perfectly precise, absolutely fastidious, totally organized chaos.

Scott, bathed in the blue glow of the holograms all around him, has absolutely no idea how John ever finds anything in this cascading, endless quantity of folder after folder, all neatly labelled with, well, ???some kind of code or other??? he assumes??? probably??? Evidently their spaceman understands... whatever this is but Scott, scowling, has no idea how John could expect anyone else to ever have a chance at deciphering his stupid hieroglyphics.

It's almost a criminally annoying.

For a start, there's literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. There must be a file here for every mission they've ever been on, and more besides for who-even-knows-what that Scott's had no real reason to ever look at before.

But John's currently out of commission and Scott, his teeth now gritted, really needs to find the mission files from the incident that did it. He knows John was, of course, recording everything from his stint to the X2 Zero Space Station in those annoying, succinct, shorthand notes of his. His brother is predictably pedantic and precise like that. He always has been. But as much as it irritates Scott it does mean that what went so very wrong up there last night is all here somewhere, tucked into one of these files, tantalisingly right under his finger tips and labelled in utter gibberish.

It takes Scott three hours just to work out that the little number at the end of each file name is the date done the English way.

A cry of: “Oh seriously!” escapes Scott before he can contain it, and he spends a good couple of minutes soundlessly cursing that semester John spent at Oxford with Penelope, back during his degree. The temptation to throw the holoprojector across the room is rapidly mounting, and he’s stopped only because both hands are needed to plunge deep into the whirling lines of blue code and wrestle out the folder labelled with the awful, heart-racing, anglicised version of yesterday’s date.

The folder finally in his grasp, Scott opens it with a mounting degree of trepidation and... and he rapidly discovers that everything inside it is encoded and that he has no idea what any of it means and the eldest Tracy is filled with, instead of the expected triumph, a sinking, twisting miasma of dread.

"Goddamn it John." Scott hisses to himself, bashing one of his fists down on the smooth wood composite of their Father's desk, "Is this written in alien? How the hell…?!?"

It’s Alan, alerted by all the muffled complaining, who eventually creeps in and takes pity on him, sliding his little fingers neatly through John’s mess and gradually decrypting it. Though he does so with an unwarranted amount of giggling, Scott feels.

John’s ‘alien writing’ is apparently NASA shorthand that’s been translated using a numbered sequence into no less than three of John's favourite languages and then run through some kind of scrambler. Scott wonders if his brother has written a program to do this for him or if it's just become deeply ingrained into that ridiculous computer brain of his that he does it without even thinking about it.

Surely stopping the Hood from getting into their files doesn’t have to be this extreme? Not for old data? The specs of the Thunderbirds maybe but... for missions logs, software patch notes and John’s (rarely followed) meal plans?

Not so much.

An hour of work on Alan’s part later, each painstakingly translated word stands out in brilliant, bold red, displayed high in the air above their living space:

"Scott,” Alan reads the sentence aloud, interrupting himself with his own mirth, “pffft, get out of my files and, hahaha, go to, oh my god, bed." He nearly topples himself over he's laughing so hard. “He didn’t.”

“Oh he did.” Scott scowls, furious. “For crying out loud…” Big brother's fingers bunch up into righteous fists of shaking anger as he shoves the words off the projected screen. "That oversized string bean set me up." Alan's howling cranks up a notch, fuelled by his reaction. “Alan, stop it!” He demands, though it has very little effect on his little brother. The young pilots eyes are watering and he’s curled over himself, pounding at his knees with his fists. “It’s not funny.” Scott snaps, “Just wait ‘till I get my hands on him, he’s going to tell me what happened up there whether he likes it or...”

“Scott, Scott!” Alan, wiping genuine tears of laughter from his eyes, steps in for damage control, laying a preventative hand on his sibling’s arm and shaking his head. He’s perfectly aware of how hot headed his oldest brother can be and Alan sure doesn’t want to be responsible for any impromptu landings of Thunderbird One direclty on top of his space-inclined brother’s bedroom. “Hey, look, Gordon just told me that John's finally fallen asleep. Virg'll murder you if you go and wake him now."

And Scott has to just seethe quietly at that because he knows Alan's absolutely right. And not just about potential Virgil-induced-killings. John would never readily admit it, but Virg had confided in them all that their astronaut has been having a lot of difficulty resting properly since they brought him home. A lot of the common pain medications they keep stocked tend to mess with the spaceman’s space-worn body more than it’s worth to give them to him. Scott doesn’t have a hard time recalling the pinched, pained expression that he hasn’t seen leave their spaceman’s pale face for the last fourteen hours.

“It’s not John I’m mad at.” Scott finally deflates into sulking, with a big sigh. “Not really. I just know there’s someone out there, someone we could be tracking down, whose responsible for this all happening. For John getting trapped up there and...”

“I know.” The little hand on his arm gives it a warm squeeze and Alan’s looking at him all big blue baby eyes and worry. “I know, but he'll tell us what happened when he's ready, yeah?" It's surprisingly considerate and wise sounding coming from their littlest brother. “You don’t need to be here trying to hack Thunderbird Five for all the answers. It’s,” He grins, “It’s clear John’s not just going to give them to you before he’s ready anyway, right?”

“I guess not.” Scott snorts, folding the swirling blue holograms of the file directory away with a tired sweep of his hand. “I just hate not knowing.”

“Join the club.” Alan digs a friendly elbow into his brothers side, jostling, “There’s five of us plus Grandma, and we’re all gonna get t-shirts that say ‘Caution; touching even a single orange hair on John Tracy’s head may result in grievous bodily harm’.”

Scott laughs again, sounding far more genuine now.

“Thanks Alan.” He tucks an arm around the kids shoulders, squidging him in close. “I needed that. You sure know how to cheer a guy up. Now how about we go wrestle together something that John’ll be able to eat ready for when he’s awake again. I’m not much of a psychic but I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be hungry when he wakes up and I don’t want Grandma getting any ‘good ideas’ about it before we do.”

“I’ll go raid his oatmeal stash!” Alan practically leaps across the room in his eagerness and Scott smiles, watching him careen off toward the kitchen to track down John’s go-to comfort food for when he’s just down from orbit and feeling space-sick.

Scott draws in a deep, worried breath to try to centre himself, not liking how rattled and stressed he’s been by this whole thing. John’ll be ok. He tells himself. And he’ll update us with whatever we need to know when he deems it necessary... likely in perfect, factual detail and completely missing out anything John might have been thinking or, damn it, feeling at the time.

John Tracy is, of course, just like that.

But it doesn’t half frighten his brothers.

#this took me way longer than it should have but!!!!!#here you go!!!!#hope this is okeee <33333333333333333 #threw a lil John squishin' in there for the seasonal fun of it? XDDD #John Tracy #Thunderbirds Are Go #TAG #Thunderbirds 2015 #lenleg's thunderbirds tag #Lenleg's Sketchbook #<3333333333333 #fingers crossed you like this #am v sleepy and have not checked all this well XD #i hope the GIF works #aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa #i'll edit this in the morning #just wanted to get it posted for you <33 #bedddddddddddddd

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goffilolo · 5 years

Text

Revival of Midoriya Izuku chapter 3

It’s been 84 years huh? As always the fanfic is up on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16929483/chapters/52652386

also im aware of like some formatting issues with the fic when it comes to tumblr, so reading it on ao3 might be better if you particularly care about like italics and what not, but otherwise it’s all the same stuff.

“Move your ass Boom Boom Bitch, I wanna get there early!” shouted Izuku, as him and Bandit sat on rather stylish, but uncomfortable couch in the Bakugous’ living room that was probably worth more than both of them put together, which probably wasn’t even that much anyway since they’re both garbage, but it’s about the principle of the thing.

“Shut your mouth you Trash Twink, I’ll get there when I get there! And what the fuck are you doing in my house?” screamed Bakugou all the way from upstairs, although with his voice being as explosive as his quirk he might as well be standing right next to you considering the damage he does to everyone’s eardrums.

Speaking of hearing damage “Katsuki!!! Is that how you talk to our guest you rude brat?! Get over here!” exclaimed Aunt Mitsuki.

“Shut it old hag! Deku’s not a guest, he’s just an annoying cockroach that invites himself wherever he wants and does whatever he wants!” which is a fair point, considering Izuku has invited himself to Bakugou’s first day at UA for less than wholesome reasons. Some people might see it as the ultimate bitch slap to Bakugou’s ego (partially true), but for the most part it’s merely a testament of how far Izuku has come, considering he now only sees UA as a place where he can flirt with Tensei’s hot brother, rather than a means of accomplishing some bullshit dreams... But it’s not like Kacchan knows any of this, so he can fuck off.

If you were to ask Izuku what his deal with Bakugou was, he would reply “Best friends, duh” with enough sarcasm to last you the next ten years. If you were to press for any specifics his reply would be more along the lines of “I dunno, get the fuck out of my apartment” followed by having Trash Bandit sent after you. The bottom line was, his relationship with Bakugou was complicated, as were most thing in Izuku’s life, but that’s not unusual.

Izuku’s presence at the Bakugou household though? That’s quite unusual, yet more likely than you’d think.

And although the screaming match between the two Bakugous was ever so entertaining Izuku had places to be, and guys to seduce, so “Leave it Auntie” he exclaims in a dismissive manner “We don’t want to rile him up too much, otherwise he ain’t gonna get that 30-day chip from the anger management that he’s been gunnin’ for” he adds half-jokingly.

“I know, I know” she says “But you’d think he would act a little nicer by now, after all these months of therapy.”

“Wouldn’t expect miracles if I were you Auntie, you know what the say; Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree ” replies the boy with a shiteating grin as he motions towards Bakugou descending down the stairs, not missing the way Mitsuki flinched ever so slightly at his rather obnoxious comment.

“And to think you used to be such a nice boy yourself, I used to always tell your mother how great it would’ve been if Katsuki was more like you” she says in a mix of bittersweet nostalgia and regret.

“Yeah well, considering the shit I got for being nice , I think from now on I’d rather be a bastard and then some” exclaimed Izuku as he got up from the couch with Bandit in tow and made his way towards Bakugou. The other boy was getting ready to leave as well and his excitement for the day was concealed even more poorly than his mother’s discomfort at the current conversation “Have a good one Auntie!”

And with that, the two teenagers and one (1) sheep were on their way.

“Kacchan please , not everything is about you” said Izuku exasperatedly, hurrying over to the only empty seat on the train.

“Like hell it isn’t! This was supposed to be MY DAY, my first day at the school of my fucking dreams, and you’re trying to ruin it by following me around dressed like a dollar stripper!” replied Bakugou in a whisper-scream. He may have anger issues but he wasn’t a dumbass and the two of them were already drawing enough attention as it was. It wasn’t exactly easy to remain unnoticed on a train while carrying a green sheep; a task which fell on Bakugou, because Izuku was a weak-noodle-arm-bitch.

“First of all, I’m flattered that you think I’m worth a dollar” said the weak-noodle-arm-bitch in question “And second of all, this is my best outfit.” Said best outfit consisted of a worn out tank top that had THE HOES written on it in what once was a glittery pink; a pair of booty shorts with ENEMY OF STATE hand stitched onto the backside and rainbow patterned knee socks. The look was completed with a pair of pink platform crocs, because Izuku had standards ... and because he was short.

“God I hate you” murmured Bakugou.

“Don’t I know it Kacchan?”

The rest of the train ride was spent in silence.

It wasn’t until they actually reached the gates of the school that Bakugou had a thought; one that he probably should’ve had before they even left his house, but having a coherent thought while carrying a sheep and bickering with the sheep’s owner about whether the sheep should be referred to as a dog or not is in all fairness not possible.

“They won’t let you in” he said, voicing the sudden epiphany.

“Sure they will” replied Izuku.

“Oh yeah? How? Deku, you don’t fuckin’ go to this school, you don’t go to ANY school!” shouted Bakugou, because they were no longer on the train, therefore arguing with a lunatic stripper looking guy was now acceptable.

Izuku for the most part did not have a problem with that, because not only did he love having petty fights with people, he also loved proving them wrong, especially when everyone and their grandma accuses him of being a high school drop out.

“Shinjuku Metropolitan would beg to differ” he says, dropping the metaphorical bomb on the unsuspecting dipshit that is his childhood friend, after which he continues to walk, crossing the gates of UA High like he owns the damn place.

After about a minute of Bakugou standing frozen in shock, he finally snapped out of it when Bandit decided to start chewing on his uniform “Oi, hold the fuck up!” screamed the blond as he followed Izuku inside, while the sheep was being dragged along like a betrayed ragdoll “Did you just say Shinjuku Metropolitan?!”

“Kacchan, you know I can’t hold you, you’re too heavy” replies the other teen, while pointedly ignoring Bakugou’s question and the looks he’s been getting from the students.

“Don’t change the subject shitty Deku! How the fuck did your ass get into a top non-hero high school in the whole damn Tokyo you bitch?”

“What, like it’s hard?”

“I fuckin’ swear to God-”

“Do it! Pull the trigger piglet!”

“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?”

Their pointless quarrel, which was on a steady way into becoming a straight up brawl (Izuku having already pulled out his axe and lighted a cigarette using one of Bakugou’s warning explosions) came to a stop when they were interrupted by one of UA’s teachers, although in Izuku’s opinion she made a wrong career choice, considering being a Dominatrix probably paid more.

On another note, when someone asks you ‘what’s going on?’ that doesn’t mean they’re actually interested in whatever is happening at the moment, it means ‘stop’, therefore Izuku’s answer to that question, which usually involves something along the lines of “You see, I’m small, horny and full of rage, and I have no outlet for these emotions” is rarely appreciated. That is not to say that the lack of appreciation is going to stop him from spawning whatever dumb shit comes to his mind when faced with the judgement from authority figures. If anything it makes everything worse.

“That’s just how we flirt” replied the teen instead, all the while looking THE Pro-Hero Midnight dead in the eye and putting out his cigarette on Bakugou’s uniform jacket. Bakugou, for the most part was unable to even be mad at the cigarette burn considering he was busy recovering from being metaphorically punched in the kidneys by that line.

“And why aren’t you wearing uniform?” she asks suspiciously, pointing at Izuku’s attire.

“Oh, I don’t go here” he replied casually.

“Then pray tell , why are you in this school?”

“To get laid”

“TO WHAT?!” screamed Bakugou in surprise.

At this point Midnight took out her phone (no, her costume doesn’t have pockets, please don’t ask where she keeps it) and clicked on one of three contacts she keeps on her speed dial.

“Principal Nedzu, we got a situation…”

After telling Bakugou not to worry and that he will see him later in class, Izuku was dragged to the principal’s office by Midnight.

On the way there he tried cracking up another joke, telling her that his safe word was ‘avocado’. She did not appreciate that one either. For those of you wondering what happened to Bandit, the sheep ended up following Bakugou, much to the blond’s dismay.

Now, being sent to a principal’s office, especially of a school that you don’t even attend is usually a sign that you have royally fucked up. Not for Izuku though, because he had a plan! Contrary to the common belief, Izuku is not dumb. The fall didn’t kill off any of his brain cells, only his ability to give a shit, which made life much easier since he no longer had to worry about things like: people’s opinions, social norms, laws and heteronormativity.

Anyway, back to the plan. Izuku was not dumb, therefore even he knew that wandering around UA while not attending the school would not fly. He needed a way to stay, and for that he needed the guy who runs the whole shitshow; Nedzu.

Which is why the moment Midnight opens the door to the office Izuku stomps in like a man on a mission and stops right in front of an animal of questionable origin in a suit that is allegedly UA’s principal. A little unusual, but if a scumbag like Endeavour can hold the title of No. 2 Hero in Japan, then an animal can run a school.

The principal in question was calmly sitting on a couch and drinking tea, totally unconcerned with whatever bullshit Izuku was about to throw at him.

“Now, what seems to be the issue with this young man?” asked Nedzu.

“This young man-” said Izuku, pointing to himself in a rather cocky manner “has a message for you!”

“And what would that message be?”

The principal’s question was answered with what Izuku can only think of as the ultimate power move, or in this case; a literal ace up the sleeve. The boy proceeded to pull out a Monopoly “Get out of Jail” card out of his shorts (since he technically wasn’t wearing any sleeves) and slam it on the table right in front of Nedzu.

While to an outsider the current situation might seem absurd, it is important to remember that Izuku had a plan; one that could’ve never come to a fruition without a little help from the most unexpected person, which is why that card was no ordinary Monopoly card, but a very specific reminder that only Principal Nedzu would know the meaning of, and when he picked it up and flipped it around, the neatly written message on the back made its presence known.

It read: “You owe me one. - Hisashi”

“My dad says ‘Hi!’ ” exclaimed Izuku, taking one look at Nedzu’s face and knowing that he already won.

Was cashing in on a favour that his dad secured like 10 years ago a morally good decision? Debatable, but it got the job done so he’s not gonna complain. All that mattered was that Izuku now had a pass to enter the UA grounds whenever he pleased and nobody could stop him, and so here he was about to enter the classroom where Kacchan is supposed to be in. The bell hasn’t rung yet so he still had some time and who knows, maybe the handsome guy from the police station was in the same class?

With that in mind he opened the gigantic door and made his way into the classroom and was met with what looked like a pissing contest between his crush and his childhood friend.

“REMOVE YOUR FOOT FROM THAT DESK! SUCH AN ACTION IS INSULTING TO THOSE WHO CAME TO UA BEFORE US AS WELL AS THE CRAFTSMEN WHO MADE THIS DESK!”

“LIKE I CARE! WHAT MIDDLE SCHOOL ARE YOU FROM, YOU EXTRA ?!”

Ah yes, pissing contest at its finest, which meant that Izuku had options . The most obvious course of action would be siding up with Tenya and taunting Kacchan, which is not something Izuku would ever say no to. However , it also happens that the object of his affections had a massive boner for rules and authority, which is the exact opposite of everything Izuku stands for, so siding up with Kacchan it is.

And so he made his way to the pair of bickering teenagers and promptly pushed Kacchan’s feet off the desk, earning a scoff from the blond and an approving but baffled look from Iida, which only lasted for about 2 seconds, because Izuku being the gay disaster that he is simply HAD to ruin it all by claiming the desk as his sitting spot and giving Tenya the most ridiculous bedroom eyes that had Kacchan fake gagging like his life depended on it.

“Umm...Izuku, was it?” asked Tenya, feeling awkward under the other boy’s intense gaze.

“It sure was” replied the boy, feeling happy about leaving enough of an impression to be remembered from all those weeks ago “Fancy seeing you here, huh?”

“Indeed-”

“Oh for fuck’s sake Deku!” exclaimed Bakugou, completely fed up with the cringeworthy display in front of him “Just tell four-eyes that you came here because you wanted to see him and be done with it!”

“WHAT?”

“Kacchan, not now! I’m trying to put on some moves!”

“Well your moves are shit-”

“Hey, aren’t you that guy from the news who stabbed a villain in the eye with an axe?!” shouted one of the students while pointing at Izuku. There was something ironic about the fact that it was his stunt on live TV from 2 weeks ago that got everyone’s heads turning and not his iconic outfit, or inappropriate behaviour, or literally anything else about him. Like that’s just rude ok? And interrupting him while he’s trying to flirt? Also rude.

“Bitch, I might be” he replied anyway, because his reputation was on the line and because at this point literally everyone has gathered around the desk that he sat on, so things were way past the point of return. People were throwing questions and accusations at him left and right, Trash Bandit is nowhere to be found and his quil flask is not full enough for this bullshit. At this point Bakugou simply got up from his seat and sat at the back of the room, as far away from this nonsense as possible.

“It’s you!”exclaimed the boy with dual coloured hair and equally mismatched eyes “You’re the guy who keeps T-posing in front of my house. Can you please stop?!” he asked with the most deadpan face Izuku has ever seen despite his voice being filled with desperation.

“Look, I T-pose in front of a lot of houses so you’re gonna have to be more specific” he replied sarcastically — despite knowing exactly who he was talking to — since it probably wasn’t a good moment to mention that you’re besties with that person’s mom because you were both stuck in the same loony bin and so you already know all the family drama and have dedicated a good portion of your time to harassing her abusive piece of shit husband…especially with like 20 people around you.

“You’re the one who egged my limo!” shouted one of the girls at the back. She was a very tall girl with long, dark hair tied in a seemingly gravity defying ponytail and a kind face. She had an air of a distinguished lesbian about her, which Izuku could respect even if she was rich if the limo comment was anything to go by. He egged several limos in his lifetime because seeing rich people out in public makes him go apeshit, as it should, so really how is he supposed to remember everyone?

“And I will egg it again!” promised Izuku “When I see rich people out and about it triggers my fight-or-fuck response”

“Don’t you mean fight-or-flight?” she asked.

“No”

“Are you ok?”

“Not in the slightest”

And with that more people joined in on the conversation, including a particular girl who very much looked like an alien with her bright pink skin and black sclera who ended up complementing his outfit, which thank fuck someone here actually had good taste , as well as a guy who ended up being Ms Shouji’s son, and the only reason he found out was because the guy recognised his antics based on the gossip his mom told him and isn’t that a small fuckin world? And in the middle of it all laid an inconspicuous yellow sleeping bag that has been conveniently ignored by everyone for the sake of the plot up until now.

The sleeping bag began to seemingly unzip by itself and soon enough Bandit’s head poked out of it.

“Bandit! There you are”

“Baaah!”

“Guys! Look at this dog!” exclaimed one of the students who Izuku thought looked like a personification of weed, but he wasn’t going to say that. At least the guy knew what he was talking about.

“I’m pretty certain it’s a sheep-” added Tenya, taking his role as the last standing voice of reason in this room very seriously, even though his voice has practically drowned in the sea of teenagers chanting ‘good doggo’, similarly to how one might feel if they were standing at a dance floor while Baby Got Back started playing.

It’s also important to note that while all of this was happening, Bakugou who has sat himself at the back of the room was forced to witness the chaotic force that is Izuku interacting with multiple people at once while being able to convince about 20 of them to refer to his sheep as a dog, and in that moment he turned around staring into the void and asked himself “Am I having a fuckin stroke?”

“Nah, he’s always like that” replied the one person who was sat at the back along with him that Bakugou previously did not bother to notice.

“And how would you know, you damn extra?” asked Bakugou somewhat offended, because sure him and Izuku were not on the friendliest terms and the whole incident from last year really changed him and what not. But they still knew each other their whole lives, so really that had to count for something and Bakugou was not willing to compromise on that with some random extra who looked like a Tinky Winky humansona on drugs.

Unfortunately Bakugou was not able to get an answer because the entire class was interrupted by a homeless looking guy coming out of the yellow sleeping bag to shame student kind. “If you’re here to socialise, then get out” he said. Soon enough the room was filled with a tense silence as the students were unsure of what to expect next.

“It took 8 seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource. You lot aren’t very rational, are you?” asked the man as he walked to the front of the classroom, making it very clear that he was in fact their teacher. The man was rather tall and unkept, his hair was long and slightly curled, similar to Izuku’s own and the outfit he wore could only be described as a goth onesie. There was something very familiar about him but Izuku couldn’t quite make out what it was supposed to be.

However, just because Izuku’s memory aligns very closely with a slice of swiss cheese doesn’t mean that the same can be said about the teacher in question. As soon as he turned around to get a good look at his new class his eyes fell on Izuku and his face has swiftly shifted from that of practiced disinterest to shock and recognition that Izuku honestly was not expecting.

“What are you doing here problem child?” asked the man with a certain degree of disbelief in his voice. Once again there was something very familiar about him and the way he addressed Izuku and wait a minute did he just call me a problem child? That can’t be-

“Uncle Shouta” exclaimed the boy in a way that felt uncertain, yet childishly hopeful “Is that you?”

“Of course it is brat, who else would I be?” he replied with a hint of amusement.

#revival of midoriya izuku #demise!au #bnha #fanfic #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #trash bandit #aizawa shouta #iida tenya

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just-a-kitt3n-and-princ3ss · 4 years

Text

Alex meets the egos Part One ((Darkiplier))

Alex had been here for about three days now. She was out in the living room and sleeping on the couch. Anna told her she could sleep in her room and she could take the couch until they cleaned out a room for her, but Alex insisted since she should take the couch. For the first half of her life, she did sleep on the couch back home and when she was staying with her grandma when all the cousins were over she would also take the couch so it was fine.

Well, not completely fine. She’s been having nightmares ever since she got there. Whether it’s about her leaving her family behind, or some of her old fears coming back to her like snakes, tornadoes, car crashes, and even more. Just like she was having right now. She is twitching and fidgeting on the couch, but what finally woke her up was hearing a crash somewhere in the manor and she sits up in a cold sweat.

She heard a muffled curse, deeper than Mark’s voice, coming near the study and froze for a moment. She started to analyze the situation, wondering if she should wake up Mark or Anna or if she should just go and see what was going on herself. She decided “fuck it” does the latter, standing up and goes into the kitchen for a moment to grab a knife, then headed towards the study.

She walked until she stood in front of the door, the knife behind her back. She could hear muffled and deep grumbling until it sounded like it was silent in the room. It felt like she could feel someone looking at her through the door. She moved out of the way with a squeak when it suddenly opened and a void tentacle showed up. It then clicked in her brain who was in there and before she could run, the tentacle wrapped around her and pulled her into the room. Another tentacle shut the door as the one around her waist pinned her to it while a third one wrapped around her throat. She squirmed against them and the doors before her eyes met the back of the monochrome figure.Except he didn’t look like his spruced up self. His hair was a mess and while his posture was straight like normal, it looked more tense.

“Well I didn-” he stopped speaking when he turned around and made eye contact with the squirming and somewhat scared girl. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m-”, but before she could speak another tentacle wrapped around her mouth and prevented her from speaking as he made her way over to him. He believes he figured it out when in reality he couldn’t be farther off.

“Oh, I get it Mark. You think looking like Anna when she was younger is gonna make me stop?” He said with a sneer and the girl shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes. She tried to speak, but it was muffled.

“I’m not Anna!”

“Clearly.”

“NO! I mean I really am not! My name is Alexandria Thompson and I-I just came here a few days ago I swear!” A tear escaped past her eye as he looked her up and down. He then stayed still for a while, looking like he was lost in thought when he was really just checking the void. His eyes went wide when he realized that the two are in fact asleep and that he couldn’t even feel her in the void. The tentacles released her and she fell to her knees, breathing hard and touching her wounded neck. He walked back over to the desk and Alex stood back up. Right when she did though, a tentacle tips her head to make him look at him once more.

“How do I know you won’t tell the others I’m here?”

“I won’t. I know that you would probably kill me if I did anyways.” She said with fear laced in her voice. His eyes flashed what seemed like hurt for a moment before they returned to his neutral gaze and the tentacle left her and went back into his body.

“You can go then.” He said and went back to searching the desk. She chuckled bitterly and that made him look up. “What?”

“You really think I can sleep after you do that? I’m already having nightmares anyways so I’m probably gonna stay up for the rest of the night. So!” She walked over and leaned over the desk. “I’m not leaving. I’m bored anyways, so what are you looking for?” He just looked at her in confusion.

“I just tried to kill you.”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Oh completely terrified!” She said with a completely serious face. He continues to look at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“I, then-” She cut him off by shrugging.

“I knew who you were when I first saw your tentacles. Well...The version of you I never saw had tentacles, but people always speculated so I just kind of figured it was you.” Speak of tentacles, and they shall appear, but before they could do anything she grabbed it. “Look, where I am from a lot of people know who you are. It’s better to not question it.”

“Excuse me- You know what, doesn’t matter. I know what you are doing.” He just growled and pulled the tentacle back. “You are trying to distract me.”

“No...You were the one who was asking questio-”

“I mean you still being here is to try and distract me.”

“Um, no. I was serious. I’m bored and I’m probably not gonna sleep for a while so I thought why not help you. You want in on the heist, don’t you?” She said with a cheeky smile. The man is just so fucking confused and it is clearly evident on his face.

“How do you even know about it?”

“One, knew about it before coming here to the void and Two, Actor told me when I first came here. Well...told me I couldn’t be a part of it so it was off-handedly mentioned.” She said and he chuckled. “What?” She asked as he opened up one of the drawers, finding the plans for it.

“You think that if you helped me, I would let you in on it, didn’t you?”

“...That idea didn’t even cross my mind but now that you mention it-”

“No.”

“Damn it...worth a shot.” She giggled and sat on the desk, legs kicking back and forth as she watched him think.

“These…stories of his are already dangerous enough. From what I can tell, you are still human.” He said and she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t remind me…” She grumbled, but thankfully he didn’t hear it.

“And especially since you are not connected to this void, I, and probably him, have no idea what would happen if you got involved.”

“Huh...yeah I guess that makes sense.” She looked over at him and saw him write something before erasing it. “What are you even trying to do?”

“A code...you probably wouldn’t get it.”

“Yeah you right, but you writing it and erasing it looks...a little childish.” She spoke and he glared at her. “Do you have invisible ink? Wouldn’t that be better? Or maybe what they did in Knives Out?”

“What is Kniv- Alexandria.”

“Hmm?”

“Distracting”

“Sorry. Um. Again...Invisible ink is a thing.” She smiled sheepishly at him. He sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. He then snapped his fingers and an invisible pen was in his hand and he went back to work. She just stayed and watched as he worked, but also looked over him.

“Are you...okay?” She asked once he was close to getting finished.

“If you know me like you say you do, then you should know the answer to that.”

“Well...I know that. I mean, and no offense, you look like you haven’t slept in a while.”

“That’s because I haven’t. I don’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

“You sure do like to intrude, don’t you?”

“I…” She looked down, scratching the back of her neck. “I was just wondering and a little worried. Sorry.” He sighed behind her, then finished adding in a new ending.

“Well...It’s nothing you need to worry about since this is the last time we will ever see each other. Goodbye Alexandria.” And like that, he disappeared. She looked back to where he was and sighed before looking down at the plans. She jumped off the desk and put them away before leaving the study and going back to the living room and kitchen.

She put the knife back in its original place, then went back to the living room. The interaction that just happened played out in her mind. She knew that she should have been scared of him, I mean he could have killed her, but she also couldn’t help but feel bad for him as well. She sighed again and laid down on the couch once more, eyes glued to the ceiling as she daydreamed until “‘Sunrise””.

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spiiderfics · 5 years

Note

Heya! Could you do a noirXreader where, after they are engaged, the reader wants to introduce Noir to their incredibly large family who are very protective? Thanks!

Eloped {SV! Spider-man Noir x Reader}

A/N: Here you go! Instead of engaged, I put they eloped and I’m not really sure if I made them like super protective, more like looking out for reader? idk. I hope that’s okay! Hope you like it ❤️(Also sorry this is late)

Word count: 1470

Warnings: None, uh some curse words but nothing crazy.

*Gif not mine* (Also…hands…just look at em…LOOK!)

*******

You noticed Peter’s nervous demeanor as his fingers were tapping the steering wheel and he was bouncing up and down.

“You good babe?” You ask not looking at him, but looking at your wedding ring with a small smile on your face, it was rare to see him nervous so this was kinda entertaining for you.

With the two of you getting eloped and not telling either of your families, you both decided it was time to tell them.

You both told Aunt May first, she was sad she couldn’t see the two of you on the altar, but she was happy for the two of you nonetheless.

Peter did a double take looking at you, “Yeah, I’m fine!,” He turned his attention back to the road.

“What makes you think I’m nervous?” Peter asks shrugging his shoulders.

You finally turn to him with a smug smile, leaning your head against the headrest, “I didn’t say you were.”

Peter sighed in defeat and muttered under his breath, “Shit.”

You put your hand on his leg. “You don’t have to be nervous… My family isn’t going to kill you,”

You could tell Peter calmed down a bit.

“I mean they could, they’re like a mini army but they wouldn’t do that” You added.

Peter tensed up, “If you think you’re helping, you’re not doing much.”

“Honey, calm down. Worrying more is going to make it worse.” You told him.

“Y/N, I’ve met your family once, and that was when we first started dating. I haven’t seen them since, and now we got secretly married and they don’t know about it! They don’t even know if we’re still together!” Peter explained as he stopped at a red light.

“First of all, they know we’re still together, and two you haven’t seen them for a while because they live too far and are always travelling. I’ve only seen them about twice last year.” You told him.

“They are going to love you, because I love you.” You assured him, leaning over the console and pecking his cheek.

“Thanks babe.” He gushes.

******

Peter pulls onto the curb, parking the car.

You unbuckle your seatbelts and both exit the car, he comes across the front of the car and stands next to you not taking his eyes off your family home.

“Is it too late to back out?” He asks not turning to you.

“Backing out is not an option, darling. Let’s go.” You pull him toward the house.

“Please, Y/N! I can’t afford to embarrass myself today!” Peter tried pulling away.

But he wasn’t pulling away strong enough because you were at the door.

“You’re going to be okay. I promise.” You stand on your toes to kiss him softly.

“I love you.” You caress his cheek.

Peter grabs your hand and leans into your touch, “I love you too.”

The two of you stare at each other for a few seconds before the door opens up and at the door was your younger brother who’s face lit up when he saw you.

“N/N!” He stepped up to you, hugging you and spinning you around.

“Hi! Seems like someone missed me.” You giggle as he puts you down.

“Mom’s gonna be so happy you’re here with,” Your brother looked behind you and saw Peter.

“You…” Your brother trailed off looking Peter up and down.

“Hey, B/N...How’s the high school life treating ya? You’re a junior right?” Peter tried making the situation light.

“I graduated. Four years ago. I was the class under yours.” B/N crosses his arms.

Peter clears his throat awkwardly, “Oh, wow well you look older!”

“Okay! Where’s mom?” You clap your hands wanting to change the subject.

“Come on, I can't wait to hear what she says about this.” B/N steps out of the way letting you and Peter walk through and closing it behind you.

B/N leads you to the living room where half of your family was sitting.

They were focused on whatever movie was on TV until you clear your throat and spoke up, “I hope you’re not watching (favorite movie/show) without me.”

All the eyes in the living room turn to look at you and like a chorus, “Y/N!”

It was like a stampede the amount of people coming toward you, that came to a group hug with your cousins, aunts and uncles.

You were bombarded with so many questions at one time, it was hard to understand everyone.

Peter had stepped back to stand in a darker part of the room, with his hands in his pockets, and leaning against the wall, he didn’t communicate with anyone.

“Okay, Okay, everyone back up!” You heard the voice of your mother.

The group hug quickly broke apart and your mom walked toward you.

“Let me hug my favorite daughter!” She held her arms out and wrapped them around you.

“I’m your only daughter.” You laughed.

You could hear your mom’s quiet sniffles.

“I missed you! You need to start coming around more! I can only take so much of your brothers.” Your mom said whispering the last part and the two of you giggling.

You turned to Peter who was leaning against the wall.

You grabbed him, pulling him closer to you, with one hand on his bicep and the other interlacing with his hand.

“Mom, remember Peter-”

“You..” Your mom narrowed your eyes at him.

“Is he here?”

“With Y/N?”

You hear the voices of your two aunts, your moms sisters, coming closer.

“Mom, Aunties.” You said in a warning tone.

“What Y/N? We just want what’s best for you.” Your Aunt Denise (idk) told you.

“Yeah, we just want you to be happy.” Your other Aunt Elizabeth (once again idk) agreed.

“All that matters is that they’re happy.” Your grandma spoke up from the armchair.

You turned to her, giving her a smile, “Thanks grammy.”

“You are happy, right Y/N?” Your grandma looked at you from above the rim of her glasses.

You nodded, “Yes! I am. And I well we have to tell you-”

Then your older brother came in, “Nerd!” He cheered.

You turn around and smile at the nickname you haven’t heard in a while.

“Loser!” You hug your brother and ruffle his hair.

He laughs and huffs out looking at you, “You still look like shit.” He puts his hands on his hips.

“Oh ha ha.” You rolled your eyes, playfully pushing him away.

You turned back to your mom to speak again, “Mom before I say this I just want you to know that I love you-”

“Did you kill someone?” Your mother asked in a non surprised tone.

“No! Of course not...Okay me and Peter got-”

“Oooh! Pretty ring!” One of your younger cousins walked up to you admiring your wedding ring.

All eyes in the room shot down to your hand, then back to you then Peter.

“Your class ring is on the wrong hand.” Your Uncle spoke up.

“Not a class ring.” You sigh.

“Is that my mother's ring?” Your grandma asks trying to get a closer look.

“No.” You shake your head.

“...Promise ring?” Your favorite and closest cousin, Alex (*shrug*) winced not wanting to go any higher than a promise ring.

“Engagement? Please for the love of all things holy!” Your older brother begged.

“One more.” You purse your lips.

“A...wedding...ring?” Your mom eye twitched.

“More like elope ring.” You chuckled trying to make someone laugh. But you failed horribly.

“You got married to him and didn’t tell me? I’m your mother! You tell me things! I don’t trust him! We don’t know anything about him or what he does! Y/N, Did you think about any of this?!” Your mother ranted.

Before you could speak, Peter stepped up, “Now I know you all hate me and want to kick me to the curb, but for the years I’ve been with Y/N it has been the greatest years of my life, I haven’t met anyone as strong as her and she’s everything to me. Accept me or don’t. I don’t care. I’m here to stay whether you like it or not! I love Y/N and I plan on being married until the end of time.”

What Peter said warmed your heart and brought tears to your eyes, “I love you too.” You wrapped your arms around him as he wraps his arms around your waist.

“Please...I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.” Peter looks up to your family.

You pull apart looking at your family. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Your mom took three long strides toward the two of you and hugs the both of you.

“Welcome to the family, Peter.”

*Hey! You should stan Big Hero 6 The series! It’s wonderful 😊*

#spiderman into the spiderverse #spiderman noir #spiderman noir x reader #okay wait because i kinda like this #i wish i had a husband

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jq37 · 5 years

Note

May we have a recap, please? :)

**spoilers for panic at the art show and home for the holidays**

OK people. I actually don’t have a ton of commentary on these two so I’m gonna try and keep it (relatively) short and sweet [Edit from Future Me: Failed Step 1].

Also, iirc, this is the week Dropout starts streaming new Fantasy High eps on Wednesdays which is very dope and I am very excited for. I probably won’t do full on recaps like I do for normal eps because, lbr, I don’t strictly have the time to be recapping these eps at all and it’s pure stubbornness that keeps me from making wiser time management decisions. But, rest assured, if I have an Opinion, you will hear it whether you want to or not.

Anyway, on with the show.

Last recap, I mentioned that this ep was giving me Aelwen house party vibes and now it reminds me of that ep in another way: Everyone rolled like TRASH almost the entire ep. It was so frustrating! They barely got any hits in until like halfway through the ep.

(Aw man, I just realized I’m gonna have to remember which spelling of Aelwen is correct again now that FH is coming back.)

I love how Murph is immediately like, “I need to make sure my wife doesn’t die during this fight avenging her fictional husband.”

Isabella also has Aelwen’s trick of poofing around the battlefield which is annoying as hell (ha) for the group.

Siobhan hilariously casts fear on Priya just to be spiteful. I thought she was doing it to help the evac process but no. It was a purely spiteful action. Bless.

When Kug turns into an ape he, of course, turns into *the* NY ape, King Kong.

“I roll a nat 20 on an epic shit.”

When Brennan was describing Kingston’s spectral New Yorker Guardians I was already thinking about that one part of Spiderman 2 (the OG Toby Mac version) and then he straight up said, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” and I lost it.

“Deny the stairs the pleasure of my feet.” Emily is a poet.

I want to know what makes a pigeon spicy more than anything.

The fact that Brennan killed Ox AGAIN and then immediately looked into the camera and let the audience know the dog was fine because he clearly Oracle stared into the future between eps and saw the entire internet sharpening their pitchforks was so funny.

About midway through the ep, Pete tries and fails to send Isabella back to hell and Isabella starts monologing about her plans and connection with Robert Moses (she stole the list from Santa and is/was gonna marry Moses apparently). I wonder if Brennan was like, “These players are for sure gonna murder her without getting any useful info out of her unless she goes full Bond Villain right now.”

And, proving my point, Emily immediately does 56 points of damage, royally f-ing Isabella up.

This is a really civilian heavy fight which feels weird in a way the FH fights never did. Like, these aren’t even civilians who live in an adventuring town in a fantasy world. These are just normal ass civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Pete fails a wild magic roll after failing to teleport into the building and then gets a choice of getting really strong (which prob would have let him bust down the door) or to teleport in (which is what he does and exactly what he wanted). Very clutch when the dice rolls play into the story like that.

Kingston lightning bolts Isabella’s hair off which is just malicious but also totally called for.

On her next turn, Sophie gets hurt on purpose to get low enough to activate her ring, lets her hair burn for long enough to shorten it to a cute bob, insults Isabella, then knocks her tf out.

I love that Emily took one of her teeth (a seemingly crazy move) and when called out by Lou was like, “It’s a link to Robert Moses” (a completely reasonable answer). That’s the Axford one-two punch.

I didn’t mention it before but, Willie the golem is here, first immobile but then brought back by Misty. Post fight, he says he was somehow brought here by one of the evil factions of the city and says they’ll talk about it later. Also, Misty makes out with him (DON’T KINKSHAME HER).

With a high insight roll, Kingston is able to deduce that the group was ambushed (though not by Priya) and that their victory was a really important one for the fate of the city.

(Sidenote: The amount that Pete is Over Priya in this ep is so funny.)

Back at Wally’s (which is where Kug is now staying) Wally has gotten Kug a dog bed to sleep in and fancy charcuterie cheese because he and Ricky are the only pure-hearted people in NYC.

At the same time, Pete and Kingston have a very sweet heart to heart and then settle down at Kingston’s place to chill and listen to jazz. Idk how else we expected this to resolve, considering this is a Brennan Lee Mulligan DM’d show where the sacred pillars are Teamwork, Friendship, Communication, and Making up an NPC on the Fly Because One of Your PC’s Decided to do an Insane Thing.

Next up is the Christmas ep and Brennan, Emily, and Zac are in sweaters for the occasion.

Well,actually it’s the 21st and Emily immediately clocks that that’s the solstice.

Are cookies the good carb?/Absolutely not. But have fun with your life. (I love Ricky’s soft jock energy.)

“I run deliveries,” Pete says to Kingston’s parents, not technically lying but also not being completely truthful. Misty would be proud.

Going over to Misty, it seems pretty clear at this point (and it’s confirmed in the promo for next ep) that Misty’s fairy business is some kind of de-aging/reincarnation for herself. I wonder how many of these she’s done so far. She said she’s been around for, what? 200, 300 years? Assuming she’s been doing then reincarnations at about 65-70 years old and she reincarnates to around 25? Maybe 6 times? Idk. Just spitballing.

Saucer of milk to keep the faeries from stealing her (non-existing) children. Faerie lore is wild y'all.

Did you take another level of warlock?/Yeah bitch.

The fact that since Sophie has joined a monastery, she’s only taken Warlock levels and no Monk levels is very funny from a story perspective. It’s like, she finally comes to this sacred place to be trained to her full potential and she’s just spending what should be her sparring time playing with her cat in exchange for spells. Wild.

Emily’s cat-like, self-satisfied grin when Brennan is like, “So you just jerry-rigged yourself clairvoyance powers, huh?” is so good.

And she did it on the fly because Emily Axford is winning D&D. There are no points but she’s winning.

So, uh, Emily does, two things, very in character right after the other:

Thing number one: She send her unseen servant to spy on her family. Her dad seems hardline, “F, Dale. Whatever. Family first. She needs to get over it.” On the other side of the spectrum is her mom who is very upset about the whole affair with her siblings falling in the middle.

The second thing she does, very casually I might add, is have her unseen servant BURN DOWN HER HOUSE SO SHE CAN COMMIT INSURANCE FRAUD.

EMILY

Everyone loses their minds and rightfully so. What a wild-ass swing that no one could have seen coming. I love it.

“I look in my backpack which is now my home[…]"

I almost forgot that Ricky was a fire fighter who would not abide that nonsense until Brennan decided to cut to him.

Ricky just dolphin swims across the Hudson in 2.5 mins to go put out the fire that Sophie set. Amazing.

Ally mocking Emily/Sophie: Truthfully, I don’t know what happened.

"I love John McClane, because he loves his wife.” WALLY

Wally: Oh we’re gonna tell a lie on Christmas.

“This is what winning looks like.”

I would really like to know what trace stuff what on the drugs Pete got from 7 but Ally rolled too low to figure it out.

“I disassociate fully."

Well it took him a long ass time but glad to have Pete on the selling drugs to kids is bad train. Choo-choo, dude.

7 saying you can hack in real life in reference to his AK-47 has the same energy as Hardison using the word hack in literally any semi-weird episode of Leverage.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS VOLUNTARY PANOPTICON

So Kug goes with Wally to David’s house disguised as a dog and, despite that, blurts out that he’s his dad immediately. Well, he tries to. The Umbral Arcana stops him, unfortunately.

"I lick my son’s face.” KUUUUG.

Sophie showing up with a raw goose and hellish rebuking it is so metal and it’s a shame no one got to appreciate it.

Me when Sophie’s Mom changes into black top in solidarity for Sophie’s mourning: F EVERY OTHER NON-SOPHIE BICICLETA. I RESPECT YOU.

Kingston is hustling very hard to get his man Pete a job which is a very Kingston move. That’s how guys like that show affection.

Didn’t mention it before but Kingston’s parents and Mom specifically adopting Pete is very cute.

Sidenote: Idk what 7 was talking about Pete trying to stay low profile. He wears a cowboy hat (now a ZEBRA STRIPED one, courtesy of Kingston). I think the subtlety train has sailed my guy.

Esther shows up at the firehouse, carrying presents for her mom and grandma and looking for Ricky. The says that she’s kinda dealing with something and it feels good to be around him (beat) magically speaking. Sure. I’m gonna keep my Hercules soundtrack on hand just in case anyway.

I think Ricky is the only person who, with no pretense, could give his crush a sexy calendar featuring him.

Anyway, turns out Esther’s mom and grandma are the furies of Tompkins Square and she’s fated to join them or something.

Esther causally: I defy you, I defy the prophecy.

The fury thing would explain why Esther’s mom would have cursed Kug. They are famously magical punishers.

Ricky is a magically certified Good Boy but we been knew.

Zac’s restraint to respect Esther’s personal boundaries in lieu of getting a lore drop to stay true to Ricky’s character is amazing. Mad props.

So we slide over to Misty’s Christmas party which Stephen Sondhein is attending and him having a character card kinda killed me.

There’s a post on tumblr somewhere about playing faerie incapability for impoliteness against a vampires need to be invited in and that’s what I thought about when Moses and his vamp friends showed up at Misty’s house.

Robert tries to talk Misty into striking a deal with him for protection from Titania. She’s very much not having it.

“You know Robert, I love a comedy and I love a farce. I’d like to remind you of who it is that started this and it’s not me and it’s not my friends but I can assure you Robert Moses that we will be the ones to end it if you do not. Do you understand me?” Damn. That’s a mic drop from Misty.

[As I’m editing this, I’m realizing I somehow lost a BIG chunk of text. I’m not gonna write it all up again but the Cliffnotes are as follows:

Between the Solstice and Christmas, the gang goes Grand Central Station to see the clockwork gnomes that live there because trouble is apparently afoot. Some size changing nonsense happens and Pete shoots a dog (with mini bullets, the dog is fine). Lou is enchanted even though Kingston is not (a common theme with him). Ally and Emily are on the same nonsense wavelength (as usual).

There are dope magical dragon trains under Grand Central Station that go to the shadow realm which is a place I’d like to know about. Kingston has never seen these trains before even though you’d really think he would have.

Murph says Gnome Rights which is wild if you know what Naddpod is like.

Anyway, the high priestess of the gnomes passed out the other day and they figure out it was due to pixie magic which is suspicious. They also know they pixies have access to a “time stone” which leads me to believe that it’s Brennan and not Aguefort who thinks that Chronomancy is the most powerful magic of all.

Sophie and Jackson go to Dale’s grave on Christmas. Jackson explains that the Order of the Concrete Fist is basically a literal school of hard knocks. A counterbalance to all the reach for the stars dreaminess that comes with NYC.

Dale was their chosen one who was supposed to stop the monastery from falling when some unspecified badness crossed over to this side, but when he went to the place where he was supposed to get guidance, there was no one there (clearly tying in to what Dale said to Sophie last time they talked. I wonder what she needs to get to the top of? Empire State maybe?).

Watching Murph watching Emily, his real life spouse, play at grief for her fictional husband and do some truly insane things is so funny because you can clearly see him thinking, “I am married to this woman,” which, in fairness, is probably the main thing he’s thinking when he’s playing D&D with Emily.

I’m probably missing something but that’s all I remember. Back to post-Christmas!]

So it’s opening night at Misty’s show and, somehow, Ricky’s first show ever.

I love that Don Confetti is there because of Siobhan’s offhanded comment for a handful of eps ago about him being a supporter of the arts.

Anyway, everything is going great until the second act when Titania busts in through the mirror which is *not* is storage as Misty requested but on stage. It’s a theater fight, y'all! And not the West Side Story kind although if that doesn’t come up I will be very surprised.

“Let’s kill Titania!” –Misty in the promo

Just going straight to 11, huh Misty?

See y'all then!

#dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20 #asks #kickmuncher3

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kariachi · 5 years

Text

Okay, we’re gonna see how much liveblogging I can get done today. We’re still in full Kevin mode, and we’re starting the day with Heads of the Family. I have minimal idea what to expect, but I love Kevin and I love the Bugg Brothers, so it can’t be bad.

Right?

My love for this show’s music selection continues.

Oh good lords, these people take family reunions seriously. There’s a fucking banner. You can see more people in this frame then there was at my last family reunion in it’s entirety. And that was everybody from this farming family that still lived in the northeast within six generations of relation. Not kidding.I know nix and I play with there being too many fucking Joneses but goddamn there are canonically too many fucking Tennysons!

Just, goddamn.

...Last year Ben and Gwen had a burping contest where Ben won by so much a fucking gazebo collapsed on them and several relatives. I’m not surprised, just concerned

And Aunt Kathy damn near banned them from future reunions. Honestly I can’t blame her. Made Max give her a month’s worth of foot massages to re-earn the right to attend.

They’re bringing the deviled eggs.

That is, a sad amount of deviled eggs for the number of people here.

Nobody is happy to see Ben, which, given last year, not surprising.

...yep, that’s a level of offhand rudeness you only get from relatives.

Honestly I gotta write a fic involving family reunions, that’s shit’s gotta be confusing for an Erinaen like Argit.

(probably Great) Aunt Kathy likes bacon in her deviled eggs. The presence of them was likely planned ahead.

There’s a Sweden branch of the Tennyson family. The representatives shown are Sven and Len. I’m horribly amused. Also Max apparently can’t tell which is which.

...Somebody just showed up given a headcount of nearly 600. What is wrong with these people?!

The headcounter’s name is Alfred. He has pumpkin pie. This earns him a point.

He’s Max’s second cousin. This is a relation I can accept as a family reunion.

Somebody is showing off Max’s baby pictures. Making him out to have been a worse-looking teen than he was though. Doesn’t look good, but I was expecting worse from the characters’ reactions.

Also this is apparently Grandma Rita, which given it’s Max saying that I have to assume she’s either his mother or his grandmother, so Ben & Gwen’s great-grandma or great-great-grandma. Probably great-grandma. Either that, or she’s aged real well, or she and Max’s mom had kids real young.

“I’m gonna get some deviled eggs“ Ben says before being stopped by the realization that there, by the food, is his archest of nemesises, Kevin. Who, given there’s nearly 600 people here, may actually belong. I mean statistically, with this many people just attending the reunion, nonetheless in the family, there’s acceptable odds he’s a cousin of some bent.

Also my son, dual-wielding fried chicken

Gwen, concerned Kevin might be related to them. Max, concerned Ben’s going to do something that gets them banned from the family reunion.

“Don’t do anything rash“ like Ben has ever done something not-rash ever in his life

Boys please. I know you’re both disasters but, for five minutes pretend to have something resembling chill.

Ben: *totally down to kick Kevin’s ass for daring to eat a food* Kevin: *certain he won’t because they’re surrounded by innocent relatives* Ben: *does not care one iota* Gwen: *about to have an aneurysm because holy shit is her cousin trying to get them disowned*

I have to admit, I do enjoy the addition of episodes where Kevin is just existing and it’s Ben who’s starting shit? Having a wide range of hows with regards to the boys getting into fights makes sure that we get some real character depth out of both of them, as well as making sure the episodes don’t get samey and that they can always do something new. They aren’t pigeon-holing themselves.

The boys have left to a less target-rich environment and are now fighting because, again, how dare Kevin come to a Tennyson family reunion and eat the food. And we still don’t have any real evidence he doesn’t belong. I mean he makes that ‘where you got all your weird’ comment, but it’s Kevin, if they were twins he’d say that just to rile Ben up.

Me thinks these boys should’ve gone out a little further. Attract less attention.

...Ben knocks Kevin clear across the fairgrounds, jumps into a dumpster to stay out of sight until he comes back for round 2, finds the Bugg Brothers. Of course.

Ben is just having A Day.

A particle decimator. Okay, cool, but why you guys hiding in a dumpster?

It’s a shrinking ray. The plan is to use it to destabilize the national economy, undermine the government, disrupt social order, and wreak havoc among the entire world population. I feel like Maurice needs to start thinking smaller.

And lo, they were using the wrong device and accidentally switched Heatblast and Maurice’s heads. I’m shocked.

This is gonna be a weird episode from here out isn’t it

Kevin, gonna kick somebody’s ass even if he’s not sure what the fuck is going on

Kevin, rolling with the head swapping thing. Though honestly with some of the shit he’s been through this probably don’t seem too bad

I do like how Maurice made a head-swapping helmet and yet he and Sidney have not swapped heads, despite, well, everything.

Ah, this is presumably the device that swapped their heads in the first place. Cool cool.

My son

So clarify, he’s outnumbered, his head in on the wrong body, and the Maurice and Sidney are looming. He shows no signs of concern, or lack of confidence he can handle the situation. He still gets divetackled, but hey

And he’s not doing bad, given he’s wrestling against two guys his size.

And Ben has the helmet

“You need to fix us!“ And how, pray tell, do you expect your cousin to do that, Benjamin?

Welp, Gwen and Max got their heads swapped now.

And the watches timed out, meaning how Maurice and Sidney are basically helpless until shit times back in.

Welp, Maurice and Kevin swapped. So now Kevin’s head is on Ben’s body and Maurice is on Sidney’s. Meanwhile Ben’s head is still on Maurice’s body, Max’s on Gwen’s, and Gwen’s on Max’s.

This play-by-play brought to you by Fanta. Thirsty? Get a fanta.

And now Ben’s head is on a squirrel body. And a squirrel head on Maurice’s.

“Gotta fix this before I get infected with this dork’s genes“ Kevin pls.

Okay, Maurice is whole again, but now there’s a squirrel using Sidney’s body

Wow, Maurice, maybe you should’ve hedged your bets on whether you wanted to leave the helmet in the care of an 11-yo or a fucking squirrel.

And lo, now Maurice is back on Ben’s body and Kevin is on Maurice’s.

And I’m not even gonna give a play-by-play of these last several switches, just assume everything happened including the rise and fall of the roman empire

Kevin is fucking done. Also he and Ben are on each other’s bodies now.

Oooo, I was wondering if this episode came before or after Kev joined up with the Forever Nerd, turns out it’s after. Also this phone doesn’t have the spikes.

Oh gods and Ben is answering the damn phone.

FN: Kevin where are you? Me: Kevin is dead. Yeah, horrible accident involving a sprinkler system, a can of soda, and a mountain lion. Just awful. So, ya know, you may as well just lose this number-

Oh fuck

Oh gods damn

Okay so Ben imitates Kevin and claims he’s hanging out with his family (which, kudos Ben for trying to cover for him, your sweet child) and the Forever Nerd fucking- The quote-

“Family? *scoffs* That’s a laugh. You have noone. Without me, you’re all alone, remember? Now stop playing around and report back here at once.”

I’m gonna kill him, y’all. I’m gonna kill him and then wrap Kevin in a blanket and feed him cookies and cocoa until he pops.

Even Ben’s like ‘wait, no family?’ Which, given this clearly takes place after Introducing Kevin 11, what is going on in Kev’s life and what did Ben think was going on in Kev’s life?

Also Ben theorizing that maybe that’s why Kev crashed his family reunion, just to be part of one, and gods preserve me that’s a painful thought.

Kevin, critiquing the Bugg Brother’s evil plot.

Ben: If you want your body back you just need to blast me- Kevin: *blasts him*

Maurice and Sidney have been getting on so well this episode, it warms the heart. And makes sense in an episode involving a family reunion and the official reveal that Kevin has jackshit in the way of familial relations. Now to find if this is because he dropped them for being shit, because he’s actually an orphan, or he’s been taken from his family because they were shit.

Rath trying to be friendly and welcoming towards Kevin.

Kevin, just walking away from that shit.

And Max and the squirrel are still mixed up, and continue to be as the family flees the event.

9/11 solely due to Kevin things. My son deserves better.

#achi liveblogs #ben 10 2.os

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twdmusicboxmystery · 5 years

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FTWD 5x16: Analysis

Wow! What did everyone thing of last night’s episode? I thought it was great. Yes, it ended on a little bit of a cliffhanger, but I thought the writing was really genius.

***As always, spoilers abound for episode 5x16 below. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

First, let’s appreciate the title: End of the Line. I know it had to do with the song Grace and Daniel sang at the end, but it caught my attention for another reason. I just have to point out that Terminus was also once referred to as “the end of the line.” I might have more to say about Terminus in a later post. For now, just wanted to point that out.

We started with seeing a pair of feet running. It reminded me of when we saw Morgan’s feet running at the beginning of FTWD S4 when he ran away from Washington D.C. and toward Texas. We saw with the feet and not the face. It’s also similar to what we saw in Inmates: Beth and Daryl’s feet while they ran away from walkers. After a moment, Dwight tripped and we saw it was him.

I'm trying to decide why they used this parallel. You could argue that Morgan ran away from a war happening (between TF and Negan) and he ended up saving a lot of people (the current Fear crew). Similarly, Dwight ran away from a war about to happen between Morgan's group and Ginny, and he ended up taking back some horses and saving them. That's probably not the extent of this parallel, but it's a start. I wonder if Morgan, in a bigger sense, or his group will end up going back to D.C. and saving them in some way there. But that's just conjecture. I’ll get into why I’m wondering about that later in the week.

At first, I wondered if this bit with Dwight was a flashback. I soon realized it wasn't. He thinks he hears Sherry's voice through the walkie, but she doesn't answer him when he says her name. It's as though he can hear her, but she can't hear him.

Later he tells June he thinks it was in his head, but her voice was leading him to something. That’s because right after he hears her voice, whether phantom or not, he sees the horses.

This is super-significant in my mind. I mean, we had the disembodied voice on the radio at the end of TWD 9x16. A disembodied female voice leading him toward something. And then there’s all those pesky parallels between Dwight/Sherry and Daryl/Beth. So it feels like a parallel/foreshadow.

And then there’s the horses. They’re a huge Beth symbol. We saw Buttons in 5B, and Morgan finding the one in 6x16 with the sign, "You're still alive" nearby. And now here, Dwight finds horses to take back to Morgan's group and help them.

Next, we see a bird’s eye view of Gulch, looking down on the walkers. We’ve seen that shot many times before, mostly in regular TWD. We saw it with the tank Rick jumped into in 1x01. We also saw it after the prison fell. I feel like this is how they signal that there's a big change coming.

More specifically, it’s often a separation of characters. So, in 1x01, Rick was separated from his family. When we saw it in 4x09, the prison had just fallen and all of the characters scattered/separated. And, of course, by the end of this episode, our entire crew was forcibly separated by Ginny.

We then hear Morgan talking to Ginny. Remember at the end of the last episode he called her on the walkie. Something she said stood out to me. She said she was glad he called her for help. "Glad as a grandma with a gravy boat." It just struck me as a callback to Daryl in The Cell and the “gravy train” named in the Easy Street song.

When Morgan tells her his group is at the Gulch, she seems surprised. She tells him a little story. She says there were 263 souls in that place and they had a crackpot leader who made the wrong call.

That struck me as something of a Grady parallel. Remember that in Dawn's case, she talked about Capt. Hansen and how he had “cracked.” After that, Dawn stepped in. So, if Ginny represents Dawn in this analogy, we have a supposed crackpot who made a bad call got a lot of people killed, just that Capt. Hansen did. And Ginny seems to have assumed leadership in his stead, as Dawn did at Grady.

Even at this point, I saw the parallels. As the episode progresses, we learn even more about what happened there. Ginny wasn't being entirely truthful. Upon learning more, the parallels to Grady only become stronger. Because as it turns out, she killed this man and his 263 people for fighting back. So just as Dawn killed Capt. Hansen, Ginny killed this guy.

She refuses to guarantee to Morgan that she’ll take everybody or that she’ll let them stay together. Morgan asks her to come anyway because they don't have another way to survive.

When he goes to talk to Grace, she has some interesting things to say. She says she knows her time (for dying) is coming. Because she's sick, she knows Ginny won't take her. Morgan assures her that he’ll make sure she's taken along.

She also tells him she understands what he was trying to tell her before. (Quick refresher: last episode, Morgan started to tell Grace how he felt about her, but she asked him not to.)

She says that she actually did tell her previous boyfriend how she felt before he died. The main reason she did was because she knew he was dying. She even tells him of the two of them slept together. She just didn’t want to make things any harder because she’s sick and still thinks she’ll be dying soon. Morgan insists that they will see one another again. Keep that in mind, as I think it's foreshadowing.

After that, Dwight shows up with the horses. He points out that if these horses are alive, there must be water nearby. Which means Ginny lied about them not being able to survive there. She simply wants them to come with her.

Alicia takes her weapon back from Strand and they decide to try and clear the Gulch of walkers. They do a mini Operation-Lead-the-Walkers-Away, which made me smile.

John, June, Daniel, Morgan, and Grace get on horses to lead the horde. (I had to smile at this part as well because Morgan rode double with Grace. Especially as she’s ill, there was no reason AT ALL for her to go rather than staying behind with Al and the others. This was just to enhance the Morgan/Grace romance. Which again, made me smile.)

They plan to use the walkers to surround Ginny and not hurt her, but just try to get her to agree to what they want. Unfortunately, this plan falls through because Ginny shows up with Luciana in tow, and Morgan’s group doesn’t want to risk Luciana getting hurt. Plus, her being there means Ginny has leverage against them, which is no doubt why she brought Luciana. So the plan fails before it even begins.

Back at the Gulch, Al finds some of the key badges Ginny’s people wear. She figures out Ginny lied about the people at the Gulch having simply died from refusing her help. She attacked and killed them because they resisted her. So, they realize that if she comes, she’ll make war on them and they're vastly out-manned and outgunned. They basically prepared to surrender to her.

Daniel had a great line in this episode. Strand is considering taking up Ginny on her offer and Daniel says, "She's not giving us a choice. That is all we need to know." Amen bro! Go Daniel!

When Ginny's people arrive at where Al's truck was left, things start to go bad. Dwight’s horse starts to freak out, obviously afraid of the walkers. He becomes surrounded and his horse refuses to move.

Finally, he stands up on top of the horse’s saddle and jumps over the walkers’ heads. He hurts his leg when he lands, but at least he isn’t bitten. The horse isn’t so lucky. The walkers fall on it and start munching. It looks exactly like what happened to Buttons, so I think it's a callback to that in S5. (And also, by extension, to Rick’s horse in 1x01.)

Limping, Dwight gets up and runs. He eventually comes to the river of water. This struck me as a Beth parallel. I never really saw Buttons as much a Beth parallel—he seemed to be more about Daryl. Watching this, it struck me that it actually might be. Dwight hurt his leg and was limping (like Beth in 4b). He finds the water (Beth = water) and of course he’s running from a walker horde.

If Morgan finding the white horse (Beth) next to the "you're still alive," sign represents Beth living, then maybe walkers feasting on Buttons could represent what happened to her. Or at least what TF things happen to her. This is just me conjecturing, but if it ends up being true, then Daryl seeing Buttons go down kind of has a new meaning, now doesn't it?

Morgan goes after Dwight and then John, June and Grace go after them. They eventually lead the walkers across the river and the river water sweeps the walkers away. So once again we have an example of water saving them. From walkers.

Back at the Gulch, they realize they're going to have to give in to Ginny. They don't any other choice.

Before she arrives, Lucia and Wes paint at the church and John and June get married. It's a very sweet, happy and hopeful ceremony.

June wears green, which I think is important. (GREENE, and think of the parallels between John/June and Daryl/Beth.) Dwight gives them his and Sherry's rings. He talks about how when he finds Sherry, it will be a new start. John’s ends up being too small for his finger, so Charlie gives them a necklace and he wears it around his neck.

Rabbi Jacob talks about how they live in a broken world. And this kind of thing, two people falling in love and getting married, is a way to repair it.

Grace and Daniel sing “Well it's all right." The light shines into the church in really lovely way and Jacob says that it's Nar Tamid, the eternal light. Yeah, massive foreshadowing there. More on that in a minute.

After that, Ginny arrives. Morgan demands she take everybody. After some humming and hawing, she finally agrees, deciding it will be easier to do that than to have a big battle. Unfortunately, she doesn't let them stay together. They all go to separate places.

Al confronts Ginny with the reason why. She says Ginny separates people because she believes if they get too close, their caring for one another will get in the way. In other words, she separates them so she has more power over them. She's definitely a dictator.

Daniel and Charlie have to part, which was kind of heartbreaking. Ditto Sarah and Wendell. They take Daniel’s cat away from him. John and Joan part as well, with John saying, "were going to find our way back to each other." (Beth and Daryl, anyone?)

Grace tells Morgan she finally feels hope and after all that happened, for the first time, she doesn't feel like it's the beginning of the end. In other words, she's going to live. Morgan finally tells her he has feelings for her, and she reciprocates. Of course, Ginny makes them go to different places.

She brings in a guy named Dr. Holt who apparently once did a rotation in oncology. I've got a lot to say about the radiation angle. @wdway, @frangipanilove and I have been discussing it, but it’s a whole post unto itself. For now, let me just point out the Grady parallel. Trevitt, who was brought into Grady, was an oncologist. I’ll go over what we think this means in a lot more detail later this week.

After everyone else leaves, and Morgan is the only one left, it turns out Ginny has decided to kill him. He's just too much of a threat because of the way he rallies people. He's too much of a leader to suit her. She takes out her gun to kill him. He lunges at her with his stick and manages to hit her in the face and knock her down. (I thought that was AWESOME! Go Morgan!) Unfortunately, she still shoots him in the shoulder.

She grabs another gun and tries again to shoot him, but the gun hisses and sputters, not firing correctly.

Just then, Dr. Holt contacts Ginny to say Grace is not sick. She's pregnant. So that's where the information she gave Morgan earlier in the episode—that she and her previous boyfriend slept together right before he died—is so important. It created baby. Morgan smiles when he hears this because he sees hope in it. He realizes what they were fighting for was worth it.

The creepy thing? Ginny gets super happy when she hears Grace is pregnant. She actually laughs. Then she says she hopes Morgan dies, but that’s no longer the point.

I have no idea what the hell Ginny is up to, but there was a creep factor there. Almost like she’s going to take Grace’s baby and do experiments on it or something. Hopefully it won’t be that sinister--I’m really not trying to be morbid--but that disturbed me.

And I have to say that, given all the Child and Baby symbolism around Beth, the idea of this definitely has potential. Frightening though it may be.

Ginny simply walks away from him, leaving him behind to die. We end with him speaking into the radio saying, “If anyone can hear me, we fought for the future. We made the hard call for her." (I'm assuming he means Grace.) “For all of us. Live. Just live." And we see walkers closing in on him.

So what are my takeaways from this? I suppose the biggest question is, will Morgan guy?

No, he won't. If you hadn’t already figured that, just take my word for it. Everything we’ve seen, the precedents we have, the qualifications for death we always see…none of them are present here for Morgan.

When someone truly dies in the show, some other major member from the group needs to be there to witness it. We also need to see either a body (decapitated or reanimated as a walker, or stabbed in the head to prevent that, so we know there's no coming back from it) and/or a burial/grave. We haven't seen any of those with Morgan.

While he does seem to have lost a lot of blood and is in a somewhat dire situation, he can also simply go into the nearest building and shut the door. He's in much more danger medically than he actually is from the walkers, which is significant.

If you want to talk logistics and outside-the-show stuff, keep in mind that Morgan/Lenny James has filmed scenes we haven't actually seen yet. I also feel like by setting up his bond with Grace, they set up future arcs for the two of them. Lots of Bethyl parallels there. There's also the fact that I still think he and Rick need to meet again before either of them dies. So no, I'm not worried about Morgan dying.

And how about those foreshadows I keep mentioning? Well, Morgan told Grace very firmly several times that they would see one another again after Ginny split them up. That, my friends, is a dialogue foreshadow. Those have never failed us on this show.

Then there's the eternal light. We saw it come through during John and June's wedding (John and June, who have so many parallels to Beth and Daryl) just before Ginny showed up to split them up. So, I feel like it's saying that Ginny splitting them up will lead to the eternal light. Which is them finding each other again, as John said, but also could be a Beth thing.

Another reason I don't think Morgan will die? He kind of became Beth in this episode. Think about it. Right after establishing a romantic relationship with someone (remember that Grace and Morgan had a Still/Alone parallel episode) he was shot by an evil dictator who happens to be a woman. (Okay, Beth wasn’t actually shot by Dawn, but she was shot because of her in a roundabout way.) Then he was shot, left behind by the rest of his group, and he's surrounded by that pesky horde of walkers as well. Not to mention, he's in a Humbug Gulch, which has sheriff stars and badges all over the place.

Specifically, take a look at the second time she tries to shoot him and the gun is defective. That gun was pointed at Morgan’s head. And it did go off, it just didn’t shoot correctly. But, like Beth, we have a potential head shot that...didn’t kill.

We don’t know if any of his group, like Grace, heard him speak into the radio at the end. If they didn’t, then they don’t know anything about him being shot or left behind. They’ll just assume he’s wherever Ginny told him to go. So that’s a little different than Beth, but the lack of realization on the rest of the group’s part is the same.

I guess you could say that, much like Glenn in S6, if Morgan dies, TD is screwed. But he won't. Glenn didn't.

Morgan’s isn’t truly a death fake out because, much like Rick’s, the audience sees it from Morgan's point of view and kind of knows that he is still alive. But for the rest of the group (John, June, etc.). this might turn into a death fake out for them.

It will be interesting to see what happens next because it could go several different ways. In terms of parallels with Beth, I'm kind of wondering if Morgan will run into the helicopter group, independent of the rest of the Fear crew. (Like maybe they’ll save him?) Because that's what we think happened with Beth. On the other hand, he might just be on his own for a while on the outside and save the others from Ginny. Maybe he actually runs into Beth. Who knows? It will be fun to see how this happens, moving forward.

As I said in an Ask yesterday, I have a lot of things to post in the next week before TWD starts. I wanted to wait to see how this all ended. The timeline didn't advance quite as much as I would've thought. I thought Morgan's group would run into the helicopter group by the end of the season. They didn't, and it's becoming more and more clear that Ginny’s group isn't actually part of the helicopter group. I think she's her own thing.

But I really did like this episode and the way it ended. Even though it was cliff-hangery, it set up a great arc for next season of all the characters needing to find one another. After all, this is not unlike what happened in TWD when the prison went down with all the characters going in separate directions and being separated from one another in 4b. Now, they're all going to have to find their way back to each other. And that, my friends, always makes for great story.

What did you think of the finale?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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minikitti123 · 5 years

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Hey guys, Long Anime Post Here

Hi everyone! This post is gonna be extremely long, so please buckle up! I recently finished watching The Promised Neverland, and I thought it was amazing! I decided to head over to MyAnimeList and take a look at some of the discussions that were going on, and I came across one that I disagree heavily with. The person tries to show inconsistencies within the show, and many of them made no sense to me. I felt compelled to put my arguments and reasons as well. I really enjoy discussions about anime as well as analysis, so I had fun writing up my criticism of this posters problems with the show. I thought the show was awesome, but i know some disagree. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me as well!

The link to the original post on MyAnimeList is here: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1774785

My original response is here: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1823693

MyAnimeList is here if you wanna check it out as well: https://myanimelist.net/profile/Minikitti123

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME THE PROMISED NEVERLAND (NO SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA, THOUGH i HAVE READ IT. THIS IS A WARNING. IF YOU PROCEED, YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE SPOILED.)

(The original Poster is in Bold, my answers are in regular.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Everyone saw her leave with bunny, then next scene bunny is gone and magically in dinning hall. Nobody in the show questions that's strange we just saw her leave with bunny. How did it magically get there? Instead, they contemplate what to do and decide to go drop off bunny. As we’ve seen, Isabella keeps several toys from the children over the years, so it would make sense that she took the bunny from Conny before leaving (whether or not Conny knew she took it is another question altogether, but something tells me that Isabella took it without saying anything and Conny didn’t notice). Ray most likely knew this and set the bunny out of purpose. Whether that was a smart move on Ray’s part, I don’t know. I agree that there were probably better ways to do this but I think that it causes tension, there wouldn’t be as much stress watching a scene if everything went to plan, would it? Also, they may be top scorers, but they are still CHILDREN. Even some of the smartest people I know make mistakes in highly stressful situations, and some people overlook simpler, better answers to problems because they’re too busy making it difficult. “Even tho they are characterized perfect intelligence test scorers, they forgot an important scene that happen couple mins ago. You know what you need in intelligence test? A good memory. It's as if some fairy casted an amnesia spell on all these characters to forget what they just saw. Everyone on this forums said it would be explained and the plothole disproved; however, later episodes only further proves the plothole and ruins the characterization as well.” I don’t necessarily see how this RUINS their characterization. I know several very smart people with a problematic memory. And even if they aren’t, it doesn’t ruin them completely, it just honestly makes them feel more relatable to me, they are incredibly smart but still forget occasionally, ect. Either way though, it is logical to assume that Conny could have set the bunny down before leaving for Isabella to grab. Conny is seen as a little slower on the uptake, so it isn’t that hard to believe she might have absentmindedly set it down and forgot to retrieve it. She is 6, after all. The other characters know that about Conny too. Emma looked shocked that the bunny had been left behind, probably because she DID see Conny with it, and might have been wondering why she set it down. (Sidenote: In the manga, Conny isn’t carrying her bunny in that scene, the anime might have been better off going that route but whatever.) Later, in the story reveals Mother is trained to be high IQ and meticulously collects the toys. Why wouldn't she ask about the bunny from Connie that she just saw? Why would she let bunny be in house, so other kids could find out and thus revealing everything? It goes everything against the character. Isabella could have done that, but it honestly makes more sense for her to just take it without Conny’s knowledge to me. Conny is seen as absentminded, so she most likely wouldn’t have noticed, and if she did, Isabella could have lied and told her it was in the suitcase. Isabella most likely hid the bunny, but Ray would have known where to look and set the bunny out. To be honest, this could have been done better but I don’t necessarily think it ruins anything. Isabella might have thought she didn’t hide it well enough? Not sure, but that’s what I think. Lastly, how come Ray let Emma and Norman leave with bunny, which exposes him trying to ruin Mother because he did nothing to stop them. Ray's suppose to be smart and top scorer. Mother would have figured out Ray betrayed her. 200iqbtw I mean, there’s no reason for Emma and Norman to go without having to take it to Conny, and I’m not sure if Ray could have convinced Emma and Norman to go to the gate for no reason except curiosity. Maybe Norman, but I think that would be against Emma’s character to do that. It could have been done better, but with Emma’s stubborn attitude, would Ray have realistically been able to stop her from going to give the bunny to Conny if she really wanted to? Also, Ray wasn’t meaning for them to leave Little Bunny behind. If they had come back with the toy, Isabella would not have found out and Ray could have probably put the toy back where he found it. That was a mistake in the plan, and was used to create tension. I quite liked it actually. Realistically, Ray should just told them and show them hiding behind bush. Or they finally question Mother's authority and go stalk mother see what happens to Connie. Avoiding the whole bunny plothole situation. Is the writer so desperate for drama to create a betrayal/spy reveal that they have dumb down Ray and Mother? Right, the characters are only smart enough when the plot needs them to be and dumb enough to create shallow forms of tension. This is just one of many inconsistencies. Think about how much Emma loves Isabella, and how much she loves the house. Do you honestly think, with her stubborn, loving personality, that she would have believed Ray? She most likely would have had a similar reaction to Don, and with no proof to back it, what could Ray do? Also, Ray is shown messing around with Emma in the first episode, so Emma could see this as him trying to trick her. Norman I can see a little better, because of his curious nature. Plus, where would they hide? There weren’t really bushes, and hiding in bushes is pretty unrealistic anyway. The demons could smell them, and they barely got away. That would be extremely dangerous for the kids. The writer desperate for drama? He has to create suspense, that’s part of what makes a good story. It’s his job as a writer to make us as the audience feel these things, so yes, that’s the effect he was going for. I don’t see how this dumbs down the characters, and if they hadn’t left Little Bunny, Ray’s plan would have been fine. This is not make the characters “dumb”, it makes them more relatable. Also, Isabella has been working with Ray for 6 years. Ray has never before caused a stir, and has watched his siblings die all this time, all the while spying on them all. What reason does she have to suspect him now, after all this time? If Ray’s plan had gone perfect, there would be no reason except for maybe Emma and Norman’s reactions in episode 2. 1. Ray is given instant camera with Polaroids that works. Who is still working in factories making Polaroids in 2045 during demon apocalypse? Also, why would the mother give Ray a instant camera, a potential threat of proving demons are real. She suppose to have 200iq, where is it??? This is a spoiler for the manga, so I won’t go into this too much, but Krone did say that there were humans other than the ones at the farms, ones that are equal to those of demons. Also, Ray mentions in episode 5 that all the machines he got were “older models”, so realistically, they were probably just old relics and might not even be in make anymore. They don’t make quite a few old video game consoles anymore, but you can still buy them, can’t you? Isabella is shown to be close to Grandma, so she might have special privileges to get items like that. As for you thinking Ray would take a picture of the demons, the next shipment after he received the camera was to be his own. The demons don’t show up unless it is for shipment. He wouldn’t have gotten away with that, period. The most he could have done was take a picture of Isabella’s secret room, but that would have been dangerous and could easily be explained. Isabella is probably thinking, “what’s the harm?” She also has a soft spot for Ray, so in my mind it actually does well for her as a character. 2. The children have complete access to metal utensils, poisons, scalpels, medicine supplies, tools, etc.In what reality would you give your children any access to these. Does no one remember elementary school???? Utensils were plastic, scissors were blunt, desks and chairs corners are blunt, you play with soft balls, glass were plexiglass, and you most certainly had no access to chemicals/poisons lolollllololollllooool. While they do have access to utensils, they have to get a key for the medical supplies and scalpels, so they don’t technically have complete access to it in Isabella’s mind. They were able to access those items because of Krone’s help. Isabella never “gave them access”. Plus, this isn’t elementary school. These kids all do chores, cook, help around the house, ect. The poison was made from standard items kept around the house, like detergent or soap, so it wouldn’t have made much sense to hide these from the older children, who have to do their chores and such. Plus, if Isabella is killed, the kids would be in danger from the signal set off by Isabella’s chip, which Norman and Emma find out from Krone. 3. The kids have unlimited linen rope making all obstacles pointless. Norman first showed the magical rope when he was going to climb wall. The rope turned from only 25 meters rope only enough to tie around tree, then to over 100 meters+. It was so poorly animated and ridiculous. At that point, I thought might as well give the kids ladders. Also, what was the point in having cliff reveal climax, if they can just zipline across with infinite linens? I don’t know if they’re unlimited, but given how many kids there are I don’t think it is that far out there for them to have that much linen. It miht have been a bit more out there as a scene, but it makes at least a little bit of sense. He used the higher altitude of the tree branch in order to create tension on the rope and the gravitational force gave him the momentum to get up the wall. He is very intelligent, so he would have known this was his best way of getting up the wall with his lack of physical ability. A bit far out there? Yes. But this is an anime with demons, is it really all that deep? The cliff reveal was to create even more tension, thinking that there’s no way they can escape unless it’s through the very dangerous bridge, in which Norman figures out another way. 4. Ray steals several canisters of lamp oil. There's still people working oil rigs in 2045 in post apocalypse to get lamp oil???? Mother doesn't even notice nor cares something that is precious. They seem to have plenty of lamp oil, considering Isabella and the other children are seen using them throughout the series. Ray has had 6 years to prepare, taking one or two at a time would not be nearly as noticeable as you think. Like I said before, manga spoiler, but Krone does mention other humans besides those in the farms. 5. Endless supplies of food, when they plan their escape on the end of shipment date. How can you have more food at the last day of shipment date, when you spend all those resources training and exercising. You have to eat ton food to build muscle; otherwise, your body starts to eats itself. Also, how does mother not notice food supply being used rapidly? Literally, a huge indicator they are training. She suppose to be smart and monitoring supplies, so she can request more. They never claimed to have an infinite amount of food, but if every kid took a little from every meal every single day for more than two months leading to the escape, that could build up to quite a bit very quickly. They most likely at about the same, probably just a little under to be able to save food. Gaining muscle wasn’t necessarily their goal, it was more to become faster, more vigilant, faster at making decisions, ect. Isabella was busy keeping her eyes on Emma and Ray, and possibly even Don and Gilda, but she had absolutely no suspicion about any of the other children, making the build up of food a lot more reasonable and realistic. They most likely don’t take enough for her to notice, taking in small increments. -Unlimited access knowledge, despite them being sheltered and demons don't censor. How nice of them. I wouldn’t call their knowledge infinite or unlimited, and I’m sure the demons do slightly sensor, but this is supposed to be an “orphanage”. What sense would it make for the kids not to know a single thing about the outside world, wouldn’t that make them more curious? They are supposed to grow up happy and healthy, with hopes and dreams and aspirations. It makes sense for them to at least have a tiny bit of understanding about the outside. a. Norman knows how to lockpick, when it is convenient for the plot to make rope. It is convenient, I’ll give you that. But he might have learned it from a book, who knows? b. Ray knows rfid chips and how to make small taser. Why would demons give them information on rfid chips or how to make a taser???? I’m sure the demons didn’t just give children all the information to make a taser, but Ray is more in the know about everything because of his memory. He has Isabella to give him occasional information and machines, so he experiments. Ray is shown as being excellent with machines and is very intelligent. c. They know to look for cameras, listening devices, and even Morse code in 2045. The demons are smart enough to conquer the human species, but too dumb to notice pattern codes being written on books? It’s not that the demons aren’t smart enough to notice the codes, they probably just don’t bother checking. They most likely consider the children to be just meat, even if they are incredibly intelligent meat. They are underestimating them BECAUSE the demons have the upper hand. They probably think that there’s no way that a mere human could get the best of them. None of this makes sense why would the demons give them the world's information and not censorship. Majority of dominant groups in history censors information from the losing side. Because, like I stated, this would make them even more curious. Even just not being allowed past the gate gives the characters reason to be curious and to try looking outside. To an extent, I am sure they are censoring, just not as much as you might think they should. Also, The demon goal is develop high iq kids not knowledgeable ones. Instead, the books would be filled with math questions, probabilities, puzzles, and other problem solving to increase IQ. It shouldn't have the world information because that would make them curious about the world and want to explore outside of the farm. The writer seems doesn't understand the difference between high IQ and being knowledgeable. I’m sure they have plenty of books like that, but the demons are underestimating the abilities of the children so they think it couldn’t possibly hurt. I personally think NOT having the information would make them even more curious. I’m sure the writer understands just fine, thank you. -constant last minute flashbacks to gain pitty pts, instead of a natural character building from the start. How am I suppose sympathize wit 2d characters in a contrived scenario with demons and now you develop them when they are dead or their story arc is over. Why didn't you develop them from start, so I get to be immerse how real characters are? It is like building a house's foundation last and walls fall apart. I like how you say “last minute” flashbacks like this isn’t employed in basically any shounen anime ever. This technique is used all the time in anime, and are not really even constant. If you don’t like the flashbacks that’s cool, it’s your opinion, but I happen to like what it does for a character. The characters are developed well, in my opinion, even without the flashbacks. Sorry, just my opinion, I think it works (overuse is kinda monotonous though, to be fair). -Plot armor Plot armor Plot Armor. This show should be called Plot Armmor a1. Mother breaks Emma leg, but can't kill her cause Plot armor. There is no real threat in this show because of plot armor this show established. I’m sorry, what? Do you know how many problems that would cause for Isabella? Even if Grandma is on her side, I doubt all the demons would be so forgiving of her mess-up. She would have taken a serious hit in her reputation at the very least, especially since Emma is so valuable as merchandise. The threat is real, because now Norman can’t run away without leaving Emma behind. Plot armor is a no here, because there is a very good reason for Isabella not to kill Emma. a2. Norman no death scene when red shirts are given. Can't kill main character offscreen that's bad writing, so he has PLOT ARMOR. Making all flashbacks pointless. It isn’t necessarily bad writing, it just makes the audience wonder a little more and the ends are a bit looser, it leaves room for interpretation. I don’t know why you would see this as plot armor, that makes no sense. a3. Don going ziplining without a safety rope. Ofc he get it first try cause he has plot armor. To an extent, this is a fair point. However, the kids are shown practicing ziplining using rope, so doesn’t it maybe make sense he would have practiced with slinging the rope and sliding on the same rope? If he didn’t get it first try that night, he would be dead, but it most likely wasn’t his first practice. a4. The constant empty threats or glances, when they have plot armor. You know they aren't going to kill the main characters early. What makes it even worse is that they know they have plot armor established in episode 2, when Norman calculates their value. They had to kill 36 kids to get 3 perfect scoring kids. To an extent the threats are empty, but Emma got her leg broken and Norman was sent off, and Ray was next. Ray would have gone through with his plan to light himself up if not for Emma and Norman. Just because those other children aren’t perfect scorers, that doesn’t mean they weren’t highly valued. I’m sure there were several older, intelligent kids who made it to 12 as well. So, to an extent, I see your point, but I disagree. This why Asian horror films and older horror films don't put their characters under threat early. It's insulting and gimmicky because once you see one horror film with jumpscares/fake tension moments and nothing happens then you know gonna be same for rest films. I don’t really understand the point you’re trying to make here, so I’m just gonna leave this one alone for the most part. I think it does very well at building up tension and some of the jump scares genuinely shook me a little bit. Instead, they spend time developing their characters first. So, that viewers emotionally attach to them, when shit goes down in end you care for them. This is why the whole crux of decent horror/thriller/psychological show is character development, which this show has major problems in. I don’t agree that the characters are developed badly, so there isn’t much point on me commenting on this part. mom -conflict of character empathy b1. 1st ep shown hugging Connie picture alone implying she does have empathy for kids. However, 2nd ep kids figured out she has murdered at least 36+ kids possibly even 60kids, and she goes so far as collects kids toys that were shipped. How does it make sense for her to show no signs of trauma, have no coping mechanisms, nor she is emotionally disconnected? She continues to try emotionally connect with the kids. You would have to be a psychopath to have a remainder of all kids she watch die and go on as if nothing happened or committed suicide along time ago. The toys would constantly trigger her traumatic events. I don't understand how can people say she is realistic. 36+KIDS!!! PEOPLE!!! NOT EVERYONE REACTS THE SAME WAY TO TRAUMA. Sorry, I just had to get that part out. Isabella, having been in that place herself, obviously does have empathy for the kids, because she understands what it’s like to be in the dark and to later on have to face the horror of it herself. But, even in real life, sometimes people do what they have to do to survive. And that’s what Isabella does. In my opinion, her even showing empathy and emotion at all is proof that it fucks with her at least a little. For example, the longing way she touches the photograph Ray takes of her, or her face when Norman asks if she is happy in episode 10, both show her as affected by it all. She sings that lullaby constantly, almost like an anxiety crutch. Emotionally connecting with the kids is her wish, even if she does have to kill them later. Despite it being really screwed up, she really does want them to be the happiest they can be before death. After all, there’s not a single thing she can do to stop it. Is she a psychopath? I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. Maybe? The whole reason for her being a mom is to survive, everything she has gone through, why would she kill herself? Like I said, everyone deals with trauma differently. - 200iq btw perfect scores c1. Mother brings in krone, who trains and gives tons info to kids on how to escape. It completely backed fired for mother. How did she not see this coming, when becoming nanny is competitive field. The reason Isabella brought Krone was because she was already actively suspicious of Ray, and wanted to deter him with a force he couldn’t control. Ray is used to knowing everything and being able to control a situation, but this is not something he was prepared for. She might have seen it coming, but she most likely thought the kids wouldn’t get anywhere either way, so she was underestimating them. She killed Krone either way, so I guess it doesn’t matter. c2. She does literally nothing, which exposes Ray as spy. Why didn't she do anything to protect his cover? Why didn't she do anything to reinforce her side of story??? Up to this point in the story, she is most likely at least a bit suspicious of Ray. She probably figured it wouldn’t matter if his cover was blown, because Emma would never leave him behind regardless. c3. She lets them go to wall all the time and only caught them once, let's them train, gives them tons information to help their escape, she let's them tell other kids exposing her, let them plan, and in end she even let's them escape. Only time she catches them is to break Emma's leg, which is sign of desperation. After completely losing the information game for doing nothing, she begs for help from grandma to deal with krone, which was her mistake to begin with. How is she 200iq and playing 10d chess again? Like I said, she is underestimating them. With all the difficulties like the wall, the younger children, getting over the cliff, the security near the bridge, ect, she probably just thought it wasn’t possible. She might have been desperate and only caught them this time to break Emma’s leg because of Norman’s upcoming shipment. She needed to ensure none of them would go anywhere. She didn’t really beg grandma for help, she knew grandma would take her side and gave Krone the chance to not betray her, even though Isabella knew she would. Pretty decent strategy, but not perfect. c4. She wasted all her time on radio and signaling demons, which is bad idea because why would tell your 0 tolerance boss, who eats humans, that you majorly fucked up. Instead, she could have used that time to catch up to Emma break her leg again and forcing all kids back home again. She even caught up to them in end. Imagine not wasting that time on radio. Honestly, I completely agree with this one. Maybe she wasn’t thinking straight because she was panicking? I don’t think she could have forced all the kids home, but they wouldn’t have left Emma, so that would have definitely been the better option for her to take. Maybe she wanted them to escape after all? She seemed fine letting them go in the end scene, maybe she was giving them time or just genuinely didn’t think about it? But honestly, would it have really mattered? The kids might have been able to overpower her together, and even if they killed her, they would probably have enough time to get away before demons showed, and the tracking devices were now null, so.. idk. krone d1. krone copes through violence and beating doll. She is only character that is consistent with her story. However, she is a useless character for the story and actually ruins the other characters. I don’t think she is useless, she is another take on the trauma and stress of going through what Isabella did, and was good for creating tension and giving the children information. I quite liked her, actually. Her death scene was haunting to watch, and it could maybe show that this is what would happen if Isabella messed up as well? Who knows. -mom loses development because time spent on krone. -mom looks like a moron. krone trains kids and give them tons info. This also weakens the kids characters, instead of the kids the opportunity to prove their smart. Mom actually gains because of Krone. She is shown as business woman, no nonsense, though she is also seen bragging about her children to Krone, showing she does actually care a little. It gives Isabella more edge to be even scarier later on. It doesn’t weaken the kids’ characters, because half the information they asked, they already knew the answer. They were trying to test Krone to make sure she wasn’t going to lie. They needed the information, and they got it. Not stupid on their part to use an opportunity freely given to them. Always make use of what you have before it’s gone. d2. Her flashback of them learning martial arts made no sense. Seeing how moms never use it. In the ten years, not once she used it and only gets dull over time. Also, the kids would never fight 1 on 1 lolol this isn't a fighting anime. To an extent, it makes sense, but I agree with your point a bit. However, I think Isabella used her fighting knowledge to successfully make a clean break in Emma’s leg, so there is a tiny reason for why this is in there at least. d3. ep 3 or 4 krone shows tracking device shows kids location during hide and seek. ep 7 the first thing krone shows kids tracking device only shows 1 dot , when emma and norman are there. In ep 11, they show that there were kids behind door overhearing whole convo to prove moms selling them to demons. Krone should have saw all bright dots on tracking device of all kids behind door. However, none of them show up on tracking device. Even tracking device only allowed to show kids when plot needs it. This is actually a very good point, and one I hadn’t really thought of. norman e1. 2nd episode he has trouble climbing tree, so emma has to climb for him. forgot episode #, but he runs up perpendicular to wall lolololo. He defys the laws of gravity, yet jumping to otherside of cliff is impossible for him lol. Bad writing because it ruins the climax reveal of the cliff, since he can obviously just jump over. Also, they could just escape that night. They built up that cliff reveal by having viewers being curious as why is security lax, only to be ruined by previous scene norman running up wall defying gravity. Norman doesn’t defy laws of gravity, he uses the gravitational pull of the higher branch to gain momentum enough to swing himself up, in like an arc. Is it a little crazy? Yeah, but it’s an anime, and it fits his character well enough at least. Obviously he can’t just jump to the other side, he doesn’t have the strength of Don to throw far enough, and the area he was at first wasn’t the area they crossed anyway. This does not at all ruin the reveal in my opinion. e2. He's shown to care about kids, but connie death traumatic experience but shows nothing afterwards. That's not how first time experiencing trauma works. They would be having nightmares involuntary screaming for at least a week. You can't just magically alter your body's reactions. Norman is shown having nightmares later on, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t having any about Conny before that scene is shown. Not everyone screams in their nightmares, some people twitch, gasp, or just sweat and lie still. I’m just saying, everyone has different reactions. e3. He's curious to go to wall all time, but never curious to lockpick the gate and see whats outside the wall or open all doors in house find mother lying even more. He already knows Mother is liar, when she said going to wall is dangerous. Why wouldn't he want to explore more? Again he's curious, but never questions the following: -why can't they go past line mother said not to - which first episode they prove she is lying and at the gate during day looks like 5 years old. -why they never allowed to go to outside -why do they never meet the parents adopting -why have they never gotten any letters from kids that are adopted -why they are labeled numbers on side of their neck If he was realistically this smart, then he would have question everything mother has lied about and realized sooner they're in a prison with numbers labeled on them. There’s a simple reason for this, and it’s that he trusts her enough not to look into it too far. Plus, none of the rooms give anything away, only the gate, the fence, and the secret room, which he does not know about at that time. Young people, even if they are curious, place heavy amounts of trust in the words of adults, and he has no reason at this point not to trust in Isabella. He suspects she lies, but most likely thinks that it is for his own good. The letter thing is more suspicious, but I highly doubt he is gonna disobey just for that. Norman has been in this place since he was a baby, and all his siblings have numbers, so it makes sense to just think of them as normal. Even though he is curious, he is placing trust in Isabella as his caretaker, which several children, even ones who are victims of abuse, do as well. It’s just a kid thing. e4. He shows off to krone that he can run faster than her. He is characterize as mature and strategist, yet shows off all strategies and proves he's faster than krone. Basic strategy 101 don't give your enemy all your strategies and don't showoff proving your capable. When you are strong, pretend you are weak. To create doubt and uncertainty. Krone would have most likely known Norman was holding back on purpose. Norman is still more nervous about Isabella than he is of Krone. That strategy would work, but I think Norman has it to not hold back. Krone might have gotten a little more slowed due to having already been sprinting for 20 minutes. e5. doesn't even contemplate on capturing or murdering mother. Killing mother eliminates the threat, who knows them. 2nd reveals the demons response time to situation, how far is reinforcements, and that moms tracking device signals them. Ray and Norman contemplate this in episode 3, but it is revealed by Krone in episode 7 that killing Isabella would set of an alarm to the demons. Norman is playing everything safe and planning before launching an attack. He is planning ahead rather than being impulsive. e6. Capturing is best option before they escape. So, mother doesn't warn or goes after them like it did in finale. It was so bad. She could went after them and break their legs again. Capturing her might have worked, but think about how strong Isabella is. It would have been difficult. Emma tried to hold Isabella back and got her leg broken. Don is one of the strongest and I have my doubts he could have taken down Isabella. e7. Why did Norman plan on escaping on last day of shipment, when food supplies are depleted, as noted above. Also, the demons will know they are escaping because no one shows up for shipment. The best time escape is a month in so they have 1month of food reserves to start a new life and the demons wouldn't know. How are you going to survive with low food rations?? Are chickens just gonna magically appear and feed them? What kind master plan is this? Food supplies are not depleted, they are being stored. Waiting until the last minute was a good idea so they could gather until the very end. They stored food for months for this. The demons wouldn’t have known without Isabella letting them know that night, and being the night before shipment, that gave them an entire day to get gone before the demons came after them. ray f1. exposes himself to mom doing nothing to stop norman or emma from going to gate and delivering the bunny. He could have said he can deliver the bunny and the rest can stay in house. Mom should known ray betrayed her and stop giving stuff. Ray should known this exposes him. I gave my answer to this above, but to summarize, it could have been done better, but if all had gone to plan, it would have definitely worked. Isabella has a soft spot for Ray I think, so she allows him closer to her regardless. f2. Only wants them three to escape, when having groups people spread increases his chances for survival. if they escape in all directions, this is best chance of them surviving. Also, more cannon fodder/ red shirts to protect main characters. Ray should know this by reading all his books. Larger groups don’t necessarily mean increasing chances of survival. In fact, the more people, the worse it would be to get them all out safely. They would never want to split up the entire group, there’s no way. I hate to say it, I wanted them all to get out, but when Ray said it was impossible I found myself agreeing a little bit. The plan worked and I am very happy it did, but it could have easily gone wrong. The “cannon fodder” comment is gross and I’m just not gonna touch that one. f3. gives away info that don and gilda knows the truth, when they can be potential wild card. Why give enemy info?? Now, Mom knows to watch them, but of course she doesn't cause of plot. They get away training and building ropes. He does, but Isabella was smarter and caught him. Isabella doesn’t watch them as closely because of Emma and Ray being the more dangerous to look out for, and she probably didn’t think Don and Gilda could do it on their own. What Isabella didn’t know was that there were more children involved. f4. Fetus memories Not fragmented memories. Fully detailed fetus memories of bridge and being close to demon hq lololo. Again deprives ray demonstrating his genius and instead given knowledge by the writer. Why didn't he share any info on bridge being demon hq, beforehand? He doesn’t have fully detailed memories, just snippets. He doesn’t know everything, just where he came from and a bit about the demons and other children. If he had full details he would have known all about the best way to escape, but he didn’t. He didn’t know about the bridge, just that the babies came from headquarters and they came through the gate. f5. Escaping at night is dumb strategically wise. Because of poor vision and they are running. If one of them trips, someone sprains their ankles. It's over. Of course that won't happen because that's realistic. Also, if the demons have Helicopters or Predator drones with thermals, they are fucked. He's suppose to be the Technology expert btw. This is a fair enough point. It would be very dangerous. But, to be fair, during the day they would have had no chance of getting away without alerting Isabella. The fire would have only really worked as a plan at night. The demons may be capable of that, but they were watching the bridge, not the cliff. Ray was planning on being a distraction so he thought the kids would make it to the bridge before Isabella could alert the demons. emma g1. there's no backstory about her or any explanation for her behavior. There's literally nothing. You see glimpses of the dynamic between her, Ray, and Norman in Norman’s flashback, and the one fron the very beginning. She is characterized as being stubborn (she keeps trying to see and talk to Norman while he is sick), but kind and fun-loving, just through those flashbacks. There is something, but obviously you weren’t looking hard enough. g2. emma cutting her ear was pointless and only delayed mother like 10 seconds. She even caught up to them, despite her wasting all her time on radio and not going after them. She could just met up in forest with other kids like mother told her to, then taser the device in the forest before going to the wall. Her cutting her ear only told mother that she is escaping. If she didn't cut her ear, mother would assume she was with kids. Perfect test scorer btw. Emma did not have the time to very carefully cut the tracker out, and the other children had the taser, so this was honestly the best way to make time for herself and the children. What you said could have worked, but I also think that Emaa cutting her ear placed a lot of pressure on Isabella, distracting her and possibly making her lose focus, which is possibly why she made her dumb decisions. I think it was a good move, but maybe not a completely 100% necessary one. g3. let's ray going thru suicide plan, instead of telling him norman's plan. At no point she just tells ray the plan before he lights the match. She suppose to be caring. Why would she risk matching lighting up. Another pointless dramatic scene for sake of being melodramatic. They had all this time to train, hid food, tell other kids, but can't tell ray cause drama. Emma could have told him Norman’s plan, very true. But then it wouldn’t have been as exciting to watch, it wouldn’t have the same tension, the suspense. I think this moment actually places even more personality to Ray as well. Plus, Ray might not have agreed and found it too risky, he wanted to die anyway, had since the beginning. This was Emma’s best shot at saving Ray’s life. The writer’s job is to make drama. Just saying. g4. Experiences traumatic experience even goes so far to puking on Connie's death, then nothing. Ptsd patients take therapy and even necessary meds. Next day just gets over it and everything is fine. Realistically, she would be having nightmares for month and screaming involuntary at night waking up whole house. It's like they forgot traumatizing experience seeing Connie's dead body. Of course, because Connie is just another plot device shock value. Emma doesn’t just “get over it”. She has nightmares, she is probably constantly thinking about Conny, she wants to save the other kids because of what happened to Conny, which is why she keeps mentioning her in the first couple episodes. She still has trouble putting up a wall around mom, and she is so determined partly because of what she saw. I don’t know how you can honestly say that Emma doesn’t care, it’s ridiculous. Also, forgot to talk about demon scene saying it's ok to kill the kids. This is bad writing because brain dies off first in couple minutes. This why you are taught in middle school health class, taken cpr, or watch medical dramas past 6mins and they are brain dead. 3mins in and the brain is already suffering severe damage. How can demons live off dead brain mush, when they been culling off kids for an intelligent brain. why does pointing out terrible writing matters? Because you are lowering the writing standards for horror/psychological/thriller genre. The only thing going for this genre has is the quality of writing. It's not fighting or boobie anime, where you can have shitty writing, but amazing fighting choreography and as anime connoisseurs call it "artwork". The millions dollars that is spent on this anime could been spent to help bigger budget with other better animes or even help Japanese films for better productions. Or instead of giving them money for a fake 2d emotional abuse children scenes, actually donate the millions of dollars to real abused children charities. Your point here is ridiculous, plenty of people love this anime (me included). I could say the same thing to you, I’m sure you enjoy a show that I don’t. Why waste money on that, donate to charity instead! Let me tell you, I donate to charity every single month. What people do with their money and budget is THEIR business and not yours. If someone wants to use their money on making a shitty movie or something, let them. It’s their money. I had fun writing my opinion on your critiques, but this makes you sound tepid and shallow. This would makes sense for superhero shows that have awful heavily edited action scenes, but is high rated cause the viewership is bunch 5 year olds, who can't think yet. However, people here watch 100+ animes, read tons of mangas, and write long descriptive reviews and not realize the bad writing in this show? What's worse is that 62,587 believe this show writing is perfect and complete masterpiece. 97,932 think the writing is actually good. This is far more horrifying than demons. Does it make you feel better to discredit other people’s opinions? I really enjoyed this show, and you didn’t. That’s fine. But what you’re saying is that people shouldn’t enjoy the show, and even call them five year olds, and that is ridiculous. Grow up. I know you aren’t gonna read this, but I had fun, and I hope people liked it. Please feel free to put your opinions! I’d love to chat about them!

#the promised neverland #spoilers #anime #myanimelist #yakusoku no neverland #emma tpn #ray tpn #norman tpn #isabella tpn #anime spoilers #anime analysis #don tpn #gilda tpn #sister krone

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onegirllis · 6 years

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Have you really gone through episode 2 of LIS2? I really wonder what you think about it. Better, of course, the full answer.

I finished it indeed. The episode is about 3-4h long, depending on how much you want to explore and how much time it would take for you to find a way out. I was battling with the idea of sharing my thoughts because it’s very hard to judge just a slice of the story, instead of the whole season, but why the hell not. Maybe I will read it when episode 5 comes out and see how wrong I was.

So, without further ado, here’s my review of episode 2, but please be aware it includes a lot of spoilers. It’s also as honest as possible, although it’s my personal opinion only. And yes, it may be harsh, not sugarcoated, but sincere.

MY REVIEW OF EPISODE 2 OF LIFE IS STRANGE 2

Call me naive, but I really had hopes. I really did. I didn’t like ep1, it was way too slow for my taste, with some dramatic moments that felt off, but overall I assumed that it might be just an exposition, an introduction to the world, the characters and their problems, and that the game would elaborate on everything else later. Sometimes the beginnings feel off and it gets better later, so that’s why I had some hopes (not super high) that ep2 of LIS2 will remind me of why this game even belongs to LIS franchise and why I should play the whole season.

Well, it didn’t work out.

Characters

Again, It’s my opinion only but I don’t feel that there are any character developments whatsoever. Daniel and Sean didn’t learn anything freezing their asses off in the mountains. They didn’t change their ways, not learning patience nor being careful. There is no tension between them or any quarrel about the events. The acceptance of their fate is understandable, but not helping with the lack of overall tension. The moments of calm, that usually gave the player the opportunity to know more about the main character’s inner thoughts, instead serve the purpose of a summary of the few previous scenes and nothing more. It almost feels like the writers don’t like the PC and don’t want to tell us more about Sean, because there is absolutely nothing worth telling. Remember the girl Sean was in love with in ep1? Never mentioned again. Remember his friends, his boss, his job, school, or sports he was interested in? He doesn’t mention them either. There is nothing in the journal or in the dialogues that would show us anything we don’t already know or wouldn’t assume by ourselves, and Sean’s insights seem more like repetitive whinings than anything impactful. In episode 1 I could wave off the fact that they decided to walk to Mexico being shocked, traumatized and lost. In episode 2, when they notoriously risk their lives or reject any other solution not learning from experience just to run away, you start questioning their sanity. I know the reason behind it - “oh plot” but “oh plot” is not good enough.

The boys miss their dad, but don’t feel much upset or don’t present any sign of emotional trauma. There are no breakdowns and the brothers are more or less in good spirits staying optimistic, not asking themselves a single question about the future. Comparing to Chloe who was repeating “I wish Rachel was here” over and over and was living in this trauma the whole time, they don’t seem very much impacted by the events, but on the other hand, they place the dad’s photo on the table, so his death can be conveniently mentioned. The dog died (yes, it’s true, Mushroom is killed off in the first 20 minutes), and even if Daniel is supposedly devastated, it takes him only 5 minutes to shake it off and never mentions this dog again (oh ok, maybe once). If the characters don’t freaking care about this animal, why should I?

It also seems that the characters keep forgetting what the objective is here. Maybe it’s on purpose, but they recall certain friends only when it’s convenient for the plot. “I’m gonna call Lyla” says Sean towards the end of the episode, even if he hadn’t mentioned her for 2 hours of gameplay. And even when getting devastating news about her, he is not really concerned, shrugs and sighs deeply. Yeah, we sigh with him.

When it comes to Sean himself, I really don’t mind the PC being a guy, really. If I had a problem with it, I wouldn’t be able to play 90% of video games. The thing I do have a problem with though, is Sean being an utter asshole. Yeah, he takes care of his brother and all, but he is freaking mean to his grandparents, showing lack of empathy and acceptance of a different point of view. Calling the grandma, a woman who opened her house to them “an old bat” is just a bit too much, especially after a month spent in an abandoned house without food or heating. There is no reason for him to judge those people so much and if there is a reason, we don’t know the details. How can I emotionally invest in a character that is not opening up to me, the player? Or maybe there is nothing more about Sean, and that’s even worse.

There is a big mystery regarding why their mother left her sons but if you expect any answer while the boys are visiting their grandparents and can snoop around in Karen’s old room, you’d be mistaken. The devs are building the mystery in the typical David Cage style, that one of the characters is about to tell you something “Oh, I will tell you what your mother did..~” and then something happens and we’re left in the dark again. At this point, I expect some explosive explanation of why their mother left the family, but it’s ether drugs, a religious cult or some relationship stuff.

Tragedy Porn

Dear devs, the fact that a lot of people in the fandom are familiar with this term and use it regularly, doesn’t mean you should take it literally. I know that the LIS franchise is about hard choices or difficult situations, but killing kids and small animals left and right is just cheap and really unnecessary. It quickly gets old, just like “the boy who cried wolf” (pun intended) that as some point I don’t even blink when witnessing another digital death. I can’t be devastated by Mushroom’s death, because the dog had less screen time than Sean’s skateboard. I can’t feel sorry for every character (human or not) that you didn’t even give me a chance to feel connected to. I know that you want me to “feel something” but at this point the “feel” changes into “yawn”. Chris AKA Captain Spirit being dead (or almost dead) AGAIN - so I helped the boy just to see him die 1 hour later (I know it’s optional but still)? Lyla in the hospital, the family from the abandoned house being wiped out of the face of the earth because of cancer (at least not a car accident this time), Chris’s mom dead, the boys’ father dead, grandpa almost dying because of the accident… It’s too much. It feels cheap and not impactful. At this point, I will be surprised if you won’t just kill everybody. Who needs people on the West Coast anyway, huh?

I don’t even know if I want to learn more about the boys’ mother since you probably will kill her too.

Politics and Religion

In this episode, politics have been toned down, still visible though and there are a few moments when I literally rolled my eyes. This time the devs decided to say something more about religion since it’s a significant part of life if you live in a small town in America. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that the power of prayer is being mocked rather than actually shown as somebody’s way of life. Acceptance and tolerance go both ways though.

The boys surprisingly identify themselves as Mexicans, even though they are half Irish and have never been to their father’s homeland. There are a few moments when you are wondering whether they had ever really liked to live in the US, questioning everything around them. Sean, who spent a decent amount of time with his dad on “the road trips” as stated in ep1, seems genuinely surprised that in his country people keep the Bible by their beds, as if he had never been in any motel whatsoever where the Bible is always present, placed on the nightstand or in a drawer. If being religious bothers him, boy, oh boy, you will be hella surprised in Mexico. They also don’t know how to pray, which I find extremely hard to believe. It almost feels like a scene from “Anne of Green Gables” but damn, the girl had a valid reason not to know. They don’t, especially if they identify themselves as Mexicans. We could assume that they were also part of Mexican-American communities and I cannot believe that in THIS WORLD the immigrants from this particular part of the world don’t know how to pray. Although if you expect some deep conversation about God or religion in general, forget it. It’s just there to be there and that’s it.

I don’t want to discuss the articles in the newspaper about “the gentle police officer” that was killed by immigrants because it makes my blood boil.

Against the logic, the brothers are still planning to escape to Mexico and no grown-up is really trying to talk them out of this idea. There are no alternatives provided or discussed except a pat on the back and an offer for a quick stop if even. Even the grandparents are a bit concerned but no one really gives them any real advice, which I find unlikely. The problem is that if anybody would actually give them a piece of real advice, we wouldn’t have a game.

And that’s a problem, isn’t it?

Gameplay

We have a few mini-games and fetch quests like finding bottles in the abandoned house (why always freaking bottles?), the pirate version of dice poker (never brought back again) and drawing. None of those serve any purpose except a filler that you might enjoy but it doesn’t matter if you succeed in them or not, unless the game forces you to succeed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that this particular genre doesn’t usually provide a set of complex challenges in its gameplay, but it seriously looks like LIS2 is throwing us a bone, remembering from time to time that uh, it’s a game, not a movie. Those mini games are not really engaging, not really connected to the plot, but just for… whatever reason, as part of the daily chores.

But it’s a game about choices, you say! Yes, it is, but only some of them really matter and I’m not sure for how long. If you give me a choice to do something or NOT to do it, please consider that I might pick the latter and don’t force me into your favorite path. It happens from time to time and it’s utterly annoying. If you want me to do something, just don’t give me the illusion that I can refuse.

It almost seems that LIS2 turned into a dark alley where you are rewarded for picking the “good, canonical path” and punished for playing it differently than the devs indented. I loved LIS1 for ambiguous choices that I might pick, depending on my personal preferences, not to mention that those choices are made during an emotional moment. I don’t feel I have that opportunity here, just as if somebody who constructed it forgot why LIS was so great and is so loved.

When it comes to dialogue, it is way better than LIS1, regarding how people actually speak. On the other hand, the lines are just there to be there and I can’t recall a single line that would be worth quoting.

And one more thing. Cutscenes. So many cutscenes. The moment when I actually could do something with my controller was a celebration. I don’t mind cutscenes in general, but it almost feels like a movie. A long, boring, super slow movie.

Superpower

 The superpower is mentioned, mostly in rules that Sean is lecturing Daniel about, but it’s non-existent in the gameplay almost at all. It’s drastically different comparing to LIS1, when Max was using her power almost all the time or was a challenge not to use it. Here we know that Daniel can do things but most of the time he conveniently forgets about it or uses it in the wrong moment. I know the game is about education but the superpower itself seems like a plot device, an additional reason to run to Mexico than anything else. They talk more about it than use it. It sounds like a good idea in general and it probably looked great on paper, but at some point I didn’t care about the superpower at all, forgetting that this secret even exists.

Season 1

When it comes to references to season 1, Arcadia Bay, or any character that we know from LIS1, there is almost nothing. Yes, you can find a drawing of ”door to another world” instead of hole to another universe, or graffiti on the wall that Sean and Daniel were here, similar to the famous junkyard thing, but it won’t give you any insight about what had happened to the favorite characters or any glimpse of their fate. There was more about Arcadia Bay in Captain Spirit than the whole LIS2 so far. The devs were damn serious, showing us Arcadia Bay in episode 1, destroyed or not, saying that this is the past. It seems that they don’t want to even refer to this past much and it’s fine, but if you’re hoping for anything, just anything related to LIS1, forget it.

Technical problems

Oh, boy. I’m aware that creating games is not an easy job and a team sport. I know that it’s almost a miracle that some of the titles even got shipped, but episode 2 of LIS2 is probably the MOST BUGGED EPISODE in the history of this franchise. Glitches, problems with sound, teleportation of objects, animations that didn’t work or songs being cut off… I’m not talking about a few mistakes here and there, but it happens all the time. It’s so common it’s an epidemic and you face some technical challenge almost in every scene as if Bethesda was putting this episode together. This episode looks like advanced beta, not a finished product that had been delayed for months. It seems ironic when recalling the posts from the Life is Strange blog about QA teams, one in France and one in Canada, carefully checking every detail and describing how quality was important. Especially in that context, this is really a disaster, however, I didn’t face any technical problem that would make this episode impossible to finish.

What worked

So what’s great about this episode? Does everything suck? Well, of course not. On the upside, the locations are absolutely stunning. You want to explore the town, the houses, play in the snow, dive into the world, even if you don’t expect anything groundbreaking to happen. The level design, in my opinion, is better than in LIS1, more consistent and intriguing. I know a lot of people might disagree with me but somebody put their heart and soul building this environment, creating something really beautiful. Except for the locations, I liked some songs and the music, way more than in ep1, but it’s not as good as in LIS1 or BTS. Better, but not great.

Cassidy

Oh, somebody was reading “Preacher”, weren’t ya? Or is ia reference to “On the road”? A lot of people seem excited about her finally showing up. I have mixed feelings about this character since I’m not sure if I want to discover the world from her perspective. A stoned, hippie-rasta girl, who takes pride in being free and “not owned by any corporation” (except Square Enix hehehe), is maybe a realistic character and I’m not saying that people like her don’t exist here, but I’m on the fence, to be honest. It seems that the devs are trying to establish the next canon ship or something with her being interested in Sean and him actually “liking her” after exchanging 3 sentences, but that really feels off. She seems more like Chloe 2.0 than anything else, but we shall see (in the next 6 months or whenever they will fucking publish the next ep). Plus for fuck’s sake, Sean was into Jenn (I don’t remember her name exactly), and there was Lyla, and then this girl. Dude!

Summary

It was boring. It was extremely freaking boring to the point that I lost my patience to check every single detail or examine every object. I don’t feel any need to replay it, even if the consequences of my choices weren’t great. I’m not curious about different outcomes nor do I want to check if I missed anything. There is not a single scene I want to see or experience again. In my game, Chris died and I don’t really feel the need to replay it and change the outcome since I will never meet him again or even deal with the consequences of his death. The whole road trip setting is intriguing but drastically different to what I loved about Life is Strange - learning more about each character, dwelling deeper into the situation, uncovering a hidden mystery. We won’t learn more about most of those characters (or it doesn’t seem possible) since we just pass them and move on, exchanging a dialogue or two like with a pedestrian on the street. There is a charm to the road trip idea, but then I would have to be extremely interested in the main characters, including the PC, to actually follow their journey closely. In LIS1 I didn’t have to like Max to play the whole thing, curious about Chloe or Rachels’ disappearance. In a road trip setting the two brothers are the core of the story and if you’re not fond of them, it won’t work.

So far it’s not working for me.

#life is strange 2 #review #sean diaz #daniel diaz #life is strange

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nemossubmarine · 5 years

Text

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #22

Hey, it’s the start of a new adventure, and with the leaving of Gorm and addition of Vivek the party’s average height has gone down like 30%. I wonder if that’s going to be at all relevant?

There’s about a day or so in between Gorm and Uffe leaving and anything interesting happening. Vivek and Saef spend it together.

Vivek has decided to stay at Saef’s room, since he rather not take a stranger’s room and Gimlet lives between Gorm and Saef, so taking Gorm’s room won’t do either.

Saef’s cool with this.

They hang out and talk, Saef explains what has gone down at Dew Mountain (Vivek doesn’t explain at all about what has happened with him :P).

Saef also mentions to Vivek that the Inquisitor has arranged him a teacher in all that psyker stuff.

Vivek questions what might be the end goal of such an education.

Saef shrugs and says he only wants to keep the Inquisitor happy for now.

Vivek warns him that it’s plenty easy to get conscripted in a world such as this, so it might be relevant for Saef to ask about that before he gets drafted for something he doesn’t want to.

Saef says ”thanks dad”, which flusters Vivek a bit.

He tells him to get a better father figure.

Saef shrugs and says that he somehow has managed to get quite a few dads, Gimlet, Vivek, his actual dad, who’s also on ship.

Saef opens up to Vivek about how awkward the whole thing has been, having his family on board.

He mostly tries to avoid them, because he’s pretty sure his family doesn’t want to see him.

Vivek shrugs and says it might not be the case, but if this is what Saef is most comfortable with.

Meanwhile, Gimlet stays inside his room and avoids Vivek the best he can.

But let’s cut to the actual happening-ons, Saef gets a text from Molly, where Molly asks him to get his friends and meet her at the teleporter. She has a favor to ask. Saef gathers Vivek and Gimlet and off they go.

Molly explains that there’s an Imperial cargo ship adrift in space and it’s been calculated to hit Santa Maria within an hour.

Santa Maria is planning on blowing it up, but Molly would like to take a peek at what the cargo is and whether it could be sold for cash-money.

Namely she wants Saef and co to do it, and they have only about half an hour to do so before Santa Maria blows the ship up.

So any ideas?

Vivek suggests them hopping onto the ship and fixing the engine if it’s broken.

Good idea, but there’s one problem. His name is Jimbo, he’s the new teleporter guy (RIP Paul, you are missed). He needs to be gotten out of the room so Molly can teleport our folks.

Molly says all he knows about Jimbo is that he really, really likes space golf.

Vivek asks if anyone knows anything about space golf a little too loud, and Jimbo (from the other side of the room) asks if someone mentioned space golf.

Vivek grits his teeth for a bit, then turns on his smile and goes to talk with Jimbo.

You see, Vivek is a space golf enthusiast but doesn’t actually know much about it, maybe Jimbo could teach him.

Jimbo suggests they meet up for a coffee after his shift. Vivek agrees, and then tries to get Jimbo to show him his club right now, so he could talk golf better?

Yeah it doesn’t work. So Vivek agrees that it’s a date.

Jimbo gets quite flustered at that, he didn’t mean it as a date.

Vivek pulls rank on Jimbo, saying that he’s a corporal of the Mechanicum army (technically still true?) and he doesn’t do or tolerate that kind of behavior (it wasn’t a date-date, it was we’ll meet there at this time and date-date), so maybe Jimbo could go and report to his supervisor about what he just did. Jimbo, defeated, does so.

Vivek turns to the others and asks if he was flirting with the dude.

The general consensus seems to be yes.

Well, nevermind that, Molly starts working the teleporter and sends the trio in one by one (in order Vivek, Saef, Gimlet).

Our heroes teleport into a tight corridor of the ship. There’s a siren blaring and smell of blood in the air.

Also, Saef recognizes the smell of tyranids.

When he informs the others of this, Vivek says that his grandparents were killed by tyranids, to which Saef points out that his whole home planet was just decimated by tyranids.

They pull out their weapons and start sneaking forward.

There’s a window showing to the cargo room and Saef sees shadows moving inside.

Upon letting everyone know, they duck so as to not let the people (or most likely xenos) inside know what’s up.

There’s blood and servitor parts littering the room, and a broken down servo skull that Vivek checks out.

It’s clear that our heroes can’t avoid the battle forever.

Vivek asks what’s their usual battle plan.

Saef says they usually just let Gorm go first, and then follow after him.

Unfortunately there’s no Gorm around, so one of them has to go first.

Vivek gets up, catches glimpse of the first genestealer (of two) and blasts off its lower left arm with a devastating blow.

This is for my grandma, he says as he does it. It’s pretty cool, eyy.

Saef gets up next and shoots the same genestealer, killing it.

There’s a second genestealer still left.

Gimlet shoots at it, and also manages to blast off its lower left arm, very cool-like.

Unfortunately it doesn’t quite die and it charges through the new broken windows at the closest victim, which is Vivek.

It gets stuck in the window, but manages to attack Vivek quite severely (altho Skitarii don’t bleed, so who’s to say).

Saef comes in to beat it up with his bludgeon. It’s quite shocking.

Gimlet shoots at it over Vivek’s shoulder but the genestealer has not yet gone down.

It attacks both Vivek and Saef with its next attack. Ouch.

Vivek has noticed that there’s a pipe of some sort going above them, and he pulls off the vent of it with his magnetic abilities (dude’s one big magnet if need be).

The pipe turns out to be a pipe for gasoline and it douses the genestealer.

Saef manages to step out of the way in time to not get doused.

Vivek then lights up a cigarette and drops his lighter into the gas, lighting the poor genestealer aflame (but it looks damn cinematic).

The genestealer rushes back out of the window and dies on the cargo bay floor.

Combat’s over, yay!

Gimlet goes to give Saef some first aid.

Vivek wanders off to check the other stuff in the hallway, which turns out to be a skeleton of a small child with a small bunny plushie next to it.

Vivek loots it and then goes to examine the cargo bay.

Gimlet offers Vivek first aid as well, but Vivek says he’s fine.

Both Gimlet and Saef can see this is not the case.

Saef asks Vivek to accept some medical attention, ”for me buddy?”

Vivek pulls Saef aside a bit, and notes that Gimlet’s the reason he currently wanders around without an arm and an eye, so he doesn’t exactly trust him to get anywhere near his wires.

But fine, he’ll do what Saef asks, as long as Saef keeps an eye on Gimlet.

Vivek asks Gimlet to take a look at the spot where the Genestealer’s hit has driven a piece of his armor into his side and Gimlet does so, without any fuss.

Vivek thanks Gimlet.

Then they turn their attention to the cargo. Vivek and Saef open some of the boxes of cargo in the room.

All seem to contain guns that Saef recognizes being used by gangers on Dew Mtn.

Well, there’s plenty of them, but is this what Molly was hoping, who knows.

But first a more pressing matter, turning the ship back on.

Our heroes make their way to the engine room where Vivek and Saef immediately show their ignorance on all things technical (Vivek offers to say some prayers).

Gimlet points out that the engine isn’t broken, it’s just turned off and it’s easiest to turn that back on from the control panel, in the cockpit.

So that’s where our heroes head.

The doors to the cockpit are jammed shut but there’s holes from guns littering the door and one hole big enough for our heroes to get through.

Inside they find several dead genestealers as well as a dead space marine, who’s body has been eaten from inside his power armor.

Gimlet immediately recognizes the space marine’s armor and says it’s a Red Corsair, a type of Chaos Space Marine known for pirating.

Vivek puts out his cigarette on the dude’s armor.

Gimlet turns the engine on and everything's smooth sailing, except the gas light is on, for some reason hmm…

Saef and Vivek go attempt to put the panel Vivek tore off back on, but it’s too high up so Gimlet comes to help, lifting Saef up to get the panel back on.

That figured out they return back to the cockpit and notice that the ship was on autopilot, heading somewhere in Dew Mtn and it’s now asking if that should be continued.

Saef calls Molly and let’s her know that the cargo is shitty cheap ganger guns, and also a chaos space marine.

Molly is a bit surprised at that, it is an Imperial cargo ship after all.

She leaves getting rid of them to Saef.

So, can our heroes sell these totes illegal guns to someone?

Saef says he knows a weapon sales’ person by the name of Sheila on Civitas A.

She dealt guns to a lot of gangers, from similar crates.

Unfortunately she is super-annoying, but it’s worth a shot to check if she’s still alive and in the business.

Vivek takes the pilot’s seat (well co-pilot’s seat as the Red Corsair is on the pilot’s seat proper).

Gimlet investigates the body of the Red Corsair more carefully.

He finds the Corsair’s bolter and on it ascribed the name ”Nemeroth”, who Gimlet knows to be a Red Corsair warlord that supposedly died 120 years ago.

Saef carries some of the bodies out of the cockpit to give them room to manage the ship.

As he does so, he hears some kind of mechanical sound coming from underwater, or under gasoline in this case.

He follows it and finds the servo skull that is attempting to make some kind of sound, but its speaker is broken.

Saef brings the skull to Gimlet to look over.

There is a radio on the ship that Vivek has turned on.

Apparently Red Corsairs are really into metal.

But the skull could be hooked up to the speakers as well.

As Gimlet fiddles with the skull, he asks Vivek whether Uffe has a crush on him or not.

Vivek seems quite taken aback by the question, asking on what observation Gimlet is basing this on, he has only ever seen Vivek and Uffe together twice, and it’s not like Gimlet has any particular great insight into what kind of person Uffe is like.

Gimlet is quite persistent at the point.

Vivek points out that Space Marine’s don’t do romance / sex anyway, so he must be mistaken.

Saef chimes in about these books he’s read that say something quite different.

Vivek makes the point that those have been written by people who find Space Marines attractive, plenty of those around, Vivek may or may not belong in that category (just because he likes a man who could snap him in half with one hand…), don’t mean they are accurate to what happens in real life.

As they are arguing the point, Gimlet hooks up the skull into the speakers and it starts blasting off a message about Elysium and Grand Inquisitor Fane.

Vivek asks if this Fane person is a friend of Gimlet’s.

Gimlet says an Inquisitor by the name of Fane did live, 120 years ago.

So is this some kind of time travel thing?

Saef goes to check out the weapons and comes to the conclusion they have been made maybe two months ago, max.

So at least those aren’t from the past.

There’s also the question of servitors, as far as Vivek can see, they’re not official Triplex Phall -variety, so someone’s making unofficial servitors, great.

Gimlet is also worried since Grand Inquisitor isn’t a title in the Inquisition.

Vivek suggests perhaps this Fane fellow liked to be called a Grand Inquisitor in bed (eyebrow waggle).

Gimlet doesn’t really get what Vivek is saying so Vivek calls him a bit of a virgin.

Gimlet leaves the cockpit.

Saef stays with Vivek and teases him about Uffe a bit more, though Vivek can see that Saef is just ribbing him.

He does admit that Uffe is kinda cute, Saef says he doesn’t really see it, but ”you do you”.

And that’s all for the first session of this adventure. Plenty of mysteries abound. Next time, some weapons selling and possibly something more.

#nemo roleplays #campaign tag: the spacehulk of the happy and free #long post #wag rp #wag rp writeup #great start!#enjoying it a lot so far #man vivek has managed to be more cool in one session than cahair has been in like 5 years :D #vivek who doesnt actually have much battlefield experience or nothing #but i guess burning ppl's always cool #also vivek's kind of a dick #but vivek was always meant to be a bit of a dick #that's what you get when you write ppl who just dont get along with other ppl #someone's gonna start looking like a dick #or both #to be clear talking about kuru's and vivek's relationship here #altho gimlet can be a bit of a dick occasionally #insisting that another dude totes has a crush on you #when you don't like either of the people involved #or really know them #since it's not like gimlet in character would have any reason to be invested in vivek's and uffe's relationship #well at least vivek reads it as mean-spirited #will have to see if vivek's gonna have to have a serious conversation about that with gimlet #saef's not a dick yay #everyone loves saef dot jpeg dot org #good times good times

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cristinablackthornkingson · 6 years

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Shadowhunters Short Story #44. Kiearktina babies!

CW: Miscarriage, pregnancy loss.

This fic was requested by the lovely @andbronzetosummonwickedpowers! Just send me a message if you would like to request a fic :)

It is a miserable February day in 2014 when 20 year old Cristina Rosales Mendoza finds herself standing outside the LA entrance to the Silent City, with her best friend Emma trying to coax her down to the Bone City.

Lately, Cristina has been feeling off, she’s been feeling really sick all the time and vomiting a lot, her stomach and back have been bothering her, she’s been extremely emotional and just the other day she missed her period. When she missed her period she knew right away what was wrong wit her. She, Mark and Kieran weren’t exactly the best at practicing safe sex, it’s a wonder Cristina hasn’t found herself in this situation sooner.

This morning Cristina asked Emma to come with her to The Silent City where a Silent Brother could tell her for sure whether or not she’s pregnant, but now that they’re here Cristina isn’t so sure she wants to know. The thought of being pregnant is both terrifying and exhilarating, she’s only 20, Mark is only 23 and technically Kieran is only 24, though due to living in Faerie for most of his life, he has lived longer than 24 years. Still, all three of them are pretty young, especially to become parents, and Cristina has no idea how it will work what with Kieran being The Unseelie King and not being able to stay in the mortal world for long periods of time. Maybe the best option would be not to tell them at all and have an abortion.

“Cristina come on, you need to know one way or another.” Emma gently says, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder, wishing she could do something to help ease Cristina’s nerves.

“No, no I don’t I can just ignore it and it will go away.” Cristina says in a slightly panicked tone, her heart racing and her breath hitching in her throat.

“Okay but don’t be surprised if in nine months you’re sitting on the toilet and a baby pops out.” Emma says in a witty tone.

“Emma! Now’s not that time for jokes!” Cristina exclaims.

“And it’s not the time to let your fear get the best of you either, come on!” Emma firmly says, grabbing Cristina by the wrist and dragging her toward the entrance to The Silent City. Before Cristina can protest the shadowy figure of a Silent Brothers looms up in front of her.

Do you require the assistance of The Silent Brothers? The cold voice echos in her mind. Great, now she and Emma have pissed The Silent Brothers off with their arguing, Jem will kill them.

“Yes she does she’s being a baby about it, ironically! Cristina thinks she pregnant but she’s not sure, you can tell right?” Emma asks in a confident tone.

Yes of course, all that is required is a simple blood test and abdominal exam, if you follow me it will only take half an hour at most. The Silent Brother tells them. Half an hour, just half an hour until Cristina’s world is possibly turned upside down.

“Perfect! Is it okay if I come with her?” Emma asks in a hopeful tone.

Yes that is fine, follow me. And Cristina, there is no reason to be so nervous, whatever the results this is what The Angel has planned for you, it will all work out. The Silent Brother tells them, as they make their way through the dark, damp Silent City.

“Easy for you to say.” Cristina mumbles.

“Tina why are you so scared of finding out? I thought you wanted kids.” Emma asks her friend, not understanding where all this fear has come from.

“I do but not for another few years, and how will it work out with Kieran not being able to stay in the mortal world? The baby, Mark and I can’t exactly move to Faerie and Kieran has to be apart of the baby’s life, a big part.” Cristina explains in a hopeless tone.

“You’ll work something out, I know you will.” Emma softly says. Just then they reach a large set of wooden double doors. When they are opened they reveal a small room with concrete walls, a stone slab in the middle of the room, numerous trays with medical equipment, herbs, setles, etc, on them.

If you would take a seat on the table we can begin the examination, I will need you to lie back and lift your top up. The Silent Brother explains to Cristina, indicating the stone slab in the middle of the room. Swallowing hard Cristina makes her way across the room on wobbly legs and hoists herself onto the slab. When she lies back and pulls up her shirt, she almost gasps as The Silent Brother’s hands land on her stomach. For a good few minutes he feels around her stomach, pushing down in certain spots, paying particular attention to her lower abdomen. Once he has finished the abdominal exam, The Silent Brother draws a sample of blood from Cristina and turns away from her and Emma to examine it.

10 minutes later he turns back around and folds his hands in front of him.

Your suspicions were correct Cristina, though there is something else you should know. The Silent Brother tells her, sending her heart racing. Not only is she pregnant, could she possibly have some awful disease? Could the pregnancy not be viable? Would the baby not live outside her womb? Even though she is beyond scared of the idea of having a baby, the thought of loosing her child breaks Cristina’s heart.

“W-what is it?” She weakly asks.

You’re expecting twins. The Silent Brother’s voice echos in her mind, sending her into a sate of shock. Twins, two babies! Cristina feels as though she may faint.

“T-twins? T-two babies?” Cristina asks in a tone of shock, pressing one hand to her stomach and holding up two fingers on the other hand.

Yes two babies. The Silent Brother confirms.

“By The Angel.... are they both okay?” Cristina asks in an anxious tone.

Yes everything is very healthy with all three of you, you are approximately 2 months along and are due around the 10th of November. The Silent Brother explains. Cristina doesn’t know weather to laugh or cry, she had been so scared that something was wrong with her baby, so scared that she would miscarry, but now she’s been told she’s having twins, this is going to take a lot of explaining.

When she and Emma leave The Silent City, Cristina heads straight for The Cottage where she is meant to meet Mark and Kieran soon.

When she arrives at The Cottage and steps inside, she sees that she is the last to have arrived. Mark and Kieran are sitting on the over stuffed leather sofa, Kieran sitting up right and Mark lying across the couch with his head in Kieran’s lap, both of them gazing at each other and smiling brightly. Cristina’s heart flutters at the sight of them, the two people she loves most in the world, soon they would share her heart with two others.

“Am I missing out on all the fun?” Cristina lightly asks, kicking off her shoes and walking over to the couch.

“Unless you consider Mark’s terrible jokes fun, no.” Kieran says in a playful tone, smiling brightly up at her.

“My jokes are not terrible! Tavvy will account for that!”“ Mark exclaims.

“Are you alright my love? You look as though you’ve been crying.” Kieran gently asks Cristina, reaching out to grasp her hand in his.

“I... I have to tell you two something but I don’t really know how and I’m really scared.” Cristina quietly admits. She hadn’t been planning on telling them today but it looks like her plans are out the window.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Mark asks in a tone full of concern, sitting up and pulling Cristina down onto the sofa so that she is sitting between he and Kieran.

“Nothing’s wrong exactly it’s just... I missed my period.” Cristina whispers, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap.

“I... how... how late are you?” Mark asks in an equally quiet tone.

“About a month.”

“This means you might be.... right?” Kieran gently asks. Cristina nods.

“Yeah, in fact I... I am pregnant, with twins.” There is a silence for a moment before Kiearn stutters

“T-twins? Y-you’re pregnant with twins? Our twins?” Cristina laughs lightly and says

“No Kier they’re Diego’s babies. Of course they’re yours silly.” She knows Kieran isn’t insinuating that she has cheated on he and Mark, he’s just in shock and people tend to say stupid things when they’re in shock.

“Babies.” Mark softly says in a breathy tone, running his hand across Cristina’s stomach. “We’re going to have two babies, I hope they look like you and Kieran.” Kieran places his hand over Mark’s and lightly says

“No no no, they must look like you and Cristina, I demand it as King Of The Unseelie. You hear me you two? don’t look like me, you need to look like your beautiful mama and papa.” Cristina laughs lightly and wipes at her tears, her fears and anxieties lifting.

“How is this going to work Kier? I mean what with you being The Unseelie King and everything.” Cristina quietly asks.

“All three of us could move in here permanently, I would go to The Courts when I’m needed and can check in on The Courts everyday and only be gone a few hours, you and Mark can still see all your friends and family all the time, they can come visit and stay here, I imagine your mother is going to want to stay when the babies are born.” It seems like the perfect solution, they all spend so much time here anyway, they might as well move in, the babies need a stable and secure home, it wouldn’t be right or fair to haul them from LA to here to Faerie all the time, they can take the babies to visit everyone in LA and take them to visit The Courts, but this will be their home.

“Oh dios mios, I haven’t even thought about telling mama yet.” Cristina says, that will be an awkward conversation, though no doubt Carmen will be a dotting grandma who spoils the kids rotten.

“Do you know what we’re having?” Mark asks in a hopeful tone.

“Yes Mark, two babies.” Cristina teases. Mark grins and rolls his eyes.

“Well duh, I meant do you know if we’re having two boys, two girls or a girl and a boy?” Mark asks.

“No I don’t know and I want it to be a surprise but I want to pick their names out before they’re born so we need to get cracking on that.” Mark’s eyes widen and Kieran laughs at his boyfriend's expression and his girlfriend’s demands.

“If we have a girl I’d like to name her Olivia, after Livvy, it’s a way for her to have both her own name and her aunt’s name.” Mark quietly says, stroking Cristina’s belly with his thumb. Cristina rests her head on his shoulder and softly says

“Of course, Olivia Rosales- Blackthorn-Kingson, I love it.”

Over the course of the next few weeks Cristina, Kieran and Mark tell their friends and family about the babies. Everyone is very supportive and accepting. Mark’s brothers and sisters are beyond excited to be aunts and uncles. When they tell Carmen when she comes to visit from Mexico, Kieran and Mark are scared out of their minds, Carmen is a very protective mother and a fierce warrior. Thankfully she reacts well for the most part, at first she is very shocked but it only takes her a few minutes to come around and congratulate the three of them. That had been two weeks ago and according to Jaime and Diego, Carmen was telling everyone she could about her grandchildren. Though Cristina is glad her mother is so happy for her, she can’t help but worry that they have jinxed things by telling everyone so early on, she isn’t even three months pregnant yet and things are more likely to go wrong in the first three months.

Right now Cristina is lying in bed between Mark and Kieran, the sun streaming in through the small window. She had been unable to get back to sleep that morning due to mild cramps in her stomach and they seem to be getting worse. Cristina rolls from back to her side and pokes Mark in the back lightly.

“Mark.” She quietly says. “Let me up.” Mark groans and heaves himself from the bed. When Cristina gets out of the bed and turns to grab her phone, she freezes on the spot when she sees the red stain on the white sheets where she had just been lying.

“Tina? You alright?” Mark asks in a tone of concern.

“I’m bleeding.” Cristina quietly says in a tone of shock. They had jinxed it by telling everyone so early, blood could only mean one thing and now they will have to tell everyone that there will be no babies after all.

Kieran instantly scrambles from the bed.

“I’m going to get a healer from The Court.” He says in a panicked tone, throwing a shirt on and rushing out of the door.

Half an hour later, Cristina is lying on the bed on her back, a Faerie healer standing over her and Kieran and Mark sitting on either side of her, clutching her hands tightly.

“A-are the babies okay?” Mark asks in an anxious tone.

“Yes all is well with both babies. Lady Rosales-Mendoza, you are experiencing what is known as a threatened miscarriage, you are bleeding and experiencing abdominal cramps but all is well with both babies, both heartbeats are strong. The best thing to do is stay off your feet and rest, you must avoid sex until the symptoms have been gone completely for a week. In a week or so you can have another blood test to test the HCG level, if it is rising normally than we know the pregnancy is developing as normal.” When the healer finishes her explanation Cristina feels as though she is about to cry with relief.

“Is there anything else that can be done?” Kieran asks, his voice not once portraying his fear and anxiety.

“No M’lord, some forms of mundane pain relief can be taken to help the cramps but that is all.” The healer explains.

A few minutes later The Healer sees herself out and Cristina cannot hold back her tears of joy and neither can Mark or Kieran.

“God that was one of the scariest things I’ve been through, I thought we were going to loose them.” Mark says in a wobbly tone, placing a hand on Cristina's belly.

“So did I, I was petrified.” Cristina admits, wiping at her tears.

“Are you alright Kier?” Mark softly asks, reaching over to grasp Kieran’s hand in his. Kieran lifts his head and smiles weakly at Mark as tears run down his cheeks.

“Yes, yes I am fine, I was just so worried for Cristina and the babies. I love these two so much already, it would absolutely kill me to loose them.” Kieran quietly says, placing his hand over Mark’s. Mark squeezes Cristina and Kieran’s hands lightly and in a loving tone says

“Me too, god I love you so much, all 4 of you.”

Over the next few days Cristina hardly leaves the bed; Mark and Kieran bring her food, they bring her books to read, sit with her as much as they can to keep her company, etc. A week after the threatened miscarriage the bleeding and cramps stop and a visit from Brother Enoch confirms that all is well with both the babies and Cristina.

She, Mark and Kieran officially and fully move into The Cottage when Cristina is 5 months pregnant. They had much help from all of Mark’s brothers and sisters and Kit, Tessa and Jem helped out too. Since Cristina could not lift anything heavy or strain or exert herself in anyway, while everyone else was bringing things into The Cottage, Cristina sat outside in the grass with Tessa and Jem’s two year old daughter Cordelia. Spending time with her made Cristina all the more eager to meet her own children. Cordelia was fascinated by Cristina’s bump and loved feeling the babies kick, by the end of the day she was begging Jem and Tessa for a brother or sister. She thought it was extremely unfair that Tavvy would have two babies in his family and she would have non.

The rest of the pregnancy progresses easily and smoothly, much to everyone’s relief. At 6 months pregnant Cristina decides on having a home birth with a midwife/nurse delivering the baby and a Silent Brother witnessing the birth while also being available to assist if anything goes amiss. Jem offers to stand in place of a Silent Brother, knowing how uncomfortable most people are around them, and Tessa offers to deliver the baby, she never went to med school or anything but she has hundreds of years of experience as does Jem. Cristina accepts their offers, relived that two strangers won’t be the ones in charge of her birth.

When Cristina is 7 months pregnant they decide to give the babies two godparents between them. After a while of debating they agree that Emma will be their godmother and Jaime will be their godfather. Emma and Jaime are two of Cristina’s closest friends and the ones who visit her most throughout the pregnancy while she needs to take it easy. She had wanted to visit her mother as well as Jaime in Mexico before the babies arrived, but after the threatened miscarriage that was off the table, instead her mother would come stay in LA a few weeks before Cristina’s due date, as will Jaime.

Right now Cristina is 8 months pregnant, 36 weeks along, 4 weeks from her due date. Her mother and Jaime will be coming to stay in 3 weeks.

At this stage of her pregnancy Cristina is very tired, very uncomfortable and very emotional. Carrying two 6 pound babies around is no easy feat and all the hormones that come with pregnancy are driving Cristina mad. The other day she cried for a solid half hour because she dropped her pen. Mark and Kieran are extremely supportive and understanding though and do everything they can to make Cristina feel better. When she is suffering from aches and pains in her back, they will lie with her for hours massaging her back to try and relieve the pain, when she is exhausted and needs to nap multiple times a day they will lie with her if she wants or give her some space if she needs it. And when she becomes overwhelmed with emotions they are there to love her and support her and assure her that it’s okay to feel this way, it’s very normal in fact.

It is currently 1:00 A.M. and Cristina has just been awoken by the urge to use the bathroom. Normally she sleeps in-between Kiearn and Mark, but since she got pregnant and has started to frequently need the toilet at night, she has switched potions with Mark and now sleeps on the right side of the bed so she can get in and out without waking the boys.

Five minutes later, just as Cristina is about to leave the bathroom and crawl back into bed, she is hit with an intense pain in her lower abdomen which causes her to double over, clutching at the wall for support. The pain lasts at least a solid five minutes and leaves Cristina feeling drained of energy. It takes her fifteen minutes to gather her strength to go back to bed, but just as she reaches to turn off the light in the bathroom, another intense pain hits her, almost worse than the last one. A few minutes later she is relieved to hear soft padded footsteps and looks up to see Mark standing in the doorway to the bathroom, his pale blonde hair rumpled and concern written all over his face.

“Cristina are you alright?” He asks in a concerned tone.

“I think the babies are coming.” Just as the words leave Cristina’s mouth a gush of water comes from between her legs.

Mark helps Cristina back to their room, where she chooses to sit on the edge of the bed while Kieran holds her hand and Mark rushes off to call Tessa and Jem. Only 20 minutes after feeling her first contraction, Cristina feels an awful intense pressure between her legs. Gasping, she clutches at Kieran’s shoulder and gasps out

“The babies are coming right now, I have to push.” Kieran and Mark exchange a terrified look. Tessa and Jem assured them they would be there as soon as possible, though in the ten minutes since Mark contacted them, they haven’t made an appearance.

“W-what do we do?” Mark asks in a panicked tone.

“One of us are going to have to deliver the babies, or catch them at least.” Kiearn calmly says, doing his best to hide his fear and concern for Mark and Cristina. Hopefully Tessa and Jem will show up before one of the babies comes out.

“I-I can’t do it!” Mark exclaims in a horrified tone.

“Then I will.” Kiearn says, climbing out of the bed and kneeling at Cristina’s feet. “You just do what your body tells you to do Cristina, it will be alright, all three of us are going to do this together.” He calmly yet firmly tells her. Cristina nods and grips Mark’s hand before pushing as hard as she can, trying to breath through the pain. There had been no time for any pain relief, not even a pain killing rune.

“You’re almost there my lady of roses, I see a head.” Kieran says in a tone of awe and wonder. After another few minutes of pushing, the baby slips out into Kieran’s arms and immediately starts wailing loudly.

“Oh god are they okay?” Cristina asks in an anxious tone, leaning forward to get a glimpse of her baby.

“Yes, yes they’re perfect. They’re a boy.” Kieran says in a strained tone, tears of joy welling in his eyes. A boy, a son he has a son.

“While it seems that you are doing a splendid job without us, would you perhaps like some help?” Comes an amused, familiar voice from the doorway of the bedroom. Cristina turns to see Jem and Tessa standing in the doorway, Tessa with a compact blue bag in her hands and Jem with a bundle of towels and blankets.

“Yes, that would be very much appreciated.” Kiearn says in a breathless tone, still shocked at what just happened.

“Jem can you cut and clamp the little boy’s umbilical cord, wash him down and wrap him up while I help Cristina deliver his sibling?” Tessa calmly asks, as she strides over to the bed, sets her bag down and kneels beside Kieran.

“Of course, does he have a name?” Jem softly asks, spreading a clean towel on the floor to lay the baby on.

“Not yet, they weren’t suppose to come for 4 more weeks.” Cristina says in a breathy tone, wincing as another pain hits her.

“Twins do tend to come early, 36 weeks is good for a twin pregnancy, practically full term.” Tessa gently says, before she looks up at Cristina and says “I see your next baby’s head, you need to push okay?” Cristina nods and starts pushing again, grasping both Kieran and Mark’s hands in hers. Just a few minutes later she feels a weight lift from her and hears her baby start to cry.

“You did it Cristina! My god you’re amazing!” Mark exclaims in a tone of awe, leaning in to kiss her temple.

“Is the baby okay? Are both of them okay?” Kieran anxiously asks, looking from Tessa who is cleaning Baby B down, to Jem who has Baby A wrapped up in blankets and is cradling him in his arms. Jem adores babies, he loves helping out at births like this and getting to hold and fuss over the beautiful new babies, he is desperate for a second baby.

“This little one is right as rain.” Jem lightly says, getting up and gently passing the baby to Cristina.

“As is his sister.” Tessa joyfully says, placing the other baby beside her brother.

“Sister? We have a girl? A boy and a girl?” Cristina softly asks.

“Yes that’s right, they’re absolutely beautiful, congratulations. We’ll give you some privacy, if you need us just shout.” Tessa says, before she and Jem leave the room hand in hand.

Cristina, Mark and Kiearn gaze down at their babies in awe. They are both so tiny and so perfect. Their daughter- Olivia- looks just like Kieran, with a few wisps of dark hair and his nose and eye shape, while she has Cristina’s pallor and bone structure and a mouth shape that seems to be all her own. Their little boy is a perfect mixture of Cristina and Mark. He has a few tufts of dark blonde hair, Mark’s bone structure and mouth shape while he has Cristina’s pallor, nose and eye shape.

“What should we name our baby boy?” Cristina asks in a hoarse tone.

“How about Arthur After my uncle?” Mark suggests. He had hardly known his Uncle Arthur at all, and sometimes he found himself blaming Arthur for ruining Julian’s childhood and forcing him to run The Institute and raise his siblings, but in the end Arthur sacrificed himself to save Mark and his siblings, and he deserves to be honored and recognized for that.

“Arthur.Arthur and Olivia, I like it. What about you Kier?” Cristina softly asks.

“It’s certainly a name fit for a prince. What about middle names for them?” He asks.

“How about Olivia Grace and Arthur Edward?” Mark suggests. These were two names, his mother told him, that were on the table when she was pregnant with Ty and Livvy, but in the end she and his dad decided they sounded too plain next to names like Julian Atticus and Mark Anthony.

“Olivia Grace Rosales-Blackthorn-Kingson, George Edward Rosales-Blackthorn-Kingson, prince and princess of The Unseelie Court.” Kieran softly says, gently stroking Olivia’s cheek and smiling widely when she reaches a hand out of the blankets and grabs his finger.

“Seems like Jace and Kit aren’t the only ones with lots of last names.” Mark jokingly says, bending to press a kiss to his son’s cheek.

“Hm Olivia Grace Rosales Mendoza Blackthorn Kingson Hunter. Bit of a mouthful huh babies?” Cristina coos, gently bouncing the babies in her arms.

“We could just call them Olivia and Arthur RMBKH.” Mark jokes, feeling on top of the world now his babies are here, his sweet perfect babies.

“That would be rather cruel Mark, Cristina I do not think he should have a say in baby names anymore.” Kieran teases.

“Oh? Are you implying you want more babies?” Kieran grins and nods.

“Well of course, we are after all a Royal family and Royal families usually have many children.” Cristina smiles widely and says

“Well good, because I want lots of babies too, I say we try and beat your parents Mark, what do you say to eight kids? We got two in one go, just 6 more.” Mark laughs and leans in to kiss her lightly on the lips.

“Emma and Julian will probably beat us by a long shot though, I’m surprised it was us who had kids first and not them.” Mark jokes. Cristina can’t help but grin knowingly, last time Emma had come to visit she had told Cristina she’s pregnant and asked her not to tell anyone else as it is still early days. Cristina of course agreed to keep it a secret but is delighted for Emma and Jules, they will be amazing parents and it will be wonderful for Arthur and Olivia to have a cousin so close to them in age.

As she sits between her two amazing, wonderful, loving boyfriends, snuggling her beautiful new babies, Cristina feels like shes’ in heaven. She could not possibly ask for more, in this one small moment, everything is perfect.

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