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makeste · 4 years

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BnHA Chapter 297: We’re Bustin’ Outta This Joint

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi did his best to undo all of the good vibes from the Girl Power arc by killing off Midnight. It sucks and I still don’t like it, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, Not Killing Off Your One Female Teacher Character With Any Character Development was worth 30% of his grade for the semester, so it brought his average down all the way to a C-, and so he and his report card will just have to live with that. Meanwhile Ochako did some rescuing, and the other U.A. kids lay around unconscious and/or traumatized. The chapter ended with an abrupt cut to Tartarus, where AFO is apparently just chilling and waiting for the Nearly High Ends to come bust him free. What kind of a cliffhanger is that to leave your fans hanging on for three whole weeks. Who’s suffering more here, the characters or the readers.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “okay I know you all want to know what happens to Deku and Shouto and the rest, but have you considered finding out what happens to Overhaul and Muscular and Moonfish and New Girl Character instead?” Fandom is all, “you had us at New Girl Character.” Seiji’s dad is all, “I’m just going to say a bunch of stuff to help make sure none of the readers feel conflicted about cheering on a bunch of mass murderers escaping from prison.” Tomura is all, “dammit AFO why are you still here.” AFO is all, “shhh, Tomura, go back to sleep.” Tomura is all, “wtf but you’re literally hijacking my body and continuing to shred it to bits while we break into BnHA Alcatraz to recruit your own personal Suicide Squad.” AFO is all, “:).” Real!AFO is all, “HERE I AM, EVERYONE, SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING.” And then the chapter ends. Geez.

oh shit lol it’s a whole big fucking page all about Tartarus

my very first thought was “that’s a long-ass fucking bridge”, and then I went to go google “longest bridges”, and Wikipedia was all “son there are literally a hundred and fifty bridges in the real world longer than 5km, and the longest one is actually 165km”, and I was all “oh shit I really don’t know jack shit about bridges.” then I looked at the list for a few more minutes and realized that the super-long bridges were all built over land, and that the longest bridge over water is only 38km. which is way more reasonable, but also still really fucking long though?? ngl I would freak the fuck out on that bridge. what does any of this have to do with Tartarus you ask?? absolutely nothing, I literally forgot I was reading a chapter for a sec lol uh

anyway, my parting thought on the bridge is that it kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a giant island fortress prison, but whatever. moving on

and the six levels thing is straight out of One Piece lol. something tells me BnHA’s prison break arc isn’t going to be quite as fun. hmm

so now we’re cutting to “the Bronze Gate”, which is the main entrance off of the bridge, and some goat-looking motherfucker is out here trying to become my new favorite character. bro

SON OF A BITCH WHAT’S WITH THE BULLETS FLYING IN THE BACKGROUND. DON’T TELL ME THEY’RE SHOOTING AT GYGES. THEY CAN’T KILL OFF MY FRESHEST HOMIE GYGES. SURELY THEY WOULDN’T

ooh and now, giant robots!

giant robots with machine guns. “I’m very sorry I killed off Midnight, makeste” you know what, fuck you Horikoshi. thinking you can buy my affections back so easily

does Gyges have six arms??? look how fucking calm he is announcing the code red security lockdown, holy shit. GYGES

NOOOO

NO NOT BRIAREUS. THIS DAY EXACTS A HEAVY TOLL

YO, WHAT

he came there himself?? so much for making the Noumus do his dirty work. and based on the speech bubble shape and font, this is still AFO talking

uh oh what’s happening

is he using Decay or is his arm just sort of crumbling to pieces because he hasn’t had time to heal up yet? if it’s the former this prison break is going to set a record for shortest arc yet isn’t it

now we’re cutting to B10 which is apparently the lowest level. but do they mean lowest as in the least security, or lowest as in the deepest underground, a.k.a. the most security? idk it’s confusing and I think they should be more specific. is it B like in basement?? are there six levels or ten?? stupid Tartarus

anyway so the guards are talking about how Gigantomachia is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. heh. will there even be a Tartarus tomorrow morning

(ETA: WELL, UH.)

wow they’re talking about just killing him outright. damn

I kinda feel like “prison guard” is one of those jobs that just sort of naturally attracts shitty people. anyways yeah, Seiji your dad is a real piece of work

and he’s even doubling down on it after the other guy repeatedly keeps trying to hush him up. dude we get it, you’re an asshole

ooh and now we’re getting an interesting look at the various prisoners, some of whom look suspiciously familiar!

for starters, that’s definitely Moonfish in the upper left corner, I’m like 99% sure. not quite clear who that is across from him in the upper right, but it’s been a hot minute since we saw Muscular, so maybe?

and could that be Overhaul in the panel beneath him?? they’re not showing his face so I assume it’s someone we’d recognize, and he’s the only currently-incarcerated villain with that haircut as far as I can recall. though it seems weird that he’s not restrained more given his quirk. I thought Horikoshi mentioned in Ultra Analysis that he’d gotten it back somehow. eh well we will wait for answers

I don’t recognize the person to his left either (though she has an oddly familiar look to her?). but the person on the bottom right, next to Kurogiri... is it Stain?? the hair and body language are sure giving off Stain vibes. if someone had told the me from two years ago that I’d actually be excited to see Stain again I would have said you were full of shit. and yet here we are. these sure are interesting times

anyway so now the Code Red intruder alarm is blaring. and I gotta say, that one scene sure was effective at killing any sympathy I might have been inclined to feel for these guards lol. bring on the imminent massacre

“what horrible timing” lol yes. it’s almost as if they planned it that way

uh oh

is he omae wa shindeiruing. watch your six, Mr. Prison Guard

oh shit

WHAT DID I SAY. WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY. but nooo, you all were all, “but a bridge is more convenient!” VERY WELL THEN, LIE IN THE BED THAT YOU HAVE MADE

anyway so it’s the High Ends lol. I mean we already knew it was them. let’s just get on with it

omfg Tomura ARE YOU RIDING ONE

WHAT ARE YOU, A NAZGUL. WHY IS THIS MY FAVORITE THING

and it looks like it actually is Tomura again, too (as opposed to AFOmura)

-- is he using Decay on himself?? is that what it is?? or no wait, is this just more of the weird side effect shit that’s been happening since he Awakened. actually yeah never mind that’s clearly what it is

y’all this man is out here having a full blown argument with himself

so this is equal parts compelling and hilarious to me right now lol. like I feel so bad for Tomura, but I also lowkey want to see how far this escalates. like do you think he’d go as far as to punch himself in the face. where will this journey lead us

fucking look at this shit

other people have already mentioned this, but with this scene especially it makes me really curious how they’re going to show this in the anime. will it be AFO’s voice coming out of Tomura’s mouth? or Tomura’s voice using AFO’s speech patterns? more importantly, will it be cool and dramatic, or will it actually wind up being hilarious? or both?? never count out both

also he’s looking pretty good there in that bottom panel with his one eye just barely visible. that doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but here I am, pointing it out

also also, lol at Tomura being all, “the fuck do you mean, ‘rest’, you’re the one that dragged my body out here to raid a fucking prison,” and AFO being all, “oh yeah, lol, true true, but I meant rest after that.” yes, this man clearly has nothing but the purest intentions, Tomura. trustworthy af

this fucking guy. Tomura is your bullshit radar finally operational yet?? can you see yet that it was always his intention to use you right from the very start?? oh man I am starting to get fidgety now listening to this

so Tomura’s saying he doesn’t just want to be used as a chess piece. and AFO is all, “well okay but what if it’s a VERY NICE AND IMPORTANT chess piece.” bro DID HE STUTTER

-- AHH BUT NEVER MIND THAT, HERE IT IS, THIS IS WHERE THE FUN STARTS OMG

GO ON AND ACQUIRE THEM THEN! omg. why am I so fucking excited. it seriously makes no sense. like seriously, ‘hooray, our old buddies, Overhaul and Stain!!’ -- come again now?? who is this person that I have become

meanwhile AFO is making all this fuss and I really don’t understand it though

why would you need to plow directly through the building. why can’t you just use doors like a normal person. it’s not like they can lock you out, like hello, you can literally turn anything you touch into dust, what’s with all the melodrama

anyway so he’s apparently hitting the prison with some sort of EMP attack now and shutting down all their systems

omg the suspense is killing me. this is going to be so badass once it’s animated, but right now all I keep thinking is “YES, GREAT, CAN WE PLEASE JUST MOVE IT ALONG”

the doors are opening ahhhhhhh come on come on come on let’s go let’s get to the excitement already

now the guards are running over to try and regain control. but, like

yeah that’s pretty much how I’m expecting the rest of this to go basically

so now they’re shooting at the dust cloud lol. well if there’s one thing movies have taught me, it’s that bad guys who wait inside clouds of dust while panicked cops blindly rain bullets at them until they run out of ammo are basically invincible lol. soooooo

OHHHHH SHIT

AHAHAHAHAHAHA. THEY ARE SO FUCKED LOL, SHIT

YEP, AND HERE’S ANOTHER ONE

is this the first time we’ve seen Moonfish’s face? I feel like we might have caught a glimpse of it before on an omake page or something. either way, it wasn’t anything I actually needed to see again. thanks...?? I guess??

okay but seriously, are we supposed to actually know who this badass lady is?? like I don’t know her but I feel like I know her, you feel?

(ETA: lol there are already like 60 different theories about how she’s related to every single character in the series. will be interesting to see if anything comes of this. although we did just get three “this villain was secretly related to [insert character(s) here] all along” reveals just in the last arc, so idk, it might be better if we pass on it this time lol.)

girl who are you. please stick around. for the love of god don’t let this man kill you off too

????

wait so is this Overhaul? boy sure has seen better days huh. but the floppy sleeves... yeah, it’s gotta be him

anyway so then the only ones missing are Stain and Kurogiri, yes?? omg. and one page left to go

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO CONVINCE ME HE COULDN’T HAVE DONE THIS SHIT RIGHT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. FUCKING TIME-BIDING DRAMA QUEEN

AND HE’S JUST FLOATING HIS LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM ALONG BEHIND HIM SOB. THIS FUCKING GUY

AND IS HE JUST ABSENTMINDEDLY DRAGGING SOME POOR SCHLUB’S CORPSE ALONG BESIDE HIM LIKE A SLEEPY TODDLER CARRYING THEIR TEDDY BEAR. I FUCKING CAN’T. REST IN PEACE, FRIEND. GIVE MY REGARDS TO GOOD OLD BRIAREUS

so that’s it! and we still don’t have any idea what AFO is actually planning to do now, after all of that. are they going to merge bodies?? or is he going to try to switch with him?? either way Tomura’s body has to be part of the plan somehow since he keeps making so much of a fuss over it. flkhglkhlk. dammit I need answers lol

#bnha 297 #shigaraki tomura #all for one #overhaul #muscular #moonfish #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #horikoshi where is gyges!!#your silence is defeaning #first midnight and now this #I am beside myself #r.i.p.

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interact-if · 3 years

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The A/PI Heritage Month interviews are coming to a close soon! For Day 8, we have lovely Aster! :chinhands:

Aster, author of Nevermoore

A/PI Heritage Month Featured Author

They say that curiosity killed the cat, but it won’t be satisfaction that’ll be bringing you back. Again. And again. And again.

The simple act of visiting your parents turns into something much more than what you were expecting when your car suddenly breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and you find yourself right beside a small town that’s engulfed by the trees.

Some of the residents you met right away were welcoming enough, happy to try and lend a helping hand when they can. But their smiles seemed more apologetic than happy, and their eyes looked at you with regret.

You never really did understand why that was…

Until you died.

So now, you are an unwilling participant in an endless cycle of death and resurrection. And the more you learn about the bloodstained history of the town and the past of its people, the more you'll get tangled up in a web of secrets that threatens to keep you there forever.

So welcome, newcomer… to Nevermoore.

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

Q1: First of all, introduce us to your project! What is it about?

Nevermoore is planned to be is a supernatural story wrapped in a little horror bow about a cursed town that’s both lost to the trees and lost to the ages. Relatively normal lives can still happen there...well, as normal as it gets when not only is aging put to a pause, but dying isn’t even a permanent thing. And the duration of the stay, as far as the town is concerned, is forever.

And unsurprisingly, these effects of the town are barely half of the secrets and mysteries that it holds...But the question is, does the latest new resident that ‘accidentally’ stumbled across it (spoiler alert that’s you) really wants to know what they are?

...Perhaps some things are just better left forgotten.

Q2: If it’s not too spoilery, what are you most excited about your project?

Oh, there’s so many scenes and reveals I want to get to already that it’s hard to choose! But if I had to be specific, the one I’m most excited in writing out is Sterling’s (an RO) backstory! I don’t mean to play favorites or anything, but I like to think that their backstory as having the most Hollywood movie levels of drama and intrigue.

Sterling was honestly the first character I made for this story, even before the MC, so I can’t help myself in having some fun with this!

Q3: What inspired the current project you’re working on?

Believe it or not, Nevermoore’s first iteration was supposed to be a very specific, very self-indulgent AU fanfic of this piece of media I was into back in like, 2014? The drafts of that had remained in my Google Drive, unchanged and unworked on, that is until about two years ago when I discovered the wide, diverse world of interactive fiction.

Inspired to create a story to share with others, I ended up reviving those old documents. The plot and the characters had to be massively overhauled to make it more my own of course, and some inspiration was also been taken from shows like Stranger Things and Dark for their eerie and secretive small-town aesthetics.

Q4: Do you pull from your own identity for inspiration? How has that been reflected in your work?

...Admittedly, not so much. It was an embarrassingly lack of foresight on my part (as a first generation Filipino-Canadian), because it somehow never occurred to me that I can, in fact, add characters who are like me into my own writing. Well, lesson learned. Good news is that I already have some side characters planned who’ll be Filipinothat will show up later on in Nevermoore’s demo, as well as have a Filipino RO in a future wip. The latter of which I am very excited about!

With that being said, I will share that MCs parents in the story are actually loosely based on my own parents who were Filipino immigrants! I won’t elaborate on what parts, but I’m planning on integrating some more of their personalities in the upcoming patch. I really want dedicate those characters to them, since they’ve already sacrificed so much to bring me and my sibling here in Canada to have a better life! :)

Q5: What’s been your experience so far? With writing, with the if community...

There’s no doubt in my mind that getting involved with the IF community has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, despite being incredibly internet shy at first. I’m glad to have meet so many amazing IF writers and readers, and I definitely wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did with my projects if it weren’t for our constant support, help, and hype for each other.

This community has been so wonderful and welcoming, and I can’t wait to see it grow even more!

Q6: Do you have any future projects in the works?

At least three so far, actually! Nothing is fully established yet, just some concepts and vibes. But the genres are high-fantasy, postapocalyptic-ish, and sci-fi.

The first is about a character who’s an aspiring writer (heh) that suddenly finds themselves ‘isekaied’ into the fantasy world of the still-incomplete book they were working on. The second is about an immortal from the dawn of humanity trying to live through the endof humanity ft. zombies(?). And the third is about a volunteer of a cryosleep experiment gone wrong and ends up waking up 1000 years in the future instead. It seems here that my brain won’t let me rest and is telling me to try my hand in as many genres I can haha!

Q7: Finally, what piece of advice would you give to fellow authors?

This is advice that I still have to work on following myself but: Don’t stress too much on your first drafts, it’s called that for a reason! Focus on getting the basic ideas/dialogues/etc down and don’t be afraid to write ‘badly’, since there’s always time for you to polish it into something you’re happy with later on!

Otherwise, you’ll only get into this cycle of editing the same sections over and over, and that can burn you out before you even have the chance to work on the parts you’re actually excited for!

#if: events #Happy Asian and Pacific Islander month!!#Asian/pacific islander month 2021 #a/pi month #a/pi month 2021 #aapiheritagemonth #aapi month #interactive fiction #authors of color

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lollytea · 3 years

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Girl Talk

(ngl I hate this sm. I wrote this fic yesterday, the file corrupted and i lost everything, had a breakdown, rewrote everything the next day because I am obnoxiously stubborn. Anyways Hunter and Luz content. Bon Appetit?)

(READ ON AO3)

“Okay, but what am I even supposed to say to her? Oh! Maybe I could write down some jokes on the back of my glyph slips in case things get awkward. Wait, no, I don't want her to think I'm not taking this seriously. I don't need to be goofy all the time just to hang out with her. I need her to know that I'm serious about her and this whole...romantic thing. And I know she gets upset when she thinks I'm making fun of her so...”

“Alright, so, get this. It says here that there was once this old witch who lived on the outskirts of Latissa and his whole thing was experimenting by mixing paints and magic together. Apparently the stuff he created was like....super powerful.”

“I mean, she said she likes me 'cause I'm goofy and funny and lovable and...and...and I'm sure there's other adjectives I could use but I'm drawing a blank here. So, who am I to deprive her of what she signed up for? But I can't just....ugh, I can't even think right!”

“It doesn't have a lot of info on his specific technique but I'm sure if we did some more research, we could successfully replicate his experiments. We're pretty good at figuring stuff out. Woah, wait. I wonder what would happen if we created glyphs with this paint....maybe it would enhance the spell's level of power. Oh, that would be so cool!”

Luz stopped pacing, the floorboards practically burning after she thoroughly wore down the surface with her frantic footsteps. She set a hand on her hip and turned a withering look on her guest.

“Call me coocoo but I don't think you're listening to a word I say.”

Hunter lifted his head to blink up at her, chewing on the end of a pen. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, boxed in by towers of Eda's Wild Magic books.

There was a glassy look in his eye, as if he was trying to get his bearings after being abruptly yanked out of an alternate dimension.

He had been, in a way. Luz was inclined to call it “Booksville.”

When Luz first met Hunter, this sort of stuff was a big, huge No-No for him. She could've invited him to take a look at any one of those books, packed with information on that obsession of his and of course, he'd be crazy with intrigue but he would hesitate. If he even opened the book at all, he'd card through the pages with an almost jumpy sense of caution, as if the paper itself would sting his fingers.

Well, that ship had certainly sailed. It had taken him a while to get fully comfortable but nowadays, Hunter didn't ask twice before digging into the contents of Eda's books, soaking up every tidbit of every sentence until he had exhausted every page.

He had even brought his own index flags to mark his favorite passages. He had gone on a little rant earlier about how Eda was an outright maniac for dog-earring the page corners.

Luz made a mental note to never show him the state of her Azura books. He would probably cry.

Hunter had become so lost in the Wild Magic sauce, he didn't even seem to care about the fact that he was not supposed to be here.

Of course, Eda didn't mind that he was here. That is to say, Luz didn't technically tell her he was here. She and King were currently out, being menaces to society and all that fun stuff, as they usually were before Luz would sneak Hunter in.

So, to be fair, Eda had never specifically said that Luz was not allowed to let The Golden Guard of the Emperor's coven into their home.

It was probably fine, right?

Yeah, it was probably fine that Luz had been hiding The Golden Guard of the Emperor's coven in her bedroom like some kind of forbidden pet.

Speaking of forbidden pets, that precious red cardinal of his was perched like a Christmas decoration atop his shoulder. That little rascal did wonders for Hunter. He seemed so much cuter than he was when there was an adorable little palisman snuggling up to him.

Once Hunter had processed what Luz said to him, his features screwed up tight. He was offended.

“Whadd'ya mean I'm not listening? I bet you can't repeat anything I was just talking about.”

“Ugh! Yeah, Hunter, I heard you. Paints! You wanna start painting as a hobby and let me just tell you, I fully support your budding creativety and will hype up your work with my entire heart but please. Right now I am having a full blown Amity Calamity!”

“Yeah, okay, that is not what I was talking about. Also, I get that you're freaking out n' all but....what do you expect me to do about it?” He threw his hands about wildly, at a complete loss. “Man, I don't know anything about that stuff,”

“I don't knowww....” Luz groaned. “I just....ugggghhh.” She buried her head in her hands, ruffling her hair into oblivion, like it would miraculously stimulate her brain cells into action. It released some pent up frustration, at least. “I wish it was easier for us to just talk about girls together.”

Hunter perked up. “Talk about girls? Are you kidding? Of course we can talk about girls, dummy!”

“Wait, really?” Luz asked, taken aback by this apparent development.

“Yeah, for sure. One sec,” Buzzing with eagerness, Hunter dove into his stacks of books, emerging seconds later with a worn, dust encrusted volume. It was so ancient, the title had faded away but Hunter still put his finger to where the big letters should be.

“Notable Female Witches of The Savage Ages,” He rattled off delightedly. “They were considered the mothers of Wild Magic. Their style of spell was really quite advanced, see they--”

Despite her frayed nerves, Luz sill managed a weak laugh.

As insufferable as he could be sometimes, she really did like this nerd a lot.

“Okay, Hunter. Buddy,” She said gently. “This stuff sounds really cool and I wanna hear all about it at some point buuuut....when I say girls, I mean...y'know. Amity specifically.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah.”

Hunter's face fell with disappointment but he was quick to snap back into a look of cool indifference. He shut the book in his lap with a soft thump, set it aside and turned his full attention to Luz.

“Sooooo...” he began awkwardly, scratching at his ear. It could not be more obvious that Hunter wanted nothing to do with this discussion. But Luz appreciated that he was trying. “Girlfriend problems, huh? Shoot.”

Luz's cheeks darkened. “Heh. 'Girlfriend'. Yeah, that's...uh...” She was suddenly very inconvenienced by the existence of her own hands so she clasped them together tight to keep herself from fidgeting. “That is.....a word for Amity.”

Hunter frowned, puzzled. “Okaaaay? So, what's the issue?”

“Ohhhhhh, boy.” An ironic, long suffering smile stretched across her face. “Let me just tell you that there is a lot goin' on up here, pal.” Luz tapped her finger against her temple. “So if I'm gonna give you the full unabridged version--”

“You could summarize it.”

“You know I don't know how to do that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hunter sighed. “Figured it was worth a shot. Okay, let's hear it.”

“Alright but this is gonna be a lot so I suggest you strap yourself in,”

Luz sucked in a deep inhale, with full intent to let the entire flood of thoughts cascade out her mouth.

Hunter's eyes snapped to the floor, like he was actually looking for a safety harness to attach himself to. Then he seemed to realize that was ridiculous, as he scowled to himself. Little Rascal chirped and he irritably mumbled something under his breath in response.

And then Luz took off.

“Alright, so!” She announced, clapping her hands together. “So me and Amity have known each other fooooor...a while now? Yeah, it's been a while. And we've been pretty good friends ever since and then one day, she rescued me from her scary mom and she had this black flowing cape and her voice went all low and then suddenly, huh. Doki doki, y'know?” She thumped a fist against her chest. “I was gettin' all feelings-y up in here,”.

“And then a little later I figured out that we were both feeling kinda feelings-y and I was all like,” She mimed a brain explosion. “Pshww....”

“Pshww....” Hunter repeated quietly, testing out the little sound effect on his tongue. “Doki...doki....?”

“Yeah. Exactly. Doki doki. Pshww.” Luz nodded, as if he had made a valuable contribution. “So, now we're both here in the same boat, fully shish kebab-ed by Cupid's arrow.”

“Hold up. What language are you speaking?”

“And things are....great? Nice? Sorta hard to believe but stuff actually happens. We hold hands a few times, we...” The volume of her voice dropped to a bashful murmur. “we kiss a few times. There was so many beautiful, amazing romance-y moments that happened, just like in movies, y'know?”

“Movies....?” Hunter's bewildered stare turned from Luz to the bird on his shoulder, as if he was going to get any further clarification from either of them.

“Right! But here's the thing. It sorta feels like all that stuff just went by in a blur. I don't even know how I did any of that. The hand holding, the smooches the....ugh! It was like I was on autopilot or something and now I have no idea how to operate. Now, no matter how hard I try to get the vibe right, I can recreate those moments. So now it's starting to feel like...I don't know how to do anything!”

Luz's arms were whizzing around like an out of control windmill.

“I mean, Sure, Amity takes the lead sometimes but I can't make her carry this entire....relationship? Flirtationship? Whatever it is that's happening here! I gotta act or something! But I've been thinking about it waaaay too much. I never know the right time to hold her hand, I never know if she wants me to tell her she looks cute or if now maybe isn't the right time or...it's awkward, okay?! I've been making it awkward 'cause I don't know what to do! I-I don't even know for sure if we're dating! We've never talked about it!”

The last sentence came out as a squeak and Luz realized she had used up all her oxygen and needed to take a breather.

Hunter had not said a word but Luz did not know what to make of that dissecting stare of his, that studied her with a mixture of confusion and fascination. Like she was some kind of peculiar animal. A flushed, panting, peculiar animal.

“So.” He said finally, holding his palm out for Little Rascal to migrate from his shoulder to his hands. “Why don't you talk about it?”

He asked like it was the obvious solution. Luz was a little irked by it, but she kept her patience.

“Oh, Hunter. Sweet Hunter.” She heaved an exhausted sigh. “It is not that simple.”

He still didn't seem to understand. “Well, why not?”

“'Cause it's--.....Uh.” Luz trailed off, twirling her wrist around as if expecting to snatch an eloquent articulation out of thin air.

“Okay. Lemme put it like this. Amity is....really special. To me. Sometimes I still can't believe that she's real and she's friends with me and she likes me and....whew.” She pressed her fingertips to her cheek, surprised by the warmth. Even thinking that sort of stuff prompted a blush or two but it seemed saying it out loud made her face scalding.

“Anyway, now that we're going through....this, everything feels so much more....fragile?” Her voice rose in pitch, uncertain if 'Fragile' was even a suitable word to describe her feelings. It was just a vague, wishy-washy concept to describe.

“Like I feel like I could break it all so easy, just by....” Wait, she knew. She had figured out her handle on this.

“Just by being me.” She felt an ache just by admitting it, but it was the truth. Luz exhaled unsteadily to compose herself, clasping her fists tight into the fabric of her shorts and she continued...calmly.

“I can't risk doing anything that's gonna push her or make her uncomfortable or scare her away or...y'know, ruin this.” She held up her palms with a heavy shrug. “I-I don't have a plan and it would be way too reckless to wing it. Who knows what would come out of my mouth? She tells me a billion times that my weirdness is what she likes about me but...it can just as easily be the thing she hates if I overdo. I can't overdo it.

Luz was expecting Hunter to look at her like she was dumb again, but surprisingly, he nodded. A slow, thoughtful nod, as he absentmindedly scratched Little Rascal under the chin.

As the silence filled a little longer, she was starting to believe he had nothing else to add, which was fine. She had wanted to rant her heart out but realistically, she couldn't imagine Hunter having any advice for her. This wasn't exactly his area of expertise.

“Hey, Luz.” He said at last, voice surprisingly breezy. “You know those books that you really like? Uhh, with the nice witch Azuzu or whatever,”

“It's the Good Witch Azura!” Luz snapped, hands flying to her hips. “And I know you just pretended to not know her name. You're just trying to be cool.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The corner of Hunter's lip tweaked upwards. “And wasn't there that other witch that you liked to pretend was Azura's girlfriend?

Luz scoffed, finding it utterly unbelievable that this obnoxious little man had the audacity to be so dismissive towards her favorite book series, when she had been sweet enough to smuggle him in here.

“She was not her 'Girlfriend', she was her 'Soulmate' and if you even listened to me talk about it, you would know that. For your information, her name was Hecate and she began as Azura's rival but over the course of the series, they developed a beautiful, unbreakable bond that was jam packed with heavy romantic subtext. I mean, even their declaration of their eternal friendship in Book Five, which was really emotionally poignant by the way, reads so much like a love confession, it's a crime. And it's like...Ladies! Just kiss already!”

“Okay. Right. Sure. I understood some of that.”

“I mean, I guess I've read a ton of Heczura fanfics to tide me over. It's hard to find a fic where they don't kiss. Hold on, you know what fanfiction is, right?”

“Yeah.” The light in Hunter's eyes dimmed. “You made me sit through that three hour long slideshow presentation, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Luz popped a finger gun. “That was fun,”

It was fun, but a lot of work. Hunter was pouting over losing a measly three hours of his time. Well, newsflash, nerd, Luz spent two weeks working on that. Nobody is getting their hours back.

“And what usually happens in those fanfictions?” Asked Hunter, propping his chin up with his hand, as Little Rascal hopped over to a pile of books. “How do they end?”

“I told you, they kiss. A lot of the time they look deeply into each others eye and talk about how they complete each other like two halves of one heart. And y'know, moments of miscellaneous fluff.”

“Uh huh. Interesting,” He mused, tapping his pen against his bottom lip.

Luz knew Hunter could be a little...eccentric but was he really analyzing fanfiction right now? Where did the sudden interest come from?”

“So, uh, besides Azura and Hecate, are there any other...boats(?) that you--”

“Ships.” Luz corrected him.

Hunter snapped his fingers. “Right. Ships. Basically love stories that you really like.”

“We talkin' canon or non canon?”

Hunter squinted at her, lost. Seems somebody was not taking enough notes during the slideshow presentation. “Both? A-all...?”

“Oh, well, there's a bunch.”

Luz had no intention of listing every single ship that had captured her heart. They would be here all week.

“I've spent my whole life reading books, watching movies and anime and--”

“Anime...?”

“Hunter, please!” Luz squeaked as calmly as she possibly could, but she could not deny that she had started to vibrate. “You have no idea how excited you just made me at the thought of teaching you about anime but I'd need to dedicate a whole day to that 'cause I need to meet Amity soon and I'm still sorta in crisis mode. So, let's stay on topic.”

Her brow furrowed. “Whatever the heck the topic is! Why are we talking about ships, Huntifer?”

He waved off her question. “Okay but how does the story usually end for all your ships? The book ones, the anime ones, all of them,”

“We've been over this with the fanfiction discussion. They kiss, Hunter. Geez, you want a diagram or something?”

“But what else?” He prompted.

“What do you mean 'What else?'”

Now this was just getting ridiculous.

“They kiss!” Luz said with a huge amount of emphasis. “And again, miscellaneous fluff. They'll do stuff like pick each other up and swing around, hold hands and....walk off into the sunset, y'know?” She waved off all that extra padding as unimportant to the conversation. (Though Luz did really enjoy miscellaneous fluff.)

“Well yeaaaah,” Hunter was giving off vibes of a grade school teacher who gave her little nudges in the correct direction but ultimately wanted her to figure out the right answer herself. She wished he could just give it to her because honestly, she didn't know where this any of this was going.

“But when exactly do they ask each other if they're dating?”

“Whaa?” Well, that settled it. He had paid no attention to the slideshow whatsoever. “Nah, nah, they don't do stuff like that. They don't have to 'cause they're already perfect for each other. All they gotta do is look into each others' eyes and they just...” Luz shrugged, feeling lightness bubble in her chest at the very thought. She had a feeling her smile looked pretty dopey. “They just know.”

“Right. And why don't you and Amity just know?”

The bubbles burst and the lightness turned to dead weight.

The question speared through Luz's gut. Her entire body went rigid.

She had known but...

She had been trying not to...

Not to think about it.

Because if she thought about it, she knew she'd cry.

But there is was. A culmination of every coil of underlying dread that had been gradually writhing in her stomach in a monster of anxiety, summarized in a short and sweet collection of simplistic little words.

Luz did not just know when it came to Amity. She was constantly taking shots in the dark. That is, if she was even brave enough to take a shot at all.

The two of them together were not as seamlessly synchronized as couples in love were supposed to be.

Her throat stung.

Her vision went cloudy with blotted tears but she managed to catch Hunter's stony expression break into one of sheer panic.

“Wh-- Luz! Hey!” He yelped, scrambling to pick himself up from the floor. He nearly tripped over his books as he stood and hurried over to close the distance between them. He made to reach out to her but his hand stopped, just as it was about to brush against her shoulder. It hovered there for a moment, fingers curling and uncurling with uncertainty.

“Luz, listen, I wasn't....I-I mean, what I meant was...uhh. C-c'mon, cut it out!” Hunter's voice crackled with desperation and despite crying her eyes out, Luz felt the watery chuckle at the back of her throat.

“Aww, does crying make the Golden Guard uncomfy?” She tried to tease but her words came out all wobbly.

In fairness to the poor guy, it probably did. Luz couldn't imagine that dealing with tears in a delicate matter, was ever something he would need to handle in his line of work.

For all she knew, this was his first time having to comfort someone like this.

“You don't get to make jokes and cry at the same time. You gotta pick one.” Hunter snipped, but his tone was not nearly as cutting as usual. Luz was almost tempted to call it soft.

Clearing her eyes with the heel of her hands, she finally felt that warm touch on her shoulder, and then another rest against her upper arm.

Somehow the gentleness cracked all her remaining composure and she dissolved into ragged sobs.

Hunter did not speak nor did he let go out her until she got every tear out of her system. He waited patiently, tracing circles with his thumb into her skin.

Eventually, her sniffles fell silent and her eyes no longer blurred. She took a deep breath and the following exhale was shaky but manageable.

“Are you....good?” He asked cautiously.

Luz nodded.

Hunter removed his hands so carefully, you'd think doing so would cause her physical pain. He must have heard once that people were more prone to being hurt when they were already upset and assumed it was literal.

“Do you really think that...Amity and I....” Luz's voice was low and quiet but her jaw was set tight. She refused to let her words be whimpered. She looked up, meeting Hunter's eyes. “Aren't right for each other?”

“What? No! No, no, no,” Hunter looked positively alarmed at the accusation. “Luz th-that's not even remotely what I meant by that.”

“Well, then I guess you accidentally hit the nail on the head.” Luz managed a strained, bitter little smile. “'Cause it's true.”

“Luz, c'mon,” Hunter groaned, exasperated. “Don't talk like that, you've got it mixed up.”

“No.” Said Luz, tone quiet, polite yet strikingly obstinate. “You were right, Hunter.”

For someone who loved being right, he didn't seem thrilled at all.

“When it comes to Amity, I don't just know. I don't always know what she's thinking or what she wants from me. After all this time, I-I shouldn't still be trying to figure her out,”

Luz wanted to figure her out. Every time she was in her orbit, she wanted nothing more to turn over every last piece of that girl and find every hidden gem.

But now, it like she was barricaded. Something was keeping her from moving forward, from discovering Amity.

“I mean, we've kissed.” The memories of Amity were turning more and more bittersweet by the second “I told her I loved her! We had our happy ending already! A-at least I thought it was a happy ending. But we're not acting like people who are made for each other are meant to act!”

“How do you even know how people who are meant for each other are meant to act?!” Hunter demanded, as though it wouldn't reach Luz's skull unless he raised his voice. “In all the love stories you've read, it always ends with a kiss, doesn't it?”

“And--”

“And miscellaneous fluff. Yeah, I get it.” Hunter shooed the detail away before clearing his throat.

“Point is, they never talk about what comes after. You don't read about all those awkward talks where they decide if they're dating or not and talks about what they're okay with and what they're not. It always just cuts to the perfect, shiny romantic stuff, all tied up with a bow and because of that,” He clutched Luz by the shoulders.”You don't know how to move forward in a relationship 'cause you've never had a frame of reference to help you along.”

“Hey, that's not true!” She tore away from Hunter's grip. “I'll have you know that I imagine my favorite ships as couples all the time,”

“Yeah and lemme guess,” He droned, setting a hand on his hip and launching into a mockingly saccharine tone of voice. “They understand each other soooo well all the time, they can practically read each others' mind and everything is smooth sailing and peachy all the time.”

“Yeah, duh.” Luz didn't quite what he was making fun of. “That's what being a ship is all about.”

“Okay, fine, maybe, but I cannot stress this enough,” He ran his fingers through his hair before making a cutting gesture with the side of his hand, directed at Luz. “You are not a ship.”

“Well, yeah, obviously. I'm only one--”

“I mean that the two of you aren't a ship! Listen to me, you're not Azura and Hecate. You're Luz and Amity. You're real people. You've got like a million different emotions and they're messy and crazy and you don't understand most of them.”

“Okay, Hunter, I get it, I'm a hot mess. You don't have to rub it in.”

“We're all hot messes, Luz!” He exploded. “Every single one of us. 'Cause we're real and not book characters.” He was pacing back and forth now as he ranted and raved, gesticulating like a madman.

“We gotta handle all the awkward conversations that don't fit into books. You gotta talk to real people to get them and you can talk to them for years and years but you're never gonna entirely understand them. In your love stories, it's all kisses and happy endings and it's shiny and sparkly and perfect and nerds like you Eat. It.Up!”

Hunter emphasized his point by poking Luz's forehead, shocking a startled laugh out of her. As wound up as he was, the noise surprised him too.

Her laugh was contagious and soon the room was silent, expect for the sound of quiet, breathy giggles.

One of the knots in Luz's stomach had untangled itself. Hunter did make a point that she could understand. Yeah, okay, maybe she had been a little too wrapped up in fiction to successfully navigate through her own life. Luz had never been the most logical person so it was comforting for a levelheaded counter-argument to whatever was currently inflaming her anxiety.

Obviously, this didn't fix everything. Now, she understood why this wasn't easy but that didn't mean she magically knew where to go from here.

Once the shadow of Luz's smile had finally faded away, she looked up and studied Hunter for a long while. Her gaze may have been a bit intense as nervousness began to creep into his features.

“H-hey. Uh. Sorry if I was a little too--”

“Huntifer, I think you might be on to something with this one,”

He blinked at her before brightening with relief, shrugging it off. “Oh. Yeah, maybe. I dunno, I guess it's worth some thought.

Astonishing how Hunter could switch from the cockiest, most obnoxious kid in the Boiling Isles to a remarkably humble guy. Maybe it depended on context. Or he was just embarrassed that he sorta lost control of himself in his impatience.

Luz nodded. “I'd say a lot of thought. But..I think things are still gonna be awkward. With Amity. I still don't know how I'm supposed to talk this stuff through with her.”

Hunter snorted, loosely folding his arms over chest and resting his weight on one hip. And just like that, with that simple change of posture, he looked full of himself again “You wanna know a secret that's probably not much of a secret?”

He beckoned Luz to lean in closer and said in a stage whisper. “Amity probably doesn't know either.”

Huh. Yeah, Luz knew that. She knew that at the back of her mind but...she hadn't really thought about it much. She was a little too preoccupied with her own inexperience.

Hunter's lofty grin softened. “So, it's a good thing neither of you are doing it alone, right? Don't you think you could figure out how together?”

Figure out how together....

The realization sank from the surface of her mind, and everything was processing very fast then suddenly, everything clicked.

Amity.

Luz knew Amity. Luz trusted Amity. Luz loved Amity. If there was any person Luz believed would stumble alongside her through things they didn't quite understand yet, it was Amity. And it occurred to her that Luz would help Amity in return without hesitation.

With enough notches and trimming and smoothing edges, if they worked through this together, Luz and Amity could click too. Maybe not perfectly, not for a while just yet.

But enough that they could make each other happy.

A swing of confidence so strong flooded Luz's system, she swore she nearly collapsed. She felt the grin tugging at her mouth.

She could try. She could absolutely try. They could both try.

“Is...that a yes?” Hunter asked, gauging her expression.

Luz nodded so speedily, it made her head hurt. But then she realized something else and she turned a very specific look on Hunter.

But before he could ask if she was about to attack him, she held up two fingers on each hand and then placed them on either side of her head so they jutted out just behind her ears.

“Man, I don't know anything about that stuff,” Said Luz, in what she believed to be an uncanny imitation of Hunter's voice.

He frowned. “What are the theatrics for?”

“You lied to me!” Luz was delighted.

“I-I didn't lie!” He loudly objected, pointed ears scorching bright pink. “That was just common sense, you doofus. You know, that thing you lack.”

“You know, that thing you lack.” Luz parroted, swinging her hips from side to side. Once again, her impression remained flawless.

“Don't do that!”

“Don't do that!

“Stop, you weirdo!”

At the peak of riled up, Hunter floundered for a retort that Luz wouldn't shoot back at him with childish mimicking. But then he cracked and wound up sticking his tongue out at her.

Luz simply mirrored him and Hunter huffed indignantly, turning on his heel and stomping back towards his books.

He had barely made a few steps when Luz lunged at him from behind, draping her long, lanky arms around his shoulders.

“Wha—Hey! Get off!” He squawked, struggling to pry her off him as Luz squished her cheek against his.

“Huntifer~” She singsonged. “Can you please calm down for two seconds and let me say thanks already?”

Hunter knotted his arms and his scowl didn't soften but Luz didn't miss how he stopped trying to squirm out of her grip.

“Even though you were kinda rambly and all over the place, what you said helped. It helped a lot. I know this is something I can handle and I know that 'cause of you. Thanks, nerd.”

She waited patiently until she felt his shoulders loosen. And then he glanced back at her and there was a smile. A small, tight, subtle smile but it was good enough for Luz.

And then with a burst of adrenaline, she gripped him tighter and planted a big, wet raspberry on his cheek.

Predictably, Hunter blew his top. He screeched furiously and his hands went wild to push her off but Luz was stronger than she looked. And so help her, she would give Hunter this affection or die trying.

Dying trying did not seem unlikely, actually. Hunter had told her once before that if he ever murdered her, it would probably be her own fault. Luz could not argue with that.

“That is so gross!” He griped, once Luz had finally released him.

“You're gross~” She chirped, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Hunter wiped the spit off his cheek with his palm before looking up at Luz with narrowed eyes

Luz did not have time to brace herself and suddenly she was tackled to the ground. She kicked and she screamed as Hunter dragged his disgusting wet hand across her face.

“GrossGrossGrossGrossGrossGrossGroooooss!”

Hunter cackled maniacally the whole time.

They carried on like rowdy toddlers for a while until Luz had to go meet Amity, leaving Hunter and his palisman to themselves.

It was too weird to admit out loud but he was disappointed that she was gone. Hanging out with her like this wasn't that bad. Talking with her, arguing with her, wrestling with her. It all made Hunter feel....so much like a kid.

Something that he had realized recently was that he still liked being a kid.

In spite of the doom and gloom of white of gold, of the clawed scars in his shoulder, of the spear that grazed his hair, a spark of childishness remained in Hunter that had never been entirely snuffed out.

It wasn't until he met Luz that he began actively trying to keep that spark alive.

The sun had long since fallen asleep by the time Luz returned and the moon was pooling in the sky. A little after sun down, he heard the downstairs door slam shut and the loud exuberant voice of The Owl Lady boomed from the floorboards beneath him. By the sound of it, she was celebrating a successful day's work. Hunter wondered what she and the cute little demon had managed to steal today.

His snoozing palisman was tucked snug in the crook of his neck, a pleasant warmth against his skin. It was a good idea to keep the bird close. If someone other than Luz came barreling into the room, he'd better have his staff on hand to magically conceal himself.

But once an hour passed and the chatter of the witch and the demon below gradually faded into loud snoring, Hunter presumed they had passed out on the couch. For the time being, he should be fine.

Hunter hoped that creepy owl tube thing wouldn't rat them out. Fortunately, Luz had promised that Hooty was willing to take a bribe but unfortunately, gossip spread fast in the Boiling Isles. Now The Golden Guard had a reputation for being a lunatic who visited the night market several times, buying dead mice in bulk.

He snorted to himself, combing through 'From Bones to Fire: A Study of Wild Magic Volume 2'. Everything he went through just to get his hands on knowledge.

Well, also to be young with Luz.

Yet another hour passed and somehow, being surrounded by his own obsession, Hunter got a little overstimulated. To give his brain a rest, he was now flipping through some tattered old magazine that Luz brought with her from the human realm. Some of the articles were practically gibberish to him but overall, it was okay. He learned he was a Scorpio. He didn't know what that entailed but it sounded cool.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as Luz burst into the room, announcing her return.

Startled, his palisman flew into a fluster, cheeping like crazy before it settled down atop his head. Hunter, meanwhile, had flung the magazine away so fast, it was like it had contaminated him, and snatched up the closest book to pretend he was reading it the whole time.

Thankfully, Luz didn't notice.

“Hey there, Little Rascal,” She cooed, prancing across the room and plopping down next to Hunter. “And hey, you little bookworm, you.”

“Bookworm?” Hunter knocked his shoulder against hers. “You looking for a fight, kid?”

“Whaaaat? Hunter, you wound me, I was just....Ohhh, my bad. I always forget that our bookworms and your bookworms are two waaaay different things.” She paused thoughtfully before shaking her head. “Actually, I don't retract anything. You look like a bookworm.”

“Yeah, well, you smell like a selkidomus.” Hunter smirked.

“Hey!” Luz bumped their shoulders. “Can you blame me? I've had one heck of a day with lots of nervous sweating!”

He was surprised that got him laughing but that tended to happen around her.

“So, how'd it go?” Hunter asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Luz's beam was as bright as a dozen of her light spells. The corner of her lip was twitching, as if she wanted to smile wider but it was physically impossible.

“We're dating.” She stated, no more than a whisper.

It obvious since the moment she entered the room, far bouncier and bubblier than usual but Hunter still grinned.

He had expected her to scream it from the rooftops, to grind his ribcage into powder with the force of her hug, to set off a riot of firework glyphs, spelling it out in lights.

No matter how she could have chosen to tell him, he would have been just as giddy as she was.

And yet, despite the lack of fanfare, somehow, it still felt so much like Luz. Though he knew that in the morning, she would tell the entire Boiling Isles, right here, right now, only Hunter knew. Something about that felt nice.

But the quiet serene scene was momentarily ruptured when Hunter spotted Luz re-adjusting herself out of the corner of his eye and he was immediately on high alert. Another raspberry, he could sense it.

“Luz, don't you d--”

It wasn't a raspberry.

The feather-light peck against his cheek was gone before he fully processed it, as Luz drew away with that big stupid smile still plastered on her face.

Hunter blinked away the surprise, looking to her with a raised eyebrow.

“What's that look for? In this family, we give each other hugs and kisses~”

He felt his lip quirk upwards as he scoffed, turning away with a shake of his head.

“That was so gross.”

“You're gross.”

“For real, it was even more gross than the raspberry.”

Luz burst into giggles and Hunter could understand why everything was suddenly a million times funnier to her. She will still fizzling with that giddiness that Amity had kissed into her and now it was all spilling out.

To be honest, listening to a teenage girl gush and squeal about her girlfriend did not seem like something Hunter would ever willingly subject himself to.

But this was Luz. His friend, Luz.

He lightly pinched the pudge of her cheek. “Heeeey. You wanna tell me all about it, don't you?”

Luz snapped her head over to gawk at him, astonished. And then the excitement took hold and her hands started flapping and she looked about ready to explode with delight. Her mouth was already flying open to give every solitary detail of her evening with Amity Blight.

But then she stopped, a crease forming on her brow. He caught that unreadable look she gave him and the way her eyes skimmed over the books that scattered the floor around them.

“Hmmm.” She stroked her chin with an over dramatic 'thinking' face. “Y'know what? I'll think I'll keep it all to myself.”

“Oh, really~?” Grinned Hunter. “I can only imagine all the romantic schmaltzy sickening stuff that occurred tonight. Miscellaneous fluff, right?”

Judging by the blood that stained her cheekbones, he must have been correct.

“Hey, Hunter.” She said quietly, resting her weight against his side. “You've been lost in your books for hours now. Would you mind telling me all about the most interesting you read about today? Reading myself is fine but it's way better to hear all about it from a bona fide nerd.”

Frankly, it was embarrassing how fast the giddiness practically electrocuted him and suddenly he found himself rambling. He rambled until his voice gave up but it didn't bother him at all because it was just Luz.

Luz hung on every word he said.

#the owl house #toh #luz nozeda #the golden guard #toh Hunter #lumity

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youvebeenlivingfictional · 3 years

Note

how do you feel about bond’s canon relationships?

Craig's Bond in particular? I'm going to assume you mean romantic relationships. If you don't, I'm sorry! Lemme know and I'll pontificate on him and Moneypenny et al. Uhhhhh... Just wanna start by saying—I am no film expert, just a film fan, and if you disagree with me, that is totally fine. It annoyed me that the writers relied so much on the death of Vesper Lynd for Bond's motivations in following films. I get why they did it, but A) Dear screenwriters, please stop killing women's characters just so that they can be Men's Motivation For Things and B) Give men better dimension as characters since they consistently make up like 90% of the stories told, thnx. A lot of Bond's romantic relationships afterward were one-offs, and still had the, heh, specter of Vesper hanging over them. No Time to Die Spoilers Below the cut:

Honestly I wasn't a fan of Bond's relationship with Madelaine Swann in Spectre, but it was mostly because the romance felt underdeveloped (and honestly Spectre is probably my least favorite Craig Bond movie? It's nothing to do with the acting; I didn't like the pacing). I liked the character of Madelaine herself, but when I was watching the movie, I was just thinking 'why do these people like each other, other than the fact that they're both hot and the script told them to?' That said, I only watched that movie once, right when it came out; maybe I ought to revisit...Anywhoodle. I love Léa Seydoux, and was glad to see more of her character development in No Time to Die (and was SO GLAD that they didn’t go the Killed Her for Motivation At the Beginning of the Movie route oh my GOD LEMME TELL YOU). Considering the course of the events taken in No Time to Die, while we do get more of a peek into Madelaine's life and motivations, I did like the dimension added to her character. However—giving Madelaine and Bond a child, so late into the movie just also...felt like another underdeveloped...Development.

I didn't hate it, but with the amount of plot points that they chose to hit in that movie, they honestly could've omitted that one and still had the same emotional impact for the outcome of each of the characters? He has very little time to form an emotional attachment, and yes, while we do get to see Daniel Craig running around and cradling a child and I'm all for the Dad Vibes, it was another underdeveloped aspect to me. I personally didn't feel that it gave Madelaine and Bond's overall relationship more dimension, which...I think was the intended target. I know it was his last movie, they had to up the stakes 800%—but if Craig was hypothetically doing one more Bond film, consider: is that an element that they would've bothered with? Or would they have let that go? I don't think it did much from a story-strengthening standpoint, I think it was all for the emotional stakes. Overall I think that Bond's canon romantic relationships—the heavy-hitters—are mostly used as means to an end, which is...Unfortunate. While the women themselves are often given a decent amount dimension (which I swear I do not take for granted despite the tone of this reply!), it's either ham-fisted in or seems to be an afterthought by the writers. I think I'd feel differently if we'd gotten Vesper Lynd for more than one movie, and gotten more character development for Madeline Swann in Spectre. Hell, even if we'd seen ANY of her work with frickin' Blofeld in No Time to Die. Why couldn't they have retooled some time in that movie, shown Bond the two of them interacting? Recordings for their therapy sessions???? Blofeld discussing his childhood with Bond, perhaps? Questioning Madelaine about her daughter? What would that scene have looked like? That could've upped emotional tension, even after the fact of Blofeld's death. I understand that the emotional impact is a peek into the life that Bond could’ve had with his significant other and child, and it does hit, but I think it would’ve been more effective if it had popped sooner in the narrative. Lynd and Swann aren't given the same room to breathe as Dench's M, or Moneypenny, who benefit from multiple film appearances. While they often have less overall screen time than his romantic interests, I think they're given better character definition. If you consider Bond's motivation to keep M safe in Skyfall, it hits so much harder because you've watched them become closer over the course of several films—watched them bicker and watched her cover his ass. There's time for the relationship to grow, and that time is often not given to what are meant to be the defining canon romantic relationships for Craig's Bond. ...Did I actually answer the question? I've reread this answer like three times and my eyes are crossing.

#this got so long I am so sorry #asks #replies #anon #No Time to Die Spoilers

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captastra · 3 years

Text

Movie Night

Pairing: Jill x Carlos

Warnings: horror movies mentioned ( The Evil Dead (1981), The Babadook). I don’t mention that one scene from Evil dead

Words: 2.9K

Jill and Carlos share a movie night together! Read here on AO3.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Jill, popcorn’s ready!”

Carlos’s voice rang out from where he sat in the living room.

“I’m on it,” Jill said, making her way into the kitchen. The smell of popcorn filled the kitchen, the scent of butter bringing a smile to Jill's face. They had started having movie nights two months ago and she was starting to enjoy these nights with him. Her last roommate had been a disaster and she was nervous about what would happen when she started to live here. But Carlos had won her over their first weekend together and the rest was history. Jill smiled to herself as she thought back on that weekend before grabbing some final snacks.

“Gonna let it burn or what? I got a movie to watch and not all night to wait.”

Jill rolled her eyes and picked up the two bowls she had made. “Calm down,” she yelled back at him. “It’s not my fault you got home late. I was all ready to go, but then I got stuck waiting for you.” She had made her way out into the room, setting down the bowls as she talked. “There’s no point in getting everything ready if it's going to sit out for an hour”

She placed her hands on her hips as Carlos rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively at her complaints.

“Not my fault work held me late. Mikhail needed my help and you know how Nikolai always bails at the last minute, leaving Mikhail hanging and me to deal with it. I can’t say no to the old man.” He gave her his puppy dog eyes look, frowning slightly. “You know I wouldn’t miss a movie night with my favorite roommate...”

“I’m your only roommate.”

“Still my favorite,” he winked at her, “unless I had to. So let's just watch the movies. I have a whole week I want to forget and that starts now.” He reached forward and grabbed a handful of popcorn before settling into the couch, propping his legs on the table in front of him. “I think you’re gonna like the movie I’ve decided we should watch. A real scare, this one.”

Jill hadn’t moved as Carlos spoke, but she had to agree with him when he brought up Nikolai. The one time she met him, he didn’t leave a good impression, and wasn’t a person she wanted to see again anytime soon. She knew she couldn’t blame him if that was really the case, no matter how important movie night was becoming for her. More important than she was willing to admit but Jill ignored those thoughts.

“Alright,” she sighed, “alright. But it better not be anything like the last movie you picked. That one was gore, gore, and more gore. What was scary was how the actors didn’t drown in all that blood while filming.” She settled herself down on the couch as she spoke, her back resting against the armrest opposite Carlos, and moved to shove her feet under his leg.

Carlos raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as he lifted his leg to give her better room to hide her feet. “Comfy?”

She didn’t respond right away, focusing on getting herself comfortable on the couch. Once she had settled in, she reached for the popcorn and took a big handful to start eating. When she finally looked at him, she saw he was giving her a small smile as he rested his head on his hand.

Ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, Jill said, “It gets cold and you’re a heater. What better place to keep my feet warm.” She wiggled her toes under his leg, getting a laugh out of him. “Now what movie did you pick?”

“Ladies first.”

Jill rolled her eyes but smiled. “Tonight, we are going to watch,” she paused for dramatic effect, “Evil Dead.”

“The one from a few years ago?”

“No, the original!”

“C’mon Jill, that movie is campy as all hell,” he shook his head slightly but his smile never faded. “It’s barely watchable from what I’ve heard. Is that really what you want to go with?”

“It’s a cult classic,” she huffed. “Besides, I get to pick a movie and that's what I want to watch. When was the last time you’ve even watched the movie?” Carlos only shrugged. “Ok then. We’re watching it and that's that.” She gave him a firm nod, signaling she was done with that part of the conversation. “Now, what did you pick?”

He sat up excitedly when she asked, his smile growing wider which made Jill chuckle softly. “You’re going to love this one. A really good scary one that I’m sure will even have tough-as-nails Jill Valentine on the edge of her seat.”

“Scarier than the laundry incident?”

“I thought we agreed to never speak of that incident?” He narrowed his eyes at her and pointed at her. “You promised.”

Jill held up her hands in defeat but gave him a wry smile. “Heh, alright. So what ‘oh so scary’ movie did you pick? Or are you gonna leave me hanging in suspense?”

He scoffed slightly, but answered, “The Babadook. I haven’t seen it yet but Tyrell swears it's one of the scariest movies he’s seen in awhile. It comes highly recommended is what I can say.

“I’ve heard it was pretty good too,” Jill nodded as she tried to remember what she had heard about the film. “I hope it's as good as your friend says it is” - she gave him a wicked smile - “since your last movie wasn’t scary at all.”

Before Carlos could respond, Jill's phone vibrated loudly on the table.

“Hey, what did we agree to about phones?”

“Sorry.” Jill picked up her phone to silence it but started laughing when she read the notification. “Oh Chris,” she mumbled but didn’t say anything else as she started to respond.

“What’d he do now?”

Carlos had only met her friends a handful of times since she had moved into the apartment, but no issues had come up yet between them. They didn't seem to mind having him around when they came over to hang out and that was good enough for her.

“Oh just the usual Chris drama.” She saw the quizzical look on Carlos’s face and continued. “Issues with Wesker. Neither can figure out what they want, but it’s not like Chris listens to me whenever I offer advice so I’m just forced to suffer through his complaints.”

“Never really cared for Wesker,” Carlos said. “Guy gives me weird vibes.”

“Ehhh, yeah. I just listen to Chris and try not to get in the way.” She put the phone back on the table. “Now enough about Chris. Lets watch our movies.”

Carlos didn’t object as he started the first movie and they both settled in.

POV Switch

It didn’t take long before Carlos had to speak up about the campiness of the film. Not five minutes into the movie and almost everything that made up the film showed how low budget it was.

“Are you really going to make…”

“Shhh”

He lowered his voice instead. “Do you have to make me suffer through this?” He narrowly dodged a piece of popcorn that Jill had thrown at him. “You can’t tell me this gets any better as the movie goes on?”

“It does.” He glanced over at her and was surprised to see her focused expression as she watched the movie. He couldn’t help but admire how the light from the movie highlighted her features; her nose, jawline, the way a single hair fell across her face that he had to stop himself from pushing back behind her ear. But as he continued to glance at her here and there, an idea came into his head.

They weren’t too far into the movie before things started to get creepy, though Carlos tried to not let it get to him. He glanced back at Jill, saw that she was still engrossed in the movie while eating popcorn, and made his move

He mumbled something about needing to get up, but Jill was too engrossed in the movie and waved a hand at him in response. Getting up, he made his way out into the hallway, before sneakily making his way back into the living room. The couch was too big for him to see Jill but he figured she was still in the exact same position as before.

Walking as quietly as he could, Carlos made his way over to where she sat. The movie was finally picking up, with the music setting the perfect atmosphere for him to make his move.

“Boo!”

Jill let out a small scream as she nearly knocked over the popcorn bowl that she held in her lap. They both reached for the bowl to make sure she didn’t spill everywhere but this also put him in line of sight for Jill to see that it was him who scared her. Once they had settled the popcorn, she gave him the meanest glare he had ever seen.

“Good god Carlos!” The look on her face only made him laugh harder, which seemed to annoy her even more. “Don’t do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Carlos continued to laugh, “But the look on your face was worth it.”

Jill shoved him playfully and eventually gave him a smile. “Do that again and I will kill you. Or get back at you even worse. Don’t tempt me.”

“Ha, I’m sure you could if you set your mind to it.” Carlos went to settle back on the couch, one leg on the table in front of him and another arm out along the top of the couch.

“Good,” she gave him one more look before turning back to the movie, “And don’t you forget it.”

“Wouldn't dream of it.”

They sat there in silence for the rest of the movie. Jill was as enraptured as ever and even Carlos found himself being drawn into the movie. The campiness didn’t take away from the scariness that was Evil Dead. He was enjoying watching Ash start to slip into insanity at whatever entities were taking over his friends. There was a time or two he had to look away from the movie.

He felt the couch shift next to him and was surprised to see that Jill had made her way from the other side of the couch. He was more surprised when she sat close enough to him that he could have lowered his arm around her shoulder. But he didn’t. No, he would be good. For the rest of the film they sat that way, almost touching but too transfixed in the movie to notice.

Once the movie ended, Jill turned to him. “So what did you think?”

He thought about it for a minute, but decided to have some fun with her when he saw her staring at him intently. After a few seconds of hemming and hawing and a very loud sigh from Jill, he answered her.

“It was decent.”

“Decent?” She raised a single eyebrow at him. “I saw you look away a few times at some scenes. So you can’t tell me it was just ‘decent’

“Alright,” He threw his hands up in a sign of surrender, laughing at how heated Jill was getting about the movie. “It had its moments and I can see why it's a cult classic. But can we watch the other movie now?”

They sat in silence for a moment, neither backing down as Carlos continued to chuckle and Jill stared at him with a raised eyebrow. Carlos started to fear he had gone too far, but Jill seemed to deflate and settled back into the couch right next to him.

“Yes, yes. Put it on.” She gave him a sideways glance. “I’m expecting it to be good.”

“Heh, I certainly hope so. I need a good scare after the last movie.” He smiled at himself at the glare he imagined Jill gave him.

“Me too,” was all she said in response.

It didn’t take long after the movie started for Carlos to see what Tyrell meant about the movie being scary. He even found himself at some points wondering what would happen next after the book was read. But when he felt a shift in the couch next to him and a slight touch on his arm, he nearly jumped out of his seat.

“You ok scaredy cat?”

Lifting his arm up, he saw that Jill was the source of what had scared him. She had curled right next to him, her knees pulled up to her chin and then covered herself with one of their blankets. She continued to give him a sour look, but he could see the corners of lips fighting to curl up into a smile.

“I could ask you the same question.” He gave her a big smile. “Doesn’t look like I’m the only one…”

“Shh!” She brought one hand from out under the blanket and pointed at the screen. “Play the movie. It was just getting good.”

“Yes, mam.” He chuckled as he reached forward to start the movie again. But when he wanted to settle back down next to Jill, his arm hovered over her body next to his. He let himself weigh the risks for only a few seconds - she might get very mad - and decided it wasn’t worth giving it a second thought.

Without any ceremony, Carlos rested his arm around Jill. He tensed slightly when he felt her shift against him, fearing that she would start yelling at him for getting too comfortable with her. But when she didn't pull away and instead settled against him, he let his arm drape around her.

He sat there with his arm around her, eyes glued to the screen but not registering anything that was happening. His brain was too focused on her warmth and the way she fit perfectly next to him. It felt...right.

Jill suddenly jumped against him at something that happened on the screen, breaking his train of thought. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms protectively around her. as he remembered they were watching a movie together. Finally focusing on what happened showed that the movie was starting to pick up with whatever was happening in the story.

Focus man.

And he did. Jill wasn’t pulling away from him and he wasn’t going to let thoughts make him second guess what was happening.

When he finally caught on to what was happening in the movie, Carlos found himself surprised at how good it was. There were a few moments he found himself jumping or having to look away at certain scenes. Before long he became enraptured by the film and didn't realize that even he had curled up on the couch next to Jill. His arms were wrapped tightly around her as the story unfold.

It wasn’t until the movie finally ended that the two of them realized how tightly they were holding onto each other. He didn’t realize how close they were until, turning to look at Jill, he found her looking back at him, their noses almost touching.

“Hey.” Her breath kissed his face as she spoke, her eyes never leaving his.

“Hey back at you.” He kept his eyes trained on hers, not daring to look anywhere else. They stayed like this a moment longer, Carlos’s arms wrapped around her while her fingers curled into his shirt.

“Guess the movie was pretty scary after all.” She started to shift away from him and Carlos immediately let her go, missing the warmth of her body against his. “Here’s to a few sleepless nights after that.” She let out an airy laugh as she got up from the couch.

“You can always stay with me if you need to.” He said it as a joke but inside it was only a half lie. He wouldn’t say no to her if she needed that support from him.

Jill rolled her eyes but from her smile, Carlos knew she took it as a joke. “Don’t expect me to come running to you just because of some nightmare. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will.”

With that, they set about cleaning up the apartment. Both of them were yawning at that point, too tired to properly clean, though Jill was trying.

Carlos let out a soft chuckle as once again he had to steer Jill towards her room. “Go to sleep. We can clean tomorrow.”

“But we shouldn’t let it sit there,” another yawn escaped her lips as she rubbed her eyes.

“It’s only for a bit and then you can clean to your heart's content.” He felt her try to fight him as he continued to move her towards the hallway. “Seriously Jill, don’t need you falling asleep on the kitchen floor because you tried to clean.”

She started to respond but when another yawn came on, she gave him a shrug. “Alright.” This time he didn’t need to push her. “You get some sleep too though. No staying up late this time. I don’t want to be the only one who’s up cleaning while you sleep in super late.”

“Ha, I’ll be up. Don’t you worry.” He gave her a wink as he started to make his way towards his room.

He was almost at the door when he heard Jill call out to him. Turning to face her, he saw that she was halfway into her room. He took in slightly disheveled hair and clothes from sitting on the couch next to him. He watched her stifle another yawn before speaking up. “Yeah?”

“Goodnight. And thanks for the movie. It was pretty good.”

He nodded, too tired to think of any funny comeback but glad all the same that she enjoyed it.

“Goodnight Jill.”

#resident evil #re3 remake #re3 roommate au #jill valentine #carlos oliveira #jill and carlos #valeveira #pre-relationship #fanfiction

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fallingappleshurt · 4 years

Text

My Best Friend in Blue

Hey so the creator of this AU is @antarctic-bay !! It’s really amazing and I want to say that I things I write are not canon! And my writing style is very weird in this I am so sorry, I can’t form cohesion sentences for shit

That being said take this shit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Best Friend in Blue

Techno didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, it wasn’t something that really upset him, he had his brothers and everyone else was either annoying or just didn’t seem to like him. He didn’t care, he was perfectly fine on his own, he was quiet, more reserved with a cold demeanor, loud things were distracting and got on his nerves, so how’d he end up with this guy?

It started when he was 10, he was at the park with his brothers, Wilbur was on the swings, Tommy was on the playground equipment and Phil was making sure Tommy didn’t fall off of said playground equipment and Techno wasn’t sure what to do so he wandered the park until he heard a loud voice say,

“I can SO do magic! Just watch!” Techno looked over to see someone his age, dressed all in blue, chest puffed out. He stood in front of two other kids, Techno stopped to watch. The boy pulled off his bright blue beanie, it had a stupid face scribbled on it with marker.

“I’m going to make this hat,” He paused dramatically, “Disappear!”

He spun in a circle, throwing the hat behind himself before stopping in front of his friends, waving his hands, “See! Magic!”

One of the blue boy’s friends gasped but Techno just rolled his eyes. “You didn’t make it disappear, you just threw it behind you,” He pointed out, crossing his arms. The boy whipped his head around rapidly before spotting and making direct eye contact with Techno.

“No! I made it disappear! You’re probably just jealous you can’t do it!” He said, voice raising slightly.

“No you didn’t and I’m not, you just threw it over there,” Techno said,not unkindly, pointing to where the hat laid, bits of mulch stuck to it.

“No! It- I was-Ah!” The boy frowned before yelling, “Shut up!”

Techno just raised an eyebrow and walked away.

He had started fifth grade, walking into school everyone told him that the fifth graders were the oldest at the school so they were the role models, they had to set good examples for the younger kids. That made Techno think of Tommy, he wondered what stupid thing his little brother was doing. The teacher told them to find the desk with their name and sit down.

The desks were arranged in groups of 4, Techno found his and sat down, fidgeting nervously. He took a deep breath, trying not to let his anxiety get the better of him, he decided to look at the names of the people who would be sitting around him.

‘Milo’ was in front of him, ‘Hannah’ was next to him and diagonally was someone named ‘Skeppy’. Milo, Hannah, Skeppy. He repeated the mantra in his head, maybe they would get along, maybe he could make friends.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar loud voice and a chair screeching across the tile, it was the blue boy from the park. Of course it was, why wouldn’t it be. He sat at the desk with the name tag ‘Skeppy’ and he was still wearing a blue shirt and the beanie with the scribbled on face.

Techno froze and looked at his desk, refusing to look up, his anxiety spiked. He wanted to make friends but this would definitely ruin it, Skeppy would tell the others what he said and how much of a jerk he was, why did he say that at the park? He was so stupid, Skeppy wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was so stupid, this is why he didn’t have any friends-

He was ripped from his spiral by other voices, Milo and Hannah had sat down and Skeppy was introducing himself. Techno took a breath, made a fist and started running his thumb across his knuckles, maybe if he just laid low, Skeppy wouldn’t notice. His plan worked for like two minutes before Skeppy said, “Is that a pink pencil case?”

Techno jerked up as Skeppy leaned over his own desk to look at Techno’s, “That’s so cool! It reminds me of my friend-”

Techno just sat there in shock as Skeppy babbled on about his pencil case, unsure on what to do. Skeppy continued until he made eye contact with Techno.

“Wait, you’re that kid from the park! The one that doesn’t believe in magic!”

Milo and Hannah gave him a weird look, not cruel, just confused. Techno didn’t know what to do, he just quietly stammered it was barely more than a whisper. The desk clump stayed like that until the Teacher started talking loudly, Techno wrapped his arms around himself, feeling nauseous.

This was going to be a long year.

For the first few weeks of school he barely talked to the other students, he didn’t see the point, he answered questions in class and finished most of his work early, gaining the quiet, smart kid title from the rest of his class. His teacher had told him if he kept this up he could make it into honors classes in middle school. So even if he didn’t have any friends, he still had that going for him.

Until the dreaded;

“And for this assignment you are going to need a partner!”

Hannah and Milo reached across their desks to shake hands, so both of them were out. Techno bit his lip and stayed seated for a moment, before getting up to ask the teacher if he could work alone.

“No, this is a partnered assignment, could you not find a partner?”

Techno shook his head then immediately wanted to die as the teacher did that thing where she loudly asked who didn’t have a partner, basically broadcasting to the class that he was a friendless idiot.

She didn’t say that exactly but he knew she was thinking it.

“Okay, look, go work with Skeppy, you guys should make a good team!” Techno nodded and swore under his breath, apparently the universe just wanted him to suffer.

He walked back over to his desk only to find that Milo was sitting there and had pushed his stuff over so he could work with Hannah.

“Just take my desk for now, since you’re working with Skeppy,” Milo said, before going back to work.

Techno sat down stiffly as Skeppy looked him up and down, “Look I don’t want to work with you and you probably feel the same way so let's just do this on our own, okay?We can just turn it in at the same time.”

Techno nodded slowly, turning to his own paper, it was a math worksheet, he breezed through it effortlessly.

Techno had finished half of the first page in about five minutes, he looked over to see Skeppy still struggling on the first problem.

“You’re still on the first one?” Techno asked, trying not to sound rude.

“Yes! Shut up! Not everyone is as smart as you so just shut up!” Skeppy snapped, erasing aggressively.

“The teacher explained it though,”

“Yeah well the teacher did a bad job!” Skeppy stuck his hands in his hair, tugging at it.

Techno gently laid a hand on Skeppy’s shoulder, “Do you want help?”

“No from yo- Yes!- But- I don’t know!” Skeppy snapped.

“Here let me see,” Techno looked at Skeppy’s paper, he looked over the work before saying, “You’re dividing too early.”

“What?”

“You’re dividing too early, you gotta add this part first, then divide,” Techno said, pointing to the different parts of the equation.

Skeppy moved slowly, then started on the problem, solved it, then looked at Techno nervously, “Did I do it right?”

Techno scanned his work then nodded, “Yeah!”

“Wait really?”

“Yeah! You did it!”

“That’s awesome! I can’t believe it!”

Techno grinned, maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad.

He grunted as the same jackass from his class ‘bumped’ into him again, making him drop his stuff.

“Heh, my bad!” Jacob, the jackass, said in his stupid cocky voice, then continued down the hall as Techno stared daggers into his back, he wasn’t allowed to swear at school and he was supposed to be a role model, those were the only things stopping him from cussing the taller boy out.

It was the next day as he walked down the hall, he could hear Jacob’s shoes squeak against the tile, Techno tightened his hold on his things, bracing himself only to see Jacob flop on the floor next to him.

Techno jumped back, surprised as Jacob groaned, he looked to see Skeppy standing behind him, adjusting his beanie.

“Heh, my bad.” He said grinning at Jacob, then he looked up, “Come on Techno we’re gonna be late!” And with that, they took off, Techno smiling softly to himself. This was just the start of a blooming friendship.

He was walking to the middle school with Tommy to wait for Wilbur, when Tommy asked, “Are and that loud kid with the blue hat friends?” Techno thought about it for a moment, then “Yeah, he’s my friend,”

Tommy gave him a weird look, “That doesn’t make sense!”

“How so?”

Tommy looked deep in thought then declared loudly, “No wait it does! Because you like pink and he likes blues, so even if you guys are opposites your colors look nice together so it still works!”

“Really? That’s how you judge friendships? By each person’s favorite color?” Techno asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah! That’s how me and Tubbo are such good friends! Red and Green just go well together!”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“Yes! Whatever I say!”

They were 12.

“You’re seriously telling me that you don’t know how to play kickball? When you live with that little ball of energy?”

“I don’t hang out with him and his friends,” Techno defended himself, “Okay I gotta teach you how to play, come on!”

“Can you help me with this worksheet?”

“Of course.”

“You haven’t seen that movie? How? It’s a classic!”

“I don’t know!”

“I can’t believe you actually dyed your hair blue!”

“I know right! I’m so happy my mom finally let me!”

They were 13.

“I don’t know Skeppy, he just gives me weird vibes, there is something off about him!”

“There is nothing wrong with him! You’re just jealous of the fact that I have been sending more time with him!”

“I’m not jealous of that nerd! I’m just trying to warn you!”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you Techno, but you are not God, you don’t know everything even though everyone tells you do you! I’m not going to stop hanging out with him! He’s my friend!”

“I don’t think that, jackass! I just want you to know-”

“I don’t care! Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go hang out with my friends!” And with that he was gone.

Techno was quietly fuming, which made the walk home with his brothers hell, his whole demeanor was angry. He walked quickly and quietly, glaring daggers at anyone who dared to look at him.

They were half way home then Wilbur joked;

“Listen, I know you broke up with your boyfriend or whatever but could you atleast-”

“Shut up Wilbur!” Techno snapped back, Wilbur actually jumped. He looked between Techno and Tommy nervously.

“Okay, wow, I’m sorry geez, just trying to lighten the mood,” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Touched a nerve there,”

They were still friends, of course they were, but they didn’t spend as much time together, Techno focused on school, his classes were harder now and Skeppy had gotten a job and spent more time with Bad and some other guy that gave Techno weird vibes.

They still talked. They were still friends.

They could never not be.

They were 14.

“You dyed your hair pink?”

“No, my brothers did as a prank.”

“It looks amazing!”

“..Thank you..”

“Look at us! Pink and Blue buddies!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Pink and Blue do go together nicely.”

They were 15.

Techno was working on homework when he got a call from Tommy, who was at a practice.

“Hey man, uh, Skeppy is sitting on the roof of the school, I don’t think he’s gonna do anything stupid but he won’t respond to anyone else, even when we throw stuff up there.”

“Is he okay?”

“I’m not sure, he won’t answer me, but he’ll probably talk to you,”

“Probably, okay, thanks for telling me, I’ll be right there.” He hung up before hearing Tommy's response and pulled on his shoes before starting heading towards the school.

He had heard rumors at school. Skeppy’s former friend, spreading rumors and other things about him, lies, trying to ruin his reputation. Techno had debunked and told everyone he could otherwise but that damage had been done.

He rushed around the school until he found Tommy, who pointed at the roof, “He’s up there!”

“Thanks for calling me,” Techno scanned the building, “I need to get up there.”

“Well I don’t know how he got up there but what if we got on the dumpster and I boosted you, you might be able to get up there.” Tommy suggested, Techno nodded, not taking his eyes off the roof, “Yeah lets try that.”

Both of the brothers climbed onto the dumpster, Tommy cupped his hands together and boosted Techno who grabbed the ledge of the building, pulling himself up.

“Thanks Tommy!” and with that he set off across the roof, looking for his friend.

Techno found him sitting on a vent, looking across the horizon. He didn't move as Techno sat down next to him. They sat in silence for awhile until Skeppy said;

“You were right.”

“That doesn’t matter,”

Techno put an arm around his shoulder. They sat in silence, staring at the sky.

“I thought he was my friend.”

“He acted like he was,”

“I’m such an idiot,”

“No you’re not.”

“I can’t believe I defended him,”

“It’s not your fault.”

Skeppy leaned into him, “Thank you, for being here.”

“Of course, we’re friends.”

Skeppy laughed lightly, “Yeah, Blue and Pink.”

Techno smiled softly,Blue and Pink always went so nicely together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Skeppy?”

“Yeah?”

“How are we gonna get down?”

“Oh shit-”

#technoblr #sleepyboysinc #sleepy boys inc #technoblade #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #tommy is a fucking gremlin #philza #ph1lza #fd au #FD!AU #sbi au #mcyt au #mcyt #family dynamics #skeppy #Apples Writing

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bootyyy-shaker9000 · 3 years

Note

for everyone, numbers 2, 5, and 6 in the general section? :0

2. How protective are you of them?

Raph: He's a big boy, he can handle himself. But if somebody other than me or the guys hits him I swear-

Donnie: Considering he's a dumbass and gets himself into shit more times than none, it's hard not to be the slightest bit concerned for his well-being. Slightly.

Mikey: To the point where obviously I'd care if something bad happened. He's family, I don't want him getting hurt or have other people making him feel like crap. He's a good guy, he doesn't deserve that shit.

April: He's pretty capable of holding his own, at least from what I've seen, but then I've also seen how he is when he hangs out with Casey and Mikey so yeah, very protective, very concerned.

Casey: I've already curbed a guy for tripping him over in the corridor at school so... I guess not that protective.

5. Have you noticed any habits or mannerisms that they've picked up or inherited from you? What do you think about it?

Raph: Right well... I have this thing where before I eat ramen or just anything with chopsticks, I have to tap the end of 'em on the table two times (I know it's random I hear it all the time) and Arlo just kinda copied it one day. At first it was like a "weird why do you do that" type of thing but now I've somehow got him doing it all the time.

Donnie: He's caught on to the same habit as I have of sticking his tongue out while he's concentrated. I'm sure it's probably from hanging around me while I work; at least it shows that he does have the capability of paying attention to what I do/say.

Mikey: This one's a little, heh, lame but... I have this thing where when I get scared I just koala the person closest to me... And I dunno I think I did it to Arlo one too many times for him to get into doing that too. It's not like I have a problem with it! Honestly seeing him like that makes me a little less embarrassed about it.

April: I've noticed that when he's been talking to me for a long period he gets stuck in a 'soft voice' relatively close to mine. It's pretty cute I have to admit, but also hilarious when he goes to talk to the guys afterwards and has to do a double-take.

Casey: Pretty much just any slang he's learnt from me since he came to NY. He'll go "YEEE BOI" a lot and tbh I vibe with it.

6. What kind of names (affectionate, derogatory, or otherwise) do you call each other?

Raph: For him? Pretty Boy (Derogatory). He calls me Red sometimes, but he calls April that too so it can get pretty confusing...

Donnie: Does nuisance count? I don't really stray from calling him by his name, unless he's being, well, Arlo. Then it's bitch (affectionate). Aside from the 'dude, bro, man' vocabulary he uses on pretty much everyone, he calls me... Donnie boy and Donton (like the wanton, yes).

Mikey: I've called him Arlo the Dino since we watched that one Disney movie for bros night! (Legit I thought he made that name up...) Sometimes he'll call me a spoon, or was it goon? One of those, probably both.

April: I call him an idiot sometimes, mainly because he can be, but I never mean anything bad by it. Usually I just stick to his name! He calls me Dimples sometimes, and Milkshake (it was one time and it happened a year ago smh) and sometimes Love when he's trying to be genuine.

Casey: I call him Mate but only in his accent specifically (to piss him off lmao). I'm pretty sure we've got more,, He calls me a nutter a lot tho, whatever that means.

#me and the boys #raphaella aye aye #the guy with the stick #bby ur my angel 😫#that one redhead #cavemouth #he's self shipping again get the hose #f/o takeover #familial f/os #((AHSFJSJ Leo just sitting on the sidelines while all of this is going on like ._. ))

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alex-ruins-everything · 4 years

Text

Turning Pages - Chapter 8

Intrulogical bookshop au! Read the whole thing on ao3 here.

Remus had really tried not to be stalker-y when he texted Virgil for Logan’s work hours that morning. He just wanted to surprise the cute boy who had been filling his thoughts up! And it had worked, because here Logan was letting him drag him out for dinner. Not only that...but Logan trusted him! It made his gay little heart sing.

“A diner?” Logan questioned as they sat down in a booth. The place was mostly deserted despite it being peak season on the boardwalk. Luckily their home town was just far enough from the water to not be a tourist trap.

“My favorite diner. It...used to be better, but the owner died a while ago and his daughter didn’t wanna inherit the place. But she did. At least she kept the staff because Ed in the back knows how to make a killer burger,” Remus explained with a grin. “You wore your new tie today.”

“I did, and though it was mostly hidden behind the apron, it was a somewhat nice change to my usual rounds of blue ties,” Logan said, looking over the menu with slight distrust. “I saw you and Cthuwu had a wonderful day together. I liked the pictures you updated me with throughout the day.”

“I’m glad! I took him to meet Jan and Jan’s snakes, and then him and I went on a ride and I’m immensely happy he didn’t fall off the back of the bike. He’s in the saddle bag now, napping I imagine. It’s been a long day for a little stuffed octopus.”

“You’re quite good at giving personalities to inanimate objects,” Logan observed, deciding he was just going to get whatever Remus got since the other clearly knew the place better.

“Yeah, it’s a skill of mine.”

“Is this akin to an average day of yours? Just...filling your time with whatever you want to do?”

“Well. yeah. I’m not a college person, and I’ve hit a wall with the latest piece I’ve been working on. Apparently being an artist is just as bad as being a writer when it comes to creative blocks…”

“You’re an artist?” Logan asked with a small smile. “I should have known. You had paint smeared on your cheek when you came to Patton’s book reading. I assumed you were just messy.”

“Well, I am messy, but absolutely, Loganberry. I’ll show you my stuff sometime. I can never pick a medium, so it’s pretty inconsistent.”

“Somehow that does fit in with your, ah…’vibe’. Did I use that correctly?”

“Sure did, babes,” Remus winked.

The waiter came over to take their orders and Remus put his in for a bacon cheeseburger and asked for a note to be put down for Ed in the back that it was him. Logan asked for the same thing, just with no tomatoes.

“You got a tomato vendetta?” Remus asked with a chuckle.

“Awful texture. Slimy goo with little seeds inside...I cannot stand them,” Logan replied, scrunching his nose up.

“Aw...you’re adorable, you know that?” Remus said, leaning forward on his hands.

“Oh, well…” Logan’s cheeks started to turn pink. “I suppose if you find a hatred of Solanum lycopersicums adorable then, yes.”

“Solanum...I have no clue what you said, but I certainly liked the way you said it,” Remus grinned. “Though your hatred of tomatoes isn’t the sexiest thing about you, it certainly makes the list.”

“Well, now you’re just flirting.”

“Yes,” Remus laughed. “Have been for a while, but thank you for finally noticing, Specs.”

“Oh, apologies. I’m not the best at picking up on such things.” “I noticed” Remus smiled. “But it’s okay. According to many people, I never know when to shut the fuck up or tone it down, so we both suck.”

“You’ve been quite good thus far, I hadn’t noticed. Well, except when you screamed in the bookshop. That was rather crass.”

“That bookshop,” Remus smiled fondly. “Do you wanna tell me what’s up with you and that bookshop? I can tell you really love that place. There has to be a story there, right?”

“A story? Hardly. I simply did not connect with my peers as a child, and as a result I spent most of my time in Mr. Sanders’ shop and then started working there when I was of age,” Logan shrugged. “I find the shop comforting, and I am in charge when Mr. Sanders goes away, which is quite often actually. But I don’t mind. The bookshop makes me happy.”

“That’s totally a story, babes,” Remus chuckled, nodding a thanks as their food was brought out. Nothing special, exactly what you would expect from a run down diner, though a bottle of hot sauce was placed on the table right after which he happily grabbed. “And it’s cute. It’s nice that you have something like that.”

“Do you have a metaphorical - or physical - bookshop?” Logan asked, taking the ketchup bottle from the end of the table. Seems his hatred of tomatoes only applied to solid ones.

“Do I have a thing that makes me happy?” Remus asked. “I dunno. Lots of stuff. I like riding my motorcycle and watching horror movies...and visiting Duke at the aquarium. Painting, Halloween, going to the Renaissance fair with Ro...all those are things that make me happy.”

“Those are valid, but I meant in a larger sense,” Logan said. “For example, at the bookshop I feel as if I have a purpose which is psychologically very important for humans. I suppose I’m asking if you feel as though you have something that gives you that.”

“Pretty deep for second date conversation,” Remus said, smile faltering for a moment as he looked down at his food.

“Apologies, I did not-”

“No, no. It’s all good,” he assured. “I’m not one to really keep secrets or anything. I just...don’t. Have a purpose that is. I’m workin’ on finding it, but nothing ever really seems to fit right. Y’know? And, hey, I’m a lucky enough person to be able to try stuff out until I find a fit. Not everyone has that luxury.”

Logan nodded, giving Remus a slight smile. “That’s okay, I’m certain you’ll find your metaphorical bookshop one day.”

“Thanks, Lo,” Remus replied, expression softening at the other for a moment before he took a deep breath. “Okay! Okay, pro tip here...douse everything in hot sauce. You’ll thank me.”

Logan did not douse everything in hot sauce, he claimed he wasn’t a fan of spicy foods. Remus was, though, and did just what he had suggested. They talked more about what they each did in their free time, and Remus really found he liked spending time with Logan. He was cute, sure...but he was adorable on the inside too. Remus was definitely developing more than a crush on Mr. Berry. When the time came to pay he covered the check without a second thought.

“We could have split it,” Logan said after he had paid.

“Why? This is a date. I wanted to pay,” Remus shrugged, looking outside. It was sunset. “Wanna go for a beach walk? You said you could tolerate sand.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Logan said, looking out to the beach. “Very well. We can go for a walk.”

Remus grinned, standing up the second his card was handed back and taking Logan’s hand which he noticed got another pink cheeked reaction from the nerd. They headed down to the beach, walking along the edge of the water, far enough away that nobody’s shoes would get wet. The summer nights were quite chilly on the shore, so the beach wasn’t terribly full. Remus only let go of Logan’s hand to go chase some seagulls, regretting the choice when the seagulls chased him back. Birds had been doing that a lot to him lately, there must be an anti-Remus bird conspiracy going. That was what he explained to Logan as he grabbed the other’s hand and fled from the birds. Their walk ended as the sun was gone from below the horizon with them both slightly out of breath and back at Remus’ motorcycle.

“In my defense...they usually don’t chase back,” he explained.

“It would seem this time they did,” Logan replied, brushing a hand through his hair to keep it neat. “But...that was certainly exhilarating in it’s own way. I can’t say I’ve ever run from seagulls before.”

“First time for everything,” Remus laughed, meeting Logan’s eye.

And, shit. He wanted to kiss Logan. He really wanted to kiss Logan. It would be so easy, just lean forward and smooch...but it was their second date and what if Logan didn’t want to kiss him.

“Remus, are you alright?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. Totally, Specs,” Remus said, pulling himself out of that moment. “C’mon, let's get you home.”

“Yes, home seems good. I forget the sun goes down quite late sometimes,” Logan said, taking his borrowed helmet when it was offered to him. “I’m actually starting to somewhat enjoy riding the motorcycle with you.”

“Well, good! I like riding with you too, mon amour.”

Remus shoved his own helmet onto his head, getting on the bike and starting it as Logan climbed onto the back. He smiled when he felt the other’s arms secure around his waist and headed off. He parked outside of Logan’s building, getting off after Lo to say a proper goodbye.

“I will see you next time I see you,” Remus said, taking Logan’s helmet back with a smile. “I had fun on our spontaneous little date.”

Logan seemed to ponder for a moment before taking a deep breath and speaking, “Would you like to come up for some tea? I usually have a cup to relax around this time anyway...and I have lots of tea…”

“Heh, sure, Loganberry. I’ll come up for some tea,” Remus smiled, taking Logan’s hand again and following him inside.

TAGLIST:

@theiwatobiicepic

#alex-writes-everything #turning pages #sanders sides #intrulogical #prinxiety #moceit #remus sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders

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echidnana · 3 years

Note

hey logan ! i’m thinking of getting into re8, so here i am at the re8 expert’s door for any lore and headcanon’s you have for any of the characters/place settings (i’m fine with ‘spoilers’!) :]

OMG OMG JACK HELLO I AM SO HAPPY TO OBLIGE

i’m adding a cut because i started rambling so the post ended up being a bit long. i tried to organize all the ideas as best i could and made some smaller sections to make it easier to process

also, i wrote this operating on the assumption that this is your first re game. so i might go too in depth for some stuff that you might already know i just like talking about re

TO PREFACE: i haven’t played 8, and i’m not sure if i’ll ever be able to. i’ve watched a bunch of edited play throughs and am currently about 2/3 of the way thorough snapcube’s full play through!

ok so. in my opinion 8 is VERY different from a lot of the other resident evil games in terms of atmosphere/setting. while most of the games before had been very ‘zombie/virus/mad science’ feeling, this game is closer to a fantasy type vibe (although it is all explained by science).

just to give a brief synopsis- ethan winters is the protagonist. his main motive is to rescue his daughter, who was taken into this village that is overrun by monsters. the village is run by mother miranda, who’s sort of a deity to the people of the village. the rest of the land is divided up amongst the four lords. i’m order to save his daughter, ethan has to fight through each of the lords.

my favorite lords

my favorite lords are donna beneviento and karl heisenberg. i hc them both to be trans and autistic :) to be honest, i hc every single resident evil character to be trans lmao

anyways. donna beneviento. she’s the doll maker and her portion of the game is probably my favorite. she only speaks once in the game, and you only see her face once. she’s very reclusive and typically speaks through her dolls. i also personally think she’s the most compassionate of the lords, despite her section being one of the most horrifying. her abilities rely mostly on causing someone’s own mind to sort of turn on itself and feeds into the person’s fears. but yeah, i love her and hc her as autistic :)

karl heisenberg is the magneto dude lmao. i love his parts in the game because he feels very… genuinely unhinged. like he’s HILARIOUS but not really on purpose, he’s just being really showy and dramatic. i personally wasn’t a fan with how they ended his part on the story bc i want to see more of him lmao

ok also. she isn’t a lord, but i adore daniela dimitrescu. she’s one of the daughters of the Tall Vampire Lady and she’s TOTALLY unhinged. even though i have favorite parts of the game, i love all of it. i wasn’t expecting to care that much about the dimitrescu section of the game but honestly all of it was so enjoyable

ethan winters

ethan winters is probably my favorite playable character of resident evil because he’s so… i don’t wanna say stupid, but he’s a dumbass

he’s like a horror movie protagonist that is in the situation they’re in because they made a dumb decision. but i think that’s so funny, especially for resident evil. his character in 7 vs 8 is pretty much the same- his objective is always to protect his family, and i think that’s really good for resident evil as well. most of the past characters’ motives were taking down huge corporations or stopping the spread of a virus, but ethan’s is just to protect his family and get somewhere safe.

tie ins to other games

i figured i’d add a section about this since i love all of the re games so much!

so the first obvious one- chris redfield is a relatively main character in this. he’s the co-protagonist of the original resident evil, so he’s definitely still involved with plot lmao. he was 25 in the first game, so in re8, he’s nearing 50.

at the end of re7, ethan winters meets chris redfield after escaping the baker’s residence. chris was working with blue umbrella at the time I THINK i’m gonna be honest i don’t keep up with what organization he’s with because he switches around so many times. basically he takes ethan and his wife and move them to europe as a sort of witness protection program. i like to think chris became close with them and would go over for dinner

anyways in re8 he gets tangled up in the plot in pretty significant ways. he’s one of the ogs of re so it was definitely fun to see him fighting monsters well into his 40s

there’s a few references to other games throughout re8. my favorites are

- the duke (who is the shop keep) has a line where he says something along the lines of ‘what’re ya buying? heh, just something a friend of mine says.’ this is a reference to re4’s merchant, who would say that when you opened his inventory. i thought this was a really funny implication- that the duke and the merchant know each other.

- one of heisenberg’s lines refers to chris as a ‘boulder-punching asshole’ which is capcom making a joke about themselves. in resident evil 5, there’s a scene where chris redfield literally punches a boulder into an active volcano. it was memed a lot because it was such a ridiculous scene, so this line is capcom acknowledging it

general/setting

i think resident evil 8 did a good job being a great game but also keeping the core resident evil elements. like the plot’s connection to the overall re universe is dumb as hell but it feels very resident evil. personally i feel like it’s super similar to re4 in the sense that it takes the typical zombie genre but gives it a completely different setting or tone than you’d usually expect. like, castles in a zombie survival horror game is BRILLIANT and not something i’d ever expect.

i’m also a huge fan of the sort of ‘mutating into something that isn’t human’ trope and resident evil 8 has SO MUCH of that. all of the lords are basically infected by a parasite that affected them all in a different way. so heisenberg can control metal while donna causes hallucinations and shit.

———

ok i think that’s most of my thoughts on it… re8 is such a good game and even though the plot can be dumb and full of contradictions the campiness and seriousness is balanced near perfectly in re8. one of the issues some of the past re games had is they took themselves too seriously. re8 does a great job at not taking itself too seriously in order to be a fun game.

i hope this wasn’t too long! i love re8 to death and will always jump to talk abt it lol. ethan winters is one of my favorite re characters ever, and this game is full of great ethan moments. i hope you enjoy it!! it’s definitely a great experience regardless of if you care about the lord and connections to other games.

#thank you SO MUCH for this ask i love talking about resident evil and my family is tired of me telling them random #lore facts out of nowhere #anyways. i hope this is helpful! feel free to just skim it bc i started rambling #i also tried to keep it relatively spoiler free #logan.txt #evil residence #asks

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moonlightreal · 4 years

Text

Fate episode 4

Welcome back to Fate Elemental Academy! Or should I call it Fate: The Elemental Academy Saga? Fate: Tales From Elemental Academy? I kinda wish I had an actual following now, we could push changing the name all over the fandom. Fate’s a bad Winx show but it’s not a bad show.

When we left our cast Beatrix just murderized a dude, Terra was suffering, Musa was finding love, Stella was mysterious, Bloom was destiny-ridden and Aisha was getting bored with it all! What will happen now?

Also, is Rosalind evil? I assumed she was the “she” who got rid of all the Burned Ones and thus was a hero, but she’s got some serious resting evil face.

Episode 4 opens with a gorgeous shadowy shot of Alfea in the twilight of day twelve-ish I assume. In Dowling’s still badly lit office the adults are investigating Callan! Whose real name was Callum, I think, but he’s dead and so won’t mind what I call him. But Dowling says he hasn’t been seen “for days” so we’ll jump to it being day twentyish. They’ve searched Callan’s room and found “metal-amalgam” which seems to be mercury, which someone would use to try to get past the trap on the door to the undercroft. Harvey charmingly starts a lecture on its properties before realizing Silva and Dowling want to get on with the infordumping. Dowling says Callan wouldn’t have known about the mercury, it’s “archaic fairy knowledge” and he’s not a fairy.

But couldn’t anyone study the lore even if they don’t have powers? Dane was doing potions/chemistry in the greenhouse with Terra and he’s not a fairy. There’s usually some magic stuff that muggles can do just by having an enchanted thingamabob. Fate, your worldbuilding leaves much to be desired.

Silva guesses Callan had help. And Harvey’s made magical fingerprint mist! He’s got a pitcher on a stick and smoke is coming out to track the magic used in the room! Does that make Harvey a fairy?

The smoke outlines Callan’s vanished form, where he was sitting paralyzed before Beatrix zapped him.

Dowling: “At least we know where he went.”

Silva: “And that there’s a murderer in our school.”

The murderer herself is looking at her phone, scrolling through Bloom’s social media selfies. Bloom’s online name is bloomerang04 which is a dumb online name. Of course the fact that we pick our online name at age 15 or thereabouts means most of us have dumb ones. Riven asks B what she’s obsessing over and Beatrix says, “Your fault for spreading it around that she’s a changeling. She’s now the most interesting person at school.”

WHAT is it about changelings?!

Riven says everyone will move on in a few days and asks Beatrix if this is “one of those movies where you dye your hair and take her life...” and Beatrix looks… hmm.

Do I smell Plot or am I imagining it? But then Riven decides to claim Beatrix’s attention in smoochy ways and I’m pretty sure they’re Doing The Sex.

Opening!

In the cafeteria, people stare at Bloom as she gets her breakfast!

Aisha has taken over Callan’s job to snoop on what he knew! Bloom “suggested” she do it. Or more like, begged. And thought Aisha is such a suckup she’d do it just to get brownie points with the headmistress.

The vibe of this scene is like nails on a blackboard. Bloom, you are awful people. And Bloom wants to eat breakfast in here to avoid the stares because she’s a changeling.

Musa comes in cheerful, “Bloom still pretending she’s not upset by the gossip?”

Bloom: ‘still pretending you’re not dating your roommate’s brother?”

And Terra comes in right in time to almost hear that. Bloom, you are awful people. But Terra’s got her own gossip: Stella’s mom is coming! Stella is “dreading being outshined by her mom” and Terra is kinda loving it. For which I can’t entirely blame her since Stella is also awful people even if my suspicions are right and there are circumstances that made her that way.

Bloom tries to be non-awful and says the girls don’t have to come eat breakfast with her “like I’m some kind of loser-mess. I’m fine.” Friendship music plays. The girls smile. Then Bloom heads off to finish her “poison paper” before the assembly. Musa says, “For the record, she’s not fine.”

In the arched walkway above the cafeteria Riven, Dane and Beatrix and talking about changelings! B: ‘Changelings were a way for pissed-off fairies to get revenge on the first world. Swap a fairy for a First world baby and wait for it to wreak havoc. Changelings are bad news. That’s why we stay on their good side.”

One of the boys had asked about “is that true about changelings?” presumable Dane, since Riven knew enough to spread the truth around. So not everybody knew all this.

FINALLY! Thank you, show. And, this is neat! Those would have to be some very pissed-off fairies to sacrifice their own baby, what’d the first worlders do to them I wonder! Though it still doesn’t explain why Bloom should be “bad news” any more than any other fairy. Does growing up in the human world make for more powerful fairies? I mean, that IS the lore, human food, human milk, human soul… but did the writers of Fate know that? I’m not trusting the writers of Fate to know much of anything at this point, even if they did get all those Yeats episode titles.

But we get interrupted by teen drama, Dane sees Terra down below and goes to see her. Sigh.

But then to muddy the waters, riven says Dane “believed all that changeling bullshit you just fed him!” but B says it “isn’t all bullshit, changelings can be dangerous. You did everybody a favor.’ warning them about Bloom, I assume she means.

Show, I hate you now. WHY are changelings dangerous? What was true and what wasn’t? Bloom’s changeling nature is the central bleeping worldbuilding of this story and we get dragged around?

Next I see black SUVs, tell me it’s Silva and his army people coming to do cool competent stuff so I can like this show again!

Nope, it’s Stella’s mom. Stella and Sky are waiting to greet her, Sky says it’s only half a day and Stella says, “Half a day of everyone adoring her like she’s literally the sun.” Sky says, ‘She is the queen of light.” which is an awesome title. She’s here to do an assembly about Burned Ones… what, like those PSA assemblies we had about the dangers of drugs? Hahahaha! That kind of PSA might be more apt, I’m pretty sure there’s more drugs at this school than there are Burned Ones.

But Stella is terrified, I think, behind her Stellaishness. Says her mom is really here to “check on my progress.” Sky suggests getting the rest of the girls to be a buffer but Stella says, ‘I don’t need them. I have you.” But Sky can’t stay physically, he leaves Stella to meet her mom alone

Stella is wearing a long coat of pale pink with gold and diamond star barrettes in her hair. I would love it if at the end of Stella’s character arc when she grows past whatever it is that’s squeezing the life out of her, she’ll switch to bright bold colors and teenage rather than middle-age fashion to celebrate her freedom. At the moment it makes sense that she dresses rather dumpy and too-mature, she’s dressing under pressure.

The black cars, they’re not all SUVs, pull up. there’s a flag, faded blue above, red below split by a diagonal line with some kind of crest in the middle. Solarian flag? No yellow, no sun or moon.

Stella’s mom looks noting like Queen Luna, she looks like a middle aged lady with brown hair, her hairdo and clothing juuuuust like Stella’s! In season 8 the real Stella designed a dress after her mother’s gown out of love, but I think this Stella dresses like her mother because of pressure. Also there’s nothing queenly about the queen. She’s wearing a business skirt and jacket, big chunky necklace, no crown. Political royalty not magical royalty. She gives Stella a kiss on the cheek and says, ‘You look stunning.” and Stella grins.

In the greenhouse Harvey, Terra and Sam hang out. Where’s their mom? Harvey wears a wedding ring but no mom in sight. Harvey is working on a special project, filling a vial with something. Terra asks if she can help but Harvey says he’s got this.

Dane comes to see Terra. Both her family members give Dane a serious Look. Heh.

Terra: “Whilst I appreciate that it is the historical perspective of the patriarchy to save women from upsetting situations, I’ve got this.”

Props to Terra’s actress for delivering that in a not at all groan-y way. Every time this show tries to be woke it is groanworthy and awful and they should just not, but every time the actors pull it off.

So Dane says “You didn’t answer my texts… you’ve been really great to me...” and Terra shuts him down! “Yeah I have. I’m a good person, Dane. I think you are too, but I’m not really sure I care to find out. Anymore.” and leaves him with “A word of advice. Be careful who you trust.”

Sam: ‘Still kinda want to punch him.” Heh.

Harvey gets a text and takes his project off to meet the queen. When he’s gone Terra immediately goes to his workstation to check out what he’s up to.

The queens party goes to Callan’s office, which is now Aisha’s office. Aisha greets the queen, whose name is actually Luna! And she knows Aisha’s name, but does not need any help. The adults go into Dowling’s office to talk.

Aisha accidentally knocks some papers off the desk then, grumpy at this spying job she’s taken on and isn’t having any luck with, slams a filing cabinet door. And finds something. A mechanical ring the size of a jewelry ring, stuck in between two parts of the filing cabinet. Aisha thinks it’s part of the cabinet, but then it begins to whir and she hears voices. It’s the receiver for a bug! Callan bugged Dowling’s office and now Aisha can listen in on the adults!

Only she… hides the receiver back under the cabinet?

The only thing she overheard was the fact that Callan is dead. Seems that Dowling’s telling everyone he left for a family emergency. Aisha tells Bloom this and Bloom is even more keen to get at those old records, from before Dowling became headmistress. Maybe they’re in the east wing, and everyone’s going to be at this mandatory assembly so now would be the perfect time!

Aisha says it’s a bad idea. Bloom says it’s a better idea than getting stared at by everybody and “I can’t just sit and listen to people make stuff up about me.”

WHAT are they making up?! I wanna hear these rumors!

Anyway Aisha is finally convinced to cover for Bloom, say she was too sick to come to the assembly. But for reasons of Plot Beatrix was right above them on the upper walkway so she knows where Bloom’s off to.

Gorgeous outdoor shot of the castle. Pardon me while I look it up… it’s a stately home! You can go there, they have a farmers market and everything! Ok, mark that down on my travel list between my Lost Crown tour of Polperro and my Higurashi tour of the real Hinamizawa…

Whilst I dream of seagulls and cicadas, Bloom is back in the dark east wing past a keep-out looking for clues. Sky catches her!

Beatrix is outside looking for Bloom. Riven catches her. She says, ‘mandatory assembly’s a mandatory ditch.” they pass a keep-out sign on some big doors as rain begins to fall.

Mysterious big doors in the school! Another Winx Club sort of thing here at Elemental Academy.

In the cafeteria benches have been put in for the assembly, Lots of students chat and the adults talk together. Outside the arched windows we see bright blue sky. Are the windows enchanted? That’d explain why I never know if it’s day or night around here!

Queen Luna walks in her heels on a sort of stage in front of the windows. She holds up her hand and snaps her fingers and the light in the room goes purple and the sunlight streaming in from outside dims as if dusk has fallen outside.

Stella, wearing a brighter pink coat and double star pin, sits in the very front between two of her mother’s bodyguards. The pin could be just because of Stella’s name, but in Winx Solaria does have two suns. I like this pin, for Escape to Witch Mountain reasons, so I looked it up. Stella’s pin is gold but the silver version is… oh dear… three dollars on amazon! Methinks this show spent its whole budget on the Irish castle!

Terra and Aisha admire the queen. “Massively powerful fairy, zero ego, boss goals. Bet it drives Stella crazy?” Stella glances back. She can hear them.

Musa and Sam are knee-nudging each other, it’s pretty cute. They text with phones on laps, sam asking if Musa’s into all the sneaking around hiding their relationship from Terra. He asks, ‘is it a kink?’ and Musa texts back, ‘Meet me after the assembly, you’ll find out.” Tell me you two aren’t dumb enough to start Doing The Sex in the same suite Terra lives in too! Maybe they’re just gonna hang out and make out.

Hilariously Queen Luna is saying, ‘I’m here to treat you like the adults you are” as these two plot that most teenage of plots, meeting up to have a good time! Luna says she’s here to talk about the Burned Ones, it’s been years since one was sighted…

Terra nudges Musa. “What’s Stella going through right now? She’s miserable, right?” Terra has noticed what I’ve been suspecting! Poor Musa, distracted from flirting with the cute guy, sighs a little and says a polite, ‘Please wait.’

She turns her powers to read Stella’s emotions… but there’s interference. Dowling is walking by and she’s using her mind powers as well! Musa says, ‘This assembly isn’t just about the Burned Ones. Something else is up.” Harvey is standing in the audience and Dowling takes a position among the students also

Queen Luna is talking about, “...for decades, families and villages suddenly torn apart by one of these monsters that left our world in chaos...”

The teachers are here to scan for Callan’s killer, I assume. Since it’s a mandatory assembly every student will be present… except for Bloom and Beatrix, who ditched! Gee, I hope Beatrix doesn’t try to pin it on Bloom! But how could she when Dowling can read minds?

Back with Bloom and Sky, Bloom says she was born in 2004—the year Winx Club was first broadcast, seventeen years ago! Our beloved show, may it survive to see eighteen. Bloom’s idea is to look for pregnant teen fairies in the class photos, and she has oddly specific details to look for: baggy clothes, girls holding books in front of bellies.

There’s some conversation about how Bloom is tired of being whispered about and wants to yell at people they’re all assholes, and Sky agrees that most people are but you have to find the good ones.

Then he finds a picture of adults. His dad is in it, along with Rosalind, Dowling, Silva and Harvey. Bloom says, “you look like him” although we don’t really get a good look Andreas at the photo. Sky mimicks Silva’s accent, “And act like him, and maybe one day if I work hard enough I can be half the warrior he was.” Heh. Bloom also giggles at the accent.

Sky also said, ‘his commander was a woman” presumably Rosalind. So Rosalind was a leader of soldiers. Was she a fairy or a specialist?

Bloom asks if it’s weird that everyone knows his dad better than he did, and Sky says ‘Alfea’s been my home my entire life” so I guess he grew up here with Silva being much more father than mentor. Wonder what happened to Sky’s mom. They’re having a nice moment and here come Riven and Beatrix to join the party!

Back in the assembly, Musa scans the adults. Dowling and Silva are on edge, and Harvey is really scared. Terra says her dad was making something with the crystals from the vessel, so he was putting crystals in a little vial. A magic tracking device. Now Dowling’s got it.

Queen Luna is saying, ‘conflict is now on the horizon! We are tracking at least five Burned Ones throughout Solaria. The threat is serious. And growing.”

Back in the vaults B says, “people who think history is rubbish are rubbish. Don’t be rubbish” Ah Beatrix, there’s the like 10% of your personality that I like! Then she reverts to the other 90% and suggests Bloom and Sky were down here to have The Sex. Riven says nah, Sky’s not that interesting. Bloom, who heard all that, says ‘But we were alone and that was pleasant.” Heh.

They find a locked door. Sky says he can ask Silva what’s behind it but bloom wants to get through now.

Riven: ‘The more you say no the more she wants it. Give in.”

Beatrix: “Do we need to have a talk about consent?”

The more this show throws woke verbiage into random conversations the less woke it looks. 9_9

Bloom sensibly: “Why are you guys down here, again?”

Anyway Beatrix says she’s on Bloom’s side, which I do not believe for a minute. Bloom says no thanks, don’t need help from someone who posted a nasty video about terra, Beatrix says she was an innocent bystander which I do not believe for a minute, and says Bloom should be mad at riven for starting the Changeling rumors. Bloom and Sky look at Riven.

Riven: “Not exactly the way I thought you’d screw me today, B.”

Sky if it’s true, Riven flees to escape a lecture from “Saint Sky” and Sky goes after him to deliver the lecture.

And he does, out in the rain. Riven says he really likes Beatrix, that B is the only one who likes him the way he is. That Sky thinks he’s better than riven. And that Sky should maybe not be talking about bad life choices while he’s chasing Bloom while still having Stella. Sky says that’s not what’s really going on and Riven says that’s what everyone else sees, including Stella. And Riven says, ‘that’s probably why she told me Bloom was a changeling in the first place.” And he walks off, leaving Sky in the rain with the knowledge that Stella is mean-girling Bloom. Unsurprisingly.

Sky of Elemental Academy is having just as much trouble here as his animated counterpart keeps having with Diaspro!

Back inside the girls haven’t figured out what the adults are after. Terra finds it hard to believe they have “some big ulterior motive.” and Musa says, “people have more stuff going on than you’d think, especially parents.” Heh. Then she takes off for a snog session with Sam! Sam says he’s like to make their relationship public, but Musa likes the secrecy. If everyone found out, she’d have to feel everyone’s reaction, ‘good bad, positive or negative.” Sam says she has to feel it bu does she have to care? And says being an empath seems to suck, which it sure does seem to!

Would “everybody” even care that they were dating? I mean Terra would but at a school full of teenagers dating how many people would care?

I read a book… Burning Glass, about an empath so powerful that when a starving mob approached she let them in the gates because she forgot she wasn’t one of them, caught up in the mob’s need to get in to where the food was. She didn’t just feel people’s emotions, she acted on them because she couldn’t tell which of the things she was feeling were coming in from outside. I keep thinking the writers are trying to imagine Musa like that and failing completely.

Over in the east wing Beatrix guessed that it was Rosalind who left bloom in the human world and Bloom realized that Beatrix lied the night of the party about not knowing who Rosalind was. B says Rosalind was “a fierce bitch.” I’m still feeling this great big hole where someone should say “Rosalind destroyed the Burned Ones in the war with her great magic.” or something and nobody says it. Bloom knows Rosalind was headmistress before Dowling and is dead, we viewers know Rosalind is not dead, did something important with the Burned Ones, and has an evil face. I dunno, like the changeling thing it feels like there are these weird blanks in what the show is giving us.

Beatrix suggests Bloom light the locked door on fire as a way to get it open. She knows Bloom’s powerful enough. Bloom says power is not the problem, lighting the whole school on fire is the problem. Then sky texts and Bloom lies and says she’s not down here anymore which will definitely be back to bite her later. She suggests she could “fry” the hinges off the door, but Beatrix has already picked the lock.

With a machine custom made for picking locks, not with bobby pins.

On the other side of the door they find… a war room. A round sand pit that, when B enchants it, the sand lifts up to create a miniature of the school. Beatrix calls it, “A place where dangerous, shady-ass people decide who lives and who dies.”

Dowling is giving Stella a magic lesson. She creates an arc of colored light between her hands, mimicking the chains on her brooch.

Queen Luna is not impressed. A little mini rainbow is not much of a display of power. Luna and Dowling proceed to ignore Stella and talk over her head. Luna sent Stella back to be “fixed”--the same word Stella used about bloom after she taught Bloom the way of the Sith—after the “incident with Ricki.” Dowling says rehabilitating magic is a process and it takes time. Luna: “would you like me to recite the list of threats we’re facing while you take time?”

Me! I would! 1)Burned Ones 2)??? And how much can one fairy do about them?

Stella tries to interrupt and Luna says, “Do not speak when I’m speaking. Solaria is the strongest realm in the Otherworld, she is its heir, an extension of that strength.” Stella protests that it’s working, she is getting stronger, and her mother just snaps at her not to speak again.

Stella says she blinded a Burned One and Dowling has her back, praising her for how skillfully she did it.

Queen Luna makes a full illusion, disappearing the room and leaving Stella in a VR forest. With wind-howling sound effects, not sure how light did that! Stella is terrified.

Queen Luna: ‘when you control light you control what people see. And despite what anyone says matters in this world, appearance is everything. You know that better than anyone, Farah. Especially given my efforts to help you maintain them.”

Dowling just says they’ve both done a great deal to preserve Solaria’s reputation. Hmm! That’s interesting! And she lets Stella go.

Outside the office, Aisha is working at her desk. She asks Stella if she’s ok and Stella says of course she is, but Aisha’s using the listening device again! She overhears Queen Luna basically threatening to have Dowling removed as headmistress!

Outside in the still cloudy day, Sky is taking his mood out on a punching bag. He gets a text from Stella saying, “She’s a monster.” before Sky can go give her some much deserved sympathy Silva walks past demanding an update. On what?

In the greenhouse Harvey is worried. His magic bottle, which is very pretty, didn’t work. Terra comes to ask if everything’s ok and he yells at her, then apologizes. Terra turns to go then turns back and asks, ‘if there was something going on you would tell us wouldn’t you?” and Harvey lies and says of course he would.

Aaaaaaaand now I’m looking up potion bottles on amazon wondering if this prop is also something I can have. Not obviously.

Terra, Musa and Aisha are talking about it in the suite. Aisha is sure the grownups are doing what they think is best. Terra would rather just be told there’s a secret rather than be lied to. But they do work it out. The crystals read magic, there’s a dead person, the adults were looking for someone who kills by magic but didn’t find them.

Then Sky bursts in looking for Bloom. The girls ask if Silva told him what’s up, but Sky is out of the loop.

Terra: “Dowling’s assistant died, the faculty think a fairy did it. They held the assembly to find out which fairy, but they didn’t because he or she wasn’t there, so now we don’t believe or trust literally anyone.”

Sky: “Shit.”

Sky, smart cookie that he is, realizes immediately that it’s Beatrix.

The murderess and Bloom are reading scrolls in the war room—in the DARK, everything’s shadowy how are they even reading?

In 2004 Rosalind was “leading the crusade against the Burned Ones” Beatrix says so finally there’s that laid out.

Bloom was born December 12 2004, just like the real Bloom. Beatrix seems oddly interested in that fact. I’m beginning to have a suspicion.

Bloom’s phone is blowing up with messages but she’s busy reading. Beatrix stealth zaps bloom’s phone to break it so she doesn’t get Sky’s warning call.

Rosalind was in a place called Aster Dell. This also seems to interest Beatrix, who suggests they just go there right now. She knows where it is, it’s not far. Bloom has a rush of common sense to the head and hesitates to leave school with someone she barely knows but Beatrix points out that they’ve already broken into a secret war room and maybe now is not the time to stop before they get somewhere. Not completely without a point there, so Bloom agrees.

Sky finds Riven and demands the whereabouts of “The unstable sex addict who’s been leading you around by your dick.” Pfft! Also, not very understanding after Riven admitted he really does like Beatrix and feels accepted by her. But Riven doesn’t know, anyway.

Stella bursts in, “I sent you twenty texts and you’re here looking for Bloom?” And Riven gets to say, ‘Have fun with that!” as he escapes. Sky blames Stella for starting the changeling thing, Stella says, “I didn’t want to hurt her.” which is not true.

Sky: “You say you don’t want to be like your mother but all I see is someone who treats others exactly the same way that Luna treats you.” And he says he’s done with this.

Harsh but true.

Beatrix stole a car. Bloom is very impressed! Heh.

The other three girls have had a rush of common sense to the head and gone to Dowling to tell her about Beatrix. Dowling’s first response is to ask why Bloom was down there but Terra pulls out their deductions and says “can we please drop the bullshit?” and when her father tries to stop her she calls him out for putting them in danger by not telling them! Go Terra! Silva comes in to tell them someone knocked out one of the queen’s guards and stole an SUV.

Beatrix must be extremely badass to take out a bodyguard! we’re only in episode 4 but I don’t think she’s planning on coming back to school after this.

Black SUV drives on a dirt road between trees. I do love how there seem to be no other buildings and no paved roads in the Otherworld. I guess I’ll take what worldbuilding I can get.

Bloom and Beatrix have arrived at an absolutely stunning location, a cliff over the sea. Bloom wonders if this is the right place. Isn’t Aster Dell supposed to be a town? Then she realizes there are skulls at her feet among the heather.

But no time to ponder it, Beatrix is getting lightningy! She throws lightning—shorting out an invisible barrier concealing ruins. Aster dell was a peaceful town until it was attacked by Burned Ones and “a military unit from Alfea” decided to go all scorched earth on the place and killed everybody. Queen Luna set up the illusion to hide the ruins. “Leader of our realm tried to cover up a war crime.’

Beatrix says this is where she was from, and where her family died. Two days before Bloom’s birthday. This is where Bloom is from. Rosalind rescued Beatrix too, and gave her a memory of the Alfea adults destroying the town. Rosalind was the only one of the adults with a conscience about killing innocent people.

Bloom protests, the adults are lying but they aren’t monsters. I’m skeptical too, because us viewers know that Beatrix is Beatrix and has said all sorts of things.

On the drive back Bloom asks Beatrix if she’s a changeling too, but no. Rosalind left B with “a close friend” and Bloom in another world. Bloom asks why Dowling would recruit her as a student after killing her family and Beatrix says she doesn’t think Dowling realizes yet what Bloom is, and Bloom shouldn’t tell her.

Bloom: “Which is exactly what you’d say if you were making this up. To keep us from comparing notes.” go Bloom! Beatrix asks what she has to gain from making up a story about murderous teachers, and the two of them can work together to find out more. Rosalind is alive and imprisoned at Alfea, and Beatrix came to break her out.

...for “him”? Mysterious “him” not mentioned yet. And where does the return of the Burned Ones fit in? Hmm. I admit my main reason for not believing Beatrix’s story is that it’s Beatrix telling it.

Also in these sorts of stories the birth parents are never dead.

But no time to ponder it, the teachers are here! They stop the car, Dowling slaps some magical cuffs on Beatrix and Silva and Harvey grab Bloom. They deliver her back to Alfea into a group hug from her suitemates.

The girls were worried that Bloom was off with a murderer but they heard that from the adults who Bloom just heard are liars and murderers themselves. We know the adults are telling the truth about Callan but Bloom doesn’t. Sky is there, also worried that she’d been kidnapped by Beatrix—but Silva calls him away. Paranoia intensifies.

As they head for bed Terra rants about her dad lying to her and acting like it was for her own good. Terra ends with, ‘you don’t lie to people. Not if they matter.’

And Musa feels guilty and spills the beans about her and Sam! It’s been weeks! Terra bursts into giggles and hugs Musa and says Sam looks just like their dad and he went bald early.

Looking down from the walk they see the queen’s guards rolling Stella’s suitcases towards the door. The one thing the two Stella’s have in common apparently is their love of lots of luggage! Yep, Stella’s been moved out.

Stella is in the car. Back home her mother will teach her.

Stella: “You could’ve let me say goodbye to my friends.”

Luna: ‘”They’re not your friends, Stella.”

Which, evil mum kinda right. Apart from taking out a Burned One together, every interaction between Stella and the others has been nasty and catty and mostly Stella’s been avoiding them whenever possible. They aren’t friends. They might be later, but they sure aren’t yet.

Beatrix has been thrown in a cell.

Silva locks the door—with Sky there watching, and I’m sure Silva’s trust in Sky will come back to bite him later.

Then interesting conversation. Silva asked Sky to keep an eye on Bloom, and now he wants Sky to get all the details of what just happened out of bloom and report back. Silva actually says the “a soldier’s job is to take orders” and “your loyalty is to me, no one else.” which, I like you Silva but that is the wrongest tack you could take right now! Silva is very scared and it’s making him make bad choices.

Bloom has gone to Dowling’s office to ask what she did to Beatrix. The cuffs were “runic limiters” which prevent a fairy from using magic. Bloom says ‘They were barbaric” and “You tore her skin open.” which I guess the cuffs did kinda burrow into her skin.

Dowling is just worried if Bloom’s ok and then asks what they talked about. Bloom says it was just a joyride, she and Beatrix talked about clothes and boys. Bloom leaves.

Dowling immediately phones up Bloom’s parents on Earth and says Bloom’s been having a bit of trouble and would they please report to her if Bloom says anything weird.

Sheesh. Could these otherwise smart, capable adults who have years of experience with teenagers be handling this any worse?

Well that was… something. Terra is badass. Stella’s mom is exactly like I expected her to be. Beatrix spilled a lot of important Plot and I’m sure some of it was true and some of it wasn’t.

Next time on Elemental Academy! Will the girls rescue Stella from evil mum? Will Bloom bust Beatrix out of the dungeon? Will Sky be forced to choose between his father figure and his crush? Will Bloom’s parents accidentally betray her? And what’s Riven gonna do now that his smoking and boinking buddy is under arrest? Half the cast is being set up to make some really dumb life choices! Tune in next time!

#fate the winx saga

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