#so. yeah the tower was a pretty big and fundamental deal for these guys' sense of security.

[beatcroc]

you ever think about how gerome and fake pep are the only two guys who really only ever knew the tower as their home? i do

lots of fp text in this one so full un-ciphered script is going under cut below. [mostly just a bunch of headcanon nonsense about his whole Situation in the tower :p] [there is also a second bonus after because i am insufferable] anyway,

bonus:

hey! it's a series! fake peppino world tour: [noise] [noisette] [peppino] [gustavo] [gerome]<- u are here [noisette again]

gerome: i say there monstrosity! do you know the times? fp: …? gerome: haha! just an old joke, lad. gerome: but seriously, i never saw you around the tower much. what's your deal? fp: ... fp: 👈 ?? gerome: yes you! you never struck me as just some hired goon like the rest. fp: i… i don't really know. gerome: oh come now, you needn't be modest. fp: i'm not! i- [fp takes a seat] fp: they…. didn't tell me much. the…the lab. you know it? gerome: i'd pass though, now and again. fp: i was there for awhile, with lots of other copies gerome: oh, you knew the other clones? what were they like? fp: nutritious. gerome: ah. fp: they-the tall one- moved me to….「bruno's」 later. gerome: tall one… you mean pizzahead? fp: uh….right.「pizzahead」 …started changing it. kept changing it. i think i was waiting for something. waiting… to open? but he told me to keep-stay in there. to guard it. was there…longer than the labs but we never got to finish…. but i think we were close. But then「pep- pep: woah. never seen him this chatty gerome: just have to ask the right questions, i suppose pep: I mean, sure but-- wait, you can understand him??? gerome: it's only natural, after all, he is at least in part- part of the tower; made from its power and resources, and so connected with my brother...and to some extent, myself. his speech resonates with the old echoes through its chambers, and while i may not be as omniscient, it has no secrets that would fully elude me. pep: ...uh. ok, sure. what's he saying? fp: ..! fp: XXX! gerome: ah…. seems he's a bit embarrassed. pep: aw. er…look, it may not be my business, but whatever happened in the tower is behind us now, yeah? i know i sure try to forget it too fp: 😬 fp: ...😓👍 [fp turns back to gerome] fp: ............i wasn’t done gerome: he wasn't done. fp: yeah. then 「peppino」 came through. you probably know. hard to miss him. gerome: heh, I'll say. fp: We fought, I stayed…. didn't know anything else until 「pizzahead」grabbed me. fighting more on the roof... fp: You know the rest? you ran out with us... gerome: mhm fp: And… now we’re here. gerome: now we’re here… fp: ...that's all i had. so..... i still don't really know. sorry... gerome: ah, don't be. that's just how it goes, i guess. not much that can be done now... gerome: i suppose we both left some things behind in that tower. i certainly know it can be daunting to leave the fold of familiarity. gerome: but, for what it's worth...i think it’s for the better things worked out for us as they did. fp: yeah…

bonus! 2!!

[nadziejastar]

Lea/Axel was pretty clingy and had abandonment issues. In the books, he was willing to kill himself and Roxas just they could be best friends together forever. I feel so bad for him. He lost his old friend and his innocence to a cult and was desperate to feel love and friendship again. And when those got snatched away again he snapped, literally being ok with dying just so he could he see friends. He had some serious demons back then. Poor guy

Isa’s Connection to Ice Cream

Yes, Axel definitely had abandonment issues. He bitterly longed for his past and his innocence. I just cannot get over how everything about Lea and Isa in BBS was so happy and normal. Even Nomura said that both of them were just innocent frisbee-playing boys. They were portrayed a lot like Hayner’s gang, and the Wayfinder Trio in the old days. Very innocent and cute. It’s why Axel’s memories meant everything to him.

He desperately yearned to go back to those days. Lea deserved to have someone from his past, like everyone else. It made him FAR more interesting to me than simply being the big bro of the Sea-salt trio. The whole reason he ate ice cream was due to his past. The day where Lea and Isa are thrown out of the castle is a very important day. It’s as significant as the night before Aqua and Terra’s Mark of Mastery exam. And it has to do with ice cream.

Scrooge—An entrepreneur and shop owner from Disney Town. Hoping to take his already massive fortunes to cosmic levels, he moved to Radiant Garden with Merlin’s help.

I always got the impression that Axel’s ice cream addiction was an emotional thing—not just that he simply liked it that much. We never saw him eat it in KH2, but in Days, his favorite flavor was sea-salt. Just like Hayner’s gang. They represent childhood innocence. And Axel ate it ALL the time.

I have a theory. So, in BBS Scrooge took his business from Disney Town to Radiant Garden. This is how Lea is introduced to sea-salt ice cream. And Scrooge’s nephews were coming up with new flavors during that time. Ventus is the one who fixes their ice cream machine. And one of the songs in ice cream beat is called “Dessert Paradise.” It’s the only original song, made just for that mini-game.

Saïx’s Casual Gear is shaped like a banana and is called “Just Desserts” or “Dessert Time” in Japanese. It’s probably safe to assume that Isa had a sweet tooth. I think Lea and Isa ate at the ice cream shop all the time; probably every time they unsuccessfully tried to sneak into the castle and got thrown out. It was their routine, their own icing on the cake. If he likes fruit, Isa’s favorite flavor was probably “Double Crunch”, the one that was given to Ven if he wins the Million Dreams Award. Lea’s favorite was obviously sea-salt. And these memories had an enormous impact on him.

Axel had seen the trio out and about countless times, always talking and laughing. Roxas looked about the same age as them, actually.

Each one held an ice cream bar—sea-salt flavor, pale blue, and distinctly salty-sweet.

Axel was rather fond of it himself. Or rather, he remembered that he liked it.

“…Why don’t we get some ice cream first?”

I noticed a few things. While reading the novels, it didn’t even seem like Axel liked the taste of the ice cream—at least not anymore.

Axel: Man, I miss the old times. Still got it memorized? The day we met, when you got your new name, you and I sat right here, just like this and watched the sunset.

He took Roxas to eat ice cream on the day he got his new name. And in the opening of the Days movie, Axel watched Roxas enjoying his ice cream, but he looked reluctant to eat his. He braced himself, and then recoiled when he bit into it. It was way too salty for him, and he didn’t like it. It seemed as if he hadn’t eaten it in a long time. He only started when Roxas came, when he took him out as a treat. Then, he started getting nostalgic and began eating them non-stop.

Beside the small shop run by the Moogles, an unusual-looking elderly gent, Scrooge, was touting his wares with some blue ice cream in hand.

“Come one, come all, and have yourself a taste! Ice cream, ice cream, sweet, salty, and strange!”

“What’s that?” Lea ran up to check it out.

“Oh, young man, would you like one?”

“I’m…guessing they aren’t free?” Lea asked, jamming a hand into his pocket.

Scrooge hopped up and yelled, “Of course not! Are ye daft?!”

This is from the novel, of the epilogue with Lea and Isa. Are they free? LOL. Definitely sheltered. Lea’s just a kid. He didn’t have a lot of money. He was digging through his pockets. It’s like how Hayner and the gang had to take on odd jobs to get enough money to go to the beach, and get pretzels.

An important thing to note is that this was the day they ate sea-salt ice cream for the very first time! Scrooge just arrived and he just started selling it. Lea didn’t even know what it was. This was one of the happiest days of his life, and is no doubt burned into his memory. He met Ventus, and ate at Scrooge’s ice cream shop for the first time. Lea never looked happier than when Isa said he’d never forget him. Just like Aqua never looked happier than when she saw Terra and Ven arguing like brothers.

“Okay, I’ll take one…no, two!”

“Thank ye kindly!”

Lea handed over some munny and took the two ice popsicles from Scrooge, one of which he gave to Isa.

Despite being broke, Lea buys one for himself. And he still made sure to buy one for Isa, of course. One for each of them.

“It’s cold…,” Isa muttered as he took a bite.

“What’re you talking about? It’s ice cream; of course it’s cold. Got it memorized?”

“Salty, too.”

“But sweet!” Lea added, and Isa smiled a bit.

It’s rare to see Isa smile.

Isa seems like a deadpan type of person, who complains a lot, in jest. “This ice cream’s cold”. Lea’s like “yeah, no shit dummy!” That made Isa smile. I found it cute how Lea reacted when Isa smiled. He is more introverted, so it was rare to get a smile out of him. It gave me the impression that Lea constantly tried to make him smile and was happy when he did.

But, well, friendship means eating ice cream together, talking about stupid things, and laughing like this. Speaking of which, I wonder what that he’s up to….that guy, Ventus or whatever.

“We’ll get another shot at it.”

“Yeah,” Isa replied, gazing at the castle they had failed to infiltrate. Lea grinned and looked up at it, too.

Lea thinks about Ventus when talking about what friends do together. Is it just a coincidence that Roxas shows up, and Axel automatically wants to be his friend and eat ice cream with him?

Axel: C'mon, let’s get some ice cream.

Roxas: Why?

Axel: Whaddaya mean, why? Because we’re friends.

Roxas: So…friends are people who have ice cream together?

Axel: Sort of… That, or laugh at stupid stuff that doesn’t make any sense. Like those kids we just saw–they were friends. C'mon, I’ll show you how it works.

Axel said they were friends, like they had met before, and it was just a given. And he looked so flustered about it. The scene made me think it was a deliberate nod to when he met Ventus.

Axel: It’s sea-salt ice cream. C'mon, I already told you once. Get it memorized, man.

Roxas: It’s really salty…but sweet, too.

And later that day, Roxas sees that he had a WINNER stick. I couldn’t help but notice that Saïx also looked at his popsicle stick in KH3, like it was a WINNER, too. It honestly kills me that we had a potential storyline where Isa was involved with that whole idea, and I’ll never get to know what it was about. It makes me so sad.

“Oh, hey, I just remembered…” Axel idly kicked his dangling feet against the ledge.

“Did you guys know you should be checking your ice cream sticks?”

“Really? For what?” asked Xion.

“Once you finish your ice cream bar, check the stick. It might say ‘Winner.’ Not that I’ve ever seen one.”

Apparently Axel had never seen a WINNER stick before. I definitely think Isa was going to have a much larger importance to Axel’s sea-salt ice cream addiction than we ever learned. I think ice cream was fundamental to their friendship, and Axel’s memories. Isa probably knew that Lea was hoping to get a winning stick. Lea met Ven by picking up the wooden Keyblade Terra gave him, after he was left all alone. So, I would not be surprised if the WINNER stick had a special meaning with Isa, too. After Roxas left it for Axel, it probably made him doubly sad.

Axel: Pfft, me? I didn’t do anything.

Xion: Sure you did. If you hadn’t spoken up for us this morning, me and Roxas would’ve had to split up.

Roxas: And then Xion might never have remembered how to use the Keyblade.

Xion: Thanks, Axel.

Axel: Ahem… How ‘bout an ice cream, then?

Xion: Huh?

Axel: Buy me one, and we’ll call it even.

On the day Xion and Roxas thank Axel for defending them from Saïx, he looks away with a troubled expression. Then he says an ice cream will make them even. He needed an ice cream to deal with the distance between him and Saïx.

Aqua’s eyes never left Terra as he walked away. She had no idea what to do, and her chest ached. Her fingers tightened around her Wayfinder.

It was part of a set, to keep them together no matter where they were. Their hearts were connected, after all.

But—had she made a mistake?

It’s like when Aqua clutched the wayfinder tightly when Terra distanced himself from her. She’d always take it out and hold it when she needed comfort. It represented her unbreakable connection with her friends. I think the ice cream was the same for Axel. He found such comfort in ice cream because it represented his memories of the past—specifically of Isa. He eats it all the time as a form of self-medication. It helped him feel closer to the Isa of his memories.

Axel ducked into the sweets shop. “One ice cream, please!”

“Here you go.”

Sea-salt ice cream in hand, he meandered toward the clock tower.

He’d never deluded himself that tracking down Riku would be easy, and neither had Saïx. It was just that if he went back and reported that he couldn’t find anything, he would have to deal with those attempts at “personality”—the sneers, the snide remarks, the only trappings of human emotion that Saïx ever showed. Not that Saïx was even capable of annoyance or disappointment, of course, what with the lack of a heart and all.

Heading up the slope to the station, Axel bit into the ice cream bar. “This stuff is so salty,” he murmured to himself, as he often did.

Axel often murmured to himself about the ice cream’s saltiness. And he was thinking about Saïx’s lack of emotion in this scene. Of course, he’d want to soothe himself with childhood memories in that moment. Memories like the first time he and Isa had sea salt ice cream together. The same day they met Ven, and Isa told him he’d never forget him. Isa complained that the ice cream was salty, then Lea made him smile. Axel was thinking he’d never see Isa smile again. So he ate ice cream to soothe himself.

Axel: Does it hurt, Naminé? Watching your two childhood friends fight all because of you? You have my sympathies. From the heart. But don’t waste your time. We Nobodies can never hope to be somebodies.

Axel doesn’t visibly show sadness too often. He guards his emotions well. But when he spoke with Naminé, he had the look of pure heartbreak and dejection. Sora and Riku reminded him of his broken friendship with Isa. He didn’t want them to go through what he did. Axel had the same look Aqua had on Destiny Islands. 

She couldn’t even pass the Keyblade on to Sora. She didn’t want them to go through what she did. These were the most vulnerable looks I’d seen on either of them. Downplaying Lea’s relationship with Isa is like downplaying Aqua’s relationship with Terra. Her fractured relationship with him was the main source of her pain! It’s like saying that Aqua doesn’t need Terra anymore because she met Riku, who reminds her of him. Even when she had Ven, she wasn’t happy until Terra was saved.

“Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it’s shining down on us like a million lanterns.”

Aqua, too, gazed up at the sky as she listened to Terra’s words.

Yes, the light was the radiance of the world’s heart. The hope of the people living within that world.

Terra taught Ven about where the light of the stars comes from.

The sun sank lower and lower as Axel watched, his mind wandering.

If he stared for too long, the image would burn itself into his eyes, visible even after his eyes were closed.

A phantom sun.

Someone had once told him why sunsets were red… Who was that?

The novel hinted that it was Isa who told Lea why the sun sets red.

“An unbreakable connection.” Aqua raised her blue charm skyward. “No matter where we go, we’ll never truly be apart. And that power will see us through, I know it.”

“…Unbreakable connections, huh?”

Ven held his good luck charm up to the sky, too.

Our bond will never break, with or without these, thought Terra.

This was the night Aqua gave her friends the wayfinders. She used magic on them so that they’d always find their way back to each other. She looked at the stars and said they would always be together.

“Yeah. As long as we remember one another, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?”

Roxas grinned. “Who are you, and what have you done with Axel?”

“Hey! I tried, okay?” All that effort to cheer them up, and they just turned it into a punch line. Chagrined, he looked away.

Xion burst into giggles, and then, as if it was contagious, Roxas started laughing, too.

“Oh, c’mon, it’s not that funny!” Axel scolded.

That was also the day Axel looked at the sunset, and said that as long as he had memories, he’d never have to be apart from anyone. The day he said an ice cream would make it even. When Terra said Aqua never stopped lighting his way back, that was the most emotional she had ever been. That unbreakable connection meant everything to her. And I’ve never seen Lea look as happy as when Isa handed him the ice cream. He had the look of perfect bliss. His memories meant everything to him.

[avengxrp]

Writing Wednesday, Episode 2

Hey guys! Here is your very second edition of Writing Wednesday. This week was entirely by Nikeeta’s efforts. She’s got her degree in writing so this is some helpful stuff. She and I were working together and talking about all the common mistakes we’ve done and since forgotten about since high school. So without further ado, here is your next edition of Writing Wednesday! 

Writing Wednesday - Common Misspellings and Grammar: Writing Tips Edition

We’ve all done it. Used the wrong word, didn’t proofread our post before sending it off into the big bad world of tumblr with a glaring error that you only spot after either a nap or your third cup of coffee. Some of us even have fucking writing degrees and yet...!

PART ONE: Common Misspellings

Lose / Loose

Lose - the opposite of win Loose - loose morals - i.e. like Tony’s bed partners (sorry Kate)

Definitely / Defiantly

Definitely - 100% certain

Defiantly - 100% disobedience

Effect / Affect

Effect - (noun) use when talking about a result or if it follows one of these words: "into", "on", "take", "the", "any", "an" as well as "or."

Affect - (verb) use it when trying to describe influencing someone or something rather than causing it.

Weather / Whether

Weather - sun, rain, hail, sleet, snow

Whether - “I’m not sure whether I should have whiskey or vodka.”

A lot / alot

A lot - of space; of something

Alot - not actually a word

Then / Than

Then - sequence of time - i.e. first we drank a lot, and then we did something stupid and got arrested

Than - a comparison- i.e. I’d rather poke myself in the eyes than meet Tony Stark again

Allusion / Illusion

Allusion - an indirect reference - i.e. That blog post about Kate made an allusion to her father’s supposedly dodgy dealings.

Illusion - a false idea or conception; belief or opinion not in accord with the facts; an unreal, deceptive, or misleading appearance or image - i.e. People have the illusion that Clint is stupid.

Desert / Dessert

Desert - (verb) to forsake/abandon; a dry, baren, sandy region (noun).

Dessert - OM NOMS

Principal / Principle

Principal - (noun) head of a school; first in rank (adjective)

Principle - a fundamental truth or motivating force

Stationary / Stationery

Stationary - not moving

Stationery - writing materials

Soldier / Solider

Soldier - someone who serves in the army - i.e. The Winter Soldier

Solider - comparative adjective of solid; firm and stable in shape

Accept / Except

Accept - to receive - i.e. Pepper accepted an apology gift off Tony.

Except - anything brought about by a cause or agent; result - i.e. Nothing else mattered except that Kate was alive.

PART TWO: Grammar

Their / There / They’re

Their - (possessive adjective) belonging to, made by, or done by them - i.e. “That bow is their bow.” “Whose bow?” “Clint’s.”

There - a place or point - i.e. “Where should I put my bow?” “Just shove it over there.”

They’re - contraction of they + are - i.e. “Where’s Kate and Tommy?” “Oh, they’re going out on a date.”

Its / It’s

Its - (possessive pronoun) belonging to it - i.e. “Hold its head still, Clint - I’ve got the shot.”

It’s - contraction of it + is (e.g. “Is that yours?” “Yeah, it’s mine.”); informal for it + has (e.g. “It’s got six legs, kill it with fire!”)

Your / You’re

Your - (possessive adjective) sits before another word (usually a noun or a pronoun) to show that it belongs to "you" (e.g. your car, your arm), is of "you" (e.g. your picture, your photograph) or is related to "you" (e.g. your uncle).

You’re - contraction of you + are - i.e. “Where do you think you’re going, Tony?” “Workshop!”

Too / To / Two

Too - also; very (if you’re unsure, swap out the ‘too’ for also or very and if the sentence works, it’s ‘too’ you’re looking for; if it doesn’t, then it’s ‘to’) - i.e. Tony always had his music too loud.

To - toward (e.g. Kate was going to the gym this afternoon.) and to + verb = infinitive (e.g. It was going to rain today - to + rain = the infinitive ‘to rain’.)

Two - a number - i.e. “How many donuts do you want?” “Eight.” “No, Tony.” “Fine, two.”

Which / That

Which - a particular one or ones of those mentioned or implied. Use which before an independent clause (words you can change without changing the meaning of the sentence) - i.e. “Stark Tower, which was designed by Tony Stark, is an eyesore.” (Fuck off, Steve.)

That - something indicated. Use that before a dependent clause (words you can't change without changing the meaning of the sentence) - i.e. “The girl that you saw at the party was Kate Bishop.”

Our / Are

Our - (possessive adjective) of or belonging to us - i.e. “That’s our flat right there.”

Are - 2nd person singular and 1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural of the verb ‘be’ - i.e. “Where are you going?”

Who / Whom

Who - should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence - i.e. “Who is that?” “Fake Hawkeye.”

Whom - should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition - i.e. “To whom it may concern.”

Just remember: apostrophes are little gravestone markers that show that a word has died, been omitted, and is there as a little sign of respect. If you’re ever unsure what, for example, ‘your’ to use between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ expand the ‘you’re’ to ‘you are’ and see if it still fits and makes sense.

PART THREE: Commas, Semicolons and Colons

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.

An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence.

Kate(s) likes(v) dogs.

A dependent clause cannot.

i.e. Since* Pepper(s) had left(v) -- (yes? What happened?)

A restrictive dependent clause cannot. (Restrictive is bolded)

i.e. Kate held out the hand that was hurt.

An independent clause is a group of words that can stand on its own as a sentence: it has a subject, a verb and is a complete thought. Just because an independent clause can stand on its own, doesn’t mean that it has to. One or more independent clauses can be added together to form a compound sentence, and independent clauses can be added to dependent clauses to form complex sentences.

A dependent clause is a group of words that also contains a subject and a verb, but isn’t a complete thought. Because it’s not a complete thought, a dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence; it is dependent on being attached to an independent clause to form a sentence. Dependent clauses can often be identified by words called ‘dependent markers’*, which are usually subordinating conjunctions. If a clause begins with one of these words, then it’s dependent and needs to be attached to an independent clause.

After

As

Although

Because

Before

Even though

If

Once

Rather than

Since

That

Though

Unless

Until

When

Whenever

Whereas

While

Etc

A restrictive dependent clause gives essential information about a noun that comes before it: without this clause the sentence wouldn’t make much sense. A restrictive relative clause can be introduced by that, which, whose, who, or whom. You should not place a comma in front of a restrictive relative clause. (You can also leave out that or which in some restrictive relative clauses.)

This all sounds much more confusing than it is - you do it already! It pretty much boils down to not leaving your sentences hanging and although an independent clause can sit on its own as a complete sentence, it doesn’t have to - make it more complex sometimes, give it a bit more oomph.

Commas

Okay, so a comma marks a slight break between different parts of a sentence. Used properly, commas make the meaning of sentences clear by grouping and separating words, phrases, and clauses.

You should use a commas for the following:

Lists - i.e. For breakfast Kate ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and French toast. (You can use a comma after ‘sausage’ too - this is called an ‘Oxford Comma’ and is entirely dependent on the writer - it’s preference!)

direct speech - i.e. Kate replied, “Go to hell.” // “Fuck you too,” said Tony. (Pretty much, if the information about who’s speaking comes before the speech - option one - then it needs a comma before the quotations and if it’s coming after the speech - option two - then there needs to be a comma inside the quotes.) There’s only two exceptions to this rule - if the speech is ending with a question mark or an exclamation mark i.e. “Will you shut up!” “Why do you think shouting will make me stop?”

to separate clauses (to link a dependent and independent clause together) - i.e. Since Pepper had left, Tony didn’t know what to do with himself. Do not use commas in, or around, restrictive dependent clauses.)

to mark off certain parts of a sentence, to mark off information that isn’t essential to the overall meaning - i.e. It was a bit shit outside, all rain and wind, so Kate decided to stay indoors. The sentence should still make sense if you take out what’s inside the commas. If you aren’t sure whether you’ve used a pair of commas correctly, try replacing them with brackets or removing the information enclosed by the commas altogether and then see if the sentence is still understandable, or if it still conveys the meaning you intended.

with 'however' - you should use a comma after ‘however’ when however means ‘by contrast’ or ‘on the other hand’ i.e. However, if Tony used a new wiring system then he’d get an extra inch of room in the suit. Don’t use a comma after however when it means ‘in whatever way’ i.e. However you looked at it, Kate was screwed.

Semicolons

The main task of the semicolon is to mark a break that is stronger than a comma but not as final as a full stop. It’s used between two clauses that balance each other and are too closely linked to be made into separate sentences i.e. Stark Tower isn’t the tallest building in Manhattan; the One World Trade Center is.

You can also use a semicolon as a stronger division in a sentence that already contains commas i.e The study showed the following: 76% of surveyed firms monitor employee Web-surfing activities, with 65% blocking access to unauthorized Internet locations; over one-third of the firms monitor employee computer keystrokes; half reported storing and reviewing employee emails; 57% monitor employee telephone behaviour, including the inappropriate use of voicemail. (Taken from oxforddictionaries.com)

Colons

There’s three main uses for a colon:

between two main clauses in cases where the second clause explains or follows from the list i.e. It wasn’t easy: to begin with, he had to tear down half his house.

to introduce a list i.e. Today Kate had to: clean her bow, bother Clint, get her nails done and do some laundry.

before a quotation and sometimes before direct speech i.e. The headline read: ‘Tony Stark Is Iron Man’.