#very abridged first thoughts

[pipskippy]

reading dungeon meshi for the first time wheeeeeeee!!!!

[coquelicoq]

fascinated to see that this dico calls no especial attention to the fact that you're not supposed to make elision with the words onze or onzième (i.e., you say le onzième rather than l'onzième). i was curious to see if they would take the same route as my english-french dico, which puts an asterisk before the pronunciation like it does with words that begin with an aspirated h, but the only thing this one does is include the example sentence Il est le onzième.

[faroresson]

MGS2 was so fucking funny like Raiden is just having the WORST 48 hours of his life.

You go to work to stop some terrorism, the entire time your girlfriend is bitching at you about the day you met and your boss is being weird and cryptic. The terrorists you need to stop are a fuckin vampire, a girl who cant be shot, a bomb guy on rollerskates and... Ocelot. You meet your uncle (presumed dead, pretending to be a Different Guy) and he's a cunt and wont tell you anything, and spends most of the time flirting with some nerd. You try and save a girl and she is super high maintenance and then dies anyway. You meet your dad and he's like Captain War Crimes Galore (and also the former US President). Also Ocelot is possessed by your OTHER uncle (who was a known terrorist) because of. Reasons. you find out your boss is fake your gf is possibly also fake, then you fight a bunch of robots. and the whole thing ends with sword fighting your dad on a roof and getting the Weirdest Pseudo-Deep speech from your mean uncle. But at least your spy girlfriend is a real person and is willing to start your relationship again?

oh and also our protagonist is one of the like 80 million characters named some variant of john in the metal getal universe. and his girlfriend is named Rosemary. So they also get Titanic parallels for funzies

[lovewithmary]

(not) moving on — a max verstappen x stark!oc x charles leclerc series

★ fc: madison beer ☆ summary: evangeline "evie" stark is in love with her best friend, max verstappen, but he tries his best to keep her at arm's length. but what happens when she starts to get close to his fellow drivers in the paddock? ★ notes: charles and evie's relationship does seem fast but at the same time this is fiction and i want to get into the good stuff asap

previous next series masterlist

eviestark’s instagram story

"Do you think you're ever going to talk to Max again?"

Evie looked at Charles incredulously and said, "We're on a yacht, isolated from the rest of the world, meaning we can do whatever we want, and you decide you want to talk about Max?"

"Trust me, amor, I intend to do whatever you let me do, but I was just curious," Charles told her, caressing her sides as a way to appease her.

"Isn't it weird for you to ask considering I had feelings for him yet we're... What are we, exactly?" Evie asked.

"I don't think you need to try and cover up the fact that you're still in love with Max, amor, I already know," Charles told her.

"And we're whatever you want to be. However, I'd like to ask you to be my girlfriend one of these days," he added.

Evie looked at him very confused. He was the most confusing person she'd ever met, and one of her uncles was Thor. She'd never felt so exposed ever, and he was someone she met not too long ago. "How are you so okay about all of this? Anyone in your place would've run away screaming by now if they knew," Evie told him.

"Max was and will continue to be a big constant in your life, I can't deny that or pretend it never happened. Yes, you two aren't talking but sooner or later you guys will talk—"

"He has to apologize first," Evie interrupted him, and Charles nodded in agreement and also understanding.

While Evie told Charles the abridged version of what happened on the very day she swore to stop talking to Max, she didn't tell him the exact words Max had said. That was because he was already getting mad at Max and was ready to defend Evie when he had heard the short version, so if she were to tell Charles the full story? All hell will might break loose.

"He apologizes and makes it up to you, then you guys talk again. But, amor, can you honestly say that the minute Max says he wants to be with you, you aren't going to jump at the chance?"

"He could say he would give me everything in the world if it meant being with him and I'd say no," Evie confidently told him, shocking the Ferrari driver.

At the sight of his shocked expression, she explained, "While I can't deny that I still have feelings for Max, I don't think I would be able to be with him, a simple sorry isn't enough for me. He has to grovel. But also, I'd be stupid to not realize what's in front of me,"

"Also, I can get everything in the world by myself. I don't need his help,"

"Did you attend any of Max's karting races when we were all younger?" Charles asked.

"I feel like you like Max more than me," Evie teased, wrapping her arms around Charles' neck while he placed his hands on her waist.

Charles ignored her comment but Evie could tell that he was flustered, as the tip of his ears were red, but she was wise not to comment. "I was just wondering, since you attending the races would've meant that I could've met you and not known at all," he told her.

She hummed, finding herself caressing the back of his head, messing with his hair. "I did attend some of the races, but I was practically attached to Jos whenever I did," she informed him.

Charles wrinkled his nose at the mention of the older Verstappen. "Jos? You had to hang around Jos when we were younger and you're still alive to tell the tale?" He asked in disbelief, remembering how the man was during his and Max's karting days but also when he visits the paddock.

"Jos thought I was going to be a distraction for Max because god forbid he has one friend. But, he kept me around because he knew my dad and also I wasn't that big of a distraction like he thought. So, per my dad's request, he would make sure I didn't get ambushed by crazy fans,"

"Why couldn't your dad go with you?"

"He's Iron Man. And if Iron Man were to go to a karting race when he's only known to go to Formula One races, don't you think that's a bit suspicious? Papa didn't want people who were there for him, he wanted the karting event to be all about the drivers,"

"So there's a small chance I could've met you?"

"Probably, but at the same time, I would've remembered someone if they said inchident," Evie replied, bursting into giggles at seeing Charles' reaction.

"How do you know about the inchident?" He asked, smiling at her giggling.

"Come on, amore, ever since I was seen with you, everyone has been tagging me and I see it on my timeline more than any other post," Evie told him.

"Amore?"

"Well, I figured that since you called me amor, I'll call you amore,"

"I like it,"

"Well, it was either that or Lightning McQueen. And you never like it whenever I say ka-chow," she pouted.

"It's not like I don't mind it when you say ka-chow, but I preferred if you didn't say it after we have sex,"

[hummingbird-games]

2023 In Review (Indie Games)

Last year's! | 2021

I apologize in advance for how long this might be. As a reminder, I don't bash games here so even if I hated something with every fiber of my being...I ain't sharing. As a second reminder, my more in depth reviews and live blogging has moved to Gem's Game Gems so I don't clutter the HBG's main blog. Okay. ON WITH THE REVIEW!!

DEMOS

Diffraction (Demo)- A rainy day otome indeed. I love the quiet gentleness of this game, the two romance options, and the fact that our MC is a photographer and struggling with her art and stack of life "failures" (because...SAME!!)

Alaris - I was asleep and now I am awake: I came late for the advertised fae and dragon lore, stayed seated and waiting for Fenir zjgjdf. Oh, and I guess the mystery surrounding our MC's abilities LOL.

The Summit Library - When I say I was maaaaaad when I realized I blew through chapter 1 and would have to go back to waiting for more content??? LOL, I was very miffed. Anyhoo, check out this title for the gorgeous art, another intriguing mystery (like what is *up* with the magic in the poor library?? who or what is to blame?? 👀) and of course the lovely characters we've been introduced to thus far.

Of Sense and Soul - I'm a regency romance girl. Like after you strip away the other stuff, I am but a poor woman with simple needs: a good ass love story 🤧💛 It's about the yearning and the slow burn and the will they/won't they/PLEASEEE they...I've never been so charmed by a demo, and the full game is going to be amazing I just know it!

Made Marion - This project is a game I've been keeping tabs on for a hot minute but hadn't taken the time to sit and properly enjoy the demo. I'M SO GLAD I DID!!! It's in early access now, so I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to carve out some time to play, but guysss Velvet Cupcake is doing the Thing?!? No idea which love interest I'll go for first, but I had a fun time meeting the Nottingham peeps in the demo.

Herotome (Super Demo) - Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh my GOSHHH. Where do I even began?? (Really the question is where the hell do I end because this is one of those projects I talk about a lot/think about a lot and surprisingly haven't run out of things to say zkjfksjd). Another game I've been following for a while, it 100% lives up to the superhero genre in its aesthetic, the characters you interact with, the music and sound design, and of course the slowly unfurling story. Jade and Mia had come out as my top faves, Warden is still there, like hovering in the backgroud, shhhh but I have a special place in my heart for Griffin too (that conversation we have with her?? I have so many screenshots just so I can go back and reread and sear the words in my brain. Like a weirdo. Yup.)

Celestial Crowns - Stats building, celestial royalty, dating sim where you fuck around and find out your choices directly affect your MC's personality?? I'm sat. I supported the Kickstarter and now I try to practice patience for the full game's release siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighh.

OTOME/JOSEI JAM

Please note this is a SUPER abridged list for my sanity and I fell a little more in love with these 2 jams with each entry I played...

Intertwine - As embarrassing as it sounds, I've never given much thought to the "red string" thing, and I consume more than enough romance media LOL!! But Van is suuuuuch a beautiful man, the UI for this game is so interactive and lovely, the music is ALSO lovely, just lovely-love all the way around teehee. (Also this game encourages replayabillity so like, do with that info what you will.)

Spring Boy [Demo] - I believe this game is going through a complete rehaul, so my thoughts and feelings refer to the original jam entry I played. The art is bright and cute and it's a super super short demo, but I was intrigued by the other student we meet on our mission to plead with our professor about our bombed exam lol!

Assignment Due: Project Blue - IRl group projects??? Suck absolute ass. Group projects with a guy name Asher?? Suddenly it's my new favorite thing in the world 😁

Cryptid Campaign Manager [DEMO] - Remember the last time I looked over a cryptid dating sim??? Remember how I was SUCH a fool?? Good thing I didn't make that mistake again!! The prologue is such a tease but you get an idea of what the full game is gonna be like, and I'm excited to see where my career involving love (and politics) goes!

Heart Cage [Demo] - Yoooooo I stay my ass far far far away from yanderes (could never get into the trope or the character type). WELP. Guess I just needed to keep searching because I really downloaded this off a whim--well, the whim being one of my fellow dev peers playing and rating-- and proceeded to get sucked in 🤧I thought being a detective would be the highlight, but I guuuueeesssss I was more into the romance options than I thought. Oops.

Evernight - I tried to explain what this game meant to me on the side blog, but words failed me. I still don't know what to say other than I loved it?? Which is like ummm I say I love everything, and yeah I'm easy to please BUT Y'ALLLLLL if you play no other game, play this one. Please. Date a werewolf. Or a vampire. Or a fae. Plz. Also figuring out the mystery of your MC's abilities and past is just delightful, ugh.

Bright Oak (demo) - Anotha one I wrote about on the side blog!!! Play this one!!! The writing is lush and atmospheric and the characters are all delightful and it's another game with a mystery to untangle!

The Faithfulness of the Universe- This one gets the award for most unique all around entry that I played. Theeeeee prettiest pixel art to bless my eyeballs, and this tasty mystery concerning Fate and witch Faustina's future (or lack thereof 👀) and what it all means. As a player I very much want to know what it all means!

A Cup For All Seasons - Another game that needs its flowers y'all. It's short but super healing and super cozy and the voice acting and music really tie the gaming experience together???

The Working Woman's Guide to Burning Bridges - DEMO - It's the way I played the demo twice and I've been thinking about it ever since 😭😭😭🙃 obviously life happens and things come up, plus this was a demo. But. BUT!!! I am on my hands and knees prayinnggg the team gets together again to finish the game. I love playing as a stressed, lowkey bitter hot mess who doesn't have her life together 😂somehow the fictional version is soooo much more entertaining!!!

Keyframes (Spring Demo) - After the game College Craze, this is legit THE college, slice of life visual novel of my dreams. I cannot wait for the updated demo next year, and the Kickstarter whenever that rolls around. And now that the developer is on Tumblr, I've definitely been stalking the account and reading each new post like it's my day/night/weekend job 🤧

Hello Counsel 💋 - Okay I take it back, Evernight is like a 20/10 but Hello Counsel is like an 100/10 👁️👄👁️ This game is necessary for my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, alright? The banter ✅ the character designs ✅ the music ✅ the sizzling chemistry between Poise and Salem ✅ I wish this game had more buzz because IT'S SO GOOD!!! (also the dev, Miseri, is who I wanna be when I grow up. I've made it through almost their whole backlog of games and there are no misses and EVERY game is different from the rest and it makes it hard for a toodler dev--ME--to cope LOL)

Candied Hearts - Isekaied into a candy themed game?? Sign me TF UP!!! (Peppermint I love you dearly, you must understand.)

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough)

The Knight's Dilemma - I don't even know how I originally stumbled upon this??? I just know it had been in my backlog for a hot minute and I was intrigued enough to save it way back when. Y'ALL WHY DIDN'T I PLAY SOONER SKJFHFJFH! There's a couple different endings, I loved the voice direction, AND it's such a simple concept of a game that was just executed beautifully.

Trouble Comes Twice - If I had to make a top 5 list of romance VNs, guess who makes the list?? Guess. Guess guess guess. Have you guessed yet??? LOL! I have been in love with TCT since it's development days and with each passing month, waiting in anticipation, playing the Pateron beta builds, screaming on the main blog about every single thought I had about Jace and Hazel (shoutout to Jace for helping me figure out *me*) Lol if you're curious about said thoughts, those posts are on this blog and not the side blog.

Aelfric the Wondrous - 10/10 would love to forget my first play through JUST to have that experience fresh again 😭😭💛Cute and funny and a wonderful parody type game all around.

A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986 - Goodness, there's no excuse for why this took me years to finish but anyhoo, I finished, I loved it, I recommend it! It's romantic and achingly authentic and the art is soooo gorgeous I literally can't stand it 😭

The Things You Do For Love - Unhinged yandere manages to entertain and garner sympathy and laughter from Gemini. And that poly ending is chef's kiss too????

Band Camp Boyfriend - There are a handful of games I found and loved before I began my game development journey, and this is one of them. BCB is so dear to me, because of the story and characters but also because of the Dynamic Duo creators and their team behind the scenes. I was never a band kid I was a chorus kid but just as the band geeks loved this game to pieces, us normal folks do too!! Even the boys who I didn't like I STILL managed to find joy in playing their routes (still have a few more to finish at the time of this posting lol, GOTTA GET THE FINAL ROUTE YO). Anyway, this game more than delivered for me and I hope more people keep discovering it!!

Belle Automata: Chronicle I [RELEASED] - While only Chronicle 1 is out at the time of this posting, I already know that the 2nd and 3rd parts are going to be just as amazing???? I wrote about this one on the side blog, so here's my copypaste that still rings true:  

I love TNP (The Nightmare Prince) but Victor’s route hit the sweet spot for me. Maybe it’s the slow(er) burn nature of this route, maybe it’s the reserved nature of Victor and watching him slowly start to care (AND NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FEELINGS TEEHEE) for me.

A Date with Death - I wrote about this on the side blog--again--. The demo. And then right after finishing a route. And then again where I was fully awake and still managed to sound deranged. No copypaste for that, I shall be nice. But yeah!! Another game where I was screaming at the sky about how much I love it and how I'll never know peace as long as I live.

Our Life: Baxter DLC - I need to offer an official apology to both Cove and Derek because falling head over heels, down the stairs, crashing into the parking lot, falling again but down a manhole for Baxter's infuriating ass was NOT on my 2023 bingo board??? HELLO???? I bought his DLC just to complete my OL collection. Was not expecting to love it this much. Was not expecting to be called to write fanfic and abandon all responsibilities to do this. WHILE DOWN WITH COVID TOO. Allow me to play the song of my people. *Send in the Clowns plays*

Our Cinderella - (this is so funny I'm taking about a side game before the main game LOLOLOLOL) Guys. Guysss. You guyyyysss 🥹if you're looking for a cozy, hilarious, equally oddly and wonderfully sweet short game, this is the one!! You may have your personal favorite Iggy ship (like me) but all the pairings are so amazing and just make sense lol!

Wylde Flowers - This is the only non visual novel game on here but it gets the spotlight because I did NOT spend 90+ hours on this game to gatekeep this beauty. No. It the coziest, the funniest, the funnest, the most addictive Switch game (after Teacup) I've ever played.

Fully Released (& still on 1st playthrough)

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin - Life kicked my butt and then sat on me SO while I finally got my grubby hands on the full copy, I still have only played the entirety of the demo. But. We will return to this in 2024 and hopefully I'll have a full review for the next wrap up!

Our Wonderland - I looked back at the side blog and I can't believe it was only THIS year that I started OW??? Because I'd known of the game and the dev for longer than that??? So basically what I'm saying is that I was chicken shit for longer than I've been in love with this world that Developer Carrot has created kjzhhshggj. But OMG to get me, who is scared oh so easily to get hella invested in this clearly labeled horror game??????????????? And even with shit gets super absurd and hella disturbing, I cannot stop playing. At the time of this post, I'm only in Act 4, hence the category above, but it's only because I play each act in a sitting and lose track of space and time and myself. That's a compliment btw.

...

Okie!! That's 2023 in a nutshell! I played a looooot of really good games this year and while I would have liked to talk about them all, I think this list provides a nice overview.

Let me know if we share any favorites!

- Gemini 💛

[rosemarydisaster]

Magnus Protocol ARG

Im not sure if someone else has already done this (most likely) but I've been re-readin the magnus institute excell with all the kids names. Since the tests where psychological in nature I thought maybe I could figure out if the "Connor" Dyer profile worked for Alice. But I think I've found out something about Sam. This might be the most tin foil hat theory I've had in a while but it makes sense! I've connected the dots!!!!!

There's a couple of things I need to stablish first:

The names seem to be ranked from lowest to highest score on the empathy test.

Sam scored the highest, Gerry the second highest (Dyer is closer to the middle of the list).

The tests seem to relate to cognitive development, especially related to morality and empathy.

The Asch test measures your "conformity" aka, how susceptible you are to peer pressure. Basically, they ask you a question, everyone before you gives the wrong answer, and the test is whether you would give the correct answer or go with what the others said.

The Milgram test measures your obedience when in conflict with your morality. The (very) abridged version is: they tell you tu punish someone by shocking them with increasing voltages and if you refuse they ask you to continue. The experiment goes on until reaching 450 volts or if the participant completely refuses even when ordered to continue.

We know the Institute was trying to find Subjects, Agents and Catalysts (there's an amazing post about this from @alice-apparently )

Okay so I made a little excell with the relevant info:

Both Gerry and Dyer show low conformity and obedience levels. Which, knowing Gerry (and maybe Alice??) makes complete sense. We can assume that they both chose to give the correct answer even if everyone else answered differently, and they also refused to administer the punishment even when directly ordered.

Sam on the other hand, mr "would rather die than complain about being forcefed cake" did in fact go with what most people said instead of the correct answer. He also finished the Milgram experiment, going against his moral compass to obey the instructions.

I think they were trying to find viable subjects to groom into avatars for the eye. Hear me out. The kids with the lowest empathy score show high scores in the Milgram test (makes sense, they don't care as much about hurting people) but from 80% empathy forward no one scores high. No one except Sam, the one with the highest empathy score.

Why not just pick the one's with the least empathy? the least empathetic kids were also the youngest and the ones with lowest cognitive developement (I do not go in deph about the other test but you can see the scores for yourself here). This kids aren't useful yet, because maybe they'll become more empathetic (And as such, more resistent to the Milgram test) as they grow up/develop.

Not Sam. He has perfect scores in every single development test, he has the highest empathy and yet he's the most likely to be influenced to harm other people.

In episode 10 Sam confirms his obsession with finding out why they didn't chose him despite having the highest scores. Gerry was the second highest and he didn't get picked either. My theory is that Sam was indeed chosen, and the fact that he shows no survival instincts when it comes to figuring this mystery out is prove.

His test results show someone whiling to file useless papeworks with extremely personal information because "well, you're supposed to even if no one reads it". Also Teddy leaving for a job that somehow didn't actually exist smells like somebody trying to free a spot in the very Eye-coded OIAR. A spot that Sam is more than happy to accept.

I don't know if this is an incredibly long con to condition Sam into the perfect vessel for the eye or if the Magnus Institute had to change plans after burning down. If it's the latter I can see them being very happy when their specialest little boy signed up for the OIAR and fell right into their laps again. Either way, Sam's fucked.

[nexility-sims]

𝐍𝐎. 𝟖   ❛ 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 ❜   |   THE DEN, MID MARCH 1991

❧  𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲  /  𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠  /  𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬  /  𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭.

   ❛  Leonor had attended a recital just the day before, but this performance was an entirely different experience. She was unprepared for how arresting it would be. Without knowing, she had noticed the lead singer earlier that night, ostensibly holding court by the far edge of the bar, distracting the bartender with animated conversation. Leonor hadn’t heard anything she said, but her movements were full of energy, almost frenetic. Now, she held still. The bassist swayed from hip to hip. Behind them, the drummer stared out at the audience with a face full of shadows. Leonor thought the frontwoman resembled a pious statue as she stood there, chin tilted upward and eyes closed. The crowd hummed with impatient anticipation, but what she reflected back to them was unfazed tranquility. 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

❧ (the song here, as you perhaps could have guessed from the episode title, is meant to be "doll parts" by hole.) lightly phoned this one in BUT i'd rather keep moving than skip a week bc i was sick, so :^) this is an abridged version, and i'll post an unabridged version later today w/ a label for good measure !!! additionally, we are now done with the entirely self-indulgent red light filter, i promise sdfsdf

𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 & 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 ↓

The very first chord sent a chill up Leonor’s spine. She watched, rapt, as the statue came to life in a fluid series of motions. Her voice was low and rough, not ethereal by any means but still somehow, to Leonor’s ears, exquisite. The lyrics washed over her unheard. She fixated wholly on the singing itself—on the emotion of it, how the crooning turned to a harsh quaver, within it a lament that felt more defiant than mournful. It was raw. The song’s inspiration, why this woman performed it as she did, was a mystery. It was the vulnerability of it that resonated. Leonor felt the emotion in her bones as she listened. Music was never her preferred outlet but, as she experienced the song, she wished it had been.

For these three minutes, Leonor was alone again. The stage’s pit had been packed with an eager, noisy audience that responded enthusiastically to every line of the song. As it became a concert for one, they faded. Leonor’s eyes followed the movement of the singer, how her lips parted and her fingers strummed the guitar she played. They existed together in a suspended moment outside of time. It might have occurred to her later that extending, even possessing, such a moment was well within her power. For enough money, she could have anyone’s private time—especially artists, people who needed and understood patronage. It wasn't it in the spirit of the venue, but neither was her very presence, arguably. However, she was entirely in the moment as it unfolded. Feelings welled up inside of her. Her skin prickled. Her eyes, too, felt the familiar sensation attendant to being overwhelmed. 

Still, even euphoria had a blush of grief these days.

The song ended, and the bar's spirited ambience rushed back in like a sun-blocking wave. As she began speaking casually to the audience, the singer’s captivating voice changed. Whatever spell she had cast broke. Her friends remained enlivened, but Leonor felt only the desperate need to reclaim the quietude again. The minute of transition between unfamiliar songs felt like too long—too risky—of a wait. Perhaps the night had caught up with her. Or, perhaps, if she ducked into a quiet corner and collected herself, she could resume the admirable attempt at normalcy that had characterized the evening so far. That was her preferred outcome. She knew, on one level, that she was having fun. This momentary lapse wasn’t really an aberration, she feared, but she was determined to treat it as such. 

Leonor turned to Kore instinctively, leaning close to exclaim the most convenient and innocuous escape valve within reach, “Where’s the restroom?”

TRANSCRIPT:

RENZO | Okay, settle down. Next up is a treat. The Fluke girls have a new song for us. This is a songwriter’s song, alright? Conceived in this building. Show some respect.

LEONOR | Where’s the restroom? KORE | Stairs, near the bar!

[Leonor sighs, door opening]

LEONOR | What are you doing here?

LEONOR | Oh—[Laughs]—sorry. RENZO | It’s a bathroom. Maybe I gotta piss.

RENZO | Hey, don’t leave. I’m kidding. Wanted to check on you. LEONOR | Really?

RENZO | Sort of. I also had an ulterior motive. LEONOR | Did you?

RENZO | I wanted to be alone with you again, too. LEONOR | You’re in luck.

RENZO | You know, you do look different in person. More real. LEONOR | I get that a lot. RENZO | Do you? Huh— LEONOR | [Snickers] No, of course not!

RENZO | So, what do you think— LEONOR | No more talking now, okay?

RENZO | I’ll show you the dressing rooms next time. LEONOR | Next time? [Chuckles]

[inaris-mage-of-storms]

}{ Who Are You? Are You Nobody, Too? }{

}{ Thrown into a strange game with no memories of their lives before, Jimmy and Scott find comfort in a quiet valley and in each other. }{

}{ 3rd Life }{ Flower Husbands }{ 3.9k }{ sfw abridged version of an entry for Driving After Dark 2 }{

"We're married now."

Jimmy gaped as Scott grinned at him behind the delicate petals of the flower he held to his nose. "E - excuse me?"

It was just a bit, surely. The sort of joke that he would usually, if the other person was someone he liked, lean into with everything he had and flirt back just as hard. But something about the soft quirk of Scott's lips and the gleam in his gemstone eyes made Jimmy's thoughts short circuit.

"You gave me a flower. We're married now," repeated Scott. "That's how it works, you know."

"Oh," was all Jimmy managed to get out. He was fairly certain that wasn't how marriage worked, despite his missing memories, but the crystalline notes of Scott's ringing laughter eroded any desire Jimmy had to challenge the declaration.

And anyway, it was just a bit. Surely.

Scott seemed to be completely serious about teaming up, at least, and Jimmy was eager to prove himself a good ally who could carry his weight without being a burden. That was why he opted to build his own little house on the opposite side of the valley, to avoid inserting himself into Scott's space without a direct invitation. He showed off his work proudly, but the way Scott's ears dropped when he saw it had Jimmy second-guessing himself.

"Sorry. I'm not a very good builder," he said as he twisted his hands uncertainly. "I know you like things to be all cute and everything. I tried my best, but - "

Scott cocked his head to one side and seemed almost perplexed as he watched Jimmy stumble over his words. Then some realization or another that Jimmy couldn't work out crossed his face, and he smiled in that way that always sent Jimmy's stomach into somersaults.

"I do like cute things. That's why you're around." He giggled at Jimmy's immediate flush. "It's a good start, really! Do you mind if I...?"

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he had only imagined the disappointment in Scott's eyes earlier. "Not at all, go ahead! What's mine is yours."

"Oh? I'll keep that in mind." Amusement sparkled in Scott's eyes, assuring Jimmy that his next words were only meant to tease, not be taken seriously. "It will soothe the disappointment that my husband doesn't want to live in the same house as me."

"...What?" squeaked Jimmy. He squeaked a lot around Scott, he was beginning to realize. "Wait, that's what you were upset about?"

Scott laughed.

- }{ -

By the time Jimmy returned, both the face of his cliffside hut and the flower valley as a whole sported significant improvements. Scott was kneeling by a campfire near the lakeshore, stirring a pot of something that smelled amazing. His ears twitched almost imperceptibly at Jimmy's approach, and he looked up to greet him with that smile that sent Jimmy's stomach into somersaults.

His stomach went into a lot of somersaults around Scott, he was beginning to realize.

"I thought we'd have dinner out here, meet in the middle so to speak. If that's okay with you." Scott turned his attention back to the stew.

Jimmy grinned. "Yeah, 'course it is. Just let me put everything away." He emptied his inventory of all the resources he'd gathered on his trip out, then joined Scott by the fire. "What all's in there, anyway?"

"Mostly vegetables." Scott lifted the wooden spoon he was stirring with, both to show Jimmy the chunk of carrot that rested on it and to test the tenderness of the vegetable against the wall of the pot. "Our first harvest of carrots and potatoes, and some odds and ends I foraged from the woods. I did add some of the chicken you prepared earlier, to make it a little more hearty."

He set aside the spoon and picked up a ladle instead, filling a bowl and passing it to Jimmy before filling his own. Jimmy accepted it gratefully, taking a tentative sip of the hot broth before picking up one of the two smaller spoons that waited nearby. "Oh, that's delicious - wait, did you carve all these dishes today?"

Scott seemed pleased that Jimmy had noticed. Jimmy would notice every detail he could if it meant that smile would stay on those pretty lips. "I did," said Scott. "I finished my building projects earlier than I expected, so I thought I might as well start on some easy comforts."

"Oh my gosh, that's impressive! Is there anything you're not good at?"

Scott's ears twitched happily. "Oh, very little," he said smugly, and Jimmy laughed.

There wasn't much in the way of conversation at first. Jimmy's focus was on the stew, the day's hard work of gathering logs and stone and ores having made him ravenous. Scott was similarly focused on refueling after all the hours spent building. But as food and silence both settled, the slightly awkward small talk between them strengthened into something easy and comfortable. They told each other what little they could about themselves, information drawn from either their limited memories or gut feelings, and theorized about what they couldn't recall.

"Do you think we're anyone important in our home worlds?" Jimmy asked. He stared up at the first stars that faded into existence as the sky slowly dimmed. "I get the feeling that some of the others are, you know? Like Etho, or Martyn. They just feel so...big. Like there's no way they aren't someone."

Scott was laying next to him in the grass. The inches between their shoulders felt ever so close and oh so far all at the same time. "I don't think I am. Or rather, I hope I'm not. Being known by strangers sounds...exhausting. I just want a quiet little life with someone I care about."

Jimmy smiled. "That sounds nice. I don't think I'm anyone important either. But you're right; being nobody sounds like the way to go." He turned his head to look at Scott. "You know, we never did proper introductions. Hi, I'm Jimmy. I'm nobody."

Scott turned his head to look at Jimmy with a soft smile. "Hi Jimmy. I'm Scott. I'm nobody, too."

Jimmy laughed.

- }{ -

No one on the server knew quite what to make of their situation. Fourteen people, dropped into an unknown world, with no memory of the lives they surely must have been leading before and only the knowledge that they had agreed to partake in some sort of game. They were all vaguely aware that there were rules that would be revised with death, knew three deaths would be the end, and had a strong suspicion that some of them must have known at least some of the others before. But beyond that, they were almost as much a mystery to themselves as they were to one another.

Jimmy had his own strong suspicion that Scott was the sort to be just as mysterious in his regular life. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the...elf? fae? Jimmy didn't know exactly what he was, and Scott only smiled and deflected the question when Jimmy asked.

Neither man avoided the rest of the server entirely, but decided early on that they preferred to keep to themselves for the most part, unwilling to get too involved with the growing tensions between other factions. With a strong wall erected around their little valley and most of the resources they needed within, it was easy to forget that there was more to the situation than living the quiet little life Scott had admitted to dreaming of.

It was easy to forget, too, that they weren't really married. Scott still jokingly referred to Jimmy as his husband, even in front of the others, and seemed perpetually amused by Jimmy's variety of flustered reactions whenever he did.

Jimmy might not have been certain of much, but he knew beyond doubt that he was utterly enchanted by his basemate. The first time Scott leaned over and kissed Jimmy's cheek, Jimmy's thoughts crashed so hard that he barely heard Scott ask (with difficulty concealing his delight) if he was all right.

"Fine! I'm perfectly fine," he managed to squeak out. "Was just - thinking! About the, um, the thing. The thing that needs, uh, repaired right? I'll...go do that now."

"Right, the thing," repeated Scott, eyes sparkling. Jimmy wondered if they shone just as brightly in whatever color they were naturally, whether they were the green they were now or some other shade. "Best get to it before sunset."

- }{ -

It took Jimmy another three days to work up the courage to ask Scott for another kiss. He wasn't even planning on it at the time, but they were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the lakeshore when a stray petal drifted down from the clifftop and landed in Jimmy's hair.

Scott leaned in and reached up to pluck it away. "Trying a new accessory?" he said with a grin. His voice was low and his breath was warm, and Jimmy found that all of a sudden desire outweighed anxiety.

"Can I kiss you?"

Scott's eyes widened in surprise, then his mouth curved into that soft, soft smile. "Of course. You don't really have to ask to kiss your own husband, you know."

Jimmy let out a breathless chuckle. "You're still sticking to your little joke, huh?"

Scott's ears dropped, and Jimmy's heart dropped with them when he saw hurt clouding his pretty eyes. "You thought I was joking about that?"

"Well...yeah?" Jimmy tilted his head in confusion. "I mean, you said it literally within the first, like, hour of meeting. We barely know one another, Scott."

"Oh." Scott pulled away. Jimmy was struck with the desire to pull him close and assure him he didn't mean it. "I'm sorry. I mean, I know we're not married married, but you never said anything against it, and I thought you liked me back, so I just sort of...assumed."

"Assumed what?" This wasn't going at all how Jimmy had pictured it. "And I do like you! I just didn't want to, you know, take things at face value and look like an idiot later if it turned out I misinterpreted what you meant." He paused. "Which...okay, in hindsight - "

If the delicate bell-shaped flowers that dotted the ground in the woods could actually ring, Jimmy imagined they would sound an awful lot like Scott's laughter.

"So you do like me?" Scott's ears were beginning to perk back up, albeit cautiously. "You're not mad that I assumed we were dating?"

"I mean, I wish you would have said something? But no, I'm not mad." Heat blossomed across his cheeks. "So...about that kiss?"

Scott leaned in but paused at the last moment, letting Jimmy be the one to close the gap. Jimmy leaned in too, and the longing feeling in his chest that he hadn't even known was there disappeared.

Logically, Jimmy knew it couldn't possibly be his first kiss. The jitters he felt had more to do with kissing someone new for the first time, not the act of kissing itself. But was it the first time he had ever kissed Scott? It didn't seem probable that they even knew each other in the outside world, let alone were romantically involved, and yet...

Scott deepened the kiss, melting into Jimmy when Jimmy put his arms around him. The way their mouths moved together felt like the most natural thing in the world. One ear twitched in - surprise? delight? Jimmy had learned quickly how to read Scott's subtle body language, but some microexpressions were still beyond him - when Jimmy was the one to take initiative and run his tongue along Scott's lower lip, and he let him in immediately.

By the time they parted to pant for air, Jimmy had lowered Scott down into the soft grass, and the way Scott stared up at him with swollen lips and gentle surrender in his eyes stole Jimmy's breath away as quickly as he could catch it.

"I don't want this to be over."

The confession that slipped out of Jimmy startled both of them. Then Scott's confusion gave way to amusement, and he laughed. "Well, I don't exactly plan on giving you up any time soon."

"No, I mean - " Jimmy sighed and rested his forehead against Scott's. "What happens at...at the end? I know what happens when you die in a typical hardcore world, but..."

But nothing about their situation was typical. And even in a typical world, the same fear lurked in the background of every player's mind: what if something goes wrong? what if my eyes don't open again like they're meant to? what if this is actually final? Jimmy had been trying not to think about it, but being dropped into a strange game with no memory was unsettling enough, and only magnified those natural fears.

They might be the players, but something else was toying with them.

"I think we'll respawn wherever we're meant to be," said Scott firmly. "Whatever block has been placed on our memories will be gone, we'll be safe at home - wherever 'home' is - and we'll have new friends to contact. Or old friends to check up on," he added, threading his fingers through Jimmy's hair.

Jimmy nosed against his cheek, then lay next to him with a sigh. "You think we know each other on the outside?"

Scott snorted. "Jimmy, either we already knew each other before this, or we have what is quite possibly the most insane and immediate chemistry that has ever existed between two people." He mirrored the way Jimmy lay on his side, tucking a hand under his head. "You...feel like home. It's hard to imagine I came from a life where I didn't already love you."

Jimmy smiled. "Home?" he repeated, feeling a sliver of hope for what could be.

"Home," said Scott, and it sounded like a promise.

- }{ -

"I mean, you don't have to use it or anything." Jimmy pressed his fingertips together nervously. "It's not very well-made, actually. It's only holding together because Impulse helped me with all the fiddly bits."

Scott stared at the hand-cranked beater he held, turning it over and inspecting it. Jimmy shifted nervously. A few days before, Scott had lamented the lack of much nicer kitchen appliances found on more established servers, wishing aloud for even the simplicity of an electric mixer to make his baking easier. A bundle of twigs made a sufficient enough whisk for eggs, but not so much for making a smooth, creamy frosting to top the variety of little cakes he liked to bake.

"I did wonder what you were spending so long at the anvil for the other day." Scott tapped a finger against the metal of the beater. "I love it. Thank you."

Jimmy beamed, pleased with the pleased expression on Scott's face and even happier with the kiss that followed. "My husband is so talented," said Scott, resting his forehead against Jimmy's. "Is there anything you're not good at?"

"Quite a lot, actually," said Jimmy with a sheepish grin, and Scott laughed.

Scott made a cake that very night, informing Jimmy with delight that the beater did indeed make a significant difference to the texture of the frosting he'd previously been mixing with only a wooden spoon. Privately, Jimmy couldn't tell much of a difference, but he kept that thought to himself. He was more interested in the way Scott offered a scoop of frosting on his fingertip for Jimmy to taste, and the way Scott's breath caught when Jimmy gripped his wrist firmly and took his time licking away the creamy glaze.

"It's delicious." Jimmy didn't intend the low, deep tone that his voice took on, but he took great interest in the way Scott swallowed hard, parted his lips, and leaned closer. It would be easy to tease him, but it would be even easier to lean in and kiss him.

"Don't you have a cake to frost?" he murmured against Scott's lips when Scott went for a second kiss almost right away.

"It still needs to cool," Scott murmured back. Not one to be denied, he mouthed at Jimmy's jawline and down his neck, and it was Jimmy's to flush and lean closer. "Could take hours, really."

Jimmy chuckled breathlessly. "Hours, huh? Well, you're the expert. What do we do in the meantime?"

Scott smiled against his neck. Jimmy's heart pounded in his chest.

He was so caught up in imagining the possibilities of what Scott might say next that it took him a moment to realize what was happening when Scott stepped back, smiling ever so sweetly, and handed him a pile of dishes to be washed.

- }{ -

"What's on your mind?"

Jimmy jumped as Scott nudged him with his shoulder. "Oh! Gosh, you startled me. Sorry, what did you say?"

Scott's lips were quirked upwards and he kept his tone light, but the crease of his brow betrayed his concern. "You've been a million miles away all day. What's wrong?"

"Oh. Nothing's wrong. I just..." Jimmy looked down at the blade laying across his lap and gave it another polish. "Some of the others think this is all going to turn into a proper war."

"Hmm." Scott looked out over the water. The sun that shone down on them was warm, but not overly so. Dragonflies flitted around the reeds. A little frog sat quietly in the mud shaded by a rock. A bluejay watched them from the top of the wall, silent.

Jimmy polished a freshly sharpened sword. Two sets of armor hung by the anvil, gleaming with newly applied enchantments. The potions chest next to Scott's brewing stand was crowded.

"What if - "

Scott put a hand over Jimmy's. "We'll be okay. We're just a couple of nobodies, remember?" He slipped the sword from Jimmy's grasp and set it off to the side, replacing it with his own fingers. Jimmy held on like he'd been handed a lifeline he was afraid to let go of.

He looked around at the beautiful oasis he and Scott had created together. He looked at Scott, so graceful he could easily be mistaken for some ethereal spirit who lived among the flowers.

Perhaps he was. Perhaps Scott had always been here, part of this valley of eternal summer, and only Jimmy was the outsider.

Jimmy didn't care anymore about the world before, he realized. Sure, he was a little curious, but had everything he needed here. He had a home, rustic but comfortable, with plenty of room to improve over time. He had friends, some of whom - like Martyn and BigB - even felt like he'd known for years.

He had Scott.

Nothing, in this world or any other, could fill his heart the way Scott did.

"Jimmy?"

Scott squeezed his hand. Jimmy swallowed against the emotions creeping up his throat.

There was a poppy in his inventory, picked only this morning and stored away until Jimmy could figure out the best time to present it. But realizing his heart was certain in an uncertain world, it didn't seem like there would be a better time than right now.

Scott blinked at the flower Jimmy handed him, but took it without hesitation. "We're married now," said Jimmy, and Scott's eyes shot back up to meet his own. Jimmy grinned. "I gave you a flower. We're married now. That's how it works, right?"

"Oh," was all Scott managed to get out. Then his arms were around Jimmy's neck, and his mouth was crashing against Jimmy's mouth, and it really didn't matter anymore what the rest of the factions outside the wall were or weren't planning.

Jimmy smiled as Scott grinned at him behind the delicate petals of the flower he held to his nose, and they both laughed.

- }{ -

"What's on your mind?"

One of Scott's ears flicked toward Jimmy at the sound of his voice, but he didn't take his eyes off the nearly complete flower crown in his hands. "Just trying to decide how many more roses I want in this."

Jimmy tucked in the end of the last stem on his own flower crown and placed it on Scott's head. "It's not very nice to lie to your husband, you know."

Scott chuckled, but Jimmy could hear the reservation lurking in the melodious notes. Jimmy cupped his cheek, and Scott leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too." Jimmy pressed his lips to Scott's forehead. "Why do you sound so sad about it? You're not breaking up with me, are you?"

He meant it as a joke, but the way Scott looked at him sent his stomach plummeting.

"No, of course not." Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief, and Scott gave him an apologetic smile. "But seeing Scar turn red, it made me think about what's coming. What happens when this is all over."

"Didn't we already talk about this?" Jimmy kissed Scott's forehead, then the bridge of his nose, then under his eye. "We outlive everyone, and enjoy being nobodies together. Easy."

Scott's eyes were soft as he watched Jimmy. "Yeah. Easy." He finished weaving the flowers he still clutched, then crowned Jimmy with them. "But let's say something happens and we respawn back in our old lives. Would you...still want me?"

"Yes."

Jimmy answered without hesitation, not needing to think about it. He already had thought about, late at night staring at the ceiling and listening to Scott's steady breathing next to him. He knew this couldn't last forever, as badly as he wanted it to. But he and Scott could.

"I want to marry you for real," he said softly. "Maybe we can find a cleric somewhere, or maybe Ren could do it. Kings can do that sort of thing, right?"

Scott laughed. "You know what? Why don't we do it? Think about it; clerics and kings officiate marriages because they represent a higher authority. But the only authority I care to recognize is yours and mine."

"I like the sound of that." Jimmy kissed Scott's hand. If he'd ever been to any weddings, he couldn't remember them, but he could recall some vague approximation of what must be standard vows. "I promise to cherish you forever and stand by your side, for better or for worse, from one dream to the next."

Under a veil of sunshine and poppies, Scott smiled at his husband. "I promise to cherish you forever and stand by your side," he repeated. "For better or for worse, from one dream to the next."

The vows were simple, the kiss was chaste, and the only witnesses were butterflies and birds. But it was theirs, and it was beautiful. In a peaceful valley in one little corner of a strange world, two nobodies grinned at one another under the delicate petals of the flowers in their hair, and they both laughed.

[greatcheshire]

Thoughts on each Eva thing (from NGE to 3.0+1.11)

NGE - very very good show, especially on rewatches. Both English dubs are good.

End of Evangelion - one of the best films I’ve ever seen. ADV dub or nothin

1.11 - bad stinky no good on its own. Just an abridged retread of the first six episodes with worse pacing. Only worth watching if you’re watching all the rebuilds

2.22 - good balance of old and new, doesn’t work for me as much as it does others but a step in the right direction

3.33 - HERE WE GO. People hate this one but I love this one and for me this is when the Rebuild films started actually showing their true potential

3.0+1.0 - A masterpiece and a perfect ending to NGE as a whole. There are scenes in it that’ll stick with me forever. Justified the existence of the rebuilds and then some. Great great great movie.

[mamawasatesttube]

i would like 2 hear more about the timkon wedding pretty please

i talked abt timkon wedding ideas once here! some other thoughts, building off all that:

they are incredibly giddy all throughout the ceremony. bouncing on their feet keep grinning at each other and everything.

their vows are riddled with inside jokes and silliness as well as heartfelt sappy sentiment. tim is like "btw this is the abridged version. i wrote the rest down in a letter you can read later i just can't actually say it all out loud in front of an audience" and kon gets this biiig ol smile and goes "awww. you looove me." and tim just stares at him like. "yeah. that's. that's the point. that's why we're here kon"

kon wears a beautiful lacy white dress. ma, lori, cissie, and bart came with to help him pick it out; lori declared that if tim's first sight of kon in it didn't leave him stunned speechless, she'd call the wedding off bc no one who deserves kon would be capable of coherent thought seeing him in it <3

(not to worry. they do the private lil first look with the photographers and tim takes one look at kon and gets so excited that he has to turn around with a giant giddy grin and just flap his hands at the air for a minute out of sheer joy before he can actually face him. kon is so endeared by this and also delighted by tim's delight at seeing him AND by how pretty tim looks in his tux that he almost starts floating. they're both a bit of a mess.)

(tim is wearing a really pretty tux btw. later, at the reception, when he shrugs off his jacket and rolls up his sleeve bc they're dancing, kon cannot stop staring.)

dick is ofc tim's best man. this bears reiterating

cassie either is kon's best butch or the officiant ♥ if she's officiating, bart's kon's best man.

tim gets choked up during their first non-choreographed slow dance. he doesn't cry often, but the overwhelming joy of the fact that they made it, they're alive and they've grown up and they're here and they're married, and all their friends and family are here with them, just slams into him like a freight train as kon twirls him around.

he hasn't cried in so long that his chest gets tight and his throat closes up and his eyes start prickling and his first thought isn't "oh i'm crying" but "oh fuck did someone poison my champagne?!" before he realizes.

kon notices his heart rate spike a little and then sees him wiping at his eyes and just. "you just freaked out about crying and thought you, like, got poisoned or something. didn't you." bc he knows exactly how tim's brain works

and then kon (radiant, holding him, his husband, in a wedding dress, beautiful, holding him, his husband!!!) is laughing at him and they're pressed together and tim can feel it in his chest and. well. now hes crying harder while batting kon on the shoulder like shut up!! shut up!!

kon (a very good husband) whisks him away after that song ends to go hide in a private lil alcove somewhere so he can just hug tim and let him sniffle it out for a few minutes. all their friends tease about them sneaking off to make out but it's actually just kon being very considerate of his overstimulated hubby-wubby who is not used to processing such intense emotions on the spot. he needs a minute to cling and let it all wash over him and then he's like okay. okay okay im good now im normal

and then they make out. obviously.

[ramzawrites]

Mission: First Date - Reader X Rise!Leonardo

FEM

Pairings: Leonardo x Reader

Characters included: Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Splinter, April

Warnings: n/a

Series: A request!

Summary: Leo and Y/N are out on their first date so the rest of the family decides that they better observe them and make sure that this First Date of theirs will be a success

Word count: 5610

Authors Note: Wrote it in one go so I apologize if there are still many mistakes, I tried my best to find most

Mikey tapped with a stick against a whiteboard that was at this point covered in a myriad of writing and drawings in all kinds of colors. The turtle mutant wore a serious expression behind his big round glasses. He was trying his best to gather the attention from the group that was sitting on the ground in front of him.

Raph had his typical smile on his face, his attention fully on his youngest brother while Donnie just eyed Mikey with narrowed eyes. He was sure that his younger brother got the whiteboard out of his lab and if he finds out that Mikey erased anything important for this weird little stunt of his, there will be hell to pay. April had her eyes narrowed as well but for a different reason. She just got off shift from her latest job and immediately came over to the lair since Mikey said there was an emergency only to see that whatever this was, was the emergency.

To everyone’s surprise even Splinter was in the room. He had his eyes closed as he stroked his chin deep in thought but if he really was busy thinking or in the middle of falling asleep could be anyone’s guess.

“Come on guys! We gotta make sure that all will go well as his family!” Mikey exclaimed loudly, trying to elicit a reaction from the group this time.

Knowing that Mikey will just keep them all stuck like this if they didn’t go somewhat along Donnie replied “Why, though? I have better things to do than sneak after Leo on his date.” He couldn’t help the sneer when he said the word “date”.

It was almost as if Donnie just insulted Mikey with the way he puffed up his cheek and threw his arms into the air, gesticulating wildly “Well! You know Leo! And you know Y/N!”

Donnie just stared him further down. This did not in fact answer his question in any way.

Raph, sensing that both Donnie and Mikey were slowly becoming more tense and annoyed, tried to mediate somewhat “Uh, how about you just go through all of this again? Maybe in an abridged version, lil’ man?”

Mikey’s hand slapped against his forehead and slowly slid down his face in annoyance “Ugh, fine!” he grabbed the whiteboard and flipped it around. He drew a quick picture of Leo’s smiling face on the board and another one of Y/N’s face.

He coughed to clear his throat as he tapped his stick against the whiteboard once again “Alright, guys! As we all know Leo has recently asked Y/N out on a date in the Hidden City. Not only is it his first date, it’s also Y/N’s first date.” His stick moved towards the Leo picture “Leo here is confident but also when it comes to emotions, he can be stupid at times!”

Now the stick moved over to the picture of Y/N “Now Y/N here is as we all know very nice and funny, but she is also very shy, so should Leo do anything stupid she wouldn’t say anything about it.”

Mikey slapped the stick loudly against his hand, he must have not expected this as well seeing how he had to shake his hand in pain “Now there is not a lot we could do to make sure that the date goes well in that regard, but we can make sure everything else will be fine! They are in the Hidden City and I swear every time we go down there something happens.”

“I mean not always though, Mikey, and I’m sure Leo will be able to handle anything that’ll come their way.” Raph mumbled out, scratching the back of his head.

This just made Mikey roll his eyes “Yeah, sure! But I feel like as his family it is our duty to make sure it’ll go well!” There was a short beat of intense silence before he continued “Also it’s been a while since Leo took time off like this. Ever since the whole Krang thing he’s been mostly concentrating on training and everything, so, I wanna make sure this will go well.”

This answer visibly satisfied Raph as he nodded along “Okay, yeah, you’re right. Let’s make sure it’ll go well.”

“Thank you, Raph!” Mikey sighed out, happy he managed to bring at least one of his family members on his side.

“I mean, I agree with you there Mikey, but also this kind of feels like an invasion of privacy…” April winced.

Mikey took a second to reply “You know Leo and Donnie didn’t really hesitate when you went out on a date with Sunita. “

A frown immediately appeared on April’s face “One! It wasn’t a date! We’re friends! Two! Okay, yeah fair and I am curious not gonna lie.”

Donnie suddenly gasped out in utter outrage “Really? You are just going to go along with whatever this is? Really, April? I thought better of you.” He huffed.

April snickered “Well you thought wrong, Donnie. I’m a journalist, snooping is what I do! Besides, for Y/N’s sake and our sisterhood that we both share, I gotta make sure she’ll be alright! Come on, I know you wanna come along as well!”

“Scoff. I have better things to do, thank you very much.”

“Donnie, even Splinter is coming along.”

“Dad? Really?!”

All eyes were now on the rat that was sitting quietly between his children.

He continued stroking his chin, opened his eyes to speak with a sagely voice “It’s simple. I’m a father. I am worried for my son’s well being and he is the first of my kids that is going out on a proper date. Of course, I want to make sure that he will be alright.”

Donnie did not trust a word his father just said to him. No, he knew there was something else. That’s when it hit him “Oh, Pizza Supreme, your favorite soap opera is on break isn’t it?”

Splinter nodded, somehow still trying his best to keep his wise aura going “And my soap opera is on break.”

“Come on, big bro, you know you wanna come along with us!” Mikey chimed in before Donnie could admonish his father even further. His eyes wide open and glistening. The puppy dog eyes combined with him calling Donnie his big bro was a powerful weapon for the most dire moments.

The purple ninja groaned angrily “Alright, I’ll come along but only because if Leo inevitably embarrasses himself, I want to be there. After all I do record everything.” His angry expression now exchanged for a devious one.

It was quiet for a very awkward moment before Mikey picked up the pace once again “Alright! Glad we’ve got this figured out! That said we should really be going because judging by the time they should have been gone for like half an hour now. I would say this is good enough space to ensure that they won’t suspect a thing. Let’s get going to Hueso’s!”

This is how the group ended up being spread in Hueso’s restaurant. Mikey somehow managed to infiltrate the kitchen, saying something that while he definitely trusts Hueso’s food, he’d make sure it’s extra perfect.

Raph was sitting in a booth, wearing a trenchoat and a hat while holding a huge newspaper to hide behind. April sat in front of him in a similar get up with another newspaper.

Donnie sat at a table with his father in a corner of the restaurant. Both wore their sweater vests combined with a fake mustache and glasses that Mikey insisted the two had to wear just to be sure. Honestly Donnie was just waiting for all of this to backfire horribly.

While all of them were spread around they all head a good view of Leo and Y/N who sat at their own table, munching on some Pizza while they chatted. Both leaning back in their own chair with soft smiles. The blush on Y/N’s face was obvious while the one on Leo’s face was more faint but still very much there.

Suddenly Raph’s voice rang in Donnie’s ear. Right, Mikey begged him that they get to use the little earpieces so they could communicate.

“How’s it looking gang?”

“How’s it supposed to look? They are just talking. It’s fine.” Donnie replied lazily as he grabbed a piece of his own pizza.

Splinter shook his head disappointedly “It is not fine, Purple! Can’t you see in their body language how this is not fine? I knew I should have taught Blue more about how to talk to a lady. They are barely looking at each other!”

“Uh, yeah, sure, that.” The others did not need to see April to know that she must be grimacing, since they were as well. None of them wanting to think about Splinter flirting with anyone. It was already hard enough to know that Big Mama was his ex.

Mikey’s voice appeared again “But yeah, the two look really more like two friends hanging out. I think the two might be too shy to try anything.”

April snorted “Can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I think you are right. Didn’t think I would see Leo being too shy for anything.”

“It’s infuriating to watch. The more I sit here the more I can’t understand how you keep watching shows all about romance.” Donnie muttered towards his father. The disdain clear in his voice.

“Just concentrate on helping Leo out and not the romance bits then.” Raph tried to reason with Donnie “Oh! There is way more sport here in the Hidden City. Boulder pushing? That sounds interesting.” There was a rustling as Raph moved the newspaper closer to properly take a look at the article “They have to balance at some point on a log and carry the boulder across! Guys! Doesn’t that kind of sound like when we do Pizza box balancing?”

More rustling as April flicked Raph on his arm “Sports can wait, Raph!”

He sighed, the edges of his mouth turned downwards “You’re right. Raph is sorry. This is about Leo and Y/N.”

“Well, what do we do?” Mikey piped up.

Splinter chuckled “Now, kids. All they need to be is in the proper mood. This place isn’t romantic enough in the least! I really need to talk to Blue about his choice of restaurant.”

“Actually, I think this might have been Y/N’s idea, Splints.” April brought up.

But this didn’t deter Splinter “And? Blue should know better! Can’t believe he is related to me.” He grumbled something more out, but it was unintelligible at this point.

“I think dad is right. The right mood could help both of them to finally open up more.” Mikey spoke, trying to move the situation along.

“It is good that you brought me along then, kids. I think it is time for some music. Music shall give both of them the courage to finally show what they each think of each other!”

“Wait, what?” Donnie exclaimed, shocked with what he just had to hear from his father “Oh, please, do not!”

But it was too late, Splinter took a deep sip from his water and began to silently warm up his voice. Raph also seemed to notice that there was no way to stop him now “Okay, I think this just means we have to help him somehow! We gotta move and help! Go!”

“Wait, what can we even do?” April asked.

“No idea but we gotta do something!”

“Please, someone, just kill me here and now.” Donnie muttered as he jumped off his chair to sneak off to meet up with the rest of his family.

At the other side of the room Y/N and Leo were still chatting.

Leo wouldn’t admit it, but he felt like he was sweating bullets. When he asked Y/N out on a date he did not think he would be this nervous but here he was sweating bullets while he bunched up the napkin between his hands.

“Can I admit something?” he made sure to put his typical smug smile on as he tried to look as nonchalant as possible.

“Sure, I’m listening.” Y/N smiled.

Leo couldn’t help but stare at her for a few seconds. One thing he appreciated about humans was how obvious their blush can be. It looked really pretty on Y/N and he secretly loved to make her blush whenever he got the chance.

Sure, he was blushing as well, he could tell with how warm his face felt but it was harder to see because of his green skin. Though he was glad about that fact, it helped as he tried his best to act confident.

He chuckled “Normally when I go out, I’m a bit… accident prone. I was sure that at this point something would happen. Not that I couldn’t handle it and get us through it.” He made sure to puff his chest up a little bit to look as strong and cool as possible.

Y/N’s smile widened, her blush darkening as she said the next words “Then let’s just, uh, take this as a good sign for this date.”

“Yeah. Heh, we are on a date!” He hummed happily as a response which made Y/N chuckle.

That’s when suddenly the lights dimmed. Leo tensed up as he looked around, not expecting this at all. Never has anything like this happened when he has been over at Hueso’s. Though when he saw that the other guests didn’t react much to it, he just assumed that he must be missing something. That said he did notice Y/N slighty raise her eyebrows. Obviously also not expecting this.

Leo shrugged and returned to properly look at Y/N. He had to admit it was a bit easier to look into her beautiful eyes knowing that it must be harder now to see his blush.

“Oh, nice, mood lighting.” He mused, wiggling his eyebrows, hoping that it made Y/N laugh.

It did. She laughed quietly at his antics, hiding her smile behind her hand “Mhm, seems like it. Didn’t know it was a thing here.”

“Me neither but, hey, it’s nice. I think. Right?” Somehow, he got nervous. Was Y/N okay with this? Would she want to leave, was this somehow too intense? Maybe she wants to have proper light to see his handsome face?

Y/N nodded “Yeah. It’s nice. Ro-Romantic even.”

Man, the two were a lost cause, Leo realized. Both were comfortable enough with each other where they didn’t want to flee this situation but somehow this was going nowhere, and Leo couldn’t help but think it was his fault.

And then his ears picked something up. Music? Since when did Hueso play romantic music at his joint? Leo tried asking for some special treatment from Hueso for the date, but he was adamantly declining it, so this was definitely weird. Did he come around after all?

Leo bit into his pizza, trying to wrap his head around it. Maybe the two reminded him of Hueso when he was younger and maybe on his first date and wanted to help? Who knows.

Was this opera music? That definitely didn’t seem like Hueso’s style. The others in the room sighed happily as they listened to the music though, so, once again, maybe he was just missing something. Yet somehow there were some kind of warning bells ringing in the back of his mind.

“Y/N, you hear the music, too, right?” He couldn’t help but be very confused by all of this.

Y/N nodded “Yeah. It’s nice!”

Well, if she liked it might as well just go along with it.

Right, he was on a date. Time to be romantic. The mood was kind of set so he might as well try something cheesy.

Leo grabbed a piece of pizza but instead of biting into it himself he moved it towards Y/N “Do you want some pizza, Y/N?”

Her blush that was slowly getting better darkened once again which in return just egged Leo even more on.

“I could never say no to pizza.” She smiled.

Leo nodded, happy with her answer “If you could I wouldn’t be able to go on a date with you.” He joked. He then moved the piece closer to her, so she was able to bite a piece off.

Somewhere deep inside his own mind he checked off the box for “Feed your crush some food”.

“Thank you, Leon.”

“I’d feed you grapes like how they did in ancient Greece or something.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Y/N laughed. “But I appreciate the sentiment. I would do the same.” Her voice wavered a bit, but Leo couldn’t help but be a bit stunned at that. She is normally so shy, so this was very straightforward for her.

“Actually, here.” She said, grabbing a piece of pizza herself and holding it to Leo’s lips so he could bite off as well, which he did.

Once again deep in his own mind he checked off a box for “Get some food fed by your crush.”

As this was going on Leo had to admit that the dimmed lights and the very, weirdly familiar, romantic opera music did seem to help. He somehow felt more emboldened. Maybe he should have tried going for a more romantic place in the first place but the two loved this restaurant, so it just felt natural to go here.

Taking some of the new courage Leo moved his hand towards Y/N’s holding her soft ones in his battle-hardened ones. Y/N didn’t even flinch. She automatically threaded her fingers between his.

That’s when it suddenly hit him. A cold shower went down his back. There was a reason he knew this singing! But that couldn’t be! No, surely. Why the hell would his dad be here? Just to sing? But something deep in his gut was so sure that this was his father singing and over the years he has learned to listen to his gut.

“God damn it.”

Y/N’s eyebrows bunched together in worry “What’s wrong?”

“You know how I just said that normally things happen when I go out?”

She nodded.

“I think the one singing is dad.”

“… Splinter?” Y/N asked, clearly not being able to believe that his father could belt out something in such a nice and almost angelic voice.

Leo took his free hand to pinch the ridge between his eyes “Years ago me and my brothers made a whole band and dad begged us to join. He just kept singing in front of us to show off his prowess and I swear this is him.” He was now looking around since he was so utterly convinced that this was his father.

“I’m sorry, it was all so nice, and I head to break the moment. It’s just… I have this feeling that somehow my family is up to something.” he apologized but he couldn’t help but look around. If only this huge dude in the weird trench coat and big hat wasn’t in the way, he could get a better look at the back of the place!

Y/N must have noticed that he was at this point really paranoid which probably made her come up with the next idea “It’s fine. Don’t worry. At this point I know that your family can be… quite the bunch. A funny bunch but I can understand your worry. How about we go out on a walk?” A comforting smile every present on her face.

Leo let out a deep breath, happy to hear that she would trust his gut feeling like that “You know what? I know the perfect place for that, and I have an awesome idea how we can ensure that we are for sure alone.”

That purple vest on the yokai in the back looked familiar. Purple vest? Oh, hell no, they gotta go now!

He abruptly stood up and slapped some money on the table. Y/N followed suit, wanting to walk towards the exit of the place but instead Leo held firmly onto her hand that was still in his. He grabbed one of his swords and opened a blue portal. He’ll make sure that they will be left alone. Let’s see if his family can follow him when he just randomly teleports away, ha!

He did have to admit that they did an amazing job of hiding though since he at this point was sure that he only heard Splinter and saw Donnie.

Scratch that, that human over there behind the newspaper, clearly ogling him and Y/N, was April. The shine of the glasses gave her away.

Leo nodded to Y/N and together the two stepped into the portal to the chagrin of his family who immediately began scrambling up trying to figure out where he went.

Donnie tapped around on his wrist gadget before he exclaimed “Got him. He’s at one of the ports here.”

That was Leo’s amazing idea. He remembered the port where he had to fight off a bunch of pirates and honestly a romantic boat ride under a literal magical moon in the Hidden City sounded amazing. Plus, it would ensure that the two got some privacy.

“Are you sure it’s okay to take one of these row boats?” Y/N asked as Leo helped her inside a blue little boat.

Leo did a dismissive handwave “Oh, pshaa, I saved the world I think I’m due some sort of repayment! Besides we’ll bring it back. We will just borrow one for an hour or so! So, stop worrying and make yourself comfortable!”

Happy with this answer Y/N sat down and watched as Leo began rowing out onto the sea “You know, you were right. I saw Raph but I didn’t want to say anything.” She chuckled as she remembered spotting Raph as he wrestled with a newspaper.

“Raph is in this as well?!” It was already weird enough that apparently Splinter was involved in this but by the looks of it his whole family had been spying on them. Even if he hadn’t seen Mikey yet he was positive he must have been around somewhere. Not when everyone else was there.

As Leo rowed further out the rest of his family finally managed to reach the port. At this point he was actually pretty far out. So far actually that it was difficult for the other to see what they were doing.

Donnie pulled down his goggles to zoom a bit in so he could take a look. Once again science saves the day.

Mikey jumped on Donnie’s back, clutching on to him “What are they doing? What do you see?”

“Once again. They seem to be just talking.”

Mikey slid down Donnie’s back with a groan “Ugh! The two are the worst!”

Splinter seemed dejected as well “After the performance of my lifetime Blue just flees with her? On to the sea?”

“Well, we know your singing so maybe he recognized it?” Raph tried to reason as a way to cheer his father up, but it didn’t seem to help much.

April crossed her arms “I’m still so positive that he saw you, Donnie.”

Even though April couldn’t see it since Donnie had his goggles down, he rolled his eyes “Yes. Truly. I am devastated as well.” He said clearly not devastated at all. Barely caring, even.

Mikey was at this point laying on the ground sprawled out like a starfish “Why are they only talking? How is this a date?”

April slapped her fist against her open palm “We have to set the mood.”

Raph raised his finger at that “Uh, Apes, we already did that and I’m pretty sure it was the reason the two fled literally on to the sea.”

“Yeah, but now they are on the calm sea, a full moon shining down on them. Perfect basis for a romantic day out.”

Splinter looked up at her with a new spark in his eyes “You have an idea?”

She nodded “Don, you will have to help with that. Your science and machines may save this date yet.”

He wanted to retort that he wouldn’t be doing anything like that but how can he dismiss it immediately when she brought up a valid point. If his inventions would save his dear brother’s date, then he would owe him a lot and who was Donnie to not take the chance to gain a favor from Leo.

“Alright. What do you need?”

“Yes!” April cheered as she got her phone out “I’ve got the perfect song for them to listen to. You think you could somehow make it possible for them to hear it without noticing us immediately?”

Donnie raised one of his drawn-on eyebrows “Nothing more? That’s easy.”

“Actually Purple, didn’t you show me something about like holomographicmajig? Uh the illusion stuff?” Splinter suddenly jumped in.

This surprised Donnie. Splinter remembered one of his inventions he showed off to him? How come that the day Leo had his first date was also slowly turning into his best day yet?

“You mean my Holographic imagery? What’s with it?” It was still in beta, but he was excited to hear what Splinter had to say now. This was a momentous occasion after all!

Splinter nodded “Yes you showed off a holographic version of yourself. You think you could do some mood lighting for Blue and Y/N? Like Fireflies for example?”

He even got the word correct! Donnie was now happy he wore his goggles, or the others would see how glassy his eyes have gotten.

“Oh, that’s a challenge I’ll accept gladly, my dearest father!” His voice trembled in excitement. He couldn’t help laughing as he began tapping on his wrist gadget. He needed his DJ Shell and if he just attached the new holographic gadget on it, it could hover it a bit over the sea so the two would hear music and the holographic imagery would reach them.

It was easy really, but it still made his family members throw praises towards him.

Suddenly he was very glad that he came along after all.

At this point Leo was resting his elbows on his knees and held his face in between his hands as he stared at Y/N who was looking at the sky in awe.

The moonlight lit her face up, showing off the soft blush on her cheeks which made Leo sigh happily. The light almost made her look ethereal, and he swore he could just stare at her like this for hours and he still wouldn’t have enough.

“I’m still wondering how they managed to put up a whole night sky while the city is underground. It’s amazing. They must have their own star signs.”

Leo hummed in agreement. He was listening, he really was! He just felt like he was currently stuck in a beautiful dream and couldn’t help but bask in the moment.

“I’ll find out who makes the stars here and I’ll ask them to make one just for you.” He spoke, a big smile on his face.

This pulled Y/N’s attention from the night sky, her mouth open as she processed the words. She let out a snort, which to Leo was the cutest thing “Alright, you flirt. Next thing you’ll ask me if it hurt when I fell out of heaven.”

As response Leo just grinned “Well, did it?”

Y/N lightly slapped his arm, rolling her eyes but Leo could tell that she got more flustered which just made his grin so much wider.

Then something bright flew in front of his eyes.

“A firefly?” Y/N asked. Her awestruck expression back on her face.

Then even more began surrounding them and Y/N took a big look around. Her smile wide as she noticed how they were at this point surrounded by the small lights.

“This is beautiful.” She whispered.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Leo immediately quipped.

She chuckled “You are the worst.”

“You make it so easy but also it’s the absolute truth.”

“Leo?”

He just nodded to encourage her, his hands searching for hers once again. The boat slowly rocking along on the water.

“You are-“ She bit down on her soft lip “You are quiet handsome as well.”

His breath hitched. Of course, he knew he was handsome but to hear it out of her mouth? Oh, that was magical. It made his heart flutter hard against his chest and the blush on his cheeks so much worse.

She managed to make him speechless. That was a rare feat for anyone to do. Hell, he couldn’t remember anyone doing it to him to begin with.

So, all he could do was lean forward as he stared down into her beautiful eyes. Normally she would have been too embarrassed to keep this up but her she was staring right back into his eyes.

And as they just stared at each other Leo couldn’t suddenly make out someone’s voice being carried over the waves.

Yes, you want her

Look at her, you know you do

Possible she wants you too

There is one way to ask her

It don't take a word

Not a single word

Go on and kiss the girl

It was music. There was the urge to look around where it came from, fearing that somehow his family caught up to him but as Y/N stared into his eyes he couldn’t dare to tear his eyes away from her. Scared that this could ruin the moment.

Sing with me now

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

My oh my

Look like the boy too shy

Ain't gonna kiss the girl

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

Ain't that sad?

Ain't it a shame?

Too bad, he gonna miss the girl

Normally he would groan that it had to be the Little Mermaid song but once again he didn’t care. He was too caught up in the moment.

Suddenly her eyes darted down to his lips only to jump back to his own eyes. Her blush darkened and Leo was sure so was his.

Now's your moment (ya, ya, ya)

Floating in a blue lagoon (ya, ya, ya)

Boy, you better do it soon

No time will be better (ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya)

She don't say a word

And she won't say a word

Until you kiss the girl

He really wanted to be angry at whoever decided to play this stupid song since this was the cheesiest thing for this moment, but he just couldn’t. Not when Y/N shimmied a bit closer to him. Her hands squeezing his hands. Was it encouragement? Was she wondering if he was too deep in his thoughts?

To hell with it.

He slowly untangled one of his hands to tentatively raise up to her face. Cupping her warm cheek in his green hand. Carefully leaning forward but leaving a tiny bit of space so she could move away if she didn’t want this. Yes, the two were very clearly on a romantic date but this wouldn’t mean that she would want to kiss him.

Before his worries could overtake him, she suddenly closed her eyes and pushed forward. Her soft lips softly pressing on his.

He knew this was a possibility, obviously, but as she made contact, he couldn’t help but freeze up. His mind going a mile a minute as he realized that she was kissing him! His eyes wide in happiness, shock, and utter disbelief.

But then she moved away. Softly biting on her lip, looking down into her lap.

He barely processed that she kissed him and there she was leaving his space again. Leo could tell that Y/N was embarrassed, knowing her probably thinking that she did something wrong. He couldn’t have that.

At this point he had completely forgotten the lights around them. The song in the air.

His other hand landed at the side of her face, forcing her to look up into his smiling face. Pizza Supreme he was so happy he could scream.

Before she could ask anything. Say anything. Pull away or anything else. Leo pushed his lips again against hers. This time closing his eyes to truly bask in the moment. The warmth of her on his lips.

His hand snuck at the back of her head, as he softly pulled her closer to himself. Her own hands traveled along his shoulders behind his own hand. One of them grabbing one of his mask tails.

Both of them slowly moving their lips as they tried their best to get even closer to each other. Goosebumps ran down Leo’s skin as he felt Y/N kissing him back. Their knees hitting each other clumsily but he didn’t care, nor did Y/N seem to care.

Leo had to pull away to breath some much needed oxygen in. He had to gulp as he watched Y/N slowly pull away as well, just as out of breath as he was.

“Wow.” He whispered out, barely loud enough for Y/N to catch it.

Her hands were still behind his head, fiddling with his mask tails “That was… nice.” She said breathlessly.

He nodded, he wanted to dive towards her lips again but that’s when he heard something. He heard cheering over the cheesy music.

Y/N must have caught on as well since both looked towards the port. There were five shadows either jumping around or just high fiving each other.

“I will kill them.” Leo deadpanned.

Realizing that Leo’s family must have watched them Y/N pressed her head embarrassed into Leo’s shoulder. He automatically laid his arm around her protectively.

“Oh, they are so dead. So, so dead.”

[utopians]

just curious why didn’t you like red white and royal blue !!! i haven’t watched it but i know someone who was literally raving about it so i’m curious to why you didn’t like it

oh god just a lot of things I fear... I'll try to make an itemized list of em

one of the lead actors could not act his way out of a wet paper bag. like genuinely one of the worst performances I've seen. the guy playing henry was fine but the guy playing alex was just incredibly bad and it was impossible to ignore

it was generally just. not a very good movie. like extremely twee and shallow writing. if this movie were exactly the same shot-for-shot but it featured a heterosexual couple it would be thoroughly and completely indistinguishable from any other hallmark channel drivel. I know people love to say "ohhh gay people also deserve stupid bad movies!!!" but I disagree. we should simply make good movies instead

a good amount of massively corny dialogue

the politics were just... deeply 2016. very bad. it absolutely epitomizes the whole miserable genre of liberal 'escapist fiction' that's completely focused on putting queer people or people of color in positions of power within an exploitative system instead of sparing a single thought about whether that system should exist in the first place

like sorry but writing a narrative about the british royal family where the uncritical happy ending is "adoring crowds affirm the beloved hereditary prince's place in the hereditary hierarchy" is just. come on man. come on

similarly just an absolutely uncritical and wholly positive take on the office of united states president. laughable

the whole scene where uma thurman asks alex if he's on truvada in that unbearable fake southern accent. uncanny. also texans don't sound like that

the pacing was bad, bad, baddddd. everything happened far too fast, probably as a symptom of trying to adapt a several hundred page long book into a two hour movie. it felt like I was watching some sort of abridged version of the movie for like the entire first half of the film

this is a small thing but the production value just seemed really bad. like it was serving youtube webseries. which isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world but combined with the acting and the writing it certainly didn't do the movie any favors

this is also more of a personal pet peeve and I recognize that but the score was obviously just pulled from a generic stock music library and I really hated it. it was just very obnoxious and on the nose. I get it's often unavoidable but I'm a big stock music score hater

[bardkin]

an important thing i've come to realize about my fictionkinity is that my source is my mythology; an embellished or abridged representation of me.

i know there's a post i reblogged ages ago that uses this line of thought (source = legend & fanon = folklore, or something similar), but i can't remember it & wanna put this in my own words.

plus, this is about my personal beef with "canon divergent" as a descriptor for myself, so finding & re-reblogging that post wouldn't satiate the bees in my brain lol

i think it ties into why i adopted folcintera as a term, because i do not see my source as fact. (my source in particular would've turned out very different, if not for the censors on Cartoon Network. all i need to say is "Rubphire wedding," and folks in the know will nod sagely and/or get angry as i still am about how Sugar & their story was treated by CN.)

i thought myself to be canon divergent for a long time, but that just... never totally felt right. it felt more like a label i thought i had to adopt because i'm not just like the Steven in the show/games/comics. i'm just... me; a version of the character that many, many people saw. nothing more & nothing less.

i am my own folklore, taken from my own myth, in the most mundane ways possible.

my source is only rigid because it has to be. that's how documented storytelling works; it is immutable in the final product, be that prose, picture, film, animation, or whathaveyou. new versions of it are made when the original story gets released into the hands of fans, who go on to create different immutable pieces of their own.

myth into folklore, and such and so on. i don't fully know if any of that makes any tangible sense, but like, bare with me-

i'm wholly psychological in my framework, in regards to being Steven. the origin of how it happened doesn't really matter, because i'm still Steven at the end of the day. i have what i label knowledge and memories of things that happened & people i met and love(d) in that story, because the information sits in roughly the same space as my other, physical, memories. sometimes i ache for that story and world, because i've always felt like i was supposed to be somewhere other than physically here. i'm Steven in my brain and in my heart.

so when i first started questioning being fictionkind, almost a full year ago at this point (thanks to @aestherians for encouraging me to dig deeper into this part of myself lol), it felt quietly disingenuous to label myself as "canon divergent."

and that feels like a seemingly small thing that shouldn't matter. but i'm still bothered by it; more than a little. hence why i'm tossing that term over my shoulder and never looking back :3c

viewing myself as just Me and knowing that a lot of things will and won't line up with my source is fine. source is a version of my and other Stevens' stories, told through the limitations it was allotted. for some, those limitations were true for them; others, not so much (to varying degrees).

[whencyclopedia]

Eastman's Biography of Red Cloud

Eastman's biography of Red Cloud (l. 1822-1909) is the first narrative of his Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains (1916), and it sets the tone for those that follow, including the pieces on Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, in explaining the motivation of the Plains Indians in their response to the US government's genocidal policies of expansion.

The piece is of particular interest historically because the Sioux physician and author, Charles A. Eastman (also known as Ohiyesa, l. 1858-1939), was able to interview the warrior and statesman Red Cloud in person, as he was unable to do with many others, such as Crazy Horse, and was also able to receive the story in Red Cloud's native language, unlike the narrative Black Elk Speaks (1932), which was given by the Lakota Sioux medicine man Black Elk (l. 1863-1950) to the American poet and writer John G. Neihardt (l. 1881-1973) through an interpreter. Eastman then translated Red Cloud's account into English for his book. The result is a firsthand account of the life of one of the greatest Sioux chiefs of the 19th century.

Text

The following text has been abridged for space considerations, but the online version of Eastman's book will be found below in the External Links section. The version presented here is taken from Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1939 edition, republished in 2016:

…Red Cloud was born about 1820 near the forks of the Platte River. He was one of a family of nine children whose father, an able and respected warrior, reared his son under the old Spartan regime. The young Red Cloud is said to have been a fine horseman, able to swim across the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, of high bearing and unquestionable courage, yet invariably gentle and courteous in everyday life. This last trait, together with a singularly musical and agreeable voice, has always been characteristic of the man…

…The future leader was still a very young man when he joined a war party against the Utes. Having pushed eagerly forward on the trail, he found himself far in advance of his companions as night came on, and at the same time rain began to fall heavily. Among the scattered scrub pines, the lone warrior found a natural cave, and after a hasty examination, he decided to shelter there for the night.

Scarcely had he rolled himself in his blanket when he heard a slight rustling at the entrance, as if some creature were preparing to share his retreat. It was pitch dark. He could see nothing, but judged that it must be either a man or a grizzly. There was not room to draw a bow. It must be between knife and knife, or between knife and claws, he said to himself.

The intruder made no search but quietly lay down in the opposite corner of the cave. Red Cloud remained perfectly still, scarcely breathing, his hand upon his knife. Hour after hour he lay broad awake, while many thoughts passed through his brain. Suddenly, without warning, he sneezed, and instantly a strong man sprang to a sitting posture opposite. The first gray of morning was creeping into their rocky den and – behold! – a Ute hunter sat before him.

Desperate as the situation appeared, it was not without a grim humor. Neither could afford to take his eyes from the other's; the tension was great, till at last a smile wavered over the expressionless face of the Ute. Red Cloud answered the smile, and in that instant a treaty of peace was born between them.

"Put your knife in its sheath. I shall do so also, and we will smoke together," signed Red Cloud. The other assented gladly, and they ratified thus the truce which assured to each a safe return to his friends. Having finished their smoke, they shook hands and separated. Neither had given the other any information. Red Cloud returned to his party and told his story, adding that he had divulged nothing and had nothing to report. Some were inclined to censure him for not fighting, but he was sustained by a majority of the warriors, who commended his self-restraint. In a day or two they discovered the main camp of the enemy and fought a remarkable battle, in which Red Cloud especially distinguished himself

The Sioux were now entering upon the most stormy period of their history. The old things were fast giving place to new. The young men, for the first time engaging in serious and destructive warfare with the neighboring tribes, armed with the deadly weapons furnished by the white man, began to realize that they must soon enter upon a desperate struggle for their ancestral hunting grounds. The old men had been innocently cultivating the friendship of the stranger, saying among themselves, "Surely there is land enough for all!"

Red Cloud was a modest and little-known man of about twenty-eight years, when General Harney called all the western bands of Sioux together at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, for the purpose of securing an agreement and right of way through their territory. The Ogallala held aloof from this proposal, but Bear Bull, an Ogallala chief, after having been plied with whisky, undertook to dictate submission to the rest of the clan. Enraged by failure, he fired upon a group of his own tribesmen, and Red Cloud's father and brother fell dead. According to Indian custom, it fell to him to avenge the deed. Calmly, without uttering a word, he faced old Bear Bull and his son, who attempted to defend his father, and shot them both. He did what he believed to be his duty, and the whole band sustained him. Indeed, the tragedy gave the young man at once a certain standing, as one who not only defended his people against enemies from without, but against injustice and aggression within the tribe. From this time on he was a recognized leader.

Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses, then head chief of the Ogallala, took council with Red Cloud in all important matters, and the young warrior rapidly advanced in authority and influence. In 1854, when he was barely thirty-five years old, the various bands were again encamped near Fort Laramie. A Mormon emigrant train, moving westward, left a footsore cow behind, and the young men killed her for food. The next day, to their astonishment, an officer with thirty men appeared at the Indian camp and demanded of old Conquering Bear that they be given up. The chief in vain protested that it was all a mistake and offered to make reparation. It would seem that either the officer was under the influence of liquor, or else had a mind to bully the Indians, for he would accept neither explanation nor payment, but demanded point-blank that the young men who had killed the cow be delivered up to summary punishment. The old chief refused to be intimidated and was shot dead on the spot. Not one soldier ever reached the gate of Fort Laramie! Here Red Cloud led the young Ogallala, and so intense was the feeling that they even killed the half-breed interpreter.

Curiously enough, there was no attempt at retaliation on the part of the army, and no serious break until 1860, when the Sioux were involved in troubles with the Cheyennes and Arapahoe. In 1862, a grave outbreak was precipitated by the eastern Sioux in Minnesota under Little Crow, in which the western bands took no part. Yet this event ushered in a new period for their race. The surveyors of the Union Pacific were laying out the proposed road through the heart of the southern buffalo country, the rendezvous of Ogallala, Brule, Arapahoe, Comanche, and Pawnee, who followed the buffalo as a means of livelihood. To be sure, most of these tribes were at war with one another, yet during the summer months they met often to proclaim a truce and hold joint councils and festivities, which were now largely turned into discussions of the common enemy. It became evident, however, that some of the smaller and weaker tribes were inclined to welcome the new order of things, recognizing that it was the policy of the government to put an end to tribal warfare.

Red Cloud's position was uncompromisingly against submission. He made some noted speeches in this line, one of which was repeated to me by an old man who had heard and remembered it with the remarkable verbal memory of an Indian.

"Friends," said Red Cloud, "it has been our misfortune to welcome the white man. We have been deceived. He brought with him some shining things that pleased our eyes; he brought weapons more effective than our own: above all, he brought the spirit water that makes one forget for a time old age, weakness, and sorrow. But I wish to say to you that if you would possess these things for yourselves, you must begin anew and put away the wisdom of your fathers. You must lay up food, and forget the hungry. When your house is built, your storeroom filled, then look around for a neighbor whom you can take at a disadvantage and seize all that he has! Give away only what you do not want; or rather, do not part with any of your possessions unless in exchange for another's.

"My countrymen, shall the glittering trinkets of this rich man, his deceitful drink that overcomes the mind, shall these things tempt us to give up our homes, our hunting grounds, and the honorable teaching of our old men? Shall we permit ourselves to be driven to and fro—to be herded like the cattle of the white man?"

His next speech that has been remembered was made in 1866, just before the attack on Fort Phil Kearny. The tension of feeling against the invaders had now reached its height. There was no dissenting voice in the council upon the Powder River when it was decided to oppose to the uttermost the evident purpose of the government. Red Cloud was not altogether ignorant of the numerical strength and the resourcefulness of the white man, but he was determined to face any odds rather than submit.

"Hear ye, Dakotas!" he exclaimed. "When the Great Father at Washington sent us his chief soldier to ask for a path through our hunting grounds, a way for his iron road to the mountains and the western sea, we were told that they wished merely to pass through our country, not to tarry among us, but to seek for gold in the far west. Our old chiefs thought to show their friendship and good will, when they allowed this dangerous snake in our midst. They promised to protect the wayfarers.

"Yet before the ashes of the council fire are cold, the Great Father is building his forts among us. You have heard the sound of the white soldier's ax upon the Little Piney. His presence here is an insult and a threat. It is an insult to the spirits of our ancestors. Are we then to give up their sacred graves to be plowed for corn? Dakotas, I am for war!"

In less than a week after this speech, the Sioux advanced upon Fort Phil Kearny, the new sentinel that had just taken her place upon the farthest frontier, guarding the Oregon Trail. Every detail of the attack had been planned with care, though not without heated discussion, and nearly every well-known Sioux chief had agreed in striking the blow. The brilliant young war leader, Crazy Horse, was appointed to lead the charge. His lieutenants were Sword, Hump, and Dull Knife, with Little Chief of the Cheyennes, while the older men acted as councilors. Their success was instantaneous. In less than half an hour, they had cut down nearly a hundred men under Captain Fetterman, whom they drew out of the fort by a ruse and then annihilated.

Instead of sending troops to punish, the government sent a commission to treat with the Sioux. The result was the famous treaty of 1868, which Red Cloud was the last to sign, having refused to do so until all of the forts within their territory should be vacated. All of his demands were acceded to, the new road abandoned, the garrisons withdrawn, and in the new treaty it was distinctly stated that the Black Hills and the Big Horn were Indian country, set apart for their perpetual occupancy, and that no white man should enter that region without the consent of the Sioux.

Scarcely was this treaty signed, however, when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, and the popular cry was: "Remove the Indians!" This was easier said than done. That very territory had just been solemnly guaranteed to them forever: yet how stem the irresistible rush for gold? The government, at first, entered some small protest, just enough to "save its face" as the saying is; but there was no serious attempt to prevent the wholesale violation of the treaty. It was this state of affairs that led to the last great speech made by Red Cloud, at a gathering upon the Little Rosebud River. It is brief, and touches upon the hopelessness of their future as a race. He seems at about this time to have reached the conclusion that resistance could not last much longer; in fact, the greater part of the Sioux nation was already under government control.

"We are told," said he, "that Spotted Tail has consented to be the Beggars' Chief. Those Indians who go over to the white man can be nothing but beggars, for he respects only riches, and how can an Indian be a rich man? He cannot without ceasing to be an Indian. As for me, I have listened patiently to the promises of the Great Father, but his memory is short. I am now done with him. This is all I have to say."

The wilder bands separated soon after this council, to follow the drift of the buffalo, some in the vicinity of the Black Hills and others in the Big Horn region. Small war parties came down from time to time upon stray travelers, who received no mercy at their hands, or made dashes upon neighboring forts. Red Cloud claimed the right to guard and hold by force, if need be, all this territory which had been conceded to his people by the treaty of 1868. The land became a very nest of outlawry. Aside from organized parties of prospectors, there were bands of white horse thieves and desperadoes who took advantage of the situation to plunder immigrants and Indians alike.

An attempt was made by means of military camps to establish control and force all the Indians upon reservations, and another commission was sent to negotiate their removal to Indian Territory, but met with an absolute refusal. After much guerrilla warfare, an important military campaign against the Sioux was set on foot in 1876, ending in Custer's signal defeat upon the Little Big Horn.

In this notable battle, Red Cloud did not participate in person, nor in the earlier one with Crook upon the Little Rosebud, but he had a son in both fights. He was now a councilor rather than a warrior, but his young men were constantly in the field, while Spotted Tail had definitely surrendered and was in close touch with representatives of the government.

But the inevitable end was near. One morning in the fall of 1876 Red Cloud was surrounded by United States troops under the command of Colonel McKenzie, who disarmed his people and brought them into Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Thence they were removed to the Pine Ridge agency, where he lived for more than thirty years as a "reservation Indian." In order to humiliate him further, government authorities proclaimed the more tractable Spotted Tail head chief of the Sioux. Of course, Red Cloud's own people never recognized any other chief.

In 1880 he appealed to Professor Marsh, of Yale, head of a scientific expedition to the Bad Lands, charging certain frauds at the agency and apparently proving his case; at any rate the matter was considered worthy of official investigation. In 1890-1891, during the "Ghost Dance craze" and the difficulties that followed, he was suspected of collusion with the hostiles, but he did not join them openly, and nothing could be proved against him. He was already an old man and became almost entirely blind before his death in 1909 in his ninetieth year.

His private life was exemplary. He was faithful to one wife all his days and was a devoted father to his children. He was ambitious for his only son, known as Jack Red Cloud, and much desired him to be a great warrior. He started him on the warpath at the age of fifteen, not then realizing that the days of Indian warfare were well-nigh at an end.

Among latter-day chiefs, Red Cloud was notable as a quiet man, simple and direct in speech, courageous in action, an ardent lover of his country, and possessed in a marked degree of the manly qualities characteristic of the American Indian in his best days.

Continue reading...

[satanickpanick]

“It was nothing personal, Normal.”

Catchy one-liners were kinda Hermie’s thing. Quips were masks, cheesy pickups were shields, and answering a question with a question was as good as a magic forcefield. Hermie was a master deflector, even when he could admit that mayyybe he should’ve been a little bit more serious. Moments like this, when his sort-of-best-friend-practically-blood-rival-totally-not-crush caught him red- (or, perhaps, green-and-white-) handed in the act of finally, finally taking what he’d come for.

Teeny the Teen had achieved almost godlike status by the time Hermie had set out on his mission. A relic of immense social power, its foam head and sweat-stained jersey were the stuff of legends at Chaperell. At least since Hermie’s eighth-grade visits to the CHS theatre department’s special behind-the-scenes performances, and very evidently far, far into the past, Teeny had been coveted for his heritage at San Dimas Public, and his longstanding rivalry with CHS. The funny thing was that the closer Hermie’d got to his goal, the deeper he’d gotten into the… everything that he had been totally unprepared to face in his subterfuge, the more he’d forgotten about Teeny. The idol that was the mascot had taken a backseat to actual idols, new worlds, new wounds, new friends- and to the man who wore the suit. He’d been poisoned, burned, fireballed, ignored… and he’d made friends, he thought. Real friends, sort of, despite- well, everything. Taylor at least thought he was a worthy (ha) sidekick, and Normal- Normal encouraged him. He sided with him, he spoke to him like an equal. That was more than Hermie could say about his colleagues in both CHS and SDPHS theatre. And- well, Normal had thought that the Hermie he’d pecked on the cheek in Hell had been real. That had been nice to think about, just a little. And when it came down to it, Normal was always the first to say hey, let’s see what Hermie thinks! or where did Hermie go?

Ah, the Romeo and Juliet, the Musical, Abridged of it all, Hermie thought as he landed assfirst, cushioned by Teeny’s head, in Sparrow Oak-Swallows-Garcia’s hydrangeas. Two high schools, both alike in dignity, in fair San Dimas-Earth-Faerun-Hell where we lay our scene… Fuck, he was in wayyyyy too deep. How was he supposed to recover from this? How was he supposed to go back to CHS, where he’d be a hero- but alone? He’d fooled himself, when he’d started this particular piece of chicanery, that things would be different when he returned to his home turf with Teeny the Teen held high. That he’d be Hermie the Worthy, the hero, the star. But he’d had some time to reflect, to change, to figure out who he was- and it wasn’t that.

It really wasn’t. And well- seniors were gonna senior. They weren’t gonna respect him any more than they respected each other. How was he supposed to go back to the way things used to be, now that he’d literally been to Hell and back? He couldn’t, not after what he’d seen and done, alongside the enemy, at that. He hugged the mascot (that smells distinctly, nastily, comfortingly of Normal) (Normal who definitely found his school ID and definitely hated his guts for this) close.

No, it wasn’t personal. Not at first.

But what was he supposed to do now?

[textfromthelookout]

Did you hear of the news?

I have. :(

Everyone else has their tributes so, here, a summary of my experience with Dragon Ball.

I was in fourth grade art class. A kid had the February 2005 issue of Shonen Jump, back when Shonen Jump was still physically printed here. I recognized Atem on the front cover because the Blockbuster around the corner from our house had DVDs (I think they were DVDs and not VHSs then since I distinctly remember it having a menu and special features) of some of the later episodes of Duelist Kingdom and my brother and I watched them on repeat. So I was like oh, hey, what's this? They make books of that stuff? I don't remember the conversation but the kid ended up giving me that issue, and I took it home with me.

There were a LOT of significant, groundwork things happening in that issue, now that I think about it. We were just beginning to see Sanji truly in action against Pearl. The Dark Tournament was in it's early stages still with Roto fucking around and finding out against Kurama. Sakura shears off her hair in a move that rearranged sexualities the world over. The reason Atem was on the cover was because Yu-Gi-Oh Millennium World was just debuting its first and second chapter. Bleach wasn't even serialized yet. And Dragon Ball, of course, was also there, about a hundred and fifty chapters ahead of everybody else.

Keep in mind that this was my first experience with manga, period. So my very first experience with Dragon Ball opened on this:

and ended on this:

Yeah. Truth be told, at the time Yu Yu Hakusho piqued my interest more than Dragon Ball (a guy fighting with plants? how creative!) but I never did forget these chapters. I thought the art style was so different from the others.

At some point after this, probably between several months and a year and a half, the TV happened to be on one evening when Toonami was airing Dragon Ball Z. Oh hey, I said, I recognize that art, I know those characters. So I hung around and watched some of episode 281. Two things about watching that episode stick with absolute crystal clarity in my mind to this day. Firstly: Buu choking Vegeta out with his arm freaked me the FUCK out as a child. I could not tell you why I had a fear reaction to it but hey, there you go. The second is this:

Specifically I remember 'You died once. If anything happens to you now, you won't exist anymore. There'll be nothing I can do to bring you back.' Not precisely word for word over the years, but Schemmel's tone of voice on this particular lineread. If I had to guess I'd say it was because at that point in my life, uh, death was kinda permanent? So wait, what do you mean died ONCE. Doesn't that apply to everyone?

This still wasn't enough to get me super invested in it though, it just didn't seem like something that would appeal to me that much. So a couple years go by, I don't think about it all that much, and then of course, TFS hits the scene and drops DBZ Abridged. So you know. As a shithead middle schooler with a shithead sense of humor I thought it was the best damn thing since sliced bread. (My biggest character flaw is that I still think a lot of Season 1 is genuinely funny)

And that was really the extent of my interaction with the franchise for the next several years. Say what you will about DBZA but they did manage to put it all together such that someone who had a nonexistent concept of what the original context was could grok it with not a lot of effort. Some time in high school, I think I was around 15, I decided to bite the bullet and read all the manga, as much to increase the funny factor of DBZA as sheerly for the sake of being able to say I had. Stick it to the other weebs, y'know. Now they can't say I didn't know anything about good anime. This was unfortunately at a time when all that was available online were dirty poor-quality scans and questionable translations, but read it I did. I went 'yep, that sure is about what I expected', and proceeded to get on with my life. GT came and went, I looked up and saw Battle of Gods coming out and went 'oh hey that's still a thing huh', kinda was peripherally aware of all the divisiveness of Super as it was happening, didn't really pay it much attention, just stuck to DBZA and quite a lot of wiki-ing.

And then, this time of year about three years ago now, in the middle of conversation with @prophecydungeon, Dragon Ball somehow came up. Something to do with 'Even though I'm not hugely into DBZ's story or whatever Toriyama does have some great character designs' (yes I was referring to Vegeta and Future Trunks at the time, no i will not stop being predictable, yes i am a parody of myself). They eventually brought up the DBS Broly movie and said, and i quote: 'that was a solid 1.5h of unbelievably fun and wacky animation'. Having seen the Gogeta vs Broly part of it on twitter and been like 'damn that animation's kinda off the hook actually, good for them good for them', my response was to be like. Oh word? I've got a spare hour and a half to kill, sure, fuck it, why not, time to watch DBS Broly.

I think that movie was precision crafted to hit me in the hyperfixation, if we're being honest. Opening on a solid 20 minutes of Lore and Worldbuilding and then having most of the rest of the runtime being mindless slobberknocker fun by way of some of the hardest animation flexes ever? I was done for.

In summation. I have been aware of Dragon Ball for a lot of my life, in that its presence was pervasive and enduring as I grew up. I may have been late to the game of actually wholeheartedly enjoying it, but enjoy it I do. Dragon Ball is the roots of a vast tree of anime, and in reading it I began to understand why that is. I respect it for that, and I love it for that. My current fixation may have shifted, but as far as time devoted to one individual thing goes... it took me a year and a half to watch my way through all of the anime and read all of the manga. ALL of it. So there's something good in there, I'd say.