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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Scottrospective: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together! or Days of Summer

Hello all you happy scottaholics! Welcome back to those of you who’ve read the rest of this retrospective and welcome to those of you just joining us. This is the Scottrospective, my look at all 6 volumes of Scott Pilgrim, the game and the movie. It’s all the video game refrenes, slice of life story telling and boob punches you can handle!

It’s been three months since I left off with “The Infinite Sadness” , and while I intended to cover this one for Valentine’s Day, my schedule got away from me and with March being full up, this ended taking till April

I”m not too put off by it though as the hiatus between these two reviews is fitting for this one both in story and out. In story there’s a couple month time skip between books, while out.. this book got delayed a few times.

This is notable to me at least because this was the first volume of the series I bought when it came out. As i’ve brought up before I came into the series via the Free Comic Book Day Issue and the second and third volumes, picking one up later. I still have my original copies despite no longer really needing them thanks to having the color editions in general. Always will provided something dosne’t happen to them. So this was my first instalment that I got to read fresh and got to wait for and be hyped about and i’d saved enough money that I was able to pre-order it. So the experince of waiting and waiting for the book only to keep seeing it slide back is vivid in my mind as is the frustration I felt having the one thing I COULD NOT WAIT FOR, keep going further and further back.

So with this long wait and the fact I bought this one when it came out, as I would for the next two which didn’t get delayed thank god, this volume naturally means a lot for me. When I wrote Scott Pilgrim fanfiction, this volume’s status quo is what I based it on. It was the coolest to me and the one I loved to reread the most. It has the most contained story, the most character growth at the time, and the best art due to Bryan’s style having finally hit it’s stride. Not that the art for volumes 1-3 is bad mind you, but it’s very clear his style was changing and shaping into what it is now with each one and while it’d change a bit more, this volume is where the style and quality everyone thinks of when they think of this series and the kind you see on various art done from it comes from.

So as you can tell i’m excited for this one. Before we get started there WERE two shorter comics released between this one both for Free Comic Book day, the first of which, Free Scott Pilgrim, is the reason I got into the series and the second, the Wonderful World of Kim Pine .. was both delightful and sets up Kim moving in with Hollie for this volume. Originally I intended to cover these in this review.. but I realized they wouldn’t of helped the pacing and this review is going to be way longer than my standard as is.

So instead I came up with the compromise. I did review them.. but as bonus reviews on my patreon. For just one buck a month you can read them and help me reach my stretch goals which now include reviews of Lost at Sea, Seconds and SnotGirl, aka Bryan’s OTHER comics. You can find my patreon THROUGH THIS LINK HERE if your intrested in the exclusives or helping me reach my reviews. I also intend to do an exclusive of Monica Beetle, a short comic Bryan did starring Scott’s dad in the 70s at some point so keep your eyes peeled for that, as well as the three strips he did of Style, the comic that gave us the prototypes for Lisa and Kim.

I will talk about their connections and setups for this volume briefly: FSP sets up the next ex as a ninja, with Roxy having a bunch of posters come to live and pummel our boy, while Wonderful World has Hollie tell Kim she can move in with her. It’s not much, hence why i made these exclusives but they are good stories, so check them out. And with that JOIN ME UNDER THE CUT, as we enter Scott’s world once more as he grapples with the past, employment, and saying the L-Word... which might be Lesbians. I don’t know. Find out bellow!

So we open Two Months after Volume 3 with a beach birthday party! Complete with Kim in a swim suit!

But it’s for Julie who lobs a volley ball at Scott’s head when he and Ramona try to make out.

I also dont’ know if “Manfiesting out of all the world’s collectives sorrows” counts as a “birth” necessarily but whatever. I love a good beach story. It’s just a fun setitng for swimming, romance and battling a giant crab with the help of the bird what lives in your backpack.

So after the beach our heroes get dinner and Ramona sweetly calls Scott the nicest guy she’s ever dated. He responds with “That’s sad”. Blunt, but entirely accruate. Julie calls it pathetic and tries to counter Ramona RIGHTFULLY saying “who the hell asked you?” something that really should come after EVERYTHING Julie said with “Back off bitch i’ts my birthday”

So later that night Sex Bomb-Omb has a beach sing along, and I can’t help but notice Neil’s hairy legs.

I mean yes it does make since for a 19 year old to have leg hair, but of all the characters besides Stephen, the ONLY other character we’ve seen it with to give it to, why the character you specifically single out as “Young” it’s just a weird choice I never noticed before.

But anyways Julie has to whine about it because she’s Julie, she can’t stand other people being happy and complains the song...

One of my faviorite moments of the series. Knives puts a nicer spin on it, she’s here too and not over with Neil because, as we’ll find out later they broke up, but she just asks if Knives should be drinking. She shouldn’t but for fucks sake lady she was just trying to talk. I also do like that despite Julie trying to control Ramona’s love life, you know the thing the VILLIANS are doing, Ramona cannot stand her now.. and honestly probably never did.

But Julie, SOMEHOW turns out to be right for once as Kim and Knives have disappeared later that night, and Scott elects to go look for them. Also Ramona says she wants to marry kim while drunk after Julie asks if she does. The throuple is strong with these three... serioulsy that’s my one true pairing for all three now. I mean it ballances out their collective flaws, it’s cute and Ramona is just as into her boyfriends ex as she is her actual boyfriend even when she’s not hamered. Why the fuck not?

Scott instead finds the two making out. I will confess I shipped these two when I was younger.. but I don’t. Not because their gay or anything or because I found another ship for them but because the age gap is still just as wide as it was for Scott. The game did not get this memo and made them a couple which is... ehhhhhhhhh. I mean I wouldn’t mind either being bi, but it just brings up the same problems even if their both hammered. I also question why this scene exists. No really outside of one face punchingly dickish comment from Scott later, this never comes up again and it doesn’t effect Kim’s or Knives character any. Why have this? it’s clearly not fanservice, it’s just a thing that happened. And while Scott Pilgrim as a series does have some of those, as does life and that’s fine.. this is a bit too major, i.e. Kim and Knives, two of the main cast, making out, drunkenly or not, to just.. gloss over you know? I feel Kim would feel majorly guilty for this, as she has the most active moral compass of the main group, and Knives would be massively confused but it’s just.. forgotten because I dunno. In a story that’s otherwise pretty stellar this stands out as an utter waste of potential. I’m not saying have them hook up, gay or not it’s still not better than what Scott did, but have them at least talk about it and have both grow or something from it. Sheesh.

So we cut to.. another day. Maybe the next day I dunno but it’s August. Point is Scott and Wallace are grocery shopping and Wallace notes they can’t get fancy mayo as their barely in budget. I would’ve glossed over this scene... but @panur pointed out back around the Infinite Sadness review that this scene reveals something very intrestng: Scott.. is kind of a fincial burdern to Wallace. Before this while Scott mooched off him it wasn’t all that clear that Wallace was struggling.

But here we notice that outside of some Havarti, it’s just the simplest stuff imaginable: turkey, bread, boxed mac and cheese ramen noodles... it’s nto BAD stuff, I have all of that in my house and it’s good stuff... but it’s not the kind of thing that you need to carefully budget for. Now granted part of this probably is Wallace as he likely spends a LOT on drinks, condoms and two 2 liters of diet soda a day.. but while he really needs to adress his alcohol issues, the rest is fair. He should be allowed to have as much sex and diet coke as he wants it’s his money. Same with the havarti. He earned it if he wants some really delcious cheese with herbs, seriously Havarati is the best, then that’s his bidness. But the rest of the time he’s barely managing to get a basketfull of cheap food.. because he has to provide for Scott. It’s clearly something Scott dosen’t get and something I can relate to not getting. It took me a while to get how hard it is to budget for a full family, let alone two people on one income like Wallace has to. But Wallace is working on a nice job... but still a call center or something. He can’t pay for everything and the finccial stress is about to give as their landlord wants to meet with them. And as we’re about to learn things were even worse than we thought.

Our heroes head home where we get a truly iconic conversation when, over margeritas (again proving my point that while Scott certainly isn’t HELPIGN wallace’s finacials, it’s not all on him)

This will be imporant later.. both the Lesbians part and Scott’s struggle saying it. he tried earlier on the beach but couldn’t get it out and Ramona clearly didn’t want to hear it as she kapt sshhhhing him.. playfully of course but still.

So some time later it’s moving day! Kim is moving into Hollie and Josephs, and Scott, Stephen and Jason are helping. You might be wondeirng who the hell Jason is. He’s Kim’s boyfriend. I do not likes him. Not because he’s kim’s boyfriend, getting upset because a fictional character you fancy is dating is just patently stupid. I’ts like getting upset a celebrity crush is in a relationship: you had no chance anyway why. I wasn’t even bothered as a kid. I don’t really like him.. because he has no real personaliy and no real baring on the plot and I struggle to think why Bryan included him other than for a really annoying plot twist next time, which does not help my liking him knowing what’s coming.

But while our heroes help our heroine move in, and Scott is suprised Hollie is there despite Kim having told him a minute ago she was moving in with her, something I can relate to sadly, we get something vitally plot important; Stephen passes Joseph’s room.. and notices he has a small recording setup in his room. Stephen quickly begs him to record the band’s album and Joseph agrees if only because he finds Stephen hot. Eh i’ve seen better relationships start on less, fair enough. And yes I said relationship more on that in a bit.

So after a brief scene of Scott and Ramona having lunch where Scott fails to know her age and when Ramona says he could just ask.. hea sks and she dosen’t tell, not a bad scene character wise just not very plot important and probably should’ve bene swapped in order with the previous scene, we get to the next day. There’s a heat wave so Wallace orders Scott to go to the mall maybe find a job. He emphasises that.

Instead Scott just sorta bums around thirst but nto having any money.. until an old face shows up.

For those who forgot like Scott has, it’s Lisa Miller from the Volume 2 flashback, the girl who had a crush on Scott and was close friends with him and Kim. After a tackle hug and some panic Scott eventually remembers.... if in a curiously unique and self serving way

At the time this was just hilarous. Now it’s very clear foreshadowing for the big twist in Volume 6. The two catch up while Scott is very clearly attracted to her but very clearly dosen’t want to be, with Lisa wondering where kim is, finding about Ramona, etc, before offering Scott lunch as the two catch up and Scott is very conflicted about how he feels. It’s nice visual stuff as he’s blushing, something more clear in the color version and trying to desperatley sort things out. As for why Lisa’s here she’s moving to the states soon, but is staying with her sister for now.

So after an incdental scene with Wallace we catch up with Knives, who has broken up with Neil. And after some talk about Clash at the Demonhead, Tamra notes Knives apparently put a big x on her shrine of Scott... which baffles Knifves as she sure as hell didn’t do it and is still, sadly, obessed with Scott as ever. Granted Tamra isn’t at all helpful here claiming she did it even when she says she didn’t, is clearly confused and while yes we don’t know who else would care Tams, that just makes it all the more creepy. Stop gaslighting your bestie, she’s already got enoguh issues. She dosen’t need thinking she might have a split personality on top of the stalking, obession over a guy who has no intrest in loving her back, and attempted stabbings. Knives dosesn’t get a ton of focus in this one sadly. She kind of takes a back seat, and while sh’es not GONE from the volumle and someone close to her does impact it, she dosen’t really have any personal progression, negative or positive, like she does in every other volume, a shame since her personal jouney is one of the most intresting of the main cast.

Anyways that night Scott hangs out with Lisa, having not gotten around to telling Ramona she exists yet and plays a game of find the Kim Pine. She goes to Neil’ and Stephen’s place for practice, but finds no one there and Neil being a dick... get used to that it’s going to get about 80 times worse soon enough. Though we do get this classic panel i’ve gotten some use out of

He goes to Kim’s place, but she , Hollie and Satan’s Misterss have all left to Sneaky Dee’s, the local mexican place, for something to eat and Stephen is either high or doing.. something with Joseph.

Yeah i’m not hiding that Stephen turns out to be gay in the final volume or cheating on Bitch and a Half with Joseph. And even if I hate Julie with the power of a frozen sun, I still dont’ think cheating on her is kosher. He could’ve just broken up with her and while part of it was likely confusion, and he could also be bi and not decided which one he wanted to be with, it’s still a dick move.. and later makes him a hypocrite but that’s a rant for next volume.

So our heroes FINALLY find Kim, along with Hollie and Mouthface. And a nice thing I like is that Kim and Lisa are just.. increidbly close, happily catching up and making plans to hang before Lisa leaves, that despite Lisa having feelings for Scott the two ended up as close and She and Scott did and i’ts sweet to see. it’s also just.. rare to see Kim GENUINELY happy. I mean look at her

It’s not like she HASN’T smiled across the series but normally she’s just so miserable, likely because her best friends are a grumbly asshole who forces them to hang out with a raging typhoon of bitchiness, and an insenitive asshat who she never got closure with. This is the first decent human being whose not Ramona or Hollie, and that last one’s not going to last, in a while. It’s genuinely sweet to just see her.. enjoy the moment for once, honestly engaged with someone. Ramona shows up and finally meets Lisa, who apparently was on Degrassi.. I mean she says candaian show no one ever watched, and I watched that plenty but i’d like to think she was on there for a season or two. I liked Degrassi.. I honeslty miss it and think it could use some form of revivial and think porting it to netflix was a smart decision.. what wasn’t so smart was not having the other seasons leading into it on there. Need to watch more of it.

So the next day Ramona stumbles into Scott’s dreams and both are annoyed, with Ramona suggesting he get a job. This finally gets him to try. He asks about Wallace’s work but understandably, he dosen’t really want scott there and asks if he even knows. So Scott sets out to ask his other friends for jobs, while Knives shows up saying she’s “totally not stalking him” but someone is following HER, a mysterious spiky haired dude in a black leather jacket, shades and with a sword on his back. Whu-oh.

He tries Second Cup, with Julie annoyed that Stephen’s recording.. it’s hard to tell if she’s annoyed because she’s a bitch or because Stephen is both gneuinely annoying right now and clearly screwing around behind her back. My take?

But Scott realizes maybe getting a job at his Sister’s place of work who also works with his arch enemy might be stupid and backs out. He next tries Kim’s, but backs out of that too, admitting to kim it’d be stupid and Kim lists off all the reasons (His lack of resume, the fact them working together would be stresful and his ountain of late fees) why that’d be stupid, but in a jovial way. For once i’ts clear that while she’s still taking the piss out of them she isn’t mad at Scott.

In fact she genuinely helps him get a job, taking him to Stephen’s work since hers is dead right now anyway, a vegan place. While Scott naturally compares things to a job system as he’d start as dishwasher while Stephen taught him prep, Scott agrees to genuinely take this seriously and Stephen’s boss decides “eh why not” when he asks her to employ him. Scott is gainfully employed baby! God I miss that. Seriously i’m not pimping my patreon for shits and giggles.

But as he celebrates and Kim wishes she could punch his life in the face, they run into some trouble on the way home: Katana man who slices a motherfucking bus in half and chases them, with Scott reluctnat to fight because he has a sword and Scott does not, which is valid. He does escape though using subspace. He and Kim part awkardly and he returns home to Wallace throwing a party with two intresting charcters, a woman and a man of color, one of the few in the entire work, who are never seen again.

The next night is practice.. or rather recording, and we start to see Neil get edged out, with him unable to come due to exams and clearly not happy about it, and Stephen just kind of ignoring anything he cares about like the dickhead he is. It dosen’t get any better as “recording” ends up just being Scott, Ramona, and Ratfaced Knacker watching bored with Joseph and Stephen work. Eventaully Scott and Ramona decide to get out of there as things are getting tensed between thing one and thing bitch, and leave.. and take Julie with them for some reason.

So the three have dinner with Lisa, Kim, and Jason before The Mummies Curse thankfully leaves. Jason thought they were friends.

We also get this exchange.

I mean.. she is the better option. She his THE option. But before we can get the obvious answer of

Stephen comes in with Knives. He smuggled her in. This leads to problems when Scott returns from the bathroom to find Queen Bitch throwing a bitch fit about him having brought her and screechs at her when she dares to talk to him “How do you even know my name?” Well Ted Cruz, you see when someone is an actually thoughtful and likes other people, they keep track of things about them and don’t constnatly tear them down or assume their partneer is automatically bonking a 17 year old instead of you know, actually forming something of a friendship and not shutting her out sensing she needs this friend group. Some people are not vacous piles of vitriol who care about nothing but themself and seem to go off at the slightest thing.

Scott takes Ramona home but finds a drunken barely awake wallace so no sexy times. Not that he could anyway as the next day is the meeting with Peter their landlord.

Peter reveals they’ll have to clear out by the 27th as their lease was for one year and their paid up.. as in only the first and last month. The two part melacholy knowing this sucks and isn’t a great situation. Then it’s time for Scott to work work, angelica, work work, eliza and peggy. After grueling day, can relate, he runs into a wisp on teh wend and steels himself for a fight.. okay he bitches about it being too hot but it’s Scott. so it’s expected. He does get a hit in on his mysterious persuer.. and that’s when we meet Roxy.

Via boob punch, something Scott’s not proud of but in his defense, as Roxy keeps complaning about it, he was blindly struggling for a hit and din’t know the next Ex, or any of them, were female.. not that Ramona didn’t suggest it loudly enough by empahsising “exes” but scott’s a bit of a fuckwit. She mentions “everyone allways remmebers you”.. which is kind of ominus and tells me she tried to hook back up with ramona despite her having a boyfriend and she rejected her. Still on good terms though. But this confusing encounter ends with Roxy vowing she’ll get him next time gadget, next time.

So we get some assorted slice of life scenes with the band, lisa and what have you as Scott tries to get in touch with Ramona but she keeps avoiding him. THat’s not worrysome at all. And Lisa brings up high school while drunk and clearly hits on Scott. He sidesteps it with her drunkness.. but this clearly isn’t over or going to stop being a problem.

Speaking of problems Wallace makes Scott confront the truth: He either needs to find a new place to live or commit to staying, though Wallace is trying to nudge him toward asking Ramona to move into her place. Scott starts thinking it over, it being very hard especially since, as Stephen points out this was his very first place of his own.. but Stephen also points out these things are temoporary.. right before Scott ducks from katana guy.

At work Scott wonders who it could be, though it turns out Stephen’s met him before, as he’s brought his family in here. So he’s PROBABLY not one of the exes.. but it leaves the question why he wants to cut Scott in half like Dewey Cox’s brother. But it turns out he’s nto the only enemy Scott’s casually running into as Roxy is there too.. with Ramona.

The two talk, clearly about Scott and Lisa with Roxy trying to convince her he’s cheating and Ramona rightfully trusting Scott: while he IS attracted to her, he’s been fighting it every step of the way. Scott storms over to find out what’s going on and while Ramona is more distracted by his new job, she eventually realizes Roxy did attack him and he simply dscribed her poorly when he mentioned the incident over the phone. Scott is confused as he dosen’t get it. Is she with one of the exes what? After some hiinting from both parties, and Roxy rightfully mocking him for not getting the obvious... he finallyg ets it in the grandest way possible.

So Roxy gets ready to fight and Scott can’t because sword, and gets fired in the background as he hides in Ramona’s bag and Ramona prepares to step in. Roxy screams at her for trusting him and defending him when Ramona.. just dosen’t her boyfriend to be bisected by her ex. A fight insues and a damn cool one at that. I honestly wish the movie had taken more from this, but simply didn’t have time leading it to instead be more like the envy fight with a bit of the Winfried Hailey fight from Free Scott Pilgrim.

Roxy chases her and Ramona rightly points out Scott can’t run forever but takes him into Subspace.. where Roxy heads them off, having “taught you everything you know bitch” leading to a cool fight in the wintery version of subspace. Again why THIS wasn’t used instead I have no real idea. We also find out she’s a half ninja but she eventually leaves afer Ramona presses that button.. but Rammy is actually apologetic about it and Roxy’s “I hope you and your 24 children are happy together comment” is telling.

Upon this readthrough of the volume.. I realized Roxy is the most layered and intresting of the exes next to Gideon himself. None of them are out and out terrible, but most of them have pretty simple motives: to kill Scott, ???, profit. Or in Todd’s case to kill scott, bang around and be a dick. But Roxy.. genuinely wants Ramona back. She’s the ONLY one who does: Gideon kinda does, but only in the sense that he wants her for his collection. But Roxy geninely still loves her, admitting so during this fight. And it’s not like she has no chance: out of the 7 exes she’s the ONLY one who parted with Ramona on anything resembling good terms. While intrestingly we don’t find out WHY they broke up, Ramona didn’t cheat on her like she did everyone else she was with. The two have coffee and hang out and Ramona geninely dosen’t even consider until Roxy tries to attack Scott that she’d really try killing him and tries her best to talk her out of it. But what holds Roxy back is her anger: She’s so bitter about the fact Ramona is bi or pan, so dedicated to viewing Ramona’s very orintation as a betryal (though Ramona calling it a phase dosen’t help and the movie RIGHTLY has Roxie comment on it and fly into a rage over it), and so driven to make sure the woman she loves dosen’t get hurt again that it blinds her to the fact Ramona dosen’t love her the same way anymore, and that while Scott is objectively a dick, and a cheater, and a greasy buttcrack pooflap, he is not a terrible person. A meh one sure, but he’s got good to him. She’s so biophobic she simply can’t see he’s a harmless moron.. well harmless to Ramona even with the cheating. He’s killed two people at this point and will kill again. Also she apparently has issues with only being a half ninja but this is never adressed. Point is Roxy’s really grown on me and is now probably my faviorite ex.

Scott and Ramona talk it over on their way to Sneaky Dees and Scott finally asks to move in and gets a yes. His response is downright adorable.

So at Sneaky Dee’s Young Neil is just a bit absolutely irate with Scott.. which isn’t fair as them not playing things is entirely on the blocky face asshole. Yell at him.. which he does, pointing out that they haven’t played shows in forever, and that the lady who owns Sneaky Dees not only runs shows, in the upstairs space, but has been asking them to play. Kim is rightly curious about this and to both Stephen just keeps saying “We’re recording right now.” And some of you may of wondered why I hate him. Well while he’s not exctly stellar in the first half in the second Stephen becomes goddman insufferable, slowly destroying the band for his affair and not giving one iota of a shit what anyone else wants. He’s a selfish, egomanical cheating prick. And yes I get it their recording an album.. but doing live shows would give them extra practice, MONEY, even if likely not a lot and exposure for said album. I get professoinal bands stop touring for a bit to do an album but you are not a professional band, and said bands still often iron out the album on the road. God you suck.

But while Scott sidesteps this argument he walks into another where Ramona confronts him about lisa about liking her.. and he rightly says if there was anything, which there was not it’s in the past. And while yes he is a cheater, she does not know this yet. This plot honestly would’ve worked better if she learned about the knives thing sooner, but instead she just comes off as paranoid for listening to Roxy about something that isn’t happening. Yes Scott’s been shown to be attracted to her.. but he’s been ashamed of it, fighting it and in denial about it, and is clealry all in with Ramona. Being attracted to someone else on a phsyical level does NOT mean your relationship is doomed.

Things get worse as he goes home to ruminate.. and instead sees a man’s Penis. And Wallace..is at his second most unsymapthetic, not letting Scott get a shirt or a bus pass or something like a decent human being for no goddamn reason. Usually when Wallace is a dick to Scott, Scott’s earned it and badly needs a slap in the face. Here he’s just being a prick because.. the plot needs him to? I dunno it dosen’t work for me. It’s in character, I just don’t have to like it.

So with no other options.. Scott ends up at Lisa’s. And so we get the last temptation of Scott. Lisa admits, embarassed that she’s been wearing sexy dresses and what not specifically to attract him, with Scott also mentioning how things are rough, Lisa tries to fight it herself pointing out he’s with ramona.. and when Scott points out they didn’t do anything in the past Lisa points out they should’ve.. and maybe they should now.

We fade to black as Scott ends up in a dream and finds Roxy, who naturally has the same skill and tries to Freddy Kruger him before he wakes. He finds Lisa but they didn’t do anything: Scott pushed her away and babbled about how much he loved Ramona instead. As i’ve said.... his heart was never with LIsa... and even when he was so close to giving in he couldn’t. It’s a tangible sign of growth: He screwed around on Knives with Ramona, and given how bad things were getting with Ramona, it would be oh so easy to once again ditch a relationship the minute he found something else and oh so understandable. But... he dosen’t. He loves Ramona even if he hasn’t said it, he wants to make this work, and he’s changed. She’s changed him. He’s not quite a good man yet.. bu he’s getting to be good enough. Love turned him from a skeezy dumbass into a far more loveable dumbass. Ramona’s gotten him to stop dating a teenager (even if again he cheated), face his past with envy to finally move on and now get a job. He’s realized just hwo much she means to his life and world and so he goes to tell her.

Riggghtttt after going to get his job back and works a shift, with steven wanting to punch his life in the balls. Stephen shut the fuck up. Just because Scott is lucky and your stuck dating satan’s scrotum does not mean you get to punch his life int he balls. Kim does, because he’s put her through more shit but not you.

He goes to second cup to talk to Stacey.. only to end up at the wrong one where Knives also now has a job... and we finally get an answer to who the mystery katana guy is...

Yup turns out wielding giant weapons in vengance runs in the family. As for how he knows about Scott her aunt mentioned her boyfriend, everyone freaked out and obviously while her mom was mentioned as knowing in volume 1, they did not tell her dad whose brain turned into an engine of vengance and defaced the shrine. While part of it is apparnetly racisim for Scott being white the fact is he clearly saw Scott’s photograph. The guy is 5 years older. I get him being protective. Still dosen’t justify cutting off his head. His balls maybe but not his head.

And then Scott ran, once agian finding a subspace entracne.. and this time we see inside ramona’s head and well...

Yeah.. that’s.. kind of fucked, and Ramona isn’t happy scott saw that, though she backs down once Scott explains..a nd then gets upset over him staying at Lisa’s but before SCott can tell her he loves her it turns out Roxy stayed over. So yeah, Ramona might of cheated, she tells him to alk it off and he runs around in a psycadelic haze of emtoinal confusion. And meets.. someone new...

Scott snaps out of his funk and ignores his doppleganger heading back for Ramona... whose fighting Mr. Chau. Scott left the door to Ramona’s head open and he followed him through Subspace. Scott lures him into the house and away from her only to run into Roxy. This leads to both of his attackers fighting and her wondering if Gideons ent him “Why does no one ever belivie in me?!”

She soon realize no i’ts just unrelated and calls Scotto ut on hiding behind not having a sword and behind her being a woman, caling it a flimsy excuse. I mean she’s tring to kil lhim. It’s okay to hit an enemy combatant. Scott realizes he has to stop running... and get real with ramona leading to a truly epic, romantic and heartfelt speech and given how far he’s come and just how heartfelt it is it’s a real sign of how deep he feels. Sure we’ve seen genuine chemstiry between the two.. but htis moment is a shit.. from a simple relationship.. into true love.

I may of only had a few but Relationships are not easy, They take work, they take time, they take patience and theyt ake love.. but if your willing to work with someone, look past some flaws and help them with the rest.. then it’s worth it. And Scott has finally realized it and for the first time in a while is running TOWARDS something difficult, actually working on this relationship and talking with his partner instead of running finding someone else or wallowing. He’s truly grown up. While he still has miles to go.. he’s taken about 50 steps forward with this. And as such given the kind of unvierse we’re in, as Ramona is genuinely touched by it he levels up a glowing sword with a heart shaped hilt coming out of his chest.. and realizing what’s happening he pulls it out....

So Scott faces off with roxy and in an awesomly short battle, their sords clash.. and he bisects her.

Scott then honestly talks down Mr Chau who leaves after a nod, and Ramona tells Scott she loves him two. The two make out and all is well.

One make out fades into another, as we cut to Scott moving in with Kim and Blockhead’s help. Well kinda they only had one box but they owed him one. He and wallace comiserate over the end of their time as roomies. They’ll always be friend but it’s truly the end of an era. Also Wallace gets off another bit of dickery as he’’s very glad it all worked out for scott...

Now there’s the Wallace I know and love. Dickish but just the right loveable kind of douchebag with that swagger.

Back at Knives house she’s apparenlty into somebody though who I have no idea, Mr Chau give sher his blessing and she.. apparenlty doesen’t know chinese. I dunno. As I said her subplot this go round was her weakest overall.

And so we end with the whole gang gathered to see Lisa off. It’s a REALLY nice shot, and one of the only times Wallace is seen with the Sex Bomb omb side of the group. Oh sure he goes to their shows and what not, but generally their never in the same vincinity so while there’s no interaction I still find this neat. Seriously the whole main cast is there, it’s a really lovely shot

Also Jason and Hollie.. who are getting awfully chummy. Whu Oh. And of course Craphole and Mouth Face are as likeable as ever.

So we jsut get a genuinely nice sene. Except Stephen and Julie reconciling. Fuck that. Please move on. And as everyone fondly wishes Lisa adeu and wish she stuck arond the res tof the series we end on Scott and Ramona snuggling, Scott asking her her birthday and finding out she’s 24, and they both will be come september. Scott wishes this moment could last.

They probperly snuggle as the volume ends on a high.

Final Thoughts:

Yeah.. Gets it Together is, on rexamination, DEFINTELY my faviorite of the 6. Besides personal value i’ts hte best contained story, contaning lots of character development, great character moments, jokes, and EASILY the best art so far, with goregouness and creativty abounding.

There is a problem here or there: Stephen and Julie’s subplot feels underbaked, and not just because I hates them, and there are several scenes that don’t further plot or character stuff. Ther’es also stuff that could’ve been expanded on.. but given this is still a pretty meaty graphic novel, it’s understandable why it wasn’t.. though it is why I’d love a streaming series since while the movie is excellent, a full series could expand on stuff from the books more Brian simply didn’t have time for. Knives also didn’t get a lot to do.

But their drowned out by tons of great decisions: Lisa was a wonderful additoin to the cast and I genuinely wish she’d stuck around, adding in some energy, blending well with the Sex Bomb Omb crowd, and having great dynamics with everyone and her arc with Scott is heartbreaking,knowing she can’t have him but wanting him anyway having never gottne proper closure on the man she’s always wanted. She’s a heartbreaking character and its nice to see her end in a decent place and on good terms with Scott, having let him go for both thier sakes.

And while Lisa is a highlight everyone is on their a game here for the most part apart from knives, girl hitler, and captain dumbass: Scott grows signfigantly but is funny as hell, Wallace has an intresting arc trying to nudge Scott out without being overt about it, scared to really confront him, Kim is in a happy and serene place for once and it shows. The villians are also intresting: While Mr Chau is a tad underbaked, he’s sitll a cool imposing presence. I do think he shoudl’ve had more to do with the plot.. but is still just so freaking cool it papers over that and him just.. disappearing after this like poor Lisa.

Roxy is far more intresting, having clearly more going on than we see and while I wish we’d got her backstory, she’s easily the most engaging of the exes, being the only one to actively compete with Scott (All her and ramona end up doing is making out a little it turned out), and have bigger stakes than just “The glasses wearing douche asked me to beat up my exes boyfriend and I was like alright.

All in all Gets it Together is really magical, the series high point, and just damn fun and it was a pleasure to go through

Next Month on Scott Pilgrim: It all falls down as we take a look into what once was my least faviorite Album, vs the unvierse. Two perfect assholes try and murder scott with Robutts, his relationship and band crumble and things get sad so very very sad.

Next on this blog: More LIlo and Stitch! The Proud Family come to Kauai and get into a fight with our heroes. Also wizard kelly... who if nothing else is now far more tolerable now i’ve had to spend another volume with the wicked bitch of the west. Touche universe touche. See you at the next rainbow.

#scott pilgrim #ramona flowers #wallace wells #roxanne richter #knives chau #stephen stills #julie power #mr chau #stacey pilgrim #neil nordgraf #young neil #comics #oni press #scotrospective #lisa miller #kim pine #jospeh

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krabmeat · 3 years

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heyyyy, just wanteddd too seee ifff youu cooulddd writteee sommmeee karlll x time!travel readerrrrr, itt coouuullddd beee flufff orr anggssttt. whateeeveerrr youuu wantttt :] (morreeeee iiinnnffooo: reeaddderrr allsooo hasss the abillitttyyy to time travelll and karlll and themmm manageeedd tooo bump intoo each otherrr innn the innbetweeeennnn. bothhh offff themm telll storries aboutttt theiir adventuresss tooo one anotherrr and arreee having a gennuinely goooddd timme! tttheeeyyyy meeet agggainn in theeee lllooosssttt cittttyyyy offff mizzzuuuuu annnnddd youuu caannn dooo whatteeeveerrrr affftteerrr thhhatttt)

sorrryyy fooor myyyy tyyyypingggg ssstyyyleeeee (cccaaaannnn i beeeeeee "beeeee annnooonnnnn" bbbutttt wiithouttt theeee draggged outtt letttterrrssss? I ussseeeeeee beeeee/aviannnn/hiveeeee/boottttleeeesssss prrroooonnnnnouuunnsssss)

𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜

𝙺𝚊𝚛𝚕 𝚡 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌)

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: Karl(Isaac), Ranboo(Charles), Dream(Ranbob), BadBoyHalo(Benjamin), Quackity(Cletus)

𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜: they/them

𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: brief mention of suggestive content, death, murder, explosions, glass breaking, cursing, weapons, water

𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎:

I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS HOLY CRAP!!! firstly, welcome "bee anon" (bee/avian/hive/bottles) to my account! its lovely to have you here and thank you so much for the request! i hope this adds up to what you imagined and i hope you stick around! :]]

--------------------------

The In-Between. Any entity that normally roamed around there knew the place well. If you visited there, you visited often. Karl regularly roamed around the in between. The only face he saw there was his. Karl’s from different timelines traveled to the In-Between as well, but ever since he had found those ominous books that told him to steer clear of the “alternate Karl’s”, that’s exactly what he did. So seeing a new face there while roaming the brick-white palace startled him.

The stranger didn’t even get the chance to introduce themselves when Karl briskly grabs them by the arm and starts running to the room under the tree.

“Woah-! Wait are you-“

But before the mystery person can finish their sentence, Karl cuts them off as quickly as possible.

“SSHHHH! Please hold on a second, I’ll let you know when you can talk.”

The mystery person nods and stays silent as they make their way under the big tree.

Once they arrive, Karl flops to the ground exhausted from the running.

“It’s the safest down here, no one can see what we’re doing. But that’s besides the point! Who the heck are you and how did you get here?!”

The mystery person slides down against the wall and onto the floor besides him. They think for a second, trying to recall how they had arrived.

“I’m Y/n, I’m a time traveler and somehow I got HERE instead of the place I was planning on going to. I was walking around and I saw a bunch of the alternate versions of you around the place but I figured that if one of them were to- yknow, drag me away and under the tree, that’d be the one I’d need to talk to that isn’t a fake.”

Karl nods in understanding before he realizes.

“Wait- how did you know about the safety room being under the tree? Or the ‘alternate’ me’s not actually being from other realities?”

Y/n looks at Karl with a deadpan expression and leans back into the wall. They swing their arms out in front of them for dramatic effect.

“Well duh, I have an in between! You aren’t the only one, yknow. Did you get a bunch of those creepy, contradicting books from all around the place? The one that told me the useful information was in all caps, and the other one was talking about how great the place is and constantly used smiles. Not the traditional one though, like, it used the brackets instead of the parenthesis.”

Karl shoots up in surprise, they had gotten those too?! He was never aware that there were other time travelers that existed, let alone were able to get into other peoples in between! He nods, eager to ask them questions.

“So, where were you planning on going? You said you didn’t mean to come here, right?”

Y/n nods, remembering where they were trying to go previously.

“Yeah! I forgot the name, but I know that it’s some place underwater. An abandoned city or something. Enough about me though, one of the main reasons we both time travel is to tell stories, right? So tell me about the places you’ve been! Also, what’s your name? You got mine but I never got yours.”

“Ah, right- I’m Karl-!”

Karl turned around and flipped up his hoodie to show his light gray initials embedded onto the white hoodie. Y/n had a long, white robe with vine-like accents on the hems. The ends of the sleeves had Y/n’s initials on them as well.

“Well… the first place I’ve ever visited was this place I like to call….’The Town That Went Mad’! Ever play the video game ‘Town Of Salem’? It was basically that and I was like the host of it, sorta.”

Karl proceeded to explain the different personas and people to Y/n, there were people like Cornelius the Wise, Helga, Miles Memeington, Mayor Jimmy- Helgas husband, Robin the Orphan, Bob (he’s a builder, yknow), Catboy (very deep voice, no one knows why but it’s a strange contrast to the ears and tail. Mutant or furry??), and Jack the Farmer. He explained from how the orphan had tricked the entire town that he was a murderer when he was instead the Jester, to explaining what the word “dunderhead” meant in Helgas context after explaining how she ruthlessly and openly got her husband executed and then soon proceeded to sleep with Bob.

Both of them were crying tears of laughter, listening and recalling their own stories. By the time Karl had finished telling his story, Y/n was on the ground wheezing from how funny they thought the story was.

“And your telling me they all just, DIED?! That’s so anticlimactic, I love it!”

It’s been maybe 3 hours or so of them discussing stories and laughing. As much as these two travel across the fabrics of the universe, they would have never imagined being able to finally tell someone about their travels and experiences!

Y/n then started talking about a Sky Dynasty that lived up in the clouds in a kingdom called The Kingdom Of Synnefa. When they had dropped in, they would have fallen straight through the clouds if a kind man by the name of Galen hadn’t found them hanging off a building ledge for their dear life! Galen let Y/n drop into his wagon and he took them to get Skywalkers, shoes specifically make for walking on clouds.

Y/n had then explained how a very old looking man who looked to be a pig hybrid approached them, asking them if they were new. Apparently the old pig man was the guardian of the Grand Library, saying how he adored the Kingdoms Greek history and fables. The funny part is that his name is Icarus, a very unfortunate demise that Icarus had in the past but apparently that was a sensitive subject for Icarus and he would get very upset if anyone brought it up.

Another 3 hours went by of this time Y/n telling their stories of their travels to The Kingdom Of Synnefa! Both Karl and Y/n were having a wonderful time chatting with one another about both the confusing rivalries between the carnivores and herbivores of the kingdom, as well as how the kingdom was slowly dying due to the mass amounts of pollution damage the “ground dwellers” have been inflicting on The Kingdom Of Synnefa.

Soon though, Y/n had to jump into their next travels- as well as Karl. They said their goodbyes to each other, both obviously upset about having to stop the fun and interesting chat.

“Look, when I leave I’ll figure out how I got in, okay? If I don’t figure it out, it’s been a real pleasure Karl Jacobs. Anyways, off to the abandoned water city I go!”

Karl nods and waves his hands frantically at them, eager and hopeful for Y/n to visit him again.

“See ya around Y/n!”

Y/n then proceeds to take out a small book and pen from inside their robe. They open it and quickly scribble something down before closing it and putting away. Y/n gives Karl a last friendly smile before disappearing in a snap. Before that, they manage to give him one last message.

“Hopefully!”

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

Isaac wakes up in his bed by the sea docks. Meeting what seems to be his friends and roommates, Benjamin, Cletus, Charles and Monroe. Distant arguing can be heard from the docks. One of the voices sound oddly more familiar than the others to Isaac. Isaac walks over to the dock and finds two people arguing.

“What’s going on here? Why are you guys arguing so early in the morning!”

The two people stand up and point at each other.

“MONROE DOESNT GIVE ME BACK THE F*CKING FISHING ROD!”

“BECAUSE THE LAST TIME YOU CAUGHT A FISH YOU KILLED IT, CLETUS!”

Monroe? Their voice sounds oddly similar to someone else’s, but Isaac can’t quite put his finger on it. He looks down ignoring the minor situation, when he sees a small leather book- then it clicks. Monroe is Y/n! But before Isaac confronts Monroe (Y/n), he picks up the small leather book. It isn’t the one that Y/n had when they left Karl’s In-Between, but it instead had what looked like the directions and coordinates for The Lost City Of Mizu!

“CHARLES! GET THE F*CK OVER HERE SO YOU CAN GUIDE US TO THESE COORDS!!”

Charles walks out of the shared dockside house alongside Benjamin, I hand him the book and start heading for the boats when Monroe stops me. They whisper loud enough so that I can only hear.

“Karl? Is that you?”

“Y/n?! You recognize me!”

We get on the same boat while the others get on theirs as well, and set off following Charles to The Lost City Of Mizu.

“Okay first, we call each other Isaac and Monroe, okay? Don’t break character.”

“I don’t even know HOW I remember! Usually I don’t until I leave!”

“Well that doesn’t matter right now, just try to act like Isaac and not Karl.”

And that’s what they did. Karl was Isaac and Y/n was Monroe.

Once they found The Lost City Of Mizu, they met a man named Ranbob. Ranbob was the last resident of the city, and offered to show the group around. Rooms and rooms of full on history! It was like a huge museum filled with information of a place Ranbob called The Dream SMP, and Karl and Y/n were eating it up. Ranbob had suddenly disappeared, but the group didn’t pay much mind of it as they were trying to get into the Tree Dome.

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

The Tree Dome room was as marvelous as it was big. The tree was absolutely beautiful, and was also the supply of oxygen for the now abandoned city- though the tree still looks to be thriving tremendously. The group spots a chest on the tree and nominates Cletus to go and retrieve it. Branch after branch and he’s finally up there! But soon after fallen and blown into oblivion because in suddenly appears Ranbob with loads and loads on TNT. Placing it all around the tree and the room, all he says is

“No one survives when they come here.”

And

BOOM!

He sets off the TNT in the tree, Cletus. Before he died, Cletus luckily tossed the group the book he essentially died for so before reading it, the group ran out of the room and shut the iron doors.

The rest of the group had also found a book that had a key to a “Secret Room”, and very soon after they were making they’re way down a certain “Secret Room” only to be met with another book and a room to the side full of lava parkour. Apparently the last person to try and make it past the lava parkour failed, but they know the key or next clue HAS to be there, so Benjamin is nominated to do the lava parkour, failing and falling into the lava on the final step. Bravely after watching his friend die, Isaac (Karl) decides he’s gonna take a go at the parkour, and succeeds! He gets the key and directions to the final room before they can escape and heads to the final room with Monroe and Charles.

The final room is...strange, to say the least. Black brick walls and flooring, the walls lined with diamond armour and weapons. At the end of the small hallway rested what looked like a terrarium. One of the walls were made of glass so they could look in, and what they saw wasn’t what they were expecting. A normal flat biome with grass blocks, a mini cave in the corner that had a few gold ores in it if you looked hard enough, and the strangest of all was the statue of a looming, smiling, green figure in the very center.

“Everyone had a person they idolized.”

Ranbob suddenly appears, interrupting the 3 taking in the room.

“Ranbob? Dude what the f*ck?!”

Y/n reaches for one of the diamond axes lining the wall, when suddenly Ranbob unsheathes a netherite sword.

“Don’t touch anything.”

That’s enough to get Y/n to back up from both the weapons AND Ranbob.

“How are you even here? We thought you DIED!”

But Ranbob didn’t seem to be bothered nor wanted to be bothered by such minuscule questions, and instead walked towards the glass of the terrarium.

“This is my idol. His name is Dream.”

“Was he a good person..?”

Karl questioned hesitantly. He didn’t wanna anger or irritate Ranbob after seeing what he said to Y/n.

“Hmm, yes, he’s a good person. Depending on what you think.”

Karl walks up to the glass and shatters an opening with his elbow. He, Charles and Y/n step into the terrarium, observing the statue and its habitat more closely. But they didn’t get the chance to say much more. Ranbob unsheathes his sword for the last time, trapping everyone inside the terrarium.

“No one makes it out alive.”

GASP!

“What the- where are we?”

…

“Y/n…? Y/n! Your back!”

#tales of the smp #lost city of mizu #time travel #bee anon #fluff #x reader #mcyt x reader #reader insert #dsmp

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moved-to-void-kissed · 3 years

Text

Huh. I already knew that the KOS-MOS and T-elos in XC2 weren’t 100% supposed to be the same characters as their original Xenosaga versions, because they’re called KOS-MOS Re: and T-elos Re: (where Re: stands for Refrain according to their visors) in the Japanese version of XC2. But I didn’t realise there was actual lore to both their presences in XC2 on top of that, rather than them just being crossover characters for the fun of it.

According to this video, there’s a caption in the official XC2 artbook that translates as follows: “From a past much more distant than 500 years, a Driver engaged with KOS-MOS and T-elos (not Rex or Amalthus) challenged themself to reach the top of the World Tree, failed in their pursuit, and perished. Thus, the pair fell down into the Cloud Sea of Alrest.” This means the pair have both canonically - or at least, as canonically as information given in an official artbook is - existed as Blades in Alrest for a long time, and actually technically might predate the creation of the original KOS-MOS (and therefore T-elos, since she was created after KOS-MOS) in the world of Xenosaga.

I think that’s actually pretty neat, and it’s something I do kind of want to incorporate into my version of events that has my selfship with KOS-MOS in it, since if a world has lore I always do my best to stick to it (or at least alter it in a way that is actually feasible based on what lore has already been given). And I think I’ve figured out a way to do that!

..It’s under the readmore because it got long, but, yeah! My selfship with KOS-MOS now has a slightly different backstory!

So, I think I’m going to make it so that Calanthe (my self-insert) still gets transported from the world of Xenosaga into Alrest because when KOS-MOS first awakens, and accesses the power of the Zohar, Calanthe being in physical contact with her causes it to happen as a consequence of the Zohar’s effect. However, KOS-MOS (or rather, that KOS-MOS, who normally has red eyes) doesn’t actually get transported with her when this happens, since she was designed to use the Zohar’s power. Instead, when Calanthe appears in Alrest, she does so holding the Core Crystal of the Blade version of KOS-MOS (i.e. KOS-MOS Re:, who always has pink eyes), which she immediately and unintentionally resonates with.

Now, normally, a Blade does not have any memories other than their name when they are awakened by a new Driver. However, it’s shown in KOS-MOS’ Heart-to-Heart that she knows how the World Tree was constructed, because she describes the process, and she says this information is stored independently of her normal memories. If the KOS-MOS in XC2 is just a normal Blade, this doesn’t make much sense that she would have this put in her. However, to explain why it’s a thing, I’m going to write in the headcanon that both versions of KOS-MOS derive power from/are linked to the Zohar/Conduit (it’s basically different universes’ versions of the same thing), and because the Zohar/Conduit is a gate between universes, the two versions of KOS-MOS are able to exchange memories and information between each other now that the Xenosaga KOS-MOS has activated. A bit like having two computers in different places both logged in to the same account and able to share files between each other in real-time. This means that the Blade KOS-MOS in XC2 knows who Calanthe is, and so as far as Calanthe understands, the two are the same entity.

However, the KOS-MOS in Xenosaga is a fully robotic combat android whereas the KOS-MOS in XC2 is a full-fledged Blade, although she still seems to retain some robotic aspects - the wiki calls her an AI, she tells Adenine she stores her knowledge in a database rather than books and encyclopedias, and Astelle is also able to upgrade her and tries to tinker with her (but then, she also refers to herself as a Blade in all instances I can think of, and she tells Pandy she doesn’t run on electricity when she offers to give her some lightning). So, I’m running with pieces of that and saying that KOS-MOS initially has a very robotic personality in XC2 because that’s what Calanthe knows the KOS-MOS in Xenosaga to have (and she thinks they’re the same physical entity) - but over time, as she travels more with Calanthe and the rest of the party and gains things like Trust and Affinity, she is free to express herself more “organically” if she wishes to. She isn’t necessarily restricted to a limited, programmed personality anymore.

I hope that that all makes sense! It.. doesn’t really change too much about the story of my selfship with KOS-MOS (moreso just the backstory), but it sticks closer to canon because it means the KOS-MOS in Xenosaga and the KOS-MOS in XC2 are no longer being treated as the exact same individual physical entity who moves across worlds (although they can share memories and information about their experiences). This also means I may well have two different versions of events for my selfship - the default version of events where Calanthe gets put into Alrest, and another alternate version of events where Calanthe stays in the world of Xenosaga and joins the party there. But I don’t know much about Xenosaga itself, and I first fell for KOS-MOS through her XC2 version, so for most intents and purposes it makes more sense to stick to that version.

Thank you very much to anyone who has read this!

#a call from the void #selfship #selfshipping #love: power of another world (KOS‑MOS)#selfship: encoded emotions (KOS‑MOS/calanthe)#self‑insert: in a world displaced (calanthe)#so much of this probably doesn't make a lot of sense but i've had this post in my drafts for ages since I watched the video #and i realised i'd never actually written it out properly but i kind of want to make it a thing now #since i'm trying to clear out my asks and drafts and whatnot #so many capital letters ahaha #i'm going to fix this in my carrd now #also I was thinking of changing KOS-MOS' tag? but i haven't quite figured out what to change it to yet

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dreamingsushi · 3 years

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The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

So I was looking for clips of Zhao Youting for animated gif making and I stumbled across a video of this movie starring him and Deng Lun, and that was of course on my long long long watchlist on Netflix. And it's been a while since I haven't done any reviews, so many projects are still ongoing, but what a better way than to start with a movie. Because after two hours, it's done and I can just go back to whatever else I was doing and it doesn't cause sleepless nights since I won't need to keep on watching when the two hours are over. As usual, I have actually totally no idea what this is about, I guess from the bits and parts I saw (and the title) that this must have some xianxia background to it and I wouldn't mind that at all. After all, that's just my favorite genre when it comes to drama. And movies. So wither further do, let's dig into this!

Right from the start, beautiful sceneries and images. I feel mesmerized by what I'm seing. It all starts with a little boy, Qing Ming being taught by his teacher how to cast a protection spell however he can't seem to master it, even after years of practice and finds a way to protect himself otherwise. But his master isn't pleased with his side ways and even though he's the best disciple, if he can't master something as basic as this, he will never become a Yin-Yang Master. Then, the big ice wall starts to crack up and the master sends Qing Ming away and summons three magic beings. Beasts? Not sure yet what are they. But the special effects are gorgeous, everything is gorgeous.

But no matter how hard the master tries, a bad snake comes out of the wall and when it's time to conjure the protection spell, Qing Ming tries his trick but of course it doesn't work, so the master sends his shield to his disciple and ends up being badly injured but the snake and one of his minions jumps in the snake's mouth to kill it. And it was all in vain because it won't cure his master since it wasn't the real snake. So the master will die. Qing Ming is afraid to be left alone and he doesn't care about people remembering him, but his master calls him the Yin-Yang Master.

Seriously, this really beautiful, as far as I am concern. The costumes. The setting. I'm really impressed. It really immerges you in the spirit of the movie.

Ouuuuh a Deng Lun playing the flute. That is nice. Him and Qing Ming both sense that there is a demon somewhere near and start moving, and so they meet. But somehow, Qing Ming saves the pipa playing demon? I'm so confused. Ah, that's because he's not a mean one. So Deng Lun's character hates demons, but Qing Ming thinks some demons are good. So they end up fighting while the demon flees. The choreography of the fight is beautiful. So well executed. In the end, Qing Ming wins. And he drops Deng Lun on the top of a roof.

The demon waited for Qing Ming because he wanted to thank him for saying that demons have feelings too. And he asks to become... hmmm... like his servant? It's more complicated than that obviously, but I can't quite put the right word on their relationship now. Some concepts are so hard to translate to be honest, because we have actually nothing similar in Western culture. Anyways.

Deng Lun goes back to his academy or temple, wherever it is that he's training, to receive orders regarding the bad snake from the beginning of the movies. Some of his shadows are coming back to stir up troubles. He has been sent to attend some worship ceremony and bumps again into Qing Ming, which angers him because he believes that someone sympathizing with demons shouldn't have the right to attend. So he challenges him to a duel, but Qing Ming declines. Then some girl comes to ask if he's declining because he's afraid of losing. Then some other man comes over and tells them to go have a rest, but when he sees him, something seems to shock Qing Ming. Probably he knows him from somewhere else? We'll see. That girl and that guy are both creepy. Like they give me chills. They are too soft spoken.

As cultivators, I feel it's kind of weird that hey get dressed up by other people, even though it's a special day. They are not royalty.... And I don't like Qing Ming's hair for that part. Then a princess comes around. The creepy girl spreads the gossip about her: she isn't married even though she's over 30 and she might know of demonic cultivation. One of the cultivator wasn't there, and when they ask about him, they hear he died. So the creepy guy will take his place during the sea,ling ceremony. The guy was killed by a demon. Qing Ming suggest the killer is in there. So the creepy girl suggests they use her technique to detect demonic energy, so they decide to. The fishes in the bowl all converge to Qing Ming: it is said that his mother was a fox demon. Oh interesting. The princess orders to take him away, but Bo Ya says Qing Ming wasn't the one to kill the master. How does he know? What is he going to say??? So he put that little bell in Qing Ming's room that night, the one he noticed. So he didn't go out of his room. The Princess says it's not enough to prove his innocence, but Qing Ming has another evidence: someone stuck something on him and that thing actually lures the fish when he passes it over to Bo Ya. Then the fishes move to the princess. She gives them three days to summon the beasts to lock away the bad snake.

Oh so they all spied on each other. Hahaha.

I really like Qing Ming's character. He was asking Bo Ya to have a drink, but he's in a hurry to leave. Then one of his servants comes around and Bo Ya almost kills it again because it's a demon. He tells him to become a demon instead of a cultivator if likes them so much. His answers really angers Bo Ya. But I just love how Qing Ming is really calm about everything, he's so relaxed.

Okay, I'm not digging the thrid eye in the middle of Bo Ya's forehead. That's creepy. Like it's well done, but I really dislike it. Anyways, they all go around killing demons, I guess to wake up the guardians as they feed spirit balls to their statues. Except for Qing Ming. He's drinking with a bunch of women. I like that he's relaxed, not that he's some womanizer. But I guess there's something more to it than that so I'm not too worried yet. Later on he meets with Shou Yue and asks him if they ever met. But he never left the palace. He asks him if he killed the other master, but actually he's a servant of his late master, so he's going to die soon.

Ohhh so he was collecting information as to find the demon spirit to feed the dragon he has to awaken. As he's explaining that to Bo Ya, a servant comes for Qing Ming as something happened to the princess. While he's trying to treat her, Qing Ming notices some worm-like shapes moving under her skin. So he takes it from her body to his. It makes him ill and thanks to Bo Ya. The spirit is enough to awake the dragon.

Bo Ya and Qing Ming share a little of their past. Bo Ya's mom was killed by a demon, so he started cultivating to rid the world of demons. Whereas Qing Ming was mistreated by people because people branded his mother for being a demon. That the only nice person to him was his master. So he shows Bo Ya how he died at his hands.

Okay so the four masters end up fighting each other while someone tried to enter the emperess's rooms. Ah long, the creepy girl with the fishes noticed something odd about the princess and she gets killed by a bunch of hair. Before dying, she tells Qing Ming that the princess is the murderer. Later that night Bo Ya threatens Qing Ming while the princess asks Shou Yue why he betrayed her. So Shou Yue is controlling the hair demon and killed Ah Long because she knew their secret. He wants to bring back the snake. And he killed the other master earlier. Now he plans on killing Qing Ming and Bo Ya. Qing Ming is convinced that the killer is the Princess from what Ah Long told him, but Bo Ya still doubts Shouyue. But then Qing Ming tells him the relationship between Shouyue and his previous master. So Bo Ya thinks it's a conspiracy against the princess, since he grew up with her. So they're both convinced that they friend isn't the bad guy. They both are. I guess they are somehow lovers too? Confusing much, but she doesn't kill him.

Boya and Qing Ming both go their way to discover who is the murderer. And they each tell each other to call if they need help. So of course, Shouyue betrayed the master and he's going to try and kill Bo Ya. The hair demon kills the princess before Qing Ming can ask anything and it stole the sword Qing Ming's master entrusted to him. I think? I'm not sure. Okay, so the air demon killed the princess by itself and not under the orders of Shouyue. She broke out of the controlling spell, as she was a servant spirit. But not I am kind of lost. Qing Ming finds a portrait and it seems to be revealing of something important but... haha I lost some bits and parts I guess. Because I don't understand.

Qing Ming rushes to see Bo Ya. The princess isn't dead. She's actually the empress. Her body is actually sealing away the bad snake. She got eternal life. When she starts feeling unwell after telling all about her past, when they try to attack, Shouyue sends them in boxes filling with sand. Qing Ming manages to save Bo Ya in extremis.

Omg, the girl is the sword. She was in love with the master? And now she gave birth to the bad snake and Shouyue eats it, preventing the sword to kill it. So now Shouyue is not dying anymore. So that's what they were trying to do. But it's not enough. Qing Ming and Bo Ya comes in too late. The snake is now huge and the guardians didn't wake up because Shouyue didn't feed his. The snake is trying to kill everyone. He's trying to take her away from Tiandu. But then the Princess jumps from the snake, bringing with her Shouyue so they shall die together. The snake eat both of them. Qing Ming calls his servants to fight away the snake. However, Shouyue didn't die and he comes out of the snake, battling the servants like a badass. Bo Ya is asking Qing Ming to make him his spirit servant, whatever how I should translate that, as he will sacrifice himself to save the princess and awake the last guardian.

I said that Shouyue guy was creepy. Like so much. I don't get his motive.

Okay so now Bo Ya became the guardian. But like... where are the three other ones?

Qing Ming goes into the snake to look for the princess. She's stuck in an illusion where she sees Qing Ming's master. So Qing Ming takes her to when his master died. The master gives her the dagger/sword, however you like to call it. It was named after her name, by herself, so the master could remember her. She makes me so sad. Poor lady. Cursed to live eternally to birth a big bad snake ):

Qing Ming takes her back to the world and send Fangyue to Bo Ya. Who sends it to the snake, but he uses a protection curse. So the princess threatens to kill herself and does it so Shouyue can't use the protection spell. Bo Ya jumps in front of Qing Ming to protect him. Then Shouyue comes back to attack, Qing Ming's protection spell fails to work, but in the end he manages to do it because he found someone he's willing to protect: Bo Ya. So Shouyue was made out of his master to always stay by her side. So that's why he looked so similar. Because he wanted to look his master. So in the end, his motivation was to live forever to protect Fangyue.

That's it, now I'm crying. Even the bad guy was a good guy in the end. He was just doing what he was asked to. And now Qing Ming and Bo Ya are parting ways. Seriously. Why are they always making me cry so bad?

What the heck. Why is she not dead? I mean the creepy girl. Why is she breathing again now? How can they do this to me? And there's nothing else, it's over... Seriously TT

This definitely was a very good movie. It was well executed. The plot line seemed a little bit chaotic for me at first, I was already taking out points to this movie because of that, it felt as if it wasn't going anywhere. I was wondering what was that story telling and everything became so clear at the end. I wasn't expecting the princess at all to actually be the empress, nor Shouyue a part of the master (or maybe I didn't understand that when he introduced himself first?). It was just such a touching story. Loved the dynamic between Zhao Youting and Deng Lun, even though their friendship and trust built a little too fast for me. But overall, there were not loopholes in the plot. The special effects were really good. The costumes, gorgeous. The music perfect. I just really highly highly recommend. Seriously. Put that on your watchlist. It's so so so worth it.

#yin-yang master #zhao youting #mark chao #deng lun #allen deng #wang duo #he shouyue #olivia wang #princess zhang ping #Jessie Li #longye #chinese movie #c-movie #xianxia #cultivation #costume drama #movie review #movie recap #movie reaction

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ckret2 · 4 years

Text

Heal Our Wounds

Long after the titan fight in Boston, Serizawa wakes up in a hospital bed, recovering unusually fast from radiation burns he only vaguely remembers receiving. Monarch immediately drowns him in love and attention.

Mark and Madison drop by to share a gift—and some of their post-Boston worries.

Has it really been two and a half months since the last fic, wtf. Anyway this is part of an ongoing series of post-KOTM almost-everybody-lives AU oneshots. If you don’t wanna read the others, all you need to know is that Serizawa survived and nobody knows how/why (answer: because I wanted him to), and Ghidorah's been chilling with Rodan and possibly dating him. Links to the other fics are in the source at the bottom of this post.

###

The first thing Serizawa noticed as Mark and Madison came into the hospital room was that they both had dark rings under their eyes. Serizawa was getting used to seeing his friends and colleagues like that. But they both smiled and their tired eyes lit up when they saw him.

He returned the smiles. "So! You've finally made time to visit me, eh?" he said chidingly, as if they'd just dropped in on him and not as if Mark had scheduled this visit a week earlier.

Madison immediately ran up to him for a hug. Mark reached out for her, mouth opened to warn her back; but Serizawa held up a hand to prevent Mark's protests. "It's fine," he mouthed to Mark over Madison's shoulder as he hugged her back.

"Wow," Mark said. "You're looking better already. A lot better."

Serizawa nodded and shrugged at the same time. "The doctors say I've been very fortunate," he said. "I think Gojira had a hand in it."

He wasn't sure Mark bought that, but Mark had the grace to keep his mouth shut and just tilt his head indecisively.

"How are you feeling?" Madison asked as she stood up.

"A little sore," Serizawa said. "But mostly tired. I've been recovering well, though."

Madison circled to the other side of Serizawa's bed so she could sit in the guest chair next to him. Mark followed her, but leaned against the bedside table. Serizawa really did have to ask the nurses if they could bring some more chairs into the room. Since he'd been cleared to receive visitors, his room had become a nonstop parade during visiting hours: Monarch staff and their families, government officials and sometimes their translators looking for advice on how to deal with their respective nations' new gigantic residents, various journalists and reporters interviewing him on current events and his involvement in the mass awakening of the titans...

And everyone seemed to start out with the same question: "I know you've told everyone that you don't remember how you made it from the bottom of the ocean all the way to Boston," Mark said hesitantly, "but...?" He shrugged questioningly. "I mean—anything? Weird dreams? Things you heard while you were unconscious...?"

Serizawa shook his head. "Nothing. I don't even remember the bomb going off. The last thing I recall is getting out of the submarine and seeing Gojira. And then waking up in a hospital, burning."

"Huh." Mark let out a long sigh, mouth twisted in confusion. "Well—whatever happened down there—and whatever's making you recover from your burns so well—we're all glad for it.”

"Gojira," Serizawa said again firmly.

"He's probably right, Dad," Madison piped up. "I've been reading about the effects of titan radiation. It starts out like radiation burns, but something about it makes organic matter heal a lot faster instead of just... breaking it down."

"Really," Mark said skeptically.

"Really! It's the same thing that makes plants grow back so fast in the cities that titans have been through! The research has been out for like three years, Dad," Madison said, rolling her eyes.

"There's a great deal we don't understand yet, but—what Madison says is true," Serizawa said, trying not to smile too broadly. Madison had always been such a precocious child, always talking about whatever interested her. For the longest time it had been insects; recently it had been camping and survival techniques—something that only in retrospect Serizawa realized was so worrisome. He was glad to hear her talking about science again.

"But we're not here to talk about that," Madison said quickly, practically squirming in her chair with obvious eagerness to move on to the next topic. She gave her dad a pointed look.

"Right!" Mark took off a satchel he'd slung across his body and opened the flap. "We—'we' meaning Monarch, basically—wanted to give you a 'get well soon' gift. Rick mostly put it together, but we all contributed the pictures."

"Pictures?" Serizawa asked.

"Of your new friends," Mark said, suppressing a smile. He pulled out a tablet, scrolled through it a moment, and offered it to Serizawa. "From all over the world. I'll email it to you, but we wanted to show it to you in person."

Serizawa took the tablet. When he noticed Madison leaning over the bed to watch too, he held it out farther to allow her and Mark to watch. It was a slideshow, the first slide of which said in large letters, "GET WELL SOON!!" and in smaller text, "from Monarch and the titans."

He swiped to the next slide.

Godzilla stared back at him with eyes crossed and snout smooshed up to the window of Castle Bravo.

Serizawa laughed.

He swiped through the notes and images, pausing to read the well-wishing messages from Monarch agents and their allies—some close friends, some he'd only spoken to once or twice—and to examine the pictures and clips they'd put together for him.

A video of Rodan dramatically bobbing and headbanging in time to a Spanish song. An attached caption mentioned that after recording Rodan bobbing to over twenty different songs and sending them to a comparative psychologist in California, they could definitively say that Rodan was actually meeting the official definition for "dancing"—deliberately moving in sync with the beat of the music—and he was better at keeping the beat than parrots, one of the few other categories of non-human dancers.

Several pictures showed Kraken hanging out next to various Monarch ships, mimicking the ships' paint jobs. In some of the pictures, he even displayed unintelligible lines across his head that looked like attempts to copy the text and symbols printed on the ships' sides.

The Chen twins included a selfie of themselves and Mothra, as well as a message they said was translated directly from Mothra herself: a sincere wish for Serizawa to either get well soon or have a smooth reincarnation if he didn't, and a thank you from both her and Godzilla for saving Godzilla. Apparently Godzilla thought of Serizawa as "the flashy human." (Serizawa had to pause to wipe his eyes before continuing to the next slide.)

Pictures of Behemoth moving heavy objects around for humans with patient amusement. A photo of "Quetzalcoatl" half obscured by the sea with a brief message informing Serizawa that, in action, Quetzalcoatl appeared to more closely resembled myths about a creature called "Manda." Poems, with an apologetic note that they were better in Arabic, that one of the Monarch agents at Outpost 75-B had written about Mokele-Mbembe.

A short note from Admiral Stenz that wryly said, "Even the Navy is having to adjust to your new friends," followed by an image of Ghidorah reclined on an aircraft carrier like a vacationer on an inflatable pool lounge.

From the corner of his eye, Serizawa saw Madison flinch. He looked up at her; her face had gone blank, but there was a terrible fear in her eyes. Mark put a hand on her shoulder.

Serizawa turned off the tablet and set it down on the bed. "Perhaps I should look at these when I don't have visitors."

Madison's gaze dropped. "I'm gonna..." She slipped out of her father's hand and circled around Serizawa's bed. "Gonna get a soda. M'thirsty."

Mark reached out for her. "Maddie..." But she'd already disappeared down the hallway. He sighed, sank down into the seat she'd vacated, and ran his fingers through his hair.

Serizawa let the silence settle for a moment before he quietly said, "She's been through a great deal."

"Has anyone told you that she got up close and personal with the Three Stooges? They saw each other. They interacted."

Serizawa shook his head, sitting up a little straighter. He'd heard that she'd made herself quite the hero—sneaking away from Jonah's terrorist gang with the ORCA; single-handedly breaking whatever control Ghidorah had over the titans; luring Ghidorah, Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan to Boston where they could settle their differences. It had been clear just how much danger she'd been in; but he'd never imagined that danger.

"She says she was as close to him as..." Mark looked out the window and pointed, "as that tree." The tree was near enough that Serizawa could see how the surfaces of individual leaves curved and rippled. "He looked directly at her—all three heads. He tried to kill her. Blasted..." Mark tried to pantomime with his hand in front of his mouth. "Blasted that lightning of his."

A chill ran down Serizawa's back. He'd known Madison since she was born. The thought of her ending like that, incinerated by an enraged titan...

"She's changed so much," Mark went on. "She's having trouble sleeping. She's sullen, she's so serious... Even the sound of the air conditioning coming on makes her jump. And I don't know how much of that is everything she went through, how much of it is whatever—whatever eco-fascist brainwashing Jonah put her and Emma through, how much of it's just her being a teenager..." Mark trailed off helplessly.

There was frustration in his voice and guilt in his eyes.

"I—maybe I'd know if I'd—been around. If I'd seen her often enough to know what she's like."

"You're around her now," Serizawa pointed out. "You cannot change your past actions, but you can support her now when she needs you."

Mark nodded reluctantly. "I just... wish I knew how."

That was where Serizawa's sage advice ran out. His child rearing experience capped out at entertaining agents' kids with titan stories and pocket watch jokes in fifteen-minute bursts of babysitting. "Have you... looked into therapy?"

"I'm her father. I should be able to help her through this myself," Mark insisted. He shifted his position uncomfortably. "And everyone's booked up."

Serizawa tisked.

"But Maddie's... she's strong." Mark sounded like he was repeating something someone else had told him, not something he quite believed himself. "She'll pull through this."

Serizawa could remember all the times over the past couple of years that Emma had boasted about what a strong young woman Maddie was developing into—a boast that, knowing what he knew now about what Emma had been training Madison for, was more chilling in hindsight. He wondered if Mark had been visiting Emma in jail to talk to her about Maddie.

Strong or not, though, facing down a titan attack and being responsible for saving the world was an astounding weight to put on anyone's shoulders, much less a twelve-year-old's. Pile enough weight on even the strongest structure, and eventually it buckles.

Mark muttered, "I can't believe he's still running around."

Serizawa didn't have to ask who. Mark's gaze was aimed at the tablet's black screen.

"If that thing was dead, maybe... I don't know, maybe Maddie wouldn't constantly feel like she has to watch her back. Like she's afraid he'll come back and finish the job."

Serizawa shifted to sit up higher. "I understand how your daughter's pain must pain you too," he said. "But that's no reason to condemn a living creature to death."

"It's not just that. He's dangerous, you know he is." Mark held up a hand before Serizawa could say anything else. "I know, I know—I should be making peace with the titans. I have with most of them. I don't think I'm at the point where I'd invite Godzilla to my birthday party, but he's on my Christmas card list."

From what Serizawa understood about American Christmas card customs, he was pretty sure that making someone's list was faint praise.

"But Ghidorah? He's not like the others. The others just... accidentally flatten human cities. To them it's like stepping on an anthill without looking. Ghidorah is that sick kid who holds a magnifying glass over an anthill. He's evil. Even you've felt it!"

Serizawa couldn't argue with that. He had seen Ghidorah up close in Antarctica—seen the way his eyes darted about, picking out humans across the ice so he could crush them. He'd seen the malice in Ghidorah's gaze. He'd seen the rage, too—a fury that had smoldered for eons, a fury that was older than the human race. He'd seen the light flashing off Ghidorah's eyes and teeth as he'd singled out Vivienne and devoured her.

But was what he saw in Ghidorah's eyes so different from the rage he'd seen in Mark's eyes when Mark had set foot in a Monarch facility for the first time in years, when Mark had snarled that all titans must be executed? Or the cold malice in Emma's eyes when she'd declared from the safety of a terrorist's bunker that human civilization had to be scoured from the Earth? If either of them had been Ghidorah's size, would Mark have been any kinder to Godzilla or would Emma have to Boston? Serizawa had his doubts.

There was no anger that wasn't somehow inspired by pain, by suffering, by fear. Even though Serizawa could still see Vivienne disappearing into Ghidorah's jaws over and over when he closed his eyes, there was some part of him that wondered what it was Ghidorah feared so deeply. And for that, Serizawa pitied him.

"You yourself called Ghidorah a false king," Mark went on. "You know he doesn't belong on this world."

"That is true," Serizawa said. "But he could belong. There is room enough on our world for him to find a place he fits."

"Wh—" Mark leaned away from Serizawa, blinking in disbelief. "How does a false king fit in on Earth?!"

"By learning to act like a citizen, instead of a conqueror."

"I—Wh—You don't think he's going to just do that, do you? Out of the goodness of his big, lightning-spewing heart? Before he floods the planet, or—or challenges Godzilla for leadership again?"

"What has he been doing since Boston?" Serizawa thought he already knew—although he wasn't currently working, he was receiving regular reports from several outposts, mainly from people who thought he'd enjoy hearing them—but he wanted to hear the answer in Mark's own words.

"Well, he—he's been skulking near Rodan's volcano, mostly. Throwing any trailers or tech we try to so much as get on the edge of the volcanic rock back into the village. He's been learning Rodan's language—did you know Rodan has a language—?"

Serizawa nodded. "I'm subscribed to Dr. Flores Rosales's YouTube channel."

That almost got a smile out of Mark. "Of course," he said. "Rodan's even been teaching him... more complicated calls. So the next time he tries to take over, he's going to be able to give the other titans direct orders. And he's been exploring the planet. Learning the landscape. Playing with our weather—he diverts entire hurricanes like they're nothing. He turns over tanks like they're toys. Experimenting with human technology—our technology. Studying how we work."

Serizawa nodded again, absorbing that analysis.

"Getting a better understanding of our planet," Mark concluded. "He's going to be better prepared the next time he attacks it. The longer we wait, the more prepared he gets."

Serizawa took a moment to process that, collect his words, and then reply carefully. "I can understand how his actions appear to you," he said. "And perhaps that is what Ghidorah is doing—studying us, toying with us. But when I look at those same things, here's what I see. Ghidorah has found a home—perhaps a temporary one, perhaps more permanent. He's established the borders of what he feels like is his territory, and when we respect his boundaries, he has respected ours. He's learning to communicate with his neighbors through words instead of through violence. He's shown us that his species sings—that he understands art. He's shown us he has a sense of humor. He's discovering that the earth is covered in unique, fascinating places, and that humans aren't playthings to torture and kill but inventors and engineers. He's made a friend—a friend whose lessons and advice he will sit and listen to, a friend whom he goes to great lengths to protect from discomfort, and a friend who he seems to care for."

Mark also took a long moment to think over Serizawa's words. He was growing a little bit, Serizawa thought. If they'd had this conversation before Boston, Mark would more than likely have steamrolled over Serizawa's interpretation and clung to his own—as he had with so many other opinions he'd had for so many years. Maybe discovering he was wrong about Godzilla had made him a more thoughtful person. Or maybe he was just working to be more respectful because Serizawa was in the hospital—time would tell.

Finally, Mark said, "A 'friend' who he fights with. All the time. Rodan clawed his wing up pretty good in Antarctica."

"And then kept him warm through the night, stayed near him for the next few days, and reactivated a volcano that's been dormant for four thousand years to give him a place to rest. I don't think it was a fight fueled by hatred," Serizawa said. "Have you been watching Rodan's language lessons as well?"

"A few. Not as many as I should," Mark admitted. "It's hard to look at—I mean—Ghidorah tried to kill me and my daughter."

Serizawa nodded understandingly. He had just about gotten used to the sight of Ghidorah curiously ask Rodan to clarify what the word "many" meant, and even at that Serizawa still sometimes instead flashed to a memory of Vivienne's last moments. "You should ask Xochitl if she has transcripts," Serizawa said. "Ghidorah and Rodan squabble over which fights 'count' and 'don't count' like two children trying to cheat at a board game. They see their battles as play."

"Huh," Mark said. "Like...?" He didn't finish the question.

Serizawa gestured encouragingly at Mark to continue. He had a feeling he knew where Mark had been heading.

"Well." Shrugging self-consciously, Mark said, "You know the joke theory that Outpost 56-B's been putting forward."

An amused smile broke out across Serizawa's face. "That Rodan and Ghidorah might be...?"

"Courting," Mark mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. "That what we're seeing is courting behavior. Or—or dating, are they intelligent enough to date? I mean, Ghidorah's building radios..."

"I think there's some potential to the theory," Serizawa said, still grinning. "Outpost 56-B has collected some very compelling evidence. It's not conclusive, but it's certainly suggestive."

"Suggestive." Mark shook his head again and rubbed his eyes. "There's no way they're reproductively compatible."

"Not all couples are. Either in the animal kingdom, or in our own species."

"So, is that the bet you're wagering?" Mark asked. "You think we shouldn't try to kill Ghidorah while we still have a chance because if he decides to settle down and make a big fiery nest with Rodan, he won't destroy our planet?"

Serizawa sobered up. "No," he said. "I think we shouldn't try to kill Ghidorah because his behavior suggests he no longer wants to kill us. It suggests that he is trying to leave conquering behind and trying to behave like a fellow citizen of our planet—cooperative, respectful of the other species he shares the world with, communicative with his neighbors despite the massive language barriers. If that changes, through Mothra we can call Gojira for help. If it doesn't change... then if Ghidorah is seeking redemption, I think we should let him seek it. Whatever his motive may be."

Mark thought that over, lips pursed. Finally, he said, "I hope you're right. You've been right about a lot of other things, but..." He sighed.

It would take Mark some time to accept. That was understandable; Serizawa saw no need to rush him. Ghidorah had directly threatened Mark's family, after all. But Godzilla had ultimately helped cause far greater harm to the Russell family—harm that couldn't be healed with time—and Mark had made peace with him. If Ghidorah's recent behavior really was indicative of a change, Serizawa was sure Mark could eventually make peace with Ghidorah, too.

For now, though, Serizawa should probably lighten the mood. A bit of humor creeping back into his voice, Serizawa said, "But, if it does turn out that what we've been observing on Isla de Mara is courting..."

Mark gave Serizawa a wary look. "What?"

"Do you remember what you said when we were trying to figure out why Ghidorah was heading toward Isla de Mara?" Serizawa asked.

"Oh no." Mark buried his face in a hand, but not before Serizawa got a glimpse of him fighting back a smile. "Not you, too. Nobody's let me live it down."

"You said he wanted a food, a fight, or a..."

"I know! What about it?"

"Well, then." Serizawa sat back, shrugged permissively, and said, "Let them fuck."

Mark huffed.

The conversation drifted to how their respective extended families had weathered the attacks and the corresponding changes to their daily lives, to Mark's tentative plans to balance getting back into Monarch against keeping Madison away from any active outposts, and to Serizawa's goals for once he was back on duty. Serizawa planned to return to work as soon as he was allowed out of the hospital.

"And to visit all of them," he said firmly, "the moment the doctors allow me on an airplane. If I can't take a plane, I'll ride a boat."

Mark chuckled. "All of them? Even the mean ones?"

"No such thing," Serizawa said confidently. "Maybe hurting, maybe distrustful of humans—or maybe so far removed from our cultures that they don't yet recognize humans as feeling people—but not mean."

"So you gonna go open up diplomacy with the titans on behalf of humanity?" Mark asked. "Go say 'hi' and have a little chat like you did with Godzilla?"

Serizawa smiled. "If they'll let me."

Madison finally came back in the room, smiling shakily but clearly calmer than when she'd left. She didn't have anything from the vending machine. Neither Serizawa nor Mark commented on it.

"Afraid this is leaving with me," Mark said, picking up his tablet from the bed. "But I'll email you the slideshow. They let you have your phone in here, right?"

"I have a new one." His old one had been with him during his meeting with Godzilla. It hadn't shared Serizawa's miraculous survival. Rick Stanton had helped him get all his old data out of "the cloud" onto his new phone, and once he had his photos back he liked his new phone better. It was bigger.

"We'll come back as soon as we can," Maddie said as she leaned in for a hug, then looked to her dad for confirmation.

"Of course," Mark said, nodding, "unless you manage to talk your way out of here before we find time to come by again."

Serizawa grinned. As much as he might want to, he probably needed to be able to walk out the door by himself before he could go. "If you don't come see me before I get out, I'll come see you." He had a whole list of people he needed to visit.

The last thing Mark said before he left was, "Get some rest. You've still got a lot of recovering to do."

On more than one level. "I will." Glancing between Mark and Maddie's tired faces, Serizawa said, "So do you."

###

(Do you guys know how long I've been waiting to write Serizawa saying "let them fuck"? Like half a year. Anyway so the “titan radiation heals injuries instead of making them worse” is, obviously, a lot of BS and Not How Radiation Works, but it’s consistent with KOTM’s “titan radiation heals nature and grows plants!!” and with Legendaryverse’s overall lack of people getting severe radiation burns from being so close to confirmed-radioactive kaiju all the time. If canon’s gonna act like kaiju have some made up form of Magical Healthy Radiation, okay, I’ll roll with that.)

(Replies/reblogs are welcome and greatly appreciated! Check the “source” link below for my masterlist of KOTM and Rodorah fics, as well as my AO3 and Ko-fi links.)

#serizawa ishiro #madison russell #mark russell #godzilla #kotm #fanfic #my writing

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hold-our-destiny · 4 years

Text

He’s safe (because of you)

My gift for the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange

This is for @bluepudge

Rating: Teen

Relationships: Tony stark & Peter parker

Characters: Tony stark, peter parker, Happy hogan, harley keener, Aldrich killian.

(you can also read it on ao3 but i can’t link that right now)

Tony should go to therapy.

He’d been meaning to, he swears. Just with the attack on new york, and Fury breathing down his neck, he’d been a little preoccupied. But that’s no excuse.

He’d suggested Peter go to therapy, after having to see his ransom video, deal with his drunkenness and, oh yeah, face obie in a 10 foot tall iron man suit, Tony expected him to have some kind of trauma.

But… he didn’t. If anything, he helped Tony with his trauma, helping him get rid of all the weapons, finding a new element to help his arc reactor and dragging Tony to bed every 48 hours, he was a saint, he was just like Tony- no- he was better.

He’d woken up too many times screaming, thanking everything holy the room was soundproof. He knew after staying awake for more than 3 days, he’d mess up. He just didn’t know how.

Or how badly.

He was in the wormhole again, trying, begging, praying Peter would just pick up the goddamn phone. He wanted to say goodbye to his kid one last time. He didn’t even know if the fight had gotten to his school. God, what if he was hurt? He gasped as the call cut off the same time JARVIS did. Static filling the silence as the screens glitched and filtered into nothing.

He looked at the view he had, millions of stars surrounding him. Well, under any other circumstances, he’d consider it beautiful. This is a good place to die. Tony had wondered about the universe for years, trying to find out if there actually were life on other planets. When he was younger, not long after his parents death, he’d ask Rhodey ‘tell me about what you see, about the stars’. Logically, he knew Rhodey wouldn’t be able to see that far as he was flying but-

Yeah, this is a good place to die.

He’d miss his life, he’d miss the slow sunday mornings with Peter, making pancakes for breakfast and watching movies all day. He’d miss the way his face lights up when he gets to work on a suit with him, the way his laugh fills the room. God, he’d miss his kid so much.

He’s safe, because of you

Slowly, he accepted his fate, taking a breath and letting the missile go, eyes wide as he watched it collide with the alien ship, an explosion brightening the sky, he’d never seen anything like it. He shook slightly as he processed the bright expanse of colours littering the space around him, the fire slowly coming towards him. He let his body go limp, eyes closing, he only had one other thought. Please be okay, Pete, be better than me.

HE woke up with a start.

Hearing Peter’s yell, the bed jolting as the teenager moved quickly, Tony sat up and met the eyes of his suit. Wait, his suit?

Dismantling the suit quickly, Tony’s eyes searched the room for his kid, hearing a groan from the opposite wall, his eyes landed on a body crumpled at the bottom of it. Tony skidded to his knees in front of the teenager, moving him onto his back slightly roughly and searching for a pulse. He breathed out a sigh when he found one.

Peter groaned again as his eyes fluttered open, hand reaching around to search the back of his head, wincing when it touched a certain area, he tried to sit up.

“Woah, woah, buster, don’t go doing that” Groggily, Peter nodded, apparently still trying to get his thoughts in order.

He sat up quickly, “Holy shit, Dad! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, now lay back down-”

“You were screaming in your sleep and your breathing was all messed up, I was trying to help wake you up but your suit... i don’t know what it did but it did something-” Tony sighed, effectively silencing Peter’s rambles.

“Seriously, are you okay?” Tony nodded, counting in his head and matching his breathing, not letting Peter see him weak.

But still, Peter didn’t move, sat next to his shaking father, in the corner of the spacious bedroom.

“Why don’t you go back to bed, kiddo?” Peter shook his head, an adorable expression on his face as his curls bounced.

“Nope. You stay with me after my nightmares, why can’t I stay with you?”

Tony breathed out a laugh, shaking his head slightly. He looked up and met his kid’s eyes- god what did he do to make this kid so great- a smile still on his face, before pulling him into a hug.

He buried his face in the kid’s hair, they always did this, after a nightmare. Nightmares about New York, Afghanistan, Peter thinking Tony’s still lost. They just liked to sit there and breathe each other in, sure they were okay.

Peter breathed out a sigh, sinking further into the embrace.

_____________

“Hey, kid. You supposed to be in here?”

The kid- he couldn’t be older than 15- was sat at the desk chair, swinging his legs widely, head tipped back over in the seat with an almost bored expression on his face. Killian wouldn’t really be objecting, considering a lot of people brought their kids to work but… this was Tony stark’s office.

The kid looked up, grinning, “Yup!” before going back to what he was doing.

“Really? I doubt Stark would let kids play in his office” Killian scoffed, not believing the attitude of this kid.

“I’m not playing,” He said simply.

“Then what are you doing?”

“Waiting”

Not even a second later, Killian felt a presence behind him, turning to see a bigger man than himself, badge reading ‘head of security’, he quickly moved away from the doorway.

The man moved inside, eyes immediately locking on the kid, “Hey Pete, you ready to go? Your dad wants you back by 7”

Killian’s eyes went wide at the realisation, quickly going to walk away.

“Hey you,” He slowly turned around, trying to put on a cool persona again.

“Yeah?” The head of security scowled.

“Don’t but your head into business that doesn’t concern you. If the kid wasn’t supposed to be in there, he wouldn’t be.” He put simply, before making a ‘shoo’ motion with his hand.

________

“Did he bother you, pete?” Happy said quietly once the stranger walked away.

“Nope,” The teenager said simply, before adding, “He was just kinda rude,”

Happy chuckled, one hand on the kid’s back as he led him to the car.

Quickly hopping into the back, the teenager pulled out his phone, texting his dad a quick ‘on our way home :)” and getting a response back, he smiled before putting it back in his pocket.

He looked out the window as they stopped next to a public park, waiting for the light to turn green. Peter’s eyes narrowed as he saw the two men sat oddly close together, passing a briefcase together before one of them turned to leave, stopped as the other said something Peter couldn’t make out from the distance.

The two men argued for a moment before the other one turned to leave, the first one started- Oh shit.

“Happy-” Peter yelled out before the car was engulfed by a bright light, tipping it over and pushing Peter into the other door.

He squinted his eyes open through the smoke, undoing his seatbelt and falling to the floor quickly, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, pulling up his dad’s number immediately.

“Pete?”

“Dad” The teenager sobbed out, coughing as he inhaled more of the smoke, he heard some movement on the other end as he assumed his dad called a suit, “There was these two guys arguing and i don't know what happened but there was an explosion and-”

“Wait, wait, peter. Breathe, okay? Can you check on Happy for me? Can you do that?” Peter nodded, mumbling out a ‘mmhm’ before trying to look over the front seat, while simultaneously avoiding the broken glass in the way.

His eyes landed on the unconscious driver, a few cuts over his body from the glass but nothing major, “he doesn’t look very hurt,”

“That’s good, I’m on my way, you think you can stay put for a while?” Peter agreed before sitting back on the seat, eyes blurring slightly as he let most of his muscles relax, only keeping the phone up to his ear, “You can’t go to sleep, buddy, you gotta stay awake in case you have a concussion, okay?”

“Yeah, that makes sense” Peter mumbled, already hearing the repulsors getting closer. Damn, he could use a dad hug right now.

________

Peter was cleared to leave pretty quickly, compared to Happy who had to stay in for observation, (Peter gave up begging his dad to let him stay with Happy after 3 hours).

They quickly headed to the house again, Tony waiting for Peter downstairs as the teenager got his stuff together for a week at Ned’s house- Tony couldn’t let him get caught in the crossfire.

“Why do i have to go, dad? I wanna stay here with you” Peter repeated for the fifth time, Tony’s heart ached every time he did but he wouldn’t be able to budge on this.

“We’ve already talked about this, pete. There’s some bad guys after me and you’ve gotta go somewhere safe-”

“You can say ‘terrorists’ dad, I’m not nine” Peter scoffed, Tony knew he didn’t mean it, he just wanted to seem mad at his dad.

“Come on, now, don’t do this to me, kid. You know i’d let you stay here if i could but I’m not putting you in danger,” -not again, not after afghanistan and new york, not ever-”Now, you remembered your toothbrush?”

Peter scoffed but nodded, as both of them walked towards the front door, opening it to see someone already stood there, hand raised as if to knock. She stumbled back slightly, at seeing the father and son.

Peter didn’t listen as his dad and the woman- maya, she said- argued, opting to instead, look out the window, watching the various boats across the sea.

His eyes widened as he saw helicopters and- oh god not again-

“Dad!” He turned to see his father’s eyes widen as he saw what was coming towards the house, arms moving in a way Peter couldn’t describe and soon he was encased in a suit, one of his dad’s suits. The display lit up as it activated, JARVIS giving him a quick greeting before taking over the suit and helping Maya out of the rubble.

As they crossed the front door, Peter looked back, desperately searching for his dad, eyes scanning the destruction. It was barely a second before the suit was retracting and flying back through the rubble, down into the water. Peter held his breath for a moment, trying to find and evidence his dad was alive.

It felt like he stood there for hours, looking into the dark sea, before he heaved out a sigh and turned around. Maya was looking at him, wearing a solemn look on her face, before pulling the kid into her arms. Peter was sure at some point in their very brief interaction (God it happened so quickly) she’d mentioned having a kid of her own, he guessed this was some maternal instinct. Peter didn’t care as he choked out a sob, letting the tears fall freely as he processed what had just happened. His worst fear, the thing that had haunted his nightmares for the past five years-

He was gone.

_____________

“Woah, is that iron man?”

Tony paused, “Technically i am,”

“Cool” The same childlike wonder that Peter had- has, he’s not- he can’t be-

Tony was still cold, chills running through his body under the poncho he stole from the mannequin. He’d barely been able to get out of the suit before JARVIS shut down, not being able to ask about Peter- not being able to know if he’s alive, he has to be alive, he has to be-

“Okay, here’s what I need-” Tony continued, trying to distract himself from the growing darkness in his mind, not having taken his anxiety medication today ad already regretting it. Well, he says already, but it's past 10pm at this point.

The kid- Harley- hurried away to get what Tony needed. First plan of action, get JARVIS online and check on Peter, then deal with everyone else.

_________

Yeah the next few days didn’t go too well either, and suddenly he was locked up and tied to a bed frame in a cold, concrete warehouse.

And there was maya hansen talking to him and he couldn’t concentrate because if she was here, where’s Peter-

“Do you know what my old man used to say to me” Tony couldn’t keep the defeat off his face as he looked towards the voice, killian rounding the corner as he spoke, “One of his favourite of many sayings, the early bird gets the worm… but the second mouse gets the cheese.”

He walked down the concrete steps, carrying a briefcase carefully but trying to act nonchalant about it all. Tony could see the creases in his eyebrows, the flexin of his wrist as he talked… he was scared, well, they both were.

Tony quickly put up his mask, the one Peter used to hate seeing because come on, dad, don’t hide your emotions like that, you always tell me it’s- “not still pissed off about the switzerland thing, now, are you?”

Killian set the briefcase down on the table behind him and turned around to face tony, hands out, almost pleadingly, “how could i be pissed at you, tony? I’m here to thank you” He walked forward and Tony couldn’t help but lean away.

He put on a face of boredom as the man continued, “You’ve given me the greatest gift that anyone has ever given me… desperation. If you think back to switzerland, you said you’d meet me on the rooftop, right? Well for the first,” he paused, thinking for a moment, “20 minutes? I actually thought you’d come… For the next hour, well, i thought about taking that one step shortcut to the lobby if… you know what i mean” He shook his head slightly, as if breaking a trance, the memories invading his head.

“Well… I’m still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse-”

“But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there… nobody could see me, no one was even looking, i had a thought that would guide me for years to come,” He pointed at the billionaire, “Anonymity, Tony,” Don't point at me, don’t put the blame on-

“Thanks to you, it’s been my mantra ever since, you simply rule from behind the scenes…”

Tony zoned out slightly, trying to take in all the information that was being dumped on him at once.

“You have met him, i assume-”

“Yes,” Tony answered, looking down, “Sir lawrence obliviet”

“I know he’s over the top sometimes but it’s not entirely my fault, he has a ten- he- he’s a stage actor” He explained, “They said his leer is the toast of croydon- wherever that is- anyway, the point is, ever since the big guy with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety’s kinda had its day,”

“What’s next for you and your world?”

“Well, I wanted to repay you the self-same gift that you imparted to me…”

He leant down in his seat and rolled a few marbles on the floor, using a remote to activate them to show-

Oh god, no-

“Desperation”

Tony gasped slightly, eyes widening as he saw Peter- his Peter- his kid- strapped to a chair- an incline, god, the metal bars were inches thick. He was writing around in pain, the video- the feed- was muted but Tony's heart broke as he saw him scream wordlessly, the red light flowing through his veins.

“Now, this is live, i don’t know if you can tell but at this stage, the body is trying to decide whether to accept extremis, or… just give up, and if it gives up,” Tony flinched, rattling the bars of the bed frame, yet killian continued on, “I have to say, the detonation is… quite spectacular”

He paused for a moment, “But until that point, it’s really just a lot of pain… we haven’t even talked salary yet,” He moved forward suddenly, raising a hand around Tony’s neck and quickly cutting off his air.

“What kind of perk package are you thinking of?”

_______

Peter was burning. From the inside out, fire flowing through his veins- oh god make it stop.

He was screaming, trying to move but was restrained, he couldn't break through the bindings around him. He was screaming for his dad, for maya, for anyone. God, he hoped she was okay. He couldn’t even remember getting there, only Killian getting into their hotel room- got he killed someone to get in-

The pain let up for a few seconds and Peter took the time to breathe, try to get his thoughts in order. The cell around him was spacious, no was other than him was in there, but that didn’t matter. He saw a camera in front of him, red light flashing and he quickly realised how messed up he must look, sweat rolling down his face mixed in with the tears.

He looked into the camera, savouring the moments he had before the pain came back. It felt like a lifetime before it did, but it was probably only a few seconds.

“Dad- dad don’t- don’t give him-” His words were cut off as another wave of pain hit him, making him scream before it became too much, his body giving up.

________

“Killian, please, what do you want?” Tony begged, after seeing Peter like that, he couldn’t keep the desperation out of his voice.

“I’ve already told you what i want, Tony, I want to work with you,” He said simply, not bothered by the image of a teenager- a fucking 15 year old- screaming in pain.

“Okay, okay fine just- just please help him, stop this,” Tears streamed down his face as tony spoke.

Killian pretended to think about it for a while, before chuckling slightly and looking up.

“I wonder…” He spoke slowly, “How many people have seen Tony Stark cry,” He chuckled again, before slowly walking out.

“Maya, please…” Tony sobbed, eyes landed on the woman still stood in the corner.

“Tony, you know i can’t. Killian’s… he’s not stable, he- he’s a brilliant man but-”

“But he’s a fucking psycho! That’s what! He kidnapped a fucking fifteen year old kid and put him- is still putting him through torture.” Tony dissolved into sobs, hanging his head. He heard footsteps slowly retreat, before Maya spoke again.

“I’m sorry, Tony, really”

_______

Tony’s head rose as he heard as he heard an alarm go off, no on of those big alarms that blare through the building and make you feel like your head is going to explode- no- one of those small alarms people have on their- wait.

One of the croonies (tony refuses to call them guards because who the hell are they guarding? He’s tied up) picked up the dora the explorer watch and stared at it inquisitively.

“Be careful with that, it’s limited edition” Tony muttered, a defeated tone in his words.

“Don’t tell me what to do” The man grumbled, a scowl on his face.

“You break it you bought it-” Tony was cut off as the man’s boot came down heavily on the watch.

“I think i bought it-”

“Okay, that wasn’t mine, that actually belonged to a sister of my friends and because of that… I’m killing you first,” Tony heard both men chuckle at that.

“Yeah, sure bud,”

Tony waited a couple minutes before asking, “How far is it from Tennessee to here?”

“324 miles,” The man answered quickly, a smirk on his face.

God, tony couldn't wait to blast that off.

__________

Peter’s hurt, they have him, he’s hurt and he’s in pain and-

Tony definitely wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this fight, but then again, when was he ever?

Jumping from different platforms, working on auto-pilot as he tried and tried and tried again to get into a suit, any suit, before-

“DAD-” The voice was cut off with a scream but Tony was already running, Peter the first thing on his mind.

“Peter? Come on, buddy, tell me where you are,” Tony shouted, concern etching itself into his tone and he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Dad! Dad- please, please just-” He was cut off again by a choked off sob, and Tony’s eyes landed on an upside-down body, still strapped into the chair, but a slab of metal crushing his chest from above.

“Peter! Oh, god, Peter. It’s okay, I’m gonna get you, okay? It’s gonna be fine.” Tony said, more to himself than his son, as he shuffled towards him, reaching a hand out.

“Dad, please, please don’t leave me-”

“I’m not gonna leave you, okay? You gotta trust me,” He shuffled to the side as far as possible before reaching out, thinkin for a moment before speaking, “Pete, you’re gonna have to let go, okay? I’m gonna catch you, I swear,” Peter sobbed in reply and Tony’s heart broke more if that was even possible.

But still, he nodded, tears rolling down his face. He managed to get an arm out and reached towards Tony, fingers barely touching. He steeled himself for a moment before wiggling himself out of the tight spade and slipping down and-

Tony… didn’t catch him.

Hand outstretched, face contorted in pain as he screamed out, Tony would never forget that image of Peter. He was sure his face looked the same, his heart clearly shattering as his eyes betrayed his emotions.

God, not him, anyone but him, please. Please, just- just not him, not Peter. You can’t- he’s done nothing-

Tony dissolved into sobs.

“Such a shame, y’know, if it was me, I woulda caught him-” Killian spoke clearly behind Tony.

Tony lunged.

_______

Tony’s eyes widened as Killian stared into his face, he was losing the fight and they both knew it, Killian was recovering from everything Tony threw at him. At some point throughout, Tony had accepted it, he didn’t want to- he couldn’t-

“Peter didn’t deserve you, Tony, I would've made sure he was okay, made sure he was safe… not just running away to Tennessee,” He began, Tony’s eyes shone with anger, “You gave your address to a terrorist? Really? It’s like you don’t care about him at all-”

Killian collapsed suddenly and Tony’s eyes snapped up, landing on a figure stood behind Killian’s body, a piece of metal raised above their head, a determined look on their face-

Peter?

“P-Pete?” Tony stuttered, a disbelieving look on his face.

“Dad-” Peter sobbed but Tony was quick to react, calling one of the last suits to incase Killian, flying him up and away, Tony smiled before surging forward and wrapping the teenager up in a hug.

“Peter- Peter, oh god, Peter,” Tony repeated, tears falling freely now, soaking into the kid’s hair. He held him tight, barely able to let up.

“It’s okay, I’m here, we’re okay now,” Peter was sobbing into his shoulder, neither of them wanting to let go.

“God, kiddo, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to leave you but-”

“I thought you were dead,” Peter mumbled, still crying into his dad’s shoulder, just a little bit less now.

Tony paused.

“What?”

“At the house, you were in there when it collapsed and i didn’t see the suit come out, i couldn’t see you and i just- i thought-”

“Shhh, it’s okay not, baby, we’re okay. I’m here, I’m okay, just breathe, okay?” Peter nodded into his shoulder.

“God, kid, when we get home, we’re gonna sit down and watch star wars, all of them, we’re not going to leave the couch for days,” Tony chuckled.

“That sounds nice,” Peter chuckled with him before sobering slightly, “Where- where is home now?”

Tony froze, eyes widening, of course, the Malibu house wasn’t there anymore.

“We can set up in the tower, I can get- i can try to find DUM-E and U tomorrow, and we can move in then” Peter sighed, then nodded, tension leaving his body as the adrenaline wore off.

He stumbled a bit as Tony pulled away, legs shaking under him. Tony supported him with an arm around the waist.

“I- uh- I think i need to sit down,” Peter said.

He looked up blearily to meet Tony’s worried face, or to feel the ground coming up to meet him.

_________

Peter woke up fairly slowly, body no longer in pain and surely starved of sleep.

“Hey, kid,” Now, Peter recognised that voice, eyes snapping to the side to see Happy in a bed identical to his, a few feet away.

“Happy? Are you okay?” Peter rushed out quickly, but the man only laughed.

“God, kid, you collapse in front of your old man and you’re worried about me? You really are the best of us,” He said with a smile.

“Sorry… Am i okay?”

“Yeah, i think so, just malnourished. Tony’s really worried about you, I finally managed to get him to go to sleep,” He nodded to the other side of Pete’s bed and he turned to see the man in question hunched over in his seat, head resting on a balled up fist and eyes shut gently. He breathed out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“I didn’t- i thought he was-”

“I know,” Happy smiled sadly, offering Peter as much support as he could give from a few feet away.

“You should get some more sleep, kid,” Happy said softly, almost whispering. Peter only nodded, Taking his father’s spare hand, and closing his eyes softly.

He’s safe, because of Tony.

#friendly neighbourhood exchange #peter parker #tony stark #irondad #spiderson #iron man 3 #iron man #spiderman #marvel #mcu #daniel writes #irondad fic

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skye-maxwell · 4 years

Text

Snack Break

Persona 4 | Souyo | Rated T

---

Noting that it had gotten dark since they had first started playing their video game, Souji paused the game and turned to Yosuke, who was sitting on the floor beside him (pretty much glued to his side, like usual).

“Do you want some more snacks?” Souji asked.

Yosuke just stared back, oddly silent for a moment.

Then he slowly started leaning toward Souji’s face, and Souji suddenly had no idea what was happening.

He wasn’t sure if he leaned in too, or if that was all Yosuke (though he was halfway sure he did tilt his head just the tiniest bit, on reflex), but then Yosuke was closing his eyes and kissing his lips, gently, almost reverently.

Souji didn’t dare move, didn’t close his eyes, didn’t breathe, just allowing Yosuke to do… whatever he was doing.

It ended soon enough, with Yosuke pulling back and the dreamy look in his eyes instantly dissolving into pure fear.

For some reason, Souji felt like he could cry.

Yosuke’s gaze stayed fixed on his face, searching for something as his gaping mouth tried and failed to form words.

Souji was confused more than anything, and he could feel the tension growing throughout his body, from his rigid posture to the small, tight frown on his face.

Yosuke seemed to notice these things too, scanning Souji so quickly that Souji couldn’t even keep up, and then Yosuke was backing away and rising to his feet. He scooped up his coat and phone so fast it was like he had rehearsed the movements (while Souji was still paralyzed, drowning in sea of a thousand tangled thoughts), and without looking at Souji, he mumbled, “I should go,” before making a hasty escape through Souji’s bedroom door.

Go? Souji finally thought, a few words of clarity surfacing in his brain. But you were supposed to sleep over…

As he heard Yosuke’s footfalls descending the stairs, he noticed Yosuke’s headphones lying on the floor, forgotten.

“Yosuke…” Souji whispered somberly to the now-empty room.

His best friend had left a very important part of himself behind.

That wouldn’t do.

As Souji rushed down the stairs and into the living room, Nanako nearly ran into him, looking distressed.

“Big Bro!” she cried, latching onto the hem of his shirt. “Is something wrong with Yosuke? He just ran out the door, and he looked really sad!”

Oh no, Yosuke, Souji thought, his muddy thoughts steadily becoming clearer. He’s sad. I made him sad. He’s leaving. I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to leave.

“I’ll check on him. You stay here. I’ll be back,” Souji said, patting her head and then taking off toward the door.

“Be safe, Big Bro! I’ll wait for you here!” Nanako called after him as he went through the door and shut it behind himself.

Yosuke was already disappearing down the sidewalk, shakily walking beside his bike instead of riding it.

Souji jogged after him, noticing Yosuke’s left shoe was untied and simultaneously realizing that he’d forgotten to slip his own shoes on as his feet connected with the cool pavement.

“Yosuke!” he called, stopping under a street light and waiting for Yosuke to turn around.

He was surprised when Yosuke tensed at hearing his voice and then just started walking faster.

“Yosuke?” Souji tried again, but when Yosuke refused to slow down or acknowledge him, Souji had to start jogging again.

Soon he was matching Yosuke’s pace, walking on the other side of his bike, but Yosuke wouldn’t look at him, quickly turning his head toward the street and using the sleeve of his jacket to swipe at his eyes.

I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to leave.

“Don’t go,” Souji requested, placing a hand on top of the seat of the bike to stop it from moving forward.

“And why shouldn’t I?!” Yosuke asked, voice cracking as he insistently pushed the bike forward by the handlebars, effectively moving it out from under Souji’s grasp.

“Because you left your headphones.”

Yosuke halted to shoot a scathing look of disbelief at Souji.

“That’s why I shouldn’t leave?” he asked. “Just… let me go, man.”

“No,” Souji responded bluntly, swinging a leg over the bike and plopping his ass right down on the seat.

When Yosuke started to protest, Souji put down the kickstand and planted both of his feet on the sidewalk.

“Are you seriously hijacking my bike right now?!” Yosuke shrieked, not letting go of the handlebars and staring Souji down.

“Can’t we just… go back and talk about this?”

“No, we can’t!”

“Why not?”

“There’s nothing to talk about! Besides, you already said enough…”

Once again, Souji was confused.

“But I barely said anything.”

“You didn’t say anything! But haven’t you ever heard of ‘actions speak louder than words’? The way you looked at me, like I’d grown a second fucking head… Will you just get off my bike?!”

“Do it again!” Souji demanded out of nowhere, finally letting his impulses overpower his thoughts.

“Do what?!”

“If actions speak louder than words, then kiss me again! I’m listening this time! I’m… I’m ready this time.”

Souji tried not to wither under Yosuke’s hard stare, standing his ground as Yosuke seemed to go through several flavors of internal conflict.

Yosuke finally shook his head, minutely. “I shouldn’t have… the first time…”

“Fine. I’ll do it,” Souji resolved, reaching up to tug on the open flap of Yosuke’s jacket, firmly enough to bring Yosuke’s face closer to his, but not so much that Yosuke couldn’t pull away if he truly wanted to.

Yosuke didn’t pull away.

Instead, he just watched Souji, waiting for his next move.

Souji slowly leaned in closer, and while it didn’t appear that Yosuke leaned in to meet him, he definitely tilted his head to accommodate the kiss… probably on reflex.

Thankfully, mercifully, beautifully, Yosuke was a much more reactive person than Souji.

As soon as their mouths met, a thin, short whine came from the back of his throat, and his attempt to swallow the noise down only pushed his mouth more firmly into Souji’s.

Their lips separated with a light smack, and then Yosuke inhaled a big gulp of air, holding it for a second as he stared at Souji’s mouth.

“Partner…” he exhaled, and then he asked vaguely, “This… is okay? You’re okay with… this?”

Souji nodded, not even bothering to smile since the smile blossoming on Yosuke’s face was already blinding enough for the both of them.

“I, um, guess I read things wrong back there,” Yosuke laughed bashfully. “I’m really sorry, Partner.”

“And I read things too slowly,” Souji said, shaking his head. “It’s okay.”

“It’s okay,” Yosuke repeated, eyes shining, and then he nodded as if to confirm the words one more time. “It’s okay!” he chuckled happily, before letting go of the handlebars to grab Souji’s face to pull him in for another kiss.

Souji quickly had to brace himself against the pavement again (Yosuke had done such a good job at sweeping Souji off his feet that Souji had forgotten to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground), and he grabbed the handlebars just as Yosuke’s lips collided with his, with a confidence this time that Souji already found irresistible.

Finally, Souji’s thoughts were completely clear.

I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to leave.

I want to make him happy. I want him to stay with me.

I love him.

When Yosuke released him, Souji abruptly turned Yosuke’s bike around.

“Let’s go back now?” he asked, looking back at Yosuke.

“I mean, I kinda have to go back, don’t I?” Yosuke said, ruffling the back of Souji’s hair. “I did leave my headphones, after all.”

Souji grinned as he smoothed his hair back down. “Would you like to ride on the back of my bike?”

Flustered and blushing, Yosuke yelled, “Get the hell off my bike!”

#souyo #persona 4 #yu x yosuke #souji x yosuke #fanfic #my writing #fluff #romance #hurt/comfort #smooching #ficlet #will post on ao3 later #snack break

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

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The beach trope: another one that often comes early in Sonic's quests, and this one's no different, though expectations are very mildly subverted by making it the third zone instead of the very first. (Careful Crusher, you had the audience on the edge of their seats there.)

More importantly though, it's possibly one of the most famous and celebrated level tropes in the series. Emerald Coast is undeniably iconic, Seaside Hill is just as iconic while also merging with the Green Hill setup, and Wave Ocean... is a poor man's Emerald Coast, but it's probably better than most levels in '06 by comparison, so it too is iconic, from a certain point of view. We can't forget Jungle Joyride either, even if that's mostly because we got to see the frame rate die before our very eyes.

So how do you make your interpretation stand out? How do you prevent having a Wave Ocean 2: Wave Oceaner on your hands? Well, it's actually very simple...

Creating Zone 3: Coastline Resort

3-1: Shining Shore

Remember when I said that sometimes all it takes to make an environment feel different is the time of day, or a change in weather? This is one of the first major examples of putting that philosophy into action, as compared to previous beach levels, which were usually content with taking place in the bright sunny daytime, this one takes place under a pleasant purple sunset.

This of course contrasting heavily with not only the blue sea, but also the sands, which although given a mild touch of purple courtesy of the sunset, cannot fully hide their natural shade of white.

And of course, waterfalls.

We can’t forget the waterfalls.

Despite being a true blue beach level first and foremost, there are also a few hints of plaza, further setting it apart from the Emerald Coasts and Not-Emerald Coasts of old times past. This aesthetic in particular is based heavily on the seaside town of Whitby.

No doubt Sonic would admire this place, at least when he's not forced to go deep underwater. Maybe when the adventure is over, he can come back here and have a relaxing moment with... someone. Dunno who though. I doubt Eggman would be interested, and not just because he's actually in-character. Oh well, plenty more horses in the sea.

Speaking of, what about the underwater sections? Shining Shore does have them after all, in full 3D, as opposed to making them bottomless pits in disguise. Unsurprisingly, everything's a lot more blue than purple down there, gorgeously so, but the coral reef provides its own variety of colour.

The local fishies don't seem to mind you being in their line of sight... nor do the Badniks, but probably for a different reason.

Since we're three zones in, you might have noticed by now that each zone, regardless of their overall colour scheme, has one element in at least one act that goes all rainbow with the colours than everything else. You had the flower patches in Gleaming Meadows, you had the wood barriers in Tricky Tropics with their rusting paint jobs, and now we have the coral reef in Coastline Resort... any reason for this?

Alas, the answer is a mundane one: it's just a little way of tying all the zones in Viridonia together. As this quest revolves around the mystery of the elusive Ethereal Zone, this seemingly inconsequential aspect is a way of ensuring that it will always remain at the back of your mind. It may be relatively more subtle and easy to miss than, say, a giant moon glaring down angrily at you no matter where you go on the map as it literally comes closer and closer to killing everyone, but the intention is effectively the same: the central meat of the setting and story is always present in some form, however indirect, even if the characters aren't currently discussing it.

Also, shout out to the lighthouse that helped our heroes by inadvertently blinding the pursuing mechanized orca.

You really put a dent in Heavy Gunner's strategy.

First Section (calm): Lagoony Tunes (Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced) Peach Field (Mario Hoops 3-on-3)

Second Section (adrenaline): Lost Palace (Team Sonic Racing) Hang Eight (Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back)

3-2: Crazy Rapids

Being a whimsical water park, made even more whimsical to fit the video game format, this one explains itself in a lot of areas. But let's go over the finer details anyway, shall we?

As mentioned in the fic, the park has been made to fit in seamlessly with the ruins present in the area, thus creating a Good Future-esque wonderland of nature and technology in harmony. For an idea of how the ruins aesthetic would work, imagine something akin to the Sunset Beach Resort in Jamaica, particularly the long bridge and archways you can see in both of these shots:

Kind of has an Aquatic Ruin vibe, doesn’t it?

Even then, that only applies to half of the architecture, as the other half breaks up the yellow with some white, reminiscent of a certain OTHER watery location in Sonic's past...

We also have the giant fountains sprinkled around the place. There are two types of fountains to be exact, both of which may seem familiar to the attentive eye...

The difference? They're larger. MUCH larger. As in, you can actually platform your way on and around them.

As for what’s inside? It's exactly how you'd imagine it to be, albeit exaggerated even further to befit a Sonic level.

And in-tune with the beachside mood, the Chao Garden found nearby would take a page from the one in Station Square...

...with a little extra flavor of this...

...complete with miniature water slides and the like for the adorable inhabitants... the inhabitants that Eggman currently has an unexplained interest in. How do the Chao factor into his latest plan?

Heh heh, only I and those I've discussed it with in PMs know that for now.

First Section (outside): Windy and Ripply (Sonic Adventure) Ocean Palace (Sonic Heroes)

Second Section (inside): Data Select (Tee Lopes) Wii Shop Channel - Mii Channel (Super Smash Bros. Wii U)

3-3: Aquarium Gallery

Disappointed that Crazy Rapids lacked that smooth red-on-blue contrast that Aquarium Park from Sonic Colours had? Well we can’t all be in the same league as Eggman sadly, but fear not, for the similarly named Aquarium Gallery gets right in on the action, combining red walls and an overall upper class aesthetic...

...with the expected quantities of shimmering blue that comes with the aquarium setting. And with glass tanks of great size, comes great fishies to go along with them.

The black and white checkered floor would also be a must. It's a Sonic game, we gotta have a checkered pattern somewhere. It just works. /ToddCrusher

Don't worry about the living conditions for the fish here, by the way. Eggman mechanizing them aside, the people who work at the park - and those who visit it - make sure to treat all the marine life with the utmost respect and kindness. Just a shame that they're apparently not so willing to lend that same understanding to Trudy... but it does provide an early hint that despite the few genuine bad apples who are outright antagonistic towards Trudy, most of the folks ignorant to her condition are exactly that at worst: ignorant. Meaning, despite first impressions, most of them are not bad people at heart, and with a little help and persistence, it's not entirely impossible that they can eventually learn to understand and sympathise with Trudy's situation.

In other words, they have more dimension than the background characters in Sonic Boom, where they're all mostly a bunch of one-note arseholes with little redeeming qualities and don’t deserve to be saved by Sonic in the slightest.

Anyhow, eventually, after a trip through one of those sweet underwater tunnels...

...we find ourselves in the cavern area, where red is exchanged for turquoise, and there are reflected ripples galore. Since the Marble Caves in Chile already look halfway to being a Sonic level due to its unique formations, that's the best comparison I can make here.

Too blue, you might say? Well, the sunset from earlier would be poking through the holes in the wall, adding some warm to the cool once more... the giant seashells everywhere help spice it up too.

Like these, but bigger than Ken Penders’ ego.

If that’s even possible...

First Section (aquarium): Rooftop Run - Night (Sonic Unleashed) Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)

Second Section (caves): Sea Shell Shenanigans (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex) Dire, Dire Docks (Super Mario 64)

3-4: Hydro Plant

The outside structure for this place is shaped like a giant wall, which predictably brings the Hoover Dam to mind:

And that applies inside as well, at least initially. The similarities indoors come mostly from the generators, as well as the sheer size of the place.

Since it's considerably rustier however, we have darker lighting in place, with the sunset outside preventing it from being too dark inside. There’s also a copious amount of daring graffiti caused by hoodlums... or maybe Eggman, since he'd probably be the type to do that to any property that isn't his. Some of this graffiti would look very impressive...

While others would... uh...

Look, they tried, okay?

With all this graffiti, that means there’s opportunity for a generous helping of cheeky references to previous installments if you’re able to find them... and if you can understand them. To this day, the typo in “make belif reborn” has not been corrected. Absolutely disgusting.

But as the fic dictates, the further you go on, the tidier and more high tech it becomes. Simply put, this section would remind one of Aquatic Base from '06, mainly because I've always liked the idea despite its characteristically terrible level design, so why not salvage the concept and give it a second chance?

With some added flavor to make it less monotone, mind you. Like actual water sections, some green lights to break up all the blue, giant crab robot threatening to kill you... the works.

Sonic may be glad that this zone is behind him, but little does he know, it's not the only zone with intense water action around these parts. Luckily for him, that won't be for a while, so he can breathe a sigh of relief for now. Still, we know Eggman has other ways of keeping the gang on their toes...

First Section (rusty): Wily Stage 2 (Mega Man 7) Pokey Pipes (Donkey Kong Country 3)

Second Section (high tech): Ocean Base Act 1 (Sonic Advance 3) H2 Oh No (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex)

#Creating Viridonia #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

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sciencespies · 3 years

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First-of-its-kind video shows giant squid hunt their prey deep in the ocean

https://sciencespies.com/nature/first-of-its-kind-video-shows-giant-squid-hunt-their-prey-deep-in-the-ocean/

First-of-its-kind video shows giant squid hunt their prey deep in the ocean

In the permanent twilight of the mesopelagic, a silent predator hunts.

The enigmatic giant squid is rarely observed in its natural habitat. In the first videos of their kind, marine scientists have caught its hunting behavior in the wild – revealing for the first time how these monsters of the deep stalk and attack their prey.

Although the crushing pressures and darkness of the oceanic depths are hostile to us air-breathing humans, we’ve slowly but surely been learning more about them, thanks to the wonders of robotic technology. Most of our underwater vehicles, however, are best suited to studying slow or immobile organisms.

For giant squid, the bright lights mounted on underwater vehicles can be uncomfortable for their sensitive, low-light eyes, which can grow to the size of dinner plates; the sound and vibration can also scare off more mobile animals. And, of course, bringing giant squid to the surface won’t record their behavior in their natural environment.

That’s why a team of researchers led by Nathan Robinson of the Oceanographic Foundation in Spain devised a different solution: a passive deep-sea platform, equipped with a camera. Because giant squid eyes are optimized to see shorter-wavelength blue light, they used longer-wavelength red lighting that won’t annoy them, in order to see the animals on video.

Finally, they added bait: a fake jellyfish, called E-jelly, equipped with lights that mimic the blue flashing bioluminescence emitted by an atolla jellyfish (Atolla wyvillei) in distress. Although giant squid aren’t known to eat jellyfish specifically, they may be attracted to the distress lights of these atolla jellyfish – they might mean that the jellyfish is under attack by something the squid does want to eat.

All that remained, then, was to wait. And it paid off: at depths between 557 and 950 meters (1,827 and 3,117 feet) in the Gulf of Mexico and in Exuma Sound near the Bahamas, the team’s platform recorded several encounters with large squid.

The first encounters were in 2004 and 2005 with two large animals that may have been Promachoteuthis sloani, at a mantle length of 1.0 meters – a species only previously known from small juveniles.

The team continued to update their platform, and captured Pholidoteuthis adami, with a mantle length of 0.5 meters, in 2013. In 2019, they finally filmed Architeuthis dux, the giant squid itself, clocking in at a mantle length of 1.7 meters (that’s excluding the tentacles).

youtube

Interestingly, the encounters suggest strongly that the squid are visual hunters, ignoring olfactory bait that had been placed nearby in favor of visual signals.

The giant squid’s hunting behavior was perhaps the most fascinating. It tracked the platform for around six minutes prior to attacking, suggesting that it was stalking its prey before moving in for the kill.

This contradicts the supposition that giant squid are ambush predators, as previously put forward in several papers. Rather, the animal appears to be an active and engaged hunter that uses visual cues (and its humongous eyes, down there in the dark) to find a meal.

Each of the encounters, few as they were, also provided new information about the range and distribution of the species observed.

This suggests that passive platforms may be extremely useful tools for observing these elusive creatures, especially if refined and optimized for specific encounters, the researchers said.

“We recommend that future studies assess the value of using low-light systems or optical lures in a more scientifically-robust manner,” they wrote in their paper.

“For example, while the bioluminescence-mimicking E-Jelly appears to be an effective tool for attracting cephalopod species, future studies could assess whether lures of differing intensities, colours, or light patterns vary in their capacity to attract various taxa of deep-sea cephalopods.”

The research has been published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.

#Nature

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claramurphyqueenoffandoms · 4 years

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My Impressions: "The Little Mermaid Medley" by VoicePlay

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Wait, Little Mermaid had a song like that in it? I like that style. Very nicely done, guys.

Serious vibes of VoicePlay Disney Princess Rachel Potter Collab Medleys right now. This is just, like, their thing. Fun beginning song (with Eli, too!), then Rachel’s princess “I Want” song. It’s also similar to their collab with Adriana.

“The girl who has everything”. Wasn’t that a TTS song? (now I want that VP cover of Ready As I’ll Ever Be even more)

Rachel’s got a good voice, all right.

That transition, y’all.

Oh my gosh, that “going up there” sounded AMAZING. This is gonna be a J song.

“What more is you looking for?” is so familiar.

Oh, wait, they did “Under the Sea” in their Sidekicks Medley, and Geoff did that part (but I guess with a different verse)

Definitely a J song. Slay those riffs.

Ooh, this part is a jam! Rachel goes into her thing, and then everything goes fun.

GEOFF, your bass riff, oh my gosh.

W…why? Why a snail? Why a J Snail? Just… why?

Sweet key change though.

Aaaand swiftly transition from fun sidekick to creepy henchman.

Those two are probably the best at being creepy henchmen. Earl was good, too.

Weird visual effect there.

Ooh, Geoff getting another villain song, I see. Should’ve figured.

This is probably the most of this song I’ve actually ever heard (except that one single time I watched the movie ages ago). I’ve only ever heard tiny snippets in medleys.

But seriously, that little “I’ve been a nasty” just sounded so good. I don’t even know why, I just love it.

Henchmen. Really trying to be creepy. End up kind of funny.

Ooh, that was cool. Fire in his eyes.

Vocal effects, interesting.

“Pathetic.”

So many visual effects in this one, gosh. I’m not used to this.

DUDE, that was cool sounding. Geoff goes high, then the harmonies!

Was that a sweet little riff there in the background, Eli?

Geoff: “Crying SPELLS—” Harmonies: “Ursula, please!” So nice.

Little country accent slipping in there on “yes I do”

Geoff, man, why do you want Rachel’s voice? Your voice is AMAZING. As evidenced from the way you even SAID you wanted her voice.

Nice little bit of acting there in the decision, Rachel.

Oh, I’m just remembering that Earl did this part in the Medley. Not going as high as he did on that bit, though.

OH MY GOSH YOU GO SUPER HIGH AND THEN JUST DRONE DOWN INTO THE DEPTHS AND WHAT

The spell sounds so creepy

SING.

Oh man, Phantom of the Opera vibes. Why’s VoicePlay always stealing her voice?

Sweet vocal effects making her voice go out of her.

What is this, Layne?

Oh no. This song.

This actually sounds a little like Be Our Guest… oh wait, never mind. Violently killing fish.

Is the French laugh just part of the lyrics? As in, part of the rhymes and everything?

Layne gets the weird songs in these Disney Princess Medleys, like, every time.

Whoop, never mind, Eli is a bird now.

Vocal… Romantic… Stimulation. Mission… Quest… Thing.

Ooh, such a smooth voice. Eli, you are GOOD.

Rachel looks so awkward at the start of this one.

Geoff’s “Sing it with me now…” What does that remind me of? He did something similar to that in something else. Was it the Moana one?

Pretty fireflies.

Nice dance moves, Rachel.

And back to the Bird Eli being weird.

Normal Eli is looking at Bird Eli funny. I mean, I would look at a squawking Bird-Me funny, too.

No, no, everybody is looking at him funny.

Those were some interesting sounds, Layne. Also, can I just say, his beatboxing has been on point this whole time?

Ooh, is Rachel getting a villain song too?

Man, she’s killing it. Maybe she should get villain songs more often.

OH THAT EVIL LAUGH FROM RACHEL TO GEOFF

The glowing voice breaking out and the reflection in Geoff’s eyes is just visually pleasing

He just really looks like a creepy old sea sorcerer, but also super cool, like not how you think of creepy old guys (because, ya know, it's Geoff).

I’m suddenly thinking of how this could be an alternate version of the story with the villain being like that.

I almost feel like this is them telling the whole story, but it doesn’t have the final battle. I mean, the final battle doesn’t have a song, so that’s fine. But it just seems odd for the voice to break out for no reason. #WriterNitpicks

Why does Geoff’s “No” look out of sync? Is that on purpose or something, because it seems to fit the voice going out, as if hers breaking out is taking his with it.

Geoff is just staring into the abyss now.

Rachel’s voice gets closer, and you can just HEAR it. It’s so cool.

Oh, that last note as she gets her voice back and the harmonies go into the last song. Ahh.

Geoff is still just staring, by the way, doing his bass part motionlessly. Defeated, I guess.

Rachel, your VOICE. I’m starting to see why Geoff wanted it.

WHOA WHOA WHOA, is this foreshadowing?!

No, like, is Rachel going to become part of their world? Is that what this is? Is that why they keep trying to steal her voice? Is Rachel singing “part of your world” meaning she’s going to officially join VoicePlay, and be officially a part of that world?

Also, am I reading too much into this? I think I could be. Maybe just disregard everything I just said.

...

But I swear, if she does join VoicePlay, I am going to know this was foreshadowing, and I WILL say I told you so.

Anyway...

Wait, wait, who did that “Sing it with me now”? That wasn’t Geoff, was it? It almost sounded like him, but I saw him, that wasn’t him.

Was that J? I think that was J. That’s kind of cool.

Also, I’m just noticing J’s red fingerless gloves, and they’re very nice.

Costumes are actually pretty chill in this one, if that makes sense. Not crazy over the top. Well, except Bird-Eli. And Geoff is purple.

That’s not to say they didn’t do an epic job on it, because they totally did! The costumes fit the roles really well, they look great, but they aren’t so over the top as to distract from the actual people and the talent.

Nice ending. They always make the last chord count.

Oh, slipped it in. “Pathetic.” XD

And… the remix? Apparently? Very odd. Geoff’s good, though.

…

Geoff did a LOT in this one. I think he got the majority of the video, just because of that one song.

I forgot how much I loved Geoff, actually.

I think this is the third Disney Princess Medley they’ve done (well, except for that Tangled one they did with aca-Disney). I wonder how many of them they’re going to do.

(I really really want them to do Ready As I’ll Ever Be, please please please please pl-)

Overall, very good. I only ever watched this movie once, when I was like twelve, and I did not like it. So I only know maybe three of the songs, and even that’s because of VoicePlay’s other medleys.

So to put it simply, VoicePlay is the master of taking songs I’ve never heard from movies I don’t like (or haven’t watched, in other cases), and making me love them just through their own sheer talent.

This whole thing is just SO FUN, thank you very much. I think it will be on repeat for quite a while.

#VoicePlay #first impressions #and second impressions #basically a lot of my thoughts on this thing #listen to voiceplay you guys #they are amazing #dead serious though #rachel potter #she is almost certainly gonna be the next new member of VoicePlay #i've said it before and i'll say it again #and if it is true?#I'm kinda looking forward to it #(also Geoff is amazing)#(nuff said)

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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One Piece: Mini-Theory Mashups (Part 3, Wano Edition)

So, I’m bored XD And it’s been almost 8 months since Part 2, so why not do another theory dump huh? Before we were at 958 and since then 26 Chapters and a Pandemic have happened, so that has been plenty of time to theorycraft some new stuff, this one being all specific to the Wano arc and potential aftermaths from it.

Part 1 -> Here Part 2 -> Here None have been confirmed so far, but I still believe all of these can happen, but onto the newer stuff

Spoilers leading up to Chapter 984, just so you know

Hawkins Joins the Marines or Big Mom

So, yes, I still think Hawkins is alive, you can fight me on that all you like! And I would love for Hawkins to be on Luffy’s side 100%, for the notion of him being a man of chances and Luffy just trampling all over that so he can also experience Law’s eternal headache. But in reality I think it’s doubtful, we do still underestimate the full extent of his strength, and why he went out to sea is still a mystery, but knowing what we know of Hawkins I don’t think he could handle the energy that emit from the Straw Hats for long periods of time. The flaw he also has is that he never takes unnecessary risks, which is why he’s a Headliner for Kaido despite hating it. But, if Kaido’s defeated then what is left for him? I don’t think he can be direct opposition for Luffy to be King, he was already jumped by Law (despite proving his tactical skills) so he would have to find a safer situation for him and his crew, and for me that’s either the Navy or Big Mom. For the Navy it comes down to any solidarity he has with X Drake, the SWORD infiltrator seems to get along well with his Worst Gen member at the least, and Hawkins hasn’t said anything bad about him, maybe he does pull a Jango and become an interrogator. I would see him more on Big Mom’s side though, like Hawkins BM likes to plan out her actions so the conclusion is inevitable, they are both overly patient in a way so their strategies fit, also being a Straw Man would entice Big Mom’s collecting nature. This way if BM’s crew does become a begrudging ally with the Straw Hats there’s still an option for Hawkins to return into view.

Yamato is not Nakama, but can be Grand Fleet

I know everyone’s excited by Yamato, and also excited��by Yamato. But I am not one of those��‘Yamato 4 Nakama’ people. Nothing against them at all but Yamato’s purpose does not fit the crew at all. I still stand by Team Carrot, since her goals offer more space to sail at sea and she has already established herself a position on the Sunny as the Crow’s Nest (hinted already with her being a Kingsbird in Zou), all of which Yamato has yet to demonstrate. Yamato’s primary goal is to be Kozuki Oden, which means opening Wano’s borders. But with being Oden would also be to feel cramped by the stationary lifestyle of Wano, so after the dust clears I do believe that Yamato will take to sea, just not with Luffy. Instead I can see them either commit to the remnant Whitebeard Pirates - since Oden promised Whitebeard to return to them after completing Roger’s voyage, or to set up their own crew, being one of Luffy’s allies/Grand Fleet. This theme with Yonko kids is also one I see with Katakuri as well, either by smoothing things with Big Mom or breaking off themselves (as hinted when the kids fractured a little over who BM’s successor would be).

Kin’emon is the Next Shogun of Wano, Proven by Fighting Kaido

This one is a deep take, because many have their eyes on the Kozuki children for this one; either Momo by bloodright, Hiyori for female empowerment or Toki because we didn’t see a body. But my bet for Shogun of Wano is actually Kin’emon, one of the few Wano characters we have the most exposure of, it’s through finding Kin’emon did the Straw Hats become embroiled in Wano affairs. Additionally, Kin’emon’s history is quite a storied development from the delinquent he was to the noble warrior he is now. Sure he is a tad perverted still, but current Wano perception is that Kin’emon is a master strategist, one of Oden’s oldest confidants and the man entrusted with the protection of Momonosuke. But what will establish him as the future Shogun will be near the conclusion of the raid, when Kin’emon helps the pirates fight Kaido. It may just be a single opening, but Kin’emon has one thing that can factor in as an edge against Kaido: he can cut fire. If his Kitsune-Ryu can negate Kaido’s super-destructive dragonfire, then Kin’emon may indeed be seen as a legend worthy of leading Wano as an open country, all while the Kozuki either remain in Kuri or rebuild until they are ready and/or willing to be Shogun themselves.

CP-0 freed Law, because they need Kaido distracted

This panel mostly sells it for me. CP0 are of course the most secretive but also the most underhanded group of the World Government, they only have to face Orochi to request weapons because the Shichibukai system has put Buggy out of option and Wano is more technologically advanced. But Orochi is cocky, he thinks himself untouchable with Kaido by his side, so wouldn’t it be a ‘shame’ if Kaido was somehow incapacitated? That the alliance’s plans came to fruition and Orochi and Kaido fell to them? This plays into CP0 hands nicely, because while Kaido and co are preoccupied with the raid, CP0 can steal the blueprints for all their new and deadly technology Kaido has spent decades working on, saving Law also means he owes them a favour, and Law is definitely someone you’d want one day to request a favour from.

Kaido saves Momonosuke!

The general story between Kaido and Momonosuke seems to be that Kaido expects more from Momo and is thus disappointed to find him to have no goals, no strength and no courage. Right now Momo is about to be crucified so Orochi can feel at ease, but interestingly Kaido (nor Black Maria) seem all to enthusiastic about this. I do think that many people can kill Orochi; Zoro, Hiyori and Denjiro being the top 3 options, but I think Kaido is also an option himself and the reason will be Momo’s Devil Fruit. It doesn’t feel like coincidence that Momo can turn into a dragon, nor that Momo’s dragon form has never been seen to Kaido or the wider public, right now Momo would be a goner because the mere presence of Kaido negates the number of infiltrating Samurai, Robin, Jimbei and the Momo Rescue Squad, but if Momo - like he often does when he’s scared - turns into a dragon, his tough hide would spare him from any blade or bullet Orochi has. The mere sight of a fellow dragon may be the trigger as well for Kaido to change his mind on Momo and finally, FINALLY toss aside Orochi, killing him or at least leaving him at the mercy of the nine shadows Toki prophecised.

Wrath of the Queen of Beasts: The Bewitching Kunoichi, Tama!

Tama is of course not present in the raid, and there is good reason for that. The battlefield is no place for her to be endangered, but she may also be a decisive key to Luffy and co turning the tides. Tama’s Devil Fruit works on SMILEs and normal animals, so far she’s been able to turn Headliners such as Babanuki and Speed to her side, all of Udon’s SMILE guards are under her control as well as Hihimaru and Komachiyo. Add on the also-absent Caribou, Hitetsu and Onimaru and we may still have a vast army primarily populated by Tama’s new subordinates waiting to also raid Onigashima. It’d also be quite fitting that the ‘Animal Kingdom’ Pirates would be forced to fight actual beasts, one other beast that can be fought that Tama may’ve been seeking are the Mountain Gods, I’m unsure if the main god is still alive (I mean, Nola made it and she’s much older) but its son at least must have a part to play, and if Tama was really tactical the dango from the O-Shiruko would be her Kibi Dangos. The final cap to Tama’s importance to the raid and Kaido’s downfall can also be her friendship with Big Mom back when she had amnesia. Big Mom was angry in Udon because there was no O-Shiruko to share with the leftover towns, it’s this waste of food that also sets Luffy off to blow his cover in Onigashima, so if Big Mom also notices the waste of food with Tama in mind, this could also trigger her in the same way. She may not be directly involved, but Tama’s lasting effect on the characters themselves can still provide a key impact to the story.

And with that I’ll stop, I do have others but not really Wano-exclusive, and those that are can quickly be debunked within the next 2 or 3 chapters, so I’ll keep those close to the chest XD As with Parts 1 and 2 feel free to expand on this for other theory videos/posts, I’m sure more digging can be found. Until next time!

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cilldaracailin · 4 years

Text

Now I’m Here

Hello my Tumblr lovelys! I literally have absolutely no patience and control when it comes to posting and just cannot wait longer than two days or hold out on posting. So I bring you the next part *Little disclaimer, it’s just a story of fiction :)* Enjoy! xx

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”

Taron and Robyn were thirty minutes late getting to the pub, his sisters doing their very best to keep their attention for as long as possible when they went to visit Taron’s family to say goodnight and happy new year. Taron had to entertain his family himself for the first twenty minutes, while his mam pulled Robyn aside into the kitchen for some of their girl talk and when they walked out together, he couldn’t look either of them in their eyes. Now that Robyn was finally free, his sisters had turned to her for a chat, begging her for Elsa hair. She had assured them she would come back tomorrow to do it for them and went to stand next to Taron who looked a little sad and slipped her discreetly hand into his. It was thanks to Robyn that they even managed to leave the house, using her neat little trick of reverse phycology with his whole family, giving them the exit they needed to go and join his friends.

“We’ll be back tomorrow as planned. Taron has booked a table for dinner for us and we are already running late and because it is New Year’s Eve, they won’t hold the table. I really don’t want to miss our dinner. We skipped lunch because of it.”

It was an exit Taron was so glad for and as he walked her along the promenade towards the pub, he was so thankful for her quick thinking.

“Should I be a little worried about the talk you and my mam had?” He asked her.

“Not at all. She was just apologising again.” Robyn gave his linked arm a squeeze. “Nothing to worry about. I promise.”

Taron didn’t answer her, but guided her towards the pedestrian crossing and they safely crossed the road. “Have I told you that you look beautiful? Love a V-neck shaped top.”

Robyn laughed, brushing her hair from her face as the light sea breeze swirled it into her eyes. “Yes and I know. Might have been the reason I chose it but right back at ya rocketman, you look good too.”

When she was choosing her outfit for their night out, she wanted something comfortable but an ensemble that would also make a little bit of a statement and the black V-neck silk string top had her desired effect on Taron, as she knew it would. She was a playing it a little dirty with her stone washed skinny jeans and high heeled ankle boots but she wanted to make an impression on Taron’s friends but she had seen Taron’s eyes widen as little as she walked down his hallway to him, she secretly enjoyed the effect her outfit had on him too. It seemed he was playing the same game as her, his black jeans quite fitted and the low cut of his black tank top was revealing enough to see his chest hair which always brought a flush to fill her cheeks. She hoped the rose blush powder on her cheeks, covered it up. He looked good and her fluttering heart knew it too. Taron had pulled a dark blue short sleeved shirt over his tank and a leather jacket on, while Robyn slid into her turquoise coat she had brought and they walked to Taron’s childhood home before making their way to the pub, planning on getting a taxi back to his at the end of the night.

Taron held the multicolour frosted stained-glass door open for her and the warmth of the cosy busy pub hit them. Robyn felt Taron take her hand and guide her through the crowd of excited bodies ready to celebrate the new year and towards his usual table where he knew his friends were waiting. “Don’t be nervous chicken. You will get on with everyone.”

“Get out of my head rocketman.”

“I will right here if you need anything though I am pretty sure you can handle my friends.”

“If I can handle you, I can handle them.”

Robyn heard Taron’s group of friends before she saw them, the hooting and calling making her laugh, a typical male response to their friends’ tardiness and once they arrived closer to the table a few cat calls were given out too.

“Alright, alright, calm the fuck down. I am here now.” Taron grumbled as they reached two rectangle tables filled with grinning faces.

“And what have you been up too Mr movie star?” Smiled one his friends.

“I have been with my sisters.” Answered Taron. “They adore Robyn, wouldn’t let us go.”

“And this must be the wonderful Robyn we have heard so much about.”

“Taron mate, you were right. Absolute fittie.”

Robyn heard the groan and watched as Taron threw his head back in complete embarrassment and frustration. He had warned her as they walked along the beach front that his friends would more than likely say something ridiculous and possibly offensive and just as he predicted they had.

“Can’t wait to hear this sexy Irish accent she has too.”

If Robyn hadn’t of been still holding his hand, she was sure Taron would have bolted for the door.

“So that is how it is going to be all night yeah?” She asked looking to the mix of women and men who sat around the tables, a good few glasses of alcohol already littering the table. “Alright, lets have it then.” She let go of Taron’s hand and stood in front of him. “Let’s get it out of the way and give me your best shot.”

“You sure?” Asked the man who had commented on her accent.

“Oh I am very sure.”

“Calvin, mate I wouldn’t if I were you.” Taron placed his hands on Robyn’s shoulders and looked to his friend.

“It’s grand Taron.” Robyn made sure she went heavy with her accent on the word ‘grand’ and turned to Taron to give him a wink. “I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.”

“Oh it’s not you I am worried about. I know first hand that you can handle yourself. It’s them I am worried about.”

“Don’t you worry about it Taron. Not a bother to me.”

Calvin smiled. “Definitely sexy.” He laughed, laughing harder when he caught Taron’s face of warning. “Right then.” He stood up. “You’re older than him.”

“Yep and wiser.”

“Really?”

“Naturally.”

“He is an up and coming movie star.”

“I have two degrees, two diplomas and am supervisor in my job.”

“Alright ok. I will give you that one.” Calvin thought for a second. “And you sing too?”

“Better than Taron according to one Elton John.”

“Better than Taron? He was in a musical that was critically acclaimed and has won a Golden Globe.”

“I have been in my local musical society since I was sixteen and have my two of my own AIMS, Association of Irish Musical Societies, awards. One for best newcomer and one for best female vocal. It’s like the Tony’s but for amateur musical societies.” It was something she hadn’t told Taron about and she felt the step closer he took to her, her back right against his chest as well as the squeeze on her shoulders. “And am about to start rehersals as Mimi in our upcoming production of RENT.”

“Alright, alright.” Replied Calvin.

Another of Taron’s male friends stood up. “Calvin lets skip to the hard-hitting questions.” The brunette stood beside Calvin. “I am Deian. So Robyn, have you and my boy Taron here kissed yet?”

“Why yes Deian we have.” Robyn knew this question was going to be asked at some point during the evening so was glad to get it out the way first. “Four, no wait five times and while three of them were the quickest peck on the lips, the other two were used to save his life. I guess the breath of life counts as a kiss too right?” Robyn enjoyed how the two men stalled a little not expecting her brash and upfront answer but Deian’s face soon grew a smirk.

“Pity he didn’t remember two of them.”

“That’s why we had two more. So he could remember but I am surprised you don’t know about the others? I haven’t actually mentioned the ones he left on my neck yet, have I? Taron did you not tell your friends about how you practically attacked me with passionate and frantic kisses at the hotel before we got in the lift while at Elton’s charity auction? Surely that is a story that you must have to re-told to your friends or how I almost jumped on you while I just wearing a towel or each time we have shared a bed.”

“Robyn…” Gasped Taron. “Jesus…”

“Taron, mate you are holding out on us!” Smiled Deian, enjoying himself and how the Irish woman in front of him was not backing down from his questions and in fact giving him her best brazen and mischievous answers, ones Taron had avoided telling him. “Alright Robyn, that video Taron showed us where you were playing cricket.”

“You mean hurling.”

“Yeah that stick and the ball. You really hit that shot all by yourself?”

“You saw the video, right?” Asked Robyn as she raised an eye brow. “I hit it better than Taron.”

“And you gave him a right bollocking in New York.”

“Deian, leave it out!” Complained Taron, not wanting to even think about what happened in New York.

“Did you really stand up the men in the 7/11 with the guns?” Asked Calvin, moving the conversation on quickly.

“Quite a few times.”

“And got pushed into the glass shelf?”

“You want to see the scar?” She asked him.

“Sure.”

Robyn turned around so she was now facing Taron and slipped her coat off over her left shoulder, brushing her hair over her right. She moved the strap of her top out of the way. “Should be pretty obvious and that is something Taron hasn’t actually seen yet.”

“Alright ok. I see it.”

Robyn fixed her top, pulled her coat back over her shoulder, glanced at Taron whose face was so hard to read at the moment and then turned around to his friends.

“And you both went swimming in the sea in Aber? Well no Taron actually carried you in.” Asked Deian.

Robyn gave him a wink. “We were meant to skinny dip but he picked me up before I got a chance to take my clothes off.”

Although Taron groaned and placed his head on her right shoulder, his friends laughed and a few more cat calls were made. Robyn reached up to put her left hand on Taron’s which was still on her left shoulder. She slipped her fingers under his and rubbed his knuckles with her thumb. She may have been a bit bold with her answers but she knew in the long run it was for the best and hoped Taron could see that. The laughter slowly died down and the two men standing in front of her were whispering to each other and when they turned to look back to Robyn, their grins were replaced with a more serious look.

“You really saved his life?” Asked Calvin.

Robyn nodded. “Really saved his life. CPR and everything.” She valued the looks of concern that were exchanged between Taron’ friends as they sat on the soft pub furnishings and although she couldn’t see Taron’s face, she could only imagine the frown his striking green eyes held at the moment. “So, anything else?”

“Yeah what are your intentions with my friend.”

“Well if lot weren’t here, I would brush all of those glasses onto the floor, push him onto the tables, straddle him and kiss him until he was breathless but because you are here, I am going to kick his arse at karaoke.”

There was a second of silence before all of his friends broke out laughing again, Calvin and Deian, leading the hoots and giggles.

“Ahh Taron mate, love her.” Grinned Calvin. “Robyn, if you chose not to do that with Taron, you can always have me instead.”

“Sorry Calvin. I only hook up with guys whose life I save. Means they are always indebted to me and will do whatever I want, when I want it.” She could feel Taron tense behind her and knew he was absolutely mortified by his friends but she very much enjoyed the banter and was glad to get rid of the edgy atmosphere that whirled in when herself and Taron walked over to them. “Taron already owes me for putting glitter in my body wash. Actually, maybe you guys can help me figure out a way to get him back.”

“Well why don’t you take a seat in here beside me and we can have a chat about that.” Grinned Calvin.

Agreeing, Robyn started to take her coat off and turned to look at Taron to try and read his face once more. She gave him a smile and was glad to receive one in return. She had hoped he didn’t mind that she revealed some of their secrets, especially the kissing ones but she knew it was the only way to appease his friends. One way to make a group of men quieten down was to mention anything raunchy and her cheekiness had settled Taron’s friend’s curiosity immediately and she could feel already that she had been accepted into his close group of friends.

As she took her coat off, she caught his nod towards the bar and gave him the smallest of ones back. Once they had both shrugged out of their coats, Robyn took his and stood a step closer to the table, throwing her coats onto the soft seat beside Taron’s friend. “Calvin be a dear and keep our seats. We’re going to go and get a drink.” She didn’t wait for an answer, but took the step back towards Taron, grabbed his hand and half dragged him toward the bar.

Once there, she leaned on the bar and Taron stood right up beside her. “You play a dangerous game Robyn but my God you play it very well.”

“I am sorry for talking about the kissing thing and the other things. Needed something that was going to play into your friends minds that were already on over drive.”

“It’s ok. Deian has been giving me a lot of slack over it all since I met you.”

“Better to get the questions out of the way first. I could see your friends were dying to ask them.”

“Deian has been at me all week asking if you were really coming and just so you know I did not use the word fittie or call your accent sexy.”

Robyn turned to look at him, grinning. “So, you don’t think I am fit or that my accent is sexy?” She questioned, enjoying how he moved position against the bar, fidgeting a little.

“Well now Robyn. You know I think you are beautiful and I would try to find a better word than sexy to describe your accent.”

“Really? I think your accent is sexy, especially when your voice hits that lower range and that Welsh twang just sweeps through and I love how easily I can do that to you and make you squirm.” She reached up and tapped his nose. “I like your friends. Well of the two I have met so far. I think this is going to be a very interesting evening.”

“I think I am going to go back to my family and leave you here with my friends.”

“I think your friends would like that very much.”

“On second thought, maybe not.” Taron got the attention of the barman. “Hey mate, I will take a Corona and…” He looked to Robyn.

“Bottle of cider.” She said.

“And a bottle of cider.” As the bar man went to get their drinks, he turned back to Robyn, his lips pulled up in a half grin. “So, you want to throw me across the table and kiss me breathless yeah?”

Robyn chuckled. “Tactic’s Taron. You have got to play dirty when your opponent does. I have taken the heat away from us. I can only imagine the slagging you have gotten from your friends once they found out you invited me over.”

“It’s been pretty full on.”

“So, we can play it two ways. We can stay away from each other and keep our distance or we can just be our normal selves and not worry about what they think. I mean I just automatically reach for your hand now and it doesn’t feel right if I don’t get a kiss on my cheek from you when you walk away from me. They know how affectionate you are right?” She liked that he nodded. “Well why should we change the way we are. We have said it from the beginning to anyone who questioned it, our relationship came from such a strange place, sometimes we need that extra reassurance. We have these few days together just to be us, so let’s be us.”

“I agree completely and but I just hope sure you have some more pretty good smart answers in your pockets ready to pull out if you need them.”

“I keep a supply.”

“You mind if I look at that scar? I haven’t seen it yet.” He asked her and when she shook her head, he moved her hair out of the way and stood a little behind her so he could see the small inch scar on her shoulder for himself. He gently ran the index finger of his right hand down it under the strap of her top. “War wounds.”

“Something like that. It’s only small. I can barely see the one on your forehead.”

“I was very good and resisted the urge to pick at the scab.” Robyn turned to him and lifted her hand to where the cut had been on his head and brushed the skin under his hair line. It was barely noticeable unless his head was turned a certain way in the light. “I have one on my arm though. It looks like yours only a little longer. I still think about how lucky we were Robyn. How lucky I was that you were there. Things would have been very different if you weren’t.” Taron wrapped his right around her and gave her a hug. “I am glad you came here tonight.”

“Me too Taron.”

The bar man came back with their drinks and Taron handed over a twenty-pound note.

“Next round is on me.” Said Robyn as she poured her drink into the glass of ice it came with. Taron took his change and together they walked back to the tables with his friends.

“So, let me introduce you. Calvin and Deian, you already know.” Taron let Robyn sit down on the stool and he stood behind her. “Then we have Jess and Rachel and beside them James, Conor and Lily.” Robyn said hello and tried to remember all the names she was being introduced too. “And then this side of the table, Lucy, Gemma and Phil.”

“So that is a lot of names and I am not going to get them all right so I apologise now in advance for getting them wrong.”

Taron moved around her and sat beside where she had thrown their coats, to sit beside Calvin. “So now that you have quizzed me, it’s my turn to quiz you. What went on with the girl the other night?”

More banter, chat and conversation filled the air and the twelve people around the two tables, including Robyn easily talked with the others, sharing stories of their Christmas break, jobs with a few extra questions thrown Taron and Robyn’s way about their relationship. Some of Taron’s friends were eager to hear about Robyn’s version of the what happened in Florida and what they got up to when Taron went to visit her house and none of it was awkward or uncomfortable and Robyn felt like she fitted right into Taron’s group of close friends.

She had bought him another drink and as she walked back with the two bottles, the finger food had arrived to their tables as well as the karaoke books with all the songs. Taron moved over to let her sit in between him and Calvin.

“You’re sure you want to have this karaoke battle tonight?” Taron asked her.

“We shook on our deal and it was a karaoke off in a bar. I see a bar and I see a karaoke machine. I think it should be tonight.”

Taron grinned as he took a drink from his bottle. “Have it in the bag Robyn.”

“Don’t be too sure Taron.”

“They are my friends.”

Robyn chuckled. “And I have so many more stories to tell.” She replied looking his way. “No, it is going to be a fair vote on who they think sing their song better. No favouritism just because they are your friends or I have a pocket full of stories ready to go. An Elton song from you, a Queen song from me and if I can convince you a cheesy duet.”

Taron nodded agreeing. “I think that sounds a like a fair deal.”

The group sat laughing and talking, eating and drinking, flipping through the books, picking out what songs they could all have a go with, listening as the other customers in the pub got up to brave the karaoke machine, Taron sitting close to Robyn the whole time, making sure his friends didn’t get too out of hand or any more personal with their questions. After they had devoured the food on the table and poked fun at each other while choosing songs they wanted the other to sing, Calvin was actually the first to get up from their group and sing followed by Jess and then Conor had a turn.

“Ok time for this sing off.” Robyn turned to Taron, his whole face happy, his cheeks a little rosy and his eyes bright from the few drinks he had had. “Who is going first?” She asked him, feeling her own little buzz from the alcohol in her blood stream.

“Rock, paper, scissors it?” He asked him with a grin. “Loser sings first?”

“Sure.”

Taron threw his head back with a groan as he lost. “I am not even going to ask for two out of three. I know you will win. So, I guess I am first.”

Robyn rose an eyebrow his way. “Bring it rocketman. All you got.”

“You are going down!” He replied, leaning in and kissing her cheek before he stood up and made his way towards the small stage the pub had set up for the evening.

Robyn moved so she was kneeling on the soft seat so she could see over all the heads in front of her, very interested in how this was all going to play out. She never really thought their deal would actually come to pass when they made it all those months ago but here they were in Taron’s home town, in his favourite pub with all of this friends, ready to sing their hearts out.

“All right ladies and gentlemen, we all know Taron here, local boy.” The MC for the night stood on the stage with Taron beside him, ready to sing. A cheer went up from his friends at the table. “He is going to give us a good old classic Elton John song.”

Robyn had no idea which song Taron had chosen and she smiled wide when the music for Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting came on and another cheer went up around her from his friends.

“You sure you can out sing him?” Asked Calvin as he turned to her.

“I am sure.”

“Well you have my vote either way. I like you a lot. You are sassy and cute and perfect for Taron. He really speaks highly of you Robyn but you know if you could beat him in this it would be brilliant for us because he would never live it down!”

“Oh, don’t worry Calvin, he is a fantastic singer but Elton John told me I can sing Freddie. I am going to crush him.”

Deian overheard the conversation and laughed. “I am glad you came out with us tonight.”

“Me too.” Relied Robyn with complete sincerity in her voice.

Their attention turned to Taron as he moved onto sing the chorus and then to the second verse where he caught Robyn’s eye and gave her a wink and salute as he sang ‘she’s with me’. He was thoroughly enjoying being up on stage, singing one of his favourite Elton songs. He had found it difficult at first when he was in the recording studio but loved the way he his voice became rockier and gravellier as he learnt how to sing it. He made sure to put his whole performance into the song too, hoping his dance moves might give him an edge over Robyn and got the whole pub involved too when the repeat Saturday’s were sung over and over. The whole pub erupted into applause and there were extra hard ones from the table of his friends along with cheering and shouting, Robyn among them. She had loved watching Taron in his element as he sang and it was the first upbeat song she had heard him sing and he did such a tremendous job at it, she was feeling a little worried she may not win this but she wasn’t one to not to give her all and knew her chosen song backwards and while Taron’s song could get the crowd going, her chosen Queen song could get a crowd going too.

With an encouraging push from Calvin, she climbed off the seat and made her way around the table heading towards the stage, as Taron stepped off. She adored it when his face was in an honest and full grin and after his three-hour nap, the tiredness had left his face a little. They stopped when they walked past each other, Taron dancing a little.

“Oh, chicken you are in trouble.”

She laughed at him, enjoying how happy he was. “That was it?” She said putting her hands on her hips. “Oh rocketman, you have no idea how easy you have made this for me.”

“I am watching you…” Chuckled Taron wriggling his eye brows at her, laughing as she gently pushed him on his chest and walked past him and continued to the stage. Taron walked back to his friends, high giving and fist pumping them before he turned to face the stage, enjoying how the lights shone on Robyn, his heart racing once more and this time it wasn’t from singing. He had to place his hand on the back of his couch when Robyn walked down the hallway towards him once they were ready to go earlier in the evening. She had gone and picked another V-neck top and he knew she had absolutely done it on purpose, knowing he liked those particular shaped tops on her.

The MC was back on the microphone. “Do I sense a bit of tension here?” He asked playfully. “Between you and Taron?”

Robyn grinned. “Just fulfilling a bet we made a long time ago.” She answered him. She filled the MC in quickly with her name and choice of song.

“So, this is Robyn, a visitor from across the ocean and tonight shall be singing a hit by Queen for ultimate bragging rights.”

Robyn took the microphone from the MC and looked for Taron’s face at the table. Once found him, she winked giving him the biggest grin she could and once the music started Somebody to Love, she was in her singing zone. She had contemplated singing a different Queen song but to beat Taron she needed the difficulty that the song brought and the notes she could easily belt with confidence. She hit that first note as easy as ever and was glad the karaoke track had the backing vocals on it too as it made it so much more effective. It was a song she could sing her sleep and it made it easier to add a little performance to it just like Taron had and when it got to the small musical interlude she hopped off the stage and headed down to where the group of Taron’s friends were sitting and stood up on the a stool with a little help from Calvin who had made he way to the front of the tables for a better look and listen.

When the song got to the part where ‘Find Me Somebody To Love’ was repeated over and over she started to clap her hands and singing those words, smiling as the people around her started to copy her and soon all of Taron’s friends were copying her and she grinned to Taron who although was smiling and singing along, his face told her he knew she had beaten him already.

Happy the crowd could keep the words and beat going, she gave a her own salute to Taron and then she jumped down off the stool and slowly walked back to the stage adlibbing as she went throwing in some oohhs and ahhs until she was back in the stage for that all important last belt of the song, Robyn giving it everything she could and holding that top note for longer than was necessary before improvising the last part, the backing vocals keeping the rhythm and timing of the song, making sure she did a fancy run on the last line before ending the song.

If the pub erupted for Taron, they shouted whooped and called so much louder for Robyn and she was laughing on stage and she made a pretend curtesy before handing the microphone back to the MC. “Well I think you won.” He said to her.

Robyn only smiled and stepped off the stage, some of the crowd still clapping as she walked past them and back to the tables where her new friends were sitting, Taron at the end of the rectangle tables making a come here motion with the index finger of his right hand to her. She accepted all the high-fives and fist bumps from his friends and even the hug from Calvin and Deian and biting her lip stood in front of Taron.

“Well played Robyn. Well played.” He said to her and though he tried not to smile, he couldn’t help it and without a second thought pulled her to him for a hug. “You fucking killed it and I hate you.”

“So, I won?” She said into his neck.

“I don’t think we should bother with the vote.”

Letting go of him she stood back and slipped into a chorus of ‘We Are the Champions’ by Queen, Taron laughing at her before joining in wrapping his right arm around her shoulder, swinging her from side to side. While Robyn sang ‘I’, Taron sang ‘We’ and it made them both giggle when they were done.

“So, I guess the vote is invalid.” Smiled Deian. “And she has ultimate bragging rights.”

“Yes!” Robyn punched the air and did a little dance, giggling as Taron wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground to stop her. “Taron put me down!” She chuckled.

“No more dancing.” He replied. “Drink?” He asked her.

“No. Duet.” She answered picking up the book from the table. “It’s is so cheesy and obvious but it would be so much fun.” She said to Taron as he looked over her shoulder at the one she pointed at and he grinned agreeing.

“Done but drink first.”

“Just water.” She said to him once they reached the bar.

“You sure?” Asked Taron.

“Yeah. Just for the moment. It’s gotten hot in here.”

Taron ordered two pints of water and once he gave Robyn hers, she drank it all in one go, Taron’s mouth dropping as she took the second one and took three mouthfuls from it too. “Singing and winning is thirsty work.” She answered his questioning look.

With another alcoholic drink in their hand, they walked back to the table and sat down on the stools, their presence stopping the chatter between his friends.

“So Robyn, any other secrets apart from saving lives, killer singing abilities and baking?”

She grinned at Calvin, enjoying how Taron had moved his stool closer to hers so they sat with their legs touching. “I can’t give all my secrets away tonight Calvin. Need to keep some sort of excitement in the game.”

“Well the secret is definitely out how you can sing rings around Taron and I demand that you sing another one.”

Robyn laughed. “I am up for that but back in Elton’s there was talk of a prize.”

“Oh Robyn no, please.” Taron’s eyes looked up to her from under his eye lashes.

“Don’t worry Taron. This is a prize we both will enjoy.”

As Taron started to dance on stage as he sang George Michael’s Faith, Robyn was thrilled with her choice of her prize and even though she knew it was one of Taron’s favourite karaoke songs to sing, her inner Taron Egerton fangirl was squealing as he got more and more into the song, his eyes glinting as the crowd sang along with him with to some of the second verse and Robyn knew he was enjoying every minute of his time on stage.

“So happy with your prize?” He asked her as strolled back to the table with a smirk.

“Thoroughly, especially the dancing!” She laughed, giving him his high-five that he looked for as he stood beside her.

“So does Taron get to pick your song now?” Asked Calvin.

“Uh-uh. That is not how a prize works.” Robyn shook her finger at Taron’s friend. “I won fair and square. That was my prize and I still have complete access to the ultimate bragging rights but I am sure we can come to an agreement on a song for me.”

Taron and his two best friends, surrounded Robyn as they flicked through the book and Calvin stopped her and made her go back a few pages and pointed at a Celine Dion song.

“Not gonna happen Calvin.”

“But why!” He moaned. “You can sing Freddie Mercury. You can sing this song.”

“Freddie’s range is more suited to mine. Celine is a bloody powerhouse.”

“And you’re not?” Asked Taron.

“Not after a few drinks.”

“Bubbles help warm up your voice.” Taron nudged her gently. “Worked for me at Elton’s.”

“For a song that was specifically written for you.”

“Come on Robyn. You don’t have anything to prove.” Deian pitched in.

“Maybe that I lipsynced the last time. If I even attempt this song, I will not hit any of those high range notes.”

“Karaoke doesn’t have to be perfect.” Added Calvin.

“Does to me.”

Taron pouted a little, tilting his head and nudged her again with his hip and as she took in his face and as he bit his lip she sighed. “Fine but I don’t want to hear a word if it’s shit.”

A little cheer rose up around her and pushing her way through Calvin and Deian she walked up to the stage. It’s All Coming Back To Me Now was a song she had sang many times in her house into her hairbrush but it was never a song she would choose for karaoke. Robyn preferred to pick songs she knew she could sing well and preform, that stage performer within her needing to get it right every time.

“So you back for more?” Joked the MC as she walked up the steps.

“They say too much of something is bad for you but not the case with karaoke.”

“This another duel off?”

“Nope. This one is to make three men happy.” The MC looked at her with wide eyes. “I mean I have been asked by Taron and his friends to sing this one.”

She quietly gave her song selection to the MC and took the microphone from him and turned around to look at the expectant faces. When the customers saw her walk back up the stage, she knew they were anticipating another perfectly sung song and now that she had a slightly bigger audience she was full of nerves but faking the confidence, she closed her eyes and took a breathe as the music started.

“Go on Robyn!”

She looked up as Taron’s friends cheered her on and with a shy smile looked to the lyrics and started to sing. First line done, she felt a bit more comfortable and tried to loosen her stance up a little and found herself using her left hand on her stomach as she needed to keep control and once on the chorus tried to add a little more emotion to the song and the words, gaining volume as the song grew and cringed a little as her chest voice changed to her head voice on the higher notes but kept going and decided to leave out a line before the second verse started, knowing she would never hit the notes. Instead concentrated on the second verse, her eyes reading the words but taking glances towards the tables of her new friends but she looked away to close her eyes to reach the last note of the verse. She knew the words to the chorus so again snuck another look to Taron and his friends and could see the nod of encouragement from him, watching him sing along. It gave her the courage she needed to properly go for the highest notes of her range at the end of the chorus and hitting them almost perfectly, she appreciated the applause and whistles from what she assumed was Taron, Calvin and Deian. As the song became more silent as it wound down to the last chorus, she didn’t need to worry about the words once more and took a little walk across the stage for some dramatic effect and breathed a huge sigh of relief as the song ended and after she handed the microphone back to the MC, ran her hands through her hair, taking one long deep breathe.

She could feel her hands shaking as she made her way back to the tables and shook them out to rid herself of the nervous energy and adrenaline that flowed through her blood stream. She gave a bashfully blushed smile as she walked into the circle she had previously left and accepted the half hugs from Calvin and Deian and was thankful for the cuddly one from Taron and the whispers of well done from him.

“No more singing.” She said back to him.

“Except our duet.” He corrected.

“I am not going back up there without you.”

#Taron Egerton #Taron Egerton Fanfiction #Taron Egerton Fiction #Taron Fiction #Love #Friends #Excitment #Sassiness #Laughter #Teasing #Singing #Winning #Karaoke #Happiness #Robyn and Taron

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dragonrajafanfiction · 4 years

Text

Norton and Constantine Pt 2

The following are translated excerpts from the novels regarding Norton and Constantine. I’ve only included portions where Norton and Constantine are together and have omitted the rest.

Please enjoy.

-------------NORTON AND CONSTANTINE MEET-------------------

At the gate of the school, several students were armed with guns. When they heard the roar of the motorcycle, it was too late to get out of the way.

A dazzling silver light approached at an extremely high speed. It was a Harley motorcycle, twisting a thrilling lone line. It successfully dodged their barrage and cut past them. Some people say that the Mongols are a race that grows up on horseback, but this guy must have been born of a race that grows up on the back of a motorcycle.

“Hallelujah! God always favors the handsome!” No 13 shouted.

It went smoothly. After leaving the underground, he quickly found a silver Harley motorcycle, his dream ride! More incredibly, the key was still inserted in the ignition!

The unexpected mission is over here. He’ll go back and take his 5 million dollars and then he will go on vacation, roaming island nations with white sand, blue seas, and sexy ladies in the Pacific! No. 13 was full of joy. Turning his head though, he made a grimace. In the darkness behind him, those girls who were still wearing white dresses were holding high heels in one hand and strafing Uzis in the other but they couldn’t catch up to him.

He was suddenly shrouded by dazzling light from the side and he heard the roar of an engine.

“Ambush?” No 13 was shocked.

It was too late to dodge. He jumped off the motorcycle and relied on his excellent jumping ability to stop after hitting the ground, tumbling a few times in the dust.

The Harley turned into a silver light, flew over the roof of the car and hit the stone guardrail, flying off the cliff.

Lu Mingfei looked at the silver light in fear, jumped out of the car and walked to the victim’s side, rubbing his hands and speaking in plain English. “You’re not hurt are you? You came out so suddenly.”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Lu Mingfei thrust his hands in the air.

The dark barrel of the gun was pressed against Lu Mingfei’s head. No. 13 was furious.

“Stop him! He’s an intruder!” Gao Hu, a student, was running far behind.

“Are you here to ambush me?” No. 13 snarled viciously.

“I have nothing to do with them! I’m no one! I just drove out to buy hot dogs!”

He didn’t know if he could fool this “Dragon Clan” member, but the appearance of this “Dragon Clan” member was beyond his expectation.

Lu Mingfei could understand if he had a dragon’s blue face with double horns, fangs and whiskers. But this guy looks too standard, just like Lu Mingfei is a standard human. A smiling face, a Chinese-style of black hair, and a pair of iconic bushy eyebrows... he looked so familiar?

Lu Mingfei’s pupils dilated, “Hey, aren’t you Old Tang?”

No. 13 froze for a moment, “You mean... You’re the guy with the big bear face?”

Lu Mingfei used a bear with a big head as his icon in that StarCraft Group. ‘Old Tang’ is Lu Mingfei’s only friend from the US, except for classmates and professors such as Nono and Fingel. He didn’t know how many nights they blasted on the StarCraft map. When interviewing Cassell Academy, Old Tang also used videos to help him correct his oral English. Because he met Old Tang, Lu Mingfei felt that he’d found a friendly place on the US map -- Brooklyn, NY

How could he meet Old Tang here? Why was he still holding a gun to him? Didn’t Old Tang live off government benefits in Brooklyn? Didn’t he say he wanted to tour the US with him on a Greyhound bus? The world turned upside down in Lu Mingfei’s mind.

“Acquaintances?” Nono also raised her hands in the car next to him.

“Old Tang... I am the bigheaded bear... and no, I am Mingming... Don’t shoot. Why are you here?” Lu Mingfei was shouting. “Mingming” was his ID in the group.

“I’ll tell you later, I’ll tell you later! I’m just here to do some work... Now that the work is over, I have to hurry and get out of here.” Old Tang looked over Lu Mingfei’s shoulders and looked at the Bugatti Veyron behind him again. He looked up and down at Nono. “Hey! Hot girl! Let me use the car!”

“You already borrowed my boyfriend’s Harley.” Nono said. At the moment of the crash, she saw that Caesar’s favorite motorcycle was flying over her head.

Old Tang looked up and down at Lu Mingfei, “I underestimated you. I never thought that you would get a beautiful girl right after you went abroad. And not just a Bugatti Veyron but also Harley motorcycles? What world am I in?”

“That’s exactly what I want to ask!” Lu Mingfei held his hands up. “I’ll let you take the car. No need to return it!”

“I have to take you and your hot girl hostage!” Old Tang dragged Lu Mingfei to the Bugatti.

“Drive!” He turned his head and shouted at Nono.

“Old Tang, what are you going to do? Would you like to talk about friendship?” Lu Mingfei said loudly.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Just pretend to go down the mountain and let it go.” Old Tang said in a low voice, and shouted at the approaching soldiers, “Get any closer and I’ll kill him!”

He tried his best to put on a ferocious expression. His genteel face was sometimes his weakness. Often people thought he was not threatening but joking. But this time, he felt that his aura had taken effect, and the girls in white skirts with guns suddenly stopped, their expressions froze on their faces for a moment, and step by step they stood back.

“Hey, why are they looking at me like that?” Old Tang was a little surprised. The effect is good. Maybe too good.

This time, he felt the hot wind rolling behind him. As if there was a sun rising behind him. He turned his head trembling and looked at Nono, whose long hair was blown forward by the hot wind.

All three of them felt unable to breathe. It was not Tang that those girls feared, but something... standing behind them.

The huge force almost knocked them down.

Old Tang didn’t dare to turn his head, as if there was a wolf behind him that would bite his throat if he turned. He poked Lu Mingfei in the side. “You look back.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re the hero. Why don’t you turn around instead of telling me to turn around!” Lu Mingfei shivered.

“Don’t look back,” Nono’s voice trembled, “Look in the rearview mirror.”

In the rearview mirror, on the hood of the Bugatti’s rear engine, a burning figure stood, slowly leaning down with open arms as if to kiss either Old Tang or Lu Mingfei.

His face became clearer and clearer in the rearview mirror, his pupils were burning, glowing with brilliant gold. His face seemed to be cracked and there was lava flowing in the cracks. A terrifying face slowly opened up with a terrifying expression.

“Brother.” He said softly.

“Ghost!” Lu Mingfei and Old Tang hugged each other and screamed, their mouths open wide.

“Everyone! Stay out of danger! Stay out of danger!” Professor Schneider’s roar echoed in the campus radio.

The burning figure roared past a high-voltage transformer. The metal shell of the transformer melted in an instant. The brilliant fountain of sparks gushed up to the height of a person and then exploded, turning the surrounding lawn into scorched earth.

Gunshots were like thunderstorms and dense barrages came from all sides. The students trained in the battlefield hid behind buildings on either side of the lawn to make a perfect shooting gallery. Both groups are equipped with M4 style guns standard. 5.56 mm steel core bullets are fired at a rate of 900 rounds per minute empty magazines are immediately replaced and firing is resumed. The failure of the previous rounds of shooting made the person in charge allow them to fire at will without reservations. The Vice President of Lionheart, Lancelot, a third year student from France, directed the raid.

No bullet could hit the figure. When he was about two meters away, the bullets melted, as if there was an invisible dark fire. the hot molten steel formed a high speed flowing wall. It was like moths trying to fight a fire.

In the dull sound of shots, dozens of smoke trails moved towards the figure. They used a 40mm grendae launcher. This explosive power can eliminate an infantry vehicle in a direct hit.

the figure didn’t move but the molten steel swirling around him did, capturing all the grenades in the air. The explosive force was completely radiated outward.

Lancelot’s face was illuminated by the fire and he flinched. “President, bullets and grenades are useless against him.” He said into his cell phone.

In the ruined church, Chu Zihang and the other party looked at each other from a long distance. Under the attack of his Word Spirit ‘Royal Fire’ they had managed to keep their clothing intact.

“Lancelot! Retreat! If he can order metal and flames, he belongs to the ethnic group of Norton, the king of Bronze and fire. Before he uses Royal Fire, retreat!”

----------- OLD TANG RUNNING FROM CONSTANTINE ----------------

“Old Tang, where did you get your bug units?” Lu Mingfei was already very calm, but that’s because he wanted to cry inside.

After joining this college, he hadn’t spent his days watching beautiful women in luxurious classrooms and libraries. He had encountered one life-threatening situation after another. And this time was really no fun.

“I really don’t.” Old Tang swallowed. “You know my tactical style has always been very cautious. If I knew it would be this dangerous, how could I have come.?”

“Can you stop talking about Starcraft right now?” Nono said.

The three people stood side by side in the narrow road where Lu Mingfei was hiding from bullets on “The Day of Liberty”. They were less than 50 meters away from the guy who was constantly on fire. The narrow road could allow the flames to pass by them and was like a pocket of shadow so that ghost-like dragons would find it difficult to locate them. If he found them, he would surely hunt them down.

They were all still alive because of Nono’s gut instincts. At the school gate, she slammed a foot on the Bugatti’s accelerator. The supercar accelerated to a speed of 100 kilometers per hour in 3 seconds, rushed into the campus, and threw the dragon off the car. At this moment, both Old Tang and Lu Mingfei thought that everything they saw was an illusion. They turned to look at the two melting footprints on the Bugatti aluminum rear hood, and then turned to look at the figure thrown from the car running after them and accepted reality.

“What should I do?” Lu Mingfei said, “We can’t keep hiding here. I can feel like it can smell us.”

“BS, what do you smell like? Sashimi?” Old Tang said, “You can’t go out there and die!”

“But I do feel like he is approaching?” Nono said.

“What’s on the other side of here?” Lu Mingfei lowered his voice and asked Nono.

“There is an open area without any cover. Do you want to be attacked by a napalm bomb out in the open?” Someone said in the dark.

The three of them realized that there was a fourth person in this narrow passage.

Nono reached into the darkness with one hand, grabbed the man by the collar and at the same time sealed his throat with her fingers so that he did not dare to struggle, and dragged him out

“Sister, your technique is so flawless... Fingel, you dog, why are you here?” Lu Mingfei widened his eyes.

What was dragged out was his waste of a senior brother Fingel, who was actually wearing pajamas and carrying a plastic bag in his hand.

“My dear grandma, why do you show up here with a chicken leg in your mouth? What is the use of your scraps? I would rather Caesar or Chu Zihang show up!” Being able to raise his leg high enough, Lu Mingfei wanted to kick Fingel in the face.

“Ohhhhh...” Fingel said.

“What are you trying to be a rooster?”

“I mean... I , I , I just ordered a late night snack in the cafeteria but they said that tonight the guard won’t deliver food... but students are not forbidden to go to the cafeteria to get it, so I came out...” Fingel took a bite of the drumstick, crying.

“We have got to go! I think he... is really approaching!” Old Tang whispered.

The sound of footsteps came from outside the narrow road, and it became brighter and brighter, as if someone was approaching with a giant lamp in the middle of the night. The four people shut up at the same time, all in cold sweat.

Lu Mingfei’s premonition seemed to be right. The dragon could smell them and even if he couldn’t see them, he could feel their position.

“Is there a way to escape? It’s a dead end wherever you go. If you hide anywhere, he will find you in a few minutes...” Nono said softly.

“Calm down!” Fingel said. “That thing is a dragon, right? A dragon is full of fire. So if he catches fire, let’s go to the place with the most water. The swimming pool! Let’s go to the swimming pool in the gym. Fire’s biggest weakness in the Word Spirit system is water. As long as he temporarily has his power restrained, we might be able to destroy him with a single shot! On the way across from the Hall of Valor, I also grabbed a PPK. The modified one is enough to shoot a dragon. It’s a good gun.” Fingel pulled out a PPK from the waist of his pajamas. The shape was exactly the same as the cannon version shown by Masashi Toyama.

“You take a gun with you when you go out for dinner?” Lu Mingfei asked. “Is it reliable?”

“Self Defense! It is purely theoretically reliable. Water overcomes fire. I got an A in the advanced course of Linguistics.”

“There’s no other way then. Run!” Nono said loudly.

The four people jumped up at the same time and rushed toward the other side of the passage. The sound of footsteps approaching behind accelerated instantly, bright and dazzling, like a car behind with its headlights chasing.

---- HIDING IN THE SWIMMING POOL ----

“Old Tang, why on earth did you come here?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“i told you that I am a bounty hunter, right? We have a website for our business. We specialize in taking some supernatural cases. Cases are announced there regularly by anonymous employers. People with sufficient ability have the right to check the details of the case and decide if they want to accept it. If the employer is satisfied with your resume, you’ll receive a letter. After you finish, the commission will automatically be credited to your account.”

��Wow, you actually have an amazing line of work.” Lu Mingfei said.

“Actually, I don’t have the ability to do anything else.” Old Tang was a little bit shy. “I just seem to be naturally resistant to supernatural things. For example, if some people go into an ancient tomb are affected, I will not be. Some rumors in the industry say that I can’t be cursed, so I’m quite high level. So I can accept a 5 million dollar bounty.”

“Five million?” Fingel’s eyes widened.

“But I didn’t expect this case would be so dangerous. It only said to come to this college to find this one thing. As a result... had I known what it was, I would not have come. I would still be asleep in New York. I don’t have enough money to take you on a greyhound tour of the US.” Old Tang said. “Brother, you’re loyal, I won’t forget you.”

“I want a bus tour of the US too...” Fingel said.

Old Tang’s expression suddenly changed. “I don’t know why... I think... he seems to be chasing me.”

“No?” Lu Mingfei pricked up his ears like a bunny. “I didn’t hear anything.”

He suddenly stopped and his face turned pale. At this moment there was the sound of footsteps echoing in the empty sports hall, from far and near, as if only separated by a layer of wall panels. A voice dully shouted. “Brother... Brother...”

“Ghost!... The Ghost has chased us here!” Lu Minfei shivered. “What do we do now?”

Fingel’s face was not relaxed any more, and he handed everyone a plastic bag. “Don’t be nervous. He’s walking around the pool because he realizes that we are nearby, but because of the water, he can’t get a read on our exact location. It’s not surprising that he guessed we were here. The sports hall is right outside the Hall of Valor. We don’t want to scare ourselves. He’ll find us if we appear now. Let’s each dive with a plastic bag of air. And if we we get scared, we can take a few breaths from it. If we’re underwater, the fire spirit won’t be able to find us at all. Once he loses our trail, he’ll leave. I think his mind is a bit unclear. Maybe he’s a brain damaged dragon.”

“Is he really a dragon? Why do dragons look like people?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“Nine kinds of dragons are born. I thought the beautiful woman fighting with Caesar (a.n. Mai Sakatoku) may still be a dragon. Last warning. Don’t get nervous. Tension will show signs of movement. Water will form a seal, covering your breath. The Yangtze river formed a seal over the Bronze City for a long time. You have to believe that I was an ‘A’ grade.” Fingel finished, pressing the heads of the two of them into the water.

Lu Mingfei held his breath, buried his head in the water, not daring to open his yes. He swam very well, but he didn’t like to open his eyes while diving. Seeing himself surrounded by light blue made him feel like a person who had arrived on an alien planet. The water was not heated at all and soon he was shivering from the cold.

He didn’t know how long he was down there and nothing happened. The water in the swimming pool gradually began to warm up, as if the heating system were turned on. Lu Mingfei felt that at this temperature, as long as the air was not a problem, he was fine to stay under water. But the good times didn’t last long. Soon it became ridiculously hot. He didn’t know if Fingel set the wrong temperature but the swimming pool water was more suitable to take a shower in.

Lu Mingfei’s heart began to thump. There air in his bag was almost gone and the swimming pool was so hot. He hoped that the dragon had maybe collapsed somewhere so he could afford to go up and look. He tried to reach out and tap Fingel and Old Tang. He reached out, but didn’t feel anyone.

Horrified, he floated carefully above the water to look around. All he saw was white steam. The temperature of the swimming pool had risen by 40 degrees and had become like a hot spring. Lu Mingfei didn’t see Fingel and Old Tang. Maybe they got to hot and were already out of the water.

“Or... don't’ tell me that Old Tang and Fingel got eaten?” He thought. It seemed that the two of them were better than he was.

He climbed the stairs out of the pool and soon the water in the pool got hotter, steaming like soup. The whole area was like a sauna. It got very hard to see the exit.

Lu Mingfei didn’t dare to call out as a figure swam to the edge of the pull and climbed out of the water.

“Who’s there?” Lu Mingfei backed away and hurried back toward the water. He was stunned for a moment as he saw neither Old Tang nor Fingel’s face but a delicate young man who was climbing the stairs out of the pool. He looked younger than Lu Mingfei, maybe only sixteen or seventeen years old. He has a small face, pale brows and even black eyes. But those eyes were empty. His naked body reveled a kind of paleness. He’s so thin his ribs were visible.

He stared at Lu Mingfei for a few seconds.

“i didn’t come to see you, I came to see my brother. Have you seen him?” The boy asked, his voice drifting away.

“no.” Lu Mingfei shook his head, wondering who his brother was.

“Then I’m going to find him, goodbye. The boy and Lu Mingfei passed each other. The boy’s body was hot, and the heat hit Lu Mingfei in the face.

Lu Mingfei turned his head and watched the boy slowly walk away. “Brother... Brother...” The young man shouted, his voice getting farther and farther.

This sound seemed familiar... Lu Mingfei suddenly felt that goosebumps on his body were about to jump out of his skin. He remembered where he had heard this sound. The sound of the dragon shouting was exactly the same as this sound. Because it echoed off the walls, it seemed more erratic, like the cry of a ghost.

Did he talk to a dragon just now?

---------- THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE ----------

Old Tang ran on the lawn, trying to leave this damn place as soon as possible. He felt a little guilty. Somehow, he was scared to deat just now. The sound of footsteps seemed to be ringing in his mind. He felt that it was impossible for him to hide in the water, so he couldn’t help but quietly get out of the pool.

He felt a bit sorry for Lu Mingfei, but the sense of fear was really terrible.

“Don’t run! Don’t run!” Fingel chased after him, “You can’t hide from him, he...”

Fingel turned his head to look at the top of the Hall of Valor, and was too frightened to speak Obviously the dragon had noticed their position, and the bones all over his body made an ear-splitting explosion. The skin on the back was split and the pair of membrane wings that had originally been attached to his back where opened, dripping with blood.

It was too easy to catch him with the advantage of flight.

--------------------------

The dragon flashed its membrane wings, flying on the roof over the roof of the Hall of Valor, and pounced towards the sprinting Old Tang. Seeing the shadow that enveloped him, Old Tang sank to the ground in shock.

“Replace your ammunition with live rounds!” The principal’s voice sounded in the communication channels of the students.

They don’t have time to think, nor do they have to. The principal is the absolute leader on the campus. Hundreds of guns had their ammunition replaced from Frigga Bullets to live rounds and this was aimed and the dragon gliding in the dark. They didn’t notice that there was a person like Old Tang also in the dark.

The dragon landed on the opposite side of Old Tang. Behind him, hundreds of bullets slid into the barrels of guns and the firing pins were primed.

Constantine realized what was going to happen next. he suddenly opened his wings, as if opening a huge barrier, wrapping Old Tang in it.

The gunfire ignited the entire campus in the dark, Thousands of rounds of live ammunition hit the dragon’s body. He had lost the power to command the metal and he could only use his back and wings to block it. The students kept changing their magazines until they had emptied them all. They didn’t dare to stop. In such a violent barrage, the dragon stood still and didn’t fall down.

This was an different kind of lifeform!

The last bullet let the chamber and the campus was filled with the pungent smoke of gunpowder. Everyone looked at the figure standing with wings spread out like a god in the gunpowder smoke.

Old Tang also looked at him, looking at his face, The dragon was broken, like a corpse nailed to a cross, with countless bullet holes. No matter how flexible his dragon bones were, after he lost the power of this speech, it was only a durable material. All the bones and joints on the open wings dissolved into powder, falling apart, one by one.

He no longer flowed with radiance and turned a bleak, grayish white. He smiled wearily at Old Tang. “Brother...”

“No... don't’ chase me! I don’t know you!” Old Tang screamed and turned his head to run. Behind him, the dragon’s body collapsed.

Old Tang ran wildly on the winding road. He didn’t know what he was running from. He just wanted to escape. The dragon was dead, but there seemed to be something chasing him.

“Brother, there are many people outside.”

“We are going to die Constantine, but don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid so long as I’m with you, brother. But why.... don’t you eat me? Eat me, brother, and you can break through any cage.”

“You are good food, but that would be too lonely. For thousands of years, its only been you and I together.

“But death is really sad, forever and ever in the pitch dark. You reach out your hand but you never touch anything.”

“The so-called destiny of the abandoned clan is to cross the wasteland, raise the battle flag again and return to our home. Death is not terrible, it is just a long sleep. Before you can swallow the world, it is better to sleep peacefully than to walk alone. We will still wake up.”

“Brother, if you raise the the battle flag and swallow the world, will you eat me?”

“Yes, then you will be with me, as King over the world!”

He remembered it, and it was the memory that was chasing him.

He stopped, pulling at his hair in desperation, and yelling at the dark night sky.

“Little Brother!”

He remembered it. He remembered everything.

It turned out that in these two thousand years, whether he was sleeping or waking up, he just wanted to come to him, but when he found him, he had forgotten what he looked like.

But when he remembered what he looked like, he was dead.

Blazing flames surrounded his body and rose into the night sky, and the flames exploded high in the sky, as if there were wings spreading there.

“Dragon Bone Cross. Dragon King Norton, finally revealed his angry godship.” Principal Anjou drink a martini from his glass in the church bell tower. “You can hear his shouting, so many years of loneliness and pain. Ah... it was him. Completely resurrected, with the soul of a martyr.”

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