#y'all remember when games were affordable

[itstimeforstarwars]

Nintendo switch is actually much larger than I was expecting it to be.

[cowboyfromh3ll]

Hcs for how each of the boys to react to "I'm pregnant"?

Any of them that you want to write for :)

So excited

English not my first language. Sorry

Van Der Linde Gang's Boys' Reactions To "I'm pregnant" (And Eagle Flies)

Hehehe this was so cute and also I didn't edit this ❤️

Warnings: none

Arthur Morgan

He'd be so fucking happy

Probably in disbelief at first but oh my God he'd be overjoyed

Ask you if you're serious over and over

Once he's convinced he's gonna ask all these questions about your physical and mental wellbeing

Celebrates with you (whatever that entails wink wink)

In his elated haze he's gonna wanna ask all these questions about your future together as parents

Is aware the gang ain't the best place to raise a kid but he'll reassure you that you'll have the whole gangs support

John Marston

Oh god

Let's just say he wouldn't be the most elated parent 😭💀

He's already got Jack and now he needs to take care of another?

If this were a revelation that came earlier in the game he's gonna be very irresponsible but I feel like he wouldn't deny that the kid was his

So at that point he's sort of forced to actually give a damn about him

And believe me he'd try but he wouldn't be the best at it, would need guidance

If this came later in the game like epilogue he'd probably be WAY more happier.

Your lives are finally settled and you can afford to have a kid

He'd be the happiest and more supportive husband and dad

Still wouldn't be sure about all the ropes but he'd try

Dutch Van Der Linde

He'd be SO happy

Like genuinely he'd shower you with gifts and praise and reassurance

I feel like part of it would be a power thing for him because not only can he lead a gang, but now he can lead a family

Also some sort of weird power symbol for him. Idk how, but it is

Wouldn't let you lift a finger

Would probably keep you in his tent to rest 24/7 and only allows a few people (Grimshaw, Hosea) to see you

He's going to hope and pray it's a boy

Charles Smith

HE'D BE IN SO MUCH SHOCK AND FEEL SM HAPPINESS IT'D BE SO CUTE

You sorta have to repeat the news to him a few times for him to fully absorb it

Literally a dream of his to start a family one day so now that he has it he's ecstatic

Probably incentive to leave the gang though, doesn't want his child growing up in that environment

Would prefer if you sit back and rest but won't hold you back if you don't want to

Javier Escuella

This is cause to celebrate

Takes you into town on a date

Offers you massages, foot rubs, hand massages

Sings to you to calm you

Holds your hair when you throw up (true love)

Buys you clothes to accomodate to your changing body

Kieran Duffy

THE SWEETEST REACTION

I feel like he'd start crying

Asks to touch your belly and would speak to it

That night he'd fall asleep while holding it

Wakes up the next morning and remembers you're pregnant and his day is already off to an amazing start

Get drunk while celebrating it and he'd boast to everyone about how he's gonna be a dad

Sean Macguire

He'd say some stupid shit I already know it

Probably crack a sex joke

He's getting stupid, fucking drunk. I'm talking black out

He's probably gonna wanna celebrate if you catch my drift HAHAHA

He'd forget to be gentle sometimes out of excitement, like carrying you around and cheering

Refuses to let you do any work

In private I feel like he'd cry

Lenny Summers

He'd probably panic a bit at first

Ask all these questions about how you guys are gonna be parents and if you're even ready

Once the two of you talk through it a little more he'll calm down and his nerves turn to excitement

I'm assuming y'all would be real young so he'd seek for a lot of guidance in the others

Constantly asks you questions about what you want and need

Bill Williamson

He'd be so flustered and nervous

Probably in disbelief for a while and asks if you're serious

I wouldn't blame you for thinking he's upset with the news at first

But he just needs time to process how his life's about to change!

He becomes even more gentle with you, more than he already is

Will argue with Miss Grimshaw about letting you rest/lightening your work load

And let's be real, she would lower your work load but he'd insist it stops altogether

Micah Bell

He'd be in disbelief, but bad disbelief

That or the sleaziest reaction

I'm leaning more towards sleazy reaction

Talks about how he's gonna raise the bravest kid and he's constantly gonna reference to the kid as he because I'm convinced he wants a boy

Brags to the others

Don't get me wrong the gang's happy for you but the way Micah uses it as a point of elevation is IRRITATING

Hosea Matthews

He's the cutest like seriously

He'd be sooo happy

Probably in disbelief that he even managed to get you pregnant

I believe he'd cry, and openly, he's not ashamed! He's happy!

Announces it to the whole gang, means for celebration

Takes you on dates to buy cute little baby items ahhh

Eagle Flies

HE'D FREAK THE FUCK OUT

Pace around the room asking if you're for real, contemplates his entire life, curses himself for cumming inside

You'd have to calm him down and talk him through it

It'd be a super emotional moment for the two of you, eventually he'd realize he's fine with the idea of kids and he's just nervous!

Would ask his dad and a lot of tribe members for advice

Over time he'd get way more excited and bring up the topic more often

[mechaknight-98]

Gathering Side story: Overwhelming stampede

Author's Note: when I started this series it was all vibes and now that it some somewhat coherent a character who got pushed to the wayside was Dino. Which sucks because he's a lot more interesting to write for me than the others. However, at times his powers were tied to Dinosaurs and the toku inspiration I did with his powers seemed incongruent with the tone I was trying to go for. which made writing him harder and harder as I wanted it to gather to be more introspective, but for side stories I can do whatever I want. Dino for me was always a mix of Hayato and Eji from Kamen Rider. Z from Ultaman Z a little bit of Gambit/Deadpool (Comic Deadpool) from X-men, and my personality. As you will see by his slightly changed powers. Whereas TJ was always meant to be more Takeshi, Ren (Ryuki) from Kamen Rider and Cable/Wolverine from X-men, and Max McDaniels from the Tapestry series by Henry H. Neff … (please read it if you haven't.) So this is meant as a mini-story that gives him space to be as crazy and outlandish as possible so for all of my long-time readers here is Dino restored in all his over-the-top Toku temur comic(y) glory.

You know who we should call to fill our game...," Sakura starts before pausing dramatically to Connor and Yunjin. Yunjin and Connor stare at the young woman pensively, before she makes her suggestion.

"Cival," Sakura said suggesting me to her group of friends. Connor and Yunjin look at her wary as the last time they saw me, I was (successfully) trying not to freak out as Sakura let me down easily by telling me that she was a lesbian. Yunjin however saw the excitement on Kkura’s face and ran with it.

"You know what? it's been a while since we've seen the madman and even longer since we have played with him. let's see what he's got?" Yunjin says exuberantly. This leads to them calling me. well, Sakura calling me.

"Yo Kkura what's up?" I ask

"Oh great answered you answered Civy. we need a fourth for our commander game. You down?" Sakura said

"What about Dexter he's usually y'all's resident Temur player," I asked confused

"He's exploring Naya so currently we need an Unhinged Calm Man." Sakura teases

" So you are telling me that Dexter Mr "Yeah I am so Ketria" is trying the shard I told him he would like, and best suit him? Wow, I'm surprised; not really of course, but you thought of me in his stead...well...I am touched. Okay, I'll be there in a bit. Does it need to be a Temur deck or can it be something else?" I respond

"Yes. We are playing our wedges and shards so you need to as well." Yunjin insists in the background

"Okay, Kkura." I groan. I end the phone call. I finish my in-n-out order adding them to it. After getting the food I teleport to Le Sserafim's dorm. the popping noise that accompanied it jolted the people present.

"Yah Cival-oppa you just can't pop in on us like that," Yunjin says holding her heart

"But I have food," I say as I hold the in-n-out bag with their food. Kkura and Yunjin smile. Connor groans.

"Ah no shake shack," he says disappointed

"Hey, when you're willing to pay for it I will pick it up for you all you want. In n Out is cheap and delicious so don't complain. " I say to him.

I hand Kkura her strawberry shake, Yunjin her vanilla, and Connor his chocolate one.

"Oh, you remembered our orders," Yunjin says elated

"Of course. yall are still my friends." I reply

Sakura looks at me guilty and says, "Sorry for forgetting about you Civy."

"It's no big deal. I couldn't afford to move to Korea, and you guys moved on. No hard feelings. the only hard feelings I have are for Dexter. I mean how did he of all people get Eunbi freaking Kwon?" I joke which gets the laugh I was kinda fishing for with Yunjin, Connor, and Sakura.

"So how have you been Civy?" Sakura asks

"Ah, you know same old, same old. fighting monsters taking pictures writing stories.. I reply

"Oh, how are you adjusting?" Connor asks

"Ehh, it's fine. It feels scummy at times but it's a job someone has to do" I answer

"Yeah, it can be weird," Connor says and leaves it at that.

I stayed silent about Voruna and her training me because last I heard Connor and her had a falling out

"So Cival" Yunjin says in a tone and a shoulder shake that lets me know I am not going to really *appreciate* what she says next, "Meet anyone "Lovely?" I groan and reply

"No Jen. I am still a single pringle although I am less ready to mingle." I reply. Sakura looks dejected hearing that.

"I am sorry," Sakura says as she takes a dejected sip of her shake.

I turn to Kkura look her in her eyes and say, "Look Kkura, I don't want this to be awkward. You are fantastic and while I believe we would have made an excellent power couple I understand that your heart is elsewhere, and honestly good for you Siyeon is such a hottie I mean sheesh." Kkura finally cheers up and Yunjin just has to sour the mood.

"See this is why we need you Cival around more. You are the best hype man and Cheerleader." Yunjin exclaims.

"I have been told I am good in limited amounts so that's why I stay in the background," I say before taking a bite of my burger and some fries. Kkura and Yunjin laugh.

"So Madman what crazy build are you on now?" Connor asks

"Borb and Phb food chain, but casual. I have a Thrasios Krark deck in the works but it needs time to bake. Or maybe I should just switch it to Jeska Thrasios." I answer as I ponder my next higher-power deck.

"Is it your definition of casual?" Yunjin asks me pointing. I nod which makes her bring out her "Big Guns"

"Oh, Kaalia my favorite," I say sarcastically. Sakura laughs and pulls out her equally menacing. Simmone and Dina deck. I face her and she points to Yunjin. This leads to Connor bringing out Narset Enlightened Exile.

“Narset!” I point out exaggerated “bleugh now I have to play mean.” I tease

Yunjin smirks before saying, “Cival you always play mean.”

I laugh and give a hyperbolic groan before taking out my deck. Sakura grabs my commander and reads it “Oh I like it.” she says. As we get ready for the game Kazuha walks in and smiles when she sees me.

“Oh hi Percival long time no see,” she said as she walked over to hug me. We hug and I say

“Yeah well, your friends called me up to beat them and I couldn't say no.” I relate to Kazuha. She laughs as she steals a couple of fries “Eh? How rude!” I scoff feigning disapproval while Kazuha just rolls her eyes as she walks out. I turn to face my opponents who laugh.

“I forgot how friendly you were,” Kkura says.

I shrug and say, “Yep friendly and ferocious like a bake kujira.”

Yunjin rolls her eyes before saying, “Ugh you and those yokai.” I shrug her off as we start. I mulligan down to four and then we begin. Sakura opens up with turn one lotus petal and goth Triome. Yunjin starts the game with land, a “Sol ring” and a “talisman of conviction”

“Wow, an overloaded vandal blast or cyclonic rift would be so good here.” I joked and the look I got from the table was hilarious. So I just played a land and mystic remora.

“Civil please don't scare us like that,” Connor whined

“Well gotta keep you on your toes because I know y'all get complacent and that's when bad things happen,” I respond. Curious as to where my replacement was I asked “So where is the big man?”

“Oh, he and Eunbi are working. He's filming a bunch of videos for her new mini album.” Sakura answers

I nod and smile as I say, “You know what…good for him.”

The next turn Sakura plays an arbor elf and an overgrown tomb. Yunjin gets more ramp for her commander plus another land, and Connor plays an esper Sentinel and arid mesa. On my next turn, I play commander and I pay for remora having played another land. To play my commander I needed to use the Jeweled lotus, lotus petal, and rejuvenating springs to play Borb and Phb. On his ETB Sakura flashes in orchish bow masters and kills Esper Sentinel. I chuckle and pass. The door opens and Chaewon drudges in along with Eunchae. I turn around and I see Chaewon and Eunchae make the visible connection.

“Percy!,” the two girls yell excitedly. I groan and stand up as the two race over to hug me.

“How are my two favorite Chaes?” I ask

Chaewon holds me tighter while Eunchae says, “Oppa please bully Kkura unnie and Yunjin unnie they have been teasing me and calling me baby all the time.” Eunchae lamented

I turn to my friends who look at me in terror. I shrug and say, “I have to win now.” they look at me in abject terror as I hear both Chaes laugh maniacally in the background.

Chaewon smiles as she and Eunchae break the hug and say something in Korean I couldn't pick up (because it was too fast) all I got was Astrid Wesker.

“Hold up Astrid who?” I asked

“Astrid Wesker.,” Yunjin said confused.

I turned to Connor who read my confused expression and said “The Weskers are cool now. They have done their time and are repentant.,” My eyes widen as I get back to the game it's my turn and I swing my commander at Sakura. She takes six which leaves her almost out of ad nauseam range. On Yunjin’s turn, I exile Kaalia in response to her equipping a swift foot boots to it. This leaves me open to using counterspell on Narset the next turn. On my next turn I swing at Sakura again leaving her completely out of naus range which gives me space to breathe I play a Ragavan and another land as well as paying for mystic remora and pass. Sakura biting the bullet destroys mystic remora. I shrug and make sure to kill Kaalia, and Narset again. Sakura is missing land drops Simone and Dina aren't opposed to me, and the other two decks are so commander-reliant that facing them equated to don't let the commanders resolve. which I told them, and now they're realizing it firsthand. This beatdown goes on for three more turns before I just draw into the food chain and hit draw my deck before casting Laboratory Maniac. Only for Yunjin to have me lose the game by killing it with Esper Sentinel, with a little help from Kkura and Connor. Instead of casting the breach that was in my hand and brain-freezing them to death. I let them have their pyrhic victory, which of course leads to Narset winning because Narset is good at punishing health totals. After the game Yunjin winces.

Connor laughs at Yunjin's expression then turns to me and says, "Dang Cival back at it again with the big beaters." I shrug and tell them that play better which gets a laugh out of Kkura and Connor Yunjin just scowls then joins in.

Cut to 45 minutes later the girls had just finished getting ready and looked like they were about to head out, "So, what's next?" I ask hoping to tag along like old times.

"Well, we gotta go to Astrid's office. you can come if you want." Connor suggests.

"Ah, I don't know," I replied still reluctant because of Weskers being well Weskers.

"There will be pretty girls there," Sakura said

"I'm there," I responded without hesitation. I didn't come off my adrenaline high until we were outside her office and thought this would be a bad idea. I debate whether this is a good idea but I remember that I have no self-control around pretty girls. So here I was walking into the intimidating gray building with the only thought being "Oh God why am I here"

"Oh hey, Muffins," I say out loud as I walk over to the bakery. The lady working the counter is super nice and knows English which makes my attempts at broken Korean invalidated. Admirable but invalidated nonetheless. I pay for my blueberry Muffins (Because they are top-tier) and begin to eat them. As I walk back into the Lobby I look to see several men with guns pointed at my friends

"I take it you're not security are you," I ask. One of the men angrily gestures at me and yells in Korean. I groan as I can only really make out "That black guy." I finish my muffin and outstretch my hand. when I bring it back to my face I am surprised to see Destroyor. I shrug and slot it into my Riser. I transform in a flash of colors before my Destroyer armor comes on. The guys shout more Korean before shooting me. I sigh as the bullets melt before they can reach me.

"You'd think that they would see the transformation and ponder. Hey, maybe we shouldn't fight the one who just did that." I lamented as I summoned My Lava Lance. I ran to the nearest man in the suit and slashed at him he fell to the ground with a searing wound. I charged to the next one who was still reloading, and slashed at him as well. I turn to the last few who look at me confused. I lift the Lance and spin Lash letting the lava spread all over them. After they were handled The elevator opened and I could hear a high-pitched voice say

"Well it's about time you apologized TJ." I am shocked to see a young lady who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ada Wong, and to her left a tiny blonde woman who is following her.

"You're not TJ. you're much too colorful and vibrant." The not Ada said.

I deactivated my armor and replied, "Sorry to disappoint but I did just help you I think."

"Yes, you did a fine job. Do you want a medal?” the not Ada says sarcastically. I look at her confused before she apologizes and says, “Sorry it's just usually my person who handles this is not here..." The not Ada trailed off.

"You must be Astrid Wesker. I am..." I started but was cut off by the blonde woman

"Percival you are a nexo from southern California, and friends of Connor, dexter, and le Sserafim." The blonde woman says bluntly in her high-pitched voice

"That's not creepy at all." I sigh. "Well, I should probably get going. This was not enough excitement for me, and I am growing bored with this conversation." I say feeling uncomfortable.

"No, since you're here and a powerhouse maybe you can help me," Astrid said not taking the least subtle hint I could give. "I'll pay you good money too."

"Oh well, That works," I say as I follow The two ladies into the Elevator along with Connor, Sakura, and Yunjin. The ride is awkward.

"That's quite some psionic power you've got there Percival how does it work?"

I turn to Emma confused, "So you know who I am but not how my power works." I exclaim

"I can't be bothered to learn every Nexogebics power, especially one so extravagant as you," she said exacerbated

"Your tone indicated that was supposed to be insulting, however, I am choosing to take it as a compliment. To answer your question since you are too lazy to do basic research my power is channeling Primal Elements that have combined with spirits to make armor, and weapons and increase my abilities. I also have some legendary forms based around mythical creatures but if I use those forms my opponent is trouble," I explained, like she was five but hey this blonde lady lost her right to complain when she insulted me. we get to the penthouse overlooking the massive view of the city and we all sit down.

"So how much money are we talking for helping you, and what would I be doing for it?" I ask Astrid excited

"Well you'd be head of Supernatural security for the event and making sure no one gets any ideas. As for payment how does 21k sound for the three weeks of filming and an additional 9k for the preproduction, and POS production (flights travel, etc.)? Also, there is a chance for a bonus if you intermingle with the girls seamlessly to not cause us fuss but that will be based on your performance." Astrid says

"That's tempting, but can I ask why you're not asking your last guy to do this," I ask

"He and I had a falling out of sorts. He didn't like changes in my personal life, and so I made an excision." Astrid says with an extremely rigid tone

I sigh and say, "Fine deal but based on the way you said all of that weird stuff you should just apologize." I reply

"Wait why?" Astrid asks

"Your diction about the whole thing was weird which to me implies you were close and you're trying to use weird jargon to not fall apart about it. So, my take is you should reach out, and see if he is willing to help you." I reply

Astrid looks at me with Narrow eyes, before saying "You are extremely presumptuous you know that right?"

"Okay and. I am just calling it as I see it. you don't get a lot of friends in your life. Especially long ones so keep them close and keep them happy. You'll live longer that way." I said annoyed. The room was silent except for Sakura who was laughing.

"How is he worse than TJ." I heard Emma whisper as the meeting ended as we all discussed setup and various emergency plans.

I turn to her and say, "I don't believe in obstruction of my path I walk forward. Based on your interactions it sounds like TJ plays the game more, " With that I exit the office. the smell of the two ladies competing perfumes made me irritated. As I wait for the elevator I hear a voice I don't recognize. I turn to see an absolute bombshell of a young lady walk to me.

"Oh thank you." the young woman says. her blonde bounces around her neck in cascading waves of gold. to distract myself and not be caught staring I pointed to Sakura and company who were close behind.

"I was waiting for them but you are welcome....um what's your name?"I ask

"Oh, Ahin." the young lady says with a smile.

"Oh like the Momoland Member," I say. the girl chuckles and then looks at me with sparkling eyes.

"Yes that's me she says." my eyes widened at that because my limited recollection of Ahin had more in line with the girl next door and not a vivacious vixen.

"You seem surprised."

"Well, the last time I heard or saw Momoland y'all were cuter...not...this( I say gesturing to her.)

"Do you not like all of this?" Ahin questioned as she gestured to all of her actively alluring curves. I sense the game she's playing but I am too stupid to play.

So my response is not the most Euridite, "Look I wasn't expecting you to be an absolute smoke show or babe okay." I sputter out.

Yunjin, and Connor both laugh at my crash and burn while Ahin just smiles and says, "So you think I am pretty like this."

I turn around confused before replying, "Yeah absolutely." before I can make a further fool of myself the elevator opens and my friends drag me out of the Elevator, but not before Ahin gets my number to all our surprise.

we get back in Connor's car and Yunjin says, "Huh would have never thought she'd be into a black guy." Sakura and Connor look at her wonky. She's from the east coast so I just expect outta line stuff from her. We get back to the apartment when I get a call from an unknown number.

“Hi Ho it's Cival.” I greet

“Hey Cival it’s Ahin wanna come to

A party with me?” the other voice asks. I remain silent for a moment most parties bore me as they only really lead to debauchery and not much else.

“Come on it will be fun. Plus I'll make it worth your while,” Ahin says

“Deal,” I say with no hesitation. I could almost hear Ahin smile over the phone.

“Perfect” the young lady on the other phone purrs. “Send me your address and I'll pick you up in 15 minutes,” Ahin says giddily.

“Okay,” I reply.

Sakura smirks after the call ends at me. I shrug

“Oh does little Civy have a date?” Yunjin teases.

“Kkura I'm still older than you, but no Ahin wants me to probably be her “guard dog at a party.”

“Why do you say that? She was totally into you earlier today” Yunjin laughs.

“Well, little sis I read her body language and it was less. Oh, he's cute and more hmm he's built menacingly but is an awkward dork. Which is the same look Astrid gave me when she saw me after the fight. So based on that and other previous experiences, she's going to use me as her guard dog.”

“So why did you say yes?” Connor asks confused.

“Either there's going to be pretty girls, Food, or Excitement that I don't have to pay for. all I have to do is play the lost puppy role it's a win-win.” I elaborate

Yunjin’s eyes narrow before she says, “I can't tell if that is insanely smart or insanely dumb.”

“It's probably both,” I reply before taking a quick nap.

I wake up to my phone going off and I go down to the apartment lobby to meet Ahin. Upon entering the car I see Ahin is with a guy. The way they're attached makes me assume they are together (or en route to it) I sit in the back and the man who looks about Connor or Siyeon’s age says, “he looks a lot less goofy than you said earlier Ahin.”

Ahin looks back at me. I smile and wave hiding my confusion.

“Will there be food at this party by chance I'm starving?” I ask

The man nods and chuckles “Yes but you're going to need a suit for this party though. I nod and teleport back to my apartment to get the suit, shave, shower, etc, and put the suit on before I teleport back to the car to both of my companion's surprise.

“Neat trick,” Ahin says with a smirk. I chuckle and as we drive a bit more

Ahin noticed I was fidgeting with something and turned back to me

“Nervous," she says with a head tilt that is somewhere between flirty and friendly

I nod lightly, Ahin smiles pleasantly and reaches out her hand. I take it. "it will be fine. You will fit in, and if not you can just teleport out of there."

"You're right," I said which made Ahin smile. She took her hand back as she sat forward and she took my card.

Ahin looks at the card confused, and says as she turns back"Imperial Mega Dragon. Is this a part of a game or toy?"

"Not exactly" I respond and before she can ask more questions we arrive at the party which turns out to be more of a gala/ball. I walk in with Ahin, and her significant other and they guide me to… I squint and see that it's Kim Lip of ARTMS. Kim lip looks at me shyly but Ahin consoles her.

“See Lippie told you I'd find a nice piece of arm candy for you tonight,” Ahin says with reckless energy

“He is also foreign so he can't bore you too much.” I notice Ahin whisper before turning back to me and her date waving at the two of us. we follow the girls in. Kim Lip and I look at each other. As a fan of Loona, I knew that she spoke a lot through nonverbal communication. So it made sense that when I saw her stealing glances at me they were often accompanied by questioning looks.

“Aye don't worry it will be fine,” I tell her.

[turtletaubwrites]

✨1,000 Followers Celebration!!✨

I can't describe how much being part of this community has meant to me. The first fic I posted here was in November in the middle of some major health and life crises (which I talk about in my about me post if you'd like to know), and I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through it without all of your support and encouragement, as well as all the laughs and good times that y'all have shared with me.

It blows my mind that there are 1,000 of you here 🤯🤯🤯 I'm so grateful for all the love, it means the world to me! 🖤🙏🏼

Here's what I've got going on:

I wanted to plan something extra special for this milestone, but y'all have been following me faster than I can write! For the 900 milestone I decided to circle back around to Numbers Game since it was the most requested fic, and I'm so happy that the bad men of the Cross Guild seem to be hitting the spot 😅

WIP Updates

I keep my current and upcoming wips + announcements listed on my pinned Masterlist post, and here's what I've got at the moment:

Numbers Game ~ Part 13 will be out later today!

Current WIPS: Numbers Game 14, and We've All Got Needs 28 Upcoming WIPS: Misty Eyes 6, 1 request, Wrong Side of the Bars 2, a few WAGN extra scenes, and 4 requests that came in while they were closed) Announcements: Requests will remain closed until I complete the next batch of Numbers Game, as well as the requests on my list. I'm sorry for the delay, I keep turning them into multi-chaptered fics! If you've submitted a request, know that it is on my list, and I've already started outlining!

New Fic Rec Masterlist

I have been reading some amazing fics lately, please check out my new Fic Rec Masterlist, and show the authors some love!!

Fic & Personal Playlists

I never made playlists for writing until I was tagged in an ask game, and it was so fun! Typically my brain will only let me listen to the same 1-10 songs over and over for a month or more, lol. So in addition to the fic playlists I'm starting, I've made a playlist of my current hyperfixation songs if you'd like to check in on the sounds looping through my head that week 😅 Plus a dump playlist where I'm slowly adding all the past hyperfixation songs I can remember because sometimes I need to pull one back in when there's a void, lol. I love getting song recs too! This reminds me of hooking up my dingy little ipod nano (that I still have, his name is Desmond 🥰) to all of my friend's computers to steal their music since I couldn't afford to buy my own 😅

TurtleTaub Current Hyperfixation Playlist TurtleTaub All the Fixation's Playlist Misty Eyes ~ Law x Reader Playlist Bend Until You Break ~ Playlist More to come, and feel free to send me song recs, they make me so happy 🥰🎶

Next Fic Poll

To celebrate this milestone I'm going to write one of the requests/wips of your choice that I've got on the books next.

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 | ko-fi |

[suratan-zir]

long rant, very personal

nothing new honestly, I know y'all are sick of hearing the same lame story over and over again

sorry

You know how sometimes certain sounds, images or even smells can evoke some nostalgic memories from the past? It happens to everyone, right? To me, it doesn't matter if these flashbacks good or bad, it means I'm screwed either way. It's even worse when the memories are happy, because so many things are gone forever and there is no going back.

Recently I've been playing sims, and they were listening to the radio. I forgot that a long time ago I put some of my favorite songs in one of the folders, so the "Pop" station in the game has some real songs along with Simlish ones. I haven't listened to some of those songs in years.

Then that one song started playing, and an entire part of my life flashed before my eyes. I listened to that song a lot while on the road, during my weekly travels from my hometown in Donetsk oblast (where I was born and lived 'till I was 16) to Donetsk city, where my grandmother and other relatives lived, and where I attended some courses before the uni. I also listened to it on the road to another town, where my other grandma and my best girl friend lived, so I visited her every long holiday.

Why all these boring details are significant in any way?

Both intercity bus stations in Donetsk, which used to be my destination, no longer exist. "Zapadnyi" and "Pulitovskyi" they were called. "Zapadnyi" was located near the airport, so it was completely destroyed in battles for Donetsk airport back when russia first invaded us, in 2014. It wasn't even fully finished before being destroyed.

No buses or passengers there anymore.

"Pulitovskyi" station was not that far too, russian militants even blew up the bridge connecting the station with the city. To be honest, even when I lived in Donetsk, I no longer visited that part of the city, it was just too sad.

I know that it's not important on a surface level, all these places are just decorations, it's not the end of the world. But our memories, our lives consist of such decorations, random places on the map. When everything around falls apart and changes so suddenly, it feels weird and disorienting, most of the time I try to avoid direct contact with these changes, but I can't control my memory.

Fast forward to today, I will probably never be able to return to the city that I used to love so much. And my grandma no longer lives in Donetsk, she's "russian" now, along with brainwashing that often comes with such status. You already know it if you for some reason read my posts. She thinks that russia and putin are saving and liberating us here in Ukraine. I no longer call her "grandma" or call her at all, I have her blocked on my phone, our chat deleted. Funny enough, my ex friend also lives in russia now. Or so she was the last time I checked.

My other grandma from the town in Donetsk oblast left the country and is a refugee now. I have so many great memories of that town, if the russians will advance further in the Donbas (which they are trying to do) the town will become another Bakhmut, Vuhledar, etc. This is Mar'inka now, very close to the aforementioned town:

(and yes, this is a russian tank firing at a house, or what's left of it)

There was a town, now it's a lifeless desert.

I don't have that many memories, because I never had too much going on in my life. I know, it's embarrassing. Not only have I never been to other countries, I haven't even traveled much in Ukraine. My whole life until 2021 was in the Donbas region. Even my vacations were there, we didn't have money to travel. Every summer we would go to the Azov sea, which is now completely under the control of russia. What I wouldn't give to be once again on the shore of that godforsaken sea, even though I can now afford something better. I remember its smell and miss it so much. I was 18 when russia first came to my home to tear it apart. I couldn't live normally, I couldn't plan anything, I couldn't even buy furniture for my apartment because I only dreamt about leaving, and it was impossible to bring anything big with us through all the military posts from Donetsk. Years later, when we thought we are about to finally start living, traveling, enjoying everything that was taken from us for so long… yeah, you know the story.

Now life suddenly seems so short, it's passing by and I'm helpless to change anything. I'm so sick of living through this shit. Sick of the russians stealing my youth, my life, our lives, poisoning our memories, ruining everything around us.

I swear, I held it together before that fucking song started playing. I probably shouldn't post this, I have to at least disable reblogging, it's too embarrassing.

[apictureofelizabethdarcy]

Y'all. I might be a little emotional tonight due to the overlap of post-period blues and being very very sick, but like... I am so excited for this new wave of PJO love. Because those books meant and continue to mean so damn much to me.

When I was 10 years old, I my dad bought the boxed set of the first four for me from a Scholastic book order. The last Olympian hadn't come out yet - it came out a month later. My dad chose it for me because it had Greek mythology, and I was going through a mythology phase at the time. I didn't know what he ordered, because he filled out the forms and sealed the envelope after my brother and I went to bed, and I took them to school the next day like a dutiful kid. When they came in, I had no idea what to expect, but I ended up devouring them. Because they made me feel seen in a way I never had before.

TW: adults not being assholes about neurodiversity, brief mentions of sexual harrassment and bullying, brief vague mention of self-harm, death of a loved one

You need to understand that at this time, I was your stereotypical "gifted" kid - undiagnosed dyslexic autistic with OCD and ADHD comorbidities. We lived in a super tiny rural town (like 16 people in my graduating class tiny) with very limited internet access (I had dial-up until I was 13) and virtually no support for my needs even if I had been diagnosed. The first time I had a meltdown from sensory overload, I couldn't stop crying and went catatonic - rather than being comforting, my teacher grabbed me by the shoulders and condescendingly asked if I'd "gone off my meds or something" and told me to pull it together. I also hit puberty super early, and was being sexually harrassed daily because of it, and nobody did anything about it. Not my teachers, not the principal, no one. When I told my parents, I was accused of being "melodramatic" and "overreacting." I learned pretty early that adults couldn't be trusted.

And then came Percy Jackson. And for the first time, I had a character like me - a nerd who played trading card games, who loved being in the water, who had ADHD and dyslexia. Who talked back and defended himself against the adults who talked down to him. And the whole story was about not being like your parents, about fighting for a better and more just world. A character who was powerful and funny and tough and whose disabilities were a part of his super power, not something to be overcome. And I fell in love with the series as a whole.

Like head over heels in love. It was embarrassing, actually. When I would lie awake at night, I would pretend that my parents weren't my real parents and that I was actually a child of Hermes who hadn't been claimed. I became obsessed with Ethan Nakamura - or at least, the self-indulgent, angst-and-lore fuelled fic version of him I created in my head. I started writing my diary entries pretending that I was Nico di Angelo. One of my first eer fanfics was just Clarisse and Percy talking and bonding over having shitty families, and her apologizing. It was VERY important to me that Clarisse be forgiveable back then. I sought out PerNico fanart when I was at the local library after school, and tried to create my own myth-o-magic cards but gave up when I couldn't figure out how to draw a manticore.

And then House of Hades came out two months before I turned 14. I borrowed my friend Axel's copy because I couldn't afford it, and oh boy did that hit me. I was going through a religious phase at the time but I was also coming into my bisexuality, and that caused a major personal crisis. So the scene with Cupid hit me really, really hard in a not good way. I remember sitting in my living room with my parents and brother while they watched Big Bang Theory, and I had to close the book and go to my room. I couldn't read for three days after that. But it also solidified my obsession with these books. 😅 A lot of other bad shit happened that year, to the point I started self-harming, and the PJO fandom provided comfort and community and distraction.

I spent the summer between eighth and ninth grade writing cringey Solangelo fic in which Will was a chronically barefoot Texas boy who got his first kiss playing truth or dare with Charlie Beckendorf. He liked Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, and they had their first dance to "Thinking Out Loud" while Lee played guitar by the fire. I set the wallpaper of my first ever cell phone to Nico fanart that I had to photograph because I didn't have internet access to download it. I played Paola Bennet's "Soldatino" on loop when I was having a bad day and pulled multiple all-nighters on my worst nights drawing PJO fanart.

Sword of Summer released my freshman year of high school. I borrowed a copy from an older boy I was hanging out with - I think his name was Michael? our friendship didn't last, but I'm grateful anway, because that book did. I had only been identifying as gender fluid for 9 months when that book came out, and my coming out was far from ideal. Meeting Alex was the coolest thing that could have happened to me. AND (s)he helped me to bond with my niece, who was 12 years old and already so much more aware than I had been at her age. I called her Magnus and she called me Alex - until we got the point in the book where they started dating.

And the summer after high school was super traumatic. I spent my summer helping my grandfather take care of my grandmother while on home hospice. It was emotionally draining, because this woman had as big a hand in raising me as my mother, but as the end got closer, she got mean and then violent. I was watching her die in slow motion, and it fucked me up big time. But during our moments of quiet, when she would be asleep and my grandfather was out in the garden, I would read Trials of Apollo, and even though those books hurt so deeply, it helped break me out of my numbness, and provided some great laughs along the way.

And when I got to college, the Riordanverse was one of the first things that helped me bond with the people who would become some of my best friends! I'll never forget sitting at the Rachel Carson dining room debating the phylogeny of sandwiches and discussing Red Pyramid with Sage and Kailtyn. I even tried (unsuccessfully) to make us Camp Halfblood T-shirts for candlenights one year. 😅

I know there are parts of the books that are problematic. But I also love this fandom so, so much, and I am so glad that it was able to touch so many of us. I still lay awake dreaming of Camp Halfblood. Of capture the flag and the rock wall of death, of blue coca cola and jelly beans. I buy blue Takis whenever I see them because they remind me of Percy. I can't drive past our local dam without snickering over the "dam snackbar." I know how much this series meant to my little queer neurodivergent heart, and I am really excited for the younger generation who may be discovering this world for the first time.

[ase-trollplays]

When We Were Kids (Part Two)

There, d'y'all feel better now that yer big strong moirail's gotcha in her arms-- Er, arm. Fuckin' hell, this is gon' take forever ta get used ta.

...yeah... i feel a little better... ...what about you though?... ...i know it hurt to adjust yourself...

Yeh, but it ain't nothin' I couldn't handle. Y'all just heard what I been through, an' that was when I was a wriggler. I'm built warship tough.

...hehehe... s-sure you are...

Are y'all laughin' at yer moirail? Ya don't believe I'm tough as they come?

...its a little hard to believe when a few pokes can take you out...

Yeh, well I ain't gon' be this sore ferever. Matter a fact, I think I'm already on the mend.

...s-so you can s-suplex dantli through the floor when he gets back?...

Gimme another night'r two an' I'll be judo flippin' him out a window. I'll do it with one arm.

...just clean up the glass afterwards... ...i dont want mom or any of us getting cut on it...

Yeh, yeh, I know. ... So, since we're sharin' wrigglerhood stories, I'd love ta hear what yer growin' sweeps were like.

...compared to what you told me... my childhood was completely wonderful... ...i cant complain about anything...

This ain't a game a trauma poker where we gotta one-up who grew up worse. No one with a perfect childhood grows up ta be a depressed adult who hates everythin' about herself. Y'ain't gotta tell me shit if ya don't wanna. I know yer not the kinda person who likes talkin' about herself.

...no... no... its fine... ...you told me everything about yourself... s-so its only fair i tell you what growing up was like for me too...

...i was always s-small and not very s-strong... ...im pretty s-sure i was a runt when i was a grub... and i wasnt much better after i pupated... ...i dont remember the trials... but what i do remember is being completely terrified... ...i probably just barely made it out...

...i was s-so s-scared of other people... ...it didnt even matter what caste... ...lower castes could kill me with their psionics... and higher castes are just plain s-stronger than me... and s-some like purples and cobalts have psychic powers... ...on top of that... if one of them killed me it would be justified because im lower on the s-spectrum than them...

...mom went with me everywhere when i left my hive... ...s-she was s-scared for my s-safety because i would be s-so easy to kill... ...s-she always told me to run if i got into trouble because im too weak to put up a fight... ...in hindsight... s-she s-shouldnt have been s-so coddling... ...it only hurt me in the end... but its not her fault... ...s-she was s-scared just like i was... and s-she wanted me to be s-safe more than anything... ...s-she just did what s-she thought was best...

Sounds like ya coulda used a lusus like my pa. He's a hardass who don't coddle'r or baby anyone. My first fights growin' up were with him cuz he didn't want me ta grow up weak an' defenseless. Bein' the lowest a the low castes, I couldn't afford not ta be if I wanted ta survive.

Ah fuck, sorry, I didn't mean ta interrupt.

...your fine... dont worry...

...anyways... when i was three s-sweeps old... i met s-sonja... ...he tried to... ...he tried to kill himself jumping off the cliff my hive's built into... but it wasnt high enough for the impact to kill him... ...he got injured very badly... and he managed to find the hatch leading into the maze and climbed in...

...i dont know how long he was there before i found him that night... but when i s-saw him... i was pale at first s-sight... ...at least... i thought i was... ...looking back on it... it was just s-strong platonic pity...

...he was a mess... hes only a s-sweep older than me... but he was s-suffering s-so much... ...his personality was s-splitting... and it ruined the few friendships he had... ...he was having trouble coping with basically becoming two different people... and having to go through it all alone... s-so he tried to end it... ...when he s-saw me... he demanded i finish the job and kill him... ...he s-said i had to do it because hes a highblood... s-so i have to do whatever he s-says...

...obviously i refused... but i s-stayed with him and talked to him until he calmed down... ...after that... i s-started taking care of him... ...it felt like my responsibility s-since he didnt have anyone else other than his lusus... and im s-supposed to always help highbloods because im just a midblood...

...once he was healed... he insisted that we were meant to be together... and it was no accident that we found each other... ...our meeting was pure fate... just like moirails are meant to be 'fated allies'... ...i admitted that i wanted to keep him company and keep helping him s-since he was all alone... and i was afraid that he would try to kill himself again if i left... ...s-so we agreed to be moirails...

...he was incredibly doting and s-sweet... ...both halves of him were... ...he went out of his way to s-spoil me and protect me... and i was s-someone he could confide in and trust and rely on for s-support... ...honestly... if i didn't have his protection growing up... i dont think i would have s-survived to adulthood... ...at his insistence... i never went anywhere without him just in case things went wrong... and he s-saved me a lot...

...we were happy... but we were terrible for each other in reality... ...just like my lusus... he reinforced that im helpless and weak and fragile... s-so i didnt learn how to defend myself much and become more independent... ...at the s-same time... i was too coddling of him and never reinforced boundaries... s-so he got used to always being my priority and having all of my attention at a moment's notice... ...we were only four and three s-sweeps and too immature to be in a relationship... but we didnt know that at the time... and we both ended up worse for it...

...i internalized that i cant do anything on my own... and i felt even worse about being s-such a 'bad' troll and the complete opposite of how were taught to be... ...i felt worthless... but helping s-sonja gave me a purpose and made me feel like i was doing s-something important... ...which turned into the depression i have now... ...im not s-sure he even noticed how i felt...

Prolly cuz he was so damn obsessed with himself and his own feelin's that he wasn't payin' attention ta yers, cuz that's the kinda impression I'm gettin' a this guy.

...yeah... i know that now... but back then i just s-shrugged it off...

...once we were about eight and nine s-sweeps... he s-started depending on me a little bit less... and i was finally able to make my own friends outside of him...

Wait, y'all didn't have no friends that whole time?? Fer five sweeps!? He hogged all a yer attention fer that long!!? An' that didn't set off red flags??

...like i s-said... i didnt know any better... ...i thought that was just part of being s-someones moirail... ...even once i s-started making my own friends... he had to be my priority at all times... and i accepted that because that had been my normal for s-so long... s-so it didnt s-seem problematic...

...it didnt become a problem until i met dantli... and we s-started to become flushed... ...now i had s-someone else that was a priority in my life... and i couldnt always drop everything to run to s-sonja whenever he called anymore... ...i wouldnt s-say he was livid... but he didnt take having to s-share me well at all... ...he would get incredibly jealous... which made him clingier and more demanding... which in turn made dantli upset... and he would get jealous and clingy too...

...i was constantly caught in the middle of them... which only made my anxiety and depression worse... ...it finally came to a head when i was badly injured when i was nine... and they both insisted on taking care of me... ...they were constantly at each others throats and competing with each other over who was the better caretaker... ...eventually enough was enough... and i had to make a choice...

...at this point... id been telling s-sonja for at least half a s-sweep that his overdependence on me was making me uncomfortable... ...after developing healthy friendships with other people and s-seeing how a good relationship is s-supposed to work... i realized what i had with him was deeply unhealthy... ...however... he kept making excuses and trying to justify his behavior... s-sometimes even going s-so far as to s-say his life wouldnt mean anything if i wasnt in it... and that s-scared me... ...but i just couldnt do it anymore... s-so i broke up with him...

Surprised he didn't do somethin' stupid like kidnappin' ya or tryin' ta kill Dan an' gettin' squashed fer his troubles. Seems like the type that ain't gon' take bein' dumped with dignity, 'specially if he was attached ta y'all at the goddamn hip like he was.

...i actually got lucky... ...we had a mutual friend who was vacillating flush and pale for him... ...after i broke up with him... he went straight to her...

Hmph. Sounds like she was plannin' on bein' a li'l hivewrecker. She saw things was goin' sour an' was just bidin' her time 'til y'all broke up so she could swoop in an' take him fer herself.

...i dont think it was like that... but i was just relieved he had s-someone who would be able to keep an eye on him...

An' yet he's still bummin' around ya. Why're ya even givin' him the time a night still after he spent yer whole childhood abusin' ya?

...its complicated... ...and he wasnt abusing me... ...we were just two kids who didnt know what we were doing and ended up hurting each other...

He manipulated ya, kept ya isolated fer sweeps, constantly put ya down an' made ya feel helpless an' worthless, an' then threatened ta off himself if ya didn't stay. He. Abused. You. Y'ain't gotta make excuses fer him. He's an abuser.

...kamava s-said the s-same thing...

Exactly. So why're ya still entertainin' him? 'Specially after he was stalkin' ya last sweep?

...that was the other one... ...the one ive been s-seeing is more mature and rational... and he goes out of his way to never hurt or be a threat to me... ...he always makes s-sure i have complete control and make the final decisions...

Uh huh. An' y'all believe him?

...yes... ...i cant trust the other half of him... and i know he s-still hates me for leaving him... but the good half of him is completely trustworthy and reliable...

I'll believe it when I see it. I'd say I don't trust him far as I can throw him, but seein' as he's a shrimp, I bet I could chuck him pretty dang far. If he starts givin' ya trouble again--

...no... corali... ...youve done enough trying to hurt people on my behalf...

Yeah, but he ain't fleet, so I ain't in any danger. ... He ain't fleet, right?

...no... but that doesnt matter... ...i dont want you... or danny... or anyone else getting involved... ...just trust me...

I do trust y'all. it's him I don't trust. Ya sure ya can handle him if he decides ta fuck around? Y'ain't immune ta mental bullshit like I am. If he decides ta voodoo yer brain, can ya defend yerself?

...

That silence ain't assurin'. I ain't telling ya ta never ever see him again if yer sure about this. Just. If shit goes sideways, let one a us know the second it does.

... ...okay...

Ya promise?

...i promise...

Good. I love ya. <>

...i love you too... <>

[damntheygotme]

once again thinking abt @digitalstowaway trophy husband miles au and systematically making my way through all the posts bc I love them all sm

taylor swift’s mastermind is such a wrightworth in trophy husband miles au song and i am going to lose my mind over it under the cut

just!!!! i dont recall exactly how and when phoenix and miles meet again in this au. but what i do remember is at some point, theyre engaged, and miles is still--wary, if thats the right word?--when it comes to his partners. he is not in love, can not afford to be in love, seems to operate under leaving before he can get left (although there have been some instances where he has been left) and when he is with phoenix, there is a period of time where he has not accepted his feelings and actually tries at some point to do the same things that have driven other boyfriends away--but phoenix doesn't get driven away. miles is tearing up the floorboards and phoenix just gets down and helps him. so its just, the first bit of the song:

Once upon a time, the planets and the fates And all the stars aligned You and I ended up in the same room At the same time

its striking, to me, because maybe miles didnt intend to run into phoenix, maybe he did, i dont exactly remember, however, when they do meet, miles doesnt waste time getting on that, on phoenix being his next boyfriend-to-fiance.

And the touch of a hand lit the fuse Of a chain reaction of countermoves To assess the equation of you Checkmate, I couldn't lose

it literally is move against move. miles doesnt expect this to last so he at least expects to get whatever he can out of this relationship. he's not losing, this is a game only franziska (and possibly his exes) know he's playing.

What if I told you none of it was accidental And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me? I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork The dominoes cascaded in a line

NONE OF IT WAS ACCIDENTAL!

What if I told you I'm a mastermind? And now you're mine It was all by design 'Cause I'm a mastermind

Miles thinking back, when he's starting to realize he may have actual Feelings™ after Phoenix finds him and comforts him through a breakdown instead of writing him off as hysterical and overly emotional like past boyfriends have, that hey, this might mean something to Miles, but would knowing it wasn't ever meant to, change phoenix's mind?

'Cause we were born to be the pawn In every lover's game

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail Strategy sets the scene for the tale I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails And the liquor in our cocktails

AND. AND THE JUSTIFICATION TO HIMSELF, THE PAST EXPERIENCES BLEEDING INTO FUTURE ONES, AFFECTING HIM IN THE PRESENT.

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since To make them love me and make it seem effortless This this the first time I've felt the need to confess And I swear I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care

OKAY but, back to past experiences affecting how he acts and handles relationships later, but also. No one wanting to play with him as a little kid, except, Phoenix and Larry always did. Bringing all that back, Miles struggling with the realization that he wants this to last, wants to actually marry Phoenix maybe, feels like he might owe Phoenix the truth.

So I told you none of it was accidental And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me I laid the groundwork and then saw a wide smirk On your face, you knew the entire time

AND DOES HE?? DOES HE COME CLEAN??? DOES PHOENIX SMILE??? DID HE KNOW THE ENTIRE TIME???

You knew that I'm a mastermind And now you're mine Yeah, all you did was smile 'Cause I'm a mastermind

literally so obsessed with this au, y'all dont even know

[pastelwitchling]

“It’s cloudy, cold and I have a sleeping love of my life in my arms, go find someone else to play your alien catcher games,” Michael whisper yelled and hung up.

When Michael had woken up to a sleeping Alex’s face inches away from his own, he’d been afraid he was dreaming. But as he traced Alex’s cheek with the back of his fingers now and Alex made a soft sound at the back of his throat like a disturbed kitten and burrowed deeper into the warmth of Michael’s chest, as the memory of what they’d done last night and how close they’d been and the time they’d taken to explore every inch of one another’s skin, for once in no hurry, a smile of awe tugged at Michael’s lips.

The wind howled outside, unable to touch them here under the heavy duvet Alex had brought over last night because he’d wanted to make sure Michael was staying warm, and Michael let his hand fall down Alex’s shoulder, his arm, silently reveling in the way Alex shuddered in his sleep and curled up even closer, leaving no room between them.

Alex must’ve been exhausted if even Michael’s quiet giggles into the crook of his neck as he hugged him unbearably close couldn’t wake him. Or maybe, Michael thought, he had worn him out last night. The thought made him bite his lower lip and press his face to Alex’s neck and inhale. He was tired himself, easily able to go back to sleep for several more hours, but he didn’t want to stop staring at Alex. He had neverseen Alex sleep before, never gotten the chance to watch him, to touch his body and watch the way he reacted even in his dreams.

At one point, Alex started twitching slightly, his brows pinched. He made a quiet whimpering sound, turning his head left and right. Nightmares. Michael remembered Alex talking about this once before he seemed to realized he’d mentioned them at all and dismissed Michael’s concerns. Because that was Alex, wasn’t it? Nothing ever hurt him. He couldn’t affordto let anything hurt him.

Michael wouldn’t have that. He pressed his lips to Alex’s ear and softly shushed him, his other finger tracing a line from Alex’s brow down to the tip of his nose and back up again.

“Shh,” he whispered as softly as he could. “You’re okay, Alex. You’re safe here. You’re with me.”

“My Michael,” Alex murmured in a breath barely quieter than a whisper, as if every part of his mind yearned for Michael to be closer, before he pushed his face into Michael’s chest hair and his breaths settled again.

“Yeah, baby,” Michael murmured against Alex’s lips. “Your Michael.”

He opened his mouth against Alex’s, leaning in to kiss him, when his phone buzzed on the counter behind their heads. Alex flinched at the sudden sound, whimpering ever so slightly, before Michael levitated the phone right into his hand and answered his sister through grit teeth.

“What?” he hissed.

“I need you at the Crashdown,” Isobel said. “Max and Liz might have a trail on Jones and Rosa’s working on hearing frequencies.”

Michael shook his head. “Great, sounds like you’ve got everything taken care of. I’ll see you in five hours.” He looked down at Alex, his naked torso, his strong arms, his rosy cheeks and lips. His mouth watered at the thought of what they would do when he woke up. “Make that seven.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Isobel said sarcastically, “did you forget that there’s an evil alien with our brother’s face going around killing people?”

“Alex has a radar set up to find him,” Michael said, unable to help the smugness in his voice. “Tuned in to his frequency and his particular signature. He’s also got an alert system set up so if it finds anything, we’ll know. That said, good night.”

“It’s seven in the morning!”

“Not for us,” he argued.

“Michael!”

“Listen, it’s cloudy, cold, and I have the love of my life sleeping in my arms,” he whisper-yelled. “Go find someone else to play your little alien catcher games,” and he hung up.

Letting his phone float back to the counter, Michael snuggled back down until he was comfortably curled up with Alex again. He was just starting to heave a long breath when heavy knocks came at the door.

“MICHAEL!” Isobel’s voice sounded. “You are not sleeping in when Rosa needs your help, OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR!”

Alex flinched, his eyes flying open this time as he sat upright.

“No no no,” Michael murmured, taking Alex’s groggy face in his hands and pulling him in.

“What’s happening?” Alex mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“It’s okay, go back to sleep, everything’s –”

“Michael!”

Alex turned in the direction of the door, brows furrowed. “Is that Isobel?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Open up!”

“What’s wrong with her?” Alex started to get out of bed.

“Do not get out of bed!”

“Guerin,” he said, more awake now, “she could need help.”

“Who cares?!”

Alex pulled on a pair of briefs, Michael’s pair of briefs, which made Michael die all over again, and opened the door to Isobel’s knocking.

Isobel’s fist was up mid-knock, and her eyes widened at the sight of Alex, half-naked, in front of her.

“Oh my god,” she muttered, “you really are here. Oh my god,” she repeated, her wide eyes raking Alex’s body up and down. Michael felt a possessiveness force him out of bed in one step. Isobel reached out as if to touch his pecs. “You – uh – sure you’re completelygay?”

Michael came in between them at the last second, keeping Alex behind him, his grip on his arm tight. “Yes,” he said through grit teeth. “Don’t touch him. Nobody touches him but me.”

Isobel raised a brow, unimpressed, and Alex sighed, a half-amused, half-exasperated smile tugging at his lips.

“Oh,” he said. “It’s one of those mornings. I’ll get dressed.”

“What?” Michael whipped around. “No, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Actually, if Alex comes, then you could stay in bed,” Isobel told Michael with a self-satisfied grin. “Isn’t that what you want?”

“I want to stay in bed with Alex,” Michael growled. “Alex, you don’t have to go anywhere, you’ve worked hard enough this week!” He stepped closer to Alex to keep Isobel from listening in, and lowered his voice. “After what happened with the Lockhart Machine –”

“Don’t do that,” Alex said, though everything about him was fond. He cupped Michael’s cheek. “I’m not made of glass, I can handle this.”

“I don’t want you to handle this,” Michael argued, gripping Alex’s waist to keep him here. “Please, Alex, I . . . just not yet. Just give us today. For me, please.”

And as always, Alex seemed able to see into his thoughts. I’m not ready to see you risk your life again, not so soon. You may be tough enough to handle it, but I’m not.

For a moment, Michael worried Alex would dismiss his concerns, tell him he was worrying for nothing. But then Alex’s shoulders fell, he gave a half, soft smile, and leaned in, kissing Michael’s lips. When he pulled back, he spoke to Isobel over Michael’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Isobel,” he said. “We can’t today.”

Isobel, who’d been watching the exchange, had her eyes narrowed, her brows furrowed in concern. She seemed to realize something horrible had happened recently, even if Michael was unwilling to talk about it. She nodded.

“Okay,” she said, then took a deep breath and repeated, “Okay. I’ll – uh – let everyone know it’s your day off. Sorry to wake you guys.” She turned, then stopped, and looked back at Alex. “So definitely gay then?”

“Get out!” Michael snapped as Alex burst into laughter behind him, clutching Michael’s shoulders to steady himself.

Isobel looked more put out that Alex was off limits than for anything else, and as soon as she had driven away, Michael shut the trailer door with his mind and picked Alex off the ground. He tossed him onto the bed and hovered above him. Alex’s eyes darkened as he gripped his arms, urging him closer.

Michael leaned in, pressing their foreheads together, taking just a few short seconds to reassure himself that Alex wasn’t on a ledge, but here, safe and sound in bed with him, before he bit Alex’s lower lip and grinded his hips down.

Alex’s lips parted in a moan and Michael took the opportunity to slot their mouths together. When he pulled back, Alex’s eyes were dazed and his cheeks were flushed.

“Guess I’m just gonna have to wear you out again,” he breathed, and kissed Alex’s eager grin.

I deviated just a little bit, hope that's okay. Prompt requests have been permanently opened, y'all, but no promises on how quickly I will deliver them.

[thesociologicalcinema]

One of the most popular misconceptions about black history is that over time, America has gradually become less racist and more tolerant. That is not true. Since y'all want a BHM thread, here's a thread about the evolution of racism in America. First, let's dispel a few wrong beliefs. The first enslaved Africans did not arrive in 1619. They were just the first to arrive in the English colonies. Nearly a century earlier, in 1526, 600 Europeans founded the colony of San Miguel de Gualdape in what's now Georgetown, SC.

They brought enslaved Africans along with them too. But those slaves revolted damn near as soon as they arrived. That's right the first slave rebellion predates the Mayflower. Still, we must dispel another notion that American slavery was like British Slavery. Not quite. America's race-based slavery was different.

First of all, Great Britain never codified slavery into its laws. While it was never illegal, it was never illegal, it was never ensconced onto the Constitution like the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Secondly, the British slave trade wasn't exclusively race-based like America's. The British had enslaved people of every color, including buying slaves from the Barbary pirates, who enslaved people from Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa and even Asia. When the 20 & Odd Negroes arrived in America, there WERE some indentured servants already here.

But the TWICE-stolen Africans, who came here couldn't read, write or speak the language. So, instead of treating them like indentured servants who were providing free labor, these white Virginians changed the game. The African's didn't get contractual periods of servitude. This new brand of white people were like: "Freedom? Oh, we don't do that over here." Then in 1640, an enslaved African ran away, along with 2 European indentured servants. A Virginia court sentenced them to 30 lashes and extended the white dudes' period of servitude by 1 year.

But the black guy got a different sentence: "...and that the third being a negro named John Punch shall serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere." Remember, there were STILL more indentured white servants than enslaved blacks. In 1642 it got WORSE, not better, when the Virginia legislature declared that the children of enslaved black women would ALSO be enslaved. Then, those SC negroes made it even worse. In 1739, a group of enslaved Kongol soldiers formed their own army and started marching.One of the most popular misconceptions about black history is that over time, America has gradually become less racist and more tolerant. That is not true. Since y'all want a BHM thread, here's a thread about the evolution of racism in America. First, let's dispel a few wrong beliefs. The first enslaved Africans did not arrive in 1619. They were just the first to arrive in the English colonies. Nearly a century earlier, in 1526, 600 Europeans founded the colony of San Miguel de Gualdape in what's now Georgetown, SC.

They brought enslaved Africans along with them too. But those slaves revolted damn near as soon as they arrived. That's right the first slave rebellion predates the Mayflower. Still, we must dispel another notion that American slavery was like British Slavery. Not quite. America's race-based slavery was different.

First of all, Great Britain never codified slavery into its laws. While it was never illegal, it was never illegal, it was never ensconced onto the Constitution like the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Secondly, the British slave trade wasn't exclusively race-based like America's. The British had enslaved people of every color, including buying slaves from the Barbary pirates, who enslaved people from Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa and even Asia. When the 20 & Odd Negroes arrived in America, there WERE some indentured servants already here.

But the TWICE-stolen Africans, who came here couldn't read, write or speak the language. So, instead of treating them like indentured servants who were providing free labor, these white Virginians changed the game. The African's didn't get contractual periods of servitude. This new brand of white people were like: "Freedom? Oh, we don't do that over here." Then in 1640, an enslaved African ran away, along with 2 European indentured servants. A Virginia court sentenced them to 30 lashes and extended the white dudes' period of servitude by 1 year.

But the black guy got a different sentence: "...and that the third being a negro named John Punch shall serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere." Remember, there were STILL more indentured white servants than enslaved blacks. In 1642 it got WORSE, not better, when the Virginia legislature declared that the children of enslaved black women would ALSO be enslaved. Then, those SC negroes made it even worse. In 1739, a group of enslaved Kongol soldiers formed their own army and started marching.

As they marched, other enslaved Africans joined in. Led by a literate black man named Jemmy, they burned six plantations and killed two dozen white people. The Stono Rebellion scared so many white South Carolinians, they passed the Negro Act of 1740. It forbade slaves from gethering in one place, growing food and learning how to read. States across the South began passing similar laws. While outlawing reading and writing was significant, these laws had another provision.

They required communities to patrol for runaway slaves. SC had already created one of the nation's first slave patrols in 1704. But this time, they made it mandatory. In 1757, Georgia followed suit. In 1792, Ga even prohibited slaves from worshiping GOD. These slave patrol rolls were the bases of the state militias that fought in the Revolution. After America won the Revolutionary war, I'm sure slavery got better, right? As one well-known state senator from the great state of Maryland once said: "Sheeeeeit."

First, the states enshrined slavery into the Constitution. Many people point to the 3/5ths clause and forget about the FIRST restriction that the constitution placed on Congress in Article 1 Section 9: "We're gonna keep this slave trade thing going for at least 20 more years." This might not seem like a long time to you. But when the Constitution was ratified, the average life expectancy in the US was 38 years old. And, if you notice, the Constitution doesn't specifically mention the words "slavery" or "slave."

That's because the founders KNEW it was an evil institution. They KNEW it would eventually end. They just wanted to preserve it FOR THEM. Let's pause for a minute. Whenever we talk about black history and early America, we mention slavery. Some people will argue that America wasn't a white supremacist country. They'll even argue that slavery was a necessary evil. That should mean free black citizens had all the same rights as regular citizens, right? Hold up. Let me stop laughing.

This is the EXACT history that I'm talking about. The first free black people in the US had all the rights and privileges that were afforded everywhere else. There were places allowed black landowners to vote. By the Declaration of Independence, only white landowners could vote. Then the Constitution allowed states to choose, and most states allowed white landowners who owned a certain amount of property, but some, including NY, Penn and NJ, allowed free black property owners to vote. Then those states took THAT RIGHT away!

The 1790 Naturalization Act limited citizenship to any "free white person...of good character." By the time the Civil War rolled around, any white man could vote. SHOW ME WHERE WHITE SUPREMACY EVER DECREASED! At the end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment Abolished slavery, the 14th granted black people citizenship and the 15th guaranteed them the right to vote. A LOT of people believe this is when Jim Crow began. Those people are wrong. ~ @michaelharriot

[cinnamusings]

🃏 wade literally explodes in rage | uno

a list of sentence starters taken from one of markiplier’s uno videos !! feel free to change pronouns as needed !! warning: strong language, suggestive themes.

I have to log into the website?! Y'all are about to eat SHIT. File too small?! What?! Listen ___ not everyone's blessed with a normal-sized or enlarged file. Some of us just have small files. You shouldn't be ashamed of how small it is, it's okay. Good, good, that's good, that's good, that's good. Oh yeah, please, by all means. Yeah, we're not doing anything, it's fine, it's good. I mean, I approve of your message. Why am I alone in this lobby right now? Hey, toss me another one of those invites. Don't do it, no, not like this. I got online as soon as I exited the game? You can't agree with your own self! Stoooooop. Ooh look at that sweet plus four. Hey, everyone's having a good time now. It's always great when we're off to the most depressing start possible. Fuck yellow. Fuck the pee. What's a good color for you to punish him? Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, whoa. Let's not- Let's not do that, don't do that. That thing fucked you HARD. What is that GARBAGE?! Eat a giant dick. No, you're gonna appreciate this. You deserved that. I schemed so well, though. Remember that time that I schemed it? Oh thank God for you, __. You're a god among men. Oh, well, that didn't work out very well. Oh, I forgot how this game works, actually. Yeah, you just stick with us and don't... leave. I'm like a vampire, I can't enter the lobby until I get an invite. You'll never trust me ever again! I thought we were never playing [game] again! Listen, hey, hang on a minute. Dude, bro... IT'S YOUR FUCKIN' HAND. Eat a giant pile of SHUT THE FUCK UP. No, stop! Don't look, it's private! *various sounds of disapproval* I just took the biggest dickins. Oh, man, we were buddies on that one. You act like I have a choice in anything I do. Oh, wow, you did it just for me! This is what you signed up for! The swippity swap. Oh this hand is so fuckable. Whoa, that's aggressive. I don't understand what's happening. That's unfriendly, that's aggressive. You're such an uplifting, happy dude. Oh, I'm fuckin' happy as a fuckin' lark. You're always happiest when you curse. You know me, when I'm out there getting the dickins, I'm really giving it. I can't afford yellow stuff. You know how much more expensive yellow stuff is than other stuff. This fucking happy cheerful music bullshit. Like a fucking violin in the cello of night! You just gotta take the good with the bad, man. Come on Dr. Phil, lay it on me! When you feel this rage, ask yourself "Who am I really mad at?" You're projecting, you're deflecting, you're defending. I am fucking responsible as shit. That feels so good in my goddamn loins. I thought we were all just gonna fuck each other there, but I guess not. I was ready for the fuckening.

[lilyharvord]

Do you in red queen univeres is like harry potter. The silvers are like the pureblood family. Mare is a newblood like being a muggles born witch and Julian is more like Dumbledor or the Weasley what do you think?

I'm gonna say the universe itself does seem to lend itself to those categories! Or sub-catagories! It also very easily lends itself to a Hogwarts AU! PREPARE FOR AN AU UNDER THE READ MORE

I mean, Mare seeing her favorite big brother Shade receive a super pretty envelope from this strange school saying he is a wizard and is being offered a position in that school? Going to Diagon Alley with her family and Shade picking out a owl, and old faded robes cause he family really can't afford anything else. Then her hugging him tightly as he has one foot on this strange train and one foot on the strange platform that they had to run through a brick wall to get to?! Holding his hand through the window and running along side the train as he promises to write her every week before she runs out of platform and has to stop as the train pulls away and he is waving and smiling wildly at her. Her little hand slowly falling from her wave to be by her side and she wishes desperately to be on that train with him? ONLY TO RECEIVE HER VERY OWN PRETTY LETTER THE NEXT SUMMER? She gets to do the whole process! And she has all these fantasies about what it will be like based on the letters Shade sent her all last year. She wants an owl, or a salamander, or something like that. And she want to play the strange quidditch game he mentions. She wants to run up and down staircases that change. When she gets on the train with him, she practically pulling out of her mom's arms, and almost forgets to hug a very upset Gisa goodbye.

On the train, Shade tells her all the details, introduces her to his friends: ketha (a second year like him), Ada (a sixth year), and Farley (a second year that Mare is incredibly intimidated by until she sees Shade heart eyeing her every two seconds).

They tell her about the houses. Shade is more than proud to be sorted into Hufflepuff even though Farley teases him about it and Ada only smiles at the whole thing. But they all get quiet about Slytherin. It's not a house you want to be in, Shade says quietly. Mare doesn't quite understand. Cunning? what's so bad about being that? Smart and quick witted? Hell, there's nothing wrong with it.

Then she meets them. The Slytherins. And she sees why she shouldn't be a part of that House. But then she meets the strange, dark haired, blue eyed boy at the back of the group with her, who tries to sit in a boat alone until Mare clambers in behind him, cursing the fact that her socks got wet and they're going to be gross and her shoes will squelch while she walks. He seems a little uncomfortable around her big personality until she introduces herself, and he smiles and shakes her hand, quietly introducing himself as Maven. Nothing more. Mare doesn't mind, loads of people don't give their last names.

Then she's in the Great Hall, underneath the Sorting Hat, Shade smiling at her like a fiend from the Hufflepuff table while Maven is already sitting at the Slytherin one, slouched and looking just a bit upset. (It's not what you think y'all. it's because CAL's a Gryfindor, and their dad was too and he still wants to get his fathers love, and he pretty much just CEMENTED the fact that he won't get it now.) Mare sees him, and the Sorting Hat huffs and says, making friends already? Mare frowns and then thinks back it: he's lonely. And the hat laughs before saying: loyal then, hufflepuff might do you well. She makes a face and it laughs once again when she thinks: I can do better than that. And it seems to nod in understanding before standing upright and announcing SLYTHERIN. Maven sits up taller as Mare leaps down from the stool and runs to him with a big, shit eating grin on her face. Shade goes a little pale in the face but smiles at her nonetheless. It's his baby sister, and if she's happy, he is too.

She's very happy. Slytherin isn't all that bad. Maven's her friend and he's a very good one. He's smart as a tack, and knows all these neat tricks to get through work. But its when they go out to fly on the brooms where they differ finally. Maven is... not a fan of being off the ground. Mare... she could live up there. She tries to get him interested but he jut won't have it, preferring to bury his nose in books and study. (Mare wonders why he wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw like Ada, but she shrugs it off).

It's one day when they're all out walking and that girl Evangeline starts teasing some kid and throws his whatever in the air that things finally get interesting for Mare. In a very impressive showing of skill, she catches this tiny object while flying. IMMEDIATELY, the captain of the Slytherin team wants her as his Seeker. Its UNHEARD OF everyone argues. NO FIRST YEARS allowed! But it's vetoed, and Mare is allowed to play. Shade is more than proud, puffing out his chest, and forcing her to walk around with him so he can introduce her to his class and everyone as the youngest Seeker in years.

It's after she is sneaking out of the Gryffindor tower one night, having stayed to talk with Shade and Farley who is finally losing some of her Ice Queen exterior and even cracked a smile at one of Mare's jokes, that she almost gets in trouble. She is sprinting down the stairs of the tower when she runs smack into someone so they both end up tumbling down the stairs and hitting the back of the Fat Lady's portrait when they land. She stumbles over apologies, trying to grab her things in the dark (and pocketing one or two of his by accident), when she looks up. She's seen him before, she know she has, but can't remember from where. Plus, it's a little dark and she can't see him all that clearly. He's sitting there, tie undone, and shirt all messed up from falling, and rubbing the back of his head where it hit the back of the portrait when he looks at her. HE knows her. This the girl who is the youngest Seeker in years! They blink at each other, and she tries to take off, but he grabs her wrist, keeping ahold of her as he says: Thief! when he realizes she grabbed a few of his things. She looks down at the mess of things in her arms, and then frowns at him before saying, No! These are my things! he pulls out his wand and book from her hands and she's like: okay, well, those aren't mine, but whatever. And he smiles at her as he stands and she's suddenly craning her neck to look up at him, and LORD ABOVE what did he eat as a child?! She squints up at him, still trying to place him when he shifts his things to his other arm and holds out a hand for her to shake. She looks at it, and then takes it slowly. His grip is so warm and comforting, but not sweaty like some of the other boys her age. He shakes her hand and introduces himself as Cal, and THEN Mare knows who he is. This is Maven's brother. The older one, the perfect spitting image of his father who is the "Perfect Son." Maven always sneers just slightly when he says that, and now that she has met this Cal, she knows Maven is right. Turning up her nose at him, she spins on her heel and leaves, completely uninterested.

Okay she lied, she was a little more interested than she let on. She sees him EVERYWHERE after that. He raises his brows at her in the Great Hall, and even smiled and said good morning Mare when she walked by with Maven to Charms one day. After that day, Maven gets really sullen, and tells her that she shouldn't talk to him, that he's trouble. He's a third year, in line to be Prefect and Headboy at some point. She doesn't want to get mixed up with wet blanket like that. She agrees, but something about him, his eyes, the gentle smile, and way he'd looked at her the first time he saw her makes her heart do a little jig every time she thinks about him.

Before she knows it, its the first Quidditch match, and she's set to play. She steps out in her beautiful green and black uniform, and while she's in the tunnel adjusting the straps on her wrist guard with her teeth, someone laughs behind her and says: there is a better way to do that. She looks up, the laces half in her mouth, and a tiny bit of drool running down her chin to see Cal leaning against his broom. Of course he plays Quidditch, she thinks with a scowl. What perfect son wouldn't? He takes her wrist though and ties the guard gently, pulling the laces perfectly through the loops. Maven tried to help her with it this morning but gave up when he couldn't do it. Her face burns with embarrassment but he doesn't notice, or at least, he pretends not to notice. When he finished both wrist guards, he shoulders his broom and with a wink says, "eyes up and head up, dont want to take a Blunger to face on your first day." He strolls away after that, and Mare stands there, watching his shoulders as he leaves. How does a thirteen year old boy manage to look like that?! Shaking it off she steps on the pitch but... that's all she remembers. She takes a nasty blunger to side of the head and falls to the pitch floor. When she wakes up, the entire Slytherin team is around her and so is half the Gryfinddor team, Farley is grimacing as she takes in the situation, and Cal is leaning over her, shielding her from the son. She frowns up at him before saying, "you didn't say they moved that fast." He snorts to hide a laugh as the medics take her off the pitch. Good news? She learns later in the Infirmary, they won! When she went down, Cal, the Keeper moved as if to go to her and they were able to put the Quaffle in to get the final point! Her captain claps her on the back, and she tries not to puke when the movement jars her head.

The year ends uneventfully, and she waves goodbye to Maven as she disembarks and he leaves with Cal. A woman with matching icy blue eyes and stark, ash blonde hair frowns at her as Maven smiles and waves his own goodbye. She pointedly ignores Cal's title wave goodbye.

The next year is much of the same but there is a... current in the air, a charge that wasn't there before. Something is happening, something dark in the world. Shade and Farley go to Hogsmead and talk about it, but Mare can't go yet. She sits in a hidden alcove of the Astronomy tower, watching the world outside with her books open before her. Maven is quieter this year, but there is a strange new confidence and glint in his eye. It worries her. He is not the boy she waved goodbye to at the beginning of the summer.

One day while studying, she hears footsteps and looks up to see Cal pausing along side her. Her stomach flip flops when she sees him. The summer did wonders for him. Somehow, he is more attractive. She didn't even realize that was possible. And she REFUSED to admit that she thought about him a few times... well more than a few times... over the break. He smiles at her and before she knows it, she's leaning toward him to talk. She asks why he's not at Hogsmead and he grimaces before saying he is struggling with Diviniation and has to take an extra class on it every week. She laughs, and the smile he gives her when she does laugh turns her stomach to molten lava. He helps her out of the windowsill and they walk to the Great Hall together. Maven intercepts them before then, his eyes narrowing and darkening when Cal waves goodbye and heads on his way. Mare nudges Maven with her shoulder and teases him saying: are you worried I might like him more than you? Maven glowers at her, and she softens before taking his hand and promising him that Cal is "a complete and utter moron, who she could never like." It seems to relax him, but not completely. Again, Mare worries. He was never concerned about Cal or any of this before.

The year works that way though. She slowly get closer to Cal. They have this strange unspoken agreement to meet at HER windowsill once a week and then walk along the ground by the lake. One day, in the winter, she forgets a thick enough coat, and is shivering in her sweater until he shrugs off his cloak and drapes it around her shoulders. She blinks in surprise, before smiling and thanking him. It's far too big on her and drags on the ground a bit, but its warm and it smells like him. Which she is terrified to realize she kind of likes.

She starts spending time in the Gryffindor tower too, getting closer with Shade's friends, and sometimes, Cal is there too. He's not really a staple (he and Farley don't really get along, something about her calling him a Pure Blooded Hypocrite), but Mare finds she likes when he is around.

That summer is terrible. Maven doesn't write her as much as he promised. And the world is getting Dark™️. There are strange disappearances on the TV. Things are getting weird. Shade gets secret letters from Farley that he hides from her. When they go back to Hogwarts, things are... different. There are guards, there weren't Guards before. Maven looks more gaunt and haunted. Even Cal doesn't seem as cheery anymore. They're walks around the lake go from once to twice to three times a week. He tells her about his side of the Wizarding World, and she learns about a group that is known as the Death Eaters (who serve a mysterious Dark One that wants to eliminate the muggle population and the mud bloods). Mare frowns when he says that word. He says it quietly, like its something bad. She's not sure why, it's a word. When she asks Farley about it, her friend's face hardens and she tells her it's a nasty term that Pure Bloods use to describe the people like them. The ones who come from non magic families.

She finds solace in Quidditch, she even goes out when Cal offers to show her a few tricks, and that time... it is strangely magical. She finally gets to go to Hogsmead, and spend time with Shade and Farley there. They have a new little group, a taller fifth year named Tristan is added, Ada is with them, Ketha, and a couple of others. Shade tells her to go off and find something to do one time and she ends up spying on them. When she does, she overhears them talking about the Dark One, that they are back and that is the reason so many Muggles are dying and disappearing strangely. That Hogwarts might not be safe anymore. She confronts Cal about it one day, and he stops dead in the snow, spins on her and says never to talk about it. That the Dark One is dead, has been dead for year and that she should never mention them. She is taken aback, he's never seemed so concerned to desperate before. So she drops it. But things get worse over christmas break.

When she returns, Maven is almost cold with her. She tries to tease him like she used to, but he just isn't having it. She clings tighter to him, worried that things are not going well at home. She knows his mother isn't great, knows his father is an asshole. She can't understand how two people like that managed to make someone like Maven, and someone like Cal. But she tries her best to be a friend for Maven. She can't help but get closer with Cal. Something about him draws her in, and keeps her.

One day at Hogsmead, she runs into him (literally, again). She slips on the ice and he catches her, his hands grabbing her hips and pulling her close so she has to grab the front of his coat and cloak to keep herself upright too. They look at each other for a long time, confused and full of butterflies before she spots Maven at the other end of the bridge. She was supposed to meet him at the sweet shop but was running late. His eyes narrow ever so slightly at what he sees, and Mare pulls away from Cal glaring at him and adjusting her hair when he blinks in confusion. She turns on her heel and leaves without a word, taking Maven's hand in her own as she passes him and dragging him along.

That summer, something changes fundamentally in the world. The world actually gets even Darker. Shade gets more worried, and Farley starts showing up at thier house. Mare know they are seeing each other. But she keeps it to herself. When they go back to Hogwarts... there are Guards on the train. She walks down the hallway and runs into Cal on his way to his compartment. The train rocks as she is trying to pass him and she ends up in his arms again. She's fifteen, and he's seventeen, old for a sixth year. But in his Prefect uniform, he looks quiet attractive, and somehow he got MORE attractive over the summer. The flutters that had once been nothing but tummy flutters when she was elven/twelve are now full blown butterflies in her stomach. She would never admit it, but she had a dream about him over the summer. About his hands on her hips and the stone wall of the Gryffindor common room rubbing against her back as she pinned her to it. She doesn't pull herself out of his arms right now though, there is something comforting about being in his embrace right now, when the world seems to slowly falling apart around them. He lets her go, a falsh of something in his eyes before he smiles at her and says, safe travels.

When they get to Hogwarts, she knows there is something wrong with Maven. He looks like a corpse, his eyes are dark and his features are sharper than usual. She tries to get him to smile for her, but he can't seem to muster much. So one day, out of desperation, she kisses him. He melts finally, and she melts with him, burning like Icarus when he got to close to the sun. They become... a thing for lack of a better term. He clings tightly to her, pulls her away from Farley and Shade and her friends, pointedly makes sure she doesn't spend time with Cal to the point where he actually seeks her out one day, and Maven jeers at him until he leaves. It scares her, he was never hostile, never a person like this. When she talks to him about it, he raves about things she doesn't understand. An In fact, he seems almost angry with her. She can't understand, she tries to get it out of him halfway through the fall, and he turns around and calls her a nasty Mudblood, jeering at her about the fact that is lucky he even considers her a friend. It breaks her heart, shatters it into a thousand pieces. She didn't kiss him just because it might make him feel better. She kissed him because she wanted to, because she thought it felt right (she also did it because a secret part of her hoped that kissing him would make the dreams about Cal stop.)

She stops hanging around him, the other kids like him and the other Slytherins embrace him instead, folding him into their group, while she starts to gravitate to Shade and Farley again.

they go home for Christmas, and the world tilts completely on its access. There is horrible accident that kills a number of families, and Shade immediately packs a backpack that night to go see Farley. Mare forces him to take her with him. When they get to Farley's, everyone is there, all the people Shade has been friends with. She learns they are forming a group, the Scarlet Guard, to defend themselves. The Dark One is coming back, and they will be ready.

When they return in the spring, the teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts does not prepare them right. Mare feels like a child being handed a pair of children scissors to solve a grown up problem. She talks to Shade about it, and the group agrees. They need training. It's then that Mare does what cements her fate with Maven. She seeks out Cal. He is not looking too great either, there is something haunting his face and when she finally walks up to him one morning on the lawn near the lake, he looks at her suspiciously. She doesn't know why but she ends up curled against his side, sobbing. He's taken aback at first, and then soften, wrapping an arm around her while she tells him everything. With a tight jaw, and a nod, he agrees to help them training.

They form a secret group, and they start training. It's then that Mare starts to realize that perhaps she likes Cal more than she lets on. he's a good teacher, a very good one, and whenever he holds her hand and guides her wrist through a complex spell movement, she feels her face heat up. He's a sixth year, seventeen and on the cusp of greatness it seems. His OWLs were outstanding, he is set on the path she knows he wants. They train together privately. On a nondescript day like any other, she stays after to talk to him, and when she does, he kisses her. It turns her into a pool of liquid mercury, and when he breaks it off and gently caresses her cheek with his thumb she knows she is doomed.

They leave for the summer, and she writes him daily. He writes back, telling her about things happening at home. There are issues, his father is stressed, his step mother is being cagey, and Maven... he's not himself. She worries, Shade is a sixth year and she's just a fifth year, but the world feels like it is resting on their shoulders.

When they come back to school in the fall, Maven confronts her. He found the letters she wrote to Cal. He accuses her of a number of things she is horrified by. Cal steps in to push him back, and in a horrible moment, Maven draws his wand and puts to Cal's throat. The brothers stand like that for a moment, and Mare with her hand on her wand fears who she will have to point her own wand at. But Maven drops the wand, and that is that when he storms off.

The Scarlet Guard grows in number. And then it happens right before they leave for Winter Break. The earth shattering, horrible truth. The Dark One returns, and no where is safe. Hogwarts is under attack before anyone knows what is happening. Mare is fighting through the halls, throwing out hexes and charms she never thought she would have to use. She battles her way to Cal, who takes her hand and pulls her close. The Aurors arrive but they are not enough. Shade, Farley, Mare and Cal storm the upper tower. Cal makes them stay below in the hidden crawl space because Maven is up there and he can hear his father. When he gets up there, it is not what he thinks. Mare and Farley and Shade watch from below in horror as Elara uses the Imperius Curse to actually turn Cal on his father so he kills him. When that happens, the truth is revealed. Elara is the Dark One, or the new chosen Dark One among the Death Eaters. Mare storms up the steps before Elara can kill Cal, using the one spell she knows might end the duel. But Maven steps in and they end up dueling. With tears steaming down her cheeks, she tries to fight him off. But he is not fighting to stun her, he is fighting to kill her, to put her out of commission. She is disarmed, and in a horrible moment, thinks he will kill her. Elara is cooing at him to do it, to punish her for loving his brother instead of him. She pleads with him silently, begging him with her eyes not to. His lips twist as he struggles with the decision. It's too long, Shade and Farley get up the steps and force Elara and Maven to appirate away.

The world cracks open like an egg as war spills out after that.

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS LONG. ANYWAY, ENJOY EVERYONE. I'm not going back and rereading this so whatever you see is what you get XD

[riceacc]

How to Teambuild on ARB And Score the Highest

Yes, even if you can’t read Japanese because I can’t either

Hey y’all, it’s Picklesz and here I am for a post I don’t think has been made yet! Although I can find some translations I don’t think anybody has made a guide on how to score the highest in this game, and with the advent of tiering — or you just want to high score contest all the songs — I think this may be helpful for newcomers or people who simply don’t know what the card skills mean (it took me a while to memorize them all too). And has someone who has played the game since day one, I know my way around things :)

Disclaimer that this is based on my own research from playing the game for over a year and figuring out what's good myself although I think I am right

Anyways, on with the guide!

What Actually Matters?

In ARB, there are a few things that matter when you build a team, some way more important than others. Namely, there are three things. In order of most importance:

1. Leader Skill

This is clearly the most important. Leader skill determines how much of a stat boost you will get, and some of them won't apply unless you meet certain criteria (but more on that later).

2. Auto Skill

Auto Skill determines what boost you get while playing a song. These can either make passing the song easier or increase your score: obviously you want increasing your score if you want to score the highest.

3. Stat Synergy with the Leader Skill

The least important but should at least be mentioned. Leader skills can boost one, two, or three stats (though there's only two cards in the game that I know of that increase three stats). If you get late game, you'll want to have all your cards in your team to have their highest stat/stats be the one that the leader increases.

I will be going over all these in depth! So lets start with the most important one.

Leader Skills

Leader skills are the first thing you need to think about when building your team. Generally, there are only two leader skills that you want when building your team: multi-division and division only. These skills, however, have specific requirements; if you don't meet them, your skill will not activate. Multi-division requires that the cards on your team be from three or more divisions, while division only requires that all your cards be from the same division.

These skills are the best skills because they have a higher boost than all up and division up (division only and division up are different). If your leader skill is maxed, multi-division and division only will boost your stats by 120% while all up and division up will only be 90%. Even their level one are better, so unless you have a maxed all up card and not a multi-division/division only, you should always be using one of those two skills.

Examples of the skills:

The text on the right side of the slash signifies what type of leader skill it is, this one multi-division. Notice how the text below has 120% in it...

While this card only has 90%. This skill is all up, and as stated earlier is less than either multi-division or division only adds up to.

So when it comes to division up and division only, how can you tell the difference? This card is an MTC only card. Notice how it has character after MTC...

While this one does not. This one is simple division only, division being MTC on this one. These type of cards will all have their division abbreviation to tell you which one it is (BB, MTC, FP, M, BAT, and DH).

So, how do you upgrade these cards to get to the 120% percent? Well, there's two ways: star pieces and leader skill tokens.

Star pieces you can use on any card! You can get them from tiering in events and in the biscuit shop once a month. However, you can only get the gold biscuits to buy them from selling SSRs and SRs, so I recommend selling dupes from the event box that you don't want to get these and use them on cards you do want.

Leader skill tokens you can also use on any card but there is no way to actually get them. You have to wait until ARB decides to give them out, usually on half-anniversary or anniversary - that's the only time we've got them in the past.

One last thing: in the long run, you want a leader skill that increases one stat only. This is because the boost stacks much better when it increase one stat by 120% rather than two stats by 60% (all stats doesn't exist on any multi-division or division only card so don't worry about it). You can tell if it increases one or two stats, because one stat will say 120% in the description while two stats will say 60%. However it's really not a big deal unless you really need those few thousand extra points and you have like. Ten maxed cards so you can afford to be picky.

Auto Skills

The bread and butter of your team. While you only need one card to have a good leader skill, ideally every member of your team will have a good auto skill that boosts your score (from here on out, I will be referring to score boosts as simply boosts).

So what is a good auto skill? Well, if you're just starting out, it's any skill that scores, but if you want to score the highest there are four specific skills you want: critical tap, combo boost, perfect boost, and tap boost. Don't worry, I will actually be at least briefly going over every auto skill because there are a LOT and being able to recognize the text for each one is important (although unfortunately due to the ten image limit I can only show pictures of the best ones 😭). So in order of best to worst, here are all the auto skills!

Critical Tap

Look for 4% in the auto skill description!

Easily the best auto skill. It gives you a 4% boost on all notes, with the caveat of being the timing on notes gets stricter. You can disregard that because it literally does not matter if you get a perfect or not when you are getting a 4% boost on every note you tap and if you're reading this guide you're probably getting full combo anyways. This the the highest boost you can get on every single note so having at least one of these is amazing.

Combo Boost

Look for 3% in the auto skill description!

Basically a poor mans critical tap. You get a 3% boost on all notes as you as you keep your combo. Again, most of y'all are probably getting full combo anyways and if not you can always use the autoplay cassettes!

Perfect Boost

Look for the word "perfect" and 3% in the description!

A poor mans combo boost (see the pattern here?). You get a 3% boost on all notes as long as they are perfects. You probably shouldn't use this with critical tap if you don't get a lot of perfects as the timing gets harder but it still is the third best auto skill.

Tap Boost

Look for 1% followed by 3% in the description!

Lastly, the poor mans perfect boost. You get a 1% boost on all notes except tap notes; you get a 3% boost on tap notes. As the overwhelming majority of notes are tap notes, you can essentially disregard the 1% part unless you are playing Ore Ga Ichiro which I swear has a flick note every other note.

Those are the best auto skills in the game, however there are many others. I'll go over them all briefly here :)

Scratch Note Boost

Look for 2% followed by 6% in the description!

You get a 2% boost on all notes except scratch notes; you get a 6% boost on scratch notes. The 6% boost sounds nice except you rarely have scratch notes so uh. 2% boost on all notes is not very good.

btw the green notes are scratch notes if you didn't know

Long Note Boost

Look for 2% followed by 3% in the description!

You get a 2% boost on all notes except long notes; you get a 3% boost on long notes. This doesn't even have a niche because you can literally get a 3% boost on every note with combo or perfect and a 4% boost with critical tap. Literally what were they thinking when they made this skill. Don’t use it.

Flick Note Boost

Look for 2% followed by 15% in the description!

You get a 2% boost on all notes except flick notes; you get a 15% boost on flick notes. That sounds nice until you again remember you rarely have flick notes except when playing Ore Ga Ichiro Part A. In fact, some songs like Sensenfunkuukou Part A (god I hope I spelled that right, Jiro's first solo if I didn't) don't have a single flick note in it despite the fact they give this skill to every Buster Bro event card I swear. So really just stay away from this one too.

Perfect Up

Don't look for anything this skill sucks 😭 but for real this skill will simply have the word "perfect" in the description.

PLESE DO NOT USE THIS SKILL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. This skill makes all of your notes perfects. It does NOT score at all. If you are aiming to score obviously you do not want a skill that doesn't not score. I am so sorry if you rerolled for ARB Riou or Dice back in the day because they both have this skill and it SUCKS and does NOTHING.

Um. Anyways. Here're info on how to upgrade skills and what they do!

You can upgrade your skills with either skill tokens or rainbow auto skill tokens. Upgrading your auto skill makes your skill last for longer whenever it activates and will have a shorter time in between activations, so you definitely want to upgrade them.

You can buy skill tokens in the event shop, biscuit shop, or coin shop. You need three mic tokens and ten attribute tokens for every level, and once you hit level 5, you need specific division tokens as well. It is pretty expensive but it does get easier over time to stockpile.

The rainbow auto skill token you can only get either when they give them out OR you completely empty the event box of the rate up card. Once you do that, they replace the rate up card with the rainbow auto skill token. You have to either be ridiculously lucky in the box or spend every minute in the game or both to do this, but it is possible.

Now that that long section is over, on to the last part of this guide!

Stat Synergy with Your Leader Skill

As alluded to earlier, you eventually want all your cards highest stats to be the stat your leader skill boosts. Honestly, you should NOT worry about this until you have several maxed auto skill cards and a maxed leader skill to use it with. But for those who are at that point, here's an example of the stat synergy I am talking about.

These teams technically have the same skills (the Jyuto and Riou card I switched have the same auto skills). In fact, on paper the second team should score higher because I've upgraded the Jyuto card's leader skill so his power score is higher than Riou's. But because their stats are different, the Riou card actually works better on this team because it works better in line with the leader skill and leads to the teams ultimate power score being 2,000 points higher, a pretty noticeable difference.

The case is not always so clear cut, because, well, not all cards have the same auto skill. But if you want to score the highest, especially if you are tiering, you will want to keep this in mind.

So how do you figure out the trade-off between stats and skill when the cards you are switching don't have the same auto skill? Honestly, you just have to play a no attribute song twice and find out :( I don't have a surefire way to track this. In my experience if you are debating between two cards and one of them is Riou the Riou card always scores higher. I do not know why and that is probably just me because I own all of his event cards but uh. Put Riou card on your team :)

Anyways! To increase your stats you actually have to enhance the leader skill of your card. Those ways were outlined earlier, but this part of the guide is why I actually recommend you enhance event cards of characters with good auto skills that you KNOW you are going to use. If they have a good auto skill you can get a max card with maxed stats for free! Again I would not do this unless they have auto skill and you WILL use them since it takes a lot of time but it is totally worth it.

That's all for my teambuilding guide! If you guys would like to see more guides on ARB I am more than happy to make more! Feel free to send my any questions through my ask or reblog and ask :) Take care!

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 4

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see  Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

It’s time to take a close look at Episode 2 of the second game, The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro!

Episode 2-2: The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro

Remember how in the last episode we vaguely got Barok on our side near the end of the trial by proving Mrs. Garrideb was actually involved in the crime? … Yeah. Forget that progress. It's being undone. Case 2-2 is the first case of the second game which features Barok, which unfortunately means he needs to be 'reintroduced' to the audience and it takes him back several steps in his growth. It makes sense, I suppose, it would've been weird starting a new game with him already being lightly on Ryu's side. Even so, it's a bit insulting how this case acts as if the chronologically previous one accomplished nothing.

So anyway, this case flashbacks to something which supposedly happened right after the first game's fourth case. The day after Soseki's acquittal, even. Turns out, Soseki awoke to find one of the other tenants in his building dead and asked Ryu for help, but (S)Holmes tagged along. Gregson is at the crime scene, keeping an eye on the place and on Soseki in particular since he's suspicious. (Sure, Gregson. Sure. Has nothing to do with the Reaper's curse, probably.) After some investigation with (S)Holmes, Gregson has enough evidence to actually arrest Soseki, which definitely feels like a step backwards. A bit later, it turns out the victim is Not Actually Dead Yet. Again! The Great Ace Attorney really enjoys throwing us for a loop by pretending we're in for another murder case.

Anyway, during the course of the investigation, I found two mentions of Van Zieks. The first is when you investigate the broken glasses and bottles in the victim's room. Susato is immediately reminded of Lord van Zieks.

And when examining Garrideb's old army uniform, Susato points out it might suit Lord van Zieks.

Haha, as if his usual outfit isn't ostentatious enough already. So we learn that Susato doesn't have a very high opinion of him at all, and I should hope it's not still related to that time he called detective novels pathetic. It's fun of them to refer to him in an investigation that he's not involved in in any way, especially when they don't know yet that he's the prosecution again.

Speaking to Soseki in the gaol, we're once again told that he's had a dreadful time in England so far. He sees foreigners everywhere and he's sure they're all laughing at him. He's been so on edge the past year that he's moved 'more times than he can remember'. So once again, we're reminded that racial prejudice in 1900s England is a focal point of this game's story. Once the conversation is over, Gregson appears to let the gang know that the victim has regained consciousness and is accusing Soseki of poisoning him. We're going to trial for an attempted murder charge, y'all!

The next day, in the defendant's lobby, Susato comes bursting in with the dreadful news that Barok van Zieks has once again taken on the prosecution. It's definitely safe to assume now that either Ryu or Soseki is the reason he's taking on these not-really-murder trials when he normally wouldn't. As I mentioned before, this is his reintroduction in the second game and so the game feels compelled to remind the player of what went down in case 1-4:

He sure did! The game also once again reminds us what the Reaper's Curse entails, and that perhaps that's the reason why Soseki is on trial yet again. He's doomed, perhaps. Susato also informs us that (S)Holmes is running late, just as he was two days ago, and Ryu thinks that's a good thing because if the Great Detective were there, Ryu might come to rely on his help.

… I suppose? He already relies on Susato for help and I feel like that would warrant far more 'preying' from Van Zieks than relying on a male, adult British detective for help. Though knowing (S)Holmes, he'd end up stealing the show and taking the words from Ryu's mouth, but that doesn't seem to be what Ryu's worried about here. I suppose the main point to take away from this remark is that Ryu wants to do as much as he can by himself. He wants to appear strong in front of Van Zieks to avoid presenting an easy target, and I think this might actually be the first time we see a sentiment like that from him. Is he afraid of Van Zieks? Does he actually care about the man's opinion? Anyway, he swears to show Van Zieks what a Japanese lawyer can do.

Inside the courtroom, Van Zieks does the usual prosecutor spiel about how the defense needs to be ready for defeat. Ryu thinks to himself that Van Zieks has a particular animosity towards Japanese people for some reason.

Good thing we got a second game in the series, eh? So because the defendant was on trial only two days ago, the same jurors were chosen where possible. The only juror not returning is Mrs. Garrideb, who's too busy being in prison. Her spot is now taken by a very fancy lady we later learn to be the wife of the Altamont Gas Company's owner. She may as well be the CEO herself with how she's acting, though. Anyway, Van Zieks addresses the jurors directly.

“However, the innocent verdict afforded to this eccentric Nipponese before... has had dire consequences. Did the accused repent for his wrongdoing in that affair? Far from it. Instead, he used his freedom to perpetrate a most blood-curdling crime!”

Van Zieks makes record time by taking off his cloak immediately after this line. He's gone straight into overdrive. The witnesses summoned this time are Inspector Gregson and... Soseki? It's very irregular for the defendant to be testifying, especially this early in the trial and especially by the prosecution's request. I can't really make much of it. It feels like the only reason Soseki is testifying is for this joke:

Also found when examining the testimony is a remark from Van Zieks that I honestly found shocking in how ferocious and scummy it is.

Unnecessary, that remark. It didn't need to exist at all in my opinion. So after Ryu shatters the testimony and scatters Gregson's fish 'n chips, Van Zieks calmly pours himself a glass of wine. I have to be honest, by now whenever he does this I'm left wondering what he'll do next. Will he crush the chalice? Will he throw it? Will he actually take a sip? The versatility of the action and unpredictable nature of Van Zieks add a bit of suspense. Turns out, his mind wandered during the testimony.

And then he ends up crushing the glass in his hand anyway. Alas, poor chalice. We knew it. So after a bit of debating back and forth about whether Shamspeare drank the supposedly-poisoned-tea after Soseki left the room, Van Zieks suddenly falls silent. We get three different, consecutive frames of him going “......” and when the judge asks what's wrong, he says this:

Supersonic hearing, this one. That is, unless the carriage entered the courthouse and literally pulled up in the hallway outside the room? Haven't we learned our lesson from the last time a carriage was driven into the Old Bailey?! So Shamspeare was apparently subpoenaed by the prosecution and has shown up to testify (with his doctor's permission). Bad news for us, since he's the one accusing Soseki in the first place. There's also a second witness to support Shamspeare's insistence there were no other visitors to the room and therefore only Soseki could have poisoned him. After that testimony is over, Van Zieks gets his wish and all the jurors vote guilty.

Van Zieks really seems to think that Soseki is a terrible person deserving of justice, huh? He was right there during the previous trial, saw Ryu prove without a shadow of a doubt that Soseki was innocent and still insists that justice will be done “this time”. Calm the heck down man, you're the one who sided with us when Mrs. Garrideb needed to testify, remember? And here comes another example of the game pretending the previous trials didn't leave an impact; when the Summation Examination is brought up, it's with disdain and this remark:

Bro, we used the Summation Examination successfully like five times already. Sit your butt down and watch the show. The jurors once again give prejudiced reasons for their decisions:

And unfortunately, instead of changing their minds by proving Soseki is a morally upstanding, innocent citizen, Ryu instead gets through this Summation Examination by basically proving Shamspeare is a worse person than Soseki. That's... not the direction you should be taking here, narrative. After convincing four of the jurors that Shamspeare is a fishy liar, Van Zieks flings another chalice of wine in frustration. The judge still thinks he could technically pass a ruling on the trial, since the new information didn't exactly disprove that Soseki is the culprit, but the jurors have been influenced so thoroughly that they can't let this new info go ignored. Testimony from the Altamont Company is allowed! Van Zieks thinks it's a waste of time, of course, and if this were reality it would be. Since it's an Ace Attorney game, we know Shamspeare's gas thievery is bound to somehow be related to the incident. Van Zieks flings yet another chalice after hearing the testimony (how many has it been already? Five?) and very shortly after, he tosses the entire bottle over his shoulder. Susato points out that he seems to be in a violent mood. I feel like someone must've pissed in his oatmeal that morning, because I've got no real explanation for why his character regressed this badly in the course of what chronologically was only two days.

Van Zieks flings two more chalices as the testimony progresses to prove that Shamspeare made fake coins to fool the gas meter. At the end of it all, he supposedly 'throws his hand up in despair and happened to catch his hallowed bottle along the way', flinging yet another one of those into the gallery. I'm starting to feel very bad for the people seated behind him now. Is the game overdoing these quirky animations to compensate for his regressed attitude? Because I'm not sure it's working... Van Zieks continues to insist that the situation hasn't changed and only Soseki could have poisoned the victim, so he calls for immediate adjucation. The game gives Ryu the option to either object or wait and see, and I have to be honest, this gave me pause. After what happened with the penalties in case 1-4, I was sure Van Zieks might dish out more punishment for waiting and seeing. Turns out, he doesn't. Ryu points out that Shamspeare likely used the tea to make these fake frozen coins of his, meaning there's still tea left at the scene of the crime which can be tested for poison.

Head in my hands right now. Again, I get it, they basically had to reintroduce Van Zieks to newcomers of the game (however few there might've been) so they had to regress him a bit, but I really don't like this. He honestly felt like he'd grown at the end of 1-4 and the game's not only undone it, it feels like they've made him even more of a scumbag. This line and this gesture honestly doesn’t quite correspond with the character established in the previous game. Anyway, court adjourned till the next day so the police can test the tea for poison.

During the investigation segment, we get a conversation that I'd quite honestly forgotten even exists. Turns out, (S)Holmes and Van Zieks are acquainted! ...or are they? (S)Holmes says he 'must pass the time of day with Mr. Reaper again, as it's been too long' and when asked whether they're acquainted, (S)Holmes replies that there isn't a person in the world who doesn't know his name, expertly dodging the question. Naturally, a new conversation topic opens up about it, so we can still attempt to needle more details out of him.

He explains the history of the Reaper's curse a bit more. Previous defendants found not-guilty would 'disappear from the capital' by falling under a passing carriage, drowning in the Thames, succumbing to a sudden fever... Etc. Susato points out that if those rumors are true, then surely the obvious conclusion would be that they were killed by Van Zieks's own hand. (S)Holmes points out that's impossible, since Van Zieks was already investigated on the matter before and for every single incident, he had a solid alibi. (This... doesn't disprove Van Zieks had anything to do with it, but okay (S)Holmes. Sure.) (S)Holmes also rubs it in yet again that Van Zieks retired from the courts five years ago and didn't return until the day Naruhodo arrived. I honestly don't know why they keep bringing that 5 year hiatus up in every single case, because as far as I can recall it was never fully explained or relevant.

I love how “foul smell” is wedged in-between those two topics as if it's also related. Anyway the conversation continues when Ryu brings up that Van Zieks seems to have a particular disdain for Japanese people. Susato demands to know whether (S)Holmes knows a bit more about it and while he's silent at first, he relents and tells us a tale (which will apparently be forgotten by Ryu and Susato in case 1-5). Van Zieks “chose to enter the legal profession ten years ago, but before that time, the man's closest companion hailed from the empire of Japan”. Which is a wording that baffles me, because it implies that Van Zieks chose to enter the legal profession at the same moment that Japanese person betrayed him, which we know is not the case. He was already in training to be a prosecutor before that, otherwise how could he possibly have prosecuted the Professor trial? Ryu is shocked and asks to know more, but (S)Holmes says the veil on the events from the past will be lifted soon enough. I'll get back to the implications of what this means for Van Zieks's backstory when we hit this exact same reveal in case 1-5.

Van Zieks is mentioned very little in the rest of the investigation segments. We only learn that he tasked Gregson with finding new clues, much to Gregson's dismay, as there isn't much to be found. The Inspector does immediately leap at new information when we uncover it, which implies he's eager to either please Van Zieks or avoid being scolded by him. I'm assuming the latter, but it's also possible Gregson feels guilty over the whole Reaper thing and Klint's autopsy, and is now compensating by working his hardest to fulfill Van Zieks's requests.

At the very end of the investigation, when evening falls, (S)Holmes reminds us that “it'll be hard to escape the grip of our friend, Mr. Reaper”. The next day, in the defendant's lobby just before the trial begins, Ryu thinks to himself that he doesn't believe in the legend of the Reaper any more than he believes in the convict's curse Soseki keeps mentioning. What's interesting here is that Ryu isn't dreading the confrontation anymore. After the McGilded trial he seemed genuinely intimidated by the concept of going up against Van Zieks (not because of the racism but because of what happened to his first defendant), but now he's not so hesitant anymore. He's beginning to see that Van Zieks can be defeated, that the Reaper thing is nonsense and that protecting his client is a fight worth fighting.

Into the courtroom we go for day 2 of the trial! When the judge asks about the results of the tea test, Van Zieks is silent for a moment. He pours himself a glass of wine, asking for a moment to “savour a liquid of a more sanguine hue”, then refers to Gregson for the full report. Gregson confirms no poison was found in the tea remains, but the prosecution wouldn't be the prosecution (and the game would be pretty boring) if they didn't have a backup plan. When Ryu proclaims Soseki is innocent, Van Zieks accuses him of jumping to conclusions, “a typical Nipponese reaction”. It's also a typical prosecution reaction to be hypocritical, no surprises here. He throws his chalice (first one of the day) and summons Shamspeare back to the stand to testify about how Soseki's unpoisoned and undrank cup of tea had been used to make the ice coins.

There's some lines here that I thought I might as well include:

“Yet on occasion, tedium distracts me and I pour more times than I intended until the bottle is dry.”

You know, it occurs to me that this drink is pretty much confirmed to be wine. He's very extra when talking about it himself, but he had his silly little wine analogies in the previous case and Susato referred to his glasses as “wine glasses”. And you would think it's obvious that it's wine, but we know Ace Attorney's long history with 'grape juice'. Either way, this dialogue leaves a pretty harsh implication that Van Zieks drinks alcohol simply to distract himself from troublesome moods. Sure, he says “tedium”, but this is a stoic prosecutor in the year 1900. They referred to depression as “melancholia” back then, and since he doesn't appear to have any friends, I expect he experiences “tedium” quite often outside the courtroom. He apparently set a rule for himself not to fill his glass more than seven times during a trial which, in turn, implies he's aware any more would cause problems. All of this is moot, of course, since 80% of the wine he pours for himself ends up on the floor between shards of glass. Still, though... Zieks, are you okay?

I don't think he is, because he pulls a very dirty trick here. Ryu proves Soseki drank all his tea and therefore it couldn't possibly have been used, so Van Zieks insinuates to Shamspeare that perhaps he misremembered using the tea from Soseki's cup and instead used tea still left in the teapot. An excuse Shamspeare happily takes, of course. Not gonna lie, I got angry, not because it's a dirty trick but because it's inconsistent. This is the very same character who all but dragged Mrs. Garrideb down from the juror bench to testify when it became clear she likely threw a knife out the window. And now he's feeding slippery excuses to a man who's very clearly lying about all sorts of things? What??? And remember this incident, because I'm going to be referring back to it later.

He crushes another chalice, removes his cloak and continues to insist that we should believe this thieving liar at the witness stand. The jurors for some reason buy the baloney served to them on a tinfoil platter and even twist Ryu's sentiments around, with some bloke going as far as to interpret the situation as 'the lawyer lad believes anyone who steals gas deserves to be poisoned'. Summation Examination gets very funky this time around, with the outcome being that Shamspeare probably blew the gas pipes (s-snerk) and the poison was laced on the pipe.

Van Zieks pours himself a glass of wine and pretty much immediately flings it, saying these are all empty assertions without a shred of proof. When Ryu presents the picture with the skin prints, Van Zieks once again breaks the rule of the prosecution staying silent during Summation Examination to point out that skin prints cannot be used as evidence, since that method is not recognized by the court (yet). Aaand he crushes yet another chalice in his hand.

Susato claims it was never meant to be used as official evidence, it was only a tool to demonstrate a new possibility to the jury. Jumping through some loopholes here, we are, since the picture is clearly in our Court Record as evidence. But, well, the prosecution cheats too so what's the harm? Some jurors vote not-guilty, but there's still one more that needs convincing on order to keep the trial going. Ryu says he has a witness who's already testified that the pipe-blowing incident did indeed occur that night, as Soseki stated the other day before the court that his stove went out in the dead of night. (Hang on, is this why the narrative made him testify alongside Gregson?) With that the majority of the jury votes not-guilty and the trial has to continue, but Van Zieks is extra rattled now. (Another bottle goes soaring.)

He once again reminds the court that skin prints aren't admissible evidence and therefore, there is no real proof Shamspeare put his mouth to the pipes (ghghhh I'm sorry this is such a silly thing to have to type out). Ryu asks for an investigative team to test the mouth of the gas pipe for poison, but since it would've evaporated by now, that's a no-go. Also, Van Zieks says that “what appears to be simple is my Nipponese friend's mind” and that's a scumbag point. Ryu attempts to turn the trial around by claiming that Shamspeare attempted to kill Soseki, making the defendant the victim, but Van Zieks ain't having it. The aggrieved being the accused is an interesting notion, but doesn't change what actually happened. In fact, if anything, it establishes a motive for Soseki to lay a trap for Shamspeare. Because who else could have known about the gas pipe trickery and put the poison there, right? Why, the true culprit, of course.

Our man Van Zieks really doesn't like (S)Holmes, huh? A tidbit which the games will never bother to explain! Either way, Ryu raises the name of Olive Green, the victim of the previous case. And I gotta say, I do genuinely like the way they integrated these two Clouded Kokoro cases together. The chronology of everything that went down is very fun to decipher, but long story short, Olive Green was at Briar Road the day she was stabbed for a reason and knows more about the 'convict curse' Soseki and Garrideb kept mentioning, so let's drag her into court! Van Zieks agrees to subpoena Miss Green in order to 'see his Nipponese friend's farce through to its conclusion'.

So during intermission some more evidence is handed to Ryu and when trial resumes, Van Zieks continues to be his usual self.

“The prosecution has tried to extend every courtesy to this amateur newcomer from dubious Eastern shores.”

Ryu sweats bullets as he meekly thanks Van Zieks “(for his backhanded consideration)”, but once again the judge is the one to call Van Zieks out on his attitude.

Amazing. It's so refreshing to see a judge who actually disagrees with the prosecution's haughty attitude problems and acknowledges it has no place in a courtroom. Nothing against Udgey, because we all love Udgey (and his Canadian brother), but this man actually grows and learns. So Olive Green takes the stand alongside Shamspeare (maybe not the best idea since Ryu just accused her of trying to murder this man) for dual testimony. When Green brings up what a dreadful ordeal the knife to her back was, Van Zieks says this:

Hang on, empathy? He's giving her advice? This reeks of humanization! Green seems taken aback and thanks him for his words, so the sentiment was genuinely accepted. This in itself is a very nice scene to see in action, similar to Van Zieks allowing Roly Beate to keep his job. Unfortunately, Van Zieks's character is in a wild rollercoaster of moral inconsistency during this particular case which sours the experience somewhat. Case in point:

YOOOU hypocrite! This actively angered me, because at the very start of this same trial day he was personally feeding lies to Shamspeare. Now he's warning Green not to lie? It gets even worse a bit later on when Green gets cornered about stealing the note, she asks him whether it could all be some sort of misunderstanding, and he says:

ACTIVELY FEEDING SHAMSPEARE A LIE. THE VERY SAME DAY. I'm all for prosecutors using dirty tactics. It helps to juxtapose them further to the honest defense attorney we play as. However, it needs to be consistent. Either a prosecutor condones a witness's lies to help their case, or they feel that they're above it. The third, most used option is for them to start off condoning it, only to learn that truth takes priority over victory. This sloppy back-and-forth morality that Van Zieks has going on here is insanely frustrating, so it's no wonder some players end up disliking him. It honestly feels as if they rewrote this case so many times, they screwed up the exact growth trajectory Van Zieks has.

Anyway, it seems Van Zieks is suddenly fully on our side now to help Ryu prove that Green was in Shamspeare's room and laced the gas pipe with poison. And I mean help help. When the judge points out that if Green had laced the pipe the very same day she was stabbed, the attempted murder would have happened six days ago. Van Zieks is the one to say “Perhaps not, My Lord” and explain Briar Road was full of police at that time. At this point, Van Zieks and Ryu (and also Susato) actively start to take turns to explain the proper chronology of events. So the defense and the prosecution are in perfect sync right now, working together to explain the whodunnit. This is the ideal outcome to any trial, usually not seen until the last case of the game, so it's curious that this dynamic abruptly shows itself in a case like this. Van Zieks does still have one moment of gaslighting when he claims Ryu may have inhaled some dubious gas, causing his judgment to be clouded, since there's no motive behind Shamspeare's attempts on his fellow lodgers. A matter that's very easily resolved, of course. Once the name of Selden is brought up, Van Zieks continues our little game of back-and-forth-truth-reveal until (S)Holmes shows his face.

“Your usual haunts are the filthy backstreets of the capital, are they not?”

To which (S)Holmes replies that it's been too long, and Van Zieks's complexion has worsened since last they met. Alright, so Van Zieks and (S)Holmes definitely have met in person before, some undetermined amount of time ago. You'd think that going by (S)Holmes's friendly attitude they might've even been friends once, but our great detective is like that towards everyone. This is evidenced by an earlier encounter with Gregson where (S)Holmes insists they're friends and Gregson says that they're not friends, to which (S)Holmes quietly agrees. So really, this little exchange tells us nothing about the history between the great detective and the Reaper.

Some shenaniganry, a breakdown and admittance to guilt later, the court is finally ready to deem Soseki innocent. Van Zieks once again has some interesting lines here:

“And one I certainly didn't envisage walking... with you.”

Considering he attempted to trip us up for most of this walk up until the very last stretch, I don't like this remark very much. It feels very unearned. This is another one of those things that would've been more suitable in the last case of the game, but instead it's being crammed into a messy mid-game moment with the pretense that Van Zieks learned a lesson about being our ally.

In the defendant's lobby, the game basically gives the exact same dialogue as at the end of the original Clouded Kokoro case; that Soseki is returning to Japan and hopes to pen his own literature there, with the rest of the cast pointing out that the Reaper's Curse must factor into his decision to some degree. So we're still holding onto that question of whether Soseki will escape an untimely death or not. Anyone who's already played the last case of the first game will know the answer, of course.

So to summarize... I genuinely didn't enjoy Van Zieks's portrayal in this case. It really feels as if something went horribly wrong and they got some notes mixed up about where his character was already headed in the previous game. It's a crying shame. There was a lot of potential for a case set between 1-4 and 1-5, but they really dropped the ball when it comes to consistency and I've no doubt that it reflected badly on people's opinions of him. Though I think when we return to the first game for The Unspeakable Story, everything will right itself out again to some degree. Stay tuned!

[headoverheelsforramsey]

Hello, hello! This week, we are going on a little:

Home Tour!

Notes: Answer the following with pictures (dialogue from your characters is optional!). Collages are highly encouraged if you want to answer a question with multiple pictures because tumblr mobile only allows 10 total pics. Otherwise, tumblr on a desktop lets you add multiple pictures (non-beta)!

For both:

What does the outside of the home look like? (Front/back yard, garden, pool, etc)

Living room and home office (if any)?

Kitchen and dining room?

Bedrooms? (Master, guest, others)

Other rooms?

Do you own your dream home? If not, what does that dream home look like?

What is your favorite room to spend time in with each other?

Super super late to this, because of my stupid exam but now we are here so let's go! 💃🏽🏠

A/N : I am placing this two years and seven months after the wedding, because I HC Ethan and Meera staying at Ethan's apartment for two years after the wedding and they only start house hunting when they have the baby talk and start trying for a baby. So technically not newlyweds anymore. Now let's get started! ✨

Meera opens the door and greets Bree.

Meera : Hii Bree, welcome to our humble abode.

Bree (chuckles) : This place is anything but humble. I hope I am not causing much trouble.

Meera : Absolutely not. Who else is going to make me feel like a youtuber?

Both laugh, Ethan joins and greets Bree.

Bree : Congratulations on the good news Dr. Ramsey. How far are y'all?

Ethan : Thank you Bree. It's been 3 months already.

Meera (cradling her small bump) : Yup one trimester down two more to go.

Ethan (kissing her forehead) : And then there will be a mini version of you running around these halls.

Meera : Nope it's gonna be a mini you.

The couple shares a look as if challenging each other.

Meera : Fine, Bree, whose team are you on? Do you think it'll be a boy or a girl?

Bree : I am happy with either because at the end I'll be interviewing him or her too.

The three of them share a laugh.

Bree : Let's get started, shall we?

Ethan : Sure.

What does the outside of the home look like? (Front/back yard, garden, pool, etc)

Front :

Meera : We were looking for something modern yet chic, something that is totally us. I fell in love with the design whereas Ethan was in total awe of the open space and glass doors. Needless to say our heart was stuck on this no matter how many more houses we visited.

Backyard :

Ethan : The backyard also doubles up as the garden but it's not quite completed yet.

Meera : Yes it's been two months since we moved, and we haven't been able to work on the garden because of work and the pregnancy. Ethan : But we want to build a garden with a tree house and maybe some swings.

Meera (too excited) : Ohh swings! Yes please add it onto the list. Why didn't I think of it before?

Pool :

Meera : Definitely my favorite part!

Ethan : She is a water baby through and through so that's no surprise.

Meera : Don't act like you don't appreciate me in a swimsuit, Ramsey (winks)

Ethan : There is no denying that.

Living room and home office (if any)?

Living room :

Ethan : Meera was hell bent on having an L-shaped couch.

Meera : Those things are so bougie I had to have one because now I can finally afford one. But yeah the living room is so relaxing with a beautiful view of the outside.

Home office :

Meera : Honestly speaking, I do not understand the utility of a home office, I didn't understand back at his apartment neither do I understand now. If I am supposed to work from home I can do that on the couch or on my bed or even better on the daybeds by the pool.

Ethan (shaking his head) : You'll get it darling. When you start your maternity leave I'll see how you make zoom calls with the pool as your background.

Meera shrugs.

Kitchen and dining room?

Meera : This part was all Ethan so I'll let him do the talking.

Ethan (proudly) : A Poggenpohl kitchen with a granite-topped island adds an ultramodern touch. Glass shelves display colorful glassware convenient to the wet bar. A translucent sliding glass door below the shelves hides the more utilitarian gadgets. And finally playful mod pendant lights seem to levitate over the dining table, which is meant to resemble a river running through the woods.

Meera : You sure you didn't miss your true calling as an interior designer babe?

Ethan (smirks) : Nope, just the fact that I tend to excel at everything I do, Rookie.

Meera : And that makes you 10 times hotter!

Bedrooms? (Master, guest, others)

Master bedroom :

Meera : The bedroom has a different color scheme and tone from the rest of the house because I wanted it to stand out and break the monotone.

Ethan : Again the chandelier was Meera's opinion.

Meera : Finding common ground between his minimalistic taste and mine was difficult but we made it through.

Master Bathroom :

Ethan : Meera I don't think it was necessary to bring Bree in here.

Meera : It was absolutely necessary! Just look at this tub Bree! The bubbles and champagne dates we have here are a total hit.

Guest rooms :

Ethan : We have two guest rooms and both are styled the same way, but unfortunately we haven't had any guests yet. 

Meera : Is it unfortunate Dr. Ramsey? Bryce is just a call away from crashing here. 

Ethan (pinching the bridge of his nose) : Anyone but Lahela.

Meera : We haven't thought about the baby's room yet. But we have the nursery now. 

Ethan : Yes, maybe we'll turn the nursery into a bedroom or one of the guest rooms in a few years. Let's see.

Nursery : 

Meera : This was completed just yesterday hence the delay in the interview, Bree. 

Ethan : We decided to keep the gender of the baby a surprise so we went with a gender neutral nursery that matches the colour scheme of the house. 

Meera : Also because Ethan Ramsey would rather die than paint the walls of his house pink and blue. 

Ethan (rolls eyes) 

Other rooms?

Home library :

Meera (takes in the smell of books) : Better known as my safe haven. 

Ethan : This was absolutely non-negotiable for Meera. 

Meera : We both own a lot of books and the collection keeps on increasing now with the baby incoming. And look at this reading space. It's from my dreams. 

Ethan : This is tucked away in a far corner of the house and is the most serene place around here. Once, I returned home from the hospital and called out to Meera a hundred times, she didn't answer, I started panicking and then found her silently sitting here in her own world. 

Meera : If I ever go missing please check here before running to the police, because once I am in here I forget the existence of the world.

Bree picks up "Peppa pig's super noisy Sound Book" which was kept on a thick medical journal with a smile. 

Ethan feels embarrassed but Meera laughs. 

Meera : Yes these are the new ones in our collection. Ethan was reading it to the baby before you arrived. 

Home Bar : 

Ethan : The wine cellar grew into a home mini bar because we had this unused space left. 

Meera : He loves showing this and his collection off. 

Ethan : Excuse me! If I remember correctly your friends were very impressed as well. 

Meera : True that. Bryce went bat shit crazy during the housewarming party. He said he felt he got back his bartending days.

Ethan (proudly) : And Jackie's exact words for that evening's toast was "to hell with Donahue's" 

Meera : Yeah yeah, you did a great job honey. Also the more surfaces the better for us. 

Ethan : Keep it PG for the love of God. 

Meera (shrugs) : Pregnancy hormones. 

Bree (points) : And that? 

Ethan (facepalms) : The only thing that doesn't match with the vibe here.

Meera : Nonsense! It was a housewarming gift from my friends and I absolutely love it. Ethan just feels it is a cheaper and juvenile version of his favourite game, soccer. But don't worry Bree, I'll get him to play someday. 

Ethan (smirk) : I would very much like to see you try Dr. Ramsey-Bose.

Meera : And I'll see how you say no when your son asks. 

Ethan : It's gonna be a daughter. 

Meera : We'll see. 

Do you own your dream home? If not, what does that dream home look like?

Ethan : For the majority of my life home for me was a structure of bricks and cement with a ceiling but Meera was the one who brought all the love and light and showed me what a real home felt like. So for me, my home is where my heart is and for this lifetime it's kept safe with this gorgeous woman whom I fortunately call my wife. 

Silence lasts for a couple of minutes then Meera snorts. 

Meera (drying her eye) : Damn you pregnancy hormones, I am not even wearing waterproof mascara. It was super cheesy Ethan, a non pregnant me would have definitely called you out on your cheese but this pregnant Meera has to agree with you. Even a stable is my dream home if I have my dream husband with me. (she kisses Ethan) but I wouldn't mind a Jacuzzi, a home theatre, a game room (laughing)

Ethan (an easy smile on his face) : Always knew you were in it because of the money Bose. 

What is your favorite room to spend time in with each other?

Meera : The library. Just him reading to our unborn child like he isn't already the most perfect man in the world. 

Ethan (a very satisfied smile on his face) : First I am very surprised that you kept it PG. So the obvious answer is the bedroom but other than that, the patio, which is not a room though.

Ethan : Meera has a slight deficiency in vitamin D so to avoid complications, we spend a lot of time here in the sun. We play board games, read and even discuss work here sometimes.  

Meera : Ooh yes! This was another great investment and a great way to utilise the humongous outdoor space we have.  

Ethan : I hope you had fun Bree. Thank you so much for doing this. 

A quick shoutout to @a-crepusculo and @jamespotterthefirst who came to my rescue when  I couldn't add more than 10 pics. Also thank you Bree for doing this you are a star and an angel. 💜

Tagging my usual : @starrystarrytrouble @mm2305 @charisworld @choicesfanaf @potionsprefect @genevievemd  @shanzay44 @little-flowers-on-heaven @schnitzelbutterfingers  @coffeeheartaddict  @gryffindordaughterofathena @chemist-ana @adiehardfan @custaroonie @ireneadlerisseggsy @takemyopenheart @natureblooms24 @mainstreetreader @izzyourresidentlawyer @a-crepusculo @quixoticdreamer16 @starryeyedrookie @barbean

+ @openheartfanfics

Please let me know if you want to be added or removed. And if you want to sit out only the answers to the ask games hit me up too. There won't be any hard feelings. I promise. 💜

[unstable-sapphic-hoe]

The Ultimatum

AN: I got a lot more free time on my hands since they gave us a month's worth of academic break a few weeks ago due to covid, bc we have to physically retrieve our modules from the school and there's been reports of people getting covid in our community. ALSO, we're getting on to the more exciting part of the story. *evil laugh* Also, I'd love to hear y'all's feedback on the story, I'd appreciate some constructive criticism. Also also, tell me if any of y'all wanna be added to the taglist <3

1,200+ words

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Chapter 4

Masterlist

Two months flew by swiftly. Kara’s nightmares were getting better each week and everyone has formed a bond with each other. They were happy. Diana was the soft, kind and slightly strict mother, Artemis was their other more mischievous and laid back mother. Life was doing great. Both of them even tried learning Kryptonese for them, which was going great. Kal and Y/N picked English up pretty fast too.

Another thing was Diana talking to Kara and Y/N about the possibility of going to school. Diana and Artemis knew that they could more than afford it if they decided to enroll them into private school, their savings going all the way back from when the first world war happened, which have accumulated due to well-placed investments.

Currently they were in the living room for family game night. It was Uno night. Kara was sat on the floor beside the coffee table with Y/N beside her, while Diana and Artemis were sitting away from each other on the couch, with Diana occasionally shooting glares at the redhead after a little mishap that involved Diana gaining 8 more cards, and Kal was on the couch between them, his eyes glued to the TV screen that was playing Little Einstein, clapping along whenever there was a song on. Right now it was currently Artemis’s turn, after a minute of debating, she placed down a blue reverse card, which made Diana groan, while Kara and Y/N giggled at their antics.

After a few minutes, an argument escalated between Diana, Artemis, and Kara on whether or not Artemis’s move was valid, with Diana and Kara being on the same side. None of them noticed Y/N grinning mischievously.

“Uno” they said, placing down their very last card.

Three heads swiveled around in their direction as they smirked proudly. They all looked at them, bewildered. The moment was broken by Kara laughing as she congratulated Y/N while ruffling up their hair, Diana lifted Y/N and spun them around, making the girl giggle, asking to be put down, and Artemis grinned at her, giving her a high-five. The night ended with pizzas and laughter.

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The next week, after dropping Kara off at an art class she wanted to take, (“It’ll help with my powers and keep me occupied”), They made their way to the park.

Y/N and Kal ran off, with Diana running after Y/N and Artemis after Kal. Diana was there to guide them through some of the obstacles like the zip line and the fireman pole. Diana enjoyed moments like these, where they were a family. She and Artemis have always wanted children, but it never seemed to be the right time. She was glad that they took the chance and basically adopted the three Kryptonians.

She was briefly distracted by a call from work. And Diana would have sworn down to her grave that she left Y/N for just one minute. But when she glanced back at them, they was standing face to face with a kid at least a head taller than them, while a little boy was on the ground behind them. Just as she was about to take a step towards her, the boy said something to them, and next thing Diana knew, Y/N threw a right hook right at the boy’s face, causing him to fall down.

Now, Diana wouldn’t have worried so much about them punching another kid in the face if they were human, not that she was condoning Y/N’s actions, but Y/N wasn’t human, they were Kryptonian. And with those came powers, specifically super strength. So you could imagine Diana’s horror and panic as she rushed over to Y/N.

“Y/N M/N PRINCE”

Y/N’s head whipped so fast towards Diana’s direction, their face reflecting panic, but not the same type as Diana’s.

“William” they heard another woman yell, coming near them. The woman fussed over the kid, William, as another woman came and picked up the boy Y/N was protecting. “Look at what your child did!” The woman exclaimed, showing them her son’s face that was already forming a bruise. Though Diana silently thanked the Gods that Y/N didn’t seem to use their super strength.

“Well your son’s being a jerk” Y/N said stubbornly with a stubborn little scowl on their face, “He pushed Mateo and was bullying him” she told the lady.

“You’re just a spoiled little brat, aren’t you?” the lady asked.

“And you’re a mean old lady who has a jerk as a son. What’s your point?” Y/N replied. Diana stood in shock, though she didn’t let it show in her face. Y/N’s been watching too much TV, and probably a little bit of Artemis’s bad influence. Gods knew that she had zero to no filter. At this point the lady was too furious to reply and realized she looked stupid arguing with a child, so she left with her son, fuming. Beside her she heard stifled laughter. She turned her head just in time to see Artemis high-fiving Y/N, a grin on her face. Diana just shook her head in exasperation, though she was betrayed by the small smile on her lips.

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“Yu-huh” Y/N said with an enthusiastic nod, recalling the events at the park. “And then the mean lady left. And Mateo and I became friends too”

“That’s great, Y/N/N. But remember, violence is never the answer.” Kara said.

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“Have you found a worthy champion for us?” a voice sounds from behind them says.

“We have” another voice confirms. They nod towards the modified gateway window they had, allowing them to see through it, finding a child standing over another child on the ground protectively.

“They are but a child” the voice replied back, bewildered. What could this child possibly do?

“Yes, but they will learn. They are worthy, I’ve seen it.” The other voice insisted. The window the allowed them to look at the child changed into another image. This time it displayed one where someone with y/h/c and bloodied armor stood, panting in exhaustion. A moment later she raised up her fist and let out a yell that was echoed by thousands of other voices.

“You of all people know that the future is never certain, my friend.” A sigh was heard from the voice.

“What else do we have? This is the best outcome we have foreseen so far. No one else came as close to success as they did.” The other voice insisted once more.

“How many possible outcomes are there if we choose them as our champion?”

“Three. One where they lead us to success, one where we fail, and one where they… join…them. The only thing left to do is to call for the Fates to change their path.”

The voice let out a big sigh, knowing there was nothing they could do now but help their champion to the best of their abilities.

“I will call upon the Fates”, the voice sighed once more before continuing, “Gather all those who you deem will help her on her journey. We must pray that the gods heed us”

The other voice looked at them with an amused expression.

The voice chuckled. “Even the Gods have their Gods, my friend.” Then took their leave.

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Taglist: @madamevirgo , @black-dragon1998 , @marrymemcgrath , @trikruismybitch