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#(( spoilers: that was a weird thing to put in there but I suppose masters is its own story too ))
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Thoughts while listening to Death Shroud:
SPOILERS AHEAD. Obviously.
• nicknicknicknicknicknick
• Ellie where are you getting coffee
• what do you put in your coffee???
• “There aren’t many spare parts for you Nick” why can’t you use gen 2 synth parts?
• Goodneighbor? THIS EARLY? MY BITCH IS BACK?!
• HANCOCK HANCOCK HAN- Hancock? HANCOCK!?
• THEY HIT THE FUCKING PENTAGON THIRD RAIL
• HANCOCK!!!!!
• wait why would Nick order a drink
• KENT KENT KENT KENT KENT KENT KENT-
• KENT NO-
• omg canon Nora real???
• Nick stop encouraging Hancock’s chem use
• how the hell are they gonna get Hancock into Diamond City
• cram! It’s meat… mostly!
• DID THEY KILL ELLIE
• thank GOD ellie is safe
• “drab upstairs apartment” lmao they said your interior decorating skills suck nick
• Nick “The Dick” Valentine
• Okay WHO is charlie????
• damn what did the Minutemen do to y’all
• Nick 4 Mayor
• who even is the mayor of Diamond City now
• John “Hold Me Back Nicky!” Valentine Hancock
• that was supposed to say Hancock, but Valentine was accidentally typed and that’s funnier.
• 3/4 families are missing their daily intake of processed powder cheddar? Believable.
• ayo time skip?
• lmao Seth Patrick Day
• OMG REMINISCING ABOUT THE PREWAR GOD I LOVE THIS OLD MAN SO MUCH
• D I M A ! ?
• omg Nick and Nora are besties <3
• OMG ALL THE COMPANIONS HANG OUT!?
• Hancock you’re already back <3
• oh Moe,,,, never stop lying babe
• his source is “i made it the fuck up”
• The Mechanist is back????? Hello???
• salty bitch. can you leave Sole and Co alone like goddamn
• Is the Mechanist a Synth now?
• THE CHILDREN OF ATOM?????
• wait no
• NO
• YOU CANT DO AN AD NOW WHAT
• WHAT ABOUT PIPER??? CAIT???
• I don’t care who Nick Valentine sends, I am NOT eating sugar bombs
• did they fucking nuke Piper
• THEY FUCKING NUKED THEM!?
• NORA!!!!!
• omg Shaun :)
• omg Nick :(
• omg Danse???? Why are you here what
• hdjdjdjd say hi to your big brother Nick, Danse
• “don’t touch me” lmao
• oh FUCK MACCREADY
• oh no. strong left. that’s… so sad…
• Protective mom Nora!
• NORA AND HANCOCK NORA AND HANCOCK
• I love them all so much oh my god
• this is a fucked up family reunion
• ugh FUCK maxson all my homies hate maxson
• “An old flame” “Seriously? I wanna see how that works” Hancock is asking what we’re all thinking
• bro can Nora have anything
• I can not believe that Hancock and Danse are friends now lol
• lmao don’t rob the vault tec rep
• wait. why didn’t Nora invite him to Sanctuary :(
• HIS NAME IS MACK!?
• god I love you so much Mack
• omg this trio can NOT be good lol (Nora, Hancock, Danse)
• Nora how the fuck is Hancock lifting Danse
• “Danse, scan the building, use infrared vision to pick up vitals” “I don’t have infrared vision” “Really? So much for human 2.0” he’s such a smart ass I love him
• FEV conjoined twins???? Omg that’s so fucking cool
• Hancock, stealing is bad
• Hancock, Florida is bad
• lmao Danse is bitter about Nora taking Nick instead of him haha
• Oh shit they got Lorenzo’s crown? Nora you can’t leave this shit laying around girl
• OMG PSYKERS
• Nora really. You freed Lorenzo??? You dummy
• okay so Hancock and Danse aren’t really friends now lol, they just kinda tolerate each other. Real.
• “No, are you nuts? He’s armored, dual wielding, and you’re wearing a 16th century nightgown!” “You unpatriotic son of a-” “Hush, damn it!” these three are so important to me
• UNITY???? UNITY!? no way they’re doing a Master plot right?
• so is this the same mechanist as in the automatron DLC?
• damn these 3 are agile
• omg not Hancock’s coat!!!!
• oh fuck the silver shroud and mechanist fused
• can we please discuss how fucking disgusting yum yum deviled eggs sound. How the fuck were they preserving eggs. Why would you make prepackaged deviled eggs??? I always thought that was such a weird pick for a food lol
• YO WHY ARE WE AT SANCTUARY
• uh oh. UH OH.
• WHERE IS SHAUN.
• can y’all let Nora have ONE THING god DAMN
• OH THANK GOD CODSWORTH
• I cant believe they canoned Nora and Danse being together,,,, damn
• omg Hancock please don’t traumatize Shaun
• Hancock do NOT give Shaun alcohol oh my god
• THEY KILLED MAMA MURPHY :(
• can they stop killing my favorite old people
• omg I forgot about you Nick lol
• hey Charlie? What the fuck
• DONT FUCKING HUMAN NICK-
• do NOT kill Mack PLEASE
• KELLOGG!???? WHY ARE YOU HERE
• bro can Nora have ANYTHING damn-
• can’t have shit in the commonwealth fr
• AMARI WHAT THE FUCK
• OMG KELLOGG NICK THING IS TIED UP!?
• Mack you are fucking useless (I still love you though)
• why are we talking about puppies what
• oh my god :(
• OH FUCK A BOMB?
• Nick… you fucking plug yourself into computers???? hacker supreme
• omg he’s so robot
• omg Mack you are so papaw
• it’s cre-shendo not cre-sendo
• Nick you are NOT captain america omg
• shit I guess he is captain America
• poor papaw has had such a day let him go home Nick
• “I’m not asking!” DAMN nick
• WHAT. HOW DID HE CALL A CAB.
• HOW DOES HE HAVE A PHONE???? WHAT JUST HAPPENED???? WHAT
• this is so funny what the fuck is happening
• WHY IS EVERYONE ACTING LIKE THIS IS NORMAL WHAT
• YOU CANT CUT TO A VIM AD NOW HUH
• ok it is kinda funny to imagine a salesman in power armor lol
• Huh. Cannibals will eat ghouls. Interesting.
• learn to drive? How? What driving schools are there???
• okay the idea of a cab driver in the commonwealth is so funny. But how the fuck did Jefferson come into existence-
• NICK CAN WALK UNDERWATER????
• WHAT. IS NICK A TIME LORD!?
• WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHAT. NICK. NICK WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING.
• WAIT IS 47 THE UNDERWATER VAULT!?
• Mack is so real lol
• HIS NAME IS DAVID DWECKER!? I THOUGHT IT WAS MACK
• omg David my beloved peepaw
• 747683 is not 5 digits Nick
• Champion of Justice???? What?
• WHY WOULD THE CODE BE SHROUD?????
• maybe I’m missing something?????? It is 6 am lol
• I’m sorry, did Nick magic a fucking vault into existence
• CRYOPOD!!!!!! TWO YEARS AGO???? WHAT.
• time to wake up bitch
• NICK STOP MAGICING
• … what? THE SILVER SHROUD!?
• WHAT IS HAPPENING
• but… the shroud… isn’t real… did Nick just create the fucking Silver Shroud?
• it should be 2289, not 2287
• “Same words Hancock uttered after smoking a tire that one time…” huh???? Nick and Hancock hang out lol
• EMOJI???? HOW DO THEY KNOW WHAT EMOJI’S ARE!????
• I’m sorry, I can’t get over Nick Valentine accidentally bringing fucking Batman into existence simply for the drama of it all
• Poor David lol
• How The fuck is Nick gonna explain all this to Nora, Danse, and Hancock
• HOW DOES THE SHROUD KNOW JEFFERSON????
• oh. Ok. That makes sense.
• this is like the world’s strangest fanfiction
• NICK. STOP DOING MAGIC. OH MY GOD.
• WHY ARE NORA AND DANSE HERE. WHO IS DEAD. WHAT.
• WHERE IS HANCOCK!?
• WHY IS THE SHROUD CASUALLY A PART OF THEIR GROUP NOW
• MACCREADY IS DEAD!? WHY IS HE HERE. WHERE DID HE COME FROM.
• Okay, I’m starting to think that Nick managed to get high off Jet or smth
• who is the duke????
• “sociopath science daddy in slacks” What the hell maccready
• “just one more job” thanks. Gonna go sob now
• omg fancy lad snack cakes my beloved
• omg Hancock is in his Robin era
• wow. Just remembered Kent is dead. Devastating
• pay your employees Shroud.
• An old lady, the Silver Shroud, and Hancock get into a cab…
• why is no one questioning this cab
• honestly though. I understand why Hancock isn’t. He probably just thinks he’s hallucinating lol.
• “Fish Lips Malone!” what. is happening. I’m as confused as Hancock is…
• “activate passive aggressive restraint!” What is that????
• Hancock why do you know every criminal.
• “yes indeed my flesh peeling friend!”
• “man I have never seen anyone who needs to be laid more than you do” “finally someone else says it” oh my GOD I love Hancock so much (and Jefferson. Man, do I love Jefferson.)
• “omg Hancock we’ve been waiting for you! Oh… and the shroud’s here, too…” just like me fr
• Is the Silver Shroud an incel…
• THEY MEDUSA’D MAGNOLIA!?
• lmao everyone else hates Johnny Guitar?
• KELLOGG GET THE FUCK OUT.
• Hancock you are REMARKABLY casual about the dead man in your booth
• The Silver Shroud is a short king lol
• why is Kellogg the only one who thinks the shroud being here is weird
• Nora is an “uppity broad” lol
• why are y’all dissing Hancock, leave my man alone-
• Just gotta say… it’s a great day to be a Hancock stan
• THE DUKE IS THE MECHANIST!?
• what. A literal rat faced man? Why does he have 3 arms?
• Hm. They still do beehive hair, huh? I’m kinda impressed
• what do you mean they turned Louie into a mole rat using the creation engine
• “stay low to the ground, my crusty companion!”
• THEY TURNED THE SILVER SHROUD’S GUN INTO A DOG????
• THEY TURNED HANCOCK INTO A STATUE NO-
• how could they do this to me.
• the Silver Shroud can say fuck. Nice
• omg wait
• Hancock is… Hancock’s… he’s…
• he’s stoned
• ba-dum-tsh
• Travis, please don’t sexually harass all of Diamond City
• I’m more than half way through this and I genuinely have no clue what’s going on lol
• omg they legit are using the creation engine huh
• HANCOCK???? YOURE BACK??? WHY DID YOU DRINK GASOLINE!???
• I wanna have tea with god…
• Dr… Satan?
• HAROLD!? WHY ARE YOU HERE????
• Nora 🤝 Harold
never getting to rest
• I think it’s very funny that Hancock is just… back.
• damn they all got stoned
• and the stone is gone again
• what even is the point of the stone lol
• THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER!?
• OH MY GOD
• OH MY GOD
• OH MY GOD
• THEY KILLED THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER!?
• who is… showing up…
• WHO IS OBEDIAH BLACKHALL
• Damn. Bye bye Obediah.
• I genuinely can’t remember what started this lmao
• Oh fuck, Kellogg is back…
• omg they broke the scarab!!!
• what do you mean by too many voices
• too many characters??????? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT
• WHY IS IT JUST NICK AND THE SHROUD VS REALITY
• they are SO remarkably calm
• “see if you can… blind him with some… bullets to the face” yeah that should do it Nick
• “my speed should give me the upper hand” your what Nick
• WHY IS NICK SUPER FAST WHAT
• … they’re summoning bitches now? A Grognak bitch? WHY ARE YOU HERE?
• wait. Nora is the one magicing?
• oh wait. You mean that Nora was the silver shroud for a while. Right? What is happening.
• The Silver Shroud is really good at sticking to his bit lol
• OMG NORA BECAME THE SILVER SHROUD AND CHANGED REALITY?????
• Silver Shroud speed runs an existential crisis
• uh oh
• uh oh
• uh oh
• reality is literally crumbling
• SHEOGORATH!?
• oh fuck Bethesda is crumbling
• GLADOS!?
• THE JOKER!!!!!???
• CLAPTRAP!!!!!!!????
• Poor Nick…
• can you guys stop having relationship issues when I’m on the phone with my dentist
• SNIPER?????
• GLADOS is hitting on Nick Valentine. Yeah. Okay.
• “Thank you, intelligent sociopathic blender!”
• at no point could I have predicted this.
• they gave Nick a portal gun.
• he is opening a portal on the moon.
• they are essentially creating a black hole.
• How The FUCK is Nick supposed to mentally handle all of this
• GLADOS didn’t even get to say goodbye :/
• omg they’re in the creation engine
• OH MY GOD THEY ARE IN TODD HOWARD’S BRAIN????
• Jesus Christ, poor fucking Nick
• Hey, you. You’re finally awake.
• what do you mean it was all a dream
• how did Nick fall asleep
• is everyone alive??????
• wow. Huh. What.
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anxiescape · 8 months
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Celestial Bodies AU: A Battle Between Two Monkeys
*contains major spoilers for Celestial Bodies*
(Also, warning, this is a bit of a long read.)
EDIT: Forgot to mention that I wrote this out to answer a question for @mage-of-words, so I hope this answers it! (The tag isn’t working and I don’t know why 😭)
So, do you guys remember how in JTTW, Wukong and Macaque had that huge fight during the journey, which ended in Macaque’s death? Of course you do.
But did you know that that same battle happens in Celestial Bodies? And that it still results in Macaque’s death?
“But why?” I can hear you asking in despair. “They’re so sweet with each other. They love each other. Wukong legiterally takes on the Jade Emperor for him! Why would they fight? And why would Wukong kill Macaque?”
Well, let’s start at the... not the beginning, per se, but at a significant point in the story, shortly before Wukong was thrown into the Trigram Furnace.
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During a talk between Wukong and the Jade Emperor, the Emperor claims that Macaque betrayed Wukong, and told the Celestial Realm all about Wukong’s plans and such during the battle. This isn’t true (the Jade Emperor be bluffin’ here), and Wukong doesn’t want to believe him, but... how else could he have lost?
(Because you’re an overconfident, cocky idiot, Wukong. That’s how you lost. But anyway.)
During his 49 days in the furnace, and his 500 years under the Five-Phases Mountain, Wukong has a long time to think about things. About Macaque, and their relationship, but one thing that keeps coming to his mind is what the Jade Emperor told him about Macaque’s supposed betrayal. This continues to be on his mind, even during the journey.
Now, let’s swap to Macaque’s POV. He has been in a magic-induced sleep since his capture by the Celestial Realm. Pretty fun, right?
Well, the Jade Emperor and Lao Tzu have been at work. Obviously, Macaque was pretty darn useful to them, what with his super-hearing and natural intelligence and all. He was a pretty good fighter, too. Obviously, they want him back. But they’re not going to risk waking him, because then that gives him the chance to escape.
So Lao Tzu has been at work. He has been experimenting—making clones of our celestial moon monkey boi. It took at least a couple hundred years before he succeeded in making one that was actually stable and could survive outside of his laboratory, but he isn’t able to make a spirit to put into them—to give them life.
Now this gets into, like, sci-fi territory, just a little bit. Do y’all know that one episode of Doctor Who, where Amy Pond was replaced by a flesh duplicate? (Uhh... Doctor Who spoilers, by the way. 👀) She was piloting the duplicate from a weird tube/containment pod thing that she was trapped in, and she never even knew that it wasn’t her real body, or that anything was amiss, until she was released from the connection with it.
A very similar thing happens here with Macaque. Using some pretty intense magic seals and spells, Macaque’s mind is connected to the first proper clone. From there, Lao Tzu tries to brainwash him, for lack of a better term. And the “good” thing about these clones is that they are significantly weaker than a celestial monkey. So anytime Macaque tries to break free and escape in one of the clones, he is restrained, and the connection is broken until they are ready to try again. If they fail to restrain the clone and he flees, it is destroyed.
This continues for many, many years—decades, if not centuries—until Macaque’s brain is so messed up that he stops trying to run. Then the real brainwashing can begin. They tell Macaque that Sun Wukong has been captured, and is being held captive by a group of demons and their human master. They tell Macaque that they will allow him to go after Wukong, and if he can free him, then the two monkeys can go live happily ever after—they don’t care about the war anymore.
Obviously, this sounds too good to be true. But Macaque is desperate at this point, and his brain is really confused with all sorts of “false memories” that are left over from the previous “de-comissioned” clones. This poor monkey has suffered through quite a bit of gaslighting, as well. So he eagerly agrees to this plan, and is sent off in search of the scripture pilgrims.
“Woah, woah, wait,” you’re probably thinking. “Why would the Celestial Realm send Macaque after the pilgrims? Don’t they want the scriptures retrieved and all that? Aren’t they on Tripitaka’s side? Kinda?”
Well, yes. But as mentioned before, the Macaque clones are weaker than actual celestial monkeys. They are much easier to kill. So, Lao Tzu and the Jade Emperor’s plan is for Macaque’s clone and Wukong to fight, and for Wukong to kill the clone. Then Wukong will think that Macaque is dead, and he won’t bother to look for him anymore anyway, because obviously he would hate Macaque for attacking his pilgrim brothers, right? And then they can leave Macaque’s sleeping form to rot in its prison cell, forgotten, never to wake and cause trouble for them ever again.
Well, not exactly. Wukong fights the clone, and kills it out of a mixture of rage, exhaustion, and many other overwhelming feelings, and he is distraught. He can’t believe what he has done to the one that he truly loved. And he breaks down.
But luckily, the Buddha is here, and he’s pretty frickin’ cool. He could tell immediately that the clone was not the actual Six-Eared Macaque, and he lets Wukong know this. Mr. All-Knowing here lets Wukong know that Macaque is still in the Celestial Realm, being kept captive under powerful spells and hidden away in Lao Tzu’s tower. This sounds too good to be true, but Wukong is willing to believe it—it’s better than believing that he killed Macaque.
So the journey continues, and eventually comes to an end. And now it’s time for a monkey rescue. Wukong and his awesome pilgrim brothers head back to the Celestial Realm to get Macaque back, and I’m not gonna spoil any of that fun 😈, but it does result in Wukong rescuing Macaque and waking him from his so-called “eternal slumber.”
This is the first time Macaque has “woken up” since his “death” by Wukong’s hands, and the first time he has actually woken up since he was placed under the sleep spell. Macaque tells Wukong about this awful dream that he had where they fought, and Wukong killed him. Wukong is silent.
Macaque’s voice shook as he looked Wukong in the eyes, and fearfully whispered: “It... it wasn’t a dream. Was it?”
Yeah, these monkeys have a lot that they need to work through. But that’s okay. Now they have each other, and all the time in the world to work things out. Together.
The end. 💕
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Sorry for that info-dump, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway! Let me know what you think!
Also, you guys can thank Amalgamorph for this wonderful clone-Macaque idea, because I was originally just going to have Macaque straight up die. It was going to be really sad. 😭
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theatrevelyan · 1 month
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Ok, I’ve binged the new ATLA live action and I have feelings about it so here are my incoherent thoughts! (SPOILERS btw!!)
I’m a fan of the original show and I approached this show with low expectations (namely the only expectation I had was “this can’t be worse than the movie, right??”) but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!!
I mean sure some details have been changed to flow better in this rendition of the story but I’m fine with that so long as the heart that made the original special is still there and I know some people didn’t felt like it did but I had the feeling that it was.
Do I love absolutely everything about the show?
Nope.
I have some issues with the first episode being too stiff and some shots were outright weird?? Like the tilted camera when Grangran was speaking was a really odd choice??? Was it to signal that the world changed when the fire nation attacked? If so it missed the mark, it just felt weird… to be honest Grangran in general felt weird. Idk man, she felt like an exposition dump made flesh. Also I did like it better when it was Katara’s unchecked emotions that led them to Aang.
In general, the dialogues were… uhm, how to put it…? Too rigid? Not the acting mind you, but the actual script felt a bit stilted, I felt it more in the first few episodes but to me, the first episode is by far the weakest of the season in this regard which is odd since it’s your hook and most of the time you want to make sure the hook is if not the best at least a really solid opening.
I did not like Bumi, like at all. He was never a favorite of mine even in the original but still I found him annoying in this version and the fight in that episode was not the best to say the least but the rest of Omashu was good even if they changed it to include both Sai’s and Jet’s storylines. Too bad they didn’t include the loss of culture subplot for Aang but I get there was no time/place for it in this version of events and the rest was handled well… except for Bumi lol
On the more serious complaints… they butchered my boi HeiBai!!! That episode was all over the place in sense of scripting. I didn’t mind putting Koh and the owl there but we just forgot about the HeiBai plot along the way and we never got a resolution about it???? Like just two lines about healing the forest would have been enough, not good mind you, but enough.
Also I did not get why they changed the motivation for going to the North Pole from going there to train to go there bc of Kyoshi weird premonition thing or why Roku didn’t tell Aang about the comet????
Like ok the Kyoshi thing I can just wave it away like a minor change to flow better with the new structure of the episodes but I can’t ignore the fucking comet!!! That’s like a really important timeframe for the gaang to follow and maybe they will get to it next season since it was addressed on Ozai’s side of things but it felt still like a weird change.
Oh and why didn’t Aang learn water bending??? I mean I guess they probably wanted to elevate Katara’s skill level and have her be recognized as a master before she started teaching him besides him having still to come to terms with having to accept that he is the avatar and that he has to fight sometimes something that he doesn’t really do until the season finale and I can get behind that, I really can… but man… let him water bend just a little. Maybe in just one scene to show that he is picking up something from Katara even if she’s not his teacher yet. To show that despite all the doubts he’s actually trying to do what he’s supposed to. I guess this is a “wait and see” kind of change though so I’ll let it go… for now.
All that said, do I think the show is a good adaptation of the original?
Fucking yes.
It has its flaws for sure but there is also a lot of good things in it.
Sokka was the highlight for me. I really liked him in the original but i feel like he’s been elevated in this version of the story and the actor did a really remarkable job with him, despite my worry with the changes in his initial story arch they managed to give him another layer that I liked.
Actually all the actors did a very good job! Aang was spot on and Zuko had a lot more humanity in him from the start without losing his rough edges. And while I stand by that Sokka’s actor is the one that surprised me the most, Zuko’s was the one I had more fun watching. A really great performance in my opinion.
Iroh was a fucking delight and an emotional gut punch as always and while he was a bit more somber I really liked this version of the character.
They did Azula and Ozai justice showing how cunningly terrifying and utterly toxic they can be and I really liked that we got to see more of them in season 1.
Hell, even Zhao felt the right balance of unhinged cartoony villain and actual threat for the pov characters.
Katara was more of mixed bag for me. She’s my favorite character in the original (with Zuko being a close second) so I have higher standards for her and overall all she still feels like the Katara that I know and love but idk sometimes she felt too poised?? It’s more evident in the first few episodes to be fair and I don’t think it was the acting, the actress was great! Maybe it was the direction or the writing?? Idk man I still loved her, mind you, but in the original, Katara, while being kind and loving, was still a force of nature that you do not want to anger exactly like a raging river that can both be a source of life or a force of destruction. In this it felt like they softened her edges a bit too much. That might be a me problem though, as I said she’s my favorite so I have higher standards for her.
Ti be honest though, it seems that they softened everyone’s less palatable traits. Zuko isn’t as ruthless, Sokka isn’t sexist at the start of the season, Aang isn’t as goofy and so on. I didn’t mind it actually and most of the time it works really well in showing us new sides of these characters without losing who the are but idk man… while I still loved Katara it felt like she was missing something. And same with Suki! She looked fantastic and she was fierce as I expected her to be but she also felt more naive and love struck that she should have. Nothing terrible but enough to notice.
The bending was fantastic and it really felt… well real. Especially air bending! Appa and Momo were really well animated too! Big win for the VFX team!
The music too! It just felt right. And I’m still not over those scenes when you faintly hear leaves from the vines play in the background. Curse you and your great choices that made me actually cry my eyes out like a baby!
In the end I’d give it a solid 7/10. It was a nice watch and it brought me back to my childhood and I can see it’s potential to be something special on its own.
Mind you, this could still turn into a dumpster fire along the way. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened to a really promising Netflix show (I’m looking at you Voltron and the Witcher) but I have to say, I’m gladly surprised and mildly optimistic about this show!
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shine-reblogs · 1 year
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Errant Kingdom: thoughts about the Finale (spoiler alert: am disappointed)
Sorry for putting negative opininons in the tags, but I've seen it done before and I'm warning you to stop reading now if you don't wanna see it. That said, spoilers for everything ahead, read at your own risk.
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(I wanna complain in detail, so I'm gonna break every point down)
•Where's my Convergence
Up until the finale the game was hinting towards all three routes merging at the end. And then it just. didn't. This would've been okay if from the start Nomad/Knight/Ambassador were the three roles you could choose, and even if they were nods towards the other two, they didn't have any real weight on the story and who you chose was the only, well, Chosen One. But they didn't do that!! It's obvious all three routes are supposed to happen simultaneously!! Maja literally tells Knight they're not the only one marked, Raiden tells Ambassador if they know anything about Knight because Erik is worried about them (implying their being snatched by the gods), I'm pretty sure in Nomad x Erik he tells them they're not the one they were looking for/expecting (he was looking for Knight!). And then in the finale they forgot about the existence of the roles you didn't choose. What happened with the other two Chosen ones. I get it would've been difficult to orchestrate this, but if you build up expectations then you need to live up to them.
•Erik's Bloodline
Where the actual hell did that come from?! You can't just pull that kinda stuff out your arse at the end in a haha gotcha, if you wanted to go for that you should've left hints. And no, having him exiled on weird circumstances isn't a hint. I assumed their Majesties set up a trap for him because he was a good knight who cared about people and that doesn't bode well for you when you're doing things that will actively harm said people. And in this assumed scenario it makes sense they exiled him? They didn't need him dead, just out of any position that holds power. But with the actual reason? Him being the Chosen One the only who can defeat their plans and their god? Yeah, I'm not buying that they went "well maybe exile will be enough lol".
Plus, Erik being from a bloodline of kings and then becoming King it's. eh. Don't get me wrong I'm not mad that he is King, he would make an amazing one, but I kinda wish getting back his old life (now upgraded) wasn't the only way he can get his happy ever after. It would've been cool if they went for 'what happened was not your fault and you don't need to go back to your old life for happiness', but I understand that's a subjective thing.
•Sword for the Ambassador
This is how I dubbed the fact that no matter which role you take the Mythical Item To Defeat God is a sword. Even when you're an ambassador that (canonically) hasn't held a blade in their life and just barely gets the basics of how to hold a dagger before the final battle. Yeah, sure, just strap the thing to their back and sent them to battle, what could go wrong? The sword made sense for Knight, but I assumed the item would be different for every role tailored to each on'es skills.
•The Final Battle
It was kind of anticlimatic after all the build up of it being a battle between gods/gods' Chosen Ones. And in the end it's a man with a bloodline and magic sword, a Fake Chosen One, and a god that *checks notes* gets distracted by mages throwing debris at them. This is where convergence and magic items tailored to each role would've been awesome.
•Suddenly Important Triplets
Look. I'm not against having the triplets have an important role, but the last time they appeared was all the way back in the prologue, Ambassador route only, and they were presented as kind of shallow and dumb. And now they are the masters of secrets holding super important information? What?! If they wanted to go for this it should have been hinted so that, at least in hindsight, it makes sense.
Also, side note on the favours. They should be different for every role. Up until I caught up that the three routes were not hapenning simultaneosuly anymore I thought good lord why is everyone being asked for Erik's hair. But no. Not everyone. Just who you're playing as because the other two Chosen Ones are not that important anymore and hold no role in the story.
•Dialogue Recycling
I mean, in the end a lot of the other points are tied to this. They wrote one thing and made the bare necessary changes to make it for the three roles. And we've seen dialogue recycling before! Sometimes it's necessary! In ch5 we've seen some dialogue recycling, but it was less... obnoxious is not the word I'm looking for but it will have to do, and generally made more sense (there were a couple instances in the polyam options were the recycled dialogue implied you'd entered the romance from the wrong side, but I'm not here to critique ch5, let's stick to the finale). However, in the finale the dialogue recycling has been constant across all three roles. Not much to distinguish if you're playing as Knight, Ambassador, of Nomad from the events/dialogue except how people address you. Before every route was distinctly different.
•Loose Threads
It drives me nuts that we've had the finale without all questions being answered. What the fuck happened with the cultist at the forest, for once? It was given so much importance and then they were not to be seen or even mentioned again. And what about Callisto's hiring of Raiden? I'm okay with not knowing how she got the Guild's favour (I would be more okay if the sisters were introduced from the start as sneaky and secretive little bitches), but who is Rai murdering? He even mentions it's a job he would have gotten eventually and it feels wird af that you can't even guess about it?
•No Time for Love
This might be slightly more petty, but it is a big pet peeve of mine when once a romantic route is selected you actually have less romance/content with the LI instead of more. But it's only a natural outcome when you combine 'Where's my Convergence' and 'Dialogue Recycling'
•King, Queen, and Special Little Friend
More petty things, but why don't MC, Erik, and Maja rule as a throuple in the polyam routes? I could buy it that Nomad doesn't want to because they made it clear they do not want to live in court like that (and still Maja and Erik could pester them about it). But with Knight and Ambassador? If ruling by three isn't a concept yet then their new Majesties would certainly make it one.
•I Love You but I Love Heist More
Also a petty one, but it didn't feel right for Lucien to leave for the next heist when you just started your relationship with them. Lucien, who so romantically told you that being so ancient they count time not by the seasons but by the lives of those they love. But then they can't wait the blink of a human lifetime for the next heist? Or failing that take you with them? I get that in the polyam routes Raiden has to stay in Novus as the new Viper, and that MC would stay with him rather than leave too, but the monogamous route? Kinda unnecessary for MC to stay.
(And then again, if Lucien is so ancient what is a human lifetime to them? Heist is good and all but are you really telling me it's the only source of entertainment you get? My friend, I say this as someone who loves you: you need to get hobbies)
•Bad Ending
I could write a whole essay on this, but enough to say that the Bad Ending isn't bad as in tragic but bad as in nonsensical. Why can Novoth make you replace the god who marked you? Why does that make you forgive you about yourself, your friends, your lifes and experiences? Why does everything go to shit immediately after (the gods told that Novoth wanted a utopia eventually leading to ruin, not the apocalypse? But well, they made Novoth straight up evill instead of not understanding how humanity works which was a far more attractive idea, so yeah. I could make a whole other point about this, actually). Additionally, why do your friends give up immediately after and scatter? They had strong bonds tying them together before you came around!!
Also, if you change your mind last minute and switch to the Good End halfway through it is. the most. nonsensical thing. of all.
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And that has been all!! Thanks for coming to my TED talk. If you're still reading I commend your commitment.
I genuinely liked the game (still do, finale notwithstanding), the characters and overall game up until ch5 were amazing and it seemed like they were leading to an equally amazing finale. I was wrong. But I became attached to the LIs and my OCs, so I'll still be obsessed with this game for the foreseeable future.
All in all, bad canon exists so fanon can thrive, I guess, so I'll be working on my own fanfix for the finale because it deserved better.
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dubsteplevi · 1 year
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I just finished watch season 2 of Dead End: Paranormal Park (aka just dead end) and OMFG IT WAS SO GOOD. Literally left me in tears, excuse me while I ramble: (Spoilers for Season 2, duh, please go watch it if you haven't already before reading)
First off, the character Fingers???? So well executed!! At the beginning I was like, "something's up with him" but I couldn't put my FINGER on him (get it?? Yes pun intended). With that, what's up with the master?? He said he had a deal with him and it's almosy like Fingers was afraid of disappointing him! (I mean probably because he would/did get killed but still makes me wonder what made him like that to start with and how their relationship came to be. Hope we can see some backstory in a hopefully season 3) Also Fingers character design and personality is so good!! He's got this creepy vibe to him that immediately caught my attention and sjshdu. Not to mention Im gonna make either a cosplay or overall humanoid version of him simply cause I think it would be AMAZING seriously I know I'm supposed to hate him and stuff but I can't get over how well his character is made!!!
Second, PUGSLEY! NO! That entire scene of him "dying" (putting that in quotations but I don't think he's actually dead with that whole shot at the very end of the episode) with the other Pugsley (The Watcher? Idk mate) was also very well executed and did not disappoint and when they did that whole head nod thing towards each other I was like, "what are they- oh. oh no" I was literally screaming, kind of happy I was home alone while watching this.
Third, all of the callbacks to the first season in the last episode we're amazing!! Not to mention all the new characters and Norma coming out as bi to her mom!!! The whole gym sequence and Asmodeus (seriously if I had a nickel for every time Alex Brightman was in a show with someone else as Asmodeus I would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened twice, right?) ALSO ALSO NORMA ADMITTING HER CRUSH TO BADYAH?? THEN BADYAH REJECTING HER??? IT HURT TO WATCH BUT THAT WAS SO IMPORTANT TO SHOW THAT YOUR NOT ALWAYS GONNA GET THE PERSON YOU LIKE AND SUCH! And then Badyah saying something along the lines of her never experiencing romantic feelings? That left me wondering if she was aroace and just didn't realize yet! Not to mention it would be wonderful representation as if this show didn't have enough of that! Oh yeah, if you haven't watched the show and are still reading this, it has wonderful representation! Not only LGBTQ+ but also people who are hispanic and different religions too!! Please watch it it's so good I can not emphasize enough how much I love it!!
Overall VERY well made and I am very much hoping for a season 3 or at least a mini series to tie up what we saw at the end. If you have any extra things to add to this post PLEASE I would love to hear them!!!!
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hxney-lemcn · 1 year
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Not Today Satan — John Ward x gn! reader
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summary: Being a paranormal investigator was just a hobby. So coming face to face with a demon and a priest wasn't what you expected.
tw: Spoilers for chapter 3. Nothing that isn't in the game.
a/n: Inspired by this fic, go read that as well!
wc: 1.3k
Master List
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I sighed heavily as I inspected the broken window. I can’t believe I was actually about to do this. I was a paranormal investigator. It was a hobby of mine, but I’ve never broken into an abandoned building that was being guarded by a cop. I checked my bag one more time, making sure my recording device and camera were still tucked in snugly. 
Footsteps sounded from behind me and I quickly turned around. A man wearing a clergy color in all black was walking towards my direction. I tensed, unsure of his motivations. I glanced at the window once more, deeming it safe enough to jump through if need be.
“Hello,” He spoke up. “What are you doing here?” 
“I could ask you the same thing,” I replied stiffly. I looked around, hoping this wasn’t a set up of any kind.
“I’m here to investigate,” He replied. 
“I’m here for the same thing,” I confessed. “How about we work together?”
“No,” The brunette denied immediately. “You should go home.”
I shrugged, “Well I’m going in there with or without you.”
The man shook his head, “You have no idea what you’re getting into.”
“I will soon,” I grinned mischievously. I then entered the abandoned clinic, trying my hardest to avoid any broken glass. An immediate feeling of dread washed over me as I took in my surroundings. Instant regret was all I felt, cursing myself for my weird hobbies. This place better not be where I die I swear to God. I jumped slightly forgetting that a supposed priest was currently with me. 
“You were right,” I muttered in disdain. “I should’ve just gone home.”
“There’s still a chance,” He gestured to the window. 
“And leave you alone in this hell hole?” I asked incredulously. “No way. We’re in this together now. I’m (y/n) by the way.”
Nodding in acceptance he replied, “I’m John. I would say nice to meet you but this isn’t the nicest of circumstances.”
I smiled a little at the joke and nodded, “Agreed.” 
We looked around the front area in silence. There was a note that John picked up. I let him read it while I kept an eye out. For what? I wasn’t completely sure. I just felt like something was watching us. It didn’t help that gurney’s currently surrounded us. We went past the reception desk into a hallway. There seemed to be pictures on the ground and I picked up the one closest to me. It was an ultrasound photo. I flipped it over but found nothing interesting. I went to the next photo on the ground and felt uneasy once more. The baby in this ultrasound looked more animalistic with pointy ears and claws. I glanced at John over my shoulder, but his face was blank. A third photo was hidden behind the counter that was in the middle of the room. I hesitantly picked up the last photo and felt my stomach churn and my skin crawl. The claws were larger and the image seemed warped. 
“How are you so calm about this?” I asked in disbelief. This entire time, John’s expression hadn’t changed. 
“I’ve seen horrors that no man should see,” He spoke solemnly. His reaction made me even more on edge than I already was. 
I pursed my lips, “Cool.” I put the picture back where I found it. It could be evidence for the supernatural…but I felt that if I took it with me, I’d carry something I’d rather avoid.
We walked to the left since the only door was boarded up. There was a strange symbol on the wall as we walked past and I couldn’t help but look behind me. I saw something in the corner of my eye, but that might just be my brain playing tricks on me. I fished my camera out of my bag, taking a picture of the symbol and running to catch up with John who was already around the corner. 
“Somebody dropped their crowbar here,” John muttered, picking up a rusty looking crowbar. We walked back towards the room that held the cursed photos, and I grabbed John’s arm to stop him from going to the door. 
“I don’t think we should go in there,” I spoke out. 
John turned back to me and I knew my fear was plastered on my face. Typically I loved an exploration, but this place left a bad taste in my mouth. I knew my limits, and my gut was telling me to run. He nodded, and I led us back up to the reception room, only for a monster that I can’t even describe ran out and latched onto John, dragging him back. My fight or flight kicked in, and my reaction happened to be to freeze. 
Struggling against the demon, John shouted out, “Hide! I can take care of myself.”
I nodded shakily, running to the reception desk once they were out of sight, I quickly ducked under and held my legs close to my chest. I took in deep breaths, trying to stop myself from hyperventilating. I shut my eyes, trying to calm myself down. My senses were on high alert, listening to every little crunch, breeze, and car that passed by.
That’s right! There’s a cop staking out the front! All I can do is hope he’s still there. I slowly poked my head out from under the desk. I looked around and the coast seemed to be clear. I spent no time dashing to the broken window and hauling ass out. Running up to the front of the clinic, I was panting heavily.
“Help!” I cried out, gaining the cops attention.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, looking at me with slight disdain. He must’ve remembered me passing by him before.
“The…” I panted. “The priest. He’s been…I don’t even know. Something’s got him. You need to help.”
“Lead the way,” The cop agreed, and I was surprised how quickly he believed me. 
“Thank you,” I said gratefully. I led him through the fence and to the broken window. We entered the building and I led him to the room that held the photographs. I noticed the previous door that was barricaded was now open. I pointed to the door.
“Wait here,” The cop stated gruffly, walking down the stairs slowly. I waited with baited breath for them to come up the stairs. I could only hope that the priest wasn’t torn to shreds currently. I let out a strained laugh as the two came up the stairs unscathed. 
“Oh thank God you’re okay,” I said happily. I rushed over to John, double checking just in case he was hurt. 
“I’m alright,” He reassured. I nodded in relief. Then he led us towards the exit. 
“I’m gonna need your crowbar, preacher,” The cop said as we got closer to the front door. 
The demon from before popped out of nowhere, going after John once more. 
“Jesus Christ, what is that thing?” The cop shouted. The cop began to shoot at it as John raised his crucifix, which seemed to do some damage. I tried to keep out of the way, not wanting to figure out what that thing will do to me if I get too close. After a few grueling minutes, the cop managed to shoot it dead. 
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” I cried out, rushing towards the main door. John tore down the wooden planks before opening the front door, letting us out. 
We all rushed out, only to see that the cop’s car was being set on fire by people painted in red. The cop chased after them. All I could think about was how I needed to get the hell outta here. I stopped in my tracks, looking back towards the priest named John.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through, or what you’re going to go through,” I spoke out. “But I give you kudos if that wasn’t the worst you’ve been through. I respect you John, I just want to wish you luck on your journey.”
“Thank you,” John replied. “I’m going to need it.”
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theliterarywolf · 11 months
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Okay, I'm going to copy and answer the ask I just got regarding ToTK under a 'Read More' because while it's focused on something that is apparent very early in the game (like... very early), the speculation itself could go into spoiler-territory.
So, with that being said:
Anonymous said:
Idk if this is a spoiler, probably not. But I'm legit disappointed that Totk doesn't acknowledge the missing Sheikah slate, or the fact that all the shrines are gone, together with the towers. Heck, it could have been an off-handed comment by Purah: "Since the towers and shrines went under the earth again some time after Calamity Ganon's defeat, I put a lot of effort into recreating them with these Skyview towers." When it comes to the Sheikah slate: They could have shown Link wearing it in the intro of the game, and then we see it get broken as we move forward through the first stage. Because I think the sheikah slate being gone with no comment, is just such a weird choice since it was such a huge part of Botw. Could even have noted that it became unusable for anyone else, because it keyed in on Link. Also makes me really salty after recently replaying Botw and getting the Master-cycle.
So while I agree with you regarding the Towers (because, yeah, it's weird that these giant structures that stood for over a thousand years are just... gone now), I saw the handling of the Sheikah Slate and the Shrines being gone differently.
With the Sheikah Slate, I feel like the game is trying to infer that it was either traded in for or updated into the Purah Pad. Particularly since they essentially do the same thing with a few minor differences.
With the original Shrines, I think the interpretation is supposed to be that once Calamity Ganon was defeated and the Master Sword and Master-Cycle were obtained, the monks, Shrines, and Divine Beasts fulfilled their purpose and just... faded away.
Though, just like what you offered up there, if they just managed to say something like 'they sunk underground' or 'they were decayed by the Gloom' that would have fit better.
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dangermousie · 2 years
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Am still reading Love In Another Life and it’s delicious!
After the emperor only revived our heroine for basically ten seconds and then she died again, he demanded his own personal special coffin be used for her and to transport her far and his retinue is all OMG this is insane but he’s unhinged and with a sword so whatever you say my liege. And he actually plans to take her to some immortal master because she has one breath of life left and bring her back.
But then his supposed childhood love goes into labor or w/e and…
We break and our heroine is in this weird place between worlds watching this and the deity in charge won’t tell her which choice the emperor made because it doesn’t matter, heroine doesn’t get to go back - her soul was too weak to stay in that body after all that trauma so they are just gonna put another soul into that body and it will probably survive and emperor can have that and heroine is !!!!!!
Every time I think this novel cannot go more gonzo, it proves me wrong!
And then it goes into a flashback of how all of this started and I am so excited because we get to see how this headcase of a man fell this hard and how heroine got to where she is.
She WAS apparently a modern woman (well - sort of - I am spoiled but she really is not) but that is zero help to her because she’s lived a lonely shadow of an existence and she doesn’t have amazing martial arts or technological knowledge or even historical one since she’s sent into an alternate universe with alternate history.
And she opens her eyes in the body of a concubine who was forced to commit suicide - emperor just married her, spent a night with her, then went to worship the ancestors and empress dowager framed her and forced her to commit suicide.
I am a number of chapters after that and this is SO GOOD!
Her horror and adjustment to all these realities and how there is no good modern out - for example, she is appalled when the emperor says it was her faithful servant who tried to poison the dowager not her and has servant killed. Until she realizes it was dowager who created the fake poisoning attempt and emperor cannot go against his mother and expose her so it’s either her neck or her servant’s.
I also love this early relationship between them - because he’s not in love with her, he’s using her (as she discovers, she’s still a virgin despite the emperor’s supposed favor), and he’s a ruthless magnetic monster (but he has to be or he’d be dead) and I am spoiled that he has a childhood love of sorts but he can’t help but be drawn to her and intrigued by her and puzzled by her because her reactions are something he cannot predict. Like - the fact that he secretly sneaks into her room to sleep there - that is such a contrast to his prior public “I am with concubine X” for scheming reasons. The very fact that it’s secret means it’s real.
And she is drawn to him tho she fully realizes he’s a psycho and can’t figure it out so explains it to herself that he’s a good looking man who’s her sole hope of survival in this pit of snakes but I am spoiled a bit (I literally know three spoilers about this whole thing - his childhood love and who in the palace that is, the past life stuff, and the reason she’s pregnant in the opening and who did it) so that isn’t fully it!
Anyway, this is soooo good!
And because it’s a long novel, I can’t wait to see how he gradually goes insane for her!
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Yall I read the newest chapter of Black Butler
I want to talk about it
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UNCUT IF YOU WANT SPOILERS!
So
First things first, the very obvious class system made here
I theorized that each area where they collect blood will be like this but not in the way you're assuming
Let me explain;
In Mey-Rin and Ran Mao's adventure they dealt with a very unspoken yet heavily talked about piece of history of the thin line of sex and work at the Victorian Era. Now a days we fantasize the concept of maids and butlers doing sexy stuff with their masters but most likely back in the day you can't really escape from it. Much like how Mey-Rin couldn't escape from her previous life until she met Sebastian and Ciel. Ran Mao can't escape the life style she has cause she doesn't want to leave, much like she doesn't want to do a lot of stuff in this arc.
In Bard and Lau's adventure we deal with legit war survivors and test the limits of Bard's faith on Sebastian and Ciel and his own sanity.
This is a LONG stretch leap but with these two it's somehow showing what R!Ciel plans to show to O!Ciel cause he knows he's watching. . . Their pain
They went through Hell together and will forever suffer from the PTSD they have from that entire cult, being used and abused and only admired for their value and souls until the day came and they were separated through death.
Now we have Finny's and Snake's adventure...it made me believe this more
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There's a legit class system within this building.
Mastiff
Corgis
Collie
Each group do and learn a different thing. And unlike the others we haven't seen them take blood yet which is a interesting take. It's like their's building kids' trust to do their work. Sounds familiar...
Also it's explained...
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I'll get back on this for a second but I want to get this through
Then there's the main class
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THIS
Not only is it a class system but there's something so bizarre with the way they're dressed
Mastiff - dressed like butlers
Corgis - dressed like normal kids
Collie - dressed like maids
Pomeranian - Dressed like Ciel
The class are Earl, servants, and the rest
Also, note two things
One first kid we see is reading the same book Vincent red to the twins years ago and the same book Finny got his name from
Two, Doll's face when introducing this class
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She doesn't seem that happy or excited but more...disinterested...Which would make sense
If this is the class that's most like the Ciels she would be unclose to them, not to mention she's the "other class" to noble views
More proof they're suppose to be like the Ciels?
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This is a new concept of the blood banks that we've seen. It's always they're the same so not changed other wise no matter blood type. This shows also they most likely don't put kids in different class based on blood type. More personality or interests
Not to mention this whole thing just tickled me weird
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Pomeranian class get their own rooms-
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They eat sweets everyday and can't go outside...
Then there's this...
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Looks familiar?
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This place is not even just taking blood but creating the pain O!Ciel felt before the cult. Not R!Ciel.
They're alone
They eat sweets all day and play games that work on their mind
They watch in envy as the other class do what kids do
They have butlers and maids
But what's the Corgi class?
Let me pull that picture up again
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Isn't this one kid (closest to frame) dressed like O!Ciel in the circus?
Who else?
And what does this class sound most like?
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There's a huge possibility the building is in fact Baron Kelvin's manor
There's a chance this orphanage sets up a class system for children to act and feel like that class
And there's a chance R!Ciel might be trying to rewrite stories
We got the trauma they faced from the cult, the PTSD, now we're stuck in childhood
And I'm scared
I'm scared if I'm right we night see Doll's backstory, her childhood, the origin of the scar
But I'm also scared for one thing... The chance of O!Ciel seeing her
There might not be a chance but why add a class LIKE Doll and what she does?
Why obviously allowing rules to be bent if she wants them?
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Why add a possible memory of her's of the workhouse before Baron Kelvin and place it right in connection of a memory of O!Ciel's childhood?
Why do they have to cross?
Unless R!Ciel plans to make them meet.
I can't think of what R!Ciel possibly promised Doll if she helps this whole thing or if she really knows she's doing bad but this scares me too much to even be giddy over my ship
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madrone33 · 27 days
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So here's my thoughts on netflix atla ep 2! It was... hmmmm. Zuko was the best part imo.
Heads up; spoilers obviously. But also I'm a huge fan of the original, so I'm heavily biased and also literally cannot not compare them. This is my opinion only, and if yours is different that's completely fine! I just wrote this out mainly for me to get my thoughts in order, and posted it for fun. Anyway! Here's my extremely long rambling:
The Northern Water Tribe attack warning - it’s unnecessary. They’d already need to go there to get Aang and Katara a waterbending master. There’s no need to take away from the sudden shocking attack just to add a deadline they don’t need. They have Sozin’s Comet for a deadline. If they’re even going to add that. Honestly can’t tell at this point.
Kyoshi - her showing up and possessing Aang takes away from Roku being the first show of Avatar State power. And it being possible from any shrine instead of needing the Winter Solstice? Huh. Also, she’s really harsh and mean; in the cartoon she’s more just stoic and blunt? Is she supposed to be a stand in for the mentor role instead of Roku? Don’t see why they made Kyoshi throw down this episode either; story wise, Kyoshi Island... isn’t all that major. Why did they choose here in this minor skirmish to showcase the power of the Avatar? It’s seriously overkill.
Zhao - not assholeish enough, just kinda smarmy. Where’s him smugly shoving in Zuko’s face the fact that his father doesn’t want him? I miss feeling like I want him to drop dead. Also, his sideburns aren't big enough lmao. Have him swap with Lieutenant Jee.
Zuko - really getting the teenage angst vibes here and I love it. Zuko is my favourite character so far. Also wow, he’s actually fairly emotionally aware. And pretty reasonable? Like, they're really toning down how much of a jerk he was in the original, huh?
(I kinda knew they'd do this tbh. Adaptation writers have this Thing where they see what the fans like, and then misunderstand why the fans like it. We like Zuko because he has an amazing redemption arc, goes through shitTM, and ultimately becomes a badass good guy. But his arc was only so great because we saw how very low he started. Zuko was an asshole for most of the show. Like seriously, he was not a nice person in s1 and s2 and most of s3. He was angry and bitter and callous, and there were only a few times where his better side shined through to give us a glimpse of the kind of person he could be. So when he embraces that side, and fully turns his back on his abusive father, we are right there with him, seeing him at his lowest point, and watching him rise higher than anyone thought possible. If he starts out more mellow, less of a trashfire little shit, almost a nice person, then he can't rise to such great heights. And that's a shame.)
Aang’s fear - I don’t like him being so powerful the monks were scared of him. As a kid, he’s supposed to have a peaceful, happy life; that’s why getting all that abruptly shattered and ripped away hurts so much. And his fear of the Avatar State would be valid - except that he calmed himself down last episode without anyone’s help?? He seemed to be able to control the Avatar State just fine, so there is no problem, and thus, no reason for his fear.
Captured by Kyoshi Warriors - it's weird that Aang airbended when they were ambushed and they had zero reaction, but it was him airbending that proved he was the Avatar in the cartoon. I also don’t like the deus ex machina statue.
Ozai - face reveal?? I like his voice. But for the love of god, stop putting the firelords on the same step as everyone else!! He should be on his throne, behind the fire, in shadow, with a low-up camera angle- He’s a dramatic ass bitch, stop taking away from his dominance displays!
Unagi - Kyoshi stopping the attack means no Unagi, and I am sad. Idk maybe they didn’t want to bother with the cgi? But they did Kysohi? Ok… Oh also, isn’t the Unagi the thing that kept most outsiders away? Weird that they’d not even mention it.
Commander - guys stop feeding Zhao’s ego. Let Uncle Iroh subtly put him down by calling him a Lieutenant.
Sokka and Suki - I don’t like it. It was cute in some scenes maybe, but wayyy too forced. By taking away Sokka’s sexism, they’ve taken away the main rift between Suki and Sokka as well as the reason for them making up. Sokka swallowing his pride and humbly asking for lessons is the only reason Suki gives him a second glance, and then she gets to know and respect him. They didn’t just see each other and have some innate attraction! Also she gave him one (1) kiss on the cheek, because it was at most a crush and mutual respect at this point, not some big thing! I would’ve bought it if he’d fought her at the statue and she’d taken him out and he was impressed and smitten and then tried to awkwardly fumblingly get to know her - but that’s not what happened! I’m pretty sure she was holding Katara at that point. There’s no reason for them to notice each other. Is it seriously just because they’re hot?? Come on guys! You’re better than this! Sorry. Rant over.
Gran Gran - ah. She’s back as the exposition master I see. Have a scene where her grandkids try to go off and save the random kid they found, get busted, brace for anger, only to receive her support and love as she tells them how proud she is and how scared? Nah, just have a voice over, it’ll have about the same emotional impact, I’m sure. Well, I guess that’s one way to skip the Waterbending Scroll episode.
Katara - so this is a trend is it? She’s just- not gonna get mad at the things she should be getting mad at. She didn’t break the iceberg from anger, and she doesn’t feel bitter and jealous of Aang being a bending prodigy. O-kayyy. (Because imo her jealousy was less ‘oh he’s getting this faster than me’ and more ‘omfg I am the last waterbender in the south and this is MY culture and if I’m failing to learn this then that’s one more thing the fire nation has taken from me and would you please stop rubbing in my face how much better you are-) Yeah, so what does this mean for Imprisoned and Jet?
Suki’s mum - by making Suki’s mum the hard, untrusting person, and making Suki the more trusting hopeful one, it takes away a big part of Suki’s character; she’s a warrior that was born, and grew up, shaped by the war. She and her people were so untrusting of outsiders and the danger they posed that they would throw them to a sea monster to get eaten alive rather than trust. And it’s Aang and Sokka that inspires Suki to change that way of thinking. By taking away her initial distrust, it’s taken away her ability to change. Just like Sokka, less character flaws means less character development.
Katara standing right there so that Zuko looks up and spots her - like Katara, come on! At least try to be subtle! This is the Last Agni Kai all over again I swear-
Momo - he’s… hmm uh yeah. Idk. I don’t like. Sorry.
Suki’s facepaint - ok ok, sure, they couldn’t trust the audience to be able to point her out with her facepaint on so they made her take it off, but like- the whole point of the facepaint is so no one stands out and gets targeted? And now? She stands out??
Sokka doesn’t wear a dress - I am disappointed. I am very disappointed. The dress is not just a dress, it’s 1) showing how Sokka is willing to follow, adapt to, and respect other’s traditions, 2) proving that what you wear doesn’t affect your skills, and 3) it’s vital to making Suki, in turn, respect him. The writers are cowards. Let my man wear a dress!!
Coward - speaking of, why do people keep calling Aang that?? He didn’t run away in this one! It really doesn’t hit very hard at all when he literally Didn’t. Run. Away. If you’re going to make changes, stop referencing the old version!
Kya - the flashbacks to Katara’s mum when the fireballs got too close were pretty good. Just enough detail to know something traumatising happened, not enough to reveal the whole story. And it’s realistic that Katara would have a trauma response to fire.
Power scaling - an issue of last episode too. The original was good at slowly building up and introducing the power of the world. We go from Zuko, to Zhao, to Azula, to Ozai, to Sozin's Comet. But since we’ve seen the firebenders at the height of their power - during Sozin’s Comet - all other firebending should now be less impressive. (I say “should be” because tbh the firebenders under Sozin’s Comet weren’t even much more powerful looking?)
Weapon - why does Kyoshi call the Avatar the ultimate weapon? That sounds like General Fong type shit. The Avatar is the bridge between the physical and the spirit worlds, they keep the balance. In no way does that mean they have to become a weapon. In fact, I would argue that a good Avatar must be the furthest thing from a weapon, because weapons are wielded by others to kill, but the Avatar should be independent in the decisions they make, striving for peace, if they want to see the bigger picture and keep the balance for all.
Appa - he was there. He didn’t look too bad. I hate that that’s the only thing I can say about him.
Sokka finally shows the boomerang - but he still doesn’t use it in combat. At this point I think they’re trying to contain the sheer power that would be unleashed should he get to wield it.
RIP the pirates - I get the time constraints, but I am sad we never get to see the sheer unhinged-ness of Zuko's stubborn ass. This mf out here catching goss of a bald kid and a waterbender and immediately grabbing it with his teeth.
Hmm yep, think that's everything for now. It's a fine episode if I don't think about stuff too hard, but if it's only good when my brain's turned off then it's not really that great, yknow? I'll probs keep watching the rest, but I might not post any more reactions unless they pull something hella good or fuck up egregiously bad lol.
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feng-huli · 3 months
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The Blood of Youth sequel predictions and analysis
To preface this, I have not read the novel and am going mainly based on my knowledge of season one. Thus, there are spoilers at least for season one (and possibly season two, if my suspicions are correct).
This will probably be a bit unhinged and won’t focus on the main cast outside of the parallels there may be between them and the characters that I’m focusing on. The characters I’ve selected are the ones that I suspect of playing a larger role in the second season.
1. Marquis Lanyue
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If he isn’t revealed to be a villain, I’ll be shocked. The way his supposed lack of ambition is pointed out numerous times is remarkably suspicious. He has a big scary sword that was hyped up but barely used. He outright threatens one nephew, only helps another because he decided he wants to protect the healer taking care of him, and is pretty antagonistic in his internal dialogue towards the other nephew. There is definitely something weird going on between him and Prince Chi early on that seemed to fizzle out at some point, right around when Marquis Lanyue started helping out his other nephews. Anyways, this might be a crazy guess, but I kinda wonder if he’s going to work with Ye Ya the Night Crow to reanimate Prince Chi (at least, I think the Night Crow is still alive, unless I missed something). As a less crazy guess, I think he’ll be the main or major villain.
2. Mu Chunfeng
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He has some interesting parallels to Marquis Lanyue that may become more prominent in the next season. Both characters are defined by their lack of ambition, but in Mu Chunfeng’s case, it seems more genuine. He actively goes on a quest to make sure his older brother can inherit the responsibility of leading the wealthy Mu family, which otherwise wouldn’t happen due to the older brother’s implied medical condition that renders him unable to produce heirs. This shows Mu Chunfeng’s disinterest in seizing power rather than the telling that accompanies the question of whether Marquis Lanyue is ambitious. Both Marquis Lanyue and Mu Chunfeng form an attachment to the healer Hua Jin, albeit of differing natures (father-daughter vs student-master). Mu Chunfeng, like Marquis Lanyue, also has a powerful sword that is hyped up but barely used. It should be noted that Emperor Mingde, who isn’t known for his ability to trust the right people, directly accused Mu Chunfeng of having ulterior motives. Anyways, my more measured prediction is that Mu Chunfeng’s older brother will die. For a more intense prediction, I think Hua Jin will end up dying, likely by accident, culminating in a battle between Mu Chunfeng and Marquis Lanyue.
3. Xiao Chong
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The main thing with him is that it’s easy to forget that he’s very much a player of the game of thrones, so to speak. With all that Xiao Se does to earn his trust later in the show, it can distract from how Xiao Chong was making alliances with Wushuang City and how he was able to safely waltz in and out of a conversation with the fearsome Dark River. Even now that he’s risen to the throne, Xiao Chong will likely continue pulling strings. The point of the first season was that Xiao Se wouldn’t make a good emperor, but I do wonder if his arc in the second season will put him into conflict with Xiao Chong.
4. Bo Yong
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This one is a bit of a stretch, I admit. His actor was one of the first I saw sharing the news about the sequel, but even before that I had some suspicions about his significance. In the scene where Jade Deity hides Jin Yan from the Director, he is notably absent. Could he have ratted Jade Deity out to the Director? He seems to have been involved in the plot to sneak Wuxin into the palace, which the Director appears to have known about. Anyways, given the events of the first season, the Five Eunuchs need their ranks replaced. Ling Jun and Bo Yong seem to be the most likely candidates, and will likely be involved in any palace drama.
5. Jin Yan
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Honestly, I’m terrified for Jin Yan’s safety. Xiao Se and Jade Deity kinda have mirror arcs. Jade Deity longs for the Martial Arts World, and Xiao Se validates that. Xiao Se needs to learn what loyalty to his friends means, and Jade Deity shows him that. This, I think, is the reason Jin Yan needed to survive the first season. However, hints were dropped throughout that key episode that he’s done far worse things than some fun treason, and I have my doubts that the plot will continue to be so merciful to him. If he does die, the most heartbreaking and likely possibility is that it will be by Jade Deity’s own sword, as he is currently responsible for Jin Yan’s actions. If anyone else kills Jin Yan, that sword would definitely get covered in vengeful blood—given how many people Jade Deity has already lost, losing Jin Yan would surely cause him to snap. Less likely but still tragic, perhaps Jade Deity dies protecting him or has the injury Jin Xuan gave him act up, in which case Jin Yan may go mad with grief. Or maybe they travel together and live happily ever after… which could actually fit Jin Yan’s arc. He initially lacks meaningful connections, where he isn’t being manipulated/used. Jade Deity counters that as risking everything to protect Jin Yan. It is possible that Jin Yan could have a positive arc where he turns his greed towards building genuine relationships.
Well, it was certainly fun organizing my thoughts about parallels between the characters and exploring ideas related to the sequel. I’ve been resisting thinking of the future of The Blood of Youth for so long, but the announcement of season two has opened the floodgates to some surprisingly clear water.
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jeremy-ken-anderson · 5 months
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Another Comedy Isekai
The Fruit of Evolution (Before I Knew It, I Had It Made) is interesting to compare to other comedy isekai series like Uncle From Another World and KonoSuba, because it's in the same class from one angle and in a different class from a different angle.
Not to insult Fruit of Evolution, but it seems like where the other two I mentioned are lampooning the genre as a whole or the best works of the genre, it's riffing on the trash. Its plot starts with multiple of the most basic overused tropes
a bullied fat kid
a class full of students summoned to another world (with the protagonist separated from them so he can become OP in some weird way)
the girl in the class who maybe doesn't have romantic interest but has been trying and failing to halt the bullying, and is positioned to become a romantic interest after the protagonist's glow-up.
a special skill that seems innocuous when it's granted but is ridiculously OP
a videogame HUD for every player character
levels! stats! special named skills!
Making the protagonist conventionally attractive being the first and most important thing to happen
Seriously, there's a LOT.
Anyway then it turns into a goofball comedy. It is more gag than plot by weight. And frankly it's better for it. When the guild master is a muscle man who refuses to put on a shirt, I'm more inclined to overlook questions about why nobody else has ever tried the thing that makes the protagonist OP than in a series where things are deadly serious. (Lookin' at you, SAO. Seriously telling us that only one person was allowed to equip two weapons in a virtual world game? By holding a weapon in each hand? In a game meant to feel real?) I'm more okay with worldbuilding inconsistencies.
I do love the joke that our protagonist's gathering stats are so high he can't find normal items anymore. He's told to pick regular herbs and he can't see them because he can only find S-tier items, but in this setting the S-tier items and regular items aren't the same thing, so not being able to find the normal items is actually a kind of flaw.
I will say that Fruit of Evolution's opening theme/animation is incredibly shitty. Just. Sorry to the people who made it, but it's real bad. Its clips don't flow together. There's no thematic throughline. There's nothing that ties it to the music. Chronologically I'm positive the clips are out of order, and it includes spoilers so I'm able to determine that the clips are out of order in spite of only being on episode 3 and not having met most of the cast being spoiled for me. And if it's supposed to be selling me on the waifus it's also bad at that. And it's not funny. Just an absolute master-class in how the making of an OP can go wrong, and what not to do.
Overall I'd say Fruit of Evolution is middle of the road. Not as bad as some, and I'd rate it a lot lower if it took itself at all seriously, but it also doesn't hit the same heights as shows with more heart (and budget, I'd wager) so if you've got something great to watch instead it's probably not worth your time.
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abookclubofonesown · 1 year
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the cloisters | katy hays | 2022
ann stilwell arrives in NYC for her summer associate internship at the Met only to find out that her supervisor has been whisked away and she is transferred to the Cloisters - an extension of the Met filled with Medieval and Early Renaissance works along with the eponymous gardens full of poisonous herbs. there she works with patrick and rachel on their research in Early Renaissance divination practices and the origins of tarot, ostensibly for a future exhibit, but we find out that the interest borders on obsession. 
---------------------------*spoilers ahead*--------------------------------
this one was tough. i didn’t technically finish it. i got to the halfway point and was like alright lets get this show on the road. there were a multitude of reasons why i didn’t finish this book: 
1) the characters were not at all likable or sympathetic. and the ones that were were treated with scorn basically. like i get it - not every character needs to be likable or like a Good Person ™. but i do need to feel for them in a way that keeps me engaged in the book, and these ones did not. 
2) a lot of the characters reminded me of the people i dreaded interacting with in college. i have bachelor’s in classics and a masters in art history so i’ve been around this cast of characters in many different iterations. i actually have applied to the summer associate internship that ann is in (i was not offered a spot lol). i’ve been the ann from some rinky dink small private school in the middle of nowhere who’s in the big city just trying to get their foot in the door. i was put in the worst mood after reading like fourteen pages of this because i’ve been there and i didn’t like it. but i really did want to give it a chance and see if it got any better (narrator: it did not). 
i did like the bits where they were actually at the cloisters and like being employees there - particularly one scene where ann is being shown around the gardens by leo the gardener and they were being a little flirty. but then it gets ruined by this rachel character who i really didn’t like. i know this girl and if i were in ann’s shoes, i would have smiled and nodded just to placate her. i probably would have been as thrown off by her as ann was, but i wouldn’t think it Hot or whatever ann thought. apparently rachel and leo were a thing of some kind and there’s this weird tangled web of relationships between everybody in this book - which i think can work, like in most books, but it added weird tension when the book and ann were already just so tense all the time. 
3) the mystery. i made it halfway through this book and we hadn’t made it past like the preliminary clues of the whole shebang. everything just felt like it was dragged out for so long. people would always been keeping pieces of info from one another without like earning the secrecy. idk. 
i stopped actively reading this half way through and i had been skimming pretty heavily starting about a third of the way through. it was a lot of rehashing the same points of trauma or just saying the same things again and again or giving more descriptions of idle actions than i really cared for. then i skipped to the last three chapters which revealed all i had wanted to know. the book starts of with ann talking about a dead body so i wanted to know who died and that was really it. my three guesses were leo, patrick, or rachel. two out of three are dead by the end (patrick and rachel) and only one explicitly by murder (patrick). and then you’re thrown the curveball that rachel knew and arranged the guy that ann was originally supposed to work with’s excursion to bergamo, leaving ann to be transferred to the cloisters, and i just rolled my eyes because like of course. of course it wasn’t really a chance meeting and of course it was the woman that had told ann throughout that she didn’t really believe or want divination to be real. 
there were multiple scenes of people getting their cards read and i think it would have been way cooler if they put illustrations of the card spread in the prose. there’s the index in the back that lists the cards and all that, but i think that visual component would have served the book well, especially since it’s such an art history heavy plot. 
i wanted to like this book because i loved my visit to the cloisters and i do like tarot, but the characters and the pacing killed my enthusiasm real quick. 
tl;dr: murder at the museum was foretold in the cards
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Yandere Dr2 Reactions to You Accepting Their Affection (after they kidnapped you)
In random order. Some of these characters I really can’t see being yanderes and/or don’t know them very well, so some may be ooc or just low quality (be warned).
Spoilers: I use something revealed in chapter 5 or 6 (I forgot which, sorry)
Tw? Cw? (What’s the difference again?): degrading, mention of drugging the reader
~Nagito Komaeda~
He would be surprised. Why would you return the affection of trash like him? Don’t you hate him? Why are you doing this? Even so, he would love it. Finally, his darling was showing him love. No matter how much he thinks he doesn’t deserve you, it doesn’t change how much he loves you. How much he carves for your love.
“What are you doing? No, no, don’t stop. I like it, it just startled me.”
~Chiaki Nanami~
She wouldn’t act like anything was weird about it. You’re together, aren’t you? Of course you’re showing her affection. What’s so weird about it. It does feel nice though. Finally, you’re done with your playing hard to get phase. It was all worth the wait.
“You should do this more often, player 2.”
~Hiyoko Saionji~
She would take this as an opportunity to put you in your place. Sure, she loves you and what’s your affection, but you have to deal with the tough love. Otherwise, how can she tell you really love her if something as simple as nasty words can make you flinch away?
“Oh it’s almost cute how desperate for my love you are…almost. It’s kind of pathetic too. I bet if I let go right now, you’d probably cry like the weak little bitch you are.”
~Gundham Tanaka~
He would be flustered. He didn’t expect this. He thought you were still too shy to do anything like that. Of course you loved him, but you were too embarrassed to show it. He understood that, but now you’re returning his love, he’s a blushing mess.
“Y-you’re counterattacking the supreme overlord of ice? Well done, mortal, I knew you would eventually.”
~Peko Pekoyama~
She would act normal, but inside she’s a mixture of fangirling and scheming. On one hand, you’re absolutely adorable like this. One the other, it means you’re starting to love her, now she can finally advance her plot.
“Oh this? I suppose it’s nice, but it’s just what you’re meant to do as my significant other. It’s not something you need to be praised for.”
Bonus
“Oh my god, young master! They hugged me! They finally hugged me! Does this mean they love me?”
“Yes, Peko, of course they love you, you’re dating.”
~Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu~
At first, he would be pleased, but then he’d remember all the previous times. Why were you only doing this now? Was it a scheme? Of course it was. It had to be. What an ungrateful bitch.
“Why didn’t you do this before? What’s so special about now?! What the fuck are you planning?! You’re going to leave me, aren’t you, bitch?”
Bonus
“Peko, I can’t fucking believe them! They can’t really think I’m that gullible, can they? That bastard! I know what they’re doing, I know their plans-“
“Young master, they might really love you. Shouldn’t you trust them? Maybe you can apologize.”
“If you think they’re telling the truth…then yeah, I’ll go apologize.”
~Mahiru Koizumi~
She would be relieved, but in a slightly sinister way. Of course, it was amazing having your affection for the first time, but she couldn’t let you win that easily.
“Jeez took you long enough. I thought I was going to have to be more…forceful.”
~Kazuichi So(u)da~
He would be overjoyed. His beloved darling was finally showing him love, how could he not he? After all, this is everything he yearned for. Now that he finally has it, he’ll do anything and everything to keep it.
“No, I won’t let you go. Let’s just stay like this a little longer.”
~Teruteru Hanamura~
He loves it. Of course he does, this little nasty boy is all about your affection…and other…less wholesome things. He’ll probably ruin the moment.
“You know…we could be doing…other things ;). I have been looking forward to tonight’s main dish- wait no no don’t stop! I’m sorry, I’ll stop with the flirting…or I suppose I could just drug you…”
~Sonia Nevermind~
She would expect it. Although she would never admit it, she’s quite used to being loved. She has gotten used to it, not to mention Kazuichi’s obsession with here…She likes it, she does love you after all, but it’s nothing really remarkable.
“Hmm something’s different today, what is it? Oh I suppose you are a bit more affectionate than usual, could that be it?”
~Mikan Tsumiki~
She would be surprised. This was very unexpected. Maybe she was being too harsh and now you thought you had to fake affection to make her happy?
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I love you no matter what, so don’t feel obligated.”
~Ibuki Mioda~
She would be excited. Ibuki’s darling was giving her affection? How could she not be? This is what she always wanted, she even went as far as to kidnap you for it! So, she’ll squeeze you even tighter.
“No, Ibuki’s not gonna let you go~ not now, not ever!”
~Nekomaru Nidai~
He would be relieved. Finally all that training and all those punishments were working. He knew you would be his obedient darling eventually, but you’re doing it even sooner than he thought. You really never cease to amaze him.
“It looks like your training has been working, good. I’m proud of you.”
~Hajime Hinata~
He would be surprised. He wasn’t expecting this. Sure, he dreamed of it and desired it, but he didn’t think you’d start to Stockholm syndrome this early.
“Oh…this is nice.”
~Akane Owari~
She would not know what to do. She really only focused on eliminating her love rivals and getting you here. She didn’t think about what might happen afterwards.
“What? Uhh I should just continue to give you affection, right?”
~Ultimate Imposter/Twogami~
He would hide his true feelings about it. Sure, he actually liked it, but he was acting like Byakuya, who is a little rude. So, he would try to act like that.
“…Took you long enough.”
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New World Order - TFATWS Rewrite Chapter One (Bucky Barnes x Reader)
[Marvel-Masterlist], [TFATWS Rewrite-Masterlist]
Next Chapter
Summary: You were an Avenger. That was how the world viewed you. Nobody else knew about your past & it was for the better. After all, you had Sam. You had Bucky. That had to be enough. At least for now.
Words: 6,214
Warnings: language, sarcasm, expect some sort of slow burn, there are hints already, this is a Bucky fic, which means that it'll focus on his scenes more, spoilers for TFATWS, (Y/E/C) = your eye color
If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤
You were no superhero. At least, you would never say you were one. Your past was filled with actions you regretted. None of it was your fault. It was not your decision to be the child of the leader of a HYDRA base. It was not your decision to grow up like a warrior. Fighting. Killing.
Your father was the bad guy. You knew that now. As a child, you did not see through his facade. How could you? He was your dad. Someone who was supposed to love you endlessly. Those years had shaped you. Into the person you were today.
Deep down, you wished there was a way to make you forget. Forget about your past. Forget about the pain. Forget about it all. Hell, you were a laboratory experiment. Those powers did not come from nowhere. No. They came from tons of needles, pumping a toxic serum into you veins. You should not even be alive anymore. Not by what now flowed through your body. Apparently, it was for your own good. That was how your dad put it. Absolute bullshit. Growing up isolated from the world, being trained to fight, to kill, daily. Your own good my ass. If it did one thing, then it ruined your damn life.
But at least you had powers, right? Blue flames you could control. Those blue flames that were hotter than anything else in this world. It took an awful lot of time to fully have control. Truthfully, you hated that part of you with every fiber of your being. It had been the cause of one too many deaths. You had been the cause. But weakness was not in your nature. If you did not show strength you would be a disappointment. Something you really did not want to be.
Bucky was the reason you got out of this life. He was the one to rescue you out of this hell hole. He was the one to show you an entirely different part of this world. And for that, you could never thank him enough. If it were not for Bucky, you would have gone insane ages ago. Who knew if you were still here today?
The Avengers were aware of your past. Of you being a part of HYDRA back in the days. Yet, you had never elaborated this any further. If there was one thing you were good at, it was keeping things to yourself. No need to burden others with your struggles. And you did struggle. Every single day. Because your mind was filled with memories. Memories you had tried to burn. Memories you wanted to erase. Memories of you being the bad guy. Just like your dad had been.
Your life changed when you were introduced to the Avengers. They did not trust you. Not right away. But during the fight with Thanos, the one after the Blip, you proved yourself to be worthy of their trust. Especially Steve. He had been there for you. When everyone else failed to believe in you. He was gone now. And it hurt like hell. Giving up was never an option. And the universe did not plan on giving you a break anytime soon. For now, you had to bury your feelings as deep as possible. Your focus should solely be on the new threats of this world. Threats, that seemed to increase daily.
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“Bucky is an asshole.” you were on the phone with Sam & the fact that the super soldier had been ignoring him for a while did not leave a good feeling inside his chest.
“What a revelation.” sarcastic comments were part of your life. It was your way of coping with everything. Frankly, it worked. More or less. “Give him some time.”
“More time? No.” sighing loudly. “I have other things to focus on.” he was referring to the mission he was about to perform.
“You sure you’ll be fine on your own?” it was not like you did not believe in his abilities. Just, life had not been the same ever since billions of people came back.
“When have I ever not been?” you could think of a few times but Sam ended the call before you even had the chance to answer. Typical.
Luckily, Sam usually told you about his missions. And you were proud of him. You really were. The situation you found yourself in? With Bucky & him? Well, it was everything but good. Bucky called you. You called Sam. Sam called you. You called Bucky. A circle you kept alive. And it sucked to be their only way of communication. For now, though, both of them were too stubborn to change anything about it.
“Enjoying the Tunisian sun I hope?” whenever Sam went on a mission, you had him call you after it. Simply because he knew you worried.
“You know it.” in the far background you could hear him working on something.
“Is everyone alright? That trainee of yours? What’s his name again?”
“Torres.” he sighed, frustrated by your question. You had asked him about a million times & apparently, you still had no clue. Truth was, you just liked messing with him. “Redwing is hurt.”
“Naaaw, poor baby.” giggling slightly. That man cared more for a piece of tech than he should.
“Shut up.” okay, better not mess with Wilson if it came to Redwing. Got it.
“When are you coming back?” your voice turned serious again. Having him gone for so long did not stick right with you. Obviously, you knew he was doing it for the greater good. But still. “I swear to all the Gods, if you say when we’re done here…” mumbling quietly but loud enough for him to hear.
“When we’re finished here.” a chuckle could be heard from his side. By the way it sounded, you assumed Torres was laughing as well. Rolling your eyes at his antics. He could be such a child sometimes.
“Oh, fuck off, Wilson.”
“Hey, language!” Sam had fun. Yeah, you were the one cracking jokes all of the time but he could deliver, too.
“Okay, you know what? Bye. Text me when you’re back.” now, it was you who did not give him enough time to respond. After all, he would have clapped back with another snarky remark & you were not in the mood for it. At all.
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“Steve represented the best in all of us. Courageous, righteous, hopeful. And he mastered posing stoically.” everyone chuckled at Sam’s description. Of him. Steve. Rhodey was standing right next to you. In that suit of his. The one that made him look way more approachable than you. No need for people to approach you. They did not know who you were before. And they sure as hell did not need to. It would turn things complicated. Humans did not like complicated. You did not like it. “The world has been forever changed. A few months ago, billions of people reappeared after five years away, sending the world into turmoil. We need new heroes. Ones suited for the times we’re in. Symbols are nothing without the women & men that give them meaning. And this thing…” he paused briefly, let out a short chuckle. The shield. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a greater symbol. But it’s more about the man who propped it up, & he’s gone. So, today we honor Steve’s legacy. But also, we look to the future. So, thank you, Captain America. But this belongs to you.” the crowd erupted into cheers. Applause was filling the room & you felt out of place. What was he doing? When Sam asked you to join him here today, he left out the fact that he wanted to give away the shield. The shield Steve had trusted him enough to own. And the people surrounding you? They…celebrated him for it? This entire speech was proof enough that Wilson was worthy of this job. So why the hell did he make that decision? Watching the shield being put into the showcase, you could hardly hold in the tears that formed at the corners of your (Y/E/C) eyes. Rhodey nudged you, sensing that something was wrong. Head hanging low, you ignored him, walking out of the room as fast as possible. If you stayed here any longer, Sam would have bruises for sure. Bruises caused by you. You would not risk that. Though, he kind of deserved it.
“Where’s (Y/N)?” Sam asked Rhodey when he finished with the press. You had told him you would wait here for him. There was no sign of you.
“Left a while ago.”
“What do you mean “Left a while ago.”? Did she say where she was heading?” why did you decide to leave? Had anything happened while he held his speech? All Rhodey could do was shrug. An explanation was not given by you. And he knew better than to ask.
“Take a walk?” Rhodey suggested, completely unaware to your weird behavior. The two of you were not that close. So he did not know you like Sam did. You were an adult, after all. If you wanted to go somewhere without asking someone first, then you were allowed to do that.
Disappointment was flooding through your body. Friends told each other stuff like that, right? So why did he keep it a secret that he planned on giving away the shield. With that action, he broke Steve’s trust & you were livid. If only Steve were here right now. You missed him. So much. Next time Sam met you, you could not promise anything. Because anger was all you felt. Anger & disappointment. Grief. But that one you could keep to yourself. At least for the time being. Shit. Bucky. One hundred percent did he watch Sam giving away the shield. Oh, he would be filled with hatred. Compared to that, you were only a small threat. Bucky was the one Wilson should keep an eye on. Well, he had been trying to get a hold of him. So far, without luck.
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A gunshot blasting woke Bucky up from another night invaded by nightmares. His changed hair did not put his demons at bay. His look was different but there were some things he could never get rid of. His past. The past he dreaded as much as you did. Probably what you two had in common. Being part of HYDRA & all. His breathing was irregular & there was no way in hell he could go back to sleep. It was in the middle of the night & he hated himself for relying on someone else. But he would go insane if he did not call another person right now. If he did not call you. The only one who seemed to understand what he was going through. The only one who never judged him because of his nightmares. The only one who made him feel like he was a good person. Not the killer he once had been. When HYDRA controlled him. Back, when he was called “The Winter Soldier”. Would he ever move on from that? Grabbing his old phone, he did not overthink too long & dialed your number. One, he knew by heart. Because he had called you so many times. It stuck in his head.
“Buck? Is everything alright?” concern was present in your voice. Usually, when you got a call in the middle of the night, it was him. And you were fine with it. If he trusted you enough to help him with his demons, than you were more than happy to come to his aid. No matter the time.
“I-I…it’s just, ugh, I-“ still shaken up from his nightmare, you did not need him to finish his sentence. You had been in this exact situation so many times. You knew what he needed. Your presence. Your voice. Your comfort. You.
“I’ll be there in a few.” assuring him, you were already grabbing the stuff you needed & walked out of your apartment. Only one destination in mind. Him. “Do you need me to stay on the phone?” it was a simple question. A stupid one, too. Usually, he would not say a word until you were with him. But it felt right to ask him what he wanted you to do. Needed you to do. When he did not answer for a few moments, you guessed he only nodded, not realizing that you could not see his motions. Yet, he did not hang up. Neither did you. Your breathing was enough for him. At least until you were in his apartment.
Knocking softly, as to not wake his neighbors, the door opened almost immediately after. Squeaking ever so slightly. Taking in his appearance, you could tell that it had been a bad nightmare. No, not a nightmare. A memory. You knew that because it was the reason you woke up most nights as well. If it were not for him feeling miserable, you would have drooled by the sight of him. No shirt. Hair sticking around so beautifully. Eyes you could lose yourself in. But it was not the right timing. Besides, Bucky & you were just friends. That was it. Just friends. Though, you would lie if you said that you did not feel butterflies whenever he shot you one of his charming smiles. Whenever his body brushed against yours on accident. Yes, he did have that effect on you. Hell, that was not what he needed right now. Your feelings could be dealt with later on. Bucky was all who mattered now. There was no conversation. No words exchanged. It was enough for him if you were with him. A sign that he was not alone. That he still had you. Even after everything. Even after calling you, night after night, disturbing your own rest. Not that you got much to begin with but he did not need to know that. It had always been a mystery to him. Why you stuck around still. Though you had assured him thousands of times that you were in this for good. If he needed you, you were only one call away. And he appreciated you for it. More than he would ever like to admit. Friends. You were friends.
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“So, Mr. Barnes, are you still having nightmares?” another session with Dr. Raynor. Another dreaded session. It was stupid to Bucky. But there was no way out of this. He had to. Seconds of silence went by before she spoke up again. “James, I asked you a question. Are you still having nightmares?” what kind of question was that? A stupid one. That was for sure.
“No.” simple, short. Sufficient. Not for his doctor, though.
“We’ve been doing this long enough that I can tell when you’re lying. Well, you seem a little off today. Did something happen recently?”
“No.” what an answer to move this session forward. Clearly, he was not in the mood to talk today. Not even you were able to get his mind off of things. Though, you definitely made his night easier.
“You’re a civilian now. With your history, the government needs to know that you’re not gonna…” her hand motioned stabbing. Awful action but who were you to judge? Bucky nodded with that look on his face that showed how completely done he was with this situation. Yet, she kept going. “It’s a condition of your pardon. So, tell me about your most recent nightmare.”
“I didn’t have a nightmare.” well, it was worth a try. After taking a deep breath, she grabbed the pencil, ready to start writing into that notebook of hers again. “Oh, come on. Really? You’re gonna do the notebook thing? Why? It’s passive aggressive.” looked like the two of them were going back to the roots.
“You don’t talk. I write.” Bucky sighed at that. He knew he would not get out of this.
“Okay. Okay. I crossed a name off the list of my amends yesterday. Don’t worry. I used all your three rules. Senator Atwood. She was a HYDRA pawn for years. Helped her get into office when I was the Winter Soldier. And after HYDRA disbanded, she continued to abuse the power I gave her.”
“So, rule number one, you can’t do anything illegal.”
“All I did was give some intel to the aide to convict her. And I wasn’t involved in anything else.”
“Rule number two?”
“What was rule number two?” his gaze drifting off, showing he thought about it deeply. How ironic.
“Nobody gets hurt. It’s a big one.”
“Then why isn’t it rule number one?” he did have a point there. No room left for arguing about that. “I didn’t hurt anybody. I promise.”
“And what about rule number three?” Bucky’s mouth opened, yet, nothing came out. “The whole point of making amends is to fulfil rule number three.”
“You know, you’re a cynic, Doc. Of course, I completed rule number three. I am James Bucky Barnes & you’re part of my efforts to make amends.” words followed by that smile of his. That smile everyone could tell was fake. Almost creepy. But efforts, right? It was all about the efforts.
“So, you did it all right, but it didn’t help with the nightmares.”
“Well, like I said, I didn’t have any.” Bucky Barnes, everyone. Still trying to fool his doctor.
“Look, one day, you’re gonna have to open up & understand that some people really do want to help you & that they can be trusted. People like (Y/N).” the mention of your name made his eyes snap up.
“I trust more people than her.” it sounded more like he tried to convince himself more than anyone else.
“Yeah? Give me your phone.” an order. Grabbing it out of his pocket to hand it over. A short look was enough. “You don’t have ten phone numbers on this thing. Oh, & you’ve been ignoring the texts from Sam. Look, you gotta nurture friendships. I am the only person you have called all week. That is so sad…Oh, that’s not right. You called (Y/N) last night. Anything you wanna tell me about that?” closing the flip phone, she threw it over to Bucky which he caught with ease.
“What? Do I need to justify calling a friend?” chuckling & shaking his head slightly, he brushed his hands over his thighs.
“If you call that friend at 3 am, then yes. Because you should sleep at that time. Except if you had a nightmare which you claimed that you didn’t.”
“We just talked. That’s all.” he thought that brushing it off as if it were nothing was enough to get her to shut up. Hell, he had brought you up during his sessions way too many times. After all, he still wanted the situation between you guys to be subtle.
“You’re alone.”
“A minute ago, you said I had (Y/N).” he tried arguing but his attempts failed.
“You’re a hundred years old. You have no history, no family…” right, pouring salt in the wounds. That usually worked.
“Are you lashing out at me, Doc? Because that’s really unprofessional, you know? When did that start? Yelling at your clients?” she seemed to have enough & again went for the little book next to her. “Oh, the notebook. That’s great.” sighing deeply, he braced himself to take her more seriously. “All right, give me a break. I’m trying, okay? This isn’t…This is new for me. I didn’t have a moment to deal with anything, you know? I had a little…calm in Wakanda. And other than that, I just went from one fight to another for 90 years.”
“So, now that you’ve stopped fighting, what do you want?” he had an answer in mind right away. Never ever would he say it out loud. It took him a second to reply. Because what he was about to say came in union with his first thought.
“Peace.”
“That is utter bullshit.” what a nice way to bad talk his answer. Maybe she was expecting something else from him. Maybe she knew the answer just as much as he did. The real answer.
“You’re a terrible shrink.”
“I was an excellent soldier, so I saw a lot of dead bodies, & I know how that can shut you down. And if you are alone…”
“Which I’m not because I have (Y/N).”
“…that is the quietest, most personal hell. And, James, it is very hard to escape. Look, I know that you have been through a lot, but you’ve got your mind back, you are being pardoned. I mean, these are good things. You’re free.”
“To do what?”
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Wednesday. Bucky usually went to Izzy. Today, he asked you to join him & Yori. Why he wanted you there with them? No clue. But it was not often he asked you to go somewhere with him so you agreed on meeting them there.
“Take a look.” Yori was a cute, old man. Reading his newspaper like a good citizen. Bucky had yet to give you an explanation as to why you were here right now. But for now, you just sat next to him, quietly observing your surroundings. “Nobody made it past 90 this week.” it was funny, to see Bucky trying his hardest to sound interested. Like he understood.
“So young. Such a shame.” his words made you scoff. Apparently, once you hit the 100 mark, you turn into a sarcastic piece. If you were not one before. If you ever made it to 100? Only the Gods knew what would come after that. Most people called you a sarcastic asshole now. Could that be topped?
“You guys didn’t order the usual, huh? Feeling a little adventurous?” the woman behind the counter directed her words at the three of you.
“Um, actually, I’ve never been here before, so…” you chuckled to avoid the awkwardness that would sure as hell build if you kept quiet now.
“You should ask her out.” Yori leaned over to Bucky & you almost choked on your food at his words. Bucky asking her out? Her? Yeah, she was beautiful & all. But her? Really? Seemed like that Yori dude did not know Bucky as well as he claimed to. You, on the other hand, were aware that nothing good would come out if it. Besides, they would not even make a nice couple. Shit, were you jealous? Oh no. Glancing over at the man next to you, his face showed just how much he despised this idea. At least something.
“Mm-mmm…” shaking his head frantically, he shot you a quick look but before his eyes locked onto yours, your gaze fell down to your plate. Slightly embarrassed. Scared that, if he looked at you, he would notice something behind your look. Something more. Something, that you wanted to keep hidden. For everyone’s sake.
“He would like to take you out on a date.” oh fuck off, Yori. You had nothing against this man but he was pushing your buttons. Could he not see that Bucky was incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of going on a date? With her? “Maybe to bingo or a night of pinochle.” hiding your laugh behind one of your hands, you could not believe that he was serious. Bucky & bingo? Well, it was for old people so you guessed it fit quite well. Not with her, though. Oh no, you really were jealous.
“I’m really sorry about him.” Bucky apologized for his friend’s behavior. Yes, you were sorry for him, too.
“Why are you sorry?” of course, now the woman was flirting with him. It got better & better. Taking a deep breath, you tried to keep your emotions at bay. You could not lash out in the middle of this restaurant, after all. Even though you were this close to doing just that. Deep breaths, you got this. “I’m game.” sure she was.
“Wow.” really? Bucky was impressed? By this? Oh come on, why would he settle for less when he could have so, so much more. But it was not your decision. He was not yours. You did not own him. Neither did you make the decisions for him.
“Tomorrow night, then?” Yori leaned over the counter.
“Tomorrow night’s great.” she replied with a bright smile.
“Hey, I just remembered something.” you spoke up all of a sudden. Bucky’s eyes met yours now & he saw that you were uncomfortable. Though, he could not pinpoint why. “Um, I-I need to go. See you, Buck. Bye guys.” sprinting out of the restaurant, you hoped nobody would follow you. Not in the mood to deal with anyone right now. All you wanted was to be alone right now. Your mind the only one keeping you company. But your mind was not really the kindest to you. Not in this particular moment. So what? Bucky had a date. You knew that would happen sooner or later. He was a good looking man. More importantly, you just wanted him to be happy. Genuinely happy.
Fucking great. Who could you talk to? You still were not done being mad at Sam. And now you were mad at Bucky for something he did not even do. He sort of did. He could have said no. If he really did not want to, he could have said no. Bucky was enough of a man to speak his mind, you knew that. Maybe he did want to go on a date with her. What was her name again? Not that you cared too much. But still. Blinking away the tears that had formed at the corners of your eyes, you kept on walking. Without a real destination. You were stupid. Friends. Why could you not accept this? Usually, you would call Steve in such a situation. Or even Tony. But it was too late now. They were not here anymore. You had to deal with that sooner or later. Whether you liked it or not. Contemplating calling Sam, you eyed your phone carefully. One more button. But nope. The anger was bigger than the need to talk to someone. Stubborn you. Wilson could make you feel better. But you would most likely end up yelling at him. And you knew you would regret your words later on. So might as well stay silent for the time being. Until you calmed down enough.
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It was 10 pm. Date time for Bucky. That same restaurant. Being the gentleman that we was, he even brought her flowers. Like it used to be back in the 40s.
“Well, if that’s not the most adorably old-fashioned thing anyone’s ever done.” Bucky felt lost. In her company. “Grab a seat, I’ll be done in a few.”
“Okay.” he could up & leave. It would not be too late. All he knew was that it felt wrong.
“So, have you dated much since half the fish in the sea came back?”
“Not really. I, um…tried the whole online dating thing. (Y/N), the girl who was here with me yesterday, she set up a profile for me because I didn’t understand a single thing.” laughing at the memory, he thought back to when he called you to ask you for a favor. How you laughed at him for wanting to try this whole bullshit. “It’s pretty crazy. A lot of weird pictures.”
“What kind of weird?”
“I mean, tiger photos? Half the time I don’t even know what I’m looking at. It’s…It’s a lot. When I showed (Y/N), she simply said that this was what I signed up for.”
“You sound like my dad.” definitely something a man did not want to hear while on a date. On the other hand, he did not even want this to be a date. “Wait. How old are you?
“A hundred & six.” only he could make it sound so casually. Like it was the most normal thing on this planet. Both laughed at his words. Simply because it was so absurd.
“What’s up with your big gloves?” a sensitive topic she just touched.
“I, um, have, uh…poor circulation.” sure thing.
“Hmm…Hey, what is it about this (Y/N) girl & you?” his eyes widened at her question. What was she getting at?
��She’s my friend. Why?” his dumbfounded expression made her chuckle.
“A friend, huh?”
“Um, yeah.”
“You sure about that?” an eyebrow raised. A questioning stare was sent his way.
“Why does everyone think I don’t have friends?” throwing his head back in frustration, he let out a long sigh.
“It’s not that.” she stopped briefly, thinking about her next words carefully. “Just, you guys seem pretty close.”
“Well, we’ve known each other for years.” he reasoned, gesturing with his hands to bring his point across.
“Yeah? And the looks you’re shooting each other when the other one’s not looking?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You two aren’t really subtle about this, you know?” she wiped the counter & did not even look at Bucky. He, on the other hand, started sweating.
“Subtle about what?”
“Oh, come on. Who are you kidding? I don’t even know why you’re here right now.”
“Because Yori set you & me up on a date.”
“And why did you agree?” she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an explanation from the man in front of her.
“I-I don’t know.” he responded truthfully. Because he thought it to be polite? Because Yori was the one who suggested it? Honestly, he was not sure.
“That’s what I thought. Look, you’re a nice guy & all but…just, listen to your heart from time to time. It’s late. You should head out. See you.” she turned around & walked further into the restaurant. Leaving Bucky alone with his thoughts. It was clear what she intended. Did not mean that it made this entire situation any easier. Bucky left without another word. Fresh air would help him think straight.
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Your phone rang & you sighed when you checked who decided to annoy you. Bucky. Of course. But wait. Should he not be on his date right now? Did something go wrong? Not that you wanted it to but if you were entirely honest, you would not be mad about it either.
“Hi Buck. What’s up?”
“I need your help with something.” there was no hesitation in his voice. Just him being straight forward.
“Please don’t tell me you need help on how to get the girl.” it was your way to lighten the mood. You did that because you could tell that he was incredibly serious. Usually, this was never a good sign.
“Can I send you an address? Can you meet me there as soon as possible?” his voice was low, deep.
“Um, sure thing. But just to set things clear…I won’t join in on your fun, Buck. That’s between you & her.” again, sarcasm was your way of coping with emotions. Though, it was not the right time to use it right now. His next words were proof enough. You should not mess with him. Not in this moment.
“Can you be serious for a second?” he raised his voice a little. It was not much but it was enough to leave you confused. Bucky was not the person to yell at you. Especially not like this.
“I’m sorry…Um, yeah, tell me where & I’ll get there as fast as I can.” gulping down, you waited for him to give you more information.
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Arriving at an unfamiliar building, you could make out Bucky’s form in front of it. Why would he want to meet you here? Where was his date?
“Buck?” your voice barely above a whisper. The night sky only illuminated by the moon that shone brightly. Providing just a tiny bit of light. Enough, to let you notice your surroundings.
“Thanks for coming.” you could tell that he was stressed, tough, you were not sure why.
“Is everything alright? Because I swear, if that woman did anyth-“
“No, she didn’t. Promise.” his warm smile was encouraging enough. It was clear that he was not lying to you. “Just…didn’t work out. But that’s not why you’re here.”
“Okay?”
“My last nightmare. Do you remember?” nodding for him to continue. “How I killed that innocent man?”
“It wasn’t you, Buck. You were being controlled.” touching his shoulder softly, squeezing it to reassure him.
“Whatever…That guy, it was Yori’s son. I want to, need to, apologize. Even though the apology comes way too late.” you nodded at him, your eyes meeting his briefly. Now you knew why he called you. He did not want to do this alone. No. He wanted you by his side. To support him through it. Entering the building together, Bucky led you to the apartment Yori lived in. His hand raised to knock on the door. Surprisingly, he did not waste any time. He wanted to get this over with. Understandingly so. No words were exchanged. You being here, with him, that was more than enough.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Yori opened the door, his face showed confusion by the appearance of you two. “How was the date?” you could not help but roll your eyes at the old man in front of you. Looking at Bucky, you were worried when you saw him having an internal conversation with himself. Mouth opening & closing again. No words coming out. Risking a look inside the apartment, you noticed a small picture frame with who you assumed to be his son. The one Bucky killed. No. The one the Winter Soldier killed.
“It was…It was good.” Bucky mumbled.
“Bullshit.” you followed after. None of them heard you, though. Luckily.
“Forgot I owed you for lunch.” Bucky handed him money. If you were not mistaken, this was not a form of apologizing. He had a hard time, though, that much was obvious. Afterwards, Bucky turned around & walked away without another word. Which left you alone with a confused looking Yori.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance, sir. Have a good night.” plastering on the sweetest smile you could offer, you followed Bucky outside. Jogging to keep up with the super soldier.
Back outside, you saw Bucky holding his little notebook in his hands. You knew about it. Because you were the only person he talked to when it came to his therapy sessions. A look over his shoulder could tell that his eyes were trained on the name being circled. His body was tense. That was not what he planned.
“It’s okay, Bucky.” your hand stroked over his lower back in a comforting way. Your forehead rested against his shoulder, hoping, that it would ease him a little. You could feel him calm down at your touch. “Give yourself some time.” you mumbled quietly, knowing he could hear you clearly due to the calm night. You just hoped that he would not beat himself up too much. Not more than he already did.
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You were back in your own apartment. Still no words from Sam. But that was nothing new. Sometimes, he would go radio silent for a few days but after that, he would always check in with you. Maybe he figured that you were mad at him. For giving away the shield & all. And he probably was busy with work. The work he did with Torres. If he needed your help, he would call you for sure. Your TV got your attention again. Something told you to watch closely. So you did.
“Unrest, in the wake of recent events, has left us vulnerable. Every day Americans feel it. While we love heroes who put their lives on the line to defend Earth, we also need a hero to defend this country. We need a real person who embodies America’s greatest values. We need someone to inspire us again, someone who can be a symbol for all of us. So, on behalf of the Department of Defense & our Commander-in-Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today that the United States of America has a new hero. Join me in welcoming your new Captain America.” the crowd cheered loudly & someone walked through the door. You could not believe what was happening. Please, this had to be a bad dream. When would you wake up form this hell? A man, wearing his suit, holding his shield, greeted the people. Looking at your hands, you could see small, blue sparks forming at the tips of your fingers. That only ever happened when you had no control over your emotions. Right now, you were everything but in control. Of course he had to wink at the camera like the sick person he was.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…” breathing out lowly, you put your head into your hands, completely ignoring the sparks there. You did not feel them anyway. If you ever met this son of a bitch it would not end well for him. And the next time you would meet Wilson? Fingers crossed he could deal with your angry & disappointed self. Because you were seething.
~to be continued~
Next Chapter
Published (04/02/2021) by Cathy
Tags: @taina-eny​, @tanyaherondale​, @cool-ultra-nerd​, @toribentleyva, @buckyandlokirunmylife​, @annadier​, @howlongtillidie​, @mizz-kraziii, @theetherealbloom​, @millenniumloki​, @marvelbros-oneshots​, @ajbwasnthere, @bilesxbilinskixlahey​, @mystictimetravelcolor​, @dbrees256​, @sxpxrnxturxl, @dreamydreamerwriting​, @dolllstyles​, @angelicastiel​, @prettysbliss, @infinitelyforgotten​, @sweetserendipity65​, @lilystilinskicullen​, @partypoisonsblog, @btdsprayberry, @sarai-ibn-la-ahad​, @deamus-liv​, @simplybarnes​, @sethcohenluvr (let me know if you wanna be tagged <3)
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shelobussy · 3 years
Text
ASH’S TMA HURT/COMFORT/FLUFF REC LIST 
For the gays. (And @damcrows who’s been dead for the past 24 hours. Rest in peace babe. Read some gay fic. Deny the inevitability of canon. <3)
___
the end, but the start (of all things that are left to do)  by @ajkal2
Jon wakes up.
aka. mag200 tore out my heart
(Very smol, very short, very spoiler. Def recommend for anyone who just finished the podcast.)
remind me how to smile by @tamerofdarkstars
Jon is probably fine, just hiding out somewhere while the whole murder thing blows over and that's... fine. Martin is fine with that explanation. Really. He's got plenty to distract himself - like listening through the entire What the Ghost episode library, for example. Or watching Georgie Barker's Instagram livestreams.
(Yea this was in the last rec list, but you don’t understand THE ADMIRAL GIVES CUDDLES)
Chamomile by Dribbledscribbles
Whatever the ex-tea was, if it really had ever been that last bag of chamomile Martin claimed he’d found tucked in the back of the cupboard, it was fast now.
Martin had tried catching it, chasing it, blocking its way with shoebox lids and plates and an upended footstool, but the thing was just too quick. Jon knew as well as Knew that he might have left off the attempts completely if not for the creature’s preferred game.
The game was, See How Many Times I Can Push Martin Towards Cardiac Arrest Before He Comes at Me with The Broom.
(Scottish Honeymoon Era. Adorable and weird. A vampire gets harassed.)
hey stranger by @ennuijpg
It’s a late night Tesco run, how eventful could it be? It’s not like Martin is going to run into his boss who’s wearing something absurdly different from usual and get the most acute form of whiplash possible from seeing him, right?
(Martin runs into Jon at the grocery store and has an existential crisis.)
roses roses, roses. by @judesstfrancis
Rose scented laundry detergent. Running into Jon in the breakroom. Running into Jon on his way back to his desk. Rose scented detergent. Running into Jon. Roses. Jon. Roses, roses, roses. 
(Canon enemies to friends to lovers au-ish. Martin POV. Very pining much sweet.)
go softly by doomcountry
And there is nothing else besides this. 
(More hurt/comfort than fluff. Scottish Honeymoon Era. Mild eye mutilation.)
Not Alone by @backofthebookshelf
After the coffin, Daisy and Jon are both fragile. They hold each other up. 
(Post-buried Jon&Daisy starter pack. Very hurt/comfort.)
trust my love by antlsepticeye
“you… you’re real, aren’t you?” jon whispers, the fog slowly dissipating from his mind. “it is not a trick?”
“i’m here,” martin says softly, reaching up to grab jon’s hand that was resting on his cheek, intertwining his fingers with jon’s and squeezing. he moves jon’s hand to martin’s chest, resting it over his heart. “you’re alright. i’m alright. take your time, love. let’s just take some deep breaths, okay?”
(TOUCHSTARVED JON HAS ENTERED THE CHAT.)
reaching out by Athina_Blaine
By the time things settled, when Martin had finally managed to crack through his cold shell, feel some of his old self returning to him in bits and pieces, they had found their little routine.
One that had the two of them sleeping in the same bed, making breakfast, going to the mart. Where Jon reached for his wrist while they slept, and Martin luxuriated in the gentle warmth of his fingers.  
But not one where Martin reached back. One that had Martin kissing Jon awake or taking his hand over the breakfast table, because ... Martin never had the courage to try. And then it never became a part of the routine.
And Martin desperately wanted it to be.
-
Martin and Jon have an important conversation.
(More Scottish Honeymoon Era for the soul. Hurt/comfort/fluff.)
Belabor by @janekfan​
Jon's given the position of Archivist and is falling apart at the seams. Tim and Sasha are upset and playing games. Elias is overbearing and manipulative.
And poor Martin is stuck cleaning up the mess.
(THEE first fic I ever read for tma. Season 1, hurt/comfort/fluff, and hints of Jmartin. janekfan is the absolute master of seasons 1-3 hurt/comfort. This is my favorite, but pls check out the rest of their fics.)
tea, blankets, and a damnable stubborn attitude by ivelostmyspectacles
“Are you really gonna stay here and pester Jon all evening?”
“I’m not pestering him,” Martin retorted, sounding vehement if not busy going through the cupboards. “I’m heating up soup.”
“Oh, you might as well make him another cup of tea while you’re at it.”
“Oh, good idea.”
Jon shot Tim a withering look.
(The one where Jon is ill, Martin makes tea and they watch doctor who together. Fluff 1000%.)
A Kind Hand by @voiceless-terror
Jonathan Sims was adjusting just fine, thank you very much.
In which a minor workplace spill causes Jon to realize that he might have friends.
(Ah yes, the other master of seasons 1-3 fic aka voiceless-terror being my other fav author in the fandom. This one is also season 1 hurt/comfort/fluff.)
A Weather In The Flesh by @cuttoothed
"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."
*
Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.
(More touched starved Jon! Much hurt/comfort!)
Something Old, Something New by @cirrus-grey
Months have passed, and everyone is doing better than they were. Daisy and Basira are getting married, Melanie is feeling her old self, Georgie is as much herself as she has ever been, and even Jon has stabilized on his wild fall away from humanity. Everyone is doing better.
Well. Almost everyone.
(Daisy/Barsira wedding! Melanie is a bitch and we love her! Jmartin dance! Post-canon (almost) everyone lives!)
The Weight of Love by @voiceless-terror
Jon is a restless sleeper. Martin attempts to adjust. 
(The fic where Jon is literally me and Martin attempts to sleep for 1k words.)
The Art of Conversation by @voiceless-terror
"Do you ever stop talking?"
Jon has a complicated relationship with words. Difficulties come and go.
(Jon has adhd and Martin is in love.)
Novelty by @backofthebookshelf
Jon experiences A Sexual Attraction; Martin has A Concern. They figure it out.
(Any fic that explores the ace spectrum is a 10/10. We stan all ace interpretations of jon on this blog.)
Half a Hug by Dathen
I know you weren’t going to hurt me, I trust you, he said again and again. And then a different kind of fear shone through, hollow and echoing: “Please don’t stop touching me."
-
Or: Life is hard when you're touch-starved but have trauma related to your closest friend.  Spoilers through TMA 132.
(Honestly bless every author who saw jon&daisy and was like. They’re siblings. No I will not elaborate.)
the loneliness never left me (but i can put it down in the pleasure of your company) by Athina_Blaine
It was about Martin making Jon feel safe, treasured, and loved. And it had been so, so long since anyone made him feel that way.
And, in the face of it all, Jon was starting to flounder.
(At this point I just need to make separate rec list for Scottish Honeymoon Era.)
you can watch me corrode by scarletfish
"So, how long have you been pulling this shit then?"
"I… excuse me?" Jon’s indignant, certain she can’t mean what he thinks she means.
"When was the last time you ate?"
(Georgie decides Jon and Melanie need a normal day off. Jon learns that he and Melanie have more in common than he thought.)
(Look, Melanie isn’t my favorite person in tma, but she and Jon are like THE SAME PERSON and I adore fics that elaborate on their relationship.)
Out of the Wind, In From the Cold by @ostentenacity
There are two bedrooms in the safehouse, and two beds.
For a moment, Jon considers asking to share, but decides against it with a wince. “I really loved you,” Martin had told him. Loved. Past tense. And Martin doesn’t exactly have a lot of choices right now in terms of company; it would be cruel to demand he play at feelings he no longer has just to make Jon happy.
(For a moment, Martin considers asking to share. But he dismisses the idea with a shake of his head. Jon has already done so much for him. Martin isn’t about to ask for more, especially not when it’s something he doesn’t really need. He has his right mind back, and he has Jon’s friendship. That should be enough for him. It’ll have to be.)
---
Jon thinks that Martin doesn’t love him. Martin thinks that Jon doesn’t love him. They do not, of course, discuss this. Unrequited love is already awkward enough, right? No need to dwell on it.
(THEE SCOTTISH HONEYMOON ERA FIC. IT’S ABOUT THE PINING, BEING MUTUALLY OBLIVIOUS AND FALLING IN LOVE. 10000/10.) 
I Do by @voiceless-terror
“I, um- this was supposed to be a lot more romantic, I swear.” Martin looks down at the dirty bar floor. “I had it all planned out, I-I was going to take you somewhere nice, and then we’d go for a walk in the square- I’ll still do it!” He hurries to explain, as if that’s the most pressing part of this situation. “It’ll be really nice, I’ve already hired a photographer-”
In a fit of protectiveness, Martin proposes to Jon.
(Everyone lives, Martin accidentally proposes and Jon is crying in public.) 
________
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