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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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July 17: 2x26 Assignment: Earth

Finally finished up S2 of TOS yesterday. That was... a rough episode tbh. I’m just gonna say it: back door pilots are bad! They’re bad. If I wanted to watch that other show, I’d watch it.

Wow, they’re just really jumping right in, huh? “Here we are, on a routine mission into the past, using a time travel method that we invented nbd.”

Investigating desperate problems in the year 2020...2016.... no wait 1968.

Ooh, Spock in the transport room today. Does he have a whole extra random station there? That’s so weird; I’ve never seen that before. It’s like hidden in the corner.

Cat!! Cat!!

What a good actor. I’m still bitter that wikipedia has a whole section about the casting for “Isis the cat” that talks entirely about the human who played Isis for 2 minutes and nothing about the talented feline actor. Where did they find her? How did they teach her to act?

She has a lot of thoughts about Kirk.

I wrote down “Scully, you’ve got to see this” in my notes and I’ve already forgotten what it refers to lol. Some moment that I thought would fit well with my favorite x-files meme.

Change history, you say? Spock is intrigued. ...Admittedly, Spock is often intrigued.

“What if it turns out you’re an invading alien from the future?” Honestly...let him invade. You’re not supposed to be here anyway.

I’m pretty insulted by this. The aliens went through all this trouble to help in 1968...where are our alien helpers NOW?

The cat straight up attacked his face.

Kirk is so fond of Spock being fond of the cat.

“It’s a lovely animal. I feel myself strangely drawn to it.”

Kirk is way too confused by Seven--an allegedly human person with super-human abilities that he says come from aliens--and yet, he’s met Charlie X so??? Is this not the same?

Kirk’s got the whole crew checking in on zoom.

(I actually do like this sequence of him getting video calls from different parts of the ship.)

“Weren’t orbiting H-bombs a huge problem in 1968?” Looks at the camera like he’s on The Office. Not the subtlest bit of writing in the “social commentary” genre. I do say this with love, though. I always enjoy when they comment on contemporary problems.

“He has a totally perfect body.” Lol don’t distract these two bisexuals.

[soft meowing]

“The prisoner has escaped.” The way this is shot, it looks like he’s talking about the cat.

Hmm, I do love the decor. Very 60s. This honestly immediately feels like a different show, and a much more dated show; even when the Enterprise time travels, it tends not to time travel to... office space.

Love the little sounds the computer makes.

So is Isis supposed to be one of the fancy aliens? It’s never explained but one must assume she is.

Aw, he’s petting her paw.

So I assumed the cats sounds are real, but just dubbed. They’re not lol. Which I guess isn’t surprising: this cat makes a lot of noises! They were provided by a human voice actress.

Damn.... I want a secret bookshelf that turns around to reveal a super computer with a big screen. “Computer... play Netflix.”

That’s what Seven does in his spare time.

The computer is an AI. “Beta 5 snobbery” lol.

Where are OUR alien overlords to stop US from destroying ourselves before WE can mature into a peaceful society?

This is really masterful exposition lol. Not forced or awkward at all.

ST sure does love the snooty female computer trope.

“Get us the proper costumes.” Yes, get Spock his Requisite Hat.

Omicron IV....that’s one of the names they use in Futurama lol. Such nerds.

Another excellent Spock Hat.

I love Seven’s various IDs. Great style. I wish my driver’s license looked like those.

“Who do you think you are?” He hasn’t decided yet. That’s why he was shifting through his IDs.

Seven is not smart lol. Like, he should have figured out way faster that this lady isn’t one of the Alien Overlords. He asks her the code question, she doesn’t understand it, and he... assumes she’s just really in character? Dude, that’s what the code questions are for!!! To help you identify people! Otherwise you could just straight up ask: are you an alien?

Instead he’s like “oh, you silly alien, you’re playing with me,” and then is forced to trap her, reveal his whole mission, and ultimately ensnare her in his plan.

I want that typewriter. Voice recognition typewriter.

"My incompetence has made you aware of very secret devices." Well at least he knows.

Trained cat!

The alien overlords were killed in a random car accident. That’s ironic.

Oh look, a real rocket!

Brown pants + short sleeved shirt + tie is such a Classic 60s look.

This security guard doesn’t think it’s weird that this random dude has a cat with him? Is this part of Isis’s alien power?

Except for the part where it’s a weapon, it’s pretty cool to see all this build up to, like... launching stuff into space. Exciting.

Isis likes to be on shoulders. Just like Little Guy.

New hat for Spock. His outer wear hat, and now his fancy hat. There is something to be said for this ep, and that is Kirk and Spock in suits.

Amazing how they literally launched rockets with computers that old. Like seeing the big bank of primitive computers is totally wild. We put people on the moon that way! Amazing.

“Meow.” Lol, Isis is stressed so she’s speaking like a cat. That’s a pretty funny joke actually.

Seven is so incompetent. If he’d just let the Enterprise help, Scotty could have fixed that rocket issue in like 3 seconds.

Lol everyone’s just pulling Gary through space. Now on the Enterprise. Now in the office.

Why does this computer have a hug black screen if it only displays images on the small white circle?

"Spock and I in custody. Main characters, doing nothing, knowing nothing, totally useless and irrelevant. I have never felt more helpless." Literally what is even the point of them today? Does Spock even have lines outside of “I like the cat”?

Isis is jealous of Roberta. Is she.. in a relationship with Seven lol?

Uhura is listening to everyone in the world. She probably has a universal translator on, but I do feel like this scene implies she just...understands all the languages.

So now the warhead is armed and heading to somewhere vague... in other words, everyone has collectively made the situation worse.

....Or this was Seven’s plan all along? To scare people into ceasing to be so careful with nuclear weaponry? As someone who knows humans better than this guy, I think this is a dumbass plan.

“That’s why so many people in my generation are kind of crazy and rebels.” Same, sweetheart.

Really this is just a story about bad communication. If Seven had told Kirk his plan upfront, Kirk would have helped him. And if Kirk weren’t so insistent on involving himself in something just because he happens to be somewhere he probably shouldn’t be, we wouldn’t have this issue either. The hubris of everyone.

Overall, just a really forced narrative imo.

Or that’s how it was supposed to be lol. The Irony of time travel. By it’s nature, everything has already worked out.

Kirk and Spock are like “You’re welcome. Peace out.”

Honestly... Isis was the only good part. Such a talented cat actor!! Or trio of cat actors, I guess. Had to do all those stunts and stuff.. .amazing. I also liked the concept of Isis. How she turned into a human later just to troll Roberta. How she’s never really explained--one must assume, an alien? Plus I pretty much never get tired of human + animal teams where the animal makes animal noises and the human just understands and answers in English.

As a stand alone sci fi concept...it was okay. Kinda dated by now. The alien tech was nifty and Roberta could have grown on me. Maybe even Seven, though he left a lot to be desire. That said, the narrative relied a lot on people getting in each other’s way for no reason, which I find very frustrating.

But as a Star Trek episode....no. The main characters were just nuisances on the side lines!! I’m not even sure what Kirk’s mission here was--to try to figure out what Seven was doing? And stop him if necessary? But he never really decided if it was or not, until the point where not trusting him would basically cause a nuclear war? I don’t know, I found it all very frustrating. The melding of the original show and the spinoff was not smooth.

If I were watching this in 1968, I’d feel very cheated. THIS was the season finale? That’s it? I don’t even get a real Star Trek episode and now I have to wait months for anything new?

And what I get after all that waiting is Spock’s Brain?? I’d be tempted to quit. If I had a tumblr in 1969 I’d be writing multi-paragraph rants about how the best show on television has completely nose-dived lol.

But then there’s The Enterprise Incident, which is one of the best episodes... I don’t know, man. It’s a conundrum. I’ve only seen maybe half of season 3 but from what I remember it’s very uneven: some of the best eps (The Enterprise Incident, For the World Is Hollow, Day of the Dove) mixed in with some of the worst (Spock’s Brain, The Paradise Syndrome), plus some that are good concepts but shoddily executed (The Way to Eden). So we’ll see what I think about it when I see it all in one piece, in air date order.

#the year 2021 #2021: fandom thoughts #2021: star trek #star trek tos

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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 4 years

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It’s The Avengers (03x05)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 3 Episode 05: Oh no! My Insecurities!

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: one those tropes. one of those sexy sexy tropes

Word Count: what is the science behind wanting to eat so much junk when one has money to spare? I would really like to know so that I can ask my brain how it work without it for sooooo long and then one day decided to go batchit crazy. Maybe I was eating away my insecurities. But then again, when I was anxious I lost weight like anything because I just cuold not bring myself to freaking eat! What is it body and brain?! What makes you crave that dirty dirty foood! *gollum’s voice* tell me you filthy animal!

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

Tony stood in the kitchenette in front of a mixer, adding in a variety of green vegetables present in front of him, a tune on his lips in the form of a whistle that only stopped when he crossed eyes with the camera.

“Oh, hi! Didn’t see you there! I’m just here making myself an amazing green smoothie. Good for the heart and the head.”

Tony took in a lungful and turned the mixer on with a satisfied sigh leaving him. “What a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

The camera panned out to watch Vision walking into the Lounge, a blank expression painted on his face as he tilted his head to watch Tony at work. “You seem quite chirpy today,” he stated the obvious.

“I am. I have made quite the progress in my therapy and I am beginning to feel so much lighter than I was ever before. Letting go of stuff that worries me, you know. Aah, it feels good to not care about a thing in the world.”

The camera settled on Vision’s face. He blinked and tried to furrow his brows as he had seen everyone else around him do. “So, you no longer care about Y/N?”

The mixer was turned off and the container opened to pour the contents into a glass. Tony chuckled. “Y/N will be fine. Loki is there with her. Carol will be meeting them soon enough. I don’t have to worry about much. I’ll look at the footage once I get time from my mini-vacay I’ll be taking in our backyard. You should come too.”

Vision straightened his head and nodded. “I would love to,” he acknowledged the invitation while taking his potion of the green juice offered by Stark, “and I have to say Barton’s worries were wrong about you.”

“What worries?” Tony asked, a bit disinterested, taking a sip of his smoothie.

“That you would, and I quote, ‘go apeshit when you find out that Y/N dawned the role of Dominatrix seducing Loki to help him escape the clutches of a space sex slave trafficker.”

The glass went away from his lips with one smooth movement of his arms. “Say what now?”

Vision had already drained the glass. “He was referring to the whorehouse they escaped from yesterday. Y/N has quite the talent when it comes to weakening the guards of the male of many space creatures. It is quite extraordinary to witness someone so guarded and introverted like her completely expose her-”

His words are halted by the sound of glass breaking. The camera panned out to watch wide-eyed, visibly in shock Tony looking into a void before turning to meet Vision’s gaze.

“Oh shoot. I accidentally let the glass slip from my hands. Butterfingers,” Tony lied. Like a liar. “Don’t worry, you go ahead. I’ll clean it up.”

A natural shade of worry came over Vision’s face, silently staring at the shattered glass and Tony for a few seconds before seemingly coming to terms with it. “...okay. As I was saying, Y/N has quite the talent when it comes to slowly and tenderly pulling apart, one by one, her-”

The entire batch of vegetables was pushed into the sink and the garbage disposal was turned on, drowning Vision’s words while Tony deadpan looked at the camera.

Vision: Acting skills *blinks at the camera* I was trying to tell Tony about Y/N’s acting skills.

“Tony, are you alright?” Vision asked over the crushing of a fresh carrot being shoved down the sink.

“I’m fine,” Tony stretched his lips in a smile while his eyes never let go of the horror, shoving the biggest gourd from the vegetable pile down the sink to murder it while the camera zoomed in on his disturbing expression, “everything’s fine.”

Vision’s golden pupils contracted as he looked at Tony and then up at the camera.

Vision: *sombre mood**holds a cigar in his hand**looks at a distant void* All these years saving the earth, I think Tony has forgotten the meaning of keeping things light.

*turns at the camera* Hm? Oh, no I am not smoking this. This is for adding an intense effect to the conversation *smiles* Rhodey and Sam taught me that.

The Facility Entrance

One camera looked down from the first floor at the dark skin plump lady entering the facility with Happy, being directed towards the elevator. “Who is she?” The camera swivelled from the stranger disappearing downstairs to a curious Scott bending way more than he should over the railing to get a good look at the stranger. He would have almost tripped over if it weren’t for Rhodey grabbing his pants when he did.

“I was just checking for ants on the roof down-on the uhh ceiling there,” Scott tried to explain himself while trying to sound cool and casual- nothing like a normal human about to fall face-first on the ground floor.

“Yeah, and I was looking for a dumb chimp set free,” Rhodey mocked a laugh before gesturing him towards the lounge.

“I would consider myself more of a Panamanian white-faced Capuchin,” he muttered under his breath as he followed the man.

In the lounge, Vision stirred cream into his cup of coffee while Tony seemingly brooded in front of the flatscreen.

The camera looked at an unaware Tony turning his head from the screen, first at Rhodey and then at the elevator when it dinged at the arrival of the woman.

Tony got up as the woman stepped foot into the lounge, taking in the place around her. “What are you doing here? We didn’t have a session today!” Tony called out with his arms open to display his surprise, his eyes bouncing in question from Happy to Rhodey.

The woman in a Mauve dress handed her coat to Happy while passing a look at the cameras around the lounge along with the company. “I was called by a concerned friend about you having an episode here this morning.”

One of the cameras panned in on Vision taking a sip of his coffee while sharing a look with it before disappearing out of the lounge through a wall as quietly as he had come.

Tony stuttered in shock, unable to get words out of his mouth. “Wh-ha-wh-I did NOT have an episode!”

The woman looked at him with a dead expression, not even blinking. “So you did not force a gourd down the garbage disposal?” she asked in a low pitch, even Scott felt a tingle of horror down his spine.

Tony paused for a second before crossing his arms across his chest. “The gourd was rotten,” he simply stated.

“For sleeping with your daughter?” came another dead snap from the lady, leaving Scott’s jaw on the floor with a muted ‘what’. And Tony’s eyes went wide with rage. “HE DID NOT SLEEP WITH MY DAUGHTER! HE SO MUCH AS TOUCHES HER WITH THE WRONG INTENTION, IT WILL BE HIM INSTEAD OF THAT GOURD IN-” Tony paused to look around the room, realising what he just did.

“Congratulations, Anthony,” the lady exclaimed with not even an ounce of sympathy in her voice, “you just played yourself. Now sit yo ass down before I have to whoop it like the time when you and James broke curfew to go party at night.”

Rhodey gasped in full offence. “Mama, why you gotta bring me in every time he does somethin’ wrong?!”

Scott gasped again, looking right at Rhodey, “She’s your mama?!” The delight on his face and in his high-pitched voice was immeasurable.

“You wanna find out, come sit on the couch next to yo brother,” she replied, pointing at the sofa while she herself took the comfy armchair and got her reading glasses and notebook out of her purse.

Rhodey stood there contemplating for a second before giving a nod. “You’re on your own, Anthony.”

Tony sat down on the couch. “Traitor,” he called out to Rhodey’s figure walking away.

Scott folded his hands in front of him and turned to Mrs Rhodes. “What can I get you, Mrs Rhodes? Tea, coffee, juice, Pina Colada?”

Mrs Rhodes smiled at Scott. “Tea would be nice, darling. Thank you.” And turned back to Tony only to be distracted by the image of you and Lulu sitting in what seemed like a parking lot of some Motel made in modern Egyptian architecture. You stroked Lulu’s hair while he purred when Loki walked out of the entrance towards you.

“We got a room. Come on,” he mentioned before walking towards a patio with you and the rest.

“Is that-” Mrs Rhodes did not say anymore as her eyes still tried to come in terms with what she was seeing.

“A live feed with eight-hour delay coming from one of the cameras they have with them. Javier’s behind the camera. He’s a sweet boy. And that dark-haired beast is Loki,” Tony grumbled under his breath, his eyes never leaving the God on the screen.

“I don’t care about him,” she announced, horrified, “what in the name of Christ is that damn thing walking around with your daughter?!”

Tony looked back at the screen, confused. “That’s Lulu. It’s some cat-like alien she adopted. It’s harmless. All it does is hoot and chirp all day.”

Mrs Rhodes’ eyes went away from the screen to a distant void to contemplate something inside her head. “You daughter. Adopted. An alien.” Turning towards Tony with those judgmental eyes of a mother, she almost sang, “Now, who does that remind me of? Honey-” she called out for Scott without taking her eyes off Tony- “might as well keep a bottle of scotch ready for me.”

Fifteen Minutes Later

The camera was now settled outside the Lounge in the balcony with a sneaky Scott looking inside past Tony and Mrs Rhodes at the flatscreen. He was so engrossed in his OTP’s movements, he did not sense Sam walking down the stairs from the garden-cum-bar on the roof. Sam, on the other hand, looked at the man with pure judgement before settling down on the lounge seat behind the strategically set plants in front of the window. “‘Sup, stalker.”

Scott sighed. “Come up with another name, I can’t hear what they are talking about.”

“Why would you want to hear what Tony and Mrs Rhodes are talking about?”

“No! Not them! Y/N and Loki! Tony kicked me out because he’s having a therapy session. I don’t care what those two are talking about. I want to find out what is going on between those two!”

Sam shrugged. “Use their earphones man,” he pointed at Ana behind the camera, who took two wireless earpieces out of frame before handing it to them.

“...just two people staying at a motel for the night. Not to mention stuck on another planet with no one but each other to trust. Now tell me what is not to your liking here, Tony,” Mrs Rhodes’ voice echoed through the earpieces.

Tony head slumped on the headrest of the sofa as he watched the feed.

You entered the decently spacious room coloured in themes of sandy yellow with patterns of blue halfway on the walls, putting your backpack down on the table in the middle. “Wow! This looks so much more decent for a space Motel,” you appreciated.

Loki dropped the bag he was carrying, almost receiving a wince from you. “Careful! The Hardy boys said half of this stuff is to be handled with care.”

“They are shurikens, tasers and canisters of medicines. I think we’ll be fine, darling. And what is with you adding space to everything you see here?”

You swiped a finger at the window sill, impressed at it having gathered no dust at all. “What should I call it then, space buddy?”

Loki paused before letting loose the slightest smirk. “Learn the names of the places you visit. And the people you meet. And the objects you discover. You never know when it might become handy.”

Mrs Rhodes raised a brow at Tony, who was frustrated at not finding any window to point his fingers at Loki.

“Oh, I never thought about it that way,” you stated, before turning away from the windows view to a beautiful garden outside. “So, who’s taking the couch.”

Javier called dibs by jumping on the couch before anyone of you could say something, leaving you and Loki to look at each other before looking at the lone bed.

"Loki," you sang in a suspicious tone, "there is only one bed."

Both Scott and Tony felt their bodies pause everything to lean a little towards the screen.

Loki too, stood still by the foot of the bed, exactly opposite to you. "The receptionist said she can loan us an extra mattress."

You raised your head and your brows. "Did she now." Taking a casual step towards the edge of the bed you stopped you saw Loki cover the same distance as you. "You know, I have had a looong journey. And a space journey on top of that-" you let your finger run itself over the edge of the white sheet covering the mattress- "not to mention I'm a weak little human. So I should-"

"Before you finish that sentence," Loki interrupted with his raised finger, "might I remind you of the one thing that is keeping you safe in this...space. To fight monsters and horny space young adults-"

"You told me I used 'space' a lot."

"I don't care-” he breathed even before your words ended- “that thing is me. So, as a sign of your gratitude I should-”

Before he could finish the sentence, you jumped over the bed and he followed by a nearly screamed out ‘no!’ in your direction, his entirety landing over you.

There lay both of you, crossed upon each other.

“Ar-Are you seeing this?!” Tony yelled over here, flailing his hands at the flat screen, directing Mrs Rhodes’ gaze at the zero distance between your butt and his body.

“Give me this bed, Loki!!” you declared from under him, your voice almost muffled by the sheets and pillows.

“No, I am having this bed and you can fight me if you want,” Loki announced with his claws in the sheets against the movement of your butt to move him away from you and ultimately from the bed.

While Tony was having a crisis, the camera caught another face outside the lounge window staring at the screen with a dropped jaw and a hand to the heart. Another one stared at that dropped jaw, trying to make sense of it.

“Hey,” Sam called out to Scott before proceeding to poke his arm with a finger, “hey. You okay? You havin’ a stroke? You gotta tell me if you havin’ a stroke. Scott. Scott. Tell me if you havin’ a stroke so I can get up and go. Scott. Sco-”

Sam: *deadpan* Oh my God, he fuckin’ dead.

*silence*

*snickers* *gets out his phone* I gotta text Peter this.

“What am I trying to see here?” Mrs Rhodes finally sighed.

Tony’s face felt like she just punched him in the chest. “What do you mea- that son of a bitch trying to get insufferably close to my daughter!” Tony wheezed and hissed and nearly cried.

“Your daughter doesn’t seem to care,” she laid back into the cosy chair while looking at the screen with keen observation.

You held the edges of the bed frame when Loki tried to pull you away. “NO! MINE!” you yelled, never ready for Loki’s pointed fingers coming to poke you in your waist. The sound that came out of you made Lulu jump from the window sill and hide under the sofa. “DO THAT AGAIN AND I WILL FART IN YOUR STUPID FACE!!”

“Not before I pick you up and chuck you on the lumpy mattress they will send over-ow, you are heavy.”

Loki was already grabbing you by the waist, ready to pull you away from the bed to the chair on the other end. But he was not ready for the work of your hands, pulling away on the bed sheet to twist around and wrap him in it, covering his face entirely. Your action made him move back with some muffled curses, his back banging into the wall, letting you get a headstart on that bed. But that headstart too was made up for thanks to his weirdly long legs, his arms pulling on your legs to get you off that frame you were hanging on to with your life.

Both of you grunted and fought to claim more territory than the other before the eight-hour travel wore both of you down to panting and tapping out of this messed up wrestling game.

“Time out,” you tapped, “time out. Let’s be adults about this.”

Loki nodded, turning on his back to breathe and get up. “Let’s go take a walk. Get some air. We’ll decide when we come back.”

“Cool,” you gulped in some spit to wet your overworked throat, “when we get back and still don’t know what to do, Javi can sleep in the bed and we choose between the sofa and the mattress.”

Javier knocked on the side table to bring your eyes to him. ‘I don’t want anything to do with this’, he signed before tucking his head under a tide-pod shaped cushion, leaving you and Loki to sort this bedroom tussle.

“What is it?”

“Everything?!”

“I cannot help you until you tell me exactly what it is that is making you uncomfortable, Tony.”

“Well, for starters, the very existence of this son of a-”

“Anthony.” The stress on his name followed by the death stare brought Tony to calm him down and slump back into the sofa. He raised his hands before letting them drop in defeat.

“You know I just met her, right? She just walked into my life, Roberta. Well, of course, that walking in part was something I did without letting her in on too many details.”

Roberta raised her brows.

“Okay, fine. I didn’t tell her at all. But then this guy came in at the same time she did. He not only deliberately let out the truth, making her leave, but also got her stuck in the freaking space with him!!”

“Really? How did you take it when you realised she knew?”

“I nearly had a heart attack! I thought she would hate me, never want to talk to me. Would cut all ties and disappear...in a manner of speaking.” Tony picked up the Rubik's cube kept on the side table to play with it while restlessly moving his leg where he sat.

“And did she do that?”

“...no.”

“Was she angry at you? Or Loki?”

“...no. She was worried. Anxious even.”

“Hmm. Have you felt the same kind of resentment for Loki otherwise? Before he got stuck in space?”

Tony looked up at the screen at the camera flies powering up and buzzing about around you and Loki as you headed out to check the rest of the scenery in that beautiful motel. “There was this one time when he went undercover with her. Something I did not approve of. Neither his presence nor hers on that mission.” He lowered his voice to whisper, “didn’t have to pretend they were on a date for something so serious.”

Roberta closed her notebook. “Okay,” she announced, removing her glasses and keeping them aside. “Before we go any further, Tony, I am sure you are aware why you’re being so sensitive about Loki hanging out with your daughter. Aren’t you?”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah. Because he tried to take on earth once. He can’t be trusted.”

“Mm-hmm,” there went that brow up again.

“...what.”

“Because you are trying to be her father,” she declared with a swat of her notebook on his anxious leg, making it stop. “You are trying to be a part of her life like any normal person. But you are being way too overprotective when it comes to Loki.”

“Oh, I am not-”

“Did he not save your life?”

Even if Tony tried, he was unable to form words in contradiction. “Did he not save her life? Twice? He has been living with y’all for a good amount of time now. In that time, has he caused any problem that might have suggested he is not fit to be around your daughter?”

Tony groaned. “He’s a GUY!!! AND A BEAUTIFUL ONE AT THAT!!!”

“And you think your girl is some dumbhead who does not know that?”

Tony never got the chance to answer that. “You think she does not know how much potential for danger that guy has? She is not blind Tony. Neither is she a child you need to watch over twenty-four seven. She is an adult who can take care of herself. What she needs from you is not surveillance but an openness to letting her know that you are there for her even if you were not there before. And if- this is a big if- if Loki ever hurts her, you don’t have to stand there with a banner spelling ‘I told you so’. You have to hug her and protect her. And in the name of whatever Lord it is that you pray to, Tony, you have to stop projecting your guilt like this. Her getting lost in space was not your fault.”

“How did you-I never told you half of these things!”

“I have ways to get it out of people, mister.”

“Rhodey,” Tony hissed.

“No!” Roberta swatted him again, this time on his head. “No one blames you for that incident. Neither should you. You hear me?”

Tony nodded with his lips pressed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“So, what is the first thing that you will be doing now?”

Tony clicked his tongue while looking at the flatscreen. “I will...stop making missiles loaded with Loki’s DNA signature designed to blow him up.”

Swat!

“Ow! I’m kidding! Jesus, woman! I will stop guilt-tripping myself and I will stop worrying about Y/N. But that does not mean I will stop working on ways to get her home.”

“And?”

“And...I will be nicer to Loki.”

“Even if he starts dating your daughter?”

“WHYYY would he-” Tony looked at a very serious Roberta looking at him to complete that sentence. “Theoretically. Theoretically, if he starts dating my daughter, I-” he inhaled- “will mind my own business. But you can’t change me in a day. I’ll go after his knees if he does something that directly affects me.”

Roberta clapped her hands together. “Well, we are done for today. We will try some breathing exercises on Thursday along with exploring more of this relentlessness with Loki. Now, go get yo mama some iced tea.”

Tony chuckled at Roberta’s enthusiasm. “Okay. Which one? Peach, lemon, uhh-”

“The one with Long Island in it,” she ended, shifting to the sofa to watch whatever was going on in space. “And bring me some popcorn.”

Motel Galacto-Ra, Eight Hours Earlier

“Loki?”

“Hmm?”

“How are we paying the rent for the night?”

“With our bodies. Ow!”

He chuckled even though his rub hurt from your elbow. "I borrowed some talons from your boyfriends when we left."

You crinkled your brows. "And by borrowed you mean…"

Loki simply shrugged and kept walking through the garden with you. The flowers, some colourful, some transparent to your eye, were in full bloom along the strip of water that flowed from the mountain at the entrance outside.

"Keep me updated on what all is precious on any planet we land, okay? In case I have to barter with someone, you know," you added casually.

Loki smiled at you while you were distracted by the sound of mushing potatoes from your other side. You turned to watch a creature with what looked like boils on his entire body and four arms lean by a lamp post. His green coloured beard hid most of his face but not his beady red eyes looking at you while he grunted. "Lookin' sparkling baby!" He catcalled you, making you mock a disgusted laugh out your lungs.

"Oh my God, there is catcalling even here?" You gasped in whispering tones to your company, continuing to match pace with the God.

“This universe has all sorts of elements, darling,” he sighed, “even the perverted kind.”

“Mmm, I could see that with your old ex-boyfriend in that whorehouse,” you slipped in, watching him watch you from the corner of his eyes. It was hard to keep the giggles in after a few seconds. “Hey, I’m not judging you,” you added, “in fact, I’m in awe. I wish I could have half of that confidence to pull something this big off. You have to teach me. Loki, you have to teach me.”

Before Loki could speak, an eerie whistle came from across the garden. A curvy alien with those Disney-female eyes and tentacles for hairs cooed at Loki. “Look at that fibre making up your limbs. Arrrr! Leave that little thing and come over here, you feisty beast, and I will show those beautiful parts of yours some good time.”

You had to blink yourself to the reality of having to hear those words. Loki ignored it. But the fly cameras could see you didn’t. “He’s more than just a body you space holes! Buzz off!”

An involuntary smile was already coming over his lips, the corner of his eyes crinkling as his lips parted to show his teeth to anyone who was looking. The entire emotion looked so alien yet so beautiful on him. And in the midst of this cheery daze, he opened his pocket dimension to take something out. “Here,” he called out to you softly, bringing forward his hand towards you, “keep this on you.”

Curious and bedazzled by the walnut-sized purple crystal in his hand, you took it with sounds escaping your lungs. “Thanks, Loki. Looks expensive. Wait-” the excitement in your eyes shifting to horror- “is something wrong? Are we not safe here? Are you going to sell your body off to the owner in exchange for the rent? Will I have to find my way back alone? I don’t want this! Let me go talk to the manager.”

“What? NO! Why would you think that?” Loki was truly horrified at the turn it took. “My body would sustain you for your lifetime.”

You thought about it. "Hmm. You would make a good stripper."

"I would make an amazing stripper."

"Ehhh you need a little work though. You didn't do much at Hudson's."

"Hudon. And that's because I was put there against my will. If I wanted I could."

You stared at his unadulterated joy in admitting. "What." Your lips could not stop the smile that was nearly closing your eyes before a snicker left you. "Oh my God, you are so cute," you confessed softly.

Loki tsked and rolled his eyes. "This pendant is for your protection. Keep it close. And take this too."

He opened his pocket dimension again to bring out a small dagger.

"OoooOoooh a KNIFE!" you hissed with excitement in your eyes, going for it while Loki pulled it away from your hands.

"Woah! Calm down, woman! You need to learn how to use it first."

His arm blocking your shoulders did not let yours reach even inches close to the dagger. "Argh! All I need to do is point and stab! Gimme!"

"No. NO! Stop it. You're only getting this when you promise you will use it only in case of emergencies."

You let his arm balance all your weight when you stopped going for the dagger and let your arms dangle on either side. "Ugh. Fine. You can teach me how to use it. Now please give it to me!" When he didn't, you broke into a strong.

"Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, baby!"

Both of you felt a sudden chill in your body. "I don't know why I suddenly miss Clint."

"Me too," Loki added with quite the discomfort on his face.

“Okay. Follow my instructions by the letter and remember- one move too fast or too slow and it can be the end of you.”

The camera in the flies now zoomed in on your dead expression. “Way to start a lesson on a new skill, Professor,” you spewed.

“Now show me how you hold your dagger.”

You showed him. He pressed his lips and kept his hands on his waist. It took a lungful to get him to speak again. “We are not cutting peppers here, Y/N.”

“How about your hair. Can I cut that?” Loki swatted your hands coming for his locks. “Ow!”

He positioned himself behind you, patting the side of your shoulders. “Straighten your back. Come on.” When he saw you taking your sweet time with it, he poked with his finger on one side of your back, making you jolt forwards.

“Hey! It’s straight! My back’s straight. My boobs are out. What more do you want?!”

“Here.” He lifted your right hand with his. The dagger was shifted in your palm by his pale fingers going pink at the end. The hilt was positioned before his fingers curled yours over it. All through it, the distance became a bare minimum; your back touching his chest while your hair tried to tease his face. “The dagger will always stay away from you,” he stated softly with an ounce of seriousness mixed into his voice. “When the enemy is close to you, use this style to slash him. Run it the opposite way-” he directed your arm with his, his hand still around yours- “and when you come back, your turn it to give them one more wound.”

“Cool,” you exclaimed. The glow on your face along with that undiluted smile stuck till your eyes were something else entirely. This was some unadulterated joy you were feeling, learning to play with knives. Loki was watching your face from the side, not really able to digest that rush properly.

Loki: I have never seen anyone so happy to play with daggers. *shakes his head lightly* *smiles at a distant void* *camera zooms out behind him to show you swishing your dagger in the air in the garden while yelling ‘taste the metal of my shuriken, Sasuke! You unfuckable, overrated snake!*

*camera comes back to pan onto Loki’s face with a smile frozen but the eyes reflecting a newfound horror*

“Now, this one is for long-range combat. Always keep your arm straight and gut your enemy like this. Your other arm will help block and push in defence while this one will attack.”

“Ooh!” you whistled, “this one will go stabby stab.”

Loki exhaled. “Yes. That. Come on. Let’s play it out and see how much you have learned.”

You cooed, moving the dagger in between your fingers quite invitingly. “Roleplay. I like it.”

You positioned yourself opposite Loki. “Ready when you are.”

Within two long strides, he closed the distance, his hand coming for your left arm, trying to grab it. You turned against the pull of his force, to arm the dagger right into his back. “Stab. You’re dead,” you declared.

You couldn’t help chuckle out loud at his expression. “What! Natasha taught me a few moves.”

“When?”

“Remember our weekend getaways?”

“Oh,” Loki was impressed. “Again.”

This time he shed a little part of precaution and came for you. You ducked and blocked one dagger coming for you but missed the other. “Stab. You’re hurt,” he stated right before your leg came for his, bringing him down on one knee, allowing you to point your dagger at his defenceless ribcage.

“Stab. One for one,” you smiled.

His arm wrapped around yours, leaving you with no way to use the dagger it held. His other hand came for the fist you were about to throw at him; his toothy grin smack in your face. “Not laughing now-”

The impact of your leg with his crotch was not a clean shot. But it did the job. Loki’s words drowned in the pool of his own groans as he stumbled over you and you hit your back on the ground.

The flies roaming above took an air-shot of Loki’s grousing figure toppled over you while your expressions reflected a wave of embarrassing cringe you were feeling in your gut. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, cautiously patting Loki’s head.

“Natasha teach you that too?” he grunted with curiosity.

“...yeah.” You screwed your eyes shut, never stopping the gentle stroking and patting of his hair. “Your hair smells nice?” you tried the encouraging words.

You: *sorry expression* It was a fluke. I never meant to hurt him…*cringes* *whispers* or his potential babies? *camera pans out to show Loki breathing in and out throw his mouth while bending his legs and repeating it* You need an ice-pa-

Loki: *jumps away from you* Do not come near me.

You: Come on, Loki. *steps closer* It was just bad luck. And a very very lucky shot.

Loki: No. *walks out of the frame* I’m going back.

Motel Room

Javier's face came into focus as he adjusted the lens on his new- much lighter- camera while checking the live feed on his old one before turning the latter off and packing it to keep in his backpack gifted by the Hardy Boys. The view then flipped to you coming out of the shower in a black tank top and matching shorts.

"This is really comfortable. I should have asked the boys to pack me more of this fabric."

Loki sat on the floor with a device that produced a holographic map of the galaxy they were in right now. He shifted the view with a serious look on his face. You paused the little serotonin rush to sit down on the fuzzy carpet with your knees close to your chest. "So, where are we going next?"

A heavy breath was taken in before Loki pinched out to a location. "Knowhere."

"Nowhere?"

"Knowhere. I know someone there who might be able to get these cuffs off me. Once I'm free I can use the magic to teleport us to a safe place, if not back home."

The crinkle of confusion in your brows was something he saw coming. "Teleportation costs a lot. It takes a toll on me. So I have to make sure I have the required tools and energy before we make the leap."

“...oh. So, back when Cassie and I were stuck on the...uh…”

“Oh,” Loki sat up, “that...was a pure adrenaline rush. And it was only for a matter of seconds so it was easy.”

You did not seem convinced by his words. But something else took dominance in your thoughts. “I’m sorry you had to visit that place because of me.”

Loki simply shrugged. “No big deal. I could do it again if I wanted to.”

*somewhere on earth eight hours later, in the Avengers facility, a Scott Lang clutches his chest and winces*

“Come on let’s sleep. I’m tired from all the training.” You got up and made your way to the bed.

“We didn’t decide on who gets the bed yet.”

“Yes we did-” you were already under the covers, the cosiness making you whimper with ecstasy- “we’re both sleeping on the bed. It’s big enough for both of us.”

Loki thought for a moment before walking to the other side of the bed. “Fine by me. But fair warning, a lot of souls will die wailing tonight.”

You adjusted yourself well, nearly drowning in the fluffy blue duvet, over you. “The only thing killing any souls will be my post-travel farts. I’d suggest you get another duvet from the closet.”

The camera panned in on Loki’s face as he began his ritual of taking off his shoes. “You know, I used to think the reason you do not have any suitors for yourself is because of the over protective elements in your family. Now I’m thinking it might have something to do with you and your tendency to oversha-and she’s asleep.”

The camera zoomed out to show you already beginning to snore with your lips parted.

“Yup,” Loki whispered in a defeated sigh.

The Lounge, Night-time on Earth

Tony alone sat on the sofa in front of the flatscreen with all the lights off, drinking chamomile tea. The clock read twelve-thirty and the grounds were silent- except for the noise of video games coming from the Dorms.

Zuko jumped up onto the couch, nudging at Tony’s arm to let him cuddle against the man. Tony, more than happy to open his arm to let the little pupper crawl into the space and settle his head on his thigh, cooed at him. “Hey there, buddy. How are you doing? Miss your mom?”

Zuko looked up to Tony with his pure puppy eyes, making the man shoot a pure smile at him. “Me too, kid,” he sighed, “me too.”

Both of them turned to the screen to watch you and Loki sleep in the same bed. The top angle really did cover everything, though it made Tony wonder how and why did they get such a good angle. Loki’s head rested on one arm while the other rested on his torso above the duvet, still like a log, breathing like a silent river through the woods. You, on the other hand, slept anything but straight. Your body was sprawled all over your side, your legs awry, the duvet slipping down the edge, snoring quite audibly with drool all over your pillow.

“A part of me is glad she has Loki by her side,” he confessed softly to his company, stroking that soft fur with his fingers. “Don’t tell him that.”

There was a stir. Your hands moved. And then your legs. Your brows furrowed and you slowly turned into a fetal position before a whine left your throat.

“Noooo,” you mumbled in your dense, sleepy state, “don’t take me awayyyyy.”

“Huh,” Tony commented, “she sleep talks. Just like her father.” He smirked.

“No!” your voice grew a pitch higher, “don’t let em take me awaaaay.”

Loki was already opening his eyes, his body on alert as he turned his face to watch the tension collecting on your forehead. Up on his one arm, he bent over you; his movement making Tony pause his whole body and perk up Zuko's head at the screen. Only when he grabbed the duvet to come back and put it over you did the two spectators go back to their normal breathing cycle.

You were tucked into the duvet as discreetly as possible before Loki’s hand stroked your hair to calm you down. The little brush of his hand in your hair worked, making you turn and scooch a little closer to him, giving into his soothing touch.

Tony could see the little smile growing on Loki’s lips. “Mother used to do it when I had nightmares. It always worked.”

Once he was content that you no longer were troubled, he receded his hand, turning on his back to look directly at the camera. The serenity on his face added to the lungful of air he took while studying something Tony seemed to have an idea about.

“I know you can watch us, Tony,” Loki began, making Tony’s tensed shoulders drop, “I don’t know how late though. I know it must be killing you to watch your daughter be trapped with a monster like me in some galaxy unreachable. I can only imagine. But I understand if my company does not bode well with you.”

Tony twisted his lips, still stroking Zuko. “You’re right about that.”

“Just to put your mind at ease, I am not interested in anything twisted when it comes to her,” he continued, turning to look at your placid face squished against the pillow, “she’s better than you lot anyways.”

Tony raised a brow at the screen, making the lone camera recording him from the shadows pan in on the confused surprise on his face. “So, you’re saying you made a friend? She’s a friend? Like best buddies or something? Like do you like her?”

Almost as if Loki could read what Tony would say, his calm face turns back to the camera to seem as serious as possible. “She is tolerable. Nothing more.”

“I’m fine with that,” Tony agreed with open arms.

“She’s stronger than I thought,” Loki confessed, letting his head dip into the pillow to look beyond the camera, “I never imagined her to be this composed in such dangerous places. Makes me think she’ll do fine on that dirty old heap of junk crawling with monsters worse than me.”

“Ha ha,” Tony mocked a laugh but kept an eye out to check whether Loki was really playing him or being serious at that moment.

“Well,” Loki turned back to look at the camera, “doesn’t mean I will pass up on any opportunity to make you claw at your skin whenever you see me close to her.” The broader the smirk on his lips, the more Tony could feel a ringing in his whole body.

“You wouldn’t do that,” he whispered at the screen, “you are too high and mighty for such a cheap play.”

Loki’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, that sick smirk still stuck on that wicked face. “I mean, what are friends if not...close. Right?”

Tony paused the stroking again- making Zuko face him and wonder why his good times were being interrupted again.

“Okay Lulu,” Loki called out the camera, that stirred at the name, “get down from there. Sleep somewhere comfortable. Somewhere you do not have me or her in your view.”

The camera shifted, jumped on the carpet, moved in circles before meeting the fuzzy fabric and going dark.

“Yeah, I’m not falling for that,” Tony admitted, chuckling to himself, “like Y/N is ever going to fall for that. She’s smarter than that. I mean, look at her father!”

Zuko did look at your father but with a tilt of his head as if questioning all that Tony just spewed in the disinterested air.

“What,” Tony looked back at the pupper, who tilted his head again, in the other direction, “oh. Is that what you think? That’s it. No more cuddles with me. Go ask someone else for love, you traitor. I’m not buying you any more doggie toys, you stupid pupper. Shoo!”

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stina-is-a-punk-rocker · 3 years

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disney’s ‘the hunchback of notre dame’, early 2000s kid nostalgia, and other midnight musings

“What the fuck, Stina? I thought this was a blog for book reviews!” you say.

“Books, amongst other things. Hence the -ish suffix,” I say. “And all my mediocre ‘reviews’ are hit-or-miss in terms of engagement, so I’m pretty much free to post whatever the fuck I want.”

I toss my head. My hair whacks me in the face.

The first time I watched Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame was been circa 2006, in the ‘movie room’ of my preschool, huddled around a CRT TV with the rest of my five-year-old classmates. Not much about the film particularly stood out to me at the age.

Fast-forward fifteen years later; I’m cooped up in quarantine, hundreds of thousands of miles away from that first viewing. I’m living my best life, rejoicing in my introverted tendencies and having a laugh at the expense of all the suffering extroverts. I haven’t moved from my bed all day, except for the bare necessities, and I’m bingeing YouTube videos. All is well.

I discovered Lindsay Ellis’s channel quite recently- embarrassingly enough, through her videos on Omegaverse and the whole Addison Cain fiasco. I stumbled down the rabbit-hole of her channel, and here I am, a few dozen videos later, and I find her one on this film.

Which, of course, led me to want to re-watch the film, with the eyes and mind (supposedly) of an adult. And it went far beyond and above my expectations.

The film is dark, much darker than the average Disney film of today- not just thematically, but the graphics too. Except for the first parts with the Festival of Fools and the last scene, the rest seems to have a dark filter put over it all. Obviously, given its themes (I’m pulling these out of my arse; I’m a STEM major and I have zero to no knowledge about film) of freedom and equality, acceptance of those different from us, corruption and lust- all that good shit, in other words- you can’t exactly have sunshine and rainbows. But it’s such a stark contrast from what I’ve been accustomed to from Disney; Frozen has Hans about to decapitate Elsa, but the background remains bright and light; Simba sobbing next to Mufasa’s body in The Lion King is heart-wrenching, but a few scenes later, we have an anthropomorphic meerkat-boar duo singing about eating bugs and farting and all that classy stuff, so it’s not as traumatizing.

The themes are a lot more on-the-nose than a lot of other kids’ movies (forgive me if I err, I am aged and forgetful)- cue la Esmeralda saying, “What do they have against people who are different, anyway?”- you get what’s essentially the same ‘accept others regardless of their differences’, ‘prejudice is bad’ morals from, say, Zootopia, but having given the main characters fursuits makes it less obvious than in this movie.

(Or maybe I’m just a dumbass. I have no elaborate notes for this; I’m high on sugar and deprived of sleep so I might be spewing bullshit.)

Admittedly, the resolution is a bit… unrealistic. The citizens of Paris = sheep, essentially; they go from throwing fruit in Quasimodo’s face because the guards started it, to helping defeat them. Maybe there’s something about mob mentality in there, but I find it hard to believe that people who showed up to watch Esmeralda burn to death were suddenly totally cool with not getting what they didn’t pay for. But then again, this is a Disney movie, and you can’t make kids too cynical too early on. Let them have their innocence and ‘people will be with the heroes in times of peril because humanity is inherently good!’ before they realize that humanity kinda fuckin’ sucks.

The characters are some of the most human from those I’ve seen in Disney (other honorable mentions: the main characters of The Emperor’s New Groove, Moana, Tangled, Anna from Frozen). Quasimodo’s the main character (lol DUH, will I ever say anything not obvious?), and he’s so lovable, but not without flaws- he’s biased against gypsies in the beginning because Frollo’s the literal scum of the earth. To borrow from the K-pop fans’ dictionary: UwU he’s so pure!

Esmeralda sparks a bit of controversy because she’s another POC leading lady from a Disney film of the 90’s (a list including Jasmine, and, sigh- Pocahontas) who’s markedly more sexualized than the white Disney princesses. It’s not something I particularly noticed nor cared about until I saw it being brought up- I mean, the woman shows a bit of cleavage and then dances for a couple of seconds- but. I’m just putting that out there.

She’s an empowering heroine without having to belt in in your face (not me making a dig at Naomi Scott’s Jasmine from the Aladdin live action film), and I also love how her role in taking down the Big Bad doesn’t have to do with her ‘power of seduction’ (the scene in the animated Aladdin film where Jasmine kissed Jafar truly traumatized me as a kid).

Phoebus is… well, he exists. Kind of a Regulus Black archetype, but not exactly. The guy on the bad side who turns good and all is forgiven. Well, at least it’s not the ‘her love made him a better man’ trope. And he is a good guy. Even if he did spend a considerable amount of his adult years on the side of the bad guys.

Systemic oppression? Nah, it’s one or two corrupt baddies. But again, it’s a Disney film, we need everything to work out for the good guys in the end.

Let’s get the gargoyles out of the way. To reference Lindsay Ellis’s video (she’s a lot smarter than I am and breaks this down better than I ever could): yes, the comedy’s oft ill-timed and inappropriate… for an adult audience. And the primary demographic of Disney films, especially princess ones (obviously Esmeralda isn’t a princess, nor does she marry into royalty, nor is she included in the group of princesses in the dumpster fire that is Ralph Breaks the Internet, but I had a book imaginatively titled ‘Disney Princess Stories’ as a kid that included Esmeralda’s story alongside Belle’s and Ariel’s, so I’m calling her a princess), are kids. And kids love fart jokes.

Additionally, I have a theory-that-is-not-really-a-theory-but-a-pretty-obvious-thing-that-happens that the gargoyles are figments of Quasimodo’s imagination, and the, at times crass and ridiculous things they say are just the voices in Quasimodo’s head (THIS IS OBVIOUS, STINA, YOU HAVEN’T STUMBLED ACROSS A STARTLING NEW REVELATION); maybe what he imagines normal townspeople to act like.

And then we have Judge Judy Chrissy Teigen Frollo. This dude is the embodiment of pure evil. He’s bigoted and rapey and abusive and one of Disney’s most successful villains- even better than Mother Gothel, who previously held the crown. It’s rare that a villain genuinely terrifies me, especially a cartoon one. Frollo, unlike your typical fairytale antagonist who wants power/fame/fortune/to overthrow Olympus, is far more sinister; driven from deep-rooted hatred instead of plain greed. He’s so much closer to people in positions of power and authority even in the modern world, and that element of reality makes him so much better as an antagonist instead of a literal sheep who hates carnivores (seriously, Disney, enough with the twist villains- they’re not working out).

Also, Hellfire slaps. In fact, the entire soundtrack does.

Speaking about Hellfire, I love the contrast between that and Heaven’s Light; how Esmeralda is viewed by Frollo (an object to possess, “Destroy Esmeralda, and let her taste the fires of hell; or else, let her be mine and mine alone”) as opposed to Quasimodo (someone with free will, “I dare to dream that she might even care for me”).

Another argument brought up, and admittedly one I had as a child was, ‘but if the whole point of the movie is acceptance and love as opposed to lust, why didn’t Quasimodo get the girl?’ Which, years later, I realize is an extremely misogynistic way to look at it. As Princess Jasmine said four years before The Hunchback was released, she is not a prize to be won. Quasimodo is Frollo’s antithesis; he lets Esmeralda choose, and she chose Phoebus. And Quasimodo accepted that, because he is good and kind and sweet and loving. Severus Snape, take note.

On a sidenote, I’m always kind of caught out of left field when the plot in films moves really fast- I’m really not a movie-watching type; I prefer to read, and books usually indicate how much time passes from one main plot point to another, and there are little slice-of-life, filler parts that tie in to character development and moving the plot forward, but at a snail’s pace. So, whenever I’m watching a movie and it’s one important event after another, I usually haven’t had enough of a refractory period to process it.

Let’s pretend that I segued smoothly into the next part of this (already tedious and long drawn out) review.

The Hunchback is the darkest film I’ve ever seen come out from Disney. Re-watching it as an adult made me pause every so often and wonder why the hell I wasn’t traumatized by it as a kid. I mean, the whole movie kicks off with Frollo about to throw an infant down a well. And then there’s that horrifying shot of the stone renditions of the Israelite kings on the church walls. Frollo falls to his death into fire. I mean, good riddance, but still. I guess it’s because the kids’ shows of today are awfully censored and polished so kids don’t have nightmares forevermore.

Update: tried to watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2. Exited just as fast as I clicked on it. Disney sequels really ain’t shit (yes, I’m looking at you, Frozen 2).

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httpfandoms · 4 years

Text

Make a Move (Yancy x Female!Reader)

So, hey! I decided to start writing this year actually so take this small little Yancy thing I’ve been thinking about because I love my boy <3

This idea was inspired by a fic (Kiss the Girl, I think?) that I can’t really find anymore with the same concept of the inmates singing to Yancy and Y/N for him to confess his love to her. I’m using Make a Move (hence the title :3 ) from Shrek the Musical But I’ll be making some adjustments and remove some parts that don’t really make sense. I recommend listening to it while reading this to set the mood~~ (play it right before the bold/italic letters) I also recommend listening to the whole album and watching the musical, it’s up on Netflix I believe! So without further ado 💕

~Color Coded for Lyrics~

(Jimmy the Pickle is only the sound guy, y’know those beatbox people with the deep voice and all so he doesn’t really sing ;3)

BamBam

Sparkles McGee

Tiny

Everyone else singing/Joining in/ Background

——

“It’s almost disgusting...in a cute way of course.”

Tiny let out a small huff, blowing hair out of her face as her and the gang sat at a nearby table in the courtyard. Their eyes were fixed on the sight of their leader, Yancy sitting right beside you. Yancy didn’t seem to notice his friends glancing their way as his eyes were fixed on you and you only.

The two of you had come out from the cafeteria, holding your plates of food the cooks had fixed up for dinner. Bright smiles crossed both your faces, cheeks growing pink every once in awhile that your shoulders brushed together. Poor Yancy had to hold himself back from just taking your hand or getting any form of physical contact from you. He understood boundaries, of course. Ever since you got here, the tough guy trope the rest of the inmates were used to from him seemed to disappear anytime you were near. Of course, Yancy denied it but they all noticed it.

“It’s driving me mad! Why don’t we do anything?”

“Well what can we do, Sparkles? Any suggestions?”

BamBam threw his hands up in the air and questioned his friend, Sparkles McGee, who now wore a frown as the group seemed to grunt at a loss for any ideas. They looked to the oblivious, totally in-love inmates sitting side by side at a bench.

You were munching on your sandwich as Yancy went on telling you about his new musical number he was practicing with his little group. The two of you were just lost in a trance of eachothers eyes. It drove crazy the inmates and guards— hell, even MurderSlaughter could see something going on between the two and he got quite a kick of it, teasing Yancy over it anytime he got the chance.

“I’ve got it.”

The group turned to Jimmy the Pickle, a determined look on his face while they wore a shocked one.

“I’m sorry, you? You have an idea?”

“Can it, Bam.”

Jimmy pointed a stern finger to BamBam who flinched slightly as he held his hands up in defense.

“What Yancy needs is some help. I’m sure we can cook up a nice number for him to...make a move on the lil’ lady of his.”

He hummed as the others seemed to catch on, Tiny and Sparkles hopping off the table they sat on as BamBam seemed to smile at the thought. Sparkles let out a small whistle, getting a few of their friends attention. Jimmy started to whistle a small, funky tune as the gang started to slowly approach the unsuspecting ‘couple.’

“There’s something going on around here.

We’ve been watching and the signals are clear.

A nervous laugh when she brushes his skin,

The sweaty palms, the big dopey grin.”

Yancy seemed to flinch at the sudden beginning of a song, seeing BamBam start singing. He was trying to stay calm like you who didn’t quite seem to notice for some reason. He glanced over your shoulder to look at his friends approach you from behind, their small number clearly directed towards him.

“Is something wrong, Yancy?”

“What? O-Oh! No! Um...no, everything’s fine! Youse just...have a little something here, ‘s all...!”

Yancy was quick to reply to your question, a little distracted over his friend’s movements. He reached a hand to fix your hair behind your ears and get the ‘little something’ off of you. The light of the setting sun hit your skin just oh so perfectly. You seemed to tense at the touch of his fingertips gracing your cheek before he quickly pulled away, taking a large bite off his sandwich.

The gang let out a hum and BamBam kept singing, joined soon by Sparkles.

“Mmm-mmm~

With a giggle and a flip of her hair,

We smell the pheromones in the air!

Making goo-goo eyes over their food,

They need our help here in setting mood.”

Yancy seemed to glare at them, rolling his eyes as you went back to eating your slice.

BamBam was quick to jump behind Yancy who was almost startled but remained his cool, trying to ignore him. The gang’s humming and movements seemed to stop before quickly continuing, snapping their fingers.

“You gotta turn up the heat,

You gotta butter the pan. You gotta—

(Make a move, and don’t be afraid!)

Reach for her hand, maybe give her a kiss?

(She’s waiting for a move to be made!)

You gotta— (gotta)

Gotta— (gotta)

Gotta— (gotta, yeah!)

You gotta make a move!

(You gotta make a move!)”

BamBam, Sparkles, Tiny, And Jimmy shock their bodies in sync to the chorus. To be completely honest, Yancy was impressed but he denied on realizing the lyrics were real events happening just now. He just couldn’t comprehend how he got weak at the knees seeing your hair flow away from your face, his palms growing sweaty each time she spoke of looked to him. That smile of yours would make him do anything for it to always be because of him.

Man, he hated how right they were he cursed himself for being this much of a coward to do something over his little crush.

You on the other hand...god, your thoughts about him basically muted anything else going on around you. Probably the reason you couldn’t hear the show number going on. Too focused on the goofy inmate in front of you to even notice his friends singing.

Yancy could feel his friends rise from behind him, a slow, gentle tune coming from them as they moved slowly.

“Boss...we know you can’t hear us right now,

But if you could,

We’d wanna say a few things to ya’.

We are in your corner sir—

But you have go to tell this girl

What you are really feelin’ deep down!”

BamBam and Tiny switched between each other. Yancy’s leg started to bounce slightly before he furrowed his brows, a stern and determined look on him before turning to you as he gripped his fist above his knee.

“You may not get another chance,

So just go on now.

Just open your heart and...”

“Uh, (Y/N)?”

“Here we go!”

“Yes, Yancy?”

“Oh, he’s gonna tell her!”

“I uh,”

“I can’t take this...!”

“Well, I was...”

“Uh-Huh?”

“I was wondering...”

“Okay!”

“I was wondering...”

“Spit it out!!”

The whole yard went silent, his friends leaning over the bench as the inmates leaned in to listen carefully to his next words.

Yancy faltered in his speech as you gave him a bright, hopeful smile.

“A-Are you g-gonna eat that...?”

You looked down as he pointed to your sandwich. Yancy saw you furrow his brows before you handed him the second piece of your lunch with a smile. The others groaned in annoyance, their heads thrown back or facepalming at their love sick leader.

“Man, What is WRONG with you?!”

“You! Gotta—

Make a move, you gotta shift into gear!

You gotta (buckle down and give it it a whirl!)

The scene is set right out of a book,

With a sunset, and a beautiful girl!

So you gotta— (Gotta)

Gotta— (Gotta)

Gotta— (Gotta, Yeah!)

You gotta make a move! (You gotta make a move!)”

“You gotta use the sunset!

What a beautiful sunset, baby!

Woah, oh yeah~!”

You perked up at the sound of a loud bell ringing, signifying the end of the dinner as guards shouted for everyone to head inside for curfew. Yancy looked to you as you threw your plate away, his eyes longing to tell you how he felt. He could feel his heart thumping like crazy in his ears!

His friends and inmates still sang and danced as they went to their designated buildings, piling up inside. Some prisoners from inside watched the two of you still side by side. Without a word, Yancy took your wrist making you gasp before being spun around.

“You gotta reach for the ring,

You gotta give it a shot.”

Your bright, surprised eyes looked up to him as you held onto his biceps for support. Oh my god, his biceps could crush a watermelon...

His hands...His gentle hands rested at your waist and it almost made you putty in his hands.

You took a good look at his features.

“Yancy...?”

“Grab the bull by the horns, or give up the pot!!”

Warm, soft lips crashed into yours as you were dipped down, this time having to wrap your arms around his neck. His lips were on yours...Yancy was kissing you in front of everyone for all the prisoners and guards to see. Your eyelids fell shut as you savored the moment and kissed back.

“Woo! And make a move!”

BamBam managed out his last sentence before being tugged into their building by Sparkles. He let out another cheer from the window, muffled to the others from the noise being canceled out.

Yancy pulled away slowly, his eyes fluttering open as he looked down to you. Your eyes had stars in them over what you had just experienced. Too caught up in the moment, you failed to see some inmates obviously amused at the show provided and some guards being handed a few bucks from other guards after making a bet.

A bright smile formed across your face as you were lifted up slightly.

“Hmm...creative...”

You nodded as Yancy grinned from ear to ear, holding you close.

“Well...youse Uh, deserve the very best. I knows I ain’t that but...I love you, (Y/N).”

Yancy rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced to the side before your hands cupped his cheeks. Your thumb graced over his lips.

“Yeah...I kind of figured after that kiss.”

You giggled, shoulders rising from the motion as Yancy gently took your wrist.

“And I love you too, Yancy...I’ll love you more if you kiss me again...?”

A blush formed on your cheeks as his eyes widened, a low chuckle leaving him before taking your waist and pulling you close.

“Oh, I can arrange tha—“

“BACK TO YOUR CELLS! ALL OF YOU! I DON’T WANT ANYONE UP AFTER CURFEW OR YOU’LL BE SENT TO THE DITCH!”

They jumped back from each other at MurderSlaughter’s cries before seeing him come over to the two, adjusting his suit tie. Without knowing until he looked down between the two, their hands were interlocked together.

“Ah, I see we got two lovebirds in here, huh? Get to your cell, the both of ya.”

He scolded as Yancy was quick to drag you and himself out of the courtyard. You smiled softly at the sight of your hands together.

“I better not have noise complaints or any funny business happening from you two!”

MurderSlaughter laughed time himself seeing the deep red blush creep up on your faces as the lights flicked on in the courtyard.

—

Ugh, I know terrible. It’s my first time writing something like...Ego related that isn’t theories! Heh! But I hope some of you liked it, there may be mistakes since I was in a rush since that’s why the ending was a bit abrupt but I apologize! Anyways, I may cook up something else in the future for Illinois or something, who knows! ;) But for now, buh-bye! 👋🏻

#my writing #yancy #a heist with markiplier #ahwm x reader #ahwm #a heist with markiplier yancy #yancy x y/n #yancy x reader #markiplier #ahwm yancy

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strwxberrymilk · 4 years

Text

“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”

Pairing: Werewolf John Marston x Reader

Word count: 3,362

Happy Valentine’s day! Here’s my fic for the always lovely @littlestarofthewest from the @rdrsecretcupid2020 event!! You said you liked tropes and mythical creatures, so I hope you like confessions of love and werewolves!!

Summer winds danced through the trees, their sunlit branches trembling, gently moved by the warm breeze. Crickets began chirping along with songbirds as the sun sank over the heartlands, calling sweetly to the coming dusk. Creamy wisps of clouds delicately kissed the horizon, beckoning forth a warm glow over the lands, coating cliffs, and wildflowers in its radiance. The Dakota River was turned into liquid gold and the meadows seemed less like grass and more like twenty-four-carat threads waltzing in place. The campsite basked in the golden hour, hushed if only for a moment, by the setting sun. She sat there on an old fallen log, journaling and taking in the half-light of day. The breeze swirled through her hair and onto sun-kissed skin as she tucked wild strands behind her ear. Her pencil scraped purposefully at the paper, marking down her fleeting thoughts as the day came to an end.

Tonight would be the first full moon since she had been bitten those weeks ago. The freezing dampness of Colter was testing in itself, but with the hapless attack from an O’driscoll scout, the journey was frightful. She had been on guard duty when the beast came from the trees, roaring madly, sending spittle flying through the cold air, and clamping its razor-filled maw around her throat. Luckily, the men came just in time, hurdled into action from the sound of the beast- shooting the creature dead and getting the girl inside. There was no mistaking her fate then. In fact, most of the people who ran with the Van Der Linde gang were all too familiar with the curse that would soon befall the young woman, having to deal with it themselves as well. She healed quickly from the wounds, biding her time until the moon would finally rise, uncovered and full. And it seemed that a night full of firsts would arise with the setting sun.

He watched her sitting on that log, basking in her radiance, starry-eyed and captivated by the way that the light caressed her skin and how the dust in the air danced a halo around her. How he longed to be the sunlight on her skin, craving to be sweetly buried in those locks, holding her to him, with full dominion over her body and affections. She was to be his, and his alone- it was what he ached for, what he needed in order to feel whole again. Since the day they met, John Marston had an eye for the lady. Much to Dutch and Hosea’s chagrin, John had immediately imprinted upon her the second their gazes met. This bond that had suddenly drawn the two together held a more significant meaning than john had known at first, only recognizing that she was his destiny after a talk with Hosea. The girl was clueless, however. Merely thinking that the young man just enjoyed her company some. Maybe he thought of her as a sister that needed his protection or a damsel in need of saving- because in her mind, surely this tall, dark, and villainously handsome man couldn’t feel the same way about her. So, she pushed down these hot and blooming fantasies of romance every time she spent a moment with John.

The girl shut her journal with an inward sigh, slouching, resting her elbows on her knees. Her eyes fluttered shut with a long exhale, worried about the night to come. John was leaned against a nearby tree, watching, spell-bound by her entirety, and just how gorgeous she looked. He pushed off of the rough bark when he saw the clear anxiety in her posture, spurs clinking as he headed towards her. “Evening miss (___),” he called, stopping to stand next to the log. The girl snapped her head up to look at him, her eyes weary and thoughtful. “Oh, hello John,” She quickly looked back at the landscape, feeling her cheeks heat up under his gaze. “What’re you up to?” The question hardly squeaked out from her lips as she nervously played with her pencil, refusing to meet his eyes. John huffed, bringing his hands to rest on his gun belt, turning to watch as the sun made its final descent behind the distant mountains. “Well I noticed you looked worried, so I came to see how you were,” He glanced at her in his periphery, “-Since I know it’s gonna be your first night is all.” He added quickly, mumbling slightly, shaking his head. The girl sighed, swallowing her feelings once more and turned to face him completely in her seat, “Hah, well you’re right. I am really worried John. I-I mean I’ve never gone through anything like this before, especially not alone.” Nervously laughing she continued, “I really am frightened.” John moved to sit beside her, resting with one elbow on his thigh. She could now see his face fully, handsomely drenched in the afterglow of twilight, black wisps falling into his eyes. His lips were pulled into a tight line and his brows furrowed, “(___), I’m gonna be honest with you. It’s not easy. In reality, it will be painful, and damn difficult. It was, even for me.” He placed a heavy hand onto her smaller ones, squeezing slightly in re-assurance, “But you’re a strong, fine woman. You’ll manage just fine I’m sure.” John grinned a toothy smile and chuckled as the young woman laughed as well. “Thank you, John, I- uh- That means a lot to me.” She glanced down before finding herself lost in those coal brown eyes, staring longingly at his scars, tracing down his face and to his lips. A soft sort of tension ebbed between them and through the beginning night, making their silence quite awkward. Noticing this, John cleared his throat and spoke up, “Say, why don’t we go grab some dinner and get you settled?” He stood up and held out a hand to the girl. Smiling sweetly, she took his hand and walked with him back to the center of camp.

They sat together at a table and ate their stew, chatting about things other than their lycanthropy. After dinner, John and the girl rested around the campfire with the rest of the gang, all more quiet than usual out of respect for the girl’s first moon, and by Dutch’s orders. It was easy for them to empathize with her since all first turns are involuntary and happen no matter what, on the first full moon after one is bitten. After a wolf’s first moon, they are free to choose when to turn or not, voluntarily shifting at will, not tied to their beastly form when those bright nights come. After a while, the girl grew more exhausted, feeling hot under the rays of the rising moon, and asked john to bid her goodnight. He walked her back to her own tent, re-assuring her that everything will be alright and that she should try to sleep and get some rest while she can. With a kiss to her delicate hand, He wished her a peaceful first moon. The girl heaved and entered her tent. As the flaps closed behind her, the girl began to undress. She was sweating already, and her clothing clung to her, nearly drenched. Being left in just her drawers and chemise the girl lied down onto her bedroll, panting, exhausted and growing more agitated as time went on.

She slept for a short while as the camp around her calmed to a hush and only embers sizzled where the roaring fire once sat. The moon rose higher into the night sky, stars twinkling sporadically in the deep black depths. Crickets stopped their singing and no rabbit even dared to exit its burrow; the earth knew that it was time. With a gasp, she woke, suddenly and painfully- her skin burned with heat and her chest ached. Pure instinct ran through her veins, as she lifted herself from the ground, stumbling out of the tent and into camp. Nobody was out now, all stowed away, sleeping soundly in their bedrolls. She wheezed as her feet carried her out into the forest. Her heart began to race, every time she waltzed into a patch of moonlight, promptly carrying her faster downhill. Her skin felt like it was on fire, searing deep into her bones, making her cry out in pain. Her yells were the only sound that echoed in the trees, becoming more erratic and desperate as she stumbled towards a clearing in her moon-drunk stupor. All she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears as she cleared the tree line. Stepping into the moonlight sent waves of chills down her skin, cooling the heat that ached her. The pure ecstasy that direct moonlight poured into her was indescribable. She whimpered as pain overtook her short-lived pleasure, breath hitching as she hunched over. Her entire body was trembling severely, and tears welled in her eyes. Bones began to shift and crack horridly as she writhed in pain, screaming out into the night air. Her once soft and manicured hands grew into large wolf-like paws with long unmanaged claws hanging atop. Her spine elongated and ruptured, stretching and pulling. Her chest moved in the opposite direction, ripping through her underclothes, leaving her bare. The girl’s legs grew longer and bent wildly, breaking and contorting into those akin to a canine. Her bare feet morphed into large paws, making her stumble, catching herself on the ground with her arms. The girl’s once petite frame was now hulking and covered in thick fur. The worst pain was in her face and jaw, cracking and relocating, making her shriek in pain. The moon was at its peak now, casting its midnight rays below into the valley and onto the girl. Her screams turned to beastly roars as the shifting came to its end. Whimpering and writhing in the dewy grass she looked up to the moon. This final action, a gesture of submission and connection sent a rush of primal strength into her. She rose now, standing tall and greeted the moon with a hauntingly beautiful howl. She sang away the pain, tilting her head back and flattening her ears. This is how she was supposed to feel. To be liberated by the moon’s benevolent grasp.

John bolted awake in his tent. He heard her song so clearly, even in his sleep, calling to him. This siren song beckoned him fourth, setting his heart on fire. He threw himself out of his tent, heart thumping wildly in his chest. He knew that the bond that nature had secured between them would call to him eventually, but just how quickly and wholly instinct took over was jarring to him. He scented the air, nostrils flaring, and pupils blown, searching for the girl- his girl. His lanky form bounded through the forest floor, stomping over thickets through the underbrush. Most times he was confident in his will to keep from turning when exposed to the moon’s rays, but when his ears pricked at the again enchanting howl that sang from the she-wolf, her scent drifting back up the hill, he felt his continence slip from his grasp. Stumbling forward he growled as his own beastly form began to manifest, shifting from man to wolf. His once slim torso now broad and coated in inky black fur, heaved deeply as he tried to regain some sort of restraint. With his senses, now heightened, he could feel the girl close by. His massive paws padded quietly as he stalked through the underbrush, head swiveling and ears twitching, looking for an indicator of her location. nose to the wind, his stride came to a stop as the tree line thinned into a clearing. The moment his eyes found her, gaining her bearings in the meadow, he felt more human as a wolf than he ever had before. She stood gazing upwards, her fur sparkling in the moon’s rays, tail waving slightly under her long, muscular legs. A fire sparked in his loins, churning butterflies in his gut- feet carrying him out into the open air to meet her.

She hadn’t noticed him approach, focus fixated on the night sky. His steps broke the silence, causing her to snap her attention to him. The girl wasn’t used to her new senses, nose scrunching as she took in his scent, it was unfamiliar yet known, something she remembered but now dripping in musk. Fear swam down her spine, hackles raised, and ears pinned snarling a warning to the dark-furred male. She backed up slightly, tucking her tail, crouching defensively. The male was shocked, not knowing why she didn’t recognize him. He let out a small sound between a whimper and a bark, ears lying flat submissively, stepping forward. Shadows uncovered the wolf as he slinked forward into the moonlight, head hanging low and eyes locked onto hers. The deep scars that cut into his fur were now visible in the misty silver rays and his eyes, stark red against midnight brows, pierced like a beacon through the air and into her. Her ears flicked forward in question, head bobbing backward. This night could not get any weirder, she thought, she had expected her first moon to be strange, yes, but she knew that face; It couldn’t be anyone but john. She let him approach, stepping closer herself, calling out a quiet whimper in question to the male, ‘john?’ The larger canine broke from his submissive stance, bouncing slightly and happy to be recognized by the she-wolf. His tail began to wag rapidly, and he grinned, ‘I’m here (___), it’s me.’ Along with her demeanor, the tension broke and she sprang forward, closing the gap between them and tackled John to the ground. She laughed in relief, ‘Man am I glad to see you! I don’t know what I would’ve done if some other folks had found me so quick!’ She pressed the bridge of her muzzle to his chin and breathed in a deep whiff of his scent, which became clear to her in recognition of the man whom she pined over. John grunted, out of wind from the sudden hug, and chuckled, ‘well you did look like you were ‘bout to kill me right there. If I ain’t know you, I would’ve tucked tail and ran, you sure showed like a seasoned wolf already.’ The girl rolled off of him, reaching her feet and cocked her head to one side. ‘What’d you mean ‘if I ain’t know you?’ How did you know it was me, not like anyone’s seen me turned before?’ Her brows were furrowed, and she gazed around as if to look for anyone else there with them. ‘well,’ John said, standing up, ‘I could smell you, but really it was that beautiful call of yours. I knew that nobody else could sing so sweetly to me-‘ He stopped suddenly. The words falling out of his mouth far too quickly. John wasn’t quite how to tell her how strongly he felt, but damn he knew it needed to be more romantic than word vomit. John huffed, ‘Anyways, let’s get you back home. Or at least closer to camp. folks around here ain’t used to seeing things like us.’ He gestured back to the tree line and placed a paw at the small of her back. She sent him a smile, her eyes, soft, gleaming gold in the moon’s light. They started into the forest, side by side. ‘And while we walk, I could explain some more things that you’ll start to experience? Having had your first moon and all.’ He questioned, looking down at the girl. Humming, she answered, ‘That sounds wonderful, thank you, John.’

Through the night, the two young werewolves padded through trees and over thickets, conversing quietly. He described his first moon to the girl, and how he learned all he knew from Dutch. How scents work, how to track prey as a wolf, how ranking works. The moon was sinking low now, barely kissing the tops of distant trees. The wind settled into a slow breeze as the caterwauling crickets hushed to a whisper, and twinkling stars began to fade. It was when they got onto the topic of packs and ranking that imprinting came up. The two stopped just outside of camp. John’s throat was dry as he described the ‘at first sight’ bond that takes place between destined mates. He stated that, ‘It feels like when you’re apart from them, that you’re suffocating.’ The girl was quiet for a long moment before asking, ‘And that you would give the world just to hold them? for even one second?’ She refused to look at him, worried that if she did, he’d know exactly what her question was. John took in a deep breath before exhaling, ‘I never knew how I should tell you this. But I think right now is as good as tomorrow and as any day. (___) from the second I met you all that time ago, I knew that you were meant to belong to me.’ He took the girl’s smaller paws into his and gave them a gentle squeeze, eyes lingering on her face, taking in her ethereal beauty. Even as a wolf, he thought she was the image of perfection itself. The girl was shocked, mouth hanging open. Her head shook as she looked up to meet his eyes. ‘are you toying with me, John Marston?’ Her eyes welled up with tears. In her mind, there was no way that this man, who treated her with such chivalry, who was so handsome, fiercely loyal, and genuine could feel the same way about her that she does of him. John’s eyes looked worried as he pulled her into his chest, claws raking through her soft fur. ‘I always questioned it or dismissed it, but tonight- when I heard you howl- it just solidified it to me.’ He breathed deeply, looking down and stroking her cheek, ‘We are meant to be with one another, (___). We’re supposed the be mates.’ The girl lifted her head from his broad, inky chest and grasped onto the hand that remained on her furred cheek. he stammered mouth opening and closing before finally admitting, ‘I love you.’ She choked out a sigh of relief before returning his confession, ‘I love you too.’ He leaned down and touched his forehead to hers, holding each other tightly in the dying moonlight. His next words were those of ancient origin, that was said between every pair of courting wolves, symbolic and true in meaning. ‘I vow to protect you, love you, provide for you in any way that I can.’ He whispered to her, earnestly. The girl smiled before answering, ‘I vow to serve you, comfort you, and provide for you in any way that I can.’

The pair pulled away from one another as the beginning signs of day spread along the land. ‘we should get you inside before you turn back. You’re gonna be exhausted- just like I was after my first moon.’ John called, taking her hand in his own. In the east, the sun peeked from behind the horizon and songbirds sang to the coming light. The sky was yellow and blue, beckoning day to come once more. The new couple, giddy and spry, traipsed paw in paw into the awakening camp. The only other souls awake at that early hour were Dutch and Arthur, who sat just outside Dutch’s tent, drinking their coffee and talking quietly. They snapped their heads in the direction of the two wolves that came into view. Dutch smiled touched and knowing while Arthur grinned and nodded before taking another sip of his hot coffee. The girl yawned as she carefully entered her tent, John following close behind. She lied down atop the furs and blankets on the floor, tail wrapping around her bent legs, and beckoned John to do the same. ‘Stay with me?’ she asked, humming quietly. He curled up beside her, holding the girl close to his chest, laying his head down just above hers. ‘Always (___), always.’

I apologize that i couldn’t get this posted sooner! This weekend was chaotic and i couldn’t get to my laptop. I really hope you enjoyed it, I’m a fairly inexperienced writer and this was my first insert fic. I know it doesn’t live up to your god-like writing skills but I gave it a shot anyways!

Have an amazing week sugarplum!! <3

#rdr2 #rdrsecretcupid2020 #secret cupid #john marston #john marston x f!reader #fluff #sfw #werewolf #werewolf AU #john marston x reader #red dead redemption 2 x reader #red dead redemption 2 #strwxberrywrites

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autumnslance · 4 years

Note

Lmao I got three I'm particularly curious about for you on the character meme. Thancred, Lahabrea, Igeyorhm. XD Feel free to do as many or as few as you'd like of course!

You asked for it. We’ll start with That Damned Rogue. The Ascians will be below.

This of course got long, so behind a cut it goes:

Thancred

First impression: I started in Gridania and took like 2 years to finish ARR 2.0, was already spoiled on the possession angle (I spoiled myself, no big), and had just @erickgage‘s affectionate joking summary of Thancred being the guy who shows up 5 minutes late with Starbucks to all the early battles. So I didn’t really get to meet the guy ‘til the Waking Sands.

And honestly, he was stereotypical generic bland anime prettyboy competent guy. His 1.0/ARR model is…just sorta there. He was a flirt, also generic as heck. Really didn’t register too much, until I finished 2.0 finally and then went hard on the MSQ through the patches and into HW and StB 4.0, when I finally caught up to content.

Impression now: Godsdammit.

My first replay through the game was on PunchyCat, starting in Ul’dah, which meant I got to meet Thancred much earlier. I was immediately amused by his nickname for Nanamo, and Papashan’s assessment of the witty Archon. I was more into the lore, getting the first lorebook and reading the short stories on the main site, and playing through all at once instead of piecemeal over months/years made things make more sense. Thancred hits a lot of tropes I commonly like in a lot of characters, so he jumped up to being a favorite.

Gunbreaker suits him as a tank job (thank goodness he can stop trying to tank warmachina as a rogue, ffs Thancred), and tanking in general suits him when it comes to fighting for those he cares about.

I’m interested in the ShB story mentioning why he wears white in all his gear iterations; I’d previously made a post about his color choices and that aspect of character design, but having a lore explanation for his affinity for that color was interesting. I didn’t think his HW model suited him, honestly; way too rough mountain man hobo. His model in ShB is closer to his ARR model, but different enough, and imbued now with actual character, that he’s a bit more visually interesting and while still pretty typical handsome anime protagonist in appearance; his true personality just comes through a lot more.

I’m still forever mad about the unintentional character ‘ship with Aeryn, tho. It took a 3rd playthrough for it to happen.

For myself, mind, when I got into playing and learned his canonical age, it was at the time the same difference between myself and my younger brother. My assessment of the Scion “family” with Thancred being the middle child (esp his behavior pre-HW) maybe helps that. I’m getting to a point, really, where I look at the characters under 35 and think “OMG disaster children, all of you.”

Favorite moment: Oh goodness. There’s some good ones.

‘How was I supposed to know all my girlfriends would track me down and show up at HQ all at the same time: a master class in how to not to deal with multiple paramours by Archon T. Waters.’

His dramatic reappearance and duel with Ardbert in HW 3.1.

Taking out his frustrations by soloing the Coerthas cyclops boss so we can get on with the Tournament and fight Raubahn. (Side Bonus: pre-tournament when he jokes about fighting for the other team to even up the odds, and then: “It looks to be a veritable who’s who of the Eorzean Alliance. The only question is: who came to watch and who came to fight? Hmm…Nanamo. Definitely Nanamo.”)

Making sure Urianger knew he was still part of the team post-Soul Surrender climax.

“All right, which one of you triggered the obvious trap?” Also learning he can hold his breath for 10 freaking minutes–but still gets to be jealous of the WoL, Lyse, and Alisaie for their kojin blessing.

That dramatic teamwork with Urianger to knock Ran’jit down the pit in Rak’tika.

That frickin’ Trolley duty and it’s aftermath with the completed checklist of anime death markers and then just sitting there battered and bleeding and smiling and then giving Ryne a name and a headpat and “You’re family.” Bastard.

Idea for a story: Have you seen my Ao3 account? *grumbles*

Unpopular opinion: While he likely used drinking as a bad coping mechanism at times in ARR’s patches, I doubt he ever really went to blackout, as losing control to that extent, after having been controlled and probably losing a lot of time while possessed, would be awful. We see him drink a few times, but I don’t think he is/was an alcoholic.

I also agree with @ahlis-xiv that his flirtatious persona was mostly adopted. While he probably does have a healthy libido and enjoys time with paramours (that Urianger keeps a handy list of), there’s a lot that’s likely exaggerated, allowed to be assumed, and otherwise used as a cover, given his specializations. It’s also noteworthy how he’s mostly acting the same even after being lost in the wilderness, right up until our foray into the Antitower. The wit/humor gets toned down a lot, but the flirting is cut out entirely after that. He still charms some ladies in the First, based on incidental dialogue, but that seems a general reaction to him being a handsome hero type rather than any intentional flirtatious act on his part.

Favorite relationship: Thancred and little sister types. I do wish we’d seen more of his relationship with Minfilia outside of informed moments and the short stories. I feel like he has a semi-older-brother relationship with Lyse, too, given their antics in the 2.0 patches (particularly the “Hoary’s fighting the WoL, come watch!” and Thancred not even considering how one of his girlfriends would see him sending Lyse to retrieve an item until after and going “oh yeah, whoops”). And now there’s Ryne, and she is totally running things if you watch their background conversations/body language. But that’s kind of where Thancred likes it; find a girl who needs a protective older brother and do what she asks and whatever she needs.

I do have a special place in my heart for the expanded broship with Urianger that Shadowbringers gave us, though. I’ve already spoken on that one.

Favorite headcanon: Everything people assume about how he spoils the nutkin. And really, focusing on taking care of and doting on a pet would be good therapy. Goodness knows he needs it.

Also I assume he and Hilda hooked up at least once during the HW patches. Part of that expectation and cover, sure, to immediately flirt with the pretty, tough, half-elezen guard captain. But also, he spent however long mostly alone, and then only with the Vath and a nutkin for company; the guy was probably touch-starved and lonely and just needing a connection to another person he could relate to (that wasn’t a bug).

Otherwise, again, have you seen my Ao3? Ugh. Damned snarky smart rogues…

————

Lahabrea

First impression: Laughing Organization XIII-wannabe is obvious villain. Wonder what their deal is.

Impression now: So much lost/wasted potential thanks to being stuck as the ARR villain when it was so hastily rewritten and acted, and so little was decided on the Ascians and their motivations yet. A lot of what we learn now retroactively makes him more interesting. The fact he was a workaholic who looked at the workaholic Scion and went “ah yes; that one will do, perfect” makes me laugh.

Favorite moment: I like his interactions with Elidibus. And I am actually fairly fond of his theatrical reveal in Praetorium about the Ultima Weapon, the Heart of Sabik, and casting Ultima.

Idea for a story: Maybe stuff while he’s possessing Thancred. Maybe stuff between then and the Reactor. I dunno; I’ve been enjoying a lot of others’ stories about our first Ascian antagonist.

Unpopular opinion: Dunno if this is unpopular, but some of the retroactive information is to excuse why he seemed so much less powerful than other, later Ascians, but I do think the Speaker could be quite devious and powerful, if he had better writing around him. He suffers for being from ARR.

Favorite relationship: I am not ashamed to admit I am a Lahabrea/Igeyorhm shipper and Hades Ex seems to agree with me so there.

Favorite headcanon: The Speaker likely also had a good singing voice. Another thing good about possessing a man whose primary cover was a bard–excuses to indulge that.

————

Igeyorhm

First impression: Wannabe-Organization XIII also hires women, cool. Wonder if she’ll get to do anything?

Impression now: I’m sad so much got cut from HW; as great as it was, a lot got left on the editing room floor and it shows in spots–particularly where the Ascians connect with the plot. We learn much about her retroactively as well, including how she worked for/with Lahabrea thanks to being the one to wreck the Thirteenth, and change Ascian policy on how to bring about Rejoinings. I still wanna know more about her.

Favorite moment: You beat the whale, good job–thanks, that’s my key now. It’s such a perfect dick move. Excellent timing and taunting.

Idea for a story: Maybe some of her inner thoughts working for/with Lahabrea. She was a raised up shard, so does that mean they found the scattered pieces of her original soul and force-merged them? I doubt it, since Emet-Selch mentions raising up those who are a piece of the previous office holder, but I wonder if it came with imbuing the new title-holder with some of those memories and knowledge. Perhaps she wonders if some of her interactions/feelings/whatever with Lahabrea are her own, or her tapping into her previous life’s memories. Something to think about, anyway.

Unpopular opinion: I dunno, she shoulda gotten to stick around longer? Or been allowed to do a lot more? Should have been much more of a presence in HW, but I don’t think that’s unpopular so much as unconsidered.

Favorite relationship: Lahabrea is really the only one she gets significant interactions with. Though I wonder about her interactions with the other few women in the Ascians.

Favorite headcanon: See above with the story ideas, really; she didn’t get a lot of time onscreen so there’s a lot of room to make things up, and retroactive info from ShB to make her more interesting, or at least her situation as an upraised Ascian.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Prompts #Thancred Waters #Lahabrea #Igeyorhm #Ascians #illegiblewords

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littlemisssquiggles · 5 years

Text

RWBY Squiggle Scripts #022: “Playing Pretend”

Picture it.

Heroes’ Day Out!

While staying in Atlas, our young heroes of RWBY and the JN(O)R gang decide to take a day off to explore the sights. During their excursion, due to their differing interests, the group decides to split up into four pairs: Ren and Nora, Blake and Yang, Weiss and Jaune and lastly, Ruby and Oscar.

Ruby was really enthusiastic about checking out the Atlesian Delta Mall---a giant shopping precinct within the kingdom that was very popular with the local youths because of its entertainment arena home to an arcade and a giant movie complex among other fun areas.

At first the Rosebuds were happily enjoying themselves. However things turn sour when Oscar gets separated from Ruby while exploring the wall.

During his search for his missing rose, Oscar’s lone trek across the complex leads him to bump into a rather interesting group of people Before Oscar got a chance to even apologize to who he bumped into, he suddenly found himself swarmed on all sides by four girls who practically towered over him.

One girl was a proud blonde by the name of Clementine Pell. Another girl, a brunette with glasses was Naomi Navy. The third girl, a walking body of pink, was Ran Orchid and finally the fourth girl, Yasmine Alba---a red-eyed beauty with long hair as white as snow.

Oscar swallowed nervously as the girls flocked around him. Suddenly he felt like a worm trapped in a cage of hungry canaries.

Clementine: Well what do we have here ladies? Looks like a little prince has lost his way.

Naomi: Ooh you're right Clem! He does look like a prince.

Ran: He’s such a cutie pie. I love his freckles! I can just eat him up!

Yasmine: Quit acting so thirsty Ran. What's your name, sugar pie?

Oscar: *awkwardly* Uh...I---Os---Oscar.

Ran: Ooh Oscar!

Naomi: Like Gold!

Clementine: So you're a golden prince.

Oscar: Uh, if you'll excuse I really need to catch up with my---

Oscar attempted to walk past one of the girls---the snow-haired one---but to his dismay, she snaked her around one of his.

Yasmine: What's the rush, darling?

Ran: Yeah, why don't you come hang out with us?

Clementine: You wouldn't want to refuse the company of four beautiful girls like us now won't you?

Yasmine: Won't you!

Oscar: I...I...

Just when Oscar believed he was a goner, a glimmer of red caught his eyes as Ruby Rose came into view.

Ruby: There you are! I've been looking all over for you.

Oscar: *in relief* Ruby!

Instantly, Oscar wiggled his way out of the snow-haired girl’s grip and joined Ruby at her side. Ruby smiled at Oscar before training her attention on the four girls who eyed her with stern expressions.

The blonde one even got up in Ruby’s face.

Clementine: Excuse me but we saw him first!

Ran: Yeah paws off our little prince!

Ruby: *blinking confusedly* Your little… what now?

She looked at Oscar.

Ruby: Oscar, do you know these girls?

Oscar: No I've never seen them in my life.

Ruby: *frowning crossly* Are they harassing you?

Oscar: I---

Yasmine: He was about to get to know us personally before you butted in.

Naomi: Buzz off!

Ran: Yeah, who do you think you are?

Ruby: Oh where are my manners? The name’s Ruby Rose and…

Ruby draped one arm around Oscar’s shoulder pulling him closer to her with a big beaming smile.

Ruby: I'm his girlfriend!

CNRY: *in unison* What!

Oscar: Wait...what?

Clementine: *hands on hips; appearing skeptical* Funny, you don't seem like his girlfriend.

Yasmine: Yeah like a cutie prince like him would ever date ugly peasant trash like you.

Oscar: *frowning defensively* Hey! Don't talk to her like----

Ruby: It's okay, sweetie. I'll handle this.

Ruby glanced back at the four CNRY girls; the smile on her face now curling into a smirk.

Ruby: So you want proof, you say?

Before Oscar had time to react; the next thing the small farm boy knew, Ruby suddenly closed the space between them and planted her bare lips over his in a kiss.

At first, Oscar was caught off guard by the sudden invasion. His body stiffened at the first out of shock but after a while he slowly felt herself melt into the kiss and it was not long before that he actually started kissing Ruby back.

By the time the two parted, Oscar’s heart was like a drum in his chest. His cheeks were flushed; far more than usual as he just stood staring at Ruby.

He wasn’t the only one. When Ruby returned to the four girls, their faces were a perfect Picasso of astonishment, disappointment and unbridled rage. A masterpiece of human expression that brought the big Chesire-cat smile back to Ruby’s face.

Ruby: *smugly* Proof enough for you ladies? Or do you need more convincing?

Yasmine: *disgustedly* No thank you!

Clementine: Let's go girls. Before I lose my lunch.

Naomi & Ran: Totally!

Whipping their hair, the CNRY girls walked away; finally leave Ruby and Oscar to themselves once more.

Ruby: Phew! That was a close one. Sorry for that. It was the only thing I could think of. But at least they're gone now, right Oscar?

Oscar: ...

Ruby: Oscar?

Ruby faces Oscar; finding him still staring at her.

Ruby: What's with that face!

Oscar: I'm sorry! You...kissed me. You actually kissed me.

Ruby: *defensively* Yeah but it was a fake kiss. To help you with the---

Oscar: *frantically* I know I know! It's just...that was...well...my…

Ruby: …Wait, was that...your first kiss?

Oscar: *awkwardly*...Ye---Yeah. Pretty much, yeah.

Ruby: Oh. Oh no. I’m so sorry!

Oscar: No! No! It's ok. Better you than those girls, right? Besides...it was fine.

Ruby: *taken aback* Fine?

Oscar: As in good. *embarrassed* It’s…not exactly how I pictured our---I mean…my first kiss being but---y’know…

Ruby: *awkwardly*Well...uh...if it's any consolation, it was my first kiss too so…

Oscar: *incredulously* Wait...WHAT! That cannot be your first kiss. How?

Ruby: What do you mean how?

Oscar: I just...I mean I always figured you of all people would have kissed tons of guys before.

Ruby: Excuse me?

Oscar: I don't mean it any bad way. I just...I always figured a beautiful girl like you would have some tall handsome guy or y’know…several guys waiting for you back home in Vale.

Ruby: *snorts* That's…really weird but really sweet of you to assume but...no.

Oscar: *still in disbelief* Really? Not even at Beacon?

Ruby: Well at Beacon I was pretty much the runt of the school. Youngest huntress to be accepted, remember?

Oscar: Yeah but...you're also pretty amazing.

Ruby: *laughingly* Trust me. If you had met me back then, you wouldn't think that.

Oscar: I doubt it. If you were just as cool and kind as you are now, I would've liked you sooner. *jokingly* Y’know beat out all those guys in line for your hand.

Ruby: *giggling* Oh please. I didn't even have a date to the school dance. Me having a line of guys chasing after me. That’s rich!

Oscar: I should've been at Beacon.

Ruby: Why’d you say that?

Oscar: So I could’ve asked you to the dance.

Ruby: *snorts* Pffft! Again, really sweet of you Oscar but… you would’ve been 13. That’s younger than I was.

Oscar: *smiling* So? I'd still ask you.

Ruby: *blushing slightly* Well tell you what? If there's ever another dance, you'd be my first choice for my date.

Oscar: *grinning* I'm going to hold you to that. It’s a date. And…uh… speaking of dates…

Oscar took Ruby’s hand, looking at her warmly.

Oscar: Ms. Rose, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me right now?

Ruby:*snickering* Do me the honour?

Oscar: *embarrassedly* What? Tha---That’s how the guys asked out the girls back home. It’s a farm folk custom!

Ruby:*laughing* You’re not serious!

Oscar: *huffily* It is! You Valerian city girls just don’t know common courtesy.

Ruby: *teasingly* Jokes on you, I’m a Patch girl, born and raised. Besides I meant about the date thing. You’re not serious about that, right?

Oscar: Actually I am. We still have a couple hours to kill before we meet back up with the others, right? And…there’s a perfectly good movie theatre right over there that’s showing all three Grimm Samurais movies with a food court that gives out free popcorn to couples. Besides I think those crazy girls from before might still be lurking around. You mind playing my girlfriend for a few more hours?

Ruby: *excitedly* You had me at Grimm Samurais! Let’s go!

Oscar: *grinning* After you, snookums.

Ruby gave Oscar a weird look; brows raised. Oscar blushed.

Oscar: *defensively* What? It---It’s part of the pretend.

Ruby: Y’know what’s also part of the pretend. You paying for me.

Oscar: What!

Ruby: Now c’mon Oscar, what kind of pretend boyfriend would you be if you didn’t treat your cute pretend girlfriend to our pretend movie date? Isn’t that right pumpkin?

Oscar: *pouting* I’m going to pretend dump you.

Ruby: Can’t cause you’re pretend madly in love with me!

Ruby sticks out her tongue at Oscar playfully before skipping off before he could say anything else. Oscar only shook his head as he only stared after the Silver eyed huntress. He then sighed dreamily.

‘…Or maybe I’m just in love with you for real…’ Oscar thought; an affectionate smile already tugging at his lips. With that, the young farm boy caught up to Ruby; taking her hand in his again as she in turn beamed brightly and tugged him forward in eager excitement, as the two rosebuds entered the mall theater together.

And scene.

Squiggly Scriptwriter’s Commentary:

This has been sitting in my drafts for weeks and I didn’t realize how adorkably cheesy this was until I finished editing it. So much cheese. Hope no one reading is lactose intolerant.

This spawned from the random idea of what if… Ruby fake-out made out with Oscar to get him out of a sticky scenario with a group of fangirls. I quite like the romance trope of the fated pair fake kissing each other for show only for their real feelings to surface later in the plot.

I was planning on releasing this script earlier but…y’know busy bug syndrome got in the way. It wasn’t until I saw @blackhakumen beat me to the punch with his own version of the “playing pretend” trope for Rosegarden, that I finally figured it’s about time I finished this. You can almost say his work gave me the push to finally wrap this up! Thanks for the motivation boast with your script Black. If you haven’t, check out Mini Fanfic #64: My Boyfriend by Blackhakumen.

I haven’t written anything this cheesy for Rosegarden since my ‘A-Dork You!’ RWBY Squiggle Script. Good times. I still love that script.

A special thank you bunches of oats to my fellow Garden Rosebud @miki-13 for loaning me their lovely OCs who cameoed in this script.

The CNRY girls are from Miki’s RWBY fanfic---‘Reconciliation’. If you haven’t already checked it out, I’d definitely recommend it to you guys. It’s a fantastic read that not only tells an excellent interpretive follow-up from the events of V6 but it also includes an original cast of interesting characters. Seriously check it out.

I hope you didn’t mind the cameo Miki. When I first thought up this script, I was originally going to go with a random character but then I remembered your CNRY girls. Sorry if me borrowing them was for something as cheesy as this. The CNRY girls served their part well. I just hope I did your girls justice here.

More RWBY Squiggles Scripts

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#rwby #oscar pine #ruby rose #oscar and ruby #rwby rosegarden #rwby rosebuds #squiggles scripts: rwby

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bnha-imagines-hcs · 6 years

Note

Req? Uhhhhhh *sweats* shinsou fluff? His crush is the "hot mechanic trope" and in the support department. Think overall jumpsuits open to the waist over tank tops, biceps, backwards snapback, bending over engines... Idk I had a thing for Letty from The Fast & The Furious ¯\(ツ)/¯ thank you!!

( who doesn’t have a thing for her ❤ ??? ppl w/ low-class taste, that’s fuckin’ who. i jest, ofc. | idk whether you wanted a fem or ambiguous crush, but anything i write you can just fart & go ACTUALLY at,.. so ¯\(ツ)/¯ personally i love swol tech-savvy ladies so here we go. )

| shinsou; headcanons.

holy shit, shinsou has a type. not that he’s aware of wtf that sudden wow Look At That And That And That and Oh hhhh THAT TOO– actually means for him, but wanting something that’s just out of reach is a familiar enough sensation. oh, god, he has a type. oh. g o d . ess.

struck mute and stupid mid-motion, shinsou’s the embodiment of heck standing in the open doorway to one of the support department’s many workshops.

sweet mother of mercy. could the soft swell of muscle be anything other than taunt-? he’d not known. that grimy overall is creased and crooked and ( is that a burn hole?? ) / she’s got hair tucked away under a cap, bushy and slipping out of its tie–she’s dirty, ducked under the hood of some kind of vehicle maybe, and she looks like she could snap him in two. shinsou swallows thickly once, then twice. on the third he remembers to breathe.

| shinsou; scenario.

there’s no way in hell. not one; small talk archives are dusty, filled with cobwebs and bitter snark and white lies – anything deeper than shallow will hit immediately upon pain mean snap bite bark. there is no–

“hey dude, pass the insert unintelligible jargon.”

“…hahhh- the what? ehrem.” shit play it cool fuck already failed

“the– ohhhhh, dude.” whether it’s for the mess of a lavender mane or clear lack of grime anywhere, she does a double-take - then reconsiders. “it’s the, uhh. size of yer forearm, black, v-shaped hook at the end?”

fuck say something, oh god no wait don’t say anything, oh fuck oh hell oh stop giving a damn– mute, shinsou hands her whatever the fuck that thing is and watches it disappear in the mess of tubes and gears at her fingertips.

“yop, thanks.”

“…sure.”

something must show in his face, cuz the clever amber of her eyes studies him despite hands’ work. “you aight?”

“i’m fine.” it’s hard to cook up some charm when he’s still reeling.

“cool, then hold this down and don’t let it bop up.”

bewildered, shinsou complies. it’s neither charming nor witty to keep staring at the swell of her biceps or the way she doesn’t even bother with the wayward lock of hair before those eyes, the unbridled knowhow in the quick snap of her fingers; gotta step up to some kinda plate here, but the bar to meet is lost somewhere between brain and gut.

the steel length of something to be held down is hot against one’s palms; not too much. ’s also stuck to something that won’t stop moving and the grating metal on metal noises do little for the tension in the air. the girl (name?? class?? year?? shit, gotta talk to her) is up to her elbows in this recalcitrant tubing and any time she wrenches something, the force reverberates up shinsou’s spaghetti arms (let’s just. let’s just not even pretend he could- yeah).

there’s no rhyme or reason to shinsou’s past 15 minutes and shit is lunch break almost over? haven’t even eaten -- teeth grit against the buck of steel (not. not gonna lose a hand in here, are we?) and he’s got this, ain’t gonna ask for help, jesus he can hold down a bar in a– a thing, when a girl asks!! jesus, he can–

“fuck- watch out-”

“got it!”

–nope, no he can’t.

breathe, that is, cuz she’s got a hand between his, arm warm and sweaty against the useless pale nothing of his body fucking— okay can it with the self-loathing —and though something straight up shoots out of reach with a loud ricochet through the workshop, the grin on her face (jesus he can’t breathe) is wide and merry.also like 3 inches removed from his. 2? 1? there’s a sudden flurry of ticklishness that does fuck-all for his feeble grip on the bar and holy shit she’s strong, an dholy shit hly s hi. t—

“plan c!”

“you what” but there’s a- wrench, this is just a wrench, he knows that -and it’s being waved in his face so he gingerly trades one hunk of steel for another. tries not to watch her work with him to keep the bar down, fails, curses himself a bit more. it’s only then that he loses a few seconds to shock.

“okay. you see this?” blindly, she point at a thingie that appears like it would fit into the wrench’s angular mouth.

“uhh.” b r e a t h e “yeah?”

“cool. i hold this down, and you tighten that.” smears of oil and calloused hands, that’s what take the bar from him. there’s arms around his waist, quite evidently strong; do wonder when one toppled into a weird role reversal universe.his damn luck that he likes it.

he fumbles, but isn’t called out on it - maybe cuz she can’t see from behind him. christ. she’s way too warm, how long has she been working-? but the thingie gets tightened and the bar doesn’t pop up quite as far when it’s let go of - gingerly.

“there we are. i’ll finish this some other time.”

with smn stronger around, likely. shinsou just tries to breathe and forget the heat of her front to his back - also maybe stop wondering about all the things she can do with those hands.no. no. n O THAT’S NOT WHAT HE MEANT JESUS WE’RE TALKING SUPPORT DEPARTMENT, SKILLS. THOSE SKILLS. NOT– OH GOD

a water bottle’s shoved into his face. “yooouu look like you need it.”

“oh, great.”

| shinsou; headcanons.

somehow, lady luck favours him all throughout a half stilted but entirely enjoyable bit of small talk, and then through some coursework related banter, and then through a tour of the workshop that surrounds them with all its tantalisingly useful but incomprehensible glory. turns out the list of what those hands can do is damn long.

had thought he’d need to dial down the sarcasm, the bite, the black humour, and dial up whatever innate charm not possessed – yet caught off guard and made awkward by (holy fuck, this is what it’s like to have a t y p e???), none of that actually happens.thank fuck, cuz apparently she’s got wicked weird taste.

shinsou’s not particularly religious (and what faith he entertains is sour), but still sends up a teeny prayer of thanks to the heavens.

over the following days one takes their lunch to quiet places - not nearly as quiet as the usual, though. out of sight where ardent people work even when they should be on break, shinsou sneaks in half hours of actually trying to get to know someone. the part that has him floaty is that it’s working. (if his classmates notice, they’re not gracious enough to ignore it.)

#shinsou hitoshi #shinso hitoshi #hitoshi shinsou #bnha shinsou #bnha #mha shinsou #shinsou x reader #bnha imagines #boku no hero #boku no hero imagines #class 1-c #mha #my hero academy #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #boku no hero academy #boku no hero academia imagines #my hero academy imagines

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ladysmaragdina · 6 years

Text

other Shadow of the Tomb Raider thoughts:

- whoever decided that a little old indigenous lady who lives in Totally Not El Dorado should sell advanced modern climbing equipment has some explaining to do. Like, I can’t even use GUNS here. GODDAMN.

- whoever decided that the obvious, subtle name for a restaurant IN MEXICO was ‘la casa mexicana’ HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO.

- The first outfit you get in this game is made of jaguar hide. I’m never, ever letting Lara take it off (except when I have to for Plot Reasons), because the game shows her making this outfit out of a jaguar she killed just a few hours beforehand. I’m pretty sure the pelt hasn’t been CLEANED, much less cured or anything. Lara must smell fucking rank, and this is hilarious to me.

- the story is pretty... I mean, it works. Mostly! Mostly?

- There was a moment when I hit the Main Hub where about six pages of the script fell out and got swept off with the trash, but... okay. I can live with that? It was deeply weird. One minute you’re trying to find a temple, and the next minute there are people! Not just people, but rebels! And cultists! And a succession crisis? I gotta wear blue to indicate that I’m on the side of the rebels? Who are rebelling... against... wait, but you said they’re all off in the jungle, but everyone is HERE, and the “rebels” are IN POWER, or... are they? They’re just coexisting totally peacefully in the streets but also in deathly danger of being kidnapped and murderdeathed at any time? And... Who the fuck are ANY of these people? Is anyone gonna explain what those weird not-zombies are? Anybody? Is anyone going to explain why THESE guys think human sacrifice is cool but THESE guys think human sacrifice is cool in some never-defined DIFFERENT way and you know what, that’s fine, I’ll just go crawl through this pit of human sacrifice victims for SOME REASON and.... ah, there’s the plot. I think. I’ve missed you. (Apart from that, the story is decently solid, by which I mean that it clips along as a fast enough pace that the route from A to B to C makes good urgent sense. But I still don’t know who the FUCK these people actually are)

- Lara can apparently pass as an indigenous person by putting on the appropriate dress, and everyone in Totally Not El Dorado has a) never heard of the outside world and b) effortlessly code-switches between Quechua and English. I’m not even going to try to unpack that one.

- (I am aware that Totally Not El Dorado has an actual name that actually comes from real life, but a) spoilers and b) I don’t think the game cares)

- “It must have taken hundreds of sacrifices to fill that pit with blood,” says Lara re: a pit that was once filled with a heck of a lot of blood. This pit is about the size of a large hot tub, which means it would take somewhere in the vicinity of 300-400 people; Lara is right, and I hate - hate - that I know this.

- “They didn’t enter,” says Lara in a tone of utter shock and confusion re: the spooky not-zombies, as she walks into the heart of the temple where the Macguffin That Was Forged In Paradise And Can Save Or Doom The World is kept. Lara, an archaeologist, has apparently never heard the word ‘sacred’ in her life. (To its great credit, the game seems to be trying to say that Lara is wrongheaded about this! But the game has also never been able to stick with a solid thematic character choice for Lara for more than... twenty minutes? It had a FANTASTIC choice in the prologue that it has done LITERALLY NOTHING WITH SINCE)

- there is a random parasitic worm in someone’s arm. It is at least a foot long and as thick as my thumb, has an entire extended cutscene devoted to it, is incredibly disgusting and probably triggering to someone, and is (so far) pointless and never mentioned again.

- someone on the level design team has a Thing for underwater sequences. I’m not a fan.

- I’d be much more of a fan if I could get the swan dive mechanic to work consistently, because when the story objective is ‘dive into the cenote’ it’s REAL gauche to cannonball instead... which feels pretty thematically appropriate, honestly.

- ...I feel like the big problem I’m having with this game is that it’s setting up these INCREDIBLY obvious theme touchstones and then not cashing in on them. Lara is destructive! Lara is impulsive and bullheaded! Lara is selfish! Lara doesn’t think about the implications of her actions! Lara is a terrible archaeologist and needs training on cultural sensitivity! Lara doesn’t connect history to actual people! These are all GREAT fucking things to set up, but... like... are we going anywhere with this? Ever? (Naaah, screw cultural sensitivity, we’re just gonna milk indigenous body modification for all the dehumanized horror tropes we can!) The game seems afraid to go anywhere with these really heavy themes and seems to be setting up a hard pivot to a trite “the future is more important than the past” moral, which is SORTA connected to the “Lara is a shitfuck archaeologist” thing they’ve got going on, but... it feels like a cop out. It feels like an excuse to keep them from needing to unpack all the vague racism the game has going for it. Shadow of the Tomb Raider wants to have its cake and eat it too, it wants to say ‘tomb raiding is bad’ and also ‘look at how much fucking fun tomb raiding is,’ and has no idea how to balance that.

- I could be wrong! PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG, GAME. I AM GLAD THAT YOU ARE TRYING. TRY HARDER. I REALLY WANT ‘SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER’ TO THEMATICALLY COMMIT TO BEING ‘SHADOW OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM’ AND MAYBE EVEN MAKE ME FEEL BAD THE WAY SPEC OPS: THE LINE DOES. PLEASE LET LARA LEARN A LESSON THAT ISN’T ABOUT HER FATHER.

- I think the BIG PROBLEM with the Tomb Raider Reboot Franchise is that after the original 2013 game, Lara’s “survivor” arc was finished, and they have no. fucking. clue. what to do with her character.

- in other, lighter news: there are way fewer bears guarding the tombs this time. And by fewer, I mean none. I’m actually playing a Tomb Raider game instead of a Rise of Leo DiCaprio simulator like last time. There are way more tombs. There is way more emphasis on tombs and parkour. The tombs are no longer beefgated by ridiculously undying bears. All is well.

- I am GENUINELY enjoying the game, despite all the weird pivots on theme and whatever the FUCK the person who "implemented” Immersion Mode was smoking; I’m having a great time, as long as I can turn off my brain a little bit. The gameplay balance is a hell of a lot better than Rise of the Tomb Raider. Shadow of the Tomb Raider probably isn’t as good a game as Tomb Raider (2013), but I don’t think it ever could have been, because that game has a solid narrative arc and this one just kinda throws darts at things and doesn’t look to see if they stick.

- speaking of which, I’m still waiting for a ‘darts shooting out of the skulls in the walls’ trap like in Indiana Jones

- please give this to me

- I know we have ‘spikes springing out of the walls’ but that is not remotely the same

- please

- there are so many skulls embedded in the walls everywhere

- please have some of them try to kill me

- it would be so cool

#Shadow of the Tomb Raider #Smaragdina horrifies archaeologists everywhere

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airyravenmaid · 6 years

Text

Bad Bath & Beyond

This was the other little snippet/blurb I wanted to put up. I... don’t know what chapter it takes place in XV, but I know it’s still fairly early on. I figured the Lucers needed a “bathhouse episode” (my words), so I took the ideas that were thrown out and made a full thing of it. And though I don’t go to P5 School™, I did take a little inspiration from that bathhouse trip (at least here, we have a Robbie Daymond-voiced character who isn’t a deceitful little bastard; looking at you, Akechi 3:< 💢).

And apparently, a certain trope I used towards the end with the part that’s slight Lightis is a really popular one on Twitter? I literally had no clue of how much people ate it up until my sister told me; I only put it in because I got the idea of how to end the thing before bed. So... I guess I did something right XD. I hope you guys can agree, and have as much fun reading it as I did writing it for you lovely ones out there! 💘

No hunt in any sort of world was a clean job. So much as the most minor of beasts and daemons had their share of messes to deal with, everyone (un)lucky enough to face any quickly figured that out. There was always scratches, cuts, bruises, roughing around in the dirt where the creatures lied. Whatever one was encountered, you’d never escape the way you faced them.

That said, of course, going out into the woods in the dead of night to hunt down a daemonic Jumbo Flan bent solely on crushing any opponents to death was a great way to make the mess of a lifetime. One simple warp strike from Noctis quickly made this abundantly clear, chunks of blue ooze flying out and staining his Engine Blade and parts of his body.

“Just what I needed tonight,” Noctis sighed unhappily, at the last minute deflecting another strike from the gelatinous daemon’s arm extension. “A little help here?”

“Happy to oblige,” Ignis responded, using a fire-based Enhancement to power Noctis up a lot better.

“I owe ya, Specs.” Noctis ran to dodge another crushing jump from the Jumbo Flan, also wanting to find a better angle to strike from. “How’re you guys holding up?”

“Not much differently from you over there!” Gladio grunted, using a Dawnhammer strike down upon the creature’s head. He pulled out his greatsword, not caring that it was covered in a blue substance and continuing to move and strike it. “‘Case you haven’t noticed, this thing ain’t dead yet!”

“I think it’s close to being on its last legs, at least!” Prompto interjected, firing his pistol ammo repeatedly at the target. “Lightning, you doing alright?”

“About as good as it’s gonna get!” Lightning shouted back, using her special Blitz technique to get a wider range of damage with her gunblade’s sword mode. “No one’s resting until this thing’s down!”

“Goes without saying, new girl!” Gladio exclaimed, seeing the Jumbo Flan about to attack Noctis and prevented by doing so by the King’s Shield successfully guarding him from the gooey arm being slammed down on either of them. “I’ve got your back, Noct! But, don’t forget to watch it at the same time!”

“Will do!” Noctis took out a flask containing magic he knew would be able to burn and shock the Jumbo Flan out of existence, silently thanking Ignis’ aid from earlier while it still had time to last him. “This oughta do the trick—!”

Before he had the chance to use it, the daemon knocked it clean from his hands in one swipe. Noctis picked himself up from falling on the ground as soon as it happened, but was too late to grab his flask as it soared across the open and landed in Lightning’s grasp. It thankfully hadn’t gone off on contact, but the woman who caught it only had a fairly basic idea on such a foreign type of magic use involving it. Unknown caution wasn’t the only thing Lightning wound up throwing to the wind. She immediately tossed the dualcasting flask right at the enemy with precision that could give Prompto himself a run for his money, but in doing so burned and near-electrocuted a little more than the Jumbo Flan they were all hunting.

Within agonizing seconds, the intense flames followed by unforgiving shockwaves did their damage to the close-in-proximity team. It’d successfully vanquished the daemon they’d been hunting, but everyone found themselves either screaming in pain or frenzying from aftershocks trying to get rid of the consequences dealt to them. Afterwards, the only remnants of the double spell to name were ruined hair and black char marks coating flesh and clothes alike.

“...That settles that,” Lightning coughed, patting the flames away from singed pink locks. She noticed the Jumbo Flan dissolved into a dark ooze and disappear rather than stay only in an expected form of a blue puddle. “Huh. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a flan like that before.”

“Just like I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone that reckless playing with fire,” Noctis scolded, the last small flame dying out and leaving a ruined patch on his sleeve. “You realize we could have all died there, right, Lightning?”

“Would you rather I didn’t throw it and risk us getting our heads served to us fresh on a platter, Your Highness? Be grateful we even beat it.”

“I’m not saying I’m not, but what I am saying is to aim more for the daemon, and less for the ones trying to beat it.”

“Maybe if you stuck to a more practical way of using Fire and Thunder, then this wouldn’t be a problem. What I don’t get is how it even affected us.” Lightning personally was more used to outright conjuring her magic from herself for ease reasons back when she first had to fight to live. Whoever came up with the idea to stuff it all into a little black orb of confusion that no longer only harmed its target really should have thought things through better, she annoyedly believed.

“Weird. It’s almost like fire is hot to touch and electricity shocks us. I know, I’m as surprised as you are.” Noctis was being entirely sarcastic, something which was clear Lightning couldn’t have cared less for anyways.

“Alright, break it up, kids,” Gladio intervened, forcing the prince and former soldier to end their little argument. “The thing’s dead, so get your asses over it and move on.”

“For once, I’m with Gladio here,” Prompto winced, picking off a dried goo slab off his temple. “I don’t know if you guys could say the same, but I could use me a well-earned bath.”

“It would be best to check into the nearest inn for the night while we clean ourselves up,” Ignis agreed, cleaning off any mess from his stained lenses. “Here’s to hoping we can find one that’s affordable, but in equally high quality.”

“So much for a nice campout under the stars,” Gladio sighed, letting out a disappointed scoff. “We’re a little more well-done than anyone’d like, but a little ooze never hurt anybody.”

“It’s only for one night’s stay, Gladio. We’ll bathe, get a good night’s rest, then be well on our way come morning.”

“Assuming these two don’t kill each other by then.” Gladio peeked over at Lightning picking up the empty flask from the ground, tossing it back to an eye-rolling Noctis who otherwise thanked her for the gesture before going to ignore her as best as he could again. “I seriously don’t get what those two’s problem is with each other. And it’s a lot more besides a little magic hiccup.”

“Who’s to say? All we can do is hope Noct and Lightning come around enough eventually and don’t surpass basic civility as mandatory teammates.”

“In the meantime, let’s hit the road!” Prompto chirped, pointing towards the Regalia’s parking spot. “I heard near here, there’s a new bathhouse with my name on it! Come on? What are we waiting for?”

Both at and pardoning Prompto’s hasty insistence, the weary quintet made their return to the car, everyone getting seated and taking off towards where they knew a good enough inn was without going too far. Noctis took the wheel in getting everyone there, allowing him to focus more on the road and cool off somewhat from the events of what’d just went down. They eventually made it to the inn after a somewhat lengthy drive, finding themselves at the nearby area just a little outside of Leide where they wanted to be.

Checking in had been a tad awkward when it’s five people covered in blue daemon goop also finely charred, but using Ignis’ expert negotiation skills (plus a bit of flirting from Gladio may have helped, but that was well after the fact even though the front desk person was thoroughly won over) helped everyone settle into their stay. The first order of business was getting themselves cleaned up after the messy job they’d just finished taking up. Whatever they needed to deal with could wait until early in the morning; hygiene and duty were in no way to be pitted against each other competitively.

“I’ll be seeing you four after I’m done,” Lightning told them, now wearing only a white towel around her body and a smaller one for her head. “You said we’re all meeting together in the sauna, right?”

“That would be correct,” Ignis answered, confirming what was agreed on before. “Do take as much time as you need getting yourself properly washed up, Lightning. It is the reason we all came here.”

“Kind of a shame the five of us can’t bathe and get to know you more, but it’s probably for the best,” Prompto sighed, disappointed at having to wait to speak more with Lightning.

“After the day we’ve all had, the lady at least deserves her privacy,” Gladio pointed out, playfully slapping Prompto on the back and getting a yelp from the group’s youngest. “‘Sides, nothing wrong with being stuck with your good friend Gladio, huh?”

“Eeyup. Nothing beats that, Big Guy.” Prompto saw Noctis already make his way into the bathhouse with Ignis after having said nothing to their newest member, frowning at his slight aversion to her. “So, we’ll see you on the other side, Lightning! Don’t wait up now!”

“Just— ‘Light’ is fine,” Lightning insisted before Prompto left with Gladio, the blond’s pleased thumbs up telling her the words were heard. She gave an almost quizzical glance back, turning and leaving for the women’s bath seconds following.

Inside of the men’s half of the divided bathhouse, the four bare Lucians were much more relaxed now that they were able to wash themselves free of marks and gunk that built up from the relentless forces of combat. The heated temperatures of the soothing water all four of them sat in aided in making for a peaceful environment, even with Prompto snaking around in it like a hungry shark making dramatic music.

“Dude,” Noctis cut in, knowing fully well what his best friend intended to do. Again, did the so-called music continue followed by another pause. “Prompto.” It continued, this time increasing in speed and volume as the prince’s tone went ignored. “Dude, come on! It’s late, of all the times—!”

“DUN-UUUH!” Prompto interjected, half-leaping at Noctis laughing after he stopped making dramatic music. The Insomnian heir only seemed mildly vexed, but found himself chuckling alongside his friend while playfully shoving him off. “Element of surprise, Noct!”

“Not really much of a ‘surprise’ when you’re humming man-eating shark music.” A bit of water went puckishly slapped at Prompto by Noctis as revenge for jumping at him, the former trying to retaliate fruitlessly while the latter only shielded himself. “Come on, knock it off!”

“Need I remind you both that this is a public bathhouse and not a pool?” Ignis interrupted, not needing his laid down glasses to be able to tell the two youngest boys’ tomfoolery when he sensed it. “It’d be an utter shame to get ourselves kicked out before the night comes close to its end.”

“Lighten up, Specs, we’re getting clean,” Noctis reassured him, fixing the towel on his head after it astoundingly survived Prompto’s playful attack. “There’s no wrong way to bathe, is there?”

“You’d be quite surprised on that one, Noct. Especially considering what plenty of people have done in public bathhouses.”

“It’s just us four, so what could go wrong?” Prompto asked rhetorically, catching himself on the exact accuracy of the sentence. “Well, five, counting our newest addition. Speaking of which.” He leaned over to the wall, knowing the women’s bath was on the other side and hoping nobody else was there and caused him to greatly embarrass himself. “How are you doing on the other side, new girl?! Everything okay?”

“She can’t hear you, doofus; the dividing wall’s solid concrete,” Gladio told him, knocking on the hardened barrier. “And I’m sure Light’s fine. She’s just as tough as the rest of us.” He glanced once at Prompto and Noctis, cockily leaning his back against the tub rim with his arms behind his head. “Well, half of us, anyways.”

“Why, I never!” Prompto let out a scoff, slipping into an almost Cindy-like accent at the fake offense before resuming his normal tone. “All I wanna know is whether or not she’s, like… what’s the word? ‘Feeling it’! With us, that is.”

“Right now, I’m feeling a bit of a warm spot,” Ignis pointed out, noticing a sudden increase in temperature. “...Actually, make that a very warm spot.”

“Is someone messing with the pipes?” Noctis wondered, also detecting a change.

“Who knows? I like it!” Gladio boasted, leaning against the faucet shrugging. “Nothing says ‘nice bath’ like testing the hot water limits.”

“Yeah, for a lobster,” Prompto snorted, striding over to Noctis’ side thinking of something. “So, Noct! While we’re kinda still on the topic, what do you think?”

“Of?” Noctis questioned, rubbing away a smudge planted on his small bicep.

“Of Light! You know, as a girl~.” Prompto’s slightly suggestive tone and wiggling of damp yellow brows immediately let Noctis know what kind of question it was, the prince internally scoffing at the notion.

“She certainly is one, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No, no! You know what I mean! Gimme a real answer, dude. And be honest!”

“Persistent tonight, aren’t we, Prompto? Fine…” Noctis thought a little bit on the question, scrounging for whatever scarce responses he could tell his best friend. He didn’t feel anything in particular, but none of it was too negative to instill anything strong in that way either. “Well, Lightning… is an okay enough teammate and really shows her work. I can see why Cor picked her to come with us, but I don’t know what else you want me to say about her.”

“Maybe more on the fact of just how strong she is? How smart she is? The fact that she also looks like an absolute pink goddess?!” Now Prompto found himself getting a bit too carried away about what he knew of Lightning, snapping back enough to focus on the interrogation at hand. “Things like that!”

“Well, she’s strong and pretty smart when not mishandling a little magic flask. I’ll give her those at least, but she’s here to do her job until we reach Altissia, and that’s that.” Noctis could see the disappointed feeling in Prompto’s eyes, feeling a little bad but knowing there was nothing he could do to help it. “Sorry, dude, that’s all I really care to say about her. End of story.”

Prompto nudged Noctis with a bare elbow, prodding more into a fruitful possibility. “Then make room for the epilogue and give the lady a chance! For all you know, you and Light might have plenty in common if you got to know her some!”

“Why is it I seriously doubt that?”

“Because you’re not trying hard enough?”

“Yeah, well, right now I’m trying to have myself a nice bath. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll do just that tonight…” Noctis sank a little more into the water, the towel on his head sitting as idly as he was sighing.

Prompto shrugged, giving up on it for the time being since he’d only be putting himself in a time loop of vague indifference. “Alright, dude. You do you, and I’ll do me—” He tried sinking into the water like his best friend, only to shoot up in pain when he realized the water exceeded its comfort zone into nigh-boiling temperatures. “—Trying not to get cooked like a lobster! Is that you doing that, Big Guy?!”

“Could be,” Gladio snickered, blatantly turning the faucet to add more scalding water to the tub. “Can’t take the heat, get out of the bath. Just like the old saying goes.”

“Then my old saying goes ‘turn down the damn water before we get boiled alive taking a bath’!” Noctis butted in, joining Prompto in fighting for control over the faucet, made difficult by Gladio’s strength easily keeping them away despite their persistent struggle. “Come on! You’re making it way too hot!”

“What’s that? ‘Make it way too hot’? If you say so, Princess!” Knowing full well Noctis said the exact opposite, Gladio kept at cranking the heat up to the younger two’s discomfort.

Ignis for the most part endured the other three’s squabble with a grain of salt, only to opt for getting up and concluding his bath early when the water levels got too scalding even for him. Fixing his glasses over his eyes again, he mentally prayed to any Astral willing to comply that the bath would survive the night, nevermind his dear brothers-in-arms causing a scene. Contrary to what Gladio believed earlier, on the other side in the otherwise vacant women’s bath was Lightning, who’d barely finished cleaning her body when she found herself grimacing at the noise she could hear loud enough from her spot in the toasty water. Rolling her eyes, the physically 21-year old wrung out the dampness in her pink hair and rinsed off her body suds despite the commotion.

“Those guys are pretty damn rowdy, that’s for sure,” Lightning scoffed, sinking a little into the water trying to relax to her best ability. “Leave it to them to make even a bathhouse trip feeling long as Hell.”

Nobody thankfully got themselves banned from using the public bath in anymore possible future stays at the inn, but everyone agreed it was best to move onto the sauna as soon as possible. Unlike the bathhouse and showers, it was co-ed and enjoyable for all five of them altogether. Ignis had been waiting patiently for everyone else to finish so as to avoid overheating by himself in the room (how the other three boys were still willing to expose themselves to extra heat after Gladio nearly cooked them alive was honestly beyond him), but nonetheless was the first one in. Following him were the remaining three hailing from Lucis taking their seats in towels only, Lightning joining them last and taking a seat between Noctis and Prompto. The latter was more than eager on the matter, but the former only sighed apathetically.

“What? Does ‘His Highness’ have a problem with me sitting here?” Lightning asked in a scoff, giving Noctis her traditional flinty look.

“Nah,” Noctis responded without lying. “Do what you want; I’m no one to stop you.”

“Good to hear, because I have no plans on moving.”

“Cool. Just sit there and let us both sweat in peace.”

Prompto had to hand it to Noctis in some way. Though he knew the prince not to be the type to feel any physical concern towards the opposite sex too easily (unless it was a certain Tenebraen Oracle he’d been close to for a good decade), he for one felt his stomach doing leaps for gold just by sitting next to such a fine, almost ethereally beautiful young woman in only her towel. It was more out of basic nervousness than anything too extreme, but no one was leaving the sauna after only a few short seconds of sitting, so he was gonna make do while the time was ripe. Clearing his throat, he earned himself a raised eyebrow from Lightning, sheepishly picking up from it so as not to look like a weirdo to the new girl and make the moment good.

“So! Lightning— I mean, Light! You, uhh, feeling it?” was what came out of Prompto’s mouth, immediately regretting it by the skeptical look on the girl’s face.

“Excuse me?” Lightning interrogated.

“No, I didn’t mean anything dirty or whatever by it! What I do mean is… how are you feeling? Right now.”

“Warm and sweaty. How else am I supposed to feel in a sauna?”

“He’s asking whether or not you feel more incorporated among us all,” Ignis translated. “And since the question is at hand, how are you feeling so far on the mission with us, if I might also ask?”

“Oh. In that case, I can’t complain too much. There’s still a lot about this place I need to get used to, but that shouldn’t get in my way too much.” Lightning glanced at Noctis, who wasn’t so much as making eye contact with her, but not out of malice or spite. “I think the prince over here might still be more steamed about your weird flasks than he is in the sauna.”

“I’m over it,” Noctis corrected. “I just think you shouldn’t forget magic’s not a toy is all.”

“Believe me, I’ve used more than my share of spells, for your information. My question is how you can make some kind of bomb out of it that easy.”

“You can use the flask to draw out elemental veins whenever we make a pit stop,” Gladio explained. “Noct here gets what he needs from certain spots, and like that, we’ve got our magic for the time being.”

“Think of it as sorta like… magical apple-picking,” Prompto pointed out. “You can also put together different spells in the same flask to get something really cool!”

“At the same time?” Lightning inquired, getting nods from all except Noctis. “I’ve never heard of that until now. I’m more used to doing magic one at a time. ...And magic that doesn’t affect more than just the target.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Gladio wondered, unsure of what Lightning meant. “You get caught in a Fire spell gone wrong, you burn. Caught in a Blizzard spell, then you freeze your ass off. That’s common physics there, Sarge.”

“Where was it you said you were from, Lightning?” Ignis inquired, a tad suspicious. “You’ve said it wasn’t a place anywhere near here, but even the most faraway of areas are fully aware of proper magic use.”

“Somewhere you’re definitely not familiar with,” was the only answer Lightning had to give. “That’s all you need to know, so leave it there.”

“Oh, now, don’t be so shy, Light!” Prompto insisted. “We wanna get to know you better, so at least give us a little hint! How else are we gonna learn anything?”

“There’s only so much info you need for me to tell you all about. For now, just leave it at me not being from where any of you are and end it there—”

In the middle of speaking, Lightning felt a sudden weight fall upon her shoulder. Coming back down from her talk did she look and realized Noctis hadn’t just fallen asleep (no surprise there, and that was disregarding how cozy the sauna must have felt to him), but chosen the side of her body as the unfortunate cushion to sustain his exposed top half. Pale blue eyes rolled at the prince’s apparent narcolepsy, trying to shove him off of her to no avail. How in Etro’s name did he suddenly feel heavier when asleep? Or was she seriously underestimating the power of tired royalty that didn’t want to wake up too soon?

“Time and place!” Lightning groused, repeatedly batting her palm against Noctis’ face, getting no reaction from him. “Wake up, will you?” He only muttered in his sleep and slouched more against her unknowingly, Lightning shoving him upwards. “Noctis! That’s enough.”

Unfortunately for Lightning, Noctis only sat upright for a second or two before descending upon her lap and slumbering even harder, if possible. Groaning, she found herself unable to move as freely with the unwanted extra person using her as a human pillow for a poorly-timed nap. She only looked up at the sound of a few camera shutters going off, glaring at Prompto now having some brand new embarrassing photos to hold against his friend later. Gladio was equally amused and openly snickering; even Ignis seemed to be almost smirking behind the side of his fist covering the creased up corners of his mouth.

“I’m not finding this to be anything like a joke, so quit laughing,” Lightning scolded the other three. “How do you guys wake him up?”

“Rather bold of you to assume it’s easy for us to awaken Noct after he’s fallen asleep,” Ignis pointed out, the look on his face unchanged. “Not even the worst of tremors nevermind an alarm clock could get him up and ready to start the day early.”

“Or a huge thunderstorm,” Prompto added, recalling his time in high school with Noctis. “I asked him if he heard it when we got to school that day and he didn’t even have a clue it happened until after I brought it up!”

“Point being, he ain’t waking up anytime soon, so looks like you’re stuck with him like that until he actually does,” Gladio teased. “Besides, this is the closest I’ve seen you two together, gotta say.”

“Not on my watch, it’s not,” Lightning protested, standing up with her towel gripped in one hand while the other hefted Noctis over her shoulder like a giant flour sack. “I’m not sitting here acting like His Highness’ royal throw pillow instead of finishing up my hard-earned bath.”

“And how do you think you’re gonna somehow wake him up?”

“Easy. I’m hitting the showers early.”

Saying nothing else, Lightning carried Noctis out of the sauna room and headed towards where the individual showers were. The towel around his waist seemed halfway tempted into slipping from its host and revealing the indecency underneath, but it was ultimately kept more up by the more free of Lightning’s back wrists. Not caring for the moment that she was trespassing in the men’s shower room, she propped Noctis up so he leaned against the wall. He started to roll and slump to the side, but she caught him in time and readjusted him to her liking.

“There we go,” Lightning decided, brushing her hands off and turning to make her leave. “Simple and— CLEAN!” The victory proved short-lived when Noctis— still in a deep sleep— fell forward and pinned the woman chest-first to the ground. ‘You can’t be serious right now. How is he sleeping through this?!’

Lightning practically slammed Noctis against the shower wall, giving up on having him stand and letting him at least sit upright on the damp shower floor only prevented from touching the rear by the prince’s complementary towel. Close enough, she decided. Turning the shower head towards Noctis’ face and on came the water, spraying him directly in the area at the same time Lightning turned and left for her own shower.

“Hnn…? Morning already?” Noctis yawned, only a bit mildly disoriented when the shower’s rain made him come to. He wiped the water from his face, turning off the water after standing up and looking at where he was by himself. ‘Guess I’m some kind of sleepwalker because I have no idea how I just got here.’

“Oh, look, Sleeping Beauty’s finally awake,” he heard Gladio’s voice pipe in, Noctis turning and seeing his other three friends enter the shower for their cooldown session together. “Guess Light did the almost-impossible after all.”

“She wasn’t in here. Was she?”

“Did you think you simply waltzed right in here on your own?” Ignis inquired, taking Noctis’ soggy, damp towel and hanging it somewhere to dry enough rather than have it interfere with a proper shower. “A lot of things you could be, but a somnambulist isn’t one of them, I’m afraid.”

“But, what you are is an affectionate sleeper, apparently,” Prompto teased, waggling his camera full of promising new snapshots. “Wanna see? You looked cute as a kitten all curled up on Light’s lap!”

“The Hell are you talking about…?” Noctis breathed, not understanding at all what was going on.

“Why don’t you come over and see, mi compadre? Managed to get a few before you woke up.”

Noctis did as suggested and couldn’t believe his eyes. There he was in the photographs clear on Prompto’s beloved camera; sleeping, yes, but right on Lightning’s shoulder?! How in the Six did that happen? He would never! Consecutive pictures only made the prince’s cheeks burn redder, now being shown proof that he’d migrated his way to lying in her lap to her understandable chagrin. He glared at his snickering blond friend, figuring him to be the definite mastermind behind such humiliating snapshots.

“To think I was worried you’d never give Light a chance too!” Prompto laughed. “So happy I was wrong for once!”

“Not funny, Prompto,” Noctis growled, the embarrassed red not letting up even slightly. “You had to have set me up like that. I just know it!”

“Who, me? Couldn’t be! So, it wasn’t.”

“Then who if you say you didn’t? One of you two? Low blow, I gotta say.” Noctis pointed his accusatory finger at Gladio and Ignis, thinking them to be some degree of the culprit if not accomplices.

“More like you did it to yourself, Lover Boy,” Gladio broke it to him bluntly, still finding the situation amusing. “Next time, try not taking a nap in the sauna and this wouldn’t be a problem.”

“And it isn’t as though no efforts were made to awaken you. Light certainly tried, but you simply wouldn’t budge, as usual,” Ignis informed him, feeling a need to subtly tease Noctis on the matter without making it a bigger deal than it ought to be. The rather complacent look hidden in his eyes further said it all, as the flustered prince could tell by examining them. “At the very least, you did look awfully comfortable resting on her. Really a shame she didn’t agree with the notion.”

He’d long stopped looking at the photos that he severely doubted Prompto was going to get rid of anytime soon, but nothing could quell the mortification Noctis felt. Not so much at falling asleep in public; there were very few “wrong” places to nap, but in this case, on the new teammate certainly fit the qualifications for being less than ideal of a rest area. Turning off the shower and grabbing his dewy towel, Noctis excused himself out of the room, wondering if he’d stuck his head long enough in the bath that it’d drown out at least the moment’s shame.

The attempt went unsuccessful, many thanks to the immediate intervention of Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio all grabbing Noctis and pulling him back into the shower room until everyone was done. So much for that, the Lucian heir sighed in his thoughts. At that rate, the only thing to do was cool himself off under the refreshing streams of the shower and hope it’d be enough to wash away all he found burdensome from recent hours.

“So, how’s this gonna work?” Gladio asked later that night in the hotel room, everyone dressed more or less to sleep. “Two beds and five people doesn’t add up.”

“That means one of us has to rest on the sofa for tonight,” Ignis concluded, gesturing to the cushioned loveseat in the corner of the room near the window.

“I’ll do it,” Lightning volunteered without any hint of reluctance in her voice. “Sitting in a sauna with you guys is one thing; it’s another to sleep in the same bed with one of you.”

“Wait a second, Light!” Prompto objected, stopping the woman from setting up shop on the person-sized sofa. “I’m sure it’s not too shabby, but a bed would be a lot more comfy, don’t you think?”

“Trust me, I’ll live. I’ve dealt with worse than sleeping on a sofa. Besides, it’s only for tonight since we’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Still, a lady deserves a good night’s sleep on a nice mattress. Tell you what; you and I can switch places for the stay so you can get some shut-eye.”

“You don’t have to do that, Prompto. I’m sleeping on a sofa, not in a spiked coffin.”

“I know I don’t, but I insist! Though…” Prompto glanced at the bed he almost slept in, occupied by one other person. “Looks like you’re gonna have to bunk with Noct for tonight.”

“What?!” Noctis and Lightning snapped in unison, exchanging a glance when they realized they’d spoken at the same time before turning away just as quickly.

“There is no way I’m bunking with him,” Lightning argued, moving Prompto aside to put her things on the sofa. “You’re free to, but I’ve had enough of being used as His Highness’ headrest.”

“Aww, Lightning, it won’t be so bad!” Prompto insisted, still preventing her from moving onto the cushions. “You already know he sleeps like a rock, so it’s almost like you’ve got an entire bed to yourself. Or, more like half the bed since there’s still someone else sleeping in it.”

“Just do whatever you want. I just wanna get some sleep,” Noctis yawned at Lightning, already turning over and getting cozy under the sheets. “Your choice, Farron.”

Sneering at Noctis’ apathy, Lightning’s tired mind and body wound up giving into the plush mattress’ rampant seduction. She went over and dropped her stuff and herself on the side of the bed closest to the door, pulling her share of the covers forward for warmth. Prompto seemed pleased at her choice, making himself as comfy as he could on the hotel sofa and adjusting properly to rest well for the next day.

“I don’t want anymore sudden tricks after earlier, Prince,” Lightning warned Noctis, their backs still to each other but her arm reaching behind her to point to him sternly. “You stay on your side, and I’ll happily stay on mine.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Noctis responded indifferently, stirring a bit so he could get cozy on his half of the bed after the room lights went off. “Night, guys.”

Everyone exchanged their brief goodnight biddings and drifted asleep one by one. Lightning felt the covers slip off her body in her sleep, groaning irritably and reaching back so she could steal them again. In doing so, however, the blankets got caught in the middle courtesy of Noctis gripping them without the willingness to give up even a portion. Both bedmates snarled at a low volume, engaging in a sleepy tug-of-war for nighttime warmth until Lightning proved victorious and balled herself up in her prize.

Though just as tired, Noctis refused to lay idly by and freeze to death in his coveted sleep. Gripping a section of blankets, he yanked them forward to cover himself, Lightning rolling over and into his back in the process. She felt far too tired to fight anymore, going as far as reaching her arm over in a way she believed was grabbing the blanket rim to safeguard it from her opponent. Drifting off further into slumber’s embrace, Noctis and Lightning only shifted slightly and put themselves into positions they weren’t consciously aware of, finding just the right way for both of them to sleep the hours away until the day’s and everyone’s wake.

Incoherently heard the next morning were voices muffled by the prince and ex-soldier’s slumbers. Noctis being too far gone to so much as blink his eyes open, Lightning was the one to step closer to the land of the living. She wasn’t fully awake yet, but could pick up on the words being said around them by their teammates.

“Now isn’t that cute? They look so comfy together,” Gladio snorted, shaking and batting Noctis to resuscitate him for the day. “Rise and shine, Princess. Might wanna take a good look at yourself, by the way.”

“Five more minutes…” Noctis snored, hugging whatever was in his arms close to his chest.

“Let go of me…” Lightning yawned, reaching to rub her eyes when it hit her. “What the…?”

“I’ll be up soon, just gimme—” It hit Noctis too, realizing his embrace snatched a pair of forearms. For once, he snapped awake, looking down at what he was cuddling then turning around stunned as reality set in for him too.

As it turned out, not only did Noctis use Lightning’s arms as a makeshift teddy bear the entire night with her chin on one of his shoulders, but the pink-haired woman herself had said limbs hanging over and under his torso’s side and her right leg arched over his hips in a messy, almost-spooning position neither of them consciously put themselves in. They didn’t even look at each other for a full second before jumping away and scrambling out of the bed as if caught in a scandalous pose together. Both of their cheeks flushed with embarrassment, Lightning gathering her cleaned day clothes and running into the bathroom for privacy while Noctis opted for hurriedly dressing in one of the room corners.

“Why the sudden morning rush, Noct?” Gladio asked derisively, knowing full well what’d gotten the prince’s goat.

“Shut up, you know why,” Noctis growled, agitated while throwing the rest of his outfit on before fighting with his socks and boots.

“Hey, we didn’t say anything,” Prompto joked. “Just that you and Light looked even cozier together than in the sauna. And she fell asleep on you back, too!”

“I don’t wanna hear it. Let’s hit the road already.”

Lightning came out fully dressed and ready to leave, but in one swift motion without stopping did she grab her belongings and rush out the room to meet everyone at the Regalia outside. The boys all followed after, Noctis in no more of a hurry than his friends so he wouldn’t have to face Lightning after that (and that was pardoning his hopes of not sitting next to her in the car either). En route to the front desk for checkout, Noctis swore he saw Ignis secretly glance at him every now and again, the notion more or less confirmed when he spoke after it was mostly the two of them in earshot.

“There’s a chance last night’s incidents wouldn’t have seemed so awful if you’d warmed up a bit towards Lightning,” Ignis suggested. “I’m in no way forcing you into anything, but were you to give her more of a chance, I’d say you two could get along better. Perhaps you might even come to fancy her.”

“Me? Like her? Get real, Ignis,” Noctis scoffed, looking at Lightning in the short distance and believing the thought even less. “I’ll deal with having her as an extra teammate, but that’s where I’m drawing the line.”

“Very well then. A word of caution, though, Noct?”

“Sure, what?”

Ignis’ mouth turned up to a smirk, his matching tone solidifying for Noctis which side his advisor friend was on. “Do try not to sleep too much on the idea. I think you may have done plenty of that in recent hours.”

The minute he’d said that and went off to manage checking everyone out of the hotel like nothing had happened, Noctis in further chagrined disbelief realized what the absolute worst thing about betrayal was:

It never did come from your enemies.

#Final Fantasy XV #Final Fantasy XIII #FFXV AU #Slight Lightis; I suppose #FF Crossover #FF Versus XV #Listened to 'Last Surprise' while I wrote the first part; actually #Fun fact: Prommy's thunderstorm comment is based on something that happened to me in high school #Apparently there was a huge-ass thunderstorm one morning before school and I slept right through the whole thing #Didn't even know about it until my best friend asked me about it after we got off the bus #Art imitates life I guess 'XD #Made up the hotel they're at bc realistically no city (nvm /town/) has just two inns in the whole gd area #Tales From The LibrAiry

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road-kill-eater · 6 years

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thoughts on tlj:

-the portrayal of luke was very disappointing considering that i hold the OT very close to my heart, especially luke and leia. luke is, in those movies not just the hero but the embodiment of hope throughout the trilogy. he is not infallible, but the hope never dies. perhaps ppl would call that too one-dimensional, too simple, too naive and would say that having characters struggle between right and wrong is more realistic. star wars is unconcerned with realism & concerned with showing stories of optimism & hope, and also, characters can have those internal struggles & character arcs without considering the murder of their nephew. luke is the character who, through his undying optimism and downright idealism, inspired vader to do the right thing for once in his life. that luke the entirety of the OT spent creating would have, upon realizing his apprentice was being manipulated by a sith, immediately tried to bring back kylo to the light, and would have gone to fight snoke.

luke did not give up on vader and he certainly would have never given up on his padawan. characters change, yes, but they do not change into their very antithesis without reason & it does not happen spontaneously. the killing of apprentices/young ppl in particular is something that, in the SW canon is closely connected to sith and especially to vader (cut to him trying to kill ahsoka in rebels). even the prequels knew that they actually had to commit time to showing anakins fall that lead him to such lows. the entire arc of luke being disillusioned with the jedi & with his own apparent failure could easily have been done without subverting the moral core of the character. i feel so fucking bad for mark hamill

-as many ppl have pointed out already, finns character arc could have been handled so much better. the first movie introduced him as a main character, the second demoted him to a side character & stripped him of his agency and while the character makes his own decisions over and over, every single other character denies his ability to do so. the anarchistic rebellion of the OT where characters like han solo are free to come and go as they please, is traded in for a militaristic cult so oppressive that it forces finn to help rey & the ‘resistance’ itself in complete secrecy for fear that it might tazer him. it cannot be forgotten that finn is a character stolen from his home as a child & forced to fight as a soldier with no body autonomy and constant threat of death should he act as an individual. his story should only ever be about him taking back his individuality and autonomy rather than being forced to trade one oppressive system for a less awful but still oppressive system. as we saw in the force awakens, finn can fight against the first order effectively on his own terms.

thats not even mentioning the slap that he got from hux. in the OT such personal violence is reserved for the most dire & emotional situations and it is not done without good reason (most violence is done through lasers or force magic which is far less real and personal). there is no reason to introduce this trope into star wars just to hurt the characters of color

-this leads into poe who is also slapped, and also stripped of his agency throughout the movie, and toyed around with by the leaders of the resistance (the purple haired lady) as they choose to omit details of their plan, seemingly just to torment him. everything that poe does is portrayed by the movie to end in failure, his own decisions are not valuable and are only a hindrance to the plan of the resistance leaders who should be given absolute faith despite all the evidence to the contrary. this movie quite literally tells us that poes individuality and creativity are not valuable. in the empire strikes back during the battle of hoth, both luke (tying the legs of the AT-AT) and han (disobeying the people in the rebellion telling him not to go out in a storm to look for luke) not only demonstrate their individuality and creativity but are shown to be successful but that these traits are in fact valuable to the rebellion itself.

-i dont want to fucking talk about kylo ren. the movie gave him too much attention as it is

-leia survives the vacuum of space (which, even in star wars canon is shown to be deadly) and flies herself back to the ship with the force. in a new hope one of the first things leia did apart from insult fascists is grab a blaster and shoot stormtroopers. and this movie not only confirms force sensitive leia but doesnt have her kicking ass the whole time?? instead it has her as the lead of said militaristic cult and has her slap poe. great!

-i do like rey, though i wish we’d been able to see her talk to another woman in the story maybe once instead of being stuck on depression island & being treated horribly by luke & manipulated by kylo. she also chose to try and redeem kylo before saving her friends who were in immediate danger so :/// (maybe if she used the force she could have realized they needed her so desperately. but uh, deus ex machina ‘rey and kylo have a connection through the force’ makes way more sense right)

- snoke was like a completely different character it was hilarious. i like that the palpatine clone unapologetically died without any explanation for his existence other than to be used as an excuse for kylos cruelty. the guards in all red were pretty cool though

-no hot cyborgs in the new trilogy STILL. star wars is built upon hot cyborgs. bye! im going to rewatch clone wars

#star wars #tlj spoilers

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kalachand97-blog · 7 years

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This week's highs and lows in Computer gaming

Bayonetta was given a marvel release on Pc this week and not only is the port pleasant great (it’s Durante permitted!), it’s one of the excellent games I’ve performed this yr. Phil included all of it in his evaluation, but I’ll recap right here: The fight gadget is expressive and animated fantastically, the story is a dopey melodramatic comedy that relentlessly pokes amusing at video game tropes, and for the whole thing of its playtime, Bayonetta miraculously keeps to escalate. It’s tough to agree with this game released in 2009. And what’s up, it’s simplest $20, which is about one-third of what I’d gladly pay for it these days.

Tom Senior: Headstart

The begin of the 12 months was once a real drought. Some video games may slip from their planned Autumn launch date and fall into the wastelands of February. This year is specific. Take a look at out our video games of 2017 spherical up and you see exceptional Jap hack ‘n minimize RPG Nier: Automata; the first-rate adventure sport we’ve performed in a while, Thimbleweed Park; and some engrossing space 4X in Stellaris. Plus, even though it took its sweet time, Bayonetta is finally out on Pc.

I am hoping this early rush of best is a sign of things to come back. Because of the major meetings—E3, Gamescom—maintain to seem less worthwhile to publishers, we might see the enterprise’s traditional cycles—pre-E3 tease, E3 announce, fingers-on Sept, release Oct—begin to fragment. Outside of Computer land, the Legend of Zelda, Character five, Night and Horizon Zero Sunrise have proven that—gasp—human beings like buying and gambling cool games all 12 months round. here’s hoping for extra splendid video games in early 2018.

I am pretty happy that we show up to live within the size that gets a couple of Rick and Morty video games within the identical month. Properly, one turned into a Grand Theft Car five mod, but the idea of mad scientist Rick invading Los Santos seems extra than suitable, given the amount of destruction and careless mayhem Rick brings to Earth in the course of the display. I mainly just like the component in this video showcasing the mod in which GTA’s strippers are model-swapped for Rick. It is nearly canon.

Virtual Rick-quality, then again, looks like a fair greater ridiculous Process Simulator paired with a few original voice work from Justin Roiland and with any luck A few others, which is greater than sufficient to get me to strap on a VR headset again.

Chris Livingston: area Evaders

Missile Cards is a unmarried-player turn-based card sport, in that you need to guard your space base against falling threats like comets and bombs (as in Missile Command). Playing cards cycle through an airlock, one by one, and you positioned them into play as protection (missiles, weapons, lasers, and diverse strength-ups) while threats inch closer and toward your susceptible base. I have been playing it here and there: a hand most effective takes a couple of minutes, so It is super to squeeze in at some stage in a wreck or a short meal. Its unfashionable look and soundtrack give it a pleasant feel, and its low device requirements make it ideal for a pc as Well. It’s difficult—I experience like I rarely virtually win a spherical—however fun, and It’s just a few bucks on Steam. Take a look at it out.

This week was Eastern Pc Gaming Week right here on Laptop Gamer, and our very personal Wes Fenlon prepares an absolute whirlwind of cool capabilities. Durante did a fantastic port analysis of Bayonetta, I got an excuse to put in writing extra about Valkyria Chronicles, and Chris played a peculiar jigsaw puzzle sport with animated women. but my favorite piece became a look at the Laptop’s recent upward thrust in Japan, which was eye-establishing to mention the least. It is easy to write off the reasons for Japan’s disinterest inside the Laptop, but Wes had a few surprising insights (like having to pay for Steam video games at a 7-11) that I absolutely by no means might have taken into consideration. I fantastically recommend you examine what he has to say.

Tuan Nguyen: Subspace: Continuum

Sometimes returned inside the yr 2002 even as visiting a chum’s house, I used to be shown a game known as Subspace. It turned into this lovable top-down space shooter recreation in which you helmed a tiny little ship and went on a rampage on what appeared like an endless map. Lots of humans had been gambling it, and I found it to be an exceptional mix between Asteroids and AOL Immediately Messenger—you could recall it one of the earliest MMOs.

I’d forgotten approximately the sport after that, but during the years stored thinking back to the laugh I had at the same time as playing it. Regrettably, I forgot what that game became referred to as. I saved asking my Computer gaming buddies in the event that they’ve ever played this ‘extraordinary space shooter game that became top down and had walls in space.’ No person became capable of identify what I used to be regarding, till these days. Seemingly, it’s referred to as Subspace: Continuum now and is available on Steam. What a first-rate throwback to my teens.

Desirable and Bad in Gaming Gaming is one in every of the biggest hobbies or even careers inside the global. people play video games for a laugh or mastering whilst others document movies about the video games. In this newsletter, I’m able to recognition more on gaming itself and no longer so much the facet of how to make gaming motion pictures. Game enthusiasts are available all different a long time, genders, religions, locations and shapes. The backgrounds of individuals who are Game enthusiasts make gaming that much more a laugh.

Backgrounds of Game enthusiasts can play a component in the form of games that humans play. There are all styles of combos for one-of-a-kind categories relating to the sort of games and sort of Gamers. You really want to look at the game’s internet site to get all of the pertinent data previous to shopping for.

There are numerous online platforms wherein you could purchase video games from including Steam or Humble Bundle. Those web sites will give you the description, videos via the employer, photos, consumer and non-consumer tags, critiques, website, enterprise and their social account(s). Be aware the sport’s website might not show you the whole thing you need to realize. As a minimum, a gaming company will display a quick income pitch description, a small amount of photographs (5 at pleasant), one or two videos by means of them and their social accounts. The maximum they may provide is an informative description, their social debts, consumer opinions and motion pictures with the aid of them.

Allow’s dive properly into what is perceived as negative about gaming. The general public of the bad things approximately games come from the actual-lifestyles people on Those games, the kind of video games and the varieties of games for the wrong character. A recreation can be poorly made but It’s no longer always the case in which the game itself is Horrific. It may be wherein it become the wrong kind of recreation for the incorrect character. That is wherein the types are available in. Maybe a sport has a bit of violence. That doesn’t make it Bad; it simply makes it the wrong sort of sport for a seven 12 months antique. Or Maybe you obtain a puzzle game for a person who loves motion kind games. So the movement loving character may not experience it, however, That does not make the puzzle sport Horrific!

The forms of games are endless from nudity, pills, and alcohol, horror, playing with cash and greater. Those different sorts are incorrect for adolescents Game enthusiasts in addition to incorrect for those who don’t like seeing such things.

Gaming has True and Horrific facets much like everything else. The key is how Good and Awful are Those facets. As an example, a few video games have a Horrific side with gamers that like to combat a lot. This is common in video games. Apprehend for a whole lot of Game enthusiasts this isn’t a big deal; but, for youngsters who are new to the sport or even gaming in wellknown, this could be frustrating. There are times when you need to avoid the Awful aspects altogether. There are instances when the best outweighs the Awful. If this takes place and there aren’t any issues with the game itself; then the Horrific side is just that one little fly in your room which isn’t any huge deal. Caution: If the Bad outweighs the coolest, I would strongly suggest keeping off that recreation.

Some other component that human beings will nag a sports developer or creator approximately is representation. Ought to I say, a loss of representation which isn’t always confined to race, body kind and message in the sport. If you are able to personalize your individual, then of the path you may no longer have a problem with representation. There may be a trouble in some video games where they don’t constitute robust and clever ladies, minority women and adult males, big, small, tall, and short women and adult males. Observe how I failed to placed “adult males” after a woman for sturdy? It’s due to the fact males in video games are continually represented as robust and smart.

In games that display a male robust and smart, he will primarily probable be white, tall, skinny, film famous person searching and buff. you will hardly ever see him be a minority, quick, overweight, now not buff, nerdy searching, at the same time as nonetheless being strong and clever. You notice this even much less for females. some women in video games also are white, tall, skinny and sturdy whilst displaying skin like no day after today. You best see Those women in MMO games (Massively Multiplayer online Position gambling recreation) though. RPG video games are supposed for delusion worlds where you broadly speaking fight humans and monsters. Of direction the women’ stats will be sturdy but they won’t appearance robust.

In maximum video games, after they upload a man or woman for you to play they always add a white male first, then a white lady, then a black male, and then a black woman. They don’t even truely upload people who are mixes of races or in among. In terms of the black characters they simplest add one colour of “black” or “African-American” and no longer every black person on this planet is that coloration.

In video games, The general public of the characters is usually thin and tall. You do not absolutely see characters which can be short and thin, tall and overweight, short and chubby, and so forth. There are a variety of folks that aren’t thin and who are not tall.

Then finally, There is the mental message that is going with the gender, race, and frame type. What do I imply by means of the mental message? a few games send an oblique message approximately that man or woman being strong and smart or something else. whilst for different games it could be a intellectual message either on motive or not. As an example, in the sport you play and also you see a minority woman who is brief, overweight, nerdy looking and her traits are to be a goof ball, naive, and dumb. It is able to ship a mental message to you that humans that look like her are similar to her. They are not smart, they are not skinny, and are not tall. They did poorly in college, and so forth. and so on. So that you begin thinking The ones things based on not only seeing this in that recreation over and over again, but whilst it happens in other video games too.

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