#but this is probably why i cant figure out how to effectively fight bosses | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doodleodds · 3 years

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I really, really, REALLY love your train!palace AU.

I was just curious if you have any other HCs for potential palaces — for either Akechi or Akira.

You don’t have to do any drawings or anything, I just loved reading about all your little details for the train AU and I’m starving for more haha

Ah thank you! I’m really glad you liked it!!! ^u^ I don’t really have any other hcs that i’m planning to draw (as of right now anyway B) ), but I did have an Akira palace concept a while ago that I’ll talk about below the cut if you’re interested! :)

(its kind of long cause once I started typing I just started rambling, so be warned)

Thanks for the ‘you dont have to draw anything’ by the way, lol xD There’s 1 drawing cause I couldn’t help myself though ;P

So, I dont know if it’ll be what you were hoping for, but a while ago i was thinking about an Akira palace about feeling overwhelmed that’s maybe called “Balancing Act” (i was thinking about calling it like. ‘tilting tower’ or something cause I think ‘tilting tower toppled’ would be a funny achievement to get once you beat it, but that just sounds too much like the fortnite thing and i cant handle that lmao), which the thieves (sans akechi- this will be explained later) probably realize exists somewhere around the end of sae’s palace.

Since the palace isn’t really akira’s distortion of a place so much as it is his distortion of what’s expected of him, his keywords could probably be something like “everyone’s happiness” and “his responsibility”? And I guess the location could just be leblanc since that’s where he lives?? I haven’t really. thought this part out too heavily lol ^^; feel free to interpret it as you��d like.

It’s probably been done before, but the whole thing is based around the idea of akira's shadow manifesting as atlas, but instead of holding up the weight of the sky, he’s holding the growing weight of people’s expectations. So, the palace itself is....you guessed it.....a tilting building! wow! It’s only not completely falling over because akira’s holding it up from the foundation, since it’s full of people he’s afraid to let down :)

sort of like that. it doesn’t have to be an apartment building, obviously. In all honesty what’s in my head is just like. a giant white cube. cause i really don’t know what “feeling responsible for other people’s continued happiness” would manifest as aside from something that could maybe hold cognitions of said people, so please accept the apartment building for now lmao (again feel free to interpret as you like)! And his outfit is definitely subject to change, i just stuck him in the first thing that came to mind xD

“BUT SOPHIA,” i hear you asking, “IF AKIRA’S RIGHT THERE, CAN’T THE PT JUST FIGHT HIM AND TAKE HIS TREASURE REALLY QUICKLY?” NO, you fool!! He’s holding up the weight of the world! does it LOOK like he’s got time to fight, let alone know where the hell his treasure is?? It being Akira’s palace, of course he cuts a deal with them- find his treasure and they can just keep it since it’ll be a weight off his mind (literally), in exchange for someone bearing the building for just a few minutes so he can have a break before they actually leave with the treasure. The thieves agree to this and eventually head into the building he’s holding up (i thought the thieves stealing his treasure literally adding weight to his mind/being another burden he has to shoulder was a funny concept here), and begin searching.

pretty much at this point I just figured the goal would be scaling the building, since the treasure is most likely at the top? (cause i mean honestly speaking if it’s not with akira, where else would it be. just finding it sitting in the middle of the fifth floor seems anti-climactic). As they ascend, they realize everything is in perfect equilibrium, perfectly balanced on both sides of the building so it helps it not topple. E.g., on one floor one side of the hall has a ryuji cognition while the other has an ann cognition, or something to that effect.

Earlier I mentioned the thieves sans akechi finding out about this palace late into the infiltration of sae’s because if the thieves were to discover akira had a palace, i doubt they’d tell akechi when they know he’s going to betray them and wouldn’t want him to purposefully muck up their infiltration. I also thought it would be interesting to see an akechi cognition in the palace, and maybe have it purposefully doing something to throw akira off balance (a consequence of him knowing about the assassination plot, explaining why it would be late in sae’s palace)? my initial thought was literally something like ‘the thieves walk into a room just in time to see the akechi cognition step off the edge of the balcony and un-balance the building, causing the gimmick of the palace to become having to leave a party member behind to keep it balanced every time something throws it off-balance on their way to reach the top’ or something. but idk! that seems a little extreme and i didn’t really put any thought into how they’d get back down afterward, so. just consider there being a trouble-maker akechi cognition, lol. ^^;

anyway! they reach the top eventually, the treasure’s there. hooray! they head back down to send the calling card. I genuinely don’t know whether akira knows about his palace or not in this au or whether he even wants the pt to steal his heart, but. He gets a calling card none-the-less, since whatever is causing his distortion is harmful to him and his friends want to help him. And I don’t feel like exploring the potential consequences of it being his choice or not rn >o>

So the pt go back in to steal the treasure! And it goes really easily. in and out! but before they can leave, Akira’s shadow asks them to uphold their part of the deal- someone take the weight of the palace for him for a minute so he can know what it’s like to exist without the weight of that on his shoulders for a minute before he disappears. Now...if you know anything about atlas’ encounter with heracles, you know that he tries to trick him into holding up the sky indefinitely. WELL! guess what happens when one of the pt takes up his mantle under the building. Akira’s like “oh gee, thank you! you’re a great friend.” and then yoinks his treasure from the others and tells them they’re going to have to try to take it from him. he’s got people relying on him, and he needs this in order to keep them happy!!

the supposed gimmick of the palace continues, in that the PT are always one party member down during the boss fight (maybe you can switch out whose holding it? i don’t see why you couldn’t, so long as someone always is).

This is where my planning on the palace kind of ends, because I’m not sure what akira’s shadow turns into during the bossfight. Back when i first got into p5 vanilla, i didn’t have a whole palace au but i had a kinda melancholy akira shadow encounter thought out, where when his friends ask why he hasn’t transformed into a monster during his boss fight he says something like “i’ve got a palace. i’m already a monster, aren’t I?” or something to that effect. so, that’s an option, but it sort of doesn’t fit the vibe so... idk! again feel free to interpret it as you will lmao.

When they do defeat him and get his treasure back, he tells them to get out of the palace before it collapses and takes the (now probably crumbling) building from whoever’s currently holding it. The thieves feel bad leaving him there, and he tries to convince them that he’s heading back to his real self in a few moments so they shouldn’t worry, but they all band together for a hot minute and help him hold up the palace even as it collapses, and it’s like. a show of solidarity? Like a “you can call on us if you need help” kinda thing? and they’re with him till he disappears and they escape.

Not sure what happens when they get back to the real world or what akira’s treasure turns out to be (i’ve seen other aus where its his probation notebook so. maybe that?), but thats it!

...yep. i’m not as attached to it as the train one (cause its not got goro in it lmao), but! that’s what i got. :>

thanks for asking though, anon! I hope that was what you were looking for!

#i'm glad you liked the train palace au though!! ^u^#and thanks for asking- i wouldn't have done anything about this one if you hadn't asked #p5

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722alycat · 3 years

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pt i pt ii pt iii pt iv

Masterlist

an: sorry for the wait, i rewrote this like 6 times

Summary: Levi takes a job without you, and well, if that’s how it’s gonna be, you’ll show him you can do just fine on your own.

You’ve been alone for a year.

Kenny never really bothered to come back to say goodbye, and Levi tells you the last time he saw your surly guardian was for a moment. He was a face in the crowd, surveying the gutted body of Vic, the beaten and stabbed corpse of the tall boy whos name you never caught.

You and Levi did what you could do. You returned to your home built through ill gotten gains, your sanctuary constructed from trust and growing up side by side. You improved it, at the will of Levi the Dictator, who constantly bullied you to fix this, and clean that, and for the love of god dust that shelf.

Days turned into months, turned into years, and eventually you stopped waiting for Kenny and started scrambling for higher ground, for better weapons and thicker clothes. You bullied your way through marketplaces by day, and raided them by night. Things never got the chance to get harried; not since Levi's first kill. Now he led you, sneaking through shadows and striking through smog, always knowing just what to do.

You had laughed, frantic and aching and triumphant when you realized that the Ackerman Instinct Kenny had so fondly spoke of wasn't another lie. You watched as Levi danced around opponents, slipped behind enemy lines. He massacred men twice his age and skill level. He was invaluable even if you had only ever wanted him to be safe happy warm.

Naturally, this behavior would begin to attract attention.

Attention finds you in the form of a tall blonde man, looking as young and fierce as you and Levi tend to. His teeth are bared in a semblance of a grin as his eyes track you through the marketplace. You catch him watching you and Levi as you wander, wrist in hand, through the crowded market.

You twitch, once, and sidle in closer to Levi. He doesn’t stiffen, but you can feel his muscles bunch beneath his coat as you lean into his arm. You swipe a nail across his palm. His eyes flick lazily in the direction of your signal, and he finds the blonde boy in record time. Levi hums, tugging you closer and draping a lazy arm around your shoulder. It's more territorial and threatening than romantic like you hope dream want believe some may view it. You know his eyes will be too cold and too dark to whisper of love, know all you'll find in that gaze is a cool possession you know the people in the underground get love mixed up with possession sometimes and you remind yourself again and again you wont make the same mistakes. The knowledge strikes you again, of your circumstance: he is yours, and you are his, even if its not quite the way you're starting to want. He tucks his head into your neck to whisper in your ear. A young guard blushes crimson and shyly and looks away from you both. You blush too, and sternly remind yourself he’s just pretending to be in love with you.

Still, not much is romantic about what your pseudo-lover is saying.

"You have that knife I got you, right?"

The hand you have resting on his hip taps once, and you feel his smirk against your neck, and god are those his teeth? You shiver, feeling goosebumps crawl up your back as your heart bursts to life behind your rib cage. Surely he knows the effect he has on you. He has to. Levi doesn’t bother asking if your knife is sharpened and ready. He knows. He takes it from you nightly, looking over the blade, sharpening it if you had recently used it. You protested at first, telling him you could do it yourself, and he needn't trouble himself, but the look of annoyance and fond exasperation he had sent you left you winded and compliant, even as he called you stupid for suggesting he would ever go to any trouble for you.

Never mind that he always did go to trouble for you. Never mind that he always pushed himself between you and an aggressor, always took the larger opponents and left you to mop up the stragglers; that he would corner you after every fight, steady hands checking you over carefully. You hadn't known that the Ackerman instinct could leave him so gentle, so human, even as it changed him into something other; Not until you had felt his hands softly brushing over your cheeks, your arms, your stomach, searching for any sign you might have been close to being taken from him.

You were forced back to the present as he curled closer to you.

"Is he still looking?"

You giggled, leaning into Levi more. You shyly ducked your head, eyes searching until-

You tapped twice, and he nodded, separating himself from you just as easily as he had latched on. You tried not to feel bereft at the absence, but losing his warmth left you inexplicably chilled. Your arm fell to your side, feeling heavier than before. Your fingers tapped out against nothing. You felt wrong, jittery, like when your knife wasn't in its sheath against your hip.

You didn't know when you began this game of faking intimacy with Levi. The people in the underground who cared enough to form an opinion figured you were an item, practically sewn together at the hip for how little you were apart. Those who didn't put too much thought into it figured you were a hired lady who was very good at her job. Either way, you reasoned sensibly, it made them think you were a bystander, prey, a victim ready to be made. They didn't see you as the loaded gun you were, the livewire life had made you into. It worked to your advantage plenty of times, and so you supposed that's why Levi kept doing it. Why else would he keep you so close?

But rationality didn't reason away the skip and jump in your pulse when he pulled you close, the longing in your chest when he hugged you tightly to get a view on what was behind you. It didn't remove the way your mind ran in circles, caught between wishing it was all real and knowing it was just-

Just Levi. Levi the Survivor. Levi the Strategist. The boy who knew just what he had to do to survive. He reminded you so much of Miss Kuchel. Your heart ached at the thought of her. Of how proud she would be of her son.

You chased away the cold of his absence with the thought. He'll never be alone, you had promised her solemnly. The vow had become a prayer, had become a touchstone, a whisper to Miss Kuchels ghost and your weary soul. Never alone, never again.

Levi led you cautiously out of the market, constantly looking over his shoulder for that mop of blonde in case he was tailing you. You trailed along behind him, happy to linger in the silence of the walk home beside him. For once, Levi seemed the one eager to talk.

He called your name, slowing his pace so you could walk side by side. "I've gotten a job offer, from a local boss. Wants me to help him defend a merchant on their way through the underground... It pays."

You considered his words, slowly. "And?" You asked, feeling unbalanced and unsure of how to continue. Something felt wrong, felt off.

"I'd be gone, probably for a week."

You were confused, now. "Well... I would be coming with you, of course."

He pursed his lips, narrowed eyes checking behind you once more. "No, not on this one. His group... They don't work well with women."

You scoffed, feeling tense and confused by his rejection. "Neither does any other bastard here. Why should that stop us?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, reopened it once more. He was unsure, for the first time, of what to tell you.

"I don't think you should come along." He finally decided on, and you puffed up like a kicked cat.

"The hell do you mean? Levi, we're supposed to stick together," you hissed, "protect each other."

He shook his head sharply, becoming aggravated, and you became jittery. "I need to start taking real jobs, then we can stop stealing shit like we're still kids."

You were angry. He was leaving you behind. He was ignoring your history of saving each other and leaving you in the dust because some crime ring out there had decided he was the one they wanted, and you were a woman so you were only good for lying on your back. You shook your head in disbelief. "So what? We split up because some asshole cant see past my tits? You wanna work for someone like that? You know I'm more than capable!"

He gripped your shoulders, looking you dead in your eyes. "This group is little better than rabid dogs. I don't want you near that filth. Not until I have them trained."

You looked at him, pained and wary and more guarded against him than you'd been since you were six years old. But still, you knew this was a losing battle. He would leave you, regardless of your reaction, and take this job. Levi never gave an inch, but he always took a mile. And this was the part of him you would hate, if you had it in you to hate anything about him. The fragment of him that treated you like his ward, like he couldn’t trust you to tie your own shoe, let alone keep him from being stabbed in the back by some gutter rat.

Fine, you decided. If he was gone.. You'd show him you could care for yourself, without him. You shouldered past him, pushing away your mounting anxiety at being separated from him for a week.

You sighed, sharp and frustrated with the hand the day had dealt you, and finally bit out a "fine, but you had better come back to me".

He looked relieved at your surrender and ruffled your hair. "I will, brat."

You growled, smacking his hand away. "I might as well not turn it into a fight. God knows how either of us would feel if... If something happened while we weren't together."

Levi grimaced, "Stop worrying." He ordered, words clipped as he began to herd you back to your house. He reached for you again, oddly enough, but you skittered away. You couldn’t let him think this was something that didn’t bother you, didn’t hurt you.

You remained tense as you laid in bed that night. You would force your muscles to relax, shoulders to unhunch, teeth to cease their grinding, and then moments later find yourself doing it all again.

You felt like you were being left behind. Outgrown. And what stung the most is that even before Levi became a one man firing squad, you would've never dreamt of telling him you didn't want him on a job. He belonged by your side, you thought.

You gazed at his sleeping features, long since racked out and peaceful in sleep. You felt a flutter in your chest.

He clearly didn't feel the same.

Levi left in the middle of the night half a week later. You vaguely remembered his form hovering over you in your sleep, pulling you close and tight against his chest and pressing his lips to your forehead. You had figured it was just another wistful dream and went back to sleep.

When you awoke and he was gone, you fought the urge to either break something or blush ten shades of red. That little fucker hadn't told you when he was leaving. You weren't ready. He knew you weren’t ready. Probably thought you would try to follow him.

You languished in your bed the first day, huddled in blankets and feeling pitiful. The second day, hunger and frustration forced you out, and you neatly robbed a vendor of bread and some thick broth. You stole another a few minutes later to drop to the dirty street urchin you noticed huddled in an alley way.

You toyed with the idea of asking around about Kenny, for old times sake, but decided against it. Either he was dead, or he wanted to leave. Either way, there wasn't anything for you to do about it. So, with a full stomach and more melancholy, you headed home.

You toyed with your knife, you tested the weight of it as if you hadn't learned it's center the night Levi had given it to you. You threw it cleanly and precisely into the wall. You withdrew it, and repeated the action, again and again.

Kenny would be proud, really. You hadn't practiced one of those pretty tricks you used to be so proud of since you and Levi had killed those boys.

The knife struck the wall again with a satisfying thud. Then the voice came.

"Impressive."

For half a moment, you thought it was Kenny, peering at you from the rickety second floor overhand, watching you train. But Kenny had taught you not to believe in any miracle that wasn't Ackerman blood, and you lunged for the hilt of the knife sticking from the wall.

A gun racked behind you.

"Please don't."

Your fingers froze, clutching the blade so tight the skin on your finger tips broke on the edge. You took a deep, rattling breath. Okay.

You really hoped he didn't want to shoot you.

You released the knife, turning. Your hands were held out in submission. You blinked, looking at the tall blonde before you in surprise.

"You're that motherfucker from the other day!" You snarled, "how long have you been waiting? What do you want from us?"

He grinned at your descriptor of him. "I don't see an us here."

You bore your teeth now, furious, "so you waited until he left? For what? You gonna try to sell me?"

He laughed, then, shaking his head, gun wobbling.

“Nah. I don’t trade in little girls. But I do have an offer for you. If you’re interested?”

You considered your position, and figured that you would be damn lucky if he didn’t kill you and leave your body there to decompose until Levi finally made it back. Fuck, Levi.

“I don’t negotiate well under pressure.” you finally said, nodding at the gun he had loosely grasped in his hands. He chuckled, and lowered the weapon.

“I think I can work with that.”

Half an hour and two cups of weak tea later, you felt like you could trust Furlan. He was chatty, and friendly in his own point-a-gun-at-you way. You hadn’t talked this much in a while with anyone besides Levi. It was odd, but not unwelcome you supposed.

“So, there’s a cargo transport through the underground, and you have no idea what’s in it, but you think its worth stealing? And you want to recruit Levi and I?” you recapped.

He grunted, shaking his head, and set his tea down with a clank. “No, not Levi. We’d have to leave tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest to cut it off. We don’t have time to wait.”

“Levi and I are a team.” you told him sternly, and Furlan raised an eyebrow at you. You fought the urge to throw your cup at his stupid smug face.

He stayed silent for a moment (probably sensing your bloodlust), deliberating the cost of his next words, rolling them in his mouth, before deciding to speak. “If you’re a team, why are you here alone?”

The statement hit its mark, and you flinched. “I... he just didn’t think I was right for the job.”

“Well, I don’t think he’s right for this one. I can’t wait for him either. So, are you in or not? You can’t spend your life waiting for him to think you’re the right one.” these words, too, hit home.

You thought, for a moment, about how you never wanted to be without Levi. Thought of how he left you behind, how he clearly didn’t mind you being left alone. You considered what would have happened, had Furlan been a trafficker, or just wanted you dead.

Levi had left you, was outgrowing you. For once never alone didn’t calm you. It felt like an empty promise. Levi wouldn’t be alone. He would always have someone who wanted him now. You, however... you needed security. Before he decided carrying you wasn’t worth the weight. Furlan was tall and strong and he was offering you a chance, ignoring your gender and age.

You thrust your hand across the table.

“I want whatever cut it is that you give yourself,” you demanded, “I won’t be paid like a rookie. I know I’m worth more.”

Furlan grinned, slapping his hand into yours and shaking it. His teeth were sharper in the light, even if his smile was warmer, more pleased.

“y/n, you and I have a deal.”

“Christ, Furlan, you didn’t say we’d be travelling for three days,” Ponye, a tall brunet boy griped. Furlan shrugged, sipping from his mug of warm tea.

Amaretto, or Ma, a portly sharpshooter, shoved Ponye, nearly knocking him over. “Quit gripin, brat. We’re gonna be rich after all this craps over. Walking for a few days ain’t worth that to ya?” she scolded, and the boy hunkered down.

“It’s just, I woulda bought new shoes if I’da known.”

Furlan grinned, “You don’t have the money for that, Pon. But you will when we’re done here. C’mon, break time’s over. Time to scramble. Cartel should be through the bottleneck in a couple hours. We gotta set up.”

You heaved to your feet, still observing the small group. There was Ponye, who was younger than you expected him to be, but still strong and angry. There was Amaretto, who had a gimp leg but could shoot out someone’s kneecaps from blocks away. There was Jakobs, who had more knives strapped to him than some vendors had in stock, and who had a wit about as sharp as the blades on them. There was Kur, a small dark haired boy who you forgot was there half the time. Then there was Furlan, who was far more stoic in front of the team he had chosen for this robbery, who seemed to look to you before anyone else for your opinion. You found it odd, to be looked at without lecherous intent by someone other than Levi.

You began to trail behind the blonde, following him through alleyways even as the group began to disperse to their assigned locations. He had insisted on having you with him, for some reason, and you tried to not be too suspicious. You just couldn’t understand how he valued you as a right hand over Jakobs or Ma. You didn’t feel so far away from the skinny girl who stole bread for her dark haired friend, from the one who needed to be held and carried everywhere by your mother or Miss.

You didn’t ask questions, reminding yourself that this job was an in, a way to make more money than you’d seen since you sold all that medicine back when Miss Kuchel passed. Walls, maybe you could even get out of the underground. Then you and Levi could...

Well, you didn’t even know where to start.

You fingered the hilt of your knife on your hip. You hoped Levi was ok, that wherever he was he was safe. You hoped no one had a heist like this planned against him. Not that it would make a difference. Levi was a one man army, and you had faith he would come back to you.

You followed Furlan up a ladder onto a roof, settling beside him.

“You ever been out of your corner of the underground?” he asked, and you shrugged.

“Once. When I was younger. Stole some medicine.” you carefully chose your words, deciding what information to dole out to him.

He hummed, looking at you, through you. You got this unnerving feeling that he knew what had happened, without you even saying. “I had a sister. Had to steal medicine for her too.”

You looked at him. “I’m sorry.” you finally decided on, not missing his past tense. He had a sister, like you had a mother, and had Miss to take care of you.

Furlan shrugged your words off. “It’s all over now. All that’s left is to wait to get to see her again, I suppose.”

“Hopefully you make it a long one. I doubt she’d want to see you again too soon.”

He laughed, and nodded, “She’d probably kill me if we meet again before I’ve gone gray. She always had such high expectations for my life expectancy.”

You grinned, trying to picture a girl like Furlan. Tall and blonde and quick to smile, sternly telling her younger brother that he’d better live a long and good life. “What was her name?”

“Frannie. She was always chasing after me and mothering me. I guess that’s what I get for being the younger one,” he sighed, wistful, “I hope that she would be proud of me, you know?”

You thought of your mom, of Miss Kuchel.

“Yeah, Fur, I know.”

Furlan was an easy man to pass the time with, and soon enough you heard the hooves of horses clicking on the battered cobblestones lining the alleyway.

You knew the plan, had been repeating it for three days. You and Furlan and Jakobs go in, work on distracting the guards. Ma keeps an eye from her snipers perch, ready to shoot if things get too harried. Ponye runs interference on the otherside of the bottleneck. Kur has the quick job of stealing the cart while everyone’s distracted.

You didn’t realize how quickly things can go wrong.

Furlan takes down one guard relatively quick, knocking him to the ground and kicking him cleanly in the head so he goes limp and quiet, incapacitated. You deal with yours in a similar manner. You turn to look at Jakobs when you hear a gunshot.

At first, you think it’s Ma, saving your ass, but-

-fuck.

You hear her shout, and see Jakobs slumped against a wall. It takes you half a moment to figure out what you’re even looking at. Half his face has been blown away, bits of blood and viscera splattering the brick behind him. The wide brimmed hat he wore is in tatters, hanging limply on his slumped shoulder. You watch the blood trickle down from the cavity in his head cover one of the hilts of his knives.

The guard turns to you, and grins. She raises the gun again. You hear a shot.

Levi, you think, I’m so sorry.

Blood splatters your face covering. Ma, bless her, has shot her stomach wide open with a bullet the size of your finger. She gurgles, and it reminds you of the wet sloshing sound of Vic’s entrails before she hits the ground.

Fuck, Jakobs.

You hadn’t known him well. He rarely spoke to any of you. But... he had been kind. He had complimented the knife Levi got you. You showed him a few of your tricks and he had laughed and told you they were impressive. He had been kind.

That was so rare, down here.

You wished you had been the one to kill her, for him.

Furlan stooped down to look at Jakobs. He fixed his hat as much as he could, murmured an apology, and stood.

“Let’s go. His cut... it’ll go to his family.”

Here, too, Furlan was better than any boss you had known. Usually, if a man died, it was a bigger cut for everyone else. But Furlan...

You didn’t bother with being quiet anymore. After those gunshots, the guards had to know what the fuck was going on back here. Either they chose not to help, or they thought you were both dead, and either way their nerves would be frazzled.

You clutched your knife. It hadn’t been sharpened in days, not since Levi left. You couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

You look through the alley opening to the cart. Old hickory wood and green fabrics and crates make up your objective, and you take stock of the guards surrounding it. Two, but you know there should be at least one more. The driver is there, looking ready to shit herself, and you almost feel bad for her. One of the guards had a dirtied MP logo on his shoulder, and you wonder briefly why he defected to come down to the underground of all places.

You twirl your knife and lunge at him, vowing to make him regret it. Furlan follows you a beat too late, left to mop up the remaining guard. However, you are intercepted midway.

The third guard is there, battering you away from the MP, and two others behind him swiftly advance on Furlan. Ponye is tied up and gagged by the entrance of the bottleneck, bleeding from a slash across his eyebrow, and you snarl.

“Fuckers!”

You attack him, fueled by anger and the bitterness of a plan gone wrong. Furlan cries out behind you, but you refuse to turn to look, remembering how the first man you had killed almost got the upper hand on you due to your worry for Levi.

You duck a punch from your hooded attacker, skitter back from a swipe of a blade to your ribs. The knife catches your arm from where you stretched it to counterbalance yourself, and you hiss, bringing your knee up sharply to nail him in the gut. He lets out a wheeze, hunching over himself, and you lunge to kick him over.

He twists out of the way, looking furious, and plunges his blade towards you. You screech and wheel backwards. You lash out, knocking one of his legs out from him as his knife catches your face, your head covering, and rips skin and fabric alike. You yowl, half blind from the blood running into your eye, and the fluid drips into your mouth. You try not to gag. Fuck, Levi is gonna be so mad when he sees me, you think.

You’re right.

You hear him snarl your name, and you think you’re going insane. You lunge at the guard again, and he smacks your hit away, clutching you around the waist. You snarl and fight against him, until the voice from under his hood calling you a stupid brat, and a dumb bastard filters into your ears. Holy fuck, you think, no fucking way.

“...Levi?”

He hisses, furious, shoving you away from him, and turns. He lunges at the guard holding Furlan hostage and drives his knife into his throat, clearing the windpipe easily. The man gurgles and drops, and Furlan splutters and nearly drops with him.

You think you’re actually going insane, now. Confused and probably concussed and halfway to blind from steadily clotting blood, you watch as Levi turns into a bloody whirlwind, hacking and slashing and destroying every guard in sight. He watches the driver run away screaming and doesn’t pursue her.

Furlan finds you in the middle of this, grabbing you hastily around the waist and hauling you into the cart. You try to speak, to tell him that this was Levi. But you felt so tired, and your head hurt so much, and...

You don’t wanna say you blacked out. In fact, you refuse to. You just lost track of some time. You don’t know how you end up back at the safe house with Ma and Kur and Ponye exactly, but you were awake for it, by the walls. Kur ties a strap around the gash on your head, and part of you wants to pretend its Levi but...

“Did you know?” you ask Furlan, and you can feel the dried blood on your lips, can taste iron on your teeth. You feel like an old woman and an old god at once, staring down the tall blonde.

He blinks at you with his one unblackened eye. “I was unsure.”

You stand unsteadily, wobbling to your feet. You feel nausea roll up your throat like the tide. “And you didn’t tell me?” you asked, calm and covered in the blood of Jakob and the woman who killed him and you, all mixing together into a dried and tacky river of red.

“I didn’t think it wise to worry you,” he tries, but his eyes are panicked and flickering between Ma and Ponye.

You snarl, and punch him in his unbruised eye. Kur moves to pull you away, but you shove him off. “Bullshit! You knew this score inside and out. You knew he was here. You fucking knew!”

Furlan picks himself up from where he stumbled into a table. “I wasn’t sure. The possibility of him being there wasn’t enough of a deterrent. Not from this big of a score.”

“Ma could have killed him!” you rage, now completely unhinged in your anger, “He could have killed me! We could have been left alone!”

“Guys,” Ponye tries to interrupt.

Furlan bowls over him, unwilling to lose this argument. “Whatever is in those crates was worth the risk!”

“Guys!” Ponye tries again.

“Was it worth Jakob’s life, though?” Kur murmurs.

The room falls to a hush. You feel eyes on you, on your blood stained skin and still sticky clothes. You feel like you’ll be sick.

You hear footsteps.

“So, you got the gear? I was hoping you would get my messages. Didn’t think you would bring her along though.”

Furlan stammers, coughs, and you turn towards that familiar voice.

You want to scream and lunge at him, to hug him until everything goes away, until you’re both safe and warm but something in his eyes keeps you at bay. You’d never seen him look so... empty, before. He looks at you, and you feel like he can’t stand the sight.

“That was you? Giving me the intel?” Furlan finally manages, and Levi huffs, tearing his eyes from you to look at the badly beaten Furlan.

He hums an affirmative, finally, “I’m sorry about your friend. I didn’t know they had a gun.”

“His family will be taken care of,” Ma promises, looking stern and determined. “I’ll see to it.”

Levi nods, seemingly pleased by the news, and walks past you to stare into the crate Ponye had cracked while you were arguing.

He makes a startled sound you hadn’t heard from him since you’d gotten your revenge for that worm on your pillow, and Ponye is practically vibrating.

“Guys!” he finally breaks, slinging an arm around Kur and nearly shaking the boy, “We’re gonna be fucking rich! Look at this shit!”

You walk up and peer over Ma’s shoulder. You feel your heart skip a beat. Now that old MP made sense.

“Holy walls,” you murmur, “Is that...?”

Levi smiles then, a cruel and sharp little thing, but he still won’t look at you. It feels wrong.

“Yeah. We were transporting eight crates of Three Dimensional Maneuvering Gear.”

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delfinodreams · 3 years

Text

OKAY i said i would make a post about my thoughts on paper mario a while ago and im finally writing it out

ill put it under a break because its probably gonna be long-ish

update: yea this bitch is LONG

okay so overall i really really enjoyed it!! it was really solid for the first entry in the series and i could definitely see the inspiration that ttyd later took from it. one thing that i didnt know about was partners not having HP, which threw me for a little bit of a loop. partners as a whole in this game don't play as active of a role as i wouldve expected because they have so little lines but using them in battle is still very fun! another small thing but i also hadn't expected mario to be completely silent, but it later grew on me!

i'm also gonna list my experiences and opinions on each chapter so here we go!!

chapter 1 - pretty alright for an introductory chapter! i didnt find anything especially notable, apart from getting 2 partners in one chapter. navigating the koopa bros. fortress was fun, and i loved the battle at the end!! their theme is SUCH a banger i had to sit back and listen to it for a bit when the fight actually started ehe

chapter 2 - not quite a fan of this one imo? i liked the first part through the mountain, but the trek though dry dry desert kinda took it out of me. BUT the addition of my favourite partner made up for it! parakarry my beloved <3 also the cutscene where dry dry ruins rise up??? that shit was SPECTACULAR. i absolutely loved how it turned dark when it first came up, i wish it stayed like that for more than just until you entered the ruins. the boss itself wasn't too exciting for me, probably because there wasnt much of a story?? i dont know how to describe it. actually its like that for quite a few of these bosses, but its the first entry for this series, so i wont fault it too much.

chapter 3 - this might be my FAVOURITE chapter- the suspense buildup throughout the entire chapter was AMAZING holy moly!!! first through the forever forest when you have bootler ask for you, and then wandering the mansion itself. i TOTALLY thought that boos were gonna be actual enemies when i saw them floating around. sneaking around tubba blubba's castle was so so fun to do, and i legitimately panicked when you ran into him in the hall and also when he wakes up and chases you back to the windmill. i didnt actually think the heart itself was the boss, just a miniboss, so i freaked out when i left the windmill and was immediately thrown into a battle with tubba blubba. i cannot express just how much i enjoyed this chapter, seriously!!

chapter 4 - coming back to toad town with the music change threw me for a bit; i wasnt expecting action to pop up so soon! figuring out that you could actually go into the toybox was such a "wait, what??" moment for me, but like, in a positive way. it was really cool to navigate this chapter and the lantern ghost encounter genuinely creeped me out at first because it was COMPLETELY dark. the fight against general guy is also a BANGER i could listen to it all day

chapter 5 - man i LOVE the whale. just a big guy willing to take u across the ocean :^) i really appreciated how you weren't stranded on the island too, like how you were on keelhaul key in ttyd. the ravens are also funky little guys, love them too. again, the lava piranha didnt really have any substance to it BUT it was a nice fight nonetheless! when it popped up again i was shocked but i made it through!! also fuck kolorado he doesnt deserve his wife

chapter 6 - this one's formatting is really neat- one central area with lots of branching paths, which i hadnt seen in my past pm experiences! i loved the quest leading up to the big beanstalk, plus the environment was so pretty!! the little part with the sun tower popped out to me, i'm not sure why though. maybe it was the music, it was so different from the flower fields theme. at first i had actually expected to go up to the clouds earlier, maybe like midway through the chapter. i thought that would be the "dungeon" of this part, so i was a little bit let down when i realized that the fields were the majority. however, the bit of the clouds we do see is SO good i LOVE the atmosphere!! huff n puff was actually relatively easy, using parakarry and lakilester for their all-around attacks. the guitars were a nice touch for his theme as well!

chapter 7 - oh dude i LOVED this chapter. i didnt know what i was expecting when i first went into the pipe in the sewers, whether it would put me into a village immediately or if i would have to make it through some screens before. needless to say, i was relieved when it popped me out into shiver city. the whole place felt "warm" which was really nice!! i was comparing it to ttyd's chapter 7 and fahr outpost which i didn't really vibe with, so it was a nice change! the whole murder plot was also unexpected but i enjoyed the whole "whodunnit" mystery! omg as im typing this i realize just how many aspects of this chapter i love this is gonna be long,, the entire snowy atmosphere is just so PRETTY and starborn valley felt so solitary to the rest of the land, like its own little bubble. i also had no idea that ninjis were in this game so when i saw one at merlon's i was like HUH?? anyways the way up the mountain to the crystal palace kept me on my toes; i thought that was the dungeon at first! the small bit where you see madam merlar and she tells you the story of the palace really got to me i have no idea why. the music and mysticality of it all was just SO good. dont even get me started on the crystal palace itself HOLY MOLY. the whole reflection bit was SO SO clever and the moment you realize its NOt actually a mirror?? fucking magnificent. this has to be my favourite dungeon in the whole game because it has such a NEAT gimmick!! it also has my favourite mario enemies, duplighosts! FUCK the crystal king though. he stunlocked me with his freezing move because i could not get the hang of blocking it. my partners really carried me for that battle; thank god for quick change

chapter 8 - THIS CHAPTER DELIVERED. the buildup for the entire game leading to this point. OUTSTANDING. i had to sit back and admire star haven because its so pretty- did i mention i love the water graphics in this game?? it has a pixelly look but it works SO WELL. going to the ship to take you to bowser's castle really felt like a "this is it" moment. the entirety of bowser's castle was So Good, it kept me on my toes the entire time!! slowly advancing as the music got more intense REALLY pumped me up. tracks that start off with only a couple instruments and eventually add more as you progress is one way to make me go BONKERS. the one bit where you make your way outside on the bridge and the music dials down and then you re-enter on the other side to it SLAMMING you in the face- that was Great. and then the complete silence as you get outside peach's castle HOLY SHIT. and then you actually enter the palace and the music is SO EERIE and youre like OH SHIT THIS IS REALLY IT. seriously, the buildup for this entire castle is done SO magnificently. i hadn't expected to fight bowser twice, i guess it was the game's way of letting u level up One Last Time before u got to the big bad. that being said, i wasn't too worried on getting a game over since i was fucking stacked on items. but that's besides the point- the fight itself got my heart POUNDING. the effects for the star rod and the star's powers were really nice to see in action, and the little section with peach and twink was so cool! i was expecting a little interlude where you would get your stats maxed out because thats how its like in every pm game, but it was still moving :)) bowser's final battle theme fucking SLAPS. the guitar especially sounds AMAZING. you really see him as a threat here and its so badass. his healing move fucked me over multiple times- i probably ended up having to deal with double his base HP over the course of the fight.

after the fight was over and you got to see peach's castle float down with the soft music in the background, it really hit me that its done, its over. again, the effects in this game are so pretty and theyre utilized SO well for the n64. visiting toad town one last time with all the npcs was a really nice touch- for some reason i really loved being able to interact with vanna t. (chuck quizmo's toad assistant) she's ADORABLE and i will probably end up drawing her sometime :)) the credits were also something that i really enjoyed- i LOVE the ongoing theme of parades at the end. seeing everything and everyone in the game condensed into a short 8 minutes really got me, i cant remember but im pretty sure i was smiling the whole time! and a small sidenote- TOADS WITH GLOWING SPOTS ON THEIR HEAD HELLO?????? I WANNA DRAW THAT SO BAD.

the ending screen with peach and mario looking at the fireworks made me really soft and i teared up a little because i was finally finished. the addition of pop diva's solo in the track was also so touching, it was my favourite sidequest in the game so hearing it again brought up Emotions :')

one thing i wasnt sure of was if there was a post-game mode and my completionist heart was disappointed a little when i found out i couldn't advance from the end screen and was forced to reset. although not many games from this era had post-game content so i cant dock too many points for that.

the paper mario series has a fond place in my heart, and finally being able to play the game that started it all really was a special experience. it really cemented my love for the original formula and i could see many places where ttyd took inspiration from. this game really is fun, and i would highly recommend playing it yourself if you have the means!

#i just finished typing this out #i did not mean for it to get this long omg #i just have Many Thoughts #and you guys get to deal with them #i just checked and this is nearly 2K WORDS HELLO??????#paper mario #paper mario 64 #dreamy convos

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that-one-guy-who-does-the-thing · 5 years

Text

everyone talkin about the king jumpin off the building at the end of fallen kingdom and how sad it is but everyone is forgetting the part from take back the night where the master villager guy was crushed by the spike flail. like fellas. the king survived. he survived the entire thing, but that master guy is like actually dead.

you know what? time to do a rundown on this original minecraft plus one parody series (take back the night, find the pieces, and dragonhearted are all original songs)

so first of all, let me point out something about fallen kingdom. people dont seem to notice it in the first listen and sometimes they never figure it out but the majority of it is actually a flashback. notice the king’s beard is longer in the night time scenes and everything’s broken. like, of course the king isn’t dead. how would he be walkin around after all that shit happened in the destruction if he was??? anyway, lets move on to something i spent too much time writing.

those songs introduced so many characters that are all unique but arent explored really at all (mostly because the songs dont tell much of a story. just the bare minimum because thats about as much as you can do with minecraft parodies.)

like the guard with the nose itch,

these fellas

and the archer

like you cant really notice it while youre dancing and stuff but these guys are pretty cool to me. notice in the second image of the guard, his mustache is bigger. this shows that time has passed from the flashback on the left and the flashback on the right. it’s showing how the characters age. might just be me but that sort of thing really shows that these characters have lives. the pigs you can tell someone put effort into their designs and the archer you can kind of tell he’s confused and has seemingly never really had to shoot at anyone before

and then onto the more “subtley characterized” characters

the queen

you can tell all the violence is too much for her. she cries as she watches her husband take the sword and go outside. other characters in reaction to the mobs simply grabbed weapons and fought back whereas the queen was just crying. granted we dont see many citizens fighting back against them at all but you get my point.

the three villagers from the search party

you can tell the white and green ones are more experienced. the brown one seems jumpy, frightened, and confused. the white one silently grieves when the green one tells them that the mother is dead.

...and now onto the more heavily focused characters

the pig king

surprisingly, the pig king isn’t really shown to do much other than sit around. they make it seem like he’s the one in charge of everything though. he’s important but he’s not shown as much. just wanted to get him out of the way cause this was a cool screenshot

the pig commander guy

this guy just screams “cocky bastard”. literally every time he’s onscreen he either has a smirk or is reacting to something else. bonus for his little science man on the right. he doesn’t show up again (to my knowledge) but you can tell exactly what kind of character he is. we’ve all seen the “science man raises one finger as the boss ignores him” scene. anyway, back to the cocky guy.

this scene really i think shows his character the best. mustache man here is cornered and afraid and resorts to crying and giving up. this pig guy mocks him for a second before raising his sword.

the trio from the beginning of find the pieces

the chef is another character you can kind of get. like, he’s your basic “happy neighbor pal” or.. or just you know. “the buddy”. he’s sittin there cooking and he’s real happy about it until the hero bursts into the room and he drops the bowl. he takes a second to see who did it and when he sees the hero he laughs about it. like a “ha ha classic hero”. his expression on the bottom is a fading smile after the hero explains a dream he had. this is important for later so hold onto that.

the farmer.

you can tell he’s just done with life. he’s living basically on autopilot at this point. he looks like he’d wear the “i really wish i weren’t here right now” pin. you can kind of see bored and “done with everyone’s shit” and maybe a bit of vague “nostalgia sadness” yknow? also, this is off-topic but this panel makes for a great meme template. go ahead and use it please thank you.

the scientist

honestly? this guy doesnt have any characterization other than “i am the smart”. like he’s just the guy that gets the scroll off the shelf and tells the hero about the kingdom. but i do really like this character nonetheless. you really know exactly what kind of person he is because you’ve seen this kind of person so many times before.

ok so. remember before when i was talking about the chef and told you to remember something? notice the colors of these three’s robes. these might be the same villagers from the search party. this could explain why the hero went to these three villagers and why the cook lost his smile when he heard the hero’s story and why the scientist had a map and knew about the kingdom. the farmer was the confused jumpy guy before but now it seems like nothing can phase him. this might be because he didnt really get to do anything and he wasn’t involved as much because he was just the backpack guy. ‘s also why he doesnt do much here either. that might be a stretch but idc man let me theorize.

also they show up again later

the scientist is the one designing all the iron golems and planning where they patrol during the big fight scene in dragonhearted. the scene is set up in a way that makes it seem like he is crushed and killed by big robo pig herobrine. this is not the case though.

all three are seen later in the final scene. theyre not dead (thank god)

anyway lets talk about the master

sorry for the weird stretching btw i edited all this in paint from screenshots. anyway uhh so the master. you get a little bit of characterization here from him. a lot of these characters are stereotypes but that’s really expected considering this is a minecraft parody series. theres not a whole lot of talking you can do. this guy is literally the master guy in an action comedy. you can tell what kind of action comedy master you get from this scene alone. he makes the hero stew so he’s obviously a very caring master, and the following scene shows that he has a sense of humor, but hides it just to look cool. the moment he notices someone see him laughing he pretends it never happened. also a small detail here i wanna point out real quick. i love that the villagers can separate their arms here, but i ESPECIALLY love when they put them together. like, they dont always do it but they still do. i just love it. anyway...

because of this and the fact that the hero and the master were pretty much the only two in the song for a while there, it actually stings when the master is killed. the hero’s reaction is DEFINITELY a factor in this too. this guy was like a second father to him and now this is the second father he’s lost. FUCK i love these songs SO MUCH. i wonder what it would be like if the master ever met the king

note: i didnt characterize the hero, the king, or herobrine given that they are the main main three characters. you can probably figure out their personalities on your own. (well, almost all of them. herobrine doesnt really have much of one other than “occasionally turns into a disney villain when he finds out the king took the eye out of the portal”)

anyway uh, another thing this series really does is just visuals. cool lookin scenes all over the place here.

like look at this shit. especially the ones from dragonhearted. i think that picture of the golem was used everywhere for a short time and i dont blame them. its an epic shot and i love it.

...and i didnt even include the two classic scenes that you can visualize in your head at any moment

these two moments are so fucking powerful you don’t understand. like look at these. god. shit, this is just.. hhhh i love this series so much. you know, sometimes i like to think of stupid theories... like imagine if revenge was actually part of this series. it has no effect on the story but it seems to follow the same “rules” (all characters are in hardcore mode is a big one). idk maybe they did happen in the same universe but steve is just a great ancestor to the king or something. anyway, thats all the energy i can spend on one post. it took an hour and a half to write this and grab the screenshots. feel free to add on to this list of things we all love about fallen kingdom and the others.

#minecraft #mineblr #fallen kingdom #captainsparklez #take back the night #find the pieces #dragonhearted #minecraft parody #sorry im adding so many tags i just #hhhhh spent a while writing this and i'd love for people to see this #long post

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sentiniel-butitgetsworse · 6 years

Text

rwde

highly unpolished, awful explanation, but scene-by-scene commentary of unbridled annoyance and rage. read at your own peril.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

so the episode opens with a fight scene. sweet! cool! but its so badly staged, sometimes you have no idea what is happening the first time round. it’s crowded and messy, not a very good look? im talking about grim being hid behind ice while the camera is panning and hitting some trees when we’re literally panning out to show someone else in focus DESPITE THE FACT THEIR MITIGATION SHOULD BE FRONT AND CENTER TO LET US KNOW IT HAPPENED CLEARLY. legit! there’s the one where nora shoots at a grim and the shell explodes into black dust and the grim is gone. did it die? grim dont usually die by fuckin smoke but this one sure fuckin did i guess ‘cause i literally dont know what happened to it? no recoil and fall, just deleted and hid behind some 2d-lookin smoke! sure! why not?!?!!!?

s/o to the white/rose speedy thing that had no reason to be there and yet they did it

---

then there was the “adam ruins everything” segment where he literally just murders? everyone? like i get that its off screen for the younger audiences but also like he fucking murders everyone. literally! did i miss something? is it a good tactic now? did they think it was very villainous of him to murder people??????? god bring me back to the beginning when he actually has a good character reason for why faunus would follow him into revolution because this adam taurus is so bad he’s worth flushing down the drain for.

“tHe BeLlAdOnnA nAme HaS bRoUgHt Me NoThINg BUt gRiEf”

also that opening shot where adam is proud. jfc what? is he even part of salem’s crew anymore? was the Adam short supposed to tell us he isnt? is anyone reviewing this and thinking 100% it’s a good idea?????

wait why is this scene even second? that’s a really awkward position to put it in the whole episode? honestly? like it kinda underlines how awkward a villain adam really is; it has no build up, no reason to be there. sure, the audience is hungry to know what happened to adam, but there’s legitimately no reason to put it as the second scene in the episode, there’s no context??????

callout post for this scene because its literally just voicelines while panning slowly through the bottom floor of the room. and the blood only shows up later??? also is the white fang only comprised of like 7 people now??? isnt it a globally feared organization (ie. isis)????

---

there are two bodyguards for the train. two? two. and for some reason they’re asking for dlc to provide more/personal protection? hello, did i miss something? anyone thought it was a good idea? what class of transportation did they get? if it was dangerous enough that on a train ride they’d need people to guard the journey it wouldn’t even be built there? or what, did they get a max-luxury, train ride with insurance kinda deal? and it had two (2) bodyguards? two (2)!!!!! or was it in the middle of the road??? i may have enough context for the environment but none on economy of this place i swear

“hey ladies we’ll protect you wink” jaune and lie ren literally sitting one (1) feet away not saying anything, could be everyone’s moment to justify “hey we’re literally huntsman despite being kids, we know what we’re doing” but qrow has to step in and apparently his credentials would ward off some bodyguards???? like “hi yes sorry im the dad of literally 8 kids, i can protect them all” not a convincing argument here bud

illia deserves more time on screen and also closure because neptune fuckin hit on her and that’s obviously enough to change scenes right

also neptune being “you really gonna let her go? l:/” feels like he’s salty instead of wukong tbh; wukong feels/sounds like the literal i can do anything kinda guy -- which he is in mythology and probably in universe (except for intelligence i guess, despite the fact he literally outsmarts his opponents through a lot of his mythos) so i dont mind him being let off the hook, but any hesitation implied during this scene? weak

illia building up to kiss but hugging blake instead, but blake kissing wk on the cheek straight up on camera yo really

---

blake emos in the corner and because its queued up right after the wk/neptune scene its not a far fetch to say she’s emo-ing about wk but turns out its yang? would’ve preferred the setup to be stronger (blake watches yang get on the bed and feels sad/regret, zoom in on yang’s arm to show the audience but not tell them)

i give props to blake being shown “wait leme get that for you” real out the way though, because it underlines properly that blake feels ridiculously bad and wants to do something to make up for yang. good characterization/storytelling!

then they break it w/ like a 30s scene of yang and blake making up almost immediately with a “oh everyone will feel better about it soon :)” BRUH SHE GUILTY BOUT YOUR FUCKIN ARM BITCH CUT BACK TO REALITY DAMN the running away part is sincerely legitimate but also??? blake should be a/ more anxious than that and b/ be more worried about???? yang’s arm??????? for real m8

---

“dont let anyone else die” a/ assumes the bodyguard trying to defend the train literally died and b/ also really fell flat? as a line? get something better...????

genuine dislike for the tactic of qrow fights the Big Boss and everyone gets a handful of weaklings; to stall? possible. but also just feels like a bad tactic overall? also their animations always look like they’re doing an rpg battle; one ability used + animation! then return to original position. that’s a big fallacy of fighting monty oum style and i genuinely hope they recognize it soon

“YOU’RE ATTRACTING THE GRIM TO THE PASSENGERS” ??? i get the part where leading them to the back of the train may help (having them all divided in sections [grim + hunters, passengers, front of train respectively] may help but how does automation attract grim again? like, turrets shooting at them would do so if they’re in range, and they all came from the back so they’d move along towards the middle, but also they wouldn’t continue moving forward? i guess? what im saying is they should really just be around jnxr + oscar instead of way forward in front

when the bodyguard tried to get into the train and barely made it, that SNAP sound was just. raw. i felt that. good! i was very scared/horrified/eager to see if they’d literally break off his arm and he’d just be lying there in a pool of blood or something in shock. he didnt because of aura and i don’t know what to say because a/ it definitely wouldn’t be a bruise and b/ if he had aura and was in the bodyguarding business, wouldn’t he also have a proper semblance to fight off grim most likely? and he aint using it so why he so confident for dlc earlier the heck

bumblebee looks back to the carriage and one lady’s just with her baby like a cheap heartstrings tug

“WHY WON’T YOU TELL US THAT” yang’s line here assumes that they’ve asked about it before and ozpin/oscar refused to answer. i disagree? i think it works better with “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US THAT?” because it definitely was a factor they’d all have to take into account with regards to travelling w/ it in the first place. which they are. tbh yang (and jaune in the op) has every right to be mad at him real talk but also change that line please it bothered me so much

---

blake sees the hooded adam figure and honestly idk what kind of omen that is but it feels/looks weird. another no context scene i guess. tbh id take that one out of this episode entirely and shuffle it next episode probably. (and put the adam ruins everything scene at the back of the episode)

grim stop chasing because tunnel. and then they chase the train through the tunnel really slowly? feels weird but okay i fuckin guess; these are just the things im willing to pass on

ren and jaune look at each other like “lets do it” but why does ren? look up? like there’s no extra effects there, its not visible that he’s trying really hard to extend his semblance out. no cool semblance-using eye powers there. it feels kinda cheap for him to do that w/o any additional highlights that he’s activating his aura? also creepy

OH THERE’S THAT SCENE. yang starts off the Big Fight Montage with grabbing the grimm by its horns and then flips it around. cool move! then she promptly punches it up and closes her eyes. what? tbh that was ridiculously weak after a stupid good setup. budget aside i’d say there was an opportunity for a focused choreograph there; instead of a punch up, use a bullet fire up, keeping the enemy’s front half up in the air for a longer period of time. run under, punch/kick the underbelly, bounce off to the side, bullet fire off the side of the train.

blake cutting off the tail was a good move. rt studios deciding to change shots when the enemy has the same pose, so that we cut to ruby fighting the same kind of grimm is not. it breaks clarity for the viewers, that’s not how matching cuts should work tbh

these big grimm dying in a couple of hits are also just? kinda weak-feeling. like these characters got stronger from rpg levels, but not from actual combat training and learning to outsmart your enemies, or upgrading your weapons. feels cheap.

ruby bouncing around in attempt to kill these grim is kinda cute? which may be what they were trying to do? but also not well choreographed i guess. it doesn’t flow too well, just bounces in seperate spikes.

when weiss redirects the flying grimm to ruby, it feels like its? not clear what she did. was it a semblance/shield? colour that blue, we know she uses white but white on white doesn’t work out well. ruby’s scythe sinking into the grimm also doesn’t work great because you get confusion when the shot is supposed to show it sink into the grimm, but you cant see the scythe blade sink into it. like you could only get it from context after watching it that she sent the grimm flying by doing the above, but dont recognize the action in the moment.

callout post to yang and blake fuckin shooting at nothing when there’s a clear path/shot to ruby and qrow’s big monster.

fireball just kinda looked cheap. there wasn’t a long breathy build up, and the fireball just feels way too fast (camera or distance?); reasonable that qrow would be hit by it, but cheap-feeling in the sense that it shouldn’t have happened/it felt unfair, that it happened. he should’ve gotten knocked on his ass by power/strength and being caught off guard, and it felt like more like “oh no he got knocked down! D:”

HHHHHH WEISS ICE SKATES TO THE GRIM BUT ITS NOT LIKE YOU PAY ATTENTION BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE CALLS FOR IT AND THEN SHE LEAPS UP TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GRIM. SHE’S WHITE, THE BACKGROUND IS WHITE, YOU LOSE SIGHT OF HER, I LEGIT THOUGHT SHE VANISHED BEHIND THE GRIMM BUT IT WOULDNT MAKE SENSE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN. IN THE NEXT SHOT YOU MAY SEE HER AT THE LEFT BUT HER SEMBLANCE IS BLACK TO MAKE HER STAND OUT MORE BUT THEY DIDNT DO THAT FOR THE PREVIOUS SHOT WHY????????

“YANG!” yang promptly bounces off a grimm that isnt shown to have hurt or is dead from the fight and runs off to the bigger grimm as called. understandable, but the other grimm? is just? there? not dead? not doing anything???

also the we need to ground it idea feels really cheap? the grimm isn’t a problem because of its wings, it’s a problem because it’s being dealt with by one (1) person who decides it’s best fighting it on one (1) front vs two on a train. there’s so many ways to tackle this guy! we know qrow’s capable of jumping onto it, but all he’s doing is that, instead of moving to the other side and maybe catching it off guard?????? qrow, fight fucking better.

s/o to qrow/ruby pulling off a move together, cute but also they should’ve been slicing it at different points of the grimm, because they would’ve just died right away if they both went on the same plane? or anywhere near each other? weapons are fucking dangerous we remember right?

GRIMM LAUNCHES A FIREBALL AND IT GOES ON AN UPWARDS TRAJECTORY. IT DOESNT AND INSTEAD GOES IN AN ARC WHEN IT NEVER NEEDED TO. HERE’S HOW YOU COULD DERAIL THE TRAIN. FIREBALL, MOUNTAIN, AVALANCHE/ROCKSLIDE, TRAIN DESTRUCTION. OLD GRANDMA THAT STUMBLES OUT OF THAT/APPEARS BEHIND THE TEAM AFTERWARDS IS MORE IMPRESSIVE FOR HAVING ADAPTED TO THAT FROM INSIDE THE TRAIN THAN TO JUST SIT THERE AND POP OUT LATER LIKE xD lmao wassup yall?

---

yeah thats it and here’d be the adam ruins everything scene right before the opening but we cant get what we want so w/e

#rwde

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sainadazai · 3 years

Text

When your crush is angry all the time

Ch.3

Sharks or whales?

Ch.3

Sharks or Whales is not a stupid question

Bakugou pov

°•��●○•°•○●○•°•○●

"I noticed it, you aren't slick katsu!"

"The fuck? Noticed what!"

"You know what, how could you"

"WOULD YOU STOP CRYING ITS ANNOYING AS FUCK"

"you don't even tell me you love me, but you can do that"

"The fuck...we only started dating like a week ago"

"Yea but- but- i"

"You what? Huh? Tell me what your talking about or get out of my face"

God, I really need to stop making impulse decisiones. I could just keep fighting with her though...she is always hotter when she is angry. That's how this all started in the first place, at that damn sports festival. Why did I have to find it so hot?

Fucking occhaco, are you really only my type when your in battle?

"Just shut up okay."

"Wh-"

I made myself quick to press my lips to hers and when she gasped I skipped my tongues in too. I wanted to be slow and sensual, even with tongue, but I couldn't. The slower I kiss her the more I remember how much I am not right for her. How she is feeling something but I can't feel it anymore. I skipped my hand behind her back and drew our lower bodies closer together.

At least occhaco is a good kisser. I bet that stalker bitch from earlier isn't. I bet she is crusty and musty and fucl she was hot though. No. She is weird, she probably got in here because of her mom so she is spoiled. What a fucking princess.

All of a sudden chaco trips on something and is pulled away from the kiss she falls backwards and landed flat on her ass. It takes some work not to laugh but whoever did that is going to die. Even if I wasn't really enjoying myself there, I could've been. They wouldn't know.

I look down at my girlfriend in shock. What catches my eye first, though, is something wrapped around her ankle. I bent down to see what it was. I quickly got confused because she had a dead vine wrapped half way up her call and an equally dead rose on the end of it.

"What the fuck"

I look back up to see the stalker doing her own thing and talking with shitty hair and a dulce face. It has to be her, no one else has this quirk. I don't know her quirk, but nobody else would've done this. Fucking wierdo.

I start walking across the classroom to where she is sitting on top of her desk, manspreading and laughing with my extras.

"No, I'm a serious shark or whale?" Y/n asks with the most serious face I've ever seen.

"Uhm sharks, duh"

"Why though?"

"Sharks have cool sharp teeth and they move super fast"

"Everyone says that, but think about this...whales are so big and fat and they dont even care, they are just fucking bosses, being slow as shit and still monchin on krill and small animals, they dont even have to fight or anything"

"I-y/n you-"

"No, imagine you could just walk around with your mouth open and food would just go in. "

"Oh my god, she is right," dunce face made a stupid look of awe at the girl.

I wanted to snap her for fucking doing that to occhaco...but for a second I was actually distracted by how she was right about shitty whales. Fucking wierdo, though.

"Oi, stalker bitch"

I could tell she was a creep by how fast her eyes lit up after I yelled at her. Who does she think she is? She likes it when i'm mad or something?

"Me!? Yes sir, what do you need?" She hopped off of her desk and practically bounced over to me.

"What the fuck was that, you shitty stalker?" I spoke darkly and pointed to where me and my fucking...girlfriend had been kissing.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking at me with a serious face.

"That fuckong stunt you just pulled with the fucking flower," I hissed leaning down as I yelled at her.

"Oh, I was jealous." She said once again completely seriously, but she had a bright smile on her face. Why is she being so straightforward, has she never met a guy before? Half the girls in this school crush on me, obviously, but they wouldnt dare say dumb shit like that to me.

"THE FUCK"

"I saw you kissing your girlfriend, and it made me get this feeling like i wanted you to not do that...I mean, are you dense, never been jealous before? Or do you not know what it means..."

"I KNOW WHAT IT FUCKING MEANS, BITCH! BUT YOU DONT FUCKING KNOW ME, BACK OFF!"

"But..." she looked at the floor again, I swear if she fucking cries I will throw her.

Her aura went 360 and for some reason I got a shitty feeling in my chest, but it was moving lower...I think. Was I horny right now? What the fuck, no.

Her head came back up and she was smirking, I wonder if this is something she got from her mom...

Those e/c eyes met with mine holding an erotic feeling that shot down my whole body. Her face was so fucking pretty right now, for no good reason and she fully lifted to peer up at me. It was much too effective in turning me on, since I was already leaning towards her a bit in my anger.

I grosled at the feeling, and then she rose her finger to point at me, just like fucking lunch time. She pressed it to my chest making me want to hit it away, but for some reason I waited to see what she would say.

"I only really came to see you..." she spoke in a ridiculously seductive tone but at the same time...a whisper.

"W-"

"Shh" her finger was brought off of my chest and pressed to my lips in a huh motion.

"Don't worry boom boom, I know I don't know you but if you would enlighten me im sure I could understand you a bit better...I only have one question..."

"SPIT IT OUT YOU SHITTY STALKER!"

as soon as i yelled her finger retracted and her face returned to an innocent smile. Why does this bitch have so many faces? She looked way to excited for her question, while I was confused as to why it felt like two seconds ago she might litteraly try to fuck me, and now she looks like a kid in a candy store.

"Sharks or whale, bakugou? SHARKS OR WHALES!?"

oh fuck this shit...

Timeskip* one week of y/n being totally confusing but also sexy later.

Y/n pov

°•○●○•°•○●○•°•○●○•°

I think I did something bad. I think I actually got them to break up. I don't wanna do that because my new friend mina explained what homewrecking was, and that isnt my goal. I just want to know if seeing his face all the time makes it less special, or if this crush is more.

I shouldn't have gone so hard in combat training I guess..

"Whatever, its was stupid anyway"

"Yeah, uraraka, you deserve better than him, fucking dick"

The cute round-faced girl had tears bordering her eyes and was allowing everyone to comfort her in her loss.

I felt pretty fuckibg terrible about what I had caused, I mean they were in a real relationship. If I had been dating somebody for a long time, and then some weirdo showed up and ruined it...I would hate her.

"I cant believe he is so mean.." she clung to who I think is yaoyorozu, and cried into her chest.

"It's not your fault, you didn't know he was all like that, it was only a week"

The creation- quilled girl spoke as she pet occhaco's hair and soothed her. Wait a fucking mintue. They only were dating for a week? The fuck?

"Hahahahahaha oh my god" I couldn't help but break out into laughter.

This past week I came to teams with the fact that maybe her and him had something real, so I figured I'll settle for being free from hell, as opposed to trying to..I don't know. I don't even know what my plan was when I moved schools. I wanted to see him, meet him, make him angry again or something.

However I never thought through a plan. So I suppose I would just have to enjoy the fact I can have male friends now. I started to back off, but one week, and she is crying over him burning me up a bit. What the hell?

"Y/n what the fuck!?" Ashido whispered and yelled at me.

I turned a bit to face her, instead of the ridiculous scene in front of me. She had her brows furrowed and looked at me like I was crazy.

"Think about it mina..they dated for one week...and she is crying because they broke up..it's like..it's like...bahahaha," i couldn't finish the thought without laughing but asido seemed to also find my humor in this situation.

I saw how she almost laughed before catching herself and feighing seriousness. The other girls, minus occhaco and momo, had turned their attention towards us, looking wearily at our closeness.

"Excuse me, I AM GOING TO GO TEACH Y/N SOME DECENCY" mina whispered yelled again, turning to face me with a fake angry look. I wasn't sure what was happening, because I have never been in a situation like this before. So I let out a little giggle and nodded, my face red and starting to hurt from the smile and laugh I couldn't suppress.

Mina grabbed my arm just under my elbow, gripping it almost tight enough to hurt. She dragged me around the corner of the living room, into the hallway of yaoyorozou's house. We had all been told to rush here after school for an urgent matter.

When I first read the group texts I kinda thought it might be an orgy, so I figured I would come even though I didn't really want to. However..I showed up to this mansion to find a crying floaty-girl and a lot of food for some reason. It confused me because at my old school girls didn't really cry, or get sad, or be emotional. When they did it was usually about reason things, like a stolen diary, hair pulling during combat training, or one of the worst offences at my old school: playing pop music.

Yeah, it's a weird thing for a ton of princesses and rich girls to care about..but I've seen girls lose eyes over playing "mad at disney '' in the dorms when we all know it is pretty much a sin.

Mina pushed me back against the wall of the hallway, and I would be aroused if now for the fact that she backed away and crouched over herself in laughter.

"I-pfft I don't baha know why but bahahaj you are so right"

I didn't even become surprised by her action, I just laughed with her letting myself slide down the wall.

"If you hadn't asked pfft bakugou that question, they would probably still be dating!" She was fucking wheezing and an idea came to my mind.

"Hey, ashido, you think if they made it to two weeks they could have scheduled a time to bahah hug in the halls"

"Y/n pfft, I think that's more of a ....3 three week anniversary thing"

We were both in fetal positions in momos big velvet- themed hallway laughing our asses off. We had no idea how the guys were reacting to this strange break up, but if a girl hated me for one of my key personality traits I'd be pretty set on..not dating them either. Good for you boom boom. Pftt ``y-you think someday we can -maybe um..mk-kiss in the mo-mouth"

"Omg your too much bahahaha"

3rd person pov

Meanwhile bakugou, kaminari, kirishima and sero were sitting in separate places around kaminari's room, not minding the huge fight between their friend and y/n...and occhaco for some reason earlier.

"I don't get it, why did you hit her after she already beat you bakugou..like y/n was so cool and I get you dont like to lose but that royal quirk thing was many as shit and you ruined the vibe"

"Tch, whatever, she is just a weirdo bitch"

"You know that's not true dude...she actually pretty hot"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP DUNCE FACE, YOU WANNA ME TO TREAT YOU LIKE MINETA"

"Jeez, just being honest. We all know you like it when girls can fight...i mean it's like the only reason you went out with uraraka anyway."

"THAT FUCKING ROUND FACE! WHO IS SHE TO CALL ME TOO FUCKING SCARY."

"I mean, you kinda were, but she a bit overreacting, sure"

"Shut up sero, if she is scared, she is allowed to be scared. Its not manly to shame her"

"I know kiri, but like, if you are gonna date bakugou, shouldn't you be someone who doesn't cry when he is mean. Cuz like he is mean all the time."

"I guess..I kinda imagined she would try to calm him down but she kinda just made us all feel guilty, huh"

"YEAH CUZ SHE IS A WHIMPY BITCH"

"Shut up, this isn't about you bakugou"

"THE HELL IT ISN'T"

"Hey guys, don't you think it's kinda weird that we are in a like...serious conversation, but we are all on our phones not looking at each other," Sero pitched in, still not taking his eyes off of his phone screen where he was playing clash of clans.

He was right, the four boys were in opposite corners of the room occupying themselves with different social media.

"No" kaminari replied as he scrolled through his phone, not actually doing anything on it

"Not really" kirishima added in, as he was searching instagram, looking for y/ns account because he had developed a curiosity to what she looked like out of uniform.

He had only got a glimpse of her casual clothing on the first day, not enough to even process, and for some reason when you trained you hadn't had a hero suit either. It seemed you would just wear a tank top and sweats during hero training in your first week.

Unbeknownst to him, you hadn't had one to wear in the first place. Most of your planning for life revolved around being lazy and not needing to do any work. So, unlike the students here, you had not planned or sketched any type of hero suit. You were however working on a pretty simple one that just allowed you to be comfortable while you worked, but mom definitely was going to um...do something about that.

"its fucking normal tape arms, everyone does this shit" bakugou spoke kinda quietly. He was just hoping no one would look up and come see that he had actually succeeded in getting your instagram. He was finding out... a lot of new things. For one, he definitely wasn't seeing your casual everyday attire.

His thoughts were a mess, he figured, unlike kirishima, that he would use your first and last name. While his friend used y/n kayama, your well known mother's last name. He had first went on the Internet and found that you scared the last name of a king, and he knew that your quirk was royal from what you explained during your battle with him.

The outfit you wore on the first day had him in for it. As that style was exactly his type, his eyes lingered too long. However seeing you as a ballerina and a fucking princess gave him a weird feeling. He didn't know what it was, but he hated it. He hated you, and your pretty posture and cool style and your fucking princess shit. He even hated the irony in how he called you a princess for even getting into U.A. However, if you were truly the princess of the elementus quirk family...he was going to have bigger problems than your stupid questions in class. . . .

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magalamantle · 7 years

Text

HEY HERES some longass fucking shit!!!! about my settings for ocs for a p5 continuation/sequel/etc!!!!!!!!! just kind of. expanding on stuff i guess lol!!! the first one is the longest and the one im most interested in expanding on ideas for ocs on but anyway :Y

IDEA ONE:

'palaces': garden, zoo, restaurant, temple, courthouse, funhouse, bunker, garden, graveyard, safari, library, museum(not art gallery)

an emphasis not so much based on heists or stealing or treasure. instead the intention is to destroy the heart of it to reveal what the place "actually is". the whole intention becomes revelling in the large-scale destruction of different chunks of the bases, before eventually defeating the person at the heart of it.

not knowing the exact individual whose construct it is, has to infiltrate and work way into the place in order to follow clues - more like a detective than anything else.

characters access nav not through going to a specific location but via "dreams" - peeks into the human unconsciousness, cant really control when they go into or come out of constructs, are just kind of dropped in whichever location is selected in a list on the app before they sleep. therefore, players are lead into dungeons without fully knowing what theyre doing - theyre kind of placed into more of a mystery detective thing, trying to figure out why theyve been placed in each area, kind of what they have to do in order to escape cause like otherwise theyre placed in the area literally every night and cant do much about it lol. basically as long as theyre contributing (according to some unspoken rules) theyre fine in terms of sleep, but if they refuse to cooperate theyre basically sleepless, which really really impacts some of them until they end up basically having to act.

each area basically introduces a new playable character via waking a construct version of them in someone elses palace. like literally waking them up.

it takes like the first full dungeon for them to register that it isnt just a weird same dream that theyre having and that like. the real person whose cognitive world they broke is affected, and in the wake of the whole "shadow thieves of hearts" thing its kind of terrifying because theyre like "oh god we destroyed that place what if weve killed someone" but it seems to have a different effect on individuals than previous, but its still. really weird.

eventually they kind of register that the worlds and people presented are getting bigger and scarier for them to have to deal with, and that its kind of like. training them??? especially since the targets theyre being given are getting more grey morally, and more just given to them because the task is just more difficult rather than more important.

anyway on their journey thats eventually mementos that they end up in when theres really no big mission for them to do, and they like explore it n shit. it feels totally different from the other worlds, cause its kind of this... weird mishmash? and as the plot continues theyre basically. kind of. its more or less revealed that this mementos isnt the general consciousness as the general consciousness of a select group of individuals - the people who basically set them up in this situation. individuals who used the research on the cognizant world to basically force the protagonists to do their dirty work - starting them with easy missions against people that they would agree with fighting against, and slowly working more into individuals that they wanted to get rid of, tying up loose ends, etc. basically training up a little army to get rid of people for them. this group thats controlling them isnt sending them into their mementos though, that would be a Higher Power

the uh. the group in this has a mascot thats a cute little cartoony puppy!!! that claims that theyre a wolf and cant remember how they got there etc etc. anyway basically it was made as a weird rude parody of morgana, and theyre pretty much a sleeper agent that kind of. gains consciousness as the team applies traits to it pretty much??? either way puppy is pretty much just the shadow council things way of calling the protagonists their dogs lol. something to sic on people they dont like.

IDEA TWO:

the palaces are all... literally different kinds of palaces: from different ages and aesthetics, but all definitely castles and mansions. includes roman palace, victorian mansion, funhouse/theme park castle, gothic mansion, classic medieval castle, etc

more of a kidnapping thing. have to find the master of the house/king/baron/etc and extracate them from the construct - whether a rescue or kidnapping depends on the particular target. this one features a pair of antagonists who only want to use the palaces' treasures for monetary gain - or at least it seems so at the start?? but its actually for a person theyre working for with the intention of studying the cognizant world in order to access the public conscience for what is essentially mass demoralization leading to global shutdown

this one in particular probably features the protags from p5 in a weird way, like. theyre all kind of younger adults in the city, doing stuff, and the new protags kind of interact with them and subtly try to figure stuff out about this whole world and everything about it from them.

IDEA THREE

more of an emphasis on the internet and incredible popularity therein - palaces are all based on internet sensations, big personalities who are secretly doing unsavory things. accessed through whatever website/social media whatever that they use the most.

PALACES in this world are based on VIDEO GAME TYPES. rpg, fps, puzzle games, etc etc etc. still in the kind of stealth, heist format of the actual. u kno. persona 5. but the aesthetics and enemy styles, dungeon setups, etc, npcs/cognitive humans etc are all based on the respective video game type. IMPORTANT: theres a rogue person wandering into peoples cognitive worlds who considers it all genuinely a game, has fun "competing" with the players team to get to the "end boss" first. unfortunately his aim is always outright to kill the boss lol. playable characters' outfits in the palaces change to fit the video game, but follow a general theme for each character.

the way that palaces are accessed more or less through the internet opens up possibilities about the new protags meeting through exclusively the palaces, not knowing each other in real life, etc.

every world contains a specific npc that sort of guides them around n stuff. its literally just akechi. like thats just him. still young. hes just there, in a shitty prince outfit or equivalent, and my excuse is that 1. he die in a really weird way in a really weird place and 2. as an incredibly public figure that was so prevalent in the publics eyes their perception of him kind of kept him floatin around in the sea of human etc etc etc. it might not be FULLY him but hes definitely. there. thats definitely just him standing there, telling them about game stuff. weird af.

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virgo-dragon · 7 years

Text

Loz Fanfic Thing

for @du-hjarta-skulblaka and whoever else is interested note: this /did/ have some formatting but ut didnt copy/paste, im on movike, and im lazy Open on Cosplayer Dude at convention in Link Cosplay, having a good time (maybe in vendor's hall?) Bam! Fuckin Ganondorf comes through the wall like the Kool Aid Man going on about “those god damned goddesses fucking putting the triforce in this shit hole” Ganondorf sees our hero and is like “Agh! /YOU/! I thought I took care of you! Oh well, once more never hurt anyone” and Hero immediately shits pants Ganondorf essentially takes our hero prisoner w a planned execution Zelda in hiding as one of his minions frees Hero at last minute, runs off w them Big Epic Chase Scene. Hero runs off something/into something/is nearly caught but saved at last minute which leads to blackout and meeting Main Ally (but not Companion. No Companions) Cue “You’re the hero!” “Im most definitely fucking NOT the Hero! Im only dressed up as him! Im not even guy! MY NAMES NOT EVEN LINK!” (Maybe a “Who’s Link? His name was ’(Our Hero’s Name)’”and then an “Oh jesus fuck” “Ok well if ur gonna be fighting you gotta get a proper sword and shield” “Well I GUESS!” *cue raiding the ruined Vendor’s Hall for a sword and shield (neither look like the things but that get painted like them later) Cue Search for the Stones/Pearls/Pendants and travelling between dimensions via lame old plastic ocarina and the rushed learning of Legendary Hero (comment on cheesiness) Courage: needs hammer Wisdom: Needs boomerang Power: Needs floaty glidey thing (sailcloth-type maybe?) Cue Hurdy Gurdy Get and Main Theme Learn (acts as Zelda’s Lullaby in OoT) Cue Quest for Master Sword (cue quest for Master Sword Sheath) -found in Temple of Time (but what about the sheath tho) Cue Quest for Hylian Shield Cue Return to Ally -learn Clocktown Theme as Home Warp Song Oh no! Ganondorf has found the Triforce of Power! (Of course) Chase after Ganondorf as he tries to get the Triforce of Wisdom -End up protecting Zelda on her way out/sneaky leading her out maybe bc she got there first -maybe Look-Alike plan? Race to the Triforce of Courage -Rejects Hero at first bc idk they dont accept their role as Hero or smth. Maybe they just need to accept the courage in themself? Accept that they value courage and have been denying it bc it’s “cliche”? -but also rejects Ganondorf bc he values Power above all and he’s got that piece Cue Standoff with Ganondorf Cue ToC finally accepting Hero “Oh now i can take you you piece of shit” “to be fair, if youd taken it at first, Ganondorf couldve taken it from you.” “.../why/ did you have to have the Triforce of Wisdom” Cue Return to Ally Zelda stays behind at Ally’s bc she thinks she wont be found and/or shell be able to hold her own and/or she can make it defensible/hideable -this place becomes a dungeon later on -”You won’t listen to me when I tell you I know for a FACT this won’t work, right?” “Well, no. But also i cant fight im gonna fuckin die if i go out there w you.” “Tru” Shakey Shakey its an Earth Quakey Cue Trip to find Wise Guy Sahasrala to find out wtf’s going on “Its bc the worlds have been forced close together. They’re becoming unstable.” “Well how tf do I push them apart?” “Ya gotta get both Zelda and Ganondorf back into Hyrule bc they’re keeping it here” Question of whether or not our Hero needs to go w them or do something else- WAIT -The Goddesses just merged the Spirit of the Hero w out Hero one day bc that Link fuckin DIED and so at the Very End the spirits un-merge and our Hero gets to meet THE Hero YES (note: Decide what Kind of Link this kid is) Parts of Hyrule start appearing in our world and Vice Versa Return to Ally’s Place to find it dungeon-ified, Zelda missing presumably deep in the dungeon, and Ally lying bleeding, dying “Yo Zelda’s in there but you’re gonna need a whole HOST of other items to get through there” *dies* Cue Questing for Other Items (Both Tunics / Environment Devices, Bow, Hookshot, and Bombs) -cue instructions and/or panic about learning to use the items (Water Thingy on breathing, Hookshot on fuckign BONES, and Bombs on ignition and usage) Back to the Ally Dungeon! HOLY SHIT LEARN SONGS FEATURED AND/OR USED IN THEGAMES THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE THING (Zelda’s Lullaby doesn’t do anything here go fuck urself) (here it’s the main theme) Go through JUST in time to see Ganondorf take Zelda (of course) (but she at least puts up a fight this time) Standoff w Ghost/Shadow/Phantom Ganon “Well Shit What do I do Now?” Goes back to convention Cue Reflection on all this fucking shit Cue another Link Cosplayer coming up and being like “Dude holy fuck what the fucking shit” Cue Useful Information on Ganon’s Whereabouts “How’re we gonna get in tho its fucking heavily guarded (bc i figure you could use some help im coming with but i also dont quite recognize you’re /really/ the Hero bc thats not a real thing at least i dont think it is)” “Take this old replica shit I got at the start of this fucking fiasco and come confuse w me, his monsters are rly dumb theyll never know we’re diff heights and maybe even skin colors” They succeed “Yo bro this is getting a bit much for me and you look like you’ve got it good luck and let me know if you need my help again. Heres my number” “god i forgot phones were a /thing/” Cue finding Ganondorf and Final Standoff in Our World Cue Sacred Realm or some bs scene Cue Message from the Goddesses in form of Big Mysterious Voice saying “whoops we fucked up cant push away the worlds until Spirit of Hero is unmerge” (clever hints all along that Spirit of Hero was there and at least part of the time acting) “Looks like you gotta Stab the Thing in the Temple of Time. Also leave all your cool shit there please” -actually maybe not bc most things can be made -maybe its like “look we know there’ll still be residual effects and shit in your world so a) Take these Ghost Versions of shit that work the same and go fight it or b) take the Actual Items and they’ll find their way back to Hyrule later Cue journey to Temple of Time to stab sword in pedestal Cue Meeting w the Spirit of the Hero and subsequent near fan-personing of Our Hero Long talk about everything (and maybe the bringing up of the Link name) -”nah bro my name’s Link idk what that shit was probably the Goddesses doin shit” “So you mean I wasnt actually destined to be the hero?” “No you were, but the name always helps.” -I imagine this Link to have much of the personality and maybe look of Skyward Sword Link which makes sense bc he was the Original Link Cue Return to Our World and Wrapping Up of Shit Cue Epilogue Our Hero Agender, but if asked will say Mayonnaise Needs glasses so has to wear those fuckin sports glasses -I hate those glasses -they have silver/gray ones. The kind that look like weird goggles After Inciting Incident they go and fucking use ALL the bobby-pins to keep their hat on -”Suddenly I kinda maybe rly wanna wear this through the adventure. At least it’s well made and I’ll get several kicks out of keeping it on” Swears at anything and everything in a dungeon -“OH BOY A BOSS ROOM NOT LIKE IM FUCKING SURPRISED” -“god damned FLOOR/WALLMASTERS I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY!!! FUCKIN LEAVE ME ALONE” Has played many a Zelda

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arthasmenethil-frostmoure-blog · 7 years

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Calia Menethil

has everyone just forgot about calia menethil?? and how she made her return in legion during the dsic priest artifact questline…. the rightful heir for the throne of lordearon, the fucking sister of GOD DAMN ARTHAS (oh you know only one of the most important lore characters in warcraft history) and the fact calia was literally BFFs with jaina, something tells me theres a massive possibility for a siege of orgimmar 2…. calia and jaina take on lordaeron, to place calia back on the throne, and have her become the true ruler of the alliance because lets say anduin cant make the critical decisions she can, so i think the most probable end boss has to be jaina, purely because of unlimited potential to build off it for a future expansion heres my theory.

jaina hasnt been the same since theramore, as krucial (a warcraft youtuber) said, shes probably searching for last ditch efforts to create her new plan to dismantle the horde which i will get to in a moment. So jaina has gone mia, and is thrown into a fit of rage that drives her to the brink of insanity as she still can’t understand why the alliance and horde still side with one another, (now in this scenario its important to remember that sylvanas is warchief) driving her to figure out a way to burn both sylvanas and the horde down to the ground similar to garrosh, and unite all the factions under the banner of the alliance, jaina knows the risks that come with attempting to side with the legion so that is why she will not look to them for extra power or help, instead help finds her, ever since theramore the old gods have been whispering to her, and now she is listening, lets say the whole “jaina is a dreadlord” scenario is true to some extent accept shes not a dreadlord, she is a puppet for the old gods, as we all know the old gods thrive off of chaos and destruction, and since theramore that is all jaina has been trying to cause, lets says since theramore she has been being controlled and manipulated by the old gods, now who else would be the perfect target for old god corruption, thats right calia, her bloodline is legendary and we all know how easy it is for her family members to be corrupted, (cough arthas cough) all it takes is a push in the right direction. In the disc priest questline we get the impression calia is very unhappy with the way the alliance is being run, as she says “my father would have thrown you out of his alliance” to our characters when interacting with her in the beginning, which shows there is enough resentment there for the old gods to manipulate.

The old gods use calias anger to their advantage and try to push her over the edge, however she is not so easily beaten by the whispers, it is not until jaina and calia come accross one another during the final end game raid, as we are fighting jaina to try and forcefully convince her that the alliance and horde are stronger working separate but together, jaina eventually gives up and surrenders because she has a better plan in mind, having since one of her oldest childhood friends calia, the sister to her former lover arthas, she is filled with new ideas and emotions, a darkness would creep over her as the old gods would sense there opportunity was in the making, and began to corrupt jainas mind again and manipulate her into siding with calia menethil, after some time bring locked in prison, she would drive herself into chaotic madness, and grow angrier by the day, the old gods would be salivating st the opportunity to work their chaotic dark magic, now i believe the best course of action would be to hold jaina in the cell until an old gods expansion, for the full effect and the surprise factor to commence, during her time locked away, calia had been visiting jaina every now and then, calia still driven mad by the way the alliance is being run, she would confide in jaina, as jaina has the same beliefs, over time calia would become vulnerable and succumb to the old gods corruption, during an old god expansion calia would break jaina out of her cell, and would unite with her under a common cause, both jaina and calia want to see the glory days of the alliance renewed, they both want revenge on the horde (calia would want revenge because of sylvanas desecrating her fathers kingdom) Which is what would prompt the siege of Lordaeron, (siege of orgrimmar 2.0) jaina and calia would work together to try to convince the factions that the undead should not be trusted and if they are to survive they must take them out, every chance they get they frame sylvanas and her forsaken for events that jaina and calia would cause, knowing that the leaders of the horde and the alliance are so easily persuaded, except for anduin and thrall.

Anduins contacts thrall as he has suspicions about jaina and calia and believes that the forsaken are innocent, calia and jaina both expected anduin to be tricky to work with, and thus counted him as a liability, the news of anduin believing the forsaken are innocent leads to an uprising, and anduin is cast out as the leader of the alliance, (for now) leaving the alliance in disarray , with both factions main leaders in the spotlight for betrayal, jaina and calia begin their final preparations under the control of the old gods, (who by now have pretty much full control over them both) meanwhile, anduin and thrall are planning a rebellion against jaina and calias influence over the horde and the alliance, they side with sylvanas and a few of her trusted allies to expose jaina and calia, who by now have already begun their plan to eradicate the forsaken and sylvanas, and take back lordaeron, the plan is successful and and lordaeron falls, sylvanas escapes to (somewhere im not too sure where yet all we know is its important she escapes for the future) now that the forsaken has been taken care of the horde and the alliance are beginning to flounder, without strong leadership, they fall into dissary, leading to more warfare and conflict between the two mini alliances are forged to try and end the conflict, but there is no luck, by now calia and jaina under the influence of the old gods have sent the whole of azeroth into chaos, calia has reclaimed the throne of lordaeron, thrall, anduin and sylvanas are MIA, the old gods have broken free, aszhara has re appeared, and no-one has a clue where malfurion and tyrande are.

So this is just a little theoretical idea i have for a future expansion including a few ideas for patches, it leaves and opening for end games content and future expansions where the rebellion over throws calia and jaina, the alliance and horde get back on track, lor thermar is made warchief, anduin is re instated as king of stormwind, calia flees and goes mia for a few expansions, jaina is killed during the lordaeron raid, the old gods are back and causing chaos globally and azshara is a big threat, theres so many ways to go from there.

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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Fighting Al Capones Beer Wars

Red: BLOODY TRAIL

Hed: Fighting Al Capones Beer Wars

Dek: John J. Binder is an assiduousand often contrarianhistorian of the gang wars that plagued Chicago, and in a new book he sets the record straight on just who shot whom and why.

SEO: Fighting Al Capones Beer Wars

Byline: Ronald K. Fried

Vertical: arts/culture

Tags: Al Capone, prohibition, gangsters, organized crime, Chicago, Beer Wars

Its surprisingly difficult to get at the facts behind the history of organized crime. The topic doesnt typically attract the attention of Ivy League history departments. And most of the key witnesses to significant eventsrub-outs and the likeare either dead, because theyre the victims of organized crime, or are themselves criminals, and thus professional liars. Then theres the challenge of penetrating the fog of sentimentality perpetuated by films from The Godfather on down.

Yet, as is proven by countless volumes lousy with hearsayand an astonishing number of websites catering to a curious breed of mafia hobbyistit can be fun and profitable to romanticize old-school sociopaths.

John J. Binder is not in that business.

Anyone whos watched a documentary about the Chicago Outfitas Chi-towns mob has come to be knownhas likely seen Binder with his walrus mustache and thick mop of salt-and-pepper hair as he supplies expert commentary in his splendid Chicago accent.

Binder may now be able to claim the title of leading scholar of organized crime in Chicago thanks to Al Capones Beer Wars, his new 400-plus-page book about what really happened in the vice-ridden Windy City between 1920 and 1933. This, of course, is when Prohibition kicked in. And all students of mob history agree that Americas disastrous experiment in outlawing booze was the greatest gift the bad guys ever received.

Binder approaches his topic with the academic rigor youd expect from a retired professor with a Ph.D. in finance and economics from the University of Chicago. A diligentif not obsessiveinvestigator, he ferrets out untapped primary sources and submits them to statistical analysis.

Based on a meticulous examination of 729 Prohibition-era gangland murders documented in a Chicago Crime Commission study, for example, he argues that there were far fewer bootlegging-related killings in Chicago than had been believed.

Everyone has seen the numbered list, Binder told me when I interviewed him in

Chicago. But no one studied the victims case by case to determine who they werethe what, where, and how they died.

Binder and an equally indefatigable colleague, Mars Eghigian Jr., the author of a biography of Capones successor Frank Nitti, did just that. Their study was published in an academic journal.

If you go and look at each individual case and study the weapons used and the motives, Binder said, the evidence suggests that virtually every conclusion about gangland killings in Chicago during Prohibition is wrong.

Of the 729 killings, just 41 percent were related to bootlegging, and only 140 of the victims were members of an established bootlegging mob, according to Binder.

Binder also tackles the conventional wisdom that the Tommy gun was the weapon of choice for mob hits. Not so, he said, because automatic weapons are very inaccurate.

If youre trying to not hit bystanders, and youre trying to just hit the target, that becomes a bit of a problem, he said. In terms of gangland killings, which are essentially assassinations, quite often a pistol or a shotgun is sufficient. If you cant kill the victim or victims with a pistol or a shotgun, youre in the wrong profession.

None of which is to say that Chicago wasnt a pretty dangerous place back in the day, as Binder reminds us in his book by quoting from a 1932 newspaper advertisement: Bullet Holes Rewoven Perfectly in Damaged ClothesLow Price.

Among Binders other findings: The Beer Wars were not simply a conflict between the Italian Capone South Side gang and the Irish North Side gang. Nor were these gangs by any means the only gangs involved in bootlegging. At the start of 1924, there were 12 major bootlegging gangs in Chicago. By 1932, 11 major bootlegging mobs remained inside the city limits.

This Irish North Side vs. all Italian South Side, thats a laughable description of the ethnic development of the city of Chicago, he said.

Capones gang was admirably inclusive. His chief lieutenants included Jake the Greasy Thumb Guzik, who was Jewish, and Murray Humphries, a Welshman.

And the nominally Irish North Side gangs were not exclusively Irish.

If you look at the leaders of the North Side gang from Dean OBanion to Bugs Moran, Binder said, only one of them was Irish and that was OBanion.

Bugs Moran, the intended target of the Saint Valentines Day Massacre, was actually the child of French immigrants who arrived in Chicago via Canada. And his predecessor, the not-very-Irish-sounding Hymie Weiss, was not, as his name suggests, Jewish.

He was buried in a Catholic cemetery, Binder reports. He carried a Bible around with him every day.

Binder spends nine pages refuting the claim in a recent Capone biography that

Capone did not order the Saint Valentines Day Massacre. And he disputes the theory promulgated by a prominent Chicago newspaper columnist that Capone was a figurehead who took the heat for the true Outfit leader, Paul The Waiter Ricca.

Binder also challenges the widely accepted notion that the execution of seven of Bugs Morans men in the garage on North Clark Street on Valentines Day in 1929 promptly ended the Irish North Side Gang.

Theres this myth that starts the day after [the massacre], Binder says. You have headlines in at least two papers, Moran Gang Wiped Out. I have no idea who conjured that up. Because its easy to name 15 top guys, major guys, in the North Side Gang who were still alive, plus the probably 200-plus gunmen who were in that gang.

Capone, with his roly-poly figure and comic book face, was a curious mix of pop-culture anti-hero and brutal killer, a gangster who couldnt resist speaking to the pressalways a bad idea for a mob boss. He is often referred to as both an organizational geniusand something of a clown. So how smart was Capone?

I dont think Capone was stupid by any means, Binder said. He had the two major skills required of a gang leader, especially a gang leader during gang wars. One, he had the military ability. He could lead a gang effectively and fight his enemies during the Beer Wars.

The second talent was, of course, his business savvy.

An army, regardless of how big it is, runs on something. There has to be an economy it runs on, Binder said. And Capone effectively ran a multi-million-dollar business empire.

Given Binders deep knowledge of Capone and the Outfit leaders who succeeded him, I found it hard to resist running a few other mob legends past him.

First, Binder doesnt believe the stories that Capone had squirreled away millions, money that he could not locate after his release from prison once syphilis-related dementia had set in.

Its nonsense to think theres a lost Capone fortune, Binder said. Capone spent it as fast as he got it. He kept thinking that theres always going to be more.

What about Chicago mob boss Sam Giancanas widely cited claim that the Outfit swung the 1960 election in favor of JFK?

Theres no convincing evidence, and some of the assertions are worse than empty, Binder said.

In 1960, certain Democratic wards in Chicago were entirely controlled by the Outfit. They called the shots. They appointed the political leaders of the ward. They appointed the alderman, he said, adding that these were wards that regularly voted 85, 90 percent Democratic. Therefore, Jack Kennedy, an Irish American Catholic, was especially popular in some of those wards and got a very large plurality.

The districts hardly needed the Outfits strong arm to sway them. But after Kennedys overwhelming victory in Chicago, Giancana shot his mouth off and took credit for it, Binder said.

Is it true the mob stayed out of the narcotics business?

Not really, according to Binder.

Even during Prohibition, there are a number of references to Capone being involved in narcotics. Its a myth that the Chicago mob didnt touch narcotics, said Binder. As a friend of mine says, they did everything else. Why would they shy away from narcotics?

Did the mob kill JFK?

No evidence whatsoever. Lots of innuendo and assertions. Because on this side of the Atlantic, if you want to concoct a good conspiracy theory, it must involve the mob and the Kennedys. This is what people do to sell books.

Binder, though, is not averse to earning a buck from his expertise. Along with a partner, he owns a huge collection of photos of Chicago mobsters and mob hits, which he routinely licenses to the producers of TV mob documentaries.

Binders book, naturally, is sprinkled with 114 photos from his archives. Its a gruesome gallery of scary-looking dudes and grotesque murders, and I for one am grateful that the photos are in black and white.

I have some mob hits, color photos, from the 60s and 70s, and those can be quite vivid with the red, Binder said, especially when they put the shotgun right up to someones head and take off parts of the anatomy. You tend to bleed out quite a bit.

Binders collection now includes about 2,500 photos.

It began as a hobby, he told me with a smile, and got totally out of control.