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skyward-floored · 1 year

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Febuwhump day 24 - bloody clothes

This was like the first one I wrote and I didn’t realize yesterday’s was going to focus on Cloud, so here we are, Cloud suffering twice in a row. Sorry man. You’ve had a pretty rough time this month XD

Minor blood/injury warning :)

Courage of ages explanation

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Mini watched in silence as Cloud strode resolutely down the hallway in front of him, biting his lip when the older hero’s breath wheezed a little.

They’d barely said anything to each other since they’d been separated from Hibiscus and Sprite in the middle of a fight against some armored knights, Mini only asking whether Cloud had been okay after he’d seen him get hit. Cloud had brushed him off and they had continued through the odd dungeon where they’d ended up, hoping their missing companions were still in the temple somewhere.

They hadn’t said a word to each other since.

Mini could hear Cloud’s breath starting to rasp in his throat though, and his steps had slowed drastically in the past few minutes. He suddenly stumbled, and had to lean against a wall for a second, and Mini couldn’t stand watching him push himself any more.

“Cloud, I think we should stop,” he said quietly, coming up to his elbow.

Cloud swallowed and took a rasping breath, then pushed himself off the wall and kept walking. “No, we need... we need to keep going.”

Mini bit his lip and put a hand on Cloud’s arm.

”Cloud if you keep going like this you might hurt yourself more,” he continued, looking up at him worriedly. “I know you said it wasn’t bad, but...”

Cloud continued to walk, though it was more of a stumble now. “Mini... we’ve got to find Sprite and Hibiscus, or they...”

He stopped suddenly and hissed in pain, clutching at his chest.

Mini felt his stomach drop and darted around in front of Cloud, carefully pulling his hand off his shirt. He stared in dismay at the red starting to soak through Cloud’s tunic, crimson staining the green, and he gently tugged the hand still in his own.

“That looks bad Cloud.”

“N-no, I’ll be okay,”

Mini frowned. “Are you sure?”

Cloud winced, putting the hand not in Mini’s over his chest again. “We don’t have time to stop, we have to find, ngh, Sprite and Hib...”

Mini tugged on his arm. “Cloud, please sit down, it’s okay, they can wait a little longer.”

Cloud swallowed and looked down the hall, worry in every line on his face.

“But what if they can’t? W-what if we’re... we’re too—”

“Well you won’t be any use to them like this!” Mini cried, and couldn’t help the scared note that snuck into it. Cloud obviously needed to rest, why couldn’t he see that?! “I won’t let you push yourself until you drop, I don’t care what your reasoning is! You’re hurt!“

Cloud stared down the hall in silence for another few long moments.

Then he pressed his eyes shut and sighed heavily, squeezing Mini’s hand. His shoulders sank as the fight abruptly drained away from him, and he suddenly looked completely exhausted.

“You’re right Mini,” he whispered, then slid down the wall to land on the floor. “I’m sorry.”

Mini sat down next to him without a word, and gently began unbuckling his sword strap so he could help bandage the slice.

“We’ll find them Cloud, but we gotta wait and fix you up first,” he said, helping him tug his tunic off. He helped him get out of his under shirt and half-busted chainmail as well, then breathed out a short breath at the deep slice sluggishly bleeding across Cloud’s chest. “That doesn’t look even remotely okay,” he said quietly, and Cloud sighed again.

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” he said, voice taut with pain.

Mini didn’t bother arguing, and dug through his bag, sighing at the single measly potion he had left before handing it to Cloud. “Here. Let’s see if this’ll be enough.”

He was pretty sure it wouldn’t be though.

Cloud nodded then gulped down the potion, wincing as it began to work at knitting his skin back together, sealing flesh and fusing muscle back to how it was supposed to be. Mini leaned forwards once it was done, studying the slice. It wasn’t fully healed, but it was more of a shallow cut now, and a bandage or two would probably do it.

He sighed in relief and pulled out the roll, Cloud helping him where he could in bandaging it. They were both silent while he worked, and Cloud didn’t look Mini in the eye, only wincing a little as he was patched up.

“I think we should stay here a while longer and rest,” Mini said when he’d finished, sitting down next to Cloud. “We could both use a break.”

Mini looked up at Cloud, still staring quietly off down the hall. He knew mentioning directly they were stopping solely for Cloud’s sake would never go over with the other hero, but making it seem like they both needed the rest would hopefully convince him.

Cloud nodded.

Mini sighed in relief and settled in next to him, hoping his body heat would ward off the the chill from the stones they sat on.

The hall was silent for several long moments.

“I’m sorry for scaring you Mini,” Cloud suddenly whispered, and the small hero pressed himself tighter against his side. “I just... I hope they’re okay. I was late helping someone once, and she was hurt because of it. I... I can’t let that happen again.”

“It won’t,” Mini reassured gently. “The others are tough. They’ll be okay, I know it. And I know you weren’t trying to scare me. It’s okay.”

Cloud tucked the trailing edge of his sailcloth around him, and Mini leaned his head on his arm.

“...but don’t do it again, okay?”

Cloud nodded with a small smile, and not long after fell asleep, Mini right behind him.

#short and sweet #legend of zelda #legend of Zelda au #courage of ages #coa cloud #coa mini #writing from the floor #febuwhump #febuwhump2023 #day 24 #bloody clothes

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amayensis · 3 years

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How to learn drawing MH monsters

Hey Anon! First of all I'm very honored, thanks a lot!!

You're asking a very interesting question in my opinion, so I hope you will find a long response interesting as well c:

When I want to learn how to draw a new Monster, I base myself on the Monster's design (ofc) but also on general knowledge, especially anatomy. Anatomy is crucially important even when drawing creatures that do not exist, simply in order to make them believable!

So if you struggle to draw MH Monsters, that are famous for their 'realism' and believability, first ask yourself what level you have in basic anatomy: if you know how skeleton works, muscles work, transcribing it into proportions and joints, things like that.

(Art I made for fun for my RP blog)

I sadly can't offer you much advice on how to learn it, because anatomy is partly intuitive to me; and lots of my artistic anatomy studies were more centered around human anatomy (however, a lot of muscle groups are similar to animals, so even my knowledge of humans is useful when drawing monsters). I also have to mention I'm a vet student, and we had medical anatomy classes in the first year, which helped a lot as well; but I'm sure you can find online resources that will teach you the basics for art!

To learn drawing in general, you also need to have a good sense of observation. That's also something I get mostly from intuition so I'm not sure how to teach it; but basically, a sentence I often hear is learn to draw what you see (from a photo, for example) and not what you THINK you see. The difference lies in the fact that people may tend to draw an eye like what they imagine an eye looks like (stylized, oblong, with a round pupil), instead of studying the reference picture that will force them to think in shapes, strokes, and proportions, and not in terms of objects they're trying to represent. That's when you realize that depending on the angle, an eye can show extremely varying shapes, isn't symmetrical, and even the pupil doesn't always look round on a picture. I hope it makes sense, if not let me know. XD

Now applied to monster drawing: get some reliable references from different angles, HD screenshots are the best (unless you can access a ripped-off 3D model). If possible avoid non-official art of monsters because they may have mistakes.

(Small part of a reference board in my reference software, VizRef for iPad)

When studying a reference, you must be able to guess where the skeleton is, and that knowledge will help you fix the proportions of the creature (relative sizes of the body parts, distance between different points on the body, joint placements...). When you draw the monster from different angles, the legs shouldn't get weirdly far from the head, the shoulders shouldn't be too caudal, the eyes shouldn't get too far or too close from the tip of the nose, etc.

Most of the time when learning to draw a new monster, I observe/study lots of screenshots, copy from screenshots (I'm not a fan of tracing but some people say it can help learning), using simple shapes at first then more and more complex; and then after a bit of practice, I try to draw without a reference a couple times. If it looks wrong, I go back to screenshots to search where my mistake is, and usually that's enough to find it and fix it for the next times. Do not fixate on details at first, especially if you can't get the proportions of the monster right! Try to figure out what makes a monster’s design so recognizable, and insist on that.

Let me show you an example of how I learnt to draw Rathian on paper back in the days (2015):

1. My first sketches of Rathian, from memory and without reference.

2. Studies of Rathian references (screenshots, renders...).

3. New drawings of Rathian without reference, using the knowledge I learnt from the references.

(Link to higher resolution)

Also, link to more Rathian sketches I made with references back then.

Even now, I rarely draw monsters without references, but having learnt to draw them like this helps a lot to understand how they work; and usually this knowledge is visible in your final art.

In conclusion, what you need in order to learn drawing MH monsters is: anatomy basics, sense of observation, decent references, and patience! If you think you have all that, persevere!

I hope this post will help you figure out what's holding you back from improving your monster art. If not, I don't mind discussing it further based on what you can draw, even by private messaging if you want. :3

#tutorial #answer #tips #drawing #monster hunter #rathian #draw #art #anatomy #amayensis art #if this helps other people I'd love to hear your feedback! <3 #anon #ask

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pepperf · 3 years

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Consider this me asking you about DVD Extras, I fricking LOVE that fic! What do you wanna tell us about it? (And when Intro to Recycled Cinema aired, I was totally like, 'hey, wait a minute...I've read this fic!'😂)

Ahaha, now you're asking, and I have no idea! XD Other than, holy crap, I hope no one ever asks me to explain the plot to Abed's movie because that does not exist.

Okay, behind the cut for me rambling!

I loved the ep 'Pillows and Blankets' SO MUCH, it was goddamn art, I think it's one of the best examples of why Community is actually such a good show, they did some brilliant things. So I thought it would be fun to try it in text form. Which is a weird step even further back - from live action TV, to photos and narration, to descriptions of photos... I was going full-on arthouse, let's-play-with-the-form there. I think that only works for short pieces though, for Community it worked because they do 22min eps, and for me it worked because it's like 5.5k words.

It was also kind of my tribute to a Stargate fanfic I read a long time ago (following the adventures of Jack's clone, and the clones they make of Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel) that has a description of a photo in it, which has forever stuck in my head, a weird kind of visual that I will never see. It's funny how doing that, writing it rather than actually depicting it, sometimes fixes something in your head (or my head, anyhow) more perfectly, because it's the ideal version and not an interpretation, like how characters from a book you read first never quite translate into TV or movies. I am more on the writing side of this equation, I am not good enough to make visual representations of my ideas (for the record, I think both are equally valid, it's just that's not my personal strength), so I am fascinated by the techniques of making a piece of writing really visual. And I grew up reading Terry Pratchett, who is an incredibly visual writer, all his things read like movies.

I am also really into the mechanics of filmmaking, the way it's a cooperative effort - but of course this is Community, so for every one of Abed's filmmaking eps, everyone else is in their own head about the part they're playing. Abed will be trying to do one thing, and Troy generally works really well with him and riffs on his ideas, makes them more fun and less inwardly-focused - but the others all have their own agenda and will yank at the edges until it all collapses. Abed sometimes seems to make it happen on purpose, or at least has an idea of how to channel the chaos - or maybe he's just really zen and prepared to see where it takes him, idk.

And and and! I liked the idea of making something that was the written version of all the miscellaneous crap you get on a DVD, all the bts videos and bloopers and production stills...a lot of the time, they feel like no one really knows what they should contain, it's just a huge grab-bag of whatever they had lying around. There's no consistency, so you never know if you're going to get absolutely every inch of how it was made, to the nth degree, à la LotR, or if you're just going to get the theatrical trailer because fuck you, you've got the movie, what more do you want?! And these have only come up since we got DVDs, you didn't really get this with video, it just wasn't practical - so it's this weird, confused, relatively new situation, sort of an unintentional art form, of how much or how little you're told - and what that tells you about the people behind it, if they're oversharers or purists. Commentaries are the same. I've tried to listen to the notorious Blake's 7 commentaries, which, oh my god, they are the worst, it's like sitting in a bar with a bunch of drunk luvvies, thirty years after they were in a play together. But currently I'm listening to the commentaries for Leverage, which are amazing and informative and perfect.

Hmm, what else... Oh, so, things I got right for what they did in 'Intro to Recycled Cinema': scifi setting (duh), chaotic script changing on the fly (also duh), death scene (although I think I got that idea from the bit in 'Ladders' where Annie is hurt and Jeff rushes to her side), Jeff having a meltdown (double duh). I like to think that mine had the edge, because it a) had Troy, and b) had an emotional resolution for Jeff and Annie that was long overdue. But maybe I'm biased. And I am violently against crossing the streams, but if ever I was in a social situation with Dan Harmon and it somehow wasn't weird, this would be the one piece of my work I'd want to give him.

Also, I still make myself laugh with the Titanic-scene-turned-horror-movie-moment with Pierce in the car, at the end. XD

#community #fic by pepper #writing #mememe #the first edit of this shows how I'm in fic-posting mode bc instead of actually just italicising I put in the italics tags instead #d'oh!

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spongebob-connoisseur · 4 years

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@sneakyarachnids !! I didn't forget about this! I know I should have done this sooner but I was busy but here it is!!!

I actually wrote this before but when I tried to post it, tumblr deleted my thing. Just tumblr things ya kno? Its funny, I was looking everywhere for the papers I wrote it on and I thought I lost it but when I was ready to give up is when I found them.

Anyways my original concept for the Stanley Squarepants episode was to deal with the gag that Stanley magically destroyed everything he touched which annoyed me as a kid. I actually really like this episode but it could have been better. One of those things is that gag since it wasn't very funny to begin with and it was dragged out through the episode but it would kind of mess up the plot of the episode because that's what started it.

The main idea of the episode is that Stanley was sent to live with spongebob because he has no skills, work, or anything and uncle sherm was frustrated by it. So through the episode spongebob tries to help Stanley find a skill but he mainly tried to force his own hobbies and skills on Stanley, as did everyone else. There was also the factor that everyone saw Stanley as a spongebob number 2 so they treated him as such like Mr. Krabs hiring him at the Krusty krab or plankton being enthusiastic to hire him too. At the end of the episode, they find that Stanley destroying things is a skill and is used to sabotage plankton who blindly hired him thinking he'll be like Spongebob. The Chum bucket gets destroyed because of this much to Mr. Krabs glee.

My og idea to fix this episode was to give Stanley a skill that he never got to fully express unless on his own. Like writing or whatever. And the gags are mainly the nonsense of spongebob and others trying to find Stanley's talents and failing in goofy ways. Not because of Stanley. Stanley might get distracted by other things or do his own thing that is successful. The gag is focused on how caught up people are to make him interested in partaking in their hobbies and their skills and for them it failing. The resolution of the episode would be Stanley being able to express that he appreciates what everyone did for him but the things they try to share and teach aren't him. He has his own thing that he's good at and finding success in his own hobbies and being able to move out.

I also had a little redesign of Stanley too, along with some spongey doodles.

These are ANCIENT drawings but- I can't draw spongebob as good as that anymore xD

Stanley's original design really stood out and looked awkward in the show. Tbh I like his OG design but the gag of the episode was that people thought Stanley was a Spongebob number two so he ought to look the part. My design had him be slightly taller than spongebob and his clothes would he like Spongebob's concept art design (if you seen it, his original outfit was green and blue) also the ridges (the little waves on spongebob) like Spongebob has a pattern.

To make this easier to understand, imagine a box. Excluding the corners. The number of ridges for the height is 4. For the length there are 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom. For the width, there is only 1. That's spongebob. You can pause the show whenever you like to count but he always has the exact same number of ridges.

Stanley is the same except his width would have 2 ridges like how spongebob had in the pilot episode.

Stanley has less of an overbite but more of a tooth gap and his dad is uncle Sherm. We've seen him in the show. He has brown eyes so Stanley should have brown eyes too.

Still I like his OG design. I think I'm biased because I would slap a lanky body type on a character and think its perfection. Also the hair and cuffed pants (I like his disaster homosexual look okie) its weird and out of place but I still like it so its not something in need of change.

I'm not a huge fan of my original idea to "fix" the episode because the biggest problem I have with the episode is Stanley's self worth. Everyone placed value on skills he did have and things he couldn't do. Mr. Krabs only hired him because he thought he could exploit him like Spongebob and by the end of the episode he managed to. Plankton hired him because he thought he could use him like a spongebob 2.

Everyone either saw him as a second spongey or trying to force teach him how to be like them but what about Stanley? The original episode only manage to use his destructiveness in a controlled way like a bomb. My original resolution isn't better because I feel like the resolution became "see? There is some way we can use him!"

Not everyone knows what they're good at right away. You're not magically skilled at some things. It takes time and practice. you won't be perfectly good at on your first try. Your skills and hobbies don't need to make millions of dollars in order to be worth something. Your interest doesn't automatically have to be useful to others to be worthy. It can be something only you are good at or enjoy doing and that's okay.

I feel like that would be a better message with the episode. There's also the fact that episode showed Stanley often messed up stuff because he was nervous with all the pressure of doing it "right" similar to how spongebob always failed his boating exam in the pre movie seasons because he was nervous despite passing the written portion perfectly.

Stanley does have some hobbies. We've seen photography and scrapbooking in the episode.

He was good at something (also the disaster homosexual moment here is gold). He just didn't realize since he was so caught up in the fear of failing and not being able to do what other people do. The entire episode he felt bad because he couldn't be like Spongebob or have a routine like him.

It's funny since he didn't need to be. He could create his own routine and do his own thing. The episode could be better with Stanley finding self confidence in himself. He isn't a spongebob 2 and he is good enough. Even if he doesn't have the skills everyone has. Idk how he'd come to this conclusion though. Probably the frustration building up of not being how everyone expecting him to be? And he finally snaps.

I can see the end of the episode him going off to do his own thing and to work on things that make him happy now with his new found confidence. He may not be perfect but he finds joy in what he does and that's good enough for him.

If he needed a job, he could find work relating to his passion. He's not magically perfect with some talent agent recognizing him and hiring him on the spot like a movie. Its slow steps but we can see change is there and he's a lot happier.

I know this is quite a lot but I hope I got my ideas across well. It was fun to write!

#I had to upload this on my computer since it kept deleting itself from the tumblr app #spongebob #spongebob squarepants #ask #the spongebob theorist #spongebob theorist #about the spongebob theorist #sneakyarachnids #Stanley S. Squarepants #stanley squarepants #@sneakyarachnids #Reply #Sneakyarachnids

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icypantherwrites · 5 years

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An open letter to my VLD and Langst fans

Hello everyone ♥

I’m not really sure how to start addressing this so I guess I’ll just write and see where it goes (because hey, once a pantser always a pantser ;p). Apologies if this gets super long.

I know I’m not alone in noticing that Voltron has fallen very very much so in popularity since season eight came out (and to be honest, it’s been declining since about season five-ish). Nearly all of the friends and regular readers I’ve enjoyed chatting with in this fandom have disappeared; be it from moving onto another fandom entirely, quitting writing or reading fanfiction (or both), or just vanishing into the night and it really sucks from this end to lose those friendships and relationships.

I’ve noticed a significant decline in engagement on fics. Not just comments (although believe me, those are down too xD) but even just in hits. A fic that would normally generate at least a thousand hits doesn’t even get half of that. An update gets even less than that half. It’s beyond frustrating and disheartening here and I can’t imagine how other authors who are a little less prolific are feeling from this fallout.

Posts on Tumblr, despite the fact I post to over 2,000 followers (a milestone reached the other week, thank you for that ♥), are barely engaged with, not even with likes.

It hurts me to say it but it’s true.

Voltron is a dying fandom.

There are still pockets of it that are vibrant and thriving to as much degree as they can, but they are not ships I support nor content I’m interested in. The gen fandom, the Langst fandom, the whump fandom, has been steadily fading away. I didn’t want to admit it but I can’t ignore it any longer.

And I understand. The way Voltron ended (like Game of Thrones xD) is not the ending a series that has meant so much to so many should have concluded with. It left a bitter, sour taste in many mouths, turned a nostalgia to a resentment and made fans pull away. Fix it fics and art can only go so far when a fandom has been so alienated by its own kind and there is no canon resolution to fixing anything.

Voltron has meant so much to me. It brought back my love of writing and made me a much better writer to boot. It introduced me to some amazing people (and although I don’t talk to like... any of them anymore I hope everyone is doing well and has found a passion that is deserving of your talents and time). It and the readers and their comments got me through some really tough spots in my life where I felt very trapped without much light at the end of my tunnel. It’s something that, no matter how much I too disliked many elements of the final seasons, that I do look back on fondly. I have so many good memories of the Voltron fandom, of my own experiences in writing for it.

I think that’s why I’ve been stubbornly planting my feet and thinking that if I just took a long enough break, if I just published a fic that would resonate with people like Color or Sin did, if I just held on that this fandom would come back.

But it’s not.

And as much as I wish it would, it won’t.

So what does this all mean?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I still love writing for this fandom, even if posting it is beyond depressing at this point as I see (or rather, don’t) all the people who used to read my fics and aren’t there anymore, the lack of hits on the chapters, the comments, even the Tumblr notes. But it’s no one’s fault. Everyone has just moved on.

And for right now... I’m still going to stay here. At least for a while longer.

I have over... probably about 150k worth of fics left to post that are made up of chaptered fics and oneshots. I still have people interested in being a subscriber to my Patreon (to which I say thank you so so much, especially in light of all the medical issues my dog has been having, every little bit helps) and even commissions coming my way. I’ll probably keep writing so long as there’s decent interest over there and since I’m still generating fics via its monthly fic and any commissions that come my way I’ll have things to post on Ao3. As such I’ll keep promoting it here as it does depend on all of you to keep both it and apparently my fanfiction future alive.

But anything else?

Probably not.

I had debated doing a round two of a zine, of offering a short story type book of smaller chaptered fics for the holiday season. Not sure anyone would really be interested in that now.

I’m not sure I’ll be finishing my Season 8 fix-it fic because knowing the lack of audience and reception it’ll get for hours upon hours of work makes me sad. Spending that amount of time writing a fic for an audience that really isn’t there anymore and at this point probably doesn’t care makes me have to re-prioritize.

Fanfiction in general isn’t the part of my life it was a year ago. I don’t read it anymore. I don’t need the comments to buoy me through a horrible work day as I love my new job. I love my coworkers. I’m hoping to retire here, honestly (in 30 years, Godddd, just double my current lifespan xD). If I were to devote time to writing I think it’d be great to work on my novel; not with the desperation of before as I saw it as my only ticket out of the Police Department, but to enjoy writing it and just have fun with it.

I’ll be here for as long as the Patreon is active and as long as I have fics to post. You might see some weeks where there are two or three fics or updates posted and then a few weeks of nothing as I still struggle with the lack of engagement (even though I know not to expect as much.) I’ll still post on the Tumblr and am still happy to answer asks about Lance and Voltron and writing and whatever may have you.

I just have to start really acknowledging what this fandom has come to and prepare for what is going to happen. And this letter is starting it off to not just all of you but to myself.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me; both in the past and now. Thank you to those who still do so.

I’ll see you around.

♥ Icy

AO3 | Ko-Fi | Patreon | Discord | Bookshop

Like what I write? Support me! Emotionally: Leave a comment on a fic! Financially: Patreon or Ko-Fi

#Voltron #VLD #Fandom #IcyPanther #icypantherwrites #fanfiction #fanfic #Lance #Langst #Whump

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mandelene · 5 years

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💜👻💍😏😢 please???

Thanks for the ask!

💜- top 3 favorite lines

I tried to force myself to choose older works. I like my opening lines to Girlhood

👻- 2 or 3 sentences from something you haven’t posted yet

I’m not giving you guys any spoilers to one of my fics. xD Instead, you can have a few lines from my original fiction that I’ll probably never post, but here’s a taste.

Mr. Petrov’s stories have nothing on Aunt Cheryl’s. She once said she’s got enough problems to cover the tri-state area, and she can talk about them for as long as you let her. She also knows what’s going on with everybody else—Victoria from laundromat just had her third baby, and Ricardo, the engineer who lives three blocks away finally fixed his car this weekend after it was letting out hot steam for two days. Sometimes it’s crazy to think about how all of that information can fit into one head when I can barely remember the names of the kids in my class.

💍 - your most underrated story

I’ve been blessed in terms of feedback. I don’t think any of my stories are “underrated,” just some are less popular than others. The Prussian Santa and Too Hot for the Kitchen are examples of this, lol, but I don’t think that makes them underrated. Besides, I kinda know why they received less traction.Also, any stories that don’t contain Dr. Kirkland tend to historically do worse for me, the only exceptions to this rule being Journey to Home, Child’s Play, and maybe Plastic Talks. xD

😏- your most risky line

Sometimes, I throw in little controversial political lines because I can’t help myself. The entirety of US Domestic Politics and a Kale Salad is an example of this, haha. Actually, I take back what I said earlier, US Domestic Politics and a Kale Salad is very underrated LOL. Also, this little jibe in How to Fall in Love With a Frenchman:

😢- a line that made you cry

I’ll just post this whole thing from Journey to Home to upset you all, lol.

The sun doesn't look any different no matter where you look at it from, and that small realization brings him comfort.

He tries to imagine what he'd be doing if he weren't at war right now. Maybe he'd be studying for a class, reading a book, visiting town and helping to plan Gilbert's wedding. Arthur is most likely asleep because although it's well in the afternoon where Alfred is, it's an hour or two past midnight in Illinois.

Then again, his old caretaker has been having trouble sleeping lately, according to Matthew. Is he up now—looking out the window and having a cup of chamomile tea? Is he thinking about him? Can he somehow feel that he's lying in the middle of this abandoned beach, bleeding out and waiting for help?

Probably not.

He closes his eyes and remembers the drywall behind him on the very first day he met Arthur, green eyes blinking at him with conviction—asking for his name. Riding in the car for the first time. Meeting Baron. Going out to town with Francis. The chocolate bars at Beilschmidt Sweets. Ms. Hedervary in her garden. Ivan sitting by his bedside. Ludwig sweeping the floors. Mr. Honda reading his haiku and saying poetry could give a man his wings.

And he could use some wings right about now. He could fly up and off of this beach. He could leave the anger and the pain and the fighting behind him. He could go back to when things were simple and easy—when the hardest part of his day was convincing Arthur to let him go exploring the fields with Toris.

Pain. He's starting to feel it now. It's an awful thing. He hopes he managed to take some of it away over the years, like when he stayed with Arthur when the man broke his wrist. Or when Baron died, and they shed tears for him together. Or when he helped Francis with the groceries. Or when he asked Gilbert to play soccer. Or when he walked Toris home after he was bitten by that snake. Maybe all of it meant nothing.

Maybe there wasn't a resolution at the end—but it was something, and it mattered.

He is tired. Maybe he'll just rest. The blood is now seeping from between his fingers, but he doesn't try to stop it. Maybe this is how all of the pain leaves the body. He feels himself becoming lighter, as though he's floating a few inches off the ground. Mind separates from body. He feels like he could just drift away. At first, the sensation is alarming, but then, he lets it be.

Everything is okay. The fight is ending. The town will always be there, and they will have each other, just as they always have.

The pain begins to fade. It still hurts, but it won't hurt forever. The rushing sound of the waves crashing into the shoreline gets softer, and he just lets himself drift.

Drifting… Drifting…

Drifting all the way home.

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wakandanblogger · 6 years

Text

What Changed (pt.2)

[Requested by: Anon]

Summary: You simply try to convince T’Challa to give you another chance at affection. Will he forgive you or tell you he can’t deal with your games anymore.

“Look me in my face, and tell me you don’t love me”

Warning(s): Angst

(This part is a bit boring but thanks if you read it xD. I would never hurt babyboy T’Challa!!!!)

(PART 1) (PART 3)

It has been a whole week since you last spoke to T’Challa and you honestly felt awful about the whole situation that took place. That you caused. You beat yourself up about it and hated what you did to that man. He was ignoring your calls, texts, and even emails. You didn’t blame him for the anger he had towards you, but you wanted to make it right. On the news you saw that there was going to be a press conference and that “The King of Wakanda” is going to deliver a special proposal on the resolution of something that you didn’t really care about, you just wanted to see him. Even if it was just a glimpse.

So here you were, waiting outside of a huge ass building, two hours from your apartment, just to talk to someone who probably hated your guts right now. Scrolling through old pictures and good morning messages he would send to you, you asked yourself why you treated someone as kind-hearted as him the way you did and you had no idea what you were going to say once you got close to him. For the longest time everything was quiet and normal for about another two hours until the sound of shutters and random questions filled the air. You get up from your bench to see a group of people and the hair of someone you recognize. You run over and push yourself through the crowd of cameras and questions until you were against a guard rail. There he was, noble, powerful eyes forward, and just radiating power and royalty. You stare at him until he was hidden by the figure of one of his guards. Tears well in your eyes and you begin following him down the guard-rail, your voice getting lost in the sea of others. One of the guards look over in your direction and she frowns, “CHALLA!” You call out right when he opens his car door. He stops after it is opened and looks over at you, eyes never breaking their powerful character. Those eyes cut right through you and it hurt a little. When he enters the car you release a breath you were unaware that you were holding and watch as the car drives away.

Speechless, your grip on the metal rail tightens, the tears roll down your cheeks, you immediately whip out your phone and text:

LOOK! I know you saw me and I wanted to talk to you. Please just let me explain and make things right. I know you gave me chance after chance but please I’m begging you for one more… I really messed up T’Challa and I’m sorry.

Send.

Please! I Know you got the text! Just give me something, please! I’m sorry!

Send.

You look up in the direction the car went then back down to the screen. All of this must be so much for him, you’d be surprised if he even kept his phone on him anymore, or if this was even his number. You decided to just give up hope and go. You knew how he felt when you would ignore his texts and calls and that made the pain even worse. The tables had turned. You were the one begging for his attention and you bet he probably thought it was funny, the pain you were now feeling. You wouldn’t be angry if he was sleeping with other women and just the thought made you want to throw up. Why the sudden change of emotion?

When your phone dings your fumble to look at it only to see that it was a Facebook notification. “UGH! Just talk to me!” Your scream echos and a few people stare at you as if you had lost your mind and honestly you thought you had. Why did you feel like he needed to jump when you said so or do anything you asked after hurting him the way you did? You pushed yourself back through the crowd and made your way to the car garage a few blocks down. You cried the whole way there and couldn’t stop the tears. When you finally made it into your car you let it all out. You brought this upon yourself. Your friends tried to tell you, T’Challa tried to love you, but you were being so stupid. You deserved everything you were feeling.

----

Back in town you hit up a nearby bar for a hour or so to drink away your sorrows. You had undone a few buttons on your blouse and took a few shots from random men that offered you drinks. You would accept them and play hard to get, this wasn’t the way to solve your problems but it temporarily numbed the pain in your heart so you went with it. No man has ever made you feel the way you did except the King of Wakanda. You have been called all sorts of names by men and women like “gold digger” “slut” and even “five dollar hoe” just to name a few and remained unaffected. But losing T’Challa broke you in a way even you didn’t understand. You feel a heavy hand on your shoulder and you turn around in your stool to see a pair of brown eyes that didn’t belong to the king. You scoff and roll your eyes and the man continued to push, “Hey, you look like you had a rough day at the office, need a friend,” He chuckles and you look down at your clothes then back up at him. When you turn around in your stool the man chuckles again and spins you back around to face him, “I brought you this,” he says pushing a glass towards you.

“I’m about to leave. Thanks but no thanks,” You say pushing yourself from the bar but that doesn’t stop them man from following you. He grabs your wrist and you’ve dealt with this issue plenty of times before that you reach around to smack him but you freeze when you see that the man’s eyes are looking at someone else. Your eyes water when you see T’Challa standing, in street clothes, holding the man by the back of his neck. T’Challa looks back at you then back to the man, you can see the veins popping out of his hands and the fire in those eyes. Just his strong presence made you weak and you snatch your hand from the random man’s grip. T’Challa’s eyes catch yours once again and he scans you to make sure nothing on your body was harmed then back to your face. He looks back at the man and without a word shoves him into a empty booth. The man says a few choice words to the both of you but his words are ignored.

Without a word, T’Challa escorts you out of the bar and into his car, “I drove,” was all you said but he is silent. The car takes off and you hold your breath, T’Challa sat looking out of his window his arms crossed tightly. He was refraining from touching you or maybe just calming down from the situation that happened in the bar. When you go to touch him, you see him tense and you back your hand away, “I’m sorry I-”

“Don’t,” T’Challa stops you and still isn’t looking at you, “I’m just giving you a ride home, you dropped your keys when you were leaving so Ayo is driving your car.”

You look over your shoulder to see you car coming up behind you, you look back at T’Challa then down at your lap, “Thanks.”

“Here,” T’Challa hands you a small box and you take it hesitantly, when you open it your tears return. You have cried more times in this week then you have ever cried in your life but you couldn’t hold them in. There in the box was the T’Challa’s copy of your house key, “No!” you say trying to shove the key back to him, “I don’t want it!”

“Well I no longer need it,” He say calmly, it was pissing you off so much that you wanted to scream.

“I don’t want it! It’s yours!” You say again being stubborn, your voice cracks and T’Challa breaks. He finally looks over at you with stern eyes, you knew the look was forced and that he was crumbling.

“Just give me another chance! Let me fix it! I’m sorry that I hurt you,” You start.

“Y/n.”

“No! Let me talk!”

“You’ve done enough!” T’Challa raises his voice and it silences you, “All you did was take me for granted and now that I am gone you expect me to come back just because you miss the attention that you were receiving. The damage has been done,”

“But that isn’t it! Yes I took you for granted and I know why you never want to see my face but all I’m asking if for another chance!” Your voice whispers away and he looks down at you then back to the window when you approach your apartment complex.

“Please,” You beg.

“Get out,” T’Challa says still not looking at you.

T’Challa looks back at you then to the driver, he lets out a sigh, “Ndiza kubuya.”

You have no idea what he says but you look back to T’Challa when he unbuckles his seatbelt and the car shuts off.

“Five minutes,” He says sternly before getting out of the car, his guard try to follow but he hold up his head, halting them. You hurry out of your side of the car and quickly up the stairs, your body was practically shaking that you have trouble opening the door, so much trouble that T’Challa takes over and unlocks it for you. You look over to him and lead the way inside, he follows you and shuts the door behind you. He looks around as if he hasn’t seen this apartment in forever, “Five minutes,” he says sitting on one of the bar stools by the door.

“OK! One thank you for finally talking to me, I understand that what I did was horrible and I am so sorry for all of the pain that i have caused you. It took me screwing up to realize that I have something great and-” You get nervous when you look up from your hands to see T’Challa gazing at you with those intense eyes. You couldn’t read them, you didn’t know if he was humoring you or actually listening until he raises a brow at your silence. You continue, “I… want to say that I am sorry. I’ve said it a million times. I was afraid of the title and I didn’t want to be tied down by rules and regulations and-”

“Commitment issues,” He speaks, “I figured that you were afraid of commitment and I’ve accepted that, which made moving on slightly easier,” he says pinching his fingers so that there is a really small gap, “Slightly,” he says again.

“What changed,” He asks you the same question he did the night he was leaving and you freeze, “Why all of the sudden are you in love with me, so much so that you travel to another town, wait outside of my conference meeting for nothing?” His words strike a nerve and your jaw tenses, “Why all of the sudden you want me to take you back after sleeping with other men? Why should I take you back after you humiliated me, not just publicly but psychologically? Did you not think that one day, I wouldn’t get tired of it, and to find out you actually slept with multiple men,” His words cut deep into you like a knife and you take the tongue lashing.

“I am completely hurt, you even was about to bring a man into your home, after i texted you,” The look T’Challa gave you from that night flashes its way back into your head and you have no choice but to drop your head and listen, “I gave you so many chances after my family and General and friends told me that you were not good for me, and you aren’t,” He finishes, “It is your turn to speak.”

“I can change,” Was all you could say, you looked so pitiful and you wanted nothing more than to have T’Challa back in you life, “please Chall-” you stop yourself, “T’Challa. Look me in my face, and tell me you don’t love me.”

#angst #what changed #black panther #t'challa x reader #tchalla #t'challa udaku #chadwick boseman #black panther one shot

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missvalerietanner · 6 years

Text

The Unseen Soldier | Part 36 | The Debate

Subject: Hades & Persephone (aka Aiden & Sophie)

Genre: Southern Gothic retelling

Words:3,059

Summary: Sophie addresses the town and pleads for a resolution.

Author’s Note: A LONG update today, but I couldn’t stop. XD

Updates every Sunday! Click to read.

She emerged from the forest where she entered, stepping with care over the fractured shards of glass scattered among the grass. She glided across the paved roads like an angel, carried on a gust of her own confidence. She followed the roads in silence until they led her to the first stop: a house with lights spilling out from the kitchen and highlighting the grass at its backdoor--a house she wasn’t eager to see again so soon.

She inched toward the door, wrung her hands in and out of fists, and pushed open the screen door to step inside. No knock. No warning, just an intrusion.

“Sophia,” Denise exclaimed and hurried over from the sink. “What--how are you back here, and what are you wearing?”

She looked her mother in the eye, squared her shoulders, and did her best to keep her voice even and calm. “Tell everyone to meet at town hall at sun down. There’s a lot we need to discuss.”

“Excuse me?” She snarled. “That’s where you’re going to start with us, missy? After disappearing the way you did, breaking through the wall all of us worked so hard to build, and you think you can waltz back in here without even a hello and start making demands.”

She winced as her words struck deep. “Mother, everyone will listen to you, and it’s urgent.”

Denise scoffed and perched her hands on her hips. “Then out with it. I will not take orders from my own child, Sophia. I birthed you, and no matter what lies that monster may have filled your head with, you are still a child.”

Sophie tilted her head to the side to catch her father’s eye. He sat at the dining room table in the center of the kitchen, newspaper in hand. Only for the first time she could remember, Zachariah’s eyes weren’t glued to the black ink words on the pages before him. His eyes were locked on her, and Sophie saw a hint of regret in his eyes.

For once, Sophie had gained her father’s full attention, and the realization made her heart swell, even under the crippling tirade launching from her mother’s mouth. He curled his lips together in an apologetic grimace and held her gaze, letting her know he was finally listening.

“Father,” Sophie whispered, silencing Denise the moment the word passed her lips. “Please.”

Zachariah stared for a long time at the woman before him, no longer his daughter. She had been altered, just as he noticed upon her return before. But she stood even more different now, stronger and more confident. She braced herself on sturdy legs with a pose of authority lifting her spine straight. She had changed, but whatever the Soldier in the Woods had done, it was for the best.

He nodded, quick and curt--a single dip of his chin--in acceptance of her request.

Denise wheezed with laughter and spun to face him. “Absolutely not, Zachariah. You will do nothing to help her. Whatever this is--it’s probably some trick thought up by that beast to ensure everyone in town will be in one spot so that he can kill us all tonight in one go.” She raised her arm and pointed wildly at Sophie. “And she’s the bait. These people will listen to me, not you, and you will not--”

“Denise,” he whispered her name in a low hiss, silencing her babbling as he set the newspaper down, tossed his glasses to the table with a hollow thud, and rose from his seat with the grace of a god. “She is our daughter. Not bait. Not a beast--our daughter. And she is asking for our help.”

“Zachariah, I forbid--”

“We have done things your way, Denise,” he said, never raising his voice. “It is time to start listening to her.”

Denise tossed her hands to the air in surrender and stomped off down the hall. Zachariah nodded to Sophie again, and she smiled, returned the nod, and retreated from their doorstep to head toward the center of town.

- - -

Sophie stood at the edge of the courtyard framing town hall with her back to the building and her eyes on the horizon, watching as the sun dipped below the thick height of the forest.

“You look beautiful,” Alina said, stepping forward from the shadows of the street.

“Hey, Shoe,” Sophie said with an easy smile. “Thank you for coming.”

“How could I miss your big debut?” Alina nudged her arm and laughed. “And it looks like I wasn’t the only one.”

Sophie turned her back to town hall and faced the fading light dying against the lanes of black asphalt, and there, she watched as wholes families marched toward her. Every face she recognized and many she’d forgotten passed her by with grim, tense frowns plastered on their lips. Most made no effort to notice her as they passed, and the few who did offered her either curt nods, curious stares, or disgusted groans.

“Well,” Alina said, sucking in a breath through her teeth, “I guess not everyone’s as excited as me.”

“I don’t need excitement. I need open minds and open ears.”

“That’ll change when the Soldier shows up.”

“No,” Sophie whispered, shushing her friend. “He’s not coming.”

“Oh, I figured--” Alina pursed her lips in a pout. “What are you doing here tonight? Most of these people are probably expecting to see the Soldier.”

“This isn’t some show where he’s put on display,” Sophie hissed, insulted by the insinuation.

“Then… what is this, Sock?”

“The town is in danger. The walls my mother encouraged everyone to build--they’re a threat.”

“More than the Soldier?” Alina asked. “More than you?”

Sophie sighed and turned her attention back to the throngs of onlookers passing them by.

“I love you, Soph, but let’s be honest. A lot of people saw your hair burst into flames that day. They saw you smash through the glass, and it’s all everyone’s talked about since then. Convincing them that you did that to help them…” Alina shrugged and let her words die in the air.

“I know it won’t be easy--”

“Easy? Soph, they’ll never hear it.”

“They’re so desperate to hurt us they can’t see they’re hurting themselves.”

“No one,” Alina warned. “No one likes being told they’re wrong. About you, about the Soldier, about the wall or the forest.” She set her hand on Sophie’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You can say all the right things, but you’re going to be speaking to deaf ears.”

Sophie sighed but held her shoulders high, refusing to let her friends words cripple her resolve. “I still have to try.”

Alina laughed, leaned forward and pecked a kiss against her cheek. “Of course you do. Do you know what you’ll say tonight?”

“No,” she admitted with a laugh in her words. “I’m hoping inspiration will strike soon.”

She laughed again and patted her on the back. “Good luck, Sock.”

She spun on her heels and bounded inside the building among the mass of locals.

With a final, parting glanced toward the darkening horizon and the treetops settled against the sky, Sophie turned and marched inside to face whatever wrath awaited.

- - -

The air in the town hall was a vacuum: silent ringing in her ears as she stalked down the central aisle. The pews on either side were filled to near capacity, and the eyes of each attendee rolled over her as she passed. The click, click, click of her heels thundered in tune with her racing heart beat as she approached the rising steps of the stage. One, two, three steps, and she crossed to its center to face her public with a grim frown.

She stood tall, her shoulders straight, and her chin tilted back. She sucked in a deep, calming breath through her nose and held her hands in steady fists at her hips.

“She’s back?”

“The Soldier let her go?”

“What does she want?”

“What does he want?” “Is she going to take someone else?”

“Will she fix the wall?”

“Did he send her?”

The murmurs danced through the air at a growing volume.

“The wall--” she shouted to be heard over the whispers “--has to come down.”

The murmurs turned to shouts heavy with rage. People clammored to their feet faster than she expected, and she flinched as men in the front pews lunged at the stages, shouting all manner of profanity at her.

“That wall is the only thing protecting us from that monster.”

“You’ve been blinded by him, child. You’ve been tricked.”

“We won’t lose another to that beast and his hellhounds!”

The shouts rolled over one another, meshing into one voice. Her eyes scanned the crowd for any sense of understanding, for any hint of anything other than anger. Alina shrank in her seat but offered a sheepish wave. Amelia and Allen sat beside her, disinterested and picking their knives clean from a morning spent hunting. They were oblivious to the noise around them.

Sophie’s eyes paused when they caught her mother’s gaze. Denise glared at her from one of the pews at the back, a deep scowl set in her features. Zachariah stood by the door like he was guarding it, keeping everyone inside, and he observed the rowdy crowd with a frown.

But Denise stared only at Sophie.

“What do you want from me, Mother? Do you want me to wither and die here, cooped up in this room?”

“Don’t be dramatic, Sophia. I just want you to be safe.”

“What’s so terrible about the forest? It’s beautiful.”

Denise pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sophia, that place is dangerous, and I forbid you from entering it.”

“But what if I belong there?”

Denise scoffed. “Oh, Sophia, don’t be absurd. Your place is here with your family. And today, your place is out there in the fields with your father.” She turned toward the door. “Don’t keep him waiting again. There’s a lot of work to do today, and you need to start helping instead of wasting your time with this childish fantasy.”

“But Mother--”

“Enough, Sophia! You will not speak of that forest, and if I catch you near its borders ever again, I guarantee you will be sorry. Now be a proper daughter and go help your father tend the fields.”

The door slammed behind Denise as she left the house, headed to the market. When she was gone from sight in the old farm truck, Sophie bolted through the doorway on bare feet and ran straight for the forest, intent on never returning.

Sophie blinked, and tears dripped down her cheeks and burned hot trails across her face. She released a stuttered breath to ease her hammering heart, and when she faced the crowd, she saw wide eyes and gaping mouths staring back at her. A familiar heat stung her back, and with a quick side glance, she saw the ends of her orange hair alive in flames.

“Witchcraft!”

“No, it’s the devil’s work.”

“The Soldier is the devil!”

“This is a trap. She’s going to kill us. For him!”

Denise’s face was hard as stone, unrelenting and unforgiving. Zachariah marveled at his daughter with hopeful eyes and a surprised grin. Alina clapped wildly in her seat and laughed.

“No,” Sophie yelled, raising her hands in defense. “You shouldn’t be afraid. This--this what I can do with the forest’s help.”

“The forest!? The Soldier’s here--”

“No,” Sophie shouted, trying to control the mayhem.

“He’s gonna kill us! Just like he killed the others who trespassed in his forest.”

“Oh, God, he’s going to kill us like he killed the third Ridley brother.”

Sophie clamped her eyes shut, sucked in a deep breath, and eased her nerves. In the darkness of her eyelids, she saw Aiden’s father and the chains she bound him with. She felt the power in that metal, the fire burning his skin and holding him in place. She saw the empty faces of the Voids, and she saw the glaring red light signaling she was home.

She exhaled, opened her eyes, and the fire in her hair was gone.

“Listen to me,” she shouted over the fading cries of panic. “I am not a threat to you. Neither is Aiden, the one you call the Soldier.”

“He stole you.”

“He kidnapped you.”

“He brainwashed you.”

“No, he didn’t.” She found her mother’s gaze again and frowned. “I left. On my own. And he saved me.”

The bickering voices grew silent, and Sophie stepped to the edge of the stage and addressed her captive audience.

“We all grew up hearing the stories of the bastard son in the woods, the Unseen Soldier. But he is not a killer or a tyrant. He protects the forest and keeps it safe. For us.”

“The forest is… for us?”

“No, it’s lies. She’s clearly lying.”

“The forest is his home. He protects it for himself.”

“Yeah, he’d kill anyone who stepped inside.”

“The forest is a paradise,” Sophie began, ignoring the whispers. “It is a safe haven for us to roam when we die. Aiden--and I--are its Guardians. That’s why the trees grow so thick and why there’s no set path. The dead wander through its greenery and become trees thickening the paths, ready to be reborn. And when a new life is created here in town, a tree in the forest rots and falls, returning that soul to town. It’s a cycle that must be balanced.”

“Reborn? What madness is she spewing now?”

“This is just nonsense.”

“Is this why she brought us here?”

Sophie cleared her throat and recited the words she knew would gain their attention. “They say a beast is but a beast, and most monstrous of all burns the deceased, but to cut through his nasty stare, all one needs is a mirror laid bare. How cruel a life among the dead to be bound by such filling dread, when the reflection of his own face is enough to shatter that space.”

Silence hollowed out the hall.

“I learned the stories, memorized the rhymes--same as all of you. And my mother convinced you all that building a wall would protect your children, your sisters and your brothers, from becoming like me, from being taken. And she used these silly childhood rhymes to do it.”

Sophie studied the quiet faces. She had their attention now.

“Mirrors blind the dead. They cannot pass through them, and they simply bounce off of them and go the opposite way. Do you understand?” she yelled. “Your dead cannot leave. They cannot enter the forest, and they cannot find peace. They cannot become trees, and they cannot be reborn. The Wall will suffocate this town, and you must tear it down.”

“Bullshit! Utter garbage.”

“Lies! Lies pushed by the Soldier.”

“You just want us to be vulnerable to him.”

“You want us to let him out, let him come here and snatch someone else.”

Sophie stomped her foot against the creaky wood of the stage. “Listen to yourselves. You are letting fear control you. Fear of the forest, of Aiden. Aren’t you all tired of living in fear? Aren’t you all tired of not knowing the truth of the forest, of not seeing what’s beyond its veil?”

A young woman with auburn hair seated in the second pew from the stage stood on unsteady legs. A young man stood with her, holding tight to her arm to keep her upright. She dabbed at puffy eyes with a handkerchief and held another hand against her swollen stomach.

The crowd grew quiet when she rose before their eyes.

“If our dead cannot pass through,” she asked in a quaking voice as sobs leaked from her lips. “Then new life is trapped too?”

Sophie stood straight as a wave of goosebumps peaked across her arms. “Yes.”

“He kicked--before the Wall was finished. But since then--” she wheezed as tears poured from her eyes.

“Our baby,” the husband said. “He--he hasn’t kicked since the wall was completed.”

“My grandmother,” a voice echoed from the back. “She loved to tell stories. She was always talking. But she’s cold now. And since the Wall went up, she just stands and stares at the wall. She doesn’t talk anymore.”

“My husband stands in the fields all day, wandering straight lines. If he trips, he just gets up like nothing happened and keeps going.”

“My son was sick with a cold. I gave him medicine. I--I thought he was getting better, but he just--he stares.”

“My uncle does the same,” someone cried out. “He stopped eating, stopped talking.”

“I thought my cousin disappeared in the forest, but I saw him walking down the road in the middle of the night. I tried to wake him. I--I tried to talk to him, but---”

The squeak of rusted hinges drew everyone’s attention to the back of the building where the two double wood doors crept open. Zachariah moved out of the way, and all eyes watched as the thick, hulking figure of the Unseen Soldier stepped inside.

Gasps and whispers were ignited throughout the crowd as they drank in the figure of their nightmares. But amid the pale light of the building and away from the pitch darkness of the forest nad the growling fangs of his three dogs, Aiden seemed less like a terrible beast to them and more like a man. Mud-covered boots on his feet matched every other farmer in town. Dirty jeans, a simple white shirt, and a sturdy tan jacket covering his muscular arms and back were all normal as well.

People watched him with caution, unsure of what his presence meant, and one-by-one, people returned to their seats. Whether it was out of fear or respect wasn’t clear, but Sophie didn’t care. She was too busy battling with her own surprise, struggling to process the surrealism of seeing the epitome of the forest--the human representation of all the things she’d longed for--mingling in the mundane town she’d been so desperate to escape.

“The forest and the town exist as one,” Aiden began in a booming voice. “But the Wall interrupts that. The forest can survive. You can’t. So if any of you give a damn about your lives--” he gestured to Sophie at the front of the hall “--you should listen to her.”

#tus #the unseen soldier #hades and persephone #greek mythology #retelling #writings #hapsgs #southern gothic

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lil-area-sfw · 6 years

Note

Hello Area. I really really want to hear your opinion about the last episode of Star vs. Would you make a review?

Well, I wanted to do a review about Battle of Mewni some time ago, but with all the stuff happening I didn’t have the chance or even the motivation to do it. But hey, these last episodes were strong enough to “jumpstart” my motivation. So let’s do this :)RANT TIME, SPOILERS AHEAD!

Let’s begin with Demonicism, of course.

We start with Star calling Tom for whatever reason and I instantaneously suspected we were going to have some Tomstar vibe in this… but oh, boy, I never expected anything more than that X)

I can add this random comment here. What’s with Dog Glossaryck? How much time will we have him like that?

But ok, we see Star is still keeping her room “earth way shaped”. In past episodes we have her letting go stuff but of course she’s still stuck in Earth mode.

We see her kind of bored as if something was missing.

Then we have Ponyhead

Yeah, Ponyhead’s unreliability can be useful sometimes. This time for Star to know that Tom was into something potentially dangerous.

I can say that I like how they’re managing Star and Ponyhead here in Mewni. They really look like two close friends. Now I can see why she was jealous of Marco in season 1.

Now they needed to know where the super secret thing was because, you know, it was a super secret thing. Hm, who’s this guy and what happened to him? His behavior was very confusing. It was a joke about something?

Anyway, advancing a bit to the moment when they get to Tom’s demonic thingy.

Star complimenting out of nowhere Tom’s look. Yup, I knew Tomstar vibes will come. I dunno, this moment was cute and yes, Tom can rock that kind of suit for sure.

The thing that I liked about this scene was knowing that Tom is really trying to change and to be a better person. And not because he wants to impress Star. Not anymore. I dunno but since the first time he appeared I said that he wasn’t really a bad guy. Also, all of this, showed me why Tom was my favorite part of the new intro :3

And weeell, we reach the point where things got a biiit out of control and Star goes to the rescue. She looks really concerned and wow if I loved this scene. Tomstar everywhere again.

We had a recovery scene with a very worried Star and hey, the thing that Tom decided to deal with his own demons and accepting himself was neat. More points for him. Totally different of that “hated antagonist” people made of him in the first season.

Everything was going as I suspected yeah, and suddenly BAM! Actual Tomstar! No “vibes”, no “hints”, no “tips of the hat”. Star and Tom holding hands and I wasn’t unpleased at all ^ ^

Let’s see how this develops in the future.

Yeah, I know that the show, as much as I like it, tends to set things in a wonderful way but the resolutions sometimes can be a bit underwhelming. Let’s hope they can manage all of this the best way possible.

Now, now, with Sophomore slump… Oh boy.

We start setting the episode with a concerned Angie and Rafael because Marco looks obsessed with Mewni. Particularly, as I’ve mentioned before, I like things to be settled previously so props to the creators for that continuity handling, since we could see Marco wearing that cape in the quick look we had of him, when he was hanging out with Jackie and Janna in Rest in Pudding ^ ^

The thing is that Marco is making everyone sick with his constant talk and stuff about Mewni, so, we can see Marco is stuck in Mewni mode too.

So, each one of his friends is shown getting annoyed (with the exception of Janna because we never know what’s with that girl). And when I say friends I’m going to mention one of the things I loved about this episode. We had Alfonzo and Ferguson back! Thank you very much people of the cast! From the casual shot of Marco dating Jackie to showing them casually playing and talking in this episode, it looks like they were reading our rants, eh? :3

You don’t need to focus in every stuff but of course is very good to show something here and there to set how the things are and not looking like some stuff is just suddenly missing when it shouldn’t be like that.Eh, Alfonzo has some moustache now X)

Then of course, Marco goes to Jackie for some support. I liked the fact that, finally, we could see some more of the closeness between those two, since the scenes were in Jackie’s house. Also, Marco was searching for Jackie’s approval. What I disliked? Again Jackie was being the supportive one for Marco’s let downs. But hey, this time at least, Marco realized he was messing up and decided to compensate her.

Then we have the date. The normal Earth date with no cape that Marco promised ^ ^

Yeah, finally another moment for them. Of course I will always say they could use the time better and spend other episodes showing some of this instead those ones like Trickstar that weren’t even that interesting or plot contributing (Sorry Preston ^ ^). But well, we take what we get and I wasn’t unpleased with this.

I loved how they just hanged around and we could see more of Jackie, like she’s very good at aiming. The cotton candy scene was cute and I really liked the surprised expression of her when Marco casually told her about how much money he had X)

The restaurant thing was great, they actually stole that lobster. Those two looked like having so much fun not caring about anything else besides their goal and also looked like partners in crime… That reminded me that time in Starcrushed when Rafael told Marco that Jackie was no partner in crime because she was a good girl. What do you think now Rafael? :3

The reactions of Jackie were lovely all the episode and we could see a side of her we never saw before when she answered Marco that she wanted to free all the lobsters. That rascal expression, she’s such a hippie! XD

Aaand then we have the episode ending. Oh, boy, Marco, what were you thinking? He had the cape all along under his hoodie! Yes he probably thought he could have both things but wow if it was a terrible idea… He lied to Jackie!

This action causes Jackie to go again in “mom” mode. I really like how calm she is and admired when she just sat down and patted the bench for Marco to sit. I dunno if until that moment things could be fixed somehow but Marco, trying to fix things and to show he really cared (After all the crap, he seemed to be really worried about them), he says to Jackie that she’s his best friend… Way to chose words, Marco…

This part broke my heart since, I dunno, what I saw here was a girl about to cry… but not. And her answer was worst: “We both know that’s not true”. I think that was the last straw. Then she just put her helmet on and smiling (probably on the outside) says “Stay being awesome” to Marco before leaving on her skateboard. That looked very mature… and sad. I liked that they gave us a look at Marco with watery eyes showing he knew how big he messed up.

Finally, we have the last part of the episode. I accept that I didn’t get completely the intention of sending Marco back to Mewni but I can see what’s Angie’s point of view. Is something he needs to go through.

Well, I liked how all his friends were there to say goodbye. Alfonzo and Ferguson Included (Yeah, I will not get tired of this :P). Everyone was there except Jackie :(I got a bit annoyed seeing the eagerness in Marco’s face, like wow, he’s really fixed with that in this moment but well, as his mom said, he needs to do that.

We ended with Marco in Mewnie, smiling and very expectant about the things he will meet there, like adventures, unusual creatures… and Tomstar ^ ^Yes, this episode made me mad at Marco. Who told him that lying to his girlfriend would fix the things? Well, he’s not as mature, anyway. He’s what? 14-15? So I can understand but c’mon… (Yup, 14-15. We will never understand how those time shenanigans work since Marco as we see is full teenager, not 30 years old as some people said back then). But on the other hand, I liked it too. Why? We could see the bad side of Marco. In the previous season we only saw him as this “perfect guy”, a complete husbando material and everyone shipped every girl (And Tom) with him. I don’t want perfect husbandos, I want good characters. And we finally saw another side of him.What else I liked about this? It was different than so many love stories in, for example, many animes where they make the main love interest like the perfect piece who everybody wants but no one can get but the main girl. Here Marco messed up, clearly, even to the point I’ve read people saying “Jackie deserves better”. From my point of view, it’s not “deserves better”, she needs someone who really likes her and is not just confused and trying to please her. But yeah, I really liked that they made the characters like normal people. This just makes my search for Starco more interesting UuU

I can say that I liked these couple of episodes and I also can say that I’m liking this season a lot until this point. Of course, as not everything is flawless, now I can mention that the thing I didn’t like about it was Jackie and Marco ending that fast. It was handled better than I expected for sure but we got two shipping episodes in a row. The first one seemed to be Star getting with Tom and the second one Jackie breaking up with Marco BAM! Now we will have the opposite dynamic with maybe a jealous Marco. I thought the idea was to keep each one of them with different couples but well.I would like that Marco could learn something from his trip to Mewnie. That he realizes something, just as his mom said and goes back to Earth for a while a bit wiser, and why not? apologizes with Jackie at least. I dunno, I really don’t want this to be the last of her plot wise and, as an artist, I have some hope that they have something more there. After all, Jackie’s house has a design now. You do not simply make a design and waste it like that!

Well guys, I think I’ve ranted for a long while this time. Maybe it was all the steam accumulated through time, dunno. I hope you didn’t get bored or at least not so much and also hope that we can see us soon in another one of my crazy opinions about the shows episodes :P

#arearants #SVTFOE #star vs the forces of evil

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fluffcharoeuvre · 7 years

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Journal 9: Switch tiem :3c

Also belated journal is very belated! It's already the next week here; my bad, I had this journal partly typed out, but then got distracted by games >3> Anywho, first off, le Switch: I've enjoyed it immensely <3 Not really any issues with it; the day one update fixed the controller issue, and any other issues I've been having! However one odd thing occurred: When I tried to update the Switch the first time, it REALLY glitched out, and had to turn it off which I had to hold down the power button for awhile. It spooked me out, but after turning it back on and trying again, it acted normally, and it's been fine since. For anyone wanting my friend code, it's 5463-9921-8992. Elsewise, been playing Breath of the Wild, and gosh I cannot even begin on the many adventures I've had in it w@ I guess I'll tell of my most recent happening(no story spoilers): I was climbing a tower surrounded by a few stationary guardians, as well as one roaming guardian. I kept getting shot down while climbing before I learned that I jump quick enough to the next shielded platform before they would blast me, and even then it took me a few tries to get it right before I reached the top. THOSE GUARDIANS HAVE QUITE THE DISTANCE THEY CAN SHOOT THOUGH, GOSH. After finally getting to the top and activating it, the next ordeal was to get back down. I took sights to find my horse to make my escape, and the guardians were aiming at me as soon as I jumped from the tower. ;3; Took so many times just to get off of the tower without them hitting me, and it came down to: Locate my horse, jump off the tower, land behind a pillar so they stop shooting, get to my horse before the roaming guardian chases me down, and finally make my escape to the nearby shrine. It was exhilarating to finally get away after so many deaths, and makes me wanna come back later and destroy all those guardians when I'm strong enough! As for getting the Switch: I had work that night, so I came to work two hours early, at 9 pm, to scout out the line situation: 28 or so Switches, and 13 people in line already. I was panicking, but trying to keep calm as I waited about, and about 15 minutes before work, I checked with them again: 18 people now, not too bad, but still nerve wrecking to say the least. So eventually I started my shift, and boy did I go quick to get as much stuff as I could done to just past the time, as it was 11 pm and I was gonna head on my hour break at 11:45 just to wait in line, hopefully still having some after I get in line. Boy was it close, as I had to wait quite awhile at the back of the line, talking with a few other gamers, and just waiting as I got one of the last Switches my store had. There was a bonus as since I worked there, I got 10% off, so it made getting the Switch, both versions of Zelda, and a few amiibos all on discount~ ;3 After I got it, I had to rush to my car without my jacket and hurry back before it's been an hour into my normally half hour break; what's worse is that my manager was one of the people selling the Switch, so that was fun to deal with. XD All and all, it was worth the wait and time spent, as I finally get to enjoy the Switch~ :3c Also my brother came over for the entire weekend, so I didn't exactly get much time to do anything with the Switch til lately, hence why this journal is so late. The first day my bro came over, him and my sis and I only talked about an hour before I had to go to work again, and then when I got home the next morning, I fell asleep before he woke up. The second evening is where he helped me build my shelf that I got for Christmas(which I need to store my amiibos on), and got my computer desk all reorganized~ Now I have a lot more space, and got more room for stuff like amiibos, tech, my stuff I use daily like phone, wallet, keys, ect., and really got a close reach between my computer and tv, so potentially I can connect my tv to my computer for some streaming then if I can figure out the cords and such! Sadly my bro and I didn't get to do much gaming wise with each other, outside of trading on first gen pokemon games, but hey, at least we had a good meal and Steak and Shake! It seems funny to me, that just a year ago I felt so detached from my family, but it feels like we're getting closer again, even if we all annoy each other as fudge still. Anyways, I hope that is a good recent update for anyone who does read these journals, I'mma hop back to Breath of the Wild now, and probably play it straight for the next few days X'D Have a good early morning peeps~ ~~ Shoutout of the week: @espy-squiggles ^^ ~~ Resolution progress: Journals: 9 out 52 Game Level: Spring Break baby >:U Comic: Spring Break baby >:U

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