#im not much of an action writer but i always wondered how their fight ended in a draw

[good-beanswrites]

Hello!! If you're still taking requests for that drabble game, might I request either Strength with Kotoko + Mikoto or Weak with Amane + Futa? It's fine if you aren't doing it anymore, of course

I've been in this fanbase since trial one and out of all the things I've read, your writing is probably amongst my favorite! (Even if I haven't finished going through it all yet...) I hope you have a splendid day! <3

!!!!! You are so kind waaahh this completely made my day, thank you ;---; I'm so glad you're enjoying omg ✨And thanks for these, they were really cool and fitting combos!! I tried to do a dual-perspective of Kotoko and Mikoto's pre-T2 fight, and I posted the one for Weak below.

Strength can manifest in a variety of ways, not just physically. Kotoko had a strong determination, for example. Mikoto had a powerful way with people. She showed solid self control and willpower. He held to strict deadlines and routines. She maintained a sharp intelligence. He upheld an unshakeable resolve.

Also, they were both ridiculously physically strong.

The pair came to this realization around the same time. They’d gotten a taste of the others’ power when clashing in the interrogation room, but it had begun suddenly and ended just as quickly. This time was different. They stood in the center of the panopticon, with the echoing space to themselves. As Kotoko swung a punch toward Mikoto, and he caught her against his forearms, they had a moment to gauge the other’s muscle. 

Kotoko stared into his eyes, which had a different sort of awareness to them now. He’s more coordinated, she thought, he must not be the same one I faced before. He’s leaning on the strength in his arms -- he’s not using his legs to their fullest potential. It doesn’t matter, given the raw force of his blows. Has he trained for fights, or just built his muscles in general? 

Mikoto stared into her eyes, returning her fiery gaze. Fuck, this lady’s strong.

She wound up again. He retaliated quickly. She shoved his back into the guard’s tower. He sidestepped her next attack. 

He didn’t really care why his fellow prisoner had come charging at him swinging, but she made sure he knew.

“The warden may not be able to administer punishments,” she said in between timed breaths, “so they entrusted me with that responsibility. This is justice, for the lives you’ve taken. You won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

He broke into harsh laughter. “You’re one crazy motherfucker! You’re the only person hurting anyone.” He tried to grab her, but she slipped from his arms. His eyes narrowed, laughter dying away with unsettling speed. “But there’s no way in hell I’m letting you hurt me.”

Kotoko was struck by the way he said it. Her voice had shaken with the very same determination when putting herself between an innocent citizen and some creep. It was how she felt now, trying to keep his violent hands away from the other prisoners. There were children here, weak and scared. Es themself was just a child, and had already suffered his violence. She refused to let this villain cause any more pain. “I’m doing what needs to be done. You’re nothing but a murderous monster.” She swung her fist.

Mikoto caught her by the wrist, forcing her to look at the blood caked in her hand. He didn’t know whose it was, but it wasn't either of theirs. “You’re the fucking monster!” He shoved her backwards. “And I’m gonna kill you for it…!”

He didn’t know how she could think she was the hero in this whole situation. He was the one protecting someone else. 

Neither held back. Mikoto wheezed as her boots connected. Kotoko cringed as Mikoto landed a solid hit on her face. There was some shouting from the hallway. Their resolves hardened. Mikoto wasn’t going to let anyone else threaten him. Kotoko wasn’t going to let him threaten anyone else. They were strong, they reminded themselves. They had to end this now.

The two charged at one another. A moment before they were set to collide, they both cried out in pain. Blinding white light flooded the dark panopticon. They clutched their eyes, stumbling away from one another. A figure shoved through, planting himself between them.

“Stop this, both of you!” It was Kazui.

“Get outta my way,” Mikoto growled.

“This is not your concern,” Kotoko said, blinking in the light. 

The spotlight in the guard’s tower had been switched on, pointed directly at them. Kazui remained in place. “That’s enough. Look at yourselves, for god’s sake!”

Under the harsh light, they now saw the sort of state they were in. Mikoto’s uniform had torn in new places, blood seeping through. He could taste some in his mouth, too. Kotoko’s face was cut. Her leg ached. They stood covered in bruises, panting. 

“Go back to your cells,” Kazui commanded. “We’ll sort this out in the morning.”

Kotoko squared her shoulders. “There’s nothing to sort out. He’s a murderer. I won’t lose to him.”

“This bitch tried to kill me. I’m not letting her get away with it.”

“I don’t care.” Kazui said simply. “Call it a draw. You’ll both tear yourselves apart if you keep going.”

They continued staring at one another as if their gaze alone could take them to the ground, but neither moved to fight. 

Mikoto felt a pang of guilt. Lost in adrenaline, he didn’t realize how banged up he was. He thought of how much pain he’d experience in the upcoming days. The whole point was to save himself from harm. 

Kotoko cursed Kazui for interrupting her. As one of the forgiven, he was supposed to be on her side. Even if he wasn’t honorable enough to see her as an ally, she’d have to be the bigger person. She wouldn’t threaten him. 

Neither was happy about conceding, but couldn't think of a better option given their end goals.

Kazui remained between them as they stalked off to their respective cells.

“A temporary draw,” Kotoko muttered to Mikoto. She flashed a grin that felt more like an animal baring its teeth.

He returned the smile. “You won't be so lucky next time.”

#milgram #kotoko yuzuhira #mikoto kayano #kazui is there too #uhhh sorry if you meant bonding between them -- this just ended up flowing really well 😭 #honestly though in my mind they both are secretly impressed with the others strength #like they werent expecting them to be so powerful but their glad at least their opponent is a worthy one #i suppose its leaning into the trikoto theory but kotoko specifically comments on mikoto being a bad fighter in his interrogation #so itd make sense if it were a third alter that could actually give her a challenge #im not much of an action writer but i always wondered how their fight ended in a draw #neither are the type to just back down and call it a tie #and logically kotoko would have knocked mikoto out so hed switch back -- but i would count that as her win ya know? #so i had to think about how each of their own goals might stop them #it was yuno in the guards tower btw -- though idk why it was just left unlocked asdfdsfd #AHH thank you so much :'))) that made me so happy waaahh #ive been having a blast with these and its so fun to know others are liking them too! #i hope you enjoyed :D #and hmm maybe once ive done mug's requests in a day or two ill try my hand at a gentler one between them... #drabbles

[killuwumi]

a blazing past - diluc (small angst blurb)

a/n: suddenly im a writer of blurbs...queen of blurbville...idk what has come over me. anyway more prompts from pinterest...

warnings: angsty, curse word, mentions of diluc’s past, (beating up fatui so maybe violence but only if you really, really squint. nothing graphic.) not proof read, all lowercase (lazy)

"we all fucking burn in the end."

his brow furrowed as you watched him, looking from a distance as he walked to the dragonspine camp of fatui..is this what he always did when he was angry? isn't that, a bit much? 

his figure got smaller and smaller as you waited by the campfire he had lit for you, right on the outskirts of the sheer cold. you have to wonder what made the man that you see ravaging a camp of strong fatui agents, screams and grunts can be heard even where you are sitting. 

bright red and orange streaks in the sky, a bright contrast to the otherwise hazy and white blanket that covers dragonspine. one last dawn breaks forth before everything stops. the noise, the colors, the thoughts in your head all come to a stand still. 

diluc is walking back, claymore dragging as he wipes it off in the snow, red follows in his path as he pushes his claymore into the soft dirt next to where you sit before sitting down and leaning against it. 

"who taught you that, diluc?" your voice is soft, a calm soothing sound, strangely unafraid of the man who sits next to you. 

"i learned how to fight in my youth, if that is what you are asking." he brushed some of his hair out of his face, as he pulls down his hair and it sits like red waves on his back. the hair tie in his mouth as he re adjusts his ponytail.

you watch him, your hands holding a stick and poking at the fire, it feels a lot like what you're doing right now..poking at a fire. "no, diluc. i mean who taught you to think like that?" 

his hands rested at his sides as he raised his eyebrow, a small look of shock on his face. he can't recall the last person that asked him such a bold question aside from kaeya. 

"i'm not sure, i must've picked it up along the way somewhere. perhaps coping with my past in the only way i know how." his voice is dull, no longer holding the anger from before, but he isn't sad either. he speaks like he is telling you about the weather, and it almost hurts you. to hear a man so revered in mondstadt talk about his past in a monotone, unwavering voice.

a silence falls between you, diluc only looking down at his hand as it rests on the ground beside him, near to yours.

"i apologize for speaking so boldly earlier." your voice waivers as you speak, giving away the guilt you are feeling. as diluc looks up from his hands and to your face, his deep red eyes meeting yours. "it should be me who apologizes, it appears i have worried you and put on quite an animalistic display today. i am deeply sorry." 

diluc watches your actions carefully as he apologizes, you grasp the dirt beneath your fingertips and your brows furrow, it looks almost like you're holding back tears. "please do not worry. i am fine." diluc tries to reassure you, softening his voice. 

you feel so stupid, you shouldn't be crying, why are you the one getting emotional. you weren't even supposed to come on this commission. 

"it is okay to worry people diluc.." is all you can muster to say before curling up into your knees, burying your face. diluc just watches and reassuringly hums an "i know." 

#diluc ragnivindr x reader #diluc #diluc ragnivindr x you #diluc ragnivindr #x reader #angst #diluc genshin #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact diluc #diluc angst #diluc x reader #angst no comfort #killu writes #blurb #random writing

[abnerkrill]

for trop (because what else??): galadriel, elrond, adar, kemen, arondir, bronwyn, isildur okay i am stopping now i'm SORRY

hello ily this is gonna be so long but im very happy with it hehe. answers below the cut!!

Galadriel

Why I like them: i think it's very sexy that she spends practically the whole season seething with rage. it's rare for female characters and it's also hot af.

Why I don’t: question canceled, i like everything about her

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 1x08 alloyed!!!!! i've said it before and i'll say it again, it's very special that a season finale pulls back on the action and actually focuses in so much on the characters! also the visions/temptation scene for galadriel... chefs kiss. (disclaimer, not a haladriel shipper, in fact i'm in favor of galadriel stabbing him, but it's a great scene!)

Favorite season/movie: i do prefer her in ROP over LOTR, she just has way more to do and she's much more compelling as a a vengeance-filled warrior than an ethereal queen 2 me.

Favorite line: many standouts, but i recall "what cannot be known hollows the mind; fill it not with guesswork" from her convo with Theo.

Favorite outfit: blue númenor dress :')

OTP: galadriel/celeborn!!! gimme my malewife celeborn, rop writers, pleeeeease

Brotp: elrond and galadriel are fantastic, and the moments we had between elendil and galadriel were also really great!! (don't ship them romantically tho obviously.)

Head Canon: hmmMMmmmm can't say I have many bc I'm very happy with her canon portrayal. i guess i don't think she's already had Celebrian at this point, if that counts, and there may be a future timeskip where she does, but I could be wrong!

Unpopular opinion: i kinda agree with the haters that the horse-riding facial expression was a little weird jkdfskjdfjkdlsfkdsj. i'm glad morfydd is having fun but it was a weird shot!!

A wish: more fight scenes, i ADORED the troll fight in episode 1!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: actual haladriel romance (or even any hints of it.) please leave her alone <3

5 words to best describe them: she's my beautiful angry wife <3

My nickname for them: i feel like i don't have one?? i've heard people call her Gal for short but that's just weird 2 me.

Elrond

Why I like them: he's my babyboy!!!! also my actual boyfriend and husband :)

Why I don’t: shuT UP HE'S PERFECT. detractors will be shoved into the deepest chasm of khazad-dum, to meet their end via balrog.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): uhh quickly searches which episode the cave scene is in 1x07 the eye <3 WHAT ELSE than the cave scene!!!!! flushed cheeks mussed hair breathy voice--durin i stg you have to kiss that boy RIGHT NOW

Favorite season/movie: def prefer ROP elrond to LOTR/hobbit elrond. he's got more to do and rob is very pretty :)

Favorite line: the exchange "i always thought you were a mite dwarvish for an elf" / "and you are a rather elvish dwarf, durin, son of durin, grandson of..."

Favorite outfit: honestly i adore all his outfits but whatever the look is when he's all sweaty and disheveled in the cave? yeah <3

OTP: durin x disa x elrond!!! i also do ship my elrond/adar but that's a whole other canon lol.

Brotp: galadriel and elrond is wonderful!!

Head Canon: LOTS of headcanons about his past: his relationship with Elros especially and how it was to lose him :( let's be real, they're all sad lol.

Unpopular opinion: long hair wouldn't really look good on rob's face shape, i like his short hair :)

A wish: i REALLY want some good screentime devoted to the elrond/celebrian developing relationship plssssssss

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: well i like some good angst but let's just say i'm NOT ready for the aftermath of the last alliance or celebrian's departure (if they show it in rop), my poor baby :(

5 words to best describe them: KIND AS FUCKING SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! & babyboy :)

My nickname for them: none, he's just elrond 2 me.

Adar

Why I like them: the whole dark elf vibe is extremely sexy and compelling. also when we were first watching ROP my mom took one look at him and said "he looks like loki from avengers" which is a devastating summation of my Type!!!!

Why I don’t: ...let's just say I don't love the fandom interpretation where he's overly soft/nice/good. like, let the guy be a little evil and fucked up. that's why we like him, i thought??

Favorite episode (scene if movie): MERCY KILLING THE URUK. AND THE FIRST CONVERSATION WITH ARONDIR. chills. chills. the actingggg!

Favorite season/movie: n/a

Favorite line: "you have been told many lies......... some run so deep, even the rocks and roots now believe them." mawle's voice is just :o and it's SUCH a banger intro to the character.

Favorite outfit: he only has one??? but it's a great outfit!!!

OTP: i love a certain interpretation of adar/arondir and adar/elrond but like....... again......... i'd never want to see it on the actual show, let him be a little fucked up and entirely unfit for romantic relationships and also doomed to die lol

Brotp: n/a but i think it'd be funny if he was forced to work with the good guys against sauron and he's just this grimy, angry, fucked-up guy in the corner they have to deal with dsjkljdksflfksdjl

Head Canon: one of the first, if not the first, to be stolen by morgoth. i kinda like the lack of clarity there too--he doesn't know if he was the first, but there's a good chance he was. anyone who would know is dead now.

Unpopular opinion: I have many. uhm...... i think most of the adar fic and especially the adar x reader stories are kinda gross and weird.... read what u want ofc, but the daddy dom stuff reeks of objectification and internalized sexism 2 me... besides it's giving lack of interest in actual character exploration, and just using him as The Latest Tortured Whiteboy to project onto. i actually want deep, cutting, incisive, dramatic, tragic character studies is that too much to ask klfdsjklfdsjklsd

A wish: i have LONGED FOR adar to actually lead his uruks against Sauron in the last alliance and get ruthlessly, brutally massacred, therefore leading to the state of the Orcs in LOTR (entirely enslaved by sauron with no hope of rebellion.) like, talk about TRAGEDY.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: dead in his first s2 scene lmoaoooo please don't kill him so fast, like, i know he's doomed, but PLEASE give him some juicy scenes!!!

5 words to best describe them: my emo bf. loml. doomed <3

My nickname for them: don't love the implications of everyone calling him "dad" esp if i'm writing a romantic relationship, so my quenya name for him is aladil, lover of day :)

Kemen

Why I like them: i'm so sorry, i do not!!!!!

Why I don’t: college republic vibes (read: privileged, annoying, bad haircut)

Favorite episode (scene if movie): none <3 isildur is better than me bc i would've gone okay boy then perish <3

Favorite season/movie: n/a

Favorite line: okay i'll admit the flirting w/ earien was funny (paraphrasing but "i'm not in the habit of going off with strange men" / "that's wise, if i see any i'll be sure to tell you")

Favorite outfit: does he have more than 1??? i'm so sorry i did not care to recall them. i do like the númenórean looks overall but his haircut is so bad it really makes it hard to pay attention to other things kjldfjkfdskjldfs

OTP: none!

Brotp: drowning in the ocean? (jk but....)

Head Canon: too wimpy to be a ringwraith so i'm gonna guess he dies...?

Unpopular opinion: i'm not too interested in his storyline tbh. like, he'll probably either go full king's man or rebel against his father and either way i'm very meh.

A wish: better haircut!!!!!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: i really don't want earien to marry him flsdjkjkfldjfdskjlddjklfsjkljdks pleeeease girl have some self-respect

5 words to best describe them: "whitest white boy in númenor"

My nickname for them: none! just kemen.

Arondir

Why I like them: i don't think there's anyone else alive who could've done this much justice to a tolkien elf, literally none, ICC is IT.

Why I don’t: none. can't believe it this question fjkldskjlfdkjlfdskldf

Favorite episode (scene if movie): the failed escape in 1x03 adar is INCREDIBLE, i love how the stunt team/fights are getting recognized, and ICC's hard work showssssss <3 also special shoutout to the fight scene with the giant orc in 1x08 udun!!!!!!!!! literally fire.

Favorite season/movie: n/a

Favorite line: I HAVE SAID IT ALREADY A HUNDRED TIMES OVER IN EVERY WAY BUT WORDS!!!!!!!!!!

Favorite outfit: love a dirtied-up man elf so gotta be in 1x04 the great wave when he's absolutely filthy and escaping the orc camp!

OTP: BRONWYN X ARONDIR IS THE ONLY ANSWER. okay, soapbox time: i think it's very telling of typical sexist behaviors in fandom/that slash fans esp have when bronwyn is erased/marginalized in arondir/adar fic, and i want writers to actually pay attention to what an arondir/adar fic would mean, you know? like yeah alternate universe where bronwyn isn't in the picture whatever, the point is you're erasing an Iranian woman in what is a groundbreaking relationship between two leads of color and i don't likey :) if you're gonna write those ships (and i say this as someone who has written arondir/adar) like. you gotta be Aware.

Brotp: really miss médhor, they were great :(

Head Canon: médhor befriended arondir, who was kinda a Lone Wolf type until he made friends :)

Unpopular opinion: i don't really want arondir/bronwyn to have a canonical happy ending, and i don't think it's in their cards tbh. they're doomed! it's great! it's a powerful star-crossed love story that's sure to end badly. i hope it's done well in the show, but i don't want it to be all picture-perfect lol.

A wish: lots more screentime and fight scenes!!!!!!!!!!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: wouldn't :) it :) be :) tragic :) if :) they :) were :) always :) like :) arondir :) will :) outlive :) bronwyn :) but :) then :) she :) outlives :) him :)

5 words to best describe them: the show's male lead (bitch)

My nickname for them: none, just arondir :) i do enjoy calling ICC ICC though, it's fun!

Bronwyn

Why I like them: she's such an incredible female fantasy character; subverts the mother-archetype by not dying in s1 and also by both fighting and being defeated; lots of depth and nuance to her character and also. asian women onscreen, central, important, loved? we love to see it <3

Why I don’t: shut up she's perfect

Favorite episode (scene if movie): LOVE the siege of tirharad in 1x06 udun; bronwyn's POV in the lighting of the fires is incredibly tense and so well done.

Favorite season/movie: n/a

Favorite line: i ADORE "new life, in defiance of death?" and also love that she gets to have this sick parallel with adar!!!!!! oh wait hang on this is giving me thoughts (what if adar/arondir/bronwyn lmaooo let me get back to you about this in approximately 10-15 business weeks)

Favorite outfit: i really like the red cloak outfit in 1x07 the eye!

OTP: arondir x bronwyn of course :)

Brotp: I think Bronwyn should get to be friends with basically everyone. I'd love to explore the Bronwyn and Miriel or Bronwyn and Galadriel friendships more, mostly because Women, but also because they're all female leaders with varied and interesting backstories and takes on leadership.

Head Canon: I wrote this into a fic but I think Bronwyn fell in love with Arondir over many years and it felt like it took a long, long time to her; meanwhile Arondir is over here like I'VE ONLY KNOWN HER FOR 5 YEARS AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LOVE OH GOD WE'RE MOVING SO FAST. Because Elves.

Unpopular opinion: you said unpopular, unpopular i will be. i don't love that she quoted sam's LOTR "light and high power in the sky" line? kinda wish they had written her own pep talk for her? i get what they're referencing and why, and it's really a gorgeous line, but i want her to have her own words & wisdom, unique to the southlanders. also....... don't rly care who Theo's father was. Sometimes single moms exist??? so wild.

A wish: don't kill her off to further Theo's journey lmao. like, I think she'll probably die, but I want it to be done via her own narrative/story's importance, not just a side death for Theo's Emotions/darkside turn.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: evil!bronwyn is silly to me kdfsklfdkfjdkljfds

5 words to best describe them: Middle-Earth's Best Mom Friend (tm)

My nickname for them: none, just Bronwyn!

Isildur

Why I like them: disaster baby.

Why I don’t: can he pls stop fucking up??? (i'm sorry to isildur stans. he is such a disaster.)

Favorite episode (scene if movie): I do love his intro in 1x04 the great wave!!

Favorite season/movie: n/a

Favorite line: you get one free hit. (three.) two??? (gets punched real hard twice.) that felt like three!!!

Favorite outfit: sea guard cadet tunic!!!

OTP: i mean, isildur x isildur's wife, SOMEDAY, but also isildur/valandil thanks to @aadmelioraa thanks a lot for the brainworms

Brotp: poor dead ontamo :( also when is anarion gonna show up??

Head Canon: honestly....... s1 is way funnier if you see it as isildur and valandil having been childhood sweethearts who grew up and, like, pushed that aside, but are still really into each other.

Unpopular opinion: valandil was totally in the right to be furious at him and not want to stake his reputation on him, and isildur probably should not have gone on the expedition. quite literally a nepo baby.

A wish: i really want to see his future wife and i want isil to be SMITTEn and it's so funny until everything gets sad lmao

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: NAMES HIS SON AFTER VALANDIL BC HE LOVED HIM SO MUCH AND THEN LOST HIM??? brb, crying.

5 words to best describe them: disaster baby becomes disaster king. (oops, sorry.)

My nickname for them: Isil <3

if you made it this far, congrats, here's an Elrond and Durin in the cave.

send me some character asks!

#is this my longest ever post on tumblr dot com? perhaps! but it was a great way to take my mind off (gestures) everything #trop #ask games #moonatoms

[pearlaqua-eevee]

ok and the rest of ep 22 liveblog

Urahara always showing up like that. Shady neutral until the end I see

AAAA RUKIA FELT URYU THERE. FUCK. MY RAREPAIR FRIENDSHIP CRUMBSAAAAAAA

Renji too obviously lol

"You guys are pissed at Uryu Ishida too?" lmfao Bazz-B

"I can give you a hand to go a kill him!" honey thats their FRIEND lmao sit down

hi protective-over-Uryu Rukia and Renji yeesss

ok but I do like that everyone actually gets a reaction to Uryu's betrayal, kinda shuts up the "he wasnt significant" naysayers in the fandom--BITCH HES SIGNIFICANT TO HIS FRIENDS AND EXTENDED FAMILY

"What dont you like chickens" LMFAO Renji woke up ready to sass because between this and the fight against Mask....

"Good for you" RUKIA AND RENJI PLS NEVER CHANGE I LOVE YOU BOTH

AAAND ZOMBIE BAMBI. FML

YORUICHI IS BAAAAAACK

aaa they did such a good job with the nostalgic parallels on this, ugh it makes me wanna go watch SS arc again back when the stakes were technically way lower but just because the core cast was ignorant lol

lol the dual Ichigo Orihime head tilt was cute

loved that shot of Ichigo, Orihime and Chad lookin badass and ready. Protect them!!!

"whats with that brat" people dont like to be misgendered, is whats up (no seriously they couldnt fine a single extra alt line for the reason that Gigi got pissed? We had to keep the phobia in? ok -_- )

sorry but as a writer, Yumichika suddenly being this observant and picking up on what the audience already knows just on observation, without any indication of how or why he's make the leap from "theyre bombs" to "they make whatever they touch explode"....its such a ooc-for-ic-knowledge moment to be able to have these two have a prayer of fighting back. So while the rest of the fandom is made about like 1 frame or not getting Bambi with her top unzipped, I'll be over here rolling my eyes at how this wasnt changed

I know people are probably mad about the pervert line too but because they actually did edit that line, it becomes directly about what Gigi said about being "excited" and yeah thats sick and twisted, hi, psychopath serial killer energy

"Um I wasnt asking why youre shining" LMFAO ROAST HIM GIGI

the fact that I know the fandoms been saying that scene was "hot"....and it actually is so much worse in the anime because of the voice acting....theres a reason that dialogue reads R rated, its meant to, and its meant to disgust you and theres a reason I stay away from like 95% of the fandom thats all im gonna fucking say on that

"you think im ordinary when you just said I was outstanding?" "dont take it personally, compared to me everyone is ordinary"

not me thinking about how Uryu might outwit the use of those reishi locking things

yeaaah like I know Gigi's powers are fucked up but really imagine fighting these people and realizing that not only can one of them create zombies they can control, but theyve done it to people you know and recognize. Again, no wonder the Quincy are viewed as abominations?!

Arrancars!?

DID THEY JUST USE THE WORD FUGLY OMFG!?

"I came to see that four-eyed Quincy to make him pay for what he did to me" what, so he can absolutely destroy you again? (lol sorry, I LOVE Cirucci, shes one of my fav Arrancar but GIRL. He's gotten stronger since then, I don't think you wanna actually go for him again. Love the shoutout to that tho!?)

characters being able to be revived like this really takes tension out tho lol

so like....we're all in agreement that Mayuri is a "just like what you're fighting" type character, right? Like I get loving him for being twisted and honestly open and obvious about it (unlike other villain characters and in particular some of the Quincy)... like on the one hand as a PERSON, I'm like "love to hate this character, kinda badass in a sick way". but yeah like. He's just as bad as the Quincy and I think it puts a lot of his actions in this arc into perspective in a really interesting way

Gigi singsonging while healing Bambi is really disturbing and I love this character archetype a lot so its nice to see it done well. Shes MEANT to disturb you

FUCK. AND THERES TOSHIRO. I ALMOST FORGOT

HYYYPPPPPEEEE

#bleach spoilers #bleach tybw #victoria liveblogs #victoria liveblogs tybw

[imtryingmyfuckingbe]

Oh. My. God. I just finished Hang Loose, and OMG. IT WAS AMAZING. You are such a great storyteller, and the plot had me hooked the entire time. I loved the way you wrote the reader, but I also love the way you wrote Bucky. Their interactions always had me smiling like a little school girl. I'm still smiling!! It's incredible how natural their growing love felt. Also, while this is bucky fanfic(and a great one at that), this is so much more. You created a main character with so much depth, that while I was reading for Bucky, I stayed for the main character. I can tell you put so much work into this beautiful story, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to create and share this, because Im in love. I can't express my gratitude enough. I hope you have an amazing day/night, and that good things find you 💕

p.s. What inspired you to write this story? And what was your favorite part?

First and foremost, thank you for your ask. This is my first one, and for it to be in regards to something I spent so much time and love on? It means more than I can say. I’m gonna print this out and put it on my fridge lol.

Second, this took a long time to respond to due to the busy nature of my schedule; I appreciate your patience.

Third, in response to your first question, I have always been a writer. I don’t exist without seeing or hearing something that inspires me, or the anti-inspire, where I hate something so much for how it was written I have to rewrite it out of spite. That is all to say, I don’t recall what individual moment inspired me. I started this story a long time before I posted it. My general driving force is my love of strong characters-- flawed characters.

I have read far too many stories, both fandom driven and not, focused on a lead with whom I struggle to relate, or refuse to relate.

I read once that a heroes strength is often their weakness in turn, when it (the trait) is pulled long and thin. I knew I wanted my character to be so strong, undeniably so, to where it is a detriment. And I knew I wanted to write about Bucky.

Most of my ideas for one shots end up turning into these long winded, complex stories because once I start writing, I forget how to stop. Hang Loose is a product of that. I had no idea where the story led until I finished it, and then revised it, and then added and detracted and so on.

My favorite part of the story, as a reader, is probably the romance. I’m a shit writer for it, but a sucker to read it. I can’t view it through an impartial lens to know if it’s good or not, but I know I enjoyed looking back it. (My favorite scene is probably after Reader returns from the warehouse and Bucky helps her upstairs and tucks her in; it’s so soft and cute and I’m proud of how I wrote it.)

My favorite scenes to write are the action ones, and ones where the reader is crass and a bit cruel. I had so much fun starting with the bar fight; it set the scene for the reader and what to expect.

As a whole, I enjoyed writing this story. It reminded me of my love for writing in general, and got me back on the horse. I actually have a few more stories in the works, but I’m chasing down said horse right now.

Thank you for your message. I appreciate it more than I can say. I hope you have a wonderful day :) 

#asks

[ukai-simp-services]

hot cocoa

oikawa x reader domestic fluff

(could be interpreted as a female reader but its pretty gender neutral tbh)

warnings: slight cursing, suggestive content, french kissing, play fighting

a/n: this fic WILL be posted on my ao3, go give me some love ;) @ supernotcool

++ quick note beforehand that you don't have to read: ok so this whole fic was based off an actual day I had like, two days ago, but obviously I don't have a boyfriend or I probably wouldn't even write as much fic as I do. but I DID spend the day making a snow man with my dad and drinking hot cocoa by the fire so, all I really added was a pretty fluffy brown haired boy to make it cute and a little spicy. anyway. I just felt like telling y'all where I got my inspo from bc I personally LOVE when writers do that. anyway enjoy y'all, I hope there's not grammatical mistakes. im still new to writing fics on Tumblr so give me some feedback please!

 Finally, a day off. How long has it been since your school shut down for a snow day? Had to be two years at the very least. You had been itching for a day off for so long now, especially with all the upcoming exams you had, life had become a lot of all work and no play. Same thing goes for your boyfriend of 2 years, Tooru Oikawa. Because of his strict volleyball schedule - and having university on top of that - your boyfriend had a packed schedule. Sure, you complained about work and school, but you always knew Tooru had a much heavier weight on his shoulders than you did. Still, he always managed to seem more upbeat than anyone else you knew, he always seemed to have time for you and gave you all his attention. Which is why it was no surprise that your loving boyfriend was more than excited about today’s day off and he intended to spend every second with you.

 As if you don’t already live together…

  You were seated at the kitchen table, mug of coffee in one hand and your phone in the other. You mindlessly scrolled through instagram as you took periodic sips of your coffee, enjoying the peacefulness of your apartment. In the window next to you, a moving picture of a lovely snow storm was taking place, begging for your attention. You took your eyes off your screen for a moment to watch the storm unravel before you, it was calmer than it was last night, but the wind still certainly shook all the trees. A warm smile planted itself on your face, content with the abundance of snow you were receiving, considering its been a couple years since you last got to experience this. 

 Your blissful moment of silence was soon broken by the sound of your boyfriend, slamming the door to your bathroom open and revealing his robed body oh-so dramatically. 

 “Do you really have to make an entrance even when leaving the shower?” You asked half-bored and half-amused. 

 “Don’t act like you don’t enjoy every second of it.” Your boyfriend smugly replied, making his way over to the table with you. 

 You shook your head, biting back a grin, “You’re so humble, Tooru.”

 He giggled out an, “I know.” 

  You continued your scrolling on your phone, becoming a bit bored of it after awhile. Your boyfriend circled around the kitchen table and planted himself behind you in your chair. The familiar smell of an earthy-floral cologne mixed with fresh mint filled your nostrils as he wrapped his arms around your body lightly, letting his chin rest on your shoulder. You hummed lightly at his soft touch, becoming slightly engulfed in it.

 “You know what we’re doing today, right?” The fluffy-haired man questioned.

 “I don’t, what are we doing?” You wondered, curiously.

 “Playing in the snow obviously, duh.” Your boyfriend replied so matter-of-factly.

  You chuckled at his words, you knew he’d want to enjoy the snow today - as did you - but you weren’t expecting him to ask so early. 

 “Yes, we must, but can’t I shower and study a bit first?” 

 Your boyfriend stood up from his position abruptly, making you turn your head towards him. 

 “Y/n, under no circumstances am I letting you do school work today, it’s our one day off.” 

 “But-“ 

 “Nope, no buts.” He grabbed your arm and tugged you out of your chair, “Now come on, let’s bundle up.” 

 “Tooru-“ 

 After a solid 20 minutes of you complaining to Tooru that you still needed to shower and him assuring you that you’d much rather take a hot shower after being in the cold - he was right of course - you two managed to bundle yourselves up in a few layers of thick clothing, ready for the cold outdoors.

  Waddling down the stairs of your apartment to the front door, you struggled to put on your snow gloves, hoping and praying that no skin between materials would be exposed. Oikawa followed behind you, adjusting the fluffy beanie that covered his forehead. The two of you stood before your front door, staring at the silver door knob in anticipation. 

 “Ready?” You two asked in synchronization. 

  You giggled, then tugged the door open, exposing the blinding white scenery before your eyes. Your boyfriend smirked to himself, before unexpectedly picking you up bridal style and running out the front door, kicking the door closed with the heel of his boot. 

 “Oh my god- Tooru! Put me down you idiot.” You exclaimed, immediately wrapping your arms around his neck. 

 “Not after calling me an idiot I won’t.” He smirked down at you

 “Tooooruuuu.” You whined, the noise bringing attention towards the two of you from a family in the next apartment. A couple with their two kids, who were currently making snow angels and now giggling at the sight of you and your child of a boyfriend. 

 “What’s the magic word?” The stubborn man persisted. 

 “Flatty-kawa.” You teased, only making the man’s grip on your body tighter.

 “Hey, no fair! I swear you and Iwa-chan love to mess with me.” He dropped his head sullenly, feigning sadness. 

  You rolled your eyes at your dramatic boyfriend, “Oh boo-hoo, you know you love us.” You stuck your tongue out at the end of your sentence. 

 Oikawa chuckled, then smirked once remembering his true intention of holding you like this. 

 “Oh god, what are you-“
 

  Your boyfriend responded by swinging you into a pile of snow, your body flailing in the air for a good second before plummeting to the ground with a muffled “oof”. 

  The mischievous man above you couldn’t hold in his laughter, his eyes squinted shut and his cheeks tightened as he doubled-over in hysterics at your expense. You remained in your exact position, laying flat on your back with the cushion of the snow under you as you stared up at the blue sky above you. You slowly sat up, burning death glares into the side of your boyfriends head, as he laughed so hard that he had to bend over and hold onto his knees. You took advantage of the state he was in and reached over to grab one of his legs. You tugged as hard as you could, but curse your athletic boyfriend and his very toned legs. He only laughed more at your failed attempt to trip him, but all laughter was soon dismissed as he took a step and slipped on some ice. Your idiot of a boyfriend tumbled down next to you with a frightened look in his eyes, his right arm catching his fall. 

  Now was your turn to laugh, you fell backwards onto the snow as you clutched your stomach from laughter. It took you a few seconds of controlled breathing to calm yourself down. 

  “Wow, now that was pretty funny Tooru, I have to say-“ 

  You're cut off by your boyfriend tackling you on the ground, pinning your arms down - as best as he could with gloves on - and tickling your sides. Once again, there was only so much he could do with the amount of layers you had on. Even so, you still twitched and squirmed from the contact, slapping your boyfriends strong arms to stop.

 “Please- Tooru. I’m..I’m still so out of breath from befor- NO MORE PLEASE.” He tickled you relentlessly, you were about ready to kick him in the balls before he stopped. 

 “Alright, that’s enough payback I guess.” The boy grinned from above you, clearly very happy with himself. You were too out of breath from the previous laughing plus the tickle attack to retort. 

 “Yeah, yeah.” You lifted a shaky, glove-covered hand up to caress his face. He ignored the cold feeling of the glove being pressed against his face and just smiled down at you. He leaned in slowly, lips barely brushing yours. You felt your body heat up, despite being in the snow, from his action. He teased you by not breaking the space between your lips. You tried to go in for it yourself, but he quickly pulled away, smirking down at you.

 “Tooru…” You meant to whine, but it came out as more of a breathless whisper, coated with desperation. 

 He noticed this and leaned in close again, this time kissing your cheek.

 “Hm?” He tested you. 

 “Kiss meee.” You pucker your lips for him, he couldn’t help but grin at your desperation.

 “Fine.” He gave in more easy than you expected, closing the distance between you and pressing his lips to yours. The kiss was simple, it felt as if it would be quick and he would pull away, but he moved his lips rhythmically to deepen the kiss, turning it soft and sensual. You two slowly made out, your arms still pinned by his hands and your back still pressed into the snow. You only noticed then that his knee was in between your legs, had it been there before? 

  The longer you two made out, the more desperate the kiss became. Your two bodies aching for warmth had you guys grabbing at each other mindlessly. Oikawa was the one to pull away.

 “Y/n, we have a snow man to make!” The chocolate-haired boy released you from his grip as he sat up. 

  You pouted at him, clearly flustered and he knew that. Your cheeks were tinted a rosy pink, he was unsure if that was from him or the cold weather. He hoped it was him.

 “No pouting, you’ll get more of that later, I promise.” He winked at you while offering you a hand up. 

  Your eyes lit up at his words, as much as you hate to admit it. You took his hand and let him pull you up onto your feet. The two of you became preoccupied for the next 20 minutes, evidently dedicated to the snowman you were constructing. You packed while Oikawa rolled the snow, making a dream team of snowman builders. 

  After struggling to keep the second part of the snowman’s body upright - and a lot of you bossing around Tooru to help you pack more snow - you two were finally able to start forming the head.

 “Wait! Hold that thought, can you run inside and get buttons, a carrot and blueberries?” You interrupted your boyfriend’s rolling.

 “Sure thing baby, but why blueberries?” Your boyfriend furrowed his eyebrows.

 “You'll see don’t worry, I'll go look for sticks while you’re gone.” You rose to your feet and dusted off the snow on your pants.

  While Oikawa ran inside, you made a small trip around the outside of your apartment building, collecting a few sticks in your hands. You returned from your loop around the area to see your boyfriend exiting the house with his arms full. You jogged up to him and helped him with the items, the both of you returning to your snowman. You kneeled down and again, both of you were at work. You let Tooru smooth out the lumpy pieces of snow while you prepared your items. 

  You started with the eyes, using two black buttons. Then, proceeded with the carrot, as a nose of course. Next, the blueberries were placed one after another, curving into a smile. Lastly, you stuck the two sticks into the snowman’s body for two arms. You sat back content, admiring the work of you and your boyfriend.

 “Wait.” 

  Tooru realized that you forget the classic 3 buttons on the snowman’s torso, so he reached over and placed them himself. 

 “Beautiful, baby.” You praised your thoughtful boyfriend for his addition. 

 The two of you stood a few feet away from your snowman, arms intertwined as you admired the creation before you. Obviously, you both pulled out your phones and snapped a quick picture. 

 “Ooh, almost forgot.” You tugged your boyfriends arm to settle down onto the snow again with you, “We have to sign our artwork!”

 Oikawa furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, as he had never heard of such a thing before, “Sign?” 

  You nodded, “Mhm. Me and my dad used to always make snow angels side-by-side in front of our snowman, to kinda sign it somehow. Does that make sense?” You inquired your boyfriend by looking up at him. 

  His heart absolutely melted at your sincere words, he smiled at you warmly in return. 

 “Yes baby, it makes sense.” 

  The two of you laid side-by-side in the snow, far enough apart to move your arms and legs back and forth. Once finishing, you stood up carefully - to not wreck your snow angel - and helped Tooru up too.

  You both embraced before your creations, cheek pressed to his chest as you gazed at all the love you two created. Cocoa-colored eyes flickered away from the snowy sight to bore down into yours, forever staring into each others souls. You stood on your tip-toes to place a soft kiss on your lover’s lips, one which he returned graciously. 

                                                             - 

  An hour later, Oikawa was found in the kitchen boiling a kettle of water, preparing to make you both hot chocolate. He worked diligently, adding marshmallows and whipped cream to his creations, then deciding to add a sprinkle of cinnamon too. 

  You emerged from the bathroom, hair freshly wet and combed through, but dressed warmly in a pair of sweatpants and one of your boyfriend’s hoodies. You circle the kitchen table and plant yourself behind Tooru, wrapping your arms around his firm torso. 

 “I got the fire place to work.” The boy in your hold spoke proudly.

 “Really? I knew it felt warmer in here. That’s great baby, thank you.” 

 He hummed a welcome in response, adding the last finishing touches to your drinks. 

  You pulled away as he handed you a red Christmas mug, filled to the brim with whipped cream and cinnamon. You brought the mug to your lips, noticing how your boyfriend leaned against the counter behind him, awaiting your reaction. You sipped the hot drink cautiously, enjoying the rich chocolate taste that invaded your mouth, the whipped cream and cinnamon really complemented it too. Your eyes lit up in delight, already telling Tooru that you loved it without words. 

 “Fuck, that’s delicious.” You cursed causing a chuckle from Oikawa. You always found the funniest way to say things during such soft moments, and it always amused the hell out of him. 

  You both seated yourselves on the sofa in front of your fireplace, soaking in the warmth from the flames. You sat back in the couch comfortably, the two of you intermittently sipping at your cocoas and rambling to each other about everything under the sun. After finishing your drink not long after Tooru, you placed the mug on the coffee table in front of you, then scooted yourself closer to your boyfriend. The flames of the fire had died down a little, but they were still there to keep you two warm. You wrapped your arms around your boyfriends waist and nuzzled your head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his divine scent. 

 “Thank you for today, I had a lot of fun.” You mumbled softly into his skin.

 “Of course, so did I. I wanna make so many more memories like today.” Tooru confessed, nuzzling into your damp hair. 

 You looked up at him, gazing into his rich eyes once again. It often felt as though you’d never get over the way his gaze made you feel. Years and years could go by and you’d still melt under his stare. 

 “Me too, and I know we will.” 

  He smiled down at you, cheeks warm from your beauty and the burning fire 5 feet away from him. He softened the smile on his lips to fit in between yours, caressing your cheek with his hand as he enveloped your lips in a kiss. This time, the kiss didn’t end abruptly after heating up. It only got hotter and hotter, ‘till both of you pulled away breathless. The breath of air lasted a few seconds, before you grabbed his face and continued the passionate kiss again. Lips massaging each other and both mouths full of the other person’s tongue. You tugged at Tooru’s hair, eliciting a moan from him, vibrating from his body into yours. He took this action from you as a sign to pull away and begin kissing the sensitive skin on your neck. You breathed heavily at the contact, tangling your fingers in his hair even more. After a few moments of pure bliss, you felt your lover pull away. Almost disappointed, you looked up at him with furrowed brows. He simply stroked the smooth skin on your cheek and spoke so low and so soft that he was barely audible. 

 “Let’s make love by the fire tonight, darling.”

#oikawa toru x reader #oikawa x y/n #oikawa x fem!reader #oikawa x gn reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu!! #oikawa tooru #oikawa toru #oikawa toru fluff #hq fluff #fluff #oikawa fluff #oikawa fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #anime #domestic fluff

[icecreamkink]

so i watched cobra kai all in two days and i have so many -

this show has so many cool and smart angles to it, but the same time.... its so stupid oh my god everyone is so dumb literally mr miyagi held all of the braincells in this whole universe 

like i am but at the same time i am not surprised it was made like this, bc in hindsight of course there were hordes of ppl simping over johnny lawrence ....  but it still amuses me that this is like... an Actual Official Thing

ok this will get long so cut it is

how much fun this cast has is super visible and i love it

i rly enjoy how the world was expanded ! i did grow up watching the karate kid movies, so watching how they progressed the world of the movies so organically was pretty cool. it rly feels like its the same universe

i fucking LOVE stories that are largely about a Thing. dancing ,skating, sports its just so thrilling to experience this all consuming relationship people can have with this type of activity? and martial arts are just that much more intense, so yeah, grown ass men kicking each other around at the lightest provocation and a war veteran caring so much abt teen karate is Ridiculous.... but i love it all because thats the intensity i find so thrilling

was kinda surprised with how much im missing mr. miyagi. first because, like everyone is so unhinged jesus christo, it just really throws into relief how much his character grounded the narrative of the movies. but also hes just a really great character

and on that note it rly Gets Me that the show itself aknowledges that and plays that into daniels angst and all the little ways they sorta weave myiagisms into the whole show........ im not getting emotional over this dumb karate dads show OK

related - i really miss hearing ‘daniel-san’ 🥺🥺

ACE DEGENERATE oh god oh no

they really went down the down and out johnny lawrence route huh. like i was always kinda bummed we see kreese choking him and then we never see him again in the movies, and while i love dumpster fire problematic trash himbo ck johnny, its like......................... actually really sad that his life turned out like this fjngn

everytime i hear ‘babes’ and ‘pussy’ i die a little inside. i know thats the point but i am a v cringe easy person, have mercy (ehe)

loved the way they are constantly drawing parallels between johnny and mr. myiagi of all people. hes the handy man of his building that has a bullied kid asking for help and eventually steps up to teach them karate, beats up a bunch of bullies for him, creates a friendship with said kid, estranged from family, drinks his sorrows away, surprisingly one of the least quick to anger characters (which says more about everyone else really but.... Well.), no schemes or ulterior motives hes just tryna vibe here.... oh and ofc magically heals miguel of is asthma apparently. the true disciple.. meanwhile daniel is his usual messy petty self even tho he wants to be mr myiagi so bad 

also interesting about that is how miguels character is a parallel of both johnny and daniel at the same time

overall the parallels in ck are done really well, drawing comparisons and also subverting them constantly. theyre well thought out

THE PARALELOGRAMS

fr tho, the angle being explicitly the cycle of trauma and its effects and how trumatized adults in turn traumatize kids, maliciously or not, is so interesting

but! on the flip side of that, it feels like the writers are getting in their own way @ letting the characters grow. especially this last season. theres only so many times you can do "johnny and daniel are getting along but 5mins later they are (literally) fighting over some dumbass random issue" or "johnny puts in 20% of effort with robby and then gives up" before it gets on your nerves yknow?

i see daniel no longer talks like macchio ingested 15 shots of espresso before every take and idk how to feel about that tbh

interesting tension in daniel, as in, in tkk mr miyagi was there and daniel was frankly, kind of a lil shit, this messy petty spitfire hot tempered sassy kid,(johnny lawrence voice: just... stop being so annoying) but now hes the adult, and he wants to be mr. miyagi... but hes just not, and never will be to his very core and it shakes him and in a way hes trying to find who he is now that he sees himself in a position to be a not! cobra kai figure. i kinda really like that 

plus how that relates to his cobra kai trauma. idk if the writers thought abt it Like That, i think so, but in any case, its interesting bc it seems like daniel has told everyone whod listen about johnny lawrence his Pretty Boy Karate Rival and high school and 84 cobra kai... But. no one seems to know what went on in 85 (or 86? idk) which was just so much worse

like ye og cobras were shitheads, but tkk iii is just two hours of daniel being emotionally and physically tortured. 

like, the third movie is.............chaotic, to put it nicely, and many people ignore it, but the writers clearly didnt. daniels actions are, in a way, responding so much more to the events of tkk iii than to the first movie ie. johnny himself, AND. daniel doesnt rly seem to have dealt with that trauma? he never told sam? doesnt feel like hes ever told amanda? he doesnt even say terrys name out loud? freaks Out over kreese ? the way he reacts to robbys deceit? his FACE when he walks past the new "fear does not exist in this dojo" paint or kreeses photo? hmMm i sense Pain

his fashion tho........... disappointing. where are the flower shirts daniel huh we had one (1) shirt what a tragedy STOP WEARING SUITS ALL THE TIME . also the band ts/grunge bi are a look for johnny but part of me longs for the preppy lovable 80s bully chic johnny lawrence getups

weird that they never used that last moment of karate kid where johnny kinda... snaps out of his anger and hands daniel the trophy almost in tears. like “youre alright larusso, good match” “thanks a lot”  that being their last direct interection seems like itd be perfect fruit for cobra kai but... they just dont. weird. 

especially when, the FIRST SCENE they see each other, suposedly in 30+ years, the first thing to come out of daniels mouth is QUOTE "u still got those golden locks huh?" WHO SAYS SHIT LIKE THAT DANIEL FUCKING SAN 

also amandas immediate reaction "your pretty boy rival?" like. can we talk about the fact that daniel had to have imparted to his wife the very important information that his high school bully/karate rival was like Really Cute and Fucking Hot Actually

 the writers Knew exactly what they were doing and honestly.............. power to them

tkk director voice: and billy was just so cute  

also I was thinking that daniel sounded strangely fond in that first scene, and i wonder if he developed a weird affection for johnny on the grounds that of all of his Karate Rivals johnny was actually the only one who didn’t actively tried to literally kill him

i was actually delightedly surprised with how great the chemistry between them is, like from the get go i am Invested. their rl friendship totally bleeds through and its fantastic

. granted, idiots enemies to lovers friends is my Thing so i am biased  

johnny lawrence: i am down in the dumps, i fucked up my whole life and my sons probably, largely in light of the trauma that the father figure sensei and the philosophy of my karate inflicted on me and all my friends. u know what i should do, as a traumatized, unreliable mess of an adult? teach that same philosophy to some other kids! what could go wrong! 

but really i enjoy the setup of it. i kinda like that i watched it late because, season 1 was johnny setting himself up for failure in a way and it was exciting to watch it all go to shit sjfn

Like. his heart might be in the right place, but theres just.... not a way to teach something like ‘strike hard, no mercy’ and not have it fuck up a kid 

case and point: aisha, miguel and hawk become annoying as all hell over that bullshit in the end of s1, even before shit gets truly fucked up

billys subtle panicked eyes when he sees hawk and miguel fighting dirty in the all valley was SO GOOD especially in parallel with the panic that is so visible in his face in the movie when kreese tells bobby to injure daniel and in the sweep the leg scene 

seen people question wether kreese should have returned and i absolutely think he needed to. johnny needed to realize that cobra kais fundamentals are flawed, at the root, beyond kreese himself being a toxic piece of shit 

also who are we kidding? we are here to see the tkk characters play on new playgrounds!

i get what they're doing abt kreeses backstory, ( also. cobra kai. pq eles caem nas cobras djjs sorry) but did it need to take up that much time? feels like they couldve  done it in half the run time and developed some other stories better 

martin kove has such an evil eye. i love it

love that we get a good follow up to kreese breaks johnnys trophy and tries to CHOKE HIM in the parking lot, which happened in the movie and then....................... was never mentioned again

“the gang is all back together again” aaaa u piece of SHIT 

also. terry silver is definetely appearing ha ha ha PAIN i cant wait

seen ppl say kreese was too much of a cartoon villain like..........................oh......... sweetie........... u dont even Know

interested how johnny will fit into that bc kreese was simping rly hard for johnny here. like i did not expect him to be so adamant to have him with cobra kai ... under his control, sure, but he really wants johnny by his side despite already having control of the dojo and how will terry silver self appointed jon kreeses forever simp going to feel abt that? 

like bitchs dropping by every episode like ‘joooooohnny ..... come bacc to me joooonny......... this ur last warning! for real this time johnny! i wont say it again! watch me ! im leaving johnny! im rly leaving ! im dragging a chair” and johnny is just like. dont let the door hit ya bitch it was so funny pls

and on that subject oof, johnny! doesnt! Know! he doesnt get that side of daniels cobra kai trauma. and i kind of.............. cannot wait for ck 2021 johnny lawrence to meet terry silver like. what a shit show i need a front row seat and popcorn (imagine terry tries some greasy charm and johnny just roundhouse kicks him in the teeth bc he just doest Not Have the Patience for This. glorious)

feels like we, as a society, should acknowledge that cobra kai will never die................ bc their sense of design is just chefs kiss. their name is COBRA KAI. they have sexie sleeveless black gis. theyve sneks. colorful leather jackets with embroided naja insignia, the get ppl thru the aesthetics. evil geniuses

the flashback cuts : masterpiece behavior

the other takes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the differente angles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of the FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE CLOSE UP ON JOHNNYS FACE AT THE KICK 

that scene of daniel and johnny vibing to 80s music in the car. just. oh my god. the fan wish fullfilment. no thoughts head empty.

the new characters! theyre .... good. but. idk. i really like miguel (save for the annoying phase mid s1 - end s2) and amanda, who is a damn riot and has some functioning braincells, but everyone else is       

like dont get me wrong, i dont hate anyone,its not a jane and rafael from jtv situation,  and i am interested and invested in their arcs, but i wouldnt say i like   Like them, as in, personality wise 

like, sams grappling with ptsd was rly gutting and i enjoyed that plus her slight rage issues, 

which nicely parallel torys rage issues. torys background is all over the place tho so im pretty on the fence abt her so far

robby deserves better in every way, and i like how smart and cunning and surprisingly sweet he is

hawk............... is there i guess,

 demetri is annoying in the best way possible,

 carmen is sweet but. i just feel like her character is blunted to make the johnny relationship easier. like when shes furious with him after miguels injury but then forgives him like an episode later? and then convinces him to fight for the tournament bc she had a karate epiphany off screen even tho she was always against it? meh. feels like with the plot thiccening she was swallowed and now shes like a crutch for johnny mora than anything, which is disappointing.

aisha was cool and im kinda mad she wasnt in s3, especially bc a storyline with her tory and sam was like RIGHT THERE , but also... cant say i was super super fond of her... doesnt feel like we ever spent enough time on her

moon the bi icon, 

overall its a good cast but the main draw for me remains the og cast 

the tory/sam miguel/robby Thing. enjoy how theyre Narrative Foils and i like how their stories were so dramatically entangled but oh god give me a break with the teenage love square for the love of god. if u gonna put us through that at least have the decency to not make it so straight

and honestly some sam/tory        miguel/robby romantic tension would even make more sense. just saying! 

also im not sure how i feel abt the cobra kai: red miyagi do: blue theyre going with since some of daniels most iconic looks in tkk are also red. like it was a color they (johnny and him) sorta shared. i get it, opposite but complementary but idk... a little too fire nation and water tribe for me .

 and like the cobra kai kids are so funny abt it bc their outifts grow progressively more ridiculously coordinated. its like do they group chat every morning before leaving their houses? 

robby still sticks out like that tho. he went thru an athleisure/daniel san tsleeves phase and now hes back in the bandts grunge, but his color scheme doesnt fully blend with the other cobra kais. hmmmm.

LOVED LOVED LOVED both the okinawa episode and the cobra kais easy rider episode just such good good heart aching fun

bobby is an icon. he was in tkk and he is now ck hope appears more and more

 tommy is like the most iconic background character. all his lines, freaking gold then and now. sigh :( 

the framing in the okinawa trip was so good everything was so good

i stand by the fact that kumiko was the love interest daniel had the most chemistry with and shes is overall such a joy to watch, loved to see her again, idola, fashion icon

also tkk ii is good u guys are just mean

also really enjoyed chozens role in the episode, his evolution; i love that they introduced the pressure points (ty lee the blueprint) and! the honk + karate! cousins! absolutely iconic

when kumiko reads mr miyagis letters........ oh my god, my eyes FILLED with tears, it was so heart wrenching :(( tamlyns delivery was so emotional and lovely and its so obvious everyone involved in ck has so much love and respect for pat morita and mr miyagi as character, and i adore that it exists like this electric current through the show

when we were watching i told my sister i thought that ali would be miguels big shot surgeon and ngl i am so disappointed that didnt happen. hire me cobra kai writers

also the johnny ali daniel amanda chemistry? off the charts

AND the sassy retconning of daniel and alis breakup! LMAO ‘I HOPE U DIDNT TELL MR MIYAGI IT WAS MY FAULT’ HFDJJGNKFKSD

i am preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty sure back injuries dont work like that    but oke

daniel and johnny are so good together whenever, like they never actually help the kids or get shit done and end up fighting anyway but its just so much fun when theyre hanging

JOHNNY LAWRENCE AND DANIEL LARUSSO FIGHTING TOGETHER

daniels “plan” on how to get robby to juvie was so stupid. literally were u TRYING to make him hate you. dumbass

parents at those hearing rly brave for ppl that did not do ANYTHING as their kids got involved in a karate gang war until now

“bullshit i heard u were the real bully!” i mightve screeched

this s3 ending was SO DRAMATIC omg

everyone is such a MESS go to THERAPY u unhinged motherfckers

also im sorry but uh. a richass neighborhood in california doesnt have some type of neighborhood watch? the larussos rly dont have any security at all? neighbors wont hear the sound of a damn karate brawl happening next door??? also wasnt tory all like ooo i cant go to juvie, my mom yada yada yet shes always running around town getting into fights even at the rich girls house she was kicked out of school for fighting??   ?  ??    ??        ?                ?    ?          ??                  ?    ? girl??

stop destroying the larussos house, its so pretty :((((

sam finding her center looking at mr miyagis picture...  uwu maybe

robby yelling ‘U ARE WEAAK’@  johnny \as he is easily blocking him is like.... so funny and so sad to me. sweetheart. 

also i know it was meant as ‘oh johnny pushes him and HURTS HIM’ but it just looks like robby runs himself into the lockers and IM SO SORRY I FEEL SO BAD BUT IT WAS SO FUNNY 

i like that he and tory are the cobra kai kids now. we need ppl we care abt there to not revert to a good vs evil schtick, and this is the most engaging it could be... tho it hurts that these kids cant catch a break

ah yes "lets bet some real shit on the result of this teen karate tournament bc that is always a great idea" is BACK

so daniel saves johnny from kreese..... maybe johnny will save him from terry 🧐

and dojos unite ohohoho. lets SEE how that’ll work out 

miguels face of Despair when the ck defectors and the md kids are bickering like 'this is never gonna work' : gold

also. Johnny Lawrence is gonna learn some myiagi-do karate AHAAHSJAKDFH

 ive been waiting for this moment all my lifeeee oh lawrd 

final thoughts! there are def things i hope the writers will improve on the next season, but i am very excited for it either way AND i feel like it has made me enjoy the movies even more and that is a win for a reboot/sequel to me!!

#m. #did i procrastinate watching this since it came out and only watched it now bc my sister nagged me to when i said we should #watch karate kid over the holidays? #and then binged the whole thing in two days?? #mayhaps and what abt it #cobra kai #the karate kid #its funn #y bc like karate kid is a Childhood movie but i wouldnt say #it was like particularly special for me? #like i wasnt in a fandom or anything #but now. #i might be invested #maybe #talvez

[magicstormfrostfire]

I just want to say the Rose Drops was my first Sonadow fic I read and I ugly cried like a GOODUN' 😭😭💗💕💖💗

It's such a romantic and lovely story and it is the first stepping stone to my current sonadow obsession SFAGAFSF

Thank you for being such a wonderful writer and for sharing your lovely works 💗💕💖

Omg! Thank you! ;~;

Ill let you in on a secret; that's my first Sonadow fic I've WRITTEN too! Haha. My first fic ever actually! Ive write personal stories/comics with original characters ever since I was a child, so I have lots of experience writing in general but this was my first time making a fanfic, let alone posting it! I was so nervous because its not the usual action/drama Sonic fanfics usually have, but rather an emotional journey with very little fighting or battles, or high stakes.

I was really at a low point when i wrote the fic; lots of personal stuff, plus I had just lost my cat that month and it was the first close death I ever experienced (usually relatives i didnt know or never met died) . It sounds a little silly, to be upset about the loss of a cat that much, but i didnt know how to handle it given my current situation at the time. So i decided to just. Write a story about Sonic going through something similar and imagined it on a bigger scale with a close friend instead. And where Shadow was the supporting role since he's been through this before, and you can see how much he's grown as well.

Its always 'Tails dies and Sonic goes Dark Sonic' when I see character deaths in the fandom. But I wanted it to be someone else. Going deeper into it besides anger or tears and it being someone that he has confusing feelings about. Something complicated to handle. Where its not the end, but the beginning of so much more.

The Sonic fandom was always what I turned to when I was experincing difficulties as a kid and it seems like I still have that urge to do so even as an adult :') as I planned, wrote, beta-ed, and did research, it not only helped me cope but also let me explore the franchise a lot more since Ive only played a few games. I had a lot of work to do!

And although I'm a Sonadow fan, I also really love Amy and wanted to make a version of herself that was mature and brought out her best traits. I just hope nobody misconstrude the circumstances as me hating her or seeing her as a sonadow threat or something, but that's the critic in me talking. :')

Sorry this was so long, but I dont get asks too often and I LOVE THEM. I'm so glad Rose Drops resonated with you! Espeically, since it was just a personal project I threw out into the void because, why not?

I never expected so many people to love it so much, and Im honored that my fic was your first step into the obsession lol. Happy Sonadowing! ❤

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #sonic fanfiction #asks #sonic #magicstormasks

[superemeralds]

OH WOW thank you for answering so fast!! I wanted to ask because in my opinion, Shadow is written kind of... poorly.. at the metal virus arc :c and I love how you characterize Shadow!! I was wondering, if you could, how would you have written him in it?

okay so this got. RAELLY long. it’s under the read more.. hhaaa... get ready for rambles.

before i start on what i would love to see different, here’s a few things that i really liked about his characterization in idw:

shadow being persistent about what he thinks is right, being very straightforward and strict in wanting to execute his ideal

the way he stepped down and let sonic try his way instead of being stubborn because sonic made a very good point. Shadow wants to be fair, and if he of all people deserves a chance, then so should eggman. kind of ties back to maria also, which is a nice nod to have considering it seems like modern writers for sonic usually treat the ending of shth as “ok she never existed to him anyways”

i like that he uses his GUN affiliation to his advantage to do good and help people (even if by rouges account he does it because he doesnt want to deal with zombots)

he has great devotion to make sure the truck is safe and peole get a chance to get out, giving (according to the comics anyways) more than 100% of his power dealing with hundreds if not thousands of zombots alone

I like that there’s a nod to shadow being insecure about his status as ultimate life form, and he is tempted to get infected just to prove to himself he really CANT get sick and he really IS a perfect being. He struggled a lot with the high expectations that were laid upon him, the expectations he’s laying upon himself.

I like how he had a great sense of shock and defeat when he realized that he DID get infected. It’s very true for him to be thrown off by it, get a little careless due to shock. its natural. it’s good.

his “i told you something like this would happen” towards sonic in the beginning of #19 is justified. He hates that he was right, he always is, and he wishes he wasnt. he could’ve prevented this, but its too late now. then later he risks getting infected with the metal virus, and he DOES get infected. He suddenly wasnt right anymore. This sense of irony... it’s probably one of the reasons he has trouble to concentrate on the fight. it’s a nice parallel. IDK if ian intended it to be this deep, but that’s what i read into it.

(i also want to point out that i like that herms gives everyone slightly diverse “skin”-tones. like diverse undertones. im still peeved they are all pretty pale but its hoenstly a nice little nod)

okay so here’s what i think could’ve gone better:

I feel like shadow being the one to drive the truck into the city is a reference to 06, where he is driving around in various vehicles. That in itself is nice, and i think shadow is a person who prefers to do things himself if there’s a lot at stake (which there was a lot of peoples lives) but i also think that he would think of himself as a powerful shield. He would rather be the one overseeing the battlefield insread of being the designated driver. He knows he was created for the frontlines, and he is someone who knows he can survive the front lines. He is not a sacrefice tobe made, he is the one who will make sure that no one else has to sacrefice themselves. Shadow should’ve been on site from the very beginning. Where is the rest of GUN anyways? Those low level humans should make an effort to protect the life on their planet.

Shadow did absolutely NOT use 100% of his pwoer to protect the truck. He could EASILY have done more. He can lift trucks. He could use chaos blast. He could easily have prevented just faling victim to the zombots so easily.

As mentioned above it kind of DOES make sense for him to go down easily due to being infected, but I think this was the wrong time to let him get infected. I think he wouldn’t let his guard down and carelessly touch a zombot. He would not give in to the temptation to test his limits like this if there was not a greater cause. I think he would easily break if someone he cared about (other than sonic) fell victim to the metal virus. This is something that would get him emotional, to get careless. He knows sonic can outrun the virus, but rouge can’t. Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Vector, all of Sonic’s friends can’t outrun the virus. There’s a big chance that he is immune, there’s a slim chance he is not. But even with that slim chance, he knows he could outrun it, just like sonic. Losing someone he cares about to the virus would remind him of his superiority, of how fragile life is and of his responsibility to protect life itself. Any restrait would be gone. He would be driven by guilt and anger at himself, that he could’ve done better, that he HAS to do better. It’s something that spirals him totally out of control. It’s something that would make him want to prove to himself that he has the ability to fix it all. because it’s all his fault.

this is honestly something that is so important. he feels responsible for this, because he did what was right and gave sonic and eggman a chance. In his mind, sometimes the right hting to do is the wrong thing to do, because sometimes only wrong actions get you to the right goal. he is a gray character like that, and i think it’s not shown enough. his regret and guilt don’t surface enough so that anyone who is not as invested in the character would be able to read it out of #19. there’s a lot of stuff going on inside shadow in this issue and its just. not enough time to unpack it all. this whole deal of him getting infected was too rushed. (as mentioned above i wouldve preferred he get infected a little later or under other circumstances)

I think shadow is aware of his responsibility as living weapon to not fall into the hands of the enemy. he has learned what it means to be manipulated, he learned what it means if he was used as a weapon by an enemy of life on earth. he does NOT want to be used as an object of destruction ever again. He would RUN. even if hesitant, but his emotions would make him excell even in that. he would make sure he’d run faster than sonic. he’s want to make sure that he’d give 110% and cure himself, something sonic couldn’t do.

the way he would go down in my mind is him excerting himself. He would absolutely reject help. he would prefer to not have any contact with anyone at all. For one because he feels guilty and he doesn’t want to deal with that emotionally, also because he doesn’t want anyone to see him in this state of weakness. He absolutely would loathe the idea of anyone being able to see him go down and surrender to the enemy. He would absolutely exhaust his entire energy reservoir building barricades and being the sole and only front line protecting evacuation efforts from a distance, to make sure that they have enough buffer to escape, should he fail.

shadow is someone  who is rash and has a tendency to boast his strength, but he also is someone who tries to consider any and all possibilities, no matter how painful they are to admit to his pride. he will shove them to the back of his mind, but they are still there. and if it COMES to those scenarios, he will have a plan for them. only if unpredictable things happen, or things that shake him emotionally, he would lose grip.

also in all those talks abt things shaking him emotionally, i dont mean that other people who arent his friends are not important to him, its just that friendship has a bigger impact on people. i think that should be pretty obvious, but since people like to misinterpret shadow id like to make sure people understand that i think that shadow values all and every life on the planet. he griefs over random deaths as much as his friends, it’s just that it hits more personal. mostly because he thinks... of himself as someone who always protects, but never has to be protected.

shadows relationship with himself is complicated. he thinks very low of himself. he pretty much hates himself. but that is because he thinks oh so highly of himself. he is perfect, ultimate, unbeatable, unstoppable, immortal, immune.... he expects all this of himself... even though he knows that it’s not true. it’s the one thing that he knows of himself. The one thing he feels that he could maybe achieve if he tried hard enough, and of course he is never trying hard enough; and at the same time he is trying so hard. He gives 300% and yet he still feels like he halfasses everything and he still feels like he could do better. On the outside he presents it with his strict edgy persona, that looks down on everyone. but really he feels so small. most of all towards sonic. sonic is so so tall compared to shadow (pun intended).

he looks up to sonic so much, because he always manages to go out of hisway to do what is right. even if it meant risk, even if it meant weakness. Sonic, the guy that easily could just get killed and hurt and not recover. the funny jokes dude that never thinks more than a single step ahead. This boy is out there risking his life for the life of this planet on the front lines and he shows not a single care about his own safety, always putting everyone else before him. shadow envies him. he really really does. thats why he values his opinoin. thats why he listens to him and even steps back from his OWN ideals, something he would do for only VERY few people, because of course shadow is always right. this is referenced in various sonic games (sa2 most of all,shth,sth) and in sonic x (yea its not canon but like. They Really Got His Character).

ADDING SOME RAMBLING AFTER ISSUE #33 RELEASED

#shadcanon #kinda? #meta/ shadow #i still love my meta tag #anonymous #fan lore

[halorocks1214]

the law of compensation

Word Count: 10960

Summary: The Law of Compensation is the Law of Cause and Effect applied to blessings and abundance that are provided for us. The visible effects our deeds are given to us in gifts, money, inheritances, friendships, and blessings

Previous Parts (in order):  Alan | John | Virgil | Scott | Kayo | Gordon | You are here!

*heelies into view* sup, im not dead.

i wrote myself into a corner with this one with the ages and stuff, and right before i could figure it out to fix it, covid hit hard and writer's block even harder. however, recently, my brain went 'hey you know how you can fix your story' and welp now im here. i hope you like it! idk how i feel about it since my general emotions right now are pfsdppomdfgpomsd so feel free to fill in the blanks for me~

Penelope’s life has been upside down since day one.

Her parents were rich and influential in many circles, which meant they ran into more problems than most other families probably did. Penelope learned every trick in the book when it came to noticing spies, always making sure someone tasted her food for her if there was even the slightest amount of suspicion behind it, never unattended in unfamiliar places.

So when she walked into her bedroom on her 12th birthday alone and was met by the strange elderly man nearly crushed under her dresser, she had to admit she was quite perplexed by the sight, but not frightened.

Tilting her head as she walked over to be about three feet away, she squatted down to be on his level. Well, as much as she could, because he was pinned to be laying on his back, and she wasn’t going to place her cheek against the cold floor just to look him directly in the eyes, “Hi there, who are you?”

Despite being 12, she was keenly aware of how abrupt that sounded, but after a moment of struggling, he finally decided to give her the time of day, especially considering it looked like he wasn’t going anywhere for a while, “Someone who was just stopping by to-” he grunted as he tried wiggling out once more, “H-enjoy the view.”

Well, for the most part, that made sense, but, “Well you’re definitely in the wrong place for that. My room is rather cruddy compared to other views in my home.”

The trapped man blinked before realizing that he was in the presence of a literal child, “Oh? Well, where would the best view be h-in this place?”

Her brain said she was going against all her training, yet her heart refused to set off any alarm bells just yet, “Here, I can take you. Let’s get you free.”

Through lots of effort, the dresser was pushed off the man, and then the two of them were going somewhere, Penelope eagerly grabbing his hand and dragging him as much as she could as a small preteen. The man just stuck along for the confusing ride.

He was there to steal, of course, but the absolute willingness of this child to be his temporary best friend befuddled him, “Why h-are you doing this?”

She paused momentarily before looking up at him, “I don’t really know,” she shrugged her shoulders, “I guess I was lonely, and I could tell you were too.”

Stuck between being disheartened and offended, Parker prompted her to go on, “Oh?”

Penelope nodded her head, “Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and family, and they love me, but I’m sure you know all the cliches about being a rich child from an even richer family. Especially a rich daughter of all things.”

Thinning his lips, the man looked back up to watch where they were going, “I suppose I he-ave.”

The two of them made their way over to Penelope’s favorite balcony. Quietly pushing open the door, the man widened his eyes at the sight. No wonder the girl liked this place more, it was breathtaking. The stars in the night sky shone beautifully over their garden-filled back yard, making the flowers and fountain sparkle like they were infused with magic.

Penelope proceeded to tug on his hand again to bring him out to the railing of the balcony. After standing there for a few minutes, she started to speak softly, almost startling the strange man, “See what I meant?”

It was so cold his puffs of air were condensing in front of him, “Yes, I do believe I see hu-what you are getting h-at.”

He almost got lost in the sight forever before noticing movement out of the corner of his eye. Behind them on the balcony very suddenly was a criminal clad in all black holding a knife. He appeared to be trying to sneak into the mansion but caught sight of what must have been his target. Before the man could tell Penelope to run, the criminal made his attack.

Penelope shrieked as her new friend lunged at the criminal before he could do any harm. As they both attempted to subdue the other, her friend knocked the knife out of his hand and pushed him over, but not before the criminal was able to trip him up.

Penelope watched pushed up against the railing as the two men struggled to stand amidst their fight. Before she could blink, the criminal found his weapon and glared at her while her friend was just about done catching his breathing

“Dammit!” The assailant swore before gripping the knife tighter, “I didn’t work this hard for some fuddy-duddy grandpa to steal my thunder!”

The criminal lunged at Penelope one more time, but that was even more fruitless than the last attempt. When he was about three feet away from the girl, her friend grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pushed him straight into the ground, knocking the wind out of him before going even further and putting his knee on the small of his back.

As the criminal began to struggle, her friend looked up at Penelope with surprising concern, “H-are you h-okay, m’lady?”

Blinking a few times, Penelope stood up and wiped her dress off, “Uh, yes, I am. Thank you…”

Her friend finished her question for her, “Aloysius Parker, pleasure to meet you.”

With that, rapid footsteps came from inside the building before they burst out onto the terrace. A bunch of family-mandated bodyguards were being followed by Penelope’s parents. Once they took in the sight of Parker, Penelope, and the extra third, the action got even crazier.

Three bodyguards went and obtained the criminal from Aloysius’ grasp while two more went and held both his arms. He was slightly annoyed by the gesture, but he couldn’t say it was exactly unfair. Over on Penelope’s side of the ordeal, her parents were hugging and kissing her, reprimanding her for going off alone, especially while a ball was happening, do you know the kinds of people that can sneak in during them-

One of the bodyguards coughed, “Um, what would you like us to do, sir?”

The other bodyguard was way too excited, “Let’s throw them in the dark dark wine cellar.”

Another bodyguard groaned, “I said the newbie would get too big of a head chaperoning this event.”

The one right beside him scoffed, “Oh please, none of this shit would have happened if you just stayed on your post with the kid.”

The third one spoke again, “Oh shut your goddamn piehole you-”

The parents were finally standing up with their daughter behind them. The father proceeded to pinch his nose, “Gentlemen, for the love of God, please-”

Popping out from behind his leg, Penelope shouted to shut everyone up, “You’re not going to do anything because his name is Parker and he saved my life!”

The night air was even quieter than it was when it was just the two of them.

Penelope’s mother slowly looked over at Parker with shock, “You did?”

Parker looked once at Penelope’s rapidly nodding head before reluctantly admitting it, “H-yes, I did.”

Penelope shot out from her father’s side to Parker’s, “He sure did! So you can’t be too mad at him for whatever other reason he appeared tonight, okay?”

Penelope’s father gave Penelope a soft look before turning and giving Parker an inquisitive one, “You do appear to be a man of particular skills… I may have an idea of how to get you out of any jail time or trouble if you want to hear me out.”

‘Hear him out’ was exactly what Parker did, and they eventually agreed on the best outcome: all ill-will would be forgotten if Parker started working for the Creighton-Ward family, specifically as Lady Penelope’s chauffeur, servant, and everything in between. She was shocked Parker agreed to the deal. She thought he would hightail it as soon as he could, but alas, he was ready and willing to stay put. To this day, she still isn’t sure what glued him to her side…?

Regardless, she had a new servant, and not to brag, he was better than any other one she had before.

About a year into their little arrangement, everything was going swell. Parker was very talented at what he did and yet was always ready to listen to Penelope’s beck and call. They were becoming quite the pair, and one day while shopping for other kinds of pairs (a preteen girl needs to have all the best shoes, Parker!), they came across a peculiar situation.

Actually, she’ll be more specific, she’s not that rude: they came across a man seemingly being mugged, and since her parents raised her to be a kind lady, she ordered Parker like she always does, “Parker, do be a dear and help the poor fellow out.”

Parker hadn’t needed to be told twice, “Yes, m’lady.”

With that, the assailant was subdued rather quickly, and Penelope went over to the man, who was bent over and out of breath. He was putting up somewhat of a fight, but it didn’t hurt to give him a little help, “Are you okay, sir?”

The man turned to look at Penelope with a small, fatherly smile, “Why yes, I am. Thanks to you and your bodyguard, that ended up a lot less painful than it could have been. Do you mind me asking your names?”

Why not, Penelope thought, “My name is Penelope Creighton-Ward, and my bodyguard over there is named Parker.”

The man pondered over her answer for a moment, “Penelope, that’s very pretty. Nice to meet you, Penelope, my name’s Mr. Tracy, but you can call me Jeff if you’re comfortable with that.”

Jeff Tracy, that name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Before she could ask what he did for a living, a gasp came front a few feet away, causing the three not-unconscious people to look in its direction.

Starstruck at the mouth of the alleyway was a brunette that looked so much like the man they just saved yet totally different at the same time, “Dad, what the hell-”

Mr. Tracy waved the boy off, “Scott, please, children are present.”

At that, ‘Scott’ grew sheepish, “Oh, sorry,” then he was back to his previous shocked state, “Dad, what the heck happened here?!”

With that, Mr. Tracy- Jeff, why not, stood up straight, “Don’t worry, Scooter, I just-”

Penelope stopped him there, “Parker over there is holding the incapacitated man that tried harming Mr. Tracy. I saw it happening and asked him to help out.”

Mr. Tracy quietly bit out, “Dammit.”

So much for children being present.

Scott wasn’t deterred, “Dad! I told you going out was a bad idea, or at the very least going off by yourself!”

Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose, “Well, forgive me for wanting to get some fresh air. Besides, it’s not your job to worry like this, you know.”

Scott threw his arms out in exasperation, “It is when you do dumb stuff like this!”

Penelope could definitely see how these two were father and son.

Rolling his eyes, Jeff placed his arm around his son and looked back somewhat at Penelope, but mainly at Parker, “If you don’t mind, sir, but I would love getting your contact information.”

Before Parker could even exhale, Penelope spoke for him, “Sorry, but anything you want of Parker is something you want of me.”

Scott started glaring, “Hey, how old are you-”

Jeff quickly placed his hand over Scott’s mouth to shut him up, “Sorry, he’s pretty understandably rattled.” He took his hand away, and while Scott didn’t start talking again, he did cross his arms. Considering it a victory, Jeff put his full attention on Penelope, “That’s quite alright, you clearly seem to be the one in charge. Does that mean I’ll be taking your contact information?”

After giving him the bare minimum of necessary information, she, Parker, and Jeff kept in touch (it was mainly Jeff trying to speak with Parker but her joining them anyway, but she digressed). She went on to remember that Tracy Industries was a thing, and she always thought you could never have enough friends in high places. Plus, Jeff was one of the nicer ones, so to speak. She genuinely enjoyed his thought processes, and Parker was even starting to warm up to him.

Almost a year later after that fateful encounter, Jeff Tracy was announced dead, and Penelope expected that to be the end of things. She was saddened by it, maybe even more than usual, but she was raised to keep living in the present.

Until just a few months after her 20th birthday. She and Parker were relaxing in the main room before they received a random phone call. Normally she would let Parker handle it, but today she was exceptionally bored and wanted to do something. Once she reached the phone, she recognized the number immediately, “Jeff?”

A man cleared his throat, “Um, no, unfortunately, this is his son, Scott. I think you maybe remember me? That day in the alleyway?”

Recalling her thoughts, that’s when it hit her, “Oh, right, you were the one ready to throw hands with a 13-year-old.”

“A 13-year-old with a wardrobe more expensive than most families’ salaries and her own trained bodyguard that she ordered to practically break the arm of the guy that was attacking my father.”

Fair, and if her instincts were correct, that was the exact reason he was calling, “I suppose you are technically correct, but remember you were the one that called me. Tread carefully.”

Penelope heard shuffling on the other side, as if Scott were unable to sit still, “I have a… proposition for you, more specifically, Parker, if you’ll let me talk to him.”

Penelope was too curious to let it go. She glanced at Parker, who was watching out of the corner of his eye but ultimately letting her handle it, before pushing Scott to continue explaining, “What are you getting at?

Scott cleared his throat again, this time more in an attempt to steel himself for what was about to come, “Well, you have every right to turn this offer down, so does he, but my father’s plans involved calling your bodyguard and asking for his assistance for some things. I thought it was completely unnecessary, but after about a year of doing this, I’m starting to realize he may have had a point.”

That was cryptic, “About what?”

She could practically see the look on his face. It screamed ‘well, you see…’ “Certain jobs can’t be handled through normal means if you know what I’m getting at.”

Ah, of course. Considering who she’s friends with, she knows all too well what he’s talking about. ‘Normal’ is a generous descriptor.

Looking back at Parker, she thought long and hard. It’s not like they’ve been doing much. Going to balls, representing the family name, carefully lording the right information in the shadows; outside of that last thing, she’s not exactly spending every night out in the town.

Besides… she's seen Jeff’s legacy in action. It is quite the feat, and it’s taken the world by storm. She was surprised it could keep up even though the man behind it was, well, dead.

With that in mind, she made her decision, “Okay.”

Scott’s blink was so hard she almost heard it, “Okay?”

She nodded despite the fact he couldn’t see him, “We’ll help you out.” Then she paused for dramatic effect, “On one condition: I get to help out too.”

The pin was dropped, and she was sure Scott heard a record scratch in his head, “Uh, I mean-”

“Those are the terms, Scott Tracy,” she interrupted, “And if you don’t want to follow them-”

“No!” He double interrupted, “That’s not what I was saying, hang on.” Penelope heard some shuffling papers before he began again, “I’m totally okay with that. You’re an adult, you are a very powerful adult, you can make your own decisions. I can handle it, I just want to make sure you can.”

Now it was her turn to blink, “Huh?”

Scott cleared his throat, “As long as your willing to put in the work and agree to other terms we may have, I can take on both of you. I just don’t want you to feel coerced into this because my dad offhandedly mentioned that your bodyguard might be a beneficial asset to his goals. You have to be absolutely sure, after all, there’s a lot more here than just a rescue operation.”

Well, Penelope had to admit he had a point there.

… Still, she was tired. Tired of the same repetitive, high-class bullshit she dealt with every day. She donated to charity and advocated for everything she believed in, but after over half a decade, it was getting repetitive. She still wanted to help, yes, but she also wanted to see more, offer more, be more.

She just wanted more, “Yes, Scott Tracy, I truly believe I want to do this.”

He didn’t miss a beat after her final answer, “Alright then, I’ll give you coordinates for the island. Would this weekend work for a meeting?”

Adrenaline raced through her veins, “That sounds perfect.”

The weekend came, and after being able to convince Parker of the idea (deep down he knew he needed to get out and do something just as much as she did), the island they ended up visiting was absolutely stunning. Forget her mansion, she was going to move to the Caribbean or something with weather like this.

“Hey! Get back here you jerk!”

Bringing her out of her thoughts was the sound of laughter between two guys. It got closer and closer until two blonde boys came sprinting out from behind the corner with the slightly taller one chasing the shorter one. A few seconds of being out in the open, the taller one eventually saw Penelope and froze.

Before either of them could say anything, he grew slightly red and ran back behind the wall he came from with the shorter one chasing after him, his voice getting quieter and quieter with distance, “Hey, what are you doing? What’s wrong?”

Well, that was slightly rude. Regardless, another voice grabbed her attention before she could think about it too much.

“Penelope Creighton-Ward!”

Turning to face the voice, she smiled, “Ah, the voice over the phone!”

Scott rolled his eyes, “Haha, glad to see we’re going to have another jokester in our midst.” Before she could ask what that meant, Scott beckoned her and Parker to follow, “Now then, please, follow me to the main attraction. I have a few ladies who are dying to meet you.”

After a few minutes of walking through the weirdest tunnel system she had seen in her entire life, she eventually came out into what was a humongous hanger holding various sized rockets and ships. On the giant green one was a black-haired man somewhere in his mid-twenties talking to an older lady. Penelope assumed they were family, considering the laughter that was scattered about them.

Along with the green ship, a giant red rocket sat still in the corner. Despite no direct light being shined on it at the moment, it glowed like the sun itself, even outshining the way smaller silver rocket placed directly under a spotlight. The lack of shininess could be the fact that a completely different pair was working on the silver one, an older man with a younger woman this time, but one would think the silver one would shine the brightest regardless?

Bringing her back to reality, Scott Tracy walked in between her and the giant vessels. He proceeded to hold out his hand, “Well, welcome to the Thunderbirds. We’re glad to have you.”

With a sly grin, Penelope took it with grace, “Well, I’m glad to be here.”

This was going to be a very interesting business partnership.

---

“I thought you didn’t like to drink”

A scoff, “Contrary to popular belief, I can get quite hammered when I want to. It’s not my fault my brothers have such shit taste in their alcohol consumption.”

Snorting as she kneeled, Penelope gazed at the bottle in Gordon’s hand with a hint of concern, but hopefully, kept it well hidden, “Well, you’re not wrong there. I’ve had to request the weirdest things for John at my balls, you know. It takes a lot of effort to find Amazonian lemons. Can the rest of you even pronounce the brands he likes?”

Gordon shrugged, gripping his bottle a little tighter, “I think Scott was the one that created our betting game off of it. How many syllables we can get right. By the way, nice to see you didn’t immediately jump down my throat at the sight of my drunk ass,” another sip, making her wince, “At least I’m not the only one feeling this way.”

She placed her hands gently around his, bringing the bottle away and getting him to look her squarely in her eyes, “Well, anyone worth their weight in salt would be feeling shitty at the moment, but considering even Scott is relatively sober and not out here with you,” she squeezed his fists at little more, “What’s bothering you, Gordon?”

Another shrug, more broad and wide with the way both his exhaustion liquor were catching up to him. The grin he formed was anything but happy, “You said it yourself, everything?”

Penelope thinned her lips, “Both you and I know that you’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

Seeing as her words were cracking his shell, she quickly but quietly moved her hands away from his, leaving only one on his shoulder. It was the right decision, as following her movements, the first thing Gordon did was shake his hands in frustration and groan, “He’s still gone, Penn, two weeks, scared and alone and we might have well have sat around on our asses drooling at the walls with how far we’ve gotten in terms of finding out where he’s been taken.”

Ah, she figured it had to be that. Penelope had learned the hard way about what had befallen the Tracy family this time in the form of them not calling her when they got home, followed by the majority of them not picking up her calls either. She was about to call it a night and come over to the island herself when Mrs. Tracy was the first one to pick up. Penelope was a little grateful she didn’t video call. It might have been worse if she saw the state the older lady was in.

“Yeah, yeah, Jeffie is back safe and sound, and believe me, I’m eternally grateful, so are the boys, but…”

Penelope waited with bated breath. That breath was soon lost with what she heard next.

“Despite it all, we still don’t have the entire family back home, and-- dammit, Alan-”

Being the lady she was, she firmly yet gently let the grandmother know that it was okay if she didn’t want to say everything over a call. She and Parker would be over to the island first thing in the morning. With a terse goodnight, the ladies cut their lines with newfound senses of dread. Penelope got to the island with her escort just like she said, was given the long and short of it (was shown the damn note), and with aggressive clicking of her heels, she promised hell upon every one that wronged their family.

Which was only one, crazy, insane, bald madman.

It was a mess-and-a-half, and Penelope had been spending at least 80% of her time recently trying to help bring the youngest home. She hated how she hadn’t made it any further than the other Tracys, but it was a good starting argument, “Well, I don’t have much else to go off compared to you. Maybe I should be held just as accountable.”

It took him a second to register her words, but once he did, Gordon blinked and shook his head, “What, no, Penn, God no, you’re doing the best you can. Don’t you dare think you’re failing us, you’re not.”

Penelope sat up straighter, “And yet you are?”

Suddenly, Gordon was aggressive, but not at her, never at her, but always at himself, “Yes! Yes, I’ve already failed so much, goddammit, and the fact that we’re taking forever is the fucking cherry on top!”

Within the blink of an eye, she had her arms around his shoulders and was staring deeply into his amber eyes, a hint of faux-naivety behind hers, “Why’s that?”

This pattern was something they’ve done with each other many times by now. Not so much toying with one another’s emotions, but definitely playing with their heart so the things they couldn’t quite get to fumble out of their mouths gently left it instead after some careful prodding. Every single time they played this trick on one another they would only realize it in the morning. Yet, they wouldn’t even be mildly annoyed by it, they would be secretly grateful. Such is love.

Gazing into the gorgeous blue eyes of Penny, Gordon couldn’t stop the tears that leaked down his face, “John’s been beating himself up over missing the fact Alan was in trouble during our call, but that’s the thing, isn’t it? Our call. I was right fucking there, my chest was burning with that feeling Scott gets on a daily fucking basis and I did jack shit. I didn’t even have the excuse of needing to man my station like John did! I could have left at any time, and I should have, but I didn’t. I’m the only other family member that rivals Scott’s need to follow one’s gut, and I fucking blew it.”

Penelope knew she was expecting a tirade to come out of his mouth, but she would be lying if she said she was prepared for how much near self-hatred would be laden in it, “Gordon, that’s--”

Gordon’s crying started having some laughter behind it and it broke Penelope’s heart, “Alan has always appreciated me for being a different kind of older brother, but all I can think is that if Scott or Virgil were there, they would have gone to him. They would have saved him. I was so caught up in the excitement of seeing Dad again I couldn’t see anything else, but maybe… maybe they would have. They would have followed that feeling in their chest.”

Yes, she was quite aware of the connection the two youngest had. Both were experienced in being babied by the older members, and while they didn’t exactly hate it, they both shared the feeling that it could be taken too far. That’s not to say Gordon has never babied Alan, it’s a Tracy older brother rite of passage to baby anything younger than you-- Kayo notwithstanding because the boys would like to live to see tomorrow-- but he was the only one with enough balls to look Alan in the eyes when he was being stupid to just straight up say, Alan, you’re being stupid. Again, Kayo notwithstanding, but she’s always been an outlier in their habits. It drives Brains insane with how much he has to change his general character study of the family.

Right, the important issue at hand. Gordon was still going, not helping her already bruised heart in the slightest, “Alan’s going to come back and he’s going to realize just how shitty I am as an older broth--”

Gordon always thought of Penny in the same way he thought of the waves that propel him when he swam: always there, gentle as ever, but when he needed a kick, they aren’t afraid to give it to him straight. Penny, however, couldn’t exactly shoot water from her hands, so she settled with a surprise kiss from nowhere. Gordon’s lips were salty with tears, and despite her eyes being closed, she knew his expanded to the size of baseballs.

Leaning back, she sighed at the smeared lipstick on the corner of his lips, “Gordon, I think both you and I know that what you’re saying is absolutely rubbish.”

Gordon’s lips were still a little puckered, “Wha--”

She placed one of her fingers on his lips, shutting him up, “You are the one best older siblings on the planet alongside your brothers, and the fact that you would doubt that means you’re letting that bastard win,” Gordon’s gasp meant she was going in the right direction, “Alan is a very crafty boy when he wants to be, which he definitely got from you, so don’t you dare think him slipping out of your grasp was your fault. As backward as it is, you should be thinking that the reason he was able to so selflessly give himself was because of your undying love for him. He wouldn’t be willing to go through hell and back just for any group of people, no?”

His eyes were practically twinkling with awe. Was it really so hard to believe that these boys had nothing but adoration and respect for one another? At least he took her words into consideration in the form of swallowing down the spit in his mouth like he swallowing a large rock, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Her soft grin fell over her face once more, “Aren’t I usually though?”

A similar one fell over him, “Yeah.” Then, his face became somber once more, “Hey, Penelope, I’m real sorry you had to catch me like this. Despite it, you comforted me through it anyway. God, sometimes I wonder if I even deser--”

Another peck to his lips, “What did we just get finished talking about? Besides, you’ve helped me in similar circumstances, and over arguably less pressing matters too.”

Gordon found himself rolling his eyes for the first time in a while. This woman was truly incredible, “Nah, I wouldn’t say that. You really did have too many clothing options for that ball, you know. Who picks a theme as generic as “Color” and doesn’t expect for it ruin a couple of ladies’ weekends? C’mon.”

The laughter that rang out in the air was magical.

After their joy died down, she shoved herself in his arms like a needy cat and gently scraped her fingernails over his cheeks in that familiar comforting way, “Just you wait, Gordon Tracy. Alan’s going to come back and the first thing he’s going to do is smack all of you, especially you, silly for how dumb you’re all acting.”

With tear tracks still on his cheeks, Gordon let out a few wet chuckles, “Yeah, he would, wouldn’t he?”

Penelope turned around to lay her back on his chest, and with it, his arms snaked around her waist and his chin was placed on her shoulder in their special soft hug they like to do, the bottle of alcohol long forgotten, “He will, Gordon. He’s got an amazing father, a wonderful sister, a lovely grandma, and four absolutely stellar older brothers to make sure of it.”

She felt the rise and fall of Gordon’s chest as he took a shaky deep breath, “... Four handsome older brothers, I assume?”

She rolled her eyes. So they were going to play that game tonight, “Yes, Gordon, though, I would prefer to call one of them absolutely fetching instead.”

“Scott was always a ladies man.”

“I suppose, though his flirting skills leave much to be desired.”

“Those muscles on Virgil make quite the argument by themselves.”

“They do create the most wonderful hugs.”

“But I thought John wasn’t into this kind of stuff?”

“You’re insatiable, Gordon.”

“Kayo prefers to call it high maintenance.”

“Insatiable.”

“Hard to please?”

“A prick.”

“Wow, and Virgil said I was going to be the asshole of this relationship.”

“He was right.”

“Yet you’re not gunning for freedom away from me, so I must be doing something right.”

“Hmm. Yes, you are.”

---

“I didn’t know you could drive.”

She pulled the key out of the ignition of her familiar FAB 1, “As much as I enjoy Parker’s company, I do need some alone time every once in a while. I feel you feel a similar way about your older brothers, or am not I correct, Alan?”

The boy stepped out of the car and stretched his arms above his head, “Yeah yeah, but Parker not being bound to you would be like Captain Nightleaf not having his famous grappling hook in the sequel. You can’t have one without the other. I sometimes wonder if you summoned him or something, or have him bound by a blood contract.”

“He’s 80, not ancient.”

Alan was now on the other side of the car right next to her, grin prevalent as ever, “Could’a fooled me.”

Then, the grin he was sporting fell slightly off his face as he trailed over to look at the GDF compound he asked her to take him to. Currently, it was night, but before, it was a crisp afternoon only a few days ago. Penelope was chilling in a hotel room in Switzerland, waiting for Parker to pack the car down at the entrance and give the okay to leave when Alan called her by himself with a request she wasn’t expecting, least of all from him.

“Alan, I’m not saying no, but… you want to see him so soon after everything?”

The he did was left unspoken.

The boy fervently nodded his head anyway, “I want to get it out of the way and my family won’t let me get within 1000 feet of the guy for the next 150 years. I don’t exactly blame them, but… I dunno, I just want to get the last word in, or maybe some answers. It would give me some sense of relief. Isn’t that how it works in the movies?”

Penelope rolled her eyes, yet a small smile followed soon after, “That is also how it works in real life, you know. Not everything is a Hollywood flick. If you’re sure, let’s figure something out. I’ve got the feeling you don’t want Parker breathing down your neck, and your family will have eyes like hawks. We’ll need to be sneaky about this.”

She supposed it was immature, but she couldn’t help the laughter that escaped her at Alan’s, “Aha! Viva la revolution!”

With careful espionage, Alan was able to trick every single one of his family members that he was asleep (even John, who must have been exceptionally tired) for the night. After they all left to their respective rooms to pass out like the youngest, said youngest popped up and snuck out to the hangar where Lady Penelope was waiting with her ride.

After a few hours of mindlessly talking with the boy (who had some interesting conversation starters), they finally arrived at their destination, and Penelope wondered if Alan was starting to grasp what exactly he was in for. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “It’s quite alright if you want to turn back now. You’re not wrong if you want to leave just as much as you’re not wrong if you want to continue with this. It’s all about your comfort.”

Because it was true. Penelope has been through these types of situations numerous times. Even if Alan wasn’t going to see his personal hell personified, the environment of these places was undeniably spooky, even scary in some cases. She might have become somewhat numb to it, but little Alan, while had one of the worst forays into this kind of culture in the form of being literally tortured, was still adjusting to just how dark the world could be. She was sure the Tracys already understood a little bit of it with how casualty-heavy their jobs could get, but there were things even the older boys were sheltered about out of necessity.

She would absolutely be willing to turn back now if he wanted to leave it behind and shroud himself in the warmth and light of his family. Not many have the ability to do so in the first place.

Alan thinned his lips before his blue eyes became fire-filled with determination, “No, Penny, I want to do this. We’ve come this far, and I promised I would pay for gas money. I don’t want it to go to waste.”

Snorting, she gently squeezed on his shoulder before taking her hand away, “Just give the word, darling.”

Checking in and learning all the appropriate rules and whatnot, they gandered at the steel walls as they made their way to one of the deepest parts of the compound. Before they knew it, they were outside one cell in particular. Penelope gazed over at Alan, who was sweating ever so slightly more than before. She was about to make the offer to go home again, but Alan abruptly spoke, “Uh, are you going to unlock it?”

Oh, right, she had the key. Maybe she wasn’t the one ready for this.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the cell and the door swished open. Both blondes were hit with a rush of cold air, making them shiver. Penelope wasn’t entirely sure if she was seeing her breath due to the chilliness or if her mind was making her see things due to how unsettling it was. Regardless, the two IR operatives stepped into the dark room and gulped at the sight before them.

Shackled to a chair and behind a table was none other than The Hood, glaring at them like they murdered orphaned puppies.

Ha, like he would care if they did that. She knew exactly why he was angry, and it was sickening all the same. Even after all the atrocities he has committed, he felt he was right in feeling slighted at being put into custody. She had taken down many horrible people, and yet she would never understand how they could have such twisted egos, or as Gordon would put it, have their heads shoved so far up their asses they no longer could see the light of day.

And that was sugarcoating how Gordon said it.

At the sight of Alan, The Hood lost all of his fury. In fact, in the blink of an eye, his glare turned into a slimy smile. One straight from a creepy uncle, which described him better than any of them liked, “Alan, why, I didn’t expect to see you so soon! How has it been?”

The Tracy in question gulped at being addressed directly, “P-Pretty good. Just wanted to make sure you were enjoying your time in jail. You really earned it.”

Penelope grinned ever so slightly at Alan’s attempt as sass. It was subtle, but enough for The Hood to pick up on the hidden message. The guy’s eyebrow twitched, and before either blonde could continue their merciless roasting, “Well, I suppose I do. After all, I’ve clearly done everything I could ever dream of. Now I’m in one of the safest locations on the planet away from harm. Yes, I do deserve this.”

Alan’s grin became awkward, and he took a glance and Penelope before he could help himself, “Aha, what?”

Penelope secretly winced at the fact that Alan asked a question instead of doing anything else, because The Hood, seeing the hole in Alan’s bravado, sat up straighter and his grin got even more ear-to-ear (Gordon’s comparison to the Grinch hurt suddenly. At least the Grinch became nice), “You don’t think I’m not aware of all the damage that has come upon your family? The things that make them squirm? How they would feel if those same things befell the one object they desperately wanted to protect? Why did you come with the Missus over here instead of one of your amazing brothers? Could they not handle it? Or were you too scared to be alone with them? Either way, it’s still exactly what I wanted.”

Alan’s lips thinned, “H-Hey, you don’t know what you’re--”

Penelope was caught off guard by a large bang resonating throughout the tiny room. The Hood was standing, his hands slammed down on the tabletop and breathing heavily. His eyes had a dangerous gleam to them, one that spoke, I might be chained down, but clearly I’m still in control.

Throughout that series of events and before he could help it, Alan jumped back and gripped Penelope’s arm, eyes wide and filled with fear, just like The Hood probably wanted.

The Hood, watching Alan’s clear display submission, grinned evilly, “Don’t you understand, Alan? It’s just like I told your family, I win. No matter how much they want to do to me, they can’t when I’m sitting behind bars, and you on the verge of a panic attack like right now just makes them hurt even worse. I. Win.”

Seething with anger, Penelope was about to give that awful man a piece of her mind when she suddenly felt Alan let go and step forward with taut shoulders. She looked at him and saw a glare that could have even rivaled his eldest brother’s, “Yeah, you know what? You did win, I am scared of you, the world is a little darker. It’s taking all of my willpower right now not to pass out on the spot, but you also know what?” At The Hood’s shock and raised eyebrows (he must not have expected such a bite to the youngest’s words), Alan grinned and continued onward, “I’m not scared of my family like you desperately wanted me to become. Yeah, I’m not. Maybe sometimes I’ll forget it, and yes, you certainly didn’t help, but who needs to know when I’ll always feel their love and care for me till the end of their days? So, sure, you did win in some regards. My family now has even more shit to struggle through until we get back to some semblance of normal, but I still have them, unlike your sorry ass.”

Alan took a step back as to signify these are the last words we’re having, asshole, rot in hell, “All of your henchmen have been promised safety away from you, you growl and hiss at every scrap of help people somehow manage to want to throw your way despite everything you’ve done to them and you still think you’re the right one in this situation. The one on top of it all. Well, guess what? You’re not, and my family and I, together, are one day going to toast to this momentous occasion. You finally being left in a cell to rot. Alone. Have a good rest of your life, Hood, I hope it’s as dark as you wanted it to be.”

With that, the boy turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Penelope to give one last glance to a flabbergasted Hood with a cheeky grin. Soon after, she left herself and locked the door just like she knew how to and followed Alan out. The boy had quite the lead on her, not that she was going to try and close any time soon. She was going to let him have some space after all of that.

She was pretty good at judging distances, and it was about two hundred and twenty-three feet away from The Hood’s cell door when Alan suddenly leaned against the wall and slid down it to bring his head between his knees. Not skipping a beat or becoming even slightly caught off guard, Penelope kneeled next to him and placed a gentle hand on his back, “You were very brave, Alan, and extremely right. I’ve known utter wackjobs who only have fantasies of being able to say or do something like that.”

Minutely trembling, Alan brought his head up to look at her. Unshed tears were in his eyes, yet he still grinned and laughed all the same, “You mean like Parker right?”

Blinking, Penelope had to grin too, “Well, I wasn’t going to be the one to say any names, but if we want to go there...”

Just like that, they were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps heading their way.

Both blondes looked up to see a GDF member walking in their direction who jumped at the sight of them, “Woah, hey… Uh, are you two alright? Do you need me to fetch someone?”

Shaking her head at the generous offer, Penelope declined, “No, but thank you. We had to make a necessary stop for the future that was draining, but it’s over now, and we just need to catch our breath. Isn’t that right, Alan?”

Penelope felt Alan’s breathing was a little more hectic than before, but his terse nods made her focus back on the man in front of them.

Also nodding, the man continued on his journey to wherever he was going, “If you’re sure then…”

As his footsteps became muffled due to distance, Penelope finally registered that it was panic that was swiftly overtaking Alan, and before she could ask what was wrong or comfort him, Alan roughly gripped the front of her shirt, “Penny, do you know if there are any other criminals being held down here?”

Uh, that was weird, “Not yet, or at least, none that I know of.”

If Alan wasn’t careful his breathing would become hyperventilation, “And who did you say was allowed access to The Hood’s cell?”

She didn’t like where this was going, “Well, there’s myself, I believe your father and Scott, Colonel Casey, and about one other well-trusted higher-up in the GDF. Why?”

Alan looked at her with the widest eyes imaginable, essentially saying she held the world in her palms at that very moment, “Then why did that random employee, who definitely was not a high rank in the slightest, have a keycard like ours?”

Oh, damn, why the hell didn’t she notice immediately that a random member being down here at this time of night was suspicious? Regardless, Alan picked up the slack for her- must have seen the key in his pocket somehow- and before he could utter another word out, she reluctantly left him behind to go chase after the man.

She wasn’t sure how the man got the keycard, but those details were to be left for the GDF to find out. It was their spy problem, after all.

Coming around the corner, her eyes laid upon the man about two inches away from unlocking the door. Before she even thought, she tackled him in a very unladylike manner, which led to a rather brutal scuffle on the ground. She was still winning it, however, like she always does. At some point, she managed to grab his key from him and escape the weird tango they were doing on the floor, and right as she stood up, a young voice called out to her, “Penny!”

Looking up, it seemed Alan had finally found his feet. She saw the man had also found his as well and was coming at her once more, “Alan! Take these and run!”

Chucking two identical keycards over the man who returned her tackle from earlier, Penelope was barely able to watch as Alan caught them and did as he was told. Boy, didn’t Gordon once mention he was in track at some point? It clearly showed. She blinked, the man stood up and Alan was gone. Too bad the man was very insistent that he freed The Hood tonight, as he started booking it as soon as Penelope stood up as well.

God, how did this night go to shit so quickly. She wasn’t even wearing the right heels to run in!

She eventually caught up to the two men as they made their way into the lobby. The person who was seated at the desk and who Penelope got her key from was swiftly knocked out, most likely due to their little intruder. So that at least explained why the intruder was able to get the key. Well, Penelope would need to wake them up somehow. She couldn’t run out and get help herself because she didn’t want to leave Alan alone with that man; if they both left he would just go and break The Hood out; and something about radio communication was jammed down here for safety reasons. The only thing that could call the rest of the GDF was that desk.

As she was thinking of a way to get that person to wake up, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Alan dodged a tackle thrown his way. Penelope thought she could sigh in relief, but then the man, while still on his stomach, shot his arm out and grabbed Alan by the ankle and yanked him down. Alan had no other choice but to fall right directly on his tailbone, which fell directly on the cold, hard, metallic floor, causing him to yelp out a high pitched “OW!” in the process.

Oh, so that must be how Scott felt during these moments. Interesting.

Getting over to the commotion, Penny jabbed the sharp part of her heel right into the spy’s side, making him wheeze and release Alan’s ankle, allowing the boy to scoot away. The man growled, and Penelope kneeled to try and pin him. She might not have been physically strong enough to completely hold him, but it was enough to significantly slow him down. Meanwhile, Alan scooted so far back his actual back knocked against the desk. Taking a deep breath to calm his erratic chest, he reached behind and above himself to place the cards on the desk and rejoined the fray.

Right before the man could break out of Penelope’s grip, Alan was there pinning him down from the other side. It stopped him for just a bit, but the momentum he had from before was enough to throw them off. They both landed on their butts, and Penelope watched as the man focused his anger on Alan once more. Leaping off her bottom, her arms wrapped around his chest right as Alan jerked one of his legs out in front of him to nail the man right in the stomach, making him huff due to the sudden loss of air in his diaphragm.

This brawl was going in circles. Penelope had to wake that person up, but how? Looking around the room, quickly losing her grip on the spy once more, she saw she had a clear shot of the knocked out receptionist. Closing her eyes in pain (these shoes were limited quantity) for what she was about to do, she moved her arms to have one still wrapped around the man’s neck and used the other to reach down and grab one of her heels.

Hopefully, with more grace than she thought she had, she closed one of her eyes to aim and chucked the heel right at the head of the sleeping GDF member. It hit the target right on, and before she could feel elated at her momentary victory, the man gripped her arm and chucked her right at Alan. They collided at let out two groans right at the moment of impact.

She usually was more refined in the way she kicked ass. Tonight, she hoped it would be okay to make an exception.

Her Deus-Ex-Heel must have worked because outside of her peripheral vision, she heard the noises of someone groaning after being knocked out, followed by a, “What the- HOLY-”

That was good enough for her, and now her focus was 100% back on the man in front of her, as well as Alan beneath her. Both she and the youngest Tracy looked up to see the man standing threateningly over them like a dark shadow, most likely casting one over them in the process as well. She wasn’t sure if it was her or him that growled, but only feeling partially sorry as she sprang off of Alan like he was a trampoline, she tangled with the spy once more. At some point, Alan joined the dance as well, and it was a blur of limbs. The receptionist was fearfully crouching behind the desk, mainly because you had to be insane to join in on that twister of a fight.

After a little bit more scuffling, Penelope was only reminded of the fact that she was wearing one heel when she tripped like an absolute buffoon over her own two feet. Regardless, the spy wasn’t expecting it either, and with a yell of shock, the two of them tumbled down, taking Alan with them, onto the ground for the last time, and in the process, the man smacked his head directly on the steel floor. While he wasn’t completely knocked out, the guttural noise he made after the fact signified he was down for the count.

Suddenly, they were in the weirdest triangle formation ever conceived, with Penny laying atop his chest with her nose against the ground and Alan laying over the man’s legs as his knees jutted uncomfortably into the boy’s gut, Alan’s face only a few inches away from hers. The man was finally done fighting and he was staying that way, however, which was more than enough. She only wished she had more grace during it all, especially at this moment. It was embarrassing as hell how they ended up, and she couldn’t even begin to make herself more presentable because the help she desperately wanted showed up at the exact wrong time.

“This is the GDF! Put your hands- Alan?!”

With the grace of a newborn angel, Alan popped his head up above the chaotic knot to see what the new commotion was about. It was kind of hard to be mad at the scene when his hair was so unkempt in that way baby animals get after lick-baths from their mothers, as well as the dopey smile he was sporting with such an adrenaline rush, “Oh! Hi Aunt Casey! Glad to see you again!”

Penelope groaned into the ground, Well, poop. This was not how she wanted this to go.

After being held in a cell for about an hour or so (it was regulation, they knew that, didn’t make it suck any less), the Colonel herself came and brought them out. It was very obvious they didn’t do anything wrong, honestly, they did more than right, but the GDF had rules. Causing such a commotion, especially in such a facility, had to be looked into, and what she found was exactly what she expected. Nothing less of a Tracy, or Miss Creighton-Ward.

Didn’t stop her from gripping the boy’s arm like a tired mother, however, “Now then, another part of our regulations is to call the family of anyone we incarcerate, so the past half hour of my job has been more hectic than I can bear. Please, Alan, don’t make this worse for anyone, or yourself.”

As soon as the word ‘family’ left Casey’s mouth, both Penelope and Alan winced. They both subconsciously figured that the rest of the Tracys would find out about their little mission, they just hoped it would be in the morning a few hours after everything was said and done. Not right in the middle of it, and especially not right after they essentially took down an enemy cell.

Casey let the boy go with a fond smile. Penelope watched as the boy gave one back, albeit a little bit more awkwardly. It said please don’t feed me to the starving lions. Casey only eye-rolled. You were the one that thought it was okay to steal their food. Alan eye-rolled right back. Yeah, fine, fair enough. The two women stood and watched as Alan took a deep breath and descended the stairs to his frantic family.

Penelope took a moment to look at said family. Jeff and John were off to the side talking to two officers while Gordon and Virgil were steaming and sitting with their arms on a seemingly even more steaming Scott, all three glaring at the spy currently in handcuffs. Oof, they probably got a brief rundown about what happened, and that most likely didn’t put them in a good mood. Which was to be expected. How else should one feel when you’re abruptly woken up to a call from the GDF saying your younger brother is in our captivity. Please come pick him up before he makes even more of a mess. It didn’t help that they had to wait to see the younger brother when they knew Alan was right inside and could have been let go at any time.

Penelope was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of Alan speaking rather loudly. The rest of the Tracy family jumped at the voice too. Everyone looked at the middle of the stairs to see the freckled boy slowly bound down them, careful as to not set off any more metaphorical explosions, “Heeeeeeey guys. So, uh, funny story, would you believe me if I said getting into a brawl with an enemy spy was not on my agenda? Like, we were supposed to be in and out in less than an hour, I swear, but--”

His foot barely tapped the ground at the bottom of the stairs when Scott, in a typhoon of brotherly fury and care, was suddenly upon him and picking him up into the biggest, most smothery hug he had gotten in a while. And he had been getting a lot of those lately. Barely being able to breathe, both due to the tightness of the hold and the fact that Scott was subconsciously suffocating him in his shoulder, Alan could only bring his head up, gently set his chin down on said shoulder and wrap his arms around his older brother, “Yeah, okay.”

Penelope continued to watch as Gordon followed suit and proceeded to hug Alan from behind, making Scott move his arms to hold both tinies. Virgil and John sauntered up to the group hug but instead of joining, they simply waited for the storm to calm so they could get their versions in. Virgil even slung an arm around John’s shoulder, which the astronaut surprisingly leaned into.

Huh, maybe tonight went a little off schedule, but maybe it was also for the best.

Casey, who had been watching everything the whole time as well, grabbed her hands around the middle of her back as she tended to do, “Well, as unorthodox as it was, thank you for your help tonight. After The Hood’s big scheme came to fruition, our little spy went under the radar. After The Hood was taken in, he dug himself even further. We were worried we were going to have to shut down operations in that sector for a little bit to catch him.”

Penelope relaxed at the small conversation. Tonight seemed to take a little bit more out of her than she realized, “Glad to be of service. Just count this as another thing checked off on our long-ass checklists.”

Casey chuckled, “It is indeed. Now then,” Casey suddenly looked up, and before Penelope could follow her line of sight, “Jeff Tracy, you have just as much right to be in that hug as the rest of your sons.”

Oh. Finally looking up herself, Penelope was met with the sight of the ex-astronaut coming up the stairs to the two ladies to join their conversation. His hands were in his pockets, and while his eyes looked tired, his smile said he was quite at ease, “Cool your jets, Colonel. I’ll get my due when there aren’t 50 of your men and women watching my every move. Besides, I need to speak with my old friend for a moment. My other one, obviously.”

Casey scoffed and threw her hands into the air, though Penelope could tell it came from a place of fondness. From years of working together that couldn’t be taken away no matter the circumstances, “You always say that, but you still owe me that 50 bucks from 25 years ago.”

Jeff waved her off, “Please, can you even remember what it was over?”

“Maybe I won’t, but that Singing Tiger Ale House sure will,” she stated with a grin. Penelope had to giggle at the way Jeff started meekly blushing, “Speaking of getting things done in a timely manner, unlike certain oafs I know, I suddenly have some new reports I need to file tonight,” even though that statement had the potential for it, there was no malice laced in it whatsoever, “I bid you goodnight, friends, you’ve earned it.”

As the Colonel walked away, Penelope gave a small wave as Jeff made a small salute with two of his fingers. Then, the two adults were alone in comfortable silence. Now, Penelope was never a patient person, “You said you wished to speak to me?”

Jeff blinked before registering her words, “Ah, yes, I did. I was just wondering what inclined you to kidnap my son and take him for a joy ride. Did he bribe you with something? I have to know, I’ve never figured out what I could get you to maybe make you more malleable to certain decisions, and I’ve had a near-decade to ruminate over it.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “First of all, never in a million years would I tell you what you can get under my skin with, you would have to physically interrogate me for such valuable secrets, and second of all, Alan came to me with an offer I had no argument against. I had to concede and help him out.”

Jeff raised an eyebrow, “Do you mind explaining that a little more or?...”

Penelope sighed, “He wanted to talk to The Hood in captivity. For closure.”

Jeff flinched, “Jesus, Penny, that’s-”

The London Agent in question wagged her finger in his direction, “Ah ah ah, Mr. Tracy, do not finish that sentence. You are not a bad person, nor is your family a bad family for not wanting Alan near that man. It was the logical feeling you should feel after everything. However, Alan’s needs are similar yet different, which he knew, which is why he came to me for this. He was ready for something you weren’t, nor were your sons, and he wanted to respect that. I was worried if I told him no he would never get the courage to ask again.”

As Jeff listened to Penny’s semi-tirade, he continued to watch his sons mindlessly chatter with one another. Penelope’s words washed over him like a cool shower, relaxing his mind and his body. He was suddenly aware that Alan’s face was even more relaxed than before, his smile more natural. Whatever happened between him and The Hood during that awful month of hell would be a dark spot on the rest of their family for years to come, but every day it grew smaller and smaller.

Jeff really was becoming a sentimental old fart, “He’s grown up to be a fine young man, hasn’t he.”

Penelope heard Jeff phrase that as a matter of fact, and she was glad he did. He was right, “He sure has.” And it’s thanks to you. You were always there in spirit for those boys, and they relished every minute of it.

Jeff rolled his shoulders and started stepping down the steps to go see his family. Right before Penny could walk away, Jeff stopped about three steps down, brought one of his hands out of his pockets, and pointed to the sky in that familiar way that said, wait, I forgot this one thing, “Parker called me right before the GDF hit Scott up. I’m just warning you ahead of time. He seemed pretty worried he was suddenly out of a job, or that he was somehow the only person left on the planet Earth. Maybe you should address those fears of his?”

Penelope grimaced, “Thank you for the warning, Jeff.” That was going to be a fun conversation. Even so, she knew it was technically her fault. There was a note she forgot to write and leave for him in there somewhere.

Giving her a thumbs up with the same hand he made the previous movement with, he continued to not look at her as he put the hand back in his pocket and started walking towards his family once more. Penelope waited only for a moment, wanting to make sure Jeff didn’t evaporate the moment he got near his family. As she watched him wrap Alan in yet another hug, she finally let go and figured everything was going to be alright.

An hour or so later, FAB 1 was pulled into her garage and she was drinking tea alongside Parker in her living room. After explaining what went down and why she went alone, Parker simply grumbled, “First that family warps your romantic standards, and now they’re h-affecting your common sense! Next, they’ll make you think you’re H-Australian or something! What h-am I supposed to do then, m’lady?”

Grinning with the teacup still touching her lips, she brought it down, set it on the tiny plate in her lap, and relished in her long time friend’s antics, “Well, we’ll learn to adapt just like we always have, Parker. Just like we always have.”

Her world has been upside down since day one.

But maybe those crazy boys and their endless love are the things she needs to keep it right side up.

#thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds tag #thunderbirds fanfic #lady penelope #penelope creighton-ward #aloysius parker #alan tracy #gordon tracy #jeff tracy #scott tracy #penelope x gordon #gordon x penelope #my post #my fic #series: rules of alchemy

[petitepistol]

CHAIN OF SWEETNESS

5 THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.

this is hard because i have to separate elena from how she exists in canon from the elena i have built up for myself in my mind, so in the interest of brevity im choosing to focus on the canon aspects that deeply drew me to her to begin with and continue to feed my fascination and frustration with her to this day

ONE elena is a minor character. like, take her out of the story of the game and nobody would bat an eye. the writers dont really know what they are doing with her at any given moment, so she is this half formed mess of anachronistic traits. that can be really interesting and really challenging to try and flesh out, especially when you factor in how disconnected she is from even the characters closest to her and what those interpersonal dynamics must be like. even among the turks she is an outlier, new to the team and hellbent on diligently doing her job despite not having the same ghosts as the rest of them. before crisis tries to touch on that with her sister, but that just muddies the waters further providing conflicting motivations that they never really address. because, as stated initially, she is a minor character. and that means the exposition is something i have to do, not canon.

TWO despite being a minor character, from a mechanics standpoint she serves a purpose. her first appearance is there to give you an important lead on the big bad, her narrative purpose in the wutai subquest means you get both a party member and a forge fragile armistice with the turks. during the icicle portion if you get knocked out by her, she drops you off in gast’s house, which might mean the devs were using her to guide less skilled players into viewing missable but important lore. this extends to the compilation, where she is utilized off screen for the jenova head in a box debacle, and in before crisis to pad out the plot a little longer by getting kidnapped. from a game design perspective her existence is validated not by good writing but by being a deus ex machina and i have learned to love that as much as i hate it.

THREE she occupies a space where you can throw just about a billion tropes at her and it can work. people don’t usually realize this, but for such bit player you can do a lot with her. also if you wanna write snappy dialogue you can let this girl just say fucking anything. nothing is off limits coming out of her mouth, because there is so little to go off of and what data there is can be interpreted so broadly. that also means you can write her as downright sociopathic or as an unlikely altruist, leaning towards either of the extremes or staying dead center in the middle of the road. the only limitations are that of the perceptional biases of the writer.

FOUR that she is the highest level of the turks in game will never not make me ridiculously happy. i love that this so called clumsy rookie is the most difficult to take out in a fight with the rarest gear. if you wanna hear more about aspect that go here.

FIVE hnnnnng pretty girl who can kick my ass please step on me unga bunga

5 10 PEOPLE ON HERE YOU LOVE, AND WHY.

there are so many wonderful people i want to give accolades too that i often find it hard to do these kind of daisy chains, and even now im cheating by doubling the number. that still isnt enough, so to those who arent on this list i have to say i love you too but the powers that be and my own shyness turned off the mic before the speech ended

ONE forever amused by how both @makeupandmateria and @madamdirectcr are not only incredible to me as a player, but elena as a character. we are in love with this surprising supportive mean ladies coterie. swiftie plays an elegantly dubious scarlet to the hilt and manages to bring out the best in everyone. lottie brings an uncanny sensitivity to scarlet that makes you think while being so sweet and engaging outside of play.

TWO speaking of girls muses supporting other girl muses @heavenlyfighter and @cultivatxr are a dynamic duo and im lucky enough to be in talks with both of them. jessica plays a lovely tifa who has such a melancholy imbued to her strength while not only tolerating my flakiness but being so understanding, while phoe has had a perfect grasp on aerith for what feels like an epoch always letting that same vibrancy spill out into reality.

THREE so @animus-inspire and @urbdev-assistant are two peas of positivity in a pod and i adore them for it. one them plays an understated hero who has the capacity to do great good even when aligned with evil and the other has taken the adage about there being a great woman behind every great man and elevated an npc into a brilliant character. both are fantastic.

FOUR shout out to @missionheartcd and @rude-at-your-service for being not only the best coworkers elena could ever had but being consistently delightful out of character. not only do i want to play more with their characters, i also appreciate their support.

FIVE thank you to @warofthebeasts​ and @inanisvitae​ for putting up with my inexplicable affection for sephiroth. kevin is so patient with my persistent poking and prodding and you could not find a more passionate advocate for either character development or friendship than maria.

5  SONGS EITHER YOU OR YOUR MUSE REGARD AS A ‘GUILTY PLEASURE’ THAT ALWAYS MAKES YOU SMILE.

these are mostly mine but may or may not apply to elena from some twisted meta perspective also this was hard because i have no guilty pleasures my tastes is flawless (this definitely applies to elena as well unless we are talking about her taste in men which is terrible lmao sorry im just bullying tseng he is actually pretty cool)

ONE you cannot have this type of lists without ABBA represented and while this is almost a lesser known track of theirs, i have liked it since i heard it in childhood playing through the records my mom owned. the lyrical content is very shinra-core and while i dont think elena ever dated a middle aged fat cat for money as a teen im certain she considered it

TWO as a kid i didnt like the indomitable miss spears because i bought into regressive attitudes towards female sexuality while not recognizing she was being exploited by the industry, but i have grown. elena agrees with the sentiment of “you better work, bitch”

THREE im not ashamed of my love of god queen shiina ringo but at the time i first saw this video i was not prepared for the gratuitous badass lady nurse on sexy female patient malpractice action it featured and that was what made it a guilty pleasure

FOUR everybody loves george michael and that includes me. this piece from his wham! era is almost too peppy, but i am an absolutely a sucker for imagining brutal fight scenes with anachronistically cheerful songs playing over the carnage

FIVE rounding things off is an obligatory recent weeb jam. well half of this combo is american but you know what i mean. i love the combination of classic funk and whispery vocals echoing into an unrepentant cry of “fuck you motherfucker.” coupled with the blonde in the video intercut with the OL being joyfully liberated by her train ride? elena vibes

Tagged: @madamdirectcr @animus-inspire Tagging: you!

#ooc #whew lad im bad at these things because im so shy about tagging others but it was worth it

[sunlightnmoonshine]

Ep 15 (should have been titled bloodbath or the most intense ep I've ever watched)

I cant even seem to collect my thoughts to attempt to write anything on what this ep was. But I shall try because this ep deserves so much analysis.

I think it's almost clear just how much I love Eunseom and wait for scenes with him but this ep managed to hit me even though we probs had less than five minutes of him in it.

You want cold blooded murder? Yeah arthdal chronicles is the show for you. I've always known tagon is trash and nothing short of a whiny brat but even I couldn't predict that he'd react the way that he did (maybe because I hoped that he'd be respectable trash yknow guess that doesn't exist though)

I knew this ep was going to be a bloodbath but I really didn't see all that happened coming. From tagon slashing every single person at inception to that wahan trash beating people by the end of this ep. I did not expect all that they delivered. Jeez tagon I cant wait for eunseom to beat the shit out of you (something tells me though that this will not be his end). No one can ever try to justify what tagon did. It was cruel and uncalled for. I can understand although I do not condone him killing asa ron and the children of shahati or those of white mountain peak but the ministers?? What the hell. He really said screw ya'll I'm about to have a temper tantrum and went at it. Like I've been saying since ep 1, tagon is nothing but trash desperate for attention and he's going to get that one way or the other. Him whining about how he's tried to be good all these years lol I actually laughed out loud because it was the most ridiculous shit I'd ever heard. The guy is beyond delusional and I hope he meets an end truly befitting.

Im actually surprised that they managed to keep hidden the fact that he's an igutu. Does tagon really think the daekhan forces would keep supporting him if they knew? What a pathetic fool. He legit just used his igutu abilities to kill people and then went back to pretending like he's some hero shoving his igutu nature aside. I'd at least think he'd be able to salvage something about his worth by owning up to the fact that he's an igutu but nope, tagon really needs to start carrying a board that reads "I am trash" because that is all he is.

Regardless I enjoy watching his madness. Its amusing to say the least and tagon and taealha share a deep love. No show has portrayed one quite like there's and there's so much to praise of it. I'm glad we got to see taealha fight although the choreography of the fighting was quite good I do think shows need to understand that when jumped by a group they don't attack you one by one because this obviously makes it easier for the individual. Nevertheless they managed to cover it up but there's room for improvement.

All things said and done taealha is most certainly going to go down quite bitterly with tagon, one that she is most deserving of so when the time comes I'll bid the two of them good bye with a happy heart. I've hope that arthdal chronicles will deliver with their ends because THEY SURE AS HELL HANDLED MUGWANGS DEATH FANTASTICALLY.

I've been waiting for this moment since ep 1 and it has finally arrived. Better yet it was completely worth the wait. I'd certainly been wondering how tanyas prophecy for him was going to play out and I think we'd all kind of understood that it was a neanthal who would be killing him but what better person for the task than nunbyeol!? I can't even begin to explain how ecstatic I was during that scene. I was yelling "kill him kill him" quite a bit, the neighbours might think I'm crazy oh but who cares when his death was delivered so well.

I was sad that Harim and his wife had to die... They didn't deserve it at all and neither does chaeeun or nunbyeol deserve having to go through that. Taealha really knows no compassion to none but Tagon. Harim saved the one she loved and she really ordered him dead. And since mugwang stupidly followed such orders he got the end he most certainly deserved. I gotta tell ya hearing that hiss and nunbyeols "retreat? You are too late" has gotta be one of the greatest moments in this show. What's so perfect about panning it this way is that it really ties everything together. The flashback we get of mugwang and mubaek and yet mugwang choosing to ignore those words even though he had absolutely no idea what Harim knew, hell Harim hadn't done anything at all he'd just saved his leader and yet. And yet, he still chose foolishness.

What adds to perfection is that it's nunbyeol who kills him. The very person mubaek chose to spare. She had every right to kill mugwang no doubt but the question that stands now is what will mubaek do? His little pathetic brother just died at the hands of a neanthal he spared. What's even better is that nunbyeol is completely one of a kind being the only sword bearing neanthal. I guess she might end up going back to the neanthals. The last ep already depicted that she might after all. Now chaeeun and nunbyeol have further reason to want tagons demise. Really tagon gains all this hate solely by his own actions, his lack of pro activeness will be his demise. Mugwangs death was completely satisfactory. I'm still extremely excited about it.

On a side note, what's with yangcha? And his change involving Tanya. Its one thing to follow Tagons orders but he also instantly reacted to tanya being in danger. They also shared that psychic moment WHERE WE FINALLY HEAR HIS VOICE. All I got from that scene however was Tanya saying "my eunseom" my heart combusted at that. But it was good to finally see something of what tanya truly feels especially the flashback she had when looking at yangcha and the change in expression. You can tell she's behaving this way only to gain power. Had saya heard what she has to say though....

I was kind of put off by the fact that she just stood there while the wahan rat beat people up to though(I can't remember his name, I barely care about his existence). But I think the show is clearly depicting that Saya is evil. His kindness exists only as far as things are his way. He's a lot like Tagon but at least he's proud of who he is unlike Tagon the wimp. Seeing his smile though as wahan rat beat people up, things were going his way and it's sad that this is the way he wanted. Saya has always wanted a tyranny situation where the throne would one day be his. I'm stil hoping that he'll make some right choice, I still love him very much and I wish him happiness although he might not be quite deserving of it.

But the tyranny has begun. If only the people knew the wimp that sits on that throne. What's interesting is this tyranny has started with Tagon as a saram while Saya wanted Tagon the igutu. This has interesting implications because it allows one to know that it will never be Tagon who changes how people can view igutus and that's why this show is so wonderful. It's about identity and all that it means (but that's for a different post, probably at the end of the series)

I was disappointed that we got such little of eunseom and the writers are pathetic at handling his situation but I understand why it's being done. We'll finally learn something about Ipsaeng and the preview honours the idea that ep 16 will finally give us answers about the prophecy and I'm ecstatic. The pieces are coming together and maybe we'll get a better explanation on why saya is part of the prophecy when he seems to be a bad influence. It also makes sense why this show chose Mubaek as its narrator and ah I love the poetic nature of this show. Its not without its faults but its wonderful regardless.

Three more episodes to go, and I'm so not ready for this epic finale that's coming our way.

#arthdal chronicles #kdrama #Eunseom #Tagon #Saya #Tanya #Yangcha #Mugwang #Mubaek #Neanthal #Nunbyeol #This episode was about so many characters #Arthdal chronicles does well and I say it every week so I gotta say it this week too #Every one not watching is missing out

[zombiequincy]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all had witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

MUN NAME: Hela     AGE: 21       CONTACT: IM

CHARACTER(S): Giselle Gewelle, Yumichika Ayasegawa (inactive)

CURRENT FANDOM(S): Bleach

BLEACH FANDOM(S) YOU HAVE AN AU FOR:  I have gory Bloodborne au but that one just exists in my head on my lonesome.

MY LANGUAGE(S): English and one very specific Middle Eastern dialect.

THEMES I’M INTERESTED IN FOR RP: FANTASY / Science fiction / Horror / WESTERN / ROMANCE / Thriller / MYSTERY / DYSTOPIA / ADVENTURE / MODERN / Erotic / Crime / MYTHOLOGY / Classic / HISTORY / RENAISSANCE / MEDIEVAL / Ancient / WAR / FAMILY / POLITICS / RELIGION / SCHOOL / ADULTHOOD / CHILDHOOD / APOCALYPTIC / GODS / Sport / MUSIC / Science / FIGHTS / ANGST / Smut / DRAMA / etc. 

PREFERRED THREAD LENGTH: one-liner / 1 para / 2 PARA / 3+ / NOVELLA.

ASKS CAN BE SEND BY: MUTUALS / NON-MUTUALS / PERSONALS / ANONS.

CAN ASKS BE CONTINUED?:   YES / NO    only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO.

PREFERRED THREAD TYPE: CRACK / casual nothing too deep / SERIOUS / DEEP AS HECK. (i love it all sorry I am quite the mixed bag lmao)

IS REALISM / RESEARCH IMPORTANT FOR YOU IN CERTAIN THEMES?:   YES / NO. i gotta know what certain human body parts taste like u know

ARE YOU ATM OPEN FOR NEW PLOTS?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS.

DO YOU HANDLE YOUR DRAFT / ASK - COUNT WELL?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. it’s SO BAD FOR ME RN ASGLDKJDJKA i’m very inconsistent i’m so sorry.

HOW LONG DO YOU USUALLY TAKE TO REPLY?: 24H / 1 WEEK / 2 WEEKS / 3+ / months / years. / a lot of it has more to do w my general writing mood and if the thread im writing catches my interest, and rn im writing a TON of really wonderful and fascinating threads so they’re all super captivating for me and i try to reply asap

I’M OKAY WITH INTERACTING: ORIGINAL CHARACTERS / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / MY FANDOM / CROSSOVERS / MULTI-MUSES / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / CANON-DIVERGENT PORTRAYALS / AU-VERSIONS.

DO YOU POST MORE IC OR OOC?: IC / OOC. (i have a lot of stupid shit sorry) 

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WITH FOLLOWING OTHERS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

BEST WAYS TO APPROACH YOU FOR RP/PLOTTING: just send me a tumblr instant message, i know it sucks shit but im not comfy releasing my discord w everyone just yet cause i use it for personal use as well. i check tumblr on the daily so if you send me a message chances are i’ll see it and respond!

WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HOLD TOWARDS YOUR PLOTTING PARTNER:  i guess just be able to put up with my rambling and stopping and starting, a lot of characterisation choices i do go through various stages and its pretty messy so when i communicate that with others it usually ends up equally messy. just be patient with me please.

WHEN YOU NOTICE THE PLOTTING IS RATHER ONE-SIDED, WHAT DO YOU DO?:  i don’t mind! sometimes ppl have more ideas that they want to share first and i’m always super happy to listen to those ideas !! sometimes its nice to have someone with a clear guide or structure and be able to work around that rather than trying to fumble through a plot together.

HOW DO YOU USUALLY PLOT WITH OTHERS, DO YOU GIVE INPUT OR LEAVE MOST WORK TOWARDS YOUR PARTNER?:  i try to map out some basic info abt their characters that i otherwise don’t know from their bio or verses and try to pick out points of confrontation or similarities to expand on with giselle that can be used as points for like a starter to happen. its either that or sometimes i have really stupid ideas i just toss out there like ‘LMAO THEYRE BREAKING SHIT AT DISNEYLAND’ and go buck wild from there if the other person is down. i also always try to warn people or get a gauge for what subjects to avoid and steer clear of considering that giselle is a bit of a Freak(tm) and will say and do bad things.

WHEN A PARTNER DROPS THE THREAD, DO YOU WISH TO KNOW?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: if there’s something giselle did or said that upset you, i would love to know not to repeat it again (since i do still feel pretty new to the rp game, theres still plenty of time for me to make stupid mistakes). if its just a general lack of interest or uncertainty of where the plot should go, then you dont have to tell me i wont take it personally i promise ! 

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY LEAD YOU TO DROP A THREAD?: sometimes i can be made uncomfortable by certain things mentioned... it happens but its rare 

- WILL YOU TELL YOUR PARTNER?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. i don’t want to upset anyone personally and sometimes explaining the ins and outs of my discomfort make things ten times worse so i just. would rather not.

IS COMMUNICATION IN THE RPC IMPORTANT TO YOU? YES / NO.

- AND WHY?: i am the most nervous person you can meet and my brain is always giving me misinfo abt paranoia and random shit so i having clear concrete communication between two parties abt if something is going wrong or is being received poorly means the world to me.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH ABSOLUTE HONESTY, EVEN IF IT MAY MEANS HEARING SOMETHING NEGA1TIVE ABOUT YOU AND/OR PORTRAYAL?: i need it !! i still feel relatively new to all this and i need to know whats going wrong to improve !! 

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE SUCH SITUATION IN A MATURE WAY? YES / NO.

WHY DO YOU RP AGAIN, IS THERE A GOAL?: to help with my confidence in writing! i have v bad anxiety when it comes to sharing my works and i write a lot of other pieces alongside this blog on ao3 and i want to develop my writing skills just in general. when it comes to like the nuts and bolts of why i rp giselle specifically, its mainly to just have fun and have a laugh w my friends who are really awesome quincy writers

WISHLIST, BE IT PLOTS OR SCENARIOS:  OH SO MANY! ive managed to fulfil a lot of my wishlist threads with like, giselle talking to characters she’s already zombified and i love all that angst but i want to do more stupid shit. i want to make it my personal goal to bully every quincy man and woman on sight. although a REAL dream would be if i got to write a thread zombifying a character who managed to escape giselle’s clutches. and more fighting! i want to get better at describing action and fights and i love to write giselle getting beat up and beating people up! more more more!! 

THEMES I WON’T EVER RP / EXPLORE:   hohoho theres a LOT... uh r*pe/dubcon threads for one, even if yeah i know writing it doesnt condone it, it makes me intensely uncomfortable to put my muse in that scenario, i feel like i have an obligation to like, protect her from that shit you know? racism is one i don’t want to transgress, even though i’m a poc, its not really cathartic or groundbreaking to write abt racism in threads its just... really fucking upsetting. also i know the quincy’s have this very close parallel to the whole n*zi imagery and ideology thing going on and i am not about to start even daring to thread that into my writing or bring those allusions and references of real life tragedies into giselle’s threads. i’ve already talked at length abt exploring giselles trans identity in rp and why im not comfortable doing so, so.... yeah! all those i guess.

WHAT TYPE OF STARTERS DO YOU PREFER / DISLIKE, CAN’T WORK WITH?: i like starters where giselle can just immediately get right into being a piece of shit. mise en scene and all that! cut out the build up and just get to the intense horror !! i don’t like starters where its not immediately clear where the characters are standing and what they’re doing and what’s happening around them. those really disorientate me and leave me kinda floundering because i always need some allusion or mention of a setting to ground giselle in a time and place other wise i cant tell what her response should be

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE MOST?:  EVIL WOMEN EVIL WOMEN EVIL WOMEN. also just characters i can wholeheartedly clown on, or also characters who have hidden depths to them and have a single panel of screentime. honestly it’s just all over the place!

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE LEAST?:  angry old men GSADJDKSJA i could never rp yhwach for example or yamamoto because idk. theyre just so crummy and boring to me. i also couldnt rp characters who always have an upper hand in battle like aizen. i like my dumbasses and i like them stupid and adaptive not just, ‘yes i know this because i Know this.’

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONG ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: i think im nice...? FKSJDKDJSA idk i hate trying to toot my own horn. sometimes i also think i make funny jokes and im pretty chill and laid back

WHAT ARE YOUR WEAK ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: my writing style is inconsistent and adapts to whatever i’m reading so sometimes it’ll be really good and i love it and other times it reads like really bad fanfic and i get carried away far too easily and write novella lengths for threads which should be much shorter. i also get shy a lot and dont think i communicate very effectively but HEYO we’re working on it!

DO YOU RP SMUT?:  YES / NO/ DEPENDS. haven’t had anybody brave enough to try yet lol

DO YOU PREFER TO GO INTO DETAIL?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH BLACK CURTAIN?: YES / NO.

- WHEN DO YOU RP SMUT? MORE OUT OF FUN OR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?: more for fun i’d imagine because that’s just giselles own attitude to sex and relationships where she doesnt want anything deep. it might show character development in one way of just showing how she regards others in a romantic sense to be used rather than actually appreciated as their own person and show how selfish she is but yeah, more out of fun

- ANYTHING YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO RP THERE?:  theres a few kinks and such but i dont think they’d ever really come up. again, just mainly no r*pe/dubcon.

ARE SHIPS IMPORTANT TO YOU?:   YES / NO lets hope this doesn’t make me sound like an asshole, but its more like a fun little side thing than anything important to giselle’s actual development and characterisation. 

WOULD YOU SAY YOUR BLOG IS SHIP-FOCUSED?: YES / NO. again, hardly anyone is brave enough to try to romance this evil cannibal.

DO YOU USE READ MORE?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES WHEN I WRITE LONG STUFF.

ARE YOU:  MULTI-SHIP / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship  —  MULTIVERSE / Singleverse.

- WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO EXPLORE THE MOST IN YOUR SHIPS?: more how giselle likes to give over her power or dominate in different circumstances depending on who she’s with and what’s being done. BUT AGAIN, not a whole lot to explore yet.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS?: YES / NO. - i mean im down for p much anything if it vibes w giselle.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOUR MUSE INTERESTING TOWARDS OTHERS, WHY SHOULD THEY RP WITH THIS PARTICULAR CHARACTER OF YOURS NOW, WHAT POSSIBLE PLOTS DO THEY OFFER?: if you want an evil woman to taunt and mock and hurt your muse, she’s your gal. you want her to zombify and ruin your muse, shes also your gal. you want her to insult and maim and injure, she’s also YOUR GAL. basically, if you want to do anything fucked up or sad or scary, she can help with that.

- WITH WHAT TYPE OF MUSES DO YOU USUALLY STRUGGLE TO RP WITH?:  uh muses who get really angry quickly or don’t rise or respond to her jabs and are just kinda like a flatline. theres only so much pestering and annoying she can do until realises its not working and just wanders off

- WHAT DO THEY DESIRE, IS THEIR GOAL?:  to find a goal worth living for.

- WHAT CATCHES THEIR INTEREST FIRST WHEN MEETING SOMEONE NEW?:  appearance she always takes an interest in girls almost right away. age as well because she judges old people. 

- WHAT DO THEY VALUE IN A PERSON?:  a good set of guts to ruin and strong muscles.

- WHAT THEMES DO THEY LIKE TALKING ABOUT?:  women, gore, murder, herself, music, stupid memes, gossip.

- WHICH THEMES BORE THEM?:  politics, history, quincy ideology, soul reaper ideology, hollow physiology.

- DID THEY EVER WENT THROUGH SOMETHING TRAUMATIC?:  her family tried to force the burden of upholding the quincy lineage onto her shoulders, she was thrown into the wrong prison and held in isolation, then pressured to become an undying monster in service of a god and then was nearly killed by that same man and left wandering without guidance or purpose. so, yeah?

- WHAT COULD LEAD TO AN INSTANT KILL?:  transphobia. even a whiff of it in her direction and she’ll gut you like a fish.

- IS THERE SOMEONE /-THING THEY HATE?:  the twink soul reaper who outted her.

IS YOUR MUSE EASY TO APPROACH?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?:  if you’re smart, you’ll bring a big bone for her to chew on and distract her while you ask whatever you want.

SOMETHING YOU MAY STILL WANT TO POINT OUT ABOUT YOUR MUSE?: i love my evil queen!

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by:  @bazzardburner​ cheers chicken boy !!

Tagging: @hyouketsu​ @blooming5th​ @viciousvizard​ @glacies-tempestatem​ and whoever else wishes to do this!!

#dash games #// this took ages....

[simplysparrow14]

“Shadows Of The Dark Crystal” Book Review

So, I'm going to say this write out the bat: I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐

And I give it three stars, mostly because it wasn't a bad book by any means, but I found myself really disappointed with this book on a number of issues. I felt that this book had really great potential, but it merely stays in the lane of “It's a first book in a series.” 

To sum up the entire book: 

“Shadows of the Dark Crystal”  takes place within the world of Thra, The home planet of the Dark Crystal. We see the gelfling empire thriving. Everything is peaceful, there are no wars to be fought, every clan is living their best lives, and they are prospering alongside their benevolent rules, the bird-like creatures known as The Skeksis.

 In “Shadows”, we follow a young gelfling tomboy by the name of Naia. Naia is the daughter of the clan Maudra, or leader, but she kind of resents her status of future maudra.  She once had dreams of being called upon to serve The Skeksis, these fair rulers who claim to be the Protectors of Thra, but her dreams were dashed aside when The Skeksis came to call upon her twin brother Gurjin instead. Because of this, she mostly spends her days training to be the next future maudra, to harness a healing fire that has been passed through the Drenchen bloodline for generations. 

One day, while patrolling through the swamp, Naia finds a visitor walking making their way toward her home.  Because of how thick and large the swamp is, Visitors are not common within the swamp, so she;s very on edge as too why this silver-hair, fair-skinned gelfling is trooping through the swamp like an idiot. Following the visitor, it turns out that the visitor, a Vapra gelfling by the name of Tavra, had arrived with a message from the ever-powerful All-Maudra, who sends a message that Gurjin has been branded a traitor to the Skeksis, and is now to be put to trial at the Castle of the Crystal. 

And then everything goes from there….

So from the get-go, I’ve always been hesitant about reading this book. It's mainly because of how deeply I would compare and contrast the TV Show vs The Books. 

I was very afraid that my high-expectations and Love for the show would taint my reading experience throughout the book, and thankfully,  for a majority of the book, it did not taint it. I found myself enjoying it.  but that doesn't mean that I don't find myself really disappointed with the execution of those ideas. 

As usual, I really found myself loving the world of Thra. The way the landscapes and locations are told is absolutely spectacular and i can see everything very clearly. The way J.M Lee encorperates “Clan Life” in the narrative is also wonderful--I absolutely love the snippets we get, like the drenchen putting their dirty food plates in small hanging baskets and leaving them out to get washed in the rain, or the Sprition having a small communal cooking fire and their relationship with the podlings is fantastic. 

The Skeksis were goofy and horrifying as always. and the climax of the book was very intense and action pact. The dialogue for the Skeksis, however, was very jarring at first, especially with the other Skeksis that wasn't the chamberlain. I'm so used to hearing that very lyrical, very quotable dialogue from the show. 

“All the better to hold on life, no matter the cast.” 

“All ready a solution lies within the Scientists very grasp.”

“We are the lords of the Crystal-- We have ruled for a thousand trine, and we shall rule for a thousand more--We are Eternal!

“I plant lies in the ground--Watch grow into Truth.”

“Two questions answer each other.”

“Gelfling have always been ruled--heads down, backs bent!”

The characters were quite pleasant--They did the job they were given. 

Naia and Kylans friendship was so soft and so pure. Just the way the two bonded and cared for each other really made their relationship all the more adorable. 

I loved the rivalry that Tavra and Naia sort of formed, it felt very pure to the conflict within the show, with them allking each other “Drenchen” and “Vapran” with such hatred and disdain. 

I also loved the amount of clan racism that was in this book. I loved the ways that the gelfling treated each other, with one of the most prominent encounters being with Naia and Maudra Mera. I love how J.M Lee wrote the dialogue for the scene--It was very passive aggressive in a way, with Mera basically telling Naia “Alright now, I'm giving you a meal and a place to sleep, but as soon as the sun rises over those mountains, you need to take your dreadlocks and swamp-smell and get out of my clan” 

But im afraid thats where my praise for this book ends, Now onto my complaints. 

So, the book is written in very short chapters, each with maybe 8-10 pages each. It makes for  avery quick read, but thats where one of my complaints with the book lies: There's not enough time within the chapter to fully flesh out the scenes. We do get confrontation on some scenes that come in later chapters, particularly the scene where Kylan explains to Naia that he himself experienced the same vision-residual echo as she had within the dark wood and their dreamfast,  but it wasn't enough for me. It felt as if the book was holding me back with the end of a fairly long pole. I really wanted to dive deep into scenes, explore these characters thoughts and feelings about whatever was happening, but the book wasn't allowing that unless it was directly needed. 

It absolutely felt like the Aughra and Brea scene within The Dream-Space where Brea was like, “Hey--What's wrong with the Crystal?! Why is it cracked?!”

And Aughra’s just like, “We don't have time for that! We’ll get there when we get there! No time for emotional scenes, we need to get this plot moving!”

Another thing that kind of ties up with my first point, is that while the Characters were good and they played their roles well, they’re relationships and dynamics were not fully fleshed out. Everyone felt confined to a role and no one felt fully able to push against those roles. 

One of the reasons why I love the protags in the TV show is that the writers gave them a chance to push against their roles: 

Rain is supposed to be a guard of the castle, this impressive force of strength and bravery, but in actuality he’s very much a coward and like what the chamberlain says, he runs the first chance he gets.  Throughout the season we see him learn from this fight-or-flight mentality, we see him lean to stand his ground and grow a pair in facing the skeksis. 

Deet is a happy little farm child who has a positive outlook on life, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't experience doubt and fear about her journey and her meaning to this big quest. We see her start to view the world differently, and in the end, we see her take a life, something she would have never had done in her lifetime (Granted she took the life of a diseased dodo-overlord, but given that deep is literally a sunshine child, she would have loved Skeklash, warts and all. )

Brea is a princess who loves to learn, she boasts about how she’s read certain books more then once and how she lives in complete luxury, but we also see her being a smartass. She’s manipulative and quick-witted and kind of conniving in the most endearing way. 

In “Shadows,” I never got any of that. I get that its a first book in a series and that as the books go on, the characters character-development will start to come into play, but I feel as though, at the end of book one, your characters should be at least a little bit different than at the beginning. 

In the end, Naia still felt like Naia. Yes, She discovered that the Skeksis were killing gelfling and yes her wings came in at the last second, but in the end, Naia still felt the same as she did in the first page. She had changed, yes, but not enough for me to be really be pumped to see where her character goes from end. 

Same with Kylan. He felt changed, but not enough for me to be excited for him. 

One last thing I need to say is that I wanted the background characters to be more fleshed out.Obviousl, again, I know we have more books in the series to go through to get some development, but i really wanted them to feel real enough for me that when they do come back in the later books, Im absolutly excited to see where they go.  I love Naia’s  family--I love Laesid. I love Bellanji. I love Naia’s little sisters. I love them all, but I wanted them to have more agency on the plot. I love how protective Bellanji and Laesid are of their Children, especially when this silver-haired stranger comes tromping through their swamp and just spits out, “Hey i'm sorry for bothering you during your lovely dinner but your only son is now a traitor to the skeksis and if he doesnt turn himself in we’re going to hunt him down like a nebrie.”

And both Laesid and Bellanji are like “eXuSe mE tHe FuCk?!”

But that also what bothers me is that they do all their negotiating and planning within this scene in Laesids room. There's never a time where Naia and Lakeside and Bellanji and her sisters are gathered AS A FULL FAMILY to discuss what the hell they are going to do about this situation. They’re only son, Gurjin, has just been branded a traitor to the crystal and If they dont bring him home and let him have an audience with the All-Maudra, they themselves are going to be branded traitors as well.  I feel as though with those prospects, the entire family would have taken a few moments to talk about it, instead of Laesid just going, “Okay Bellanji, take Naia with you when you go to the All-Maudra because plot demands her to go.” 

And that's where I think my biggest issue with the whole entire book lies. It fleshes out things, but not enough to where it really packs a punch. It never fully brings it home for me. When I read, I want to be invested. But with this book, I was invested, but not in the way that I wanted. 

Some miscellaneous things:

The Skeksis take Naia to a part of the Castle known as the All-Maudra’s guest Quarters. This suggests that the All-Maudra spent the night within the caslte, thus making it canon that the All-Maudra had seen a naked Skeksis walk the halls of the castle before. 

Tavra just causally popping her arm back into its socket like it was normal Tuesday for her. 

Bellanji flirting with Laesid while she tents to his wounds.

Laesin having (1) leg and being more badass for it

Gurjin being more interested in hunting in the swamp and wooing “Lassi-wings” up into trees for some fun times. 

That (1) podling definitely called playfully insulted Naia on her way to the village. 

Neech being best eel. 11/10 would fetch anything.

#Bring your tea cups because i brought the tea #the dark crystal age of resistance #dark crystal #The dark crystal #review

[fizzingwizard]

sooo i finally actually read Age of X-man: Nightcrawler

all the press was “omg a world where nightcrawler’s a famous actor and mutants aren’t feared but loved! omg look he’s cheating [????] with meggan! omg look now there’s an illegitimate child!!”

and i was like why do comics so often feel like just soap operas... with explosions. and i so wasnt here for that.

so even tho it was a nightcrawler book, i ignored it. i’d never ignore it if it were a 616 book, but regardless of what happens in the end, the story till now is “what if?” territory.

but now that I’ve actually read it... All the hype was really only that, hype. I knew that, but I thought they were hyping things that actually would happen. But there’s a steep price for mutants current freedom (that was expected though). And he didn’t cheat - it’s relationships themselves that are forbidden. And for the same reason, although right now we don’t know much about the child, she’s certainly not the product of an OOC illicit relationship.

instead, it’s a really cool story about the way, no matter what freedoms and epiphanies you give them, people always find something new to judge, to hate, to fear. And it shows how something we consider invaluable could, by a shift of values, be rationalized as far less valuable than something else. (In this case, the sacrifice of personal relationships for greater personal freedom).

In the most recent issue, there’s a scene between Nightcrawler and Meggan. (Although there was tension between them after It happened, I’m really happy that they’ve dealt with the tension like adults and not like actors in a soap opera. Crawler had his little fit, Meggan took things a little far, and then they just said “guess we both made mistakes” and made up. I like my share of drama, but a little reasonable behavior now and then is a much-needed relief! and I admittedly have a strong preference for any kind of drama that doesn’t revolve around sex). Anyway, the scene:

He’s deciding whether he should investigate the child (one thing im wondering: why did he so easily accept her as “his,” when the info about her was delivered by Mystique, who also looks like him, but about whom he didn’t wonder for a moment about why that was?). Meggan gives a little speech about love, and how she’s sure Nightcrawler will get attached to the child, because that’s just what he does. That he’s just escaped a world that judged him because of his looks, and now, because of his heart, he’s about to risk being judged again. While reading it, I was struck with this thought: “Wow, I can’t believe a male X-men writer would come up something like this.”

So that made me look into it, and the writer (Seanan McGuire) is a woman. I’ve heard her name before and I’ve probably even read other comics she’s worked on, but I didn’t know Seanan was a female name. First I was stunned because I can count on one hand the number of female X-men writers I know, and then I felt really happy. I don’t mean to say that a man couldn’t write this story, of course he could, and male comic writers have written many moving stories. It’s just that what stands out to me in this book is a level of empathy between the characters and a sense of love and connection that, when it appears in other comics, tends to feel forced or shoved in (usually because no one bothers to build anything up before announcing “and then they had sex”). Basically it just screamed “A woman wrote this,” and not in a bad way. (Not that there is a “bad way,” but as with many male-dominated areas, there’s always a sense of anxiety that the stories written by female writers will be judged more harshly, and therefore I key into things that are markedly different from the “norm” more often.) In this case, I was thrilled with what she wrote, and I was thrilled with how she wrote it, and I was thrilled that she’s a woman.

I have a couple complaints about the book - the biggest is that it moves too quickly. But that’s not the writers fault, it’s just the way comics work. You’re given a limited number of pages per issue, and on top of that, she’s limited to 5 issues for a fully fleshed out story. So it’s understandable that it moves a bit fast, and - this was the other thing I really liked - from the start, even before I knew who the writer was or what the story was about, I agreed with the places where she chose to go fast. I wished they didn’t need to go fast, but if something has to go, those things are the right choice to cut. That’s how I felt, whereas usually when I read a comic, I feel like “of all the things to cut, why would you cut an important thing like X just to stick in a splash-page of an unnamed alien spaceship of no import blowing up!”

So yeah. I’m really digging this book. It’s different from other comics. It’s not just fighting all the time. I really hope we get more like this. All X-comics don’t need to be this way - lots of people like a lot of action all the time, that much is clear. And if I didn’t enjoy high action myself, I wouldn’t be a comic book fan. But I’m so happy that there’s more variety out there now, even in the big publishers. We can have 5-issue books where it takes a full three issues before anyone punches anyone. We can introspect a little and we can write a character-driven story.

It’s just nice to read a comic book and be excited to know what happens next, instead of just thinking, “it doesn’t matter because whichever writer takes over next will undo any consequences.”

#xmen #age of xman nightcrawler #nightcrawler

[chloehl10]

I was tagged by the lovely @pocketsunshineharry​, thank you so much, love!

All answers should be about works published in 2018. (Skip any questions you don’t want to answer, but please leave them on the list so that others can answer them if they want.)

1. Number of stories (including drabbles) posted to AO3:  29. Oops. Lol

2. Word count posted for the year:  

1,725,628. That’s 1.7 million words. I have no excuse.

3. List of works published this year (in order of posting):

A Lot Of Fight Left In Me You Bring Me Home Wonder How I Ever Made It Through Don’t You Remember? I Got Me An Appetite Tell Me That You Want Me Tonight Piece by Piece Hallelujah You’re Home Lucky Ones To Carry Love (I Can Show You How To) Slow Dance I Will Answer All Your Wishes You’ve Got This Spell On Me Look How Far We’ve Come My Baby Baby, Honey It’s Coming Home You’re My Only Hope Right Here Waiting Remedy I Knew You Were Waiting For Me With The Strength To Carry On Baby We Could Be Enough Lost Without You We’ve Already Won Feels Like Christmas  Let Me Be Your Star Made From Love Fairytale of New York You Were Made To Be Mine (wip)

4. Fandoms I wrote for:

One Direction 5. Pairings:

Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson 6. Story with the most

Kudos: You Were Made To Be Mine (wip) - 2,125 / Let Me Be Your Star (complete) -  1,177 Bookmarks:  You Were Made To Be Mine (wip) - 532 / Lucky Ones (complete) - 403 Comments: You Were Made To Be Mine (wip) - 3,111 / Let Me Be Your Star (complete) - 1,212

9. Work I’m most proud of (and why):

There’s two. You Were Made To Be Mine because I love it, and I think I’ve really created a world for these two characters, and Jacob is just one of my favourite characters I’ve ever written. Also Let Me Be Your Star. This was written on a whim after something on Twitter, and it’s just been so well received. I was proud of how accurately I wrote Louis, even before we saw on him on X Factor, and I’m just really proud of how it all went.

Oh and I have to mention my first long fic A Lot of Fight Left In Me. My heart and soul went into that story, and I love it so much. And Piece by Piece, this fic will always be so special to me.

10. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

I don’t want to say. I do have one, and in a way, I am tempted to orphan it. But hey.

11. A favourite excerpt of your writing:

This was hard. I’m going for this from YWMTBM chapter 56. “Lou….” Harry shuffled their bodies until his own legs were out in front of him, Louis’ body against his, silence broken by only Louis’ sobs, and Harry’s breaths. “Louis… you know it’s okay to not be okay, right? It’s not a weakness, sweetheart… you’re just, you’re just human.. Don’t ever be ashamed of hurting because I want to be the one you turn to… not the one you run away from, yeah? I want to share your burdens, wipe away your tears… hold you when you cry. Because I love you, Louis… so much, you have no idea how much.”

“Harry, I-”

“No, it’s my turn. Listen to me, please?” Louis nodded, more tears falling as Harry started to speak. He didn’t know if there was anything Harry could say to change his mind about this. No pretty words to fix it.

“You need to trust that I’m not going to run away when things get a little bit tough. Because I’m not, not now, not ever. You’ve been pushing me away, Louis, so fucking hard, and it hurt so bad because you wouldn’t let me in when all I wanted to do was help. I just want to be there for you-”

“But you nearly weren’t-” Louis whispered, the words falling from his lips. “You nearly left me, Harry… I… you nearly died, and you nearly left me. I had to listen to a doctor tell me that they didn't know if you were ever gonna wake up. I was nearly alone again, like before. I’ve never been so scared, Harry. I can’t bear the thought of you being taken away from me. I don’t want you to leave. It’s been easier to push you away, knowing that you would leave by your own free will, than losing you any other way.”

“I didn't want to leave… you have to know I never would have wanted that, Lou...” Harry was crying again now, reliving those awful memories, things he’d pushed deep down long ago, realising with horror that Louis had never moved on, had never really talked about how he felt when Harry had had his accident… how he’d nearly lost his husband. “But I’m here now, yeah? I don’t want to leave you, Louis. I want to grow old with you, and hold your hand every single day. I want to wake up to your beautiful blue eyes, and I want to share your pain, and your hurt. I want you to trust me, to let me do that for you.”

“You were there for me when I had my accident. You were my rock. You kept me going when I wanted to give up. When the physio was too much, I just wanted to give in, but you made me strong, Louis. You encouraged me… you believed in me. But now it’s my turn. It’s my turn to support you, to believe in you, like I promised when I married you. Please let me be there for you-” Harry’s voice cracked on the last word, meeting Louis’ eyes.

All Louis could see was honesty and love. There was a sincerity in Harry’s words that he just believed, and finally, he reached down, watching as his smaller hand sat on Harry’s, their fingers mingling gently, cautiously, as if they were afraid to touch. Louis bent his fingers, letting Harry clasp his hand in return. What seemed like such a small step seemed enormous to Louis, but he knew Harry was the only person he would ever want to be vulnerable with.

Despite everything… despite how hard Louis had tried to push him away, Harry wasn’t going anywhere. Harry loved him, and he loved Harry, more than he could ever say. He looked back into the eyes of his husband, the one who loved him in spite of his faults, who loved him because of them. Harry didn't see a broken man who he needed to fix. He just saw his Louis. Louis’ bottom lip wobbled as he stared deep into Harry’s eyes, as if he were looking into his soul, seeing the other half of himself.

12. Share or describe a favourite review you received:

Some of the comments I get make me want to cry, honestly. I’m not sure people know how much leaving a comment on AO3 means to authors. I’d be hard pressed to find just one, but anything where people can relate to my writing in their real life is always very touching. Here’s one that moved me deeply recently from my christmas fic Feels Like Christmas:

“Im not gonna lie, I had to take breaks reading this because it was SO SAD in parts, in between being so beautiful.Harry was just like an angel of Christmas in this and your Louis seemed, to me, to be VERY realistic. I can't imagine how losing Jay has affected him in general but especially on his birthday and at Christmas. She was such a beautiful mum and it still breaks my heart to read of her. The cemetery scene was perfection but heart-breakingly sad.I loved Harry delivering treats to the "neighbour" who turned out to be Louis. I wish I had a Harry :)Your writing was so sensory - which is something considering I'm Australian and rarely seen snow lol But the smells, sights etc of Christmas were just amazing.Terrific job, loved it :)“

13. A time when writing was really, really hard:

I went through a period of getting negative comments on YWMTBM and that was very hard to push through and tell the story I wanted to tell. But I did, and I am proud I did, because I write for me and that’s the most important thing. I have a story to finish, and I’m determined to. I also found the scenes in the middle of YWMTBM very hard and emotional, and I got caught up in Louis’ mindset for a while, which was very tough.

14. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: I wrote a section of YWMTBM where Louis was struggling a lot with his mental health, and I surprised myself by delving into a subject like that. It was quite different for me, but I hope I did it justice, and that people could understand Louis’ actions. Also I wrote an mpreg birth scene which I never expected to do lol.

15. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I feel my writing as a whole got better, I got more confident, and I was more able to craft stories.

16. How do you hope to grow next year:

To not take on so much lol, although I love writing so much.

17. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

I’ve worked so much with @thecompasspointstohome​, one of my closest friends and she’s so much of an inspiration to me, no matter how much she ignores that I tell her that. She’s amazing, and my work would be a mess without her. I am forever grateful to have her.

18. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Yes, a bit of a sad one. A child in my class in battling leukaemia at the moment, and he was the inspiration behind Mia and her story in A Lot Of Fight Left In Me. He still has his down days, but he’s an amazingly strong child and I hope he has the ending that Mia, Olly, Louis and Harry have in that story. 

19. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Write for you. That’s the most important thing I’ve found.

20. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

My BDSM fic, and my Harry Potter exchange fic. I also have my fic for the Fanworks for Charity to write, as well as updating YWMTBM. I also have a few other stories in the works so wait and see :) Oh, and my tearjerker fic which I’ve been teasing forever on Twitter, oops...

21. Tag three writers whose answers you’d like to read.

Anyone who wants to do it, please do so!

#my fic in 2018 #my 2018 on ao3 #larry fic #lovelarry10