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#its the same as 'well we can't train between games so'
promenadewithme · 9 months
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Glorious
a/n: I'm so sad that I accidentally lost the request for this! Long story short, I posted the unfinished story instead of saving it to my drafts, so I deleted it. It's been too long since I last posted and I promise I'll try to do so more often!! Also, this is my first time writing smut, so sorry if it's terrible!
Request: Cedric smut after quidditch practice
Pairing: Cedric Diggory x Female! Reader
Warnings: smut (obviously), switch! Cedric (mostly sub), switch! Reader (mostly dom), unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it, people!!), edging, orgasm denial, friends cockblocking ced (poor baby), dirty talk, slight breeding kink, praise and degradation.
Word count: I have no idea, but A LOT. More than I expected, to be honest. I want to say 4k of smut? (Don't come at me, I'm horny)
If you like this, reblog or (if you can and want to) buy me a coffee!
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Glorious.
That was the word that came to mind as the one and only Cedric Diggory flew after the snitch. Autumn had just begun but summer has left its heat. And that left Cedric shirtless during training.
He was far away from where you sat, but his lean muscles glowed under the sun, leaving goosebumps on your skin despite the heatwave.
With or without a shirt, seeing your boyfriend train was a huge turn-on. His brows furrowed in concentration, his muscles straining to stay balanced on the broom, his agility and keen eye, the competitiveness of it all.
Of course, in the end, it was just a bunch if people playing with balls of all shapes and sizes. You were particularly a big fan of fondling in the bedroom, so why not cheer your boyfriend on while he did the same?
'Ok, maybe not the same. But we can't all be athletic.' You thought, just as Cedric laid eyes on the snitch.
"Come on, Ced!" You cheered, jumping up and down in the stands along with some of the other player's significant others and Hufflepuff supporters.
He flew quicker by the second, reaching out into the clouds. The golden ball was fast, but Cedric was faster. Soon enough, he caught the snitch and both teams went wild for their seeker.
Even though it was just a practice game, you cheered and jumped. Cedric caught your eyes from the other side of the field and flew toward you.
Every game he did the same thing, it became your tradition. The moment he caught the snitch, he flew your way for a celebratory kiss before touching the ground to cheer with his teammates.
"Hello, darling" he said with a huge grin before connecting his lips with yours.
Cedric deepened the kiss, urging you to part your lips with a brush of his tongue. You felt the saltiness as you swiped your own against his lips, but you didn't mind.
His warm tongue connected with yours a second later, causing a tingling sensation between your legs.
Cedric pulled away entirely too quickly, leaving you closed-eyed and chasing his lips. With a cocky grin and a wink, he flew down to where his team had already started removing their gear.
He would definitely pay for his teasing later. For now, you hiked your skirt a bit higher and went to meet him beside the locker rooms.
The two of you locked eyes and you made sure to sway your hips a bit more. His gaze scanned your body hungrily.
Due to the warm weather, you had removed your socks and tie, as well as opened your shirt. It hadn't been on purpose, but you were glad you did. If looks could kill, you'd be splayed and torn apart on Cedric's dick. Your thighs squeezed together in anticipation.
"(y/n)! Wait!" Exclaimed Luna, trotting down the bleachers.
You cursed under your breath and Cedric laughed before going into the changing rooms.
You loved Luna, she was one of your closest friends, but reading the room was definitely not one of her strong suits.
"Hi" she sighed, going in for a tight hug.
"Hey, Luna" you hugged her back just as tightly.
"Would you like to study potions later? I could use your help"
"Sure." You answered, starting down the stairs again, Luna trailing beside you "Lake or library?"
"Oh, library. The lake has too many distractions, I have to stay focused this time."
"Alright, after Snape’s class?"
"Yes, that will work perfectly." She nodded, wrote it down on her hand and turned to leave before glancing back with a smirk "have a nice time with Cedric, but do try not to get caught."
You stood there gobsmacked.
Purposely cockblocked by Luna Lovegood.
You laughed before heading towards the locker room.
Two players headed out, waving your way, as you leaned against the wall opposite of where Cedric was.
Fifteen more minutes went by and three players had left. You crossed your arms and sighed.
'What in Merlin's name is taking so long?' You asked yourself, patience growing thinner by the minute.
When your watch marked twenty-five minutes since the players went in, the 6th player left and Cedric was still nowhere to be found.
You decided to wait five more minutes.
'You're just being impatient. Calm the hell down, (y/n)' you told yourself, taking a deep breath.
But 30 minutes was too much. Not for you, but for Cedric. He bathes like there's a ticking time bomb in the showers.
'Is he hurt?' The thought crossed your mind and your feet lead you inside.
The air was humid and hot around you.
"Cedric?" You whisper-yelled "I swear to Merlin, if you're dead in here, I'll kill you."
A groan made you stop in your tracks.
"Cedric?" You called out, moving towards the deep breathing.
Rounding the corner, you found a sight picked straight out of your dirtiest maladaptive daydreams.
Your boyfriend was naked and wet. Cedric's left hand tried to grip the wall, beads of water trailing down his tense biceps and lower. It flowed down his torso and lower even, to where his right hand held a tight grip around his cock, pumping up and down in a slow and sensual pace.
"Took you long enough" he said, a smirk on his face.
Striding towards him, you smirked right back. Removing your uniform and shoes, then, ever so slowly, your underwear. A groaning Cedric quickened his pace at the sight of you.
You entered the shower, closing the water, as Cedric released his dick and grabbed your waist, pulling you into him.
He went straight for your lips, just as slow and sensual as his former pace.
Your hands went separate ways. One towards his hair, that pulled the short strands back to break the kiss. The other wrapped around his arousal, stroking till the tip.
The mixture of both sensations had Cedric moaning your name fervently.
"Who said you could start without me?" You whispered in his ear.
"Didn't mean to, didn't think you'd take this long to come find me" he replied, kissing your neck right where he knew your knees would go weak.
"You'll still have to pay for your hastiness."
"You know I love your punishments, darling" he grins and catches your lips in a passionate kiss. Tongues circling, teeth clashing and bodies drawing impossibly closer.
Your hand started stroking his swollen flesh again, drawling low and soft moans from his lips.
"I know, love." You soothed, but your hand only moved faster, your grip tighter.
A string of curses escaped his lips.
"(y/n)" he whimpered.
"You're so close, aren't you?" You cooed.
"So close, so close" he answered frantically.
"Not quite yet, I can't let you off the hook that easily." You said, halting your movements.
He let out a dissapointed groan.
"Don't be ungrateful, darling." You teased, "You'll come soon enough"
A bead of pre-cum leaked from his tip. You gathered it in your thumb and brought it to your lips, sucking the saltiness seductively.
Cedric's pupils were blown wide and an almost primal look took over his features.
You grabbed his neck and kissed him with everything you had, doing all the things you knew would drive him wild, then pulled away. He was left closed eyed, chasing your lips.
But you hadn't had all your fun yet. With a grin on your face, you turned around and headed towards your clothes.
"Darling?" he asked.
You ignored him, putting on your shirt and probably missing a few buttons in the process. You saw Cedric grab his towel, a confused look on his face. You put on your skirt and threw your lace underwear his way. He grabbed them with slightly wide eyes.
"I'd get ready quickly if I were you. If I wait too long for you, I might start by myself." with a wink, you left a bungling Cedric hurriedly drying himself.
You let out a low giggle while strutting out the locker rooms. You were leaving the field when Cedric caught up with you, shirt half open, your lace panties between his teeth, and still buttoning up his pants.
You stifled a giggle at the sight and walked faster. He tripped, but managed to catch himself.
Before long, he was fully dressed and walking fast beside you, glancing your way every few seconds with a giddy smile on his face.
That is, until Harry Potter started calling after him.
His eyes widened slightly, he grabbed your arm and said "Don't you dare stop walking"
With a playful smile on your face, you released your arm from his grip and turned towards the griffindor.
"Hello, Harry!" You smiled widely, mosty because of the impatient look on Cedric's face.
"Hey, (y/n)," he turned towards your boyfriend "Cedric, can I talk to you for a second?" the boy looked at you for a split second before returning his gaze to Cedric "Alone."
"Actually, we-"
"Of course! Take your time, Harry!" You answered, overly amiable.
As you started walking away, Cedric grabbed your arm again.
"(y/n)'s not feeling very well, I have to take care of her. Can we do this another time?"
"Oh, nonsense! You know I can take care of myself." You said, untangling yourself from him, "Besides, I feel much better now. I might even -"
Your words were cut off as Cedric pulled you against his chest.
"I'm sure (y/n) won't tell a soul, there's nothing you can say to me that you can't say to her."
Harry reluctantly started saying something about some girl. Maybe Cho? Ginny? You had no idea. You were too busy feeling Cedric's hard cock against your backside, his hands pressing at your stomach to hold you as close as possible.
You looked up at him and he had a smug look on his face. He knew what he was doing.
His lips were moving, but all you could thing about was his dick inside you, pounding over and over again until your whole body shook.
"What do you think, (y/n)?"
Your name pulls you back from your lustful state and you realise the words came from Harry. He looked doubtful and insecure. You understood him, you'd been in a similar situation after all. Who never has? Pining after someone and not knowing if they'll ever want you back? Too shy and insecure to do anything about it? It was a universal experience.
"I think that I never would have told Cedric about my feelings if he didn't make the first move. I never would have told him how I felt and we wouldn't be together now." You held Cedric's hands on your stomach and smiled at the memory of him first coming to speak with you.
"I think that you will never know how she feels if you never ask. Life is about taking risks. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but that only means that person wasn't the one for you. You are remarkable, Harry Potter. If anyone does not want you it's their loss, not yours. And if they do want you, they'll be extremely lucky to have you."
The boy was blushing by the end of your speech and Cedric smiled down at you.
"D'you really think so?" he asked, but a smile pulled at his lips.
"I do." you answered sincerely.
"Ok, Potter, cheers mate. We gotta go." Cedric said, taking your hand, not waiting for a reply before jogging through the halls, dragging you along with him.
Your laughter echoed through the halls and your stomach clenched in anticipation. Cedric lead you down the stairs and past the kitchens, his face no longer humorous.
He tapped the rhythm to "Helga Hufflepuff" on the right barrel and immediately pushed through, pulling you along with him. You both made your way to his dorm, thanking Merlin once again that prefects have individual rooms.
The click of the lock closing resonated through the room and the only noise left was your heavy breathing as you gazed as one another.
You made the first move, slowly unbuttoning your shirt and leaving it to fall on the floor. Cedric watched, unmoving, as you unzipped your skirt and let it fall as well.
You leaned against the door and he looked at you with a predatory gaze, but you both knew who was in charge.
"Kneel." you commanded and Cedric immediately obeyed, falling to his knees in front of you, holding the back of your thighs.
"Did I say you could touch me?" you asked, raking your hands through his hair.
He removed his hands from you, but begged "I need you so much, please. Can I make you come?" his pupils were blown wide, his brows furrowed, and his erection pressing against his pants.
"Only because you asked so nicely" you answered sweetly and Cedric sighed, his head falling to your mound.
His hands massaged your buttocks as he gave you kisses so close yet so far to where you needed him most.
"Now," you breathed "you are going to give me head and make me cum. Can you do that, baby?"
"Please," he whimpered, kissing your mound, "wanna taste you so bad, darling."
"Go ahead, Ced."
He immediately complied, hiking your right leg over his shoulder and licking from your entrance to your clit. You gasped, steadying yourself against the wall and he moaned against you.
"Always taste so good, my love."
Cedric licked and sucked like a starved man, tearing moan after moan from you.
"Cedric" you whimpered, gripping his hair to bring him closer or push him away. You didn't even know anymore.
He swirled his tongue around your clit before lowering his mouth to your entrance again and plunging his tongue inside. Your groan was loud enough for anyone in the hufflepuff common room and adjacent to hear as he fucked you slowly with his tongue.
"Just like that, baby."
He complied, keeping the same rhythm. In and out, in and out.
Your walls started clenching and warmth spread across your lower stomach, but it still wasn't enough.
"I need more." you said, looking down at him.
Like a good boy, he started stroking your clit with his thumb and worked his tongue faster.
Like that wasn't enough, he looked up at you and just the sight of him on his knees for you, with disheveled hair, eating you out while his spare hand stroked his cock would have brought on your first orgasm.
Your body shook and your knees gave out, but Cedric still held you and kept using his tongue to help you ride out your high.
When it was too much, you pulled his head away from your core by his hair.
"You were so good, my love." You caressed his face "Until you started touching yourself."
"I wasn't going to make myself come, I swear." He stood up "I just wanted to feel good."
"I'll make you feel good, baby." you dragged your finger and nails down his torso, leaving goosebumps as you told him to lie down on the bed.
"Finish taking your clothes off," you said, looking around "I want you naked when I get on that bed."
Finding what you were looking for, you crawled over your boyfriend's body and sat down on top of his erection. The direct contact with your heat made him swear.
You put his arms above his head and bound his wrists to the headboard with your house's tie.
"Please, I swear I won't touch myself." he pulled at the tie "I just wanna touch you, darling."
"Oh, I can't let you do that." you propped your hands on his chest and started a tortuously slow drag of your hips up and down his length, "You've been misbehaving a lot this afternoon. You only get to touch me when you've been a good boy."
"I'll be a good boy, I promise." he whimpered.
"We'll see about that." you answered, grinding a bit faster against him.
His hands were white from pulling at the tie, his breathing laboured and his hips shaking with restraint.
You leaned forward, your breasts falling to his face, "Suck on them."
He leaned towards them and captured your left nipple with his mouth. His nibbling and sucking tore moans from you and made you fasten your pace on his cock.
"Gonna come soon." he managed before turning his attention to your right nipple.
You took his jaw in your hand and kissed him passionately before resting your forehead against his.
His cock started twitching beneath you and Merlin if it didn't bring you an instant from your second orgasm, but you pulled away all at once.
Tears threatened to spill from his eyes and his dick kept spasming, his hips bulking.
Cedric whimpered.
"I know, I know." you cooed "You're doing so good, but I'm not done punishing you just yet."
You connected your lips one last time before making your way to the foot of the bed, caressing his leg as you walked. The growing wetness and incessant pulse between your thighs made you clench them.
"You did so good at training today, Ced." you praised him, "And you looked so handsome, too."
You got on the bed once more, between his legs this time, and he looked down at you.
"Wanted your pretty cock in my mouth the whole time."
He moaned as you started stroking his length, a bead of pre-cum falling onto your hand.
"Please, I want to be inside you." he begged, thrusting into your hand.
"Soon enough, my love." you answered kissing his tip, earning you a hiss "Have patience."
Your mouth watered as you looked at his engorged member, hard against his abs. All flustered cheeks, glistening skin, and shallow breaths, Cedric awaited your next move.
"Glorious." You breathed to yourself, but the seeker flushed even more from the praise.
Your eyes went back to his cock and the vein on the underside was your first target. You heard his moan as you licked him from base to tip, then took him inside your mouth all at once.
His hips bulked and his head hit the back of your throat, making you gag. Your pulse quickened everywhere.
Bobbing your head up and down, sucking harder at the head, you pushed Cedric closer to the edge.
He moaned your name like a prayer, over and over, and you kept up your pace even as tears fell from your eyes and drool spread down your chin.
"Touch my balls." He gasped and you complied, smiling around him.
You cupped and massaged his scrotum, already heavy with cum and you imagined all that inside of you. Moaning at the thought, you gave Cedric one last suck before getting up on your knees to untie him.
His hands flew to your hips and his lips to yours.
"You had your fun, darling, now it's my turn." he said, voice deep and eyes dark. His pupils were so dilated you could barely see the usual grey.
Holding your body to his, he flipped the both of you and looked down at you with one arm holding his weight beside your body, the other hand softly grazing your body.
"Hello, gorgeous." he smiled, diving to kiss you.
You kissed him back, tongues caressing each other and hands roaming.
Two fingers slid from your entrance to your clit and you shuddered.
"So wet for me, aren't you?" he took his digits to his lips and sucked them clean, you bit your bottom lip to contain a moan.
The sight alone could have made you cum.
"I need you to use your words, darling. I'm going to fuck you into the mattress right now, alright?" he said, caressing your face.
The contrast between his words and his tenderness had you squirming "Please." was all you could manage.
Taking his swollen cock, he teased you, dragging the head up and down your slit then circling your clit.
"Hurry!" you whined and he immediately obliged, completely sheathing his cock in your entrance.
Both gasping, your walls clenched around him and Cedric steadied himself against the bed.
Your mingling breaths evened out a bit before Cedric slowly pulled out until the tip and rutted back in again.
One of your hands shot up to hold his biceps while the other splayed against his back.
His length hit deep, hard and slow, making you dizzy.
He moaned your name in your ear, hair brushing the side of your face. Your legs made their way around his waist, letting him hit even deeper and you clenched harder around him.
"Fuck, darling." he groaned, quickening his pace "Need you to come for me, can you do that?"
His every thrust lead you to your second orgasm. How deep he hit, the moans and grunts he let out, how every plunge of his hips rubbed against you clit, the look he had in his eyes.
Every one of your muscles clenched and shook, Cedric moaned, and you let out a cry as blinding pleasure exploded through your body.
Even as you came down from your high, the thrusts didn't stop. If anything, they were harder and faster.
Cedric pulled out and turned you over, bringing your ass towards him. He plunged himself in again and continued his thrusts just as deep and fast as before.
You bit the pillow as he gave your ass a smack, but he still heard your low groan.
"You like that, don't you?" he spanked you again, a bit harder this time, and you cried out "My pretty little cock slut."
You moaned incoherently as he hit just the right spot over and over.
"Gonna come inside you, darling." he grunted.
Grabbing one of his hands placed on your hips, you looked back at him and, as always, the sight was glorious.
Cedric could have been sculpted by the gods themselves, with a layer of sweat that made his skin glow, veins and lean muscles bulging, and sexual prowess you were sure no human should have been made to have.
Interlacing your fingers, he looked into your eyes then shot his head up and his thrusts became sloppier. His dick started swelling inside you and you moaned. He was close and so were you.
"Fill me up, Ced. Wanna be so full of you." was the last thing you managed to say before your walls clenched tightly around him and you let out a silent scream.
Cedric poured out a string of curses and gave one final deep thrust before you felt his release coat your walls. Breathing laboured and bodies exhausted, he fell to his side and brought your body with him.
"You did so good, baby." he praised, kissing your hair, then asked sweetly "Do you need anything? Water, a bath?"
You turned around and curled into him "Just you."
He smiled and kissed your forehead "You'll always have me."
"I love you." you murmured into his chest.
Cedric's heart swelled in his chest and he said "I love you." but you were already asleep.
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hellcatinnc · 3 months
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How the Men Of Love And Deepspace Would Be On Being Fathers
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Warning This includes: SFW (Read Tags Before Continuing)
Tags: sfw, fathers, daddys, pregnancy, baby daddys, babies, baby rooms, morning sickness, fluff, love and deepspace, zayne, xavier, rafayel, lamaze, birth, pregnancy test, flirty, kuudere
Word Count: 2,292
Feature: x Fem! Reader
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Zayne
That moment when you show up at the hospital and he is in between surgeries. He has been there for over 24 hours now with all the wrecks of recently but you just can't wait to tell him. You let his nurses know to tell him that you will be waiting in the cafeteria until he has a moment. A couple hours have gone by and your play candy crush or one of your other addictive mobile games this week it might just be the new game that came out "Love and Deepspace". ;)
After time has passed you happen to look up yawning its nearly 9pm cafeteria hours are almost up but you see a shadow out of the corner of your eye. He is grabbing a few croissants and a few sweet treats then walks over at the table and sits down in front of you. Same Zayne you have always loved even though its hard to know what he is thinking you know he loves you in the little things he does for you. Like the fact he had already slid across the table your favorite pastry and coffee and he didn't even ask, he has been with you long enough to just get them now.
You take a deep breath then look at him "You're going to be a daddy!" You are so used to no expression so you expect it you just happen to tell him when he was sipping his coffee and he started coughing, it had gone down the wrong way because the moment he heard that he breathed in the liquid. After a few moments it took and he got his composure he looked back up at you. "I thought we been using protection and pills, you been on pills right?" You nod yes "Sometimes they aren't all full proof, you're a doctor you should know that."
He looks at you then sighs, "Well you know we financially can afford it but we will have to look for a bigger place and then balance our bank account and see what we need to take out each month on what we are going to buy for the baby's room. Then there is the care after they are born......" He trails off on this logic train you lean over put your finger to his lips "Shhh, honey lets take one day at a time. For now its to be happy that we are going to have a little one together. Tomorrow on we can think about the logics but for now lets just be happy. I mean you are happy right?" He nods yes, you know he is just freaking out under it all but you wouldn't expect it any other way than him trying to plan ahead to make sure you and the baby is taken care of.
He always goes out of his way to make sure you are safe and secure and he wants to do the same for you during your pregnancy right on into having the baby. You two think differently however this ride you will be on having a baby you will teach him to breathe and feel the baby kick, and he will be there making sure your lined up for the best daycares and have just enough diapers when you come home from the hospital. He doesn't always tell you how he feels but the next 9 months he will be the man who brings you home lotions to give your feet massage from where they are swelling due to water weight in the pregnancy. He will pick up you prescription on his way home for lunch for your prenatal. He is there holding your hair out of the way when you have morning sickness in the toilet. He helps you decorate the baby room with a more clean look to it but not to childish but with name brand stuff in the room.
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The day the baby is born it will be induced earlier since he was able to get one day off the clock to be there for you in the emergency room. He will be there holding your hand as you push. Because he is a doctor you won't have to worry about him being squeamish. He is there when they cut the ambilocal cord and he is the first one with his baby in his arms. Its a little girl looking up at her daddy in that moment you see a smile curl up on his face. If no one else can get an expression from him the moment he sees her she melts his icy demeaner and thats how she will always be wrapping her daddy around her little fingers.
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Rafayel
You show up at his art studio day and you wanted to surprise him with lunch because he has a habit getting caught up in his artwork and sometimes forgets to eat. You step inside and see him painting away and don't want to startle him so you go sit on the couch and set up a little lunch picnic on the table for him. He happens to look back at one point sees you there and heads over to you walking over leaning in and kissing your lips first as he gives you a playful smile. "This looks amazing, also you look absolutely radiant today. Something new about you darling?" No sooner than he says that you think your sweet Raffy has been in tune with your emotions and feelings from the very start so doesn't surprise you that he can already tell your pregnant even though he doesn't know he can still notice the differences in changes in your appearance.
You nod yes as you pull out a box from your purse and hand it to him. Well Raffy loves getting gifts from you but he hadn't expected what was to come. Its a longer box so he is kind of surprised but smiles wide at you as he opens the box. He pushes the paper aside to see a pregnancy test sitting in the box. He flopped down in the chair and has a shocked look on his face. He starts to smile and looks up at you with tears starting to form in his eyes. "You.... Y-ou mean......I'm..I'm going to be a d-daddy?" His cute stutter was precious but with his actions, the tears in his eyes you knew you had picked the perfect partner to have a family with and spend your life with. You reach over wiping his tears out of his eyes and kiss him softly. "Yes my love, your going to be a daddy." He starts to chuckle a bit then gives you that sheepish smile he knows he did well to get you pregnant and you can see that gleam in his eyes he is proud of himself.
He is there every step of the way, you thought he was clingy before you haven't seen anything. He will make sure everything is done though, he will make food for you and keep the house cleaned up. Even though he is normally a messy person he refuses to be the reason you fall and get hurt or hurt the baby. He is sitting beside you in morning sickness wiping your face with a cool rag and handing you water in between getting sick so that you are keeping hydrated. He is all about going out shopping for baby stuff like cute rompers, and he will find little baby paint brush sets that look like paint brushes but are rattles instead. He will decorate the baby room by painting cute baby stuff all around the room. He will paint a underwater theme he did it with more of a kid friendly feel to match the rest of the baby room.
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He is set and ready to go. Those 9 months are just not gonna go by fast enough for him. He is super excited and can't wait to meet his offspring. You will go to lamaze classes with him and sign up for a midwife to do a water birth. So the day you go in labor he will have the midwife on speed dial on his phone so that she can get over there and give birth to your child in the garden tub you have in the bathroom. No matter how much Rafayel tries to keep it together he gets dizzy at one point and looks away but refuses to leave your side. He holds your hand through it all no matter how much you scream at him he doesn't leave. When his daughter cries for the first time he is in tears looking down at his sweet little baby. First words out of his mouth is "I love my baby girl and thank you darlin for giving us such a beautiful family." Now its time for selfie time he will take a 100 of photos of you and him and the baby before the nights even over because he will be so proud. He will take care of everything while you recover after birth for the next couple weeks.
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Xavier
You sent him a text seeing if he was home and awake. When you got a response back he asked you if you wanted to come up and make them some pancakes. You agree because you know he is better on a full stomach and well rested so this would be the perfect time to tell him. You get up to his apartment and even though normally he doesn't get too excited when it comes to food he is all in ready for it. So you decide to get creative and after you make the pancakes you draw with the syrup the word daddy on the pancakes well that didn't work. No sooner than you sat the plate in front of him he jumped right into eating didn't even notice the words in syrup. You sit across the table and you sigh of course now you have to go a different route.
"Honey, have you ever thought about having kids?" The moment he hears you say this he almost chokes on his pancakes then looks up at you like you have got to be kidding. I mean sure have you ever thought Xavier would be good daddy material, probably not but hey its going to happen your pregnant and he is your boyfriend. He gives you that curious stare he likes to give like he is trying to figure out if your pulling his chain or if your serious. "I can't say I have." He says in a hurry but then goes back to eating like you had interfered with his enjoyment. You look directly at him put your hand on his hand as he looks up at you. "Well we are going to be having a baby, I'm pregnant!" He just stares at you like he is trying to figure out how to address this.
He sits there eating as he does so in silence like he is trying to figure out what to do next. You sit there uncomfortable thinking that he doesn't want you and the baby now. After some time he finishes his breakfast then grabs your hand and walks you to the bed. Pulls you onto it and into his arms where he wraps his arms around you. "I'm not prepared, nor am I ready. I have never wanted kids or even thought about them. However I feel for you like no one else, so lets see where this takes us." He made you happy in that moment, yeah sure he isn't over the moon but he is also still staying by your side through it all. He goes to the doctors appointments with you and finds out you are having a girl he had no performance thought.
You two went to appointments and he asked alot of questions. Went to help you get baby stuff for the house and he asked you to move in with him so that you two could be there through out the pregnancy. Whenever you got sick with morning sickness he would teleport you to the hospital. When it came to picking out baby furniture he just wanted the items to either be accented in stars or lights or both. He strung all the lights himself so that you dont have to do alot of work he wanted you to lay low while he did most everything so that your pregnancy stay healthy.
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When it came the day you were to give birth you woke up from a sound sleep. So as he realized you were in labor he teleported you to the hospital. He wanted to be in the room with you but the moment they told you to push and the baby was crowning he got nauseated and passed out. When he woke up the baby was already laying in your arms. He crawled on to the hospital bed cuddling up to you watching you talk to you two's little girl. He looked down at her "She is so precious". you could tell he was interested in her even if he acted like he wasn't. When you got home you realized he had someone there cleaning up so you could focus on you and the baby. He still couldn't believe he was. He cuddled you two for a few hours and then he went and laid his head against you as you both snuggled up and pulled a bassinet next to you to put your baby in as he held you the rest of the night so you could get rest after the long day as well you felt safe.
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chungledown-bimothy · 5 months
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Top 10 battle maps on d20?
thank you for saying 10 lol (for the sake of fairness, I'm just going to talk about the physical maps in the dome- this is a Rick Perry et al appreciation post, as cool as the ones from Starstruck, TUC2, and The Seven (from what I've seen) are.)
THE BEAR. That goddamn motherfucking bear. Like, what the fuck, Aabria. The rest are gonna be listed by the episode title, but the bear deserves its own level of classification.
Deep Bleu Sea. The way it forced risky and/or very creative mobility, the boats moving, all of it.
Times Squaremageddon. I love it for all the same reasons as Deep Bleu Sea, the reason it's lower is because I like the ACOC aesthetic better than NYC lol
Reactor Charlie/The First Stoats. The puzzle in Reactor Charlie fucks SEVERELY, and how it transforms for The First Stoats is also such a big part of why I love it that I can't leave it out.
Scramble in the Sewers. The water rising was awesome both as a mechanic and how it was physically represented. And again, I love a mobility challenge.
Attacks on the Tracks. It was an actual, functioning model train. Incredible.
Arcade Ambush. Simpler in layout, but the challenge of possibly getting sucked into the games was really fun. And the context of it being in the first season, with its much lower budget than later seasons, cannot be ignored.
For Candia!. This one is a relatively unpopular opinion, I know, but I loved the swing they took with the scale change. The way it forced the players to literally look at the big picture and consider the tactical advantages and disadvantages of the two scales being offered to them. So we got the feeling of a proper siege taking back their castle as well as moments like the confrontation between Amethar and Calroy.
The Baron of Bricks. The wolf was in the soup and also the spoon tries to kill you.
The Ending of All Things. Say what you will about now Neverafter ended narratively, but the battle set FUCKED.
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dracowars · 1 year
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if i may, i would like to request cuddling with draco. you two facing each other. and then as he's babbling ab something u just admire him and put ur sweaterpaw hand (cuz you're wearing his sweater and its big on u) on his cheek and he goes silent bcz he finds it so cute 🥺🥺🥺and then probably smooches u and crush u in a big hug for hours 👉👈 OR maybe some soft draco thoughts (as many as you can 😂)
if not it's fine totally
sweaterpaw | draco malfoy
pairing: draco x reader
word count: 0,6k
summary: where y/n admires draco while he is passionately talking
a/n: this warms my heart and i hope it has the same effect on you <3 feedback and reblogs are always appreciated!
warnings: mentions of body shape (reader is small)
universe: harry potter
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Looking deeply into each other's eyes, your limbs entangled on the soft sheets, you are completely immersed in your own little world, hidden from the outside to see. Moments like these are what makes your relationship so much more valueable. In a world so cruel and unforgiving, you have found your safe place where you can be yourself and do not have to worry about anything.
The sun outside is slowly setting as you still have not moved from the mattress, too focused on Draco who has been very talkative throughout the whole day. When you think back to the boy you first met, you can't believe it was the same boy as the one before you right now. He has finally found his safe place in you, being able to open up and talk about everything that is on his mind.
Draco loves having you so close to him, if not even closer, side by side, facing each other with your heads on the pillow, the tips of your noses almost touching. He loves how your eyes switch between his every so often, listening and actually hearing everything he is saying like it is the most important thing in the world. He loves how you have made it a habit of yours to always steal his green sweaters, making them your own even though they are a bit too big on your frame. With his right hand, he twirls your hair around his finger as he continues to talk about his day.
"I think we will actually win the game on the weekend. We have been training so hard these past few weeks", Draco explains, confident about his skills as a seeker in the Slytherin Quidditch team. At the thought of seeing him in his cute green Quidditch jersey, a smile crosses your lips that you can't hold back. Draco notices this, huffing out a laugh as he is looking right into your mind, ruffling your hair.
"The Quidditch league is coming to an end soon as well. If Puddlemere United doesn't bring the cup home this time, I swear I'm gonna-"
At this, Draco suddenly stops himself because you put your sweaterpaw onto his cheek, cupping it with the most affectionate smile he has ever seen. You couldn't stop yourself. Hearing him talk so passionately about his favorite things made something in your chest bloom, increasing the beat of your heart and making you admire him even more.
In Draco's eyes, seeing you in his big sweater, laying your soft sweaterpaw on his cheeks with so much love in your eyes, is the cutest sight he has ever laid eyes on. And he sees you everyday.
Before you can tell him to go on so you can listen to his voice until the middle of the night, brushing the soft fabric along his cheek carefully, he puts one hand on top of yours, pulling you closer with the other so he can kiss you straight away. You lean into him, enjoying the feeling of his lips against yours even though you have not seen it coming.
Draco can't help himself. He finds you so cute and adorable that he wants to shower you with all the affection you deserve and more. Leaving your lips and trailing kisses along your neck, you slightly giggle which he takes as an invitation to place a lot more kisses all over your face - nose, cheeks, forehead, he does not miss a spot. Beneath him, you are squirling with laughter, trying to stop him from smooching you everywhere.
After he decides he has covered every single spot on your face, he pulls you into the softest hug, breathing out contenly when you find a comfortable position in his arms.
"I don't tell you this enough but I love you, Y/N. With all my heart", he gently whispers, smoothing down your hair.
"I love you too, Draco."
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ssa-atlas-alvez · 24 days
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I hate myself for this but... sigh, I can't help it. At least this one is soft and not angsty
Aaron Hitch x Dad Male Reader
Hotch has been having trouble moving on from Haley (maybe divorce?) Despite it being 2 years. Garcia decides to talk him into going on a few blind dates, one of which is a friend of hers from an online RPG. Hotch is reluctant but agrees, trusting Garcia with her taste in friends.
When Hotch arrives at the small restaurant and stares hes there for a reservation that Garcia set up, he's lead to Reader already waiting at a table. Garvia failed to mention that Hotch's blind date was a man and so he's caught off guard. Through the date, it's obvious Hotch and Reader are awkward until Hotch mentions his son. As it turns out, Reader is a single dad as well after his fiance walked out
They bond over being parents and agree to meet up again. So they do, multiple times. They even set up little get togethers between the kids
Hiya, sorry this has take me so long (actually I'm sorry all of my requests are taking me so long aha) but I hope you enjoy it, it was a really cute request! :)
Description: What is says on the tin, really aha
You watch a man approach you and you know its him. Garcia knows your taste in men well and you have no doubt she would have ensured that the date she picked out for you would be perfect.
He approached you awkwardly, seeing that you were the only individual who was on their own. "Are you here for a blind date?" He asked, cheeks tinting pink.
"Yeah, I'm (Y/N), are you Aaron?"
The man, Aaron, nods. He's awkward, which makes you awkward. He sits down, "I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting a-"
"Man?"
"Yeah,"
"I see... We, er, we don't have to do this, if you don't want to-" You rush out, already standing up.
"No, no, it's okay," He said, giving a small smile, sitting in the chair opposite you. "So, how do you know Garcia?"
"We play the same RPG, but we started talking on the forums and then eventually met up," You nod.
"RPG?" Aaron tilted his head, "That's role playing game, isn't it?"
You nod, grinning, "Yeah." Man, he was just too cute.
He nods as well, with a small smile.
Another minute passed in awkward silence. "So... Garcia mentioned you had a son?" You asked.
Aaron nods, a small smile already painting his face, "Yeah, Jack. He's just turned six."
"Oh, wow, my son's five," You nodded.
"You have a son?" Aaron asked, eyes widening slightly.
"Yeah, Ethan," You grinned. "His favourite thing at the minute is cars,"
"Jack's the same," Aaron said with a small laugh, "Cars and trains,"
"See, Ethan's not hopped on the train trend just yet," You laugh, "He's definitely on the dinosaur trend though,"
"Jack's not gone through that phase just yet,"
"Oh, cars and dinosaurs are all Ethan talks about," You smile.
After that, the rest of the meeting (*cough* date *cough*) went rather well, the initial awkwardness has dissolved and the pair of you stayed out late, talking about anything and everything. He now knew that Ethan's mother had left when he was still a baby, and you knew about the nasty divorce with his ex-wife Haley. You had even arranged a second meeting (read: 'date - sort of') where Jack and Ethan could meet each other the following week.
It was next week before you knew it. Ethan was so excited, practically bouncing off the walls.
"Are they here yet?!" Ethan asked, running in again.
"Bud, I've told you, I'll let you know when they're here-" You said with a small laugh, getting cut off by the doorbell ringing. "And it looks like they're now here,"
"Wooo!" Ethan cheered. "I can't wait to meet them,"
Ethan babbled as he followed you to the front door. "I'm sure Jack's just as excited to meet you," You grin. You really hoped the pair of them got along, you thought as you opened the front door.
"Hi," You breathed, seeing Aaron (that polo shirt on him? Damn).
"Hi," He replied. You grinned slightly, seeing the tips of his ears go pink.
"Hi! I'm Ethan!"
"I'm Jack!" Jack exclaims, equally excited.
"You wanna go play? My dad got me some new cars!"
"I love cars!" You smile as Ethan grabs Jack's hand and they both run off to go and play.
You turn to Aaron, "That looked like it went well,"
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ashensgrotto · 7 months
Text
Poor Unfortunate Souls (Part 2)
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Characters: Azul Ashengrotto x Reader
Word Count: 7,398
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3a Part 3b (You are Here)
Per request from @twistedcece and @mermaidfan76 , I finished the third part to my Yandere Soulmate AU - yes, I have officially given it a name now. I think I might do a piece per each of the books in Twst - but I haven’t made any solid decisions yet.
Also - due to this being the third part, hence Octavinelle’s chapter in the game, this next part is going to be divided into two parts. The main reason is because there is a bit that happens and I want to make sure that I take my time with writing everything out for it, never mind that I am covering two overblots - Leona’s and Azul’s - in this section. I am also planning on revisiting part 2 and fixing that up a bit more - and I’ll post an update when that happens.
Now, fair warning, although this is likely not going to be graphic, it does show more of the possessive/obsessive behaviors that yandere characters are known for as well as the underlying threatening behaviors they can exhibit as well. I do not agree with these behaviors that are as follows, but I’m covering my basics.
But for now we stay so far
'Til our lonely limbs connect
I can't keep you in these arms
So I'll keep you in my mind
***
Soft humming echoed in the office of the VIP room as Azul filed the remaining documents in the safe, his gaze flickering over the rolled up golden contracts, a gloved finger touching the newest one in his collection.
"Ah, my dear," he murmured softly, "I think, tonight, the two of us will have an underwater rendezvous…"
"Azul!"
The octomer slipped out of the safe, shutting it behind him as he groaned, "Jade? Floyd? What's going on?"
"We seem to be having an issue in the lounge," the eldest eel mer explained, "Several of our workers called in sick and the place is being overrun by the students of Savanaclaw and Heartslabyul!"
“An’ it’s not just a handful, either - I’d say it’s the entirety of both dorms,” Floyd swallowed.
"Strange," Azul furrowed his brow, "It's not usual for both dorms to be in the same place at once, never mind most of the dorm…"
"That's what I was thinking," Jade nodded.
"Maybe they just got bored an’ decided to cause us some problems," Floyd suggested.
"Come, let's take a look at what the fuss is all about," Azul led the way out of his office with the two bodyguards following behind.
When he entered the lounge, the place was packed and in chaos. Students of the Octavinelle dorm were struggling to carry trays of food, drink, and take orders as the customers of Heartslabyul's and Savanaclaw's dorms lined every booth and table. Shouting and arguing overpowered the low hum of jazz that normally calmed the atmosphere of the lounge, the place now sounding like a gymnasium over a place of relaxation. Orders were running up miles high and tables were still full of empty dirty dishes - some in vacant areas - while the carpeted flooring was covered in crumbs and soaked with liquid from spilt drinks, staining the fabric.
"What in the Great Sea Witch's name is going on here?!" Azul looked at the state of his establishment, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets behind his glasses, "How did the lounge get in this state?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Floyd grumbled.
"Let’s get this mess straightened up," Azul growled, taking a few steps forward and heading into the crowd - taking charge over the floor and directing the staff. He barked orders for Jade to take over the kitchen and Floyd to take care of the bar - slipping between students and ordering his staff to straighten up and pick up the pace. Azul moved quickly, and when tensions rose, his training from his mother’s restaurant resurfaced again as he diffused the tension between staff and customer.
It took over an hour - but the Mostro Lounge had returned to its calm state eventually. Azul let out a sigh before narrowing his eyes, “Next time this happens… someone is going to be made into fried chicken.”
“Goodness, Azul,” Jade commented, resting a hand over his chest, “I had no idea you could be so cruel.”
“Cruel? Hardly,” Azul pulled his watch out, eyes widening, “and that little fiasco has made me late. I’m leaving for the pools - cover them with the curtains.”
Jade and Floyd snickered as Azul walked away, the octomer humming to himself before he let out a huff of annoyance, "Those two… if it wasn't for their unique magic and consistent badgering…"
He shook his head, closing his eyes as he tried to reign himself in. He couldn't let you see him in this state - you would be frightened of him more than you already were. Ever since your unexpected transformation nearly a week ago, Azul had been trying to get you to open up to him again as you had done when you first met. He was starting to get desperate, grasping at smoke every time he came and saw you, offering words of comfort even though they fell on deaf ears. Azul had sensed your own anger and fear of him - but the contract kept you bound to obey him when he called for you, your head popping above the waters of the Octavinelle pools to greet him and staying with him until he said you could leave.
And what a lovely little mermaid you had turned out to be…
Azul sighed in happiness, remembering his idea as he entered the pools - though his thoughts of bliss were cut short upon seeing four familiar figures waiting for him.
"Whoops, that was quick," Leona smirked as Azul entered the room.
"I thought you said it would be at least an hour before he got here," Riddle growled at the headwarden of Savanaclaw.
"Riddle, you know that Azul works fast," Trey answered, adjusting his glasses.
"Well, it was enough time to get what we needed done, done," Ruggie snickered.
"Hardly," Leona crossed his arms over his chest.
"What are you four doing here?" Azul's eyes narrowed, "These are private pools for the members of Octavinelle. No one else is permitted to enter."
"Oh? That's not what it seemed like to me," Riddle answered, "Azul Ashengrotto, we have reason to believe you are holding an individual hostage."
"Hostage?!" Azul laughed, "Riddle, explain this to me - is it really a hostage situation when the school permitted a person into my care and protection?"
"It is when the individual in question is being held against their will."
“Oh?” Azul grinned, “Really? The way I see it is that any individual that signs their names on my contracts - which are completely legal and binding - are in agreement with myself. They are completely unbreakable, even for you.”
“Are you certain about that?” Leona asked with a smirk, holding his hand out as Ruggie placed a familiar golden scroll into his hand.
Azul’s face paled, “W-Where… Where did you get that?!”
“I’m certain you already know.”
Azul’s hands slipped into his pockets, his eyes widening in fear, ‘The keys… the safe keys are gone!’
Ruggie let out a snicker, “Hey Azul, you know if you wanna keep somethin’ safe, you gotta keep your pockets secured too.”
“Give that contract back, give them all back now, if you please!” Azul growled, his hands curling into fists.
“Azul, calm yourself,” Riddle crossed his arms over his chest, “We can discuss this in a civilized manner.”
“That’s rich, coming from you,” Azul growled, opening his hand with palm up as his fingers twitched, “The contracts! Hand them over this minute!”
“How about we make a deal?” Leona asked.
“I’m… sorry?”
“Leona!” Trey looked over incredulously at the Savanaclaw headwarden.
“Hold it, Trey,” the Heartslabyul headwarden held his subordinate back, “Leona has this under control.”
Leona nodded and turned to Azul, “What are you prepared to offer us if we return the contracts to you? After all, this one is especially valuable to you, right?”
“I’ll… I’ll do anything! I’ll give you all the study guides you want. I’ll write each of your graduation thesises. I’ll pad your attendances. Anything! Just name it!”
“Interesting… Those are pretty tempting offers… However, here’s the thing. I owe (Y/N) for what happened to her during the Spelldrive Tournament and prior to that,” Leona crossed his arms over his chest, “No offense, but everything you just offered, asking for each of us to name a price for the return of these contracts… won’t cut it. It’s not enough to justify the return of the contracts - all six hundred plus of them - to you.”
“What?” Azul’s eyes widened.
“We know about the deal you made with Leona for the Spelldrive Tournament, and what you requested three of his dorm members to do to (Y/N) to keep her from seeking the help of other dorms in exchange,” Riddle answered, “We also know about your possessive behavior of her. (Y/N) is not of our world and deserves to return home to her family - where she belongs. As the headwarden of Heartslabyul and one of two people she’s helped; I, Riddle Rosehearts, will do everything within my power to keep her safe - even if it means I have to fight a fellow housewarden and classmate to do so.”
“And I would as well,” Leona smirked, “and any number of others would as well. Sorry Azul, but these contracts have got to go.”
“R-ridiculous!” Azul pleaded, “Don’t do it!”
“I am the one who hungers… I am the one who thirsts… I am the one to rob you of your future… Now, kneel before me! King’s Roar!”
The contracts in Leona’s hands began to glow before they slowly dissolved before everyone’s eyes. Azul watched in horror as sweat began to dribble down in his face at the sight of his carefully guarded plans disappearing into a pile of dust on the floor, “My… my golden contracts… all… reduced to dust… I-I… I don’t believe this…”
“Well, that settles that,” Ruggie looked at Azul then back to the others, “If you ask me, that was a convenient way to help both (Y/N) out and get your own contract with Azul out as well.”
“Speaking of which,” Leona looked at Trey and Riddle, “Where is our little magicless guest?”
“Deuce, Ace, and Grim took her to a safe room until this was all done,” Trey adjusted his glasses with a smile, “We had to keep her from getting injured any more than she’s already experienced.”
“Never mind that she’ll need help after being in that state for over seventy-two hours, if not more,” Riddle agreed.
“Just a couple of nice guys who can’t ignore a friend in need, huh?” Leona smirked.
“Hey! Listen to you! Crackin’ your own jokes!” Ruggie grinned with a smirk.
As the boys laughed with one another, Azul stayed where he was, his eyes glued to the pile of dust that once were his contracts.
“Hey! Frazzled Azul ink-spiller! Aw, you gonna cry? Why don’t you use one of your eight legs to wipe those tears away?”
Azul’s body began to shake before he screamed, startling the four as they looked on in horror, “I HATE THIS!! It’s GONE! My CAREFULLY AMASSED COLLECTION OF MAGIC! My OMNIPOTENT POWER! ALL… UP IN SMOKE! How could you DO this to ME!?! W-without it… without that… I… I…”
“What in the world?” Leona asked.
“Talk about changin’ your tune…” Ruggie agreed, ears flattening behind his head.
“I’m BACK TO BEING THAT ‘SILLY LITTLE OCTO-TWERP’ AGAIN!” Azul shouted, tears of black began to form in his eyes as his body shook harder as more black ink appeared to dribble off of his form, “That’s… THE LAST THING I WANT! I REFUSE! I REFUSE! I REFUSE! I don’t WANNA go BACK to being MY OLD SELF AGAIN! I CAN’T!!”
“What’s going on?!” Riddle’s eyes widened, “There’s a black aura growing around him…”
“Azul - come on,” Trey tried to reason with the sophomore, “There’s no need to get bent out of shape…”
“SHUT. UP!” Azul rounded on them as the magic grew thick and heavy, “You DON’T know me! You DON’T know my LIFE! All that time I spent being roundly mocked for my weakness… my intellect… NOBODY COULD EVER UNDERSTAND! …Not even her.”
Azul’s lips twisted then, tears and magic flowing around them as a heavy darkness seeped in through all of Octavinelle, matching the headwarden’s emotions, “Of course… It's so simple. If you lose something… just take it back. Give them to me… come on… I want your powers… I want… her. GIVE THEM TO ME!”
“Azul! What are you doing!?” Jade’s voice came through the thick darkness, making the headwarden turn to see his vicewarden with Floyd and… you.
“Whoa, yikes. What’s goin’ on here?” Floyd’s features twisted to fear as he took in the state of the pool area.
Azul’s magic and ink had begun to stain the flooring of the pool, painting it black, as the air became heavy as darkness seeped in all the crevices of the room and dorm. The waters of the pool had shifted from bright blue to a deep violet, the lighting fading to a pale yellow. Outside of the pool, the same could be said for the dorm - the once beautiful underwater dorm of Octavinelle had slowly turned dark and foreboding, with many of the remaining students that still remained.
"Jade! Floyd! You've come to me!" Azul's grin was wild and crazy.
"(Y/N)! What are you doing here!" Riddle shouted, "I told you to stay with the others!"
"Ridiculous!" You shouted at Riddle as you stayed near the twins, "Not with the dorm falling to pieces around us!"
"Azul's magic has been slowly draining some of the students in the lounge of their powers," Jade explained, "His unique magic is so powerful that if he's not careful-"
"SILENCE JADE!" Azul shouted, the magic growing heavier as the building shook.
"Azul! Your signature spell is too powerful, it's impossible to control without a contract scroll!" Jade pleaded, "You know better than anyone what will happen if you do this!"
"But… I've lost it all! Everything!" Azul laughed maniacally, "My power… my magic… my hopes and dreams… ALL UP IN SMOKE! I'LL REVERT BACK TO MY OLD SELF IF I DON'T ACT NOW!"
"Y'know Azul, I never saw you as lame," Floyd said, "But now? The way you're actin' is… pretty lame."
"Oh? Is that a fact?" Azul grinned, his sharp eyes falling on your figure as you trembled behind the twins, "I'm just a 'silly little octo-twerp' who can't do anything on his own? Well, then… I’ll prove you wrong. I'll take everyone's powers. I'll rise above your perceptions. A beautiful singing voice! Powerful magics! A perfect little soulmate! ALL OF IT MINE! HAND IT OVER AT ONCE!"
Screams were heard and a shield of magic came around Trey, Riddle, Ruggie, and Leona as the headwarden fought off the attack of magic draining as great black blobs rolled off of Azul’s form. Jade pulled you off to the side as Floyd countered the attack as well.
"What's all that gunk comin' outta Azul?!" Floyd was beginning to panic, "That ain't… ink, is it?"
"He's using his signature spell too much!" you shouted.
"Azul! Snap out of it!" Leona ordered, "The blot is exceeding your cumulative tolerance!"
"I think it's too late for that…" Jade murmured as a dark shadow came over the headwarden of Octavinelle.
All was still and silent for a moment before several large black tentacles appeared from the darkness. The light slowly revealed a mer creature that no one had seen before - black blot clung to his form, dribbling down his sides and chest as several shells and pieces of coral lined his waist and shoulders as his tentacles writhed in the open, a nautilus shell necklace secured by two golden chains clung to the creature's neck as a shorter crown of black perched on the top of his head. More black blot circled around his shoulders as his eyes opened to reveal glowing purple irises that were wild with anger and desperation.
"Azul…"
"You pitiful, insignificant fools!" The creature that once was Azul Ashengrotto shouted, as a dark shadow appeared behind him - this one taking on the form of the legendary Sea Witch of the Coral Sea herself.
"Come on! We have to snap Azul back to senses!" Riddle readied himself for battle as the others did the same.
You take a hesitantly step towards Azul, only for Jade to pull you back.
"Not now, (Y/N)," he whispered softly, "Azul's not in the right state of mind. You could get hurt."
“But, Jade-”
“Jade’s right, Shrimpy,” Floyd turned to his brother, all traces of joking gone, “We have ta stop Azul from goin’ too far - knowin’ him, he’ll try somethin’ if ya get too close.”
Jade nodded in agreement, turning toward you, “Please, (Y/N). For our sake and your friend’s sake, sit this one out.”
You didn’t have a chance to argue as the twin eels took off toward Azul. The creature behind him followed his instructions just as Leona’s and Riddle’s had done during their overblots - however, this one seemed twice as big and twice as strong. A large triton appeared in the creature’s hands as Azul ordered it to fight off his attackers, the weapon being used for blunt force and electrical hits. Trey and Ruggie tag-teamed each other alongside the twins to keep Azul distracted while Leona and Riddle used both fire and grass magic to weaken him as well as protect their allies.
“Enough!” Azul’s twisted voice shook the pool area, throwing everyone off balance, “Why do you keep bullying me?! Is it because I’m a slow dimwitted octopus?! All I wanted was… to prove them wrong… I just…”
“Azul! You know that is not the case!” Jade shouted, “We don’t want to hurt you in the slightest!”
“Come on, octy. Snap out of it!” Floyd agreed.
Azul gritted his teeth as he turned his attention toward them, “Shut up! You weren’t there! You weren’t there when I was forced into an octopot! You weren’t there when I was poked and prodded! Stones thrown at! I refuse to go back to that!”
You could feel the tears in your eyes at his words. You felt something surge within you as you stood from your spot and ran towards Azul, who continued to rage, the triton being raised again.
“(Y/N)!” Riddle’s voice echoed in the pool area before a resounding smack echoed in the room before white erupted your vision as Azul fell.
***
“Hey! Frazzled Azul ink-spiller!”
Azul’s eyes shifted to look out from his hiding spot as a group of merchildren gathered outside the octopot - their faces blurred, but their smiles were all the same.
“Aw, you gonna cry? Why don’t you use one of your eight legs to wipe those tears away?” one merchild called out as the group laughed wickedly.
“C-Cut it out,” Azul’s voice came out like a whimper, small and weak, “Why are you being so mean to me?”
“Run for it quick!” Another merchild shouted as they began to circle around the group, “He’s gonna ink us!”
“Aha ha ha! He couldn’t even keep up with us if he tried!” another voice broke out as laughter surrounded Azul from every angle.
Azul covered his ears and closed his eyes as the laughter echoed in his head, the sounds of their laughter shaking him to his core as his tentacles curled around him. Shadows passed over him as the merchildren encircled his hiding spot over and over, the mocking singing of ‘Octo-twerp! Octo-twerp! Azul is an octo-twerp!’ ingrained into his head.
“Enough!” Azul cried out as a thick black cloud encircled him, hiding him away as the voices faded.
Azul blinked and found himself as his seventeen-year old self again - but he wasn’t alone.
You were there, standing a foot away from him, eyes dripping with tears. You wiped at them, sniffling softly.
“Angelfish…” Azul started.
“Don’t, Azul,” You said, intaking a deep breath, “I saw it - how it all started.”
“What?” he looked at you in disbelief, “How?”
“I… don’t know, to be completely honest. When I experienced my first overblot with Riddle, I sensed an urge to touch him and when I did - I could see his past, what happened to him that made him the way he was. Same with Leona. Same… with you.”
You take a deep breath, “I don’t know why or understand how people could be so cruel to people that look different - because we’re all different. We each have our own backgrounds and stories, our families are different and we all grow up in different ways. But that shouldn’t make it okay for us to torment each other - it’s never okay. And… to place the expectations of something on someone… isn’t right either.”
“I just… I didn’t want to be alone, (Y/N),” Azul begged, “I had been alone most of my young life…”
“But don’t you see, Azul?” you ask, “You’re doing the same thing to me that your bullies did to you. You hurt me - even though it wasn’t by your hand.”
Azul looked down - you were right. He had treated you unfairly. He had treated you like his bullies had treated him - he had been blinded by his obsession for you.
“I’m… I’m sorry, angelfish,” Azul spoke softly, looking up at you, “I… I just wanted to keep you close. You’re my heart, my other half…”
“You might think that, but that can never be,” you explain.
“Why? Why not, angelfish?”
“Wounds… no matter what they are, take time to heal… and you have left a large scar over my heart. You broke my trust with you.”
Azul looked down again and sighed, “You’re right… I did.”
You nod slowly, offering your hand out to him, “Azul - come with me. Let’s get you back to where you need to be.”
Azul looked at your offered hand, “What?”
“You can’t stay in the darkness forever, Azul. You can’t wallow in self-pity or self-hatred. It’s… what caused this to happen in the first place. Come with me… and we’ll go into the light together and get you the help you deserve and need.”
Azul looked at your hand again, his gloved hand reaching out and slowly taking a hold of it.
As he did, a bright light enveloped both of you.
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nintendoteuthis · 1 year
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Some thoughts on the books, comics, and magazines you can put in your lockers
Disclaimer: This is a mix of reasonable inferences and headcanons.
Comic books
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Comedy comic: A comic book featuring the character Monkey Crab (that's who that is. he seems to be quite popular). Aimed at younger readers; has a more light-hearted tone
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Romance comic, fangirl comic, love-and-war comic: All romantic manga, probably written by the same author. Don't know what's inside, but I'd wager that the first tells a relatively simple story of a boy and girl falling in love, the second involves a romance developing between a performer and one of her fans, and the third involves a love triangle involving two men on opposite sites of a war. Not the most complex of plots, but Inklings and Octolings eat it up.
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Sci-fi comic, sports comic: Pretty much what they say on the tin.
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Sharktooth Comix: Basically Weekly Shonen Jump but for the Mollusk Era. Weekly anthologies of comics aimed at a young male demographic. From the covers, we can infer that among the series inside are comic adaptations of Ultra Squid and Octo Kong Country (and another series based on Monkey Crab).
Magazines and journals
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Boneless Appetit: A cooking magazine aimed at a younger demographic. They're trying to make cooking fun.
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Drip Squad: A fashion magazine. This issue includes a feature on Inkline.
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Evolved Science Journal: A scientific journal focused on biology, paleontology, and evolution. The study that made the cover presumably discusses Inkling evolution.
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Ink & Splatter: Based on the title, the Roller on the cover, and the Ammo Knights logo, I think this magazine focuses on inksports, especially weapons and strategy. Sponsored by Ammo Knights.
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Inkopolis Illustrated: Hey! That's HaikaraWalker! A general culture magazine that covers the styles, sports, and music of Inkopolis. They try to find interesting things about the city to cover. Lots of Inklings and Octolings who moved to Splatsville subscribe to this, so they still feel like they have some connection.
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Nostalgia Power Magazine: A retro gaming-focused magazine. Not to say that it doesn't include stuff about older games as well, but retro gaming is its focus. It seems that retro games are very popular among Inklings and Octolings (based on locker stuff, the N-ZAP, and all the stuff in Ancho-V Games).
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Rockin' Music Quarterly: A music magazine. Not much to say.
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Squidgital Game Guide: Another gaming publication. In order to avoid competition with Nostalgia Power, it probably focuses more on walkthroughs, tips, and trivia about newer games.
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Tunnel & Track: For the real train nerds. This magazine is all about public transport.
Other stuff
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Fantasy novel: Can't really say much more about this from the cover.
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Popular novel: Also a novel. I think that this is, like, a "classic" - the type of thing you'd be forced to read in high school English classes.
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Salmon Manners Handbook: Honestly I'm not sure what this is. It seems to be geared towards fish, and it also doesn't seem to have anything to do with Salmonids. Any ideas?
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witchywriter18 · 9 months
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Dating Young! Sirius Black and being a Hufflepuff
Hufflepuff will always be my preferred house to write the reader in since I am a Hufflepuff.
First, a bit of background
You're a muggleborn Hufflepuff and have been friends with Lily Evans since you were five. When you both found out you were magical, the two of you were so excited (despite Petunia's bitterness)
When it was finally time to go to Hogwarts, both you and Lily boarded the train with Severus (your mutual friend)
You first locked eyes with Sirius when waiting to be let into the Great Hall for sorting.
You were looking around the place in wonder when your (e/c) eyes met a pair of gray ones.
Sirius gave you a smile and small wave, which you returned, albeit more nervously than he did.
Love at first sight, not that either of you knew that yet because you both were 11 but you both felt something in that moment.
You were disappointed that you weren't sorted into the same house as Lily but you still ended up loving Hufflepuff.
Over the years, you had ended up growing close with the Marauders; especially Sirius.
The two of you started dating in 6th year with him taking you to Hogsmead.
Because I can't get enough of this troupe, yes, you do swap scarves in the winter. He doesn't have a reason other than he thinks you look adorable in his red and gold scarf.
Before you started dating, this big black dog would prance up to you when you were sitting under a tree by the lake, some flowers in its mouth.
Once the flowers were plopped into your lap (the stems slightly slobbery), the dog would just stare at you with the closest thing to a smile it could offer, tongue lolling to the side.
The dog would bask in your presence almost daily, tail wagging at the great ear scratches and belly rubs you gave.
It always seemed to shoot off when James, Remus, or Peter approached weirdly enough...
It wasn't until after you started dating that you found out that Sirius was the cuddly black dog you doted on in 5th year. He gave up the game when he noticed you had a few of the flowers pressed between the pages of your favorite book.
"You still have the flowers I gave you back before we dated?"
"What are you talking about? You never got me flowers before we started dating."
"Yes I did! Then we'd cuddle by the lake!"
" No we didn't! I got these flowers from a sweet dog. Who strangely enough I stopped seeing once we started dating- wait a second. You were the- *mouth gets covered*
"Well, that'll teach me to open my big mouth before speaking."
So Sirius explained that he, James, and Peter were animagai to help with Remus's monthly problem (after clearing it with the three of course)
You later asked Sirius to help you become an animagus so you could also help, which Sirius didn't like the idea of at first leading you two to have your first argument as a couple.
Sirius did NOT want his sweet Hufflepuff to get into trouble.
After lots of convincing (in the form of smooches, leaving many lipstick marks on his face), he finally agreed to helping you in being an animagus.
His least favorite part of the process was you having to keep the mandrake leaf on your tongue because that means he couldn't hear your voice as often (or shove his tongue down your throat-)
Your animagus ended up being a dog as well which upon further research, meant the you and Sirius were basically soulmates.
"Looks like you're going to be stuck with me for a looonnnggg time, love."
"Oh please, like you could get rid of me that easily."
I've run out of ideas for now so here ya go
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into-september · 6 months
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"Destruction" is the worst episode of Miraculous Ladybug
Oh hey guys, remember way back in April or something when I said I was doing this? Well, the one year anniversary of its premiere is a suitable time to post this, particularly since yesterday saw the airing of the last piece of canon to come out in a while, which happened to be set immediately after these events.
With the always obligatory reminder in place that I generally think that “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir” is in fact a good TV show whose appeal potentially reaches beyond its merchandise-mandated target group, it has an unflattering pattern of introducing the juiciest story threads and then just… do nothing about them.
The topic of today’s sermon isn't in isolation the worst offender. But it is thanks to this that the worst offender happens at all, so I'm not gonna be nice about it.
Scroll past to skip the negativity.
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So, “Destruction”, possibly the most eagerly awaited episodes of out S5 if you don’t count all the false advertisement that was “Revelation”. I remember finding this episode uncharacteristically charmless for this show when I first watched it. They've been onto heavy topics before, but those episodes still had that je ne sais quoi that gives this show such heart. But re-watching "Destruction" I found it lacking already from the first scene, and felt it only in glimpses. It's just not fun.
The episode is also poorly paced, no way around it. It is inexplicably a flashback to two episodes ago which is not evident from the start. More than half the runtime technically consists of Marinette and Alya having a sleepover. The battle and its game-changing outcome is over at 12 minutes into the episode, which is barely past the halfway point. After that, we spend five minutes - a quarter of the episode's full runtime - on a flashback re-playing the same battle but now with verbal exposition explaining Marinette's clever plan. Mind that the confrontation between Marinette and Gabriel lasts for all of seven minutes, meaning that the flashback is nearing the length of the battle itself.
To top it of, it's bogged down with lengthy exchange between Gabriel and the kwamis just to make clear that the haters on the twitter were totally wrong when they bitched about Orikko being OP because actually its powers were something else than we established last season. Here's a bonus plot hole which has nothing to do with everything else I'm going to nag about: Orikko allegedly can't give out the powers of time-travel because no kwami can replicate another kwami's powers. Except for Nooroo and Duusu, I guess, who have done so on several occasions. One of the more remarkable being the episode which first heralded the event that "Destruction" set in motion: "Timetagger".
And who can forget that this was the second time in three episodes where Ladybug and Cat Noir had Monarch at their mercy but spent so much time giving triumphant speeches that he gets away.
Or that that in fact was the second time on the same night.
But while those things certainly make the episode poor, they are not what makes it the worst.
What makes this episode the worst isn't its technical failures, but about the way it leaves its feces all over the themes and the character arcs it seemed like the show had been building up until this point. Moreover: in the role it plays in S5 and the Agreste storyline, and how the show's refusal to touch it again creates a black hole in the season at large, and arguably in the show as a whole.
I. THE INESCAPABLE CONTEXT OF WHAT CAME BEFORE IT
The art of telling a story is the art of highlighting what matters and leaving out what doesn’t. In a well-crafted story, no matter the medium, no detail is insignificant. Every word is carefully chosen, every line or hue made with intention. The curtains aren’t blue just because, and Miraculous Ladybug has made too many meta jokes to hide behind the claim that it’s just a silly rom-com for kids. It has trained its older audience into looking for context and connections; after “Mr. Pigeon 72”, you can’t insist that nothing that happened earlier in this show matters for what happens later. Titles matter a lot in a show where episodes are titled after the villain-of-the-week who usually is the thematic mirror to what our heroes are going through.
“Destruction” is the fourth episode somehow named after Adrien, and the third somehow named after Plagg. You bet this matters.
As some might know, "Kuro Neko" is not my favourite episode. That's not to say I don't like it! It's cute! It's playing a really interesting scenario! We get Plagg hanging out at chez Marinette! But to enjoy it, I have to willfully ignore the storytelling incompetence it flagrantly displays. Because the moment you peek beneath the surface of the events happening to consider theme, motifs, and narrative parallels, it's just
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"Kuro Neko" is the second episode that is named after Cat Noir. The first one was "Cat Blanc". There is a thematic connection between the two; not a very clear one and probably not an intentional one, but all the same: both episodes are about an alternative to Cat Noir. One is the result of his father's violence; the other is Adrien's own attempt to become more like the person he presents around his father. They also both show us Plagg and Adrien negotiation Adrien's relationship to Ladybug, and how Ladybug and Cat Noir negotiate that same thing.
"Cat Blanc", for all its apocalyptic visions, starts and ends with hope. It starts with Marinette’s hope at confessing to Adrien, to Adrien’s hope in finally knowing Ladybug’s identity and knowing her like he’s yearned for for three seasons. Those hopes lead to disaster, but the episode ends with Ladybug finding Cat Noir on the Montparnasse Tower, where he is singing his lullaby about the kitty being "all alone without his Lady". As is fitting, Marinette breaks the pattern: after having just witnessed a world turned to destruction because the two of them loved each other, she leans her head on his shoulder in perhaps the most romantic gesture she's ever given him.
"Kuro Neko", in contrast, starts with Adrien resigning the job when he realises that Ladybug no longer needs him and that makes him feel bad. It ends with him coming back and verbally accepting that Ladybug doesn't owe him any exclusive treatment; he isn't her unique partner, just one of many. Where the final scene of "Cat Blanc" seemed to confirm that Ladybug is indeed the answer to Adrien's solitude, the final scene of "Kuro Neko" and its continuation in the first scene in "Risk" both make clear that the opposite is now status: Adrien has to accept the painful fact that as much as Ladybug might be the most important person in his life, Cat Noir does not hold a similar space in Ladybug's.
(The end of “Strike Back” of course claims to remedy this, but those words don’t ring very true when to Marinette’s knowledge, nothing of what went wrong today had anything to do with her keeping secrets from Cat Noir. More damning: Marinette never follows up on her purported regret. In all of S5, she never once sits down to share all those secrets with Cat Noir. Status from "Kuro Neko" still stands, and Adrien is fine with that now. This has nothing to do with the many problems “Destruction” creates, but talking about “Kuro Neko” by necessity means talking about how it wasn’t fixed even if they put the words in Marinette’s mouth. And now back to our scheduled programming)
"Cat Blanc" and "Kuro Neko" by their very existence bring up a thorny topic: That Adrien being Cat Noir isn't wholly unproblematic, and that both Adrien as an individual and Ladybug as the Guardian might have legitimate reasons to question that choice. This has always been obvious to the viewer who knows Hawkmoth’s identity, but the show itself eventually starts calling attention to that from an entirely different angle - namely that of his powers.
Lest we forget: The first episode of S4 that aired wasn't the first episode chronologically: It was "Furious Fu", wherein we learn that The Order of the Guardians has it out for Plagg specifically, and where Ladybug's status as The Guardian is almost revoked on the grounds that she's letting him run around unsupervised. This question of Plagg's whereabouts comes up again in the only episode that is named after Adrien sans Plagg: "Ephemeral", a re-play of “Cat Blanc” except not good. This whole subplot is quickly forgotten, though it being the only one of Su-Han's complaints that weren't about him being a boomer, it's also worth remember that "Destruction" technically happens a couple of hours after he made his last appearance. One might expect that his one consistent lesson would be important enough to echo a bit in the episode where it’s proven to be justified.
"Destruction", as not only one very early episode of the season promising to finally bring about some significant and not the least permanent changes to their lives, but indeed an episode happening on the same night as Ladybug's declaration of regret and Cat Noir's renewed declaration to be her partner, would by its title and its topic seem like the obvious place to finally resolve what "Cat Blanc" and "Kuro Neko" both asked us to question: The existential terror of Plagg's powers, why it is that Adrien is uniquely chosen to temper them at Ladybug’s side, and how Adrien feels about being the one to carry that responsibility.
Yeah. Well.
II. ADRIEN'S PRESENCE IN "DESTRUCTION"
Where "Kuro Neko" and "Cat Blanc" place significant focus on Adrien Agreste in his civillian life, in "Destruction" he appears on screen for a total of 25 seconds - most of which are another flashback to a previous episode, and whose purpose is to highlight Gabriel's hurt from the cataclysm, not Adrien's thoughts about what is happening.
Cat Noir's presence is also marginal. Three minutes of screentime pass from his first appearance until the battle is over. Said battle is the turning point in the war between the heroes and Monarch, thanks to neither Ladybug's powers nor Monarch and all the kwamis, but Monarch using Cat Noir's powers for an impulsive act of self-mutilation. Cat Noir is distraught over this, turning desperate when Monarch first start toying with the idea and being near tears after he carries it out.
I'll get back to the impact of this event, but for now I'll point out that the aftermath is brief: After Monarch escapes, our heroes have this exchange:
LB: We had him, we almost had him! The kwamis were safe, they were right here! CN: I cataclysmed him! I can't believe this, I just cataclysmed someone! Granted it was Monarch, but - there was a real person behind that mask, and it must have hurt him terribly! Milady, you gotta fix this! LB: Cat Noir, Monarch just ran away with my lucky charm! Without it, I can't fix anything. I can't call on my powers and undo the effect of the cataclysm. There's nothing I can do...
We then cut to the slumber party, where Marinette tells Alya that she and Cat Noir "split up" immediately after, and Alya comforts her. From this point in the episode, Cat Noir and Adrien only appear in flashbacks. First a fifty-second flashback wherein Marinette sets up her convoluted plans, then a few seconds of him moving his statue in the wax museum before Monarch appears.
In the episode that more than anything should thematise Adrien, Plagg's powers, and his relationship to his father, Adrien is on screen for a whooping four minutes and twenty seconds.
And because I am that devoted to proving my point, I went and timed all of Alya's on-and-off appearances, which clocked in at a total of five minutes and six seconds.
Alya is of course core to the slumber party which frames the setting of the entire episodes. Moreover, it is with Alya that the emotional arc of the episode ends: it starts with Marinette tormenting hersef watching a Ladyblog report about Monarch's recent win, for which Alya chastises her. The last scene (before Gabriel pulverises the miraculous) has Alya reassure Marinette that she will get the kwamis back. When she regrets her lack of superpowers, Marinette in turn reassures her that Alyas true superpower is being her friend. The journey of the episode was for Marinette to stop blaming herself for messing up, and learning to rely on Alya's support in the new turn the war has taken.
...
IN THE EPISODE WHERE ADRIEN KILLS HIS FATHER.
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III. SIR NOT-APPEARING-IN-THIS-FILM
In the episode where Gabriel commits suicide on his son's miraculous, here are some things that got more screentime than the son forced into using his only source of liberation to kill his father:
Flashbacks to past events (four minutes and fourty-five seconds)
Alya (five minutes six seconds)
The kwamis (six minutes and nine seconds)
Bet you can't guess which one is the only kwami who doesn't appear in this episode!
...okay, and Duusu, but you get the point. In the episode detonating the nuke that is the gruesome potential of Plagg's powers, and the potential damage Adrien might deal with them, Plagg never appears on screen.
In the episode highlighting the presence of the kwamis and their importance to their holders, the kwami whose presence is the most thematically tied to his holder's character arc is completely absent.
In the episode irreparably going into the only kwami whose powers is straight up murder, the kwami who The Guardians have singled out specifically as particularly dangerous, the kwami whose irresponsible nature has previously caused problems both to Adrien privately and Cat Noir professionally, said kwami is never even mentioned.
It's almost as if we're not supposed to remember that it is because of his presence that this whole tragedy was possible.
IV. THE EXISTENCE-DEFINING HORROR OF A CATACLYSM GONE WRONG
And ain’t that a funny one, when the gruesome potential in Plagg’s powers was the driving factor in Adrien’s first true crisis as a hero?
Marinette faced her moment in "Origins", where she gave up on her miraculous after the first disastrous attempt. She knows that she is the only one who can do something about the situation, but refuses out of her own lacking courage. She only becomes Ladybug of her own choice when she realises that she can save Alya's life. After this, Marinette never again questioned her place. She would grieve the burden on occasion, but she never once thought anyone else could do better.
Adrien, as we all know, was the polar opposite: he jumped right into it without reading the manual, had to have Ladybug pick up the pieces after a rash cataclysm, and never doubted his calling again until he realised what Plagg’s powers could do when used on a living being.
The NYC special has Adrien quit for reasons that had nothing to do with being unsatisfied with Ladybug's HR policies. It is in part because he effed up his duty as Paris' substitute guardian, but it's certainly also because of the recent horror he just witnessed: his hand forced by someone else nearly killed Ladybug, and killed Uncanny Valley instead as she stepped between them. Adrien just saw a mother weeping over her daughter's corpse, and how only the lucky presence of Ladybug's powers could undo the damage caused by his, unintentional thought it might have been. Adrien would of course never kill anyone on purpose, but Uncanny Valley’s temporary malfunction was a brutal display of what would happen if he stumbled the wrong direction with the gun loaded. Ladybug might have the duty to protect Paris, but Cat Noir has the duty to not to disintegrate people on touch.
The show never before discussed the weight of this burden in Adrien’s presence. “Cat Blanc” did it from Marinette’s side, but this never was a consistent story thread, only briefly brought up as her remembering why his knowing her identity is a bad idea. The sabbatical in “Kuro Neko” has nothing to do with Plagg or with Adrien’s sense of duty, and where you’d think this would be where Marinette finally brings up the issue bridging the NYC special and “Cat Blanc”, neither of the two are as much as alluded to. That Adrien has the power of murder has yet to be explicitly discussed in the show proper, but in combination with his personal relationship to Hawkmoth being a ticking irony bomb, the question of can he even bear it is inevitable.
That Adrien’s post as Cat Noir wasn’t as given as Marinette’s as Ladybug is echoed in the amount of times that Adrien has either quit or at least contemplated doing so (“Syren”, NYC special, “Wishmaker”, “Kuro Neko”). He likes being Cat Noir more than Marinette likes being Ladybug, but he lacks her iron certainty in the role. It is notable, then, that THE ONE TIME where Marinette questions her part, it is after Cat Noir has quit. She says this, out loud, in words. When Cat Noir’s powers become too heavy for Adrien to carry, then Ladybug, too, disappears.
So surely "Destruction" must be the point where this is finally comes together - where Adrien's history of quitting meets his ultimate crisis, where his powers abused on a human being of flesh and blood forces him into confronting the potential cost of being this particular hero, which will foreshadow the ultimate choice he’ll have to take: between being Cat Noir and being his father’s son. And where his choice, in turn, will define whether Ladybug can exist.
Or not.
Maybe we'll never again have Adrien think about how he probably murdered a man. Maybe we'll just - oh I don't know.
Have him start trying to cataclysm people?
Repeatedly?
While showing none of the horror at himself which he clearly had in the aftermath of accidentally cataclysming the villain responsible for his later victims’ possession?
And in the end, after never calling attention to Adrien’s new and trigger happy ways, we’ll have him give in to his fear, claim that he isn’t strong enough to responsibly use Plagg’s powers, and send his miraculous away for Ladybug to use alone, because it turns out that “Kuro Neko” was right and the NYC special was wrong: she can be Ladybug without him.
Growth, amirite.
V. IN THIS HOUSE WE DON’T TALK ABOUT PATRICIDE
Dramatic irony was the main engine driving "Miraculous Ladybug" from the start, and it was Adrien who bore the brunt of it. Not only did he spend four and a half seasons in unrequited love with a girl who rejected him for himself; he spent five seasons doing weekly battle against his own father.
The superpower war between father and son isn't just a source of story tension, however: it is inextricably mirrored in their relationship as family, where the father is openly abusive and the son is magically incapable of protesting. The show repeatedly makes A Point about how the freedom Adrien so wants, is one that he only gets through being Cat Noir, and the only way Adrien is capable of fighting his father - albeit ignorant of it - is with Plagg's powers.
Cat Noir defeating Hawkmoth was necessary not just for his story as a superhero, but as his character arc as a normal boy.
And in "Destruction", this is exactly what happens. Thanks to Plagg's powers, the path to Adrien's freedom is finally paved, in the most gruesome and unwanted manner possible. Adrien might not get the big cathartic show-down with his evil father, but technically he was the one to bring him down.
But we don't talk about that. Except for his one (1) line after Monarch escapes with Ladybug's lucky charm, Adrien never again brings up the fact that his being careless with a cataclysm certainly maimed a man, by precedent (Aeon) possibly killed him. Rather than a story arc about Adrien being afraid of his own powers, it’s only now that he starts aiming it at people when he’s under emotional duress. This could of course have been one hell of a story point if it was intentional, but by all accounts, it wasn’t. When Adrien never again reflects on his having probably murdered a man, or reasons that Monarch is probably fine since he’s clearly still around so maybe a cataclysm isn’t so bad, and he never dwells on his nearly murdering two of his friends, there can’t have been any connection intended here. Moreover: when Adrien is scared of his miraculous towards the end, it’s not about its capacity for normal murder when he’s having a bad day, but its capacity of ending the world if he happens to be akumatised.
Gabriel is likewise disinterested in the cause of his impending disintegration. You’d think the man would feel some kind of special resentment towards Cat Noir and his powers, you could think this was where he’d get to re-thinking his relationship to the two people who are sitting on the keys to solving all his problems. Maybe he’d start doubting himself now, bearing the ultimate testament to his magical hubris. But no. The cataclysm wound is there and it’s a problem, but the reason it happened is completely irrelevant to the man who did this to himself and unknowingly, to his son.
That is almost as mind-blowing as the fact that they really had a straight up patricide happen on screen. Sure, death was never the intention of either of the two parties, and Adrien certainly holds no blame for what happened. But Gabriel must have at least known what he was risking, and even if the soft-hearted Adrien would somehow reason away the gravity, Plagg would certainly now. By its very nature, this one cataclysm drags out and distils a plethora of questions about both Adrien’s role as Cat Noir, about Gabriel’s vision of himself and his goals, and about their relationship not as father and son, but as villain and hero. The gruesome narrative irony looming over all this is in that regard just the icing on the cake.
There is certainly an Oedipal layer to the drama of Gabriel and Adrien, though the often more scandalous incestuous angle is considerably downplayed here. Even so: By the denouement of S5, Adrien has successfully killed his father and set up a home with his mother. That really happened, but we’re sure not going to investigate how this influenced the relationship between two nemesis, between father and son, between Adrien and his kwami.
The cataclysm in “Destruction” turned Adrien from anguished shoujo love interest to the hero of a greek tragedy, but the show is dead set on pretending that it didn’t.
VI. SO THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT
In isolation, "Destruction" comes across as weird more than anything. It's named after Adrien's kwami, it spends an inordinate amount of screentime on Adrien's father, it reaches back to Adrien's perhaps most defining moment as Cat Noir as it fundamentally changes the game between our heroes and our villains as one of them is finally dealt a damaging blow - which in turn sets Adrien's life down a path towards tragedy that must be interfered with for him to have a happy ending by the end of the season.
And yet, Adrien is a peripheral presence in it. Marinette and Gabriel dominate the screentime, Alya and the kwamis are consistently present as the thematic chorus at their respective sides throughout, the episode plays its events twice in order to make it clear that Ladybug is too clever for Monarch's miraculous, the emotional arcs that are followed are the follow-up on where Marinette and Alya stand after the disaster in "Strike Back" as well as Gabriel's renewed vigour. Adrien's only contribution to the episode is to follow Ladybug's instructions and to make clear that his relationship with his father is still awkward. The episode depicts probably THE most important event of the show, but this event is treated almost as an afterthought, and the horrors of it are confined to one (1) line of dialogue from Cat Noir.
The only thing in “Destruction” that is brought up in later episodes is that Gabriel is now actively dying. If they wanted for Gabriel to live on a countdown for his date with the grim reaper, there were countless other ways about it: Have it be his use of too many miraculous which backfires, have him having used the peacock before it was fixed, have it be too much evil on the hands of Nooroo, have him get a serious call from his doctor, have him screw up Tomoe's machinery, have him develop a drug problem. This is a fictional narrative; its twists and turns are absolutely in the hands of the writers, teenage girls being irredeemable or not. It was never vital that this happened by cataclysm specifically.
So what was the point, then? Did we truly turn our magical girl show into a Greek tragedy for the shocked pikachu faces only?
The one thing I somehow haven't seen people bring up, is that "Destruction" makes it impossible for Adrien to learn Monarch's identity. According to the writers themselves, the reason lies in two of the other episodes named after him: "Cat Blanc" and "Ephemeral", wherein he learns his father's identity and is promptly akumatised. This is of course bullshit: both these cases relied not on Adrien learning his father's identity, but on Gabriel specifically scheming to traumatise Adrien with both the Hawkmoth reveal AND the fact that he's been living in the same house as his mother's dead body for the last year or two (timeline here is spectacularly contradictory). There was anothing inevitable about this. You're the writers. You could've set up a scenario where Adrien didn't learn about his father's crimes as an act of psychological warfare, and where he'd have the time to absorb it, to grieve and to find support by the time he'd confront him with it. Having every person close to Adrien keep life-defining secrets from him “for his own good” is, by god, not a good look on anyone involved here. Still it’s understanable, at least for those who aren't either adults or gods of destruction.
"Destruction", however, serves as an explanation for the gaping plot hole in the epilogue: Marinette tells Alya, she tells Su-Han. The one she doesn't tell, though?
The partner who was at her side before Alya or Su-Han ever appeared, and stood by her in far worse storms. Because telling Cat Noir the truth would mean telling Cat Noir that he dealt Gabriel Agreste the killing blow, and ain't that a nifty way to ensure that Marinette won't. Because if Adrien does learn Monarch's identity and the truth about his fall in future seasons, Emilie better hide those garment pins.
The truly damning part of "Destruction" isn't so much what the episode itself does. It's what it doesn't do. It's the storylines it cuts short and leaves behind, and it is the storyline it by its very existence introduces, but which the show refuses to touch.
Per title and content both, "Destruction" should be the culmination of thematic storylines from "Cat Blanc", the NYC special and "Kuro Neko". It’s not; it’s not even about Adrien, and Plagg isn’t even present in it. Moreover: its lacking presence on future episodes make it painfully evident that ambitions, there were none. Those storylines were either aborted like Adrien picking up Felix's spyglass in the S4 finale, or the show never did mean for there to be such a thing as "layers" to this story about a boy who becomes a hero to unknowingly break free from his superhero father.
The real reason why "Destruction" is the worst episode of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is that it obliterates the most cohesive character arc this show had going for it, and that this was done on purpose.
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mysteryshoptls · 1 year
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SSR Lilia Vanrouge Dorm Uniform Personal Story: Part 1
"I'm a pro!"
Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)
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[Diasomnia Dorm – Lounge]
Lilia: Hmm… Silver and Sebek sure are late. It's almost time for dinner.
Malleus: If it were only Silver, I could suspect that he had fallen asleep on the way back... But this is unusual of Sebek.
Lilia: The two of them said they were off to train together today. Maybe they got so into it they lost track of time.
Malleus: I see, that is quite possible with those two. However, if they are any later, they will completely miss dinner.
Lilia: Normally, I wouldn't be against putting together a special late-night meal for those hardworking boys, but…
Lilia: Unfortunately, I have plans tonight.
Lilia: I promised my online gaming buddy that we'd embark on this ultra-difficult quest line that begins tonight!
Malleus: Oh, so you have plans today…! Then that's all the more reason we cannot have you in the kitchen.
Lilia: Yeah. It's a shame, but I'll have to wait until the next time to showcase my cooking skills.
Lilia: So, maybe we should strike while the iron is hot. Let's go fetch Silver and Sebek…
Sebek/Silver: We've returned.
Lilia: Oh, speak, and they appear.
Sebek: Malleus-sama, Lilia-sama. Forgive us for our late return!
Malleus: There was no deadline you were to meet, so it is no matter. We were only discussing how much later than usual you both were.
Lilia: Sebek, did you swing by the library again? Looks like you've borrowed more books than you normally do.
Malleus: Oho. That's good. You would do well to broaden your knowledge.
Sebek: Yessir, thank you for your kind words. However, Malleus-sama, these books have not been borrowed for studying purposes.
Malleus: Not for study purposes… Whatever do you mean?
Sebek: Right, so…
[rustle, rustle]
Lilia: Hm? Something just moved there between Silver's hands.
Silver: I shall explain the circumstances of our tardiness. Sebek and I had finished training and we were on our way back to the dorm, when…
Silver: We picked up a baby bat.
Lilia: Oh! It's so small and cute.
Malleus: It's rather docile for it being a wild creature. It is not showing any signs of wanting to escape.
Silver: It seems to have an injured wing. It was on the roadside, immobile, so I took it into my care.
Silver: Sebek said, "If it's used up all its strength here, there's nothing to be done. Leave it." and tried to stop me, but…
Silver: If I were to have left it there, it would have continued to weaken. Considering that, I just was not able to leave it alone.
Lilia: I see, I see. That sounds like something you'd do.
Lilia: This little one is lucky. If you hadn't picked him up, Silver, who knows what would have happened…
Lilia: Essentially, bats are the type of creatures that fly by using the gravitational force of falling from an upside-down position.
Lilia: They're not that capable of moving on foot once they fall to the ground.
Sebek: You are as knowledgeable about this as we expected, Lilia-sama.
Sebek: The books we just borrowed from the library had the exact same explanation.
Malleus: So, you mean to say that every single one of these books you've borrowed are on bat biology?
Sebek: Yes. I can't say agree with doing this, however… Once we've made the decision to care for it, we must fulfill our duties properly.
Malleus: …Indeed, it is as you say.
Silver: With Sebek's research into the matter, we were able to somewhat learn a little about the bat's biology.
Silver: Only, there was no useful information on how to raise one… However are we to take care of it?
Lilia: Well, if that's your problem, you know of the perfect person for the job.
Silver: Do you know of someone who is skilled in animal handling? Please tell me who.
Lilia: Are you half-asleep, Silver? You should know better than anyone else who I mean.
Lilia: Who among us raised a toothless little babe into a strong, tough, and compassionate young man?
Silver: That's… you, Father.
Lilia: Correct. I already know how to raise a child. You could say I'm a pro!
Lilia: You can relax and leave it to me.
Sebek: Amazing…!
Sebek: When Silver declared he would bring the bat back to the dorm, I had no idea what could be done for it…
Sebek: But we are reassured to be leaving it in your hands, Lilia-sama. Please let me know if there is anything I may do to help.
Silver: Right, it's comforting to know that you'll look after it, Father. And of course, I will not hesitate to be of use either.
Lilia: Kufufu. I'm pretty sure I won't need your help…
Lilia: But I like your spirit! As a possible learning point for the two of you, let's all look after it together.
Sebek/Silver: YESSIR!
Malleus: Lilia will be caring for a little bat, hm.
Malleus: …Perhaps I should keep an eye on them for a little while, as well.
Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)
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Requested by Feli and @yukibana.
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Hanging out with Eyeless Jack
A/N: Very self-indulgent headcanons for what I would think hanging out with EJ would be like.
Hearts and reblogs are greatly appreciated!
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Art credit: @IJWannaHaveFunn
We all know Jack isn't the type to talk much without reason so you would enjoy each other's company in relative silence.
Not to say it's awkward, but after about a month of the same silence, you both got comfortable with how quiet things got.
I'd go so far as to say Jack seeks you out just for the silence you both know comes with being in each other's presence.
Now, since Jack can't exactly go out in public without everyone giving him strange looks or even freaking out, you tend to hang out in each other's rooms or the infirmary.
With how sensitive his senses are, especially his hearing, you guys tend to just read or get work/chores done together.
Very domestic between you guys!
When you guys do talk, it would mainly be about what the others have been up to, whether it be Ben doing something stupid and getting yelled at by Masky or a mission you went on with Toby where you almost got caught because he can't control when his Tourettes acts up.
Sometimes, Jack brings you things from his victims to give to you whenever you see each other.
From things like a jewelry box and its accompanying jewelry, some books and comics he thinks you'd like to read, video games you can play, some sweets he finds in their cabinets and pantry, and he even occasionally brings clothes he thinks you might like.
There are times when you both decide that taking a stroll in the woods would be a nice way to spend time together.
Jack likes to chase you as you run through the forest like you're prey, you both think of it as survival training.
It's good endurance training for you as well, especially since Jack is fast as hell when he wants to be.
After the adrenaline rush, you guys go to a clearing not far from the house and spend some time stargazing.
It's so peaceful and you guys are just so happy to be in each other's company.
He wouldn't trade it for the world and neither would you.
Creepypasta Masterlist | Full Masterlist
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A Plebian's Review of the Last Voyage of the Demeter
I don't do reviews normally but I have many thoughts I wanted to share after recently watching this movie. In general, I did enjoy this movie and I thought it was a fun watch. As someone who read Dracula and enjoys most modern Dracula stories I would watch it again if it came on. (6/10)
Non-spoilers:
It took some liberties with the source material. Combine the recent Poirot movies with modern vampire lore and that's what you should expect, not something strictly adhering to the novel. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you're enjoying dracula daily just know this isn't really that.
On that note, Dracula bibliophiles aside, it's a pretty good movie on its own. It's suited for modern audiences and won't confuse them with Stoker's vampire lore (ex. what can and can't kill a vampire, what powers Dracula has).
It had pretty gory moments that you may not be prepared for if slasher movies aren't something you watch. Also, check out doesthedogdie bc there are a lot of potential triggers.
The lighting for this movie was really good imo. There was a strong contrast between day and night which awesome, but you could also still actually see what was going on in the dark. There were a couple times when Dracula was in a shadow and you couldn't really see him but it was for effect as opposed to trying to be "realistic" (looking at you, GOT).
The design for Dracula was cool and they do play into him getting stronger and scarier as he continuously feeds.
The Captain is not the main character (in contrast to the source material's Captain's log). Here, it's Dr Clemens we follow and we get an occasional Caltain's narration from the log.
If you like Until Dawn and other titles from Supermassive Games, you'd probably enjoy it. Dracula's design, the kills, and character choices feel like you're watching a playthrough. Not to mention there are a lot of close-up shots of characters in the same way Supermassive Games does.
Spoilers under the cut:
The Good:
The cinematography was pretty good. I particularly liked shots that followed through the ship to the cargo hold where count bat boi was sleeping.
They also filmed the gory scenes really well, and one scene that stood out was when one person who's become a thrall bashes his head through a door and then slides his nose along the splintered panels as he looks up. Impactful to say the least. They didn't pan away and leave it up to our imaginations but went all in and I applaud it.
Things were recognizable from the novel (names, events, some vampire mythos). I was genuinely surprised that they marked Dracula's coffins with dragons and kept that he slept in dirt, since modern audiences probably wouldn't have known about these things. When we (modern audiences) hear "Dracula" we think it means "vampire" as opposed to "dragon", and we would likely expect Dracula's cargo to be velvet-lined coffins.
The opening scene (finding the ship at Whitby & the wagon train of the coffins) had me immediately invested and excited, and I was already looking forward to this movie (I chose it over Barbie lol).
The Captain's actor was phenomenal. He went all out when he was grieving Toby's death and he really didn't have to but I'm so glad he did. While the character itself wasn't consistent, the actor made it believable. He was strict and kind when he was sane, he was frantic and distraught when he was insane, and his moments of grief and hope were all palpable. Good choice.
"Oh my God it has wings" When I say I LAUGHED SO HARD
Honestly there were a lot of funny moments. Some were genuine to cut the tension and help build characters but being ND and desensitized to horror I don't know if I was supposed to laugh at some of them, like when the cook's dingy knocked against the side of the hull. And when vampire Toby jumped up.
The use of knocking was a cool addition. I enjoyed when they used it like when Toby was in trouble and when Dracula was messing with the two dudes on deck.
One of the key things of Dracula's personality is that yes - he can kill you in 10s - but he won't because he's a sadistic bastard that enjoys drawing it out and playing the wager to see if you'll die of fear before he can bite you. They absolutely captured it. Homie is purposeful in how he terrifies his victims before giving them a gruesome death.
I think the model ship they showed at the end was the original model ship for the Demeter in the 90's Dracula movie (or at least a nod to it), which is how this movie was started apparently. Nice touch.
The Grievances:
Dr Clemens was a mary sue. I'm sorry, there's no way around this. Man has bad main character syndrome. I can accept a black man fighting tooth and nail to graduate Cambridge top of his class and struggle in a world that won't see his abilities because they won't look past his skin color, but on top of that he's an astronomer, a sailer, a strategist, a detective, and everyone immediately falls in love with him? Hell, he cured Toby's [1] grief over losing his lifelong friend (Huck, the dog, who was MUTILATED) and [2] guilt for all the animals dying because it was his responsibility to take care of him, and [3] fear for whatever unknown thing did this, with a headpat and "sometimes shit happens and you can't do anything about it".
He took one look at Anna, Dracula's beef jerky ration, and immediately went "she has an infection, she needs a blood transfusion", then proceeded to give her repeated transfusions over several days and he was totally fine. Up running around and fighting vampires meanwhile in reality he would have been bedridden from lack of blood and possible complications from the procedures.
Also, why is he the only clean person? Everyone's covered in grime and blood and dude looks like he just walked out of a proactive commercial. Even when he's floating in the middle of the ocean for days with an open neck wound he looks like he was just in the shower. Compare it with the Captain's burns and the first thrall's face after banging the through a door and the dissonance just pulls me out of the movie.
Keeping him alive just to sequel bait. Just. Why. Hollywood, it's okay to kill your protagonist. 1912 did it really well. Plus, I personally wasn't invested enough in this character to want to see a sequel following his vendetta with Dracula. We already know about Jonathan and Van Helsing. You can make movies that stand alone. It's okay.
If you want to sequel bait why don't you have him delirious from being lost at sea for several days and end up at the asylum with Dr Seward and Renfield? That would actually be cool and you could still have Dracula show up to taunt him.
Also, in regards to Anna, while I think it was a cool idea to use her for lore dumping and as a surprise for the audience, I was disappointed with her. She had the potential to provide a lot of info and help fight Dracula but instead she had to be the "strong independent woman". I don't hate this trope (think about Ripley in Alien, or any of the women in the original novel) but it wasn't done well here. While it's cool to see her gain confidence and wield a gun against count bat boi I was really hoping she would provide more info like his weaknesses. She says "he ran out of food in my country" but we know this isn't *literally* true because we see people at the beginning. It's the fact her people knew how to keep Dracula away that he ran out of food and he decided to try greener pastures. You could bring up HOW they did that (religious tokens, garlic, silver, etc.).
Also when she does try to give info about Dracula it's still vague and meant to be mysterious. Bruh, you are locked on a boat with this monster and you know your only hope for survival is to flee or work together to get rid of him. Why are you not giving as much info and details as possible? Because that's what the script said bc the writers wanted to make dracula look cool by relying on the characters to say it? Okay.
This movie relies on a lot of telling instead of showing. It's like they don't trust their audience to pay attention or understand what's going on. The only time I legit felt they showed and not told (lol) was when the Captain asked if what happened to the animals could be transmitted to humans and Dr Clemens lied and said no. You could see in the actor's face the inner monologue of telling the truth vs preventing chaos. It was nice and gave more info about the character than him actually yelling his life history at the first mate.
It also suffers from the writers trying to make every scene be memorable. There are too many times characters say things because it sounds cool or would be good in the trailer rather than because it makes sense for the character to say that.
Honestly all the characters fall flat for me (besides the captain who's character is treated like a pinball). They're all archetypes rather than people. The protagonist. The independent woman. The racist drunkard. The child. The religious guy. The guy that makes obscene jokes. The only names I know are Toby, Dr Clemens, and Anna. Bc they get said a lot as opposed to me actually caring about them.
On that note, I am definitely biased because I loved the Captain's log from the novel, but I wish that this was from the Captain's pov, culminating in him tying himself to the wheel and dying from shock or exposure like in the book. Then Whitby.
On that note, I am still upset that they used modern vampire mythos yet again for Dracula. In the book the Captain dies after being taunted for days by Dracula after tying himself to the wheel, only possible because the rosary in his hand protects him. It's a noble but horrific sacrifice made of fear and a duty to not let the evil on the ship reach land. In this movie, however, he reaches the wheel and dies because the rosary has no power over Dracula (it's also how Toby dies).
Oh, also the sun kills vampires. How do we know? Because occasionally some people turn into vampires, but only when it's convenient for the plot (looking at you, Anna). Why don't they use this against Dracula and dump the dirt box they know he's sleeping in during the day? Who knows. But they wasted a lot of potential to play on the audience's expectations (rather than giving into them) by using Dracula during the day. Y'know what's scarier than a vampire picking off your crew at night? A vampire picking off your crew at ANY time when you only expect it at night because SURPRISE sunlight just doesn't let him crawl in lizard fashion.
Are you seriously telling me Dracula sustained himself off of Anna for several weeks, and then decided to slaughter the crew mere days before the boat docked? Yes, he was weak bc of it but I don't think the director knows how blood works (see Dr Clemens's transfusion issue). Also, if that's the case, how did Anna not suffocate in her dirt box for hours on end for weeks? Just fill the other 48 crates with dead people and say Anna was the last caprisun in the box and it would make more sense.
Also, why have their last hurrah be the day before they reach Whitby? It made the movie seem too fast; it felt like it only took a week to get from Transylvania to England. Why not find Anna early on, then disperse the crew member deaths across a couple weeks like in the novel? It would help with the suspense and you could have the Captain tie himself to the wheel then let us experience the time passing after he dies so the audience has a moment to sit with the deaths and feel hopeless. Bc that's what the role of the Demeter is, story-wise. It's supposed to make us afraid of Dracula and feel hopeless in his presence. Not give us hope and make him into our rival we have the possibility to get revenge on. That's what our dear friend Jonathan is for.
Dracula never takes human form. Why do all adaptations refuse to give him his bushy mustache? COWARDS.
Okay, he *sort of* takes human form. But they really just put him in a waistcoat and top hat then expected us to believe that showed he was cunning. You literally said he's both man and beast then only show the beast. One of Dracula's main appeal is that he's clever and his sadistically human traits are the only thing preventing him from immediately ripping you to shreds. And he can pass as human, so he could be anyone. Yet we only see the beast part.
While this movie was fun to watch, it comes off more as a gruesome drama or action movie than a horror. I never really feel any suspense or dread. Compare it to Alien which had the same situation. Alien did such a good job of making you feel scared and claustrophobic when you're surrounded by the vastness of space (in this case, the ocean) and being hunted down by an intelligent monster. I was watching this to see how Dracula killed people rather than seeing how they struggled to survive.
I can believe this movie was in production hell not just because of the writing but some errors. In one scene, the Captain's burn is on the right side of his face but there's a close-up cut and suddenly it's on the left side like someone flipped the screen. And this is just one error out of a couple. No Starbucks cups tho.
It sounds like I don't like this movie because of all of my nit-picking grievances, but I really did like it. I think my issues are just because my expectations were too high going in. I was expecting a loyal expansion of an underappreciated segment of a classic novel, which is really rare these days. And a *suspenseful* horror.
I see why Guillermo del Toro and Stephen King suggested it. It's pretty similar to their stuff, just more fast-paced. So if you like that stuff and Until Dawn I think you'll really enjoy it.
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eroguron0nsense · 4 months
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Straw Hats Pokemon League AU
I don't think I'm the first to do this by any means but here we go! I started thinking of how I'd make a One Piece AU in a Pokemon game format. I tend to play fairly fast and loose with the way the teams are structured; I like the thing they did in Gen 9 where gym leaders get a Pokemon not from their assigned type to terastallize but I would also like to see more gym leaders oriented around certain themes or gimmicks than just mono typing. These are not even remotely balanced and the few that have some strategy like Nami's can go wrong super easily; they're very very vibes-based. The region’s an archipelago, and all the crew members are friends who live and work on separate islands. I’ve always liked regions in Pokemon with lots of islands and water and I just feel like One Piece settings could translate well to that. 
Grass Gym Leader Usopp– The Usopp pirates are his gym trainers/pupils, and you fight him after going through a puzzle full of funny carnivorous plants like those on the Boin Archipelago (ideally there's a quiz format involved and if you get an answer wrong you get attacked by, like, a low level wild bellsprout or carnivine). This one could honestly have been more strategically developed although Shiftree and Sudowoodo were absolutely necessary because a long-nosed creature based on a tengu and a fake tree with an identity crisis are perfect for Usopp. He loves his status conditions and is generally very annoying to go up against Initial team: Lotad, Bonsly, Nuzleaf Rematch Team: Shiftree, Sudowoodo, Amoongus, Ludicolo, Tangrowth, Vileplume Normal/Doctor?? Gym Leader Chopper–This was a difficult choice honestly! I thought about making him a fighting specialist for the kung fu point, but ended up choosing this instead. He's a very young GP and gym leader on a winter island, and he has to split his time between doing house calls with Kureha and his League obligations and the poor boy is *stressed*. Marowak is there because Chopper and his backstory give me Cubone/Marowak vibes. The Sawsbuck is actually not there because of its deer associations; it’s a springtime/cherry blossom Sawsbuck because of Hiriluk’s cherry blossoms, I thought of giving him a Stantler but I think one deer is probably enough for him Initial Team: Spring Deerling, Stufful, Marowak Rematch Team: Mega Audino, Spring Sawsbuck, Blissey, Bewear, Marowak, Alomomola Weather (??) Gym Leader Nami–specializes in double battles with her cast form. Lives on an island kind of similar to Cocoyasi, and she's got her own lighthouse and meteorology lab up on a hill surrounded by tangerine trees. This is extremely strategically fucky and near impossible to program into something functional but I wanted to give her every kind of weather power and Pokemon that could adapt to every field change and hack weather balls at people. Nojiko and Genzo hang around. Currently training a Hippopotas gifted to her by Vivi and working on Sandstorm strategies Initial Team: Castform (Sun), Snover, Ninetales, Castform (Snow) Rematch Team: Castform (rain), Pelipper (drizzle), Ninetales (Drought), Abombasnow (snow warning), Castform (sun), Castform (snow) Ghost Gym Leader Brook–Brook is a touring rock star whose gym is on a barge with a kinda spooky ambiance; the Rumbar pirates work there as live musicians and there's a bar and a big stage set up for concerts. They pull up around the twin capes looking for Laboon around the same time as the player reaches there and are very distressed when he can't find him at first. I kinda debated giving him a toxtricity like Rhyme in SV but that's been done before and Frosslass kinda plays into his ice attacks, so I'm kind of leaving it open ended. His gym's located near the twin capes, and he's a former rock star who's slowed down a bit and taken some time off his career to look more actively for Laboon, who went missing in this world instead of being left behind. Laboon is a Wailmer Brook met years ago that later joins his team after they reunite, by which point he's evolved into a Wailord. Initial Team: Duoblade, Dusclops, Houndstone Rematch Team: Aegislash, Dusknoir, Wailord (Laboon), Polteageist, Frosslass or Toxtricity, Houndstone
Steel Gym Leader Franky– Franky's gym is also on board a ship he built, and he's docked outside a kinda high tech water seven sort of crazy artificial floating island structure. It's very much like water seven–Iceberg and Paulie run the show–and the Franky Family are his gym trainers. I threw in Alolan dugtrio because of the hairstyles and revavroom for the Kurosai FR-U. Metagross is there because I like him having a psychic type to link him to Robin (they're married and live together on Franky's custom houseboat). I thought of giving him a Magnezone but Franky with a Tinkaton just seems very funny and weirdly well-suited to his character Initial Team: Alolan Dugtrio, Excadrill, Revavroom Rematch Team: Alolan Dugtrio, Excadrill, Revavroom, Metagross, Probopass, Tinkaton
Psychic Gym Leader Robin–I tried to give Robin a few Pokemon that were more weird lore/ancient ruin themed without being actual legendaries to fit with her being an archaeologist. She spends a lot of time doing field work (Clover is the region's Pokemon Professor and her mentor; it even plays into the plant naming scheme) on a protected island full of ruins that looks kind of like Skypeia. I'd love for this world to have some ancient lore for her to research and make regular story appearances without the kind of tragedy we get in canon. Initial Team: Medicham, Duosion, Sigilyph, Claydoll Rematch Team: Bronzong, Medicham, Beeheyem, Reuniclus, Sigilyph, Claydoll
Water Gym Leader Jinbei–Honestly it was a bit hard making this one feel uniquely suited to Jinbei? Palafin suits his character best imho, but it was difficult choosing fish that ween’t tied in some other way to other existing fishmen characters. There's no whale sharks yet either :p That being said, Jinbei is a ship captain who works with both the Pokemon League and the Sun Pirates, and brings the player to a Fishman Island equivalent underwater town, giving you either a dive TM or something equivalent to navigate underwater and opening up a whole bunch of new areas for the player to explore. Initial Team: Wishiwashi, Palafin, Swampert, Omastar Rematch Team: Wishiwashi, Palafin, Swampert, Omastar, Dondozo, Tatsugiri
Fire/Kicking??/Culinary-themed Gym Leader Sanji–I feel a bit bad I gave Sanji so many starters when I generally try to avoid that for gym leaders but there's just not that many Pokemon with blaze kick and it's a necessity for him! You meet as he's soft-opening his restaurant in the All Blue equivalent, and going through some growing pains striking out on his own from Zeff (who’s very supportive of his boy's dreams but bad at expressing it). I threw a Clawitzer in because I thought I should give him a seafood item, and Siebold (one of the few Pokemon chefs) has one as his ace in X/Y. His team can kinda be split into kicking pokemon (Cinderace, Blaziken, Tsareena) and food Pokemon (Arboliva, Clawitzer, Garganacl). Zeff has a Stoutland, and the only reason I gave him one is because it more or less has his facial hair. Initial Team: Cinderace, Blaziken, Garganacl, Tsareena Rematch Team: Cinderace, Blaziken, Garganacl, Tsareena, Arboliva, Clawitzer
Zoro is the Champion and Luffy is the final boss, but I'll save them and my chosen Elite 4 members for another time. I'm not going to try and build an evil team, but suffice to say since I'm trying to make this AU a bit more lighthearted, everyone lives and they're all doing good
Edit: Link to Part 2–Elite 4, Champion, Final Boss Teams
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omg since you’re taking off todya from studying can we hear some of your beatle hottakes?
ughhhhhhh sorry, these are so hard to come up with these days
meta take: I sort of wish we could have a genuine conversation about the blurry line between wishful thinking/headcanon and more objective (or, aspiring to be objective) historical analysis – I get the headcanons, I really do! but just in the past year, there's been several instances of people in good faith asking about sources or questioning "fan favourite" anecdotes and being shouted down for "ruining people's fun". If you want to engage with this stuff in a more lighthearted way, that's fine! but accept that that's what you're doing. Being rude to people trying to get to the truth is not a good look. Your imagination can withstand it, I promise.
more people need to jump on the Day Tripper tinhatting train. shit's crazy up here
the more I listen to Double Fantasy the more I'm offended that a certain brand of John fan basically only names songs from 1970/71 as his best. ditto with Walls and Bridges…
Again And Again And Again: best Denny solo-written Wings song ( it's hard to gauge how much is him and how much is Paul for their collabs. Anyways, No Words my beloved)
Sexy Sadie is kind of perfect… The lyrics, the chords, the distorted doo-wop it all embodies that DISAPPOINTMENT so well. The guitar solo is great, the high-pitched oooooooooohs. No notes, underrated song for sure.
the Mind Games album cover is soooooo deranged but so fucking good. That and Ram might be the best post-Beatles album covers.
this isn't exactly a take but the SADDEST part of Hey Jude is when John harmonizes with Paul. I can't not hear all the unspoken pain.
I kind of hope we get versions of Free As A Bird and Real Love with cleaned up John vocals like Now And Then. I don't want to erase those originals because the audio quality tells a story of its own, but Real Love especially suffers so much from it. I listened to it earlier today and nearly got teary. "No need to be alone" kind of gives me goosebumps. There's something so raw and emotional about all three of these songs…
This is almost the opposite of a hottake, but it kind of Doesn't Matter To Me who Now And Then is about. It could be about Paul, it could pretty easily be about Yoko too, and a few people I've seen say they think it's about May, which could be too! It perhaps not being directed at Paul doesn't take away from the song for me, because the song feels bigger than just its direct inspiration.
On that note, I sort of think that sometimes people could stand to.... Die on fewer hills? Like, the notion that Now And Then could be about Yoko doesn't negate John and Paul's relationship or most things people theorize they may have gotten up to. Now And Then Release Week bonus round, cause it's been long enough to talk about it a bit:
Paul (and Ringo and George! they also have a writing credit, guys!) making editorial choices about John's unfinished song with the blessing of his widow is literally fine. "But John might not have approved–" yes, this is how death works. John also might have found the song embarrassing and not wanted it released at all. It wasn't on Double Fantasy after all! Or maybe he would have specifically wanted to remove the same bit! (which I maintain is musically strange and unfitting at worst and at best a still really rough idea that would probably require a lot of work in of itself – echoing the chord progression in the instrumental bit is the best compromise I could imagine)
I actually really get the George girls who were a bit bummed out by the rollout of the song. He DID get the short end in this situation! but… what would have been better? I saw some people say Paul isn't nearly as good a slide guitarist at George. Okay well then… So Paul should've hired a session musician? How does that makes sense? Paul should've asked Dhani to find some random guitar bit George recorded 25 years ago and frankensteined it onto this song? I'm asking this honestly: what should have been done instead? Because… I sort of got the feeling from some of the criticism that the only acceptable solution was to not release this song at all. And TBH I don't think George "getting the short end" is worse than not allowing Paul and Ringo the closure of completing this song. This wasn't perfect but again: yes, this is how death works.
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sincerely-sofie · 2 months
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One writing idea that I think could be interesting is a piece exploring how Kip and Twig’s relationship with Grovyle developed during the dark future and after they found out that Twig used to know Grovyle. Since it seems like Grovyle’s attack at Crystal Cave was much more severe in your version of events than it was implied to be in the game, injuring Kip to the point that he almost died, I was wondering if their dynamic was a bit different then in the game. Like did it take Twig longer than finding out that she and Grovyle used to be friends to be ok with him? I imagine that there would probably be more animosity there since Kip was almost killed by him rather than just beaten up a bit like in the game.
Here you go! Angst train pulling into the station!
Grovyle hadn't suspected for a moment that Charmander was actually Twig— why would he? She was so bold, so self-assured in her every action— nothing like the timid human he'd found scrounging in the dirt for food all those years ago— he would've been quicker to assume that her mudkip partner was really a former human than this rambunctious youth before him. But Dusknoir hadn't been lying when he revealed the little fire-type’s name. Twig was alive. She'd survived not only the blow that sent her falling through time, but the aftermath thereof as well. 
Twig was alive, and she hated him. 
***
It was clear in the Dark Future that she didn't trust him— combined with her partner Mudkip’s own blatant misgivings, he couldn't help how irritated he was by their lack of faith in him. Perhaps it was the built-up frustration of having been framed as a villain for so long now, but he couldn't stand to look them in the eyes while they watched him with such open suspicion. Even after hearing his side of Dusknoir's tale, one that wasn't woven thickly with falsehoods, she was wary. 
“Maybe…” She paused and considered before continuing to address her partner. It was the first time Grovyle had seen her hesitate. “Maybe Dusknoir would tell us if he's lying. He would, right? We can go back and ask him. This has to be a misunderstanding. It has to be—”
“I find it hard to believe waking up tied to a stockade with executioners preparing to gut you alive is a simple misunderstanding,” he scoffed.
She rounded on him. “What, do you think you're any better? You almost killed Kip! Why should I believe you're not just trying to get a chance to finish the job? I can believe Dusknoir more than I can someone like you. Without him, he would've died!” 
The mudkip— so Kip was his name, then— set a paw on her clenched fist at her side. “I think he's right. We can't go back to Dusknoir. Sticking together is the best thing we can do right now.”
“I don't trust him!” 
“Then there's still no reason for us to continue on together.” Grovyle couldn't help the bitter scowl that found its way onto his face. “I wish you luck, but don't follow me again unless you believe my story.”
She called after him as he stormed off. “Go kick rocks, you fricking jerkwad!”
(He should have recognized her odd vocabulary. He should have known. He shouldn’t have abandoned her before, nor at that moment. Twig was always so small. She couldn't keep herself safe in a fight. He'd regret treating her so coldly for the rest of his days.)
***
Twig tackled him out of the way of Dusknoir's attack as Grovyle stood in stunned horror. She'd been there the whole time— she was alive, she was right there next to him—his mind was going hundreds of miles an hour and yet had ground to a halt at the same time. The noise of pain she made when her tail was caught in the path of torrential shadows jolted him back into awareness. 
Celebi called his name. The passage of time was ready. His every thought might be stuttering back and forth between rapid fire anxiety and blank-minded stupor, but he didn't need to think to know he had to get Twig out of harm's way. She darted for Mudkip, arms outstretched, but Grovyle caught her under his arm in a dash for the passage of time, barely noticing that she grabbed the boy by his scarf and bundled him up in her arms as they passed. 
He threw himself through the Passage as it closed, managed to turn himself in the air so that he'd break Twig's fall when they hit the ground— and the first thing she did as he lay dazed and in pain wasn't to fret over him like she always had as a human, but instead was to rush over to where Mudkip had fallen and check him for wounds. When she found none and Grovyle pushed himself up onto his elbows, she pulled her friend into a hug and glared at Grovyle from over his shoulder.
She was alive. 
She was alive, and she hated him. 
Judging by the venom in her gaze as she tightened her embrace protectively around her new partner, that wouldn't change anytime soon. 
***
Kip offered his old home as shelter for the unlikely trio. That night was an uneasy one— it seemed none of them were quite ready to relax enough to sleep after nearly being executed not even a day ago— but one by one, they all dropped off. 
Grovyle was the first to wake. It was a grounding ritual to watch the sunrise, and he never missed the opportunity while in this era, so he quietly slipped outside and settled onto the ground to watch as the ocean reflected pinks and golds amongst vivid blues. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, letting the bite of the cold dawn air settle his nerves. 
Twig's appearance beside him did away with whatever progress he'd made towards calm. 
She hugged her arms tightly against herself, teeth chattering as she stared at him with a vicious hatred in her eyes. “You didn't finish the job last night,” she muttered lowly. 
It took a moment for Grovyle to grasp what she meant. “I don't have any grudge against Kip. There's no need to worry about that.”
“You almost killed him. What do you mean you don't have a grudge against Kip?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Twig, I'm sorry that we reunited like this, but I'm so relieved that—”
“Don't. Don't act like we're friends. Maybe I was dumb enough before to think you were a good person, but I'm not so stupid now. I know exactly what things you'd do to get your way. Just because you're on a mission to save the world doesn't make you any less of a terrible person.” 
He swallowed dryly. “I…”
“Kip nearly died because of you. Do you even know that? I keep saying it, but it's like it doesn't land in your head. He almost died. I was practically holding him in one piece after Dusknoir showed up and you ran off. There was—” Her voice broke. “There was blood everywhere, and I couldn't get it all off of me until I healed up enough to wash myself.” 
Legends and Life, she was shaking so hard. “He… He wouldn't stand down. I had to get to the time gear. Azelf would have lowered the crystals if—”
 “If what? If you beat him within an inch of his life?” 
His words were barely audible. “A mortal can't kill a Legend. He would have survived.”
She gave him a look of such potent disgust that he wondered how much further he would have sunk without her there to keep him on the straight and narrow. As a human, she was always arguing for peaceful solutions— things like subterfuge and stealth— where he was inclined to leap in head first with a more… direct approach. They'd been separated for only a year now, hadn't they? And look at the lengths he'd stooped to achieve his mission. 
“You're awful,” she hissed. “Don't think that just because I used to know you or whatever that we're friends now. We're not. You didn't care about me before you knew my name. Remember that.”
She stormed off, heading back into Kip’s home.
She was right. That was the worst part. He didn't care before he learned who she once was, and by letting his desperation to save the world harden his heart against any chance for mercy, he'd turned to a depth of cruelty he didn't recognize himself in. 
Twig hated him. 
And in that moment, Grovyle couldn't help but hate himself.
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You said this was a rewrite... what was the original plot of the story going to be like?
The original story was supposed to be very different... It was going to be more low-stakes, so to speak... It was merely about Meta Knight becoming Kirby's father figure and him learning to adjust to the peace after the war... but it's pretty much become a grand epic now.
(this was before the Star Allies saga and Planet Robobot...)
I had the beginning and ending planned out, so here's the ending of the story:
*knuckle crack*
As the story progresses & Kirby takes out all of the game villains, Kirby becomes really famous at this point... and then that's when $h*t hits the fan!
In the original story, Sir Arthur was the surprise villain (or secret villain, if you will)... this was when it was trending back then (the Dinsey Frozen Era...).
He sees Kirby as a chance to restore the GSA to its former glory. Now that Kirby has gained fame from his adventures, he sees his as the perfect opportunity to rip him away from Dreamland and take him away from all his friends and family...
It all comes to a head when Sir Arthur comes to Dreamland in person for the first time and reveals his master plan. Basically, making him the poster boy of the GSA. And another revelation: MK was in on it too... this was what Meta Knight had been training Kirby for all along.
(Quietly in the background for each arch of the story... Sir Arthur's intentions were hinted at and revealed more until we reached this point...)
Originally, MK wasn't as kind as the rewritten MK (the current one); he was crueler back then. The original story was going to be about how his time with Kirby brought back his humanity.
BETRAYAL ARC! (Grand Finale GSA vs Dreamland)
The Kirby gang feels backstabbed by Meta Knight's shocking reveal, especially Kirby. He thought Meta Knight had grown to care for him... (but MK had: he just was in denial). He kept insisting that his duty had always come first. This breaks Kirby's heart; he tells MK that he hates him and he isn't gonna go with him...
Sir Arthur had trained MK and taken him in for the sole purpose of using him as a weapon. (living war machine) Meta Knight was doing the same thing to Kirby... but he can't bring himself to force him into that lifestyle. (and how messed up it was, yadda, yadda, yadda.)
The reason why Arthur was able to let MK join the GSA is that Galacta Knight had turned MK into a monster... by order of Nightmare. Sir Arthur saw an opportunity to manipulate Meta Knight into a weapon of his own design... (to him, he was in the right because it was for the greater good.)
And the Meta Knight would come to terms with how precious Kirby was to him... and how awful he feels now. The ends did not justify the mean... He'd realize his time and Dreamland had changed him, and he saw Kirby more than a potential soldier... he saw him as his own child... he certainly wasn't about to let Arthur get away with making Kirby his little poster boy.
So when the time comes for Meta Knight to choose between love & duty, he stands up to his old master and shuts him down... He apologizes to Kirby and tells him how much he means to him. They make up, but this touching moment is cut short then- BAM (180).
Sir Arthur: Well then... I didn't want to do this, but... it looks like I have no choice...
Sir Arthur villain mode is activated. Meta Knights gets arrested and pulls him away from Kirby in a heartbreaking scene. Arthur already started to notice how attached Meta Knight was getting to Kirby, so he prepared for this scenario.
Martial law is enforced by the GSA, and Dreamland is shut down. Sir Arthur uses King Dedede as an excuse since he used to order monsters & reports of him being a tyrant were recorded. (King Dedede wasn't redeemed in the original story yet, so this was his karma.) And Arthur officially dethrones King Dedede... And he's arrested. (throws him in the same jail cell as Meta Knight)
And this was supposed to be the beginning of King Dedede's redemption arc. Now Sir Arthur is using Dreamland & Meta Knight as leverage against Kirby... if he agrees to leave Dreamland permanently and join the GSA... he'll let Meta Knight & the others go.
(Then I think I wrote "dies in a horrible accident," in the original draft while in the jailbreak arc because Galacta Knight shows up to fight MK. And kills Sir Arthur like he's nothing...)
After "Star Allies," the overall message of the story changed... We had so many more revelations and plots added to the franchise that I could not ignore. I gave a whole new meaning to Kirby's story as a whole.
The message I wanted to tell with the story had to change it. All the characters had to get a major overhaul in their personalities.
And I love the new direction I have for the story... And I'm very glad for the changes I've made. Though it's nice to visit the past now again and see how far you've come no matter how cringy.
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