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leonicscorpio · 3 years

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Batboy Headcanons because I made this for me but you all can enjoy this too if want. (May contain mild NSFW)

Dick:

Has a weird relationship with unwanted gaze and the attention he receives because of his physique. He genuinely likes the attention but he draws the line when people start getting touchy. Just because he's shirtless working out doesn't mean he gave you consent to touch him.

Has good dieting skills but he's in his mid-late 20's and his metabolism has 0 signs of slowing down. He once ate a whole xl bag of M&M's in front of Steph and Babs and both said they wanted to murder him because he won't gain a pound.

Dick has ADHD and I'm sorry if you don't think otherwise. He has hyperactive type ADHD and while he's gotten better at controlling his symptoms he still stims stretching and flexing his arms and shaking his arms.

While not so much in Gotham, Dick is very politically active and volunteers at voter registration and working with organizations with the mission of police demilitarization in Blüdhaven.

Dick is a very sexually driven individual. However, I don't think it's entirely healthy. His ADHD also comes into play with this but Dick just needs to have a release at least twice a day or he'll feel physically sick.

I don't know if you all have seen male gymnasts. But Dick, like the rest of them, has FREAKSISHLY large biceps. Everyone talks about Dick has the best ass in the bat family and while Jason may be larger and stronger, Dick has the best physique.

Dick's apartment is littered with sticky notes in places such as the fridge/in front of his computer. If it's not written down and in a place where he can't ignore it, it's not going to get done.

I'm sorry I know everyone says his birthday is in March but I have to go to the older Nightwing comics and say his Birthday is December 1st. I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me this man doesn't give off Sagittarius energy. You can't. I respect you but you can't look at that and tell me that man isn't a Sagittarius or has super heavy Sag in his birth chart.

Dick's at home doing nothing but chilling? You best believe he's gonna be shirts off, tits out, and rocking some blue flannel PJ's.

Dick is currently the only member of the family asides from Barbara who is regularly attending therapy. And he actively encourages each of his brothers and sisters to go every time.

After his Agent 37 days. He sits down with Jason and talks about having to use a gun and how hard it was. And how having to kill people has affected him. When he had to kill the KGBeast (Agent 37 days he snapped his neck) I headcanon Dick just trauma v*mit*d. Jason hugged him and just consoled him.

It's canon that Dick has anger issues but to me, it's not explored or talked about enough and not a lot of people like to talk about it. Dick is very much the 'if I ignore it it'll go away' type when it comes to his anger and he can brush most insults or harassment off fine enough. But when he breaks, he makes Jason look like a saint. I'm talking slamming you into a wall and screaming in your face angry. He'll be profusely apologetic afterward but still.

Despite popular belief, I don't think he's that bad of a cook. He's just not very experimentative. He can follow a recipe and does look at some guides. But to me, Dick Grayson just is that guy who is like Chicken veggies and rice are a meal that I can cook 4-6 times a week.

Dick has a slight fear of dentists. He doesn't have bad teeth and has good dental health. He just doesn't like the idea of a drill going in his mouth and the few times Bruce has to take him to a dentist he had a panic attack every time.

Everyone lives for the fics where Jason beats the shit out of Tim and everyone is just like lol well Bruce and Dick just forgives him. No. When Dick found out it was Jason who beat Tim to the ground, Dick was literally seething and told Jason "Pick on someone your own size or else I'll make you wish you back in that f'ing coffin."

Dick's favorite foods (some based in Canon*): Milk Chocolate*, Cereal*, Asparagus, Bananas, Banana flavored candy, Hawaiian Pizza* (suffer its canon) Rum, thanksgiving Turkey.

Jason:

He may be the self-diagnosed black sheep (rightfully so) of the family, but Jason does genuinely love spending time with his siblings. Whether it be sharing memes with them on social media or just randomly showing up where they are and abducting them to go get ice cream/coffee/snacks.

He'd probably attempt to harm you if you told him this to his face. But he is the closest acting to Bruce out of all of the family. In terms of mannerisms and inherent warmth and kindness behind a dark façade.

Has two moods: either exceptionally, almost neat-freak levels of clean, or his life is completely falling apart and Jason can't tell you for sure what color his floors are because there's so much stuff scattered about.

Despite their initial hatred of each other, Jason truly feels closest to Tim and Tim is the only person asides from maybe Barbra who he can just talk to without feeling any judgment.

Jason only smokes when he's extremely nervous about an operation or a hit. For those who don't know criminal justice cigarettes are the fastest way to get genetic material on someone. That being said he does still like to smoke occasionally.

Me, plus a lot of people give him this sort of 'Lazarus Rage' as I like to call it. When he's in the heat of a mission or if he's getting upset/angry his vision will get blurred with green, and it feeds on his anger and just gets perpetually harder to contain until he releases it. Jason has gotten much better at controlling it. But as he will tell Tim or Babs, he's "seeing green" which means they need to be careful because Jason could kill.

Everyone says Dick is the mother hen. I see you, I accept you, but let me raise you. Jason came to realize that he died because of his rash decision to go after The Joker alone. If Jason finds any of his siblings out acting alone, or even at the very least without Oracle. Jason WILL forcefully interject himself and ask them what the fuck they think their doing.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Trying to get close to Jason is hard. He will degrade you can attempt to try to get you to hate him before he lets you in (that cheeky Tsun of him)

He genuinely cares for and supports all of his siblings but has been rough on them needlessly. But if Bruce is being the distant or absent parent he is, you better believe if any of the siblings drops him a text or a call, Jason will be there in a heartbeat.

He's the most physically powerful of the whole Bat Family. You don't understand because of his time in the League, his time with the All-Caste, and having abused Venom for a time, he can snap an arm bone like it's a carrot with little effort.

Everyone in the family likes dogs and goes out of their way to gush over a dog, but Jason takes it to a whole new level. And even when he's masked up dogs just gravitate to Jason.

Can and has grown a beard in a matter of a few days. He usually likes to be clean shaven but some days he likes to wear a beard just to throw everyone off.

One time him, Steph, Tim, and Duke all went to a restaurant (Red Robin lol) and the waitress got his order wrong and his burger had raw tomatoes on it, Jason took the tomatoes off and ate it while looking absolutely miserable. Tim: Jay why did you eat that you didn't have to you know you could have asked the server to fix your burger. Jason, almost in tears: "She works really hard and she tried and I'm a scary dude I don't want to make her upset.." Duke: "... Jason you literally shot at a cop for looking at you funny the other day. But you're afraid of upsetting a waitress?!? I mean ACAB but dude.. "

Jason's happiest big brother moment™ was taking Tim and Damian to the shooting range and watching them both get their first bullseye.

You can't tell me Jason Todd was into the Emo/Screamo/Warped-Tour Scene. His favorite bands/Albums in no particular order, That's the Spirit (Literally the whole album is Jason Themed and I'm gonna die on this hill) & Sempiternal by Bring me the Horizon, Digital Renegade & Everyone's Safe in the Treehouse by I See Stars, The Resistance: Rise of the Runaways by Crown the Empire,

Jason Todd's favorite foods: (Also some based in Canon*) Burgers, Chili Dogs*, Lager-style beers, Freshly baked bread*, Neopolitan ice cream, grilled corn, and Chinese Chicken noodle soup with Duck.

Tim:

This boy *slaps car roof* gives off so much asexual energy. I know New 52 exists but I just feel like Tim is the person who really, REALLY has to trust you and like you before he's sexually active with you.

HYPERFIXATES. You also can't tell me Tim isn't on the spectrum/or has ADHD.

Is the only member of the family who regularly checks up on Jason and talks to him every day via text message. The two are memelords together and love to play pranks on the other members.

While Dick may give the most frequent hugs and Jason gives the tightest, most secure hugs, Tim's hugs are always the warmest and make you just feel good.

Tim's birthday is July 19th. Meaning he's a Cancer. Let that sink in.. no, really let that information just soak. (Note I have nothing against Cancer women, cancer men however....)

All of the bat boys really struggle with talking about their feelings. Dick will manipulate you into changing the subject via twisting it to be about you, Jason will just cut you off or will ignore you, Damian will deflect everything and harass you until you stop, Tim however, Tim is very emotional and while he's very calculated about who he's emotional with, he's not afraid to break down and cry if he trusts you.

Everyone who says he's the level headed Robin haha how's it feel to be WRONG. Tim is at best the least functional college student and at worst a lemming. 'No Tim, coffee isn't a meal I'm going to make you some food or I'm going to stick you in a room with Damian for an hour.' Richard (Dick) John Grayson.

People overblow how addicted to caffeine Tim is. But it's true. Just overblown. You can talk to him before he's had his caffeine just don't expect him to be anything but curt and blunt.

Everyone says Jason would be the worst at texting but it's Tim. He's the master of leaving you on read. While Jason may do it on purpose, Tim is just really bad at texting people and while he always will read your messages he forgets to respond unless it's really funny or really pressing.

Everyone sees Tim as this bean pole super skinny boy Robin. Tim may not be stacked like Dick or a freaking tank like Jason, but Tim is NOT super skinny. He's just as muscular and likes to work out as anyone, but he just is super lean, so he looks a lot bigger and his muscles are more defined because of how thin his skin is. He has those almost disgusting spider veins on his arm. Kind of gross to look at, but he's the dream of any nurse. This means Tim is also the king of accidentally sending/posting thirst traps.

He really is the glue of the Bat Family. Everyone kidnaps Tim for 'Tim Time'.

Dick likes to spar with and in general just hang out with Tim. Tim tried to teach Dick how to skateboard and you'd think the boy who mastered the trapeze would know how to skateboard but you'd be wrong.

Babs and Tim always hang out and talk about computer stuff and Babs knows she can vent to Tim about anything and he won't say a word.

Tim and Steph were a thing for a while and even though they're just friends now, they still are very close and the two have a very deep bond, liking to shop with each other and watch movies,

Cass just loves to be around Tim because of how calming he is but also she knows she can spar with him AND Cass can also skateboard with Tim too.

Even though him and Damian are always fighting, the two still end up being together and have this unspoken bond. They work great together on a team but other than that they still hate each other.

And while everyone still is hesitant around Jason, and despite the fact that Jason literally beat Tim to within an inch of his life, AND would still trigger Tim and taunt him about it. The two have this odd closeness that rivals even him and Steph. Tim will always be the first to bat for Jason. Jason was Tim's Robin. And despite the fact Jason literally beat it into Tim's head to "never meet your heroes." Tim will always be there for Jason should he ask. The two are just close. And it's hard to describe. Bruce has caught Tim and Jason just platonically sleeping next to each other or just doing their own things shoulder to shoulder silently, just enjoying each other's company.

Tim and Duke also have a really positive relationship with one another and the two can stay up all night just talking about anything. Their minds just mesh well together. The two also love to team up and prank the other members of the Batman Family.

Tim's favorite ASMR/Stim? Watching those Tik Toks of people cleaning computers or cleaning phones. The sound of an air duster is like music to his ears and if any of the Bats need their technology cleaned it secretly makes Tim so happy to help them.

Wear his hair up or wear his hair down? It depends! While Tim likes his long hair he also has gotten plenty of compliments for his short hair and likes to style it to suit any occasion.

My one pet-peeve with Tim is that he probably is that person who lets his privilege show from time to time. While he was essentially raised to just sit down, shut up, and be a perfect trophy son to the Drake's. The Drake's were in the same tax bracket as Bruce and Tim definitely was a rich kid. He never means to come across as spoiled, but sometimes Jason will give him harsh looks if Tim just throws away food he doesn't like or says things like Chipotle is 'poor people food'

Tim Drake's favorite foods (you know by now*) Donuts*, Shallot and Artichoke Pizza with Canadian Bacon* (odd choice but it could work) Artichokes in general are his favorite vegetable, Strawberries, and Beef Pho.

Damian:

I headcanon that he has the worst teeth of all of the Bat Boys and he actually has to use lingual braces. (Hence why you can't see his braces)

Canonically is a very good artist and while him and Tim don't get along, Tim introduced Damian to digital art and gave him a photoshop pack and a nice tablet for his birthday one year and Damian loved it so much.

Damian is a capricorn and I will die on this hill. A January capricorn too.

Now you want a good chef? You've got Damian. Having converted to veganism Damian has had to get creative whenever he goes out to eat so he tends to like to eat more home cooked foods. Damian loves all matters of mushrooms, eggplant, and bell peppers.

Damian really struggles the most with his wanting to just be a normal kid. Despite the fact he will dismiss you for it, anytime he gets to spend at Gotham Academy with Jon and the rest of the kids he's naturally the happiest.

Damian LOVES to give gifts. He loves the look on people's faces when they are shocked when they actually get something from Damian.

Despite the fact that he's been traumatized from both his times with Ra's and Talia as well as with Bruce. He just wants Bruce and Talia to be together because he loves them both equally.

While he's the least flexible and least gymnastic of the Robins do let your guard down around him. He is the fastest runner and the guy is rivaled only by Jason in terms of lethality.

So someone (Jason Todd & Duke Thomas) introduced Damian to trap music and ever since anytime his phone gets stolen people will be shocked to find he's listening to some combination of Lil' Yachty, X, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz, and Kodak.

If any random person tries to hug Damian he'll immediately push them away, he'll bitch and moan about just about anyone hugging him other than Bruce & Dick.

Damian loves to go to the beach/the ocean. He just thinks it's so vast and he loves the brineness of the air. Also being half white, quarter middle-eastern and quarter Chinese (Yes everyone forgets Talia is half Chinese) Damian gets DARK. And although he's just okay as a swimmer he still likes bogeyboarding and eventually wants to learn how to surf.

I'm genuinely afraid once Puberty is done with this kid and everyone in the family is. He has Bruce Wayne AND Talia Al-Ghouls genes and those are two SEXY human beings. Damian's gonna grow a beard one day and people aren't going to know how to act.

Damian secretly plays Fortnight and not even Jon knows. He doesn't want to get shamed. He'd rather lose a match and ruin his streaks than deal with the shame of anyone in that family finding out he plays Fortnight.

Damian Wayne's favorite foods (canon*) Cereal*, Avocados, Grilled Tempeh, his mom's Tabbouleh, Mushroom Tacos, and Vegan Sushi rolls, and grape juice.

Duke Thomas

Duke is like, freakishly good with a piano, and he picked it up naturally!

Also everyone says Tim brews the best pot of coffee in the Bat Family, cue to everyone's surprise when Tim was sick one day and couldn't make a pot. Only to find the coffee was freaking amazing. Duke didn't take any credit at first until Alfred let it slip that Duke was the one who brewed the pot.

Duke being the only Meta of the family originally thought he was the double-token because he was a Meta and a black boy. Needless to say his fears were seriously unfounded the moment he got to know everyone.

Although he somewhat fears Jason and his temper initially, he and Jason have one of the closest relationships in the family. If Tim isn't around to bat for Jason, Duke will happily take his spot. The two work on each other's bikes and grew to share the same taste in music.

Duke uses his Photokenetic powers as a force for good and for shenanigans. Jason wants to play a prank on Dick and Damian while Dick is reading Damian a story? Duke will hide Jason in the shadows and will cover up his shadow. Alfred dropped something in the dark? You better believe Duke will find it in 3 seconds or less.

Duke makes it a point to visit his parents every weekend to talk to them. Although they are making some progress in their recoveries, it's still slow going. Eventually, he starts bringing members of the family to see his parents. It started with Cass, then Jason, and the rest followed suit.

Duke loves playing video games with Damian and even helps Damian beat some tougher levels when Damian is about to rage and destroy the console.

Duke is into Magic the Gathering and you cannot tell me otherwise. Duke also is the DM for the Bat Kids annual D&D games. I can and will make a D&D Batfam Headcanons if asked.

Loves Pho just as much as Cass and Tim and they all call it a date night every now and then where they can go to a hole in the wall pho place. It's really a secret between the three of them.

DUKE THOMAS IS THE BEST SWIMMER OF THE BAT BOYS AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. HE JUST THRIVES IN THE WATER.

Finding out his birth father is a supervillain was really tough for him. He went into a shell for a little bit afterwards. Cass and Steph were there to help talk him out of his funk.

Duke Thomas's favorite foods (lol what canon DC hasn't acknowleged our boy in a while..) Chicken Pho, Thai Iced Tea, Papaya, Crab Cakes, Italian Hoagies, his mom's Lemon Poundcake, mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I hope y'all enjoyed! Up next (eventually) will be the Bat Girls!

#Dick Grayson #Batfam #Batboys #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #Damian Wayne #Duke Thomas #Bruce Wayne #Barbara Gordon #Cassandra Cain #Stephanie Brown #Headcanons #Slight OOC but hey If DC can't stay in character neither should I

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 06 (first part)

(Masterpost)(Episode 05)

Warning: This contains spoilers for All 50 Episodes

Bad Boys Bad Boys What You Gonna Do

Nie Huasang’s brought his nuts, and someone’s brought wine, so the boys are drinking in Wei Wuxian’s guest house. Finally he gets to drink some of the Emperor’s Smile wine that he’s been doing all those product placements for.

Boys, get a bowl or something for your shells, were you raised in a barn?

Wei Wuxian hits on waxes poetic about the wine, and Jiang Cheng tells him to shut up.

Wang Zhuocheng’s raw-fish-eating face may have failed him, but his drunk faces do not disappoint.

Wei Wuxian teases Jiang Cheng about his list of standards for a chick: She should have natural beauty, be virtuous and caring, from a good family, not too talkative, with a gentle voice, and not too capable. Also she should not spend too much money. Drunken running ensues.

Cue Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin

(more behind the cut)

Much of the fandom has decided this list is a good fit for Nie Huaisang himself, and it sorta is. But he is both talkative and unvirtuous, what with all the current sneakiness, and all the eventual murders.

This also definitely doesn't fit Wen Qing because she's capable as hell.

This list is, however, a 100% a match for Jiang Yanli. Not in a weird, Jin Guangyao way--a lot of men want to marry a woman like their sister. In a gender-divided and generation-divided society, a man’s sister might be the only woman he’s ever known well. Jiang Cheng adores Yanli and she’s his ideal model of a woman, as opposed to his mother, who...isnt.

All these robes and talismans over the door do nothing to stop Lan Wangji from strolling in.

Okay so - Lan Wangji is the senior disciple of the Lan Clan, yea? There is no way that patrolling the guest area is in any way his job. He is just walking around here at night specifically to see what Wei Wuxian is doing.

I already did a gifpost of the boys and their totally nonsexual horseplay, over here. I’ll just add, for sad factor, that Jiang Cheng is play-choking Wei Wuxian when they’re all on the bed, and later in the running-and-crying episode he is gonna for-real choke him. Foreshadowing! or maybe just coincidence!

One fun thread running through the young-cultivators episodes is that Nie Huaisang is legit terrified of Lan Wangji while also having a major aesthetic crush on him. Look at how flustered he is here, trying to act sober while also checking him out.

Lan Wangji is shocked and visibly upset - what are you guys doing? This is not his busting face, this is, for a moment, his vulnerable and disillusioned face. He is super not used to what normal people are like.

Wei Wuxian doesn't lie or otherwise try to get off the hook, which has got to have Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang grinding their teeth in frustration. He invites Lan Wangji to join them for a drink. LWJ cites a the “no drinking on campus” rule and WWX tries to convince him to chill.

Then we have this lovely coordinated faint by the boys, to get out of going to get punished. Nie Huaisang has been practicing fainting in front of a mirror just in case he ever needs a skill like that in the future.

Wei Wuxian keeps trying to turn this into a date. Eventually Lan Wangji is so upset he admits he can’t take all three of them by himself.

Then the boys run away fake-barfing and Wei Wuxian hits Lan Wangji with a talisman.

Steal His Agency That’s What You’re Gonna Do

What Wei Wuxian does to Lan Wanji here is definitely wrong. But it's not entirely a disaster. It allows some crucial information to be shared between them, and it results in Wei Wuxian getting the utter shit beat out of him and never doing this again. I mean, he continues to mind-control his enemies and their eventual corpses, but he doesn't intentionally violate a friend or ally's autonomy in the future. Uhh not counting that whole golden core surgery-without-consent situation. And probably some other situations I’ve forgotten. He improves slightly, okay?

It’s important to note, incidentally, that the Lan rules about drinking and other “vices” should not be viewed through a Christian lens. The Lans are neither puritans nor ascetics (look at their clothes, furniture, and jewelry, for starters). Being drunk is forbidden probably because it’s a loss of self-control.

Speaking of self-control, mad props to Wang Yibo for being able to have zero physical reaction to fingers snapping in his face.

Drunk Lan Wangji

Under duress, Lan Wangji knocks back a cup of wine and promptly passes most of the way out.

Wei Wuxian puts Lan Wangji into bed not unkindly, but pretty much like a sack of potatoes. Compare this to how tenderly he handles Lan Wangji the next time he’s drunk.

WWX tells LWJ to call him Wei Gege, and giggles. Is this a term of endearment in this context? So far the various boys are calling each other -xiong, not -ge or gege. In Western media, men calling each other “bro” is basically saying “no homo,” but brotherhood and sisterhood in C-Drama is often a way of indicating stronger love than friendship, without saying whether it's sexual or not.

They finally start to have a conversation, and when Lan Wangji explains that no-one can touch his headband except, etc etc, Wei Wuxian stops trying to touch it. So at least he's not a handsy bastard in addition to all his other faults.

Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji that his clan is boring and women won't want to marry him. Lan Wangji says that's fine. On one level this is the show acknowledging that he's gay, but I think he's responding in a gender-neutral way; he doesn't want to marry anyone. Marriage, from his perspective, is the literal worst.

We don't know how he felt about his father, but he definitely loved his mother deeply, and she had a profoundly unhappy marriage, in which her husband did not provide companionship and her children were taken from her.

A note about all that: The dynamics of heterosexual marriages in The Untamed are not based on contemporary companionate marriage. Sex and reproduction is a wife's job in this world, and giving a gentry woman the option to choose her husband is radical. Wei Wuxian is the only one who dares say that Jiang Yanli should have a choice when Jin Guangshan casually tries to give her to his son in front of everyone.

OP made this today but will totally reuse it when episode 23 rolls around

So Lan Wangji’s parents' marriage was extremely problematic but not necessarily for the reasons it would be in contemporary terms. Having signed on to marry Lan Dad, Mom would have expected to live together and get laid regularly (important for health, in some traditional views, regardless of love/no love) and to have the company of her children. Instead, she was isolated. Lan Dad wanted to have it both ways and so even though he loved her and apparently hooked up with her sometimes, he didn't do his duty by her. She didn't love him but she did her duty.

Wei Wuxian continues to not get it, calling Lan Wangji dull and babbling about Lan Wangji’s parents until he realizes that LWJ is an orphan like him.

A nice shift happens here. Once the penny drops, Wei Wuxian doesn't ask a single additional question - he just sees - by reading Lan Wangji’s face - what the deal is, and shares his own story to show he understands.

This is the first time Wei Wuxian mentions being chased by dogs, which is kind of a big deal, because why was he left all alone when his parents died?

Why didn't anyone take him in before Jiang Fengmian found him? How isolated are independent cultivators in this world?

Tea Time

Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen are having tea, and the Lan Clan is so uptight they don't touch each other's teacups. I don't know what this thing is called so I'm going to call it a tea speculum.

Lan Qiren is back from the cultivation conference and says the red crack plague is happening over in Qinghe where the Nie clan lives. Lan Xichen fills him in on the water demon, specifically saying Wei Wuxian figured out the connection to the red crack dudes, and explaining who WWX is, as if Lan QIren hadn't already thrown stuff at him and threatened to eventually kill him.

Fun fact that I just noticed this week so didn't make it into earlier posts: In Episode 46, when Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are in the Jiang ancestral hall, WWX says he was often punished to kneel there, and LWJ said that they heard about this in Gusu.

So when WWX came to Gusu he already had a reputation as a troublemaker, and the Lan brothers were aware of it.

Busted and Beaten

A Lan snitch comes in to say that Wei Wuxian has successfully corrupted Lan Wangji, which really shouldn’t cause as much surprise as it does.

“Wei Wuxian got drunk”

“Lan Wangji got drunk”

Lan Xichen takes a moment to consider carefully whether Wei Wuxian is a good friend for his little brother and whether perhaps he was too hasty in throwing them together. Ha ha ha no he doesn’t.

On the punishment porch, Lan Xichen tries to lecture Lan Wangji in a calm way, but Lan Qiren wants to beat him and Lan Wangji wants to get beat. Wei Wuxian can’t understand why Lan Wangji doesn’t let him take the blame for the drinking.

Lan Qiren goes way the fuck overboard with this punishment because he's angry--losing control and losing his sense of proportion--and Lan Xichen is shocked. The drone camera watching from above is also shocked.

Lan Qiren has a few (very few) redeeming qualities, but his extreme rigidity and chronic resentment of anyone he perceives as bad are serious problems. His nephews are both struggling with complex moral quandaries as they get older, and he is absolutely no help to them in resolving their conflicts.

This is definitely...a style of parenting & teaching, but you can see how poorly it works, with Lan Wangji straight up saying “fuck it” after many years of conformity. Lan Xichen is devoted to the middle path and tries to be obedient. But he is actually not walking anywhere near the middle path, as he gets pulled into colluding with a murderer at the same time as getting dragged onto his brother’s carnival ride. These men need parenting that isn’t so, uh, fucking stupid. (Yes, grown adults still need good parenting; watch Go Ahead if you doubt me)

Wei Wuxian initially yells and falls down when he gets hit, but then he sees Lan Wangji is taking the beating without any reaction and he tries to do the same.

Aftermath

Jiang Yanli gently lectures the boys, blaming Jiang Cheng for Wei Wuxian's drinking. Jesus Christ, he's the younger sibling, could you just NOT, Yanli?

Both boys ask Yanli not to tell their parents. The boys bicker about who's at fault and then Wei Wuxian shifts to baby voice and starts whining to Yanli about the pain.

Yanli tells him to suck it up, and says after school she'll -- ok and I know this will be a surprise for everyone -- make soup for them. The boys immediately get back on the same team, which is team Please Put Meat In the Soup.

There's a nice character building moment for Wei Wuxian here. When he sees Lan Xichen he initially turns away to avoid running into him, but then he adults-up and goes to face him and greet him, giving him a half of a bow because of the pain, the pain. Rather than complaining about his punishment he meekly asks if he's broken another rule.

Lan Xichen tells him that he did wrong but that Lan Qiren’s punishment was too harsh, and then in what is one of my favorite Lan Xichen moments, invites Wei Wuxian to use the cold spring to heal, but doesn't invite Jiang Cheng to go with him even though Jiang Cheng also was beaten. Lan Xichen, Matchmaker Auntie Extraordinaire.

Then he answers Wei Wuxian’s question about his mom by saying she was just like Wei Wuxian and drove Lan Qiran up the wall. Jiang Cheng's reaction to that is really sweet. He does enjoy Wei Wuxian at the same time as being constantly irritated by him.

Lan Xichen does his patented “breaking off in the middle of saying something and leaving out a chunk of the story” maneuver, although this time he doesn't include a flute solo.

OP is mildly obsessed with Xuan Lu’s shoulders in this outfit. Also Yanli has an interesting sword, that's got some wood carving similar to Subian, but without the organic look, which OP only noticed because of screen capping Xuan Lu’s shoulders.

Club Ruohan

Wen Qing continues to be pretty and slightly evil at this stage, sending magic fire notes to her boss using this talisman that is definitely floating in the air and not just hanging from a string.

Wen Ruohan is in the mosh pit with his zombie groupies while he reads Wen Qing’s extremely vague status update and says "it all makes sense."

Reach out and touch faith

Soundtrack

Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode

Writing Prompt

How did Wei Wuxian’s parents die?

Admin Notes

I’m going to start spacing out my “first part” and “second part” posts by a few days. I’ll update this post to link up the second part once I post it, and my masterpost is always up to date.

Also: if you want more of my original content but don’t want to follow my whole blog (not following is fine!), I keep a pinboard of fun stuff at the top of my blog. I try to post original content at least once a week.

Continued in the second part later this week!

#fytheuntamed #wangxian #the untamed #cql #the untamed gifs #the untamed meta #my gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #restless rewatch #canary3d #the untamed spoilers

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thtdamfangirl4 · 3 years

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1.) Who eats all the snacks?

kind of all of them but something inside me is saying it’s octavius? @harps-for-days can you confirm or deny?

2.) Most likely to break something?

obviously Reginald

3.) Most likely to steal something?

Octavius

4.) Most likable character to others?

ooooh. that’s tough. I think (no offense) it’s definitely not Reginald or Dorian. Reginald is insane and Dorian can be scary. I think people kind of wish they were Octavius but he can also be a lil intimidating and jealousy plays a part so some petty bitches probably hate him. I think Jasper can be kind of quiet and standoffish at first so he doesn’t always leave a lasting impression until you have a full conversation with him, which is when people realize he’s great. I think people generally like Archie but he can be like A LOT, so I wouldn’t say him, but he is definitely well-liked, and unless you’re a PTA bitch named Jessica, he is desperate for you to like him. But for most likeable, I’s say it is probably down to Eustace or Nathaniel. Eustace is kind and lovely and a little snarky when you get to know him and Nathaniel is so sweet and sarcastic and funny but terribly genuine at the same time and let’s be perfectly honest: he’s a himbo. I’d give the edge to Nathaniel, but it’s possible that I’m biased.

5.) Least likable character to others?

my first instinct here was reginald but like... I don’t think so. I think though Reginald is strange as fuck, we’ve discussed that people eat that shit up. Reginald is like human Gritty. I want to guess that it would be Dorian because he just does not give a fuck what anyone thinks. And I know the people on the HOA hate him, so. And that’s not to say people don’t love Dorian, he’s the best and I love him and so do lots. But I feel like he causes the most beef. My only other thought is the way basic blonde bitches who were bullies in high school probably hate Octavius (but secretly want to be his best friend) because he wears heels and skirt better than they do. Stay mad about it.

6.) Most talkative character?

Archibald. Quincy. Pemberton.

7.). Least talkative character?

dude they’re based on us and literally none of us ever shut up. Maybe Dorian? Eustace?

8.) Most likely to set something on fire?

how is this even a question. Rabbit Boi himself, Reginald Worthington.

9.) Who would/does own the most pets?

I think it’s Nate and Archie? They have four dogs at one point. Though I would not be surprised to find out that Reginald has an entire condominium simply filled with exotic birds that squawk furiously at him every time he shows up.

10.) Most manipulative character?

oh god. Dorian? He technically manipulated everything and made the bois show up in 2020 to get out of marrying someone, and he’s the kind of guy who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants (read: he will do whatever it takes for Octavius or any of the bois or to spite bigots and the patriarchy) and we RESPECT it

11.) Most artistically talented?

i mean, archie can decorate baked goods and cakes so beautifully, but I’m gonna give this one to the obvious choice: Octavius Sinclair

12.) Which characters hate rain, and which love it?

I actually think all of them like rain? They’re largely (sometimes) depressed gays or otherwise very immature so like? For example, Reginald loves the rain because it’s sort of chaotic and also he likes to splash in puddles. Jasper likes the excuse to stay inside all day and work on writing or something. Eustace likes to pretend he’s in a sad music video while watching the droplets go down the window. Octavius likes to force Dorian to reenact the first proposal scene from Pride and Prejudice. Dorian likes to light candles and he loves thunderstorms (so does Octavius btw). Archie likes to drag Nate outside for kisses in the rain while playing Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift, and then bake all day. Nathaniel likes being dragged out for kisses in the rain and he loves drinking coffee and then switching to tea in the rain and reading on a window bench. They are all rain bitches, sorry not sorry.

13.) Which character is the hoarder?

Reginald is definitely the worst about this, but I also think Octavius cannot go to an antique store or estate sale without buying at least four things, and Dorian does the same thing with any sort of vintage weaponry or armor, so their household isn’t great about it either.

14.) Sweetest couple?

Natchie. No this isn’t bias, it’s just a fact okay? They are the sweetest!!!!

15.) Who loves reading the most?

Nathaniel. fuckin nerd.

16.) Who has the worst sweet tooth?

Archie. I mean, the man is a baker and he’s also me. So.

17.) Best and worst kissers?

LMAOOOOO okay.... so here’s the thing. I think kissing and level of skill comes into play to a certain degree, but past a basic level of acceptability, it’s mostly about compatibility? but I’ll give this a go in terms of what I think would be pure skill

from worst to best: Jasper, Reginald, Eustace, Octavius, Nathaniel, Archie, Dorian (once you get to Octavius, you’re at a fairly elite level of kisser though so the differences are marginal. but Dorian and Archie are the biggest hoes so they know what the fuck they are doing)

18.) Best and worst cooks?

from worst to best: Dorian, Reginald, Jasper, Nathaniel, Eustace, Octavius, Archie

19.) Who is afraid of the dark?

Jasper

20.) Most likely to fall asleep on their job?

I honestly only remember what Nathaniel, Archie, and Eustace’s jobs are for sure? and it’s none of them. But Reginald. MAYBE Jasper.

21.) Most commonly found drunk?

Octavius and Archie (often together)

22.) Strongest/most powerful character?

well, Dorian’s got some witchy stuff goin on which I love, but if we’re talking physical strength I like to think that Nathaniel is secretly jacked like Chidi on the Good Place lmao

23.) Most likely to be found in a coffee shop?

Nathaniel. This bitch drinks so much coffee, I swear. Plus he likes to grade papers there sometimes.

24.) Most clumsy character?

Jasper

25.) Most trustworthy character?

again, this is hard. I think it’s either Eustace or Archie. I think they’re all very trustworthy on like a friend level, but if you break it down to its base and you think about the most trustworthy in every situation, i’m thinking, who can you tell a secret to? Reginald might forget what you told him, which is a plus, but he also might tell any Doug who asks your juiciest gossip. Dorian and Octavius are not above blackmail and they LOVE gossip. Jasper is such a bad secret keeper, you immediately know he’s hiding something. It’s like Nick Miller on New Girl. Don’t do it. Nathaniel will try but his brain is always spinning at like 100 miles an hour so there’s a good chance he’ll tell people even if he didn’t really mean to. And then it comes down to Eustace and Archie, and I think I’m gonna give the edge to Archie. Cause Eustace won’t tell anyone your secret EXCEPT that he will tell Tyler because he tells Tyler everything, and if it’s a good secret, Tyler can’t help himself, he’s such a gossip. But Archie knows that sometimes, he does not need to pass on the secret that was entrusted to him to Nathaniel, because this is the kind of secret that would probably hurt someone if Nathaniel accidentally told someone. He tells Nathaniel everything he needs to know, and if he doesn’t need to know and it’s not really their business, he knows to keep it to himself. So... Archie.

#rfb #regency frat bois #archibald q pemberton #nathaniel qolicott #octavius sinclair #dorian fitzgerald #eustace marfleet #reginald worthington #jasper sculthorpe #the bois #natchie #octavius #tyler lawrence #tystace

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modmamono · 4 years

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Celebrating the dumbest/silliest Robot Masters in each mainline Mega Man Game & Bass.

Not every robot needs to be badass to be worth something. I feel this is an attitude people have when a certain robot isn’t their cup of tea.

Q(?): How dare the goofy looking Toad Man not be as awesome as Quick Man? Toad Man can’t even attack you he just hops into when you shooting at him.

A: Because Toad Man has the unique distinction of having an attack you can’t dodge. You try dodging acid rain. That’s why he’s easy.

I’m not here to crack on the Quick Men of the world and hold up the Toad Men. I just wanna revel in the absolute silliness of Mega Man. Where a Toad Man can exist or Quick Man can have a hilarious in-universe oversight his design.

Because I like my Mega Man silly, and I know when Mega Man knows it’s silly.

Here are my rules:

Only Robot Masters, they have to be selectable on the menu (No Mega Man Killers, Star Droids, Quint, Bass, Wily Wars Bots, Fake Man (sadly), the Dark Men (sadly), Mooks, Duo, Wily Castle bosses, NO DOC ROBOTS, etc.)

I’m not just judging them on their designs or concept. That’s low hanging fruit. Also everyone does that.

I’m also judging them on info we get on based on their game appearances or supplemental material, such as their functions and likes and dislikes.

No Archie or Megamix to deduct/add dumb/silly points from them. (Forgive me if I do accidentally use their tidbits.)

One Robot Master per game, because if I didn’t adhere to this rule and the one above all the MM5 bots would win. (Also this means that Tengu and Astro Man get two chances.)

And that should be it:

READY?

Mega Man 1′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Cut Man!

This was a tough call honestly, Cut Man only really one won by default. Because in-universe, all the MM1 Robots all have their practical use. They’re made for a reason. Bomb and Guts Man are construction bots, Elec Man manages a power plant. Cut Man is a lumber robot.

But it is a little silly he has the scissors on his head. He’s how supposed to accurately cut down trees? It has no handle to cut with and it’s a boomerang. The rest are all much more straight forward with their powers.

Honorable Mention(s):

Roll (She’s a Robot Master too, and she’s selectable in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 if not the first game, loopholes babey!). She’s silly because of her occasional stint as a joke character.

Time Man. He’s just has has a case of the odd one out. All of the non-Rock and Roll Robot Masters in the first game have and immediate function in society, even Oil Man has that. But Time Man not so much, he doesn’t have much of a use. And granted that’s part of his character. If Powered-Up didn’t have story and dialogue he might’ve taken Cut Man’s spot as the silliest due to being the odd one out.

Mega Man 2′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Bubble Man!

Look... Bubble Man is the easiest target. I didn’t want it to be him. But he’s not as dumb as you may think. I’ll explain in a bit.

I wanna say that I like none the MM2 Robots. They’re all just made to be killing machines. They’re all made with one purpose and that’s to destroy Mega Man. And that’s boring.

Regardless, Bubble Man is an underwater combat robot. That may seem useless against Mega Man. But you gotta remember that Rock is the ultimate goody-two shoes. Plop a Robot Master in an area, order him to attack said area and Mega Man’s on it to stop him. Effectively luring the Blue Bomber to the boss’ home field advantages. And Bubble Man is no different.

Explaining it like that it seems to me that Wily tried viarity in his revenge plan. As Bubble Man makes the water his home his Brothers make their homes in the sky, the forest, the lava sewers, etc.

Really, Bubble Man gets a bad wrap.

Also he gets points because (of what might be Megamix flavor text that) Wily kept laughing at his inability to walk on land. Wily noticed this, laughed at that can he only could jump, and didn’t fix him.

Ergo; Wily, IN HIS REVENGE PLAN!, laughed so hard he didn’t make Bubble Man the best he could be to kill Mega Man.

Honorable Mention(s):

Wood Man and Heat Man (and to a lesser extent Air Man). To me they’re on the same level as Bubble Man, Bubble Man just edges them out by a bit. They’re revenge murder bots, and Wily made one out of wood and the other look like a lighter. Pictured here, man with a sense of humor (or someone who does rush jobs):

Quick Man, because this tidbit may or may not come from Megamix so I couldn’t qualify him, because it may’ve made Quick Man my pick. For you see... Quick Man runs faster then his eyes can process. Meaning he runs against walls. As you can see in Mega Man 2 itself. I love this, Quick Man was supposed to be the rival character to Mega Man, but he might as well be nearsighted.

Mega Man 3′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Gemini Man! !nɒM inimǝӘ

Gemini Man is a narcissist. He likes to check himself out in the mirror. Heck, he doesn’t need to check himself out in the mirror. His power is that he has a holographic clone to do just that. He’s a handsome robot if he did say so himself.

He’s afraid of snakes. That’s all.

I do wanna say, dumbest/silliest doesn’t mean worst. Gemini Man is my favorite of the Mega Man 3. Also what is his function? I imagine Wily and Light didn’t make him for no reason.

Honorable Mention(s):

Top Man, he’s the go-to dumb pick (along with Hard Man). And yes, there’s the question why he’s a top (my guess it was just the two Doctors having fun). But he does have a stated function, he searches for energy. Unlike Gemini Man who seems to be made to look at himself in the mirror.

Magnet Man. He’s the perfect blend of awesome and silly. Mega Man X wishes it could balance it’s tone like that.

Hard Man. This is a token pick.

Mega Man 4′s Silliest Robot Master is:

ACTUALLY, JUST KIDDING IT’S TIE BETWEEN ALL OF Dr. COSSACK’S ROBOT MASTERS!

I can’t pick. Because similarly to Mega Man 1, they were all made with a practical use in mind, and they’re all plausible, leaving only their appearances to judge.

Though out of all these practical bots. Bright Man might not get much use.

Bright Man is designed to explore dark areas, but like... How often does he get to do that? That’s not something I’d give sentience.

There’s also the matter of Bright Man being sorta redundant. Pharaoh Man is already made to explore dark areas, and has the skills to brace any danger. Maybe they work together? Iunno...

If you want, put Bright Man here, this is not a uselessness highlight. Though there’s still the matter he’s a light bulb. That’s plenty silly. Doesn’t change the fact he’ll kick your butt though.

So yeah, I guess Bright Man takes it. Also his Japanese Mega Man & Bass bio his good point is listed as an idea man.

Honorable Mention(s):

NOT Dust Man. If you can/can’t take a sentient vacuum seriously in a world where robots just gratuitously get sentience, that’s your problem.

Mega Man 5′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Stone Man!

Jumps.

Falls apart.

Recollects himself.

Repeat.

I could go into depth. But I won’t.

Please read Mega Man Megamix and it’s sequel Gigamix. No reason why.

Honorable Mention(s):

Wave Man. He’s more or less Bubble Man again. Except he’s more or a terrorism bot then a murder bot. Yes, there is a difference.

Gyro Man, he’s result for Wily’s budget running low. He wasn’t supposed to be a propeller robot. But he ended up as one.

Star Man. This is because of Megamix and Gigamix. But if his Mega Man & Bass bio is anything to go by, he has his Manga counterpart’s personality and I am so on board.

Charge Man. Choo Choo! He’s a steam locomotive, he runs partially on coal, an outdated fuel source. Wily made him to starve basically. Also he’s a train. I can’t hate that.

Crystal Man, he’s is my favorite of this bunch. This guy was made to make Wily money. Crystal Man makes fake crystals, and those fake crystals get sold. If not for that fact, I wouldn’t care.

Mega Man 6′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Flame Man!

Though seriously, another tough call. All of the MM6 Robots are silly, also made for useful purposes (except Tomahawk Man), I couldn’t pick one over the others. This one came down to the Mega Man & Bass bios.

Flame Man’s likes in Japan: Maintaining his mustache

Honorable Mention(s):

Yamato Man’s Japanese Bad Point: Bad with money

Mega Man 7′s Silliest Robot Master is:

No Contest!

Dude, I love Spring Man, no matter how dumb he is. And what really gets me is that some of Mega Man 7′s robots were stolen by Wily (like Freeze and Shade Man), but others were made by him (Slash and Turbo Man). Guess under which category Spring Man falls?

Yep, Wily made this guy himself.

I love this silly concept. I don’t what to tell you. His design may seem impractical, so of course he’s as much a threat as all the other Robot Masters are in this game with the exception of Slash Man. It’s beautiful. They should put him in the robot museum.

Honorable Mention(s):

Junk Man. See Crystal Man’s honorable mention, only with junk and recycling.

Turbo Man. Wily made a Transformer out of an old car because he didn’t have enough parts lying about.

Mega Man 8′s DUMBEST Robot Master is:

Sword Man!

I both like and hate Sword Man. The story behind him is that Wily stole a sword and made Sword Man to be literally attached to that sword.

That sword was too heavy so Wily went the extra mile in making a SWORD BASED ROBOT and gave his torso anti-gravity system. In gameplay that means that he can split his body in two.

Also he’s got the element of fire, he’s the game’s fire robot.

This is needless detail for a robot that just needed to be another Knight Man. Just with a sword. He’s overdesigned and I can’t decide if I like it or not.

Honorable Mention(s):

If not for Sword Man, Search Man would be my pick, here why: He’s got a similar thing going on as Sword Man. He’s a bit over designed, but I like it. Wily thought if he gave Search Man two heads he’d be super smart! But Search Man’s programmed with only has one personality. 2 Heads, 1 Mind. And he can only use one head at the time!

Mega Man & Bass′ Silliest Robot Master is:

Like... D-Do I need to say it? It has to be Pirate Man.

I got nothing to say about him other that I like him. I don’t like Mega Man & Bass much, but I love its Robot Masters. Every single one of them that aren’t Tengu, Cold Man, and Ground Man.

Okay, maybe I do have something to say about Pirate Man, he’s the silliest by default. Sure, Magic Man might look sillier, but Magic Man isn’t a Robot designed to steal. He’s supposed to entertain.

Overall, & Bass is an odd duck, there isn’t too much silly here. Because:

Dynamo Man is a children's tour guide too dangerous to be around for humans.

Magic Man joined the bad guys so he can get attention (Three Laws, his well-defined robotic butt).

Pirate Man’s a literal pirate (Three Laws, his plain robotic butt).

And Burner Man’s a maniac made to destroys forests! WHO DOES THAT!? And that’s not all, he’s told that if he doesn’t burn down a forest everyday, a bomb inside him will explode! THERE’S NO BOMB!!

There isn’t much to the others. But that’s all the screwed up you need.

Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chōsensha′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Take your pick!

A bullet based robot from an alternate future.

An air conditioner based robot from an alternate future.

A grill based robot from an alternate future.

A Japanese-style monk based robot from an alternate future.

A compass based robot from an alternate future. (Not pictured)

Or two clock based robots from an alternate future.

I can’t be mad at any of these, even if they seem like parodies of what a Robot Master should look like. You can say the same of MM5, 6, and 8.

Mega Man 9′s SeSilliest Robot Master is:

Splash Man!

Mega Man 9 has a similar problem I have with some other games. They all got a purpose in-story even if we don’t really get to see it. 9′s are useful and Splash Woman’s coast guard function is a good one.

I’m here to sadly do a hack writer-y: “Hurrr duurrrr. Sure is silly of them to only have a female Robot Master now!”

Also, people, she’s not the first female Robot Master, Roll is. Plum too if you wanna count her. It’s something they should do more though. Hornet Man was almost Honey Woman or something.

I’m not opposed to it.

Also this robot is allergic to robo-bees. That’s the real reason she’s chosen.

Honorable Mention(s):

Shout-out to the disqualified Fake Man. Nobody ever talks about Fake Man:

Don’t worry, he’s not a real Cop.

Mega Man 10′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Nitro Man!

People have stunt doubles. So why not their vehicles too, right? I love this guy.

I’ve avoided doing this, but I’m gonna quote the Mega Man Wikia here:

“Before contracting Roboenza, Nitro Man was a stunt robot who has appeared in many movies and TV shows. He is fairly bold and would be willing to do whatever stunts he is asked, regardless of the risks and the negative outcomes. Nitro Man is also the president of a robot stunt club, which has sixty members.”

How can you not love that? Plus he’s Transformer!

Protip: his weapon, the Wheel Cutter, may seem like a meh weapon. But hold the shoot button down and hug a wall.

Honorable Mention(s):

Pump Man: he’s an old school pump, it’s hard to beat that.

Strike Man gets dumb points for being sentient, I like him, but he shouldn’t have been a sentient robot.

Sheep Man people hated this guy, now people love him except for his weapon. I always liked him. I wonder why the hate though? Because he’s the first main line animal based Robot Master? Maybe? It was gonna happen eventually. Also he gets disillusioned with everything he does very quickly, he’s my spirit animal.

Mega Man 11′s Silliest Robot Master is:

Tundra Man!

This guy got bored of his job so he modified himself to be and look like an ice-skater. And he’s magnificent, gives Powered Up Elec Man a run for his money in flamboyancy.

I don’t have anything to add. Just look at him, his looks are his substance.

Honorable Mention(s):

Bounce Man, just Bounce Man, here’s another Mega Man Wikia quoting: “[Bounce Man] was originally developed as a crash test robot, but his stretching and bouncing abilities led him to become a fitness instructor at an indoor athletic center/amusement park called Boing-Boing Park, and his colorful body and friendly appearance made him a big hit with kids and adults alike. Despite being repurposed for combat by Dr. Wily and equipped with a Speed Gear, after which he took over Boing-Boing Park, Bounce Man is still the same large, cheerful, childlike robot he always was, still viewing everything as one big game.”

AND THAT’S ALL!

Thank you for putting up with this post if you got this far.

These are all my opinion, none of this is fact. And certainly not calling any of them bad, I’m not decrying them.

I just grew up on Top 10 videos where Mega Man, even the innocent Classic series was serious business. Something I was reminded of earlier today.

I get that Mega Man was gone for a while and everyone was in memorial mode(, and admittedly I forgot I was a fan of this series during the time Mighty No. 9 seemed like the savior), absolutely idolizing everything Mega Man.

But even before all of that Mega Man was something of a sacred cow, on the internet (mostly Mega Man 2). And it was all so serious business to a lot of people, and I didn’t like it was so serious business. From both people who know the lore and who don’t.

I just kinda wanted to express that I like that Mega Man Classic is silly and that’s okay. And it’s also okay to realize that every Mega Man game is silly on the surface of it, whether the games realize it or not. (I will say some games are better at pulling it off.)

I have no real point that’s not scatterbrained. I sacrificed sleep for this.

#mega man #mega man 1 #mega man 2 #mega man 3 #mega man 4 #mega man 5 #mega man 6 #mega man 7 #mega man 8 #mega man & bass #rockman & forte #mega man 9 #mega man 10 #mega man 11 #mega man classic

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let-me-make-you-proud · 5 years

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Tangled: The Series Q&A with Kait.

This is a recapitulation from today’s (September 14, 2019) Questions and Answers session with Kait on the Tangled Discord Server.

Q: Which Disney princesses outside of Tangled the series can you see Varian being friends with? Nonfranchise ones included.

A: I think Belle is the first one who comes to mind!! She’s super studious and goes against the grain…not to mention her father is an inventor who’s a little off-base! 🙂 I think he’d be super comfortable experimenting with Belle and her dad and reading awesome stories! (Maybe even sharing the Tales of Flynn Rider with her! …Assuming she hasn’t read it! Haha. ) He could also eat ham sandwiches with Anna. Sorry. Second thought. Lol!!

Q: So Kait, as a storyboard artist on the show what kind of little details, quirks or creative touches did you or any other artists put into Varian scenes you or others storyboarded?

A: Ha!! Any acting scene with Varian I had…I pretty much based off of Anna Lencioni (my best friend/ another board artist on the show.) Anna makes these very specific expressions and she gestures to herself a lot and closes her eyes and creases her brows and says things like “A-huh! Actually…” or “Um!!” Before making a point and it’s always reminded me of him.

She kept a “flynnolium” prop from Halloween with green goo in a vial in her cubicle at work so long it grew mold. She said she was studying it. She found scrap metal in her boot one day. She has a basement lab for her experiments and crafts. She befriended two raccoons at her last apartment. She is the most accident-prone person with freckles I’ve ever met…she’s pretty much him.

Jeremy Jordan’s reads give you so much to work with…and I love that character so much I feel a natural sort of understanding of how he might say something or do something…but Anna would always do these specifically Anna things that I had to use for Varian.

Q: Do you have any specific advice for aspiring storyboard artists or people who aspire to work in animation?

A: Gestural drawings help you learn to draw fast…which is a very important part of storyboarding. I would say storyboarding‘ s biggest requirements are clarity and speed. Lots of productions have different requirements in terms of what they look for from story artists. Tangled‘s leadership cared a lot about drawing skill, animation, layout, etc. because it more strongly informed the animation studio to have those things. The show I’m working on now (Monsters at Work) is a 3D show…so for our production, the emphasis is more on story and speed. We pitch ideas more than we pitch drawings…so clarity is important and acting is too, but we’re far less precious about tying down drawings and animating since we shift into the 3D production pipeline after story. The boards are still very important…but the more technical aspects are a *little* less so. The focus is just more on story and character and what the board artists can bring to their scenes.

So I’d say just practice drawing…maybe try and give someone a prompt or ask a friend for one. Choose a theme! Maybe vampires? What’s the worst thing that could happen to a vampire? What’s the best thing? What’s the funniest thing? What if they were also an alien? Or fused with a werewolf? Or chained to one? What would happen? Giving yourself a starting point for an idea will inspire you to explore all the possibilities for humor, drama, etc. in that idea. If you’re struggling to give yourself a prompt, try looking online…or maybe choosing a song you like or a passage from a book for inspiration.

There’s also this really fun thing you can do to study cinematography and shot composition called a “three tone” exercise. Basically…put on your favorite (live action) film, grab a sketchbook, grab a black and grey marker, and use the white of the page for your third tone. What you wanna do is (as you’re watching or while pausing) sketch a small thumbnail using only three grey tones of what you see on the screen. Draw the shot- where the characters are, try and duplicate the lighting…it teaches you a lot! 🙂 (Phew!)

Q: Do you have any fun non-spoiler head canons about Varian?

A: I think his favorite dessert is apple pie and I think he bakes recreationally very often! He’s probably a good cook. (Though he may have one or two minor accidents……a burnt thing here and there. Minor oil splatters….haha!!)

Q: What’ve been your favorite episodes, both to storyboard and in general? Of course, no specifics if it’s S3

A: Haha! Well…What The Hair and Queen for A Day have special places in my heart because they were such big moments for my favorite character…(Varian, haha.) But I’d say the episodes I had the most fun boarding are all in season 3!!! Which is exciting! I have to start compiling some work to post! 🙂 I think the episode I had the most fun with is one you guys will really enjoy.

Q: Will we get some interesting surprises (In Season 3)?

A: Without any spoilers- absolutely!! The show is always full of those.

Q: So We’ve heard many fans express why they love Varian as a charcter before, I’d love to know what drew you and Anna to Varian as well and why you guys personally found him to be a great character.

A: When Shane Prigmore originally pitched the character to me, he was much younger. He was like 11 or so, I think? Maybe 12? He’s still pretty young…but what Shane said was that he wanted him to go from this wide-eyed kid to this dark, angry person whose bangs fell over those wide, bright eyes…just full of rage. That idea was super interesting to me…it just hit on something in character development that I felt like I’d never exactly seen before? He was so young and it was such an interesting idea to me to make a child the villain and to give that child a strong reason to be angry? It felt like it was taking this child very seriously, which I appreciate. It felt very real and very dark.

The thing that threw me through a loop but also evolved my fascination with the character was Jeremy Jordan’s casting. I listened to a lot of the auditions they had for various actors and I had seen a ton of Shane’s concept art of the character…a lot of them were VERY different than what we have now. One version Ricky Roxburgh (writer) contributed to had Varian cast as an adult in the story. But when I heard Jeremy I felt like I totally understood who Varian really was.

He was a well-intentioned disaster with unchecked emotions. That. Is me! Haha!! I see myself in his imperfections, his emotionality in spite of his creative and often intellectual thinking. He wants to ascend to these levels he may not be ready to ascend to…he feels this need to prove himself and seek validation. I don’t know, I guess I relate to that! And I’m just a sucker for good guys gone bad. The other half of this, of course, is that he’s very charming and cute and super reminds me of my best friend, Anna Lencioni.

Q: Which character do you most like seeing interacting with Varian?

A: It’s a little spoilery for me to reveal that……..but I think you guys are gonna know when it happens! Haha!

I can’t wait to post THOSE boards

That’s actually right out of the episode I think I liked boarding the most, haha.

Q: If there was one prop (furniture, object, the like) from the Tangled series that could be made real and you could keep, what would it be..?

A: I think it’d have to be those little alchemy orbs that Varian throws? They just suddenly clean the whole castle hallway somehow and like…could use me some of that. He also has the one that removes stains from tablecloths, so. I’m sloppy. That’d be a big help. Haha!

Also his staff is pretty cool 😉, I boarded/created that staff…David Lee (prop designer) did its final design…haha

Q: I have a question about a scene in season 1. When Varian got back the first part of the scroll he mentioned that it took him a while to translate it. Has he really been able to read it or has it been a bluff?

A: Varian can indeed translate what’s on the scroll. 😉

Q: Do you have any networking advice for those trying to get into the animation industry?

A: Post your work!! Make it easily accessible, tag it well, just show what you’ve got online! Upload boards, animatics, drawings, etc. Creating an online presence can really help put your name out there. Apply for internships, jobs. I know it’s hard to network because a lot of industry professionals don’t have time to answer specific questions or give portfolio reviews…so it’s sort of important to take some initiative on that and be self-motivated.

For me, I studied the portfolios of Disney feature story artists, CalArts students, etc. and tried to structure the presentation of my work based on that. Also, it helped me get a sense of what pieces of work would best showcase where I was trying to go and what I was trying to do. I’d ask yourself those questions as you develop a portfolio and artistic voice online! 🙂

My first feature job after a trainee program in New York at Blue Sky happened because Doug Sweetland (Pixar animator, feature director, awesome dude) found my work online and liked it. He just reached out based on that!

Shane Prigmore actually reached out to me for Tangled similarly.

Q: Besides Varian, do you have a favorite character that you’ve boarded?

A: I always love Eugene. He’s the second character I think I’m most like. His acting was really fun to play with and I felt like I could push his expressions a lot because he’s so funny. I loved boarding Lance too (I boarded a lot of Lance in S3!!) but MAN was he hard to draw, haha! His face shape is just really hard to draw at certain angles.

Q: With Varian cosplay that is going on, what Disney character would you like to see Varian dress up as next?

A: Jack Skellington! Halloween is afoot. Jack is another well-intentioned disaster. Guess I have a type!

Q: What’s Varian’s opinion on raccoons, are they his favourite animal?

A: I imagine it’s because Ruddiger is always finding interesting things in the trash and giving them to Varian to use in his experiments. Also, they’re fat and cute.

Q: There’s a bit of an argument going on over how many freckles Varian has. Can you confirm how many he has?

A: Ha!!! Yes…one second… 14!!

Q: How big do you think Corona is? Like Vatican City small or Arendelle big?

A: You know, with the wall and all, it actually feels a little on the smaller side to me? I’m sure there’s a little bit of discrepancy between the movie’s version of Corona and our version…but based on where we went within Corona on the show, I’d say it feels on the smaller side.

Q: Are there any non-spoiler Varian scenes or moments that didn’t make the cut that you can share?

A: MAN. Yes. There is one scene that changed after I rolled off the episode and I’m very sad about it. I’ll post it after the episode airs! There was also a line of Varian’s that I boarded to a specific read from Jeremy Jordan and that read was not chosen in editorial later so…I’ll post that one too, haha!

Q: What is your favourite song from the first two seasons so far?

A: All my favorite songs are in season threeeeee…hahahaha!! I think Let Me Make You Proud or the Buddy Song are my favorites. Buddy Song still gets stuck in my head now and then.

Q: What do you think Varian would order at a drive-thru? Specifically at chipotle 😂

A: Chipotle isn’t a drive thru!! Hahaha He’d get the kid’s quesadilla from chipotle. I think Varian is a fries/chips kind of person…something to snack on while he works! He probably also likes milkshakes.

Q: (Continuation from the question above) Chocolate or vanilla?

A: He’d revolutionize by combining them both. FOR SCIENCE!

Q: What is, in your opinion, the most challenging part of varian’s design to draw?

A: His goggles, hahaha. Or just his…hair in general.

Well it’s funny too because when you board these guys, you get used to doing a shorthand for them and then when you go to draw them FOR REAL you realize how complicated that actually is and how wrong your shorthand actually was? Hahahaha

Q: is Varian ticklish at all?

A: I feel like Varian, Eugene, and Lance are all equally ticklish. To the point of absurdity. Cass would fight it as long as she could…but when it finally got to her, she’d laugh uncontrollably. Rapunzel, she’s the TICKLER.

Q: What do you think Varian opinion and belief on magic is now that he’s seen it with his own eyes?

A: I imagine that he certainly believes in it now and no longer underestimates its powers…but I imagine he’s ultimately more comfortable staying in his own lane and working with worldly properties!

Q: If Varian would have been able to meet Demanitus…how would their conversation had looked like?

A: I feel like Varian would have had a TON of questions about his legendary device and whether or not he truly traveled dimensions.

Q: Did Varian have any other friends in old Corona before he met rapunzel?

A: Probably not many…he’s a bit of a hermit. I think Ruddiger is his best friend……. It’s sad but I also think that’s kind of why it hurt so bad when Rapunzel wasn’t able to help him. Also why he was SO excited to have Rapunzel, Cass, and Eugene come visit.

I think the village looked at Varian as a little unstable or worrisome. I’m sure everyone knew he was very nice…but they were likely very unnerved by his inventions.

Q: Do you think Varian ever tried to synthesise gold or the elixir of life like a real alchemist?

A: I’ve wondered that myself!! I think his alchemy has proven to be more about other people…helping others, making people proud. Maybe if someone he cared about was in need.

Q: If you were to meet Varian in real life, what would you say to him?

A: What elixir did you make to get THAT kind of volume? His hair’s so POOFY! Honestly, I’d probably just give him a hug.

Q: How much does Varian know or remember about his mom?

A: I’d say about as much as the photo of her on the wall.

Q: Is there spoiler about his hair streak? Or is it just by design?

A: It’s totally by design. I think it’s safe to assume it’s probably the result of some lab accident!

Q: In what ways is Jeremy Jordan like Varian?

A: I don’t know Jeremy Jordan personally, haha! But I think a lot of these inflections he adds to Varian sort of off the cuff probably come very naturally to him. I know he often wants to do his own pass at the musical arrangement Alan Menken writes…like he’ll want to do something a little different, in his own way, and it will change the song completely!! In an awesome way. That’s a little Varian-esque. In the “Let Me Make You Proud” reprise…Alan Menken had sung that “they are going to pay…they…will…pay” all in a low, downward tone. Jeremy wanted to scream it and make it powerful and angry and loud when he said “PAY” and you could just hear the spite in his voice for the “they will pay.” Genius!

Q: What was the most shocking moment/revelation of the series to you (minus anything season 3)?

A: It’s hard to say because I knew most of what was going to happen long, long ago. I think one of the things that made me go “oh dang!” was something Tom Canfield boarded. It’s that part in Destinies Collide where Lance slices the entire statue down the middle with a sword. What a BAMF!

Q: What were your thoughts on the early concept of Varian having an apple orchard and being a farm kid instead of a young alchemist?

A: He still kinda has those things! Quirin is a farmer as well as the village leader and there are apples on their little farm estate! 🙂 I think that makes Varian very unassuming as a mad little scientist. I’m sure that’s how (Ruddiger and Varian) met! Remember, he used his purple tacky goo stuff to catch raccoons so they wouldn’t eat the crops! And Ruddiger’s favorite snack is apples. 😉

Q: What is his official height and weight?

A: Smol.

Q: How did you guys come up with Varian’s name? And was there any other name suggestions for him before the name ‘Varian’ was chosen?

A: I’m not sure who came up with that name, actually! I’m sure it has something to do with the meaning of the word “variant” which means something that varies, changes in form.

Q: What’s his last name?

A: His last name!! I have NO idea and it bothers me!!! A Disney magazine referred to Varian, Ruddiger, and Quirin as “The Ruddiger Family” and I still haven’t stopped laughing about that.

Q: What sad Disney movie moments would make him cry?

A: Oof. Lion King.

Q: What musicals do think Varian would enjoy?

A: Little Shop of Horrors! I think he’d see himself in Seymour! Or Wicked…you know, that villain arc.

Q: How did Arianna and Fred meet?

A: I actually don’t know off the top of my head!

Q: Would Varian enjoy rollercoasters?

A: I think he’d enjoy how they’re MADE and then scream his head off while riding one, throw up his cotton candy and corndog, and go play carnival games instead. Then get mad that they’re rigged.

Q: So what comes next for you now that the series is almost over? Any big plans?

A: Well the series wrapped for production a while ago! I’ve been on another show for almost a year now! 🙂 I’m working on the new Disney+ show Monsters at Work as a director! It’s an awesome, awesome show…totally next-level…I’m shocked that I’m getting to be apart of something like this. It’s a direct sequel to the movie that serves as an office comedy (a la The Office, Parks and Rec) and has so many characters that fit immediately into the Monsters Inc world. Monsters Inc is my favorite Pixar movie…so I literally come to work and leave work on the same high! It’s an awesome, awesome show with a great crew! 🙂 It’s also just really exciting to be apart of the first original animated property for D+!

Q: How would you compare working as a director to working as a storyboard artist?

A: It’s hard work, just as hard, but in a different way! For me personally, I’m a little easily fatigued by drawing? I get a little creatively frustrated because my thoughts move quicker than my hand. Or because I don’t always feel like I can execute in a drawing what I’m thinking in the way that I want? Part of that is just being an artist…and it’s not ALL the time that I feel that way…but I think I have a certain stamina for drawing that I found challenging to increase.

Directing is just different! It has a lot more to do with managing a team, communication, coordinating, listening, speaking up, problem-solving, being very aware of story as it applies to ALL parts of a production. I don’t draw as often anymore. You have to consider a lot more…more people, more constraints, more difficulties, more opinions, more solutions…it’s just MORE. And you also still have to draw! 🙂 It’s very busy work, but it’s AMAZING and I love it. I feel like I’m contributing to animated storytelling a lot more in this role, actually. I love working with people, I love workshopping, and I love helping! I’m also just spoiled to be working with some great people right now. It’s a blast.

Q: Are any Tangled: The Series crew joining you on that show?

A: Yes!! Tom Caufield and Wendy Sullivan were on it for a minute, but they’ve both moved on to Dreamworks recently! James Suhr (board artist), Isabelle Gedigk (season 3 board artist), Naomi Hicks and Casey Coffey (revisionists), David Lee (props), Ricky Roxburgh (writer), and I are all working together again! It’s awesome.

Q: Does Varian, deep down, blame himself for the amber?

A: I believe he does.

Q: How do you deal with artist’s block?

A: I try to think about the intention behind what I’m doing. Why is the scene I’m working on very important to the story? If it feels unimportant or boring, how can I make it interesting? What can I do on my end to make it more inspiring or fun without going too far off the rails and still serving the scene’s purpose?

If it’s not work-related, I try and start with some fan art or something familiar for me to draw. I have a lot of scribbly Varians in the margins of a lot of my sketch documents. I use him as a warm-up a lot. It helps build my confidence to draw something familiar/ that I think I can draw pretty well.

Q: What’s the hardest scene you’ve ever had to board?

A: Oh God. ANYTHING with action. I’m not an action gal. Lots of stuff in S3. I was board partners with Wendy Sullivan and ended up getting a lot of action to board even though she’s WAY better at it than me!! It was an interesting challenge…but it was very, very challenging. Ben (Co-EP) was a great mentor to me in the scene I did for the mid season. He was very patient with me, despite my shortcomings as an action board artist, haha. I enjoy boarding for comedy much more.

Kait: Anyways, I should probably head off now! Thank you guys so much for all the questions!!!! You’re awesome! I hope you’re all super excited for S3! It’s a great one.

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #varian #Q&A #Tangled crew #Question & Answers #Kait #ruddiger #Rapunzel #Eugene #Lance #Cassandra

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stepphase · 3 years

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Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay: 9 things to know before playing

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay: Of course, it is a game that arrive after eight years of anticipation and hype. Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay have officially launch in Global. As well as, it is already a broken Steam records. In fact, its fans expect of a game from CD Projekt Red. Also, the studio of The GTA 6 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a massive game. With a gigantic open world that is explore in the Night City.

After all, i have spent 40 hours with this game. And i feel fraction of what Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay have to offer. As well as, i have notice few thing which is powering through Cyberpunk 2077 weekend.

Image: CD Projekt Red

1. Loot every single thing

After all, here is a way to make money is to sell armor. In fact, a lot of enemy will drop their armor or gun after get killed. Just pick every single thing and sell them. After all, Crafting is big element of the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay. Also, you can craft armor, weapons and much more. As well as, you can use dismantle weapon to upgrade weapons.

2. What difference backstories make

After all, when you will start the game you will get 3 option with backstories for V: Nomad, Street Kid, Corpo.

In fact, there is 2 main impacts. The first effect the open hour of the game. As well as, if you will start in a Night City, different Characters, it is depend your choosing. Of course, the Corpo is in office building. And the Street Kid is in Sleazy bar. As well as, Nomad is in the Badlands desert outside of the Night City. After all, After gameplay of an hour you will come at the sam epath with fun for hire with your pal Jackie.

Af course, the second effect is with a different dialogue option that is base on the backstory that you choose. After all, when i went for Corpo, that give V ability to politic his own way to certain sticky situations. Also, your backstory won't make difference.

3. Don't just play the main quest

After all, i have spent 5 days around to get the Cuberpunk 2077 Gameplay review. Also, i force to ignore side quests and focus on the main storyline. Of course, Don't do this.

As well as, the Cyberpunk 2077 story is strengths and its relationship between V and Johnny Silverhand. As well as, the mercenary play by the Keanu Reeves with a characters called V. Of course, the Cyberpunk 2077 is explore a Night City. Also, Gameplay itself is encourages and prompting you regularly and take break with the main quest for other stuff.

In fact, its amazing to play Side Quests then the Main Quests. Also, from reining in seven AI-powered cabs is rogue to solve mystery of slain mayor. After all, it is my favorite that the rogue cabs have personalities often legitimately funny.

As well as, the more Side Quests will give you the access of the better endings. After all, i finish the game in 37:30:26 hours with less Side Questing. In fact, it is really clear that the ending i did in Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay and there is many possible ending. Also, i get the worst ending by the way.

Note: Do more Side Quests to get more resolute and satisfying ending for V.

4. Do gigs to get cash

As well as, in Side Quests, to help a character to complete overriding goal with "gigs". After all, their is a more mercantile: And a "fixer" will definitely ask you to go do a job for them. Just like an incapacitate enemy and sneak through hideout and place a tracker on vehicle. Or to take risk from one place to another place. After all, your'e a gun for hire.

In fact, this things is fun with challenging and it will take 15 or 20 minutes maximum. Of course, You will definitely need the money in Cyberpunk just to buy weapon, cars, and upgrades. Also, i find these gigs is the best way to make it.

5. Stack attributes

After all, you will get option at begin of the game is to distribute points for attributes: Body Reflex, Cool, Intelligence, and Technical Ability. As well as, you will have perks that you can unlock in attributes.

In fact, i spread the attribute points and perks senievenly. And i also have idea that skill trees in most AAA games. After all, i end up unlocking all perks eventually. In fact, you are better off choosing that how you wanna approach combat and tailor attributes point and perks.

Of course, there is a 2 ways to handle the combat: Stealth and Force but there is a subdivisions. Also, you can specialize in the meelee weapons, and fisticuffs or gunplay. Also, you can optimize sleuthing hacking abilities and stealth kill offense. After all, the cool attributes and the related perks will make enemies harder to detect you. As well as, you can hack tech to distract enemies. Also, throwing daggers.

In fact, you can adjust your style in game but do not do what i did. Just try to be balance.

Breathtaking Johnny Silverhand. Screenshot by CNET

6. Pump Body and Technical Ability to open doors

After all, there is a Body and Technical Ability to attributes both highly useful to navigate Night City. In fact, both is use to open lock doors. Also, have more benefits like getting higher Body points that will lets you hijack cars and open parked cars. In fact, there is a Technical Ability that will let you hack mainframes to get money and to crafting components.

Breathtaking Johnny Silverhand. Screenshot by CNET

7. No two playthroughs will be the same

After all, the choices is really matter in Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay. Also, it is a true in Main Storyline. As well as, do not go in game with impression that make small and cosmetic differences. How you complete missions and react it will have a drastic effect.

After all, I have a suggestion that open section in game and you are task with getting a piece of the military tech from the gang. As well as, there is a option to meet with operative from mega corporation that tech was stolen. In fact, when I demoed game in August i didn't bother meet the operative and a result to blast my way out of gangs hideout. After all, i play this time i meet operative and result her corp's forces to shootout with gang and leaving me scurry away easily.

8. Do not use fast travel everytime

As well as, this is a similar vein. Also there is a fast travel point to the city that you will be able to use it. After all, when objective is other side of Night City. In fact, you would not have the time to dally dilly but you will often be rewarded for travelling via motorbike and car.

Of course, there is a lot of things to do in Night City. As well as, you are bound to find something if you will travel manually. After all, you will definitely find multiple cool things as i find regular stops en route to next quest location after see it. And the icon beckoning me into the HUD map.

After all, the Night City Police Department will pay you if you break it up and apprehend the perps. As well as, the Fighting crime yield solid loot that you are left disappointed with payoff.

9. You can fail Side Quests

After all, you will definitely fail Side Quests and would not get chance to re-do them.

In fact, when the first time i experience i was midway through a Quest revolving a killer that is trying to seek forgiveness from the dude he killed. Also, at the end of the Quest, one of that dialogue option is "Alright, i've seen enough". As well as, it is reverse psychology trick that i choose. "OK, fine" and the Quest just ended.

After all, this is same for challenges. As well as, one "gig" taking part in shooting contest with rifle with the top prize. As well as, there is not a single option to redo it. I Just Lost it.

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay: After all, Night City is like a deranged experiment in a social Darwinism. As well as, it is designed by a bored researcher who keeps one thumb permanently on the fast forward button.

In fact, that line is from William Gibson in 1984 novel Neuromancer. Of course, it help to define genre known as the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay. As well as, the book conjures world to cutting edge trends are embarrassing cliches and desperate hustlers rise overnight and also fade without the trace.

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay by the Witcher studio CD Projekt Red in Night City. As well as, the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay was announced in 2012 and that is based on the tabletop series which was launched in 1988. Of course, it is a years of work that is report months of the brutal crunch time. In fact, CD Projekt Red have deliver on incredibly ambitious vision. As well as, it is a vast virtual city with complex narrative and also the roleplaying system.

As well as, it is dont by playing elements straight and safe. Of course, the Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay is frequently satifying and also a impressive game. Also despite setting in fast moving future that is never surprising.

Trailer

https://youtu.be/BO8lX3hDU30

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay take the place in eponymous year 2077 which is at the Night City. As well as, it is a California Megalopolis where interlocking freeways thread between the skyscrapers and the street markets. In fact, you can imagine Los Angeles with the mile high holo billboards and the pedestrain friendly urban planning. As well as, there is a de facto breakip of the America.

Also, that is failed urban utopia has become an autonomous zone that is dominated by gangs and multinational corporations. After all, on every single street level, the surface has plastered with sexed-up ads and also nihilistic graffiti. As well as, it is an ultra-rich have retreated in cavernous hotels and apartments with gilded servant class. After all, the citizens disposable and the body is malleable, ripe for the dramatic cybernetic modding which is blends with chrome.

In fact, your protagonist is mercenary named V that is hail from three possible background. As well as, 2077's is small corporate overclass and the Night City teeming slums or the nomadic group at outside the city. As well as, V is a neon hair corporate taider for insance. Also, with a short origin story mission that is be drag in bloogy interdepartment conflict. Also, V is countless freelancer drifting at Night City demimonda. In fact, join heist arrange by flinty femme fatale and naturally its job falls..

Sexed-up Billboards, Nihilistic Graffiti, and Literally Gilded Service Class

After all, V is a witness cold-blooded into the crime of the Night City’s. As well as, in ensuing chaos and coverup. Also, its ends with a piece of dangerous experiment technology. Also, they resurrect the digital ghost of the Night City legend: In fact, the metal-armed punk rocker is the terrorist Johnny Silverhand and voice by the Keanu Reeves. As well as, Johnny’s suffering frustrated outbursts and cynical quips.

After all, they also figure out that who built tech and how to stop the deadly effects. As well as, appealing to the criminals and also corporate loyalists who will stab them in the back.

Of course, this is a threat in a narrative that is big by a standard to the open-world games. After all, i finish Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay in 37:30:26 hours. As well as, that covers major Side Missions and cruising around the Night City. Also, I left a few small tasks undone.

After all, Every single neighborhood is pack with jobs just to discover, random crime to stop, and conversation to overhear. After all, when you become the more powerful, crime bosses, and local fixers then start to ask out for help. As well as, they will try to sell you a secondhand car. Also, in the opening mission, you will definitely find major endgame story branches that is depend on your loyalties.

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 map's overwhelming experience. With the waypoint icons, pack and selecting a given item requires zoom in. As well as, the game does a good job of spin extends side arcs from core missions. Also, it is a calamitous first act, that given multiple leads to the main goal.

As well as, they tracked down require the cutting deals with the characters and also contacting heists to other participants. After all, these partners will ask for help with their problems. it Also, continue subplot to the main story and open doors to fresh Night City subculture. In fact, you will find more gigs but the several option section that will feel like V and Johnny Saga.

Night City future are eternally relevant

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 tropes have survive because of the ring true. As well as, Cyberpunk 2077 depics hyper-stratified societ. Which is rewards cruelty and exploits vulnerability, also commercializes everything. This game conventions help it avoid facile event references that is still feeling contemporary.

After all, Cyberpunk 2077 falls in irritating caricature. As well as, V and Jackie develop blend for streetwise cynicism and buried hopefulness. As well as, those dialogue is overladen with spanish aside. After all, this game is straightforwardly reproduces 1980s Cyberpunk's surface of level fascinating with China and Japan. in fact, it is arming japanese gangster with katanas. And building Japanese Characters around archetypes like a honor-bound samurai.

After all, the USSR hanging with them, and the Cyberpunk 2077's gender and race worldbuilding is feel like an alt-history relic. Also, it will let you customize V's voice and body shape.

After all, the tabletop series author Mike Pondsmith have stat that the rules of detail fictional society is political. As well as, the Cyberpunk import social conflict for a dramatic effect like an long subplot about the sex workers. In fact, its vulnerable class of the real people. Also, its trying to overthrow bosses.

In fact, these conflicts do not feel fail or successful social commentary. Also, its stock neo-noir conceits which happen just to involve oppression. Also, Cyberpunk 2077 is a brand of exploitation. After all, it is a piece of fiction that does not add stories and ideas it is borrowing.

After all, CD Projekt Red has created a sprawl populate a world. where meandering freeways also outlying deserts and the rows of factory-farm also greenhouses feel beautiful craft.

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay is a powerful machine with million slick toggles, but they feel disconnected

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 areas have the shortcut doors to the high-tech or high-strength players can unlock. As well as, it is not clever puzzle-box design you had find in the Dishonored or Deus Ex. Also, you can choose to kill the enemies, a thread of the missions where you have to bring the targets in alive. After all, this option affect gameplay style or character interactions.

After all, your background and stats in the Cyberpunk will produce extra dialogue choices. As well as, they rarely change how conversations unfolded. In fact, a lot of game is roleplaying choices are crude binaries or illusions. Also, the Cyberpunk 2077 is powerful machine with million slick toggles. But more of them will feel disconnected.

After all, its a silver lining for me just like a reviewer and granted because Cyberpunk 2077 pre-release for PC build was fully unpredictable bugs. As well as, its mercenery keeps reappear behind me when i knock him unconscious and also forcing me toshoot him. As well as, when i try to move their body some enemies clipped through floors and exploded.

I can destroy you just with my brain with a four different ways

After all, this game is open-ended roleplaying and few elements reminiscent of sims just like Deus Ex. As well as, purchase weapons and clothes are supplemented by the upgrade tree for games key stat. Also, dexterity, strength, and cool. After all, you can visit back to the alley technicians which is called ripper docs. As well as, they also install bionic weapons and swappable upgrades with perks.

As well as, Cyberpunk 2077 can approach a lot of areas by slip past enemies undetected. Also, you can shoot everyone. After all, there is a clever hacking minigame that provides blanket benefits and making enemies much more vulnerable or glitching out the security camera. After all, there are “quickhacks” for actions. As well as, in stealth, you can deactivating turrets or making vending machines chirp to distract the enemies. In combat, you can fry the enemy's brains by making implants malfunction.

After all, this system will help to carry the Cyberpunk's considerable length. Instead of the rewarding hyper-specialization and the game encourages versatility also mixing up firefights with the sneaky sections. As well as, Quickhacks add a touch of much-appreciated absurdity to the combat. In fact, it is satisfying to infiltrate a criminal hideout. Also, incapacitate cluster of the mooks by uploading some contagious poison brain virus. As well as, wait for their buddies to notice you, start a shootout with futuristic-looking “tech pistol”. Then knock the final gangster out with the mind powers.

Modern Cyberpunk 2077 is the broad vibe and a specific retro-future setting

After all, this saga is felt rote. In fact, it is Dungeons & Dragons codified that is Tolkienesque fantasy. As well as, Cyberpunk 2077 is distilled recognizable elements from influential fiction like Blade Runner and Neuromancer. After all, it is a loosely define cyberpunk genre that begins as a ground to space operas. Also, the post-apocalyptic is wastelands and heavily influenced by the hardboiled fiction.

As well as, it is permeated science fiction which has innovation cliches. Nowadays, “cyberpunk” has 2 contradictory meanings: tech-heavy futuristic media which is felt organically grown from the present-day to social conditions. Also, its specific set of the 1980s and 1990s influenced retro-future noir conventions.

After all, Cyberpunk 2077 sits in the timeline where the Soviet Union still exists. As well as, Japan is an economic and cultural superpower that is with chaotic warzones and big cities. In fact, this game set decades after when original tabletop release. And the CD Projekt Red tune down retro aesthetic enough just to avoid ostentatious anachronism.

Of course, there is a periodic flashback to an earlier era and also creating a strangely hilarious setup. Where 2077 is look sort of from this real-world in 2020. After all, fictional 2020 is actually a sci-fi 1980s right down to the vinyl record and the eye mount camcorders.

Bugs

After all, if the Cyberpunk is a game for the perfection than i consider it is a serious problem. As well as, i hope CD Projekt Red will definitely fix it. As well as, it is roll out one round of pre-release bug patches. Also, it is a huge sandbox with autosave system, which is not a deal-breakers.

Of course, the Cyberpunk is hype as triumph of the next-generation gaming. Also, it is sheer size which will take advantage of the modern computer and console specs. Of course, my PC is really powerful enough for games.

Cyberpunk 2077 is released on December 10th on PC, Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X, Fifa 21, Capsix Robotics, GTA 6 Project America, gta 6 release date/characters/map/news/rumors, cyberpunk 2077 release date, cyberpunk 2077 warn streamers to avoid dmca strikes,

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iwontstayhidden · 4 years

Text

Inadequate.

Summary: After Putting Others First, Logan believes that the other sides have wanted him out of the picture all along. Fortunately, Virgil, Patton, and Roman help him to see how much he is truly appreciated. [We’re gonna address all of the insecure!Logan stuff that's been building up and validate him with Platonic LAMP and wholesome talks.]

Read on Ao3

______________________________________________________________________

Not that any of you care, but I am unharmed, and I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just here to deliver one last fact, and then I will do you all a favor and spare you my company.”

Logan sank out with a heavy sigh. His intentions were to return to some new research on an unusual stellar explosion, but he found himself distracted by recent events with Thomas and the sides. Logan thought that by reducing his physical presence to a text bubble for the latest episode, he would decrease the likelihood of the others becoming irritated with him. But this did not seem to be the case at all, based on the evidence mounting in Logan’s mind. Roman said that he “very much did not succeed” in being less invasive. Patton expressed gratitude that Logan’s factoids (an inaccurate term that set Logan even more on edge) were optional this time. Had they always been so vexed by Logan’s facts? And as his function in the group was to provide logic, did this further imply that they are always aggravated by Logan himself? By his mere presence?

Logan found himself pacing back and forth, an activity he usually deemed futile after seeing Virgil work himself up while pacing countless times. But the more he allowed himself to review previous interactions, the more he became sure of this pattern of detestation. And the worst part was that each of the sides had generously attempted to inform Logan that they did not want to hear from him; did not require his assistance! But he was so caught up in his facts. In sharing everything he knew with those he considered to be his companions. Perhaps he had been mistaken in thinking that their feelings for him were affectionate. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time Logan was fooled by the complexity of human emotion and relationships. His friends had been clear all along…

“Logan? Shut your ever-flapping gobtalker.”

“Oh hush, sub-astute teacher.”

“Not a good time, Logan...”

“Oh shut up , nerdy Wolverine.”

“I’m afraid this is a benched trial for you.”

Logan felt himself losing physical and mental control as these memories grew louder and more insistent. He backed up, feeling vaguely dizzy, and registered that he hit the edge of his bed.

Simultaneously, there was a knock on the door. “Logan, are you in there?” Virgil. Logan sighed, which sounded like a loud gasp for air. Perhaps Virgil might be useful in this moment, at least for temporarily grounding him and decreasing this budding anxiety. “Yes, you may enter, Virgil.” Logan thought that his response sounded quite normal, a decent cover-up for his current state of mind. He was proven wrong immediately upon Virgil’s entrance. “Are they still- woah dude, what’s up? You look like me at 2am” Logan swallowed, which felt considerably more difficult than it should, considering humans swallow saliva an average of 500 to 700 ti-

Virgil interrupted Logan’s racing thoughts. “Okay, I can basically hear you thinking, and it’s making me anxious. What the hell happened up there? I leave you guys alone for one freaking episode and you come back looking like you’re about to put me out of a job. Who do I need to punch?” Logan offered a weak smile, and Virgil raised an eyebrow. “I am- I’ve discovered- I am experiencing some...unpleasant thoughts which appear to have induced some level of physicalized anxiety” Logan rushed out, looking away. A pause. Now you’ve done it, Logan. You’re the embodiment of logic, this display of emotions is unfitting! Virgil is going to be just as baffled as you are, and he won’t fix it because he thinks you’re a freak. Let him leave now so you can continue to reflect upon how useless you’ve been to Thomas and the others.

“Logan, hey. Can you hear me? You don’t have to look, that’s okay. Can you feel what you’re sitting on right now?” Logan closed his eyes. “Th-this feels like the floor? But I wasn’t- I wasn’t here a minute ago…” Logan flushed, frustrated by his stuttering and rapid heart rate. “Yeah, you slipped down there a minute ago. L, I don’t want to freak you out but it seems like you’re having a minor panic attack. Luckily, you’ve stumbled upon the expert. Heh. Cause I’m...ok, nope, wrong time for dark humor…” Logan willed himself to glance up at Virgil and started laughing in spite of himself. Virgil joined in after a minute of half-hearted glaring. “Okay, deflections unfortunately don’t work in the long-term. It uh, usually helps me to do some deep breathing if you wanna try that?” Logan nodded, guilt tugging at him for making Virgil deal with this.

Afterwards, Logan did feel more in control, at least in a physical sense (he should have thought of that, he knows how to address a panic attack, why couldn’t he just think-) “Thank you for your assistance with this...minor anxiety attack, Virgil. I do feel badly that you had to witness and address it, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I’ll be fine from here since you wish to leave.”

Logan looked up again as he heard Virgil scoff loudly. “What the hell gave you the idea that I want to leave? Did you leave your self-esteem upstairs, pocket protector?” Logan’s breath caught in his throat. “It would be impossible to ‘leave my self-esteem upstairs’, as self-esteem is not a physical entity-” he started. Virgil held up a hand, cutting Logan off. Shouldn’t you be used to getting cut off by now Logan? He wants you to shut up! “I really don’t get why you STILL take everything I say so literally. Seriously though, what’s going on? Do I need to get Patton in here?” “NO!” Logan yelled, wincing at his voice. Virgil raised an eyebrow and left without another word. Logan sighed. Having Virgil’s company to ground him in both a literal and figurative sense had been comforting, but it also made everything more painful. Logan realized more than ever how much he would truly miss Virgil’s presence when he finally ducked out, how much he genuinely enjoyed being around the other sides…

“Heyyy there kiddo...Virgil told me that you’re kinda off right now so I wanted to check in! This isn’t about earlier, is it? You know that we care about you!!” Logan willed himself to avoid snapping at Patton, but he didn’t want to risk being vulnerable in front of another side. “Don’t worry about me, Patton, I have simply realized belatedly that I am-” Logan swallowed, looking everywhere but at Patton“-undesirable as a friend and a side of Thomas’.” Logan finally looked up, and saw what he could only describe as pity reflected on Patton’s face. Don’t be melodramatic, Logan. Just explain that you finally recognize your inadequacy and share your intentions to duck out.

“You can’t really think that, LoLo-” Patton started, at the same time that Logan said “I have realized-” Patton opened and closed his mouth a few times before nodding at Logan to continue. “Thank you for allowing me to finish, it’s greatly appreciated. I have realized that my knowledge is disagreeable to you all, and as that is both my primary function and my singular skill, it would be best that I...duck out.” Logan finished, looking up to see Patton’s eyes fill with tears as Virgil and Roman burst into the room, practically falling over each other.

"NOT SO FAST, MICROSOFT NERD" Roman bellowed. "I don’t know where you got such a ridiculous idea, but we certainly don’t want you gone!” Logan adjusted his glasses, uncomfortable. He should have expected this sort of protestation from the others, despite his accurate statements. It is unlikely that the other sides would acknowledge their true feelings about Logan to his face.

“Falsehood. Perhaps you hadn’t specifically considered my ducking out, but I am not daft, Roman. I have noticed your eye rolls and reactions to my presence. I apologize for not arriving at this conclusion sooner.” At this, Logan’s voice cracked slightly. Patton’s eyes widened. “Oh Logan, that’s not true!! Roman and you may have your little arguments here and there but it’s mostly in good fun, right Roman? We totally value all the cool stuff you bring up!” Roman nodded, eyes fixed on Logan as if he didn’t recognize the side behind his insecurities. Logan took a shaky breath, trying to count to four silently. But it was not in his nature to allow false information go without a debate. The voices in his head were pounding, growing louder and more furious, more wild, more hurt. Logan glanced up and met Virgil’s worried stare, Patton’s bewilderment, and Roman’s passionate fury.

“Falsehood, again. As I stated, it took me far too long to recognize that I am….unwanted. But I will not be lied to now in some attempt to spare my feelings...”

“Lo, we are not lying when we say we car-”

“ENOUGH!!!!”

Logan began pacing again, hands switching between combing through his hair and flailing frantically. “I have compiled specific memories of each one of you asking me to shut up, to exit conversations...for example: just today Roman, you told me that I did NOT succeed in being less invasive, and quite literally slashed my words in half, which Patton thanked you for because you had ‘cut the tension’. Patton, you just said you ‘value all the cool stuff I bring up’, but earlier appeared quite relieved that I had made my presence and voice optional, which you took advantage of by hitting my ‘skip all’ button! I am not useful in providing logic, I am...not useful as a friend seeing as I can’t read social cues or provide joy, s-so….” Logan closed his eyes as he felt tears slide down his cheeks. The barrier had broken. He tried pushing past the others to leave, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around him.

“Logan, I...apologize for what I said earlier. And for anything in the past that has made you uncomfortable. We may have our moments not seeing eye to eye, but at the end of the day you keep me, and all of us in check. You balance us out! And that- meaning YOU- is something we could never live without, you nerd. I’ll admit we have all hit some rough patches recently. Even I, your dashing prince, have been dealing with some...insecurities. So perhaps we have been harsh, and haven’t made enough room to appreciate each other. Especially to appreciate you, Logan. You are...truly amazing.” Logan looked up to see what he could only classify as genuine care and sincerity reflected in Roman’s eyes.

Patton moved to sit beside Logan and Roman, resting his head on Logan’s shoulder. He spoke after a moment, voice wobbly and eyes bright. “Roman is 1000% right, LoLo! And I am so sorry that I didn’t realize you weren’t feeling needed sooner. That is a horrible feeling...But you know what? You are a fantastic friend.” Logan interrupted, “Earlier you said that one can’t learn to care for others from a book, Patton. You were correct-” Patton shook his head, taking Logan’s hand and squeezing it once. Logan...did not hate it. “I shouldn’t have said that. But I did mean it when I said you’re a fantastic friend. You didn’t learn that from a book, Logan. You learned it from being with all of us! You show us you care in all those fun little ways that just scream ‘Logan!!’ And we absolutely love that! And we love you, exactly as you are. You aren’t giving yourself enough credit.” At that, Logan finally smiled.

Patton shot a pointed look at Virgil, who was still standing nearby. “Oh come on, I thought we agreed that my compliments are unspoken??” Several pointed looks. “Fine. Listen...I know where you’re coming from. I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that I’ve gone through the whole ‘should I be here’ thing on basically a daily basis. But I don’t think Thomas, or these weirdos, or I could function without you. And yeah, you’re not mushy or affectionate in your friendship, which I actually relate to and appreciate because Patton’s hugs are already overwhelming enough-” “VIRGIL-” “-anyway, you show us that you care in other ways. And the fact that we’re saying we couldn’t do this without you means that you are a good friend. We just all show it in different ways.”

Logan stood up, wiping his tears quickly as he approached Virgil. They tried some combination of a hug, back pat, and hand shake before simultaneously deciding on finger guns. Patton started laughing, and they all joined in as Roman yelled “You absolute NERDS” fondly. “Do you believe us, Logan?” Patton asked after they quieted down. “I have reason to believe that these types of things take time to work through, but yes, I do find your words to be genuine and...moving. Thank you all, from the bottom of the heart that I apparently do have.” They all smiled at that, making no comment about the light blush that tinted Logan’s features.

The rest of the night was filled with BBC’s Sherlock, trivia games, and laughter. Once the others had gone their separate ways, even Janus and Remus made an appearance, and Logan found that their chaos was surprisingly comforting. He’d have to unpack that more later. For the moment, he felt content, knowing that while he still had much to learn of emotions and friendship, he actually knew a bit more than he thought. And that was adequate (at least for now).

#the working title for this was VALIDATION STATION #STARRING LOGAN SANDERS #sanders sides #logan sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #platonic LAMP #sanders sides fanfiction #thomas sanders

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jbbuckybarnes · 4 years

Text

Zerfall - 6/14

Pairing: Bucky x named!Reader (Agent Andromeda) Summary: After Hydra drops virus bombs in 7 major American cities in the height of summer, the team is locked in their emergency bunker for weeks. The virus commonly called the Summer Poison successfully brought the infrastructure to a halt in all big cities. When the virus slowly starts burning itself out SHIELD Agents and Avengers are sent out to bring back order into the cities and the international relationships. Not without hurdles. Warnings for this chapter: Pandemic, crime, canon typical violence, flirting, picturing killing as a positive thing, weird grammar. Not beta read. **Image credit goes to Ubisoft.

Zerfall Masterlist || M a s t e r l i s t

You’d been walking for about half a block when you were yanked towards a bus to hide behind. “There’s five of them, northeast,” he whispered and got the AR off his back. You scanned the area, “It’s not five. It’s 8, great,” you mumbled. “I go left, you go right,” he ordered and after a little countdown by hand you slowly sneaked your way from car to car until you were both close enough. You took the safety off two pistols before looking over and nodding. Both of you came out of your covers in perfect sync, killing 5 of them instantly. Three of them run to get cover and you ran EADA again to know where all of them were exactly. An easier thing to do if you had those damn contact lenses. “Damn agents!” One of them yelled. “Shut up, whiny baby,” you yelled back, getting out of cover in time to land a perfect headshot. “The Vultures will come for you, bitch!” Another one yelled. “Sorry, can’t hear you over how good I’ll land a headshot on you.” You smirked and landed the next one in sync with Bucky. “Don’t call my partner a bitch,” he said before walking to the cover of the last one, grabbing him with his metal arm and holding him up. “Help us or die,” he growled up at the young man. “No,” he croaked before going unconscious and being thrown onto the floor and hit in the heart by another shot. “I see, you like a little bit of the drama too.” You chuckled before helping him search through their weapons and ammunition. “Always.” He grinned over, picking up a few cartridges of ammo and chugging them into his bag on the back of his tactical belt. “Let’s get going then. We need to get to a safe house today.” You smiled and cut the dog tags off the dead bodies that had them. His brow went up, “Wanna count how many people betrayed their country. And maybe these come in handy if they have a boss that actually cares about them.” “Forget it, only psychopaths would start something like this.” He kicked the man that had insulted her earlier. It seemed to really annoy him. Maybe it was just his 40s brain that wanted the respect for a woman, cause he definitely had a foul mouth in the army and didn’t expect her to not curse like a sailor. He actually was kinda excited about that part for some reason.

On the way to the safe house you came across some groups of three, taking them down easily in less than a few seconds. You were already starting to work in perfect sync when it came to combat. You made note of the buildings that were clearly guarded and when you got to the Consulate General of Mexico you made note of all the guards and scanned the area. 12 people that you could see and scan for. “Guarding duty is the most boring thing ever.” One of them mumbled to the other and you looked over at Bucky who winked back at you while getting a grenade from his belt. “Hm, at least it isn’t patrolling.” Something clinked onto the floor in between the two guards on the left and the one on the right. Before they could even start a word there was an explosion and you got out your AR and he got out his. “Showtime.” you grinned while taking aim at all the suddenly alert and confused guards. One, two, three, four, five, all dead in less than a minute. 4 left in their cover. Bucky took the marksman rifle from his back and aimed up at where they were hiding. Hitting them with astonishing accuracy, hearing a thud after each one. “Wow, that was impressive, Barnes,” you said surprised at the actual level of skill he had from his tortured years. “Glad I can use it for good now,” he answered as if he was able to read your thoughts at that moment. “I’m glad too.” You smiled over at him before you both stormed into the building, checking for more guards inside and taking 4 out with silencers on your pistols or a knife into their throat. “I really got the best agent as a partner, huh?” He grinned as you walked toward a safety door. “I guess you do.” You grinned back before hacking the door open. As he wanted to close the door behind you, you gestured him to stop. “Loot the dudes outside and bring as much of the weapons and ammo inside of here for other agents,” you ordered him and got a serious nod back. Your eyes scanned the room for a laptop or computer with a drive attached to it and after a while of looking around you found it. “Gotcha.” You smirked hacking your way through the information, downloading it onto your EADA. While it was doing that you finally took the backpack that was sitting in a locker and went through it. “Finally.” You breathed out exhausted, getting a look from Bucky that was just dumping some guns into the room. You got out the SAID agent vest that was going to regenerate by itself and put it around your chest. Then you made a dig through the side pockets for the contact lenses, getting another weirded out look from your partner. “What the hell are you doing?” He finally spoke out what went through his head. “These link up to the watch and I can see where enemies are hiding and where friendlies are if they fight with us. I also have a scope attachment that can do that if you ever need that,” you explained to him with a proud smile on your face. He shook his head grinning, “You’re a nerd.” After you got both of your backpacks situated into one and everything was done with your equipment, you wandered back to the computer that had finished with the drive a few minutes before. “Holy shit,” you muttered at the screen and Bucky’s steps led next to you. “The red parts are enemy bases, the symbols above them are the factions of enemies, these are the shadow zones in dark purple and...there we have a settlement, a big one.” You pointed at the library closer to the Empire State Building, about two blocks down from where you were currently situated. He looked up from the map with a hopeful face directly at you, “Then let’s get there and help those people.” If there was one thing you had already learned about him, it was that he wanted nobody to suffer from something Hydra did to them and he’d do anything to help people right now.

“Why do I have the feeling that this day will be a long one?” He speculated while you walked down the first block. “Well, we’ll get a ton of new information on the current situation from them. That’s gonna be pushing us from now on, ain’t it?” You smiled at the road ahead. “Guess you’re right. I’m just afraid we can’t help that much,” he mumbled. “We can, don’t get into your own head about it.” Your hand landed on his shoulder. “I try.” He gave you a soft smile of appreciation. “I mean, key points of enemies to take over seems like a lot of fun to me if all of them are this bad at their job.” You giggled. “They are the worst, aren’t they?” He laughed. “Horrible, Bucky. Absolutely horrible.” You chuckled and then both of you calmed down again and went back into Avengers mode. “Check every backpack you find on the way, Bucky. They might need what’s in there,” you told him, knowing there might be tech, textiles and other things in them. They were everywhere on the side of the streets and in house entrances. By the dawn both of you finally reach the settlement, visible from afar by the guard towers and big gates they made with trucks and billboards. You saw them aim at both of you for a while before you heard someone yell and the weapons went down. “He yelled to get their boss.” Bucky translated next to you. “Thanks, super hearing dork.” You nudged him and had an arm on the small of your back a second later. “Probably a vet. I bet on it.” He looked down at you, feeling oddly protective towards you because of a possibly very stressed out military man. “He’ll have to follow my lead tho. It’s my specialty to unapocalypse.” You heard him chuckle as a few guards came towards you. “So good to see you, Agent. Hello, Mr. Barnes.” A young man welcomed you. “We’re glad we finally found you.” You smiled at them and scanned their equipment for a second. “Our Captain will be glad to finally see you too.” A girl smiled and nudged her head towards the gate. “A Captain, not bad.” Bucky nudged you as you walked in. “Probably the only reason this is still holding up. Let’s be honest, Buck,” you said looking around while walking into the library part of the building. What was a museum before was now used as a home. The bookshelves were freed from their glass casing. There were beds all around and a corner with food and water. “It’s probably nice to have all these books to distract you. Especially for the children,” you mumbled before a big door opened.

A big bulky man came through the door, not as scary as Bucky could look, but intimidating enough to keep this place together, you assumed. “Agent! Sergeant! Richard Davis. Nice to finally see you. What took so long?” He laughed and shook hands with both of you. “Stark didn’t let us out of his bunker until it was safe enough and some idiots were guarding the place our safe house was in. How’s it going here and where do you need the most help?” He chuckled, “That list is long. I did as much as possible with my Air Force and Agent background to train the men and women around here, but it’s only enough to defend this place and get the occasional food. We need as many buildings as possible around here cleared to have more supplies to make this a self-sufficient little tribe. We thankfully have the doctor's office across the street occupied but we need more stuff to make this a solid foundation. The school around the corner on 35th is still full of Vulture idiots. Could you clear that up? Would definitely earn complete trust from the skeptics here.” He looked around in the room. “With a bit of ammo and help from a few of your people, we can do that in about...30 minutes.” You looked up from your watch and saw a surprised but happy face. “I’ll get my men ready. Patricia? Show them where they can find ammo and other weapons.”

About 45 minutes later you were surrounding the school, EADA scanning the surroundings for anyone and anything. “You all stay back and let us do the main work, understood?” You looked back at the amateur shooters. “Yes, Agent.” One of them whispered. “Bucky?” You looked over and he looked up, “Go.” He took down two men with silenced guns, then gave another one a knife and kicked the fourth one into the next bush. It was magnificent to watch him do all of this with no sound coming from him. “That’s not a Sergeant. That’s a General, my dear.” Captain Davis watched the almost beautiful choreography of kills in front of him. “He’s something, isn’t he?” You grinned before getting up and following Bucky through the door he had opened up. “Getting the hallway safe, then you can do the rooms with your shotguns. Be safe,” you whispered into the earpiece. “Got it.”

Reblog if you liked this (or Alpine will haunt you!)

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spyder-m · 5 years

Text

Love Games

ao3 / ff.net

Summary: On a particularly grueling trip through Mementos, the Phantom Thieves play a few rounds of "Never Have I Ever" to fend off boredom. In doing so, they learn more about their leader and advisor than they had anticipated. Shumako.

Ann's eyes carefully scanned the bleak expanse that was Mementos, low-level shadows scurrying away from the blare of headlights.

Blue irises strained as they adjusted to the darkness of the subway, not wanting the target to disappear from her sight.

"I spy with my little eye… something that's brown and grey-"

"Railroad tracks," Futaba answered, not even bothering to look up from her laptop.

"Wow, Oracle. You got it on the first try! How did you know?"

"Are you for real?!" Ryuji exclaimed; the outburst startling a quietly sketching Yusuke beside him. "There's only like three things down here you coulda possibly been lookin' at. Urgh! This game sucks!

Delving this far into the depths made for a long and arduous trip.

Though Morgana's bus form was fairly spacious, with the seven of them packed in together; and a lack of proper air-conditioning; it was becoming a little stifling.

Some of the more fiery members of the group were beginning to get on each other's nerves.

Beyond the occasional pit-stop to stretch their legs, fighting off shadows and scouring out the different nooks of Mementos for treasures or potential targets, served as their only reprieve.

Even Makoto couldn't find too much of a distraction in the drive. Each level was beginning to look eerily similar, and Futaba's persona could usually map out a clear path through to the next exit. Save for swerving to avoid the odd shadow, it didn't require much concentration. Her muscles were already settling unconsciously into a rhythm.

Still, she had been able to find comfort in the silent form of Joker beside her. It was remarkable how well he could read her and ease the tension she felt with a gentle smile or supporting touch of his hand. The calm washing over her like a healing spell.

He was measured in the affectionate gestures, not wanting to attract the attention of their passengers; currently seeking out other ways to pass the time.

"Alright, fine. Let's hear you suggest something then, Skull." Ann huffed, her eyes narrowing as she folded her arms.

Blinking, the blond scratched his head in thought; not having expected her to turn to him for a suggestion.

"Well, uh... there's that game Westerners always play in movies." He offered. "Y'know, the one where they hold up their fingers and say something they've never done before."

"Isn't that a drinking game?" Makoto's glare lifted, catching the others in the rear-view mirror. "I'll remind you we're all underage and in a car."

"It don't have to be." Ryuji waved his arms, not wanting to incur the wrath of the team's advisor. "Come on! It'll be fun!"

Despite some initial skepticism, the crew supposed that Ryuji's suggestion might not actually be such a bad idea.

The founding members of the Phantom Thieves had been together for several months now and felt pretty tightly knit. The exposure to one another's pasts, their most guarded secrets and inner selves only helped to shift their relationship towards something much more intimate.

Still, between time in the Metaverse, strategy meetings, studying for exams, and part-time jobs, they didn't get many opportunities to spend time together as friends.

They were still a lot of things they didn't know about each other as people.

Haru was their newest member and didn't seem to have many friends outside of their immediate circle. Futaba was still coming out of her shell and sharing secrets among friends could help to continue building her social skills. Yusuke… Well, Yusuke was an enigma. For as long as they'd known him, there was still a lot they hadn't quite figured out.

Even Makoto; though having acclimated well with the team and into her advisory role; was still striving to more learn about her peers.

These were the kind of games kids their age would normally play at parties; a luxury their unique extra-curricular activities as the Phantom Thieves often deprived them of.

It could be a great opportunity for them to get to know each other better.

"Ooo, I'll start!" Futaba called, her hand shooting up. "Never have I ever… gone on a trip to Hawaii!"

"Wha- Oracle! That's not fair!"

"Mwehehehe…" The youngest member cackled. "Well, I had to get one up on you guys. Never underestimate the original Medjed."

"Well, alright. That's one finger down for... Everyone except Oracle. Alright, Noir. It's your turn."

"Oh. Well, let me see." Haru pondered. "Never have I ever... Tried the 6,000 yen Dark Ivory coffee at the Wilton Hotel."

The engine rumbled amidst the dip in conversation, the teens looking between one another with blank expressions.

"Uh, Noir?" Ann eventually broke the silence. "Clearly none of us have done that before. Now you have to lower a finger. You're supposed try to try and get us out."

"Oh, I could never do that. You're all my friends."

"But that's the point of the game!" Ryuji's voice rose again. "You're gonna lose at this rate!"

"Moving on." Ren interrupted, his lips sliding into a smirk. "Never have I ever eaten so much fatty tuna that I made myself sick."

"What?!" The Mona-bus vibrated as an indignant mewl reverberated throughout. "Why are you singling me out, Joker? I'm not playing. I don't even have fingers!"

"We can keep track. That's one down for Mona."

"Hmph. Fine, but I'm going next."

"Whatever. Do your worst."

"Never have I ever… called a Maid Service before."

"You damn cat!" Ryuji exclaimed, thumping the side of the car. "I thought we agreed to keep quiet about that."

"You called a Maid Service?" Ann side-eyed Ryuji, a shudder crawling up the base of his spine.

"Well, uh…" Anxious, Ryuji glance darted around the inside of the car, desperate for a lifeline. "Hey! I- I'm not the only one who's guilty here. Right, leader?"

Swallowing, Ren begrudgingly lowered a finger.

"What?!"

"A maid's services? Hmm, how fascinating. I wonder if they would be willing to serve as the model for my next piece?"

"Dude, it's 5,000 yen a visit. Like you'd be able to afford that."

"Also, I thought you agreed; no more nude paintings!"

"Anyway! Uh… Panther; you're up next."

"Oh, me? Hm, well... Never have I ever… dated before."

To the surprise of no one in the group, Ryuji, Yusuke, and Futaba each kept the fingers up, while Haru lowered a finger. However, given the circumstances surrounding her and her fiancé, the Thieves were happy not to ask for any more details. What piqued their curiosity more so, was when Makoto and Ren both each lowered a finger.

"Wait… What?!"

"Dude! You mean you were out scorin' hotties and didn't think to tell me?!"

"Well, Joker has had an entire life outside of Tokyo that we are not privy to…"

"Plus, his charm stats are like… maxed out."

"Right. Still, I really wasn't expecting that from you, Queen."

"W- well, there is someone… That I'm seeing."

The car jolted, almost swerving off of the tracks and into the station's wall, as Ann pulled herself over the front seat.

"What?!"

"Panther, please! Stay in your seat."

"Oops. Sorry!" Ann flushed, returning to her spot in the middle row. "I just can't believe you'd keep something like that from me."

"W- well, we both agreed to keep things... discreet."

"Perhaps we should move on from this topic for the time being," Yusuke suggested. "It seems to be getting Panther rather excited."

"Right." Joker nodded. "Well, Queen; it's your turn."

Makoto paused, one hand slipping from the steering wheel to touch her chin.

There was much she had not experienced before finding the Phantom Thieves, things that many would see as a normal part of life for a typical, Japanese teenager. If she were being tactical, there were likely several answers she could give that would get most of the others out.

Still, recently she had been fortunate to gain friends who brought more of simple pleasures into her life. In particular, it was thanks to the young man seated across from her that she had been able to broaden her horizons.

Though, thinking on it; as she caught Joker in her peripheral vision; Makoto realised, with a flush, there were still things she wished to learn.

"Never have I ever... kissed someone before."

"Woah, woah, wait a minute." Ryuji interjected. "You're with a guy but you haven't even swapped spit yet?"

"Skull." Ann sighed, her nose wrinkling at the boy's crude description.

"N- no, it's fine, really." Makoto countered, lifting her hands from the wheel briefly. "It's all still very new to me. I think he's just been holding back on my account. I just wish there was a way I could let him know that I want it as much as I think he does."

"Aw, don't worry, Queen!" Futaba encouraged. "I'm sure he'll come to his senses."

"Yeah! Any guy would be lucky to be with you."

"Anyway, looks like Joker and Noir are the only ones who lowered their fingers. No surprises there."

"Actually," Joker cleared his throat, and raised his hand, showing that his total was still at seven.

"Okay, now I'm confused."

"What else is new?"

A pained meow rang from the car as Ryuji's bat struck the inside wall.

Makoto flushed as she felt Joker's gaze cover her; the stark white of his mask accentuating his eyes, drawing her to them. She bit her lip, readjusting her grip on the steering wheel.

"I suppose you could say I was... holding back."

"I- is that, so?" Makoto answered, trying to keep her eyes focused ahead, away from Ren's longing stare.

She had hoped that in keeping her answers curt and concentrating on the road ahead the conversation would shift, the rest of the Thieves carrying on with their game. Yet, their interest had seemingly turned towards their leader, as he watched her with a fond smile.

"Queen, pull over here." Joker instructed abruptly; his tone sharp.

Makoto slowed the vehicle to stop, suspecting that Joker had spotted a target.

She immediately ripped off her seatbelt and moved to open the door, more than willing to steer the focus away from their conversation.

However, at the flash of red covering her own gloved hand and ceasing her movement, she turned, catching Joker's mask with a puzzled expression.

Having readied herself for battle, Makoto's normally sharp reflexes had been prepared to react the moment something grasped at her. Though, her guard slipped as Joker's fingers caught her the jaw.

Their masks clinked together as he pulled her face towards his own; the breath that ripped involuntarily from her throat was caught by the soft pressure of his lips.

Her first kiss.

The scent of coffee still lingered on his breath, likely remnants from his breakfast at Leblanc. The bitter taste warmed her chest, striking and familiar.

Now unimpeded by her seatbelt, Makoto fell deeper into Ren's embrace, her hands lifting to catch in the thick clumps of his hair.

It was surprisingly soft.

Spurred on by the sensation of Makoto kissing back, Ren trailed his hands down to the swell of her hips, appreciating how her suit clung to them. Makoto's eyes bulged in surprise as she was pulled into Joker's lap, though she didn't break from his lips, her arms surrounding him.

With that daring gesture, it struck her that she was sharing her first kiss not with Ren, but Joker; an experience distinct from what she had anticipated. It hadn't been a shy, chaste caress that had caught her; a moment their relationship had steadily being building towards; but something bolder, more extravagant.

The gesture, in a sense, reflected how they had entered each other's lives, how they had awoken to their true selves in the Metaverse; abruptly and explosively. How everything strange and otherworldly suddenly began to make sense, as if it had been there, waiting, all along.

There was something captivating about the suave, cocky persona Ren assumed in the Metaverse. Seeing those soft, shy smiles of his break into confident grins; his dark, mysterious eyes, shining and proud. The way he remained strong and collected for the rest of his team, even during their most tense battles.

That he was forward enough to make the first move; where in the real world he may have hesitated; closing the distance between them like this, his lips flickering into a familiar smirk as they caressed against her own.

It was... sexy.

The magic dissipated as Makoto became conscious of the eyes boring into her, sliding up her spine like cold digits as she recalled, abruptly, that they weren't alone. Gasping, Makoto slipped from Joker's arms, glancing mortified, towards their friends.

Ann's hands had lifted to cover her mouth, barely containing the bright smile lighting her features. There was a sheen in her wide, starry eyes. Haru had moved up beside her, hands similarly cradled together.

"Oh, how romantic."

With a smirk, Futaba had, reflexively, pulled out her smartphone; a pout settling across her features when she remembered the camera function was useless in the Metaverse.

Beside her, Yusuke was rifling through the back of the car, eventually producing a canvas and a selection of brushes, frantically setting them up.

"You two, hold your positions! I must capture this!"

"Inari!? When did you bring that with you? And also, why?"

Ryuji watched on in curious silence, his brow furrowed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Huh? Skull? What's up?"

"So, like... Do they have to drop a finger now, or what?"

#persona 5 #p5 #shumako #fanfiction #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #makoto niijima #ann takamaki #futaba sakura #ryuji sakamoto #yusuke kitagawa #haru okumura

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justawanderer · 4 years

Text

Happy Holidays @lovegeek1215 I’m your Secret Santa! I had a lot of fun writing this. I hope you enjoy it! @mlsecretsanta

AO3

The blare of the Akuma alarm had Nino jumping out of his skin. The new alarms are posted in every hallway and are awkwardly angled down toward the students. Nino makes a mental note to talk to a teacher or Mr. Damocles about the hallway acoustics and maybe dampening the tone so as to not harm the ears of the student body. He lets his eyes dart all over the seemingly empty hallway he was walking in, and then ducks into the first empty classroom he sees. For good measure, he closes himself in an supply cubby at the back of the room with a grate at eye level. The grate allows for him to keep a visual on the door incase the akuma comes around, and he is proud of himself for thinking in such a safety first LadyDude manner. Not seeing or hearing anything other than the slightly muted Akuma Alarm, Nino busies himself with silencing his phone and music and shooting Alya, Adrien, his mom, and the school alert system a text that he is safe in a classroom.

The creak of the door opening sends him jumping again and it takes everything in him and all his Carapace training to not make a racket in his hiding spot. He takes deep breaths to try and steady his racing heart and looks through the thin slats to examine his neighbor. The familiar blonde hair and white shirt have him pushing open the cubby door and opening his mouth to call out to his friend when he sees what can only be a kwami fly out of the model’s shirt pocket and then get sucked into the ring his friend wears every single day.

It takes approximately 1 minute for the image before him to sync with his brain and the reality of his best friend being Chat Noir draws an involuntary swear out of him before he can control himself.

“What the Fuck?!” Senses returning to him, Nino slams a palm over his mouth and slams the cubby door shut in one fluid motion. A black cat ear flicks and Nino struggles to breathe as Chat Noir’s eerie green eyes focus on the cabinet.

“Who’s there?” Hearing Chat’s voice again sends Nino reeling. The disconnect of having Adrien’s voice come from the hero is arresting and Nino finds himself frozen in place. His mind racing to connect all of the clues that were in front of him the whole time. That Adrien has never been akumatized, that the boy has an uncanny ability to completely disappear during an attack, that he has feline like grace when fencing, or really any sport he attempts, and that the dude is always exhausted. As the shock dwindles away, Nino keeps as still as humanly possible and his eyes locked on the ears he can see through the slats on the door.

Nino muses that Chat is infinitely more terrifying than any akuma or villain around as he has all the hunting instincts of a cat, the lethal skills of a superhero swordsman, and the ability to hyper fixate. Nino is not sure what would happen if the hero found him in the cubby but he doesn’t particularly care to find out. While at worst it would probably be a dressing down from LadyBug, he really wasn’t ready to talk to the model/super hero yet. He watches as Adri-no Chat!- opens his mouth to say something and takes a vague step forward when an explosion sounds from outside of the classroom. Chat’s head whips towards the sound, then back to the cubby and Nino sees the the hesitation on his friends perfect features.

One last look toward the cubby and Chat calls out, “If there is anyone in here, you would be wise to wait a minute after I leave the room and do your best to find your way out of the school. I’ll go first and try to draw the akuma away.” The teen hero leaps away out of the door not looking back and Nino waits until he can’t hear the sounds of battle before emerging from his hiding spot.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and he checks to see a message from Alya telling him to be safe and stay inside as the akuma causes people to grow roots in sunlight. Not needing to be told twice, Nino hunkers down in the cubby to wait out the attack to think through the scene he just lived through. His mind was almost blank with shock but with concentration he was able to focus on the things he knew to be true.

His best friend, model and heart throb, was also Chat Noir, hero and heart throb of Paris, and Nino knows somewhere deep inside himself, that he is probably one of 2 people to know. He knew, based on LadyBug’s lectures, that knowing put both him AND Adrien at risk of manipulation from Hawkmoth and Nino vowed in his tiny cubby to start joining his mom in her morning meditations.

Nino zones out lost deep in thought about secret identities and akumas and emotional control when he is woken by the all clear alarm. Fishing his phone from his pocket, he logs a note about the alarm volume in his phone and is interrupted by a text from Alya. He opens the attachment to see a low res picture of Adrien with his arm around Marinette seeming to prop her up. Alya has captioned it with hearts and stars and Nino finds himself conflicted as he makes his way towards the lunch room, which was where he had been heading before the attack.

He thinks about it, and he knows that he really wants Adrien to get a girlfriend. He knows that a relationship would be good for his friend in terms of socialization, but he’s never really been super invested in Adrien’s love life. He likes Marinette and thinks that she would help teach Adrien about unconditional love and family, but he also thinks that Kagami is super cool and super talented and Nino always figured that when the model made his choice, that would be that.

Now though? Now Nino knows that Adrien is in love with LadyBug (whoever she is) and that convincing Chat Noir to give up LadyBug has been an uphill battle for the red spotted heroine. Although Nino secretly thinks that LB may have feelings for his friend as she always seemed more affectionate with the cat hero when carapace was around to see them interact. And now Nino cannot just recommend his buddy give up on the coolest girl any of them knew.

On the other hand, LB has zero interest in Chat and how would a relationship between a super hero and a teen model work were he to woo her as Adrien? Nino can’t really see any of it working until they know each other’s identities. But Marinette and Kagami? Those girls were real and they were right in front of Adrien every day.

Arriving at the cafeteria, Nino watches the way Marinette flushes head to toe at Adrien’s attention to her well being and knows that the most important thing is maintaining Adrien’s happiness, and protecting his secret at all cost.

Lunch passes with little incident, and the class makes their way to Ms. Bustier’s room, Nino cannot keep his attention off of Adrien. Its shocking to know his secret and see him just hanging out with the class as if he didn’t place himself in danger every day. He enjoyed Adrien’s enthusiasm for his new mixes and how Adrien always wants to know everything a person has to say when they speak to him. He also looks closer as sees a teenager, a guy his age, with more muscle than body fat. Kim may be more athletic and stronger, but Adrien was solid muscle and it wouldn’t have seemed weird to Nino until he heard a disturbing gurgling. At the second instance he trained his eyes on the sources and watched as Adrien flushed in embarrassment.

The blond wrapped an arm around his stomach and apologized for the sound. The truth hit Nino like a ton of bricks, Adrien was kept on a super strict diet. Every bite of his food was calculated and all of the calories accounted for, or at least they would be, if Adrien was NOT a teenage superhero running parkour all over Paris all week burning god only knows how many more calories.

Nino reached into his bag and slid Adrien the almonds he never got around to eating at lunch when a sound behind him drew his attention. Marinette was sitting focused on her sketch pad and softly humming. Nino looked between the bluenette and his friend and devised a plan, a small smirk painting his face.

While not necessarily caring which of the girls Adrien could go for, Nino could at least help his buddy out and possibly Mari too if his plan worked. Waiting for the class to end, Nino packed up slower than Adrien and watched him run out of the door to go to a photoshoot. Nino waited until he was sure the model was gone before turning to Marinette, still absorbed in her sketch.

“Sup dudette! How’s it going?” Nino tried for his best charming smile.

Startled from her work, Marinette looked up at her friend and narrowed her eyes. “I’m good Nino, how are you?”

“Ahh I’m good dudette, I’m good,” He said while awkwardly rubbing his neck and fiddling with his hat brim. “I, uh, actually wanted to ask you a favor. If you don’t mind.”

Marinette’s eye widened with concern, “I would love to watch Chris this week Nino, but I am afraid that I have over booked myself this week with watching Manon, finishing commissions and class rep stuff.”

Nino waved his hands as if to clear the air between them, “No Marinette, no, I don’t need that kind of favor. Actually its about Adrien.”

Marinette turned a shade of red Nino had only ever seen on LB’s suit and wildly flailed her arms about. “Wha-T Adrien about? About Adrien what?” She took a deep breath and centered herself, “What about Adrien, Nino?” The love and concern on her face was enough for Nino. He told her everything. Well, he told her everything he had been observing about Adrien, and today in class, was proven right, that the boy was not eating right. He watched Marinette’s eyes go from glassy embarrassment to filled with concern. He left her with a plan to help Adrien in place and the hopes that they would be able to accomplish their mission without interference from the adults.

Sure enough the following morning, Nino smiled to himself as he watched Marinette present the blond with the assorted box of pastry Nino suggested the day before. He watched as Adrien was filled with joy over the gift, and how quickly he wolfed down the treats. Watching Adrien laud praises on Marinette filled Nino with a certain joy as he hoped he was doing enough for his friends.

#MLSS 2019 #miraculous ladybug #ML #SecretSanta #nino lahiffe #adrien agreste

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gracesneddon · 4 years

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Moving in the Right Circles: a few thoughts.

Hello, hi, good afternoon (or a very early good morning if you’re reading from home, I hope O Week is treating you well and you’re remembering to rehydrate). Last night, I went to the first in a series of seminars hosted by the Edinburgh Political Union and Common Weal at a cute little student bar down in the Old Town. Common Weal is a policy “think and do tank” based in Glasgow. Their Policy Head, Craig Dalzell, took us through the Resources and Trade chapter of their fully-costed Green New Deal for Scotland. I recently finished reading Novacene and have finally come to grips with the Gaia Theory... I think. In light of all this new info that I’m processing, and news that Bezos is injecting $10bn into the climate effort, I wanted to share a few thoughts...

A Circular Economy

Common Weal’s Green New Deal is so low-bullshit it’s made me run circles around my own brain trying to come up with a joke about lowering methane emissions (to no avail). It reads that “...waste is really just a way of describing failures in resource use” in reference to the current linear economic model.

Met this dude in Sligachan!

The linear model can be described as such: procure resource ---> use it between 0 and 2 times ---> dispose of resource ---> repeat for infinite economic growth.The goal of a circular economy is to keep goods in circulation at the highest value possible. To do so, we need to considering redesigning, reusing, repairing and remanufacturing goods before we recycle them. If we could do that, we wouldn’t have to procure as many resources in the first place, nor waste as much in the end. Craig put recycling to the test last night too, discussing whether down-cycling (i.e. putting your Amazon cardboard box in the correct bin) should even be considered a success (it shouldn’t IMO). Side-cycling and up-cycling are still crucial to a circular economy, though.

***Cue thirst trap that also shows off thrifted jeans***

Ooh, and I found out that Edinburgh has tool libraries, which gives me the means to cause devastation in a public space as I make and fix things, as per my 2020 goal to learn more practical skills, but with less waste!

Not the tool library, but close enough...making fingerboards in Granda’s shed over Christmas.

Debating in Circles

When we talk about the climate action effort, we often split society into those who see the need for climate action and those who choose to oppose it. Last night’s discussion highlighted another important group: climate delayers.

What is a climate delayer?

Those who acknowledge climate emergency but declare that they/we as a society are doing enough

Those who acknowledge climate change but oppose declaration of an emergency

Those who acknowledge climate change and/or emergency on a public level but benefit heavily from/contribute heavily to the industries that continue to emit fossil fuels

Those who acknowledge the climate emergency but propose only lofty goals with no substantive plan to achieve them

Any other person whose behaviours slow down the climate action effort without necessarily denying its validity.

It’s interesting to consider that, perhaps even more so than deniers, the behaviours of climate delayers work to preserve the status quo by focussing on how hard it might be to structure a society in a way that places less stress on the earth’s systems. They may also choose to support weaker policy reactions to emerging climate science.

I know what you’re thinking. Of course, anybody (sane) would tell you that they’d rather do nothing than do something that might take effort. Even if a proposed policy has noble goals such as emissions reduction, people won’t give up their time to act unless it has a realistic plan behind it. The cool thing about Common Weal’s GND is that it’s actually costed, it’s clear (even to somebody without a science or economics background like me) and it actually feels like something that might work... No wonder major parties are starting to jump at it.

There will always be a threat from climate delayers though. Especially when they are people with excessive power or influence. I guess this is the source of worry that some are harbouring when it comes to the enormous amount of money Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO, tax escape artist, richest person in the world) has committed to set up his Earth Fund this week.

Attempting to Square the Circle

A Guardian article I digested with my morning coffee collates the opinions of a few leading scientists on how he could best spend this money. Some of these included setting up opposition to oil and gas lobby in the US, forest protection, indigenous land rights and practice programs, supporting emerging tech, carbon pricing research and implementation and solutions with no financial market e.g. removing carbon dioxide from the air, restoring and re-wilding habitats or research into how we can overcome the sociopolitical obstacles to achieving low-emissions (and hopefully zero-emissions) societies.

Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.

A quick survey of people in my Twitter bubble, including nell, didn’t give me a lot of hope. We, for good reason, are quick to distrust billionaires who run unfathomably large corporations that underpay and overwork employees, don’t pay taxes and do contribute heavily to waste and carbon emissions. You can’t really fault Bezos’ critics for being pessimistic when it comes to this donation. Billionaires donating billions of dollars cannot be expected to completely set aside their self-interest.

We can’t ignore the fact that $10bn (US) could fucking change the movement. Bezos said on Instagram that the money will be given out as grants, so theoretically he could contribute to all of the efforts mentioned above. We exist in a web of systems that is reaching a tipping point: one that could easily set off a bunch more, even ones yet unconsidered. Without cooperation on a large-scale, we mightn’t be able to prevent the worst from happening. This money could allow this type of collaborative effort.

Unfortunately, I have to live in reality. It’s probable that this money won’t be used to disrupt the balance of power in the US that has always tipped in the favour of fossil fuels industries. It is unlikely to be invested into solutions that won’t reap significant financial return.

Waters of Leith, Stockbridge.

Whilst it is vitally important that this investment doesn’t work to delay climate action by preserving the status quo, it’s a real possibility.

My guess is that it will be invested into new tech that obviously has the potential to make people excited about responding to climate change but that Cornell refers to as “putting a bandaid on a an open fire”. It could delay real action, as funding for new ideas might outweigh support for the solutions that are ready right now. I only hope that stakeholders consider that we are running out of time for research and pilot studies and shit needs to start changing now.

To sum up and get on with the chores I see stacking up around me: a $10bn investment into the climate movement can’t be a wholly good or wholly bad thing. Activists, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and other organisations have already convinced the richest man in the world to pledge 7% of his net worth to the planet, so maybe we can help to keep him accountable for the way he spends it too!?

That’ll do for now,

GS xx

P.S. buttons are still falling off, but I really am making slow progress with learning to sew! I will post some photos when there’s anything exciting to photograph.

#climate change #economics #blog #amazon #Jeff bezos #climate action #James lovelock #novacene #gaia #common weal #Green New Deal #notes #thoughts

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bakugou-tm · 6 years

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The Chosen Ch. 2 - First Glance

Pirate Bakugou x Mermaid Reader Fic

The Chosen Princess of the Sea and The Ex Prince of the Fire Tribe finally meet, though it was far from planned. Will they get along for the fate of the world or will their similar personalities clash at first glance?

Alrighty so I don’t exactly have a planned day I’ll be updating since I’ve been so busy recently but I’m trying at least to get one chapter in a week, the worst being a two week late. I got a l o t of positive feedback from Chapter 1 so I am confident to say this story will continue to be a 10 Chapter fic so get readY. This chapter is kind of based off my preview but I will be changing a lot of scenes to fit the plot/story line better. Hope you enjoy!

Today was a slow day for the infamous Captain Zero. No other crew to attack, no secret treasure to search for, no fancy gala to crash,

For once the young captain and his crew found themselves bored, sailing the vast blue seas in hopes of running into some sort of excitement. Their average day consisted of dangerous raids, wild chases, or just simple goofing around a random town to scare the citizens.

The group of pirates were far from being villainous, but they weren’t heroes either. ‘Anti-Heroic Pirates’ was what they liked to call themselves.

Aboard the captain’s boat were four other idiotic crew members, ones he couldn’t say he was very proud of but ones he knew were loyal dogs.

First up was Chargebolt, otherwise known as Kaminari Denki. The spunky boy got his nickname from his sparking personality due to his descending of the Fire Tribe, the yellow haired boy was known as a reckless but skilled figher with little to no sense of knowledge.

Next was Cellophane, formerly known as Hanta Sero. The dark haired boy got his nickname from his childhood hero, a demigod blessed with a tape like quirk that he had received from the God of the Skies himself. To match his idol, the air tribe boy crafted his own weapon similar to the power of the demigod.

The only female of Captain Zero’s crew was next, Alien Queen, or Mina Ashido. This spunky gal got the first half of her name name from her rather peculiar looks, while the other half came from her, ‘I own this world’ attitude. No female nor male could stand in her way. Coming from the Earth Tribe, her personality was sweet and bubbly but also strong-willed and powerful.

Next was Red Riot, otherwise known as Eijiro Kirishima. The redhead, hints his nickname, is the captain’s right hand man. Through thick and thin the boy always remained at the captain’s side, earning his trust even though the captain came off as rude. Coming from the Earth Tribe as well, the redhead’s was blessed with strong will-power. Some people said he would quite literally wreck through any problem that came his way. While his personality came off as easygoing and soft, when it came to protecting the ones he loved he was far from soft.

Last but certainly not least, left the Captain himself… Captain Zero, otherwise known as Bakugou Katsuki. The young boy was known as the most infamous pirate at sea, anyone seeing his flag waving never dared to challenge. His parent’s were leaders of the Fire Tribe before, but after refusing to join the throne he ran away to become a rough and tough pirate. The ash blond took what was rightfully his, then took more. And if anyone dare bring up his past, they would rue the day they opened their mouth.

The diverse crew had been through thick and thin together, going from a group of kids on a jacked up ship, to the most feared crew that ever sailed the seas. Many tried to go up against them, making the mistake to assume they were ‘just a bunch of harmless kids’ but that only made Ground Zero’s crew more powerful. The five of them made sure every person in the world knew that they were the best around.

With the crew being so active, it was certainly an off day for them as they sailed far along Japan to some nearby islands, each attempting to busy themselves with a task with nothing much to do.

Laying across one of the barrels near the edge of the boat, a long groan emitted from Mina’s lips as she rolled over on her stomach, her lips pouted out.

“It’s almost noon and not one ship has come into sight, this day couldn’t get more boring.”

Playing chess beside her were Sero and Kirishima, the two looking over to her with dull expressions before nodding in agreement.

“We could feed Kaminari to the fish again.” Sero said with a grin, causing the bright haired boy to make a sound of disgust, interrupting his intense gazing of the oceans the sailed and conquered.

“If any of buckos force me on that plank again, I’ll sock you all square in the jaw!” Kaminari shouted out defensively, his voice not being able to hide the slight fear he had as he looked over to his group of friends cautiously.

A group of laugh’s was heard from the crew below, their faces grinning at the remembrance of when they chucked the electric boy overboard for kicks.

The life of the boat was seeming to come back with just a few laughs until the sound of boots clicking against the wooden planks was heard, followed by the click of the captain’s tongue as he sat down in his chair above the deck.

“Stop yer yapping and keep a lookout for any other ships you good for nothing shitheads.” Bakugou growled, arms crossed as he looked down to his crew members with a sharp scowl, nothing less expected from the grumpy captain.

Kaminari grinned down to his three friends, sticking his tongue out while they glared at them, everyone seeming to go back to what they were doing before.

This boring pattern went on for the next few hours, the occasional bickering, the captain screaming at them all to shut their yaps. As the sun settled low, it appeared today would be another bland day, until that is, the sharp sound of a female screaming echoed across the seas.

“Cap’n did you hear that?” Kirishima shouted, all of their heads jerking to the sound as the looked over the side of the ship to see an island far ahead in the distance.

Narrowing his crimson eyes, Bakugou smacked Sero upside the head earning his attention, “Make yourself useful and see what’s happenin’ through the spy glass.”

Without hesitation, the dark haired boy scrambled to the top deck, matching his eye with the metallic telescope while aiming towards the island.

Sero made a few grunting sounds as he leveled with the scene displayed before him, a few annoyed mumbles before he let out a sigh looking back up to his captain.

“I can’t clearly see what’s happening captain, all I can see from here is a bunch of water moving around, possibly a turf war in the water?”

Bakugou’s eyes narrowed, his red eyes scanning over the horizon to the sounds of yelling before looking back down to his crew.

“I don’t give two fucks what it is, these are my waters and they’re disturbing the damn peace,” Bakugou hissed, his eyes falling on Mina as she stood up a bit straighter, “Dig out that cloaking potion we stole from those dumbass trolls and get this ship unseeable so we can get closer.”

Mina quickly dashed off while Bakugou commanded the rest of the crew set sail towards the battle before them.

It was difficult to make their way to the island un-noticed, but with their cloaking potion they stole borrowed from a friend they successfully made it close enough to see exactly what was happening.

Now as the five of them watched the scene unfold from behind the wooden ledge of the ship, each attempted to grasp what was going on and who was at fault.

In the water remained three heads, two with only a simple bikini top and the last with no shirt at all. They must have been natives to the island.

“Dude you never said their were hot babes in bikinis! I would’ve swam here!” Kaminari suddenly said with a goofy grin, all heads turning to the yellow haired boy with annoyed glances, Kirishima giving him a crisp slap across his forehead causing him to whine in pain.

With everyone looking back to the scene before them, they all let out a groan in unison at the sight of the ship before them.

Above them in a large, all to familiar black ship, were none other then the Vanguard. The ash blond let out a low growl in recognization of the crew, having dueled with them many times. Although Bakugou’s crew was always successful thanks to the help of a few friends, though he would never admit, those privateers were always up to no good.

“Just give us what we want dear,” The Captain of the Vanguard called out from above the ship, a small pistol aimed towards the group of people showing his true threat against them, “Then nobody else will have to lose their lives.”

At the sound of this, the five finally came to realization of the girl that laid sideways in one of the boy’s arms, a deep red color running down his bare chest.

“And for what?” One female called out, her blond locks bouncing as she pointed an accusing finger, “Sacrificing our princess so you can kill millions more?”

“I told you, I would spare your people if you gave me just one, I would even spare her life if you all complied to my simple demands.”

Just the sound of the dark haired pirate’s voice made Bakugou’s skin crawl, his words laced with poisoness lies that he once made the mistake of trusting a few years back.

“We don’t trust a word you say, and even if we did, we would never sacrifice our princess to the likes of you.” The male spat, his hands gripping tightly on his wounded friend while the few people in the water glared up to the nasty pirates.

And with that final threat, the sound of another gun shot went off followed by more screams.

That seemed to be the final straw for Bakugou, getting up from his crouched position to defend the poor people until a firm hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back down. Whipping his head back to Kirishima, the ash blond opened his mouth to rebuttal until the redhead pointed over to the new head that submerged from the water.

Her (h/c) locks seemed perfectly dry even though submerging from the water, though her expression was greatly distressed and angered as she raised her arms up, a wave of water following after her.

Stopping in his tracks, Bakugou watched as the mysterious woman flung her arm’s towards the Vanguard’s large ship, sending the entire crew off their feet as the element crashed against their main deck.

It was incredible, being able to remain underwater for so long to have a strategic surprise attack, it was simply brilliant. It was clear you must have been from the Water Tribe since you were able to control the element fluently, if only he could get a closer view of you.

The Vanguard Crew seemed to recover quick enough from the attack, giving the mystery girl just enough time to swim before the injured people with her arms up and ready to attack once more. The sinister leader began to chuckle darkly as he stood up, gripping the edge of his railing while picking up his gun once more.

“Well well… look who decided to join the party.”

Narrowing your eyes, you ignored your people’s cries to swim away and rather lifted up more water around you, the light blue marks glowing all along your skin.

“How dare you dishonor my people by killing them with such a primitive weapon?” You cried, (s/c) fists clenched while you narrowed your (e/c) eyes, “Could you not sacrifice your pride and spare their lives with that killing machine?”

The tall man only chuckled once more, leaning down over the balcony with an intrigued face, “Nice to see you too princess, I’ve been good thanks for asking.”

“Answer my question Dabi!”

“They simply weren’t complying with my request dear,” The captain immediately hissed, his sickeningly bright blue eyes narrowing down to you, “I only use my spare worthy opponents but lucky for you… you are beyond worthy.”

Suddenly throwing the gun across the deck, the tall man suddenly ordered his crew up from their positions, slowly moving towards the edge of the ship.

“(L/n) get out of here! He’s going to take you away and torture you till he gets what he wants!” One of the few females that hadn’t been shot cried, causing you to look back with a pained expression. Bakugou finally was able to get a glimpse of your face, your (s/c) skin contrasting with the glowing marks all along your face as your plump lips curved into a frown.

“Please, have trust in me Naomi.” You said with a hopeful smile before turning back to the tall captain with narrowed eyes, “Listen hear you fool, I will make a deal with you but only if you come to terms with what I’m about to say.”

The leader of the infamous crew paused at this, holding his hand up before his eyes narrowed down to your own, “I’m listening.”

“Spare my people..” You said simply, letting out a sigh as you heard your friends behind you, “And I will hand myself over to you.”

Dabi’s eyes looked your body up and down as if he could detect if you were lying or not, but after one last glance his lips curled into a smirk as he nodded to you.

“Very well princess, but you must hand yourself over first.”

Biting your lip you looked down to your palms, your heart racing nervously as you heard your friends begging you to swim away with them. Looking back slowly you forced a smile on your features and narrowed your eyes determinedly.

“Don’t you guys worry about me, I’ll be back before sundown.”

With each looking at you with nervous eyes, the tall boy eventually nodded carrying his injured friend away while dragging Naomi away as she kicked and screamed, refusing to leave you behind.

Turning back towards the Vanguard you squeezed your eyes shut, trying to drown out the painful sound of your friend’s sobs as you swam forward to the two pirates awaiting to take you captive. Once they had a firm hold on your wrists you looked up to Dabi with narrowed eyes.

“There you have me, now release your weapons.”

The following sound of Dabi’s dark chuckle made your skin crawl, a sudden sick feeling swarming around in gut as you predicted the very next sickening words he was about to speak.

“Oh princess, how naive must you be...”

And with that, the sounds of guns firing filled the air followed by your loud screams as you looked back to your friends.

With your head back Bakugou finally got a good glance at you, and to say he was stunned was an understatement. Your look was far from conventional, blue marks adorning your (s/c) skin that seemed to glow whenever you used this power of yours. Behind your long (h/c) locks were small pointed ears that somehow made your alien like look appear rather radiant. Even with the angered looked on your face you still came off... angelic.

The sudden sound of your screams snapped the boy out of his trance, his eyes refocusing on the chaotic scene before him.

“Stop it you liar! Let me go-” You cried ripping yourself out of the pirate’s grasp until the green skinned pirate smacked his metal pole against the back of your head, the sound of the metal cracking against your skull echoing across the water.

Suddenly your body went motionless, slumping into the water as the two lifted you up enough to drag you toward the ship.

“Jeez that was harsh, they’re even putting her in a damn sack!” Sero said as they watched the two pirates shove your lower half in a large sack.

"What should we do captain?” Kirishima whispered with wide eyes, the redhead clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Bakugou’s crew all getting on edge as they watched the Vanguard captian command his crew to go get your struggling body.

Bakugou’s eyes searched around the unfolding scene, is brain trying to decipher what was happening still before he shook his head. Something about you was important he just knew it, and that meant there was no way the Vanguard could take you away.

“Shitty hair and Dunce face you both distract the pirates on the ship so they stop firing at the people swimming over there, Racoon Eyes and Flat Face you come with me to take that staple fucker out!”

Nodding to their captains orders, the crew suddenly jumped out of their cloaked ship just in the nick of time, the five of them all trudged out to the large ship, effectively distracting the Vanguard as they took notice of the infamous Captain Zero crew.

“Where the hell did they come from?” A loud voice cried from the ship, a few looks of panic coming across the crew as the five of them charged into the water.

The captain let out an annoyed growl, his fists clenching as he pointed to the green skinned crew member that was already halfway to your squirming form.

“Get the princess so we can scram!”

Both pirates that were holding you quickly pulled you up to the deck with a lever, allowing Dabi to roll your limp body onto the ship.

Letting out a growl Bakugou jumped up onto the lever, holding on as it lifted back up before looking down to his two crew members, “Take out lizard man and creepy chick, I got staple face.”

With all the crew members now occupied, the ash blond focused on Dabi now, a smirk appearing across his features as he saw the dark haired boy jump in surprise as he leapt onto the deck.

“You don’t know what’s going on idiot!” Dabi shouted, unsheathing his sword while the ash blond unsheathed his own blade from his wet pants, “I don’t need to know what’s going on to know you fuckers shouldn’t have this girl!”

Gritting his teeth, Dabi suddenly lunched at the ash blond captain, his blade appearing to slice against Bakugou’s shirt before he back up, his blade swiping past Dabi’s face.

“You missed you heathen of a captain!” Dabi sneered, his blue eyes narrowing only for Bakugou to smirk, a chuckle escaping his lips.

“Actually, I don’t think I missed assface.”

The sound of a wooden blank snapping from above made both men look up, watching as the rope holding the plank up snapped causing the plank to fall down towards the two.

“You little shi-”

Dabi’s words were unable to finish as the plank crashed down into the floorboards of the deck, creating a rather large hole meanwhile the force knocking your unconscious body over the side of the ship.

“Damn it, where the hell is my good for nothing crew?!” Dabi shouted, looking over to your body now floating in the water until he noticed his own crew climbing up the side of the ship.

“Captain we’re outnumbered, we gotta scram!” A blond haired girl squeeled, her face flustered as she hopped over the side of the ship.

“And that’s my cue to get the hell out of here, nice try Captain.” Bakugou sneered, making sure to say ‘captain’ as tauntingly as possible, causing the Captain of the Vanguard to growl.

Seeing as their was no possible way to get to the girl without going through Captain Zero’s crew, the Vanguard Captain seemed to pull a white flag. Calling back his shaken up crew members, they set sail for the opposite direction before pointing back to his form.

“We will meet again princess, and I will get that power of yours!”

Raising a brow, Bakugou watched as they sailed off. A small part of him proud they effectively scared off the large crew, while another part of him remained curious as to why they called your princess or what ‘power’ they kept talking about.

The sound of Kirishima calling out his name suddenly snapped the ash blond back into reality, his head whipping over to see your sack covered form now resting against the shore. Your body must have flowed back from the waves, sending you crashing against shore.

“Cap’n, you may wanna see this…” Kirishima called in a wary tone, the ash blond growing anxious by the way he said it.

Trudging back from the crashing waves, the ash blond took a glimpse of your limp form, his eyes narrowing when he saw a slight glimmer from the area where your hips should be. Something wasn’t adding up.. if those weren’t legs then…

“Dude.. what if she’s some sort of alien or something…” Kaminari muttered, earning four glares from his crew members as he threw his arms up in defense, “What?! Look at her legs they’re all shiny!”

Letting out a growl, the ash blond kneeled next to the girl as waves crashed up against her skin, ignoring his bickering crew as he peeled the sack back and out from over your body only to drop the sack and let out a yelp of surprise.

Suddenly your (f/c) glowing marks from before were all beginning to make sense, the marks matching your (f/c) tail where your legs should be. You had the face of an angel just as he had seen from before, your heart shaped locks perfectly fitting the shape of your (s/c) face as they tangled with the sand beneath them. Adorning your skin were faded (f/c) marks, appearing to be mere birthmarks when they weren’t glowing.

It was all seeming to make sense that you were all wearing ‘bikinis’ as Kaminari explained, your bathing suit like top matching the beautiful tail that began just before your hip bones. Your (f/c) tail looked just as it did in the fairtyales his mother would read to him, only at the end it flowed out beautifully like nothing he had ever seen. He just.. he couldn’t believe it.

Before him laid a real live mermaid.

“My gods… I never knew mermaids were actually real.” Mina whispered, her along with the rest of the crew members staring at you in awe.

Kaminari looked your form up and down with a goofy grin on his expression, the four of them already knowing something dumb were to come out of his mouth, “This is even better than a girl in a bikini…”

As Kirishima slapped the bright haired boy once more, Bakugou ignored their sudden bickering, instead letting his calloused finger tips lightly graze the bright scales of your tale before moving his palm up to your face to trace the marks along your cheeks.

For some reason he was.. captivated by you. Not even by your stunning looks, but just by the way your chest moved up and down while you rested ever so peacefully. He felt as if the universe was screaming at him to come closer to you, as if you were more important than he could ever believe.

Once his fingers brushed some of your (h/c) locks away from your eyes, they all jumped back when your (e/c) orbs suddenly fluttered open, revealing (e/c) eyes for them to gaze at.

Bakugou’s breath was taken away when your bright orbs landed on his own crimson ones, as if trying to read and understand every aspect of him.

While Bakugou remained still along with his crew members, a small gasp escaped his lips when your hand reached up to cup his cheek, your thumb rubbing against the side of his ear while you narrowed your eyes.

A small part of the ash blond was telling him to back away from you, something not feeling right about this, but a bigger part of him was telling him to hold you close and never let you go.

“Your... Your ears.” You muttered, rubbing against the soft skin of his ear while the ash blond looked down to you, raising a brow at your strange comment.

“Yeah..?”

Narrowing your (e/c) eyes you suddenly lifted your nose in disgust, and backed your head away from his own, “They’re hideous.. what’s wrong with them?”

Bakugou’s calm expression suddenly turned into one filled with rage, his crimson eyes narrowed down to yours while his crew members bursted into laughter at your comment.

“The hell, nothing is wrong with them! They looking fucking fine-fuCK!”

Bakugou was getting ready to continue with his angered tangent until a wave of sand was flown in his face causing him to jump back and scream in pain.

“What the fuck?!” Bakugou shouted, rubbing wildly at his eyes until his vision slowly came back only to see you dragging yourself back into the water.

“Cap’n she flicked sand in your eyes!” Kaminari said as they stared to their captain with wide eyes while you made your big escape.

Rubbing at his bright red orbs a few more times, Bakugou let out an annoyed growl before pointing to your form, “Well don’t let the fish get away you good for nothing idiots!”

As if Bakugou just explained the meaning to life, they all let out ‘oooooh’ sounds before making a mad dash after you.

And to think you were so close, so close to escaping alive. That is until a pair of arms grabbed at your tail and dragged you back into the dry sand. Whipping your head back you narrowed your eyes to see the humans tugging at your tail.

Inhaling deeply you began to swing your tail up and down quickly, smirking when it smacked the bright haired boy in the face causing him to stumble back.

“Don’t grab the fin grab the tail part!” Mina suggested, Kirishima and Sero gripping at the round part of your tail causing you to huff in annoyance as they made your escape more difficult.

Whoever these humans were, they didn’t seem very bright. For people that were trying to kidnap you and take your family heirloom of a power, they were doing quite a terrible job. Deciding to take advantage of this, you lifted your arms up, two small streams of water rising in front of you. Ready to whip them back behind you, you swung your arms back until a pair of strong arms grabbed both of your wrists and yanked them behind your back causing you to yelp in pain.

“Oh how the tables have turned you little shit.” Bakugou hissed with a smug grin, as he yanked back at your arms before flipping you over onto your back, “Drag her up against the damn tree so she can’t get away.”

Doing as told, the four crew members dragged your body against the dry sand until your back bumped up against the uneven bark of the palm tree, leaving you stranded on the dry land with these so called pirates.

Realizing there was no way you could out drag these humans to the water you let out a sigh, keeping your arms up defensively while narrowing your eyes to the pirates.

“Who are you all?” You hissed, looking up to their wide eyes, “I understand why Dabi and his filthy crew wants me, could he have spread the news of my power to other crews?”

All five crew members before you stared at you with confused expressions, looking to each other before looking down to you.

“The fuck are you babbling on about fish?”

“I’m not a fish, I’m a mermaid you idiot.” You hissed, narrowing your eyes now to the crimson eyed boy who was now glaring down to you.

“Oh I’m the fucking idiot? You didn’t seem to think so when you were looking at me with those lovey dovey eyes!”’

Rolling your eyes you deadpanned up to the boy with your eyes still narrowed, “I wasn’t looking at you lovey dovey, I was looking at your disgusting ears!”

This set the ash blond off, his fists cracking down to you before the red haired boy stepped in front of him, blocking him from making any regrettable decisions before bending down to you.

“Look miss uh.. whatever your name is.. we aren’t here to hurt you or take whatever this power thing is, we actually came here to stop those bad guys.” The red haired boy said with a kind smile while he nodded to the pink skinned girl to release your hands, making your racing heart seem to calm down while you looked his form up and down to detect any sort of lying from him, “So maybe you could help us out by telling us who you are, and what just happened?”

Looking the five pirates up and down you folded your arms, the tip of your tail flopping up and down in annoyance as you bit your lip, “And how am I to trust you, you wear the same clothes as the Vanguard, you could be working together.”

Getting annoyed with the situation the ash blond finally kneeled down to you, shoving aside his red haired friend that tried to hold him back.

“Look fish girl, if I wanted you dead you would be long gone by now,” Bakugou threatened, his crimson eyes narrowing to your own challenging ones, “And if there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that you never compare me or my crew to those shitty Vanguard Pirates. Those assholes have no honor, we may be pirates but we always fight for what’s right, got that? Or did your pointy ass ears not comprehend that.”

Your lower lip formed into a slight pout when he mocked your own ears before you inhaled deeply. Perhaps you were naive for trusting the five humans, but then again you didn’t have much to lose. If they truly hated the Vanguard as much as they claimed... perhaps they could be of assistance to you.

Letting out a sigh you looked down to your tail, rubbing at your sore wrists before looking up to them with calm eyes, this was going to be a long story after all.

“My name is (L/n) (F/n), and I’m Princess of the East Sea-”

“A princess?! Woah that’s so cool, I’ve never met a hot mermaid princess before!” Kaminari said with wide eyes before he was met with another smack to the forehead causing him to whine once more.

“Let her continue you idiot.” Sero hissed before all eyes were back on you.

“Yes, I suppose a mermaid princess is a bit rare, but this is not why the Vanguard is obsessed with me,” You explained, looking down to the marks on your arms, “When I was born, my mother was taken away from me by an evil spirit, one that was to bring curses to my land. They wanted to take my father, but my mother sacrificed herself. Somehow in this process, I still was born without any flaw, the god’s granting me gifts so my mother’s death would not be in vain. But along with these gifts, is the responsibility to fight off such evils. It is told that one day the evil spirit is to come back, and when it does it will be up to me to stop it.

For years we had been left untouched, no evil dare stepping into our kingdom but as of a few months ago these Vanguard Pirates have been giving my people nothing but trouble. Dabi surely knows of my power, and I fear he works with these evil spirit. If he does, I need to bring him and his crew to an end before the entire world falls into chaos like it was a decade ago.”

The five pirates listened attentively to your words, making occasional face expressions or nods when you brought up an important or shocking point.

“Wow.. so that’s why you have all those cool marks!” Mina pointed out with a grin, causing you to look down to the lines wrapping around your arms and face, “Cause your friend’s didn’t have those marks.”

“Yes you are correct,” You said with a soft smile, “My father said these are my god given marks, proving that I am the chosen one.”

“That’s probably the coolest story I’ve ever heard in my life.” Kaminari said with wide eyes, his face appearing to still be processing your story.

“The real question is.. how can we help?” The red haired boy spoke, his eyes sincere as he looked to you, the rest of the crew holding the same face except for the ash blond who kept his scowl, though less harsh now.

Looking down to your hands you pondered the question, biting you lip as you thought about it.

You still didn’t know if you could trust these guys, what if they were lying about who they were? The ash blond boy did seem very passionate about his hatred for the Vanguard, but then again his brash tone could be very deceiving. Ultimately you couldn’t help but think, if the same evils that took your own mother away from you were slowly coming back to your world, you had to do whatever it takes to stop it.

Even if that meant trusting five pirates.

Letting out a sigh you looked up to the five, your (e/c) eyes seeming genuine for once as you pointed out to the sea.

“How would you like to visit Atlantia?”

#bnha bakugou #bakugou's mom #bakugou #bakugou x reader #pirate bakugou #mermaid reader #pirate au #mermaid au #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #it's a bit long #but e n jo y #the chosen #the chosen fic

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moczothe1st · 6 years

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Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 23: An Altenuous Situation

Part 22

Welcome back to another week of Let’s Tolerate Thracia. …. I mean, let’s play Fire Emblem IV. When we left off, we had just recruited the world’s worst hostage, and were about to send him back to save his doofus father. Let’s check out our new kid!

So here’s Cairpre. He’s… he’s certainly around. His Major Bragi holy blood and all those staves in his backpack should be enough to tell you he’s actually the second child of Claude and Sylvia, making him Lene’s younger brother. How he ended up in Thracia, away from his sister and adopted by Santa Claus, will have to be a story for another time because right now we’re summarizing his unit and he’s… okay. Basically another Claude. He starts off at level one, which is not as big a problem as it could be because he should never, ever be in combat anyway, and comes in with several long-range healing staves that will make his level shoot up fast. He’s just another healer, really. Not a bad healer, but nothing super impressive.

He starts the long walk back to his adopted father to recruit him while Patty just keeps right on stabbing some helpless dude, like a hero.

Good job, Patty! The healer down south of her who kept patching that guy up should push her over the edge to another level, and she’ll be close to promotion. And with him gone, other units who were busy keeping her target standing still can move to clear out Hannibal’s castle.

Mook: If you wish to claim it, you must first claim my life!

There was absolutely no need to do that. He’d have disappeared peacefully when I recruit Hannibal anyway. I just wanted the free experience points.

Patty is learning to become a cannon lately, huh? When she promotes she’ll just wreck people. Lana also gains a level from warping our remaining promotion candidates back to home base to pick up their new clothes, with Lene’s help.

Your mom would be proud, sweetie. But not as proud as I will be of our four shiny new promotes!

Oh, that’s beautiful. Tinni in particular is a standout here, because promoting to War Mage lets her use swords (which… no), Staves, and pushes her Thunder rank up to A so she can finally buy her mom’s old Thoron tome.

And Patty is here too! Cairpre even gains his first level just from zapping the army with his Fortify staff. A good one, too. I’m so proud-ish of him. And from here, Seliph is finally close enough to recruit Altena…

Altena: My brother, Prince Leif, has explained the truth to me, and I can no longer oppose you. If you please, I’d like to join your ranks.

Seliph: Princess Altena?! … Ah, yes. That’s right! Prince Leif has told me everything, and we’ve both prayed you would come… He’ll be so glad to know you’ve joined us. You’ve made a difficult but wise decision.

(I like the implication that the entire drama with Altena was something Seliph knew about, but just kind of slipped his mind.)

Altena: … I can still scarcely believe this has all happened. And yet, the moment I gazed into my brother’s eyes, I understood everything.

(Platonically! She was gazing into his eyes platonically! God, I hate that I feel the need to specify that.)

Altena: His eyes revealed my father’s warm gaze… and as clear as if it were yesterday, I felt for a split second as if I was swaddled in my mother’s gentle arms…

(PLATONICALLY!)

Seliph: I admit I’m still not entirely sure what King Travant was trying to do with you. I still cannot see what would have led him to spare you and bring you into his home after murdering your parents…

(… It was the holy spear of the gods that only she can wield. Why do so many people have trouble grasping that?!)

Altena: I’ve heard he once told my brother, Arion, that he sought to use the power of Leonster’s holy lance, Gae Bolg, as his own. For that alone, he needed me…

Seliph: You were little more than a tool to him?

Altena: I… I’m still not entirely sure. For all his cruelty, he still treated me as if I were his true daughter.

(… When?)

Seliph: Did he, now… I suppose I’ve never known much of his ways.

(That’s cool, neither did the writers.)

Altena: I must as a favor of you, milord. It’s about Arion… we need to help Prince Arion!

Seliph: Certainly! I’m hardly eager to fight a man of his fine caliber, if what I’ve heard is true. The only question is, can we convince him?

Altena: I’ll do my best to persuade him again. All I ask is a little time. Please, milord!

… and having had that dopey mess, also let Cairpre recruit Hannibal.

Cairpre: Lord Seliph freed me from Luthecia!

Hannibal: Cairpre?! Y…you’re safe!

Cairpre: Yep! Listen, Papa…. I want to join Lord Seliph’s army. Thracia’s changed so much lately…. I want to fight to help all of its people, and bring back the old Thracia!

Hannibal: Heh… you’ve grown into a splendid young man, Cairpre. Very well! I, too, shall serve Lord Seliph.

Cairpre: Yes! Thank you, Papa! First we’ll help free Thracia, and then together, we’ll challenge the Empire!

See, Altena? That was a nice normal discussion that didn’t make either of them look like total doofuses who weren’t paying attention to the war they were in. Ah, well, let’s take a look at the newbies.

So here’s Hannibal. He… well, let’s not mince words, he probably wasn’t worth the effort of recruiting him. He’s not a bad unit, inherently, being a General with Pavise, Vantage, and Adept (though with only 11 speed, it’s unlikely he’ll be activating that third one very often). It’s just that the majority of his stats are only ‘decent’ at a time in the game when many units are approaching ‘godlike’, and like Arden before him, he has a lower movement range than everyone else in a game where you’ll quickly find yourself wishing everyone would just get a horse. He’ll get a little use, but honestly most of the time he’ll be staying at our home base to make sure no random reinforcements sneak up and steal it from under us.

And after two borderline duds, we finally get our shining diamond of the map. Altena is a monster; even unpromoted her stats are already mostly equal or better than Hannibal’s, and she’s got more levels left to gain than he does with better growth rates on top of it, thanks to coming with two different Holy Blood types, Major Nova and Minor Baldur. She’s also a flying unit, meaning Fee no longer has to go everywhere alone, and comes into the army carrying all of Quan’s old spears, including the truly awesome Gae Bolg coming at last back to our hands after we barely got to play with it last time. It may not be the almighty nuke that Forseti or Balmung are, but +10 each to Strength, Skill, and Defense is nothing to sneeze at. Our two combatants can now head into nearby castles to face the Arena. I suspect… there will be slight differences in performance.

Altena: Seven wins, gained two levels: +3 HP, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +2 Defense

Hannibal: Six wins, gained one level: +1 Strength

One of these two had a better performance. Though, in fairness, Hannibal getting creamed did let Lana gain a level from healing him.

Much better! Okay end turn.

Legion of Doom: I suppose it was unavoidable… Fortify our defensive line. Until reinforcements arrive, we must defend the castle at all costs.

Brock from Pokemon: Heh, no matter. The rebels’ little rampage ends here. Ready, men? We’re going in. The Emperor himself’s put a handsome bounty on each rebel head. We mustn’t waste a chance to claim it for ourselves!

So there’s our next issue. The invading Grannvale squad to the north is fairly nasty. Entirely composed of promoted cavalry units and packing two healers with them; they’re hard to wear down in a single turn, and if they all get a shot at the same unit they can definitely take out all but our strongest kids. So, you know, don’t let that happen. To the south, at Grutia castle, is almost the opposite; a veritable swarm of ballistae, so Fee and Altena can’t even really get close, and a Dark Bishop with a siege tome. Once we get close to them they’ll break like cheap glass, but getting there can be risky, to say the least. We’re going to split up; it’s a bit tricky, but in general the ballistae are not a huge issue compared to the bishop miniboss, so anyone who goes for the southern castle mostly has to have enough resistance to take a shot from him, or enough speed and luck to reliably dodge him. I go with Seliph, Leif, Nanna, Ares, Larcei, Shannan, Julia, Arthur, and Lana. The rest of the army will be blocking off the pass to stop the incoming cavalry. Ideally, we’ll get a situation where we can split their attack across several people and then crush them on the return trip. A few turns over movement, and we find ourselves…

Not even close! Everyone was too far away, and that first one snuck up on me real good. I didn’t realize I’d put Lester at the edge of someone’s movement. I was so caught off guard I didn’t screenshot the combat (he dodged. Go archery!). So our first step right now is to back the Hell up.

…

Well, okay, second step.

That’s for swinging at my squishy horse archer, jerkass. I draw back everyone to create a battle line that’s split in the middle by the castle; this should be drawing out a big chunk of the enemy without letting them focus fire on one character. End turn!

Not bad, other than the fact I forgot to equip Finn with his big-people spear and he got a little creamed. Cairpre, care to patch the team up?

Good kid. Rest of the team, rock out!

…. I really dislike that we couldn’t kill that fucking mid-boss. He hits like a truck and he’s annoyingly fast. I… don’t want to end the turn. I see it going badly. But… *sigh*… let’s see…

…. Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. I knew it. Dammit. Reset.

Okay. This time, we are going to be brave and run away. Once more, kill the outer layer and flee. Go, my brave cowards!

And with this, the only character in the boss’s attack range is Arthur, who is parked in the castle and wielding Forseti. Yes, I am a vindictive person. End turn!

… That’s it?! You didn’t even take a shot, you fucker! Fine, fine, Arthur will come to you.

Congratulations, Musar, you managed to land a single blow. That is more than most of the foes he slaughters can achieve. Arthur also gets the droppable Tornado tome from this boss, meaning he can sell the Elwind he’s been using for his sister to pick up later, or maybe it can go to Lana after I get a chance to promote her, haven’t decided yet. Cairpre even gains another level after healing Arthur’s boo-boos.

Good kid! Not very bright, but talented in his own way. Now, hey, who wants to slaughter?

*sniff* Not bad at all. All that remains of this enemy force is one healer that Patty can chew on to her heart’s content. I have Lana warp Lester back to the home base to promote, and on the next turn she can do the same to Arthur. This army is really coming together! To the north, I’m going to let Cairpre have most of the villages; he’ll need money to repair his staves after spamming them to gain levels on this map. Lana will too, of course, but she…

Has a booooooooooooyfriend. Ulster is rolling in cash and he’ll only be getting more, since he barely needs to spend anything these days, relying on nice normal swords instead of legendary money sinks, so I’ll just have him give Lana all his wealth next turn.

Now, to the south, it’s… *sigh*… time to wade into the Ballista Storm, I suppose. This will be annoying, so I’m just gonna smash it as quickly and brutally as I can; Ares, Leif, and Seliph, go right for the boss and kill. Everyone’s on a horse so they should only have to spend one turn being shot at before they reach and take out the boss. Eeeeeeeend turn!

And you know what, let’s just stop there? It’s like seven more shots of just that. I hate ballistae so much.

Judah: This world is Lord Loptyr’s to smother in darkness!

I appreciate that I somehow managed to miss the cool-looking part of the Fenrir spell and got the weird hit-flash moment where the whole screen turns randomly blue. Now then, our turn, and let’s try to end this fast.

*whistle* Leif, I always forget just how much of a monster promotion turns you into. Up to the north, meanwhile, we still have an army. I know, I forgot them too.

You do you, Patty. While Patty torments a priest… again… Lene takes this time to chat with her newly-recruited and long-lost brother that she doesn’t actually know.

Lene: Wait, you’re from Darna too?

Cairpre: You’re familiar with Darna, Lene?

Lene: Yep! I grew up in the abbey there. They told me my mom was a dancer, who left me there when I was about two years old. That’s why I’m a dancer now. I was thinking that maybe, if I did the same thing as her, one day I might find her again. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I taught myself everything I know about dancing.

Cairpre: That’s really great of you, Lene! I, er, guess I thought wrong about you…

Lene: Not a big fan of dancers, Cairpre?

Cairpre: Not really…. At least, not unti I met you, Lene.

Lene: Awww! Thanks, Cairpre!

Cairpre gains +1 Luck from this, because…. Look, you need to stop asking questions. I also choose not to zap Arthur home after all; he doesn’t need his promotion, and I want him to shut up and marry Julia already, so I’m gluing them together for now. Maybe they’ll hook up, maybe they won’t, but either way I’ll demand they sex who they are told to sex. Instead, Lana just heals someone and levels…

And Lester takes his promotion.

Not a super impressive promotion, but… a promotion. The turn ends there, and the enemy phase is a desperately sad event, with ballistae firing and missing again and again. It saddens me. I’m sad.

Look at that! Even Oifey doesn’t respect them.

In any event, Patty finishes bullying the clergy and Cairpre zaps her…

And we dismantle some siege equipment.

And that’s that! The current section of map is over, so I take a few turns to move folks around; Cairpre starts trekking north to get his fortune, while the rest of the army splits up, most of them heading south to hook up with Seliph and co., but Patty, Ulster, Lana, Shanan, Tinni, Faval, and Altena are staying in the north to reinforce our assorted castles. Thracians are tricky and they can fly, so you can’t leave your castles unattended for a second on this stupid map. The first time I played I actually managed to lose all of them but Meath just through sheer force of stupid.

And it is on this exciting note that I leave you for the week, gentle readers. Seliph, will you play us out?

(You may remember the previous update wherein Arion just suddenly turned into a rampaging douche. That state of events has stuck.)

Lewyn: I suppose that stubborn dracoknight pride compels him to fight to the bitter end. I was hoping the legendary Arion of Thracia would be a wiser man than this… Seliph, I hope you understand we can’t turn back now. This last battle needs to be fought.

(Well, yeah, dude, his family has been trying to kill us for two weeks while we politely ask them to go away.)

Seliph: I don’t understand him. Why would Arion insist on fighting such a futile battle… how can he be so callous? Does he not understand the grief he’s inflicting on Altena?

… And hey, for once, Lewyn doesn’t spout some pseudo-philosophy at us! This really is a bright note to leave an update on. See y’all next week!

Total Resets: 27. I knew that boss was a bastard and I still let myself get caught off guard. For shame, me.

Part 24

#let's play #let's play fire emblem IV #Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War #fire emblem 4 #Genealogy of the Holy War #my writing #lp #fire emblem #long post #they're all long

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