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thathawaiianchick · 4 years

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my wolfstar fic recc

29 of my favs, plus 2 comics :)

sorted from shortest to longest, series at the bottom

i like long fics, i like raising Harry AUs, i like Lay Low at Lupin’s fics, i like marauder era “we’re 70′s trash fics”, i like angst, but i also love “everybody lives”, kind of a mix of everything but seriously a lot of raising Harry AUs because it fills a need i guess

some super popular, some relative unknowns i think

all fics that characterize wolfstar for me :)

JKR has disappointed me supremely, but fan works will hold my love forever

part 2 because i forgot some

STANDALONES

1. A Day Like Any Other by dustmouth

(a comic, not really a fic, just hosted on AO3)

The one where Sirius keeps receiving unwanted mail, Remus drinks a lot of tea, Peter's out on a hot date, and James is offering unwanted make overs.

(Or the answer to the question of exactly how many cursed letters can you flush down the loo).

2. To Keep a Star by dustmouth

(a comic, not really a fic, just hosted on AO3)

Daily life in the Intergalactic Postal Service. Or the one where Sirius is a postal star and Remus lives on a spaceship.

3. in your bedroom, during the war by lupinely

There’s the bed, there’s the room, and there’s Remus. This, at least, Sirius knows for sure. (4Kish)

4. Home We’ll Go by appalachian_fireflies

"I can't, I don't know how," Remus stuttered as Molly dropped the infant into his arms, who immediately ceased crying and stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Nonsense," Molly said. "Be a dear and keep him from falling while I feed Ginny."

"Ba!" Ron giggled, and slapped Remus in the face.

Molly is the emergency contact for the Order when those listed can no longer be reached. Remus' life finds a different path. (10K)

5. A Store of Happiness by coyotesuspect

Harry spends the summer after his third year living with Sirius and Professor Lupin. (10K)

6. In The Bed by bigblackdog

Left to his own devices the summer after the prank, Sirius crafts an unusual gift to mend his relationship with Remus. (11K)

7. Vigil Strange I Kept by whitmans_kiss

Remus' lycanthropy has caused his body to seriously deteriorate over the years due to the constant stress of the transformations, and by his fifty-sixth birthday, it's certain that he won't live to finish out the year. However, a cure has recently been discovered - but what if the cure is just as bad as the disease? (11K)

8. Elucidation Practice by montparnasse

Christmas, 1978. Remus, wrestling with the mighty problems of gift-giving on a budget, contemplates life, love, London in winter, and falling off the edge of the world with Sirius Black. (21K)

9. On a Windswept Cliff by starfishstar

On the cliff top where the fearsome Lord Black once stalked, an outcast man meets a big black dog, and things are not as they seem.

Or: The Remus/Sirius gothic romance AU. (21K)

10. Lethe and Mnemosyne by montparnasse

Winter '79. Looking to get out from under the black-hole overhang of wartime, Sirius and Remus take off to play house on the Cornish moors. It goes downhill from there. (26K)

11. Purity by FelisA

Sirius resurrection fic. (27K) 12. Common Woodbrown by imochan

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there. In 1985, Remus Lupin realizes that Sirius Black is innocent. Now, he just has to prove it. (36K)

13. Wilde and Whimsy by chasing bluefish, obsob

In a world where Dumbledore defeated Voldemort during the first war, the wizarding community is picking up the pieces and getting back to their lives. Remus Lupin becomes a person of interest in a murder at the bookshop where he works and Sirius Black and James Potter, aurors, are sent to investigate. As they navigate the crime itself, Remus and Sirius realize that there is something to their instant chemistry. But they need to keep their newfound attraction under wraps while trying to find the killer and stop them from claiming more victims. (36K)

14. Paper Wings by Krislaughs

(not hosted on ao3)

What if Sirius Black sent a final message from Azkaban? Enter the home of the last Marauder in the days following Voldemort’s downfall. Lost and alone, Remus asks a question of the void, a question whose answer will send him around the world. Meeting puppies, Kneazles, dementors, and nomads, Remus learns more about himself and his friends than he ever thought possible. Learn the secrets of the Marauder’s map and the world’s best chocolate, how various Death Eaters occupied themselves after the fall of their lord, and why you should never leave Remembralls lying around.

15. Uncreated Night by earlybloomingparentheses

Remus can drift through whole worlds in his own mind. Sirius lives in his body, electric, ablaze. In 1979 and 1996 and 1978 and 1981 and in many other years and many different places, they search for the bridges between them and the spaces they can share. Time after time, they fight their way back together, head and heart, mind and body.

And in 1998, Remus stands before the veil, wondering if he should finally stop thinking, and just act. (41.5K)

16. Lemon Chiffon Yellow by Spklvr

An unplanned night between Remus and Tonks ends up changing their lives forever. (42K)

17. The Weather Inside by earlybloomingparentheses

Sirius rides a flying motorbike, and snogs strangers in pubs, and strikes moody poses Remus finds irritatingly attractive. But for Remus, who drinks milky tea and wears flannel pyjamas, there's a chasm cracked right down the fault line between wanting and doing.

How he wants, though. How he wants. (43K)

18. the dogfather by hollimichele

“I’m not a reverse werewolf either,” says the man. “I’m your godfather.” (47K)

19. Domestic Creatures by veeagainst

Growing up is hard to do -- but the journey is better if you take someone with you. (53K)

20. Leave the Children Behind by montparnasse

Bravery, sometimes, is the ending just as much as the beginning. Remus, Sirius, and a series of choices.

Or, a love story—backwards and forwards. (54K)

21. A Series of Sketches Done in Black Ink by mustntgetmy

Non-magic AU. Sirius had always imagined the aftermath of falling in love would mean lightness, and an escape from all the horrors of his childhood. But the past never leaves, and even love can't stop bad memories from resurfacing.

An almost year in the life of Sirius and Remus's first year as a couple replete with art and tangled sheets, and containing the following: filled sketchbook pages from people lost and people found, terrible biscuits from an excellent therapist, mismatched music records, expensive hot chocolate, a lost brother, photographs (some invasive and some invoking terrible memories), a reckoning with the past, a promise of the future, and yet another ridiculously over the top Halloween party. (57K)

22. Alt Ed by NachoDiablo

“Remus? Who the bloody hell is Remus?” James is scrambling to straighten his chair as McGonagall glares at him from the head table.

Mary smiles innocently. “Oh, just a new friend that Lily met over the holidays. He’s homeschooled, just moved into her neighborhood it seems. She says he’s very clever. And I hear he’s quite fit, as well.”

AU where Remus and Lily become friends outside of Hogwarts, setting James and Sirius on a quest to learn more about this mysterious newcomer. (61K)

23. Indiana Lupin and the Search for the Conqueror by nekarose

Remus Lupin is an undercover archaeologist for the British Museum and is sent to Greenland to investigate a Roman shipwreck. In Greenland he meets Sirius Black, makes a real discovery and soon enough the two of them are racing through the world in search of the remains of the Library of Alexandria with Remus’ arch-enemy right at their heels. (66K)

24. Le Mot Vagabond by ironicallyinternational

(It all starts with Peter Pettigrew dying twice.

First, Peter kills Wormtail (discreetly), and then Sirius kills him (less discreetly).

Losing a friend is never easy, even amidst the ravages of war, but losing the last of your childhood alongside him is far worse.)

War is a complicated, messy thing. The Marauders have their fucked up shit to deal with, but they also have each other, and that counts for a lot. (151K)

SERIES:

25. The Hole in the Ground by sostrata

(5 works) A series of fics about Sirius and Remus raising Harry in their home, The Hole in the Ground. (18k)

26. Holding Out by bigblackbog

(works 2)

On Halloween, 1981 Sirius and Remus abscond with Harry despite their recently rocky relationship. (36K)

27. Maddest House by busaikko

(6 works)

old as hell. Another wolfstar raising Harry fic (55K)

28. Lycanthropic Studies by Eiiri

(3 works)

After the Battle of Hogwarts, Remus recognizes something familiar in Draco Malfoy and offers him sanctuary. With nowhere else to turn--his parents in prison, his home a crime scene--Draco reluctantly accepts and becomes a tolerated, if not welcome, member of his schoolyard rivals' and wartime adversaries' family of choice. As pages of the lunar calendar turn and the summer wears on,Draco and the others begin to see each other in a different light. (139K)

29. Stealing Harryverse by copperbadge

(works 12)

On a dark night long ago, Sirius Black took a wrong turn and never found Peter Pettigrew. Instead of Azkaban, Sirius settled down in Little Whinging to keep an eye on his godson, and hired Remus Lupin to run his bookshop for him. Then one day when Harry was eight, Sirius found out how the Dursleys treated him, and stole him away.

Stealing Harry is an alternate universe version of Harry Potter's life before his time at Hogwarts. It is the story of Harry's family: Sirius and Remus, Ted and Andromeda, Nymphadora, Neville Longbottom, and even Severus Snape, all banded together against a newly powerful Peter Pettigrew who is still searching for a way to resurrect Voldemort.

Laocoon's Children follows Harry through his time at Hogwarts as he develops a very different group of friends: Hufflepuff Draco Malfoy, Ravenclaw Padma Patil, and Gryffindor Neville Longbottom, strange companions for a Harry who was sorted into Slytherin -- the house of his beloved Professor Snape.

This universe ends in Harry's third year, and is partially incomplete. As it is not likely to be finished, the last story in the series is a group of notes I made on where the story would have gone and how it would have ended. (443.3K)

30. All the Young Dudes by MsKingBean89

(4 works)

LONG fic charting the marauders' time at Hogwarts (and beyond) from Remus' PoV - diversion from canon in that Remus's father died and he was raised in a children's home, and is a bit rough around the edges. Otherwise canon-compliant. 1971 - 1995 (557K)

31. Crow Rides A Pale Horse by tb_ll57

(4 works)

The note pinned to his collar read 'Harry J Potter - please accept'. The Dursleys had left him with nothing else but a pillow sack with half a sleeve of McVities biscuits, a mealy apple, and ten pounds. (618K)

#hp #harry potter #wolfstar #remus lupin #sirius black #killing sirius was not punk rock jk rowling #nor was killing off remus #this is the barest reason to want to kick jkr #reference for myself #i dont have all of these bookmarked on ao3 even if they're some of my favs #raising harry #fic rec #this only took me an hour to make i can't believe i've been procrastinating this #lolol yes i can #i can believe

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rockmiyabideusexmachina · 4 years

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2020 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest - Cat. 1 (Talent) Results!

Thank you to everyone again for your patience! This is getting posted way later than I wanted to. As much as I try to keep it short and sweet, I never do, so bear with my walls of text.

For the talent category this year, the theme was about killing Mega Man with kindness. More specifically, entrants had to create their own original love/Valentine’s-themed Robot Master or equivalent boss character that was created to defeat Mega Man with the power of love! Even though the theme title and concept alluded more to the classic Robot Master character contests, designs for any series were acceptable. But other than one Navi and one Reploid entry, everyone stuck to a Classic-series themed creation. So you were all pretty consistent!

There were a total of 16 entries for this category this year. Thank you all for your participation! It was extremely hard to choose winners for this category, because you all had really clever and creative concepts based off of this theme. So thank you for thinking up such clever and cool characters!!

Also thanks to Reploid 21XX for the coloring book prizes and for some additional insight.

Again, raffle prize winners will be contained in both posts, so keep an eye out between your name and your art. Not all raffle prize winners are contained in this post. I’ll be contacting all winners soon enough, so sit tight! Might be late after work tonight, so don’t panic if you don’t hear from me right after this is posted.

Your category winners and full gallery of entries are right here, after the break:

Category 1 (Talent) - Dr. Wily’s Greatest Creation: Killing Mega Man With Kindness

[Full Talent Gallery]

1.) @mo-sketchbook:

*For coming in 1st, mo-sketchbook has won $100 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book.*

First and foremost, I appreciate all the effort you put into covering so many aspects of your creation, from the various design viewpoints, weapon get form for Mega Man, and showing the weapon in action. I really loved all the things you integrated into the design to give off the feeling that it is a love-based character. The “love bug” form, cherub-like Heat/Plug-type facial features, and how you utilized hearts in different ways for his design and powers.

I’m no Keiji Inafune, but I feel like this is a concept he would greenlight, in terms of it following his Robot Master design formula. It doesn’t need to be super detailed or flashy, but still fits the mold very well! The thought of the hearts missing their target and love energy then getting weaker is actually pretty clever, too. Cute, and I wuv it.

2.) @peachycircuits:

*For coming in 2nd, peachy has won $50 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book*

As usual, on the technical side of things, your art is one of the more polished and clean entries of the bunch. Combining a couple different aspects - swans as a creature known as a symbol of love, bonded for life like in marriage, and turning that into an inseparable pair of Robot Masters, was a clever way to think about your design, in terms of the theme of this category.

And then echoing that with the iconic Swan Lake, making them ballet dancers, is like taking Tundra Man and Gemini Man’s concept up another notch. Plus, not gonna lie, amused seeing Mega Man getting equipped with a tutu. LOL So even if it’s not as heart-themed as most of the other entries, I totally liked how you thought outside the box a little bit for this.

3.) Komito Amae:

*For coming in 3rd, Komito has won $25 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value*

I figured a cupid-styled arrow theme would pop up in a bunch of entries, but your Reploid, Beta, here caught my eye. Both in terms of the hearts, arrows and wings incorporated into her armor, and the pretty sweet looking buster that she and X both have equipped.

While I’m not sure how it would play out in the game, I think it would be interesting to suddenly take control of random enemies in a stage, and be able to change perspective as them for a short time, after you have shot them. Whether it would be to take out an enemy horde, or perform a task X can’t that the enemy could, it would be different! Can’t see it quite having the same powerful effect on a Maverick boss, but it’s certainly neat to think about how that could work!

And the rest of the wonderful entries, in alphabetical order by alias:

@autobot-bumblebee:

*Raffle Prize Winner* Dreamwave Comics: Issue 4 Page 15

I’m sorry you didn’t win a cash prize this time! Please don’t take me hostage! I totally loved the creative vintage chocolate factory mascot backstory, along with making your entry like an Ariga-styled character sheet page. Certainly get that retro feel with her clothing design. Her rose blade kinda reminds me of other hand-turned-blade-like-weapon characters, such as Alan Gabriel in the Big O or Ed transmuting one in FMA. Which is always a snazzy transformation for a robot!

@drewblossom:

In all honesty, if I hadn’t placed you in the humor category, I think this would have very likely been somewhere in the top 3 for this category. A cuddly teddy bear with a massive Ariga-Quick Man-sized heart for a chest, extending flailing tube arms, who just wants to hug Mega Man to death is so amusing and awesome of a design. Hugs for everyone!

FluffyFrostyFury:

Your take of heat-seeking arrows and the added high jump powers were certainly a different take compared to the other cupid-styled creations. Definitely would be nice gameplay bonuses when equipped. I like how Mega Man also has the wings sprout out of his head, to mimic Cherub Woman’s pigtails, rather than the usual spot you would assume, on his back.

HealerCharm:

Hahaha, I love how your creation has caused Mega Man to wave the white flag after falling in love...wait, it isn’t White Day, and he should be giving her a gift if it was! XD Her hair tied up into a heart was a creative touch, much like how her dress flows into all those heart shapes. Adorable!

@inanehipsterslang:

Um, can...can I count on you to vote for Bernie this election year?

Remember kids, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, looks don’t matter. Everyone deserves love, even those you consider ‘vermin.’ This was certainly an unexpected take on the theme, and gave me a good laugh, too. ‘Boiling-hot water...with a hint of citrus!’ It burns, but it smells so lemony-fresh!! XD But the two different moves fit together well, to protect and attack.

I like how you still incorporated a heart shape into Rodent Woman’s design with, both in her chest shape and the “nostril” area which is echoed in the Rodent Rover. And also props for giving her the non-armor form, unique compared to other entries.

Mattasaurs:

On the one hand, your design feels so different for a Robot Master, and maybe more Navi-like. But then I get the Astro/Galaxy-type eye vibe, and sort of a Plant Man~ish body with Devil hands feel, and see how it’d fit into Classic. It’s a unique look, and I liked it the more I inspected it. I really do love the idea of the heart bubble entrapping more and more enemies, and the big ol’ group hug ending up bursting their love bubble. It’s a different concept that stood out!

Minnie:

Our Navi of the bunch combined the love bug and cupid design, but your concept changed up the attack to suck out the energy of it’s target. Which almost made me think she should have an arrow-like mosquito nose, to feast on her target that way. XD I liked your wing shield concept and RiCO-styled skirt of hearts. Rock gets some cool shades in his Love Soul/Cross form, and I get the ProtoSoul vibe, with the shield transferring to his arm as well.

@pstart:

Another Heat/Plug-type design Share Man looks cute and sleepy, but is also “clumsy and weak.” His ability is to share body parts, so “the danger is in him sharing his less than ideal parts with his opponents.” It’s a totally neat concept, to see Mega Man lose his buster almost by accident, and now be powerless to stop Share Man. His split color scheme drives home the concept that his parts might not all be his own, and sort of a Frankenstein bot at times. Props to that idea!

While his weapon gives Mega Man the power to make enemies docile and sleepy, I really almost want to see Mega Man get dumb parts of enemies, too! Helmet switched to a Met helmet, Batton wings, a big Suzy eye! It’s now I’ve got your power...but...but what am I supposed to do with it? XD

RetroNinjin:

Unlike most others, your entry pushed the heart theme heavily in her armor design around the entire head and shoulder parts, so I definitely felt the love vibe. The color scheme fits well. Just would have liked to have had seen a little more information about her attack and concept.

RoninApprentice:

Mega Man having a “Wing Man” to set him up is a hilarious and clever idea! I give you kudos for thinking outside the box a bit on your concept and theme here. The shipping chart certainly drives the idea home, too. You still give him a classy/formal look, and keep the wing man aviation origin apparent in his attack style. Certainly a different idea having the heart bowtie transfer to Rock’s helmet in the form change, but it really doesn’t look that bad there, opposed to around his neck like it would be normally.

@star-crossed-swords:

Different from the other cupid concepts, Eros Woman utilizes a Search-Man like targeting system to hit her targets. I like the heart scope addition over her and Rock’s eye when they go into firing mode. You took a different approach to the wing concept compared to others, echoing Cinnamon’s hairstyle in many respects. But it certainly fits with the rest of her design nicely, and looks good for Mega Man’s equipped form.

@star-shaped-soul:

Love that you were able to both include a drawing and your own sprite, to mix in with the weapon equip ones. That is one powerful crush Mega Man has on his enemies now! I feel bad for Crush Man with how big and heavy those snare trap hands of his are. This seems like a Robot Master too cute for Wily to design; more like he stole him and added horrible, cruel hands onto him! This is taking a crush on someone to a whole different level! XD

Yuri Kadry:

When equipped with Cupid Man’s power, I like the visor Mega Man gets. I think this is also a clever use of the weapon, having enemies shot attracted to one another, causing them to collide into each other. Well thought out! Love the original sprite art, and he stands out nicely against the pinks and purples in the background.

#Rockman #Megaman #Mega Man #Rock Miyabi's 2020 Megaman Valentine's Day Contest

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lycorogue · 4 years

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Love Square Fluff Week: Part 3 - Trust

A bit flipped here, AAAAAND I should be on day 5 or 6 of @lovesquarefluffweek 2020 by now, but... *shrug *

Surprise surprise... I didn't think of anything until about 9pm, so once again I didn't publish anything until after 2am. UPDATE (2/12/20): The story has now been edited. Sorry if you read it originally with the typos.

Also... yeah... I know... kinda angsty again. I don't know why writing pure fluff has been so hard for me this week. I've done it in the past. I've written fanfics so fluffy and pure I warned readers that they might need to set up dentist appointments to make sure their teeth didn't rot. Something about this week though, man.... This "chapter" is the first one I officially tied to the other two, and, much like with my last short, this could have been both the Day 2 prompt of 'Trust' and the Day 5 prompt of 'Comfort'. For this go, I was mostly focusing on 'Trust' so I still need to write up something specifically focused on 'Comfort', despite it being an underlying theme throughout this series of one-shots.

Also, I rarely write in third-person omniscient (usually sticking to either first-person or third-limited), so if I'm head-hopping in this, please let me know.

Just like the other two “chapters” of this, you can either read this story below the break, or you can check it out on AO3, on FFN, or on DA.

I Have Something To Confess

Summary: Now that she's the Guardian of the Miraculous, Ladybug has a lot to confess.

Word Count: 2844 Rating: General Audience Spoilers: Desperada, Feast, Chat Blanc, and Miracle Queen spoilers (which you’d realize after reading that summary... whoops) Love Square Side: LadyNoir Romance Level: Sweet Friendship

The apartment remained dark; still vacant. Ladybug wasn't sure if she preferred that to someone else living there. Someone else making it theirs. Making it no longer his.

“Evening, M'lady.” Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug on the building across from the empty apartment. “I have to say, I wasn't expecting a late-night meet-up. What's up? What are we doing here?”

“Chat Noir,” Ladybug's voice was soft; solemn. “You know I've hated keeping secrets from you, right?”

“Yeah. Of course I do. What's going on?” He inched closer, but kept his hands to his sides, unsure what kind of comfort she would need yet.

“I'm the Guardian of the Miraculous now, and so many secrets have already been revealed to you, like who the other Miraculous holders were. But, I wasn't the one who got to let you know that, and neither did Master Fu. You had to find out because of Hawkmoth, and I hate that. I should have told you, or Master Fu.”

“It's okay, Ladybug. I have to admit I hated that you were trusted enough to know, but I wasn't. I also hated that you were able to pass out Miraculouses, but I couldn't choose a hero. But I get it. I understand why. I'm not mad at you, or at Master Fu.” This time he rested his hands on her shoulders, squaring her in front of him so she could see how sincere he was.

"Even so." She turned, and Chat Noir reluctantly let go so she could. "There should only be one secret between us, and that's who we really are. No others. Hawkmoth still managed to find out who the other holders were even when Master Fu and I were the only ones who knew, and he didn't even learn from either of us. So, from now on, you're going to know too. I promise."

“Thank you. That means so much to me, but-” Chat Noir looked around him. It wasn't often that they fought in this particular part of Paris, and there wasn't a monument nearby. There didn't seem to be anything terribly significant about the spot, but it also wasn't terribly secluded. “Why did you ask me here? This address?”

Ladybug pointed across the street, to the empty apartment. “You see the one that's dark?”

“Yeah. The one with the flower box?”

Ladybug didn't even notice that. She was so focused on what was missing from the inside of the apartment, she didn't even see the flowers still growing on the small balcony outside the living room windows. They were a bit wild since no one had properly cared for them for nearly a month now, but still, they grew. They had lived on even without a guiding hand. She suddenly had a touch more faith that she could do the same.

“That apartment used to be Master Fu's.”

Chat Noir did a double take. Master Fu had lived there. That was where the Guardian of the Miraculous was. That apartment was where Ladybug would disappear to in the middle of their battles in order to bring a new hero into their fold. Suddenly, the apartment felt so surprisingly close to his own home.

“You knew where he lived?”

Ladybug nodded. “I'm sorry we never told you. It wasn't fair.”

“The whole time?”

“What? No!” Ladybug flailed her arms around, crossing them wildly. “No no no. Not the whole time. I didn't even know there was a Guardian at first. I was just as clueless as you when I first got my Miraculous. No, I only found out after Volpina attacked.”

“Still.” Chat Noir crouched down, perched like a cat as he stared across at Master Fu's former apartment.

“I know.” Ladybug sat beside him, her fingers digging into the cement roof ledge. “It was still a long time that I knew and you didn't.”

“I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Guardian of the Miraculous until Syren.”

“I know, and I'm so sorry.”

“Why did Master Fu bring you to his home, but not me?” Chat Noir glanced over, his eyes wide, sad, and pleading.

Ladybug gently squeezed his forearm. “If it's any consolation, he didn't bring me to his home. My kwami did.”

“But why? My kwami never had me come here to meet Master Fu. In fact, I only officially met him when he came to my house.”

“He- he came to your house? How? Wouldn't that have given himself away?”

Chat Noir blinked. He didn't realize he had a secret from Ladybug (aside from the identity thing).

“I- I can't really say how. Secret identity stuff, but no one I live with seems to have questioned it.”

Ladybug nodded. “Master Fu probably knew what he was doing. I'm glad he did finally talk with you, but I'm sad that you two weren't able to interact more.” Refocusing on the apartment, she tried to figure out what exactly she could tell Chat Noir without potentially giving him a clue as to who she was.

“As for why my kwami brought me here, there is this book. A spell book. It explains the Miraculous and the other powers they each possess: the transformations, as well as how our normal powers could evolve once we're stronger.”

“A- a book? About the Miraculous?” Chat Noir grew pale. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what book Ladybug was talking about.

“It is written in a language that only Guardians can read, so my kwami couldn't decipher it. She knew that Master Fu would want the book back, though, so when I found it she told me where to find him.”

Plagg had seen the book. He knew that Adrien was carrying it around all day. He never once mentioned Master Fu or even that there was a Guardian that was looking for it.

Maybe it wasn't the same book. Maybe there was another one that had pictures of superheroes and written in a language he didn't recognize. He didn't know that many languages; it was possible.

“You said you found the book?”

Ladybug nodded. “In a trash can in the Place des Vosges. I- I found it when I went there to yell at Lila for lying on the Ladyblog about knowing me. That must have been how she was able to have the Fox pendent replicated.”

Lila? That's why Adrien didn't have the book when he went home that day? She had taken it? He wanted to believe that Ladybug was mistaken, but it did add up, and Lila proved herself untrustworthy on multiple occasions. Still, his father got the book back, didn't he? One of Adrien's classmates returned it, didn't they? Was that Lila? Why would Ladybug give it back to her to return? Did she force her to? Why did his father get the book back in the first place, didn't Master Fu need it?

“Chat Noir? Are you okay?” Ladybug began rubbing his back, bringing him back to present. “I know, this is a lot, isn't it?”

He nodded. “So, do- do you have this book now? Do you know how to read it?”

“Well, I sort of do.” Ladybug turned back to the apartment building across the street. “For reasons I can't really talk about because, ya know, secret identities and all that, the book was returned to the man who had it before Lila: Gabriel Agreste. That was why he became The Collector; he was mad that the last gift his wife gave him went missing: the book.”

Chat Noir sank; his shoulders felt heavy. It was the same book. Nothing made sense anymore. More questions flooded his mind.

“Wait. Is that why you thought that he could be Hawkmoth? Because he had a book about the Miraculous?”

Ladybug nodded. “Plus, you have to admit there was a lot of other circumstantial evidence that would have fit. I'm glad I was wrong, but it would have also been nice to have found Hawkmoth and finally stopped him.” She laid back across the rooftop, counting off the dozen stars that were bright enough to cut through the light pollution. “Master Fu took pictures of the pages before we returned the book, and then he translated the digital copy. I guess after we defeated Feast, and Master Fu told me he wanted to train me to be the next Guardian, he must have made a duplicate of his digital copy of the spell book. I have that, and a way to translate it. I have to be careful that no kwami sees it though. It's super important that they never learn how to read the book or discover its contents.”

“It is? Still? I thought there were no more secrets now.”

Ladybug sat back up so she could meet Chat Noir's eyes. “We have to keep this one. The book explains everything, including the ingredients for the power-up potions. What if a kwami finds that out? What if Hawkmoth's or Mayura's kwamis knew how to make the potions? It may not be a concern for our kwamis now, but what if some future Ladybug or Chat Noir gets corrupted and orders their kwami to tell them that info? What if we let any of the other kwamis find out, and then Hawkmoth captures them?”

“You always have a reason for your secrets.” There was a bitterness in Chat Noir's voice.

She placed a hand on Chat Noir's shoulder; it was stiff. “I'm sorry. I really am, but this is for everyone's safety; now and in the future. Please understand. I'm telling you because I wanted to show you the spell book. I wanted you to know what I do in case something comes up and I can't tell you the information when you need it. We're partners, Chat Noir, and I want us to be more equal in that partnership, but you need to understand how important certain secrets are.”

Chat Noir scanned her face, taking in all of her sincerity. He rested his hand on top of hers, and gave it a little squeeze. “Nah, I get it. I do. I'm sorry I'm acting like this. You don't like lies, and I don't like being left out – or for others to be left out. I've had too much of that in my life. But you're right. Some secrets are important to keep.”

“Thank you, Chat Noir.”

Ladybug then took her yo-yo off her hip, and swiped a finger up the side like she were about to capture an akuma. The yo-yo opened up into a transdimensional pocket; a glowing endless pouch. Reaching in, she pulled out a flash drive. "Here. This is your copy of the spell book. Make sure no one can find it."

“Thank you, Ladybug. I'll keep it safe. I promise.”

“I know you will.”

Chat Noir accepted the drive, and tucked it inside one of his zipper pockets.

“There's something else. You saw Nino Lahiffe with the other Miraculous holders, but he wasn't transformed.”

“He's Carapace, isn't he?”

Ladybug nodded. “I had a feeling you were able to figure it out, but I wanted to make sure: no more secrets... aside from the one we need to keep from each other.”

“Thank you, Ladybug.”

“Oh! Also-” This last secret pained her the most to tell. It was one thing when only she and Master Fu knew who a Miraculous holder was, but to confess a civilian knew? “About Viperion.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I'm sure you noticed that he wasn't Adrien Agreste after all. His name is Luka. I tried to give the Snake bracelet to Adrien, but- but he- I never realized it because of how Second Chance works, but he told me that he tried being the Snake superhero Aspik nearly twenty-five-thousand times. We kept failing as a team, and he'd reset time to try again, and it never worked. He gave up the Miraculous.” Ladybug winced. She was dreading the next part.

"Luka ran up to check to see if we had found Adrien," she continued, "and I needed to find someone to wield the Miraculous. I hadn't learned about merging two powers yet, so I thought neither you nor I could use Second Chance. It was actually Adrien who suggested I give the Miraculous to Luka. He was the one who chose, not me, and he knew who Viperion was. I mean- he went to go hide before I officially handed the bracelet to Luka, and so it's possible he thinks Luka also failed or that I didn't listen to him and Viperion is someone else entirely, but that's not the kind of person Adrien is. He chose well. He saw exactly who we needed that day, and I don't think we would have been able to defeat Desperada if Adrien hadn't picked Luka to help.”

Chat Noir gawked at Ladybug, so she took his hands in hers.

“I am so so sorry, Chat Noir. It was wrong for me to let a civilian help me choose a Miraculous holder instead of you. I should have tracked you down and talked to you instead. And to let Adrien know who – besides Chloe, of course – had a Miraculous? It's inexcusable, and I hope you can forgive me. But that's it. That's all of the secrets I have left between us.”

“Aside from the obvious.”

“Yes. Aside from that. So, please, could you forgive me?” Ladybug squeezed his hands tighter, pleadingly.

Chat Noir remembered what it felt like, when Ladybug pulled him – well, Adrien him - into that tight hug on his sofa the night he was missing his mother terribly. He felt that weight lift off him again; that same sense of relief.

Ladybug looked close to tears, probably scared to have ruined their partnership when she handed him – Adrien him – the Snake bracelet, and let him choose who should wield it instead. It was a very un-Ladybug-like thing to do, but he was just so elated that she valued Adrien that much that he didn't think much of it.

Clearly Ladybug thought often of that moment, and she desperately needed the same relief she had given Adrien just a week before. He tugged gently on her hands, and pulled her into a hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, and let his head slowly sink into her hair, nuzzling her a little with his cheek.

“It's okay, Ladybug. I get it. I'm not mad, and if you could trust Adrien, then I will too. I'll even take special care to watch over him to make sure Hawkmoth can't get to him, okay?”

“You don't have to-”

“No. It's okay. You are the Guardian of the Miraculous. Let me be the Guardian of Adrien Agreste.” Chat Noir felt bad about manipulating her like this, especially when she truly did have so much extra piled on her plate now, and all he was promising to take off it was to watch his own back.

Meanwhile, Ladybug wondered if this was how Chat Noir found out who she was and became Chat Blanc. She wasn't sure how far into the future it truly was that he was akumatized, just that it all started when Adrien discovered who she was. If the Chat Noir of that timeline also watched over Adrien, and found out that way....

It didn't matter. Adrien didn't know who she was, so Chat Noir was safe. She held him tight, praying that he'd forgive her this one final secret between them.

“Thank you, Chat Noir. Thank you for having so much faith in me, and for forgiving me so easily.”

“There's nothing to forgive, Bugaboo. It means a lot to me that you told me all of this.” Chat Noir wished he had some crepe paper and pipe cleaner on him so he could make Ladybug a flower, just as he had done for Marinette over the weekend. Didn't matter. Ladybug never liked accepting flowers from him anyway. So instead he just held her for as long as she needed in order to know that he wasn't going to abandon her.

They were partners, and she was his lady. Nothing would ever change those two facts in his heart.

Ladybug lingered in Chat Noir's arms. She didn't want to lead him on, but it felt too nice to push him away, or to let go of him. He wasn't mad. He understood, all of it, and he accepted it as well. She couldn't have asked for a better partner.

With one last burst of strength, she tenderly squeezed him close to her, breathing in his warmth and compassion. She never before noticed how familiar he smelled. If only she could peg how she knew that scent.

@discoveringmiraculouswriters

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umbrahighpriestofgiratina · 4 years

Text

Umbra Plays Pokemon Shield Bonus 3: Shield Snippets

Here’s all the ficlets I did for Umbra Plays Pokemon Shield in one place! Plus a small bonus one because @taggthewanderer asked for at least one postgame bonus

Shield Snippets

Funky, Heinwald, Mantle, and Duke were idling around the Gym lobby as Siegbert got them registered.

"Doesn't all this seem... Funny to you?" said Heinwald.

"In a cosmic sort of way, yes," said Funky, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, no no," said Heinwald. "I mean... Suspicious."

"What's suspicious about this?" said Mantle. "We get to enter a big tournament! See lots of humans and Pokemon! It'll be incredible!"

"I shall truly be able to show my might!" said Duke, flexing his muscles.

"Yes, I know we all are excited-"

"I'm dreadfully bored," said Funky.

"...Most of us are excited, but some things aren't adding up. The legend of the Darkest Day. The mysterious Pokemon Funky mentioned he encountered in the woods. The infuriating boy collecting Wishing Stars. Something is going on here and I will be the one to find out what."

"Hey! Seigbert is done registering us!" said Mantle.

"It is time!" said Duke.

"Finally..." said Funky.

The three went over to the counter as Heinwald shook his head and sighed.

"I almost wish I had a proper partner right now..."

---------------

Mantle was the happiest he'd been in his entire life.

He'd started out as this lowly Bug-type crawling around in Route 3, catching easy prey and hoping stronger Rookidee didn't notice him. But then Seigbert found him and recruited him for this fancy-ass Gym Challenge and now there was a screaming crowd all around him in a huge stadium cheering for him! Yes him!

(The notion they were cheering for his Trainer crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as ridiculous.)

And now all that stood in his way was Milo's Gossifleur.

"You think you're a bigshot, being a Gym Leader's Pokemon? Take this!"

He curled in a ball and barreled at the Gossifleur with a Flame Wheel, bouncing off him and sending him skidding back. In response the Gossifleur started... Singing, using Round.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" said Mantle.

He used Flame Wheel again, and whatever the Gossifleur was trying to pull was cut off as he was knocked out. Milo promply boasted a few things Mantle wasn't really listening to and sent out an Eldegoss.

"More of the same?" said Mantle. "This'll be ca-"

Several things happened at once.

The Eldegoss was recalled into his ball. The ball ballooned and the Eldegoss was sent back out, now titanic in size. Mantle was about to object about how it wasn't fair when the same promply happened to him.

He couldn't belive it. He was huge! There was so much power flowing through him. No tiny bug anymore, he towered over all these humans. He was the apex predator now.

The Eldegoss slammed into him with a Max Strike, shaking the stadium. He didn't care. He fired a Max Flare, a massive gout of flame that made the sunlight harsher via its mere presence. They traded blows again. Both were weaker. Mantle shook away fear in his mind so he-

His trainer ran over to his massive form and sprayed him with a Super Potion. What was he planning?!

Then the Eldegoss caused a mass of plant growth to sprout beneath his massive form, which did... Almost nothing to his fiery, chitinous body. Then, the two Pokemon shrank back down to normal size.

It was then that Mantle realized what his Trainer was trying to do. Outlast them.

"So much for that, huh?" said Mantle, ignoring a Leafage and slamming into the Edelgoss with another Flame Wheel. This time, he went down.

The crowd cheered. His Trainer cheered. Mantle cheered. He'd done it. He'd made it to the big leagues. Mantle realized his Trainer was a big help here.

...But he still deserved most of the credit.

-----------

Funky really wished he weren't here right now.

He could be looking at the beautiful Galarian scenery, or cities, or even other Pokemon, for inspiration for a painting. Instead... He was facing down a Goldeen. A measly Goldeen.

"Let's get this over with," he said, rolling his eyes.

He swirled one of his paintbrushes in the air, sending a flurry of Razor Leaves at the fish. The Goldeen air-swam out of the way and rammed a Horn Attack into Funky's side, but a second, up-close flurry finished her off. An Arrokuda was sent out in her place, but the second fish suffered a similar fate.

"Is this a joke?" said Funky.

Nessa sent out her Dreadnaw. Both the Drednaw and Funky ballooned to kaiju size via Dynamax power. Funky admitted it felt good. Inspirational even.

His thoughts were interrupted by a G-Max Darkness directly at his massive knees, causing his enormous body to stumble dangerously close to the crowd - not that this interrupted their frenzied cheering. Funky gritted his teeth and caused a massive burst of plant life to erupt beneath the Drednaw in a G-Max Overgrowth. The Dreadnaw let out a mighty roar of pain as the plants penetrated her shell. There was an explosion, and the Drednaw shrank back down to size, KOed. Funky shrank back down to size as well, smirking.

"Like I said. A joke."

------------

The crowd cheered, the music blared, the lights shone down on the battlefield... and HeInwald didn't really care. He was looking for traces of how this place allowed the Dynamax phenomenon, and was so engrossed in doing so he barely noticed the Ninetales in front of him.

"You going to fight me or not?" she said.

"Hm? Oh. My apologies."

He lunged forward with a Night Slash. The attack barely cut into the Ninetales' fur as she spat a Will-o-Wisp at him, burning him.

"Concerning," he said. He let out a Snarl, dampening her retaliatory Ember. And again to her Fire Spin. And again to her Quick Attack. A second Quick Attack eventually took him down.

Mantle was sent out in his place. He was excited! He was in his element! Literally! Quickly he Coiled in on himself to sheild himself from the Ninetales' Quick Attack. A Fire Spin was sucked into his body via Flash Fire. Finally he used Bite, biting down hard on one of the Ninetales' legs.This was too much, and the pain caused her to promply fall to the ground, fainted.

An Arcanine was sent out in her place. "Stay, puppy!" said Mantle as he lunged and Bit the much larger Pokemon. The Arcanine Bit back, and the two Pokemon kept wrestling and Biting one another until Mantle proved victorious.

"Alright, who's next? I'm ready to take on any-"

He was promptly recalled and replaced with Lir.

Lir promptly panicked. There were so many lights, so many noises. And a very powerful-looking Centiskorch right in front of him. He wanted to go back in the ball. The ball did not judge. It only hated.

It got worse when the Centicorch grew and stretched into a much more intimidating form, and Lir grew and stretched in turn. The massive centipede hit him with an overwhelming blast of heat that turned the temperature in the arena up by several degrees, and in turn Lir hurriedly dropped a pillar of rock on the Gigantimax Centiskorch. Weak Armor causing bits of his body to fall away, he promptly yelled and dropped another pillar of rock on his opponent. When the G-Max Rockfall crumbled away, the Centiscorch was normal sized and unconscious.

Lir couldn't believe his eyes. He'd done it! He'd defeated a scarier foe! He could get used to this kaiju thi-

He shrunk back down to normal. He was small and vulnerable again. Where was the ball when you needed it?

---------

Heinwald had a soft spot for Ghost types, as paranormal as they were. He felt it was his obligation to inspect them. But no, his trainer wanted him to fight this one, this Galarian Yamask in front of him. Ah well.

"Hold still a bit will you?" said Heinwald.

He lunged at the Yamask with a Night Slash, only for a twofold tingling feeling to creep up on him. It didn't take him long to deduce that not only had the Yamask stolen his Ability with Wandering Spirit, he'd also Disabled his Night Slash. His Trainer concluded the same, recalling him.

Upon entering the battlefield Uk was hit with a Brutal Swing. Uk did not care, it barely scratched him. What did phase Uk was all the lights and noise and worse of all PEOPLE. Uk wasn't used to this kind of attention - normally Uk fed on negative emotions, not the screaming frenzy of an excited crowd. But Uk wanted to make his Trainer happy, so...

"Uk no let you win!" he said as he slammed the Yamask with a Sucker Punch, taking him down. The crowd cheered, and Uk did as well... only to be recalled.

Duke was sent out next. Finally. He had been honing his blade-claws long enough, and he would finally be able to prove his worth in a gym battle. A Mimikyu was sent out to face him, and he scoffed.

"Glorified Pikachu-shaped eldritch sack of oats! You think you can face ME?!"

As the Mimikyu Honed its Claws Duke slashed at him with Metal Claw to break his disguise. Duke barely flinched at the following Shadow Sneak as he barreled through and struck the Mimikyu with an Iron Head, taking it down.

"Ha! Is that all you've got! I need stronger opponents! Give me more! MORE!"

His request for more was ignored as he was swapped for Uk, and the Mimikyu was swapped for Cursola.

"Hey!" said Uk. "Enemy look like Lir! Maybe I should go easy on her... NOT!"

He jabbed the Cursola with a False Surrender. The Cursola attempted to Curse him in response... Only to KO itself from the effort. Uk scratched its head.

"Uk confused."

He was promptly recalled and replaced with Heinwald, who found himself facing down a Gengar.

"I suppose this is the part where things... Escalate," said Heinwald.

Indeed Heinwald grew to massive size as the opposing Gengar transformed into a massive, gaping maw. Heinwald sent coils of G-Max Darkness at the Gigantimax Gengar while the Gengar spat a wave of G-Max ooze that would have smothered the crowd if not for the protective barriers in place. Heinwald was hurt, but also mostly annoyed. He sent another Max Darkness that shook the stadium, doing the Gengar in. The crowd cheered. Heinwald shrank back down to size and smirked.

Guess fighting Ghosts was ALSO worth his time.

----------

The pastel colors of the arena almost blinded Duke, but he didn't let it get to him. This was his finest hour. Members of the Galaian Meowth line were raised to be warriors, and now he would be a warrior on the grand stage.

Also this Galarian Weezing was looking at him funny and that would not stand.

"You dare cross the great Duke, slayer of Champions? I'll END you!"

The Weezing sneezed a Fairy Wind in his face, further incensing Duke to deliver an Iron Head to her floating form. The Weezing collapsed to the floor and was recalled.

"Ahaha! Come at me! I will end you all!"

A Mawile was sent out. This one gave him pause... Those jaws... He missed an exchange between his Trainer and Opal but he felt something cause his abilities to falter further.

"Warrior's retreat!"

He was swapped out for Mantle.

"Some warrior you are..." said Mantle.

He Coiled in response to the Mawile's Iron Defense, also guarding against her Crunch. A Flame Wheel straight into the Mawile's Iron Defense position caused the Mawile to skid back, Mantle was confident when -

"What do you mean pink isn't your favorite color?"

This outburst from his trainer made him realize he was far more vulnerable, and he Coiled again, the Mawile attempting to shake him around with Crunch. Finally he yanked the Mawile's jaws into another Flame Wheel, taking her out. Opal sent out a Togekiss in her place.

"Heh... Guess you are tough..." Mantle said. "But you aren't tough eno-"

There was an Ancientpower and he went down. Duke was sent back out, and was torn. On one hand, one of his comrades had gone down. On the other, he felt invigorated.

"DIE WEIRD BIRD"

He slammed an Iron Head into the Togekiss' face, ignoring the Air Slash in reply. The Togekiss fell out of the sky as the crowd cheered. An Alcreamie was sent out, but Duke felt invigorated and felt more so after Obal said something about liking his trainer's "answer." He felt strong.

And he felt stronger as he grew and stretched and his foe grew and stretched to gargantuan sizes. Now it was a battle of titans. Bright bursts of light that reverberated through the stadium hit Duke, and it only increased his bloodlust. Steel spikes ran from him to the Gigantimax Alcremie, impaling it, breaking its massive form and causing it to shrink down, unconscious.

Duke shrank down and gave a roar befitting a much larger cat mon. He had conquered this puny Fairy gym and all had seen it.

Meanwhile his Trainer scratched his head. "Can't believe the quiz was in the gym battle too..."

------------------

Mantle felt a little insecure. He could kind of feel he was falling behind a bit. No. No he wouldn't let such thoughts get to him. Especially not against this damn Frosmoth.

"I know you're all head but heads up!"

He used Flame Wheel, rolling through the Hail the Frosmoth cast and slamming into it for an instant KO. The crowd cheered. A Darmanitan was sent out in its place.

"You really think you can clear this gym with moves like that?" said the Darmanitan with a Taunt.

"Oh I sure can!" said Mantle, ramming into her with another Flame Wheel. It was then the Darmanitan's form shifted - to a bouncing, hopping mad firey snowman.

"Woah, you seem mad... Good!"

The Darmanitan attempted to clamp down on Mantle with a Fire Fang, only for Mantle's Flash Fire to absorb it and Mantle to wrap her up in a Flame Wheel, tossing her across the arena and knocking her out. Next came... a Eiscue.

"And what are you supposed to be?" Mantle said.

He rolled into her with another Flame Wheel, only to merely shatter the ice around her face as she spat an Icy Wind at him. Mantle spat in annoyance as as the Escue tried to hit him with a Freeze Dry before he coiled into another Flame Wheel and KOed her.

"Aw yeah, I'm on top!" said Mantle.

He was promptly recalled and replaced by Funky as the opposition sent out a Lapras.

Funky cocked an eyebrow at the creature. How did it move around on land?

The question remained unanswered as the two embiggened to massive sizes that towered over the crowd. Funky waved his paintbrushes in the Gigantimax Lapras' direction to summon a G-Max Overgrowth, thinking it would end it quickly. Instead the Lapras responded with a song, a chilling song that clutched at Funky's heart like ice.

The pain The song. He thought back to his old troop. How they all were supposed to be musicians, it was in their blood. But he didn't want to be a musician, he wanted to paint amnd draw, but they forced him to do what they wanted, scolded him, until he finally ran away. But this icy song ate at him, damaged him both physically and psychologically untill he finally cried out, his booming voice aweing the crowd and echoing beyond the stadium.

"NO! ENOUGH MUSIC! I AM A PAINTER!"

Another Max Overgrowth. The Lapras collapsed, shrunk, was recalled. Funky shrank as well, panting heavily, even as the crowd cheered. He felt... Relieved.

Maybe this Gym challenge was an even better inspiration for his art than he thought.

----------

Heinwald didn't like the look of this place. And this Gym leader was totally copying his hairstyle. But what was more concerning was this Scrafty. He was Intimidating, and Heinwald knew one good Fighting move would take him down.

"Uk, don't let me down."

The two swapped places, Uk coming out straight into a Brick Break.

"Ow! You break brick? Uk break spirit!"

He lashed out with a hair-whip in a Spirit Break, sending the Scrafty flying and knocking him unconscious.

Before Uk could celebrate Heinwald was sent back out, and found himself facing another Obstagoon.

"...I forgot the rest of my kind were this crude."

He hit the other Obstagoon with a Brick Break, only to be grabbed and slammed with a Counter that took him down instantly. Funky was sent out in his place.

"Of course I'm on cleanup duty..."

Funky's Brick Break did the job this time, nailing the Obstagoon in the head. Funky was then swapped out for Mantle as Piers sent out a Malamar.

"Alright you overgrown piece of calamari time to get yours!"

He clawed at the Malamar with X-Scissor, ignoring his Foul Play, causing the Malamar to screech and keel over.

"Alright who's nex-"

He was swapped for Duke, who was now facing a Skuntank.

"Your stench offends the way of the warrior! You will be defeated!"

A Sucker Punch glanced off Duke's migty beard as he burrowed beneath the Skuntank and attacked from below, and a second Sucker Punch didn't dissuade him from doing it again, taking the Skuntank down. Duke roared a victory cry before glancing around in confusion.

"No Dynamax this time? I wanted to be a GIANT warrior..."

--------

Galadriel looked at the Flygon and Gigalith before her as a sandstorm raged. Then at her partner, Uk.

"Fascinating... You're my partner again then?"

Uk nodded. "Uk happy to share limelight with team!"

"It is settled then."

She lunged at the Gigalith with a Smart Strike as Uk attacked the Gigalith with a False Surrender. Galadriel dodged a Steel Wing from the Flygon as the Gigalith threw up a Stealth Rock.

"Hey! Trainer say Stealth Rock cheating!" said Uk.

"Refocus on the Flygon!" said Galadriel.

The Flygon slammed her with a Steel Wing as it tried to swoop out of the way, but a Spirit Break and Dazzling Gleam did it in. The Gigalith hung on, and Body Pressed Uk to little effect. A Sandaconda was sent out in the Flygon's place.

"What we do now?" said Uk.

"Get rid of the Gigalith!" said Galadriel.

A Dazzling Gleam from her took him out and heavily tore into the Sandaconda, which failed to do much of an impression with its Glare. A Spirit Break tore into it further, but the Sandaconda hissed in defiance as a Duraldon was sent out.

"Uk, now's your chance!"

"What Gal mea-"

Before Uk knew it, he was a giant! He couldn't believe it! All the humans in the audience looked so tiny and cute! He wanted to pet the-

Uh-oh. The Duraldon looked like a building now.

Galadriel sent out another burst of Dazzling gleam, taking out the Sandaconda and cutting into the massive Duraldon. The Duraldon, however, sent out a Max Steelspike, causing Uk to keel over and shake the stadium before shrinking down and being recalled.

"Uk! No!" said Galadriel. "You will be avenged..."

"And I'll do the avenging!" said Duke, being sent out. "Aye, glorified high-rise! You don't hurt my friends."

"I'll hold him off!" said Galadriel. "You get the jump on him."

Galadriel bombarded the Duraldon with another Dazzling Gleam. The Duraldon's massive fist crushed Duke with a Max Knuckle, but by the time the fist lifted Duke had buried underground. Galadriel fired one last Dazzling Gleam before a Max Steelspike left her prone.

"Duke... I leave this to you..."

Suddenly, the earth beneath the Duraldon shook as Duke burst from it, clawing at the Duraldon's underside. The Duraldon gave an unearthly creak and moan before toppling over into the protective barrier around the crowd, then shrinking and being recalled into his ball. The crowd went wild.

Duke cheered! His and Galadriel's plan worked! He was the friend-avenger! His name would be legend for ages to come!

...Also he'd hopefully get skritches and treats from his Trainer.

--------------

Galadriel peered around this city of Wyndon; it was so very different from the forest Seigbert had found her in. She wasn't sure she was so fond of the pollution and the noise but the bustling Auras of the people and Pokemon there... They were fascinating.

Almost took her mind off the looming threat.

Heinwald had told her everything. The conspiracy to hide the true nature of the Sword And Shield and the dual heroes, the strange boy on a mission from the chairman... and she had seen some of it herself. The resurgence of rouge Dynamax Pokemon, the state of Spikemuth, the tremors, all of which they refused to let her handle...

She turned her horn from Wyndon back in the direction of Hammerlocke. She could still feel the immense power radiating from its spire, and how... unstable it was. She feared the worst. She hoped that Heinwald wasn't right.

That the Darkest Day wasn't coming back.

In the Glimwood Tangle, they told stories about that event. About the rampages as the astral projections known as Dynamax and Gigantimax went out of control. About... it.

She knew a resurgence would be devastating. But at the very least she had hope.

Her Team. Her Trainer.

-------------------

The crowd was extra-wild today. Why wouldn't they be? It was rising star Seigbert vs. long-standing Champion Leon. Funky understood this and yet he did not care. All he was concerned about was getting rid of the Aegislash in front of him.

"Don't blink that one eye of yours."

Funky slapped the Aegislash with a Knock Off only to take a Shadow Ball to the face. With an annoyed grunt, Funky slapped the Aegislash to the ground with another Knock Off, knocking him out.

"Hmph. Thought so."

He was recalled and replaced with Mantle, as Leon sent out a Cinderace.

"Hey, Funky told me about you!" said Mantle.

He Coiled in on himself, only to be sent flying by an Acrobatics. He was quickly swapped for Duke, who ate a Quick Attack with little effort only to be sent flying himself by a Pyro Ball. Uk was sent out and delivered a couple Sucker Punches before he too was felled by a Pyro Ball.

Galadriel was sent out. Pyro Ball tore into her even as she dodged an Acrobatics. Seigbert switched back to Mantle, but as soon as the Cinderace let loose another Acrobatics Heinwald was switched in in his place.

"You may have been able to fell my friends... But not me!" said Heinwald.

He slammed into the Cinderace with a Double Edge, smacking him into the side of the stadium, KOed.

Heinwald was then switched for Funky as a Sesmitoad was sent out. Funky smirked.

"Cake."

He let loose a Drum Beating, knocking out the Seismitoad easily. Leon sent out a Dragapult to replace it. While his Trainer was fumbling around in his bag for Max Revives, however, a jet of flame left Funky unconsious, and Mantle was sent back out. Mantle tanked a few Shadow Balls and lashed out with a Crunch.

"Man this guy is tough!"

He was swapped out again, for Uk. Uk withstood another Shadow Ball and Sucker Punched the Dragapult to metaphorical death. A Haxorus was sent out in its place, and slammed Uk with an Iron Tail, KOing him again. Mantle was sent out only to fall to an Outrage. Finally, it was Galadriel's turn.

"Your rage only makes me stronger!"

She absorbed the Outrage without the scratch, and then, in the Haxorus' subsequent confusion, took him out with a Dazzling Gleam. Then... came Charizard. It grew and stretched into Gigantimax Charizard, dropping a pillar of rock on Galadriel. She fell, and Heinwald was sent out.

"This ends now."

He grew and stretched to Gigantimax form. The Charizard buffeted him with a Max Aircurrent before Heinwald dropped Max Lightning on him... And the Charizard shrank back to normal. He grinned.

"Too bad."

He charged his foot with Max Lightning and stepped on the Charizard. When he lifted his foot the Charizard was unconscious.

Heinwald shrank down to normal. The crowd went nuts. His Trainer went nuts.

Heinwald, ever so subtly, allowed himself a small fist pump.

------------

Zacian stared into Galadriel's eyes as she steeled her resolve.

"If I must face you this way... So be it."

Zamazenta's Iron Defense did not stop a barrage of Dazzling Gleams, but a Behemoth Bash did. Mantle slithered into the battlefeild.

"We're fighting a Legendary AGAIN?"

He was sent skidding back by a Behemoth Bash, but retaliated with a Fire Lash, striking Zamazenta's hide. Zamazenta bit down with a Crunch, only to have her jaws singed by a second Fire Lash.

"Sigbert, NOW!" said Mantle.

A Luxury Ball was thrown, but torn asunder. Zamazenta bit down again, knocking Mantle out. Funky came out next, eyeing the situation warily.

"You might want to bring out the big guns."

At this, a Master Ball was thrown. It sucked Zamazenta in, wobbled three times, than clicked. Funky grinned.

"Something something unstoppable force meets immovable object."

---------------

And that's all of them! There might be another bonus down the line but that depends on if an in-game thing can stop kicking my ass.

#umbra plays pokemon shield #pokemon sword and shield

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grailbot143 · 5 years

Photo

I chose last week's closing credits as this week's featured image. This is meant to be a statement.

Welcome Back Everyone!

As I was not the biggest fan of last week's episode and had every intention of wiping it entirely from my memory, this week, we are going to do something a little different. Instead of a recap of last week, we are going to focus on:

Briefcap Frybo

Consolidated lingering Questions

The Steven Universe World

Characters

Places

Things

Likes and Dislikes So Far

Briefcap from Steven Universe: Frybo (S1:Ep5)

Frybo opens with Steven looking for his pants. Pearl comes in looking for a missing crystal shard. She explains to Steven why the shard is important, but he is too busy thinking about other things.

Pearl leaves to go to town and look for the shard. Steven finds his pants running around on their own and catches them and puts them on. Then he discovers the shard in the pocket and goes out looking for Pearl.

He runs into PeeDee in a Fry suit getting hammered by some birds. After some discussion, he decides to use the shard to animate the Fry costume. PeeDee tells the costume to go make people eat fries, and he and Steven go to hang out in front of the arcade. Existentialism ensues.

There is screaming from the fry place. Steven and PeeDee run to see what's going on. They find a super-testosteroned fry costume force-feeding people. There is a moment when PeeDee's dad, believing the costume is still on PeeDee, apologizes to PeeDee for forcing him to be Frybo and tries to have a touching moment with him. Then the costume attempts to force-feed him fries too.

Pearl shows up and tries to fight the costume, but is beaten by ketchup shot from the costume's eye. Steven takes matters into his own hands (clothes) by animating all his clothes with the other 8 shards. When he adds his underwear to the fighting garment army, Frybo is at last defeated.

They have a Viking style funeral for Frybo and send him off to sea. PeeDee and his dad talk.

Episode Over (thank goodness)

Episode Random Noticings

There is a picture of Rose Quartz on the wall in Steven's house. I don't recall having seen it before this episode. Her gem was her belly button, as it is now Steven's.

I like the whole father/son relationship building plot line. These types of plot lines are far less cheesy once you've seen them play out in real life.

I would like to have heard the story of the armor, the infantry, and all the death that Pearl told at the beginning, but alas it was not to be.

I think this is the first episode that does not have an appearance by each of the 4 Crystal Gems. Both Amethyst and Garnet are missing from the episode.

I am a huge norse fan. I have been my whole life. I love Norse mythology and have always been enamored by the Viking's exploits and amazing feats. I had a 23andMe ancestry test done a while back. According to the test, I am likely descendant from Vikings. I realize this is irrelevant, but the 'Viking' `style send-off was a plus for me. So I thought I would explain why. And I told you guys at the beginning that I love lore and history, and you are reading the blog anyway, so I must assume you don't mind too much.

Consolidated lingering Questions

The Gems:

Where do they come from?

How is power derived from them?

Are all the gems the same, but act differently according to. . . something?

How is magic embued to the gems?

Who is chosen to wear them and why?

Why is a pearl considered a gem?

How is the body placement determined?

by the gem?

by the bearer?

random?

based on the attributes of the user?

What about the gemmed enemies? How do they get gems? Or are they created out of gems?

Rose Quartz:

Why does Rose have to die to give Steven his superpowers?

Is Rose even dead?? I don't remember that explicitly being stated

What would make her choose that?

a prophesy?

desire to give Greg a kid?

gonna die anyway?

Did she give up her gem to HAVE a kid or to EMBUE a kid with the gem?

Did she get to KNOW Steven?

The Crystal Gems:

Assumption: each has unique powers, i.e., Garnet doesn't shapeshift like Amethyst, Amethyst can't project a plan from her gem_

If the above assumption is correct, what exactly is Garnet's superpower?

How old are each of them?

It's suggested that Pearl is over 100.

Amethyst acts a bit like a teenager.

Is she that much younger than Pearl?

Where does Garnet fall?

Why is Steven the only boy? How many boy gems are there everywhere?

The World:

The Lunar Sea Spire was known as the Oasis for Gems on Earth, so I know it's Earth, but. . .

Is it in the same Earth that we are in, but hidden from us, or some sort of alternate universe

Are the gems ONLY on Earth? This would make the nomenclature Oasis for Gems on Earth redundant, so probably not

So far, everything seems to be happening in this town. . . are there other Gems in other towns?

Like every town has a team of Crystal Gems protecting it?

Or is this town some center for universal negativity, so the Gems are focused here?

The House on the Beach:

This is more a curiosity, but I wouldn't mind seeing the fight that took off that statues hands

What is up with the living temple inside the house? Beating hearts, waterfalls, a pool for getting rid of evil spirits. Need much more history and understanding here.

The Steven Universe World

This is just a quick list of things that make this place unique. . . no explanations.

Characters

The Crystal Gems

Pearl

Garnet

Amethyst

(dead) Rose Quartz

Steven

The Townsfolk

The Donut Girl

The Fry Man

Lars

PeeDee

PeeDee's brother? (same hair assumption)

Greg

mailman (I know they mentioned his name, and he mentioned a woman's name. . . darn my memory)

Monsters/Creatures

Centipeedles and their mother

Red Eye

(offscreen) A giant bird with a giant polka-dot egg

The Spirit from the painting that possessed *Together Breakfast*

The Crystal Shrimp

(deceased) Frybo

Places

Around Town

Big Donut

the fry shop

the arcade

the boardwalk (home to fry shop)

Greg's van

the car wash

the storage facility

the Crystal Gem's house on the beach

Mystical

The Temple with a beating heart

the storage unit? Greg said it was magical

(destroyed) The Lunar Sea Spire

the teleporter thing in Steven's living room

Things

Gems

Rose Quartz

2 Garnets

Amethyst

(not a gem) Pearl

Centipeedles' Mothers gem

(pants animating) Gem Shards

(maybe? pretty sure) The Lunar Goddess Statue

Mystical Items

Summoned Weapons

Laser Light Cannon

Red Eye?

Lunar Goddess Statue

Cursed Painting

Food (as it's seemingly important to our little hero)

(discontinued) Cookie Cats

Fry Bits

Together Breakfast

(offscreen) Pizza

(unmentioned) Cupcakes in jars

(not food) Cheeseburger backpack

Likes and Dislikes Far

Dislikes

Not a fan of the important role junk food plays in the show

Haven't found much in the way of music I like, outside of arcade sounds (which I dig)

I don't relate to Steven much. He mostly annoys me.

Why is there not a main antagonist? Are we going to be playing monster of the week forever? Surely we'll get one antagonist we can loath. . .

Season 1: Episode 5 Frybo

Likes

I like that all the answers to everything are not conveniently packaged in an episode

I like Garnet. . . and sometimes Amethyst. . . and I often relate to Pearl

I like Greg and his super awesome van

I like that it seemed like we landed in the middle of a life, rather than the beginning of a story

I like the townspeople and their relationships with Steven

I appreciate that though there are some references a kid wouldn't understand completely, there is so far no blatantly adult humor or sexuality even in undertones

I like the whole living temple thing.

Frybo is, in my opinion, the worst episode so far. I consider taking down the star rating every time I think about it.

I just want to remind everyone, I write these recaps after having seen the episode once, a week ago, and often interrupted by my whole blogging thing. I mainly do it for myself to refresh my memory for the next episode, but since I post it, I thought I should ask your forgiveness if it isn’t exactly perfect (or even close).

#Steven Universe #liveblog #suliveblogchrono #listoflists #recap

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ryderreturns · 6 years

Text

2v1+1 Duel || Pezberrynn(son)

Ryder got momentarily distracted when Blaine appeared out of a flower. "San, why don't you just ask Blaine to be your SP already? Damn," he said, shaking his head before leveling an attack against Santana again with a water cannon.Who: Rachel Berry Corcoran, Santana Lopez and Ryder Lynn, ft. an illusion of Blaine Anderson

When: Tuesday afternoon, October 16

Where: Undique Stadium

Why: Santana continues to help Rachel and Ryder train together and work on strategy.

What: Trigger warnings for violence, fire

Santana wanted to get super stronger and the next step was trying to fight two people at once. Also, Rachel and Ryder had a lot of potential to be a strong team and she was more interested in Rachel keeping Ryder alive now that there was no tournament for her to beat them. Also it was a good trust building exercise. "Alright, guys, in position, let's see how good you two work as a team now that you talked a bit more about strategy."

Ryder wished he'd had more time to get into reading about his animal magic, but it had taken enough time for him just to find the right books. Still, he could fight and learn more about working together with Rachel. "Let's go," he said, nodding as he took out his Grimoire. His brow furrowed as he turned to King's page and found that it was empty already. King nudged him from behind. 'Surprise,' he said. Ryder chuckled and put away his book. "Cool trick. What's it mean?" 'You don't have to rely on taking out your book to call upon me. Our connection has grown stronger.' "Awesome," he grinned, turning back to the ladies as he stood across from Santana. "Is Daisy joining?"

Rachel was looking forward to dueling again. She had considered her strategy a little bit more and had figured out (probably) what would work. Plus she had Barbra now, who would definitely be helpful in the fight, especially against Santana. She had the lion walking beside her as she went to Undique and waved at both Santana and Ryder. “Yes, come on it’ll be fun if we all have our familiars,” she told Santana.

Santana really dislikes this animal party. Nah, she will only summon the cow if she needs it. "Let's make it look like it's a two vs two fight". She illusions a Blaine in his cute bowtie to fight at her side. Not because she missed him or anything. It was just because the illusion theme. Alright I might miss him a bit. God damn it Blaine answer the pm I sended you 14 minutes ago.

Illusion!Blaine appears with a bow. "Charmed to make your acquaintance," he smiles and pulls out a Really Cool Sword Santana Likes™ and whips his wrist around to draw a sparkly star in the air. The star dissipates into a flurry of sparkles.

Ryder was confused by the addition of illusion Blaine, until he thought, Blaine's cool. "Whatever you say," he shrugged. Focusing on pulling water to him, Ryder shaped it around his fists like Hulk Hands before striking out against Santana.

RYDER: 1d7+1 =4

Rachel was slightly taken aback. She didn’t like the idea of fighting Blaine (again). But she had to remember it was an illusion. She activated her necklace and started singing her trademark song to wrap a shield around her and Ryder and their respective familiars.

RACHEL: 1d7 + 2 = 7 SHIELD SANTANA: 1d7 + 4 = 5

Santana illusions a really spiky cactus where Ryder was going to punch and dodge it. Now, the shield was affecting both of them, but Rachel has to sing to maintain it, so it was attacking Rachel time. She makes an illusion of Barbra Streisand singing don't rain on my parade but at a different time than Rachel and really really badly.

SANTANA: 1d7 + 4/2 = 4.5

Illusion!Blaine smirks, his hazel eyes bright as they set upon Rachel. He flicks his wrist and his sword elongates, the epee growing thinner, like a whip. He attacks Rachel from afar, and although the voice is Blaine's, the words are all Santana's. "Rachel, I'm worried... you lost to me before during the NYADA Players, and you lost the Tops. You know I can sing better than you." To demonstrate, Illusion!Blaine sings Rachel's favorite song: Don't Rain On My Parade.

ILLUSION!BLAINE: 1d6 = 5

Ryder really wishes he would stop hearing the same song from three different people. It was definitely distracting him. He relied on King for the next attack, sending water to surround King's antlers before sending his familiar charging towards Santana.

RYDER: 1d5 + 3 = 7 SANTANA counter: 1d7 + 4 = 12

Rachel tried to ignore the words illusion!!Blaine was saying. It was just Santana trying to get in her head. She sent Barbra to the illusion of Blaine and had her roar fire at it, wanting to make it stop talking.

RACHEL: 1d7 + 3 = 8 ILLUSION!BLAINE counter: 1d6 = 3

Santana moves in the front to be next to Ryder, but more important, closer to Rachel. "What's up, Barbarita? Not answering? Trying to ignore problems hoping they will just disappear? C'mon, face the truth."

ILLUSION!BLAINE: 1d6 = 4

Illusion!Blaine picks up where Santana left off in the conversation, saying, "I thought you know who is afraid of fire? I guess people's feelings don't matter when you want to win?" A breeze rushes around his clothes, making the bowtie flutter, and the illusions spins, winding up the sword as he launches it again towards Rachel's feet. He continues to sing, "Don't tell me not to fly, I've simply got to... If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you! Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade!" As his sword flies forward, a rainfall of feathers obscures the view around him.

RACHEL: 2d7kl1 +2 = (3+3)+2 = 5

Rachel felt the words Santana and Blaine were saying hit home, but she had to ignore it, because she knew she could easily let her focus slip if she did. She started singing a new song, putting Don’t Rain on My Parade out of her head. Something has changed within me / Something is not the same / I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game This sent a soundwave towards the Blaine illusion, knocking it back.

Ryder forced himself to stay centered on Santana, rather than the Music Wars going on around him. "King," he called for his familiar, channeling water through his antlers again to send it shooting towards Santana.

RYDER: 2d5 + 3 = (3+2)+3 = 8

Rachel let out a triumphant whoop when the illusion of Blaine disapeared and focused her attack on Santana again. She sent Barbra at her again, roaring another breath of fire.

RACHEL: 1d7 + 3 = 7

SANTANA to counter RYDER: 2d7 + 4 = 13

Santana makes Daisy defend her against that big deer. "Emergency food! Fire and charge!" She says, and Daisy runs directly to King and to push him against Ryder. Obviously she was surrounded by illusory flames. She receives the attack of Rachel, but well. Now it was her turn. She makes the illusion of another Blaine at Rachel side, in front of Santana.

Illusion!Blaine springs up from a flower, dressed in a rose-gold suit of light armor. He has no helmet, but a golden circlet around his forehead, and pulls out a round buckler. "Charmed to make your acquaintance," he deeply bows before he gets into position. "Allow us to show you the beauty of our unity and teamwork." He gives Santana a look her way, a smile, and a nod.

RYDER: 1d5 + 2= 7

Rachel groaned when she saw the Blaine illusion appear. Why did Santana keep doing this? She continued singing Defying Gravity and sent a sound bubble towards the Blaine illusion.

RACHEL 1d7+2 = 8

SANTANA: 1d7+4 =9

Illusion!BLAINE: 1d6= 4

Santana looks at her awesome illusion, and then at Ryder. "Oh! I wish! Do you think I like having Clarence? But I'm not going to exchange so Elliott gets that asshole.” She avoids the water canon and makes an illusion counterattack of the water attacking Ryder. "Barbarita c'mon! You always do the same!" She says. But now it's her turn. She looks at Ryder's eyes. "My dear friend, I have to show you what a real illusionist is like."

The Perfect Illusion Ryder is trapped in transports him to a savanna. He might feel the motion sickness of changing from a place to another. He is surrounded by all times of animals, throw the animal wikipedia over the window, even the ones that shouldn't be there. He can feel everything like it was real, he can smell everything like it was real. He can feel the temperature change. Everything. Santana and Blaine are on a podium behind the animals, but they are high so Ryder can see them. "This is the power of the Illusionist Posse, my dude! Be impress and enjoy!!"

Illusion!Blaine's eyes glow, flashing black for a second before they return hazel. He lifts his hands up as the perfect illusion overtakes him as well, and energizes Santana's world with his singing. He sings of Toto's Africa.

Ryder felt his stomach drop like an elevator reaching the right floor. One moment he was in Undique, and the next, he was in an illusion. "Fuck," he muttered. "I am impressed. These animals better talk!" He started walking through them, noticing they didn't shy away from him like animals did now. It was nice.

Rachel frowned when she saw Ryder look around and talk about... animals? She figured Santana was casting some sort of illusion on Ryder. She activated her circle again and started singing Don’t Rain On My Parade again, casting a sound barrier around Santana and increasing the sound so she could hear it loudly.

RACHEL: 1d7 +2= 3 SANTANA to counter: 1d3 +4 =6

SANTANA to Ryder: 1d7+4 =5

Santana stands trying to look normal. Ryder is trapped on an illusion, he would fall soon. She looks at Rachel, but keeps concentrating on her perfect illusion. Still she defends herself a little badly, but enough to defeat Rachel. She makes a counter sound illusion against Rachel, imitating her attack but louder.

In The perfect illusion the animal are all friendly and try to get close to Ryder. Some to close an push him to the ground, like a friendly too enthusiastic elephant. Santana takes the information she has about how Ryder talks to animals and tries to put it on her illusions. "Well well" The Santana in the illusions says. "What animal do you want to meet, Ryder? I have penguins!" She says, making a super cute tiny penguin appear behind Ryder. "Platypus, giant turtles, all types of dogs..." She makes them appear too, naturally, behind other bigger animal. "Just ask and you will receive! The best for my best friend!"

Illusion!Blaine gets close to Ryder as well, singing softly behind the animals. He holds up a small dog and pets it, snuggling it close to himself. "Look at this puppy! Isn't he adorable?" He asks, smiling at Ryder. "Come on, let's not fight... just sit with me and the animals and let's sing together. Why fight?"

Illusion!BLAINE: 1d6 = 1

In his head, Ryder knows he should not be enjoying this and he's actually under attack. But it's a really, really cute attack. And he can't really get out of it anyways, so. He laughs when the elephant nudges into him, reaching up a hand to pat its trunk. Moving through them, his smile lights up seeing a super cute tiny penguin. "I'd like to see a platypus wearing a fedora like Perry!" He turns to see Blaine holding a puppy. "I really hate that I like that Toto song," he sighed, put he picked up the penguin and took a seat on the ground with Blaine, humming along.

Rachel brought her hands to her ears to block the illusion Santana sent back to her. She had to help Ryder snap out of whatever was going on. She sent the same sound field back at Santana, making the sound louder this time.

RACHEL: 1d7 + 2 = 5 SANTANA: 1d7 + 4 = 7 SANTANA to Ryder: 1d7 +4 = 7

Santana finishes this by making in her perfect illusion too many animals running to hug Ryder so he receives the damage. Then she ends the perfect illusion. "The end. Santana wins." She high fives her own illusion Blaine and crosses her arms. "That was incredible guys, I beat you on a 2 vs 1. I'll let you decide if to be ashamed of yourselves or super impressed by me, but, really, I would be a little ashamed. You were terrible. It wasn't fighting a team, I was fighting two people who have absolutely no communication with each other. And that's why you supers lost. You don't support each other, you don't protect each other. You fight like this was a one-on-one.”

Illusion!Blaine touches Ryder's cheek and lightly slaps it. "Your focus was off, sorry, Best Friend." He says as he gets up and out of the way of Santana's spell, letting the animals hug Ryder. He walks over to high five Santana. "Formidable illusion, Lupin." He lets Santana lecture them before he winks at Rachel and Ryder, saying, "But good try! I'd say to work on working synergistically. You two might have used moves together, but it's not a duet I'm seeing. Maybe two solos, however your beats and rhythms are off. Good luck in the future, and remember -- practice makes perfect." He bows at them, body glittering until it dissolves into shimmers.

Ryder blinks and he's back in the training room with Santana and Rachel. "That - went bad," he says, sighing as he stands up.

Rachel went to crouch beside Ryder to help him stand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you. I tried,” she said. “We did slightly better than the tournament, though. We’ll get there,” she told him.

Santana laughs at Rachel's words. Like, a lot and a very high mocking laugh while pointing at her. Then she stopped and was really serious. "No. You could help him. You have shields, even if you seen to forget it. Also, it's a 1 vs 2, guys, you only had to attack me in a really annoying way until I finally lose. Don't 'we'll do it better' this. Actually think about your mistakes. I'm your friend or friendly rival, but other guys aren't going to have any mercy on you," she says, and prepares to leave. "See you later, but really, talk about this as a team."

Ryder takes Rachel's hand to stand up, leaning on her. "It's alright. It's on me too. I didn't talk with you," he says, trying to cut through Santana's laughter. "Bye, San," he waves her off. "She's right though. Your shields would've been a big help."

Rachel bit her lip at Santana’s words and looked down. She nodded at Ryder. “Right, I know, I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away?” She said softly. “I’ll do better next time we train,” she promised. “Now let’s get you to the healer’s,” she told Ryder, wrapping an arm around his waist to support him.

#nimtraining #para: Santana #para: Rachel #tw: violence #trickstersantana #alyricalberry

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thehotwingking · 7 years

Text

Alright, so let’s talk DBS episodes 109 and 110. I want to talk about the absurdity of Jiren, about the Limit Breaker, and also about the next big fights.

It's a long read, so don't read it. It's mainly for myself.

ok so first off, Jiren is way too OP. Not fair. I mean, I get the point of his character, but I am a bit strained over this same type of villain/character. The character with the power that is the most powerful someone can be. Cell was this perfect being that no one could match. Then Buu was supposed to be the strongest person in the universe that no one could match. Beerus is a God of Destruction, and again no one could match. All three of these guys make sense in terms of world building. I'm not completely sure how Gero could manifest someone as strong as Cell (I think it has to do with gene splicing all the DNA from everyone but IDK, IDC and/or remember), but both Beerus and Buu make perfect sense since the universe is so vast.

Hit makes sense. The best fighter in universe 6. Obviously, he'd rival Goku. Even Black made sense. You get a Kai, you put his power into Goku's body. God ki with Goku's power. It makes sense. Sure, I probably got a little tired of the fact that Fused Zamasu existed, and he seemed literally impossible to beat after Vegito failed. But I got over it... sort of lol. (Ok not over it cause I hate that ending lol)

ok Idk where I'm going with this. It's just that JIREN MAN WHAT THE FUCK. How is some that is unfused and a mortal that strong?? Like we got Goku having to learn new techniques out his ass in order to even compete with Jiren and he still lost (totally called that last week btw.)

It's just... just how strong do these guys need to be, Akira!? Where do we go from here? Like, this show always puts me in a suspension of disbelief when seeing transformations like SSJ, or Gohan ascending SSJ, or even SSJ3. Like when watching those transformations I'm always like wtf how, Sway? But after thinking about it... it just makes sense. And by making sense I mean both by the power of the transformation and how it came about. It's just now with Jiren, his power just doesn't make sense, and I also can't make sense of how he became so strong. Surely, it'll be explained in one of the next few episodes obviously. I believe one of the God's touched upon it for a little, but it was only a few words and not much. There's obviously a reason why he's so strong that hasn't been explained yet, but...

The extent to how strong he is... I can't make sense of it at the moment. This dude was just STARING at the Spirit Bomb, and it did NOTHING to him. This dude took a punch from Goku at his LIMIT and it did NOTHING to him. Exactly how strong is he, and how strong must someone be to beat him? I. Can't. Make. Sense. Of. It. And I don't know how anyone can beat him.

Freiza -> Become a legendary Super Saiyan Perfect Cell -> Rage pass a legendary Super Saiyan Buu -> Spirit Bomb his ass to hell as a SSJ3 Beerus -> Super Saiyan God ritual Golden Frieza -> Didn't master his own form Hit -> Super Saiyan Blue with God Ki control + Kaioken Fused Zamasu -> So broken and OP that you need the Lord of Lords AKA (deus ex machina) Jiren -> Absorbed Spirt Bomb plus Ultra Instinct.... doesn't work??

Goku already used a spirit bomb. He already done unlocked a new form/technique. He can't fuse. What is there left for Goku or anyone to do? Is he gonna unlock another form? And yeah I get that this is the fun part about Super. Always trying to guess stuff. I remember after BotG I was tripping over the fact that there were several other universes with several other God's of Destruction with also several other strong people, but I would never expect some shit like this. I never thought we would even see any of them. Just that they existed.

The ONLY person I remember being this unstoppable for the first time was Buuhan, but even then you could see that Goku had to fuse with someone in order to beat Buu. but with Jiren... what the fuck can anyone do? Not like Goku can just hakai his ass. I can't... for the life of me figure out a way to beat him one on one. It has to be some group effort type shit. It has to be. And at this point I'm not convinced Goku will beat Jiren.

Alright that was a long as talk about Jiren. Mind you, I don't hate the arc. I'm patiently waiting to see what happens

Second: Ultra Instinct is dope, and also I feel dumb because it could have been easily predicted through foreshadowing. Toriyama likes doing these things where he mentions one thing in a past arc or episode and then it ends up happening. Obviously, being able to move without thinking was going to be something Goku was going to do eventually, and the Limit Breaker transformation is obviously it. I noticed it almost immediately the moment Goku slung his ass at Jiren and did a shooting star press for no reason.

In my eyes it seems like Limit Breaker isn't really a transformation like super saiyan, but more like a kaioken. Essentially, it's a technique. Still, it's obviously really powerful when used by Goku. The way I see it is that it's a combination of three things. Learning Ultra Instinct, absorbing the power of the Spirit Bomb, and also the mixture of his own power. So, it's not another saiyan transformation... I THINK. It's more of the power of a God rather than a saiyan. So like.. say if Krillin won the tournament of power and wished to have the power of a God then in theory he could possibly learn Ultra Instinct through sheer will power to live such as Goku did. If that makes sense. You need to have supreme power like a god, and sort of hit your limit, but exceed pass it using your will power.

But it'll probably only be Goku using technique and I doubt anyone else ever does the "Limit Breaker." I do think Goku will master this Ultra Instinct and use it again to fight Jiren, but I have no idea if he will be as powerful as he was the first time. Unless of course Goku does some "absorb the power and retain it even after it's gone" bullshit again lol.

Third, the future fights.

Universe 2 -> 5 fighters left. Universe 3 -> 6 fighters left Universe 4 -> 4 fighters left. 2 invisible Universe 6 -> 6 fighters left. Hit, 3 saiyans, 2 namekians Universe 7 -> 7 fighters left. Universe 11 -> 3 fighters left. Dispo, Toppo, and LolJiren

Alright, so Hit vs Jiren has me lowkey hyped. I think Hit is gonna get his ass whooped in the end, but at the same time I do think Hit will get some good punches on Jiren using newer techniques that we haven't seen yet. I hate to say it.. last week I was thinking that Hit might be the one to eliminate Jiren because I thought Jiren was going to eliminate Goku, but with Goku still around and Jiren not looking tired AT ALL then I think Hit is going to be eliminated. Y'know, I thought Hit or Vegeta were gonna beat up some leftovers, but Jiren still looks undamaged. GG Hit. Sorry universe 6. I don't see the three remaining saiyans being able to do anything. I could see all four attacking Jiren at the same time, but probably not since it might mean their defeat and elimination. I know the love of my life Caulifla aint gonna go out like no bitch though. I fucking love that girl. Bae as fuck. She's my everything.

I want Vegeta to eliminate that thing like right NOW. Please Vegeta... I can't stand that character. Vegeta has no time to spare dealing with that garbage knowing that Jiren is out there fucking shit up. Also, IDC if Vegeta didn't lend Goku some of his power. Don't care. That universe still has a good amount of fighters left though, so I'm not convinced Brianne is the strongest person from the universe. Just the most loved.

Gohan, Piccolo, 17, and 18 are also still out there. I believe they have to have a big fight coming up. Not sure who the Androids are going to fight. Most likely some universe 2 or 3 fighters. Actually, definitely one of those universes. Whichever universe has the one with androids. I know one of them has androids. Android vs Android which also brings me to namekian vs namekian. Piccolo is obviously going to fight one of his Namekian counterparts from Universe 6. (there's two???) If he loses then obviously Gohan is gonna whoop that guy's ass. I don't see why Piccolo should win or beat both Namekians. You know what would really be cool? If prior to the tournament Champa went to his version of planet Namek to seek out a strong warrior like Piccolo, and then a bunch of strong Namekians fused together to form a strong being like KaPicaNail. Lol. That would be a dope fight though I doubt either Namekian stacked a bunch of fusions.

Also, I guess Gohan could end up fighting Toppo or Dispo. They need to be eliminated as well. I don't know who else other than Vegeta can eliminate them. Don't think anyone in U6 can eliminate them aside from Hit, and there is too much unknown from the other remaining universes.

Finally, Goku VS Frieza.... we all saw that ending. And..... they're not going to fight. Goku instant transmissioned to Frieza for a reason, and Frieza is just being a dick because that's who he is. He's not going to hurt Goku or fight him. Idk what Goku could possibly want from Frieza, but it should be an interesting development. Probably just gonna ask Frieza to defend him while Goku tries to regain his energy back. That would be a way for Goku to jump back into the tournament near the end of it so we can see the other characters do shit. There's still like 30 people left.

#tags for reference #dragon ball super #jiren #goku #limit breaker #ultra instinct #DBS #dragon ball #goku vs jiren #hit vs jiren

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inhumansforever · 7 years

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Royals #7 review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

The Royals find themselves embroiled in the deadly Snarkwar and Maximus gets unleashed. All from the creative team of Al Ewing, Kevin Libranda and Jose Villarrubia. Full recap and review following the jump.

The Snarks are a warlike alien race who first appeared int he pages of Power Pack. These half-insect/half-reptilian creatures possess the technology to harvest the special abilities from super powered beings. Their world is enmeshed in a planet-wide civil war and Prince Hyinar, Snarkworld’s would-be leader has taken to the stars to collect and amass new powers so that he and his forces may return and conquer their world. Hyena's forces have already defeated a Kymellian Sorceress, thus gaining the same abilities of the siblings who made up the Power Pack; and now they look to invade NovaHala, whose population is rich with Universal Inhumans possessing all manner of powers for them to plunder. Last issue saw the Snarks capture Gorgon and kill Kal Blackbane (which is a g0ddam tragedy btw).

Shackled, Gorgon can only growl and spit insults as he is forced to listen to Hyinar monologue his plans to capture the rest oft he Royals and steal their gifts. Except for Medusa, whom the Snarks see as an invalid due to her sickness and the loss of her Inhuman powers. Medusa the Snarks simply plan to kill and Gorgon seethe with rage at the thought of it.

Elsewhere, Flint, Crystal and Swain are made comfortable as the guests of the Universal Inhumans. Flint spares with the Centurian Inhuman known as Metallic Titanwhile Crystal makes small talk with the others. Swain sits alone, afraid to commingle with others without Maximus there to mute her empathic abilities. The vision of guilt that Ronan The Accuser had forced Swain to endure has shaken her confidence something terrible.

Dara Ko Eke, the Universal Inhuman of the Badoon, notices how Swain has sequestered herself away from the others. Dara goes to see what is troubling Swain and at first Swain mistake the gesture as a romantic ovation. It’s emblematic of just how lost she feels. She doesn’t trust her own powers and lives in constant fear that she might unwittingly coerce others into feeling what she wants them to feel (either on a conscious or unconscious level). Panacea, Swain’s girlfriend back on earth, does not feel emotion in the same conventional way and this has made her immune to Swain’s influence. Yet it is not without its drawbacks and a part of Swain wishes that Pan could reciprocate Swain’s love in a more mainstream/traditional fashion. The encounter with Ronan has caused Swain to believe that a part of the reason why she accepted this mission tot he stars was to run away from her fears over her relationship with Pan.

Meanwhile, Medusa, Maximus and Noh-Varr confer with the Queens of the Universal Inhumans. These queens still do not fully trust their former sister-wife, Medusa, blaming her for turning her back on their king, Black Bolt. Yet thew promise of learning more about the mysterious Sky Spears has superseded their suspicions. One of these Sky Spears has come to NovaHalla, planting itself in the plains outside the city. Its mystery continues to bedevil the Universal Inhumans. One of their psychics had attempted to breach its secrets and it augmented his powers and took over his mind. It held him, controlling his will to fend off others until he died of starvation. Now only his skeleton remains behind.

A series of glyphs line the structure of the spheres. The writing is of a language that none have thus far been able to decipher or translate. Yet there are a number of specific words that are familiar to the various races that compose the Universal Inhumans. These are ancient terms from the origins of each species’ languages. One such term beckons back to the older language of the Badoon and means ‘to look and find through experiment.’ There is another word from ancient Kymellian that means ‘seed’ or possibly ‘fruit.’ Medusa adds that there is also a word on the Spear that is ancient Tilan… a word that translates to ‘genocide.’

With this, Medusa decides that she no longer has the time to play nice with the queens. She presses a button on the chain that has kept Maximus leashed. This seems to disengage a power dampener, offering Maximus full control over his psychic abilities.

Maximus seizes the opportunity and exerts his will over the gathered Universal Inhumans. At first he is unsure as to why Medusa has freed him, but it quickly becomes evident that their goals are aligned and Medusa can trust Maximus as long as they both want the same thing… namely, to decode the mystery of the Sky Spears and their connection to the Progenitors.

While Maximus is indeed willing to do Medusa’s bidding, it doesn’t mean he is going to be nice about it. He chooses to conduct a cruel experiment to further examine the parameters of the Sky Spear.

Borrowing the telekinetic abilities of the Centurion queen, Oola, Maximus seizes Noh-Varr in a vice-like telekinetic grip. Maximus notes that the sky spears have all been sent to places where there are Inhumans. Plus they have recently learned that The Inhumans and The Kree share a commonality in that both races were artificially evolved by way of derivatives of Primagen. Therefore, The Kree are also Inhuman of a kind. Maximus tests this theory by throwing Noh-Varr against the spear. Upon striking it, Noh-Varr’s body crackles with energy and he is riddles with agony… it would appear that Maximus’ hypothesis is correct. Intriguing as it may be, Medusa is unamused by Maximus’ actions and it remains unclear if Noh-Varr has even survived.

The seven switches back to the amphitheater where the other members of the team are waiting. Crystal has grown concerned over Gorgon’s prolonged absence. Before she can investigate the matter, however, they are attacked by the Snarks and both the Royals and the members of the Light Brigade are quickly defeated and captured.

They awaken imprisoned within crystal-like cells. These crystals appear to have to do with the Snarks’ technology to steal superpowers. They are like batteries in which the original hosts must be kept alive so that the various Snarks who wild the powers can periodically return to recharge. This is all explained by Gorgon whose power has been taken from him. It has left Gorgon devolved into a more human-like state, his goat-like legs replaced with regular human legs.

And it is on this cliffhanger that the issue comes to an end.

This issue was much more build up than I had expected it to be. I’m so curious to learn the secrets of the Sky Spears that I found myself a bit irritated by meddling actions of the Snarks. Plus the Royals and their comrades fell so quickly to the Snarks attack, it didn’t offer illustrator, Kevin Libranda a lot of space to show off his skills for depicting action. Still, what the issue lacked in action it made up for in some pretty good character development, specifically for the two newest Inhumans, Swain and Flint.

Swain’s situation is particularly intriguing and I’m very much enjoying the places Ewing’s script is going with her. The story with Flint is still just getting started, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Flint is pretty lost and looking for a place where he feels that he belongs. He lost his adopted parents and his biological family was not what he had hoped for. He had found something of a new family among the Inhumans, but it’s possible that the events of IvX has shaken his belief. It would seem Flint has joined The Royals on this mission for reasons of his own, a hope to possibly find the sense of be longing that has so far evaded him. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where this leads.

There continue to be more questions than answers when it comes to The Sky Spears. The mystery of it has been percolating ever since the Free Comic Book Day issue of Uncanny Inhumans. Based on The Ultimates2, Ewing is not shy about going big in providing a resolution to long-building mysteries and I’m quite excited to learn whatever answers are providing in issue number nine. Unfortunately, it also leaves me a bit impatient. I sort of want all this Snarkwar business to hurry up and get out of the way so we can get to finding out more about The Progenitors.

Libranda’s illustration and Jose Villarrubia’s colors continue to be a great match for the tenor of the story. The art is asked to juggle a rather large number of characters and it manages it quite nicely, composing it all in a fashion that makes it come across as smooth, detailed while not overly-busy.

All and all another fun issue. I might feel a bit impatient over wanting the plot to move forward, but focusing on character development is likely a wise decision. The narrative has been so large in scope that it can inadvertently dwarf the characters so slowing down to more intently focus on the players is understandable move.

Definitely recommended. Three and half out of five Lockjaws.

#Inhumans #The Royals #spoilers #Al Ewing #Kevin Libranda #Jose Villarrubia #review

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junker-town · 5 years

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Donovan McNabb’s Eagles were the dynasty that never was

McNabb made the most from what he had — and he should have had more.

It looked like fate. The 2003 Philadelphia Eagles had been the NFC’s bridesmaid after losing back-to-back conference championship games. Now they stood one game from the Super Bowl thanks to a miracle fourth-and-26 completion that turned a fourth-quarter deficit into a thrilling overtime win over Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers.

Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb stood on the cusp of the league’s elite after dragging third-option wideout Freddie Mitchell into the spotlight with him, and a decidedly clutch team appeared to be more powerful than ever before.

It wasn’t meant to be. One week later, Philly dropped its third straight NFC title game, losing as favorites at home to Jake Delhomme’s Panthers. The only lasting impressions from the team’s improbable win over Green Bay in the Divisional Round were years and years of extended debates over McNabb’s legacy on Pennsylvania sports radio and a decade-plus of ignoring Mitchell’s pleas for attention.

To have your triumphs washed away by some bullshit is extremely on-brand for McNabb, whether it was on-field screwups or manufactured drama off it. He was the centerpiece of a team that stood out as a perennial contender; a player who led Philadelphia to 59 wins in his first five seasons as a full-time starter. But every step of that journey was booby-trapped by “what about”-isms, most of which could only be definitively answered with an NFL championship.

That never happened, and McNabb’s never-was dynasty was effectively paved over in the hearts and minds of casual football fans.

So what happened? First, you’ve got to examine the blueprint that made the Eagles great in the first place.

McNabb helped make Philadelphia very good (but not great)

From 1991-99, the Eagles made three playoff appearances. In that span, they had seven different players who led the team in passing yards for a given season — a long list of journeymen quarterbacks ranging from Jim McMahon to the Detmer brothers (Ty and Koy). This winding line of mediocrity ended in 2000 when McNabb, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, took the reins behind center and pushed Philly to five straight seasons with 11 wins or more.

The young quarterback was the most recognizable face behind one of the league’s most potently balanced teams. Although his accuracy wasn’t great — he completed more than 59 percent of his passes in only one of those seasons — his ability to make plays through the air and with his legs helped the Eagles outgun NFC East rivals. If he couldn’t outshoot opponents, he had help. Stalwarts like Hugh Douglas, Jeremiah Trotter, Troy Vincent, Brian Dawkins, and Lito Sheppard made Philadelphia the league’s second-best scoring defense in three of those five years.

For all his solid play in the regular season, McNabb had fatal flaws that shined brightest in the playoffs. In his first five years, he averaged 19 fumbles and interceptions combined per season. His first four trips to the postseason saw him throw 11 touchdowns, but also nine interceptions. He ran for three more scores, but got sacked 32 times in just nine postseason games, fumbling nine times in the process — all numbers that eclipsed his totals during the regular season.

This seemed to change in 2004. Bolstered by offseason acquisition Terrell Owens, McNabb set career highs in completion rate (64 percent), touchdown passes (31), yards per pass (8.3), and passer rating (104.7). The Eagles stormed through the regular season with 13 wins in their first 14 games before easing off the gas in Weeks 16 and 17.

This is all an odd combination to create a Super Bowl underdog, but Philadelphia hit that Conference Championship Weekend with a whole host of concerns to put to bed. The Eagles had been defeated in the last three NFC title games and were facing a Falcons team that had thrashed the Rams by 30 points the week before. With the defending champion Patriots and a 15-1 Steelers team waiting on the AFC side of the bracket, the Eagles were still a shaky bet.

McNabb withstood the Falcons and set up a date with the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. Facing a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, McNabb had the ball in his hands and the opportunity to write his own Hollywood ending was within reach.

Instead, his time at the mountaintop was spent, perhaps apocryphally, vomiting.

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This historic string of high-profile failure overshadowed an impressive run in an NFL constructed on the tenets of parity. The Eagles were the first team since the 1995 Cowboys to reach the conference championship game in four consecutive seasons and only the fourth team in league history (Buffalo, Dallas, and New England are the others) to ever accomplish that feat.

While we recognize the 90s Cowboys and the 2010s Patriots as dynasties and the early 90s Bills as the ultimate never-was, the Eagles’ near-excellence has gone widely unrecognized. The only Hall of Famers from those Eagles teams are Dawkins and Owens, the latter of whom only played 22 games in green and white. The lack of Super Bowl appearances is certainly part of the oversight, but Philadelphia’s vulnerability when it came to getting consumed by its own drama and some terrible injury luck played a role as well.

And, just like on the field, it all swirled around McNabb.

McNabb’s final years with the Eagles had their ups and downs before his time ended unceremoniously

McNabb and Reid nearly willed Philadelphia back in Super Bowl 39, but some baffling clock management ultimately gave way to New England’s third Lombardi Trophy in four years. While that left some lingering questions about the Eagles’ ceiling the following offseason, they’d overcome the specter of being the NFC’s perpetual runner-up by breaking through to the Super Bowl, and there was still room to continue their upward trajectory.

Running it back proved tougher in 2005 than it ever had before. Players like Douglas, Corey Simon, Derrick Burgess, and Jermane Mayberry retired or left in free agency. McNabb missed seven games due to injury. Sheppard missed six. Brian Westbrook missed four. The defense fell to 27th in points allowed, and the club lacked the personnel to win the shootouts it needed to overcome this deficiency.

There were problems beyond attrition and injury concerns, too. McNabb and Owens, the two most visible stars on one of the league’s most successful teams at the time, frequently butted heads as a friendly partnership quickly turned into full-blown beef. This rift could have been easily been patched up by winning, but the aforementioned problems left Philly spinning out in the midst of a 6-10 season.

Owens would be suspended for “conduct detrimental to the team” and deactivated after that, ending his tenure in the City of Brotherly Love.

Owens’ departure appeared to take the missing ingredient that propelled the team to the Super Bowl with it. McNabb went 5-5 as a starter the following year before a torn ACL ended his season. Jeff Garcia’s five-game winning streak to finish out the year pushed the Eagles to the playoffs and sparked breathless debate over just how valuable McNabb was to the process in Philly.

This was not especially surprising. Eagles fans had doubted McNabb from the moment he was drafted, booing him lustily after he was announced as their pick.

Garcia’s play only emboldened the vocal contingent who wanted McNabb gone, even if that sentiment wasn’t especially logical. McNabb played through the 2000s in Philly with more reported injuries than any other quarterback in the league and still managed to deliver on an annual basis.

Let’s allow Jon Bois to set the scene:

Entering Week 2, his chest was busted up so badly that he had to wear specialized shoulder pads. It was kind of ridiculous. He looked like a 10-year-old whose older brother tied pillows on him and told him to go jump off the top of the staircase.

That day, McNabb threw for 342 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions. In terms of passer rating (155.4), it remains one of the 20 most dominant quarterbacking performances since the NFL and AFL merged in 1970.

As his chest healed, a groin injury surfaced on his injury report. It was later classified as a sports hernia, which meant two conflicting muscles in his groin were playing tug-of-war until one of them started to rip away. By all accounts, this is an absolutely miserable experience. McNabb’s numbers dipped, but he continued to play through the hernia until Week 9, when he ripped his groin beyond all utility while trying to make a tackle. It’s sort of a wonder to me that he made it that far at all.

And this only seemed to enrage some fans rather than endear himself to his biggest critics.

Three more good seasons and a 27-16-1 record as a starter followed, including one tie in which it became apparent McNabb wasn’t especially well versed in the rules of overtime.

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Philadelphia made the postseason in each of those years and even returned to the NFC Championship Game in 2009, just months after that unthrilling tie against a 1-8 Bengals team.

But as good as McNabb made the Eagles, he could never break through to greatness. He went 9-7 in the playoffs, but finished with just an 80.0 passer rating in those games. His nadir came in 2010 when he completed just 51 percent of his passes and was sacked four times in a lackluster 34-14 loss to division rival Dallas in the Wild Card Round — the first time McNabb had ever gone one-and-done in the playoffs in his career.

Reid went into that offseason adamant McNabb would remain his starting quarterback after another statistically solid season had ended in heartache. This commitment lasted until April 4, when Philadelphia traded its longtime quarterback to Washington in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and a conditional mid-rounder the following year. After all he’d been through, the Eagles didn’t think enough of McNabb to even trade him out of the NFC East.

Neither side flourished after the breakup ... for a while

Philadelphia churned on with Michael Vick. Despite his promise as a dual-threat rehabilitation project, he failed to reach McNabb’s standard of postseason success. Two straight Wild Card losses pushed the franchise into a spending spree in free agency as the 2011 version of the team made an overhyped effort to bring back the franchise’s almost-glory. It was a major flop.

Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek headlined an offense that should have challenged the 2007 Patriots for scoring supremacy, but instead barely cracked that season’s top 10. High-priced additions like Asante Samuel and Nnamdi Asomugha failed to create a punishing defense. A potential “Dream Team” finished 8-8, portending the Eagles’ first two-year playoff drought since 1999. They did not win a playoff game over the five seasons that followed.

McNabb’s fortunes were even worse. His play dropped off significantly in the nation’s capital. He threw more interceptions (15) than touchdowns (14) in his first season in Washington and limped to a 5-8 record as a starter before being demoted to see what Rex Grossman brought to the table. He was traded to Minnesota that offseason in exchange for a 2012 sixth-round pick and a conditional sixth-rounder in 2013.

The former Eagle was supposed to be the salve that soothed the burn of Brett Favre’s Viking tenure. Instead, McNabb went 1-5 and got benched in favor of Christian Ponder. He was released in December and watched as journeymen like Kyle Orton, Jake Delhomme, and Josh McCown each signed with needy teams while he languished in free agency.

More than three years after being traded out of Pennsylvania, he’d return to Philly to sign a one-day contract and retire an Eagle.

The Eagles got the championship validation they craved in February 2018, when Nick Foles delivered the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory in a win over the Patriots. Only two players who’d played with McNabb — Celek and left tackle Jason Peters — got the chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy that February.

While McNabb never got to football’s promised land, it wasn’t as though he spent his 11 seasons in Philadelphia wandering the desert. The former first-round pick was the heart of one of his generation’s most successful teams. He pushed a receiving corps mostly led by starters like zero-time Pro Bowlers Todd Pinkston, James Thrash, and Mitchell to a consistent spot in the league’s final four. He made a Rod Dowhower offense look good, which is nearly impossible.

The Eagles quarterback did this all while serving as one of the league’s most-battered passers. These were no small feats, but McNabb was rarely hailed after these heroic efforts. And even if he doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring to flash his legacy at bystanders or a gold Hall of Fame jacket to wear for his trips back to eastern Pennsylvania, he’ll always have fourth-and-26.

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ramblingthoughtsofayoungadult · 7 years

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Partners in Justice-Platonic!Barry Allen/Flash Imagine

Requested: No

Warnings: Minor violence, sad back story

A/N: Sorry I’ve been gone for so long. I’ve been working and doing scholarship essays but hopefully I’ll be more active. Also, I might do a sequel to this one since it’s so long.

In the case of Barry Allen and Y/N Y/L/N, opposites do not always attract. For one thing, it didn’t help that the first time they met was when Joe and Eddie arrested Y/N for homicide. Barry was standing at the front desk with Iris, nerding out about the particle accelerator at STAR Labs, when everything in the station seemed to stop. Joe looked calm but Eddie seemed particularly pleased with himself as they walked Y/N into the CCPD. The young woman in handcuffs seemed rather stoic and at first, Barry couldn’t really believe that she was responsible for the homicide. Sure, she had the same intimidating demeanor as a pit bull and she seemed to glare at all the gaping cops in the station, but there was something not right about her.

“Who’s that?” Iris asked.

“That’s Y/N Y/L/N, we think she’s responsible for Walter Goodman’s death.”

Walter Goodman was the richest man in Central City and also one of the most crooked men in Central City. He committed high brow crimes such as tax evasion, tax fraud, and money laundering but always got acquitted from the charges. Unfortunately, the old rich man met his fate about a month ago when someone beat him to death with their bare hands. That someone seemed to be Y/N.

“Wow, she did all of that to him? How?”

“She has an extensive background in boxing so she knew just where to hit him and how hard to kill him. It wasn’t a pretty scene.”

“So, what else makes you think it was her?”

Barry scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I found some fibers around Walter’s neck and when I ran some tests on them, I found out they were from a pair of gloves. Ended up tracking the gloves to Y/N because she bought them about two weeks before the murder and Joe found them in her apartment when they searched it. Plus, witnesses saw her leave the building five minutes after she killed him.”

Iris shook her head. “So how long is she going away for?”

“A long time.”

Just at that point, Joe, Eddie, and Y/N were about to pass them and Y/N had been staring Barry down for about a minute. She pressed her feet down onto the floor to make them stop as she glared at them.

“Don’t you know that it isn’t nice to talk about others?” she hissed.

“Let’s go, Y/L/N.” Eddie began to drag her but she snatched away from him.

“You probably think you’re so much better than me because I’m in cuffs and you’re not.” Y/N laughed humorlessly. “There’s a thin line between where you am and I am, kid.”

“No, there’s an ocean between us,” Barry shot back.

Y/N arched an eyebrow. “Look who’s got a backbone?

“Let’s go, Y/N.” Joe pulled her away and Y/N tossed Barry one last glance before fully allowing the detectives to take her to booking.

“She is…something,” Barry said.

“Yeah, but she isn’t going to get to listen to you nerd out about the particle accelerator at STAR Labs tonight.”

“She might be able to see the light from her cell.”

Iris laughed and playfully hit Barry. “Whatever happened to seeing the good in everyone?”

“Yeah, well, some people make it hard.”

Unfortunately for Barry, that feeling that something was not right with Y/N stayed with him for the rest of the day. There was something in her eyes that said she did what she did for a good reason. However, he wasn’t able to focus on that as he was working on another case in his lab while Y/N was standing in a jail cell in the basement.

She leaned against the bars, glaring at Eddie and Joe who were sipping coffee as a sort of a congratulations to themselves. It was fine, though, since she was going to be exactly where she wanted to be. Iron Heights was fortress far superior to Arkham and that’s what Y/N was counting on.

“You’re awful quiet over there, Y/L/N, or should I call you Knuckles?” Eddie taunted.

Y/N tried not to bristle at her old nickname as she slowly pushed off from the bars and moved to sit on the bench.

“What? No cute comeback?”

“Lay off, Eddie, she’s about to go away for a long time and the last thing either of us needs is you taunting her,” Joe said.

Eddie held his hands up in defeat. “Fine, but there’s one thing I don’t get: if Y/N’s as great of a hitwoman as her record says she is, then why did she let herself get caught?”

“She didn’t let herself get caught, no criminal really does,” Joe said.

Y/N didn’t say anything as she laid down and faced the wall. Fortunately, her lawyer was going to be some public defender that didn’t know the difference between custody and customs. Sure, she was used to the lawyers with the largest service fees in the world, but they always got her out of trouble. If everything went to plan, she would be headed to Iron Heights in a week.

Of course, nothing went to plan that night because when the particle accelerator exploded, Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, and Ronnie were not the only ones affected. However, several weeks would pass before Barry and Y/N crossed paths again since Barry wasn’t the only one perfecting and strengthening their newfound abilities.

Barry sped into a warehouse where several large, black-clad goons were charging a smaller young woman whose back was turned to him. Several other goons were lying on the ground around them, bloody and dead. They all charged the woman but before Barry could help, she punched three of them and they all went flying into the opposite wall and out of the building. She kicked one into the floor and smacked another into another side wall. Then, she grabbed the last one by the neck and held him above her.

“Tell me where he is!” she hissed.

“I don’t know anything,” he blubbered.

“Let him go!” Barry yelled.

The woman slowly turned and Barry’s eyes widened: it was Y/N Y/L/N and she was holding a man about a head taller and hundreds of pounds heavier than she was above her. She seemed to have more muscle definition and her y/h/c was glossier than it had been before.

“The Flash, why did I have a feeling you’d show up?”

“Just let him go, I’ll take care of him.” “This is my business, Flash, and I work alone so go and save some cat from a tree.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Barry said.

“What’s going on?” Cisco asked through Barry’s comm unit. “Who is she?”

“That’s a convicted murderer who I helped put away who has super strength,” Barry muttered.

“Well, it doesn’t look like the guys she’s…dealt with are the best so maybe just get him out of her grip?” Caitlin suggested.

“Okay.” Barry sprinted over to Y/N and managed to knock the man out of her grip and place him on the other side of the room. Then he straightened up and saw Y/N looking furious.

“Get out, Flash!” Y/N screamed. “He’s mine!”

“If you don’t stop, I’ll have to turn you in.”

Y/N shook her head. “You’ll have to beat me first.”

Barry shrugged and began charging at her. In the back of his mind, he was anxious but he usually won against the bad guy. However, he was stunned when it felt like he hit a wall and went flying backwards into an actual wall. Once he slid down, he only had a chance to glance up when Y/N took one graceful leap before landing in front of him. He narrowly missed a punch and made a few of his own quick jabs that only made her stumble backwards. However, she still dodged most of his and made her punching movements swift but powerful. Then, she hit him when he was too slow and knocked his lights out. Barry landed about three yards away from her with a thud and though he was unconscious his head was spinning.

When he woke up, he was in STAR Labs. Cisco, Caitlin, and Wells were at his bedside. Immediately, he felt groggy.

“Wh-what happened?” Barry asked.

“You got beat up by a girl,” Cisco laughed before silencing himself when Caitlin glared at him.

“He is technically right. Y/N did hit you hard enough to give you a moderate concussion. Fortunately, you were only out of it for ten hours thanks to your advanced healing,” Caitlin said. “Do you know why she attacked all those men?”

“She wanted to know where someone was but I have no idea who but whoever they are, they’re going to wish they never messed with her,” Barry said as he slowly stood.

“I might’ve narrowed that down.I tapped into the security camera feed—-which I didn’t know was useful in an abandoned warehouse—-and got this.” Cisco brought up security footage of the warehouse on the big screen in the medic area.

Y/N walked over to the man breathing, put her foot on his neck, and bent over him. “I’m going to ask you one last time, Evers, where is he?”

“H-he’s going to th-the Ivy tomorrow night. Pl-please don’t tell him I told you!” the man cried.

“It won’t matter.” She pressed down on his neck and there was a sickening cracking noise.

“Ruthless,” Caitlin said.

“What do you expect from a woman known as Knuckles?” Cisco asked.

“We did some digging and found out that this Evers is one of the heads of security for a man known as The Joker in Gotham. This guy is like Trickster but much more extreme.” Harrison pulled up a picture of the clownish man with tangled green hair, a white face, and a red scar for a mouth on the large screen. “He is responsible for countless deaths in Gotham as well as about eighty percent of the crime.”

“But how does Y/N know him?” Barry asked.

“She worked for him. She started off as a good kid and a prodigy in boxing. She was the Junior Champion Boxer in Gotham when she was ten years-old but a month later, her mom was killed in a hit-and-run. After that, the good girl persona vanished. At eleven, she was sent to juvie for knocking a girl unconscious but she only spent a year in juvie when someone yanked her out,” Cisco said.

“The Joker?” Barry asked.

“No, Don Falcone, a mob boss in Gotham. He got her into good schools and she seemed to clean up her act until at seventeen, she started racking up charges for aggravated assault, assault and battery, and attempted murder—-all charges were dropped, of course.”

“But, how does the Joker relate to this?”

“Falcone dropped Y/N when she was twenty because he thought she was too high risk and the Joker came along with promises of money. But, after two years of being affiliated with him, she left Gotham and came here.”

“But then she got arrested and when the particle accelerator exploded, she got out of CCPD,” Barry said.

“Like a normal criminal with super powers would?” Cisco asked.

“Yeah, but Y/N isn’t most criminals. A lot of these metas destroy everything and everyone in their wake, but she’s focused on this Joker guy.”

“What are you trying to say, Barry?” Caitlin asked.

Barry shrugged. “That maybe, she isn’t as bad as I thought she was.”

“She knocked you out cold, Barry.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t kill me. Maybe, I could help her and get her to come here for testing.”

“That’s a dangerous plan, Barry,” Wells said. “The particle accelerator diminished the myostatin in her body so that she is practically a super human, plus it has only enhanced the agility she gained from boxing all those years. She is certainly a formidable foe.”

“I know but, what if I could talk her into being on our side or, I could at least help her stop the Joker before he wreaks havoc on Central City?”

Harrison, Caitlin, and Cisco all shared the same pensive look before reluctantly agreeing with Barry’s plan.

“Fine, but you’re gonna have a tough time getting into Ivy—-it’s the hottest club in Central City and the list to get in is super exclusive,” Cisco said.

“I think I know someone who can help me.”

That night, Iris and Barry entered part of the criminal underworld as soon as they stepped into Ivy. There was a light blue haze all over the spacious club as well as mirrors, lots and lots of mirrors. Most of the women wore crop tops, tight jeans, or body con dresses to show off their figures while the guys just wore button downs and jeans.

“I can’t believe we’re at the opening of Ivy!” Iris squealed over Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”.

“I can’t believe your job got us in,” Barry added.

“It’s good to be a journalist. You know how jealous Eddie is? He’s at the police station fuming because he couldn’t come.”

Barry ignored the stabbing pain in his chest at the mention of Iris’ fiance. As much as he tried to get over her, he simply couldn’t considering that Iris was his first and probably last love. However, if she was happy, he would have to be happy, but she wasn’t making it any easier with that classy but sexy knee-length white curve-hugging dress she wore.

“Yeah, I bet.”

“How’d you hear about this place anyway?”

“Oh, you know, friends,” Barry said.

“I thought you didn’t have any other friends besides me.”

“First of all, ouch, and second of all, maybe you don’t know me that well.”

”Okay, enough flirting, Barry, do you see Y/N or the Joker?” Cisco asked through the comm.

Barry glanced around the cavernous club filled with people dancing and drinking. Off to the far right side of the dance floor was the VIP area where he saw none other than Y/N, wearing a burgundy leather mini skirt and a dusty blue halter crop top, being allowed in by the bouncer.

“She just walked into the VIP room,” Barry muttered.

“Okay, you can probably speed past them, but there’s the issue of Iris,” Wells said.

“I’ll figure something out.”

Barry managed to distract Iris by pointing out the club owner and suggesting she interview him. After calling him a genius, Iris made her way over to him and Barry sped into the VIP area. Unfortunately, it was mostly small time thugs and their girls sitting in the main area and Y/N was nowhere to be found. However, a set of stairs on the right wall of the area seemed to be the answer. Barry quickly found the room Y/N was looking for since there seemed to be a lot of fighting coming from it. When he peeked in, he saw Y/N kneeling over the Joker as she pinned him down to the couch.

“Do it, kill me!” Joker yelled. “Kill me so all this so called insanity goes away!”

Y/N squeezed her hands harder around his neck. “Shut up! You never stop talking! Get out of my head!” She gritted her teeth. “I got away from you but you just wouldn’t leave me alone. You said you would leave Central City once I did in Goodman but you’re still here!”

It was madness that Barry was witnessing and he could do nothing but watch Y/N begin squeezing the life out of this man. Then, he realized that he couldn’t let him die since the Flash never let anyone die. So, he pulled Y/N away from Joker and stood between them. Y/N looked confused at first but when she saw Barry she snarled.

“GET OUT!” she yelled.

“Y/N, I know you want to kill him for everything he’s done but you need to turn him in,” Barry said.

“He escapes from every prison he’s ever put in! But he can’t escape death,” Y/N hissed.

“Listen to the wise man, Knuckles,” Joker coughed.

Y/N growled but Barry kept his hands up. “Wait, Y/N, if you kill him, then you’re no better than he is. You’re a good person who’s done some bad things.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I know that if you were as bad as you think you are you would’ve killed me in that warehouse.”

Something in Y/N’s features began to soften but she didn’t respond until Joker lurched up and held a knife to Barry’s neck while hugging him from behind.

“This isn’t the first person who’s tried to save you from my clutches, is it, Knuckles? News flash, Kid, she and I are the same person except she still has those pesky guilt feelings and ridiculous morals. Which is why she’s going to back off while you and I walk out that door, isn’t that right, Knuckles?”

Something broke inside Y/N that made her step away from the two of them. She thought it was hope as she knelt down on her knees, eyes on the dark floor. For some reason, she wasn’t angry at the skinny white guy who’d just burst between her and the Joker but she was more upset with herself. She should’ve just killed him when she had her hands around his neck.

“Y/N,” Barry muttered.

“No use talking to her now, kid,” Joker said as they began walking towards the door.

When they were right next to Y/N, she swung her right arm against Joker’s leg, breaking it. He cried out and released Barry while Y/N lunged for Joker. Just as her fingers touched his face, Joker wedged the knife into Y/N’s jugular. Y/N gasped and stared at Joker’s sick smile.

“Knuckles, why so serious?”

Y/N gasped at him again though she had an arsenal of words that she wanted to spit at him. Swiftly, Barry scooped her up in his arms and got her to the main area of STAR Labs. Cisco, Caitlin, and Harrison looked stunned.

“Guys, we have a problem,” Barry said.

“Take her to the medical area,” Caitlin instructed.

Barry did and laid Y/N on one of the spare beds. She was still bleeding pretty badly and her eyes were wide. Caitlin met them as soon as possible and had Barry apply pressure to her neck while Caitlin removed the knife. Y/N groaned in anger as Caitlin did so but quieted when Caitlin stitched her up.

“She should be okay in a few hours, but I’ll run some tests,” Caitlin said.

“Okay,” Barry said.

Caitlin began running some tests as Harrison and Cisco came in. Cisco looked at Y/N anxiously while Harrison seemed as calm as usual.

“She okay?” Cisco asked.

“She will be. That Joker guy stabbed her but she saved me,” Barry said.

“Did you ask her?” Harrison asked.

“Ask me what?” Y/N rasped.

Barry jumped slightly when he saw that Y/N was fully alert and staring at him. “Uh, we wanted to know if you would let me help you.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I work alone, Flash.” She rolled her eyes when she saw the nervousness in the others’ eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I have more important business to attend to.”

“Working alone didn’t seem to help you back there. All I’m saying is if you have mine and my team’s help, you probably won’t go to jail.”

Y/N arched an eyebrow. She eyed him carefully before looking at Caitlin, Cisco, and Harrison. Her eyes wavered longer on the man in the wheelchair before she looked at Barry. “What do you want in exchange?”

“What?”

“You’re all goody two shoes who can’t lie. What do you want?”

“We want you to stay and let Caitlin run some tests on you to help you understand your abilities. Maybe even help us take out the other metahumans in this city?”

“And if I don’t?”

“I turn you in.”

“You do realize that I could basically tap my finger against your head and kill you?”

“If you’re fast enough to reach it.”

Y/N glared at him before relaxing into her place. On one hand, she would be getting rid of the person who had been mentally and emotionally abusive over the years. On the other hand, she was going to be stuck with a group of people she didn’t know fighting other people with abilities, but they were evil. Besides, even if she did go on her own, after she got rid of Joker, she didn’t really have anywhere else to go. There were too many people in Gotham who wanted her dead and Central City was a lot less hostile.

“What’s your name?” she finally asked.

“Barry, Barry Allen,” Barry said.

“Well, Barry, let’s get one thing straight, I’m not your sidekick nor your lackey, we’re allies if anything.”

“Partners?”

“Don’t try it.” “So, this means you’ll work with us?” Cisco asked.

“If it means I get rid of the Joker then yes, I will work with you.” Then, Barry and Y/N shook hands and that was the beginning of their heroic partnership.

#the flash #barry allen #barry allen imagine #the flash imagine

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sindrafalcone · 7 years

Text

Train Dream (version 2)

Since #1 said that she’d like to read this, I decided to post it. <3 If you haven’t read about my initial string of Train Dreams, you might want to do that first to avoid confusion: Click Here

Again, I stopped having the dreams the night after Seung Hyun enlisted & they only picked back up the night of June 1st (after the ‘scandal’ broke). This was the one I had on the morning of the 7th, I had already suffered through my panic attack the night before, set an alarm so I could wake up for the press conference at 3am (my time), then I just decided to stay awake and get the kids ready for school. Once they were gone, I laid back down to try and make up for only getting 2-3 hours of fitful sleep. That’s when this happened.

I was staring down at a well-worn, wooden table. The rich, brown wood still had a polish on it, but it was pockmarked from obvious years of use. Somehow, between the color & the fact that it had withstood the test of time, it was comforting to me.

Then I noticed that in my right hand, I held a cup of coffee. The mug wasn't anything familiar, just a standard white color. But the coffee was made just the way I like it & I could feel the warmth of it in my hand... see the steam curling up off of it.

I looked over to my left & was surprised to see another hand firmly gripping mine. Not painfully tight, but not light either. I knew that hand...

My gaze snapped up to see Seung Hyun seated across from me, casually taking a sip from his own coffee mug.

“I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to notice me.” he said with a smile as he put the mug back down on the table.

It was only then that I heard the familiar click-clack of the rails, the slight swaying motion of the train.

“I... I wasn't expecting you to be here.” I told him truthfully, lifting the coffee to my lips & taking a hesitant sip. It was perfect.

After that, we said nothing... just sipped our coffee while holding hands. Oddly enough, the cup never seemed to run out and it stayed the exact perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold.

It took a while, but I finally realized that the train was slowing down. It wasn't long before it had come to a complete stop.

“We're here.” he said, letting go of my hand so he could stand up.

“What?” I asked, looking up so I could see him towering over me, the confusion obvious in my voice. “Where is here?”

“Come with me and find out.” he answered with a smirk.

He held a hand out to me to help me up out of the seat. I looked back down at the coffee cups, still curling steam even though we had been sipping at them for a while now. I noticed mine had a light pink lipstick stain on the side where my lips had been. It was oddly intimate, the sight of those two mugs of coffee just sitting on that little wooden table.

“They're not going anywhere.” he said, voice impatient as he tugged on my hand in order to get me to follow him. “Now come on!”

He pulled me all the way to the end of the empty train car until we reached the exit. Once we stepped off the train we were in a station of some sort. It was huge and incredibly Art Deco. All white stone walls, polished granite floors, and huge, floor to ceiling windows that let in the late afternoon sun.

To my surprise there were other people in the station, even though I had never seen any on the train. But, they didn't seem quite right to me. On further inspection, I realized that they were all wispy... translucent, even though they walked through the space as if they were solid.

Seung Hyun sensed that I was startled. “They aren't really here.” he said, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Well... they are here, obviously. But they don't realize it.”

He continued pulling me through the station, all the way to the front doors. He opened the door, leading me outside. At first, I had to shield my eyes because it was so bright and the sun was in my face. But as my eyes adjusted, I could see that we were alone now, surrounded by beautiful, lush scenery. There were mountains far off in the distance, but there were plenty of hills where we were. The grass & the plants were all a super intense shade of green & the flowers were well beyond vivid.

Briefly, I wondered why there was such a huge, modern train station in the middle of nowhere. But my brain kicked in, reminding me that this was a dream... it didn't have to make sense.

We walked down the steps that led out of the train station and across a huge green field, still hand in hand. Eventually, he led me up to the top of a very steep hill, with a single, huge oak tree. He let go of my hand again & sat down, his back against the thick tree trunk.

“Sit down.” he said softly, patting the grass in front of him.

There wasn't much else for me to do, so I sat down. The instant my butt touched the grass, his arms wrapped around me and pulled me back into him. I couldn't help but laugh & could feel the rumble of his chuckle against my back. After a few moments of just sitting there together, he awkwardly cleared his throat.

“So... um, I... I just realized that I've never even asked you what your name is.” he said, sheepishly.

“It's _________.” I told him. “But most people call me Sin.”

“Sin?” he asked, sounding surprised. I just nodded. “Hmmm... I think I like that.”

We sat there for a while, silently watching the sun set behind the mountains. The sun was gone, but there was still daylight left when he nudged me.

“Look.” he said, turning me so that I could see the bit of tree trunk beside him.

Carved into the bark of the oak tree was the cliche heart symbol, complete with the letters TOP + SIN on the inside. But on the outside, where there was usually a “4 Ever”, instead it was just the letters UW.

I reached out and slid shaking fingers over those two little letters, feeling the rough bark under my fingertips. I couldn't understand how it had gotten there... he obviously hadn't done it, he had been holding me the entire time. But again, my brain supplied, dreams don't have to make sense.

“Until Whenever.” Seung Hyun whispered in my ear.

“Until Whenever.” I tearfully whispered back.

He turned me back around, settling his arms around me once more. “You have to admit, it's beautiful here.” he said with a contented sigh.

“It is.” I agreed, looking out over the quickly darkening hills and valleys... out to the mountains where the last colors of pink and purple were slowly fading from the sky. “It's beautiful, Seung Hyun. But it's not real.”

He sighed again, a more defeated sound this time. “I know. I know it's not real... but it's calm here. Peaceful. There's no pain, no judgment, and no people.”

“I'm here.” I said with a huff. “I'm people.”

“Yes, but you're... different.” he leaned forward and placed a kiss to my left temple.

“We can't stay here.”

“I don't want to go back.” he said with absolute certainty.

“Why not?”

“I don't like it.” he grumbled, like a toddler. “What's worth the pain of going back?”

I turned sideways again so I could look him in the eye. I reached up and cupped his cheeks in my hands, forcing him to look at me.

“Sweetheart... there's so many things worth going back for. The taste of a really good meal. The feel of fresh sheets on a warm summer's night. The sound of children's laughter. The...”

He held a finger up to my lips to shush me, a knowing smile on his face. “I get the idea.”

“Plus the warm feeling of drinking coffee with a really good friend.” I mumbled against him.

He laughed, and settled me back against him. “Are you a really good friend?”

“Well, I'd like to think so. That would at least explain the tree.” I mused. “Look at it this way... right now we're leaning up against something that symbolizes us... our relationship. The oak tree is a symbol of courage and power. Legend has it that it is the most powerful of all trees, it stands strong through all things.”

“Wow...” he teased. “You are really into this dream symbolism stuff, aren't you?”

I smacked his arm playfully. “I had hippie parents. Now hush.” I told him, smiling at his joke. “Just like you're leaning on us now, you can continue to do so even if we go back. I'll always be there. Our roots run deep, strong enough to weather any storm... as long as we're together. I've leaned on you enough for the past year, Tabi. Now it's time for you to lean on me.”

“Thank you, Sin.” his voice rumbled, kissing my temple again. “I appreciate it. But, at the end of the day, I'm still alone.”

I sighed heavily, he still didn't get it. “Oh, Seung Hyun... you're never alone. Look...”

I pointed upwards to the night sky where a few stars were beginning to flicker into existence. It started with a handful, maybe a dozen. Then more joined... and more... and as they grew in number, it was clear that they weren't white, like stars. They were yellow. Yellow against a black night sky. It didn't take long until it was obvious that there were millions of “stars” up there.

“Holy shit...” he breathed. “There's so many.”

I nodded. “We are very many. Not just in Korea, Seung Hyun. We cover the entire globe. No matter when it is, what time of day where you are... there is always someone, somewhere thinking of you, loving you and supporting you. You might not always be able to see us against the bright light of day... but I assure you, we're always there.”

He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Okay...”

“Okay?”

“I'll go back.”

“Good.” I smiled.

“But can we stay here for a little bit longer?” he sounded pitiful.

“Sure... we can stay here as long as you need.”

“Thanks, Sin.”

“No problem.” I squeezed his arm where he still held me tightly. “Just don't take too long. I want to get back to that coffee.”

His rich laughter vibrated against my back as the world around me faded and I slowly woke up.

And there it is, my weird Train Dream variation. I felt so much better after I woke up. I spent a lot of the rest of that day dredging up the details from my memory so that I could type it out & keep it forever. Now that I’ve shared it with you guys, I only have one request... Please Do Not Reblog This Post!!!

I don’t mind at all if you like it, or comment, or even ask me about it. Just, please don’t reblog it. It’s not one of my fics. It’s kinda personal. And although, I trust you guys with it, I don’t want someone else out there to make fun of it/me.

Oh, and if you’d like a good cry, here’s a song that reminds me of my train dreams. <3

Love, ~Sin

youtube

#train dream

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