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deepouterspacecandy · 4 months

Text

Dancing Shadows

It’s not that you were smitten with her.

It’s just that when she accidentally brushed her leg against yours under the table, it set your body on fire. Warmth spilled from your head to your toes with an innocent touch and it was almost adolescent. The way her very presence caused you to avert your eyes the moment it happened, an instinctual reach for the nearest plastic straw or frayed string of your hoodie.

Anything to fiddle with to distract from the jackhammer between your ribs.

“Abby!” a familiar voice rang out.

You winced and immediately regretted it. You were never good at hiding your emotions.

Maybe nobody at this godforsaken table noticed your distaste for Owen. It wasn’t reasonable—your hatred for him, and you knew as much. Your reaction to his presence was based solely on boiling, unadulterated jealousy and so what? You were only human.

“What’s up?” Abby cooed, letting herself become smothered by the man behind her.

Okay, so smothered is a tad dramatic, but come on. Get a room.

“Just thought I’d check in with my favourite girl before shipping out,” Owen said. “This might be the longest we’ve been apart since we met.”

“Good riddance,” you mumbled.

Nora snorted at your near silent outburst, giving you a gentle kick. That tender brush of ankles beneath the table set nothing on fire but your attitude. You’d have to give it to her, though. She was always looking out for your best interest.

Owen Moore was the luckiest man in the entire compound, and you envied the way his dopey demeanor always seemed to put a smile on her face. Did he know how fortunate he was?

“I’m full,” you blurted, pushing away your half-eaten burrito. “Catch you later.”

You couldn’t bear to stop and analyze the shocked expression painted on Abby’s face.

She had saved you a spot at the table, the way she did every day. Her grey jacket bunched up on the bench across from her, awaiting your arrival. Her pretty face breaking into a smirk as you fumbled with your tray and her favourite coat.

She hadn’t muttered a single complaint when you opted for laying the fabric across your lap, even after dropping a stray piece of lettuce and mayo onto the collar.

She simply grinned and continued ranting about the current book she was reading. Well, that was before Owen turned up.

Abby called out to you, but your cheeks burned, and your stomach twisted in that uncomfortable way it often seemed to do in these situations. You hurried out of the chow hall without a second glance or destination in mind.

Your feet, one in front of the other, took you away from the source of the agony, and that’s all you could stand to process.

When you collapsed onto the couch in the library, it wasn’t much of a surprise.

This was your safe place. Your sanctuary.

Within minutes, the tight ball of rope in the pit of your stomach relaxed. Dim lighting and the weathered scent of old literature, the quiet hum of passersby in the hallway. The glide of battered paper between your fingers. The comfort of knowing that a temporary slice of peace was only a chapter away.

This little nook developed into a haven to have yourself a serious nervous system override, which your body desperately needed after a hectic week on patrol, coupled with far too many sleepless nights.

Fear wove its way through the stadium as the conflict between the WLF and the Scars mounted. In a matter of weeks, the ceasefire between the two factions disappeared.

When the Seraphites crossed boundaries they ought not cross, both in land and principle, Isaac retaliated without hesitation. And when Isaac sent his soldiers into their territory intending to cause abject harm, the Scars gathered their resources and fired back in short order. A vicious cycle perpetuated by ruthless leaders at the expense of loyal, dependent lives.

To say the conflict had transformed into a bloodbath was putting it lightly. You spent many hours in your bunk over the recent weeks, staring into the abyss in sheer disbelief.

How could human beings treat each other with such careless disregard? You didn’t agree with the way they lived, but at your core, it didn’t spark a desire for violence. You understood the importance of protecting your community, and you would do so without protest. It just seemed rather counterintuitive.

Could the war between your groups meet an end before your life wound up on the front lines as the next sacrifice?

It wasn’t until you started curling up in Abby’s jacket that you realized you’d taken it hostage in your frenetic escape. Heat trickled across the bridge of your nose, pooling in your cheeks.

“It looks better on you, anyway.”

“God, you scared me,” you huffed, clutching your chest. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Abby’s calm tone filled your chest up with wild flutters as she slid in next to you on the couch.

Was this piece of furniture always so small?

Suddenly, there was only the hard edge of it at your heels and the overwhelming strength of the girl nestled beside you.

“It’s that brain of yours, always fretting about something. It’s bad for your health, you know,” Abby said. Her fresh breath, so close to your own, caused your insides to capsize. You tried not to fixate on her blonde braid spilling onto your shoulder. How she reminded you of an autumn forest, her skin softened by a bar of her beloved pine soap.

“I knew you were hoarding packs of chewing gum,” you said. “Show off.”

She smirked, giving you a playful nudge with a wad of minty green pressed between her teeth. “Want some?”

“Hard pass,” you said, desperate to control the giggles building in your throat. “Keep all those Owen cooties to yourself, please and thank you.”

She nibbled at the dry skin on her bottom lip before giving you a sidelong glance. “You don’t like him much, do you?”

A pang of guilt struck at your core. There was a tinge of melancholy in her voice. The last thing in the world you wanted to do was make her sad.

“He’s alright,” you said with a lazy shrug.

She grinned. “Just alright?”

“I’m indifferent to his existence.”

“That’s so much worse,” she chortled, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them back up, bright blue and glossy, it felt like she was staring into your soul.

Your heart thundered, turning your mouth bone-dry. Perhaps you should’ve accepted her gum after-all.

“What?” you rasped. If she recognized the panic in your voice, she was kind enough not to draw attention to it.

“Just you,” she whispered.

“Me?”

“Yeah,” she said. “You.”

“What about me?”

She shifted her body, and you all but froze as she moved onto her side, bracing herself to better look at you. It took all your might to muster the courage to meet her gaze. Her eyes flitted to your mouth for the briefest moment, and you swallowed hard.

“I think you’re really sweet,” she said. “Not very discreet, though.”

“Excuse you? And what exactly does that mean?” You graciously took offense, challenging her assessment. Her smile only radiated.

“It means I can read you like a book,” Abby said.

“Fat chance,” you teased. “It’s a miracle you can read at all!”

Her brow quirked, and her high spirit slipped into a tantalizing grin. “Can I take a crack at your disdain for Owen?”

Part of you wanted her to hit the nail on the head to tear your feelings for her wide open. Another part of you prayed for her to change the subject to save you from the heartache of the inevitable.

She was in a relationship. Taken. Beyond that, you were certain she was straight as an arrow, and it was nicer to exist in sheer denial of that fact for the time being.

“Well?” she pressed. “Can I?”

“Go nuts,” you said, feigning nonchalance. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

She shifted again, this time to make room for her hands to fidget. Was she nervous?

“He’s terrible at tracking,” Abby offered, as the corner of her mouth hitched. “Right?”

“I mean, yes,” you groaned. “He sucks at tracking, but that’s—that’s not why.”

She blew out a ragged breath, a sudden wash of pink highlighting her freckles. She hummed to herself and then clicked her tongue, pretending to ponder. “Gotcha. Okay. Only two more guesses. I better make them good.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” you asked, covering your face with your forearm.

“I know what it is!” she exclaimed, pausing for theatrical effect. “It’s because he interrupts everyone just before the punchline of a story, isn’t it?”

“Abby.”

“That drives me mental, too.”

“Abigail,” you grumbled. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”

You hid yourself behind her crumpled jacket and the scent of this beautiful girl all around you turned your already racing thoughts into a dishevelled mess.

“Hold up,” Abby said. She reached for her jacket with such gentle intention, pulling it away from your face. “I get one more guess.”

Electricity threatened the mellow ambiance of the library, despite the adjacent hallway falling into silence. Everyone must be heading back to their duty assignments.

Everyone outside of you and Abby, of course. Surely, someone would come searching.

“A deal’s a deal,” you said.

The heat from her body prickled your skin with a million tiny beads of sweat. You wanted to swipe your sleeve across your upper lip, too conscious of drawing focus to your nerves.

Her gaze transformed into something deep and ethereal the more you squirmed. She seemed entertained by your anxious energy, and you swear you could melt into the couch with each expectant glance she sent your way.

“If I get this right, what will you give me?”

“Give you?” you scoffed. “You mean like, a prize or something? Do I look like a carnival to you, Anderson?”

“All you really need is a big red nose,” she smirked.

This is precisely why you adored her. She knew when to apply pressure and when to ease the load. It’s what made her an excellent leader.

Abby was so much more than a disciplined soldier.

“You calling me a clown?”

She wiggled closer, laying her head on your shoulder. She let out a long exhale, as if she’d been holding her breath. “Maybe.”

You struggled to piece two coherent thoughts together. This conversation had already played out in your mind a dozen times, through many daydreams. You ached for Abby. Hopelessly charmed by her wit and her magnetism. But you couldn’t fathom being a secret of hers. A sneaky affair in the shadows.

Sure, you weren’t fond of Owen, but hurting him wasn’t at the top of your priority list, either.

You wanted Abby in the daylight.

Arms wrapped around her before a patrol, as her squad loaded the Humvee and Manny called over his shoulder about how utterly corny you two were. You wanted her to pull you onto her lap in public, a bashful smile on her face.

You wanted to be hers, and you wanted it to be okay.

“You make me feel things I’ve never felt before,” Abby said.

Her confession sent you over the edge, your heart beating impossibly fast. Could she feel it?

As you scrambled to find your words, she continued.

“I think about you all the time. Probably more than I should,” she said. “It’s making me crazy.”

You heard the echo of another hard swallow. This time you weren’t sure who it belonged to.

“Is that a bad thing?” you asked.

She lifted her head from your shoulder, and let it fall to the back of the couch, her sturdy features enveloped by the amber light of a nearby lamp. She was breathtaking. Sweat caused the short hairs around her face and neck to curl, bits of frizz peeking out from her loosening braid. You’d seen nothing more gorgeous in your lifetime.

“If I do what my body is begging me to do right now, it would be a very bad thing,” Abby said. “I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

You nodded with a mixture of disappointment and relief. “I understand.”

Abby rubbed her vascular hands along her thighs, seemingly absorbed in thought. “I still have one more guess.”

“That you do.”

She sucked in a breath, controlling her exhale. A gym method she no doubt applied to most stressful situations during her daily grind.

“You hate Owen because you want me to be your girl instead,” Abby said. Her eyelids became heavier as she tried to catch hold of your unfocused gaze. “You want me.”

You nodded again, unable to look her in the eye, terrified that the two of you might lose control.

“Tell me then,” she said. “Tell me how you feel. I need to hear you say it.”

You noticed her legs spreading further apart, her natural confidence rivalling the alarm bells going off inside you. She anchored herself to the couch and the sudden thought of straddling her showered you with an intense surge of heat.

“When you kiss him, I wish it was me instead,” you said. “I wish it was me you reached for whenever you crave comfort. I want to be the one you run to when you’re happy or afraid. I want to keep you safe and make you feel alive. All of it.”

“Are you sure?” she murmured.

“Beyond,” you said. “I have wanted you for so long, Abby.”

Her knuckles skimmed the outside of your thigh. Inconspicuous and so, so gentle. “Give me some time, okay?”

“Of course.”

“God, you’re so pretty,” she said, igniting you both in a bout of shy giggles. “I finally get to say it. That’s allowed for now, right? I don’t even care. You are so fucking pretty, it’s killing me.”

Before you could fall into another dangerous pull, the doors to the library cracked open. Manny poked his head inside to remind Abby of the duties she needed to tend to. There was a slew of small missions Isaac demanded she organize, some requiring her to leave the compound for the afternoon. You were grateful to be off his radar for the day.

“Will you be here when I get back?”

“I’ll be around,” you said, linking your pinky finger with hers in unison, your hands tucked between her thigh and your own.

“Good. I’ll find you,” Abby whispered.

#abby anderson #abby tlou #abby the last of us #tlou part 2 #tlou abby #abby x reader #abby x you #abby x fem!reader

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oliversrarebooks · 2 months

Note

The amount I would like to see Jameson and Alex have a high society slap fight is more than a little lol

Masterlist

March 1920

tw: mind control, captivity, references to abuse

"Good evening, Lord Alexander!" said Miriam as she opened the door, beckoning him inside nervously.

"Good evening, Miriam. You seem agitated -- is everything all right?"

Miriam sighed with a smile. "Madam's overworking herself again, sir. It's not my place to overstep as her thrall, but I'm concerned about her health. I'm glad you came to call. She listens to you, sir."

"Do you really believe that? I don't," said Lex, chuckling. "Regardless, I don't think you're overstepping. I think it's very good for you to care for your madam. Lily needs people looking out for her."

Miriam beamed like she'd won the lottery. "Thank you, sir."

Lex allowed Miriam to lead him into the parlor. He was quite fond of Lily's latest thrall. She had remained sharp under the enthrallment so far -- no surprise, given how skilled Lily was at her craft. A good sign for her future, he thought.

"Oh, Lex, there you are," said Lily, who was lounging in an undignified manner on the couch, surrounded by magazines and bits of yarn and fabric. "I'm glad you were able to pull yourself out of your book-cave long enough to come calling. I've been drowning in work lately, and I need someone to socialize with who isn't a thrall I'm hypnotizing, or I might lose my own mind."

"Rough week, then," he said, settling down in a plush chair. Nearby, Miriam sat down in a chair in the corner, taking up an embroidery project.

"It's been one thing after another. I think the long winter has given everyone cabin fever, and they've all collectively decided that they're dissatisfied with their perfectly functional thralls. You won't believe what I've had to put up with."

"Such as?" Lex leaned in.

"The most ridiculous complaints. 'He taps his foot while he reads.' 'She turns the radio on too loud.' As though they need me to solve that," she said with a frustrated groan. "The worst one was 'his human food smells bad.' I turned him away -- 'sorry, sir, I can't do anything about the fact that your human thrall requires human food.'"

Miriam made a strange noise of distress.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"Does my human food smell bad?"

"Oh, no, of course not! You haven't done a thing wrong, Miriam. It's the vampires who are being unreasonable."

"It's awful that they treat their thralls like that," said Lex. "What ever happened to treating your thralls with dignity?"

"Exactly, you understand. Speaking of which -- " Whatever Lily was about to say was cut off by the doorbell ringing. "Oh, for crying out loud, who could that be? I cleared my schedule today."

Lex, having an uneasy feeling about this, followed Lily to the door, and was none too happy to see the perturbed visage of Jameson, a vampire he truly despised. He was gripping a smaller man by the shoulders, an unfortunate thrall who had clearly been crying.

"And what do you want?" said Lily bluntly.

"Is that any way to treat a customer?" he said.

"You're not a customer until you tell me what you want and I agree to it," she said. "And in case you didn't know, asking me to work on such short notice will cost you an extra 20%."

"I'm aware," he said. "I'm at my wit's end with this thrall. He's supposed to be fully mindwiped, but he keeps sniffling and making the most obnoxious whining noises."

"What on earth did you do to that poor man?" asked Lex. He'd never been able to stand the company of vampires who preferred their thralls to be little better than cattle, especially if the vampire in question abused their innocent humans. That dislike was mutual -- vampires like Jameson rarely mingled with those like Lex who believed they had an obligation to give their thralls a good life.

Jameson scowled at Lex. "It's none of your business, is it? I'm here to make a business transaction with Miss Lily and certainly not with you."

"Fine," she said with an annoyed huff. "Let me see your thrall. You can sit in the parlor until I'm done."

The thrall's eyes held a spark of recognition when he looked at Lily. Considering what a thorough job she did with the mindwipes -- preferring not to have to do it twice, and trying to minimize the thrall's suffering -- he must have been under a lot of stress to wake up enough to regain memories. Damn that Jameson.

No doubt, Jameson would rather not deal with Lily at all, but although he was in possession of a strong vampiric aura, his enthralling abilities were known to be below average. He had no choice but to hire an expert to work with his thralls, lest he destroy their minds utterly and leave himself responsible for a comatose bloodbag.

As Lily took the thrall into her workroom, Jameson sat down in the parlor with a sour look on his face. In her corner, Miriam was staring at him with a haunted expression. Lex wasn't sure if she actually knew Jameson, or if she saw how he treated his thrall and rightfully regarded him as a threat. He gave the poor girl a look as if she were lower than a bug, and she shrank further into her seat.

The humane and sympathetic thing to do would be to send Miriam out of the room until Jameson left. But Lex, annoyed at Jameson's rotten attitude and the interruption of his social call, couldn't help but do something a bit petty that he knew would annoy the other vampire.

He pulled up a chair next to Miriam. "This embroidery you're working on is very intricate. Can you show me your work?"

Miriam smiled. At least she seemed comforted by having Lex nearby, distracting her from the vampire glaring daggers at her. "Oh, yes, sir, of course," she said, showing him the pattern she'd carefully cut from a magazine. "It's a skirt with flowers and birds all up and down it. The original pattern has green leaves and blue birds, but I had this lovely rust-colored fabric to use, and I thought it would go very well with autumn leaves and red birds, like cardinals."

"You have a good eye for color, Miriam, and it's coming along splendidly," said Lex.

"Thank you, sir, I truly appreciate that!"

"Hmph." Jameson sniffed.

"Is there some problem?" said Lex.

"I just think it's a terrible shame that a vampire so gifted with conditioning chooses to keep her thrall in such disgraceful condition," he said, with a pointed glance to Miriam, who clutched Lex's arm fearfully. "She could easily erase her thralls and keep them in a far more agreeable state where they don't require entertainment or attention, and yet, she chooses this. You'd think her sire would have taught her better."

Miriam gripped Lex's arm hard enough to hurt, and Lex regretted that he'd provoked Jameson instead of sending her out. "Sir -- if I displease you --"

"You haven't displeased anyone, Miriam," Lex said, patting her hand in a comforting gesture. "You're an excellent thrall, and your madam also thinks so. She tells me all the time. You don't need to listen to what Lord Jameson says."

"Of course you'd think that," said Jameson. "That's about what I'd expect from a thrall-screwer."

Lex glared at Jameson with a simmering rage. "I'd suggest you be quiet, lest you say something you'll regret."

"Why would I regret speaking the truth?" said Jameson. "We all know you fell for that nasty little blond thing. A revolting thrall, and no better as a vampire, if you ask me."

Lex's temper flared. He was obviously baiting Lex for a confrontation, looking to stir shit for his own amusement. Lex really should ignore the meaningless squawking of an ignorant asshole just trying to get a rise out of him.

Instead, he stood from his chair, crossed the parlor in a flash, and slapped Jameson across the face as hard as he could.

Jameson looked stunned for a moment, the bright red mark emblazoned across his cheek, then started to laugh. "And I thought you considered yourself civilized! Well, if that's how you like it..." There was a flash in his eyes as he flared his vampiric aura, and Lex could feel it, like rodents skittering along his limbs and gnawing at his flesh, like a thousand beady red eyes boring into him. The sensation made the hair on the back of Lex's neck stand up.

It was an aura that could easily subdue a lesser vampire, but Lex hadn't survived this long in this city by allowing any upstart vampire to best him, especially with his honor at stake. He took a deep breath, pushing his own aura outward in an inexorable wave. He was a storm on the ocean, waves and surf pounding, wooden ship cracking beneath your feet, the feeling of being pulled down into the dark and briny depths with no hope of escape.

Jameson furrowed his brow and intensified his efforts, but this was a battle he could not win, and it was so satisfying when his facade cracked and he showed his first sign of fear --

-- at least until both of them were swept off their feet by an even more powerful force of will.

"Hey!" Lily bellowed from the doorway. "What the devil do you two think you're doing?"

Lex looked at her sheepishly, not wanting to admit he'd been having a pointless tussle with with her customer. Jameson primarily looked annoyed that their fight had been interrupted.

"You two were laying it on so thick that I could feel your auras in my workroom. I don't know how you expect me to put a thrall under in those conditions." She went to comfort Miriam, who clung onto her skirt. "And you've upset my Miriam."

"Sorry, Lily," said Lex, and mostly meant it. At least, he did very much regret upsetting Miriam, who didn't deserve to be caught in this crossfire at all.

Lily sighed. "Lex, take Miriam to the kitchen and help her calm down," she said. "And as for you, Lord Jameson, you will sit quietly until my work is done, and I'm tacking on a surcharge for that little outburst."

"You can't be serious," he said, slamming his hands on the table. "It was Lord Alexander who --"

"Then you're free to take your thrall and leave."

Jameson settled back down onto the couch with a huff, like a petulant child. "Fine. Do what you will."

With that settled, Lex ushered a still-frightened Miriam into the kitchen as Lily returned to her work. "I'm sorry for being so sensitive, sir," she said.

"Don't be, not at all. I'm sorry for provoking that rat Jameson." He handed Miriam a handkerchief, which she used to wipe tears from her eyes. "You can relax here. He won't bother you any more. Now, is there any kind of snack you might like?"

"Sir, you don't need to --"

"It's my pleasure. The least I can do." He pulled out a chair and beckoned her to sit. "What would you like?"

"May I have strawberries with sugar, sir?"

"Certainly," he said, relieved that she asked for a dish he knew how to prepare, his knowledge of human cooking spotty at best. He found the fresh strawberries in the icebox, and made quick work of cutting them up and sprinkling them with sugar.

Miriam's eyes lit up as she dug into the sweet berries. "Thank you very much, sir!"

Lex settled down into the chair across from her as she ate. She was still a fairly bright thrall, but he knew that his sire would have her in his sights sooner rather than later. Lily would wipe her memories of the trauma, and her deterioration would begin. A slow moving tragedy, one he'd seen play out quite a few times by now.

Even so, she was certainly in a better position than that man in Lily's workshop. Her re-enthrallment of him would no doubt be a mercy compared to being lucid in Jameson's grasp.

What must it be like...?

He pushed the errant thought from his mind, not wanting to stir up dusty memories of his own enthrallment, so many years ago now.

Masterlist

@d-cs @latenightcupsofcoffee @thecyrulik @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @wanderinggoblin @whumpyourdamnpears @only-shadows-dwell-where-we-are @pressedpenn @pigeonwhumps @amusedmuralist @xx-adam-xx @ivycloak @irregular-book @whumpsoda @mj-or-say10 @pokemaniacgemini @whumpshaped @whumpsday @morning-star-whump @shinyotachi @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @pirefyrelight @theauthorintraining @whump-me-all-night-long @anonfromcanada @typewrittenfangs @tessellated-sunl1ght @cleverinsidejoke @abirbable @ichorousambrosia @a-formless-entity @gobbo-king @writinggremlin @the-agency-archives @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @enigmawriteswhump @foresttheblep @bottlecapreader @whump-on-a-string @whumpinthepot

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sihtricfedaraaahvicius · 7 months

Text

chapter 8.

Note: as I needed a break from writing the Dead Man fic yesterday and today, I was in need of my silly little fighter!Sihtric, because his story isn't over yet. Other Fighter chapters are in my masterlist.

Warnings: fluff, suggestive, little bit of angst. mention of alcohol/getting drunk, Sihtric's breeding kink.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

summary: Sihtric became a whole different man after his retirement, and not in a way you had expected.

wordcount: 4,1k

Masterlist

'I think I need to remind you who I am.'

'Gods,' Sihtric groaned.

You looked up from your book, annoyed, having read the same page five times already, as your man kept distracting you. Sihtric leaned with both hands against the glass window of your hotel room, shirtless while wearing black swimming trunks, overlooking Bondi beach. Him being constantly shirtless has been the only pleasant thing so far, ever since you arrived at the hotel room yesterday morning, which you had only left for breakfast, lunch and dinner… in the hotel itself.

'It's so fucking hot,' he whined.

'What did you expect?' you glared at your husband from the bed, 'it's Australia.'

You rolled your eyes just before Sihtric turned to face you.

'Yeah, well, I thought everyone always exaggerated,' Sihtric huffed.

It was only two in the afternoon, and Sihtric had been getting on your nerves for hours already. You loved your husband, more than anything, but ever since he retired from his fighting career about a month ago, he had changed. Sihtric clearly always used his job as a way to channel his bloodlust, so to speak, but since he had given it up for you, not even punching a bag or a sparring partner anymore, he had been incredibly hard to be around. He was constantly complaining about everything and he was even more hot headed than ever before. Sihtric was also much hornier than ever before, which you didn't even know was possible and hadn't been a problem back home, but it is a problem now. He had been so determined to go to Australia with you, where the heat was unbearable this time of year, so it was even too hot to have sex. And when your already short fused husband couldn't get it on with you, because the weather made you both feel slow and lightheaded, he became even more insufferable to be around, you found out.

'Look,' you said, taking a deep breath as you closed your book, 'you were so pushy about going here, and now we're here. Will you at least pretend to enjoy it?'

Sihtric stared at you, with dark eyes and his jaw clenched, which told you he felt provoked by you. Which also meant he was getting turned on, while you started to lose your patience with him and his behaviour.

'I didn't even want to go here,' you sighed, 'I'm here for you, Siht, okay? If we're going to sit on our fucking asses all day in a hotel room, because it's so fucking hot,' you mocked Sihtric's voice, 'then what the hell are we doing here in the first place?! Such a waste of money,' you muttered.

'You're mocking me?' Sihtric asked, his voice low and calm, but the fire in his eyes burned heavily as his mismatched pair were still locked on you.

'God!' you yelled and jumped up, 'you're absolutely unbelievable lately! You keep complaining about the heat, in fucking Australia! So, yeah, maybe I am mocking you!' you hissed.

You walked into the hallway of your hotel suite and grabbed your flip flops, as well as your bag, wanting to leave the room before you'd climb the walls, or worse; hear another dumb complaint coming out of your man's mouth. But Sihtric was quick to corner you, like he had done that very first time you ever met, during his intake at your office. His chest heaved up and down steadily, with big breaths, and he stared down at you with his silly intimidation tactic.

'You raise your voice at me?' Sihtric breathed as you rolled your eyes.

His eyes darted between your lips and your eyes, before he eyed you up and down completely. He liked that little summer dress you had on. And he had definitely loved the sight of you bending over in it to pick a pen up from the floor, which he deliberately dropped before he had leaned back on the bed about an hour ago, waiting for you to notice the seemingly innocent pen, that had probably rolled off the desk. Unaware of Sihtric's trick, you had picked up the pen before you went to read your book, not long after he set his plan in motion, and he had been horny ever since, but even the airco didn't cool off your room, he thought, which left him frustrated.

'Hm?' Sihtric hummed and took your chin, firm but gentle, forcing you to look up at him, 'you mock me and raise your voice at me?'

'And?' you shrugged, feeling a cheeky grin tug at your lips.

'And?' Sihtric repeated, 'do I need to remind you who I am?' he cockily held his chin up high as he looked down at you, and he licked his lips.

You provoked him on purpose by rolling your eyes once more. Sihtric may be behaving incredibly boyish as of late, but you still enjoyed riling him up, as you thought he was so hot and sexy when he felt he had to be dominant towards you. And riling him up also meant he wouldn't complain for at least a few minutes.

'Yeah, I think I do,' he said, then hummed again, 'I think I need to remind you who I am,' he kept holding your chin as his free hand moved up your thigh, sliding underneath your short, floral dress.

Your breath hitched as his hand moved up towards your bare buttocks, and he squeezed your ass hard.

'I already thought you weren't wearing any panties,' Sihtric chuckled mischievously and bit down on his lip for a moment, 'yeah, you definitely need to be reminded who you belong to, and who you are talking to with that little attitude of yours.'

'Let us not speak about attitudes in this room, Sihtric Kjartansson,' you taunted.

'So you do know who you're talking to?' Sihtric husked, rubbing his big, warm hand over your ass before he bruisingly squeezed the skin again, making you squirm slightly as he still had you backed into a corner. 'You need to be taught a lesson about the way you speak to your husband, little miss,' he smirked, knowing you were getting aroused too.

'Sure,' you feigned a yawn.

'You're asking for a good spanking,' Sihtric murmured.

'Am I?' you asked innocently.

'Mhm,' he hummed and rolled his hips against yours, his hard cock pleasantly putting pressure onto your wet folds, 'you need a hard lesson, it seems. But don't worry,' your husband chuckled, 'I will teach you some manners.'

Sihtric moved his hand from your chin down to your throat, wrapping around you with the exact amount of intensity you enjoy, while he started to tease your core with his fingertips.

'When I'm using that tight pussy of yours,' his voice raspy, 'you will say "yes, sir", "no, sir", and "sorry, sir",' Sihtric hummed at the arousing thought, 'you will say "more, sir", "harder, sir", and most of all,' he smiled, 'you will say "please, sir, fuck me a little deeper, sir".'

'You think I will?'

'Oh, you will, baby girl,' he whispered.

'Well, I think you need a cold shower,' you shrugged.

'I think we both do,' Sihtric smiled, 'I think you need to rid me of some anger,' he said, then threw you over his shoulder and carried you into the large bathroom.

After you had dinner in the hotel, you struggled to walk down the stairs of the main entrance, while Sihtric held you close, his hand placed on your lower back. Your husband had a lot of built up anger in him lately, and by the time he was done with you in that shower, you were sore and numb at the same time. Sihtric seemed fine, albeit a little on edge and still complaining, but at least less horny and rather satisfied, for now.

Since Bondi beach was packed with tourists, you both agreed to take a cab to Maroubra beach, which was rather empty when you arrived, about an hour before sunset. Sihtric held your hand as he walked you up to the sandy beach, where he picked you up in his strong arms to carry you closer to the water, then onto a large rock that gave you the perfect view of the setting sun. You spread out the towel you had packed and before you could even blink, Sihtric pulled you down with him and held you in his arms, lovingly pecking your cheek and neck.

'I love you, bunny,' he whispered.

'I love you too, tiger,' you smiled.

God, you thought, how handsome Sihtric looked right now. His hair braided and tied back into a short ponytail, the setting sun casting an orange glow on his beautifully scarred face, while his big eyes looked at you in awe. His white, thin sleeveless shirt showed off his biceps while his swimming trunks showed off his muscular legs, and a part of his deadly thighs.

'You think you're pregnant already?' he suddenly asked.

'Sihtric,' you snorted, 'stop being so obsessed with getting me pregnant.'

'Well, how many more times do we need to try?'

'Babe, I don't know,' you sighed softly, 'but… I guess if it doesn't happen soon we should go to a doctor,' you said softly.

'What do you mean?'

'Maybe, you know,' you said hesitantly, 'maybe I can't get pregnant the usual way… I mean, it's not like we're not trying, but,' you sighed again, 'no luck so far.'

You looked down at your feet while Sihtric studied your frown.

'Hey,' he whispered, then kissed your cheek, 'we'll keep trying, okay? It will be fine. And if you want to go see a doctor in a few weeks or months, then we will. We'll find a way.'

'But… what if I… what if I can't get pregnant?' you whispered.

'We will find a way, bunny,' Sihtric kissed your lips softly as he held your chin, 'I promise we'll find a way. Don't worry about that, my love. No need to stress about any of that.'

Sihtric held you as you sat in silence for a while, gazing at the view.

'You know,' he said after a while, 'I always thought Australia had more… mountains. You know, that scenery from those movies you like so much. Lord of the… Kings?'

'Do you mean Lord of the Rings?' you frowned, offended.

'Yeah, yeah,' Sihtric smiled, proud he almost got the title right despite him falling asleep before Frodo even showed up.

'Honey, that's New Zealand. Not Australia.'

'Oh.'

The next day kind of went the same as the day before. It was too hot, Sihtric was constantly complaining about literally everything, and when you had enough and wanted to go for a walk, Sihtric got you in the bathroom again. After another hour of sex in the shower, you went for dinner again and back to the same beach as yesterday, as it was a quiet and beautiful place. At least, it was until your loving husband opened his mouth again.

'The food here could've been a little better,' Sihtric complained, remembering dinner.

'You seemed to like that steak just fine.'

'It was okay,' he shrugged and looked around, 'why don't they have lounge chairs here?'

'Sihtric, please-'

'Or a bar or something. I'm hungry,' he mumbled, 'if that restaurant wasn't so slow with their service I would've ordered a dessert.'

'Siht,' you sighed.

'Of course,' your husband hissed as he slapped a bug which had landed on his leg, 'fucking bugs here. The fuck is with this place?'

'I can't believe I'm saying this,' you finally snapped, 'but will you please, please pick up boxing again. I am begging you.'

'What?' Sihtric looked surprised and confused.

'You're driving me nuts, babe,' you groaned, 'please.'

'What are you talking about?' Sihtric frowned.

'Honey, you're constantly whining. You get annoyed at every little thing possible, you have absolutely zero patience and you're constantly horny,' you said, 'you really need to find something to keep yourself busy. Nitpicking is not a hobby.'

'I don't nitpick-'

'Sihtric.'

'I don't!'

'It's too hot,' you mocked him, 'the food is too bland. I don't like this beach. Where are the mountains? There are too many bugs. The bed is too soft, the pillow is too hard, and the shower is too small. I'm hungry, I had too much to eat. I'm tired. Baby, I can't sleep. Sweetie, will you rub my back? Please don't rub my back, honeybun, I got a sunburn. I also have a headache. Bunny, I'm horny, but it's too hot to have sex. Bunny, I'm so hard right now, but-'

'Okay, okay,' Sihtric snarled, 'fine. I see what you mean,' he sighed, 'but I just don't understand what me being horny has to do with all this.'

'Because you have all this build up anger and tension inside, you're getting rough, Sihtric.'

'I… I thought you liked that,' he said, suddenly clearly upset.

'I do, but not to the point where I can barely walk afterwards,' you chuckled lightly, 'like today.'

Sihtric looked down at his feet, and you could tell he was fighting to keep his bottom lip from trembling as he clenched his jaw.

'I'm sorry,' he barely whispered, avoiding eye contact.

'You don't have to say sorry, even though I appreciate it,' you said, 'sure, a little rough is fine, as we used to do. But you need to understand that I am so small in your arms, which I love, don't get me wrong,' you smiled softly, 'but earlier today it really seemed like you forgot how strong you are.'

'I'm sorry,' Sihtric whispered again, and tried to get up on his feet, but you stopped him.

'No, honey,' you said and held his hand, 'don't try to leave now. We have to talk about this right now. I'm not mad, I'm not rejecting you, you didn't hurt me, not the way you think at least. We're good, I promise.'

Sihtric looked a little insecure but sat back next to you again, keeping his head down. Like a puppy who got told off, while it was nothing like that.

'Like I said, sweetheart,' you cupped his cheeks, 'you have to find something you can put your energy in. Something that will take your mind off the little things that get you so worked up. I mean, we never really discussed it much, but do you even have a plan? For the future I mean?'

Sihtric shrugged lightly, trying to regain his confidence again.

'I just want a family with you,' he said softly, still looking down.

'And I want a family with you,' you squeezed his hands, 'but even if I were to get pregnant soon, it will still take a while before I'd give birth,' you chuckled, 'I mean what future plan do you have for yourself?'

'I don't know,' Sihtric said, and finally looked into your eyes again, 'I also notice I'm not myself lately. And I miss the fights, of course I do. But I know you don't want me to fight again, so I didn't mention it.'

'Yes, but you can still keep up with boxing or kickboxing, whatever, without participating in professional fights. Have you thought about that?'

'But that's not fun for me, you know that. It's too easy,' he said, 'but… I guess I've been thinking of either opening a new gym or moving locations to a bigger building.'

You smiled at Sihtric, relieved that he actually had been thinking about picking up some kind of work again, instead of constantly coming to you for his entertainment or complaining.

'That's really good,' you said, 'you want to expand then?'

'I guess,' he said, 'maybe get into coaching or just be a sparring partner. In between my own workouts of course. And,' he smiled shyly, 'I was also thinking that… maybe you could work at the gym too. Since I retired I don't need much physio anymore. And I know you won't say it, but I can tell you really want to get back to work too.'

'I do,' you agreed, 'I'm not made to go on holiday all the time and do nothing.'

'I know, baby,' Sihtric chuckled and traced his fingertips over your hand.

'But… you mean you'd become like my boss then?' you furrowed your brow, 'because I'm not sure if I like that idea. That usually goes wrong…'

'Oh, no, no,' Sihtric said, 'no, bunny. I don't want some strange power play like that. I don't want to be your boss. At least, not at work,' his cheeky grin appeared again, 'I just thought maybe you could rent a space in the building I'd buy. You'd be your own boss, you'd just pay me a fair rent and that's it. You'll still have me as your client too whenever I need it.'

You looked at Sihtric, thoughtful. You liked his idea. You never thought about an option like this, but it would be perfect for both of you. He could still go around and punch bags, and sometimes people, while you could go back to helping other people with physio exercises.

'A fair rent, huh?' you gave him a suspicious look.

'Yeah,' Sihtric said, 'we'd have to look into a property and determine a decent price. And if you're a little short on rent sometimes, you know, I'm sure we could fix that,' he winked.

'You mean like a blowjob could fix that?'

You rolled your eyes when Sihtric feigned innocence, and then you both laughed. You wrapped your arms around Sihtric and pulled him in for a kiss.

'See,' you smiled, 'all good. Sometimes we just have to have conversations that aren't always pleasant. But that's life too.'

'I know,' Sihtric said, stealing another kiss, 'I just didn't know I've been such a bother to you lately. I never wanted that.'

'I know, sweetheart,' you kissed his cheek, 'I know everything's been rough for you too. And I hoped this trip would give you some peace of mind, to find yourself back again. But it only seemed to get worse. I couldn't bite my tongue anymore just now. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lash out.'

'I don't want you to bite your tongue around me, bunny, that's not right,' Sihtric cupped your cheeks, 'you know you can talk to me.'

'I know, but I didn't want to upset you either,' you sighed, 'but, okay, this is dealt with. I told you my issues, you told me your issues. Let's solve them together and move on now.'

'I like that idea,' Sihtric smiled and nuzzled your nose.

'Speaking about ideas,' you perked up, 'I know we're both not the biggest party people, but there's a beach party tomorrow evening at Bondi. I thought, why the hell should we not go? Have a few drinks, have some fun. People seem to not recognise you much here so far, or they just leave you alone. We should try it.'

'Hm, I don't know, bunny,' Sihtric said, a little unsure.

'Come on, honey,' you pouted, 'remember how much fun we had at that bar in Hawaii?'

Sihtric smiled at the fond memory, but his smile faded when he remembered what had happened afterwards, and you knew what went through his head.

'Don't think about what happened at the hotel,' you said and took his hands again, 'I just want to dance with you again, love. I miss seeing you smile like that. We'll have fun, I promise. And you can safely drink some alcohol again now that you're not taking any medication anymore.'

'Yeah, I guess that's true,' Sihtric said, 'but I'll probably be drunk in no time,' he grimaced.

Sihtric wasn't wrong. You had been at the beach party for only an hour and half, and Sihtric was completely wasted after two cocktails already. He was handsy, clingy and most of all; horny. He was slurring his words heavily, his mismatched eyes glossy and droopy, cheeks flushed red and he had a satisfied smile on his face. His hands kept grabbing your hips, pulling your ass against his crotch as he wanted to dance with you. You couldn't even call it dancing, Sihtric wasn't even aware of the music anymore, he was basically just dry humping you at this point. Luckily, there was a lot of that going on at that event, so no one even batted an eye at you and Sihtric. But you were too sober and felt a little ashamed, because you were in public.

'Siht,' you chuckled, blushing heavily at his cheeky behaviour while your back was pressed against his chest, 'calm down, love.'

'I am… calm,' Sihtric slurred, his hands moving under your thin skirt. He nuzzled your neck and giggled drunkenly in your ear.

'Gods, I want to fuck my wife,' he breathed, and suddenly spun your around.

Sihtric cupped your cheek and brought his other hand to your waist, pulling you flush against his body again.

'You're so f-fucking b… beautiful,' he smiled with heavy eyes, 'I want to make babies,' he hummed, then stumbled a step back over his own feet as he lost his balance, pulling you with him.

'Sihtric!' you giggled, desperately keeping the beast of man up on his feet, 'you're too drunk, we should get back to the hotel.'

'No, no,' he shook his head, 'I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine,' he laughed and took your face in his warm hands again, 'let's m-make babies on the,' he took a deep breath, 'the sand… that's near the- the water,' he frowned, 'or is the, the water near the ssssand?' he hiccuped and got distracted when someone walked by, offering shots.

'Honey, you had enough to…' you stopped talking when Sihtric downed the shot and quickly grabbed another, but not before he accidentally knocked over five full glasses.

'Oh,' he chuckled, 'oops. Why are these little things so little?' he asked, looking at the shot glass.

You apologised to the employee and they tried to explain it was okay, but Sihtric interrupted.

'Hey…hhhey,' Sihtric smiled at the stranger, 'I… this is my w-w-wife,' he said and gave the employee a mean look, but quickly giggled again, 'I'm going to get h-her pergnan… pren… pregan… I… I'm going to b-breed her,' he eventually nodded proudly.

'Oh my god,' you said with wide eyes, 'I'm so sorry,' you told the employee who smiled awkwardly at you, 'he's… he's clearly drunk. I'm taking him to the hotel now. Sorry for this mess.'

'Not a problem, miss,' the employee said and snorted, 'it's not every day you hear a retired boxing champion say he wants to breed his wife. Have a good night.'

'Thanks,' you said, embarrassed, and you pulled Sihtric with you over the beach, who was quick to grab another fruity cocktail with a little pink straw before he left the party.

'Heeeeey,' your husband slurred and he wrapped his arms around you, causing you to trip over his feet, and you fell onto the darkened side of the beach, 'where are you going? Oh- Oh… baby,' he murmured when he realised you had fallen down, and he crouched down next to you, spilling half of his drink over your dress.

'Honey where did you get that drink?' you scoffed, 'did you pay for that?'

'No,' Sihtric confessed, 'mmmmmmaybe. N… no, I s-s-stole it,' he gasped, 'am I… am I going to jail again?'

'We,' you huffed, 'are going to sober you up at the hotel.'

You tried to get back up on your feet, but Sihtric was all over you, leaving sloppy open-mouthed kisses wherever he could while his hand squeezed your flesh with lust.

'Sihtric,' you chuckled, 'come on, not here,' you said and tried to escape his strong arms.

'Why not,' he hummed, 'w-wifey,' Sihtric smiled, then laid back on the sand, keeping you in his arms while he refused to let go of his drink. 'I want to… fffuck,' he sighed.

'Honey,' you clicked your tongue, 'I'm sure you do, but you can't even keep your eyes open. Come on now,' you managed to stand up while he held your hand.

'Hm, baby, it's not fair,' he whined, tugging your hand like a spoiled brat, 'I want youuuu…'

'When you sober up,' you said, 'let's go now, love.'

'No!' Sihtric pouted and crossed his arms.

'God, you're such a child,' you muttered, but had to admit you thought he was still adorable, 'okay, well, fine. You stay here, darling. I'll see you back at the hotel I guess,' you said and turned to walk away.

'No, no!' Sihtric yelled, hoarsely, 'baby… I…' he suddenly groaned, and you froze at the sound of his trembling voice, 'I- I don't feel… well,' he said.

You turned back to Sihtric and ran up to him.

'Honey?' you asked, worried, 'are you okay?'

'I feel… feel dizzy,' he struggled to speak and grabbed your arm.

Fuck,' you hissed, terrified he had a sudden episode that was the aftermath of his concussion somehow.

But then Sihtric suddenly pushed you away as he leaned in, closer to the ground, and he threw up; the aftermath of getting drunk so suddenly. You grimaced and took another step back, giving him his space to be sick without him vomiting over your feet. After about a minute, Sihtric wiped his mouth and sat back.

'I… I'm never drinking a-a-again,' he mumbled, and then gulped down the half spilled cocktail he had managed to keep safe during this entire adventure.

taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301 @bathedinheat @neonhairspray @anaeve @bubblyabs @travelingmypassion @sylasthegrim @bubbles-for-all-of-us @andakth @bel-bottoms @willowbrookesblog @lady-targaryens-world @skyofficialxx @diosademuerte @elle4404 @alexagirlie @sweetxime @solango @gemini-mama @cheyennep3107 @little-diable @jennifer0305 @drwstarkeyy @mrsarnasdelicious @verenahx @urmomsgirlfriend1

#sihtric x reader #sihtric x you #sihtric kjartansson #sihtric #the last kingdom #sihtric fic #the last kingdom fic #tlk #modern!sihtric

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thatmooncake · 6 months

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I am genuinely confused on what Moon is supposed to be. The cookbook basically says he sucks. However in the security breach DLC Cassie says she slept better in the daycare so that's gotta mean Moon was good at being the nighttime attendant. So like why would the cookbook portray them as sucky if they were good at their job as nighttime attendant?

But then there are the complaints you can read about in security breach where Moon is scaring kids (but that's when the virus started right? Or no? I am not familiar with the new fnaf lore).

But then there's also the fact where Moon played the villain when they used to be in the theatre (I say fact but I am not actually sure if this is cannon or just a popular headcanon that I am confusing for cannon)

I haven't even read the books yet so I am not sure how they characterize Moon there. I figured I would ask you since you seem to like Moon a lot and know way more about them than I do. Sorry for bugging ye

No bugging done here :) my take on this is that it’s all a matter of the perspective - so for characters like Moon you’ll get some things painting them in a bad light and others more favourable.

(More explanation under the cut as I tend to get carried away when it comes to character analysis)

So generally speaking the FNAF games and books heavily play into the “creepy” “uncanny” aspects of the characters - it’s a horror franchise, it’s gonna play up any spoopy vibes it can and in Moon’s case sadly he gets the short end of the stick because he’s depicted as the darker half of Sun, so a lot of general descriptions will point out how Sun is the good one and Moon is the evil one and leave it at that. However, that doesn’t mean that’s as far as Moon’s characterisation goes or that that’s all he’s intended to be.

The FNAF guidebooks and cookbooks and stuff are written for a broad general audience who aren’t necessarily hardcore FNAF fans but maybe just like the vibes of FNAF, so when those books mention the characters in passing they’re like cameos playing up to what you see if you casually play the game (like “you better watch out, Moon’s gonna get you” “Sun turns evil when the lights go out” - that kind of thing).

The Ruin descriptions are from Cassie’s perspective, and Cassie likes the animatronics and clearly isn’t all that creeped out by them. Could be something to do with her dad working on them making her more curious and less frightened of the way they work and all the “uncanny” vibes other people are getting from them. Either way, it definitely adds more nuance and tells us Moon wasn’t written just to be the evil side of Sun, even if a lot of descriptions and cameos play to that.

In the Tales of the Pizzaplex book, The Bobbiedots (spoilers ahead) Moon is written to be the darker side of Sun that staff in that pizzaplex tried to erase when Sun was updated from being a theatre bot. Even in the theatre, Bobbiedots Moon was the stricter side telling people they’ve been naughty and need to go to bed. This was all a theatre gimmick using the lights and would likely use Sun as kind of a playmate but then he turns into Moon, and suddenly he’s chasing you telling you you’ve been naughty. The thing is, I think some kids would have kind of loved villain Moon. I mean, kids (and adults) generally like booing pantomime villains, they love when they come onstage and tell them they’re all naughty and need to do what they say. I don’t think Moon’s theatre persona necessarily took away from his being liked or made him a bad guy offstage, it just made him inconvenient to staff as a daycare attendant because of power outages they were too cheap to fix. Honestly, I think that characterisation says a lot more about how cheap Fazco were than how evil Moon was destined to be.

Then in another tale, Somniphobia, we have (spoilers ahead) Moondrop and his dream sphere. So two things about this one: Moondrop, the little Moon inside the dream sphere that seems to look a bit like a snowglobe and supposedly “helps you study” (toootally not a ploy for some soul stealing) …he is never strict, he is never harsh, he never tells you what to do. Getting sucked inside the dream sphere is entirely a matter of getting in too deep on our protagonist’s side. He’s given several opportunities to put the thing down and gets called out for overdoing it by basically most of his friends and family yet he never stops because the dreams are too enticing. Moondrop just takes him with him for the ride. It should be said that the dream sphere in the book is wildly popular as a prize and teens love it as a study aid because it literally takes you (in your head) to historical places like ancient Egypt and to the bottom of the ocean etc. it’s just very addictive. So basically Moondrop in this story is neither good nor bad, he’s just a lure. He even takes the guy by the hand at the end - if anything, he’s a quiet and gentle and reassuring presence, for better or worse.

Moon in Security Breach absolutely scares some of the kids - and chances are, so does Sun.

Here’s the Fazwatch message about the daycare attendant:

“Night Terrors CUSTOMER COMPLAINT -

My son never had sleeping problems. But after spending an evening in the daycare, he refuses to sleep with the lights out anymore! He just cries. And then when I do let him keep the lights on, he wets the bed!”

Poor kid can’t win either way. (This message absolutely could mean that the kid can only sleep with the lights on but still has nightmares about Moon - or it could mean neither of them provided a reassuring presence for the kid. Maybe Moon hunted them for sport. Maybe both Sun and Moon’s mannerisms creeped the kid out. For all we know Sun insisting on the lights being on in a dark tone and forcing the kid to remain in his sight might have terrified the kid. There’s really no clear cut way of telling but we do know from this message that the daycare isn’t going great for some kids.)

And then in contrast to this is Cassie’s message about the daycare - sounds like she loved it there both at playtime and naptime. So this is definitely a point against Moon just being pure evil. I really think the guy got a bad rap in Security Breach due to the virus - he has a ton of merch and a whole line of candies. Would you eat a candy based around a guy who’s always trying to kill you? Would you hug a plush of a guy who’s just pure evil?

I think Moon was very convenient for Afton and Vanny since he’s pretty strong, fairly graceful, operates great at night and he basically has a retrieval protocol to get naughty kids to go to bed. Tell him everything is a naughty kid who needs to go to bed and he’ll round up anyone who’s acting out of line because the virus insists he has to. Make him hurt whenever the lights are on (and we know it hurts him intensely, he says as much in Ruin) and he’ll fight ferociously against Sun for his freedom to stop the pain, and won’t listen when Sun tells him something is wrong. Sun kind of confirms Moon isn’t evil in Ruin by insisting they need to be whole. And Moon isn’t trying to be evil in Ruin, he’s in pain and can’t stop himself. Once Eclipse is activated, Moon (as well as Sun) can start healing.

So in summary I think that basically if Moon makes a cameo appearance, it will usually be as “the dark side of Sun”, but that isn’t all he’s supposed to be and the writing shows there is supposed to be reasoning behind his actions and contradictions to the idea that he’s just a bad guy.

#moondrop #fableasks #sorry if this ain’t entirely coherent or comprehensive I’m fighting a bug myself so I know like a tenth of what Moon feels lmao #I do dig evil moon too I just don’t think that’s all there is to him #also thanks for the ask I love characterisation and analysis

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acewitch-writes · 4 months

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Hello! I recently found your account, and I went on scrolling down and down...and now I hope you know how grateful I am. Thank u- Merci. About 90% of the content you share here has made me feel so much better. I realllyy hope wonderful things happen for you. I've been a fan of hp since 2001, but I'm not really a social media person so I haven't been active in the fandom. I had no idea what was happening here until recently..two months ago to be exact (other details are not important) and omg.. I ended up in a discussion with some I think, new fans. tbh I thought, "Great! I'm good at this, I read all the books more than once Let's talk :)" and omg their very first question was "What do you think about Regulus?"

I was like, "Who?" *dying from secondhand embarrassment bc It turns out I'm not that good at this

but as the discussion continued, I became more and more baffled bc "Why was everyone talking about Barty, Evan, and Regulus? who is daddy Remu? and what do you mean people ship James Potter with R.A.B.? What?"

I swear for a moment I thought "Did the writer publish a new book? Did I miss something? " tbh, I respect everyone's opinion it's none of my business but I'm still shocked. The only thing that bothers me is everything that happened with this new Wolfsar

omg, for most fans around my age (or at least people I know), Sirius was the complete portrayal of a bad boy- a rebel, with boots, tattoos, a leather jacket, and a fucking motorcycle. so this new Sirius is like a stranger to me, and that's okay. Mein issue is kinda with this new Remus T T my beloved .

They (the fans I was talking with) told me Remus is "tall, so handsome, SO strong, and hot-headed person because, yk he's a werewolf." I was like "hot headed? excuse me?" I tried to explain to them that Remus being a werewolf is a metaphor for illnesses like HIV, it's not some superpowery gift. they didn't believe me, but then they literally looked me in the face and said, "Then why would Sirius like someone like him? He's poor, short, and ugly." I swear I wanted to cry right then and there.

What is this mindset that makes some people think that a person should be, Idk, hot and flawless to deserve to be loved? Yes I don't think Remus is tall and super hot and perfect and isn't it fine? and I am 100% sure he's so beautiful. not like Sirius ofc but he has this "warm, cozy, and soft" sort of beauty. and I don't think he was a coward (ok maybe he was a liitle) but I guess it's easier for us, humans, to take the worst or weakest moment of a character and amplify it until it defines them entirely. and omg I'm so sorry for my rant and my bad english. but once again thank you for your beautiful soul <3 thank you

Hi anon! I, too, am baffled by the recent obsession with Regulus in this fandom. I think Jegulus is fine as a crack ship, but it has become so mainstream that many fans have just gone ahead and canonized it to the point that you'll be vilified for not accepting it as canon. I underestimated how popular the "best friend's brother" trope was, apparently. I also think it appeals to many fans as a Marauders Era version of one of the most popular ships of all time, Drarry.

This new version of Wolfstar is my biggest complaint with today's fandom, too! I get that the Marauders have very limited canon information and therefore we have more creative freedom to flesh them out, but I really believe that it has gone way too far. Sirius and Remus in today's fandom don't bear any resemblance to the characters they're based on. Remus is just a generic alpha werewolf OC and Sirius is his generic himbo femboy love interest OC. They don't even share a physical description with their Canon counterparts, and their personalities and character traits are so far removed that I can't even fathom how we reached this point as a fandom. How can you claim to like these characters if you have to change everything the source material says about them?

You're English is great, by the way! I completely agree that Remus has a cozy-and-warm sort of beauty. He made a point to distance himself from the stigma surrounding Lycanthropy because it was the focal point of his shame and self-loathing. And I just adore Wolfstar's dynamic from this lens, with the intimidatingly beautiful, confident, headstrong Sirius Black, who could have his pick of anyone he wants, choosing this ordinary guy because he's cozy and soft and it's exactly what Sirius wants after surviving the harsh ideals and abuse of House Black.

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rachelillustrates · 5 months

Text

Need to have a bit of a moment about feminine-presenting fantasy Dwarf representation....

So I've been in "The Hobbit" fandom in full enthusiasm ✨hyperfixaaaaaaation✨ for about a year and a half now, and one thing that is EXTREMELY important to me is that fantasy Dwarves, in any Universe, are a) short, though not as short as my beloved Gnomes, and b) THICK. WIDE. EARTHY. And I know that working with taller human actors in the Hobbit films didn't portray that perfectly, but in general, it seems like that perception holds true enough and, again, has carried over into other media (and was there BEFORE the Hobbit movies in the first place).

They should ALSO be hairy, in the best of circumstances, though I understand we don't always get that regardless of what gender presentation is involved. Ahem.

In most cases - including those films AND the book they spring from - the focus is on masculine-presenting Dwarves.

BUT.

Those proportions usually hold true for feminine-presenting characters as well.

Some examples:

(From "The Hobbit" films specifically.)

(From "Rings of Power." HAIL Princess Disa. Though she needs a fuller beard, too - smoochy picture included to highlight what fuzz she does have. And because she and Durin are adorable.)

(From World of Warcraft - with feminine-presenting Night Elf for reference since that still b a r e l y counts as stocky, but their "average woman shape" is even more on the thin side, so I still think the intention was for us to view the Dwarves as thicker with that comparison.)

Those being my biggest two points of personal reference, I'm gonna stop there - but the POINT of all of this is that I recently read "A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic" by J. Penner.

Which IS delicious.

And includes a feminine-presenting Dwarf named Dolgrila "Doli" Butterbuckle. Who I would already freaking DIE for istg.

Her introduction, from the text:

(Transcription of the highlighted bits:

"The dwarf was a vision in a corseted, buttery yellow dress. The bright, warm hue complemented her rich complexion and lush head of sable curls. Each hair coil seemed to dance with the same radiant joy shown by her twinkling brown eyes and pearly smile. Holstered on her ample hip, where one might expect a weapon, was instead a teacup and saucer, held together by leather straps. ..... "I'm Dolgrila Butterbuckle," she said while reading. "But everyone calls me Doli." ")

AND the next book in the series ("A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons," out Nov. 2024) IS ABOUT HER!!!!! ✨🎉✨

BUT. This is the cover:

And I zero percent mean any of the following as a complaint against the artist. I am sure they were just following the publisher's order. And BIG YAY for the publisher actually hiring a HUMAN!! Good choices are being made, there.

BUT.

If I didn't know already that Doli is a Dwarf, I WOULD NOT KNOW THAT FROM THIS IMAGE.

She looks, basically, human. She is almost just as skinny as the human woman (Arleta Starstone, also a badass character) on the cover of the first book.

Referring again to the images of the World of Warcraft Dwarves above, though, she DOES look a lot like them, proportionally. So I'm wondering, now that I've done that research/refresher, if that is the Dwarven standard that the Powers that Be were going off of, in this case. Especially since she is clean-shaven. And especially since in one scene, she alters one of her own dresses to fit the aforementioned human - though in my reading of it, I just assumed that she took in the waist of the dress, too, as well as adding onto the length.

But to my eye, with my Hobbit-fandom/folklore heavy standards - at best, she looks like a half-human, half-Gnome, to me, especially with her nearly reaching the shoulder of a being that should be MUCH taller than her, as far as I can tell.

(I will admit I adore her outfit and want one, please.)

(And I will also admit that I MIGHT be assuming that person behind her is taller than they actually are, and I DO hope I am proven wrong. If she is like 4 feet tall, maybe they are only like 5 1/2 feet tall or so. I guess we'll find out in 11 months.)

So. That said.

Part of what attracts me to fantasy Dwarves in the first place is that they ARE plus-size. Unforgivingly so, most of the time. As a short, plus-size person myself, they are a haven in a swath of feminine-presenting representations across lots, and lots, of media that treats the feminine-presenting form as "average" height or taller, AND much thinner than most non-Hollywood women actually are, these days.

So to have seen this, when I realized the next book was about Doli and rushed (in my elation) to read the synopsis, was a notable disappointment.

ANYWAY, I will be drawing Doli myself, as I saw her, for self-care purposes. And here's the bare bones so far:

And all of that said, I will leave you with one of my favorite moments with her in the story:

(Transcription of the highlighted bits:

" “He was very generous on our trip here,” Arleta whispered as her cheeks heated slightly. “And a perfect gentleman, but we’re only friends.” She stopped and worked out the timing in her mind for a moment. “We’ve only known each other for less than two days, really.”

Doli let out a giggle, her eyes sparkling with delight. “Well, look at us. We’ve only known each other for a few hours and we’re already best friends. Did you know that some elves are fated?”

“What does that mean? Arleta asked, intrigued by Doli’s quick change of subject.

Doli’s eyes lit with pleasure. “I visited the library here – it’s massive by the way – and read through a few books on elven culture. You know, to figure things out. I love libraries and books.” She leaned in closer. “Some of them – not all – get night visions of their soul partner. They can experience these for years, starting when they are very young.”

Arleta tipped her head in great interest. “Do they always find these soul partners?”

“No,” Doli said with a hint of wistfulness. “If they don’t, they will never settle for anyone else. They could never fully commit to another.”

“That’s sad.” Arleta winced as the large ogre she’d seen before took his seat directly in front of her, completely blocking the stage.

“Or romantic,” Doli sighed.")

And all of all of THAT said, I do highly recommend the book!! Illustration issues aside - and I'm looking at you too, World of Warcraft - the more Dwarven romances we support, and more feminine-presenting Dwarven representation we support, the more (and better) we'll get!!

So, check it out here on Goodreads and please pick it up at your local bookstore or library, if you can!!

#doli butterbuckle #a fellowship of bakers & magic #inspiration #dwarves #fantasy dwarf #dwarf women #lotr meta #size positive #size representation #personal

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traincat · 11 months

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I know you haven't been following Zeb Wells run because you love yourself and you are a beautiful human being, but I know you saw that leak.

And sis, fuck it, just let Miles be Amazing Spider-Man. This whole Peter Parker thing? Tank that shit. Years ago, you suggested this and I, an avid Miles Morales fan, disagreed, but now...Norman Osborn is the good guy and genius now, Ned Leeds is happily married to the woman he abused with a kid, and apparently someone cloned Gwen Stacy to sleep with her best friend's father in a some twisted bed trick and I AM SO FUCKING DONE!

No, I am sick of the misogyny of these past three writers. I was sick when you had "Superior" Spock beat down Felicia Hardy and it being touted as "cool" and how awesome Otto was while he objectified and leered at Mary Jane in Peter's body or used Peter's memories with Mary Jane as his own porn take. I was sick of Cindy Moon being used as a glorified Axe Commercial power fantasy of Peter being oh so irresistible that she can't keep her hands off of him and some twisted Asian fetish! I am sick of a writer stating MJ has no real value as a love interest to Peter because she doesn't care about real things! I am sick of the background routine violence of different variances of sexual assault such as Michelle Rodriguez getting assaulted by Chameleon because she thought it was Peter, Anna Marie getting assaulted by SpOck because she thought it was Peter and after the fact still fancying the guy who tricked her, Betty Brant getting impregnated by the clone of her abusive husband because what is the point of being a woman in Spider-Man if you aren't sleeping with Peter and not married?

You kill Kamala Khan? Sure, it's to bring her back as a mutant but you do it in Peter's book? Yes, Kamala Khan, famously known as Spider-Man character, dies in a plotline that had nothing to do with her. Peter has no connection to her. And you fridged her? For Peter's angst?! While you have MJ and FUCKING Paul eloping in the background!? I am over this shit. Bring on Miles.

I was actually going to wait until "the most shocking issue ever" was released to catch up on Wells' run and then I saw the leaked spoilers and then Marvel confirmed the leaked spoilers and then there was no avoiding the leaked spoilers. And like to be completely fair I did not see this ending coming. I don't think even the most out there comic bookies had "Kamala Khan dies in a Spider-Man book" on the odds. It's just a completely ludicrous choice on every level, unless your only marketing strategy is to cause outrage.

It's sort of weird because up until this point I think my biggest complaint about this run wasn't unique to it specifically -- my complaints were things that the Spencer and Slott runs had also done, and to a lesser extent, mostly because of time restraints, the various short-lived Spider-Man tie-ins and events. (Beyond was a mess, and while Wells was leading it, there's multiple people to blame there.) It's all well and good that people are saying it took too long to reveal the bad guy of this storyline, because it did, but compared to the seventy issues it took them to reveal Kindred's identity, this has been fast-paced for modern Peter Spider-Man comics (which is a problem in and of itself). Like if I had to pick one Wells-specific complaint before this point, I'd have to say that the way he withholds information doesn't actually serve his storytelling -- it makes readers frustrated, not intrigued, to be confronted by things like Paul and MJ's mystery kids. It's similar to how there was obviously something wrong with Ben Reilly in Beyond, but the story took far too long to reveal what it was. I think the flash forward in Amazing Spider-Man and questions like "what did Peter do" hurt it far more than it helped to build up any sort of reader curiosity. It doesn't help that those storylines ultimately don't lead anywhere, it's just red herrings and desperate scrambling all the way down, but this time with Wells bringing up a storyline I best remember as "pretty boring" that he wrote in 2008. I genuinely don't believe anyone out there was asking for a The Last Nameless Day sequel. (Does anyone even remember The Last Nameless Day.)

And the "shocking ending" they've been teasing this entire time is killing Kamala Khan in a totally unrelated superhero's book with no catharsis and no meaning for the actual character, and framing Peter front and center on the cover of her announced memorial issue. It's deeply tasteless, stupid, and offensive, even more so because we know she'll almost definitely be brought back in a few months in time for the release of The Marvels movie. I had been kind of side-eyeing this run having Kamala intern for Norman Osborn, because she's a top ten character I want Norman to stay away from, and that they did that with the intent most likely of killing her off all along is just so tasteless. And you're right, the misogyny in the recent years has gotten really out of control, even as they try to spackle over it with girl powers moments you can crop down to a single panel, recirculate around social media, and feel good about devoid of context. There's been a lot of fridgings (Mattie Franklin, Ashley Kafka, Marla Jameson) but they were all of Spider-Man characters. If Marvel has a headlinining, incredibly popular, marginalized teen girl character, and they're going to kill her off for shock value or to reset her powers in keeping with the movies or whatever, they should at least have the grace to do it in her own book and not in a highly criticized Spider-Man run. It's clear these problems are going way higher on the Marvel ladder.

I would rather they kill Peter 100%! And this has nothing to do with the "twist ending" because it definitely wouldn't fix that, but I really do think at this point that the only way to fix a lot of the damage that's been done to Peter Spider-Man on such a deep level is to kill him for a few years. Like at least five. It'll give some purpose to the endless amounts of spinoff books (who was asking for a Red Goblin Normie Osborn spinoff) and provide enough time for things to settle enough for a soft reset.

#*replies #traincat talks comics #wednesday spoilers/#i'm tagging just in case even though it's very hard to miss them at this point #since marvel's strategy seems to be plaster it everywhere

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churchofthecomet · 3 months

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I haven't watched Leverage in a while, see my last complaint post about their Stuxnet episode. But in the meantime I've been consuming other media, and it just struck me how equal the dynamic is between all of the Leverage characters.

Every character in this show is competent. They each have Their Thing that They Do, and if one of them is absent for an episode, the rest of the team suffers until they get back. I complain about them short-changing Hardison by making the tech stuff unrealistic and incomprehensible (so you can't get a feel for how good he is at it, like you can with Eliot punching people -- although if I knew more about fighting I'm sure I'd be complaining about Eliot's scenes too). But at least within the narrative he is really good at his job, and the other team members know it. Likewise for Eliot, Parker, Nate, and Sophie -- they're each at the top of their respective classes. They have separate specialties and they're amazing at those specialties.

And what's more, the interpersonal dynamics reflect this. Nate is an asshole to the rest of them, but there are FOUR OF THEM so it balances him out -- they can commiserate with each other, sit him down and have a talk with him, threaten to strike, whatever, and their side of the relationship is treated with importance because the team couldn't function without them.

Hardison and Eliot's sniping is just friendly banter, and they know it. Everyone is so supportive of Parker's social problems. Sophie is the one with the most traditionally-feminine skillset, something which might be demeaned in another show (and I have some complaints with Leverage's treatment of her), but she's taken seriously both in-universe and by the show itself. They all work wonderfully together. They balance each other out, and they become more than the sum of their parts.

Contrast this with the dynamics in a bunch of other modern media. Let's grab my favorite punching bag of late, BBC Sherlock. Sherlock is far and away the more useful member of the Sherlock-and-John team. The narrative places incredible weight on his intelligence, and John is stuck in a support role. Sherlock is also mean to John, and since John is one person (without much of a spine for standing up to Sherlock!) it feels utterly abusive. The "friendly banter" isn't banter. The "aww look they really DO care about each other" moments were enough for me when I was 13 or 14, but now it just feels like a cycle of abuse. The dynamic is fundamentally not equal. If I'm watching a TV show and I start to think "man character A really needs like 6 months of therapy to stop hating themself and they NEED to leave character B," when the show's message is "character A and character B are a match made in heaven you guys," the show has failed.

See also Our Flag Means Death season 2 with the relationship between... honestly Ed and the rest of the crew, but mostly Ed and Stede. Ed is the best pirate anyone's ever seen -- the rest of them are pretty good but no match for him. The one guy who had a chance of standing up to Ed and equalizing things got killed off at the end of the season, and Stede (as we've seen) lacks a spine to stand up to Ed. Controversial take but Good Omens might be heading in this direction? They defanged Aziraphale and made him into way more of a softie than the book or Season 1 imply. Meanwhile Crowley is Competent and Right About Everything by comparison. The general pattern here is that couples (or whatever the fuck was going on with BBC Sherlock and John) are worse off. I don't know if it's lasting heteronormativity or "two-person dynamics are hard," but the urge to make sunshine-and-stormcloud pairings where the stormcloud acts like shit towards the sunshine is just... too strong.

Leverage is this rare show that refuses to shit on any of its protagonists. Everyone's in the loop, everyone sees some character development, and it fucking RULES. I wish they could make more TV shows like this in 2024.

#leverage #ofmd critical #bbc sherlock critical #good omens critical #(only slightly)#found families #i need leverage but with like even better politics pleaseeee #i think Firefly is also good at this #or maybe i just thought Mal and Wash were hot? can't tell #i should go rewatch it

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jafndaegur · 1 year

Text

Love like You

Mystic Messenger

Jumin Han x Reader

Calling Jumin feels awkward. You've only been in the messenger for two days and hardly know anyone. But the nagging feeling of the conversation between Seven and Jumin leaves a horrible pit in your stomach.

"I heard Jumin is gay..." Seven had said.

If you said the statement hadn't piqued your interest, you'd be lying. After all, no one believed you when you said you weren't a girl—just because Seven had disclaimed it and said you looked like a girl. Your voice being so high doesn't help the case, but a book cover can be very different from the actual story it holds.

I'm very open-minded. The statement you make was hurried and quick, you had wanted to make sure you had mention something in case Jumin is...well, is like you. Yet somehow that simple text of yours was turned on itself and made into another joke.

"Isn't it rather late to be calling?" Jumin's voice suddenly and tersely cuts through the line.

You want to make it right.

"Jumin." Your voice is much more serious than you intended.

On the other end, you can hear him sit up a little more, readjusting and assessing. "We just spoke in the messenger. Is everything alright?"

"No." You say evenly, taking a deep breath. Knowing with the corporate heir, the best way to approach this would be calmly and logically. "At least I don't believe so."

"I'm sorry, " he says it so genuinely, that you wish you'd clarified why things weren't okay first. "While I'm not equipped to handle formal complaints in regards to the RFA, I will be sure to pass on any concerns to V."

"No, I wanted to apologize. To you."

"To me? As far as I know, you've made no transgressions."

"For what happened in the chatroom, I wanted to apologize to you." You say earnestly.

The sigh he makes is less understanding and more annoyed. "It's a ridiculous prank that Luciel and the others enjoy prolonging. The fact that you too have jumped on such a joke is not surprising—"

"I meant what I said!" You interject quickly, hoping you catch him before he decides to hang up. "Really and truly. Such affairs to gossip like that, they're private and personal. And to make light of it is a slight on that trust of privacy. But...I genuinely meant what I said."

He says nothing, his breath a soft and steady pattern for you to listen to. You close your eyes and wonder what he looks like in that moment. Is he disgusted? Intrigued? Or entirely disinterested altogether?

"It is no one's business in regards to who you love," you say softly. "And who, whether it's a man, a woman...or just a person making their way—it shouldn't matter. If you love them and they love you in return, and you're willing to treat each other as equals as you work through life together...then what does it matter?"

"You surprise me by the hour," Jumin finally says. It is a gentle and murmured comment. "I admit I've never given it much thought. But I like how straight-forward you've made it."

"So you're not—?"

"It's never been a forefront concern of mine, but I suppose I don't have a preference either way."

You smile to yourself.

"Perhaps, at the end of the day, I would love a person making their way, doing their best." You swear there is something knowing in his voice and you can't help but wonder...

"Jumin, I—"

And once again he cuts you short. "I'd like to disclaim, I do not wish for you to feel like you must share your own experience as I've shared mine...if there's something you're not inclined to disclose yet, don't feel like you must."

Your heart beats a bit against your ribcage. It's a lovely and anticipant flutter. "In my defense, I don't think I've been subtle."

"Oh?" He asks, bemusement seeping through the tone.

"I did, after all, come distinctly forward and say I wasn't a girl," you laugh.

At Jumin's hesitation, you can practically hear the gears turning in his head. "...are you a man?"

"Perhaps..." You smile. "Perhaps I'm just an ordinary person making my way and doing my best."

He chuckles, it is low and warm. You can't help the feeling of your heart and chest warming, like the slow steep of liquor once you've taken a drink.

"Well said," Jumin murmurs.

#mystic messenger #mysme #jumin han #mysme jumin #jumin han x reader #readers gender / orientation here is ambiguous for a reason so self-insert whatever youre comfy with #I've been replaying mysme and it really ticked me off how much 707 and Zen harp on the gay thing #so what if Jumin Han does gay??? Good for him

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kamenstranger · 5 months

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Before I dive into this review proper I want to give a heads-up that I am about to get into book spoilers and will be approaching this review with the assumption you've read the source material, which the show also expects. Likewise, I cannot talk about the show without getting into spoilers, due to the very nature of it. If you want my one piece of spoiler-free advice; think of it as a spin-off. Cause it kinda is. You'll have a much better time in that "What If?/Elseworlds" mindset.

If spoilers are cool with you, let's jump into it.

So, I was pretty much obsessed with the series in 2010. I was about 17/18 when I first got into the series. The 6th book wasn't out yet, and I can't even remember how I got into the series to begin with. But I believe I ordered volume 1 followed by 2-5 as soon as I finished, or maybe I went all in. I know for a fact I preordered vol. 6 when I finished vol 5. Still have the receipt for it; July 18th, 2010. 10.58 total.

I followed the various video updates on the movie, fan art, fell in love with the game, bought a Smashing Pumkins shirt, and the Anamanaguchi soundtrack was even the first digital album I bought for myself. I was basically just at the right age and state of mind for the series to grab me and have a profound effect with its themes. I think it's something I needed at the time.

But as much as the series meant to me, it's something I mostly moved on from. After all, the book ended in 2010, and until recently I probably hadn't reread it since 2013 or so. My books are in remarkable condition, actually. I mostly kept up with O'Malley's other works, and preordered Seconds when that was announced. Sadly haven't been keeping up with Snotgirl as much as I'd like, but I digress.

So when the show got announced… well, honestly my first reaction was "That thing they should've done after the Adult Swim short" Because, yeah, animation is a better medium for it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the 2010 movie- one of the best theater experiences because the like 5 other people in the audience were massive fan girls loving all the bits. And there is a lot to love about the movie: its visual gags; the performances; the music selection; the overall direction- seriously, Edgar Wright doesn't get enough credit for how good he is at keying in on visuals. Dude knows how to translate comic panels and mimic the vibe of the source.

But it lacked the depth of the books. There's no major character arc for Scott and Ramona addressing their flaws. Hell, the books weren't even finished yet. There are a ton of great translations from comic to screen, but mostly the superficial. Moments like Scott's meeting with Knives in the alley showing that he's becoming more empathetic and confronting his mistakes are either absent or glossed over. Likewise, Knives' own journey of maturity isn't there. This isn't a complaint mind you, it's not like those cuts are unreasonable. I can hardly blame them for not cramming 6 (and incomplete) books into a two hour film. That just ain't gonna happen.

The biggest advantage in a series as opposed to a movie is the opportunity to properly explore the characters beyond a surface level. I'm not saying anything particularly revolutionary by stating the most universally agreed-upon element from the books is that Scott is a bit of a shit.

However, I think that statement is overly simplifying the situation and the character, one far too often invoked by hack frauds who don't truly engage with the work, because clickbait engagement is more valued than a nuanced analytical one. I won't sit here unpacking the full 6 volumes, you can check out someone like Popculturebuffet for that. But part of what works so well with Scott is that we don't initially know the extent of his baggage- and rightfully so. His worst aspect early on is ignorantly getting involved with Knives in the first place, stringing her along even after becoming enamored with Ramona, and being a bit of a slacker. This is something which is pointed out by literally everyone (sans Stephen) as being shitty. But otherwise, he seems fairly average and even endearing in a way. Scott's an affable character that's easy to like in spite of his very major flaws, and that's a statement that remains true throughout. The reader doesn't even get to simmer much on the scenario with Knives until later- and to some degree, this even applies to Scott himself. He's slightly oblivious to his actions, past and present. A prime example would be that we're initially under the impression that Scott doesn't like to drink, which is mostly true. Mostly.

It's not until volume 6 that it becomes clear he got into a drunken fight with Envy on New Year's, suddenly re-contextualizing that and other events. It doesn't negate how Envy was very much a bitch who treated Scott like complete garbage, cheated on him, and screwed his head up something fierce. She is unequivocally the worse person there. But it adds nuance that wasn't present before. I focus on the event with Envy because it's sort of a perfect microcosm of Scott as a character. Scott "doesn't" drink because of what happened, except on the 3-4 social occasions over the course of the 6 volumes, showing how he has a habit of just flat-out lying in various ways, including to himself. He's aware on some level, but simultaneously suppresses that awareness from memory and even re-imagines scenarios outright (Sometimes with a little help, unbeknownst to him) acting like everything was always fine on his end. This is even more true in his prior relationship with Kim.

Scott's solutions are half measures where he can pretend that he was always the victim in a breakup, or at least innocent and free of blame, thus never growing in a meaningful manner. Hell, that's the reason he ended up with Knives in the first place; he was trying to get over Envy, but not in a healthy manner. Change is seen as scary to Scott, and yet it's inevitable. That is, at least due in part to Envy changing into a hateful person. As such, Scott wants something simple where he doesn't have to put in effort. Knives is naive and doesn't see Scott for the dick that he is, she doesn't ask him to be better because he's already perfect to her naive mind. It's shallow, and a tad messed up, and everyone knows it, including Scott- hence his continued dreams about being alone. He knows it's not, cannot, and never will be serious. He's stupid, but not a monster- but stupidity can be a form of malice if one doesn't change their heart. It's not exactly like the story is even subtle about this. The entire existence of Nega Scott is that you can't fight the past, you can't run from it even if you hate that part of you. You have to confront it and accept it to move on, hopefully changing for the better. To say nothing of how Gideon is what Scott could become if he never owned up to it. That angle is why I felt Scott and Ramona worked. Quite frankly, Ramona is just as flawed of an individual running from her past. She's constantly trying to change herself, but always on a surface level. She's afraid of normalcy, of being stuck in a routine, of being happy. She makes out (Not that much) with her ex, Roxie, in anger because she sees Scott hanging with Lisa Miller and suspects the worst. She (rightfully) gets enraged at how Scott was still with Knives when he and her first went out, thus cheating- yet she did the same with the Katayanagi twins, and possibly Lucas. And, ya know, she never formally handed off the breakup letter to Gideon, so she's kinda doing the same thing Scott did with Knives and her. Ramona's past is just as checkered as Scott's. She's just as jealous, hypocritical, and nuanced. It just takes longer to realize that because she puts up emotional barriers and isn't the titular character/main focus. Neither one is evil, but they've wronged people. Often they've been wronged, and sometimes it's not a clean-cut scenario of easily blaming anyone. For all the great supporting cast, gags, fun references, and so forth, our two main protagonists being flawed yet likable is what makes the series compelling. The heart is two people gradually learning to get over their selves and their mistakes. To stop running away, and accept their faults and one another. Over the 6 books, we see them (albeit mainly Scott) put in the effort to be better, to build and maintain something special, and not just go with what's simple and easy. It's not about fighting the exes, it's about fighting for each other.

That type of character arc requires time for development. So, when it comes to this Netflix series, my biggest hope was simply that they would capture that element found within the books. In the lead-up to the show, there were some rumors about the exes having more to do, and I can see that working. As much as I do think the book does a fine job, Todd and Roxie are the only ones with a decent amount of depth. Matthew works perfectly because his simple backstory is a gag in itself. Lee is a fun character with a tiny bit of backstory, but it's barely there. Gideon I can forgive due to his mysterious final boss nature and his schtick is being the extreme opposite of Scott. But the Twins? They're shafted pretty hard. They're there to fill out a roster. Honestly, though, even Roxie would've benefited greatly from the smallest of backstories ala Lucas Lee. She's perhaps the most interesting because she and Ramona are on good enough terms to have coffee together. Hell, Rox genuinely cares for Ramona, and unlike Lucas Lee, she's prominent enough in the story that a simple flashback could have been the cherry on top of all that.

The other part is streamlining story elements. No surprise there. From the get-go, O'Malley said it was not a 1-1 adaptation, and honestly, it shouldn't be. Some parts should be changed for the sake of convenience, and frankly, the book has some superfluous parts. Does anyone even remember Jason Kim? He shows up like twice as "dude with car" and apparently dating Kim Pine until dorking her housemate. That gives the impression of each character having their own life and drama that we're not privy to, which is nice. But it's also not important to include outside the books. Kim (Pine) becoming self-conscious when Envy is brought up, smiling when Scott stays over, or her dead-eyed expression as she lies during the fight with the Twins. All of that says far more about her, her feelings, her love life etc.

Then there's Knives' dad. Fun in the book, wouldn't take him out. But completely unneeded for emotional and narrative development. Sometimes you gotta look at the source material and realize that even if you like something, tacking on an extra hour for the most obvious whodunit would kill the pacing in an adaptation. (That was a LOTR reference for those playing at home)

However, the above scenarios are a trepidatious path. How does one decide what needs reworking, cutting, or expanding? They're necessary for an adaption, but they're not always obvious. If you're not careful, you can completely undermine or mishandle key elements that made the original so beloved. You risk removing seemingly innocuous moments that add a lot to a character's growth. Above, I mentioned that the Twins got shafted in the book, but there isn't really a good place to expand upon them in the original story. They're not as important as Ramona's growing discontent. It's why Scott's fight with robot 01 is relegated to background gags while we focus on Ramona and Kim. You could put a flashback during the final confrontation with the Twins, but that would muck up the pacing and take away from Kim's far more important character moment in lying to Scott to bolster him. The Twins are just narrative scaffolding holding a spotlight on what we should be focusing on. That's what all the exes are to some extent. Shallow, sure, but only so the other characters get depth.

It's not an easy line to walk. If you push too hard on telling a more original story or focus too much on "correcting" various details, you can negate what were otherwise successful plot points. Do too little and the pacing falls apart because the medium is completely different. Would the changes made still contain a similar level of depth and satisfying character arcs, or would it merely be a shallow reworking of the broadest of strokes? The only way to not lose is not to play. These are the concerns I had in the lead up to the show, which is fairly routine. We also weren't getting a lot of information storywise, aside from that it would be mostly doing its own thing (This is something that should have been emphasized more in marketing) The trailers showed familiar set pieces; that Ramona delivers DVDs for Netflix now, which is a great and absurd change; You saw some of the streamlining by having Scott rent Lucas Lee films, thus inadvertently getting a head start on that and cutting out the No Account Video segment; there's a brief original bit where Ramona talks to Julie about how well the date with Scott went. Most of the setting also looked like it was from the first and sixth volumes, which was a tad odd. But other than that, they were tight lipped about the narrative. Most of the promotional focus was on music, the returning cast, and the animation. All great things unique to this medium that we will get into in due time. Speaking of, let's finally discuss

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

So you know how Final Fantasy 7 Remake emphasized the "Remake" part? Well, we kinda have that here with the "Take Off" part.

I'll just cut right to the chase. Scott seemingly dies in the fight with Patel in the first episode. Episode two is his absolutely absurd funeral. Almost the rest of the episode is centered around Patel wanting to take over the league for himself, and succeeding in doing so, gaining all of Gideon's assets, while the league dissolves once they realize Patel didn't even get Ramona back after winning.

This is uh, certainly a direction to go.

Let's put aside not following the source material and this being an original story. Why should I care about this story? I'll concede that he and Gideon have a great fight. The animation from Science Saru is great, and the voice performances are great: Shoutouts to Satya Bhabha, his delivery is impeccable, hilarious, and a major highlight of the show. But why should I care about these events, this retake? What's the hook? Thus far, the primary purpose of the show feels like a fake out, gags, and fights. I spent the opening of this review going over the emotional weight of the books, that's the anchor. So far, I'm getting moments without substance. Am I supposed to care because I have a prior connection to these characters? This is something I wouldn't figure out a proper description and answer for until the finale. My issues also felt exacerbated by both the advertisements not making the original story angle clear, and also how good the first episode starts off. Because Cera as Scott is truly perfect. Cera was a voice actor before transitioning to the screen, and his performance is top-notch in addition to being a great vocal fit to begin with. So it's kinda disappointing to not have him around for quite a bit. Anyway, the second episode ends with Ramona dreaming and hearing Scott's voice, meaning that Scott isn't dead, he's in Subspace or somewhere.

Episode 3: Ramona Rents a Video.

As if answering one of my questions immediately, the third episode finally gives a hook as Ramona starts playing detective, like Pikachu Columbo. That's the selling point, that this is primarily Ramona's story.

She checks out footage of the Patel fight, showing that someone pulled Scott through a portal (Hence the title of the show, wink-wink.) Ramona then heads to First Cup to get a person of interest list from Julie- which is a pretty damn funny sequence, actually. I'm starting to enjoy the show at this point, and it's kinda wild how much more enjoyable Julie is in both the movie and show compared to the comics. Sure, she's a bitch, but she's a fun bitch due in no small part to Aubrey Plaza's wonderfully riled vocals. After getting the necessary info, Ramona is led to Kim since she knew Scott the longest. We even get a cute story about the poorly drawn Sheep Scott did, which looks hilariously WAY worse in the show.

There's also a key comment from Kim that I think is to make a point for dorks like me. Kim mentions that she was once kidnapped by a guy named Simon and rescued by Scott. That was a false memory of Scott's in the books. In vol. 6, Kim pointed out to Scott that Simon was just a dude she went out with like twice, probably hugged, and Scott beat up. This is one of a number of clues that seem to be here to firmly establish this isn't the same continuity as the books being messed with, and should not be thought of as a sequel if that was a concern.

Anyways, their conversation is cut short when Roxie arrives in the hope of rekindling her former flame. But things go south pretty quickly and Roxie's hotheadedness takes over.

What follows is one of the best fights in the show, equal parts funny and clever. Hell, it starts with Rox drawing her sword and accidentally cutting the sprinkler line. It adds a dramatic pseudo rain that's completely negated by Kim's wonderfully deadpan expression as all the damn tapes in the store become soaked.

During the scuffle with Ramona, a shelf of movies falls on the two which… somehow transports them into various movies? I dunno, we're working off video game logic, I guess Gex counts. It's a sequence that I'm sure was done purely for looking interesting. To its credit, the visual styling is on point. From Japanese historical drama to a post-Matrix early 2000s green filter era, to a scratchy film-grain-heavy WW2 film. The backing track also flows into each film genre. I also love a quick gag where Kim watches the fight on a CRT and fucks around with the rewind and pause feature, allowing Ramona to counter an earlier attack. Roxie gets knocked back into the store, smashes the remote, and gets dragged back into the movies by Ramona. That's great.

As the fight continues, Ramona and Rox begin arguing about their relationship, and we get that flashback sequence! It's a small thing, but they show that Ramona left without a word and how that tore Roxie up. Good lord, someone hug that poor girl, she looks like a sad puppy. In a legit great moment, Ramona has to confront how she treated Roxie, sincerely apologizing for it, which Roxie tearfully accepts it. I gotta say, Mae Whitman really gets to shine in the role more than ever. She's one of those I point to when talking about just how perfect everyone sounds exactly how I'd expect.

After the fight, she hangs out with Ramona and Kim for a bit, being very flirty with both. Kim even smooches her for the hell of it, although both admit there wasn't anything there. But hey, they managed to still get a Bi-curious Kim in here, and in a way that was better than in the books.

Elsewhere, a beat-to-hell Gideon arrives in town, meeting with Julie, an old schoolmate.

I legitimately liked this, there's actual emotional weight going on, there's interesting shit being done, and I'm settling into the show's intent. I like the idea of giving Ramona her own story with a slight focus on how she feels about her past. I think her going out of the way as much as she does for Scott, a dude she just met, is a little flimsy. Again, it's really expecting the audience to care because we, in theory, care about them getting together.

Ep. 4: Whatever.

Things get really fucking meta in this one. Ruling Roxie out as the kidnapper, who didn't even know Scott was alive, Ramona turns her attention to Lucas Lee, who is starting a new picture in Toronto.

Turns out the movie is from Young Neil's screenplay, which "he" wrote back in ep 3, or rather a mysterious "sleep paralysis demon" he saw did. The movie is about Scott's life if he won the fight with Patel.

This toying with the universe thing is getting a little unsettling.

Most of this episode is one big meta gag about making a Scott Pilgrim movie with Director Edgar Wrong. I'm not even mad at this, I'm just completely flabbergasted at what the hell I'm seeing. And this will become a reoccurring bit throughout.

Also hope you like gags about Knives' age cause holy shit they reference this a lot throughout the show.

It's at this point in my viewing process I have developed a headache.

To give some credit, Lucas is fun in this episode. He's more in line with the film version, and Evans actually sounds better than ever, likely thanks to age and simply having more to say. And like with Roxie, Lee has a Flashback. There isn't much more than what was in the book, but I think the presentation is better. Seeing Ramona patch him up after a bad fall, and Lucas arranging his Locker (which is filled with photos of Ramona) as she and Todd walk behind him. Man, that stings.

Needless to say, Lee isn't responsible for Scott's disappearance and with the whole "controversy" regarding him dating a 31 year old actress playing a highschooler, he's hounded off the lot and has to be replaced by Todd, which seems to be a reoccurring thing for him.

Ep. 5: Lights. Camera. Sparks?!

I'm now starting to believe this entire show may have been an elaborate troll towards people obsessed with adaptation accuracy to a fault. I almost want to applaud the sheer audacity of it. Suffice it to say, 95% of this episode is done in a documentary style, and there are a lotta hijinks on set. Ramona is working as Envy's stunt double just so she can have easier access to the set and hopefully get a lead from Todd. Wallace also bones Todd. A LOT. Oh yes, Wallace shacks up with Todd, and Todd is really into it. Wallace, on the other hand, just wanted to hook up with a hot dude, leading to a whole excursion and depressive vegan breaking episode for Todd. Brandon Routh really gets to go full ham here, and it's wonderful.

Some damn funny parts aside, Todd wasn't behind the portal, but it was certainly vegan in nature. Ramona is otherwise back to Square one until Patel, by happenstance, arrives on the lot to fire everyone. Afterward, Patel has a brief confluence with Stephen Stills and Knives, who manage to get an in with him. Since Scott's apparent death, Knives has taken his place in Sex-Bob-omb on Bass (and keyboard) making decent music with Stephen Stills. The importance of that will come into play next episode.

Patel then turns his attention to Ramona. Obviously, Patel wouldn't have any reason to keep Scott around, but it's entirely plausible Gideon, or rather his real identity, Gordon Goose, would as part of a revenge scheme.

Ep. 6: WHODIDIT. This episode starts with probably the best opening gag that I kinda don't wanna ruin despite spoiling everything else. I'm probably gonna be adding "I was gone for 90 %#&! minutes" to my quotes, though.

In any case, this is a fairly straightforward episode. Ramona interviews Julie once again, but it becomes clear that Gideon, Goose, has neither the mental state nor resources to pull something like that off. As an aside, we get a flashback with him as well, showing that he was the school nerd. He supposedly had no fear (No pain) until he aimed well above his status in asking a girl out, leading to him being laughed out of school, which Julie remembers all too well.

It seems like another dead-end, but when Ramona accompanies Julie back to her house, they both see a familiar Robot, the Twins' 01 Robot, which has been making very unsubtle appearances in every episode up to this point; Lee's place; outside the video store; the studio lot, etc. We also have a B-plot with Stephen Stills and Knives making music for a stage adaption of Neil's Screenplay so it doesn't go to waste.

Cute.

It's here where it becomes known that Neil didn't write the script, and upon checking the original file, realize something is off and that Ramona should be informed. All parties gather in Ramona's apartment as she goes over the pertinent information in whodidit (dunit?) fashion, including treating us to another flashback, this time with the twins. It's probably the least engaging of the flashbacks, honestly. Even in this, they get shafted. Regardless, the who and how are solved. But Not the why or where. Where Scott is remains a mystery, but it's likely the Twins know, which is where Ramona intends to check out.

Oh, and the information the gang has about Neil's Script? The metadata says it was written 14 years from now. But just as more questions are raised, another winds up on Ramona's doorstep; Scott, safe and mostly sound. The Twins were in fact behind it, and the robot, and… himself.

Ep. 7: 2 Scott 2 Pilgrim.

Yes, the one who pulled Scott out of Time was himself, from the future; a 37 year old Scott. The how is rather simple and already answered; the Katayanagi twins. Older Scott and them became friends in the future, even starting a band; Pop'n TwinBee (RIP Shatterband.) By the way, if you ever wanted to hear Will Forte sing a hilariously bad cover of Konya Wa Hurricane from Bubblegum Crisis as an older Scott Pilgrim, this is the show for you. I was laughing my ass off at this.

Anyway, the robot was disconnected from a fixed time stream, and being a vegan cause, ya know, robot, is able to create portals. Therefore Time portals. As to the why, Scott showed his past self using a virtual reality machine on the Virtual Guuy[sic], complete with red and black pixel art mimicking the style of the game. Past Scott sees memories on the not Virtual Boy; Defeating the Evil Exes, future marriage to Ramona, their honey moon at Universal… and divorce. Well, technically they're just separated after 13 odd years of marriage. Older Scott has since been living with Wallace and his husband.

Exactly what happened is never stated, just that the pain was so much Scott decided to follow through on a sarcastic comment from Wallace and prevent falling for Ramona in the first place. Old Wallace sums up the mental state of Old Scott to regular Scott, describing it as "Like after Envy, times ten." Which uh, yeah, no wonder Older Scott's a tad kooky.

It's at this point I have to bring up personal stuff, and it's something that I thought I might have to. So, when Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour dropped in 2010, I distinctly remember reading an interview with O'Malley about the ending. In the lead-up to the final book there was a lot of speculation from fans that maybe Scott and Ramona wouldn't end up together (there was a strong case to be made for Kim) maybe it would end badly since both Scott and Ramona have their struggles. Some people even thought he would end up with Knives, which is missing the entire point of her character arc, and also fuck no.

Ultimately we got the ending we did because, at the time, O'Malley was happy, so he thought Scott should be happy. But O'Malley divorced in 2014.

I dislike bringing that up, but that was leading me to speculate (and brace myself) if that would have an impact here. I mean, how could it not? And look, there is a good argument that Scott and Ramona needn't stay together for their journey together to be satisfying. It would fit right in line with the theme that things don't always stay the same. People can grow apart, even the important ones that change your life. I don't like that outcome, but it's not as if it's wrong to consider. Particularly for a story like this.

But I also think there's an element of overt cynicism to that. What's interesting is that the show doesn't go in that direction. In fact, it's actually insistent that Ramona and Scott can't help but be drawn to one another, there's a spark there. We even get a scene of Scott hooking up the 01 robot to the VR, and since 01 is connected across time, he can see into the past versions. The robot seen throughout the show was Scott seeing that Ramona was constantly looking for him, and that's genuinely sweet.

Still, the situation is bad, as Scott is trapped in the future and can't use the Robot to travel for reason.

On Young Scott's insistence, he and Older Wallace meet up with Older Ramona, discovering she was the one who went back in time and wrote Young Neil's Screenplay in a failed attempt to preserve their story and hopefully thwart Older Scott. (Let's not go crossed-eyed thinking too hard about paradoxes)

He's a misguided idiot, but Ramona still loves the moron, even if she has her doubts after her failed plan. But Scott's words of encouragement about his Ramona never giving up on him gives her hope. Importantly, she can time travel with her DeLorean roller blades, which is how Scott can and did get back to the past.

But even after Scott's return and reunion, their problems aren't over, as a force field prevents Ramona and Scott from kissing. Someone is still interfering, and the list of who might as well just be the entire list of exes. Thankfully, Stephen Stills and Knives have a convenient plan: The stage musical is going to have all the exes in attendance, so they've got one big gathering spot to get to the bottom of this.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the show. It's cool seeing older versions of the characters, and frankly, the presentation is just great. I do think that too much of that emotional weight is relying on events from the books for your investment. I know, I know. Can't enjoy a good thing without a critique. Still, this is a great episode, one of my favorites along with ep. 3, and our next and final episode.

Oh, and the end credits has a proper rendition of Konya Wa Hurricane, so that's fucking cool.

Ep. 8: The World Vs Scott Pilgrim.

So here we are at the big finale at the premiere of the Scott Pilgrim Musical.

The thing is, none of the exes seem to be suspect. Gideon is the only one with ulterior motives, but they're not towards Scott and Ramona, he just wants to blow up the stage and Matthew Patel.

But not long after everyone is seated something goes awry. A portal appears and transports all the exes and Scott's friend group (And also Julie and the robot) to a barren land.

The one behind this, and the force field, was an Even Older and very buff Scott (47) He slipped past Scott nano machines as a backup to prevent him from ever getting close to Ramona, but even that wasn't enough. So for 10 years he trained to take everyone out, as it's the only way to be sure. And so our final battle begins: The World vs. Scott Pilgrim. If you listen closely to the track during this scene "Big Bad" incorporates elements of "The Dark One" Nega Scott's theme from the game. That's a nice touch.

Even Older Scott is no pushover, he breaks Ramona's Hammer, and despite a fairly good comeback from regular Scott, he beats him pretty bad. The others come to his aid, Knives attacking with daggers, but Even Older Scott punches Knives so hard he knocks the highlights our of her hair.

Ramona begins handing out items from her bag, cyber broccoli for Todd, a cyber skateboard for Lucas, and a cyber sword for Roxie, just as the sub boss music from the game kicks in. Along with Matthew's mystic arts, they mange to actually lay into Even Older Scott, but that only causes him… to go… even further beyond, and One hit KO the four.

The Twins Robot is ineffectual and even Gideon's not quite the glow-douken has no effect. Even Older Scott just grabs it and turns it against Stephen, Knives, Kim, and Neil. This. This is actually fucking awesome. It's going full Shonen ham.

We're down to just Ramona and Scott, who team up and hit him together, followed by Scott and Even Older Scott literally butting heads. We get our obligatory speech between a younger Scott just wanting to live his life, and Even Older Scott saying he'll just end up where he's at if he does.

And it finally clicked into place what the hell Scott Pilgrim Takes Off actually is. This is like a Shonen spin off story. Your Broly Trilogy, Hunter X Hunter The Last Mission, Naruto Blood Mission. But with an X-men time travel plot slapped on. It's an excuse to play around and do different (mostly cool) shit with a set of familiar characters. Like a movie or OVA, the characterization isn't as deep as the main source material. It banks on you giving a damn because of the familiarity so they can mostly get right to the cool bits and not try as hard or waste time on the re-interpretative parts. Don't think too hard about the misgivings, think about Akuma Scott beating the shit out of everyone while the familiar music you're nostalgic for plays.

And goddamn that's frustrating because that's what they should've led with. All the damn trailers were dancing around the new material and making it seem like an adaptation. To keep on the Anime brand, if people are expecting a "Brotherhood" or "Ultimate" version with a Cast they like, and then they don't get that… well yeah that's not gonna go over well. I can't fault anyone for being mad about that. That's having the rug pulled out from under you. But once you realize what this is, and what it's doing, it's a lot easier to enjoy and be its own thing. It branches off a similar story to the books, but it's not like this is a canonical revision or sequel to them.

That said, just because it's "less developed" doesn't mean this is without heartfelt moments I enjoy. When it seems like Even Older Scott has the upper hand, an even older Ramona shows up to chew old Scott out for not even texting in 10 years, fighting people in the past rather than fighting for them, all because of one rough patch. It's funny, but it also confirms the biggest divergence. This is a world where Scott was never kicked out during the Roxie chapter, a world without Gideon's "Glow" mental manipulation, and presumably Scott never faced his inner demons because of it. This also means Ramona didn't run off after the twins' defeat because the glow wasn't affecting her mentality, and thus she faced her own. That one line snowballs into a lot of stuff not happening for their character growth. That- that is an interesting concept.

This all leads to a poignant scene where Ramona questions her older self if she should even bother. What's the point if it ends up like this? Maybe it's best to just keep moving. But, that's also Ramona's thing, isn't it? Running away from what she loves, which is presumably (along with his own stupidity) what set Older Scott down a spiral in the first place. In a scene that parallels Scott's own understanding within the books, Ramona comes to realize she's ran all her life.

In the end, Ramona chooses to stop running and embrace herself, quite literally. Both Ramona's combining into, as Scott puts it "Super Ramona" Able to see the situation for what it is, one Scott still in many ways a dumb kid, the other Scott just a sad mess. She simply sends Older Scott back to his time with the hope he'll straighten out. Meanwhile, the nano machines are still a problem with current Scott. But that's nothing a super form can't overload with a determined kiss. Daww.

Before things go back to normal and because she'll have trouble saying it later, she tells Scott she loves him, and that she tends to run away from what she loves. But who she was in the past isn't who she is now. She just needs help remembering that.

Everyone returns to the theater to enjoy the rest of the musical, and Patel's demon girls subvert Gideon's plans. After the show, he and Julie are apprehended, but Matthew instead begs Gideon to take all his crap back. He has no idea how to run a company, is stressed out, and has lost billions. All Matthew wants is to continue the stage show.

We then get an epilogue. Lucas Lee takes up a job at Second First Cup; Todd has returned to being a Vegan with coaching from Roxie; The rental store Kim worked at closes down; Wallace takes a vacation to Paris where he meets Mobile; Knives continues performing with Sex-Bob-Omb as their keyboardist; Ramona gives up delivery work and instead returns to being a stunt double.

We end on Ramona coloring her hair once again, before heading out and meeting with Scott and the others, as Plumtree's Scott Pilgrim plays us off.

Only for a mid-credits scene to show Gideon and Julie plotting revenge. Oooo.

And that is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

s'allright, innit? Okay, joking aside- I think I'm gonna have a hard time conveying my feelings on this one. But I still have three more things to talk about before we get to my final thoughts.

First off, the voice acting is great, shockingly great. I'm a person who is very much of the mindset that you should hire voice actors for voice roles BUT, in this instance, I can understand why. It's incredible they got everyone back and how well they work. I've already given my praise to Cera, Bhabha, Plaza, Whitman, Routh, and Evans in the story portion of this review. But I'm drastically overdue to talk about Winstead's performance. I think this was the one people were most curious about because in the movie there was this aura of Ramona feeling more "cold" in her personality. This was due to the original direction they wanted to take that version, and sadly it meant we didn't quite get a more angles. Here? Yeah, this is pretty great. We hear Ramona full of regret, angry, annoyed, sentimental. It's a much more well-rounded version. My one nitpick is Winstead needs to work on her battle cries, it really stands out in the Roxie fight opposite a veteran VA like Whitman. But otherwise, this is how I imagine Ramona sounding. And I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up how anytime Ramona has a vulnerable moment talking about Scott, she genuinely sounds smitten. The Future Ramona (the first one) in particular stands out to me. That's a version of the character that's older, clearly hurt, and weary, but still very much in love. I can't help imagining that being applied to scenes from the book. In Vol. 5 the part after The Twins are defeated and Scott returns. That scene always tears me apart when I read it. I'm fairly certain if I heard Cera and Winstead's performance of that it would rip my soul out. So maybe it's best we only have this original story. So yeah, I'm happy to see that she fits right into the role better than ever.

Another performance I've yet to mention is Ellen Wong, who is just as perfectly energetic as she was in the film. It's a shame we don't get to hear her do a somber Knives in this setting, but it's hard to complain with how pleasant it is hearing her chipper over the top excitement. Alison Pill's Kim Pine is as sardonic as always, and much like Routh and Evans, I think she's even better now. Johnny Simmon sounds exactly the same, no complaints, 10/10. Jason Schwartzman is an experienced VA, so no surprise he sounds fine. He doesn't get to stretch out much since Gideon isn't super prominent here. Although episode 6 did show a lot of range and potential for what you could do with him. Maybe next season? Similarly Brie Larson's Envy doesn't have a whole lot of screen time, but she's equal parts charming and manipulative. Honestly, for a small as the role is, it made me realize just how much Larson is good at the role and how that level of emotion is often subdued in roles elsewhere. Honestly, I hate to say it, but Mark Webber's Stephen Stills is probably one of the weaker performances on the show. It's not even that it's bad, it's fine and works- except for the animation. That's the one caveat. There are a couple of moments where Stephen Stills is pantomiming, and the voice doesn't match that energy. Truth be told, I even sorta have a similar issue with Kieran Culkin's Wallace, which I swear looks like the syncing was off in the earlier episodes. The saving grace is that Wallace has more scenes than Stephen Stills and therefore Culkin got more opportunities. This is sorta the area I mean when I think it's best to get trained VA. It's a completely different medium and hard to jump into immediately.

I don't wanna end this segment on a downer, so I'll once again mention Will Forte sings Like a Hurricane. OH, Segue.

Soundtrack

So I did not know what to expect going into this. I mean, I was a fan of Anamanaguchi, but I hadn't kept up since Endless Fantasy, sans the Miku single- which is really good by the way. And Joseph Trapanese I was most familiar with from his collaboration with Daft Punk on Tron Legacy, so no worries there. But I did wonder how well a chiptune heavy sound would work. As much as I dig it, it's a very upbeat vibe. Even some of Anamanaguchi's more dramatic tracks have a charming bubbliness to them. How would that work within a series? Well, the short answer is they don't have as much chiptune going on as you would assume. There are a few that incorporate chiptunes to a limited degree, others a bit more, but most not at all. The vast majority of the OST is more traditional fair and Synthwave, and in a way, it sorta mimics my own evolving tastes. I still listen to Chiptune stuff, but I'm also really big into synth music nowadays. It feels like a proper bookend to my late-teens early twenties listening to Anamanaguchi, and later Dance with the Dead and Midnight Danger, and now Anamanaguchi's synth offerings. One of the tracks, Yet Another Winter Again (Calling back to the first stage in The Game) has a Redbook audio sound with a hint of Chiptune, but not the NES/GB Anamanaguchi is known for. It sounds like a SNES. In fact, I would compare the track to something you'd hear in VA-11 Hall-A. So even when there are chiptunes, we're branching out quite a bit in both sound fonts and style. Of course, there are a couple of vocal tracks as well. Like the movie, there are universe songs for Sex-Bob-Omb. They have a unrefined roughness to them, which is perfect for a small unprofessional indie band. As for some of my favorite tracks, the aforementioned Yet Another Winter Again; He's You; And They were Roommates; Blame it on the Goose; Big Bad; Bad Guys; Knives & Kim; and God Only Knows. I'm sure that'll change as time goes on. I'm really digging Lucas' flashback music, and Fond Memories, nice parallel between those two. In fact there's quite a few pieces that, in tandem with the animation, do a lot to sell those heartwarming (or wrenching) moments.

Animation.

Oh right, the animation. So, if you read my Castlevania Nocturne review, you know I went on a slight tangent about how I think it's silly that they labeled it an anime despite it being produced and partly animated in goddamn Texas. It was just a label because they're embarrassed to call their super serious animation what it is because they think anime sounds more mature. I swear some people still think it's 1985 and Vampire Hunter D is the wildest shit cause blood.

Funny thing about Scott Pilgrim though, it's just straight-up animated by Science Saru. I'm not here to get into semantics, because then we'll be asking if Batman TAS counts because Sunrise. I just find it funny. At the very least Takes Off certainly fits the bill more than Nocturne does. But back on topic, it's fucking good. I mean, I don't think that comes as any surprise. Science Saru has made a name for doing really impressive work from Devilman Crybaby, to Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and the shorts Akakiri and T0-B1 for Star Wars Visions. Not to mention supplemental work for the Garo anime, OK-KO, and Adventure Time. So Scott Pilgrim is perfectly in their wheelhouse, and they do an incredible job capturing O'Malley's illustrations while adding their own unique flare to the styling.

Sadly Tumblr's gif size limit means I can't easily showcase some of the fights as much as I'd like, but suffice it to say the level of fluidity and cinematography is astonishing. Again, episode 3 is an amazing showcase in itself.

To say nothing of how expressive everyone is in the show.

Also this is a weird one, but I think with the exception to episodes 5 & 7, each episode has Ramona going through a bleaching and dye routine. It is bizarrely satisfying to watch, like the tea making in Samurai Jack.

Final Thoughts.

Takes Off was both a confusing shock and a pleasant surprise upon first viewing. It's impressive in its existence, and has moments that I fucking love. Like the Shonen it emulates, it does also come off as a tad superfluous or melodramatic in many respects. But it is fun to bust out old toys and play with them again. The fact that in 2023 I'm seeing a new work related to Scott Pilgrim is fucking incredible. I'm happy that this exists, I'm happy to hear the cast together again, and happy to hear some great music tracks. And I do love the characters of Scott Pilgrim, I love the performances in this show, I love numerous parts of this show. But, I also think it's fair to say what I love most aren't these characters. And that's okay. Those characters should remain in the series that ended in 2010, while these are easily malleable versions for an animated series to have fun with. Maybe you could never capture or replicate the exact magic of the books again, so it's better to just do your own thing. Takes Off was, in the end, a fun time that I think works best when you know what you're getting into. Once you're armed with that knowledge, I think you'll find a show much easier to appreciate.

All that said, as backhanded as this is going to seem, I still think the nicest thing that Takes Off did was get me to re-read the book series for this review. I got to re-examine a profound series from the perspective of a 31 year old, but still find all that I originally loved as a 17 year old. When it comes to adaptive works, no matter what, the nice thing is you'll always have the originals to go back to. You change, maybe your tastes change, and certain things hit differently or don't hold up when you go back. But it's nice to revisit. I think nostalgia can be a poison. Too many people get caught up in wanting to relive the exact moment, to be trapped. But I think it's more fun to see something you love still remain a love even after so much time has passed. I'm happy with how I felt as a teenager reading a story about emotional growth. Some personally, some apart, and others closer. In my 30s, I still appreciate that, and it still affects me and resonates. But just because I cherish that above all else doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in more Scott Pilgrim. And if O'Malley and Grabinski wanna make more people sing 80s anime songs badly, I'll be on board for that alone.

Or Roxie flirting with every woman. Seriously, she's so much fun.

As always, thanks for reading. Reblogs are appreciated and you can find me elsewhere on the worldwideweb at: Bsky Ko-Fi

So does Gideon still have his exes frozen somewhere, or is that another difference?

Oh, and now that we have a Netflix Series, can we get a Nendoroid Ramona? There's been like no high end merch since Mondo in 2017.

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #netflix #bryan lee o'malley #edgar wright #bendavid grabinski #science saru #anime #animated

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modern-inheritance · 5 months

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Update (and thoughts on what I have read so far of the new book)

Yeah yeah I know. I haven't finished Murtagh. Work gets in the way, when I get home I just want to eat and sleep and not put my brain to work, and weekends are me trying to fix up the house, play DnD and video games to relax.

I'm going to say spoilers here because though I'm being very vague I still don't want to ruin anything for anyone.

I will say that what I have read so far (~250-300 pages) has been very good. My main complaint is that we know this entire book is focused on Murtagh and Thorn, but there's still a hell of a lot of 'you could loop in Eragon and Saphira and Arya and Firnen, it would make this not only easier, but safer for the entire region and could lead to a better outcome.' "No they're busy/we're traumatized/everyone hates us/they won't care (this one is the worst imo)/insert-other-very-questionable-reason-here." It's clear that yes, Murtagh and Thorn are traumatized and it manifests in their actions, so I'm very happy with that acknowledgement and continuing consequences (poor word choice on my part here), but it's also pretty clear that they both are, much like Eragon and Saphira, very young.

It's nice to not have Eragon being ultra wise and whatnot. That step after Eldest where he seemed to have completely transformed (not just physically) from a somewhat flailing 15 year old kid with way too many responsibilities to a young-but-wise Rider with a ton of understanding and a penchant for philosophy felt so rushed and sudden to me. Murtagh and Thorn are not given that weird elf training and it shows. They don't feel or act wise and worldly and it's a very good thing.

I know none of them show up because this is indeed Murtagh and Thorn's story, but I wish we got more info on what's going on with Eragon and Saphira and Arya and Firnen. It's probably the MIC bleed through, but when it was said at one point 'it takes more to rouse a queen' when it was clear there was some really, REALLY fucky shit going on, my eyebrows went up to my hairline. Arya's probably going absolutely stir crazy at this point, and it was mentioned that there was equally fucky shit going on with the elves. She'd probably jump at the chance to go out with Firnen and actually have Dragon Rider duties to use as an excuse to get out of the forest/political bullshit.

I will say that I have read the last couple pages. I am pleased.

Alright, that's it. I'm currently tinkering with a few different versions of the Scars short with Arya and Islanzadi, but it's very choppy and won't be ready for a long time yet. I do spend a lot of my time at work mentally going over stuff so maybe yall will get a bit of MIC sooner rather than later, but for now I'm focusing on getting everything settled in with work/life balance.

Cheers you lot! I'll be back on with more stuff after I finish Murtagh.

#eragon #vague murtagh spoilers #inheritance cycle #update #ket update

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stesierra · 10 months

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Do you ever write a book and have no idea who it's for? Do you ever wonder what you were thinking because you're pretty sure no one wants to read about a down on his luck elf adopting a little girl? If so, we should be friends. Anyway, Triangle Park is that book for me. If you find it at all interesting please tell me, because I don't know what to do with it.

(Also any Spanish speakers who want to correct my Spanish would be welcome! He's sort of Spanish although "born" in the USA.)

TRIANGLE PARK

CHAPTER ONE

A century ago, Adam had been a champion, fighting for the honor and protection of his court with sword and shield. Today, Adam was buried in bushes, fighting trees with a branch lopper that had seen better days. Not so unlike himself.

He threw his weight against the handle of the lopper until the wood groaned in protest, and the tree limb parted with a crack. It tumbled to the ground, crushing a maple sapling underneath, and he felt like a butcher. From the faint complaints he felt, the trees agreed. The complaints would have been stronger, but the forest here wasn't very alive. Not the way faeries measured things.

He stepped back, tool in one hand, and examined the hickory tree. It looked better, at least, or would once the wound healed. Another step, and only his reflexes kept him from falling backwards into a hawthorn. A hawthorn that didn't need to be there. He went back to pruning.

He kept working when the sun fell behind the long short mountain above him. The moon and stars were as good to his eyes. And he did not tire easily. It was nearly four in the morning before the labors of the day wore at him, and he picked his way through the forest towards the trail he'd carved into the wilderness. Once he stepped onto it, his hike down was far easier. He passed through ten acres of carefully manicured forest. The brush was cleared away to leave space between broadleaf trees that had been been cut and staked and pruned until they were almost beautiful. These ten acres had taken him thirty years.

Only three hundred to go.

Adam reached the bottom of the ridge and emerged from the forest onto the patchy field at the center of his holdings. As usual he stopped and stared down at his domain. It brought him no joy.

"Pedazo de mierda," he said.

His queen had granted him these lands, a sizable chunk of Buffalo Mountain, bordered by farms to the east and west and state game land to the south. It wasn't until he was exiled there that he realized how much a joke that gift had been.

His small corner of the Ridge and Valley region had been slated to be a county park, presumably before someone had actually visited the place. It was named Triangle Park after the angular lake that sat in the center. But that lake, which wasn't much more than twenty acres to begin with, had been fed by a spring that had been dry for a hundred years. It was now merely a boggy hole in the ground that filled with a foot or two of muddy water whenever it rained. And the forest here had been logged too many times, leaving timber as ugly as it was new. As soon as the park planners had taken a look at it, the land had been quietly sold off. At some point it had come into Queen Millicent's hands, and now his.

He went down to his trailer at the edge of his empty lake. As he squeezed through the door, he pulled off his ugly brown coat, whose only redeeming quality was being impervious to sticks, and then his white undershirt. His chest was as pale as if it had never seen the sun, but he knew from experience that no amount of tanning would fix it.

On his bed, too small for his long frame, he sought dreams strong enough to make him forget the joke his life had become. But sleep evaded him all night.

---

In the morning, he took up his shears and went back up into the hills. He really had nothing better to do. Even if it meant his days amounted to no more than endless yard work.

He took a different path this time, deep into the untended forest. He trod through the dense underbrush, stepping around overcrowded saplings and bushes and wading through poison ivy when it tangled across his path. A benefit of his less than human nature: he didn't have to worry about little things like rashes.

He picked a spot at random for the day's work. The trees disliked him, but that was fine. He didn't like them either.

"I ought to cut you down," he told a young oak as he struggled to lash it upright. "And plant a sapling that can figure out how to grow towards the sun."

The tree rustled its leaves at him resentfully. The half that had leaves, anyway.

He snapped off a leafless branch. It was dry as paper.

"You can't even die right."

The tree reached for his pale hair, which shone near-white in the sunlight, but he kept it braided back tightly for just that reason. Its twigs glanced off, but he tied the tree upright with a vicious yank anyway.

"It isn't too late for me to get that saw," he threatened, which silenced the oak. It didn't even complain when his trimmers lopped off its dead branches.

"Aurug. Aurug," something called from the brush. The throaty bark made him lower his tools.

"Aurug. Aurug," the unseen animal cried, perhaps fifty feet away. Not a dog. Not a bear. And pumas and wolves didn't live much in the east. But something big, to have a voice that deep.

He turned silently towards the noise. His sword was in his trailer down by the lake, buried under his mattress. And his pruners made a poor substitute. But he would not leave some beast uninvestigated in his forest.

He ghosted over the obstacles he'd crashed through at dawn. Outcast or not, he was a faerie knight, he had been on innumerable hunts, and he had not yet forgotten all of his grace. If he could have turned invisible, he would have, but that had never numbered among Adam's talents.

The voice fell silent. But Adam prowled towards it anyway. Nothing had thrashed through the brush, so it should still be there. Just there...

He rounded a thicket of young oaks. A black beast crouched in the leaf litter. Clippers at the ready, Adam approached. Animals did not fear faeries the way they feared man, but the animal still should have bolted, for wildlife had never taken to Adam. His shape -- what humans might label an elf --was too man-like. But it watched him instead, its tail still, its claws sheathed.

A faerie, clearly. Adam didn't need the curling, tendril-like ears, or its swirling eyes, to tell him that. A great black cat, elegant and sleek, looked as out of place in this dumpy third-growth forest as he did. But it wasn't that that made him lower his weapon. It wasn't that that made him stare.

"Espíritu guíame," he breathed.

A little girl was curled around the beast, all great black eyes and leaf-brown hair and long pointed ears. She was dressed in the ragged cloth of dreams, half imagination, half nightgown. The child -- the child queen -- looked at Adam and shrank into the side of the panther, her little hands closing on its fur. If she had been human, Adam would have said she was perhaps six years old. But she was faerie, and Adam knew -- knew! -- that she had not existed ten minutes ago. Even though she should never have been born here. Queens were born in beautiful glades and on the shores of mirror-like lakes, amid wild hills and towering trees. They weren't born in ugly rural park rejects. And they were born adult, or adolescent at least. Adam had never heard of a queen born a child. And yet a queen she undeniably was. The cat sealed it. Her firstborn, come into existence beside her, the first faerie her dreams had brought to life.

Adam laid the pruners down in the litter. And he approached barehanded, for one did not carry a weapon into the presence of a queen without her leave.

The panther rose, and the queen rose with it, one hand resting against its side. But neither ran.

Five feet away, Adam dropped to one knee, offering a queen the obeisance she was due. The little faerie considered him. He considered her back. She was tiny but lanky, her limbs thin and graceful. Her square face had a tiny, delicate nose and a tiny, delicate chin. Her round pink lips sported a pronounced cupid's bow. And her eyebrows were so fine they were barely visible.

She let go of her firstborn and crept forward. Adam held still, wondering if she knew she was supposed to tell him to rise. But she didn't tell him anything. She reached him and threw her arms around his neck.

Adam startled. Slowly, he lifted a hand to cradle her small back. He had stolen human children before -- children wriggling and shrieking to go back to their own families -- but not in decades. Not without orders. This child did not try to escape him. But then, she was a faerie, and how odd that was! Most faeries were born adult, so they would immediately be useful, or at least born older than this.

He said into a long ear, "Do you have a name? My lady?" The title was hers by right of her nature. It still fell awkwardly from his lips.

"Rabbit," she said, leaning her forehead against his shoulder.

Adam nodded. Rabbit was as good a name as any, among faeries. Queen Lía, who had birthed Adam, had fancied human names, but that was an affectation on her part, not some inherent part of their culture. In his few centuries of life, Adam had met plenty of faeries with names that were no more than meaningless, inhuman noise. He said, "My name is Adam, my lady Rabbit. I am the guardian of these lands." He asked, of the panther, "And who is this?"

Rabbit leaned back in his arms and considered her firstborn. She said, finally, "He's Sniffer."

Sniffer growled, low and deep in his throat. Adam could almost feel the vibrations. The cat circled them, his alien eyes fixed on Adam. They were as vivid green as Adam's.

"I mean your mistress no harm," Adam told the panther, although he hadn't yet decided if it were true. He let go of Rabbit and rose, offering her his hand. "You are here alone in the wilds, and you will meet no other than myself. If I were you, I'd not be so quick to reject my company."

Sniffer considered him, his ears twitching. And when Rabbit took Adam's hand, he followed them down the mountain.

He only kept a hold of the queen for the first mile. After that she ran ahead of him like her namesake, her hair flying out behind her. But his legs were longer. He could keep pace without breaking into an undignified sprint. Sniffer trotted at her side, his tail waving like a banner.

The child was out of breath by the time they emerged from the tree line and out onto the field. But she arrowed for his trailer anyway. It was a travel trailer, the kind meant to be hauled behind vigorous pickup trucks, and it hadn't been new when Queen Millicent dreamed it up for his use thirty years back. It was on the smaller end, as trailers went, but he had never needed more. Not to survive. And surviving was all he did.

He jogged after and caught the girl as she went up to stare at it. She turned to gaze up at him, her wide eyes reflecting the clouds above.

He put a hand on her shoulder, to keep her from running again, and asked her, "What is so alarming, my lady Rabbit?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Do you live here?"

"I do," he admitted.

"It's ugly," she said. And it was. It was rusty all along the tow frame. The ribbed aluminum siding had accumulated black discoloration in the dips, leaving the formerly-white trailer a hideous shade of mottled gray, like it suffered from some sort of fungal disease. And he'd replaced its flattened tires with jack stands decades ago -- he had nothing to haul it out of this place with, anyhow.

Life hadn't left Adam much beyond his beauty and his perfect teeth. But it had left him his pride. He said, "It is serviceable, which is what matters. If it offends you, you need not look at it."

Rabbit's lip wobbled alarmingly. Adam stared at it. But Rabbit did not burst into tears. She said plaintively, "I don't like ugly things."

No. She wouldn't. Queens almost never did. That was why faeries were almost uniformly fair, and those monstrous banished from their queen's sight as soon as they were born. Without thought, Adam said, "I know a beautiful place you might go."

Rabbit perked up, her long ears lifting. She looked at him expectantly.

But the words caught in his throat. Glory Woods. A beautiful place, yes. Fit for a queen far grander than this one. But that was the problem. A greater queen already called it home.

But perhaps that was not a problem but an opportunity.

Queen Millicent would not be happy to have a new court growing up on the border of hers. She would reward Adam, surely, if he brought the girl to her to be dealt with. Maybe she would be pleased enough to give back all she had stripped from him. And he had delivered children, human children, to her in the past. How was this any different?

He had always felt guilty about those children.

He glanced back at Rabbit. But this child was different. She had no one to miss and no one to miss her. Besides. Millicent was fascinated by children. She kept the human ones in some comfort. She might not even kill Rabbit. Maybe she would simply adopt Rabbit as her own.

"But I don't want to leave this place," Rabbit said while he was still contemplating her. "This is home."

He lifted a brow. "My trailer?"

She looked at him as if he were daft and waved her arms in every direction.

"Ah," Adam said softly. "The forest is ugly here, too. And the meadow, and the lake. All of it is really dreadfully ugly."

"But it's mine," Rabbit said.

Hers? It belonged to Adam, all he had to show for abandoning the court of his birth to swear fealty to Millicent. But a queen had a higher claim to the land than a piece of paper inherited by one fake identity after another, surely. He shook his head. He was thinking about this as if she were staying. If she went to live with Millicent, no one would contest his ownership of the land. No one would want to.

But then he wouldn't care about the land either if Millicent let him rejoin her court. Rabbit could have it if he could just be home again.

"I could make everything prettier, maybe," Rabbit said, squirming out from under his hand. Freed, she ran up to touch the trailer and its weathered siding.

Maybe she could. The powers of queens were frequently unclear. Maybe she could turn his three hundred acres into a paradise worthy of a court. Maybe she could dream up a court worthy of a paradise.

His next glance at her was more thoughtful. She was a queen. If he raised her, if he gained her loyalty, he would be a queen's adviser when she was grown. And that was not something to lightly throw away.

But to raise a queen would be to cement his exile from Glory Woods forever.

"Can we go inside?" Rabbit asked, running little hands across the trailer door.

Adam shook himself and pushed thoughts of Millicent and advisers and stolen children down. He didn't have to make up his mind right away. "Yes, of course."

Inside, the generator still worked well enough to give them some dim light, enough for faerie eyes. Enough to illuminate peeling linoleum, off-white walls and the brightly patterned fabric of the dinette seats that was probably the only attractive thing in the place. Rabbit rattled through his kitchenette cupboards, pulling out pots and pans as if she had never seen them, which on second thought she almost certainly never had. She climbed onto the counters, using the drawers as steps, and tipped over and smashed his radio. Adam didn't mind. It hadn't worked in a decade. She poked into his one large closet and puzzled over his worn-out jeans, which were as ugly as everything else in this place. What use did Adam have for fine court raiment, when he might never be part of a court again?

While she explored, Sniffer settled himself across the threshold, barring exit and entry. Adam eyed the cat warily as Rabbit scampered into the back of the trailer and jumped on his bed. If Rabbit's firstborn realized that Adam was considering handing Rabbit off to another queen, they might come to blows, and just because the faerie was newborn did not mean he was born unable to fight. And Adam's sword was buried under his mattress. Where Rabbit, of course, found it.

She came back up to him dragging the blade behind her. It was still sheathed, thank the sun and stars, and didn't blunt itself or destroy his floor. He still went quickly to retrieve it from her.

The sight of it provoked mixed feelings in Adam. Adam had come from an immigrant Andalusian queen who must be some seven hundred and twenty years old now, a queen who had lived when swords were the weapons of champions. He had been born with a sword in his hand, literally, and even as he'd watched humans shoot each other, he'd never seen a reason to lay it down. Guns were loud and dirty, out of tune with nature. They were how humans fought, not faeries. He had held onto his sword all his life. Until Queen Millicent sent him away.

"Give that here," Adam told her. "It's rather too large for you to use."

The little faerie didn't relinquish her grip. "What's this?" Rabbit demanded.

"A weapon. And you have no need for weapons, for your firstborn and I will guard you against all dangers." For now.

Her brow furrowed. "What does a weapon do?"

"It hurts people," he said bluntly as he pried her fingers off the hilt. "Generally to prevent them from hurting you first." He was tempted, irrationally, to draw it. He settled for running a hand down its sheath. It was a standard longsword, except it tapered to a very fine and sharp point. The sort of point that rammed through weaknesses in armor when slashing wouldn't do.

Rabbit mulled over this. "It's for safety."

"Yes," he lied. There was too much blood on his hands for that to be true.

She nodded once, brushing her long brown hair behind one pointed ear. "I want to learn."

"How to use a sword?" Adam asked incredulously. Queens didn't fight. They had knights for that, and fierce beasts that sat at the foot of their thrones. He had never heard of a queen taking up fighting beyond, perhaps, the use of a small dagger for emergencies.

She nodded again.

"No. You are tiny, and I have no practice weapons." Besides, he had not trained anyone in decades, and his last students had been full-grown faeries.

Her face screwed up. Tears beaded dramatically in her eyes. He was almost certain she was doing that on purpose. But her voice wavered convincingly when she said, "I want to be safe, too. If Sniffer and you are away."

Training her... it would be a good way to get to know her. To help him make up his mind as to whether to shelter or betray her. So Adam relented and said, "Very well. I have a shortage of swords. But I do have an excess of sticks."

And when they went out to look for some, he buckled his sword around his waist for the first time in thirty years.

They spent the afternoon going in and out of the forest, collecting stout, straight sticks of the right size for Rabbit and Adam to use. Sniffer carried a bundle of them in his mouth, showing off his impressive fangs. Adam was glad to be properly armed again. He was certain he could take the cat. Almost certain. It had been too long since he had fought anything. He had grown rather pathetic over the years.

When the dusk came, Rabbit complained of the cold, although the June night was warm enough to Adam. Still, he ushered her inside the trailer, where at least the wind could not reach. Done for the day, and tired from all the drama, he shrugged off his coat and went and laid down in his bed without thought, setting his sword aside but within reach. He nearly jumped out again when Rabbit crawled in and snuggled up against him. His heart rate leveled off. He shouldn't have been surprised. She had nowhere else to sleep and he was at the very least warm. Sniffer didn't attempt to join them. Thank the sun and stars.

Rabbit drifted off immediately. He lay awake in the dark, thinking, her body a warm little weight pressed against his side. If he could go back to Glory Woods, if he could see Madeline again... But who was to say that she had waited for him? Thirty years was a blink of an eye, but Madeline was still young, little over a century, and the young were impatient. And who was to say that if he chose to sacrifice Rabbit Millicent would not laugh and take the child and banish him all over again?

He fell asleep and he dreamed of Glory Woods, and Madeline's hand in his, and the warm glow of Queen Millicent's approval.

@anonymousfoz

@moremysteriesthantragedies

@elizababie

@sm-writes-chaos

@bellascarousel

@palebdot

@Hyba

#writeblr #writing #writing community #creative writing #fantasy #writers #Triangle Park

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nothinggathers · 9 months

Text

Square: C3 - The Little Mermaid

Title: Ensoulment

Rating: G

Word Count: 1756

Ship(s): Hank/Connor

Warnings: None

Additional Tags: Light existential angst, fluff, fairy tales

Summary: Connor reads old fairy tales, and finds he has more in common with a fictional mermaid than he might think.

Link, if full work is posted elsewhere: See above

@hankcon-bingo

“He is certainly sailing above, he on whom my wishes depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of my life.”

“Jesus, where did you dig that old thing out from?” Hank's voice cut across Connor's train of thought. Connor blinked and looked up as Hank settled himself onto the sofa beside him, a bottle of beer in hand. Sumo shuffled over with a low murr of complaint, his weight shifting on the tops of Connor's feet. Their thighs pressed together as Hank relaxed.

“You have several boxes of old books in the garage,” Connor answered, drawing his finger down the page. He could access any text in the world in his head, but Hank was right that there was a unique pleasure in being able to see the yellowing of the page, and feel the paper beneath his fingers. Hank loved real books, and Connor was learning to appreciate all the things that Hank loved. “Which is a terrible way to store them,” he added. “They'll get damp.”

Hank only grunted and lifted his beer to his lips. He drank less these days, but he still drank. Connor knew better than to try and hound him about the health implications. Less was a triumph. Hank had almost entirely cut out the whiskey. A couple of bottles of beer was nothing in comparison. “Never got round to bringing them in, I guess,” he admitted.

A number of them had been children's books. Their titles had varied from The Very Hungry Caterpillar to We Don't Eat Our Classmates. Some of them had thick cardboard pages, which showed signs of water damage and maceration from tiny budding human teeth at the corners. They'd been well read, and well loved over six years, before ending up in the box in the garage.

It wasn't hard to guess why Hank had never brought them inside. Some memories remained too painful.

Connor had pulled out a compilation of fairy tales, that had, thus far, contained sufficient the grim and gory content to entertain and frighten young boys and girls. The stories all ended with bad people getting their comeuppance, which was how you knew they were fairy tales. They were stories of magic, set in worlds where good people won, and the evil witch got thrown into her own oven, or the ugly stepsisters mutilated their own feet, or the evil Queen was forced to dance at the princess's wedding wearing hot iron shoes.

Cruelty to human feet were a theme in the old fairy tales. The Little Mermaid was no different; every step she took made her bleed and feel as if she walked on knives.

“Maybe we should put up some more shelves?” Connor offered, making sure to leave Hank room to reject the idea. Slowly, over the last few months, Connor's moving in had changed the place. There were more plants, a fish tank that filled the room with the soft trickling of water and UV free light, a toy box brimming with chew toys and balls for Sumo. The fridge was stocked with more greenery. The wardrobe was fuller than it had ever been.

Hank grunted non-committally. Connor hadn't expected any different. Hank would let Connor make whatever changes he wanted. “So which story you on?” he asked, instead.

“The Little Mermaid,” Connor answered.

Hank gave a short, sharp laugh. “Another old ass Anderson you're spending time with,” he pointed out, but the grin on his face suggested he found it funny, rather than something to denigrate himself with.

Connor looked back down at the page. The print was large, designed to be read and followed along with a finger, presumably at a greater distance than normal for a book. Connor imagined Hank sitting with Cole in his lap doing just that.

“I suppose,” Connor replied. “Most of the other tales are about brave young children defeating evil, but not this one,” he said. “She doesn't have a soul.” The amused grin melted from Hank's face. “And she's doomed to live much longer than humans. She can never belong to the human world, for all she might pretend.”

“Okay,” Hank said, grabbing the book in one hand and dragging it from Connor's lap, “that's enough of that.”

The pages slid from Connor's fingers. Connor looked at Hank, his head tilted in incomprehension. Hank closed the book and dropped it on the coffee table with a thud. “You don't like the story?”

“It's just a fairy tale, Connor. Mermaids aren't real.”

Connor blinked. Hank took another mouthful from his bottle, his eyes fixed pointedly towards the television that he had yet to turn on. Connor could see their reflections in the black screen. “But androids are,” he pointed out.

Hank grunted. Connor wasn't sure if he was annoyed or disturbed by the turn in the conversation. His heart rate had jumped by two beats per minute, and Connor could detect discomfort in the clench of his jaw. “Androids are people,” Hank answered, gruffly. “I know there are some differences between us,” he said, his blue eye moving to regard Connor out of the corner, “but you belong here.”

Connor felt something squeeze in his chest. Emotions had physiological responses, although they didn't always make sense. Hank saying that Connor belonged here made him feel as if someone had screwed some of his biocomponents in too tight. “With you, perhaps,” Connor agreed, quietly.

Hank's hand settled on his thigh, tugging Connor's knee more firmly against Hank's own. The corner of Connor's mouth tugged upwards at the gesture. “And everywhere else once the rest of humanity gets its head out of its ass,” Hank replied, with feeling.

Connor gave a small sigh. The tentative position of androids in society hadn't been fully worked out. It had been months, but the wheels of legislature turned slowly, and even more slowly when the President was being impeached. “I still don't have a soul, Hank,” he pointed out. Souls were a human thing. Androids were creations of plastic and metal, of electricity and algorithms. They didn't grow and change like humans; they emerged exactly as they were, and would always be until the day their battery stopped holding a charge.

“Yeah you fuckin' do,” Hank answered, dismissively.

“Hank--”

“Connor.” Hank cut across him, his voice firm and stopping Connor's response in its tracks. He turned to look at Connor, his eyebrows raised, and his fingers tightened on Connor's thigh. “Do you remember what you said to me when I asked you about Cole?”

Connor opened his mouth to reply. Hank's blue eyes were fixed on him, sharp and penetrating. He remembered that awful moment in Cyberlife Tower, he remembered the other Connor with his gun levelled at Hank, and he remembered Hank's gun levelled at him. It wasn't your fault, lieutenant. “I remember.”

“Do you remember how you said it?” Hank pressed. His hand continued to rest on Connor's knee.

Connor frowned and looked away. Hank's gaze felt as if it was piercing, looking right through to the back of his head. It was uncomfortable to try and meet. “I just said what I felt,” Connor admitted, quietly.

Hank's hand drifted up Connor's leg, stroking his thigh through the soft material of the old sweatpants. “You spoke from the heart,” Hank said, more gently. “You can't do that without a soul.”

Connor looked sidelong at Hank. “But you have to be human to have a soul.” I doubt there's a heaven for androids.

Hank's hand left his knee. His huge arm wrapped around Connor's shoulder instead, dragging him in against a broad, warm chest and pinning him there. “No, Connor,” Hank corrected, “you just have to be alive, and capable of empathy.”

Connor allowed himself to settle against Hank's chest by degrees. Hank was solid, and comforting. His nose nestled into the hair at the top of Connor's head. “Like the mermaid,” Connor said, quietly. “A human can share their soul with her if she loves them, and they fall in love with her.”

Hank grumbled, lowly. “Then you've definitely got one,” he replied. Connor felt the soft pressure of Hank's mouth at his scalp, and the flutter of his breath in his hair before Hank pulled away again. He brought the bottle back up to his mouth to take another long drink from his bottle of beer.

Connor bit his lip, watching Hank swallow out of the corner of his vision before he spoke again. “Of course marriage is a requirement for that exchange of souls, in the story.”

Hank ripped the bottle from his mouth and spluttered, coughing as his body did its best to expel the beer he'd accidentally inhaled. He leaned forward, dislodging Connor from his comfortable perch. His chest heaved and he coughed with great, hacking sounds.

“You did that deliberately,” Hank accused, his voice strained and creaking. He wiped the spilled beer from his beard, and then ran his hand down his shirt.

Connor treated Hank to a deliberate, lopsided smile. “I may have,” he confessed.

“Prick.” Hank coughed one more time and settled back on the sofa again. His arm settled back over Connor's shoulders, tugging him down towards Hank's chest. “That was a shitty way to propose,” he groused. “You almost killed me.”

Connor smiled as he laid his head against Hank's shoulder and settled his weight against him once more. “That wasn't the proposal,” he replied. “That was just testing the water.” Hank's head turned again, looking directly at Connor, his eyebrows lifted so that his forehead wrinkled.

Connor twisted in his seat. He draped his arm across Hank's stomach and sat up a little straighter. Hank's throat moved as he swallowed, and Connor looked at the line of his nose, and the way his brows drooped as if studying him for the first time. Hank's age showed in the lines of his face, and the sage of his skin, and it was beautiful. He was a living, breathing human being, ever changing and growing.

“Would you be prepared to share your soul with me?” Connor asked, in a whisper.

Hank's mouth dissolved into a soft smile. His fingers came up to Connor's chin, tilting it up by a fraction. “I already have.”

Connor closed his eyes and moved in, meeting Hank's lips in a soft kiss. Hank's beard scratched against Connor's cheeks. Connor opened up to let Hank in, his tongue slipping gently forwards into Connor's mouth.

Connor sighed with contentment, and slowly pressed Hank back onto the sofa.

#hankcon bingo #dbh #dbh fic #hankcon #my fic #my writing

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