#that’s right respect the city or get shat on

[deadsetobsessions]

Tim Drake, Danny’s human identity in this universe, is a boy trapped in an empty manor with absentee parents a low socialization.

Danny Phantom, on the other hand, is Gotham City himself. He could fly, he could interact, he could be the heart of his city like he needs to be. From the lowest of the lows to the highest of the highs, Danny loved the people that were his. Well, most of them. Child molesters often found themselves crossing paths with a vengeful, mostly recovered Robin.

He is the city, he is Gotham. And with his status came more changes, ones he welcomes more readily that the changes that came with his title of Ghost King.

Being a city couldn’t change him as much as it would have, had he gained the title before becoming King. But now, his shadows are dark, curling around his shoulders and curling away what little light he allowed into his city. His skin, having once glittered green with stars and galaxies and black holes, clouds over just a bit. It gives him a misty quality. His hands become sharper, stronger. Gargoyle-like. He wonders what he looked like to Batman, holding his broken son cradled safely to himself. He’s crueler, now, but that’s easily balanced by his years of being a vigilante himself.

He loves these changes. They are loved in a way changing into Dead Danny Phantom and Ghost King Danny Phantom will never be loved. And even though his human features are different in a way he never had to deal with as Danny Fenton, because it was his body that he died in, Danny finds himself enjoying the distinction. And he enjoys when they combine, because in the end, they’re just facets of who he is, now.

Gotham flies through his city, and enjoys it as a whole. A bigger picture.

Tim Drake walks through his city, and enjoys it as an individual. The smaller picture.

Being Gotham reminds him of what he had to protect as a whole. A duty he gladly bears.

Being Tim reminds him of the people he’s meant to help, the stories he doesn’t get as Danny. A connection he gladly encouraged.

Gotham is power. He is duty, he is fierce love. But for the good of the whole.

Tim is kindness. He is choice, he is gentle devotion. But for the good of the individual.

He’s both.

Danny. Danny Phantom.

Phantom glides through the smog.

The ebb and flow of people is his life blood, the thrumming of life and death and fear and hate and love and everything the city is sung through him and Danny sung back with everything he had. Danny is the gargoyles perched high, watching everything. He’s the stone curves of the sewers, sheltering his rats and mutant murderous crocodile man. The is no love comparable to a city’s mutant rats and their sewers. Ancients, he loves his city.

It would be nice, Danny thinks wryly, if they’d love me enough to stop blowing up buildings.

The sting of destruction to his city would hurt much more, had he not also been King. Regardless, every time there’s an explosion or general large scale property damage, he feels a stab of mild pain. Catching sight of his Bats, Danny stays invisible while following them. He wills the shadows to cradle them, to hide them further. He softens the stone, the mortar, the steel, just a hint. Their footsteps, silent and aided by the city himself. The wind steal away the noise of the grappling guns, so when Danny’s favorite vigilante duo (a fascination he shared with original text!Tim) broke into the building, not a single soul aside them are aware of the intrusion.

Batman skulks across the support beams, Robin following with an anticipatory grin. Danny floats, invisible, undetectable, besides them.

“C’mon!” A goon grunts beneath them. Danny tilts his head. A… Dresden Aberthy. Wow. That’s one hell of a name.

“Hurry it up! Boss said Batman’s going to get here soon!” Another goon- Robbert- said, waving around a gun like a moron at the terrified hostages. Danny could tell half of them were part of a tour bus, mostly because the other half were his Gothamites, bored and unfairly used to this kind of thing. The tourists… He’s fond of them, having kept track of their progress through his city. He doesn’t care for intruders on his haunt, but tourists like to appreciate his city and its doubtlessly Sam-approved architecture. Most of them. Rude tourists get pigeon shit on their heads and food stolen by his lovely rats.

He’ll have to make sure none of the bullets hit the tourists. He likes this group, even if he has enough awareness to question their sanity in choosing his city to sightsee. He knows it’s a mess. It’s Danny’s mess though, so whatever.

——

All said and done, Batman whoops ass and Robin rescues the hostages just fine. Danny grins proudly as Robin knees a guy in the crotch and punches a lady’s throat in order to incapacitate them.

After they tied the goons up, and interrogated them for Two Face’s plans- explode a quarter of Gotham to distract the Bats from his diabolical plan to murder half of Gotham’s judges and lawyers that have been going after him and his people- the duo retreats to the rooftop.

“Didja think Gotham saw that?”

Batman goes to reply, but Danny beats him to it, coming back to visibility with a wind touched laugh.

“I did, little Robin.” Danny smiles, fangs and shadows on display as his vigilantes startles and whips around to face him. “You did well.”

Robin- Jason!- gapes at him.

“I see you’ve recovered, little bird.”

“Gotham! Oh. Wow. People always said Gotham was a lady, but you’re a guy!”

“It was a Lady,” Danny confirmed. “It’s complicated, little bird.”

“So, you’re really… you’re really Gotham? The city?”

Danny looks at Robin with the weight of the city behind his gaze.

“I think you know the answer to that. But yes, I am your city.”

“Constantine,” Batman starts. “He said that city spirits only appear in times of grave danger.”

There is deference in his words. Batman is Batman for Gotham, after all. Danny just wishes he could… well, be friendlier with his knights. May this is a good place to start.

Are you in danger? What threats do we need to handle? How can I help? How can I protect? Please, let me help.

His Knight always felt more than he ever says. Danny smiles.

“Was Robin’s wellbeing not in grave danger?” Danny floats closer. “I am your city. You protect me, it is only right that I protect you, no?”

“Thank you for saving me, Gotham!” Robin’s grin is a touch more sincere than usual.

“Of course, Robin. You are loved.”

“Is there… a reason you’ve shown yourself today? Gotham.”

Danny chuckles, understanding the awkwardness that was Batman addressing someone with deference.

“I wanted to tell you that you did well tonight. Those tourists weren’t harmed in the slightest. Well done.” Danny gave Robin a playful but sincere thumbs up.

“They weren’t a match for us!”

“No, they weren’t.” Danny ruffles Robin’s hair, noticing how still he grew at it. “Robin was too fast for them. That maneuver at the end was masterfully executed.”

Batman clears his throat and Danny resists the urge to laugh at him. It would be mean.

“Thank you, for the… praise.”

Fuck it. He’s played well behaved for too long.

“Yes. I read in child rearing books that positive reinforcement is necessary for healthy development. You did well, Batman.”

Despite trolling Batman- and somehow holding a straight (and hopefully wise face)- he meant every word.

Allowing a small smile to slip at Robin’s chortles and Batman’s quiet sputtering, Danny moves on.

“Where is Nightwing, Batman?”

“He’s still on a mission...”

“If it is awkward to refer to me as Gotham, Phantom will do.”

Batman dips his head once. “In space, with the Teen Titans.”

“I see. Please tell him I request his presence,” Danny barely waits for Batman’s oddly acquiescing agreement before summoning a pigeon.

“Follow her,” Danny instructs the duo. “She’ll lead you to the places with explosives. I will guide you through her, to Harvey Dent.”

Danny winces as another explosion rings out.

“Your face is cracking!” Robin exclaimed, worried. He surged forward to stare at the hairline cracks appearing on Danny’s jaw.

“That would be the explosives. Any damage to the city will be shown on me.”

“Well take care of it.” Batman growled, shoulders straightening once more into an imposing symbol.

“Yeah!”

“I know you will. Stay safe.” Danny disappears, spreading his awareness and directing his Birds to the explosives that will go off the fastest.

Batman and Robin share a glance and leaps off the roof, ready to save their city once more.

——

Tim Drake wanders around Crime Alley, and meets a blonde nine year old trying to throw hands at her absentee Riddler knockoff of a dad. He dodges the brick en route to his face and kicks the guy’s knees out.

“You okay?”

The girl blinks. She stares at her dad, groaning on the dirty street of crime alley, and flicks her gaze back up to Tim, who waits casually.

“Yep. I’m Stephanie. We’re gonna be friends now!”

She grins at him, a baby tooth missing, and Danny melts.

“Heck yeah. Tim!” He introduces himself for the first time in a long time.

Maybe with Stephanie around, he’ll finally use the name Tim? Maybe he’ll get used to it, finally!

#Danny Phantom #danny is Gotham #gotham bay is a corpse dumping ground #gotham #batman #DCxDP #dpxdc #Bruce Wayne #Danny is a menace #he sets Gotham city pests upon rude tourists #that’s right respect the city or get shat on #Batman: no outsider heros unless with my express permission #Danny: literally fuck everyone else but my own city #also Danny: I’m a hero I gotta help people everywhere #batman: this is my city and he deserves all the respect and reverence #also Batman: that is a child asking me to save them I will do whatever #nightwing is still in place #tim drake is a menace #tim drake is a little shit #but in a slightly more eldritch way #instead of the sleep deprived unhinged badass that is original Tim

[sabrinaacarpenters]

Hi, I'm here to rant about the Inner Circle in ACOSF.

When I got to the point where the IC is discussing what Nesta should or should not know about HER OWN POWERS, especially when Feyre justifies it...URGH, you ever have the urge to get in a book and just strangle the characters? Yep, that was me.

But then, when Feyre finds out they did the same thing for her pregnancy as well....a part of me did feel sorry for her, because nobody should have to put up with that, BUT I was also like "How does it feel to be at the other end of the stick, Feyre?"

And Rhysand being like "Get Nesta out of this city before I kill her".... did he forget that he was talking about the most powerful person in Prythian at the time?

Anyway, if you have any IC Slander, now or from older posts, send it my way, please!

Hey! You came to the right place for the ic slander lmao

To be honest I was already mad at the ic at the intervention (so basically in ch 1 lmao), so when they voted on Nesta and her powers being kept from her I wasn’t even surprised, it was a peak feminist Rhysand its your choice™️ decision.

I felt really fucking bad for Feyre throughout the whole book tbh, because not only her mate was keeping secrets that threatened her life, but also all the people she considers friends and found family. Acosf just further showed us that the ic will always side with Rhys, it doesn’t matter that he made Feyre high lady - they will always side with him, and look to him first. I was expecting her to be way more mad, but Rhys can do no wrong in SJM’s eyes, so unfortunately it makes sense that it was swept under the rug and Feyre was okay with the fact she was going to die 2 hours after finding out about it and there were no consequences really.

The get her out of this city before I kill her line .. don’t get me wrong but I wasn’t even mad at Rhys - but only because I had zero expectations from him. he’s always treated Nesta like shit, he doesn’t give a fuck that Feyre wants to put the hostility behind them,and he’s treated Nesta as if she shat in his cereal bowl - up until the very end. What made me mad in this scene was the absolute lack of Cassian’s anger at him - it was so unrealistic that his mate’s life was threatened and he was like okay Rhys guess we’re going on a roadtrip then … like what ?? This was once again the example of the ‘Rhys can do no wrong mr feminist king’ and that Cassian’s undying loyality to the ic and especially Rhys is unhealthy.

I have made my peace with it and the ic since then, i was never really that into them as a friend group to be honest (they have nothing compared to the frendships in tog and i stand by that), so the disappointment wasn’t as big for me. The valkyries in one book showed more love and appreciation towards each other than the ic in 3 books, so I’ll always prefer them. I’m even fine with Rhys after everything, I mean he did shut down e/riel so I have to respect him for that lmao, and I ship feysand, because they are perfect for each other, just keep them away from my girl Nesta. The only one I’ll always passionately hate is Amren and I stand by the opinion that she should’ve stayed dead in acowar now she’s just there to be nasty and annoying.

This turned out to be a short story basically, sorry for that 😅 (I didn’t really post about these when acosf came out because I just wanted to focus on Nesta but I do have some anti mor and amren posts if you’re interested, I tagged them with acosf spoilers)

#acosf #anti inner circle #anti rhysand #replies #booksandbeans

[lacharcutiere]

𝖄𝖔𝖚’𝖑𝖑 𝕭𝖊 𝕸𝖞 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕴’𝖑𝖑 𝕭𝖊 𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕭𝖗𝖔

ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ; ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜꜱᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴡᴏ ʜᴜɴᴅʀᴇᴅ ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ. ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

prose inspired by the dick, charles. this is kind of historically accurate ?? and also on a lot of crack. also SIDE NOTE LMAO the AMOUNT OF RESEARCH i did for this fgdhjjsd because i wanted all the language and clothing and stuff to be pretty historically accurate (fun fact, first known use of “fuck” was in the 15th century !! language is incredible). this has been sitting in my google drive forever bc i cant figure out how to end it but i've been wanting to post it for forever so i think i'm just gonna do it as a series and have it go on for as long as i can think of more shenanigans

𝕿𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔭𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔞 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 with not a grain of sand nor a smattering of fresh bird droppings in sight, and the young men aboard the ship had begun to grow weary. Yet their captain and his first mate did not despair; perhaps—ironically—the last semblance of sanity which remained aboard that godforsaken vessel.

He went by the name of Kuroo, the captain, and cut a rather striking figure: he neglected to wear a coat, even in the cool winds of the open seas, instead donning a wine-red doublet over his shirt (Cold is but the absence of warmth, he oft said, and thus I never feel it), and his feathered velveteen beret was perpetually askew, hair mussed underneath it.

His first mate was called Bokuto, a strong, broad-shouldered young man without the demeanor to match. Instead, he was soft; kind-hearted and simple-minded, slow to anger and slow to wit.

‘Twas but another uneventful day at sea, or so they assumed upon waking that morning. At approximately half past eleven Kuroo was lazing in the chart room and neglecting his duties when he heard a commotion outside. It was then that the door swung open, and Ushijima stood just past the swollen wooden frame.

“Land, Captain.”

With great vigor, Kuroo rose from his seat and rushed past him, out to the main deck, where there was great joyful unrest among his boys: there had passed such a long time without the luxury of solid ground that they were approaching the point of forgetting anything but the rhythmic sway of water beneath their feet.

And so Kuroo took to the helm, and saw Bokuto in the crow’s nest, about to come tumbling down from it for he was imbued with such overwhelming excitement.

And Kuroo spoke: “My brethren,” he addressed them, “we are soon to arrive.”

To which Oikawa, whose presence provided the boys the luxury of a resident apprentice physician, responded, “We are aware, Cap’n.”

And Kuroo said, “Quiet, wilt thou! Speak not back to your captain.” He was met with compliance to his request, but it was accompanied with a miffed roll of the eyes.

“At times like these,” Kuroo continued, “I feel compelled to deliver an address.” He ignored the remarks which Oikawa and Terushina made under their breath. “And so I say: it is evident that though ye and I, brothers, possess no significance to the unfolding of the stars above us or the torrents of these storms which we have so solidly endured, we are great.

“Alas!” said Terushima under his breath as Kuroo continued.

“And we shall spread word of this greatness of ours to the peoples of this land which we have discovered most recently!”

“Aye!” came the echoing cheers of the crew.

There was a squawk of a gull above the crow’s nest, then, and it landed itself at the top of the mast and shat, narrowly avoiding the first mate’s head.

“Methinks it’d be best to come down from here, Cap’n,” called Bokuto.

“Come down, then; and thou needn’t tell me, my brother. Do whatever it is, that which suits thee best,” Kuroo shouted back.

“Aye,” said Bokuto, and he let himself down.

—

A short time later, they reached the land: the boys were nearly tripping over their own feet as they disembarked, praising the heavens for the gift of dry land.

It was now a strange feeling, though, Daichi lamented, to stand on ground which did not sway with the currents and the tides.

But they were so glad! They rejoiced and fell at nature’s feet and kissed the sand beneath them—a decision they soon came to regret, seeing that the grains took advantage of the openness of their mouths and eyes and settled themselves there.

A small number of them—Ushijima and Kita and Daichi—were more sensible, refraining from such imprudent displays of gratitude, and watched as the others swiftly jumped back to their feet, spitting sand and wailing at the sting of it in their eyes. And such humor settled itself upon the three, so as to tug a little at the corners of their lips; even the captain had made a fool of himself and so they laughed.

But Kuroo was, for the most part, unfazed, and he picked himself up from the ground and said, “Bleh! Fucking sand, it gets everywhere,” and he dusted it from his breeches.

Then, with a dramatic flourish, he unsheathed his sword—a fine rapier with its hilt plated in gold—and he pointed it to the sky. “Onward, my brothers!” he said, and, experiencing some difficulty, he sheathed it again as the last of the boys got to their feet.

Bokuto was at his side: “To where, Kuroo?”

Kuroo’s response came in the form of a blank stare. “Onward, I said.”

“Aye, Kuroo, to where? Does thou not see the vastness of this land we’ve come ashore to?”

“‘Tis land,” said Kuroo, and after a moment’s pause, announced, “We go inland.”

“There’s nowhere else to go, now, is there?” came Oikawa’s voice.

And turning to him, Kuroo spoke through gritted teeth, “It was not to thee whom I was speaking,” under his breath, adding, “Damned pseudo-intellectual.”

“Might I remind thee that I am the physician of this ship?”

“Have more respect for thy captain, cheap whore. Furthermore, thou art but a physician’s apprentice, if thou wish to be so called.”

Rightly offended and wrongly prideful, Oikawa turned, pretending not to have heard him, and Kuroo was utterly unbothered by this. He righted himself then, and turned his back to the sea. “On we go, lads!”

And they went.

—

But there was little of interest on this isle where they landed; it was only sand and softer earth further inland, and grass and a selection of trees (which, Daichi noted, were astonishingly similar to those of the land from whence they came). There were few birds.

Thusly, after having spent a day there, they were once again on their way.

They remained near the coast of this isle for some time, though, seeing as it was rather large and therefore they had been unable to traverse much of its terrain on foot, and desiring to know whether more interesting findings were to be found further down.

And there were! After sailing another day, they came across a port, and there Kuroo ordered the ship to be docked. The men at the harbor required a fee which he could not pay in currency, he offered them instead recompense in the form of the apprentice physician.

Though Oikawa was at first vehemently opposed to this, he was soon somewhat placated by the first mate’s vow that they would return later to recover him.

So they went on into the town that they had found; a city crawling with life and fowl. It was evening, and they were in need of a place to stay. But they had little money on their persons, and thus they were in need of finding some beforehand.

#haikyuu #haikyuu captains #haikyuu aus #haikyuu crack #historical au #historical haikyuu #haistory ??? #kuroo tetsuro #bokuto kotaro #oikawa toru #daichi sawamura #terushima yuuji #ushijima wakatoshi #kita shinsuke #i don't remember if any other captains have been name-dropped thus far #anyway #pls i'm rereading this for the first time in months and i forgot how mf funny this is #sfw #pirate au #piratecore #crack #enjoy <3

[yourpicasso25]

Pharmacie Hattan

In lovely (if I say so myself) Fouillis Lesoyes, there is a nice house...

With an equaly nice adjacent building:

The pharmacie Hattan!

With the usual cosmetics and stuff in there... I swear, I think those guys sell more make up than medecine, these days!

Which, come to think of it, may not be that bad an idea, considering the owners...

First, the master of the house and the only actual pharmacist, Dr Charles Hattan. Have one thing to say about his professional compétence: He would have done GREAT a couple hundreds years earlier, when a good provider in “poudres d’héritage” was indeed a precious man to know the name of... for certain people.

As it is, the average Fouillysoviens are lucky medecine come out of other labs. Charles still dabbles a bit, his natural talent getting him a nice position in the Lerequin Organisation (on a strictly confidential standing, of course).

As Charles was getting on years, it looked like he was going to stay single... Till he met Marie Hélène...

Marie Helène Hattan, is what you could call a study in fakery.

That’s her dance studio you can see up the Pharmacy right here. She usualy tell her students (and the student mothers)  of being called Maria Helenovna Tanserev, a respected member of the Bolchoi who’s ran away from the unwanted attention of a cruel mafia boss...

And smile modestly when people comment on her perfect French accent. Which they should not, since Germaine Marie Helène Ducbuche was born in Paris, near Montrouge.

She was indeed a dancer for a couple of years at the Opera, but once it became apparent she wasn’t going to emerge from the recesses of the “corps de ballet” anytime soon... if ever... Well, it was time for plan B.

Plan B involved a gentleman with a nice wallet... And getting pregnant ( which medical personnel isn’t immune against, contrary to what they seem to think sometimes).

Charles was not immediately on board, but when it turned out the child was male... well, the appeal of an heir to his name and business had it’s appeal. And Marie Helène was flatteringly young and pretty (He discovered the Germaine bit at city hall when they got married and wasn’t amused.)

So Marie Hélène doesn’t get to see the ghost of her husband anytime soon (Mayor Latruite was VERY firm about that!), and stroll around in Louboutin and 120% real Chanel suits she gets in that darling boutique near the Sentier  (Babette Lerequin saw her once and laughed for two hours straight). She is sometimes in the company of her poodle, when Princess (the only member of that family with any sort of pedigree) can be conviced to leave her bed.

Last, the son and Heir, Jon Hattan. My game tells me he’s a sensitive child, to which I can only say “Good luck!”

Case in point, the family reaction when Marie Helène suggest holding hands in public, to “seem friendly with each other”

AND... a lovely shot of the Vergogne river and the canal, to cleanse oll of that.

PS: CC magic worked fine, even with the crapton of CC I put in there... except it shat all other my pattern folder. So I have to get some new ones and get them via the launcher I guess... Hate the bloody thing.

#sims 3 #champs les sims #sims 3 screenshots

[5lazarus]

Winter in Amaranthine, Ch. 4: Oghren

Summary: The Wardens' companions decide to leave, and Warden-Commander Arana Mahariel cannot find a reason good enough to tell them no. Meanwhile, letters between the Warden and Leliana get lost in translation, and Arana makes it worse. Chapter 4, Oghren: Oghren sobers the Warden up.

Read on AO3 here. On Tumblr, read here for Justice & Anders, here for Velanna & Sigrun, and here for Nathaniel Howe.

She stays in her office all night drinking. Arana sits at her desk and sips slowly at her tumbler, enjoying the warp of the fire in the high-priced Serault glass. She is perhaps the only Dalish elf to ever have the privilege to drink from glassware normally preserved for the Divine and Her Holiness’ followers. They had been sent to the Divine as a bribe from the notoriously eccentric Marquis de Serault and waylaid by Leliana. Remembering that, Arana’s hand tightens around the glass and she contemplates smashing it, as she has smashed most of the relationships in her life. But she is the Warden-Commander of Ferelden and the Arlessa of Amaranthine, and it looks bad enough that she is drunk--she does not want to imagine what the servants would say, if they had to clean up glass worth several years of their salary. Instead of breaking it, she tops up her glass. She wakes up to the cool seabreeze whistling outside of her open office window, gulls crying out for bread. Blearily she pulls her head off her desk, cheek sticking slightly to the surface. Her head is heavy but the hangover has not begun to ring through her yet. Arana wrinkles her nose: coffee in a silver pot, embossed with the Warden crest, steams before her, with an equally beautiful silver cup. “Drink up,” Oghren says. “You’re gonna need it.”

She fixes him with a red-eyed stare. Did she cry last night? She should have, if she didn’t. “Food?” she asks. They have done this before, the two of them, after they killed Branka, after Alistair left, and then Leliana. Oghren grunts. “Enough to tide you over,” he says. “Servant’ll be bringing it up, not me.” Ashara snorts. “Distinctions of rank must be preserved,” she says drily. “You want a cup? I imagine you brought your own.”  A servant knocks on the door and brings in a hefty rasher of bacon, thickly-sliced, and three eggs fried in the grease, along with a shot glass of a mysterious green liquid. Ashara raises an eyebrow at Oghren. “Pickle juice,” Oghren grunts. “Works every time. Now get eating, we have to get to the city by noon.” “You don’t give me orders, Warden,” Ashara says, and laughs when Oghren rolls his eyes. “Fine. Enjoy your hangover. I’ll take the bacon.” Oghren feints towards the food, and Ashara waves him off. She eats, feeling her flesh gradually restore around her bones, and takes that shot of pickle juice. It is all surprisingly good. “No hair of the dog?” she says. “That’s a road you don’t want to go down,” Oghren says. “Trust me. Been trying to walk back up it for three months.” He grins at her. “Three months sober today. Sister Nightingale sent me a pretty little amulet to wear. Silver. Supposed to ward off poison.” He laughs. “‘Nuff poison I’ve thrown into myself. And out.” “You’ve been corresponding,” Arana says flatly. She sips her coffee. Leliana has been corresponding personally with Oghren, but has not bothered to send her a letter in months. She is furious--how can she find Oghren more pleasant to talk to than her? Did her letter anger her that much? She could have at least written her back, rather than turning her quill towards other people--to Oghren, of all people. Arana tolerates Oghren, and sometimes she even likes him--she has grown to respect him, after he joined the Wardens and apologized to Felsi, and she knows sobriety is not easy. Still, out of everyone left at Vigil’s Keep, one would think she rates higher than that fool. But Leliana has always liked a good redemption story, especially if she can prompt it. Arana scowls again. Oghren snorts at the look on her face. “Aye,” hen said. “And that’s why I’m taking you on a walk.” “Is this an intervention? I’m not a drunk, Oghren. Not like you--were.” “Andraste’s tits,” he says. “You’re not a drunk like me, no, and you haven’t puked away all your opportunities and shat on all your loved ones--” “You shat on Felsi?” Arana interrupts. Arana occasionally finds Oghren’s stories reassuring: it is always nice to know that someone has fucked up more than she ever can. Oghren pauses. “No!” He considers it. “Maybe. Her doorstep, more like it.” “And she answers your letters.” Arana leans back in her chairs and downs her coffee. Leliana doesn’t answer her letters, and Arana has never even drooled on her, let alone shat on her doorstep. “Sweet Sylaise, that woman has the patience of a Keeper.” Oghren snorts. “She doesn’t answer my letters, but she certainly cashes the notes I send her. You good? You drank your coffee? You gonna eat that? Let’s go.” They leave the keep quietly. The keep is bustling as usual, with the trainers and the recruits and the cooks and the cleaners running about. Arana catches sight of Ser Pounce watching from a young tree she planted, that passes as a Vhenadahl, and she stops a second. Ser Pounce cocks his head at her and mews. He looks very well-fed. “He hasn’t been hunting the Blighted rats, has she?” she asks anxiously. “I do not want Anders to hear we poisoned his cat.” Oghren says, “Ser Pounce took out a hurlock alpha. Think he’s immune to the Blight at this point, Commander.” Ser Pounce lets out a meow, and disappears into the leaves. Arana hopes he has not been pissing on the tree. They move off the main road to avoid listeners, and because Arana deeply craves the woods, the feel of the living earth under her soles, and the whisper of the lost that press against the almost sheer Veil, trying to get their stories heard. They trudge along in silence for the first hour. Oghren hums to himself. He is not a particularly good singer, Arana well knows, but she enjoys having company. They meander, and Arana loses herself in the cool gray copse that acts as a natural barrier between Vigil’s Keep and anyone avoiding the King’s Road. When they are far  from Vigil’s Keep but still an hour  from Amaranthine City, Oghren finally speaks up. “You been getting a lot of mail lately.” “Yes,” Arana says. “I have certainly been filing my dispatches.” Oghren looks at her sideways. “Dispatches,” Oghren says. “From ol’ King Alistair, from that warden from Clan Lavellan, maybe even one or two from Tabris. But nothing from Surana, or Brosca, or Zevran, or Leliana even. Except that one, right? From the batch that came in before Anders left.” “Are you reading my mail?” Arana says, annoyed. Her hand reaches for her sword handle. “Fen’Harel take you, dwarf, those letters contain sensitive information, and you are enough of a drunk--” Oghren raises both hands. “Three months sober,” he emphasizes. “Since Anders left. Ser. Though I guess I’ll always be a drunk, I’ll be a dry drunk for sure. And no--I file your mail. Quartermaster told me to make myself useful, and it keeps me from going to the tavern for lunch.” Arana deflates. She crosses her arms instead, and looks up at the bald trees reaching for the gray sky. It does not snow in Amaranthine, even in winter. She hopes it does not rain. Oghren continues, “Struck me as weird, it did. That you’d only get official business, but Tabris was writing Velanna and Nathaniel, Leliana was checking in with me every two weeks, Alistair even sent me some cheese. ‘Twas moldy to be sure, but I think he did that on purpose.” “Some Orlesian cheeses are supposed to be moldy,” Arana says, amused despite herself. “Leliana told me.” Oghren shot her a look. “Didn’t it strike you as weird that Leliana was writing me but not you? And I didn’t want to intrude on whatever your lover’s spat was, I know how you get.” Arana opened her mouth to protest, but Oghren barreled on, “So I did some investigating. And guess what I found out?  The courier who takes letters from the crossroads, and sends them up the coast? Well, her husband’s got an Orlesian last name, and his cousin works in the Divine’s scriptorium.” His moustache twitches as he beams up at her triumphantly. “The Divine’s been stealing your mail, lass. She’s trying to fuck you and Leliana up.” He spreads his arms out, as if he is expecting applause. “You took me out here to tell me this?” Arana says incredulously. “You couldn’t have told me this in front of my fire?” As she says that, she feels a cold drop hit her forehead. She wipes it away, crestfallen. It begins to rain. She glares down at him. Oghren says cheerfully, “Better get to Amaranthine quick. Time to sprint!” They reach the city gates, mudsplattered, soaked, and sour. Arana bitches the whole way back onto the King’s Road and through the gates. It is the most she has spoken since Velanna left, and her throat gets sore. “And now!” she exclaims, as Oghren shepherds her towards a relatively nice inn near the alienage, “now my throat hurts! I will get a cold, and I will be bedridden, and someone else will need to find a polite way to tell the Chantry they have no right to censor us for recruiting whomever wanted to flee Kinloch Hold, while simultaneously keeping them from scrutinizing too heavily whatever Blighted nugshit Weisshaupt is up to--you know Morrigan has been sighted in Serault, bearing a writ from the Divine? And somehow it’s my fault.” She has not spoken this much, or so openly, since Surana last visited, and though she knows it is perhaps unwise to confide this all in Oghren of all people, she cannot stop the torrent of words. “And, and, I need to apologize to my clan, and--” In the corner of the steaming inn, a woman sits, tuning a lute. Arana stops dead. Leliana looks up and smiles. “My love,” she says. “My heart.”

#leliana/mahariel #female mahariel #oghren #oghren & mahariel #leliana #warden #dao #dragon age #awakening #fanfic #dragon age fanfic #winter in amaranthine

[roguestarsailor]

thoughts on a court of mist and fury *spoilers*

***** lots of spoilers folks *****

- MY GIRL FEYRE IS READING!! SHES READING LIKE REGULARLY AND CASUALLY IM SO PROUD

- RHYSAND MY LOVE I TAKE BACK ALL THE BAD THINGS I SAID IN BOOK ONE AND YOU ARE A BABY THAT NEEDS TO BE LOVED AND PROTECTED AND DESERVE PEACE AND QUIET AND MORE LOVE

- tamlin needs therapy like pronto; we dont stan a unsupportive partner and partner who is unwilling to share pain!! CANCEL TAMLIN 2020

- rhys popping up during the wedding scene was *chef’s kiss* and i noticed that he didn’t “claim” her as he said he would for like three months after everything. i suspect he was being a good person and literally letting her live her life. also for loving someone, tamlin was super chill and just kind of let her go??? idk i thought there would be more of a fight??? when feyre was literally like why are your claws retracting man?? fight for me??? hello??? but then again rhys is definitely more powerful than tamlin and probs some unspoken laws and such between high lords i guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ anyways tamlin aint shit

- page 296-298! fucken shook me to my core. that self awareness, that confrontation, she identified the core of everything and it was such a turning point and im just so proud of her!!! She's recognizing her traumas and is healing!!!!!!!!!!

- yeah i immediately ship cassian and nesta; i hope she fucks shit up in the next book  😀 😀 😀 😀  

- maybe az and mor are truly the slowest of slow burns   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- i pictured pollution from good omens as how Amren is suppose to look like

- rhys is such a strong leader and im just -- baby deserves all the love. He's really good at plotting. He really made feyre learn all these things so they can nurture their love but also be a strategic advantage its interesting that even tho theres love there he still treats her like a weapon

- the joy in his rhys eyes when they winnowed into his regular ass town house that feels super lived in. and his friends banging on the door like he isn’t the feared night court high lord that he is. that was so refreshing to see that hes a regular person and not that high lord man who lives in a near empty mansion. he puts on a mask for everyone but he himself is just a regular fae.  

- reading about the peace that velaris was able to live through was beautiful. i imagined a city like san francisco with the hills and views of the ocean but kind of like the peace found in super small towns or cities in asia; maybe even some european cities (which is prob where this location is inspired by but i haven’t visited many euro cities). the scenes of ppl dining out, making art and music and just chilling is so lovely esp given our current pandemic. art is so treasured there and im like thats the epitome of a great society isn’t it? being able to do things because you just can without the pain of financial insecurity, civil unrest, etc. i definitely would love and die and for a society like that. its just so wonderful. i was filled w happiness while reading those scenes. :)

- rhys and his inner circle taking feyre out into the town and just being casual. nobody treats them like theyre royalty or anything special. theyre just a regular group of friends who enjoy hanging out. its super nice and nostalgia inducing esp during this pandemic when friends are so far away and not like it used to be.

- when rhys immediately saw how under weight and dead freye looked when she was in spring court -- AND IT WAS THE FIRST THING HE SAID TO HER WHEN HE SAW HER THROUGH THE DOOR WHILE TAMLIN DIDNT FUCKEN NOTICE

- i also take back my frustrations in book 1 when freye always wondering around the grounds in spring court esp during calanmai. i thought it was because the author needed to move the story forward but its just freye. she doesnt sit still and now that shes w rhys, we are seeing soooooo many things about prythian and thats beautiful. tamlin was truly a hinderance huh

- rhys sent her music when she was in the cell in Under The Mountain which was found in velaris. maybe he wasnt risking a lot but he just showed her a glimpse of the forbidden world right under aramantha’s nose holy shit he saved her from destruction!

- when rhys had his nightmare and feyre came to comfort him and kissed him on the cheeks and gave him such tenderness made my heart sing~

- rhys is literally opposite of tamlin is soooo many ways. RHYS DID THINGS OUT OF LOVE, WHILE TAMLIN DID THINGS FOR LOVE. everything from how rhys made sure feyre can grow into who she is meant to be, to how he introduces her to his friends and how he interacts w everyone in his court, how he handles pain, everything is so different than tamlin. tamlin feels pain and just bulldoze over things, doesn’t think about how his actions are hurting others even as he is hurting. he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t share, he doesn’t try to get himself or feyre out of this misery and just sees threats everywhere and hits them. he was also supper passive honestly. no doubt hes riddled w guilt and grief but can’t figure out how to handle it so he uses feyre as his crutch where if he can “save” her he will be free smh

- rhys PAYS feyre!! HE GAVE HER FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE AND RESPECT FOR HER WORK!! THE INDEPENDENCE THAT TAMLIN DIDNT FUCKEN GIVE.

- THOSE NOTES THEY SEND TO EACH OTHER SINCE FREYE CAN READ AND WRITE NOW

- Ianthe was sus from the beginning!! i knew it!! although i did bet she was gonna sleep w tamlin on the side. But she's a lot worst so we don't like her either

- the throne room scene was steamy af this time its fine because there was ~consent~ and also because we see the dynamic and growth between the two and how they work together. this was great although I was kind of like pls get a room tho

- RHYS SMILING!!! FEYRE AND RHYS LAUGHING TOGETHER UGH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

- THEY ARE MATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FEYRE AND RHYS FOUND EACH OTHER AND HAD SO MANY SHARED TRAUMAS AND WORKED IT OUT TOGETHER AND GREW TOGETHER AND LEARNED ABOUT EACH OTHERS QUIRKS AND ITS JUST LOVE IN ITS PUREST FORM UGH THAT SCENE WHERE RHYS WAS CRYING AND FEYRE HEATED UP FOOD FOR THE BABY AHH MY HEARTTTTT  MY WHOLE ENTIRE HEARTTTTTT IS BURSTING WITH LOVEEEEEE

- LUCIEN AND ELAINE HOLY FUCK WHAT A LEFT FIELDER i hope this is the push that will propel lucien to defy tamlin. going back to the contrast between how tamlin vs his court and rhys vs his court, rhys has a group of unwavering loyal friends and are treated equally esp letting them joke around so much and it feels like a casual group of friends hanging out. tamlin has just as much loyalty from lucien but theres still a power structure that tamlin maintains. luciens words doesn’t have much weight whereas rhys’s friends do. both tamlin and rhys have so much power and sway and similarity in traumas and tragedy but both execute things completely differently. tamlin only wants to upload what he is familiar with, maybe what he thinks his father wants whereas rhys actively tries to think of something better, to change the system regardless of how hard it is.

- tamlin you dumbass. He didn't learn from amarantha. He again let his pride fuck over a bunch of other ppl. He shat on amarantha and fucked over his court. Now he fucked the rest of prythian and human world by bargaining w the king. Smh goodbye tamlin

- I straight up knew the queens were bad!!! I knew they had to be plotting something. The sixth is "ill" my ass.

- LADY OF THE NIGHT COURT LETS GO FEYRE AND WOOWW WE STAN A MAN BREAKING TRADITIONS AND SUPPORTING EQUALITY

- when hybern was destroying velaris. I WAS GONNA THROW HANDS BRO. I'm glad we saw the extend of how powerful feyre could be and how she was clever and we can really see how she's completely different from before. She has bite and fight in her and it's so refreshing!

- how about we let az and cassian live in peace. Those boys had to deal w the blunt of literally everything. from being the only shield in valeris to poison/hurt wings against the king, just beat up all the time 🥺

- suriel is their version of a wikipedia

--

I read all 600 damn pages in like 2.5 days and I was loving it the entire time! My heart sored when feyre and Rhys were getting close and starting to break down their walls and really connect. This was a truly good enemies to lovers, slow burn tale and the drama is so great. There were good stakes that changes a character and their behavior and a good balance of action and excitement but at the same time so many little moments that let u see the character and how they interact w each other and the world. a lot of big plot moments, slice of life moments, a bit of romance and comedy. overall, an amazing book but super long. thus far this is my favorite book and im hoping the rest of the books can be just as charming and lovely but not too heart breaking. i hope rhys and feyre makes it. i cannot predict what to expect in the other books in the series (isn’t there gonna be 8 books total???) 

#amandathoughts #bookthoughts #acotar #acomaf #a court of mist and fury #a court of thorns and roses #book 2 #sarah j maas #acomaf thoughts #i said a lot because this book had so much content #acotr #amandabookthoughts #feyre #rhysand #feyre archeron #feyre x rhysand

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chater 78

Chapter Summary -  Tom worries when Danielle does not return and when she finally does, she declares something that could truly end them, will Tom be able to persuade her to stay?

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe​ @wolfsmom1​

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

That night, Tom did not sleep, any car that passed the street he was over to the window to see if it was Danielle returning, but she never returned home. Come eight o'clock the next morning, he was tired and frantic. Taking out his phone, unsure of where to even start, he dialled Emma's number.

"Hey Tom, what's up?"

"Is Danielle there?"

"No, she left Mac here though."

"Mac?"

"Yeah, last night she said it was a bit of an emergency and asked us to mind him, and that she would be coming to get him today."

"I will get him in a few minutes, did she say where she was going?"

"No, Tom what's going on." Tom didn't answer. "You had a fight, didn't you?"

"It was just a disagreement."

"How bad did you fuck up?"

"What makes you say it was me?"

"The way you're talking, because it is you calling me looking for her, not the other way around."

"I said something stupid and now she is gone."

Emma sighed. "Tom, she is just pissed off, she'll calm down when you grovel as much as you need to."

"She said it's done, we're done."

"How much of an asshole were you?"

"If you see her, please tell her to ring me," Tom begged.

"That much?"

"Please Em."

"Fine, I'll tell her," Emma stated. "Now come get the dog. If you have him, she'll have to go back to yours sooner or later."

Tom grabbed his keys, admitting that Emma was right and rushed out the door to get to hers and back as fast as possible. He was met with a cold look and a comment to sort himself out from Emma before getting Mac into his car. "I don't suppose you know where she's gone, do you fella?" Mac just looked at him expectantly, waiting for the car to start. "Come on, she might come home soon." He reversed out of Emma's driveway and drove back to his own part of the city.

Relief flooded him when he arrived back to his and he saw Danielle's car in the driveway; barely remembering to open the car door for Mac, he rushed up the steps and into the house. "Watch it." he had to come to a sudden halt when he almost collided with Danielle in the hallway as she made her way down the stairs with an arm full of clothes.

"Elle, please, we need to talk."

"I can't, I am late for a flight."

"Flight?"

"Yes, I need to get to the airport."

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"You are home."

"I am going back to Ireland," she stated, not looking at him, putting the clothes into a waiting suitcase.

"You said you were going on Wednesday."

"I moved my flight forward." she looked at Mac, who was now standing in front of her panting. "I left him with Emma for a reason."

"I can mind him."

"No, he is my dog; and he is supposed to go to the kennels." She said firmly. "It's not fair to confuse him."

"He won't be." Tom argued, "We'll be fine together." Danielle bit her cheeks together. "Please Elle, look at me." she barely glanced at him. "I am so sorry."

"For what part?" She asked, her tone and demeanour telling him she wasn't overly interested in anything he had to say. "Look, Tom, we're too different, you seem to want a public all-access relationship, I want something more low-key, I want someone who actually wants to be with me, someone who doesn't say cruel and hurtful things because I want to be ready for whatever their life entails. Yes, I am colder in some respects, I get that, but the reason for which was because you were more outgoing and cheerful in public before, but you toned yourself down, I was only making sure that I was too, to make sure I did not embarrass you, to make sure no one I worked with could actually accuse me of being a snob, a name pusher or a bitch, but I guess I should have been more concerned with you thinking that, my bad." She swallowed back tears as she got her suitcase and made for the door, walking around Tom, who was also trying to control his emotions, she knelt down as Mac whined beside her. "Be a good boy okay? I'll arrange to come back to you as soon as I can." she kissed the top of Mac's head and scratched his ear before turning to Tom. "I have him booked in from today at the kennels, give them his food," she instructed before walking forward again, Tom's tear-filled eyes mirroring the heartbreak in her own. "I guess I don't need this anymore." She extended her hand, in it was the key Tom had given her to the house.

"No," Tom's voice broke, "No, Elle, please, you can't. I'm sorry."

"I heard you, sorry doesn't mean I am obliged to forgive you though Tom, it isn't a magic sponge that makes everything better. Take the key."

"No, this, this is yours, to here, our home."

"Your home, Tom," she shook her head. "Not mine, I am going home."

"For a few days, right, not forever?"

"No, I am coming back, but I am not sure I should come here. Bring my stuff to your mums when you get a chance, or leave them, I can collect them when suits."

"No, no, you're not doing this, we can work through it."

"What part Tom, the part where my feelings don't matter, the part where I am not something you concern yourself with over fame or the part where I am a 'brat' for feeling as I do?"

"I was just upset, I didn't mean it, I swear."

"What woman would stay to be called such a thing again Tom, what girl is stupid enough to allow herself to be spoken down to like that?"

"I am sorry, please." he stepped forward and touched her gently, his tears falling. "Please Elle, I love you. I want to be with you, have a life with you."

"No, you want the idea of that, I don't think you are not ready for it yet." She stated sadly. "I am not really in a place for that right now either I suppose, I cannot be with someone who cannot accept me as I am and I definitely cannot be with someone who cannot recognise that I am working on something to be a better partner for them. I was stupid to ever allow this, I thought I could be what you needed, what you wanted, but I can't."

"You are everything I wanted and needed and far more." Tom touched her face. "Please Elle, I am so sorry, I am." he leant down to try and kiss her, but she pulled back. "Elle."

"Here." she held out the key. "Take it." Her voice cracked as she tried to stay strong, but Tom refused to take the key, so she walked over to her suitcase again and left the key on the table inside the doorway. "Goodbye, Tom, thank you for everything," were her last words as she walked out the door and towards her car.

Heartbroken, Tom rushed to the door and pulled it open, Danielle had not made it down the steps before he jumped to the bottom. "No, I cannot let you go."

"You don't really get a choice."

"You cannot end us like this, we have one argument and you are fleeing, like everything doesn't matter, every 'I love you', every time we woke up together, every time we had sex, it all matters." Danielle swallowed and looked around to see if anyone could hear them. "I don't care about that anymore Elle, I don't care who knows."

"But that is the issue, you don't, I do." She snapped. "I am not ready, I was trying to be ready, I was trying to do it right, for you, and I apparently was all wrong."

"No," Tom shook his head. "No, you are so amazing for doing that, please, listen to me, you try do hard to be perfect for me but I never realised, you never said…"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does, Elle, I love you."

"So? Saying that isn't going to make this better Tom, how can you mean it if you literally go off on me for not being happy with you fawning over your bitch of an ex who tried very hard I might add, to make me suffer at work and when I tell you how that feels to me, you accuse me of being the reason for it. Explain that to me, tell me how that is loving me. I love you and you know what I get? Shat on. I work hard, I try to make a name for myself, I try to be more than some mediocre girlfriend but I cannot compete with her and clearly, that actually matters."

"It doesn't."

"Then why make your entire interview with a prestigious magazine about her? And we both know that story about the t-shirt is bullshit, one, because her scrawny ass model friends would never have something that oversized as to fit a fully grown man and two because you had a love heart with her name on your shoulder. Or are you forgetting that little nugget? I ask for nothing, not to be talked about, but I guess that was too much." She turned and walked to the car, throwing her suitcase into the backseat before getting into the driver's seat.

"Why are you taking your car?"

"Because I have to."

"I will give you a lift."

"I don't have time now Tom, so thanks but no thanks." She reversed out of the driveway, being careful of the Jaguar as she did so.

Tom could only watch as she drove down the street and away from him, feeling himself become more and more upset as she did. He had hardly walked back inside the house, defeated and alone; when his phone rang; thinking it was Danielle, he answered it without looking at the number, "Elle?"

"No, sorry." Ben's voice came down the phone, "How are you?"

"I can't talk now."

"Hey, what's up, you sound upset?"

"Elle left."

"Didn't you say she was off to Ireland for a few days sometime around now?"

"Not that kind of left."

"Wait, left as in it's over, she is moving out?"

"Yes."

"Fuck, what happened?"

"I was an asshole and she left."

"You are going to have to go into more detail than that I'm afraid before I will pass judgement," Tom explained what happened with the GQ interview, Danielle's reaction and their subsequent argument. "Okay, so you were a slight bit of an asshole." Ben conceded. "Not an all-out one though."

"Tell that to Elle."

"Where is she now, Suffolk?"

"The airport probably. She said her flight was soon."

"She is going somewhere?"

"Back to Ireland."

"Permanently?"

"Jesus I hope not."

"Well get your case together, take the time apart to work on your plea and when she comes back, grovel," Ben suggested.

"Are you an actor or a solicitor?"

"I am a friend, trying to help you get your ass in gear and save your relationship."

"Can I ask you something?"

"I am scared to say yes," Ben seemed to be on the verge of wincing.

"The article, did you read it?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I actually agree with Elle now that you told me what she thinks, it is one thing to not mention her, I know she has made it clear she is not ready for that yet, but to go on like that about Swift, I mean, poor Elle probably thinks she can't compete."

"There is no competition, I love Elle, I want to be with Elle."

"Then why say those things to the magazine?"

"I wanted to make it clear that it wasn't some stupid PR stunt."

"No, instead now it is a lovesick puppy act." Ben pointed out. "Danielle is just upset, hopefully with a little time to think about it, she will calm down."

"She is too stubborn."

"Jesus, I wonder who else can be accused of that?" Ben scoffed. "Look, if I was with Sophie and spoke about Olivia like that, very rightfully she would be pissed off. Think of it this way, if Elle went to Sophie and said she wished she was still with the doctor, that she was the one pregnant with his baby, how would you feel?" There was no response, nor was one needed. "Exactly, that is why she is so hurt now, and with the added extra of you calling her a brat, she is not too pleased."

"I never should have said that, I have been calling myself far worse since."

"I bet you have, but that doesn't help her get over her hurt. She needs time, she'll come round, she loves you, Tom, against her better judgement."

Tom just sighed and agreed, thinking not to argue. There was a knock on his door, "I better go, there's someone here." He walked over and opened it to see a flustered and frustrated Danielle on the other side. "Elle?"

"It's your fucking fault I missed my flight," She snapped, walking into the house. "With your talking, I was late and I forgot my passport."

"Will you make it now?" Tom asked, looking at her, his phone in his hand.

"My flight is in fifteen minutes, so I think it is safe to assume I will have to book another one." She walked upstairs to retrieve the document.

"Not telling you what to do but this may be the divine inspiration you were needing here," Ben shouted down the phone, having heard Tom and Danielle's interchange. Tom pressed the 'end call' button and took Benedict's advice, rushing up the stairs to see if Danielle would talk to him.

"Elle?" He walked into the bedroom to see Danielle crying, sitting on the bed. Immediately he rushed over to her, kneeling in front of her. "Elle."

"I want to hate you," she admitted through her tears.

"I know, it is easier to be mad if you don't love someone."

"I really do want to." She looked at him, "Why did you have to say those things?"

"I was an idiot, I am an idiot. I said so much more than she printed, I said I was happy now, I found things in life that brought me joy, I hoped she would print that, I wanted to say it to show you I was thinking of you but didn't want to reference you. I said about Mac, how he has made me happy, his carefree attitude and amazing story from street mongrel to spoiled brat pup made me think more about life, about living in the moment." Danielle smiled at that. "I wanted to tell her I found you but I wanted to keep you to myself a little longer, I wanted to not have to share you with the world yet, it isn't time yet, I still want it to be just you and me. I love you so much, Danielle, I don't want Taylor or anyone else, I want you, only you. I was an asshole, I made you feel like shit, like you are worthless, you are not worthless, you are everything to me." He cupped her face in his hands, she would not look at him. "I should not have dismissed your hurt, I should just have listened to you, telling you it was done wrong. I should not have said what I said." He tried to tilt her head up to look at him. "I love you."

"I don't want to love you right now." Tom felt his chest tighten at that. "I want to be angry at you." She inhaled deeply to settle herself. "I want to leave." Tom could not stop fresh tears from falling, Danielle leant forward slightly, leaning her forehead against Tom's. "Here, I'll forgive you too easily."

"Please, please forgive me." He begged, she said nothing. Braving the risk of her rejection, he gently pressed his lips to hers, kissing her chastely at first before kissing her again, then again, each one more passionate than the one before, before slowly coaxing her up the bed, not ceasing until she was lying with her head on the pillows, kissing her again, waiting for her to get it to go further. "Forgive me."

Danielle thought for a moment of everything Tom had said, of the article and of how it made her feel, but she also reminded herself of what they had done together, of how incredibly happy she usually was most of the time since being with Tom, and how the rest of the time she was generally upbeat too. She thought about what he said he had also mentioned to the reporter, of how happy he was in general with his life, she knew the woman could have focused on Taylor as no one had gotten an in-depth interview with him on the matter before that, so anything else he said could have been discarded for it. She had no idea if she should allow herself forgive him that easily, and as he patiently waited for her consent, by action or by word, she continued to think for a moment, knowing she would have to give her answer.

#I Hate You I Love You #chapter 78 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic #wolfpawn

[goldtips]

okay so ya girl is back at it again. this was originally going to be a reply to someone but well. it got out of hand. i shat all over babylon the anime a while ago and honestly kind of feel bad. there are definitely things that the show does that makes it stand out, esp as a seasonal anime bc you dont expect dir. to spend much time on them!!!! like if we’re comparing this to shows like fanservice anime or any .. mediocre seasonal isekai then ofc this show is better lmfao. the only reason i shit on it is because i expected this anime to be Better ;;;;;;;

mind, i’m not rescinding my statement - as far as i’m concerned, babylon is still a hella frustrating anime because it tries to showcase humans as nihilistic, utilitarian robots that don’t seem to consider the topic of suicide emotionally even though thats supposedly humanity’s defining trait ??? and it deals with the topic of suicide with the care of elephants gallivanting in the fucking savanna :))) the whole show has also been pretty lacklustre in terms of characterization, trying way too hard to be intellectual and feed edgy plot points instead of giving any development - the plot feels reactionary overall and placid rather than exciting. also, the fact that the anime started as a mystery / politico-legal sort of show just makes the transition from that to abstract theory even more forced...........

HOWEVER im promised im going to stop shitting on babylon so lets talk about what the anime does right shall we. more specifically,,, the biblical imagery!!! is great !!!! : D

the show is called babylon. in the old testament (ot), babylon is humanized as a “brutal, callous and proud” woman who “believed that she would reign over the earth forever.” in the new testatment the phrase “she who is at babylon” refers to the new world culture currently at war with the covenant community. in such that rome, as a mistress or whore of the new world, is seeking to seduce and subvert people of god, enticing men to fall “drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

yes,,,, a whore who uses sex to entice innocent men into complying with new culture? who believes herself to be akin to god and also in this context, above the law and morality - im gonna say its not too far a stretch to say that magase was intended to symbolise the whore of babylon.

however, that’s not all - links can be made between the enactment of the suicide laws and the seduction of new culture. who exactly is leading the front? kaika itsuki ( 齋 開化 ), who’s name literally means culture. that aint a coincidence. also, that weirdly-placed reference to roman law / norms during the suicide debate as a way to convince the masses to revert / adopt roman ideology??? also not a coincidence. :))))

in addition, there are two other major biblical events related to babylon:

the book of revelations; and

the tower of babel.

its safe to say that both narratives are being pushed atm.

revelations:

in revelation 17, the spirit of babylon decends upon earth through the whore. she arrives on the back of a beast with 7 heads, “arrayed in purple and scarlet”, “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” “seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” the revelations also prophesizes that she will be defeated by a beast, but it is unclear as to which. there are two beasts in book of revelations. the first beast comes "out of the sea" given authority and power by the dragon/serpent. the second beast comes "out of the earth" directing people to worship the first beast, a "false prophet".

in a similar vein, nomaru had secretly vouched for itsuki’s, providing itsuki with the necessary resources for him to rise up in ranks and become the new mayor. the kanji for ryuichiro nomaru ( 野丸 龍一郎 ) contains both the kanji 野 and 龙 which respectively mean field (i.e. earth) and dragon. they are key references to the beasts of revelation

plus according to nomaru, it was also purely because of magase that the political struggle turned out the way that it did, meaning that she is ultimately the one controlling the entire operation. this mirrors the way she is sitting on the heads of the beast (i.e. the proverbial brains of the campaign that itsuki is heading) 

we also see that when magase uses her powers her eyes and hair glow in a sort of purple/burgundy color to support the imagery as well! 

the book of revelations is the final chapter of nt. it is merely an allegory of struggle between good and evil and doesnt refer to actual people or events. kinda like the show huh. nyyy way, we see that the protag john the apostle writes down what is revealed to him through visions to send it to the 7 churches :))

kinda like how zen keeps on seeing magase through visions and has to document !! his findings and report back to admin? ik this isnt exact but there’s a bit where he has to write down her confession and it really struck me as weird until this bit popped up, maybe that was included to as a way of tying in :))

tower:

according to the myth, there were plans to build a city and tower high enough to reach heaven - god who observes this confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other. why? because “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

while not entirely similar, we see recurring themes in babylon that deal with miscommunication and new ideology. the conflict mirrors the myth in that unity of language (or ideology in this case) and its subsequent discordance once differentiated. 

the interrogation scene in ep 4 deals with reconciling differences. magase asks whether those with different values should be accepted, despite them being contrary to norm. all this time, society has been developing an ideal set of norms - the entire country shares the same values and priorities with no deviation. growth has stagnated. in similar fashion to how god commands for many languages to be created, magase sows the seeds of doubt towards long-standing assumptions and moral values in order to create discordance and push japan into a state of new development

in the new campaign, itsuki proposes to apportion shiniki city from japan and instill new values. this confounds the population and sends them into disarray - the tower that they have created is crumbling, in similar likeness to the parable of babel.

SO TL;DR this show has a really cool starting concept i cant lie?????  i for one am not shitting on its supernatural elements (even though the flow was a little inorganic) in hindsight there’s no point in expecting a show called babylon not to delve into supernatural/biblical elements lol :)))

as a right hoe for imagery and philosophy/ethics, this gave me high hopes but the execution of everything else was way below average. why bring in a discussion about suicide that’s poorly researched + try to be edgy abt it and have the citizens to have support it so easily???? ruins the immersion so much

if the anime really wanted to focus on philosophy there should be some mention of ethical theory to justify his point. like, being aimlessly philosophical only ends up being flowery and pseudo-bullshit lmao. one of hte reasons why i was so frustrated with magase and zen’s discussion in the interrogation room. like woman what was your fucking point. its only wasting screentime if you don’t get anything from the conversation. the philosophy was so fucking unnecessary - babylon could have been executed as an in-depth political/psychological anime instead. WITHOUT THE SUICIDE.

this and the lack of good characters really bummed me out. i think that the show was expecting me to connect to some of the characters before they were fucking killed off but i didn’t end up giving a single shit about any of them so. :) the whole show feels more about the shock factor and gore than about interesting plot.

concept 10/10, execution 1/10

#DAMN i had more to say apparently #babylon anime #babylon meta #babylon symbolism #babylon #im honestly tempted to write more about the interrogation scene #this post is more fair at least #i am biased but at least i appreciate the biblical imagery #haha #:)) #babylon anime meta

[cinnaminsvga]

I wish you would write a fic where farmer Tae and the city girl reader switch bodies! (Kind of like kimi no na wa but no one dies lol)

((i changed it to rancher taehyung instead lol i just really love horses sorry))

For all that your city sensibilities were worth, you would think that you’d be better at adapting to largely unfamiliar situations. Learning to project a mask of indifference when something vexes you was one of your finest tricks in the business, since everyone knew that the only way to success was by first lining your path with bullshit and misplaced confidence.

This was what you had thought, given that you never once imagined that you would have to learn how to ride a horse in just five minutes.

“Taehyung! Quickly, you gotta go wrangle the cows back to the barn! I don’t wanna be out ‘til dark trying to find them stuck on a fucking treehouse again,” one of the other ranchers, Jimin, calls out from up ahead. With the ease of an experienced cattle herder, he makes quick work of a dozen of them by shouting in an obscenely loud manner, which spooks them into docility. 

You hardly have the time to hide the fact that you might have just shat your pants when Jimin yells at you to get moving once more. With your heart jumping to your throat, you meekly thump the side of your horse with a boot, urging it to move forward.

Noticing your hesitance, the horse stands resolutely in place, even snorting in what you might describe as an exasperated manner. It’s almost as if its saying it knows you’re not its real owner, what with the awkwardness at which you sit on its back, still unused to the foreign feeling of more, um, material where your thighs met.

“Please, Mister Horse. I’m begging you, just pretend to be doing work and then I can get off your back and we’ll be Gucci,” you plead, bending forward until your eyes met those of your white horse. It blinks lazily back, before roughly nudging you away with its muzzle. You splutter indignantly, pouting at this horse’s rude behavior.

“Why! Who taught you your manners, young man? I’ll have you know that I am the heir of South Korea’s most prominent telecommunications corporation and I will demand the respect I deserve!” you say, haughty. The horse is less than impressed, judging by the way it has begun to graze.

In a fit of annoyance, you bring your hand down harshly on the horse’s backside––hard enough that you could feel your palm radiating heat from the impact. Your hubris is what leads you to your downfall, quite literally.

Just a few feet away, Jimin directs another three cows back to the barn. He turns his head, wondering where on earth his friend might have gone, only to see him (you) galloping wildly to the north. He heaves a sigh, a slow smirk gracing his face as he trots back to the barn at a much more dignified manner. 

“That Taehyung… Always wanting to outspeed me, it seems.” He chuckles. He clambers off his horse, tugging her towards her sleeping quarters for the day. “Well, if Taehyung is so set on beating me, then he can go herd the rest of those cows by himself.”

Had it not been for the fact that Jimin has been deaf from the right ear since birth, maybe he would have heard your screams of terror as you and your horse rode off into the unknown. It is going to be a long day.

#lol i would've written how tae reacts in the city but im too lazy lol #uhh this is kinda interesting?? should i write more for this prompt lol #ask game #t:unlisted #Anonymous #answered

[darkwinterchild]

Hi! What do you think about an au where Siren somehow goes to earth one before the Undertaking,and starts working with Malcolm Merlyn as a deadly mercenary? The one from Flash,the errow writers shat on her,IMO.

(Sorry for taking forever to answer this anon, I’ve been on tumblr break for several months now - real life got busy! Hope you’re still around to see this, if you’re still interested!)

In terms of how Malcolm would react to Black Siren, there’s several points to consider, I think:

Season 1 Malcolm didn’t like criminals. In fact he hated them. He made a plans to level the Glades because of its high crime rate. He wrote a list of the names of white-collars criminals (”the city’s worsts”) so that he and his friends could turn them into their minions in their mission to save the city. Of course, his own actions were unlawful and morally abhorrent, but in his mind they were for the greater good - he saw himself as a hero (a sort of white-collar vigilante?).

That said he’s very practical. He’d rather use people than kill them, and Black Siren is a very valuable weapon, if anything. So he’s going to want her loyalty.

Zoom saw Black Siren as his lieutenant: from Flash, she was obviously meant to be a very competent leader in her own right (he doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who would tolerate anything less). Malcolm would definitely recognize her abilities and respect her for that - and probably want to learn more about her.

The Black Siren we saw on Flash was a remorseless killer who seemingly enjoyed being evil for evil’s sake. If that’s all she ever shows him, I think Malcolm’s unlikely to ever see her as more than a means to an end. But even on Flash, it was implied there was more to her than what she pretended - i.e. that scene with Zoom where she seems worried about his intentions (“What are you up to?” “No good.”). There’s also the fact Malcolm seems to have a thing for strong women: it’s evident he truly respects women who stand up for themselves - or at least women who aren’t afraid of committing murder if needs be, based on his reactions to Moira threatening him, Thea shooting him, Felicity’s feistiness, etc. So I think there’s a good chance that he’d be very intrigued by her.

You specifically asked about The Flash’s Black Siren, but there’s an aspect of her backstory that was introduced in Arrow that I think could be interesting to play with in such an AU: the fact she went on a dark path after the death of her version of Oliver Queen. This story parallels what happened to Earth-1 Malcolm, so there’s the possibility that he’d see himself in her, or hope that she’d be able to understand him and what he’s trying to do with the Undertaking.

It’s more difficult for me to speculate about what Black Siren would think of Malcolm, since we know so little about her (from Flash). I think it’s mostly up to our imagination. So, idk, if I was writing this AU and focusing on their relationship, I guess at least at first she’d be using him too (just like he’d be using her): for money, for contacts, and for his knowledge/expertise. She could accept to do things for him in exchange for him teaching her about business. I think considering her situation - being thrown and stuck on another Earth - her goal could be to try to find a way to live in this world, and be successful. And Malcolm Merlyn, one-percenter extraordinaire, successful businessman and chessmaster, could help her make a place for herself. Considering her experience as Zoom’s lieutenant, he could assist her in creating her own mercenary enterprise (she’d be good at it and he’d get something out of that relationship - as an investor/client/business partner).

If he ever ends up trusting her as a partner-in-crime (see the points above - if they connect based on their similar history and she ends up sharing his world-view), I could also see him training her in league combat techniques. That plus her meta-powers? She was already dangerous before, she’d become unstoppable.

A couple ending notes - I haven’t at all spoken about how Earth-1 Oliver, Tommy, Quentin and Laurel, because it’s not really the point of the ask. But I do think it’d be intriguing:

Malcolm never paid attention to Laurel before Season 1 (not before her and Tommy started becoming serious, and even then). In this AU, he’d have a working relationship with his son’s girlfriend’s doppelganger (secretly, I guess, since he kept the criminal aspect of his life well-hidden from Tommy). And I can’t imagine Black Siren wouldn’t be at least curious about Earth-1 Laurel’s life, and about the guy she’s dating if he’s the son of her employer. I don’t know how, but this situation just has to explode in some way at some point.

Black Siren would probably also be interested in her lost love’s doppelganger, I figure, when he comes back from the Island (unlike her Oliver Queen). And if she’s working as Malcolm’s deadly mercenary, she’s likely to end up in a fight with the Hood - a fight she’d win, undoubtedly (Flash’s Black Siren could destroy buildings, hold her own against a speedster and survive being hit by a car full speed with no injuries - that’s not counting potential league training Malcolm might have given her). So, either she kills Oliver  - which wouldn’t be very interesting - or she unmasks him, and that’s SO much more interesting. If she tells Malcolm (or he’s there during the fight to see by himself), it means he’d know Oliver’s secret while Oliver would still know nothing about Malcolm’s. There’s so much Malcolm and Black Siren could do with that information. I think they’d both want to try and manipulate him to join their cause. It would be a fun game (for me, of course, not for Oliver).

#reply #asks #laurel lance #black siren #malcolm merlyn #arrow #a1 #tommy merlyn #oliver queen #universe alterations #tumblr shipping and fanfictions have forever screwed my brain #it's corrupt now #i don't want to think about a malcolm/black siren pairing #but damn if this prompt didn't *make* me #shit brain no it's wrong

[bitchesgetriches]

Hi Bitches, I have a question that's not really financial, but more about maintaining empathy in this capitalist hellscape. It's long, so I apologize in advance. So. I live in NYC and there are homeless people everywhere. I can remember being a kid and having huge amounts of sympathy for the homeless in my hometown city; I always gave some of my allowance money if I walked by a homeless person, or asked a parent for a dollar to give. Fast forward to now. I'm 27, have lived in 1/4

           NYC for 2+ years, and have lost so much sympathy for the suffering of the homeless. I know logically that I should be much more sympathetic to their situation, but I also can't help but to think that they are such a nuisance. I almost never give them a spare dollar or two now. I mean, I really need every dollar I make right now, at least I think I do. My family & I just can't afford it. I loathe them for inconveniencing me with their shouting and their stench. I think that if they've 2/4   

           reached the point of needing to beg strangers for help, they must have alienated all of their loved ones; I'd never be in that position. If the people who love them won't help them, why should I? But then logically I know that's not true either. I could be in that place with just a few family tragedies. It's this internal battle I deal with every day on my commute: I dehumanize these people, I feel guilty and logically know I'm wrong, I do nothing to help. I want to stop my dehumanization 3/4       

           of the homeless because I know it's wrong, and because I know I can do better for them and society can do better for them. The homelessness problem is clearly related to this capitalist world we live in, but what can be done? How do I stop mentally battling myself and actually get over being annoyed and repulsed every time a homeless person inconveniences me? Thank you bitches for everything, even if this never gets answered        

This is SUCH an interesting question. Thank you for asking it, dearheart! And I applaud you for your self-awareness, pragmatism, and compassion. It’s clear that this is a mental struggle for you, and the very fact that you don’t simply stop the introspection at “Well IIIII would never end up homeless, alone, and stinking up the sidewalk” but instead are working to improve your outlook speaks very highly of you.

So let’s talk about homelessness.

As John Oliver so eloquently explains in this clip, the vast majority of Americans are sooooo much closer to being a homeless beggar on the streets than they are to being on MTV’s Cribs. Our individual financial security is fucking precarious! That’s why we write this blog! Yes, you can build up an emergency fund and save six months of your income, but when you get right down to it, most of us are one major medical emergency away from bankruptcy.

And if you can’t recover from said emergency, if you don’t have a support network to get you out of that mess... that’s it. You’re done. You’re staring down the barrel of homelessness and getting judged by strangers on the street for your inability to stay clean and hygienic while you literally sleep under the overpass and rummage through the dumpster behind Panera for day-old bread.

Now let’s address your knee-jerk reaction that homeless people must’ve really fucked up to lose all support and end up on the street. Surely, someone like YOU could never end up there because you have people who love and support you, right?

Sadly, a lot of homeless people are mentally ill, and slipped through the cracks left by their caretakers and an imperfect system. Others are kids who have aged out of the foster care system with no helping hand and no prospects for an education or career. Others are gay and trans youth who were literally kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families. Others are addicted to substances in this great nation where we treat addiction like a crime rather than the public health crisis it is.

Put even the most normal, patient, chill person in any of these situations, grind them down with bad weather, abuse, lack of nutrition and healthcare for months and years, and I guarantee they’ll get a bit surly. When you meet a loud, annoying, unhygienic homeless person on the street, you’re meeting them at their worst. I defy you to act any better in their situation!

All of which is to say that even a homeless person who you find personally repugnant and unsympathetic is probably not so different from you. Non-homeless people can be massive fucking dicks, so why not the homeless?

I know I keep using “you” in a sort of accusatory fashion in this post, and I promise I’m not condescending to you or picking on you. It’s all meant to reinforce the idea that there is a very thin line separating all of us financially stable people from the homeless. That alone makes them worthy of our compassion and respect. Basic human decency goes a long way to someone who gets alternately ignored and shat upon by most of the human race.

Here’s s’more on why we should all cut the poor and homeless a break:

"Poor People Are Poor Because They Are _____. Rich People Are Rich Because They Are _____." 

It's More Expensive to Be Poor Than to Be Rich

Lastly, here’s what you can do to stop feeling impotent, useless, and heartless when you see a homeless person and you can’t afford to give them money.

Vote.

I personally very rarely give money to the homeless. But I do donate to a number of charitable organizations that help to alleviate the plight of the homeless and impoverished in my country. I also vote for politicians and policies that will improve life for those struggling to make ends meet. I support policies and politicians who aim to get at the root of the homelessness problem--not just systemic poverty, but inadequate mental health programs, lack of support for veterans and the disabled, and lack of protection for children suffering abuse or lacking stability in their home lives.

I pay taxes in the hopes that my money will be used to stab the root problems of homelessness in the heart. When I see a homeless person on the street, I remind myself that I am making informed political decisions to help them. I remind myself that they are the reason I donate to charities and food banks. And yeah, sometimes if I can, I spare a dollar for their plight. But if I can’t in that moment, then I know that I’ve still done something on a broader scale.

You need to start thinking this way to alleviate your guilt. Be the logical, pragmatic person you appear to be from your question. And remind yourself that some day, you could be in the same position whether you expect it or not.

Good luck, honey. It’s going to be ok.

Here’s some further reading:

Ask the Bitches: "How Do I Protect My Own Mental Health While Still Helping Others?"

Raising Awareness About "Raising Awareness"

Raising the Minimum Wage Would Make Our Lives Better 

How to Spot a Charitable Scam

Judging Charities Like Judgey McJudgerson: How Can Your Donation Make the Biggest Impact? 

[lowtldes]

GUN FOR HIRE OC  ↠ Tristan Ong

MELEE / “The Up-Close and Personal” / Fights because he doesn’t want to move. Again.

AGE: 27

HEIGHT: 5′8″

SPECIALTY: The Brawler

WEAPONS: an engraved 1911 / his fists

OCCUPATION: Freelance Photographer / Fall’s End General Store Employee

LOCATION: Fall’s End, standing outside the General Store

SHORT BIO:  Tristan is a freelance photographer, new to Hope County. Tristan’s spent the last few years of his life moving from couch to couch, place to place. He needed something stable, so when his younger sister Thea got a job at Hope County Police Department, she suggested he move there with her since they could both use a change of scene. Tristan didn’t have to follow, but after their mother died and their father abruptly moved back to the Philippines, he wanted to be close to the only family he had left. He got a part-time job in the General Store at Fall’s End, which gave him a lot of time to hike around the county and pursue his work in photography. Then, barely two weeks after moving to the county, the local cult got violent. He hasn’t even unpacked all of his boxes, and now he’s getting into fistfights with every cultist that crosses his path. When Tristan wanted a change of scene moving to the county, he never thought it would have meant getting into fistfights with crazy religious cultists. Makes for good pictures, though.

RECRUITMENT MISSION: Shutterbug -- Help Tristan get his camera equipment from Deep North Irrigation Reservoir. [Talk to Tristan / Follow Tristan / Eliminate all Peggies / Pose for photos / Talk to Tristan] "Hey, I’m Tristan. Still new in town and boy is shit crazy right now, huh? I used to work at the General Store... well, I worked there for like five days and now, ah, I think my boss is dead so does that count as working there? Never mind. You look like you can fuck people up. I left some of my camera equipment on the roof of Deep North, could you help me get my shit back? The place is crawling with Peggies. I got some money from the register I could give you as a reward, just don’t rat me to my dead boss, heh... Oh, and I can snap some pictures for you too if you want.”

SPECIAL ABILITIES: MEAN SWING -- Glass jaw or not, if Tristan gets close enough he can down enemies with a single punch. Angels? Three punches. His hand wraps are always bloody for a reason. CAMERAMAN -- Tristan will randomly snap photos while he travels with you. Yes, even in combat. [pictures are located in the same folder as screenshots]

RELATIONSHIPS IN HOPE COUNTY:

Mary May -- He tried to apply for a job bartending at the Spread Eagle, but Mary May laughed at how terrible his bartending skills were. She still wanted to help him find work so she pointed him towards the General Store.

Jerome Jeffries -- Complimented Tristan on his photography once and Tristan was head over heels for the guy for the next three days. A little guilt about it too, the man’s a Pastor, after all.

Joey Hudson -- Tristan admires her, she’s a survivor. She’s pretty hot too, but he’s not gonna comment on that or try to ask her out. She looks like she just needs space, and Tristan steers clear.

Nick Rye -- Tristan thinks the guy’s okay, Nick won’t let him take pictures of Carmina, though.

Sharky Boshaw -- Tristan sees him set a guy on fire and thinks yeah, i’d tap that. Then Sharky opens his mouth, says something dumb and becomes another person Tristan is kind of in love with.

Hurk Drubman Jr. -- Same as Sharky. Turns out Tristan likes jolly idiots, Hope County is truly taking him through a journey of self-discovery. He’d join Hurk’s Gate.

Jess Black -- Scares Tristan a little. But she’s a great photograph subject, it takes him a long time to convince her to let him take photos of her.

Grace Armstrong -- The second Tristan saw Grace, he was fucked. Totally in love. She’s so awe-inspiring, and he’s pretty sure she isn’t interested in him at all.

Adelaide Drubman -- She looks like a blonde, slightly younger version of his mother. Nope. He stays away from that.

AMBIENT QUOTES:

[getting into cars] “Fuck yeah, let’s Mad Max this shit.”

[picking herbs] “Dude, I don’t think you can smoke that... but you do you, I guess.”

[in a church] “I grew up Catholic. Sunday pants and everything. Now I don’t know if I believe in God. If he’s real, he definitely doesn’t give a shit.”

[getting headshots] “What are you, an aimbot? God. I miss video games.”

[blowing up stuff] “Ah, it’s moments like these that make me miss Vine.”

[looting bodies] “That guy shat his pants and you’re going through his back pockets? Brave. I respect that.”

“Hey, can you kill that guy again? There was dirt on my lens.”

“God, I wish I could post stuff online. My photos about this war crap would get so many hits.”

“I really don’t know shit about guns. Seriously, if you even ask me what kind of gun I’m holding right now, I have no idea. I just took it from the store because I thought the engraving was pretty. Pretty. I don’t know shit. But hey, as long as I can shoot it, right?”

“All the Seeds are kind of hot, don’t you think? Crazy, of course, but hotter than they have any right to be. Except for Joseph, though. I mean I can see that he’s hot too, but the whole Jared Leto look doesn’t do it for me. That’s just me, though. If you think he’s hot, I support you.”

“You know, when my sister and I moved here, I really thought I was gonna be bored. I was scared I’d turn into a farmer or something. But nope, now I do murder. Life’s funny. Really makes you think.”

“I wonder if this shit’s made it to worldwide news. I wonder if my dad thinks me and Thea are dead. Dunno if he’d care, to be honest. That’s not who he is now.”

“Well, will ya look at that? My hands are shaking so much I can’t hold my camera properly. Maybe I should stop punching cultists in the face for a while, it’s really hurting my artist hands.”

QUOTES IN JOHN’S REGION:

[at Fall’s End] “Ugh, just thinking about unboxing the rest of my shit from the move makes me wanna take a nap. Seems pointless too. Why would I bother unpacking when there’s a war going on? Yeah, I know I’m procrastinating. But God.”

“John Seed. Sadistic motherfucker, isn’t he? Hot though, I’ll give him that. Definitely the kind of guy I’d blow in a nightclub bathroom stall and never see again.”

“Dude, we gotta stop that John Seed. Let’s blow up some silos and shit. That’ll get him pissed. Maybe he’ll tattoo us. Which I’m... definitely not looking forward to, I mean. Shit is fucked up.”

“So John was a big city lawyer, right? Why the fuck would he come all the way here? It’s just... cows and shit. But--ah, yeah, I can’t say shit about that though, can I? I moved here from the city too. I’m a dumbass.”

QUOTES IN FAITH’S REGION:

[at Hope County Jail] “Time for some prison photography, I guess. Never thought I’d get here.”

“Oh, you know that guy Tweak? Wonder if he’s alive. He gave me some good weed my first week in town. Don’t tell my sister.”

“Um, I’m not the only one seeing hippie Seed frolicking in the grass, right? Right?”

“Faith Seed is what happens when you go through your pretty princess phase and zombie apocalypse phase at the same time. Next thing you know it’ll be an emo phase.”

“Let’s run through some Bliss fields! The flowers would be beautiful props for portrait photography. Though, I wonder how good my photos’ll be while I’m Bliss high. The angles and focus would probably be all wrong. Yeah, never mind let’s not. The composition in my head will get so fucked... Actually, fuck, let’s do it.”

“Those angels, man, I swear I clocked one in the face and she bit my hand. What if it spreads like an actual zombie disease? Promise me you’ll kill me if I ever go bald, Deputy, promise me.”

QUOTES IN JACOB’S REGION:

[at the Wolf’s Den] “Is there only one bathroom here? Do they all share the same bathroom? That’s a lotta people for one bathroom. Eugh.”

“Oh god, we’re hiking this place, aren’t we? My legs are gonna kill me tomorrow. The things I do to keep my ass tight... And save civilians, yeah. That too. That’s also important.”

“The views we’re gonna see up here, oh man. I hope my camera’s got enough battery for today because I am not putting this bad boy down.”

“Jacob Seed is a goddamn fool. If he wants to put people in cages, he doesn’t have to kidnap them. There’s a whole community for people who are into that, someone’s gotta tell him. Not me, though. I like my balls where they are, thanks.”

“I think my sister’s kind of into that Jacob guy. Which is fucked up and stupid, but I’m the self-destructive idiot in the family so she’s not gonna listen to me. As her big brother, should I be worried? I can’t threaten that guy, I’m pretty sure. I think I’d die, but shit, I really feel like I’m supposed to have some kind of brotherly obligation here.”

“Those wolves--those Judges--that shit is so wrong. If we run into one I’m gonna piss myself. I can’t punch a wolf, can I? Oh wait, I have a gun. Right.”

#far cry 5 #gun for hire #gun for hire oc #far cry 5 oc #he might actually be useless but he takes pics prompto ffxv style so there's a reason to keep him around #also. this got so long. my bad. #anyway here's my disaster son #oc: tristan #my edit

[mechanicalinertia]

Content-Free Update 2020: The Unhappenenenening

Hey there. Been awhile, hasn’t it. This is another one of those word-vomit posts whose primary purpose is to get my thoughts in order for myself more than anyone else. I could just write it in private, knowing full well that the internet prefers pretty pictures to my sprawling prose, but I like the idea of framing this sort of thing as a letter to someone. Who? Dunno. Don’t really care. The ideal subject is someone who has read most of the creative work I’ve shat out onto the internet. I’m sure at least one person like that exists. I have followers, right, on this very site. Still not sure why, but who am I to complain?

Anyway! Creative process stuff. It’s not like I haven’t been working on stuff, even as summer has come to an end and I’m back in school. It’s just that a lot of said stuff is, how to put it, not likely to be published on the wildspaces of the internet.

Chief among those projects is a Bubblegum Crisis screenplay. Yes, I know, almost no one does screenplay-format fanfics anymore. But my shonen-jump pirate-king childish-dream is to reboot BGC, snatch the rights from under the moribund hand of AIC Rights, get James Cameron or someone similarly inclined in Hollywood to fund a Japanese anime movie angled for an international release. (Hopefully Hollywood kicks its addiction to Chinese money by then, because I may or may not slip certain political opinions about the CCP’s particular brand of Stalinism in later installations). Then, once it makes a boatload of money, I can start to retell the rebooted story in 2069 - twist the original story of the OVA’s into a cyberpunk epic suitable for our times.

It’s a delusion, yes, but it’s a fun delusion. Trouble is, I wrote this screenplay, a retelling of Episodes 1-3 (mostly 1) up to about the end of act 1, and I have no goddamn idea how to lay out acts 2 and 3. So for the time being, that’s a project to put on the back burner. An interesting project, but one I want to hold close to my chest to nourish the delusion that 

Another project that may end up suffering a similar fate is Song of Silverhand, the CP2020 / BGC2032 fanfic I was writing where Priss gets Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves edition) in her head a la V in CP2077. I sat down, looked at the arc of the plot as I had imagined it, and realized that what I wanted to write was essentially another sprawling epic super-novel, a road trip across America by the Sabers and Silverhand from Seattle to Chicago to New York and further on, ending in Night City. Which sounds cool and all - and I actually have another 10K words or so on my Google Docs account that I could publish in 2 separate chapters - but the task of writing this damn thing feels daunting in a way that Vigilante’s Run never did. So, backburner it is.

Oh. Speaking of which, after nearly half a year of inactivity, I’ve started writing Vigilante’s Run Continuation chapters again. Not sure why - the contradictions between my view of justice and punishment and Reed’s worldview as embodied in the original fic have only heightened following George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths (Post-Ferguson feels like such a dated word to use, now). And I’ll be the first to admit that my current narrative direction is to just thicken the already existing plot, make the clusterfuck that is the Great Megatokyo Gang War even clusterfuckier, instead of resolving those thematic frustrations. But before I get to that, I still have a few fight scenes to conceive of - particularly the Sabers’ / Nemesis’s assault on Sato’s estate. I was up to 2:30 last night, burning the midnight devil-fuel that is Monster Energy and trying to lay out the respective side’s armaments and considering the possibility of a third faction’s interference. It’s a solvable problem, I think, and one that readers will enjoy to read. I am convinced, for the time being, that I can write a pretty good fight scene. So we’ll see if I get to that. It will, of course, take time. I have classes and homework and other things to do.

So that’s good, right? That’s all the projects I’ve worked on seriously, whether I’ve published them or not, right? That’s it, right? Right?

Oh. Well, I did write 57k+ words of BGC2069 RPG a few months back. Never did finish that. Not sure if I should return to that. It was fun to work on until it wasn’t, and I think the rules are okay, if a little incoherently laid out. It’s just, ugh, I feel like I should rewrite some chunks of it, and I hate rewriting. Feels like defeat, no matter how necessary it is. I do better when someone else tells me ‘rewrite this’, ‘cause they can usually give good reasons. With me it’s just gut feeling.

You know what, I’m gonna put all my thoughts about RPG’s in general, and the possible rewrites I could do for that particular project, in another post. And you know what, I’m gonna write that separate post right now.

And you know what, I feel better having written this wall of text. This is what blogs are for - screaming into the void, existing in a beautiful quantum between anonymous and utterly public.

Stay safe, folks. Wear your masks.

#writing #productivity #bubblegum crisis #fanfiction #rpg

[thenugking]

30 Days of Dragon Age OC Challenge Day 16

Day 16: Consequences: What in-game event(s) had the biggest impact on them (main plot or otherwise)? Why did it affect them so strongly? How did they change?

Isaline: Most of Isaline's game is gradual growing. Haven is the biggest thing, partly because of the Urn and partly because of Sten's mutiny. Isaline has come far enough that she is willing to defend herself when he starts attacking her, and then for very possibly the first time ever since her magic developed, sticks up for herself and puts herself first, by telling him to leave. Isaline let him out of the cage because the rest of her party said it was a good idea, and obviously they know more than her, and she and Sten have never gotten along. Most notably was the time he drove her into attempting suicide (via only-just-joined-the-party-and-not-really-trusted-yet Zevran) by telling her she was a terrible leader and a failure at stopping the Blight. Isaline knew that, and already hated herself for it, and was only in charge because Alistair (who, being a templar, was obviously Really in charge) said she should be and. Sten putting her down did Not help matters. Having Sten around made her miserable, and after he attacked her she went "you know what I?? actually do not have to put up with this anymore" and it was an incredible moment for her!!

And then, as previously mentioned, there was having an incredible Religious Moment at the Urn of Sacred Ashes and deciding maybe the Maker didn't hate her after all. And of course, going back to the Circle, and sticking up to Greagoir and Noodlehair and!!! the Sloth demon giving her a dream of being a tiny scared self loathing circle mage again and Isaline going "No. No I know this is wrong and I am More than this, and I am good and worthy of love and respect, and I will not be controlled like this anymore" She is so strong and good I love my child!!!

Corinne: I think Corinne just has the standard DA2 things; the Deep Roads, All That Remains and the Chantry Boom. All That Remains is fairly obvious; her mother was horrifically murdered and sent her into a downwards spiral of grief, guilt and being a mage self loathing. Also I downloaded a mod that made her hair look a lot messier and less conditioned, and took off her make up.

The Chantry boom I've already talked about. She had to finally take a stand for mage rights and understood that just waiting around for things to get better wasn't necessarily going to work, and she realised romantic love is not the most important thing in the world and broke up with her husband.

Carver died in the Deep Roads, which obviously hit Corinne very hard too, and also changed the whole narrative because up into that point, Carver had essentially been the protagonist. Corinne was a small support mage who hated adventure and just dreamed of love and pretty dresses so was entirely uninteresting to Varric. Carver, meanwhile, did a lot better than in game with a sibling who cast zero shadow and looked to him to protect her from danger. Most Act 1 quests, Corinne was just tagging along behind Carver and his friends. Carver dying means that Varric starts trying to push Corinne into adventures instead, and when the Arishok asks to see Hawke, the Viscount has to send Corinne Hawke instead of Carver Hawke, and the Arishok accepts that Corinne must have taken on the title of Hawke now, so she's the one who's going to have to save the city.

Estella: I mean pretty much everything has a big impact on Estella because it is Estella. Like, she loses a sock and cries about it for three hours, everything affects her strongly. But if I have to list the biggest in-game events:

She  touches the orb and finds herself SUDDENLY NOT TRANQUIL AND WITH TEN MILLION FEELINGS which, you know, changes her from being emotionless to having emotions about Everything

She's introduced to Cullen and flips the fuck out because this guy stood in the Gallows for seven years watching every mage there being abused and did NOTHING and she is NOT staying here if she has to be anywhere near him and that is when a lot of her trauma comes out to the war table but also he gets fired and she gets at least a bit of justice which is REALLY GOOD

She goes to meet Vivienne so she can meet HER DAUGHTER, who is a baby apprentice at Montsimmard, which I guess isn't so much an in-game event but it does start at Vivienne's recruitment and anyway Estella is a MUM now and has responsibilities and cuddles to give!!

She finds the hut of oculara in redcliffe and discovers they're made of tranquil skulls and once again flips the fuck out and swears vengeance on everyone involved in this, which just goes on to reinforce her fight for Tranquil rights.

Fighting a dragon. It was AMAZING and LIFE CHANGINGLY AWESOME and the GREATEST THING EVER

Putting Briala in control in WEWH because GUESS WHAT FUCKERS the people you have kicked down and shat on for years are TAKING CONTROL and gonna change EVERYTHING

She finds the place where Pharamond got cured in the Western Approach and she is so hopeful and awestruck and she goes through all the notes and uses everything she can find there to START CURING MORE TRANQUIL PEOPLE. And also like. Makes Pharamond's name known everywhere like this guy was INCREDIBLE and she pesters Cole to tell her more about him a whole bunch.

Viv's personal quest because it is one of the things that makes them Help each other and stops them hating each other and constantly fighting and going "maybe she is not so bad??" and it is a big part of Estella and Viv becoming friends which is very good!!!

Here Lies the Abyss happens and she gets her memories back!! Which feels really liberating and Good because she discovers none of this had anything to do with Andraste so FUCK THE CHANTRY and also she killed her rapist when she got her magic back.

Cassandra's personal quest because MORE TRANQUIL REVELATIONS and she tells Cassandra to burn the Seekers to the fucking ground and has another big breakdown because of the unfairness of everything.

When Vivienne talks about how maybe a mage could be Divine and Estella realises VIV YES  YOU COULD DO IT and if they can have a mage divine that would change EVERYTHING and she is SO EXCITED about getting her friend to do this!!!!

not rly much during the end of the game?? who cares about corypheus when there are mages to help

Solas cuts off her FUCKING ARM WHAT IF SHE CAN'T MAGIC NOW it's okay she can still magic but also she has LOST AN ARM this??? is a big deal??? but also he said that EVERYONE SHOULD BE MAGES hey all the fuckers who tell us we're not fucking people YOU'D BE JUST LIKE US IF SOLAS HADN'T FUCKED THE WORLD UP.

#30daydachallenge #isaline amell #corinne amell #estella trevelyan #dragon age #da spoilers #dragon age 2 #dragon age inqusition #dragon age trespasser #mage rights #ableism cw #abuse cw #institiutionalised abuse cw #institutionalised ableism cw #lobotomies cw #tranquility cw #slavery cw #family death cw #marsh ocs

[tenitchyfingers]

This is one weird hill to choose to die on isn't it? I mean, you know it's just a fictional story right. I'm Scottish, and if they wanted to make an adaption of Macbeth where every single role was played by a poc I wouldn't care at all as long as the actors did a good job. I really don't understand your issue.

The issue is Italian culture always gets shat on and we always get shat on and Americans always make stuff about us with THEIR own vision and never bother asking us what would be appropriate (for example, anything involving mafia gets treated ALL the wrong ways and then we get told we’re “too sensitive” about it and that we should shut up, because apparently Murrica is superior to everyone else and everyone else should just shut up and bow down to the Superior American Deities descended on Earth to grace us with the gift of army bases we didn’t ask for and creating immigration waves we never asked for, but somehow we should shut up about OUR own cities being used all the wrong ways, OUR culture being changed to fit someone else’s narrative and ZERO respect for our country in every single way. 

That’s the issue. 

#Anonymous #replied

[eienias20]

Blue’s Shadow

An archived RP performed by myself as Jaynix and @heroicmeep as Meep. This is the first meeting and mission that inspired the doodle Meep’s Shadow.

Blue’s Shadow

Eienias || Jaynix

The East Gate of New Los Angeles, one of the two main entrances to the human city. Jaynix was more than familiar with the area as most days started with her loading up on tasks at Mission Control, hopping into her rover and shooting out into Primordia. Even when she wasn't attending to missions, Jaynix was around looking to see if anyone needed an extra member, all that is to say, she frequented this area quite a lot.

Arms crossed, she leaned against a wall, pulling out her Comm Device and looking over the information on her current mission. It seemed simple enough, there was a probe out in Primordia that wasn't operating entirely correctly, as such it needed to be given the standard inspection.

Jaynix was to act as an escort for a Pathfinder named Meep, whoever this Meep was, that is who she was waiting for.

"Meep...hm...not familiar with the name, I wonder what kind of person this is..."

 Snazz || Meep

Probes. Probes probes probes probes PROBES!

Meep was entirely certain she would never stop fixing the damn things as long as she lived. They were always breaking, malfunctioning, getting sat on or bitten or shat on or Mira knows what else by indigens, and even once or twice being sabotaged. On one occasion, by another pathfinder. Certainly, her primary job was scouting—but this was supplemented by probe upkeep, so Command could keep an eye on her and any other scouting pathfinders as they wandered Mira.

Sure, they brought in money and miranium, but having a large network was as much a curse as it was a blessing, because they never. stopped. breaking.

This probe wasn't even hers. And to make matters worse, she had been assigned an interceptor escort—which meant this would involve a fight, because some grex pack or lepyx or mira knew what else had probably made the thing part of its territory.

Why me? They know I'm no good in combat...

She sighed heavily, plodding through the East Gate. A shock of red hair stood out against the gray walls. Was that...? She approached.

"Hey, uh, are you Jaynix?"

 Eienias || Jaynix

Eyes finding the source of the question, Jaynix smiled.

"That would be me. Which means you must be Meep. It's good to meet you."

Jaynix held her hand out for a shake, observing the woman before her closely. Noting the simple tank top, one arm was bare while the other was armored up. Meep's hair was a messy but adorable blue contrasting Jaynix's deep red and...

"Oooh, I love your glasses. All around you're quite the looker."

With that, Jaynix winked at her new companion.

 Snazz || Meep

Meep shook Jaynix's hand, smiling—and then blushed.

"Uh—Um, thank... you? I, uh... you, are nice looking too!"

Her eyes slid over the soft hair and well-toned body of her soon-to-be companion. Her armor was tight-fitting, emphasizing each muscle and curv—WOW WHAT AN INTERESTING WALL. LOOK AT THAT WALL. FASCINATING.

"Er, it's uh, nice to meep—I mean, meet you! I mean, I am Meep. That's me. Yep. I'm a pathfinder. You knew that. Um, the mission. It's out there. Somewhere."

Nervously, she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix watched Meep's eyes, her smile shifting into a smirk as the other woman looked her over.

"Hey. Stare all you want. The last thing I am is offended."

Jaynix had half a mind to flex, but decided based on Meep's following stutters that she might be pushing it just a little bit. More time for that after the mission is complete...or during. During sounds good...but she really wanted to say something now, the stuttering was too adorable. LATER! Later. Focus on the mission, now.

"You're cute."

Okay, maybe a little now.

"Our objective is indeed out there. According to the mission details the FN Site is a bit of a trip into Primordia but with my rover we can get there in no time. Seeing as you're team leader, you wanna take the wheel or?"

 Snazz || Meep

"T-team leader! M-me? Uh, sure, I know the way, I can. Drive us. Just gotta avoid the one Blatta nest. And—"

She closed her eyes, tracing the path in her head.

That way—no, rovers can't climb cliffs. The evellos there aren't aggressive... past the pond, then—

"Yeah, uh, let's get going. Hopefully whatever's out there bugging the probe won't be too big of a deal... Um, you should keep an eye out while I'm driving. In case we get chased. Sometimes it happens. "

I... cute? TEAM LEADER?! This is a terrible idea, I'm no good at the whole 'team' thing.

The wind whipped through her hair as they drove, the landscape sliding by calmly.

"And then it exploded! So that's how I got out of that suid nest. I had no idea they liked kiran catnip too... well, back then, at least. It was before I learned—uh, it was before. It was a long time ago. I hadn't even finished weapon training all the way. "

She stopped awkwardly, turning the wheel to get around a particularly large rock. Jaynix kept smiling at her whenever she glanced over to look.

Cute...

 Eienias || Jaynix

Meep seemed to be a bit scatterbrained...though Jaynix was of the belief that it was simply cause she flirted a little too hard, too fast. She couldn't help it. Meep was a looker. Listening to Meep's story, Jaynix kept a smile on her face, chuckling every so often.

“I'd ask how one finds a way into so many suid nests in such a short amount of time...but you did just tell me. That's a rousing tale if I ever heard one."

Misadventures were some of Jaynix's favorite things to listen to. Epic quests and triumphs were incredible of course, but things that happen through such...random happenstance and coincidence...it's an art form. Taking one last look around, she noted that no Indigens were in pursuit of the rover. Good.

"I remember when I was a recruit. Thinking about all the things I've done back then is just...wow. I'm far beyond what I was then but it is enjoyable to look back on it. I imagine you are the same now eh? Far better with your gear?"

 Snazz || Meep

"Uh!"

Meep paused for several seconds—the wind blew through the silence.

Far better with my gear...

"Y-yeah, I guess I am. I'm... to be honest, I'm really not where I should be, but I've learned a lot since then. A lot of what I know is stuff about Mira, you know, like how to get around and find things and avoid stuff like suid nests. The best time of day to travel places, the hunting grounds of different predators, how to convince them not to bother you. And I can handle aggressive indigens better now—"

Her mouth felt dry.

"Tyrants, though... they're still troublesome. I know where they are. I know how to avoid them. That's about the best I can do."

Her hands tightened minutely on the wheel.

"T-to be honest, I don't know why they gave me this mission. There are more combat-ready Pathfinders that could handle it. I-I mean not discounting your skills, or anything, but I won't be the greatest partner. I'm sorry."

Better to be honest about it than to get into a combat situation with unrealistic expectations.

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix watched Meep as she spoke, she didn't expect such a seemingly small question to bring out so much. Regardless, she took in every word in silence, keeping her eyes on Meep as the landscapes of Primordia zoomed by.

"You're very honest. I appreciate that. I respect that. Not everyone is strong in the sense that they wield fire. I'm the way I am through years and years of training, routines and countless life or death situations. What I learned was the fastest and most efficient ways of killing someone and the best ways to move and behave to make the most out of your energy in order to kill more people...all those years have made me what I am. A killer."

Jaynix waited a few moments, staring at Primordia before looking back at Meep.

"You on the other hand, found the best ways to survive. You adapted to Mira. You don't fancy yourself some incredible warrior and that's fine...knowing that, you've devised ways to move around this hostile planet as safely and efficiently as possible. There's a lot to be said for the more...knowledgeable route. It's not something I think I can do...but I honestly respect that in those who can."

Jaynix put a hand on Meep's shoulder.

"BLADE HQ needed a Pathfinder, you're that Pathfinder. Whatever the reason may be. I may have spent all my time on Earth amongst elite warriors...other killers who were my family, but I know that not everyone on Mira is like that, so don't worry about it. Should a come down to a fight, you do what you can...and I'll do what I can..."

Jaynix took her hand from Meep's shoulder, giving her a wink.

"After all, we're a team right?"

 Snazz || Meep

Meep felt frozen at the wheel in surprise.

"I guess... we are a team, aren't we. That's the whole point."

A smile came to her lips, before fading slowly.

A Killer...

It was a more solemn view than she had seen out of many BLADEs. Many were prideful, eager to boast about their battle skills, about how many indigens they had killed, about the hit they'd managed to score on the Endbringer...

Jaynix was a veteran. That much was clear. The trainers back in NLA all were. They treated their skills and weapons with respect, and often more than a little reverence.

I honestly respect that...

"I... thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that. The... respect thing."

After hearing the voices of a hundred strong warriors tell her she was weak... it was nice to hear one that supported her.

"I always... run away, though. And a lot of people. A lot of other BLADEs. Don't approve of that. It doesn't always feel good having to hang back when everyone is fighting. You can protect people with your skills. I respect that a lot."

She took a quick glance at their surroundings, then pulled the rover over next to an outcropping of rock.

"We're about 2 kilometers from the probe. It's probably best to walk the rest of the way. Um, so we can see what's around here."

 Eienias || Jaynix

"I have to apologize...I don't know where all of that came from. We just met and...I don't know but I'm glad you didn't find my soliloquy...odd."

Jaynix shook her head, it was still so odd that she blabbed all that out so easily. Branding herself a killer once again…but it was the truth.

“We all have our limits, Meep. Sometimes we just have to run or do something others may consider cowardly…but if after all of it you’re still standing and breathing…it’s a victory in its own way. And remember, I’m here. I can’t expect you to trust in my skills since you haven’t seen me fight…but I’ll do what I can to keep us both safe and get us both back to NLA. Alive.”

Exiting the rover, Jaynix stood and began stretching. Grabbing her weapons, she nodded to herself before looking over to Meep.

“Gonna walk it eh? Alright then. Let’s get a move on, and when we’re done maybe we can spend some more time together back in NLA. Just the two of us.”

 Snazz || Meep

"You don't have to say sorry. It's okay to talk about stuff. I mean... what's wrong with that?"

As Meep hopped out of the rover and strapped on her raygun, she found herself smiling. Jaynix was nice. It was nice to be around someone that was just... ok with how she worked.

I mean... Es and Llyud and Mina are all OK with me, but... someone like Jaynix. It's different somehow.

Her throat clenched at the thought of Llyud, but she took a deep breath and faced her companion.

"There's an outcropping we can look over the area from. Can you climb? It's not hard."

 Eienias || Jaynix

"Talking about stuff...yeah...you're right, there is nothing wrong with that at all!"

"Except for all the things you refuse to talk about."

Shaking her head she hoped what she said didn't sound sarcastic. She really meant it. Talking was helpful. Looking over to Meep she wondered something else, was asking her what she did...was that too soon? Yeah, it might've been too soon.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head she followed Meep's gesture to a nearby outcropping.

"Can I climb? Hell yeah! I've totally got this. Lead the way and remember, I'm right behind you. I'm your shadow."

 Snazz || Meep

Jaynix's voice was carefree, but her eyes were uneasy. Meep frowned, but turned and began to walk.

"Here we go, then... shadow."

She turned her head to give Jaynix a little smile. -- The walk was uneventful. ...A bit too uneventful. There were fewer indigens in this area than she remembered, and those that were were more skittish, more fearful. As soon as they sighted the two, they bolted. An uneasy feeling persisted over the area, growing stronger as the two walked.

"...do you hear that?"

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix was never one to get bored. Based off the way she acted and her desire to complete every mission under the sun, there is no time for getting bored. Quiet moments, still moments where nothing happened...were worrisome above all. Something she's learned from many raids back on Earth. Silence out in combat zones was often anything but peaceful.

Jaynix looked over to Meep, unease growing. She wasn't sure in what form it'd manifest but as with many 'easy missions' before it, something was always bound to happen. She wanted to ask Meep if she was alright when the other woman asked about...something.

"If there was a sound...I missed it."

Falling silent, Jaynix focused, staying calm as she listened for whatever it is that Meep heard.

 Snazz || Meep

"That's it…”

Meep said quietly.

"Exactly. It's almost totally silent."

They were just approaching the cliff—boulders were piled up, creating a makeshift path to the top. Meep deftly pulled herself atop the first— HONK slightly distant—the sound of a grumpy saltat.

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix nodded. Silence. Of course. It's never usually this quiet around Primordia. She stood back watching Meep pull herself up, giving their surroundings another look to make sure she didn't miss anything else. Then she heard the honk and looked up.

"...a saltat?"

She almost let out a sigh of relief, she honestly expected worse.

"Hey Meep, do you see our new 'friend' up there?"

 Snazz || Meep

Meep peered upward—the head of a saltat poked from over the top of the cliff— radiating, searing-hot Will, like the heat of the sun on her back.

The saltat disappeared as soon as she spotted it, and the feeling faded. She hesitated on the rocks, unsure if climbing was a wise option.

Shit, that's...

"Jaynix. It's a Tyrant."

Her voice was hushed.

 Eienias || Jaynix

"Tyrants, though... they're still troublesome. I know where they are. I know how to avoid them. That's about the best I can do."

Jaynix narrowed her eyes, watching Meep who was still in the midst of climbing, but unmoving.

"A Tyrant...shit. Meep if it makes you feel better or more comfortable you can come back down here and we can decide what to do."

Jaynix waited a few moments, thinking this over.

"I'm guessing this guy might be responsible for the probe acting up cause I'm pretty sure I haven't seen or heard of him around here..."

She tapped her chin as she continued mulling over the situation they were in. Normally she'd draw her blade and charge into battle, but Meep was team leader. This was her call.

 Snazz || Meep

"Um..."

Meep thought for a moment. Her natural reaction was to leave the area, try to observe the tyrant, determine if it was aggressive or not, determine if it was the cause of the probe problem (likely)... And come up with a catchy name, of course.

"If it's the problem, we'll have to either kill it or call for backup."

She heard an awkward flapping noise, and another distant honk. It sounded further away, and slightly below them.

So it went down?

"I'm going to keep climbing."

She pulled herself up to the top—it was saltat-free, but she knew that before even reaching there. No feeling of Will... She peeked over the edge; there was the probe, all right. Its access port stuck up from the ground, the antenna on the top jutting up two feet from there.

Honk And there was the Tyrant... dancing around the probe? It was tracing a large circle around the device, honk always facing directly toward it. honk In a flash, it dove forward, battering the port with its wings, and stamping its feet before drawing back and circling honk again.

"Oh my Mira. That's an aggression display. Jaynix, it's trying to drive off the probe."

Meep tried to stay solemn. Tried, so hard. And failed, dragging her hand down her face.

"That's got to be the dumbest saltat I've ever seen."

 Eienias || Jaynix

"I'm all for killing the damn thing."

Seeing Meep continue to climb, Jaynix nodded to herself and climbed up after her, reaching the top she joined Meep in observing the Saltat dancing around the probe. Jaynix found herself unsure of what to do. Laugh at the absurdity? Facepalm at the ridiculous display? Or just charge it now and try to kill it?

Hearing Meep's voice, she looked to her companion as she explained what the Saltat was doing.

"Great. A stupid saltat Tyrant has decided our valuable data probe is its eternal rival or some shit. Wonderful."

Jaynix shook her head before gesturing at the Tyrant.

"Doesn't look like it has any plans on leaving. I'm all for slitting its throat but...well, what should we do, Blue?"

 Snazz || Meep

"I don't think we have another option, really. Hee he—Ahem."

She honk tried to stand up straight, as befitting a team leader—and then honk doubled over in chuckles again.

"I'm sorry, it—it's just—oh my god, it's so—the—"

She sniffled, honk wiping her eyes.

"If you can take it, I'll back you up best I can. Hee hee hoo... It uh, doesn't feel especially strong for a Tyrant. But it's still a Tyrant. You have an um, battle plan?"

She tore her eyes honk away from the indigen to look at Jaynix.

"...Shadow?"

She smiled.

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix stood up alongside Meep, watching the woman try to hold herself together before breaking out into chuckles in light of the rather ridiculous saltat tyrant they faced. Jaynix found herself smiling.

"Blue. You are really really adorable."

Hearing the call for a battle plan, Jaynix looked over to the Tyrant, then looked around the surrounding area all while muttering to herself.

"It doesn't...feel strong? Hm..."

Shaking her head, she brought her eyes over to Meep.

"I am your shadow. I act with your blessing and from what I can see, this looks to be a straight up slugfest. I can open by disorienting the Tyrant with a missile barrage, after that it’s a matter of weakening and breaking the appendages, key among them..."

HONK

"...that damned trumpet"

Jaynix pulled out her Gatling Gun, looking to Meep, waiting to hear her thoughts.

 Snazz || Meep

"Oh, um... the feeling... it's complicated. I'll explain later if you want but it might take a while."

She shifted uncomfortably. Jaynix had drawn her HONK weapon, and was looking at Meep expectantly. Pre-battle jitters were already starting to take over her limbs.

"G-go for it! I c-can—back you up! H-have to stay back, but I can weak—weaken it some."

She reached back and released the magnetic catch on the raygun, swinging it around to her front.

Both of us have big guns. Nice.

She thought half-deliriously.

 Eienias || Jaynix

"Blue. Take a deep breath. We'll be fine. You're not alone. Do what you can..."

Jaynix glanced over at the Saltat, her Gatling Gun's cylinder beginning to rotate as her eyes began to light up, the red and yellow glowing as she spoke.

"...and I'll do the same."

Running forward, Jaynix let loose a barrage of bullets, the countless rounds striking against the back of the Tyrant. Spinning around the beast honked at her before lunging in her direction. With immense force Jaynix pushed herself off the ground and out of range of the Saltat.

Landing, she skidded across the ground and turned, clicking was heard from her weapon as it changed ammo, missiles popping out of the sides. A wide smile on her face, eyes burning she let loose a missile barrage causing explosions to erupt all around the Tyrant.

Waves of ether emerged from the dust cloud that her attack caused. Jaynix clenched her teeth as the waves struck her, digging her feet into the ground. Resolute, she shook herself off and fired another volley of missiles at the Tyrant.

 Snazz || Meep

Meep watched as Jaynix leapt off the overlook, landing deftly and beginning her assault. The Tyrant engaged immediately, not hesitating to lunge at her.

Meep felt her mind spring to gather automatically—no, dammit, this is a Tyrant—but her head cleared slightly with the sensation, and she found herself leaping down and landing heavily, rising quickly to stance and taking aim at the center of the rapidly dissipating dust cloud.

Click, click, click—charge, fire, and a screaming purple beam HONK struck dead center. Panic and fear swirled through her mind, and she felt her self-control beginning to slip.

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix watched as Meep's opening attack struck the Tyrant, pushing it back. A singular powerful blow, Jaynix gave a thumbs up to the other woman but noted that she looked- Her train of thought was interrupted by the Tyrant standing and lunging at her, striking her full force and throwing her across the ground, rolling to her feet Jaynix began laughing.

"So that's how you wanna play it..."

Dropping her Gatling Gun she drew her blade and charged the Tyrant which began to erratically hop back and forth, its wings shooting out to strike at her. Dodging the attacks, Jaynix felt one brush past her, barely scratching her. With a yell she swung her blade, slicing through one of the Saltat's wings.

Honking it swung around, its other wing striking her back and pushing her away. Turning to face the Tyrant Jaynix brought her blade up and caught the beast as it lunged at her, putting all her strength into her blade, she held it back as it honked at her again. Ether bubbles emerging from the Saltat and making contact with her.

 Snazz || Meep

A thumbs up—thank you... and Jaynix was suddenly smacked down by the Saltat. Meep faltered.

Was that... was that my fault?

Her heart caught in her throat. Jaynix faced the assault head-on, dodging its attacks and locking her blade with its wings. But she was still getting battered heavily...

I have to... something?

Meep released a hand from her raygun, letting the end drop to the ground, and drew her knife.

Panic. Fear. Worry. ...Determination.

She took a deep breath, and pointed the blade at Jaynix. A barrier flashed around her, shimmering the air.

"Y-you got this! Go for it, Shadow!"

She attempted to shout encouragement, stuffing the knife back in its sheath and steadying the raygun once more. Immediately, panic swam back up to cloud her thoughts, and she swallowed. Click-click-click.

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix felt the surge of energy as it formed up around her. Eyes shifting from the Saltat she found Meep looking down at her, pointing her knife in her direction. Jaynix smiled and winked at her.

"Thank you Blue."

Glaring at the Saltat, she pushed her blade forward.

"And as for you...do you think I'm worried?"

HONK

"I don't know what that means...don't care."

Clenching her teeth and yelling, Jaynix broke the lock and pushed the Saltat back, spinning her blade she continued yelling and leapt at the Tyrant, slashing it across the chest several times before kicking off it, landing farther away.

Spinning around the Saltat unleashed more ether attacks, all headed right for Jaynix. Smirking the Interceptor swung her blade, the weapon catching fire which soon spread to cover her entire body. With a mighty swing, a cyclone of flames formed, burning through the ether.

The Saltat jumped back, prepared to strike again when Jaynix shot through the flames, her burning blade striking out with immense power, slashing off the horn on top of the Saltat's head. Skidding to a halt she turned around to face the Tyrant as its appendage fell to the ground. Looking back up at Meep, Jaynix smiled and nodded to her before staring down the Tyrant again.

 Snazz || Meep

The saltat had honked its last honk—Jaynix cleaved the horn from its head. It staggered backward, obviously in pain, a pathetic screech eeking from its beak. Jaynix smiled and nodded to her—Meep gasped a deep breath, the air clearing her head slightly—and fired.

A massive beam lanced out of the raygun, slamming into the saltat with meteoric force. Another ugly screech, louder this time, rent the air. The Tyrant staggered again—deep, ugly burns coated its body, the hideous smell of roasting flesh reaching Meep's nose. Most of its feathers were gone. Pathetically, it screeched again, and stumbled forward. Its Will was burning brightly. The last vestiges of strength before death...

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix stared at Tyrant, Meep's attack causing immense and very visible damage all over its body. Much like with many of Mira's creatures the Saltat was enraged, the last thing it wanted to do was go down...too bad for it. Jaynix gripped her blade with both hands, relaxing her muscles she let out a long, calm breath as the Tyrant charged her position with all the strength it could muster.

As soon as it was in front of her, Jaynix could see one of its injured wings heading right for her, evading the strike, she tightened her grip on her blade. With a mighty roar, Jaynix struck the Tyrant at least a dozen times, her blade flashing and carving through the beast with immense force.

All the energy the Saltat had left was drained with each successive strike right up until it fell to the ground in a heap. Jaynix held her blade out in its final position, letting out another calm breath as the flaming aura that encompassed her body faded away. Standing up straight, she nodded before looking over towards Meep and smiling.

"Looks like we did it, Blue.”

 Snazz || Meep

The radiating energy flickered, and vanished. The Tyrant lay on the ground, unmoving. Deep cuts ran through its burned body—a rather grisly sight. Meep took a deep breath, knees shaking, and steadied herself. She nodded to Jaynix and attempted a smile.

"Y-yeah! We did it."

She turned to the body, and pointed.

"How about... Honky, the Stupid?"

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix walked over to Meep, letting out one more relieved sigh as she sheathed her blade when she heard Meep's proposed name for the now dead Tyrant. Jaynix followed her finger back to the corpse and stared at it for a few moments before looking back at Meep.

Cracking a smile, she began to chuckle...which was soon followed by loud, lighthearted laughter. She tried to will herself to stop, but she couldn't, for whatever reason this small moment was just too hilarious for her. Wiping her eyes she let a few more giggles escape before speaking.

"Blue. You are just too precious...as for the name? Sure. It's perfect."

 Snazz || Meep

Jaynix was singed, splattered with indigen blood, and grimy—and a large bruise was beginning to form underneath her jaw. ...and she burst into laughter. Meep stood dumbfounded for a moment—before she cracked a smile and joined her, their guffaws escaping into the the air.

It was at least a minute before she was able to collect herself enough to respond.

"I mean... it's not like it really needs one. It's already dead so it won't go in the 'dex or anything. But it makes for a good story."

She shrugged, smiling amiably.

"You uh, looked pretty good out there."

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix wiped her face a few times, her body still burning from the heat of battle. She nodded to Meep's first statement, though she remained curious as to how the rest of BLADE would react if 'Honky, the Stupid' was indeed an entry for the Index

"I always strive to look and perform at my best so I'm really glad that I didn't let you down."

Jaynix took a step closer, placing a hand on Meep's shoulder and smiling.

"You did good as well, Meep. A support role is as crucial a role as any. Thank you."

She then noted Meep's eyes as the woman looked up at her. A vibrant, wondrous green. With another wink, Jaynix stepped away and gestured over to the Data Probe.

"I suppose taking care of that is all that's left."

 Snazz || Meep

"Um, you're. Uh, welcome."

I—I did good? I didn't do all that much...

She stood dumbfounded for a moment, before turning to the probe.

"Er—yes. Hopefully the damage isn't too bad. it just got banged around on top so hopefully it's just the receiver that's broken."

She pulled open her pack and got out the little toolkit, crouching next to the probe. The casing was dented in several places. She grimaced.

This might take a while.

"It might be a bit... maybe find a place to sit down and relax while I figure out what to do about this?”

  Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix sat aside, having finished cleaning off her armor to the best of her abilities. The Indigen blood was as disgusting as ever but she also had to contend with burns and scorching as a result of jumping through her own flaming tornado. At least it looked cool.

Her eyes moved over to Meep, hard at work on the Probe. It'd been a while, but she knew better than to ask. It'd be done when it's done. Deciding to encourage Meep in her own way, she spoke.

"Good support, deep thinker, gadget tinkerer and very pretty to boot. You've got a good skillset there Blue."

Jaynix smiled before reaching over to her supplies and retrieving a bottle of water. Walking over to Meep she held it out, still smiling.

"Wish I could help with this...but I know you've got it, what I can do is make sure you're at your best."

 Snazz || Meep

"I'm not really... a tinkerer,"

Meep blushed.

"I only really know probes, and it took me a long time to learn. I couldn't fix anything else if you asked me to."

She looked up to see Jaynix holding out a bottle of water. Timidly, she took it from Jaynix's hands and took a drink.

"T-thank you. I think I'm almost done. I don't think this will be a permanent fix, they'll probably have to come in later and replace the parts."

She sighed.

"At least it's better than walking up to it being completely destroyed. That's happened before. There was this vigent that was uprooting probes in Oblivia a while ago... we're still not really sure why. There's so much about indigen behavior we still don't understand."

She set the bottle down and turned back to the panel, starting on soldering the last few connections. Her mind slipped into focus, hands deftly working the tools. The remaining work went quickly. She leaned back after a short time, wiping her forehead. Finished.

 Eienias || Jaynix

As Meep took a few drinks from the water bottle, Jaynix nodded.

"I'm kinda the same with tech. Got a busted weapon? I can fix it or I can design new weapons from schematics. Had to study and maintain mine for so long I picked up quite a few things...but data probes? Nah. This stuff is over my head."

Jaynix has encountered plenty of Indigens across all her time on Mira and many encounters have definitely been odd. Give humanity years and years and years and even then, there are most likely some things they just won't be able to understand about Indigens and about this planet.

It was a pretty heavy topic but seeing Meep return to work, Jaynix decided that it'd be best to stay quiet, sit and wait. Doing so, she examined their surroundings, making sure nothing even dared to pick a fight with either of them.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but she could tell from the way Meep sat back and relaxed, that she was done.

"Great work, Blue. Looks like you were the right Pathfinder for this job."

 Snazz || Meep

"Ah—well, someone else mighta been able to go faster..."

She trailed off.

"T-thank you. Um, for all your support. It's nice of you... I think you were the, the right interceptor?"

She turned, and smiled.

 Eienias || Jaynix

"Regardless of if someone could get this done faster or not...you, are the one that's here. And you did exactly what you had to. Be proud of that."

Standing, Jaynix began stretching.

"Heh, I'm glad that I could help. It gave me a chance to meet you so all of this was certainly worth it."

 Snazz || Meep

Meep looked at her shoes, and blushed again.

"Uh, I... it was nice to meet you, too..."

She stood, and tried to distract herself by stretching her back.

"S-Shall we get going back, then? Unless you wanted to take your time... there's some neat places around. Uhm, if you wanted to. See them."

 Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix could only whisper to herself at how cute Meep looked, shying away from Jaynix's gaze. Tapping her chin, she thought about the rest of her day, normally she was loaded up on missions but today she was taking it case by case. A refreshing change of pace.

"Neat places? Hm...I don't see why not. Heck, I prefer spending time in your company than just heading back to NLA. We can get know each other a bit more and all that."

Walking over to Meep, Jaynix smiled and gestured at Primordia around them.

"So Blue, where are we headed?"

 Snazz || Meep

"How about we keep it a surprise? But I'll give you a hint, Shadow—it's something pink..."

She smiled conspiratorially. The two set off over the landscape, chatting amiably.

The wind washed over the grass, sending it into waves, as sound gradually began to return—the sounds of birds and insects played with the breeze.

#xenoblade chronicles x #cross #jaynix #meep #roleplay #rp #fan fiction #this was really fun #finally got to meet the meep #worth it