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raw-lesbian-energy · 3 years

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Too Much Energy

[Image description: Anonymous said

could u maybe do a fic with lee marcy and ler anne and ler sasha? maybe marcy is too energetic and they try to get rid of some of her energy? marclee haha]

MARCLEE IS BEST LEE I LOVE HER SM,, Anon I had a lot of fun with this request and it was definitely a good break from the plot-heavy story! Hope you enjoy!

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Summary: Marcy Wu has way too much energy for Anne and Sasha to handle, so the two friends work together to help tire out the wound-up teen.

Fandom: Amphibia

Pairing: None

Features: None

Word Count: 1,034

Warnings: This is a tickle fic! If that’s not your thing, just keep scrolling.

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“Ooh, you guys have to hear about this!”

Marcy was practically bouncing on the spot, reading yet another paragraph from her extensive notebook of Amphibia. Anne and Sasha were leaning tiredly against the couch, neither of them sure how their friend still had so much energy.

Normally, they were fine with hearing their friend ramble, but today had been a bit more taxing after having to deal with some unwelcome giant bugs that were threatening Wartwood. Marcy had been a big help with her notes on them, however the one info dump led to another, and soon the girl was reading her entire notebook to her two friends.

“Mar-Mar, you need to take a break.” Anne told her, fatigue clear in her voice. “You’ve been talking nonstop for like, three hours now.” Marcy fell silent at the statement, blinking in surprise as a small blush of embarrassment crept onto her face.

“Oh, my bad.” She said sheepishly. “I guess I got carried away, but Amphibia is just chock full of interesting things! Like, did you know that-” without even realizing, Marcy started into another ramble, making Sasha sigh and rub the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Psst-” Sasha heard a whisper next to her, looking over and seeing Anne with a small yet mischievous smile on her face. She silently pointed a thumb to Marcy, wiggling her fingers after to mime out her plan. Sasha was quick to catch on, gaining a smirk as both of them looked back up at Marcy. The raven-haired girl hadn’t even noticed her friends yet, still rambling about some kind of carnivorous plant.

“-it’s a lot like a venus fly trap, actually.” She explained. “The difference is they also have a paralyzing venom that can- eep!” Marcy cut off mid-sentence as she felt hands grasp her sides, hauling her off the ground and carrying her back to the couch.

“Sasha, put me dohown!” She squeaked, the hands on her sides causing a small bout of giggles to escape her lips. Much to her surprise, Sasha did put her down…by unceremoniously tossing her on the couch. A small ‘oof!’ came from Marcy as she tried to upright herself, only for her two friends to suddenly be sitting on either side of her.

“Sorry Marbles,” Anne said, leaning against her, “but you’ve got too much energy, and we need to do something about it.” Marcy wasn’t sure what she meant until she felt hands on her sides, earning a high-pitched squeak followed by bright, bubbly giggles.

“Hehehey, wait!” She managed, the giggles soon overwhelming her words. Anne grinned at the sound, skittering her fingers over her friend’s exposed sides to test her reactions.

“Still ticklish as ever, I see.” Sasha mused, feeling Marcy starting to lean against her in an attempt to scoot away from Anne’s tickling. Of course, this didn’t work as Sasha held steady, leaving the raven-haired girl stuck between her two friends. Her cheeks turned pink as a goofy smile spread across her face, which Anne couldn’t help but coo at.

“Aww, you’re so cute, Mar-Mar!” She said sweetly. Marcy’s whole face turned red at Anne’s words, starting to thrash more as she felt the tickling creep up to her rib cage. All three had ditched their armour earlier, as it was a warmer day, leaving all of Marcy’s worst spots exposed.

“Ihihihi’m nohohot!” She squealed, tossing her head back and almost hitting Sasha by accident. The blonde had been able to dodge it at the last second, but the action flipped a switch in her mind and she rounded on Marcy in an instant.

“Alright, you asked for it!” She cried, wrapping her arms around Marcy’s chest and pulling her in, effectively trapping her in an iron hold. Fingers dug into the hollows of her underarms, earning a high-pitched shriek that was immediately followed by frantic laughter. Her legs kicked uselessly as she tried to pull herself free, only for Anne to sit herself on Marcy’s thighs to hold her down further. Four hands tickled at her sides and underarms, kneading and spidering and squeezing away at any spot they could reach.

“GuhuhUYS-!” The cry was hardly noticeable through all the laughter, and Marcy quickly realized there was nothing she could do but submit to her ticklish fate. Her ears had turned red at that point, eyes screwed shut and tears pricking in the corners of them. Despite how hard she was laughing, though, she still seemed to have plenty of energy.

“Man, I’m surprised she’s holding out this long.” Sasha commented to Anne, having to raise her voice somewhat to be heard. Anne nodded in agreement, and deciding to test Marcy further, moved her hands down and drummed her fingers against her hips. This earned a squeal that was so high in pitch that it actually left Anne’s ears ringing, causing her to pull away.

“Whoa, you good, Mar-Mar?” She asked. Sasha had even stopped, loosening her grip and allowing Marcy to catch her breath. The girl was a blushing mess, her hair frizzy from her struggling and a goofy smile still plastered on her face.

“Yeheheah…” She panted, brushing her hair back with her fingers, “just…g-gimme a sec.” Anne and Sasha exchanged a glance, both of them smiling softly as Marcy worked to compose herself.

“What do you think, Sash?” Anne asked, turning her gaze back to Marcy. “Has she had enough?”

“Don’t know.” Sasha replied, sitting back against the arm of the couch. “Girl’s got enough energy to power a city.” Anne chuckled at the comment, however Marcy seemed to perk up.

“Actually, Newtopia has been working on a renewable energYYY-!” A squeal left her throat as Sasha immediately started tickling her again, spidering her fingers over the teen’s ribs.

“If you’ve got energy to ramble, you’ve got energy to be tickled.” Sasha told her, though all that Marcy replied with was high-pitched giggles. Anne chuckled and ended up joining in again, doubling the electric sensations that were spreading through Marcy’s torso.

Anne and Sasha were right; she did have lots of energy. But having it be spent through her two best friends tickling her silly was more than fine by her.

#amphibia #amphibia anne #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #prompted work #sasha waybright #amphibia sasha #amphibia marcy #tickle fic #marclee

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novannna · 4 years

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Newest Addition

So this is unedited bc im lazy and kinda rly bad, but thats ok. Takes place when Tala realizes she’s pregnant, and just is about her and David figuring out what to do. Pretty much all from Tala’s POV except from like a paragraph from David’s. word count: 1807

@renegadesnet event 2: august of anarchy  ↪ [ anarchist/age of anarchy ]

Tala walked over to her husband and sat down in a chair. He was leaning over the table, his back hunched and his eyes focused on the delicate strands of energy in front of him.

“Mahal…” she said softly. “I have something I need to tell you.” Nervousness fluttered in her belly, but he quickly pushed it away.

He looked up from his work, a small locket, still half finished, and smiled. He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Of course, Caro,” he replied. He shifted his body so he was facing her. “What is it?” There was worry and fear on his face. “Is something wrong?”

Tala looked at his warm brown eyes and felt herself melt a little bit. “No, nothing’s wrong,” she reassured him. “At least… not now.”

He chuckled nervously. “You're scaring me Tala.”

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

David dropped the locket he had been holding. “Your… your pregnant?” He rubbed the space between his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

She nodded shakily. “Yes. I’m positive.”

David smiled at her, his eyes sparkling. “Caro, we are going to have a family! We are going to have a child!” He stopped when he saw her expression. “What is it, Tala? What's wrong? Do you not want this?” His eyes were filled with concern

“I want a baby, it's just…” she trailed off. “I’m scared. With everything that’s happening right now, can we really start a family? We can barely feed ourselves, how will we be able to afford another mouth. And everything is so dangerous. They could get hurt, or die. That would be our fault. I’m scared David. I’m so scared.”

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. “What do you want to do? I want to raise a family with you, but only when you are ready. I can ask my brother for a doctor for an abortion, or something, and we don’t need to think about it again until we’re ready. I love you, Tala. I want what you want.”

Tala collapsed into his arms and started to cry. “I don’t know what to do David. I don’t want to sentence our child to a terrible life. But, I also want to have a family,” she sniffled. “Let me think about it.” Tala swiped an arm across her eyes.

“Anything for you Caro.”

---

Tala placed a hand on her round stomach, and felt the baby kick. She had finally decided to keep the child, but she woke up at night, worrying that she handmade the wrong choice.

David would reassure her that they would do everything they possibly could to care for their child, but Tala did not know if that would be enough.

A sharp knock on the door. She started to get up, but David was there already, swinging the door open before she could even stand. Tala scowled. She hated being helpless.

“David, Tala! It's so good to see you,” Alec crowed at the couple. “It’s been too long.” The brothers embraced. David stepped inside to let Alec into the house. A woman followed behind him, her head tucked down. Tala wondered why she was here, she had never seen her before.

As if reading her mind, David asked, “And who is this, Alec?”

“I’m Penny,” the woman said softly.

“I’m Tala,” Tala responded warmly.

Alec clapped his hand down onto Penny’s shoulder. “Penny can help you if you want. She can assist you with any pregnancy problems, Tala. I wouldn’t want to have anything happen to my brother’s precious wife.” Tala bit down a snarl at his smug way of talking. She had never liked Alec, but she knew that he loved David dearly, and David loved him back. But Tala couldn’t look at him without seeing all the horrible crimes he had done.

She forced a grateful smile onto her face. “Thank you Alec, but I think we’ll be fine. I would rather give Penny’s skills to someone who really needs them.”

Alec raised his eyebrows at her. “Very well. Penny, your welcome to leave.”

The woman glanced at the door. “Before I go, I can look and see the sex of your child. If you would like,” she said to Tala.

Tala and David looked at each other. He shrugged. “That would be wonderful,” Tala said. Penny nodded. She walked over to Tala and placed her hands on her stomach. She closed her eyes and her eyebrows furrowed. Tala looked over towards David. The two brothers had walked away from the woman and were talking quietly.

Penny lifted her hands off Tala’s round stomach and smiled. “It’s a girl,” she said.

A girl. Tala smiled. “A girl, Mahal,” she called out to David. “We’re going to have a little girl.”

David rushed over. “A girl.” He grinned wide. “My love, we can do it.”

Tala reached out and took Penny’s hand in her own. “Thank you so much,” she said thickly. “You have no idea how much this means to all of us.”

Penny nodded uncomfortably. “I’m happy to help.”

“You can go now,” Alec told her. Penny nodded. She waved her hand and sped out the door.

“My love are you feeling okay?” David asked her.

She smiled at him. “Just tired. I think I’ll go take a nap. You two have fun.” She stood and started to walk towards the bedroom.

“Actually, I should be heading out too,” Alec said. “I have some business to take care of. I’ll try and come around more.” He smiled at them, and hurried out the door.

“Do you need anything?” David asked Tala. he walked over to where she stood.

“No.” she shook her head. “I’m fine.” She kissed her husband on the cheek. “I love you, Mahal.”

“And I love you, Caro.”

---

“How about Amber?” David asked. The couple were lying in bed, each of them holding a notepad. Tala wrinkled her nose, but wrote it anyway. She was about 8 months pregnant and her stomach was the size of a large watermelon.

“I don’t know. It sounds kinda… pretentious.” she shrugged. “I like Aurora.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And you called me pretentious?”

“Okay, so no?” She held her pen over the word, ready to scratch it out.

“Leave it, we can narrow it down later. Now, we’re just brainstorming.”

“Okay.” She snuggled in closer. “What if we named her after your crazy aunt. Macy, right?”

David laughed. “We are NOT naming our child after my insane aunt. I won't be that cruel to our daughter.”

“Okay. fine, I never liked her anyways.”

He grinned at her. “I like Sierra.”

“Ooh, me too. I like that one a lot, actually.” They wrote it down on the paper. “Umm, how ‘bout Clarence.”

“I guess. Not my favourite, but it's all right.” He shrugged. “I like Sequoia.”

“Pretty.” she kissed his chin lightly. “I like all of these, but none of them feel right, you know? Like they aren’t right.”

“Yeah. you never know, maybe we’ll have to wait till she’s born to decide.” he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. “Do you ever just imagine what she will be like? What she’ll look like, how she’ll act.”

“All the time.” Tala felt as if she was admitting to some secret thing, only she did.

“Me too,” David said. “In my mind, she’s going to be short, just like you.”

“Hey!” Tala playfully shoved him. He grinned at her.

“She’ll be short and have short black hair. It will be slightly wavy, a mix between ours.”

“And she’ll have your gorgeous blue eyes,” Tala added with a smile.

“What? No no no. She’s going to have your brown eyes.”

Tala shook her head. “No way.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” He grinned. “One more month, and another member will be joining the Artino family.”

“David, what if she’s a prodigy?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “If she is, we can’t tell Alec. He’ll convince her to join the anarchists, or will try and exploit her powers. We CANNOT let him know if she is a prodigy.”

“Yeah.” Tala sighed. “I hope she isn't. Being a prodigy right now is more dangerous right now than it ever has been. With both Renegades and Anarchists, as well as a number of other gangs competing to recruit prodigy’s and normal citizens, fear… it won’t end well.”

“We don’t need to worry yet. And you should sleep. It's getting late.”

“Alright. Lets just think of a few more name ideas.”

“Of course Caro.”

---

Tala screamed as pain rushed through her body. She shuddered and squeezed David’s hand tightly. He squeezed it back.

“Come on, Caro. You can do it!” His tone was encouraging, but his eyes were filled with fear. Tala lay on their bed, and Penny stood on the side. David stood across from her, watching fearfully.

Alec sat at the kitchen table, watching from a distance.

Tala screamed again. Penny dabbed at her sweaty forehead with a damp cloth.

There was silence, then the sound of a baby’s cry filled the small apartment. Tala smiled, her face wet with tears and sweat, her entire body exhausted. Penny gently handed the baby to her.

The little girl was covered with blood. She had a small tuft of black hair and sparkling blue eyes that stared straight at Tala. SHe felt her heart melt.

“Nova,” David said.

“I’m sorry?” Tala asked, confused.

“I think we should name her Nova. It fits her, don’t you think?”

Tala nodded. “I like it. She bent her head over her daughter. “Hello, little Nova. Welcome to the world.”

Nova giggled and reached her hand up. Tala smiled and lowered her head for the baby to reach. Nova’s hand patted her nose. Tala slumped backwards, fast asleep in the span of a second. David stared in shock.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered to himself as he watched his daughter. Penny walked over and scooped Nova up. She swaddled her in a blanket and passed her to David.

“Your daughter,” she said with a smile. David looked at the small bundle in his hand.

“Congratulations, David,” Alec said. He leaned over his shoulder and smiled at the little girl. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks for everything,” he said. “Me and Tala really appreciate all your help.”

“Of course. I’ll try to come around more. I want to be a part of my niece's life.”

“And I want you in it to.” David smiled at his older brother.

“I should go. Let me know if Nova shows any signs of being a prodigy, will you?”

David glanced at his sleeping wife, then the baby in his hands. She gurgled happily. He forced a smile. “Of course. We’ll let you know right away.”

#renegadesnet #renegades #tala artino #david artino #nova artino #alec artino #fic

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blankdblank · 4 years

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Ridikulus Pt 14

By nine you were off home again receiving confirmation from Percy that the hidden islands were now emptied. And those families were settling back into their homes excited to learn all they could of what they had missed on their new world from the back issues of the Daily Prophet detailing all the updates including the nominations given for Minister of Magic, along with other positions in the Ministry. Crude maps were given of the new layout of the globes being made of this world and the Wizarding lands within it to be sold before long. Listings of all that was needed for the coming city of Dale to be formed were posted as well along with Rita’s full page delving into the impending engagement of Hermione to a certain Dwarf Prince. Though whenever possible other tiny paragraphs were written with other possible pairings including Ron, Ginny, Regulus and of course you, which was a rotating list of names and faces without a solid answer.

Through the snow and bustling suburb you walked until you found the house formerly Number 4 Privet Drive. Biting your lip you walked alone to the front door and gave it a gentle knock. Inside shuffling was heard paired with giggles and when the door opened Petunia was there grinning at you as Vernon peeked out of the living room. Rapidly smiling she stepped back motioning her hand to welcome you in, “Come in, come in Jaqi.” She peeked through the door at the quickening snow then shut it and joined you all in the living room asking, “Any news? There were some explosions earlier.”

“Ex-,” for a moment your lips parted and brows furrowed before you said, “Must be fireworks. We did settle down the other hidden islands and towns,” easing their worries greatly as you smiled at Em, who was coloring beside Dudley at the coffee table. Over to the couch behind her you went kissing the top of her head as you sat down and said, “It’ll be all over the papers by noon no doubt, everyone being resettled. Short version, most of the Wizarding world is in a ring of mountains in the land of Angmar down to a Dwarf city called Moria, fit quite nicely into the Misty Mountains, as they’re called.”

Em, “Misty?”

“Yes,” you replied in a smiling giggle making her do the same in her turn to coloring again.

She nodded and Vernon asked, “So, we’re safe now?”

You nodded meeting his eyes, “Yes. We’ve sealed the lands and everyone knows their new jobs joining in producing food and clothes, things like that. Even have a series of cities for the Muggles we managed to gather up.”

Dudley, “What, what, do we, do?”

You flashed him a weak smile, “Well, I know you’ve been getting along well with Arthur, and we’ve actually come up with an idea of sorts.” They nodded, “We don’t have very much Muggle born representatives for European Wizarding communities, as it were, so we were hoping you might help us by joining a sort of council to ensure that needs are met and if anything arises you could bring it to our attention. Arthur could fill it in more thoroughly than I am,” you said with another quick chuckle.

Vernon, “A Council?”

Petunia, “Like a neighborhood watch, type thing?”

You shook your head, “No, you would have a place in Parliament, meeting regularly with the Queen and being our buffer, so to speak.”

They all nearly choked on the air they were breathing as Vernon replied, “The Queen?!”

You nodded, “Well, she wasn’t exactly very willing to deal with us when we first proposed hiding her lands. Burning, was mentioned with shouting, and shin kicks were issued, well, it didn’t go as smoothly as I’d hoped, and she sort of banished me from her kingdom.”

Petunia nodded with her lips pursed before releasing a soft snicker, “Well, I do suppose we could see where the difficulty would lie in that.”

Dudley, “Don’t know how banishment was s’posed to stop you.”

You smirked at him as Vernon smiled saying, “Well, if you’ve already set it, in their minds, you know,” he wet his lips, “It doesn’t sound too hard. Neighbors have grown quite peaceful, and I am getting used to the comfortable lifestyle you’ve switched to. Change in the cars is nice to, what do they run off of?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain. Sunlight and some other, elements.”

He nodded giving your hand a gentle pat, “Just leave it to us. We will be your buffer.”

You smiled and glanced at Petunia when she scooted forward, wetting her lips as her hands folded across her lap nervously, “Last time, you mentioned the orphans. Vernon is a much better negotiator than I am. I would very much like to help, if I can.”

You nodded and replied, “I know. We are in need of foster families. I will add you to our lists, and will send word to the other members of the Council for a meeting for you all before you meet with the Queen.” They all joined you on your feet in Em’s climb onto your lap ready to go, and walked you to the door where you paused saying, “Oh, about Harry’s son, would you want to come over when he’s here?”

Petunia nodded with a teary gaze, “Absolutely. We would love to.”

“Shouldn’t be long now. Week possibly.”

A finger wave and turning around you nuzzled Em closer to your chest in a warm bubble and heard the door shut behind you after their animated goodbye to the little girl and you. Grinning to her you asked, “How was your morning?”

Animatedly she shared about the coloring she did widening your smile after her having snuck to the garden to get snow to throw at Dudley making you giggle.

Breakfast had gone well for your relatives, at least until the papers had been delivered. The announcement of his name in the papers the following name beside the absurd Lockhart, that had named himself once again, drove Remus to nearly choking on his morning tea wondering how anyone could name a Werewolf as their Minister. Sure he had managed to complete his year teaching at Hogwarts without his secret being outed.

And since falling here he had startlingly found himself without the uncomfortable feelings around his first shift Sirius, Ron and Arthur had set up a safe place to lock him inside when the moon rose only to find him still without a reaction at all even without his potions. But with all the Order members on the Council he had obviously been the clearest choice in both experience and demeanor as an Auror and his vast studies into races, creatures and magical plants and objects.

The teens had all slipped out of the room smirking the more his brow twitched taking Teddy and Vici with them eventually leaving the trio of men with two of them smirking wildly relaxing in their morning off to move into the sitting room.

With a huff Remus threw his jacket he’d jerked free from onto his arm chair in the sitting room in the Black Family Home. “A Werewolf! They can’t possibly elect a Werewolf!”

Regulus, “Technically that’s just a rumor.”

Sirius nodded his head, “Yup. Besides, how can they prove it? Obviously something changed in us when we were sent here. You’ve been cured!”

Remus rolled his eyes, “I have to tell them.”

Regulus, “Not going to do any good. Werewolf or not you’re better than Mr La-dee-da Look-at-Me Airhead Blondie.”

Remus raised a brow and Sirius added, “Plus, even if it did come out how would you prove it, hmm? Your shift hasn’t happened once!”

Remus, “Still-!”

Sirius, “Still nothing. All they can find on you is a very unruly pet rabbit from school that all these tall tales on your absences are based around.”

Remus sighed and Regulus clapped him on the back, “Just accept it as a sign that good things are to come.”

Giggles signaled Remus to come out of his slump when Sirius sat up and grinned at Em in her race for him to accept the hug she offered, “Hello jellybean.” He said kissing her cheek puling her up onto her lap.

Regulus gave your arm a gentle tug letting you settle between his legs on his fainting couch to relax against his chest, “Sleep well? Lindir said you slept at Elrond’s again.”

“I followed my shoes again.”

Remus, “ooh, must mean Fin is nearly ready.” Making you giggle to yourself before he asked, “Do I smell, horse?”

“Glori took me on a forest tour. The outer rings. Pretty much a ride around the outside their forest. Showed be this cool spot on a hill with these huge birds and reindeer sleeping. Blended in with the snow could barely see them in it.”

Sirius smirked behind his mug, “Sounds cozy.”

“Could be, if he wasn’t so damn serious all the time. Barely spent eight minutes up there.”

Regulus teased, “Sounds like someone’s catching feelings.”

Turning your gaze to Remus who smirked saying, “Have you picked yet?”

Playfully you replied, “Gin says I should just keep both. Give Em two step dads.”

At that your father snorted and leaned in to kiss Em’s cheek, “More power to you if you do. Besides, we could use ample arms for our little herd. Any word on their comment on fostering?”

“Yes, I said we could start the vetting at least.”

Regulus hummed out laying his arms across your middle, “No problem, already have a team in mind. Lindir can help us get started tomorrow after the vote.”

“Oi!” From the doorway you spotted Troy and Moran, the latter saying, “Thank you for calling it late today. Missus is having terrible cramps, and everything’s swollen. I will be glad when our girl is here. Just hate seeing her so miserable the last month.”

Troy rolled his eyes, “Just wait till you get to teething.”

In a roll you climbed to your feet changing your clothes in a flick of your fingers before tugging back your hair into a braided ponytail crossing the room, “Then there’s the first flu.”

Sirius, “Dragon Pox.”

Regulus, “Ooh, stomach virus.”

Remus, “Wait for puberty.” Earning groans from all three as you giggled and continued out to the pitch in the back to go tear yourself apart.

Painfully sprawled across the floor on your belly you groaned through Draco’s barefoot walk across your back and legs post workout soak only to shift your head seeing Fili pausing in the doorway looking you over. “Hey Fili. I think Hermi’s at Luna’s.”

Fili shook his head, “No, I, um, I was sent to ask about uncle’s apartment.”

“Ah,”

Inching closer he asked, “Is there a reason you are being walked across?”

Draco, “Helping to relax her muscles.”

Fili nodded and you groaned out in the final popping of your throbbing hip, “Quidditch practice.” Draco stepped off you and bent to help you up then helped you stretch your arms in various ways. “I’m good. Body’s on fire but let’s go resettle a home.” Grinning widely you guided the Dwarf back into the snow pulling on your boots and coat for the start of the long walk to the archways and then up to the Royal Wing. Full designs were set up and unable to help it Thorin asked, “If I may, I hate to trouble you with more pressure, only-,”

“Fred and George started your potion last night. Two and a half weeks roughly and you will be a Dam.”

In that his eyes lit up and he said with a spreading smile, “That is fantastic! So soon.” Anxiously he wet his lips and his eyes scanned over you, “You are in pain. Was this too straining on you?” he asked with worry in his tone.

Shaking your head you said, “Quidditch practice. Getting used to training again.”

Dwalin patting lulu’s back in her nap against his chest in a sling asked, “Have you tried hot rock press yet?”

Fili, “She had her cousin Draco walk across her back and legs.”

That made the Dwarves halt and Balin clear his throat to say, “Miss Jaqi, no offense to the young lad, but he is a bit, on the slender side.” Making you giggle to yourself.

Thorin offered his hand, “Come, in this we can aid you.”

Not two floors down you were stripped to your underwear and entered the steam room where a pair of Dams helped to lay and stretch you out. Then rolled you over to coat your back in oil and settle hot rocks across your back. Nearly an hour he asked you, “Feeling better?”

“Oh, if you weren’t practically married to Bilbo I would kiss you,” lowly he chuckled.

Bilbo in settling into his favorite armchair after having explored the tiny island turned garden getaway, “I just might let you.”

The comment adding more chuckles and in the silence after Dis stated, “It is comforting to see you so at ease with offering affections after being offered up like cattle by your relatives.”

“I imagine their intentions weren’t far from your parent’s in helping you court Vili.”

Dis, “Had I a child already there would be no reason to have bartered up for the sake of fertility.”

Holding your grin you replied, “Well I’m young, ample child bearing years ahead, they just don’t want me to miss any chances. Marrying well means comfort. For some people breaking it off with Barty would mark me as damaged goods, Em helps to confirm I am far from barren and of some use to continuing bloodlines.”

Dis’ lips were parted and she stated, “You speak rather frankly on this matter.”

In a shrug you replied, “The Black family is a lot like the Durin line, heavy name has heavy expectations. I am the only child of the male line so far, Draco the female line. Babies are a must.”

Dis, “I was not aware such weight was enforced on your children.”

“Not many realize what comes along with being from the Sacred 28. Both the privilege and the problems.” In a glance over her face you said, “But you don’t have to worry about all that. My bundle of sticks. For now,” your eyes narrowed a moment, “Dwarves don’t use cufflinks do they?”

Her brow inched up, “Cuff, links?”

“One of the traditions we have for engagements tends to be cufflinks, little decorative metal studs used to hold the ends of the dress shirt sleeves. If not I can think of something else.”

Dis, “I am certain for special occasions Fili might wear some of your own clothing designs belonging to your people to wear them.”

“No rush on that, plenty of time to think of gifts.”

A call for Thorin to head down for a meeting had you turning to head home again where a shrill call from your owl had you reaching up to let him perch on your arm asking him in a stroke of his head, “You deliver all your letters already?”

His shrill reply had you heading up to your study where you left him on the edge of the desk while you thought of who you could send him off to. In a shrug you brought over a firefly decorated sheet of parchment you uncapped your feather tipped pen to write to Thranduil.

‘King Thranduil,

This is a bit impromptu, however I seem to be at a loss for who I might write to. You see, I seem to be at a lack of composed notes to send off with my overly eagle owl who abhors the lull in my communications since graduating. If this letter bothers you I will refrain from sending them in the future, though the delivery of this one might buy me some time to compose a few more decoy letters to keep my owl distracted for a few weeks.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but thank you all the same,

J. Black’

A quick blow over the letter and the ink was confirmed dry, in the folding of the page your owl fluffed up his feathers listening to where you were sending him in the drip of the yellow wax you melted onto the crease that was stamped with your duck seal. The final touch of scrawling his name across the front of the page later and your owl took off rather excitedly while you brought out your usual list of contacts to start with Newt and work your way down to those not living with or near you to avoid irritating your owl.

Halfway through an inspection of his wine supply in hopes of throwing a celebration soon the sound of wings and an eager screech had Thranduil’s eyes rising to the large dark owl with a pale yellow letter in its talons. Suddenly it dropped the letter and his eyes flinched wider and he reached up to grab it noting the elated screech of the eagle who circled him and landed on his shoulder. Curiously he eyed the unintelligible writing on the front making him turn it over feeling his lips part seeing the duck seal.

Tauriel beside him asked, “My King?”

Thranduil, “From Miss Black, I cannot read this,”

Hastily she replied, “If you require privacy-,”

“No,” cutting her off he strode away mumbling, “Who knows Westron…” Glorfindel was just as clueless in this as he was. Celeborn was mainly the same, Arwen knew a few common phrases and he would be damned to take your letter to Rohan or Gondor for their aid. He had heard Bilbo holding trouble reading your notes before leaving him to hope Elrond was not as rusty as he had always claimed. If not he might be left to drastic measures to convince one of your relatives or kin to translate it for him.

The seal sat broken and the page was admired in the King’s path through his kingdom after having given mental orders on what to do with his wine requests, off to Rivendell he went with growing wonder at just what you had written to him about. Inside his study Elrond sat and raised his gaze from his book when Thranduil had entered curiously looking over the bird on his shoulder, “I require your assistance in translating a letter.”

Elrond, “Oh,” his eyes wandered to the yellow page in the King’s hand, “What language?”

“Westron. Miss Black wrote to me.”

Elrond nodded, “Yes, well, depending on the subject matter of the letter-,”

“I doubt it will be very intimate, we have yet to share our intentions.”

Elrond sighed and his eyes narrowed accepting the page only to say, “I do not understand half of these words, and the script-,” After a moment he called out, “Lindir?”

Around the corner into the doorway from his own study Lindir appeared, “Yes, My Lord?”

Elrond, “Has Regulus taught you Westron? I have seen you borrowing their books.”

Lindir nodded and entered the room with hand extended to accept the page offered up to him. “Yes, through our mental bond. The language washed through me all at once.” Lifting the page he softly read the simple message leaving the King more puzzled than anything. “Regulus has mentioned her owl before, Fluffball, is what he called him.”

Thranduil, “Why would Miss Black consider me to be against receiving her communications?”

Lindir, “From my perspective Miss Black has a reluctance to forcing bonds with others. It has not been long we have known one another there is caution at forcing her company or friendship on others. Written correspondence outside of official reasons is quite an intimate thing.”

Elrond, “True.”

Lindir, “Would you be responding?”

Thranduil, “Yes,” he replied sharply, then shifted to begin pacing with fingers smoothing over his lips, “I must word my response to promote further communications. Outside of official matters as well.”

Taking his usual seat for dictating he brought out a blank piece of parchment and began to address the letter to you, carefully copying down the letter sentence by sentence eventually filling a page. The ending of which being a series of possible invitations from him and the other Lords, including Celeborn having dropped by for tea with Arwen to add to the list to the sound of the owl’s impatient noises. When the page was just barely folded the owl on the King’s shoulder gave an eager cry and leapt off to snatch the letter and fly off before it was sealed leaving Lindir wide eyed.

Elrond, “Miss Black was not kidding just how eager her owl truly is.”

Lindir, “I believe it is because she may write the letter out of his sight if it is particularly lengthy.”

Thranduil, “I must hope that the letter was adequate to encourage new communications.”

Hours had passed and finally the telling screech sounded in your room as you finished off the final set of exams you would be giving the next week. Reaching up you accepted the letter and let your owl head over to his perch to puff up for the night to rest. Curiously your brows furrowed seeing your name on the open letter and opening it you turned it over seeing a full page response you leaned back in your chair to read. Setting it down you groaned rubbing your face, “More invitations…”

In a huff you stood and went down at the growl of your stomach to the kitchen. Alone there you started to slice up a few potatoes while your carrots boiled on the stove. Through the door however your eyes rose to Lindir in his approach anxiously avoiding your gaze. “Hungry? Just making some veggies, but I can whip you up something if you like?”

In a timid shake of his head he replied, “No, no thank you, Miss Black.”

“You can call me Jaqi if you like.” You said lifting the cutting board you carried to the strainer in the sink you used the knife to dump the potatoes into for a quick rinse.

“Thank you, Jaqi,” your name added softly before he mustered his voice again to state, “I do hope I did not overstep any boundaries.” That made you look at him and shut off the water to dump the potatoes into the water filled pot you floated over to a spare burner.

“What boundaries would those be?”

“My translating and taking dictation for the reply for your letter to King Thranduil.”

“Trans-,” you wet your lips then asked, “Thranduil can’t read?”

Lindir shook his head, “Not Westron, this tongue, Regulus taught me, and Lord Elrond took notice of my borrowing your books.”

“Huh,” you said to yourself as a matter of fact-ly, “I did not even consider that. To answer your question, no, I am not upset. Honestly Puffball has a hard time controlling himself. He didn’t seem upset?”

“Puffball?”

In a giggle you replied luring a ghost of a smirk onto his lips, “The King. I know Puffball was upset he didn’t even let you seal the letter.”

“Ah, King Thranduil was not upset, a bit curious why you would have a reluctance to correspond with him, though as it was your first correspondence it was understandable. Puffball did seem rather impatient, yes.”

In a glance over Lindir you said, “Regulus is at the Ministry till seven, sorry to say, if you were here to see him.”

Lindir, “Oh yes, he informed me yesterday.” Timidly his eyes scanned over you and he asked, “Are you requiring a translator for letters in the future?”

“Well,” you said moving to the carrots to blow on one you raised out of the water, “Lord Celeborn has taught me Valinorian, so I can write to him, I wouldn’t want to add to your work so it can wait until I get the others to share the languages they know.”

Lindir gave you a soft grin, “That sounds like an excellent plan.” After another glance at your ring in your taking a nibble of the carrot you slid back into the water again, “Have you spent much time with Miss Em’s father?”

That had your eyes on his again and you shook your head, “No, he’s playing mother hen for his wife between classes.”

“Regulus speaks so fondly of her, is why I ask. Do you believe he would wish for a daughter?”

A smirk eased across your lips as you checked one of the potato slices, “Regulus would be happy with a chicken if that was what he was given. Gender is irrelevant, he loves children.”

That made Lindir smile more, “That is reassuring.”

“Would you want daughters?”

The question made him blush and he replied as confidently as he could muster, “I have a sister whom I assisted in rearing. I have only witnessed the boys whom Elrond has claimed as his wards before.” Timidly his gaze dropped and shifted to the newspaper on the table that his head tilted to read on the story about you and some mystery affair taking you from your duties in school. “Is this fiction?”

Shifting your gaze you reached out pulling the paper closer to him and yourself, “Oh, mostly.” His eyes rose to look you over, “The paper has a habit, two days before an election they don’t write about it. We’ve had a week full of reading on it, it gives the people a chance to mull over their choices before the vote tomorrow. Rita Skeeter, the author is given the front page. The bottom flap is on Ginny and her ‘Mysterious Blonde Beau.’ Yesterday’s was all on Hermione and her ties to the Durins. It’s all fluff, Rita’s just blowing smoke, that’s a delivery boy from earlier in the picture.”

Lindir, “And it is allowed, for her to write such lies on your honor?”

In a giggle you replied, “No one takes much weight on what Rita says or writes. It’s usually just taken as amusing gossip, besides, there’s been worse scandals than alluding to a possible romance for me.”

Lindir, “You are not offended then?”

“I am offended that she couldn’t spell my school house correctly, or even bother to write that I am Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher and not trying to take over Professor Trelawney’s position in teaching Divinations. Where she got that nonsense I’ll never know. Other than that all fluff. If you really want to see some juicy stories of hers I should bring out copies of her column when I was in the Triwizard Tournament. Ooh, now that was scandalous.”

“It is common for you to be a topic in the, Daily Prophet, then?”

“Among other publishings. Newspapers, Magazines, random bits on the radio news feeds. Whole family since I got into Hogwarts have been famous.”

Curiously reading more into the story he asked, “This states you are, sentenced to the school?”

His eyes rose and you nodded, “When I killed my uncle Riddle, part of my coming out publicly as Leader of the Death Eaters was being named Defense Professor for the rest of my life.” His eyes narrowed a moment, “It is complicated. There was a Minister Riddle was using as a Puppet in charge, who when Riddle died was set free of his mental fog and wanted to set extreme punishments to Death Eaters, wanted to sentence me to prison for life. Ensure I never saw Em again. Then Rufus, our previous Minister the puppet took over for when I faked his death to save his life came back and bound me to the job so I wouldn’t be in prison. He needed a sentence but wanted it to be lenient for saving him and others.”

Lindir, “That is troubling to hear, you being treated in such a manner. Even as Queen.”

“Queen to the evil guys doesn’t scratch up fluff to any of the Aurors past making me a target.”

Lindir, “Regulus is an Auror,”

You nodded, “And a Death Eater. He was a target too. It’s different now. When Riddle died and more groups rose up the skew on us changed. They wanted us to save them.”

Lindir nodded again, “This-,”

In the breaking of his voice you sliced off another piece of your next carrot you stabbed with your fork, “It’s troubling, and confusing, but you have my word, we’re safe now.”

“Yes, I, it is all so, painful. New faces and new names, hearing the stories and now meeting those involved, you were children, in war, that is, terrifying. I will adjust, in time. Merely pardon our awe at how resilient you all have been.”

With a grin you said, “We sacrifice for those we will never meet, just like those who plant trees they will never live to lay under. We have to be better.”

Through the door Regulus came smirking and causing Lindir to shift in his seat, “Ah, there you are. We closed early so we might start our first round of foster interviews, would you be available to help translate?”

Lindir glanced at you seeing your grin at him and bowed his head to you then rose, “Of course.”

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

@long-cosmos-overhead, @partoftheminfamily, @alishlieb

Pt 15

#HP Crossover #Glorfindel x Reader OC #thranduil x oc

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jesterlady · 4 years

Text

Rise of Skywalker review

After Watching Episode IX for the second time, I feel like it’s finally time to make my feelings known regarding the sequel trilogy and to vent some of the negativity by getting it down in somewhat rational fashion.

If any one recalls the 6k I wrote on Avengers Endgame, you’ll know what to expect.

Now it’s been a while since I saw either Ep VII or VIII, so my memory is likely rusty on details.

My feelings on this trilogy in general have been extremely negative. It’s interesting, but after I saw Force Awakens, I actually had a very positive reaction at first. It felt like a Star Wars movie (following the New Hope formula). But after a while, even before Last Jedi came, I realized that I actually was disappointed, not necessarily in the movie as a movie or the new characters, but the direction the whole trilogy was likely to go.

I must confess a great deal of this feeling probably arose from watching Clone Wars and Rebels in the meantime and becoming very caught up in those time periods and what they represent for Star Wars. And that’s just it…the sequel trilogy takes what came before, what those people bled and died for, and basically said it didn’t matter. They didn’t actually save the galaxy. The victory at Endor has become incredibly cheapened by the First Order’s existence…and it doesn’t even matter that apparently it was Palpatine all along so it’s suddenly very connected in a haphazard fashion.

They could have told a much more interesting story about the struggles of rebuilding a galaxy. They could have had the same characters, they could have had the same arcs (terrible ones mostly), and the galaxy could still be in danger. But starting off with a brand new evil empire like destroying the old one didn’t even matter, not even letting Han and Leia stay together…like, that’s just creating drama for the sake of drama. We have to destroy everything that was built before, because we’re really unoriginal and don’t know how to create new stories or build on top of a good foundation.

Say what you like about the prequels (I am a fan in general) they had a very cohesive story, building toward a single point. The sequels…did not.

Now, we must all acknowledge the elephant in the room. That of the atrocious planning and divided directional control that went into making these movies. I don’t know what Disney was thinking! The MCU for all its faults is a cohesive whole. With a franchise infinitely more popular and lucrative and with a fraction less of the movies, you couldn’t pull off having a story that makes sense?

And I’ll just say that even if JJ didn’t like what Rian did with TLJ, basically completely doing a 180 and trying to go the other direction, was selfish. It destroyed further rather than fixed the problem. I don’t have anything else to say, other than the lack of unity is probably the ultimate problem after the initial direction in the first place. I didn’t really approve of TLJ. The Rey/Ben parts…sure, but the slowest chase scene known to man and completely superfluous side ventures to a gambling planet were utter drivel. So it’s not that I’m a Rian vs JJ person. I think the lack of unity and that they both screwed with each other’s narratives is the problem.

Anyway, we’re here to talk about TROS. (And how about that, coming up with a title that is super confusing since we already have Revenge of the Sith. I guess that’s ROTS…but come on!

So…this will be fairly chronological but as I get deeper into character arcs and plot points, it will delve all over the place.

The intro of a Star Wars movie is usually fairly jarring. We’re dropped into the middle of a situation and all we know is three paragraphs long, to tell us what’s going on and what happened. But this felt even more jarring than usual.

Suddenly knowing Palps is alive in the credit titles is so off course. Knowing he was alive at the end of TLJ would have been preferable, leaving us time to stew over how he was still alive and giving them time to come up with something more coherent than the absolute zero explanation we were given. The return of an essential character/villain like that deserves way more gravitas and planning than the shock value we were presented with. The idea of him being alive is not so shocking to those familiar with the EU, but that was explained and explained well, whereas how long he’s been planning this, Snoke, the ships, how…it’s all completely ignored and I guess we can come up with explanations on our own. So…is Snoke his clone? Or a part of him? How many Snokes were there? There are so many questions regarding their relationship…how it relates to Kylo/Ben, how it relates to Rey, how it relates to their bond, but I’ll get more into that later. And more on those ships.

Pretty sure a blow no one can be faulted with is Carrie’s death. If she had been alive, I have to believe so many things would have been better. She uttered the only sensible line in the movie…never underestimate a droid. Something everyone else went on to ignore even though droids made the whole movie possible. Ugh. I do think it’s funny that since TFA we’ve all been told to call her the General now…no more princess cause princesses are apparently weak, but she was suddenly a princess again this movie.

The Jedi texts, I’d like to know more about that. Very plot device-y really, if you think about it. All this info about new and improved powers and places and things and considering how much lore we know as an audience who actually have been exposed to when the Jedi were still around, opposed to Luke onward…it’s just an excuse for story. Same thing with the Sith wayfinders and that dagger. I guess you could make the argument for Palps having them made after ROTJ, but…that makes no sense. But it’s the only thing that makes sense since how could anyone make a dagger the exact shape of a crashed Death Star before it crashed? But the Jedi texts…super old texts…reference the wayfinders. And it was already in the vault of the crashed DS. All I’m saying is that doesn’t make a lot of logical sense and someone needs to explain it to me. And to stop making mysterious keys and clues to things. It makes sense the Sith loyalist would have it since he needed to go back to Exegol to deliver Rey, (though he had clearly already left Jakku and killed her parents, so was he just going back to say, oops, I messed up? Palps clearly got the message somehow) but maybe it would have been better for them to keep all the Oracle stuff in and explained all this stuff properly. Like I’m confused about Palpatine’s plan and he’s usually the master of strategy.

Okay…Poe is so unlikable in this movie. And he really doesn’t have an arc. Maybe a little one, struggling with the burden of leadership. But he mostly seems to be there to argue with people and be rude to Threepio. This is a waste of a good character. He was barely in TFA, he was a total mess in TLJ, and here he’s just a jerk. I got nothing good to say for him. Which is a shame because he could have been awesome.

We will talk about Rose and her complete lack of presence. Up front, I never cared for Rose in TLJ…didn’t see the point of her. She brought nothing to the story in my opinion and whether she was supposed to be a love interest for Finn or to symbolize hope or just be representative of WOC, I don’t know. But her being shifted to the sidelines of this story is a blatant statement of disrespect. The actress has been very publicly discriminated against online and instead of taking care of her, the director and studio pretty much stated they agreed with that by what they did with her character. Aside from that…makes zero sense for someone who was so built up and had such a big part in TLJ to be so downplayed and have her story just stop in the middle. It’s bad storytelling. Especially while you’re bringing in a troop of new female characters to do…what? Basically things Rose could have accomplished and would have made more sense doing.

Along the lines of pointless things…what is the point of the Knights of Ren? They were so built up…such an ooh, scary prospect and they play zero role in this. They have no point. They have no purpose. We know nothing about them unless we hunt for backstory in comics and things like that. But you shouldn’t have to do that to understand the point of someone in a movie. I’d also just like to point out, if they’re really Force sensitives who were Jedis in training…maybe? Then they should be a lot harder to defeat and why don’t they have light sabers? And…why are they the Knights of Ren if there isn’t at least a discussion about what their leader is doing when he comes to Exegol. Like they’re just trying to kill him from the second he enters. I’d be like…hi, boss, so why aren’t we killing the girl…or something like that. And if they’re the Knights of Ren, his…family for lack of a better term, people who trained with him since boys, I’d like to think he at least would have some compunction of striking them down…would try to reason with them first. They might still be brainwashed like he was, but he would know that better than anyone. I don’t know if that makes sense, but that’s my knee jerk reaction. A waste of possibilities.

Want to talk about another waste? Hux! Never liked him and his Hitler youth attitude, but really he was not important in this trilogy, like at all. DG is too good an actor to not have his talents used better. He, Phasma, and Kylo were built up as this villain trilogy to stand against the Rey, Poe, Finn good guy trilogy, and basically none of them got any kind of development other than Kylo. I knew Hux was the spy and I believe it is funny that he is the spy solely because he hates Kylo so much, but other than that…he was a waste of space. Better to have him finally rise and become the commander he’d always wanted to be instead of Pryde suddenly being there and being all evil and competent for some reason. Having him be significant for having followed Palpatine before would only actually be significant if we had seen him serve Palpatine before. It’s just another instance of this brand new character suddenly taking the place of an established one for no reason.

We can talk about Finn now. Finn, who also suffered from lack of actual character arc and purpose in the movie other than running after everyone and being worried about them. The whole Force sensitive thing is old news…we all knew about it a long time ago. And this way of revealing it…such poor methods! As far as I know the only reason you’d start thrashing around and declaring you never told someone something is because it is going to be a declaration of love or like a super big confession of guilt. I mean, that’s what they wanted us to think by keeping it in suspense for so much of the movie and it’s just…not that big of a deal. Like it’s not a surprise, it’s not a death confession topic. It was just stupid.

As for the idea that he only left the First Order because of the Force, well, that just implies that only Force sensitive people know right from wrong and can make moral decisions…it’s just not a good message. Now whether Jannah’s whole platoon is Force sensitive is not clear, but it’s strongly implied. And the fact that it’s what he wants to have told Rey is also not clear. Like you have to figure that out (possibly with online help), it’s not inherent in the narrative. Also…could have been told to Rose, Jannah not needed. In fact, this whole storyline would have actually made much more sense and been better if it’s something Finn had been dealing with in TLJ and perhaps came with an army of defectors or been out convincing people this whole time. Potential storyline wasted. Plus…for someone who’s an ex Stormtrooper, watching Finn run down hallways and strike down troopers is pretty insensitive and OOC if you ask me. Just a super bad way to take the character. And he really didn’t do that much else other than be the main person who does the thing that destroys the thing so everyone else can do the main thing they’re there to do.

Wow, and can we talk about Threepio’s treatment in general and in this trilogy in particular? I will be the first to admit that Han and Leia especially weren’t all that great to him all the time. But it was how they would have treated anyone, I think. Poe particularly just laid into him all the time for no reason, even after he sacrificed himself for them. Like…just really made me mad at Poe and really mad at everyone the whole movie. It appears that Threepio, one of the two original droids of the whole franchise, gets the least respect out of any of them. With all the fanservice going on, you’d think he’d be treated better. I love the HISHE part where he talks about taking a last look at his friends and it certainly ain’t none of this trio! You want to talk about underestimating a droid! I know he’s not everybody’s favorite and I’m probably biased, but if we’re ranking droids in the SW universe, which we all do, Threepio’s not at the top for me either. That spot belongs to Chopper. But I’m still going to accord Threepio the respect and dignity he deserves for seniority if nothing else. Because he tries so hard and no one ever thanks him for it. I like BB8 and all, but he goes under Threepio and R2 both in ranking! And let’s not forget if not for a droid’s knowledge of Exegeol (so convenient) and the way to get there, you resistance jerks are all toast, so respect!

Zorii, Zorii, Zorii, frankly another superfluous new character. But I liked her best out of all of them. I can see that little something something with her and Poe and I think it would be cool for it to flourish now that the war’s over and they can put the really convenient past and betrayal behind them. Poe being a spice runner isn’t bad but isn’t good either. It’s just convenient, because they suddenly needed black market stuff. Also…like how’d she survive? Really. Because it’s such a big deal for her to have gotten that thingamajig and it’s not like people have warning when the bad guys blow up your planet. There is no evacuation time.

I’ve mentioned her a bit so Jannah, again, other than it’s cool there are more women in the galaxy, just took up screen time for other characters to develop. Were they trying to insinuate she could be Lando’s daughter, because that makes zero sense! And why all of a sudden he’s champion of finding the lost families of the galaxy is super weird. Also, it was cool to see him flying the Falcon and all, but did he really add anything other than gravitas from the original trilogy? I’m usually a huge fan of fanservice, but I didn’t really feel like a fan being serviced. I felt like someone constantly having nice things thrown at me so I won’t notice the murder being done in the other room. A nice shot of Wedge, too.

So many extra resistance people always there. Like I love Dom, but why was he there?

But talking of other people really who the heck is Maz? I mean she just shows up out of nowhere and knows everything about the Force and the Jedi and people’s pasts and what their decisions are and we don’t have a clue why. Like who is she? How does she know these things? Where does she even come from? Like why does she talk about Leia trying to reach Ben and why does she smile when Leia dies, what does she know that we don’t and why?

I guess now for the really hard stuff. Rey and Ben.

They were the only ones who really got developed and even then, I think Ben got robbed out of his ending.

So Rey’s heritage. Being a Palpatine, very disappointing. If there’s one good thing I liked about TLJ it was the idea that you didn’t have to be part of some great bloodline to be special in the Force. The Force doesn’t care who your parents are. Most of the great Force users we know have literally nothing to do with who their parents are. If anything, it has more to do with their lineage of training. So JJ basically saying screw that idea and forcing Rey into that was very disappointing. And apparently electricity is very genetic…Dooku aside, of course! It also implies the Dark side in her is because of the Palpatine heritage. But the Dark Side of the Force exists for a reason, for balance, and provides something important to the galaxy. It’s already proven even the Lightest of users and bloodlines have that pull.

Rey has been alone and searching for family this whole time. Having someone to belong to was important to her. But…the message of her finding a family and joining one, I think is a lot more important than her finding out her past and heritage. Just being Rey at the end instead of having to say she was Rey Skywalker or Rey Solo would have made more sense! Of course…I also think Solo makes more sense for her anyway given her connection with Han, her training with Leia, and her bond with Ben. She did train under Luke as well, granted, but she had more Solo connection than Skywalker. They just wanted the cool name. But also doesn’t make sense since Palps calls Ben the last Skywalker in the movie as well. But whatever, I don’t really care.

Let’s talk about this whole dyad in the Force thing and the grand plan. Because I can’t logically reason it out myself.

So Palps apparently has a plan to bring Rey to him as a girl so he can have her kill him and his spirit can go into her body and he can reign through her because his old body is like super fried and the clone thing ain’t working so hot. Doesn’t happen, but he’s also working on his other plans to corrupt Ben and bring him to the Dark side, under the influence of Snoke, to do what? Like what is his plan there apart from just general evil and revenge and nasty stuff? But all along there’s apparently been this Dark prophecy against Ben (and we all know Palps is the manipulator of the Dark). Luke said Leia gave up her Jedi training because she sensed that at the end of that journey was her son’s death. You’d think then they’d honor that sacrifice by not killing him, but whatever.

Palps created or controlled or was at the back of Snoke (however he was at the back of Snoke) and so he’s pulling the strings during TLJ. He knows everything Snoke knows. So if Snoke created the bond between Rey and Ben, then he’d be very aware of that. So how does the whole dyad thing work? Because it’s made very clear Palps doesn’t know about the dyad, otherwise he likely wouldn’t have tried to do the dark ritual/strike me down plan first when it would have been so much easier to get them both together to drain them.

So…have they always been a dyad from birth? Was the dyad created separate from the bond when Snoke created the bond? A Light balance to the Dark bond? Regardless of how, clearly they are one soul and connected more powerfully than anyone else in generations.

But Palps and his plan…he tells Ben to kill Rey. What was he actually trying to do since it’s clear he didn’t want Rey dead?

My only thought is that he thought Rey would actually kill Ben and thus give in to her Dark side and be more ready to be Empress…

But Leia’s sacrifice and all of that still confuses me. Palps said that Leia interfered with his plans.

Now in that fight Rey was the instigator, was the one trying to wreak damage (freaked out by her vision and revelations, I’m sure) and Ben was the one winning that fight. Like he was going to win until Leia stopped him. But was he going to kill her? Because I think it’s pretty clear that Ben has never wanted to kill Rey even if he was trying at first before the bond really started. Either way, Leia stops him from doing something and Rey stabs him instead. Then Leia dies and snaps Rey out of it. Was it the reaching out to Ben or the death that Palps was talking about interfering with his plans? Because again…he didn’t want Rey dead at that point.

I don’t know. Having a fleet full of ships hidden for how long, when did those weapons go into place, who’s manning the ships? Because apparently there’s the regular First Order fleet still out there conveniently being taken down by the rest of the galaxy after this fleet burns, so have these recruits just been sitting out there, chilling at Exegol for years, waiting for this order and attack? Total side tangent and question really, but it all makes no sense.

Leia’s death…so much speculation on why her body didn’t vanish until Ben died. There has to be something significant there and I’d really love to know if it’s a future plan or if it was part of the original end of the movie since clearly it was changed. Maz smiles, remember. Also…is she somehow giving her life for Ben’s to bring him back? She’s clearly a Force Ghost at the end of the movie.

Okay…so Han memory. I did like that and I did like that Ben could get absolution from his dad and have that be the final thing that turns him from Kylo to Ben. I wasn’t sure I could forgive Ben ever after TFA. I cried so much and I was so mad. That’s Han Solo, y’all. HAN FRIKKING SOLO. I mean how do you even kill Han Solo?

Granted, I think we were all robbed of a story where Han and Leia are a united front raising their kid and trying to protect him from danger, but that’s just me. I mean we could have had The Mummy 2 in space, guys. ROBBED! Someone write that AU, please.

And can we just talk about Adam Driver’s acting for a moment? I mean, the boy is phenomenal. He goes from being one person to being a completely different one effortlessly. From the moment he throws the light saber in the sea, his mannerisms and physicality is so different. It’s amazing. Kudos to him. Absolutely. Oscar worthy! He does it without having any lines whatsoever apart from ‘ow.’ And I like Ben Solo and I’m sad we didn’t get to see more of him. He’s so Han’s boy, so Han’s boy. Love that! He’s an awesome character in his good boy sweater. (Love the sweater and while we’re on the subject, could him and Chris Evans have a sweater off with the good boy sweater and the white knit sweater please?)

Hey, Luke got to raise a X Wing finally. That’s the kind of fan service I’m talking about.

One of my favorite parts of the movie actually was the whole Jedi from the past bit. Mostly because I saw my boy Kanan getting his recognition and rightful spot as one of the great Jedi, up there with Obi Wan and Anakin and Ahsoka! I also loved Ahsoka being there and the other Clone Wars greats. Really cool. I do kind of wish they had included Ezra, too, but that’s just me loving on my Space Blueberry! And wishing James Arnold Taylor who put so much into Obi Wan could have at least done Plo Koon since Ewan took his place as Obi Wan. Either way, that was the only homage and respect paid to the other two trilogies and the Star Wars legend in general. The only acknowledgement of how much sacrifice and history went into this franchise before now.

Now…can Rey kill Palps now and not have his spirit go into her because he’d already made himself revitalized with their dyad energy or was it because no ritual had been done? Just wondering. Or was it a loophole since all she did was defend herself and his own lightning killed him?

There’s a lot about energy and healing and the Force in this and so you can speculate all over the place about what the rules are. (You’d think in the Clone Wars healing each other would have been a thing!) And since we’ve never deal with a dyad before, we don’t know how it works. But it really kind of feels like even with how drained both of them were after Palps took their bond…it either should have been returned to them when he died or their combined energy should have been able to keep both of them alive. Or something. Two in one means connection and honestly, I feel like both of them should have died or both of them should have lived.

I know a lot of people think it was the perfect end for Ben because he redeemed himself (like Anakin) and there would have been no place for him in the galaxy after all the evil Kylo had done. (Much less if you read the comics!) But I’m a sucker for a redemption story and I think the hardest punishment always is to face your past and work through what you’ve done instead of taking the easy way out of death (not having to actually atone). I think it’s a beautiful potential for forgiveness and grace and realizing none of us can really save ourselves.

And whatever you think of Kylo/Ben or his ending, it’s clear something was changed at the last minute. There’s a whole lot of editing done on that last scene when he revives her and they kiss and on Tattoine. There are apparently screen tests people swear they saw where he didn’t die. I won’t go into the scene analysis some Reylos have, but jaw moving and talking on Rey shots that were cut, it looking more natural for her to have been pulling him back up rather than him falling down, it looks like his hand is the one in the burying lightsaber scene… He was obviously supposed to live at some point and why they changed their minds, I don’t know. He is one of the most popular characters and they lost a cash cow when they killed him off. Silly idiots.

As far as Rey goes, I also think that’s terribly unfair, to give her the connection she’s been yearning for her whole life and instead of giving her a future, you stick her back on a sand infested planet, sliding down in a parallel to TFA, and burying the past sabers, and being alone. I know she’s still got friends and stuff but I think she won’t know her new place in all of this and she’s going to feel very lonely.

Also, where did the yellow saber come from? Did she cleanse Ben’s saber? Did she find a new kyber crystal of her own? Come on now…don’t be mysterious and weird. Normally I can take mysteries being unsolved if great care is taken to resolve relationships and characters and this trilogy and story did neither, so no love from me.

As for shipping them. I didn’t really through the first two movies. I was curious to see what would happen, but I could have gone either way. I did ship them after this one. I do love two broken people finding solace in each other. And I think there is such potential there for these characters and as a relationship that could have been done so much better and wasn’t and that’s what is the saddest thing of all.

I really have an urge to write an AU…Luke Skywalkers’ Academy for Sensitive Younglings (title patent pending) and rewrite the whole stupid thing. I fear I have neither the time nor inspiration for that. But I would dearly love to see awkward teenage versions of these characters growing up and learning and being stupid and given a chance to become the best versions of themselves. My vision of the future.

Probably in another 30 years there will be a fully formed, all ready to go evil Empire that no one has done anything to stop anyway…

So there we go. I probably have more to say but that’s all I got and that’s with taking notes!

#star wars #spoilers #text post

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ikesenhell · 6 years

Text

ALL SHADES OF BLUE

ALL SHADES OF BLUE, Chapter 1. You can find all other IkeSen works of mine here. NOTES: This whole piece was inspired in part by this song by Gregory Alan Isakov. This was a LiveWrite! Thanks to everyone who came out to watch me do this. The tagline really SHOULD be, as @a-shout-to-the-void suggested, something like ‘THE MONK CAN HANDLE THE HEAT, CAN YOU?’, because honestly this turned into a roast within a few paragraphs. Here’s to hoping yall like it!

Summer passed into fall passed into winter passed into spring, and nothing ever changed.

He wondered if he ought to be used to that by now.

It didn’t matter the season he lay his head in. Blistering heat and freezing cold all felt the same: numb. It was as if his skin fused with his exhausted, injured heart and lay dormant in the ground.

Perhaps that was more the thing. There was no season save winter for him now.

He’d grown used to the rough terrain and hard work of being out in the wilderness. Hongan-Ji wasn’t cushy, exactly, but it was certainly more luxurious than what he had for accommodation of late. That was the business of revenge. It robbed him of his friends, his fellow monks, his faith and compassion. A bed felt like the last of his concerns.

Perhaps those needed adjustment anyway.

He barely gave any thought to the woman staggering into the woods that night. As the flames of Honnon-Ji licked the infinite stars and he wondered if that was the end of it, if it lifted to heaven the Devil King’s ashes same as the timbers, his musing was interrupted by the thick crunch of woods. No soldier would be so careless. Even so he dipped back into the dark, his eyes searching for the stranger.

And she was strange indeed.

He’d never seen clothes like that before. Her legs were exposed to the elements. No kimono layered over her shoulders. She clutched a small bag the type of which he’d never seen. Maybe she was Western?

“You should be more careful, young lady,” he recalled warning her. “Demons lurk in the woods at night.”

Little did he know how much those words would come to haunt him.

---

Regardless of who she was, she took up residence with the Devil King himself.

He’d survived. He’d survived, and as much as Kennyo never wanted to drag another civilian into this demonic mess he and his most hated opponent were making, he regretted not killing her in the moment. If he’d found her before--if he’d given his followers orders to eliminate all who might help--if he’d just slaughtered his way through them--

No amount of meditation could still his aching soul. He lay awake at night and stared at the stars, wondering how many lifetimes it would take for him to wash away the karmic sins he pulled on himself. His whole life he’d practiced the power of faith. Now all he had was doubt.

And just as he resigned himself to that infinite winter of his heart, she showed up again.

He sat awake by the fire one night when his followers came to him, dragging a woman behind them. Her arms were bound behind her back, but the gag they’d forced into her mouth did absolutely nothing except prevent her from articulating the worst of her slurs at them. Her eyes flashed like a lightning strike setting the earth ablaze, her rich kimono almost insultingly cute on such a fierce woman.

“Kennyo,” one of the men spoke. She kicked him in the shin and he hissed, dropping to a knee. The other two wrestled her back into compliance.

“Stop.” He rose, frowning at them. “Who is this?”

She threw back her head and glared at him. Her stature was uneven (she’d snapped the geta sandal strap in the assault) and her hair a torrent, but it was a kind of wilderness he admired about her already. But didn’t he know her?

“We found her fleeing Azuchi,” one of the men forced her to her knees. “It seems to be the Devil King’s concubine.”

A barrage of slurs escaped her mouth, filtered only by the thin strip of rope strung between her teeth. Kennyo frowned. Running from Nobunaga? There was the possibility she hated him as much as he did. It hardly made sense that a woman in such a comfortable position might flee from a gracious benefactor. In this time of turbulence, it made sense to remain where you were safe.

And yet…

“Ungag her,” he commanded. The men exchanged glances and obeyed, cutting out the strip of rope. She spat out the stray fibers on her tongue.

“You motherfuckers!”

Kennyo frowned. “Can anyone translate that dialect?”

“Assholes! I swear to GOD, if I get my hands back, you will be catching BOTH OF THEM. Repeatedly!” She wrenched her elbows toward them, fury wild on her tongue. “You won’t know the difference between the sky and the goddamn ground when I’m done!”

“Is that Portuguese?” Kennyo guessed. “It might be Portuguese.”

“She is very pale, I suppose that makes sense. Never met any of the traders. Maybe she came with them?”

“Stop talking about me where I can hear you!” At last, some Japanese. She lunged at him; despite himself, he took two steps back, waiting for the men to hold her back once more. “I can understand you just fine, you ass!”

“So…” He paused, uncertain how to proceed. “Are you Portuguese?”

Her stare was withering.

“No then.” Well this was uncomfortable. “Can I get an assurance that you won’t simply attack my men if we let you loose?”

“No.”

He hesitated. “I would prefer not to keep you bound all night. I’m positive we could find something to talk about.”

“Oh, we could find something to fucking talk about alright--”

Back to the foreign language. He mentally cataloged it as simply ‘Not Portuguese’ and continued. “Set her in the hut until she calms down.”

“Don’t you dare treat me like I’m just some hysterical woman right now--!”

The men hefted her off the ground and half-carried, half-dragged her to the hut. He settled down by the fire once more, prepping some rice porridge. Whenever she was more amenable to talking she would doubtless be hungry.

---

As it happened, more than time was required to make her calm down. The first man to try and deliver her the porridge returned wearing it.

“She said ‘no’.” He huffed, then stomped to the river to wash off. Kennyo sighed and ladled out more for the rest of the encampment. They didn’t have enough to waste. Counting the servings out in his mind, he realized all at once that someone was going hungry.

Well.

This time he went in the hut himself. She was settled angrily in the corner, her mouth one long, thin line, eyes burning a hole through the plank siding. He shut the door behind them, the bowl poised in his hand.

“I need you to promise me you won’t throw this one.”

She just glared at him.

“If it helps, I’ll share it with you so you know it isn’t poison. You must be hungry. You aren’t my enemy.”

“Oh my god,” she muttered. “I’d hate to see how you treat your enemies, then.”

“I apologize on behalf of my men who dragged you here.”

“I don’t want you to apologize for them. I want them to apologize for them.”

That was a whole other conversation. Rather than be sucked down into it, he settled a comfortable distance away. Somehow it reminded him of working with feral cats. If you tried to approach them, they would only claw you until you bled and regretted the whole thing. It took patience, understanding, and not pushing your luck.

“We don’t have much,” he prefaced. “So if you throw this one, there’s nothing else I can give you.”

She stared at the meager bowl and back at him, the calculus running through her mind.

“I ask you not to throw this one.”

“You eat it.” This time she was so much softer. “I’m assuming that is your portion.”

That was unexpected. Kennyo tried to adjust to this unexpected shift. “I’m not all that hungry.”

His growling stomach cut between the two of them.

“No?” And now she was smiling. “Was that just the demons you keep in your stomach for safekeeping?”

It was almost too sharp to be a joke. In spite of himself, Kennyo managed a rueful smile. “They’re the spares I keep when I’m tired.”

“Ooh, backup demons. That’s a good strategy.”

Kennyo offered her a pair of chopsticks. She hesitated a long, long time before taking them. Her fingernails were long and slightly square and jet black, and he wondered how she’d managed that. Had she just dipped them in ink? No. They were too shiny for that.

“Cheers,” he murmured, taking a bite and offering the rest to her.

She frowned and slashed a line through the center of the rice, turning half the bowl to him. He nearly refused, but the narrow slant of her eyes stopped him.

The men weren’t entirely convinced when he exited unscathed that he hadn’t performed

some kind of ritual to secure the demon woman. For his part, he didn’t dispel the idea.

---

On the third day they could finally trust her to walk around unaccompanied, though the others gave her a wide berth. She bound back her sleeves and rolled up her expensive kimono and fixed up her pale hair, exposing a shaved underside and a bevy of metal pieces adorning her ears.

“What?” She snapped at one of the men who stared too long.

“I don’t think they’ve seen a woman with that kind of shaved parting,” Kennyo answered, amused. “It’s been a long time since any of us shaved our heads.”

She shot him a glance that sparkled like the rest of the pieces she wore. “I can’t imagine you without hair anyway.”

He wasn’t certain if that stung or not. Taken aback, he fumbled a simple answer of, “I’m barely used to having hair at all.”

For the first time she was on uneven footing. Her mouth worked--open, close, open--and finally she wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s fine,” he answered, and almost meant it.

---

On the fourth day (and how appropriate was that?), she draped her legs over her knees and said, completely unprompted, “They’re not so bad in Azuchi, you know.”

Kennyo wasn’t sure if this was her idea of a sick joke or a provocation. “And yet you ran.”

She wrinkled her nose at him, and he tried to figure out why she made that face. The only common denominator was discomfort, and that was the only reason his hackles didn’t shoot to the sky. If she wasn’t so comfortable having the conversation, then perhaps she didn’t mean it quite as tastelessly as it sounded.

“Look,” she started. “I didn’t run cause I disliked them. I mean, sure, some of them are assholes, but they weren’t so bad.”

“I don’t know what ‘asshole’ means.”

She paused, her eyes glittering with unspilled laughter, and finally said, “Okay, dicks. They’re dicks.”

“I don’t know what that means either.”

That finally garnered a laugh. “I don’t know how much I should be telling a former monk what that means.”

His curiosity got the best of him and it showed. He’d barely knit his brows together before she was chuckling again, then giggling, and then it turned into laughter.

“Uh, a ‘dick’ is a euphemism for… you know.” She motioned vaguely between his legs.

Kennyo wondered if it was an appropriate response to just go and dunk his head in a bucket of ice water. “Ah.”

“But yeah,” she shot forward as if she hadn’t just waved at his genitals, charging recklessly into the rest of her thought. “I mean, yeah, they could be real pieces of work, but they aren’t bad.”

Sometimes he thought he was almost over the incident. Sometimes he thought the blur of Hongan-Ji was far enough away that he could get distance from it, soften the sharp edges until he could roll it between his fingers like a pebble and just… skip it over the glassy surface of his memory. Tangible, but not harmful. Heavy, but not overwhelming. But even now he could smell the searing flesh, hear the screams and the cracking beams snapping overhead, feel the smoke pressing in his lungs and the dizzy blackness of eternity flickering through him.

“Stop that.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, uncurling his fist. “You’re hurting yourself.”

Was he? He looked down, almost bemused as she poured water over his bleeding hands. “Apologies.”

“No, I--” She stopped, then started again. “Sorry.”

Had she apologized to him? Did his ears deceive him? She pressed on without explanation. “I didn’t run cause they were terrible to me or something. That’s my point.”

“Then why did you?”

“Because…” She paused long enough to shred off a strip of her underkimono, wrapping it tight around his hand. “Because if I started to fit in enough, I might never want to leave.”

Kennyo couldn’t help himself. The laugh bubbled up through his core and sternum, escaping out his mouth before he could check it. She stared, wide-eyed, as he laughed and laughed at her.

“You ran because you were getting along?” Buddha bless this woman. It sounded like something he would do. “Am I understanding that right?”

“It’s not that simple!” She pouted at him. “I don’t exactly have all the time in the world to spend here, you know.”

The not-so-distant possibility that she was someone’s betrothed lanced through him. True. He had no idea who she was, nor where she came from. What village did she call home? She’d never really answered the question about if she was Portuguese (though he had to assume that was a no, but there were surely countries in the West outside Portugal that she might have called home). Maybe some ship waited in a harbor for her. Maybe a pair of arms waited for her. Maybe she even had children.

“How old are you?” He asked.

“Bit forward, isn’t that?”

“Apologies. I don’t know why I asked.”

She fixed him a wry smile. “You first.”

Him? He tried to calculate how many years it had been since Hongan-Ji, finally settling for the answer of, “I think thirty-one.”

“Thirty-one!?”

“Is that so shocking? I’m aware--”

“You need some sleep!” She snapped. “And less stress! Good God! You look like you’re forty!”

“I realize,” he started uncomfortably. “But I’m not so occupied with how I look of late.”

She tilted back her head, still frowning, and reached out and pushed back his hair. He let her, too amused and unclear what she was doing to really fight it. Her hand played over his scalp, arranging the part of his black hair until at last she was satisfied with whatever she was looking for.

“Yeah,” she said at last. “You’d look your age if you just got some sleep. You’re good looking, but Jesus if you don’t need rest.”

Kennyo fumbled through that sentence at half-speed, finally settling on the jumbled question of, “What is Jesus?”

“Oh. Hell. We’re not having that conversation right now.” She wrinkled her nose. “To answer your question, I’m twenty-six.”

It was his turn to laugh. “You tell me to sleep and mock my age, but you’re unwed at twenty-six?”

“Who are you? My mom?” But she was grinning, and she smacked away his hands with a laugh, tossing the length of her long hair as if it might brush away his criticism. “I’ll have you know that I am very eligible.”

“As am I,” he remarked, amused. “Equally so. I’d say an ex-monk is on equal standing with a woman of your temperament.”

“Oh, you’re an asshole right now.”

“I’m afraid I can’t agree with something I don’t understand.” But at least he knew something about her; she wasn’t wed, nor betrothed, not with an answer like that.

“And here I thought you were a gentleman.” She shot him a smile that lanced straight through him. “You were so nice at first.”

“I did tell you demons lurk in the woods at night.”

“You don’t disintegrate come sunrise, so I’d amend that to ‘all the time’, thanks.”

He clutched at his chest as if wounded. “A very fair point.”

She retired to the hut not long after. Much to his infinite discomfort, he missed her when she left.

Of course it couldn’t last.

#Ikesen #Ikemen Sengoku #Ikesen Kennyo #Kennyo #my writing #ALL SHADES OF BLUE #ASB #Kennyo fanfic #MC got Sass™#humor?#lots of swearing #swearing tw #Rude Girl MC like Woah #the roast is real

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westywrites · 6 years

Text

I was also tagged (actually today not while I was away) by @lityersess to answer a whole bunch of questions! I totally should be going to bed right now, but I don’t want to so I’ll do this instead.

1. Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

There’s this story I want to write based on a dream I had while ago that’s about this whole cyborg war thing with spies and romance and everything, it’s kind of out of my usual genre, so I’m really excited to write it. Alas, I cannot. Not yet, at least. It’s a very big undertaking and should also be a long so I need to get the first draft of “Story with Gods” out of the way before I can start actually writing it.

2. What work of yours, if any, are you embarrassed about existing?

None, never. I can’t be embarrassed about the things that let me grow into the writer I am today.

3. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else?

I start at what feels like the beginning and usually go in order from there.

4. Favorite character you’ve written?

My sweet dear precious Rosa Falto from the Orphan Experiments. I love her to bits. Or perhaps King Rylan because he is a slimy asshole who I despise and that’s fun to write.

5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

Honestly, I was surprised to end up writing the kids in the Orphan Experiments. The characters in my stories are usually around my age when I start writing the story, so to write a bunch of young kids was very different.

6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now.

Hahahah, I would change the fact that there are two Jacobs. Jacob Scott in TSKS and Jacob O’Neil in the Orphan Experiments. I like the name, and it just stuck for both of them in totally different ways and I actually didn’t even realize until someone told me, but now I can’t change it, they just wouldn’t be the same with a different name.

7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

I get so bloody excited to talk about my writing, if you give me the chance I’ll talk until your ears start bleeding.

8. Favorite genre to write

It’s not quite a genre, but I like writing stories about people with powers of some kind, particularly stories where they struggle to control their powers.

9. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I people watch continuously. Other than that most of my ideas come from my dreams.

10. Write in silence or with background music? Alone or with others?

Alone in total silence. I am easily distractable and it takes me forever to gain focus so if something breaks it I often can’t get back into it.

11. What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

Can I say everything? Honestly, probably the flow of my writing is what has improved the most. I used to write in this weird staccato style, but I like to believe I don’t do that anymore.

12. Your weaknesses as an author?

I sometimes struggle with the idea of “show don’t tell” because I tend to want to just say “they were scared”. A lot of my editing is fixing things like that so that it’s more engaging.

13. Your strengths as an author?

Coming up with ideas and developing them has always been my strength.

14. Do you make playlists for your work?

Nope. I like music, but I don’t think about it in that way most of the time.

15. Why did you start writing?

I had too much in my head and I needed to let it out somewhere.

16. Are there any characters who haunt you?

Elise Elder from TSKS haunts me because I never did her justice. She was badass and motherly and kind and I never really showed all the aspects of her personality in the story.

17. If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

No idea is too stupid or cliche or whatever, write it down, something great could come of it. (Also, don’t lose that yellow Duotang with all your writing in it, you’ll want to look back on it later)

18. Were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? What were they?

Ooh so it hasn’t actually changed anything yet directly, but I really want to write a book like the Name of this Book is Secret series. I loved those books. More recently though, I have been influenced by Neil Gaiman’s writing. I read American Gods recently and ahhh (fun fact: I started writing my “Story with Gods” before I even knew American Gods was a thing so when I found it I lost my mind)

19. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I have a note on my iPod that has all that kind of stuff in it, though I’m shit at actually writing it down.

20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Depends on the story and where I am in the story and where I am in life. I prefer long sessions though.

21. What do you think when you read over your older work?

I smile at how hard I was trying to communicate the amazing ideas I know I had.

22. Are there subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

As a kind of sex-repulsed asexual, I cannot and do not write sex stuff. Even reading that stuff makes me super uncomfortable.

23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

I’ve had a fair amount of opportunity to travel and I have lived in vastly different places so perhaps that helps. My mom and I used to play games (and we played them at Guides too) that were all about making up stories, that’s pretty unique and definitely encouraged my writing habits.

24. Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

I have recently been learning a lot about the Mapuche traditions in Chile for the chapter I’m writing of “Story with Gods”

25. Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of.

I’ll go with some great lines from the play I wrote and am currently directing/acting in for a theatre festival at school. It’s mostly comedy but it’s also quite sad so that’s fun.

Oh, I’m fine without limes or lights, both of them make my eyes water.

I looked up at her, into her endlessly beautiful eyes, her smile seemed to scream, “Everything is going to be alright.” And it was.

So the play’s over. The story’s done. Why doesn’t that make me any happier?

Alright so I am bad at deciding who to tag, so I’ll tag more new followers. Here’s a welcome gift, answer if you wish! @ifuckinghatewriting @by-ethan-fox @cheyenneisgay @inanoctoberworld

#west answers #tag meme #spilled ink #creative writing #Story with Gods #The Orphan Experiments #TSKS #King Rylan

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paragonrobits · 6 years

Note

Can you write a drabble of Star Butterfly meeting Optimus Prime?

Sure thing!

I read more’d it because it wound up longer than the four or five paragraphs i intended to do~

Star walked in an easy way, humming gently in a sing-song tunethat was almost catchy but just far enough on the side of 'what theheck is that' to put the tone of discordance into her music, justenough for other things that might have been listening to be put off.It was a free kind of sound, an echo of the wildness in her heart,and a few birds flew by, lured by her presence. They probably shouldhave taken note of the grass growing around her into bizarre colorsthat the human eye wasn't capable of perceiving, or of statues shemoved past blinking and getting off their pedestals to lodgecomplaints with the city over their poor upkeep.

Magic was a little bit alive; a little bit feral. Itpiled up and leaked out and flooded into everything, finding a homein any kind of shaped form or concept expressed on this materialplane, and Star exuded it like a thundercloud raining down on a dryplain. Apart from the noise and general chaos in her wake, sheresembled a storm cloud in several other respects.

Normally she might at least acknowledgethe weirdness springing up in her wake – if only to encourage it,since she took the view that Earth was a pretty boring place most ofthe time and good use some enthusiasm – but her attention wasfocused on a large truck idling against the street, slowly rollingafter her with the grace of a king.

No, she supposed, glancing back at itwas an awkward shyness that might have surprised her closer friends.Not like a king. She knew kings; her dad, for one, the innumerablemonarchs of the magical realms, a few Earthly monarchs she'd hoppedinto the lands of the dead to bother when no one else was around toplay with. She tended to find a lot of them to not exactly beterribly pleasant folks.

Whereas the semi truck, amonstrously big vehicle all painted in vibrant reds and blues andexuding so much majesty that it was pretty much what you'd get if youharnessed the power of a gorilla into a vehicle, had a quiet dignityand solemn air to it that reminded her of, of prophets. Youcould definitely see this truck wheeling up a mountain, listening toWhoever spoke up there, and coming back down to tell the people whatit had seen.

This was a truck that spoke with thelaws of the heavens. Star had seen it years ago, back when she'dfirst come to Earth; just a brief passing glance during a short tripto Nevada to see what the fuss was about with the mountains there.There had been other vehicles there too; a pair of motorcycles –one blue and ready to tear up the road, the other a serious policemotorbike – a dour ambulance that just looked plain grumpy, abattered DeLorean with a few parts missing or blown off, a big pinksemi truck just as big as the red one, and skulking in the shadowshad been an RV as big and brooding as a tyrannosaurus, and they allhad one thing in common.

All things were a little bitalive, as she understood it. Magic made things alive sometimes but itdidn't have to. The more complex thingswere, the more alive they became. Life was a funny thing; it poppedup everywhere. And in this universe, the one Marco and his planetexisted in, it liked to take shape in metal and plastic, steel andtin. Machines could live, every bit as flesh and energy did. Andthose vehicles, seemingly ordinary and old and battered by too muchharshness, they shone like lightning bolts to her senses.

She remembered the truck lookingright at her – and she didn't know how it could do that withnothing to actually see with but it did that anyway - and sheremembered stories that had been old when her kingdom was barely new;tales of this universe, of ancient heroes and wars for the right tobe what you wanted to be; of prophets that battled tyrants, andcalled monsters their brother. And she had seen the symbol upon thattruck's grill – on all the vehicles there, in fact – and it was asymbol she had seen in old books; a sign of divinity,freedom and the right to choosewho and what you were.

And it had taken her years towork up the courage to come back here, leaving behind little magicalsigns she was sure the truck would follow up on, and here it, here hewas, and now she had no ideawhat she was gonna do.

'Honestly, I didn't think I'd get this far,' sheconsidered, and came to a stop as they found a relatively quietlocation. The truck stopped as well, turning the corner and its hugewheels slowly grinding to a stop. She could nearly hear gearsshifting laboriously. Age wafted from it, him, like cold steam office. There were mountains thatseemed younger than this entity, and that was a big deal forsomething that was genuinely alive.

“I think it's okay for you to, uh,show yourself?” She rocked back and forth, humming again out of avague desire to hear more noise.

The truck beeped, almost honkingbut gently so. It was barely a noise, almost a modulated whistle fromthe horn. A voice issued from it, deep and soft, withan accent she couldn't quite place but figured was probably somethinglike Space Texas. “I am myself,little one,” he said gravely. “In this shape, or any other.”

She tilted her head. “Huh?”

Various sections of the truck shifted,very gently. It reminded her of someone getting up and stretching abit. “This shape is me. Where I to stand up, it would be just asmuch me as I am now.” A slight pause. “With greater chance ofattracting attention. You wouldn't want the people here to have theirday disrupted, would you?”

Star considered this weightily. Shehadn't thought about it much. In her opinion anyone's day could use agood dose of disruption; a bit of chaos was good for the thinkingbrain-meats! She found the idea of protracted calm to be vaguelyoffensive, but it was very difficult to argue with that voice. Subtleharmonics had a teacher quality to it; there was no disapproval in itbut there was, so to speak, a hint that disapproval could be adefinite option if you didn't watch it, Young Lady.

Normally paternal orauthoritative disapproval had about as much the same effect on her asa chocolate hammer trying to smack a furnace, but the idea of OptimusPrime being disappointed at hersuddenly made her brain sink right out of her head, down into herstomach and marinated in guilt juices before zipped right back andinsisting that she watch herself, you FOOL.

(None of that, incidentally, was reallya metaphor. Being a quasi-dimensional being has its odder traits whenit comes to consistent anatomical details, and its a lot weirderstill when you were as soaked full of raw magical potential as Starwas.)

She saluted. “Yes sir! Optimus! Sir!”

“Please don't,” he asked gently.“You're not one of my Autobots; you have no obligation to addressme as a superior.” A brief pause, and he added, “Your highness.”

If Star had more than a cursoryinterest in etiquette and the very subtle ways that inflections alonecould be used more efficiently than a sword, she might have realizedthat he'd turned the tables on her, one upping her in the game ofcomplicated titles. She missed it, but that wasn't too surprising.She just giggled, bouncing down on her feet. “Come onnnn~” shesaid, sing-song again and her mood rebounding to a different planeagain. “I wanna see your cool robot form, sir! Pleeeeeease?”

The truck exuded polite obstinance.Eons ago, ancient senators and Functionalist ministers had despairedat convincing little Orion Pax to transform out of his block-shapedalt mode to deliver a report. Millions of eons of eternal warfare hadeven put a bit of an edge to his stubbornness.

“...I know you fight weirdsupervillians and evil space monsters in this city all the time!”Star said, trying another tack, with just the right amount ofwheedling in her voice. “And Detroit, too? You transform all thetime to fight then! I wanna seeeee~!”

“Yes, I do transform frequentlyduring a need to do so in public,” Optimus mused. One of his wheelsrevved slowly, in a manner identical to someone putting clasped handstogether. “To fight monsters. And do you see any right now?”

“...I could make some?” Star saidhopefully.

“I would rather you not, yourhighness. My point being, the people of this city are use to seeingme active only during times of great peril.” A slight pause, tomake his point. “They would likely assume this is such a time, andreact accordingly.”

“Ooh! That sounds fun!”

“I fear I am not getting theright impression across.” Optimus had to acknowledge that Starrather reminded him of some young, feisty and particularly stubbornSparklings he'd known; Rodimus, his and Elita-1's firstborn, had beenlike that until... wait, no, he was still like that, Optimus notedwith amusement. Bumblebee was a more accommodating child, but hadfancied himself a schemer, somethingthat never failed to fill parents with both pride and frustrateddread. And of course, when he himself had been younger... well.

The humans had a term; 'hell raiser'.It hadn't been even half of what Orion Pax had gotten up to. Becominga revolutionary and toppling the Functionalist system had been alogical progression.

A thought occurred to him; he'd rarelymet beings from actually outside his universe – and he wasn'tentirely sure if the divine presence of Primus counted, and it wasn'tsomething he care to speculate on – and he'd certainly nevertraveled beyond it. This seemed to him to be a rare and fascinatingopportunity for some... what did the humans call it? A culturalexchange?

“I suggest a proposal,” he saidsolemnly. “You can travel to other realms than this. Correct?”

“Yeah-huh!”

“If you agree to allow me to visitthem alongside you, I shall do so in my bipedal form!”

“EEEEEEE!” She bounced up and down,clapping and turning several trees into very confused whales made ofwood with tiny little bug legs. They walked off, and their destiniesled them to become lawyers, but that is not our tale today. Variousother magical weirdness happened around her as she tried to think ofa place that would appeal to Optimus. “Um... um... let me think?”

“Take all the time you require, youngone.”

“Okay.” she paced aroundthoughtfully. “Uh... how about the Autochthonian Realm of Brass andShadows? The realm that comprises the body of the Machine-Titan,Autochthon the Great Maker? It's all full of robots and people makingposes, you'd like it!”

“Your information may be rather outof date. The titan Autochthon reformatted himself into Primus eonsago. The Realm of Brass and Shadows is my homeworld, Cybertron, now.”

“Dang it! Hmm. Sigil, the City ofDoors? It's very easy to get into, there's all kinds of need thingsthere? Like, uh... libraries and-”

“LIBRARIES, YOU SAY.” Optimus' tonehad a sudden raise of excitement.

“Ooh, yes!” She thought thatsounded kind of boring but it was nice to see him hyped up.

“Ah, yes- wait. I forgot, we mustn't.I and my Autobots have been banned from there for sixteen more humanlifetimes.”

“For what?” Star asked, put out butcurious.

“...It is not for me to say,”Optimus said after a moment, with just an edge of awkwardness to it.“There was a trailer full of rubber chickens, sixteen pots ofgrease, an authentic copy of the Necrotelecomnicon, the multiverse'sthird largest ball of yarn, and... ah yes. Exactly onecomically oversized noveltymonocle.”

“I don't get it!”

“I didn't either but I stillallowed the Dinobots and Aerialbots to put on that street improvperformance. And for their sins, we are barred from the City ofDoors.” He sighed longingly, for the libraries. “And I never evengot to see what they were going to use the ball of yarn for.”

Star immediately vowed to exploit timetravel just to go back in time and see what happened there. (And thenrecord the whole thing. And put up the videos on the Multiverseinternet, if it looked funny.) “Okay, so Sigil is no good...”

She brought up a dozen otherpossibilities, which received varying degrees of enthusiasm fromOptimus Prime. She was determined to find one that suited hisinterests; she would see her hero's most famous form, or she wouldengage in shenanigans trying!

In between her proposal to visit theElemental Realm of Ranch Dressing (a pretty niche realm, and notlikely one that would be healthy for his mechanisms or tires) andpaying a brief stop to the depths of the mind-realms to bop from onedream bubble – self contained realities made from memories,feelings and time lines that could have been, which made them handyfor exploring what ifs – that she remembered something.

For it has been asked, what doesa hero like Optimus Prime actually do forfun? What does a prophet of Primus, the champion of Cybertron, andthe living face of everything the Autobots stand for do when nothingis terribly pressing on him? Most people assume something along thelines of ceremonial dueling, or perhaps combat races. But they wouldbe wrong; he had quite enough fighting in his day to day, he didn'twant it in his recreation.

What Optimus Prime reallyliked to do, Star would learn,was... well. He liked to read. And throw basketballs at unsuspectinghumans, or drive around mountains while blasting 80s rock ballads forno apparent reason, but mostly reading.

“Hold a moment,” he said. “IF youwould... what did you say before?”

“What? About the Realm of EternalItchiness? It's really kinda overrated.”

“No, no. Before that.”

She thought about it. “The AkashicLibraries?”

“Please elaborate.”

“It's, um...” as she explained itto him, the Akashic Libraries, or the ones she knew of, could bedescribed as the sum total of all human knowledge, all possiblestepping stones to enlightenment that had ever been discerned or feltor written down in all creation across the multiverse. This was a bitof a misnomer, of course.

It wasn't just humanknowledge in there. Humans wereyoung, yet to reach their full stride as a civilization in terms ofnavel contemplating questions. Every species that had ever thought,their memories and words where in those libraries. Every book thoughtburned, it was there. Every scroll smashed to hide its contents, acopy of it was in those libraries. Every data track, every binaryengram, every single conceivable method of storing thoughts andleaving them for others to read and learn from them, was in thoselibraries.

Cybertron was long gone. It'sknowledge, lost but for the few relics and archives the Autobotswhere able to hide away with them before the Decepticons laid theirown world to ruin. So much had been lost, never to be regained, but,in the Akashic Libraries... they were there. They were waiting to beremembered.

Optimus' engine revved up at thethought of that, of all the civilization's memories dwelling withinthere, countless alien societies and their thoughts waiting to belearned, their languages understood and their texts comprehended-

“I believe,” he said, trying veryhard to contain his excitement. “I would like to visit there.”

“Neat!” Star said, summoning up aportal. “Fair warning, we'll probably get lost and have a wholebunch of weird and silly diversions before we actually get there.Rule one of traveling the multiverse.”

Optimus said, “I believe Rule One is'do not be incautious with small, wrinkly, smiling old bald men'.”

“I think that's just for in general!Not for traveling the multiverse, specifically.”

“Hrm. A good point.” There was abrief pause as he receive a notification. “Pardon me. One of mysub-commanders wishes to have a word.”

“Okay!” She turned away and hummedhappily to herself.

Optimus spoke in Cybertronianpulse-speech, incomprehensible to most organics, and thus entirelyprivate. “Optimus here.”

The growling, bassy voice of Grimlock –a rare beastformer who had chosen to reformat himself so that hisprimary form was a beast mode rather than a bipedal humanoid frame,and his alt mode was whatever vehicle he'd scanned lately –responded. His normal difficulties with language were considerablyreduced in this particularly intimate form of speech. “Prime. Did Ijust hear you plannin' on going on some cosmic hunt with a weirdmagic kid-thing?”

“...Perhaps...”

“Are there gonna be shenanigans!?”Grimlock demanded.

“Almost certainly.”

“And you're going withoutus to have fun adventures!? Waitfor some of us before I drag you home and make you sing atSwoop's music night!”

Optimus shuddered, but held firm. “I'mso sorry but I do believe you're breaking up-”

“Am not! You know the rules; no funadventures on your own, we gotta come with! It's no fun leavingeveryone else off.”

“Yes but- wait. How did you knowabout my conversation with the cosmic magic princess?”

“Oh, I know all kinds of things aboutyou. I spy on you all the time! I have achieved supreme consciousnessand exist in all points simultaneously, and I gaze into your mind andknow it at all times.”

“...I doubt that.”

“Yeah,” Grimlock admitted. “Imade that up. I actually have Swoop flying a couple thousand feetabove you with a really goodcamera. Say hi, Swoop.”

“TOP OF THE WORLD, MA!”Swoop screamed cheerfully. Swoop had decided to only speak in popularmovie quotes this month, and they were just going to have to put upwith that for a while.

“I shall take this underadvisement.” Optimus spoke next to Star again. “Your highness, Ihave been informed that at least one of my Autobots wants toaccompany us.”

Star bounced up and down happily again.“Ooh! Which ones?”

“I'm not sure.” Optimus rang upGrimlock once more. “Who wishes to come along?”

Grimlock counted them off. “Uh, let'ssee. Elita-1 says she's sick of you having sweet adventures while shehad to be all responsible and scrap, so she wants to come with. Igotta go, no question. Dad Wheeljack is probably gonna show up so, beready for that. And the kids want to come, too!”

“Ah, the Technobots. Which ones?”

“All of them. They're combined intoComputron and refuse to split up so... yeah. Be prepared for that.”

“Understood.” Optimus returned hisattention to Star. “I have excellent news, and some veryunfortunate news.”

“Gimme the good stuff first!”

“Firstly,” said Optimus. “We havea set group and they will likely ensure your safety. My fellowcommander and wife, Elita-1, shall be coming. One of mysub-commanders, Grimlock, will also be attending.”

“Which one is he?”

“...He is the RV that transforms intoa robot tyrannosaurus.”

Star made an excited noise that couldnot possibly be translated into human terms without the use of acouple foghorns, a very startled cat, and a full orchestra.

“As well as one of his fathers,”Optimus continued. “And his children. Who are presently fused intoa super-giant robot and unlikely to defuse any time soon.”

“OH MY GAWD THAT'S EVENBETTER!” Star got so excited she fell over, flopping in place andvibrating with joy, what a wonderful day this had become.

#star vs the force of evil #optimus prime #transformers #crossovers #my writing #fics #randomnumbers751650

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empiretechx · 6 years

Text

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hogwartselementumrp · 7 years

Photo

Congratulations Laura on your acceptance as your OC Cash Martin! He is a character archetype we currently do not have and should bring a lot of interesting and exciting connection and plot opportunities with him to all sides. I can’t wait to see what you do with him!

Out of Character Information

Name/Alias: Laura

Preferred Pronoun: She

Age: I don’t know about yooou, but I’m feeling Twenty-twooooo

Timezone: GMT

Activity Level: As we all know I am around a lot at the moment - I am in the midst of a gap year

How did you find the RP (new members): I didn’t find the rp, the RP found me

Original Character Information:

Desired Character: Cassius ‘Cash’ Martin

Face Claim: Lucien Laviscount

Now, please check our dorm page! To see which house is needing a character and in which year!

School Functions (check Quidditch availability’s): -

Character’s Sexuality: Bi/Pan

Why do you believe this will be a good character in this specific roleplay?

Cash, I believe unlike a lot of my ‘aligned’ existing characters, will be a character who is able to generate and partake in a really wide range of plots and interactions, and is a bit of a fresh-air to some extent. He comes from a very different background to lots of the characters in the rp, and he’s a lot of fun. His potential links to Mayte, Marks, the Aurors, the Order, and just about anyone with a coin in their pocket makes him an interesting go-between. He sees and hears a lot from the world of the dodgy dealers and petty criminals that other characters just don’t see and hear, whether he choses to actually share it is more complex.

This is the bio layout, we ask you fill it out changing it with the right info!

Cash Martin is 24 years old, is an ex-Hogwarts Student, where he was in the house of Ravenclaw, and now works as a ‘Free-lance Entrepreneur.’.

❝One trick ahead of disaster, they’re quick but I’m much faster. Here goes, gotta throw my hand in, wish me a happy landing!”

↳ MAGIC

Cash’s magic is pretty dubious, but he knows enough to scrape by - often by guess-work. He left Hogwarts after his fifth year, deciding he wasn’t really cut out for academia, and has a handful of pretty poorly graded OWL’s to his name. Instinctively his quick reactions and a strange knack for pin-point accurate apparition tend to get him out of trouble more often than not. His skills as an air elemental are also fairly limited, he knows a few showy tricks and a few things to help with his games, but are nothing special. He does, peculiarly have a talent for muggle ‘magic’ - really it’s all just slight of hand and card tricks, but it gets a few smiles and coins.

↳ BACKSTORY

When Cash’s mother, a muggle woman who grew up in a close-knit family in London, found out that her new husband was in fact a wizard, and was claiming that magic was actually real - a whole world that she had to keep a secret, she assumed he’d lost it. Their relationship fell apart in the storm of arguments that followed, and his father had been forced out by the time his mother had even found out she was pregnant with Cash. She watched his oddities growing up, becoming increasingly worried by the strange occurrences that took place around him. Eventually they were visited by an official from the Ministry, who did his best to explain. Cash’s mother, heart-broken at the realisation she’d been wrong all the years, or perhaps that despite her best efforts her son had turned out to be something she couldn’t hope to understand, she was never quite the same again.

At the age of eleven Cash headed off to Hogwarts, bright-eyed and excited, a cheeky boy who wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What he hadn’t expected was the complete snobbery of so many of his peers and classmates who looked down their noses at a scruffy boy from central London with no manners, no idea about the wizarding world and no family name. Not everyone was like that, but enough to get under his skin and leave a chip on his shoulder. He was never all that academically gifted, only really succeeding in Charms, where his flair for the showy came in handy. He quickly found a gap in the market, and by his third year was earning his pocket money by investing in buying up Honeydukes and Zonkos products to sell back to students during term. By his fifth year he was smuggling things in and out through the secret passages, more and more including booze and cigarettes. When it came to OWL year, his Professors breathed a slight sigh of relief when he decided not to come back.

Ever since, well… he would describe himself as an entrepreneur. The Auror office would describe him as a persistent pain in the behind. Running just about every scheme to get himself some money, from selling less than authentic charms and talismans to cauldrons that fell off the back of a broomstick, to pouring pints and running muggle magic tricks to earn cash from passers-by. Managing to afford a tiny flat in a shabby block, and to keep some food on the table, it’s never exactly comfortable. But he has a few invaluable talents that keep him with cash in his wallet - mostly his knack for being able to get his hands on anything you can be looking for. Restricted potions ingredients? He knows a guy. Old and definitely illegal charmed artefacts? He knows a guy. Recreational substances? He knows lots of guys. But he sees and hears more than most people realise. That, and his continuing tendency to just hover around the edges of the legal, are one of the reasons the Auror department haven’t just locked him up yet. That and his disarming smile, he claims.

↳ PERSONALITY TRAITS

» {+ positives} Quick, creative, witty

» {- negatives} Cheeky - one day it’s going to get him into trouble, Self-preservation, A fairly wonky moral compass, Stubborn

↳ BASICS

» blood status: Half-blood

» elemental power: Air

» affinity level: Weak Affinity

» date of birth: 31st March

» wand: Sycamore and Phoenix Feather

» faceclaim: Lucien Laviscount

NAME CHARACTER IS PLAYED BY YOUR NAME

Sample Para (3+ paragraphs- at least 400 words, in character, third person)

“Alright, alright, 5 sickles in, 5 sickles, if you beat the dealer you win the pot - what about you Sir? Yeah? You want to give it a go?” Cash grinned. The guy didn’t stand a chance now he’d stepped up to the table. “Alright, alright now don’t go easy on me sir, let’s do this fair and square - we’ll do a trial run first, yeah?” He spoke at 50 miles an hour, already watching the guy struggling to keep up with him as he shuffled the deck from one hand to the other, elaborately fanning it out to him and turning his face away. “Pick a card sir, any card, any one you like, take it out and show it to the crowd please - make sure you all remember it or this trick’ll get a whole lot harder for us both,” he teased, turning back as the man showed the card to the crowd, which wasn’t large, but gave a few polite laughs and nods. “Perfect sir,” he grinned again, noting the smug look of superiority on his mark’s face as he held the card, “You got that remembered, yeah? Sure about that? Don’t want to check again? Alright then sir pop it back in the pack, anywhere you like. Anywhere you like, makes no difference to me,” he kept rambling on, one eye following the card as it went back into the pack, but all the time showing off for the crowd. Every blinding grin meant another set of eyes on him, exactly where he wanted them, and not on what he was actually doing. “We’re going to shuffle these up now, we’re going to give them a good old shuffle,” he continued, flashing the cards from hand to hand and making an excellent show of shuffling them. “Are you happy with that sir? Are you happy those are definitely shuffled?” He laid the cards back on the table and flashed his hands to the audience, showily demonstrating that his sleeves were empty to them, to polite smiles. “Alright then sir, so if I can find your card, are you happy to give me a couple of sickles for my troubles?” The man nodded, feeling the pressure of everyone’s eyes on it. “Alright, alrighty then,” he grinned, picking the cards back up and making a show of sorting through them. “Hmm, maybe, maybe, noo, no. Not that one, not you… Hmm, where’s she hiding,” he teased. “Is this your card?” He asked, raising a card from the deck. The audience, almost as one let out a triumphant laugh. His mark, chest puffing up, shook his head and announced. “No.”

Whistling through his teeth and shaking his head, Cash stepped back from the table, hands on his hips. “Well that’s embarrassing, isn’t it. Sorry about that. Looks like you’ll be keeping your coins then… I tell you what,” he began patting down his pockets, “I’ll give you five sickles instead, since you beat me -” the crowd were nodding approvingly, the mark flushed with his own cleverness in outsmarting the trickster. “-Ah… Wait a second,” Cash grinned, his smile turning wolfish for a moment. “I’ve definitely got some coins somewhere…” he kept speaking, more softly, more carefully. “Or…. What’s this then,” he said, pulling a bouquet of flowers out of his jeans pockets. The audience let out a delighted ‘ooh.’ “Hang on then… I reckon I have some under here-” Reaching up and removing his hat, Cash pulled out a playing card, and showed it to the audience with a flourish. Several kids gasped. “What.. ohhhh, is this your card?” he beamed, a knowing laugh sounding. The mark, now rapidly deflating and shaking his head in bemusement dug in his pocket for a fistful of coins.

The audience trickled away as Cash tossed the sickles into his now upturned hat, gratefully receiving a few more knuts as other people left. “Very nice Cash,” a voice sounded, that made the young wizard roll his head as he looked up with a slightly forced grin, “You got any more things we should know about stashed away in that hat of yours? Anything you shouldn’t have?”

“You can frisk me if you’d like McLaggen,” Cash shot back sarcastically, holding his arms up to her. “Care to play around? Pick a card? Or we can do three-card monty?”

“You’d have more luck with a disappearing act sunshine-” The auror stepped towards him. The stocky man stepped back a few paces. With a flick of the wrist his table of trick all disappeared within a billow of deep purple silk that then stowed itself inside his pocket, but he didn’t quite flee. “I think you’ll find, I don’t need a license for a public display as long as I move once an hour and don’t become a nuisance to shops or shoppers,” he warned her, but found his shoulder being grabbed in a vice-like grip anyway as the auror steered him into the alleyway between two shops.

“We’re going to have a word Cash.”

“Oh bleedin’ heck we’ve already had at least twenty. Not sayin’ it’s not a delight, but you’re scarin’ off my customers with that scowl of yours” he grumbled, the protests going unheard.

#accepted

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empiretechx · 6 years

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How to increase the time spent on your website by your site visitors.

It's very important to implement valuable ways to increase the time visitors spend on your website,

becuase of the energy, the skill, the time etc you spent creating this valuable articles.

Have you ever landed on a webpage and thought ooh this isn't what l expected?

Yes it do happens maybe you had in mind to get into a specific page, buy some product or find the company contact address/information,

but as soon as you landed on the main page you sees it too confusing and frastrating to navigate, causing you to leave.

There are chances that some pages on your website is confusing your site users, which will potentially cost you visitors including your conversions in the near future, if not addressed properly.

How to know the time spent by your site visitors.

The (google) Analytics/report can help you know the average time spent by your site visitors on your webpages.

Note: ''time on site" here means the lenght of time (munites) spent on your site by your site visitors, which is a key performance indicator (KPI).

Read also: best sites to use in Pinging your Blog/Website for higher Traffic,

strong SEO/better popularity in Search Engines,

How to easily share blog post automatically to all Facebook Group Pages,

Nobody is reading my Blog! Follow this best simple ways to get more traffic and readers.

indexing sites to help you index your work on Google, Bing, yahoo etc.

Been able to understand the time spent on your site will help you find out pages with lower time spent than others.

So follow this tips to know how to dramastically increase the time spent by your site visitors on your webpage:

1) Improve content layout

Solution

You can also utilize the power of images, by adding images to the text to creat more visual breaks, improving it with graphics to change up page, or illustrate your webpage content,

whether your page has high or low volume of text it's important you apply few visual break techniques to make sure you readers will digest the webpage content easily and quickly.

2) Check your site design

Checking of your site design is second most important aspect of increasing the time spent on your site, which really has nothing to do with actual text at all.

Assuming you have added visual breaks, cleaned up your copy and images, there still maybe challenges with your over all user experience (UX) which needs to be addressed.

You can use (Google to assess your site for it's mobile friendliness) status.

Solution:

You can ask them which pages makes them to leave your webpage, the once they enjoyed spending much time on etc and make changes to rectify the problem accordingly.

3) Stay interesting and relevant

Has this content been updated since 1998? Has the images been updated? How relevant is the information on the page now to users?

It's important your content is up-to-date, so that when users land on the page they gets what they came for.

Solution

By following and abiding to this tips, you will put your user's experience at forefront of your website and creat more positive relationship between your website and brand,

this will ultimately accelerate and escalate the time spent on your site and in return creat better brand association/inceease conversion.

You can utilise the power of Related Posts tool from Addthis website to boost your on-site engagement.

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