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#uhh probably almost no one will be interested in this but it's established that i put way more effort into presentation than is necessary
zmediaoutlet · 5 months
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hey i saw your post about ao3 house style and i can totally relate to it, so i thought maybe you could share some wincest fic recs? please and thank u 🙏
you know what bud, I will indeed share some wincest fic recs bc you should rec the stuff that is good and leave the crud in the dust, right? Right. So -- here are uhh a number of recs as they occur to me, which actually read like a person wrote them instead of an AO3-trained algorithm of some kind. Plus I only rec stuff if I actually like it so consider these Z Certified or something.
The Fremont Street Experience by @nigeltde-fic -- a quick 1200 words that's a fizzing jolt of champagne right under the heart. New love that's just bursting with all that could be. Anticipation fizzes in Dean's veins, dances in his fingertips. The sand shimmers, hazes, glitters. There's so much sky. It pours into the road at the horizon. -- see?
Miles Ahead by @egipci -- a fully-formed entirely real paragraph of 750 words in which we see Sam Winchester in all his want and wanting, and I want to crawl inside the narrative presented and live there year-round. You were pretending to sleep and every once in a while a car would pass by and the headlights would fill up the inside of the car like midday and then I would look at you out the corner of my eye. All the way I thought about Mexico and you there sunburnt. -- I mean my god.
Countdown by @mollyamory-again -- another tight 1200 of just a normally-tense night that dissolves in sweet established-vibes intimacy. Brothers who feel like brothers and also an earned and real -- not hotness exactly but just adults who have sex who act and think like adults, which is not as common as you'd hope! His fingers skate over Dean's skin in lazy patterns; they find their old places, and Dean shoves up to meet them, asking for more and getting more all at once. Sam missed him, Sam wants him; Sam is here, so they can do this, Dean wants so badly to do this.
Four Winters: I by @lindencypressbirch, who got deleted and so we'll just call her Linden. Stretching all the way up to 4700 words this time, Linden takes us through a godawful piece of shit of a day in which Dean Winchester Is Handling It, until of course he isn't -- but he is, because he has to, because what other choice is there? This one does a great job of showcasing the misery without lingering on it in a maudlin or tedious way. There's just the job, and then the next job after. After another moment or two he scrubbed a hand over his wet face and went looking for his thermos, and the last of the cold coffee it held. Because they had power now, yes, but there was no telling whether they would have power later, and as they were clearly not going to be going anywhere for a few days, he had work to do before it maybe went.
The Fall Will Probably Kill You by killabeez, which is allll the way up to 7k and retains interest throughout. The big strength in this one is that Sam is competent, steady, believable-from-canon Sam when we get so much over-the-top meathead jerk or simpering babyboy who reads 15 when he's mean to be 40. I'm just blown over by all that SAM. This fic is really about Dean's misery in s7 but it's dealt with pragmatically, almost implacably; more ott than the show went on some details, but the overall vibe is nevertheless: they will get through it because this is who they are. I appreciate that always and forever. He's the one with the secret, now. He hadn't meant it to be that way. But Sam asked Dean to trust him, and Dean said okay because he was sorry for using the F-word. Sorry for putting that look on Sam's face, for making him feel like a freak, the way he hadn't been for laying him out with his fist. It's ridiculous, how he still folds like a house of cards where Sam's concerned, no matter how many times he's told himself he won't do it again. But now he's stuck with the lie, and has no one to blame but himself.
That's probably enough to be going on with. If you read these, please leave a comment to tell the author that you appreciate their work, because it should be appreciated.
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spicyicymeloncat · 2 years
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@akita747 (sorry this took so long)
Doodlarambla 4
Jay!
Hell yeah! The lightning ninja. Established early on as someone who literally cannot stop talking, the comic relief, the creative, scrappy guy all about reaching new heights! When we see his flashback sequence in s9, the concept that they stick with is the idea that Jay is a dreamer. He’s pretty ambitious always trying to craft something that will take him above and beyond (as in he was literally trying to make a flying machine), and his element helps symbolise it. He’s into being flashy like lightning, and tries to climb higher (relating to the sky). This ambition does lead to him having a lot of insecurities though, and he has some interesting ways of dealing with them but I’ll elaborate later.
Jay’s backstory when it’s told in s1, is the most straight forward. I mean, he’s the only ninja with both of his parents on regular speaking terms, although he grew up on a junkyard, it’s pretty mundane and he has an air of normalcy about him, which he seems to be trying to escape. He does really mundane stuff, like poetry and comic book reading (compared to Cole who abandoned art school to go mountain climbing shirtless). I kinda hc Jay having gone to public school and immediately getting bullied because he was raised in a junkyard and his parents are weird, bc those insecurities have gotta come from somewhere. He’s pretty impressionable too, getting fixated on video games and Cliff Gordon (and those also probably influenced his uhh outlook on women and romance).
Jay has a lot of insecurities. I’ve mentioned his upbringing but also his low self esteem is the crux of his true potential episode. Jay’s over the top bravado is him trying desperately to make others like him, almost to the point that he didn’t even tell anyone about the real problems he had (being a snake). The s3-4 love triangle plot follows the same themes; Jay feeling insecure and threatened by Cole, only to reveal that secretly he missed being Cole’s best friend and he hadn’t even confronted those feelings until s4. Again in s6, Nadakhan straight up says that Jay makes jokes to hide his deeper insecurities. And yeah I thinks it’s understandable why he would be a little insecure considering he’s living with shirtless mountain climber Cole, actually gets btiches Kai, literally computer for brain Zane, badass Samurai x Nya, and grandson of god chosen one Lloyd. On top of that, Jay is the most panicky ninja and the main comic relief of the team.
I think his greatest strength is his tenacity to succeed even when he’s at a low. As a junkyard boy, he learned to scrap together quick solutions out of barely anything as shown in Hunted, and when all his friends were captured in s6, he scrapped together a new team, and even after quitting the ninja he was able to make it big and score a job as a tv host. Nadakhan’s characterisation is supposed to parallel Jay in that, like Jay, Nadakhan also relies on what resources he had, and his own wits. Jay’s “fake it til you make it” personality has its use in how he doesn’t stop trying and can find ways to make the most out of his situation. He kinda embodies the message of Lego, being able to build his way to a solution. He’s a dreamer, with his head in the clouds, which makes sense because that’s usually where lightning is.
Although after all that’s happened to Jay, I have sort of a theory/headcanon to do with his perception of reality. Because Jay, since the start, already has some association with not being completely honest. I think Jay having some sort of detachment with reality is really interesting and it’s only briefly touched upon in the show. But yknow especially after s6 I think he should because a) Jay literally learned that season that he was adopted, and whilst he still loves his parents dearly, that’s still gonna shake him to find out that he doesn’t know a lot about his past and heritage, b) everyone he loves keep dying and undying again and again and at that point I think death would be even ever so slightly desensitised c) Jay literally bent reality to his will. He is one of the only two people who remember things that never happened, and all the tragedy that happened in his life was erased and promptly ignored. He never tells the other ninja. He’s never seen going back to Cliff Gordon’s house. We don’t see him go back for Echo. He isn’t shown to try to look for his mother.
(Crystalised part 1 spoilers)
Ninjago, intentionally or not, does play around with Jay and reality and his sanity in s9 and Crystalised. In s9, whilst Jay knows what’s going on, he just loses any semblance of self preservation and gives up with even the idea of being stressed about a situation so hopeless, and is weirdly at peace with it all. (Spoilers here) In Crystalised, Jay believes Nya is in cups of water and decides to become a hermit, cutting himself off from the world and kinda losing it. Jay tends to lose his grip on reality/lose faith in his situation and I think it might be because he’s been through a lot of things that have already made him question his life (s6). Also being separated fro Nya, who he not only loves but also is the only one who can possibly understand what he went through in s6, may have played a role in this.
It’s a shame Prime Empire didn’t really use this, since Prime Empire had all the pieces to have an escapism themed arc for Jay, which I think would’ve made sense since I think Jay could’ve used escapism to cope with his hardships, even before s6, even being a ninja is an escape from his boring junkyard life). Prime Empire provides a fun, totally harmless (not) adventure than you can physically use to run away from reality. Jay was popular there, and the most skilled there and it was supposed to be his season. I mean it would have been cool if the reason why half of Ninjago entered prime empire is because they’re also traumatised and want to leave too (just last season they were attacked by fire snakes and eldritch horrors). But they don’t really explore it that much so there’s some missed potential there (one day, I’ll rewrite this season).
Although we can see, ever since s6, some of Jay’s insecurities are alleviated. It might just be the writer change, but post 7 Jay seems to be a lot goofier that pre 7 Jay, (the uwuification), and I’m interpreting that as him no longer feeling like he needs to fake bravado in front of everyone else. And that’s nice. Jay has some really good developement, and is a really enjoyable character to watch because he’s just so endearing in my opinion. In conclusion, I like Jay’s arc and his consistent character traits and his character development, and he’s just a really interesting character.
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heheheheheheheeheheheheheh here is my school writing project it’s a work in progress atm sorry for the spelling errors and stuff
Faithless
——————-
“…And i mean, have you seen them? ITheyre like nature’s little- Hey, are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah, course i am.” I replied.
I don’t know why he chooses me of all people to talk to about bees. I’m barely interested. Still, it’s nice to hear him talk so passionately about something, especially while on the job.
Us Greens don’t end up in many fights, but when we do, we often lose. It’s honestly ridiculous that we ended up part of The Alliance. We woulda been a far easier target than the Blues, but who am i to judge. Im not really supposed to be on gate duty with my little brother but I’m replacing one of his teammates, who went missing a couple days ago, and we have yet to find.
The last place her tracker was seen was on the edge of the Red territory, and no one has the guts to go look for her. The Red are fierce soldiers, and we’d probably find her dead. Greusomeley, at the least. Last time someone was found, their eyeballs had been gouged out, and their teeth put in their eye sockets. I think they have fun with the corpses of their enemies, even though they aren’t really supposed to kill us as part of the Alliance. It’s on the verge of collapsing though, as the Gods are getting sick of it. After a long time of waiting around with, to nobody’s surprise, nothing happening, someone took over gate duty and me and my brother went to dinner. It was almost all vegetables, but they were cooked *really* well, almost as if there was a new-
“COOK! You look different. Really different. Wait a second, i didn’t think we were getting a new-“
“Are you enjoying the food? Is it good?” The new cook was short, with blonde medium length hair. I had never seen her before, except for maybe…
“Hey, doesn’t she look a bit like one of the Red fighters? a bit like Char-“ I leant over to whisper to my brother
“Well, have fun!” She quickly left, and moved to the next table. No idea why she was doing that.
“What were you saying?” My brother turned to me.
“I was saying, the cook looks a little bit like Charlotte. You know, that red soldier.”
“Well, yeah, a bit. And I don’t recognise her. Maybe we should talk to our superiors about it.”
“You know how hard it is to raise concerns with them. They don’t listen to anyone.”
“I guess you’re right.”
We left the cafeteria, and went to get some sleep before our next shift.
About halfway through our shift, I had an idea.
“What if we took off our uniforms, and changed into our normal clothes, and went out onto the field to start our OWN team?”
“Why would we- Hey maybe you have a point. Management for us is so strict, maybe its strict for everyone else too. And we wouldn’t have to bow to the gods, OH OH AND WE COULD GO LOOK AT THE BEES! Yeah, this is a great idea! But when should we start…”
“Tomorrow. They have the least people on at 9 in the morning. We could sneak out.”
“Right. This is an awesome plan!”
The next morning, we were almost caught by one of teammates.
“And where do you think you're going?”
“Crap-“
“And why are you headed to the gate?”
“Oh- Uhm- Hi Alice! We were just uhh-“
“And most importantly, can I come with you?”
Eventually, we ended up with her following us. Three of us, all leaving. The gate staff also joined us. Now we had no reason to be skeptical of our plan. Our awesome plan was working.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a couple months of being out on the field, we had a well-established fort in the forest; the no-man's land, and began calling ourselves the Faithless. The fort was made of old machinery and found resources. The structure resembled that of a castle, and was, in my opinion, far better than the main items forts, just like our team!. We ate at one big table, all, well, 30 of us. A sizeable amount of members, all fed up with their management, just looking for a reason to leave. No-one missed them, we think. We were steadily gaining members, not just through word of mouth, but we occasionally sent out scouts to the gates and front lines. Scouting had proved to have no issues thus far, and it was my responsibility today. I had to head to the Yelloe team. Not really a threat.
What was usually a long and treacherous journey turned into a short walk through the desert with some found technology i personally had assembled into a flying machine. The propellers surprisingly worked on the hot desert sands. At the gate, I was surprised to the the guards staffed with nets. They’d be useless, unless they knew what happened to their staff. The staff that joined us.
“Still, i refuse to believe they weren’t killed. Maybe they died of heatstroke?” I overheard the guards discussion.
“Nope, they definitely ran away. Management says there’s camera footage.”
That’s impossible. We made sure to kill all the cameras nearby. And it was a planned ordeal. They would run to us within the next week, not that night.
“Hey, ’s there someone there?”
“Where?”
“Just there, behind that pillar,” The guard pointed at the pillar i was hiding behind. I had been spotted. I tried my hardest to run, but their new nets caught me.
“Hah, gotcha, filthy runaway!” The taller guard said.
“Nonono, you’ve got it all wrong! You see, I’m just a delivery scout! Out to ensure that uh, your gate is up to our gate-using standards!” Drat! Of all the times for me to be bad at lying!
“Silence, criminal! We know of your evil plans! And we have our own, even eviler plans!”
“Archibald and Alvin, celebrated as the heroes of the Yellow team! Recruiting the runaways’s most sneaky spies, and forcing them to join us!” He kept talking for probably the next ten minutes, maybe more. His voice was so boring. I reached for the knife in my back pocket, hoping to cut the net i was trapped in. The ropes were sharp, and if i didn’t get out of here soon, i would end up cut. As i tried to manoeuvre my arm around far enough to cut the rope, the two guards, who i had now gathered to be Archibald and Alvin, brought me through the gate. Any chance of a quiet escape went out the window.
“... and no, you can’t escape, no, you can’t build a bomb, and most importantly, you don’t get to go to the gate. You have stay within your bounds.” Archibald, or maybe Alvin, was trying to point out everything on our tour of the grounds. Eventually, we reached the board room. They’d decide what would happen to me. I looked back at the hallway, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
———————————————————————
The leadership issued a guard to take me back to where i would be staying. I surely hoped that it would not be some kind of prison cell, but was pleasantly surprised. My first shift back as a technician was tomorrow, at 0945. I just had to hope, hope that they’d realise i was missing.
———————————————————————
The next morning, people were starting to notice i was gone. These missions usually never took more than 12 hours, and i had been gone for almost a full day. My brother was asking anyone if they’d seen me. all of them had the same answer. ’No, sorry. Last i heard she was at the yellow base.’ and he was dreading coming to break me out. But it was nessacary. i WAS his sister, after all.
Rescue missions are ill-advised amount the main teams, but in a team like ours, the loyalty to one another is immeasurable.
When he tried to assemble a team, almost everybody showed up. “Well, guess we’re all going.” he said to the small crowd.
Everyone here was all different, but they all have one thing in common. “You all ready to beat up some corrupt leaders and get our friends out?“
The group began cheering
They were definitely ready to beat up some corrupt leaders. And also get their friends out, but beating up corrupt leaders had more enthusiasm.
—————————————-
My cell, more similar to a hotel room than anything, was on a lower floor. It had some outside access, but the window didn’t open further than a couple inches.
The food was okay, as was work.
I had to work as a technician, fixing things. All of the other technicians knew seemingly nothing about the tech. No wonder repairs here took over a month, even with all of the high tech equipment in this dimly lit room, with the walls covered in a mess of pipes and wires, similar to the inside of some massive machine. Every time I tried talking to the other technicians, even just about the weather, they would mutter something quietly, and not wait for a response.
One time, I asked them why they were so quiet. One of them lent over to me, and whispered; “They used to be able to hear us, so we made things to communicate with one another without them hearing.” They handed me an earpiece, and when I put it on, there was a buzzing conversation.
They sounded like they were planning an escape. Except, they knew nothing of the Faithless. From what I heard, the only thing sitting between them and freedom was numbers. They couldn’t escape, all because of their numbers.
But knowledge of people on the outside was just the push they needed
.
————————————————
The plan that the yellow tech team came up with was an amazing idea. With the knowledge that they had a place to get to on the other side, it was perfect. Cause an electrical fault with the gate, the biggest piece of equipment, bringing all of the technicians there, broadcasting their message, and then running. Running and running and running. Running until finally…
————————————————
Halfway to the yellow gate, the Faithless saw a large group of yellow workers, running like their lives depended on it. Which they did, kind of. But they had reached a safe point, and they were out. They burst into the fort of the Faithless, relieved to finally have escaped.
————————————————
We had made it. We were all free.
With our numbers nearly doubled, we recruited far more people, eventually dwindling the numbers of the main teams to a small team of those in charge and some incredibly loyal staff. The rest were all those who were so sick and tired of fighting. We had all ran from the battlegrounds, much to the dismay of management.
We were on our way to a new, far brighter, future.
@everydaygremlin This wow this is AMAZING
I LOVE IT IT IS SO GOOD
I THOUGHT I WAS READING AN ACTUAL BOOK ITS SO GOOD I WANT TO KNOW MORE, HAVE THEY GIVE YOU A 10/A?????
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could you talk about what you think of Stone Ocean so far (not sure if you have finished it yet but what are your thoughts on it)
i have not finished stone ocean!
to be honest, i think it's one of the better parts, even if the pacing is very messy, almost as bad with part 5's (sorry). jolyne is genuinely a very intriguing character, someone who starts off.. not exactly whiny? but definitely becomes more mature as the story progresses. her and stone free are very well-matched in terms of story meaning ^_^ which i think is one of araki's biggest strengths.
just being honest here; pucci is a better antagonist than dio. admittedly dio is not as serious as a villain as people act like, but seriously. i barely know anything about pucci besides the inference that he got whitesnake when he was young, so dio brought him into his cult, similar to kakyoin, though obviously sans fleshbud. even being such a manipulative guy, he seems to honestly be doing what he sees as best for the world, which is a nice change of pace from other villains. there's probably some deep bibilical subtext that i'm missing from him, though, and i hope araki talks more about him. very intrigued. go on jeopardy king <3
hermes.. oh sweet sweet hermes.. her disappearance after the kiss of love & revenge pisses me off. unlike kakyoin, who was more minor in the crusaders, hermes received good character development, an established personality, and a creative, realistic dynamic with both jolyne and foo. i literally do not understand why she has been written out for so long. i HOPE she comes back next, but jeezus, do i miss her.
foo fighters is perfect i cannot type about them without crying just know how angry i am about their waste of death that contributed.. nothing? to the story. like at all. if anyone can tell me why f.f.'s death was needed for so to progress i will give them actual fucking money.
emporio is a very interesting take on the "helpful child" character for me and i live in fear of anything worse happening to him. genuinely hoping that araki elaborates on his early life; how did he survive in the prison before weather? was weather there for longer? tell me things about him.
weather report is such an obvious hook for a plot i kinda can't say anything i just have to sit there and wait.
in terms of villains.. it's kinda hilarious how so far all the decent/good/deranged ones have been women and all the lame dweebs have been men. i honestly forget the names of everyone who isn't gwess, miraschon, miu miu, or sports maxx. i only remember sports maxx bc he's actually Threatening and Important, and because when i innocently asked my mother what limp bizkit was she went on a tirade about how much they suck, and played me a cover of "faith" by them which proved her point. i'm pretty sure he and miu miu are related because they're both blond with fucked eyebrows.
uhh running out of things to ramble about.. oh wait stands!
i've heard that some of the stand abilities are too strange, but i disagree. the only one this applies to is dragon's dream, which is probably just because it's hard to communicate that through just illustration. otherwise, the abilities are creative and bonkers, with even the simpler ones being used super creatively. i've always thought that araki can make even the blandest power somewhat interesting; in any other show, i doubt stone free/turning yourself into string would be used in such versatile ways. it would probably be relegated to long-range attacks at best. however, i do find a lot of them needlessly complicated design-wise. random spikes and shapes adorn them, which is annoying to look at sometimes. i do love how some of them, like green green grass, yo-yo-ma, and foo fighters (<3) look like little creatures, beasts even.
also anasui is one of the worst characters araki has written, he has none of the weird girl swag and all of the freakiness of yukako, made worse by being guilty of murder. when pucci-as-weather almost killed him i actually cheered. even his design can not save him. i do not understand why anyone likes this man unironically (calling him your horrible blorbo is okay but actually thinking he's cool and a good character ? 🤨 what)
ok i am done thank you for the ask ^_^
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tyrannuspitch · 2 years
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i keep getting interrupted but i am indeed still thinking about those deleted scenes from thor 2011. i will get back to the ones with frigga soon but hmm. in the meantime. here are some other thoughts, specifically on how they portray thor and loki’s relationship
so. i have found two scenes that got cut / heavily edited featuring these two. and i see exactly why they cut them both, but... hmm. i am thinking.
number 1: a scene before thor’s coronation where they’ve just talking to establish their relationship. this is uhh. not very good. it’s unsubtle, it’s an unnecessary prologue, and it features loki being mean to a servant for no reason and thor not caring. (i know they’re meant to be entitled, but come on.) HOWEVER. it shows a warmth and a much less intense form of conflict which i think could have been really really useful for grounding their relationship if they’d found a better way to include it.
number 2: an alternative version of the scene with the table flip. i... do think i agree with them changing this, but it’s interesting to think about. in this version, thor comes off as waaay less pushy - he waits for all his friends to agree to come rather than assuming it, and it shows loki looking shocked (possibly touched but also possibly alarmed) to be invited. which is interesting, because the impression i always got from the canon scene was that loki was included whether he liked it or not. like, there was never a question of him being excluded from the quest/mission/whatever. he was excluded from something, but it was from being asked nicely.
i think the canon version does make later conflict make far more sense, but... streamlining can be a cruel god i think. the canon version, properly understood, must be contextualised by thor being genuinely extremely alarmed by the security breach. he’s ploughing through everyone and everything because he’s concerned with protecting the kingdom as a whole. under more normal circumstances, he would probably be less pushy and, particularly, less cold to his brother. and that doesn’t necessarily come across when this is almost our first impression of him! idk how to fix that. but. hmm.
also, there’s another dimension in both these scenes which gets cut: actual references to loki and mischief. thor says he’s “incapable of sincerity” and loki himself jokes about being unwise. the more serious tone of the final film means pre-breakdown loki mostly comes across as quiet and calculating, so the one time someone does mention mischief it’s uhh. kind of surprising. and we don’t have anything genuinely light to tie it to, only things that could also be called schemes. so just like with thor, we don’t get a particularly rounded impression of loki’s personality / reputation / social situation before everything goes downhill.
idk. you win some you lose some, i guess. i’m very glad they took the care to make the conflict between the brothers make sense, and that means tension and coldness and anxiety. but i do wish we’d seen even one more moment of genuine warmth. all we’ve got in the finished film is that smile when they were kids, and with nothing to ground it in the present, you feel the distance :/
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tonyglowheart · 2 years
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I kind of agree on sandman episode one, but it gets better as you go along and start getting into the characters a bit more. Though it still has this Gaimany feel to it that is honestly a bit of an acquired taste and better suited to print than live action. I'm not as hype on it as everyone else, but I'd still say it is worth a watch.
haha okay well I got as far as episode three and it doesn't. seem to have gotten good yet :') so uhhh hopefully it. gets.. somewhere?
and tbh. tbh my issue with this show isn't that it feels like there's an essence of Gaimanyness to it
it's that it feels. how do I put this. like it feels Hollywoodified, like, basicified for a general masses, into an almost say-nothing kind of place, the way that like MCU Phase 3 felt to me. Like, so many of the scenes just have this sort of confused vibe where it gives a little bit of some things but it doesn't really LEAN into anything, which renders it very "go girl give us nothing." Like.. if anything it just feels to me like it's lacking in artistic vision. And also storytelling deftness. The story FEELS like it WANTS a sort of web-weaving to it that the show absolutely is not giving. And the way they handled the Corinthian for example is just so sad to me lmao. like they should have leaned into the mystery of him and that should have been a whole subplot, where he shows up and tells ppl things and they're like, who are you, etc, and maybe they do little hints, but like, most of the major reveals should have come later. The nightmare line should have been figurative and not literal (the subtitles capitalized it lmfao and they already established him as a Nightmare in episode one 8) lmfao). honestly, even the eyes reveal was like... they just flubbed it, and it's interesting bc it's something that SHOULD have impact - the comic panels gives me that twinge of body horror - but the show version literally did nothing for me lol. and it SHOULD given my whole *gestures* stuff I have lmao.
A lot of parts of the effects give me low budget cdrama lol but like, they clearly have budget? but it seems used in the weirdest/randomest places/ways.
I dunno. I just. feel like the show lacks *vision*. Like it feels like they tried too hard to make a netflix show equivalent of a Avengers Endgame.
And another thing is that like. Okay you know how in Princess Bride, they changed things between the book and the movie, and there was some.. I think interview? or sth? or maybe a tumblr post lol, but where it was saying how like, the book is very much satire, and like Buttercup is insipid and Wesley is in it for her looks probably and the book implies or outright says that. But the movie has this like earnestness to it, and like, you NEED that in a movie, and the ppl creating the movie knew that? It's like, there are certain things you can do different modes of storytelling and they don't always translate one to one, but that's a feature of adaptation not a bug, and the best adaptations imo work with the media they're adapting to, to get the story to work there. I feel like whoever created this show was trying to hard to just recreate comic panels, and lost sight of like, why even adapt it to a live action tv show. It doesn't feel like the story was adapted, it feels like they're checking off boxes on the next line of content-generation.
Also lmao the show does this color-blind thing that to me creates uhh unintentional issues but I don't necessarily want to get into it, it's just like, I only really notice because there's so much else with the show that I just think it's lacking in as far as vision and care so I put this down to another manifestation of that sort of carelessness :')
okay this got. long lmao, and if I keep going who knows when I'll stop so uhh I will. stop lmao. but,.. yeah I mean, I'm watching w a friend (if you see this, hello friend) so that helps lol. but like. so far it's. oh god it's a trial. like. I really feel like I'd be much better served just reading the graphic novel. In a way that I didn't feel while watching Good Omens. :')
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abhorsenbranwen · 3 years
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gossip fic easter eggs
so it seems like some people are interested in my easter eggs in my tfatws fic series on ao3 but i don't want my a/ns to get excessively long and probably a lot of people who read aren't, so i'm just sticking them here.
for +the +gossip +fics where sam's neighbors are discussing sam, bucky, and the whole captain america thing:
not sure this is ever specified in the series, but paul and darlene are sam/sarah's parents' names in the comics (which is why that's the name of the boat), and gideon is their brother. (names are just easter eggs and not meant to be the actual characters, though)
group chat is titled 1972 because that's when trouble man came out - sam brings it up to bucky in the series, but the first time it comes up is when he recommends it to steve in captain america: the winter soldier, and it's playing in one of the last scenes of the movie.
not sure this is exactly an easter egg but the comment about the government claiming sam was a war criminal comes from him not being willing to sign to sokovia accords (which, ftr, the conversation the avengers have about it basically starts with sam being like "hard pass, thanks" before steve said anything, sam was not just blindly following steve /pet peeve) and having to go into hiding - at one point steve gets referred to as a war criminal after that, so probably sam would be too.
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𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕗 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕤?
about: Dreamwastaken (the teletubby himself)
warning(s): ew larvae, Dream's real name, talk of the imperial system, Mr. Juicy, fluff that makes me feel lonely :,)
pronouns: none specified
word count: 2.0k
note: Whoops! Sorry this took so long! School has been... interesting, to say the least. But anywho, enjoy! Kisses! <3
“Y/n, if you climb any higher, you’re gonna fall.” Dream says, as he paces beneath the large apple tree I’m striving to scale.
“You underestimate my climbing abilities, Dreamy” —I reach for another branch and hoist myself further up the tree in an attempt to get the heavenly apple above me— “and I really don’t think you should do such a thing.” I retort right as one of my feet slips off the branch below me, breaking said branch.
I look down to see my wide-eyed boyfriend getting ready to catch me if I fall. I won’t. “I’m fine, I’m fine. See!”—I regained my footing on another branch and gestured to myself with my free hand— “Everything’s just fine!” I exclaim.
“Mhm, sure” —Dream rolls his eyes, but then softens his gaze— “Why don’t you just come down. We have plenty of apples, so getting yourself hurt over one more is not worth it— and if you haven’t noticed, you’re not the most graceful ballerina in the studio.”
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. Though his plea is very reasonable and I should probably follow his advice… I want that apple, so I keep climbing.
A few days ago, my boyfriend Clay and I decided that we should start getting into the fall spirit. And one of the most fall-y activities we could think of was apple picking. Seemed simple enough at the time.
The idea was simple really: we would go to the apple orchard right outside of town, pick us some nice crisp apples, then go home and try to make an apple pie or two. Like I said, simple. But that’s not how it’s ending up working out.
The apple orchard that we’re currently at, Pomarium’s Apple Orchard™, has been around for decades and because of that, the apple trees are absolutely massive. According to the internet, regular apple trees can grow to 30ft or higher and just looking at the trees in the grove that is Pomarium’s Apple Orchard™, they seem to hit that mark.
The owners of the fine establishment, Muriel and Edith Pomarium (yes I know them personally, job shadowing project, ‘nuff said), have taken much pride in their work, as they should. The orchard and its apples have won the lovely ladies a vast amount of awards, since the place was opened, and has brought hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country to partake in the seasonal apple picking. Hence, how Clay and I found our way here when we were kids.
I finally reach the top of the tree, the luscious apple just out of my grasps. I stretch to reach it, throwing all caution to the wind (because why not). The branch keeping my figure from plummeting to the earth below me, begins to creek. If I just reach a little more, I’ll be able to grab my prize. The wonderful, juicy, red apple. I stretch and lean as far as I can towards the apple without falling and with great triumph, I finally pluck it off its stem and retract it towards me. Looking at my reward, I am filled with a great sense of accomplishment. I did it, the thing that almost made me fall several times in the aim to reach it; my mission has been fulfilled.
“You little stinker, I almost lost you out of fear. That would have been a big mistake on my part wouldn’t it have been? Yes it would! Oh yes it would!” I coo.
“Uhh, are you good, dear?”
I tear my focus away from my hard earned prize to see my boyfriend staring up at me, incredulously, while taking a bite of his twelfth apple.
“Yes, now can you stop ruining my moment with Mr. Juicy.” I retorted, directing my gaze back to the apple.
I turn the apple in my hand to examine the fine specimen. I am admiring my work until I turn it fully around in my hand to be met with a rotting hole in the fruit’s flesh. Now annoyed that my once perceived “perfect” apple was imperfect, I close my eyes and count to ten in some pathetic attempt to calm myself down. A groaning sound from the branch interrupts my much needed counting, reiterating that I probably should get down now. A slimy feeling overtakes my thumb. I pause and take a deep breath, I know that whatever is on my thumb is going to gross me out so I need to stay completely calm.
“Y/n! Is everything alright up there?!” Clay asks.
“I’m complETely calm!” I say, voice cracking.
My boyfriend yells something else, but I am too focused on working up the courage to see what’s crawling on me to hear.
I take a deep breath. Whatever happens, I just can’t freak out— I just can’t. I tightly squeeze my eyes shut an angle my head towards Mr. Juicy. Opening my eyes I am met with the foul beast that is moth larvae. Nope.
I let out a loud, high-pitched shriek and chuck the apple as far away from me as possible, sending the insect along with it.
Apparently, my sharp movements were too much for the poor branch, because before I knew it, the space below me wasn't so solid.
My plummet to the ground felt as if it took an eternity, well, I fell less to the ground as I did into the awaiting arms of my equally worried and exasperated boyfriend.
The relief I felt when my once cascading body was caught in the familiar arms of my lover, was overwhelming. The scent of him and his cologne overtook my senses. It brings back a feeling of security I hadn’t realized I’d lost in my endeavor to put another apple in our basket.
Cuddling my head further into his neck, I delay the inevitable: a safety lecture from the one and only, DreamWasTaken.
“You know, I wonder who could have told you that was gonna happen—”
“Seriously?” I deadpan, interrupting Clay’s “I told you so” thing.
“Seriously… Mr. Juicy? Really?”
I roll my eyes and signal that I want to be let down.
“He was a mistake, okay, you’re the only one for me. You know that.” I pout as Dream stands me on my feet.
“I can’t believe I almost lost you to an apple named Mr. Ju—?”
“Okay, enough with the apple—” I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me closer by the waist— “But really, thank you. I’d probably of broken something—”
“Other than the branch?”
I glare at him.
“I’m trying to be thankful here and you keep ruining the moment.”
“You know I love you and I know you love me.”
“I’m very aware and I love you too.”
“And you don’t know what you’d do without me.” He smirks, leaning in to give me a kiss.
“Okay, you know what—” I unwrap my arms from around him and push him away from me.— No kisses for you!—” Clay lets out his signature wheeze and grabs my wrist, effectively pulling me back into his arms.
“Fine, fine. I guess you can have a kiss.” I laugh, happily giving in to my boyfriend’s wishes, and leaning into him.
Warmth blossoms in my chest as our awaiting lips meet in a sweet kiss. The scent of apples and fresh autumn air danced around us and we drank each other in; love radiating off of us. Running out of air, I reluctantly break our kiss and rest my forehead against his. After all these years, he still takes my breath away. The audacity.
Pulling away from Clay, I open my eyes and am met with the face of my smug boyfriend.
“That good huh?”
I scowled at him for the hundredth time today.
“Shut your face you over glorified teletubby.” I deadpan, walking away from him.
Now it’s my turn to be smug.
Walking a few steps, I turn back around to see my offended yet impressed lover surrounded by a plethora of apple cores. Forgetting about my most recent victory, I am introduced with a new problem.
“Did you eat half of those apples?” I gape at a now guilty looking Clay.
He mumbles something I can quite distinguish.
“Huh?—” I walk closer towards him to try to hear what he’s saying.— “Love, there’s really no point in hiding, because the evidence clearly points to you eating most of our apples.”
“Okay, yeah. I may or may not have gotten just a tad bit hungry—”
“A tad?—”
“Yes.” —I continued to stare at him— “Hey, you were up there for quite some time and I got hungry, so…” He trails off while I keep on staring at him, trying to process the abundance of apples he ate.
“Mr. Juicy—”
“oKAY! You know what,” I interrupt. “You were hungry, we can just pick more—”
“The place closes in ten minutes.” My boyfriend informs, picking up the half full basket of apples we have, wraps his free arm around my shoulders, and begins to lead us away from the god-forsaken tree. “—We can just pick more tomorrow—”
“We’re streaming tomorrow.”
I halt our movements and stare at the ground while I think of a possible time we could get more apples.
“I’m sure we have enough apples for pies and other stuff. If all else fails, we could just grab a bushel of them where we pay.” Clay reasons as he moves us towards the place we pay for the apples.
“True, true.”
Upon our arrival to the paying stand, we are greeted by the kind faces of the lovely owners of the fine establishment.
“How was it out there?” Muriel asks while her wife weighs the apples we have.
“As wonderful as always, Mrs. Pomarium!” I say.
“My dear Y/n, we’ve talked about this so many times! Just call me Muriel, no need for formalities.”
“Yeah, you’ve been coming here for years, same with you young man.” Edith says, as she comes back with our apples.
“I’m sorry, force of habit.” I say, looking down at my feet.
“Didn’t get into any trouble, didja?” Edith asks my boyfriend and I while we quickly play rock-paper-scissors to see who’s going to pay.
Without missing a beat, Clay and I look up at one another, look at the owners, look back at each other, and look back at the owners and consecutively say “What us? Get into trouble? Never.”
The ladies knowingly shake their heads and we play the deciding round of the game. I lost.
Clay pays for our half bushel, the extra one, and a jug of homemade apple cider with cups, for the road. We bid our farewells to the wives and promise to come back for dinner later this month.
“That was fun.” I say as we make our way back to the car.
“It was, just like old times!” He answers, giving me a fond look.
I reciprocate his expression.
Reaching the car, Dream puts the apples in the trunk, while I pour us each a glass of cider. Two cups in hand, I walk over to the front of the car, leaning against it, and enjoy the serine view before me.
I turn my head towards the sound of crunching rocks to see my lover making his way towards me. After he gets himself situated against the front of the car, I give him his cider, and look back to the sunset over the grove.
A few minutes go by and both Clay and I have finished our drinks. I take both of our cups and place them inside the cupholders, in the car. Strolling back to the front of the car, I am met with Dream’s open arms. Falling into his hold, I direct my sights to face the moonlit orchard and bask in the sweet scent of apples and the wonderful feeling of love that spills from our hearts.
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fific7 · 3 years
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Cold Day in Hell - Part 2
Logan Delos x Reader
A/N: This does not completely follow canon, it’s mainly lemon zest 🍋 because the world needs more Logan Delos.
Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, including oral, between consenting adults* in some chapters. Drinking and swearing.
*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.
(My GIF)
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Logan went back to his own office after showing her to hers. He sat down in his plush office chair and swivelled slowly from side to side, picking up his pen and tapping it on the desk as he did so. He was thinking. How was he going to approach this?
Unusually for him, Logan wasn’t 100% convinced that she was attracted to him. That was something of a departure for him; the norm was that he would just look at someone and that was it, they were putty in his hands. Not this gal. He thought she might be interested but he could tell that there were walls up there, that was for sure.
Should he ask Juliet? She was dead set against him getting involved with this new lady, but it might be worth listening to one of her lectures if he got some useful ’women’s perspective’ advice at the same time. He got up and strolled the short distance down to her office, knocking and popping his head round the door. Juliet looked up from her screen at him, “Hey, Logan... what can I do for you? I’m right in the middle of something here.”
Irrespective of her comment, Logan went into the office and sat down in the chair opposite her. Sighing, Juliet put her screen lock on and lounged back in her own chair. Knowing him as she did, she could tell just by looking at his face that he was in thinking mode, in fact he wasn’t even looking at her; he was staring at the back of her big computer screen, a sure sign that his mind was off somewhere else. “Logan!” she said firmly, and his eyes snapped to hers, “I’m busy here, darling brother. What’s on your mind?”
As Juliet had been expecting, he said the name of their new secondment. Then he held up a hand, “Now I know you don’t want me to go there, Jules - but I’m serious here. She’s not a one-and-done in my mind.” Juliet snorted, “What then? A two-and-done?!” Logan rolled his eyes, “Ha ha, very funny. No. I’m thinking of something a bit more... established than that.”
Juliet’s eyes widened, “You mean....” her voice took on a mock awestruck tone, “...a relationship, Logan?” He nodded, “Well... yeah. I suppose you could call it that.” She sat forward, eyes boring into his, “No! I just don’t believe you. Look, you’re the guy who’s out on the town every night with a different person. Or occasionally someone you’ve taken out once or twice before. You are just not a monogamous kinda guy! I don’t want you to mess around with this girl!” Logan crossed one leg over the other and made a point of studying his nails, “I know you don’t, but I want to take her out. And I’m gonna take her out, Jules. She can make her own mind up if she doesn’t want anything to do with me from there on.”
Juliet muttered something and Logan leant in a bit, “Whaddya say, sis?” She looked him straight in the eye, “She probably doesn’t want anything to do with you right now, never mind after you’ve taken her out. Your reputation proceeds you, Lo.”
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
You’d spent a little time arranging the few items you’d brought with you onto your new desk. Your laptop, your favourite pens, a ruler and a stapler. That was it - you liked to travel light. And anything else you needed, you were sure Delos Destinations would be able to supply by the kilo-load. Logan had said to you, before disappearing back to his own office, “I’ll leave you to settle in, and anything you need.... just ask!” There had been the merest hint of a wink accompanying that last comment, but you’d poker-faced it and just said, “Thanks, Logan.... I’ll bear that in mind.”
You so wished that he wasn’t as handsome as he was, as you had to admit that this made it quite difficult to concentrate on your projects. Shaking your head, you pulled up the folder for one of said projects on your laptop and began work on it.
Hopefully Logan would just keep to his own office. Otherwise you weren’t sure how much work you’d actually get done. Your eyes would be too busy drinking in the male masterpiece that was Logan Delos.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Logan walked dejectedly back to his office. The visit to Juliet for advice had been a complete and utter waste of time. All he’d got was one big rant about keeping far away from his new love interest. Well, he wasn’t about to do what she said, he’d be damned if he would.
Back in his office, he took to swinging from side to side in his chair once more. He really didn’t have a clue how to start his campaign to win her over. Logan just wasn’t used to having to chase down anyone he was interested in, so this was a bit of a new challenge for him. Should he go all out and whisk her off somewhere in one of the private jets? Take her out on the company yacht? Pick her up in a limo and take her to a premiere?
Or should he go low-key, ask her out for a coffee and see how that went down? Build it up from there? He’d picked up his pen once more and as he got more and more frustrated, threw it across the room where it bounced off the door, dropped and skittered across the floor. A couple of seconds later, his secretary knocked and opened the door, “Did you need something, Mr Delos?” “Uhhh.. no, no, it’s fine, Stacy, sorry about that.” She gave him a bit of a look, nodded and closed the door.
He sighed and thought to himself that he’d better get ready for these upcoming investor meetings in Seattle the following week. He sat bolt upright in his chair, smacking his forehead. Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner!
Three days in Seattle... just the two of them.... perfect!
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
You heard a small tap and then Juliet’s head appeared round the door. “Welcome!” she smiled, coming into the office and over to you, giving you a big hug. “I’m so pleased you’re here!” You agreed, “Yes, I’m pleased to be here. It’s lovely to see you, Juliet.” “It’s going to be so much easier all round,” she said, before sitting down opposite you, “...it’s going to make a big difference to the status of the projects.” She paused, her eyes - so like Logan’s - gazing into yours, “And.... I don’t mean to sound off-putting, especially on your first day... but I’m guessing you already know that my brother is really quite taken with you?”
You gave a small smile, “Umm... yes I kind of did get that vibe.” She nodded, “You’re a damn good engineer and that’s a big part of the reason you’re here, but this was Logan’s idea and I’ll be straight with you, he’s busy working out how he’s going to get close to you.”
Laughing out loud, “Juliet, no offence to your brother - who’s a very good-looking guy - but it’ll be a cold day in hell before I go out with him. I know he’s a complete player.” She laughed too, “I’m glad you’re already aware of that. I mean, I love my brother to bits but he is just terrible at relationships! He doesn’t mean to be, but he says he doesn’t know if he could ever love anyone, any one person. It’s not really in his DNA.”
You took a breath, thought to yourself, why not? - and asked, “Is his ...uhh... substance abuse a thing of the past now? Well, as much as it can ever be.” Juliet nodded, a pained look on her face, “Yes, thank god. We had a pretty awful time with him for a while, especially after a... a particular situation in Westworld, but he’s clean now and still goes to meetings every so often just to keep himself in line. I really thought we’d lost him a couple of times, so yes, he’s done really well. I’m proud of him.” “You should be,” you agreed, having seen tears welling in her eyes when she’d mentioned losing him. “I’m sorry I brought that up, Juliet, I shouldn’t have said anything.” She smiled, “Hey, it’s fine. You should know what you’re getting into... or rather not getting into!”
You both laughed at that.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
In the meantime, Logan had asked his secretary to book one of the private jets and two hotel suites in downtown Seattle for the dates of the investor meetings. He was almost bouncing around his office, he was so pleased with himself and his new plan.
He thought he heard the sound of laughter coming from her office, and couldn’t stop himself from going right next door to see what was going on. He opened the door after a brief knock on it, and saw his sister sitting with the object of his affections, the two of them still laughing.
Juliet turned round and said with a smile, “Lo! We were just talking about you.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously, “Oh yeah?” She nodded, “Yeah. Are your ears flaming?” Logan scowled at her, “What have you been saying, Jules?” with a quick, anxious look over at the other woman in the room. Juliet stood up and said, “Oh, nothing too bad, Logan,” giving him a wicked little smile and striding out of the room.
Logan watched Juliet go before clearing his throat and turning back just in time to see her hiding a smile. “C’mon,” he said, “...what did she say?” She shook her head, “Honestly, nothing bad. She was just pulling your strings.” Logan just managed to stop himself saying that she would be more than welcome to pull his strings, before sitting down in the chair which Juliet had just vacated. “Okay... well, what I came in to tell you is that we’re going to Seattle next week...” total surprise on her face, “....to some investor meetings,” Logan carried on smoothly. “Oh now, Logan, why on earth would you want me to go to them?” “You’ll be able to update them on a few of those middleware projects you’re working on. You were so much better than that boring asshole they let do most of the presentation. You’ll wow these guys.”
She was still looking at him as if he’d asked her to go to the moon. “It’s all booked,” he said quickly, a tiny bit of confidence leaving his voice, “...so I’ll give you the dates and schedule, okay?”
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Oh, he’s booked it already has he? you thought. Sighing, you could feel your shoulders slump a little in defeat as you agreed to go with him. You knew that your boss wouldn’t be very impressed if you didn’t, as apart from helping Delos Destinations get more investment, you’d be floating your own company’s name out in front of them.
“Who else is going?” you asked, and saw a distinct gleam in Logan’s dark eyes as he answered, “Uhh.. just the two of us. Don’t want to overwhelm them with too many speakers.” He slapped his hands down onto his thighs, “Well, I’d better get back, I’ve got a meeting in 5. I’ll get those details to you asap.” He stood up, “See you later,” and left your office.
Okayyy - just the two of you? This trip was shaping up to be something out of a bad romcom.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Logan had mentioned the proposed Seattle trip to Juliet as they were both leaving the office, casually dropping in who was going amongst all the other details. She stopped in the middle of the corridor, looking round to see if anyone else was within earshot before saying in an exasperated tone, “Really, Logan? Are you serious? And I suppose there’s only going to be one room available when you get there?!” Logan held up both hands, “No!! You can check, there are two rooms booked!”
Juliet scowled at him, “Logan, I swear - you better be on your best behaviour. She’s only just arrived, so you piss her off this early in then I’m going to be super pissed too!” Logan did one of his over-exaggerated eye rolls, “Oh for fuck’s sake stop worrying, Jules, I’m not about to piss her off. I’m out to charm her.”
“Oh god help her then,” muttered Juliet as she stalked towards her car.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Logan took your hand as you stepped out of the chauffeur-driven car at the private airstrip. You’d thought about ignoring his outstretched hand but instead placed yours in his. A smile appeared on his face, “Now, this is how it’s gonna be over the next few days - us holding each other’s hands through the investor meetings.” You rolled your eyes, “Whatever you say, Logan.” “I do say,” he smirked, hand going to the small of your back as you reached the bottom of the steps up to the aircraft and guiding you onto them. You knew that his eyes were glued to your rear as you made your way up the steps, but tried to ignore the feeling. Every so often you’d catch Logan’s eyes on you, looking at you as if you were a prey animal and this made you even more determined to avoid getting involved with him.
But lordy it wasn’t easy, you admitted to yourself as you watched him settle his tall frame into the extremely comfortable seat facing yours. You’d never been on a private jet before, but you were having difficulty paying attention to all its facilities when Logan was looking absolutely edible in an impeccable dark blue suit and light pink shirt, unbuttoned quite low as usual and showing off a little chest hair. Your eyes met his after you’d finished exploring his body, and he was looking so smug you wanted to punch him. Damn! You’d better be more guarded in future when drooling over him.
Now you started showing an interest in the interior of the plane, but every time you caught Logan’s eye he was still smirking at you.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Ha! he laughed to himself, he’d obviously chosen the right suit then. He’d taken particular care when dressing that morning as he’d wanted to look really good for her and it seemed he’d made a good choice, judging by the look on her face when she’d finished eyeing him up and down.
He lounged back in his seat, still gazing at her. He wanted to fuck her so badly! His mind supplied a vision of himself climbing on top of her as she sat there, undoing her top, pushing her skirt up and.... He could feel himself getting hard just from that short clip playing in his head right now.
“Wanna fu-...”, he clamped his jaw shut, before carrying on, “...wanna drink, sweetheart?”
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
You were under no illusions as to exactly what was running through Logan’s mind at that moment.
You’d noticed how his eyes had glazed over slightly as he stared at you, his lips parted, and you could literally see his trousers tightening by the second over his groin. The dead giveaway was when he almost asked you if you wanted to fuck instead of what you wanted to drink. You couldn’t stop a smile making its way onto your lips. There was an undeniable thrill that you could turn him on like this ...but No!!! your brain said. This guy’s middle name is ‘Player’ and even his own sister had warned you what a hound-dog he was.
“I’ll have a G&T, please,” you said sweetly, “...and nothing else, thanks.”
Logan looked stunned for a second, then pressed the call button for the attendant.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Oh shit, Logan thought, she knows exactly what I was thinking. I guess I’m being a little obvious here, I’d better calm it the hell down. He just wasn’t used to playing it cool in the pursuit of someone. Usually he went from 0 to 90 in sixty seconds, and the people he hung out with expected that from him. Not this gorgeous example of womanhood though. He was going to have to majorly change his approach.
But being with her like this - so close, just the two of them - was driving him crazy as it felt really intimate, and while his thoughts were still firmly planted in the sexual receptor of his brain, the longer they were on the plane together the more he realised that he was enjoying just being with her. Which surprised him to be honest, that wasn’t something that normally entered his sphere of relations with other people. She had a very calm demeanour, and it made him feel at ease. Conversation flowed, and he felt like he was getting to know her a lot more.
Initially he’d hinted to his sister that he wanted more than sex from his new love interest to get Juliet off his back, but now it appeared that karma had got him fair and square. It felt like that he did really want something more.
What that was, he wasn’t exactly sure yet.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Checking in to the fancy hotel in downtown Seattle, you noticed the receptionists - male and female - checking out Logan and not being discreet about it. He, meanwhile, was in his element, flirting up a storm with them while handing over his black Delos card to register for the rooms. You shook your head, smiling to yourself. This was exactly what put you off him. You were more than certain that he’d be sharing a bed with one or all of them that night.
He handed you your keycard, and quickly noting your room number you took off like a shot towards the elevators. Logan had been surprised when you’d set off so briskly, and scrambled to grab his bag and suitcase beside the reception desk before following you.
He reached the elevator just as you turned, smiling at him and commenting, “Have fun with your new little friends,” and nodding your head back towards reception.
Hitting the ‘close doors’ button, you were still smiling at him as the doors closed.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
Logan scrabbled at the ‘call’ button but not quickly enough to stop the doors closing in his face. Damn it! The other elevator arrived after a couple of moments and he rushed into it, wanting to catch up with her. What had he done wrong? She’d seemed pissed off underneath that smile. And what did she mean by his ‘new little friends’? Then he realised what had ticked her off - he’d been doing his usual flirting with the hired help who of course had been flirting right back.
But it didn’t mean anything to him, it was just his usual m.o., didn’t she realise that? He’d obviously need to introduce her to the Delos way of doing things so there’d be no future misunderstandings.
»»————————————-———- ⚜ ———————————-————-««
You were just putting your toiletries out in the bathroom when there was a knock on the door. Knowing it would be Logan, you opened the door to find him standing outside still with his suitcase and bag in hand. “Come in,” you invited and he walked quickly inside. You went back to the bathroom and finished laying out your shower gel and shampoo.
He stopped next to your bed and sat on it, waiting until you emerged from the bathroom. You had to admit he looked good on your bed but dismissed the thought and headed over to your suitcase to start unpacking. “I always flirt with the staff,” he said, “...it gets you a better level of service.” “Or just gets you serviced,” you said before you could stop yourself. You heard his deep chuckle as you kept taking items out of your case.
“No, that’s not the aim,” he said, “truly it’s not.” Walking over to the unit underneath the giant flat-screen TV attached to the wall, you began putting the garments away in the drawers then became aware of Logan invading your personal space to look over your shoulder. He was smirking at you and you suddenly realised you were holding a handful of your lingerie. Long fingers stroked one of the silky pairs of panties you were holding and you abruptly shoved them all into the drawer and slammed it shut. “Logan!” you admonished him, but his only reaction was to keep smiling mischievously at you.
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Logan had tried to persuade her to come out on the town with him but she’d decided to stay in the hotel and have an early night. So he’d gone out on his own, heading to a restaurant he’d eaten at before and ordering a steak and some wine. The waitress had been very interested in him, hitting on him shamelessly but he’d politely brushed her off.
There was only one person he wanted in his bed. Not sure how long it’s gonna take me to get her there though, he thought glumly.
What did surprise him was the fact that he was willing to hang on in there until that happened.
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Drifting off to sleep, aware of the low sound of the TV in the background, you couldn’t even be bothered to sit up to grab the remote and switch it off. There was a low knock on your door, then a second one - louder - when you didn’t answer the door. Groaning, you got up and went over to it, looking through the peephole to see Logan standing outside.
Sighing, you opened the door and he swept into your room as if he owned it. Then with typical Logan braggadocio he threw himself gracefully onto your bed, propping up some pillows behind him, crossing his ankles and linking his hands behind his head. You rolled your eyes heavenwards and closed the door, making your way towards where he lay. You were damned if he was going to chase you out of your bed. Standing beside it with your hands on your hips, you demanded, “Logan... what do you think you’re doing exactly?” Those dark eyes of his roamed all over you in your short little silk nightdress and he smiled, “I’m lonely.”
“Lonely!” you laughed, “You’re... you’re just... unbelievable!” His smile got wider, “I’m more than willing to prove just how unbelievable I am, but you won’t let me.” “Do you blame me, Logan?” His smile faltered, and he looked away from you, gazing at the TV, “I guess not.” But then those dark chocolate eyes were back on you, “But you could at least give me a chance,” he said with a small but genuine smile.
You felt yourself melt a little, you couldn’t help it. So against your better judgement, you lay down next to him on the bed, under the covers. “Can I get myself a drink?” he asked. “Oh, I see, it’s my mini-bar you’re after, is it? Help yourself.” He got up and headed over to it, laughing and turning back to you, “You know only too well what I want, sweetheart.”
“You can have a whisky, Delos, but that’s all you’re having.”
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Logan sighed as he poured the whisky miniature into a glass and made his way back over to the bed. But then he perked up, after all he had made it into her bed - in a manner of speaking - and against all expectations. Now he just had to make sure he didn’t screw it up (again, in a manner of speaking) by hitting on her.
If he got to spend the night in her bed, that would be enough for him - for now.
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Your eyes slowly opened and you gave a little yawn, wondering what time it was and thinking that today was the first round of investor meetings, when you suddenly realised that you could feel someone’s breath on your ear and that there was an arm slung over your stomach. You were lying on your side and you moved your head slightly to look over your shoulder, but you knew what you’d see before you did.
Logan. His eyes closed, hair tousled, lying on top of the covers but he’d still managed to more or less wrap himself around you. He shifted slightly, giving a little sigh and burrowing his nose even further into the nape of your neck.
Oh hell. This was really not a good plan, but you couldn’t deny how good it felt to be lying here with him. He looked so deliciously handsome while he was asleep. But also vulnerable. You turned away from him and studied the bedroom wall opposite you.
You really did have to watch how you were handling this, or despite your best intentions you were going to end up getting badly hurt.
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Logan awoke from the very horny dream he’d been having, only to remember that he was partly living it in real life. He sensed she was awake - he could tell by her breathing - and he decided to push his luck a bit. He gave a small sigh as if he was still sleeping, and gently rubbed his erection against the back of her leg. He heard a quick intake of breath, and smiled to himself as he felt her trying to squirm away from him but he tightened the arm he’d sneaked over her during the night.
“Logan!” she hissed, “Get that away from me!” He chuckled, “Aw sweetheart, get what away from you?” He further pushed his luck by moving her hair aside and kissing her behind her ear.
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You shivered, he’d kissed you somewhere you wished he hadn’t as it made you want to kiss him back so badly. You were very aware of his body pressed up against yours, how good he smelt, how good it felt to be lying there with him almost wrapped around you....
You’d better get him out of this bed before you made a catastrophically bad decision.
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(Not my GIF - credit to owner)
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@obscurilicious @theshadowkingsqueen
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lover-of-skellies · 3 years
Text
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So uhh, this isn’t off the prompt list thing and literally no one asked for it, but I decided to go back and edit a super old thing I wrote. It’s supposed to be part of something a lot bigger, but for now, the whole thing’s been discontinued
Essentially, this is an OC insert kinda thing with my girl Adrienne. She’s been trapped in Horrortale for a little while, and since Sans decided to be merciful, she’s been allowed to live in a spare room in his and Pap’s house. She has free roam of the house and can do pretty much whatever the hell she wants (as long as it doesn’t involve getting into the pantry and digging into their reserves), and in exchange for all of that and being allowed to live, he and Papyrus have some super basic rules they expect her to follow
Rule number 1 is that she is to be helpful, and try to maintain the house while they’re away. Rule number two is that she’s not to leave the house without covering her face and hands. Rule number three is that she’s never to leave the house alone, without one or both of them nearby
Out of boredom and hunger, she leaves the house one day, following the smell of food. This doesn’t seem like it’d be anything huge, but it’s a major no-no, and it doesn’t go unpunished
Papyrus is also surprisingly good at giving advice, too. He might not have much experience with dating, but he knows exactly what he's talking about
If you make it to the end, I have to give you kudos because this is a complete cringe-fest ^^"
((Gonna add some potential trigger warnings for: angst, slight violence, and public humiliation))
Pain.
Searing pain.
The once blue-nette had been exploring the town, much to her guardians’ displeasure. She’d known it wasn’t a good idea, and for what reasons, she was well aware, but she had to do something. Staying holed away in the house every moment of every day was a completely new level of boring, one that she hadn’t even known existed. Her guardian had made it very clear that she was to never leave the house unless he or his brother were to accompany her, but today… well. His brother was away, probably at the capital getting physically and verbally abused by their queen, and he himself? She wasn’t sure what he did while he was away, but she’d learned not to ask too many questions. The first few times she tried asking, he’d been quick to change the subject or dodge her questions entirely, or he’d simply laugh and make a joke which he deemed hilarious when in reality, it wasn’t. Once he got tired of her asking, his humor quickly dissipated and was replaced by anger. He didn’t even have to look at her for her to know he was upset; all it took was a few short, clipped responses, and how she could practically hear him frown when he spoke. That’s beside the point though.
At the moment, she was suspended in mid air by her throat, her legs flailing as she began clawing at her assailant’s arm, her teeth bared as she struggled to free herself. The slightly withered fire monster shrugged off her attempts to attack him as if they were nothing at all; even though his strength had been diminished and was now only half of what it used to be, he was still far tougher than she could ever hope to be. Having smelled food, she made the mistake of slipping into the bar he owned, her hood tugged as far over her face as possible. She had glanced around the establishment, taken note of the other monsters nearby, and made another mental note of where all the exits were, should she need to run. After very cautiously crossing the bar and taking a seat at the old, worn counter, the flamesman had wordlessly poured a glass of water. He nudged it in her direction, and she’d eagerly accepted it, being mindful of how much of her face was concealed as she sipped the cold beverage.
For a moment, she was relaxed, and she nearly forgot the very real danger she was in. She was snapped out of her brief feeling of serenity as the Grillby fully shifted his attention to her. He made a soft, questioning sound, and she kept her head low, speaking just barely loud enough for him to hear, “What’re ya serving, Grillby?” He grunted, well prepared to offer her a short, yet simple answer, but was cut off by another monster who seated himself beside the girl, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around these parts before, friend… where are you from?” The teen lowered her gaze to the countertop, catching a glimpse of what looked to be faded blue fur. She didn’t know what monster could possibly want to talk to her, but she remained as calm and casual as possible in hope of not drawing any more attention to herself, “The ruins.”
With their interest now fully piqued, the monster beside her hummed incredulously, “The ruins, huh?... I take it you’ve met our former queen then. Toriel.” Upon hearing the familiar goat monster’s name, the teen saw images flicker in her mind; memories of her time in the ruins before she managed to escape. How Toriel had guided her through all the traps and puzzles that laid in waiting. How she held her close and allowed her to sob into her shoulder. How she’d convinced Adrienne to go back to her house, where there’d be a warm bed, food, and all the love and care she could ever want. Toriel had baked a cinnamon and butterscotch pie, very excited to share it with her, but not long after the teen had eaten a small slice, she’d felt her stomach turn. Her world went black, and when she awoke, she was tucked into a bed in a dimly lit room, which looked as though it had once belonged to a child. She felt incredibly ill and had almost no strength, and she could barely stand without feeling light headed. To her surprise, however, her willing ally, Flowey, had made a surprise return. Adrienne had seen Toriel had burn him alive, so she didn’t understand how he was even still alive.
Flowey had been through this exact same situation too many times to count, as it turned out, and he’d revealed Toriel’s true intentions: make the teen weak enough to require constant care and attention, and make her stay in the ruins forever. Or at the very least, until she died. Taking advantage of a distraction provided by Flowey, she’d waited for the goat monster to disappear to another part of the house. She’d then made her way to the kitchen and began to search around the floorboards. According to Flowey, there was a panel that could be removed, and underneath it, she’d find the remedy she needed to regain her health. She’d found the vial and downed it without question, only to look up and see the crazed goat monster staring at her from the doorway. The look on her face was one that still occasionally haunted Adrienne's dreams, and she’d been trying to go as long as possible without thinking about it. It appeared as though she’d be getting no such luck today, though.
Clearing her throat and trying to force down her growing anxiety, she nodded, keeping her head down, “Yeah, I have. I’ve met her.” The blue furred stranger watched her with an unnerving amount of intensity and she fought the urge to squirm and lean away from them. As they spoke again, their voice held a curious edge, “Huh. I can only imagine how that went.” Nodding silently, the teen returned to her glass of water, more than ready for the stranger to go away. She knew what would happen if she was discovered, and she wanted no part of that whatsoever.
The monster leaned closer to her and sniffed the air, letting out a pleased sigh before mumbling, “Friend… you don’t exactly smell like one of us. Monsters have their own natural and unique scents... But you, however,” A fuzzy paw-like hand seized her arm with a vice-like grip, and the stranger's voice shifted from a mumble to what was more like a hiss, “you smell like you belong on the grill.” Adrienne began attempting to yank her arm back out of the monster’s grasp and they laughed, simply using their free hand to tug her hood down, revealing her identity to Grillby and the other bar patrons that surrounded them. Her faded grey eyes widened in fear as the monsters began to shout at the flamesman, excitedly demanding that he cook her for them. Despite how the teen shook her head in protest, the mass of living fire moved closer to her, rapidly snatching her up by the throat. She was lifted off of the ground, and he ignored her pained screams as the heat from his hand began to scorch the skin of her neck.
With adrenaline now coursing through her veins, she let out a string of expletives and pulled both of her legs up until her knees touched her chest. The flamesman took a single step toward his kitchen, and then froze as both of her deceptively weak legs shot toward him, delivering a sharp kick to the space just below his chest. She didn’t expect her little stunt to actually work, but to her pleasant surprise, he’d released his grip on her out of shock, gingerly touching the now injured part of himself. Adrienne dropped to the floor and quickly regained her balance, paying no attention to the few monsters who rushed to Grillby’s side. She proceeded to climb over the counter and sprint toward the door, the footsteps behind her a clear indicator that she was being pursued now. Not that she could blame them for any though; food was insanely hard to come by, so if you had a chance to eat but the food got up and ran, wouldn’t you go after it too?
Reaching out with a clawed hand, some unseen monster snagged a fistful of her hair and harshly pulled, causing her to yelp and almost tumble to the floor. She glanced around, surveying her surroundings and checking the exits again. Part of what looked to be a dog’s muzzle could be seen in her peripheral vision and she winced, struggling to free herself from the creature's grip. She only received an amused cackle from the monster in question, followed by him instructing some of the others to grab her and haul her back to the kitchen for Grillby. Looking around again and seeing them approaching her, she stuffed her hand into one of her pockets and fished around, searching through the various items inside for a moment before revealing a pocket knife. Unsure of what she might do, some of the monsters around her stepped back, but the one still pulling her hair only growled. Though she felt the hair on the back of her neck raise at the sound, she lifted an arm and made one single, fluid slicing motion with her hand, the blade of the pocket knife slicing through her hair. While she hated having to cut her hair and knew it’d take forever to grow back, she bared her teeth at the large dog monster, her lips curling into a smug grin as she noticed the look of surprise on his face.
Taking advantage of the moment, she darted to the nearest door, fully prepared to run out into the freezing streets and make a mad dash back to her protector’s house. Freedom and safety were so close and within her reach now, but as she whipped the door open and scrambled to get outside, she slammed face first into yet another monster. Letting out a frustrated and startled screech, she began trying to squeeze past them. They simply chuckled, wrapping an arm around her nearly size-zero waist and pulling her flush against themselves. Hearing the chuckle, realization dawned on her; this was her protector. She would be safe now.
She stole a glance up at his face and his scarlet iris flickered briefly down to her, his amused grin shifting into a taut line. Oh, she knew that expression all too well by now.
From that look alone, she knew someone would be hurt today.
Though his arm was almost uncomfortably tight around her, she said nothing, only turning her body slightly and burying her face in the front of his heavily blood stained shirt. The teen whimpered, wordlessly admitting just how scared she really was at the moment. He shifted his focus entirely to the other monsters that were now staring at both of them, and sensing their gaze, the teen whined faintly, her guardian lightly squeezing her in an effort to reassure her.
Thoroughly confused as to why she wasn’t dead yet, someone called out to her protector, “Perfect timing, Sans. Now how about you kill her so we can all eat already?” The skeleton’s normally rough voice held a bitter edge and he practically growled, “She ain’t free game, pal. I’m sorry ta say it, but I won’t be hackin’ this one ta bits for ya.” A crowd was beginning to form now and Adrienne tried to press as close to her friend as she could, wishing everyone would hurry up and leave. She already hated crowds on their own, and knowing that this particular crowd all wanted to see her get roasted alive didn’t exactly make her feel any better. Clearly taken aback, the same monster that’d addressed Sans spoke up again, “Oh really? And why’s that? You never helped the humans that fell before her, so what makes her so special?”
Curiosity piqued, she glanced up at the skeleton again, though he didn’t return the gaze. He just continued staring the other monster down, his iris nearly glowing now from the extent of his agitation, “Because she’s mine. Ya hear me? This little slab a’ meat belongs ta me.” A tiny burst of heat rushed to her face upon hearing his response; was he really claiming her right now? Claiming that she was his, and using his power over the others to coerce them into sparing her? Unbelievable.
Another monster decided to interject, countering Sans’ statement with, “Then how come you haven’t marked her yet?”
Oh boy. Of course someone would ask. Why wouldn’t they? She had no idea what she was expecting, but it clearly wasn’t that. With an annoyed huff, the skeleton spun her around, making sure everyone could see her face as he fired back with another sharp retort, “Heh, funny you should ask. I was on my way home with the intention of doin’ just that, but I guess we won’t have the privacy now. Oh well. All you fuckwits better be watchin’, because I’m only gonna do this once.”
Wait, he was going to mark her? Here? In front of everyone?
Face burning with embarrassment, she dropped her gaze to the floor, letting out a soft squeak as he grabbed the collar of her shirt and jacket and pulled them aside to reveal her shoulder. Not bothering to give any indication of what he was about to do, a faintly glowing blue tongue snaked out of his maw and traced over a very specific patch of her skin. The feeling of his tongue - which consisted solely of highly concentrated magic - on her skin was like nothing she’d experienced before. There was some warmth to it that was followed by a tingle, which was likely caused by the magic itself, and another involuntary whimper slipped past her lips. Her face grew hotter at hearing herself make that sound again, which to her horror, Sans had also heard. It earned a soft chuckle from him and his mandible shifted into a pleased grin.
And then he sunk his teeth into her shoulder.
It happened so fast that she didn’t even have time to register what happened, but at the lack of the expected pain, she unconsciously fidgeted. Wasn’t this supposed to hurt?... What was preventing her from being in pain right now? She felt his tongue trace over her skin again, accompanied by more tingling and… numbness? Had he intentionally numbed her shoulder before biting her?
Seeing that he had been true to his word and had in fact marked her, the other monsters quickly grew bored, the vast majority of them also visibly disappointed as they returned to their prior activities. A sense of relief washed over her and she sighed, stealing a quick glance at her friend as he slowly released her. His tongue lingered behind momentarily and lapped up the blood that seeped from the injury, and his voice took a husky tone as he purred, “Ya taste good, kiddo. I think I could get used ta this.” Her already flushed face became a much brighter shade of red than before and she scoffed, refusing to look at him, “Don’t count on it, mister.” “Awe, c’mon Addy. Help me out here… it’s not my fault that ya taste as good as ya look.” Growling softly, Adrienne scrunched her face up into a look of annoyance in hopes of masking her embarrassment as she rolled her eyes, “Pervert.” “No idea what you’re talkin’ about.” “Uh huh, right. I definitely believe that.” He lightly jabbed her side with the tip of a phalange and she squirmed, yelping in surprise. She tried to twist her small frame away from him and he laughed softly, “Whatever. How about we ditch this place and head home now? This bar is no place for a little lady like ya.” Looking back at him over her shoulder, she flicked her tongue at him.
They’d left the bar and began to walk home in uncomfortable silence. The moment they made it back to his house and he’d set her down, she found herself being roughly shoved against the closed front door with one of his large hands catching her wrists and pinning them above her head. Her eyes widened in shock and she squirmed, “H-Hey, what the hell are you-” Meeting her gaze, the look he wore was enough to silence her, his completely dilated red iris both captivating and terrifying her all at once.
Then he spoke, his gruff voice low, “You disobeyed me, Adrienne.”
Forcing her voice out and reaching nothing louder than a whisper, she frowned, “I… I know I did. I’m really sorry, Sans. I won’t do it again, I swear.” “Do you have any idea what would’ve happened if I didn’t get ta you in time?” “Yes, I do! Really!” “If you knew the risks, then why’d you do it?” Feeling much smaller than before as he continued staring her down, Adrienne sheepishly looked away from him, “There’s just.... Not a lot to do here when you and Paps are gone, and I was bored. I did a bunch of cleaning and reorganizing, and I even tried to fix the TV. I dug through the hallway closet and looked through the games, but do you have any idea how hard it is to actually play a game by yourself and have fun at the same time?”
With his free hand, the skeleton cupped his face, letting a deep sigh, “You risked your life… you risked dying, because you were bored? Am I hearin’ that right?” Feeling guilty, she slowly nodded, choosing to keep her mouth shut this time. Catching her completely by surprise, what sounded like a giggle could be heard, and though it took a moment to fully register, she had a realization that made her blood run cold; the giggle came from Sans.
Nervously lifting her gaze again to look up at him, the only thing that began to pulse within her was regret. Regret that she’d disobeyed him, regret that she went against his wishes, regret that she’d upset him so badly, regret that she even opened her mouth at all to speak to him, and most of all, regret that she’d decided to look at him.
He leaned back the smallest bit, one hand still firmly pinning her wrists above her head. Her eyes widened in complete terror as his giggling began to escalate, growing louder and louder until he was roaring with laughter as blue tinted tears pricked at the rims of his sockets. Not bothering to wipe away the tears, he placed his free hand on his face. His open palm rested on his cheek as he curled his fingers, the first two settling inside his empty socket; judging by the slight movement his arm made, he’d begun lightly tugging on the rim of it. That was never a good sign. Yes, she loved it when he relaxed enough to laugh with her from time to time, but this display right now? This was the stuff of nightmares.
Then almost as quickly as it’d started, his laughter came to an abrupt halt and his wide grin vanished, leaving only a resentful scowl behind in its place. As his focus shifted back to the teen, her heart began to race. She honestly had no idea what he planned to do now. He then began to slowly tighten his grip on her wrists, a soft growl rumbling from within his chest. Paying no attention to the grimace of pain she wore as his phalanges began digging into her skin, he leaned down, the space between them reduced to almost nothing as he hissed, “You’re an idiot. Get out of my goddamn sight, human.” Adrienne opened her mouth to force an apology out but was quickly cut off, crying out in surprise and pain as the skeleton dug his phalanges even further into her wrists and began to break skin. Rolling his single eye light, he scoffed, stepping back and suddenly yanking her to the side, releasing his grip on her wrists in time to make her small body become airborne. With the sound of something cracking and collapsing beneath her, she knew she’d landed at least partially on the coffee table.
Despite the pain that shot through her with even the smallest movement, the cold stare she was receiving from the skeleton was enough to make get back up, her head hung low as her eyes began to water up. Not wanting to show him this weaker, more vulnerable side of herself, she darted up the stairs, her feet padding across the slightly creaky wooden floor for only a brief moment. She then took refuge in the upstairs bathroom, slamming the door shut behind herself and flipping the latch, locking out the world. Trying to force down the very minute amount of guilt that began to bubble up within him, Sans let out an annoyed huff and glanced at the now completely busted coffee table. He was going to have a hell of a time explaining that to Papyrus later.
~~~
What seemed like a century had passed before the youngest of the two skeletons finally returned home, the sight of the smashed coffee table still lying on the floor enough to induce a sense of dread within him. Normally when he came home, his elder brother would greet him, or at the very least, be lazing about on the couch and offer him a half hearted wave that was usually followed by some sort of pun or terrible joke.
But no. Nothing. Sans was nowhere in sight, and neither was Adrienne. This only made Papyrus’ concern grow; he hoped beyond all hope that his brother hadn’t done anything to her.
The tall skeleton let out a soft sigh and crossed the living room. The exhaustion from the long day began to set in as he ascended the stairs, eager to take a shower and change into something more comfortable. He loved his battle body immensely, but sometimes his sore, tired bones made the item feel as though it weighed a thousand pounds. He wished he could simply change his clothes and climb into bed so he could go to sleep, but life wasn’t that simple for him; before he was allowed to relax, he needed to shower and make dinner for his brother and Adrienne, then the teen was to help him clean up the dishes once the three of them had finished eating. After all that, he was to take Adrienne to the backyard to test prototypes for new puzzles and traps. She was kind enough to help him make sure they worked correctly, so he was always vigilant, always watching to make sure she was never injured on any of them. Aside from being a puzzle and trap tester, his rather small human friend also delighted in helping him think of new puzzles, and she even designed some of her own. She seemed to enjoy partaking in games of pretend when they messed around with the action figures he’d collected over the years, and when Sans wasn’t around or flat out refused to do it, she didn’t mind reading to him before he fell asleep each night, either. They’d grown very close, and he cared for her almost as much as he cared for Sans. It was for all those reasons why he promised to protect her; he had to protect her. He’d become used to her presence and had grown to appreciate their friendship very much, and having her as his friend helped fill the void in his soul that was once occupied by the queen herself. He still considered Undyne a close friend, but the way she spoke and treated him now was… Execrable.
As he twisted the knob and nudged his bedroom door open, the scent of blood hit his nasal cavity and he felt his body tense. Gently pushing the door shut behind his massive frame once he’d crossed the threshold, he made his way to his desk and flicked on the small lamp that resided on its far left corner, the light illuminating his multitude of action figures and an old map.
The faint sound of movement caught Papyrus’ attention and he looked down toward the source, almost unable to believe what he was seeing; the human was in his bed, lying on her side and wrapped in his old blankets. An open first aid kit sat on the floor next to the bed, and cloth bandages were wrapped loosely around her slender neck. Her hair, which was once nearly long enough to reach her lower back, was now much shorter; it looked as though it was cut hastily by some sort of blade. While her arms were mostly concealed by the blankets, he could see that her wrists had also been wrapped in bandages, a familiar crimson threatening to seep through the material. As she shifted again in her slumber, her shirt began to slip down her shoulder and revealed another large bandage, more crimson staining the fabric. His brow bones furrowed as he took note of how the crimson staining it formed a half circle… as if the injury was because of a bite.
In his consternation, Papyrus reached out, a single gloved hand settling on her uninjured shoulder. He leaned down, his spine already aching from the awkward angle as he lowered his voice and did his best not to startle her, “Human?... Adrienne? Please, I Need You To Wake Up. Come On Human, Please.” As she slowly began to stir, he fought the urge to scoop her up into his arms and shelter her from whatever had left her in her current condition.
As her eyes fluttered open and she took notice of the skeleton towering over her, all traces of exhaustion vanished and her eyes widened, a sound of surprise slipping past her lips. In her momentary panic, she’d sat up and tried to move away from him, her chest heaving as she drew in one deep breath after another. Papyrus gently shushed her, offering her a weak, apologetic smile, “Hey, Hey, It’s Alright. It’s Just Me, Adrienne. I Didn’t Mean To Startle You, I Swear. I’m So Sorry For Scaring You.”
Registering who was with her, the teen released a deep sigh of relief. She gave Papyrus no time to prepare himself before she practically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around whatever she could reach before clinging to his battle body. Though he was visibly caught off guard, he delicately encircled her with his arms, one hand finding her uninjured shoulder again before he lightly squeezed, his voice laced with concern, “Adrienne?... What’s Wrong? What Happened To You?”
The only response he received from the girl in his arms was a muffled sob and he frowned, moving his hand from her shoulder to her face. He used his index finger to tilt her head back, allowing him to see her tear stained face, and as her bottom lip twitched and another tear rolled down her cheek, he frowned; normally she was such a strong, upbeat person. To see her this way was heartbreaking.
The skeleton lowered his voice even further, reducing it to a whisper, “Adrienne, Please… Tell Me What Happened. I Want To Help You.” Her lip twitched again and she sniffled, reaching up to wipe her tears away with her sleeve, “I just… Papy… I just wanted to go outside... I just wanted some fresh air… I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Still frowning, Papyrus gently ran his fingers through her hair and tilted his head, his voice remaining low, “What Do You Mean?... Did Sans Do This To You?” Upon hearing the name of the older skeleton brother, Adrienne tightened her grip on Papyrus, her voice beginning to waver as more tears rolled down her face, gathering at her jaw and dripping down onto her shirt, “Papy… I was so stupid. I made him mad at me. I upset Sans.”
Papyrus’ frown deepened; he knew how his brother could be whenever he had one of his episodes, and never in a million years would he wish for anyone to become the recipient of Sans' delirium. The skeleton sighed as he gently stroked the teen’s hair, “It’ll Be Ok, I Promise. You May Stay Here Tonight If You’d Like, And I’ll Be Sure To Speak With Him About This. Do You Think You Could Tell Me Everything, Though? I Can’t Be Of Any Help To You If I Don’t Know All The Details.” With a heavy heart, she slowly nodded and looked up, meeting his gaze, “I… I went outside today... by myself. I went into town, and I went to Grillby’s. It smelled like food in there, and I was so hungry… I thought I’d find something to eat. I kept myself as covered as possible, but I was caught and got grabbed by Grillby,” she paused, visibly ashamed as she gestured to her neck, “…I got burned.”
The skeleton made a soft sound in understanding and nodded, silently asking her to continue, which she did, “Someone else grabbed my hair and I had to cut it to get away from them. Then when I opened the door and went to run outside, I ran face first into Sans. He told everyone there not to mess with me, that I wasn’t free game because I belonged to him. Then he marked me. Right there, with everyone watching. He was a little flirty afterward and he seemed happy enough, so I thought everything was ok, but when we got here, he… he had an episode.”
Papyrus didn’t know what to make of everything he’d just been told; on one hand, she suffered numerous injuries and nearly died, and on the other hand, she was marked by Sans.
Normally whenever a monster marked someone, it meant that they saw that person as their mate and that they wanted to claim them as their own. That they loved that person with every fiber of their body and soul. Being marked also served as a way to protect someone from other monsters, but there had been cases of a mark not being enough to guarantee the safety of a monster's mate.
Being marked was not only a big deal, but it was also something that every self respecting monster knew should be done in private. The fact that Sans marked her in the first place was absolutely astounding, but the fact that he had the absolute nerve to take something that was meant to be special, shared between mates and no one else, and turned it into some obscene gesture that he performed in front of a crowd, undoubtedly humiliating Adrienne in the process… It was unacceptable.
He needed to speak to Sans, and he needed to do it now.
Releasing a deep sigh, Papyrus lifted a hand to idly rub the back of his neck, “I See… I Cannot Apologize Enough On My Brother’s Behalf. I’ll See If I Can Get Anything Out Of Him That Would Explain Why He’d Behave This Way. Hopefully… Hopefully He Doesn’t Clam Up, Like He Seems To Always End Up Doing. Will You Be Alright Here While I’m Away? I Don’t Want To Leave You Alone If You’re Still Feeling A Little Too Overwhelmed And Freaked Out By Everything.” The teen sniffled, absentmindedly wiping her face with her sleeve again as she nodded, “Uh huh… I think so.” Catching the slight uncertainty in her voice, he offered her a reassuring smile, “I’ll Try To Be Back As Soon As Possible, Alright? How About You Pick Out Some Puzzles For Us To Work On When I Return? A Few Good Puzzles Always Help Me Feel Better Whenever I’m A Bit Rattled, So I’m Confident They’ll Do The Same For You, Too!” Adrienne couldn’t help the small smile that curled her lips upward at how eager he was to help her, and she nodded again, “Ok, Pap… that sounds good to me. When you get back, do you think maybe you could help me fix my bandages a little? Some of them are still too loose and I dunno if I missed any little spots anywhere.” Perking up at the request, Papyrus beamed, gently unwrapping his arms from around her and ruffling her hair, “Yes, Of Course! The Great Papyrus Would Be Happy To Assist You, Adrienne!” Letting go of the skeleton, Adrienne smiled up at him; he was such a sweet guy, and despite their circumstances, he was always so optimistic. He still maintained a sense of morality as well, unlike the other monsters. She honestly wasn’t sure what she’d do without him at times.
Reluctantly parting from his small human friend, Papyrus slipped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind himself. Once he was gone, Adrienne sighed, climbing out of his bed and making her way over to a shelf. As she looked over the various boxes and puzzle books, she came to the conclusion that it probably didn’t matter which one she chose; as long as it’d keep her and that goofball busy for a while, it was good enough for her. As she reached out to grab a thick puzzle book, she winced. Her free hand moved to gingerly touch the bandage on her shoulder; at the twinge of pain, her mind drifted to Sans. After earlier, she should’ve learned her lesson and given up on disobeying the very specific rules that her friends had established. She was a curious being by nature though, and she’d be damned if she had to go on without receiving any answers.
Her curiosity and desire to know why Sans would mark her grew even stronger. She grabbed the puzzle book and dropped it on Papyrus’ bed, before peeking out of the room and glancing around the hall. Against her better judgement, she began to search for the pair of brothers. The most logical place Sans would be at this time of night would be in his room, or downstairs on the living room sofa. If those two places weren’t it, then she’d have to check the basement. No biggie. As she tiptoed down the empty hallway, she briefly paused to look over the railing and down into the living room, and found that Sans was nowhere in sight. On her way toward the stairs, she caught the sound of a mumbled conversation through Sans’ closed bedroom door and froze; she knew better than to go into his room without knocking, so she opted to stay in the hall and eavesdrop, rather than barge in on whatever he and Papyrus were talking about at the moment.
Inside the closed off room, Sans rolled his eye light, trying his best to brush off the lecture he was receiving from his younger brother. It’s not like he did anything to Papyrus personally, so he didn’t understand why Pap thought he needed to get involved. Not in the slightest. Completely exasperated with Sans’ stubbornness, Papyrus pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh, “Sans, Honestly. You Didn’t Have To Take It That Far. The Poor Girl’s Probably Traumatized And Too Ashamed To Ever Want To Leave The House Again.” Sans grunted, flopping down onto his back on his old, worn mattress, “Remind me how that’s a bad thing again, Pap. So far, I’m not seein’ any problems with it.” The taller of the two inhaled deeply, briefly closing his sockets as he tried to gather his thoughts, “Sans… Brother. I Love You, But What You Did Today Wasn’t Ok. I Don’t Understand Why You’re So Calm And Casual About It.” Gaining a very clearly agitated edge, Sans practically growled, “It’s really fuckin’ simple. If she’s too ashamed ta leave the house, then good! At least she’ll stay put then and save me a lot a’ trouble in the future.”
Not even remotely threatened by his older brother’s tone of voice, Papyrus snapped, suddenly shouting, “LANGUAGE, SANS. MAYBE SHE DIDN’T LISTEN TO YOU, BUT THAT’S NO REASON TO TREAT HER THIS WAY. IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT A VALID REASON TO GO AND PUBLICLY HUMILIATE HER, THEN COME HOME AND SCARE HER HALF TO DEATH, EITHER. YOU ALSO BROKE THE COFFEE TABLE, SANS. SOME OF US HAVE TO PAY FOR THINGS LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW!”
From her spot in the hallway, Adrienne flinched, her eyes widening. Not once had she ever seen Papyrus so upset that he shouted like this. This was a whole new experience, and she could already say that it was both surprising and terrifying all at once.
The shorter of the two let out an exaggerated groan, beginning to absentmindedly tap the tips of his phalanges on the bed as he stared up at the ceiling, “As far as the table goes, I’ll replace the damn thing if it really means that much ta you. What am I supposed ta do about the kid though? If I really scared her as much as you’re sayin’ I did, then she won’t want anythin’ ta do with me. It’s not like I can just walk up to her and go, ‘hey, you know that day when I got mad at you? I’m sorry and I won’t do it again.’” Papyrus hummed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Well… A Sincere Apology Is Only Half Of What I Think You Owe Her.” “Yeah? And what’s the other half?” “To Be Completely Blunt About It, She Knows What It Means To Be Marked.”
The older skeleton brother nearly choked on air, his cheekbones dusting a soft shade of blue, “What the hell?… Ok, then… What about it? Everyone probably knows what it means.” “What I’m Saying Is That She Knows Monsters Wouldn’t Mark Anyone Unless That Person Was Tremendously Important To Them, And Unless They Saw Them As Their Mate. Not Only Is There That, But She Told Me That You Were Somewhat Flirtatious Toward Her After The Incident Today At Grillby’s. You’re Sending Some Incredibly Mixed Signals, Sans. She More Than Likely Was Under The Impression That You Have Some Very Strong Feelings For Her, But Then You Came Home And Basically Told Her To Get Lost Before Throwing Her At The Coffee Table. She Has No Idea Where She Stands Right Now. The Other Half Of What You Need To Do Is Be Honest With Her. Tell Her If You Feel Something For Her, Or Tell Her If You Don’t. Just Make It Clear To Her So She Knows What She Is To You.”
Bolting upright into a sitting position, Sans stared up at his younger brother in disbelief, “So you’re suggestin’ that I go confess my love ta her or somethin’? Is that what you’re tryna tell me right now, Papyrus?” “If You Love Her, Then Yes, That Is Exactly What I’m Trying To Tell You.” Pressing his index and middle finger to one of his temples, the older of the two narrowed his sockets, grumbling under his breath, “Ya gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me… this is so stupid…” Taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside Sans, Papyrus arched a brow bone and tilted his head, “Language, Brother… All Of This Might Seem Stupid To You, Maybe, But It’s A Big Deal And It Needs To Be Addressed. If You Really See Her As Your Mate, She Needs To Know. And Hey, It’s Alright To Feel Embarrassed About This Sort Of Thing. It’s Completely Natural. For Starters, Maybe You Could Try To Help Me Better Understand Your Reasons For Marking Her? I’m All Ears! In A... Manner Of Speaking.”
Sans snuck an uncertain glance up at him and let out a deep sigh, leaning forward to cover both eyes with his hands, “...Don’t make me talk about this right now, Pap. Please. I can’t do it. I just can’t, what if I-” Papyrus was quick to wrap his arms around his older brother, lightly squeezing his shoulder, “Sans, No. Stop. You’re Overthinking Again. Take A Deep Breath And Try To Relax. It’s Just Me Here, And If You Preferred That I Don’t Tell Her What You Say, Then I Won’t. You Have My Word. Just Trust Me… That’s All I’m Asking Of You Right Now. Please, Just Trust Me.”
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boognish-worshipper · 3 years
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Midnight City AU
this is an au where the main characters are all young adults!! (or millennials ig? they’re in their 20s basically) i gave a rundown of what’s what on a diff post,, i’m also splitting it up into diff chapters,, so this is gonna take a looooong time to finish. i’m posting this before i nitpick my writing to the max
it’s basically a lot of references to that point in time, artists, pop culture etc. all the chapters are named after songs from that era (including the name of this au bc i love midnight city and what better way to describe LS ‼️), and the lyrics r usually connected to what the chapter’s about, or about a character dynamic :D i hope this isn’t too cheesy, or sounds off ig. any typos in this were probably over looked bc i constantly reread my writing and rearrange stuff and make sure it sounds good 🥳 hope y’all enjoy !!! i’m also including a tag to find the chapters under :)
//Chapter 1: Crimewave
Trevor would never, ever admit it, but he had fallen into the category known as “post-hipster”. This was a strange era that began culminating, taking LS by storm. Whether he liked it or not, he could never avoid it. Even if he swore up and down he wasn’t like them, it was practically a paradox. Saying he wasn’t like them just made him a branched off version of the thing he denounced. Each aesthetic that was churned out as the 2010s rolled in were tied to a style, a sound, and Trevor couldn’t care less. It’s not like people liked what he liked. He didn’t belong to anything in particular, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t like them. If anything, he just became another obscure genre in the mix.
One of his favorite music groups was a Canadian duo called Crystal Castles. He enjoyed a good number of their songs, developing an interest for electropunk and pop punk. There was something unique about the sound, and it made Trevor feel special, like he discovered some sort of hidden treasure. He was into pop punk groups like Paramore too, but it was something about them that was just different. People knew Paramore. He often lingered around Sterling Lake, where other post-irony hipsters and classic hipsters resided, careful not to fully associate with them. After all, he apparently despised them, even though he participated in their strange… “culture”. If you could even call it that. From time to time he would find himself discussing his favorite artists with whatever semi-normal person was there, making a couple friends himself who weren’t the snooty kind he’d grown used to.
They all loved talking about how exceptional their taste in music was, a wide variety of people hanging around with their own cliques. Some liked Fall Out Boy, while others liked Blink-182, and then there were the weirdos who liked groups like Radiohead. Most of those guys were whiny, proclaiming how misunderstood they were. He knew maybe one Radiohead song at most (he definitely, definitely never cried to “Creep” and even if he did, so what) but never found himself willingly getting into their music. Then you had the nosedivr crowd, which consisted of mostly girls, and the occasional hipster guy that defected. Their taste was.. alright. Consisted of artists like Lana Del Ray and Marina and the Diamonds, who were their idols. He found almost everyone there besides the few friends he made kind of edgy, and not in the cool way. But he figured all hipsters and guys like them were kind of uncool. Don’t even get him started on those other indie rock types. God. He still came back as often as he could though, establishing some kind of routine. Most people there avoided him anyway, which he preferred. He had enough troubles with them in the past. There was one day he grew tired of the people gawking at him, and he launched a hipster right into the lake. So yeah, nobody within their right mind so much as looked in his direction. That was just how he rolled.
Today, he sat on a nearby bench in Sterling Lake’s park, watching some ducks float on water. His usual friends had been there too, seeing his clowncore buddy Wade with his cousin Floyd. Wade was extremely different than the pretentious fucks around them. He had a shit ton of piercings, and ICP was his favorite music group. Floyd on the other hand, fit right in. Almost too much, like it was something he was forced to do. But he did genuinely enjoy Weezer, of all things you could enjoy. Wade started waving at Trevor, while Floyd hid behind him. All he did was awkwardly wave back, turning his attention back to the lake. He liked Wade, but the clown stuff he wore sometimes spooked him. He didn’t pay much mind to his relative. Looking back across the water, he saw someone new, observing the area. Some dude a little above the average height, hands in his pockets walking around. He seemed a bit lost, and Trevor figured he should help if he was. After all, what was this guy doing here? New people didn’t show up often.
“Hey bud, you lost or something?”
“Oh uh, nah not really. I’m just looking for this girl I met a while ago, said she hangs out around here?”
“What she look like? I’m here pretty often.”
“Uhh kinda short, dark brownish hair? Wears fishnet stockings, high waisted shorts or whatever those grunge people are into.”
“Let me guess, she into the Neighborhood?”
“How’d you know?”
“Yeah, that’s Amanda, she’s a bit of a regular. Not too fond of me I must say.”
“How come?”
“She’s just petty towards me.” He said with a shrug. He didn’t feel like relaying his encounters with her if the guy was dating her or something.
“Oh… well d’ya think you could help me find her? I don’t really know anybody else here. I could actually use the help, since you know her.”
“Eh sure, why not.”
It’s not like he had anything better to do. The two began to walk around the park, gravel and dirt crunching beneath their feet.
“So.. what’s this place about?” The strange guy asked.
“Hm? Oh, it’s just one of those places the hipster folks meet up I guess. Don’t understand it much myself, nor do I really like them.”
“Then why do you come here?”
“Dunno. It’s relatively peaceful, those freaks keep to themselves.”
The man, who was only a smidge shorter than Trevor, glared up at him.
“Hey man, don’t call my girl a freak.”
“Ehh I don’t really count her in with the generic skinny jean wearing hipsters. More of a.. what is it called.. nosedivr type. Whatever that stupid website’s called. Why do you think she dresses like that?”
“Huh.. Never really thought to ask her.”
As he thought about the stuff Amanda wore, he took note of how the man next to him was dressed. He sported an olive jacket with a black turtle neck, and a plain pair of jeans. He wore beat up black converse to top it off, and a pair of Rimmers sunglasses sat upon his head. He looked simple, yet distinguished with the way he presented himself, hair neatly combed back. He figured the two would look nice standing next to one another. They would’ve made an attractive couple, if they weren’t dating already, the kind that turns heads. Trevor wasn’t like them. He wore a black beanie over his mullet, and his favorite pair of red Dix sunglasses rested on the bridge of his nose. The rest of his fit looked disheveled. He had thrown on a wrinkled top, solid black with little surf boards and cars along the bottom- he was a sucker for Hawaiian shirts. His pants were tan colored but had some bleach stains, with old combat boots on his feet.
“Yeah, we may not like each other but I don’t really consider her a freak like those guys.”
He jutted a thumb in the direction of a circle of guys huddled around a phone. The man holding the phone had strawberry blonde hair and a clean outfit on. An expensive looking outfit.
“Who are they?”
“The people here I absolutely cannot fucking stand. The genuine hipsters.”
“Oh.. and you’re..?”
“I’m my own kind. I’m not like these losers, all uppity and shit.”
“Right. Gotcha.”
They walked around a bit more before finding the group Amanda was with. She sat on a bench, chatting with a few girls who dressed similarly to her. All of them had black incorporated into their style. She herself had a black jumper on, tucked neatly into the front of her jean shorts. Just like the guy described, she had fishnets on under them, skater shoes to match. Loose braids fell on her shoulders, and a small black choker was wrapped around her neck.
“Oh, there he is now! Babe! Over here!”
She narrowed her eyes upon seeing Trevor standing next to him.
“Hello, Trevor.” She huffed.
“Relax, I was helping your boyfriend or whatever look for you.”
Her face softened slightly, but still kept a small glare in his direction. She pressed her lips together tight before replying.
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Yup.”
The man turned to face Trevor, sticking out a hand.
“Hey, thanks for showing me around. Trevor, is it?”
“Don’t wear it out.”
He shook his hand, noticing how soft it was. It was in stark contrast to his own, which was rough and calloused.
“Name’s Michael. I’ll see you around most likely? Thanks again.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Amanda huffed again, nudging Michael’s shoulder.
“Let’s go hun, Bean Machine closes soon!”
“I’m comin’ I’m comin’!”
The two sauntered off, hand in hand. Trevor stood dumbly, watching them walk away. He was right. They did look good together. He wondered if he would actually see this Michael again, kicking a rock. He went back to the bench he originally sat at, putting his earbuds in, listening to some Crystal Castles again to pass the time. The beat thumped in his ears, and all he could think was how much better this shit was compared to that club music shit that played on every radio station in a 5 foot radius. He sat there, scrolling through his own secret nosedivr account, reblogging some photo of a lit cigarette. Right before a hand touched his shoulder causing him to jump.
“What the fuck- Oh. Ron.”
Ron was another friend of Trevor’s, a guy he had met outside one of the iFruit stores talking about how “they’re tapping the phones they sell in there!” and all that conspiracy nonsense. He was a paranoid guy, but Trevor kind of liked that about him. Those were the kind of freaks he liked. He was shorter than Trevor, sort of frail in stature. He wore a bright red windbreaker over a faded tourist tee that read “I went to Liberty City and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!”, along with khaki colored cargo shorts. It didn’t help that he wore some goofy looking bucket hat, and socks with sandals. He dressed like someone’s middle aged father.
“Trevor! Have you seen Wade around anywhere?”
“Last I checked, he was with Floyd.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“Uh no, but my best bet is they went to that vinyl shop Floyd’s girlfriend works at.”
“Will ya come with me to find him?”
“Now why the fuck would I do that? What do you need him for?”
“Well I- I uh- um..”
“I uh! I uh! Spit it out Ron!”
“It’s about the Merryweather Night Club.”
Merryweather was a big organization that had a wide range of private clubs all over the country, and complimentary body guards to suit. They were all expensive as fuck, and anywhere they settled jacked up the prices of everything else. A lot of neighborhoods became gentrified as a result, and people actually considered it a good thing. What a fucking joke. Trevor of course couldn’t stand it. He hated bullies, and Merryweather was no exception. He’d been wanting to dismantle the club since they settled in LS, seeing as they only amplified the fake feel of the city. Let’s just say he’s gotten into more than a few scuffles with the club. And let’s just say it ended with someone getting stabbed as a result. The guy had it coming to him anyway. Between bouncers and the clubbers, they didn’t like Trevor or his kind loitering around the joint. It didn’t stop him from plotting some sort of revenge though. Ron per usual was on board, his reason being Merryweather’s violent history that had been swept under the rug. They were rather forceful relocating people who had lived in certain neighborhoods for years, Ron being one of their victims. Wade only decided to tag along because he wanted to be included.
“Ah fuck, what’d those bastards do now?”
“They’re throwing some big party!”
“…What fucking for?”
“All I know some guy’s coming to visit, somebody they labeled important and he’s-“
“Woah woah woah wait, Ron. Who?”
“Steve Haines.” He breathed out, careful not to be overheard.
Trevor’s eyes widened, his gaze shooting over to the posse he had poked fun of before. Steve was talking to the group, all of them doing that fake laugh they always did. God, even their humor was pretentious.
“Those fucking hipsters!” He hissed.
“I abhor them, you know that-“
“I know. I know. But, that Weston guy’s gonna be there with him-“
“Weston? Devin Weston?”
If Trevor hated hipsters, then he utterly loathed rich daddy’s money boys like Devin Weston. He had only gotten that stupid fucking night club because his father paid Don Percival enough money to let Devin do whatever he pleased with the Merryweather body guards. It was an elitist club, and they only allowed the best of the best in there.
“What the fuck’s going on there?”
“Something to do with those guys he hangs out with. I think they’re doing something major, expansion maybe-”
“And him and Devin are working together or..?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t hear much after that, that’s why I wanted to grab you and Wade and-”
“Then let’s fucking go get him, Ron!”
The two rushed out of there, heading for the vinyl store to look for Wade. Trevor knew a shit storm was coming, and he absolutely couldn’t wait.
//the next chapter’s gonna be longer i promise lolz
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in-sempiternam · 3 years
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Dating Okita
continue under the cut
For a man who is surrounded by and interacting with women about 80% of his wake time, one would think he’d be a better sweet talker, but alas he’s not. Managing multiple… uhh… “adult entertainment” establishments, he’s just very used to the overall tone in the Syndicate Entertainment Districts and tends to forget, that people in the outside world usually march to a different drum. Which, of course isn’t ideal, because he tends to not date inside the districts, for at least two reasons: 1. Outsiders are told that everyone in the districts is shady as hell and are adviced to not engage 2. Everyone in the districts is shady as hell (Ok, not really, but some people are, and outsiders are -rightfully- wary)
So, outside the districts and also depending on which country he’s currently at (because the Syndicate operates almost worldwide), his communication might not be the best and he might come across as blunt (which he is) and rough (which he also is and now that I think about it, it might just be a “him” problem���).
Anywaaayyyy…
Calling it dating is probably a stretch, whatever may come out of it. Generally, Okita is way too deep into that certain life style that comes with the Syndicate and even more so with the amusement districts and if you’re no already a part of it (which would be assumed, since you’re an outsider), you’re likely not cut out for it. Which he knows. Otherwise he wouldn’t even consider spending time with outsiders. If not asked directly, he will likely not be very clear about his motifs, but that’s mostly because he doesn’t really have any except spending some time with someone who is different from what he is used to on a daily base. So, how far any of this goes is entirely up to you – Okita is showing his interest in you by spending time with you.
Preferably he would bring you to the amusement district, simply because it has anything you need for a good time out, be it dining, theatres, bars, vanity fairs - the districts are centered around having fun all night long in whichever way you wish. I’d assume you should be prepared to eat a lot, because he’d definitely drag you from food stall to food stall. And don’t worry - he won’t try to “recruit” you and pull you into a lifestyle you don’t belong to.
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vidalinav · 3 years
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The Issue with the POV's for future books
I'm telling you right now that if SJM decides to give Mor a POV which a lot of us think is unlikely for obvious reasons, her being uhh... how do you say? Not a diverse writer. But if it happens you know very well that it would only make sense that the POV's would then be Mor and Azriel, and then Lucien and Elain. The groupings that have direct relation to each other. It would actually probably be the easiest narrative to follow and Elain could still have a relationship with Azriel though it would be a fling and influence some character development on both of their parts, which then could maybe lead to Gwynriel after he's grown some (I feel it's very interesting that both Mor and Azriel were given a hint towards side character love interests). SJM said they’d be couples and they’d be happy but she never said they had to be with each other. And we now also know that Nesta's journey isn't done, but how do you have an important role for Nesta without having some relation to Nesta. The three best friends are Cassian, Mor, and Azriel, all of which still probably need to fucking talk to each other. Unless we make some conflict with Elain and some sisterly disaster, which would be just as likely.
In this scenario, Azriel can then have a book to himself where he has room for his issues and to gain some character development, and to really settle the issues with Mor which I feel can't be ignored after 500 years. And his narrative wouldn't overtake Elain's. Which would be likely to happen if they're in the same book since he has infinitely more psychological problems than Elain. Though Elain has trauma, she also needs a character that is more fleshed out, AND she's probably going to be important to the plot with Koschei. This would not fit in one book. Cassian in ACOSF has some narrative but Nesta is the main POV, the one that the book is mostly revolved around even in Cassian's POV. This is Nesta's healing arc. In Elain's healing arc, it would be impossible to have also Azriel's healing arc unless we're going to ignore almost everything: either his trauma or the plot completely. Otherwise the book would be two books total and we see how rushed this one was. So this is why no matter how many hints people have I don't see how it would be easy to write Elriel with only two books left. SJM would really have to first show us their personalities, building them really, and then also tell us about their past, their thoughts, have some semblance of plot and conflict, build romance, and then make sure that Elain doesn't become a side character which she seems to be often. We know more about Azriel now than Elain... that tells you enough. They're two question mark characters. We know A LOT about Mor and about Lucien, because in Feyre's POV she fleshed them out enough, so it wouldn't be such an issue if it was Lucien and Elain, then Mor and Azriel.
Vassa is not a love interest to Lucien. There are literally no hints for that, and she's human. The hints for possible romance would be Vassa and Jurian, though they get on each other's nerves. So the POV's have to be Mor, Azriel, Lucien and Elain. Whether SJM is brave enough? I don't know. But it also doesn't seem like she'd make the last book a multi-pov with just whoever POVs she's already written, that would be even messier to the flow which she's already established with two POV's each and she's never changed how she's written the story at the last book. She is not going to make a side-side character for a main POV. If the rest doesn’t make sense, that for sure doesn’t make sense to do. To introduce a whole other character that we don’t even know as a main POV would mean that we would have to LITERALLY start from scratch. Introduction, plot, background, and relationships. So hahahah no.  
This is my main issue with these ships because forget chemistry, everyone can pull something out a hat and decide this is Elucien and this is Elriel. But from a book standpoint I'm like how??? How????
Someone explain this to me in a logical, contextual way (as in if you were writing this how would it happen that makes the most sense to what we already know) All opinions are valid, they just have to be readily arguable to be discussed.
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disasterdemi · 3 years
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This is the demiromantic anon that asked for love advice. I appreciated the meme (I think that's what that was? I'm an 80 year old in a teenage body) but I kind of need advice. He's a close friend - we've been friends for almost 3 years now and I have no idea how he feels and I don't want to wreck our good friendship. Please send help (and more memes, I really liked the one you posted with your message, it made me laugh)
Of course!
Before I say anything else though, a good friendship should be able to survive people catching romantic feelings. Despite what the alloromantics will tell you, friendship and romantic attraction can coexist! People can still be friends even if they have different types of feelings for each other, as long as there's consent and communication about it. (I'll talk more about this towards the end).
Anywho, I wanted this to be somewhat thorough which means it got... rather long. So I'll put the rest under a read more:
I’d suggest doing a few things:
1. Work out what you want
This is a very important first step! We often say attraction ≠ action with regards to orientation (like asexual doesn’t mean celibate, etc) but it goes the other way too. You have a crush on your friend, but it’s completely up to you whether you want to act upon it or not. You can enjoy the feeling of liking someone romantically, but not want to be in a relationship. Or you may decide that you do really want to go out with him. Have a good think about what you actually want to do with these feelings before you initiate any conversations.
Along the same lines, think about your more specific wants and boundaries. Like, do you want to hold hands, or kiss, or call him your boyfriend, etc? But also, what are you not comfortable doing (especially if you end up dating) – for example, I think parts of my romance aversion tend to stick around for a while even after I catch feelings for someone, so I’d want to communicate that to the person (e.g. “I don’t feel comfortable kissing just yet, but hugging and holding hands are okay” or whatever).
2. Work out how he feels
To be honest this is the hardest one to offer advice on because it is so dependent on the people involved. But uhh here are some ideas:
For some people, the best option is to just be frank about it. Like: “Hey, I like you romantically and I’d be interested in [insert stuff from part 1 here] with you.” (Probably not those words exactly haha they’re a bit dispassionate). Maybe also mention that you value your friendship just as much, and that he shouldn’t feel bad if he’s not interested in doing those things. If you feel confident enough and think your friendship is pretty solid - so he wouldn’t freak out if he doesn’t like you back - then this is a good option.
However, it sounds from your ask like that road might be a bit intimidating. Which is totally understandable! In which case, you might want to do some sleuthing first :P
Has he had a crush on anyone while you’ve known him? If so, how did he act around them, how did he talk about them, etc – and is he doing anything like that with you?
Recruit a mutual friend to do some reconnaissance (I’m making this sound way more dramatic than it is haha). If you have someone you trust to do this, then this is probably the least personally risky option? Maybe?
Some people suggest starting to do flirty/romantic things like lingering touches or whatever but I���ll admit that rings my Consent alarm bells, and I feel like it could lead to miscommunication. Up to you though.
NOTE! In my opinion, asking them “Do you have a crush?” Or “Who do you have a crush on?” is probably the least likely to yield usable results. Especially with teenagers. It’s bloody intimidating to confess to your crush if they ask you outright without establishing that they like you first. (Again, why option 1 can be good if you feel confident enough. He’s more likely to admit he reciprocates if you take the first step.)
3. Go about getting what you both want
(if you don't want to change your current friendship/relationship)
If you're happy just chilling in your romantic feelings and not doing anything about them, you can probably either
Continue as you have been
Explain the situation to him. This could help if you want to make sure he understands why you might be behaving differently towards him.
(if he likes you back and you want to change your current relationship with him)
If you go with sleuthing, once you’ve worked out if he likes you I still strongly recommend telling him how you feel (see: 2.1). Communicate communicate communicate. You won’t get want you want if you don’t communicate. Dropping hints is just so rarely successful and can cause a whole lot of miscommunication, so I know it’s scary but if you think he likes you back you’re better of having an open, honest conversation about it.
Then after that, you can go about explaining the stuff you thought about in part 1! If being aspec has taught you anything, hopefully it’s that no two relationships are the same – so talk about what you both want so everyone is consenting and happy! Listen to him as well, and encourage him to think about his wants and boundaries. Maybe even give him a few days to think about them before continuing the conversation.
4. What to do if he doesn’t like you back
You can’t control other people’s feelings. This is so important. Of course, you can be sad if he doesn’t like you back, but remember that it’s not his fault, (it’s also not your fault for catching feelings,) and make sure he knows you are okay with him not returning your feelings! He’ll probably feel bad, so again reiterate that you don’t value a romantic relationship with him any more than your friendship.
Then you should both try to be sensitive to boundaries (probably talk about them if you can):
You might need some time away from him. That’s okay and understandable, but tell him that’s why and that it’s not because you don’t want to be friends anymore.
He might want some space from you. It can be uncomfortable for people to know someone has an unreciprocated crush on them. Maybe he’ll need some time to get used to it. But if he doesn’t bring it up, make sure you check.
Where do you go from here?
(Super important!!) Like I said earlier, people can have different feelings about each other and still get on well! You can like him romantically and he can like you platonically and you can still be good friends! So:
You shouldn’t have to “get over him” (unless you want to). A crush is about your feelings, not expectations from him. But make sure to ask him how comfortable he is with that knowledge - and explain the point before this if you need to.
On the one hand, he might be more comfortable if you stick to strictly platonic things. Make sure you respect that.
On the other hand, maybe he’s actually okay with some aspects from part 1. Maybe he’d like to hug you more, or is okay holding your hand (platonically?), but doesn’t want to kiss you or be your boyfriend. People can do things together that have different meanings to each of them, as long as there’s consent and communication.
Final note: Please please don't take this as an instruction manual - these are just my own thoughts, and what works for some people won't always work for others. So use my answer more as something to start from - something to form your own ideas from. Use pieces that you think will work, and discard others. You know yourself and your friend much better than I do :)
Best of luck dear Anon, I hope you and your friend figure stuff out <3
And as a send-off, here's a relevant old meme of mine for you :)
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(There are also plenty more memes in my memes tag (link in the description at the top of my blog) if you haven’t already seen them lol)
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ryttu3k · 3 years
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Finishing up SoNY, ‘bad’ end and final thoughts!
But first, the early game over.
Wow, she just gets shot. Not even slurped? That’s rude as hell XD;;
And on to the ‘bad’ end!
Beginning is much the same, ofc.
“You’re too in love with weaving a good story and establishing a seductive narrative to let facts get in the way.” Foreshadowing for the ‘good’ end, maybe?
God that Embrace scene gives me literal goosebumps.
Alright! Last time I did Danse Macabre and Retributive Justice, let’s try The Risks of Swiping Right!
lmao god I’d eat this guy too. Back to the ghost club! That legitimately is a really neat scene. ...Ooh yes so that’s where the girl was from.
Panhard just lowkey dying at the mental image of Katherine Weise in a fast food restaurant is so good.
The sweet scene between Julia and Dakota hits a bit different after the ‘good’ end XD;;
Went to the park, reminisced, and helped out the guy. That was sweet ;_; High-humanity Julia, this time!
‘Fairy God Mother?’ is great but ‘Vin Diesel?’ is objectively the funnier response.
“Shining even more brightly than usual, Aisling.” Samira got a cru-ush~
Poor Julie. It’s probably been tough without Sophie around :(
Huh. Interestingly, refusing to lie to Mia results in Julia actually feeling genuine loyalty to the Cammies (for now, at least).
Believing Agathon is still alive = more optimistic = different dialogue! See, this is how you make choices have consequences, game!
Oooh boy time to meet Adelaide XD;;
“She uncrosses her legs in a strangely seductive motion. In her mind’s eye, it probably looked like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, but in reality, it had all the grace of a tracksuit Slav squatting.” *snickering*
Fight me, Adelaide >:(
‘sup Nastya. Went with the slightly less disruptive routine here XD Huh, she’s an aspiring DJ! Julia is deeply confused as to how being a DJ and being head of security works together.
lmao Julia referring to Hope as a girlboss. That phrase has lost all meaning to me...
The conversation between Julia and Father Leonard is still really interesting. Man, you know who I want Julia to talk to? Anatole. Interesting insights into balancing being queer Catholic vampires there for sure.
lmao oh my god I want to fight this street reporter.
‘I can almost feel my brain losing its wrinkles.’ *snort*
Yeaghhhh the Abyss bit is still so creepy...
Oops. Being honest regarding Tamika and Torque’s relationships gets a fail :(
Oh, or not XD That works! Also, uh, apparently the giant albino ghoul alligator is real, according to New York by Night. He’s Calebros’ pet.
“Because I think I have a pretty good nose for people’s auras. And when I take a good look at you... ...somehow, I have a feeling you’re a surprisingly decent person. Whatever way of unlife you choose, I hope you don’t change it. And that you remember my advice.” :)
“I know.” Oof.
“Hi.” “WAAAH!” lmao sorry Princess XD;; Just trying to imagine Qadir’s face as he tells Julia to find a 1990 glass statue of Scrooge McDuck... dying...
Oh she’s so a Toreador XD Low art options are a fantasy book, an anime DVD, or a video game... those can all be arty, though! And went with the anime DVD called ‘Ririsu no Daibouken’... that translates to ‘Adventures of Lilith’. How on the nose XD “The cover says ‘Lilith’s Carnal Carnival’.” Oh. Yeah, that’d do it XD
“This 90s original video anime presents us with a tale of five big-bosomed samurai warriors travelling through America in search of General Hastavista, The Incubus King. Don’t let all the titillation misguide you: the main draws here are peerless direction, a nearly avant-garde editing rhythm and dialogue that coyly comments on traditional gender roles in anime. Once you see the animation in the final battle, you’ll understand why it never fails to set a sakuga fan’s heart ablaze!”
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She’s my new favourite.
“So can I know your name now?”
“Hmmm... Let me think...
No. <3″
I need to stress that the heart appears in the dialogue box. Like. The actual less-than-three heart.
Didn’t investigate the rat this time, so Qadir did and I die. “Glad you’re alright, little guy.” Qadir...
Still not over the drunk blood doll rats.
Kaiser’s still a goddamn creep and this time Julia is not going too far. She still has her humanity, dammit. Final set of traits:
Loyal to the end
Glass half-full
Not into a bad cop schtick
Honesty is the best policy
No more human, still humane
Onwards to the ‘bad’ end! Oops, and Dakota still did the Single White Female thing XD;;
Man I’m still really curious who the ‘good friend’ is!!
Okay! Time for end game!!
So that’s the good friend, huh? “Let me phrase it differently, then. You’re not Ecaterina the Wise, the Agitator of Prague, a Brujah elder causing turbulences all over the world... are you?”
Mention of Christof! Mention of Christof doing shady shit :| Poor Hana.
“An immigrant from Eastern Europe comes to New York City, takes the position she always expected to find herself in, is molded into someone who is no longer herself.”
Julia and Dakota representing Carthage is kind of neat.
I want to say the mention of St Jude is a reference, but I’m not sure what to XD;; Is that from Redemption? Christof could have been the one to tell Hana that.
“Like a two-person human centipede loop or something. An Ouroburos? Or an, uhh, Mobius strip?” No, that’s the other traditionally Sabbat clan XD
That‘s. That’s a hell of a reconciliation XD “Yeah, let’s give it a try. By the way I’m on the run for my unlife, want to go to California and try to find utopia?”
Julia, wear a fucking mask XD
“Hey.”
“Yeah?“
“Do you love me?”
“... Of course I do. For now, at least.”
I still don’t know if I love her. Or even if I can love anyone, for that matter. I’m a fucking monster, after all. I don’t even know if we’ll exist next month. The prospects are not looking good. But although I can’t see myself in the rearview mirror right now...
...I will remember this image of us leaving the city, somewhat melancholic, and somewhat hopeful, forever. And maybe the meaning of this image will be clarified with time. Or maybe I will just force a more positive description on it, and that is what I’ll believe.
No matter what happens... even if oceans of blood lie before us, I will make this a cherished memory.
Whatever possible salvation still remains for me... ...it probably lies in the eyes of another.
Oh dang I have chills.
So the ‘bad’ ending is about the subverted compromise. Julia resigns herself to letting the compromise about the truth of Callihan’s death go ahead. ‘Catherine’ is a walking compromise to hide the Ecaterina’s real deeds. But while Hana is still stuck in her role for now, Julia refuses to accept the compromise she’s made, both the one relating to the investigation and the compromise she made of her own views and morals. It might blow up in her face, yeah. But damn, she’s going to try.
So, final thoughts! For the sake of completion, this is what I said about Coteries:
And of course this is the part where the game all falls apart :-\
Just… god. This is probably the biggest problem with CoNY, and the reason I didn’t bother getting it until it was like… 60% off. The bulk of the game is great - the writing is intriguing, the design is stunning. But the choices themselves are so limited it’s barely worth even getting it at 60% off!
You have three choices of characters, with their own opening chapters and own individual scenes with their touchstones. You have four choices of coterie members, and three sidequests. You can probably get in at least three full story arcs and a sidequest or two, but you’re only ever limited to two of your coterie members showing up at the not-yet-endgame.
So let’s say you decide to play all three protags, which, indeed, is encouraged (there’s an achievement for it). You are going to repeat coterie arcs and side quests, because there simply aren’t enough for three unique playthroughs.
And then you get to the end and literally everything is scripted. You get attacked by the SI. You get rescued by your two coterie members (and then never see them again, despite the game being called Coteries of New York). You meet Torque, you escape the SI, Sophie reveals her plan to Torque, you go to Ellis Island, Adelaide kills Sophie (and despite the fact that you’re given multiple options there, none of them work), Arturo does his spiel, end of game. You don’t even get to choose between ending up blood bound or going “no fuck you” and at least dying with a bit of dignity!
I just. I really want to like it, and there genuinely is a lot there to like! But uuuugh the ending. Like damn at least give the poor protag the option to choose what happens to them!
Anyway. Not sure what’s next. To get all the achievements, you have to finish with all three protags, so that’s three full runs and a lot of repetitiveness (compare to, say, Bloodlines or Night Road. I have eighty-five hours on Night Road and there’s still stuff I haven’t seen!), so I can’t even just… rush it through up to the meeting with the touchstones on the third play. Nope. Gotta finish it :-\
Final rating: 6/10
8/10 characters, 9/10 atmosphere, 8/10 story aside from ending, 3/10 story ending, 2/10 replayability. Final consensus: get it on major sale if you can, otherwise, you might as well just watch an LP. I might do that instead of doing a third run, although I at least want to do a second.
I ended up revising that 6/10 to 5.5/10 after finishing all runs and getting the achievements just out of how goddamn repetitive it was. So, how does Shadows measure up?
Absolutely continued with all the things I enjoyed about CoNY (characters, atmosphere, and writing), and of the bits I hated (cookie cutter protagonists, lack of real choice, repetitiveness, the godawful ending), every single part has been completely improved.
Instead of three fledglings so similar they even have the same internal thoughts, we have Julia, who’s got such a distinct voice that she becomes the most memorable game protag I’ve seen in years, and I’m including non-VtM games in this. This is absolutely her game, and it’s just... absolutely fascinating to read and watch.
Related - actual real choices. There are five key choices that determine the ending, and every single one has actual consequence in-game. You get different dialogue. Different introspection. Different philosophies. And this carries across - if Julia believes Agathon is alive, she’s more optimistic about her relationship with Dakota, too. And of course, both endings are completely distinct and incredibly written - the ‘good’ ending where Julia gives in to her most Lasombra instincts, plays the game, wins it, gets power and respect at the expense of her humanity and avoiding all those wraiths... or the ‘bad’ ending when she listens to her morals, reconciles with Dakota, and leaves for California, uncertain, but hopeful.
Not a lot of repetitiveness. Yes, by design, you’ll probably do two playthroughs. The main plot is much the same, but there are enough options there to get multiple dialogue options and stuff. And for the little sidequests, you can actually get all in with just the two playthroughs, only repeating like... two, I think. Still, I wasn’t feeling actively bored like I was midway through my second run of CoNY!
Loved seeing more in-depth backstory and development for the coterie members. Agathon’s section was particularly fascinating, literally getting into his head.
And just. Atmosphere and music is so, so good.
Final rating: 9/10. Thank you, Draw Distance, you hit it out of the park.
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