#‘a funny little strategy game in the future’ is now in the cards
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alright i bought srpg studio
#the sale was… too powerful… especially since i didnt buy much over christmas#also bc i had fun experimenting a little more in depth with the demo last week.#‘a funny little strategy game in the future’ is now in the cards#tho i wont lie to yall!!!! the default hud stuff is not my style so i know imma change a lot of that before i really make smth
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Reader asks Husk about his ideal date. (~1300 words)
"My ideal date, huh? The one where i win all your money in poker." He laughs, and smiles at you firmly, his eyes pierce at you warmly, like he was looking at nostalgic show, on old, thick tv screen, in worst quality possible. "Bring me cards, hun, i shall do a little," he waves palms happily, "magic! Watch future, how good your chances are." He laughs purringly. Then his smile and cheerful look dissolves. He's never like this for long.
"But if you don't plan it... Honestly, i'm not really used to dates. I'm not interested in flowers and fancy dinners, i saw enough of them. I am a man of simple pleasures. I have booze here, why don't just stay where we are?" he tilts his head a little, with catlike grace and elegance, expecting you to nod. And then you both hear something heavy, loudly falling on the floor, and a lot of swears and arguing. His ears press on his head from the sudden noise.
"Well. That's why. We may go somewhere." He sights, annoyed. Husk is frowning, looking in almost empty bottle, like lines of light and reflections on emerald glass will say something his drunk brain stubbornly refuses. He tries very hard to think it out, but he got solid brain fog.
"How about... Well..." he is really lost in his own thoughts. You can almost see how his neurons try to reach one another, but fail miserably, and pain gently swipes them away. "How about... About..."
No. Date isn't a game, it's when you entertained enough being with someone. Not a game. You did games everyday, Husk, what make date unique if it just another playful robbery? Date is not another gambling game, loss of big money and property. Especially not of someone who you like. Maybe you can both play and share loss, or win, playing together and not against each other... But against anyone else? Hm. Would be nice to offer it later, if he won't forget.
He hasn't had any sugarcoated romantic fantasies in a long time, and his brain rejected him creating some now, when he got someone interesting enough. The most interesting thing was just looking at your confused, annoyed face, and just any negative emotion. He felt better sometimes, seeing unhappy faces, when he is himself aren't happy at all about where it all ended for him.
Husk hunched over the table, puzzled. Looks like he completely zoned out.
Most of all, he enjoys spending time together, calmly, not in a fight. Table games where he can bluff and laugh at someone's bad strategies and skill, or hand motorics. Magic tricks and spectacular shows. Gently massages and some cuddling. Sleeping and resting, doing nothing. He doesn't like very pricy places, or sports.
He isn't most complex person, so it's quite a mystery for him why you would have interest in alcoholic with ludomania who likes to mock you lovingly, or insult. It's kinda easy when he presented with people insecurities every day, every year, when they can't shut up about it, and any anecdotes happening. He could write dissertation about it.
"Cheap, and funny." He chuckled, as your face becomes a little disappointed. "What? Not the answer you wanted?" He smiled, a bit smug. He enjoys your confusion, and how you try to think of questions to to clarify exactly what he wants, when you know that he won't reply long, he mostly gives you very vague answers that tells nothing at most.
"Let me tell you a thing, boo... Planning perfect dates is the most useless thing to do. Life is always unpredictable, chaotic, troubled and hard in hell. Situations always change, your mood, your tastes, you never the same person as day, or hour ago. You never know. If you hunt perfection, perfect place, perfect person, perfect reaction, day and time, you will end up miserable. And... You can try small things and be happy with surprises from this chaotic universe we live in, being constantly amazed how bad you are at fortune-telling!" He spreads his arms with enthusiasm, and then puts them down, waving one. He takes an indifferent sip of alcohol.
"Or whatever. I don't care." He for a moment forgets what he wanted to add. Seems like he forgets that you're here too, too entertained with looking at same bottles, as if he was in an elite art gallery.
His head migraine felt as if brain is expanding like the universe, right in his skull, and it is about to crack, while he won't be able to say anything intelligible or catch a coherent thought. He needs time to frown. You just look at him, wanting to stroke him. He looks so soft and fluffy, but you can't tell a moment you can do it.
"There isn't such a thing i would call a 'perfect date'. But there is 'it wasn't so bad as i expected'." he says before another long pause. He is clearly thinking hard, trying to scratch words off the walls of the skull, that hit him with an electric shock for any touch. His body was sometimes a real prison, making him worse person, who can really, really never leave for long.
"There may be all things i can enjoy to a point of addiction, but i would just act as grumpy ass until you take me there, waving booze, fists, threats, and i would know how enjoyable this is only after." He smiles and cackles, a bit annoyed and a bit self-ironic. He knows his brain and mood tricks pretty well, but believes he don't really need or can change a thing. He hates it, but he wouldn't wish to be anyone else.
"It all seem too boring, overrated, overpriced and annoying to me when i think about it. I can find all reasons to not go anywhere and not move at all. Im in the point of life where it's really hard to find joy and eagerly seek things. You know?" He shrugs. "Go on, i don't mind, if you can bear with me constantly rejecting anything im not used to, and being grumpy old growler. It may at some point end as perfect date i would be sad to forget." He looks at you, like he doesn't really believe it, but willing to let you try. It doesn't matter to him, he will suffer each way in same amount, you wouldn't make it much worse than Alastor.
" ...Or not. Who the hell knows. Maybe you will have patience to make some use of such boring, forever grudging and mean demon. Im not the best choice, and it will only make you pathetic to try make impossible work."
You smile, finally out of confusion. He just invited you to annoy him, how sweet. You bend over to him and hold out your hand. He doesn't understand your gesture, so he just hand you some heavy bottle of some sweet, sparkling tonic for cocktails. You move the bottle to the table, and you put your hand on his. It suprised him, but he smiled at this micro-miscommunication, and places other hand over your. Old cats are playful too. And no cat will reject some good, pricy food and quiet place to see all things, not just hear behind the bar table.
"Well, you are the strongest creative source of new things in my life for now." He smiles faintly. Maybe he was completely sarcastic. "So, take care of yourself. I can't appreciate you most times, but it would be loss for all hell. And i think you didn't drink in a while, so you need some liquid more than hold my hand, dumdum."
He gets his hand out of your warm touch, and moves the bottle almost in your face.
"Or shall I shake it for you?" He laughs. Husk believes you totally can use some foam of wrath in your face too.
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OKAY HERE'S MY CYNTHIA BATTLE FROM LAST NIGHT!!! i actually recorded it with my cap card and then put some subtitle commentary on it. i managed to do the entire battle in just under 10 minutes so it would fit on tumblr though i did have to make the file crunchy as fuck/low quality LOL. instead of typing out everything here you can just watch the battle happen. here's my team for context (i took these photos after beating her):
i did not record the E4 nor am i gonna talk about it much because it was honestly 10x easier than cynthia and not that interesting. i solo'd flint with my lumineon and i solo'd lucian with my scizor, and bertha/aaron weren't much better.
a few notes about the team though:
i wasn't thinking ahead to specific strategies to beat the E4/cynthia, i just picked movesets i thought were generally good and was like "i'll figure it out when i get there"
as a reminder scizor has technician which boosts the power of moves 60 base power or less, which is why i'm using shit like bug bite lmao
lumineon has ominous wind over attract literally just bc i wanted to use my stockpile of shards on a move tutor move SOMEWHERE on the team and the idea of her getting an omniboost in a fight was objectively funny (though it didn't happen during this run rip)
i picked thunder on clefable over blizzard because of the potential synergy with rain dance (zoom lens doesn't make either 100% accurate but rain makes thunder always hit) however i brought a blizzard TM along in case i needed to change my mind midway. i did not end up having to
return is on luxray just because luxray's movepool sucks and i think it's cute for my pseudo starter to have Return on it
sucker punch's priority ended up being ESSENTIAL to the cynthia fight and i'm very glad i delayed murkrow's evolution until level 45 for it. i actually didn't change pepper's moveset at all before the e4, she's the only one who received no changes
the shiny golem named dandelion is from my qpp gold :] he traded it to me at level 7. i spent nearly 2 hours grinding her to level 50 and used her on the team and did not tell him. i sent him the battle video and the first he was aware of this was when he saw her use explosion LMAO (i plan to use my hippowdon on future runs of the E4!)
BUT YEAH!! YAY WOO
75 hours... very little of that was idling i just really spent that damn long on this game huh.... sdfkdfsksd
i'm pretty much wrapped up here, i intend to use this save as my main platinum save moving forward but i think the liveposts can come to a close now. i may post about me catching the lake trio but that's about it. I HOPE IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE SAGA THAT U ENJOYED IT. THANKS FOR READING MY INCESSANT AUTISTIC RAMBLING THUMBS UP
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Routine Procedure pt. 5
Over the next couple of days, it was actually abnormal for Kate not to give me some special attention down there during a diaper change. Just woke up? Let's try using my vibrator on your soaked diaper. Need a change before lunch? How about reverse cowgirl while laying there on top of your fresh diaper. Time for your night diaper? Bedtime blowjob.
Don't get me wrong, Kate and I have always had a very good sex life, but this past week was unlike any other.
On Saturday, in the middle of a mid-afternoon change, was when Kate suggested we try getting out of the house for a bit.
"You really soak through these diapers quick, Mike. We're gonna have to see about getting some more soon."
"I suppose we should, right? I mean, they're working infinitely better than that condom thing," I said as I was laying back while Kate took care of wiping me down.
Despite what she had said about showing me how to change myself, she didn't seem to mind taking care of it, and I was in no rush to put a stop to it considering what was in it for me.
"That's very true. There was only that one minor leak you had last night, which I'm sure we can find a way to prevent in the future. I'll put in an order for some new diapers tonight, so they get here by Monday."
Kate secured the last tape and ran a finger along the elastic leg gathers. "You know, that new game store opened up in the mall on the other side of town. What do you say we stop over there and see how it is?"
I froze. Being diapered at home was one thing. Going out in public though.... Kate seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.
"Mike. Earth to Mike. Remember what we talked about? No one is going to be paying attention to the size of your butt or the sound of your pants. And guess what? Even if they do, who cares? You have a medical need to wear diapers. Just like people who have trouble walking use canes, it's a medical thing. You didn't ask to be incontinent."
────────
I looked at myself in the mirror. My jeans appeared to do their job of concealing my diaper.
"You know," Kate popped up behind me in the reflection, "if you're so worried about people seeing, they do make onesies for adults. Just a thought."
I scoffed at her, and we headed off to the mall.
About 30 minutes later, we arrived. I couldn't help but notice that it seemed like there were a heck of a lot more people there than normal. Another 10 minutes later and we were finally able to find a parking space towards the back. As I got out of the car, I made sure my shirt was pulled down as far as it could go. It was all I needed for my shirt to ride up and expose my plastic waistband.
Kate grabbed my hand, but not before giving my padded butt a firm slap. The corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly, and we walked hand-in-hand up to the mall.
────────
You know that feeling you get when it feels like someone is watching you? Yeah, it did not go away no matter how much time passed as we meandered through the mall.
Our first stop was in the food court, where we grabbed a late lunch of chicken and waffles. Kate went to order the food while I found a spot to sit down.
"All ready," Kate said as she walked up with a tray piled with chicken. "They accidentally made your lemonade a large, and I wasn't about time tell them they were wrong."
"It is the best homemade lemonade in town," I said, grabbing my plate off of the tray.
Kate set the tray down, then went to grab a couple of napkins. A few moments later, I noticed my shirt rising up and the back of my diaper being pulled open. I spun around and swatted the offending hand away, which turned out to belong to Kate.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Giving you a diaper check, what else?"
"We are in the middle of the mall!"
"It's been awhile since you had your diaper changed, and I know you are bad at knowing when you're at capacity," Kate gave me a 'prove me wrong' look.
"I'm fine!! Just... not out in broad daylight, please?" I pleaded.
"Well I didn't even get a chance to properly check just now, but if you say so...."
────────
After stopping in a couple clothing stores, ("Hey, we should think about getting you some new jeans. Those ones seem a little tight all of the sudden.") we finally made our way to the new gaming store. It was like a one-stop shop for gamers, with board games, collectibles, and video games. Towards the back, there were tables setup, where people could break out their games or card decks and hang out for a bit.
Once we had searched down all the aisles, we found ourselves in the back next to the gaming tables.
"Hey, we're looking for two more for Ticket to Ride! Do you guys want in?" said a blonde girl from a table in the corner. She and another girl were setting up the board, getting ready to start.
Kate's eyes grew to the size of saucers.
"Oh heck yes! I never lose at this game!" It was true, she did never lose, and she never let me hear the end of it whenever we played.
An hour later, and it was clear that it was between Kate and Melanie, the blonde girl, on who would be crowned victorious. The other girl and I had all but given up. Seeing that there was no way I could complete all my routes, I had long since resorted to my usual strategy of trying to sabotage Kate.
"Annnnnd 110, 111, 112. I have retained my crown," Kate gloated.
"Oh wonderful," I said, "I can't wait to hear about this all the way home."
"Well played, you two," Melanie chimed in. "Don't worry about cleaning up, we are actually waiting for some friends to come play a round."
"Oh thank you, that's so nice," Kate said as we both stood up to leave.
"Of course! It was nice meet....." Melanie trailed off, staring at my crotch.
Both Kate and I followed her gaze, and it was then that I saw that I'd had a major leak.
Large wet spots had formed down the inside of my jeans, as well as two half-moon shapes on my butt. Looking at my chair, there was more evidence of my accident, there for all to see.
It was obvious to anyone looking what had happened.
I was speechless.
"Oh shit, we're so sorry! Let me just wipe this up..." Kate said as she frantically wiped the seat down with a tissue.
The girls were equally dumbstruck, as they watched Kate lead me out of the store waddling behind her.
────────
The feeling of eyes on me increased tenfold on the walk through the mall to the car. Without a jacket or anything to cover up with, we moved as fast as we could, whispers and giggles following us out.
In what seemed like an eternity later, we finally made it back to the car.
"I'll get the seats cleaned, don't worry baby, just get in." Kate pulled open her door and got the car started. I didn't need to be told twice, as I practically leaped into the car.
"That...I...I'm so embarrassed...." I was starting to get choked up, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.
"Hey, hey, there there sweetie, I'm sorry. That can't have been fun, I know. It's not your fault." Kate was rubbing my back, the car still in park.
"That doesn't make it any less humiliating! And it's not even like I had a little accident, Kate, my diaper leaked!" I was almost yelling, my emotions getting the better of me.
"Shhhh baby, it's okay, take deep breaths, it's going to be okay. We didn't know anyone there, no one important saw, you'll be fine."
I was still upset, but I listened to her, taking steadying breaths that at least got my heart rate under control. Seeing this, Kate started to back out of our parking spot.
"Let's get you home and into a bath, baby," Kate soothed. We drove on in silence for awhile as I continued to calm down.
I think," Kate broke the silence, "that we might want to consider getting you some thicker protection. Just to be safe, you know? What do you think?"
"I think that means I will definitely be waddling, and it will be obvious to everyone what I'm wearing," I said, staring out the window.
"Well, do you prefer people maybe noticing that you walk a little funny, or running the risk of leaking like happened back there?"
"I don't know Kate, I just...I don't want to think about it."
"I'll take care of it then, babe," Kate said, "those hospital diapers are notoriously cheap anyway. We'll find something that works better for you. And I'll look into some of those onesies, so you don't feel so self-conscious about your diaper sticking out."
"Yeah, whatever," I said, as we continued down the highway.
────────
Kate knew exactly where to look when she logged on to order new diapers.
Let's see, she thought, I think probably a case of ABU Simple Ultra. Maybe a mixed case with some fun prints? No, it was too soon to go all-in like that. I'll just add in another pack of PeekABUs. That's 90 diapers, so at 2-3 diapers a day, that should be good for a month. Better throw in some boosters, too. And set up a recurring monthly order, yes please.
With that order placed, it was then to the ODU website, where she settled on several of their basic onesies.
"All in good time, Kate," she muttered to herself as she looked longingly at all of the cute designs. She could just picture how adorable Mike would look in that dinosaur onesie.
She was so horny right now. The sight of Mike in his wet jeans, his face burning bright red. Her hand slipped down the front of her shorts.
Oh fuck, she thought, he was so humiliated. She rubbed her clit to the image of Mike standing there over the pee puddle on his chair while those girls looked on.
Had she taped on his diaper perhaps a little loose before they went to the mall? Yes.
Had she intentionally ordered Mike a large lemonade? Also yes.
Had she suspected during her impromptu diaper check at the food court that Mike would protest and insist he was fine? Triple yes.
Had she known those flimsy hospital diapers would fail sooner rather than later, and she could talk Mike into something a bit thicker?
Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner.
Kate closed the laptop and got up.
She had a diaper boy she needed to fuck.
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hey it is me again rewriting a scene from the comics with no compliance to canon nor context just because it was on my dash and bothered me
“You know it wasn’t, Zuzu.”
The words came out before Azula had thought them through, and she directly scolded herself for that. Sure, the current situation was bad, but she liked to believe that she had been in way greater danger before. And in those moments, her brain had usually worked pretty well. Which was the reason why she was even still alive now to be stuck in this mess. Of course, she had to admit, a few times it hadn’t. Which was again the reason behind the mess.
“What?”
At least she had managed to catch her brother surprise. His grip loosened a bit, and the anger in his eyes faded a little to make room for confusion, which turned into disbelief and then again quickly into scepticism. After everything, his face was still like an open book, and she could see him shifting through the different pages as he tried figure out her intentions.
“Like this. Between us.” Azula shrugged, as much as that was possible in her current position.
“You know. me trying to kill you…you locking me up..me trying to kill you again…you holding me over a cliff…”
Azula did her best to sound casual as she spoke. As if she was telling a funny remark, not recounting the shambles the relationship between her an Zuko had fallen into, each one a sharp dagger of its own. But she herself could hear how much her voice sounded like it was about to crack. And a part of her did not even mind. That part that was just so tired of keeping her act up, again and again, everyday and at all times. She had played it so well. Had done so much to keep to keep everything, but first and foremost herself in control. And where had that even gotten her? On the edge of a cliff, from which her brother would may or may not throw her to death. So, if there had ever been a moment to put her cards on the table, wasn’t it now?
“Azula, I have no idea what you are getting at.”
The anger had returned onto her bothers face, and Azula did not know what was worse: the fact that she actually wondered if he would have it in himself to kill her, or how little she cared about the answer.
“And to be honest am really not in the mood for one of your mind games right now.”
She could not help but laugh. It wasn’t real laughter. Too bitter and too dry. Not like she really remembered what her real laughter even sounded like.
Of course, that was what he thought. That she was still scheming, with her feet in the air and the abyss below. And had that not been the picture she had always tried so hard to convey? Why was she mad at him for buying exactly the show she was selling? Because he does not even try to look behind the curtains, a voice in her head whispered the answer.
Zuko opened his mouth to say something else, but she interrupted him before that.
“I am not playing anything. I am just answering your question. Truthfully.”
She emphasised the last word. Not for him, but more for herself. It was about time she did that.
“You know we were different when we were kids. How we used to play together. How we snuck in the kitchen to steal food.How you taught me the first bending moves. How we warned each other when dad was in a bad mood. That was not us against each other. That was us against the rest.” She paused, to give her words the room and weight they deserved to have. “You cannot tell me you do not remember what tricks we used to play on the staff. Or what stories you used to tell me about the dragons when I had snuck into your room at night. Or what you swore me when Lu Ten went to war.”
Her brothers reaction reaction told Azula that he did, just as well as her. Even though that night had been so long ago, and at least to her felt like it had happened in another universe.
The day that their older cousins, who had kind of been like a second bigger brother to her, had announced that he would leave to conquer Ba Sing Se. Of course the adults had tried to play it down, but Azula had not fallen for their tales. She knew what war was. Or least, she had thought so. At. least she had already understood that sometimes people went there and did not return. And that now one of those people would be Lu Ten.
She had refused to join the family during meals and even missed her lessons, for the only time in her life. All she had done was sit at a turtle duck pond and stare into the water, which no amount of yelling nor nice words from either parent had been able to change. Azula did not remember what excactly she had been thinking back then, except for the she sworn herself to never talk to any of them ever again. Which had worked quite well. Until Zuko had shown up to sit next to her and put a hand around her shoulder.
“Hey, don’t be so sad, Azula,” he had said, obviously trying to sound more cheerful than her really felt. “Lu Ten surely will come back soon and well.”
Azula did not know why, but after that her tears has just started to flow.
“Zuzu, he is abandoning me. Abandoning us.” She had sniffed, hiding her face between her hands. “How can he just do that? I thought he was our friend.”
“Because he had to fight in the war. Like our uncle. It’s important for our nation. And his duty.”
“Stupid duty!” Today, her own reaction seemed hilarious to Azula. But she knew that she had meant each word she had said, the way only a child can mean them. “I think if you really care for someone, you do not just leave them behind. Not for any duty.”
“Well, I know that I would never abandon you.” Her brother had responded, he too as convinced of his words as only a child could be . “Not for anything in the world.”
“Promise?” she had asked.
“Promise” he had said, and they had shaken hands dramatically, while looking each other deep in eyes. As if they had just sealed a very important and serious deal.
Now, Azula was staring at those exact same and yet so different eyes again. Still the same shade of gold, but one of them now scared.
In them, she saw understanding. And then a very, very deep regret. A regret not limited to the events of today, but that seemed to span over all of their lost days. She recognized it not only because it was so obviously written on his face, but because she felt it too. When her brother carefully put her down on her feet again, its weight on her shoulder nearly made her legs give in.
“How only did we end up here?” Zuko asked finally, shaking his head. There was no more accusation in his voice. Just sadness and disbelieve. Azula wanted to reach out to him. As close as they were standing, it would have been easy to put her arm on his. But at the same time, he seemed to be so far away, and the divide that had built between them over years just felt uncrossable.
When had it started? She wondered. When had she started seeing Zuko as friend and brother and more like an opponent? Like a rival for her parents approval? Had it been when her training had gotten more serious? Or when her father mood swings had gotten worse? Azula could not remember. What she remembered was how there suddenly had been this fear. This fear to fail and disappoint, that had come and chased every other motion away. That had numbed her feelings for anyone and anything else, except for this one need. This one need to be perfect. To be the best.
“You know”, her brother continued after a moment, while Azula was still deep in her thoughts, “I usually tell myself that this is what we were destined for. That we just were made to stand on opposing sides and fight. But-“ his voice cracked, and took a while until he continued talking.
“But that’s not true. That’s just what they taught us. What he taught us. He just was so good at it.”
She truly wanted to believe that he was right. But she had just reached another conclusion before. One that she hated to have had, and one that she even more hated to share. But she had wanted the truth in first place. So now there was no turning back.
“No. It was me. I ruined it. I was so obsessed with making father proud and…..I”,
Azula forced herself to continue speaking even though she felt like she was choking on her words, “I sacrificed you for that. I…I sacrificed us.” She felt hot, burning tears on her cheeks, but she did not care enough to even swipe them away. What were a few tears for so much that was lost?
“And now it’s all ruined. I….I`m sorry.”
“Azula…no”, she saw her brother reaching our his hand. Slowly and hesitant, as if he was afraid she would back away. But she did not, and so he put it down on her shoulder. “Azula, you were child. We both were. And I am sure there were times I could have been a better brother, but I was not. Like back then. But also today. And for those I am sorry, too.”
There were tears in his eyes as well, Azula noticed, just like the slight crack in his voice. And she knew that he meant everything he said.
“And of course I am sorry for the years we lost, and I wish we could turn back time and make things different. But-,” Zuko paused, and Azula could tell that he was carefully considering each word, “we still can have so many years ahead. Maybe we can try to make this right. Maybe we can at least take our future back from them”
He brother looked at her, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but also nervously twitching his free hand.
Azula knew that he was excepting an answer to his proposal. She also it would be difficult, and that it might not even work. She also knew that there had been a time where her answer would have been a clear no. No risk. No trust. No dependency. That had been her default, and part of her strategy to success. And also how she had lost everyone that had ever mattered to her. But now, more than anything, she just wanted her brother back.
“You really think we could?”, she said therefore, “because I really do want these years.
“Yes I do”, Zuko smiled through his tears. “After all, I have a promise to keep.”
And then, after what had felt like an eternity, Azula hugged her bother again.
(submit another scene if you enjoyed this?)
#Azula#Zuko#avatar#Avatar The Last Airbender#atla#atla fanfic#my writing#I refuse to accept the comics as canon#also yeah I deserved to write this#as a treat#jk I just had to distract my mind from...stuff#maybe spare some love <3?
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Things I Associate With The Boys-
(aside from the obvious)
Lucifer
Spray bottle- he cleans up his brothers messes- also he wears gloves and apparently thats enough for brain to make connection....also he probably has used a spray bottle as a form of discipline at some point-
Mammon
Pineapple- ok more likely than not, this is a colour association thing, but this one works as a nickname- Pineapples- but also because back in the 1700′s-1800′s a single pineapple costed $8000 in today’s money- and renting a pineapple- yes renting a pineapple started at $5000- ok I’m way off track now but Mammon in as much as he is sweet he can be a little tart when it comes to you spending time with someone else-
Levi
Chapstick- again, I don’t really know why- I really don’t know why until I start typing and then I’m too lazy to delete the though process sorry y’all- maybe it has to do with how much he snacks and the energy drinks he has- between salt from chips and not drinking actual water, he would use chapstick to stop his lips from getting dry because he doesn’t like the way they look or feel when they are...idk man I got like.. five mL left of brain juice bear with me-
Satan
Rattle (like...a baby rattle-)- because he’s the baby of the family probably- IKIK he fell as full grown-ass man but he’s still the youngest- also if you’ve never had the experience of holding an angry child and giving them a toy I encourage you to be careful- they find it funny when you say no more hitting-
If not a rattle, then curtains- reason being that he’s always putting on a show, always hiding away his anger while he puts on an act and hopes nobody provokes him-
Asmo
Dew drop- (ok that’s my nickname for him now shhh) but honestly I don’t really know why I associate this with Asmo. Maybe it’s because to me seeing dew in the morning is a simple pleasure. While Asmo is far from simple, perhaps it’s moreso that people need to see him as more than a demon that only wants sexual pleasure- but little things too..little things to make our little dew drop content
Beel
A Lovebird- Again, idk! Maybe it’s the colouring some lovebirds are, (green, yellow, red-) that make me think of mangoes and just...Beel’s red hair and bottomless appetite- also he’s just really sweet and struggles to be by himself.
Belphie
Hedgehog- uhh...first nocturnal animal that came to mind without wings? Probably- or horns on Belphie vs little spikes- will hiss at you if displeased, will sleep around you if comfortable...:D
Barbatos
Campfire- hUH ok so probably has to do with the fact he seems the most mysterious to me, but very intriguing, almost like when someone tells a story around a campfire...there’s a different feeling being around a fire and telling a story versus anywhere else, but combined with the sounds of the forest, a bright moon and stars above, and an enchanting tale to listen too? Idk to me that feels like almost the same energy Barb exudes all the time-
Diavolo
An Old Stuffy/Doll- As far as we know, Diavolo was an only child growing up, we don’t know how long it’s been since his father has been asleep, and idk if it says later on in the game, but there’s been no mention of a mother. Diavolo likely entertained himself often when he was younger, and clearly didn’t make very many friends until he was a little older. Maybe it’s just me because I was an only child for ten years and wanted siblings, but an old toy...one day was the last day he stopped playing with it- likely the day he grew too lonely to play pretend or he was made to mature whether he liked or not...so now he holds on to that playful spirit because it was something he missed having for a while- (hnn might write a Diavolo angst piece we shall see we shall see I don’t wanna hurt my baby!-)
Solomon
A Cracked Mirror- actually for once not going to make fun of Solomon and say he’s bad luck just his cooking but rather where this superstition started- a Greek foretelling strategy of catoptromancy (the use of a reflective object/surface to tell the future), where looking into a mirror or bowl of water would reveal a person’s soul- if the reflection was cracked, it symbolized the person’s soul being damaged- now I don’t know about you guys but being immortal sounds like a lot of opportunity for pain- it’s not like a cracked mirror is impossible to fix, but it takes time and patience, and if MC can show him that then maybe- maybe he can lower his guard a bit and let them in so they can help him rebuild what may be broken for now.
Simeon
White Marble- mostly pure white, with streaks of grey or black..not everything is clear to or as an angel, just what is “good” and what is “bad” and with enough questioning and trial- marble chips easily..but can also be repaired easily. Is there one clear “right” path?- no and mistakes will be made but they can be fixed...most of the time- (oof this is more abstract than I wanted it to be but fuck it brain juice at 0)
Luke
Flowering Meadow- is this on one of his cards? Idk- but a meadow full of growth, a place to run, a place to let go- there’s no rules in a meadow..just be a kid- Luke has been through a lot and I think its about having room to grow- having room to improve...yeah :3
Anyways, if you choose to do something like this, tag me! Love ya’ll!
Masterlist
#obey me#obey me shall we date#v talks#obey me thoughts#obey me mammon#obey me satan#obey me lucifer#obey me leviathan#obey me asmo#obey me beel#obey me belphie#obey me barbatos#obey me diavolo#obey me solomon#obey me simeon#obey me luke
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TGF Thoughts: 5x06- And the two partners had a fight...
I’ve been waiting for this episode for nearly a decade, and I didn’t even realize it. More under the cut.
(This is very long! Please fight me on stuff and disagree because I just wrote all these words about this episode and I STILL want to talk about it more, it was that interesting!)
This is the second episode in a row to start off with a TikTok video. 5x02 and 5x03 both ended with elevators. Is there some sort of pattern they’re going for here?
This case—which is, it’s important to note, in Wackner’s court—is about TikTok content creators and copyright laws. Probably not enough material for a full case, but definitely an interesting theme to explore.
Marissa doesn’t have her laptop volume off (which I suppose makes sense; she was just playing the TikTok videos) and a notification sounds. She shuts the laptop.
Wackner rules that the profits made from the TikTok dance must be split evenly between the guy who stole the dance for his video game and the creator. The thief does not like this, removes his moose costume (oh, yeah, did I mention they’re in costumes again?), and starts shouting that he’s going to sue and then moons the whole court. Okay!
He follows through on his threat, and next thing we know, Liz, Cord, Wackner, and Marissa are meeting to discuss strategy.
Liz’s computer makes the same noise Marissa’s did; she punches some keys.
Liz points out that Wackner’s biggest problem is that real judges are not going to like Wackner playacting as a judge. “I’m not playing a judge. I am a judge,” Wackner says. Liz notes that Wackner’s court lacks any way of forcing people to comply with his rulings, but real court can shut him down.
I guess whatever keys Liz punched did not silence the annoying notification sound.
She asks Wackner to try not to become the focus of the court case, since that’s how they’ll lose. “This is why I started a court,” Wackner says after Liz instructs him to only answer yes or no and to wear a suit.
Liz asks Marissa to keep Wackner in line. She says she’ll try.
Now we are at the Black Lawyers Association, where there’s a panel with leaders from Chicago’s four top black law firms. For reasons passing understanding, DIANE is on this panel. This makes absolutely no sense (I mean, unless only white people were involved in this decision, and even then!) and I’ll only excuse it because they mention later that it makes no sense for Diane to have been on this panel.
I wonder why everyone else’s firm gets named but not Diane’s.
Diane also gets the first question, which is, pointedly, about opportunities for black lawyers. Her phone starts making the annoying notification sound. Ever heard of silent mode??
The annoying sound happens every five seconds at the RL offices. According to David Lee, it happens twenty times an hour, but it seems like more than that! He, for some reason, goes to Carmen to ask how to stop the sound. He also wants to know what it is. Carmen explains that it is “Dawnk” which is a new messaging system within the company.
On Dawnk, you can talk about anything you want and be anonymous. Who approved this?! In one frame, I can see there’s someone complaining about someone being promoted too fast because of “the future is female bs.” In another, someone is upset that they are anonymous and wants to use their real name (only Jay, who is otherwise absent from this episode, seems to have figured out how to turn this anon mode off).
Sorry, before I can get on board with this plot, I just need to note for the record how phenomenally stupid the idea of using anonymous messaging software within a company is. This was obviously not going to end well! It’s like workplace YikYak... (remember YikYak?!)
David Lee hates the idea of a messaging software; Carmen says the associates prefer this.
Jay is being very nice in the chat and defends the person who was promoted “too fast”.
“Who’s ‘Anonymous Crab’?” David Lee asks. Well, I think the fact they are “anonymous” should be a bit of a hint there, David.
Anonymous Crab asks, “How the hell did this happen??! How did Diane end up at a Black Conference speaking for our firm?” Good question, Anonymous Crab.
Anon Crab also shares a video and David Lee doesn’t understand how to press play. Carmen plays it for him. Diane looks really awful on the panel. No shit! David Lee seems to enjoy Diane looking bad, even though he should be able to connect the dots between Diane looking bad and potential for bad things to come for the firm...
Not only does Diane get quizzed about why she’s running a firm that is still insisting on calling itself a black firm, she also gets questions about her insurrectionist husband. “He was completely cleared of those charges,” Diane notes. Oh, hey!!!!! Remember how last week I said I’d be more surprised if that was the end of the FBI nonsense than if it continued? I am surprised!! And relieved. Mostly relieved. Dealing with the consequences of that high profile, relationship-straining ordeal is so much more interesting to me than any FBI machinations.
Next Diane is asked if Kurt just took a job to revitalize the NRA. She hasn’t heard of this yet. I’m glad she’s getting grilled on this stuff... it is about time.
There’s a hint that Carmen will be representing Mr. Rapey next week. I assume that’s why there’s a line where David checks in with Carmen on Mr. Rapey’s case?
Anon Platypus says, “I heard she didn’t even have seniority. She just jumped past other black partners to become our name partner. It’s crazy!!!” Anon Platypus is correct—technically. Diane was a name partner at one of Chicago’s top firms before joining RL, so while she skipped the line... that doesn’t seem to me like the PRIMARY issue in bringing her on. The primary issue is that bringing on someone that senior from outside the company is more similar to a merger than a promotion, and Diane’s partnership meant changes for the firm.
Other anonymous animals also don’t like Diane. One calls her clueless; another says that “Liz needs to do something about this.” Someone responds to that, “Liz will never do it on her own,” which is an interesting sentiment I want to come back to in a little bit.
“What is Black Twitter?” David Lee asks Liz out of the blue. “People on Twitter who are black and talk to each other,” Liz responds. David Lee asks how he can find it. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Liz jokes. And to think Jay said Liz wasn’t funny!
The Dawnk conversation shifts and now everyone’s ragging on Julius for representing Kurt and just generally being a Trump voter. There’s a lot of heated and racial language I’m not going to type here, enough to make Julius spit out his coffee and storm down to the associate floor.
He goes to Devin, who I’m not sure if we’ve seen before but is high ranking enough to have Lucca’s old office, to get information on the anonymous posts.
Anonymous Bison says, “Unpopular opinion: I blame Adrian.” Hey, Anon Bison, let’s be friends! I am with you. Adrian is the one who brought Diane on, who encouraged them to lean into Julius’s Trump connections, and who pushed the firm to pursue profit over everything else. Diane and Julius aren’t blameless (though I don’t actually think defending Kurt is a bad thing) but if there’s someone who actively strategized to make RL what it is today? Adrian all the way.
In what world does noting that Julius is pissed in an anonymous message do ANYTHING to stop people who are pissed at him? If they were that concerned about him being pissed they wouldn’t have said anything in the first place.
Liz and opposing counsel talk over each other in court until the judge makes them stop. I think we’ve seen both the judge and opposing counsel this season, making me wonder if there’s a bit of a COVID bubble situation going on here with the guest stars.
Judge Farley jokes about “contempt cards” that go up in value and Wackner, of course, is all, “Wow, I really love that.”
Liz, whose entire strategy was to not let on that anyone calls Wackner a judge, refers to Wackner as “Judge Wackner.” Come on, Liz! (I buy that she’d slip up—there's no one in the world I wouldn’t believe slipping up—but ugh!)
How did the opposition not realize that they could make this about Wackner’s “crazy court” by referring to him as Judge Wackner? You’d think they’d be all over that.
Judge Farley looks SO unhappy that Wackner would refer to himself as a judge; it’s phenomenal.
Now Marissa stumbles over stuff because she’s, for some reason, speaking in court. I bought Liz’s dumb moment more.
The plaintiff’s strategy is to make it look like Wackner is of unsound mind, and they’ve got video evidence. Remember how Del, Cord, and Wackner all chatted in the RL elevator? Well, turns out that lead to a reality show about Wackner for Del’s streaming service. Sounds about right.
I don’t really think Wackner cares about attention or anyone else’s motivations... I think he just likes the idea of budget and an audience and a platform.
Liz meets Del for a romantic dinner and asks him when he was going to tell her about Wackner’s show. Del doesn’t understand why she’s upset. He doesn’t get why he would’ve needed her permission to go into business with Wackner. (I don’t think he’s wrong from a business POV, but from a relationship POV, he totally should’ve let her know!)
Liz says he should’ve asked because they’re using it against her in court. “That is unfortunate, baby, but this streaming show could be really good for Wackner. It’ll draw attention to his court. And... as I say that...that sounds... okay, look I’m sorry,” Del realizes. I like that he sees that Liz has a point. He goes on to note that he would be totally open to Liz trying to go into business with any of his acquaintances, and I think he genuinely means it.
Del notes that this is what “power couples” do. Oh? So they’re an official couple? Don’t power couples also associate in public and not hide their relationship from their colleagues?
This is the place where I note, yet again, that it is always going to be more interesting to see a relationship that feels realistic than to see a relationship that feels like it takes place in a vacuum.
Liz doesn’t want Wackner becoming popular. Del argues someone else would’ve made the show if he didn’t, and that “disrupters gotta disrupt.” Oh God.
Are we going to remember that Liz has a child at any point this season?
Diane is reading the Dawnk discussion at home. It’s still lively even after work hours. The associates appear to be discussing the vaccine before someone changes the topic to “the Diane situation.”
One associate notes that the partners probably aren’t happy about Diane either and just have to vote her out. Kurt arrives home as Diane reads this, reacts to the loud music Diane has playing, the open alcohol, and her general demeanor and asks if they’re getting drunk. “Are we getting a job with the NRA?” she counters.
Turns out it’s not entirely untrue about Kurt and the NRA. They want him for a new role. It would pay $167,000. I can’t decide if I think that’s a lot (objectively that’s a high salary) or not very much at all (isn’t Kurt the top of his field?)
Kurt notes he doesn’t have a job so he’s considering it. “Diane, our politics are very different,” he starts. “I know,” Diane says. “I’m, lately, struck by just how different they are.”
“I would just like one week when I don’t have to defend you,” Diane says in frustration. Kurt doesn’t even know what that means at the current moment.
“You’ll tell me when they offer you the job?” Diane asks. “They may not offer it,” Kurt says. “No, they will,” Diane says, because she knows that it’s basically a done deal already.
In the middle of the night, Diane turns to Kurt and tries to ask him a question. That wakes him up. She asks who he voted for in 2020 and he doesn’t answer. Uh oh.
Dreaming now, Diane sits up and asks, “Hello? What do I do?” More on that later...
The HR nightmare known as Dawnk is still going wild the next day at the office. (Seriously, with HR that strict, the anon feature would’ve been disabled the second the first semi-controversial comment was posted.) Everyone’s obsessed.
The partners, minus Diane, all gather in Liz’s office to discuss Dawnk (and the topics of conversation on Dawnk). Madeline says they should ignore it. I say they should make STR Laurie shut it down and be the bad guy. It is nonsensical that this workplace would continue to allow Dawnk to continue! In addition to being an HR nightmare, it’s also a drain on productivity if everyone’s constantly glued to it, and I imagine STR Laurie cares about profit more than anything else.
But like I really don’t get why Madeline says they can’t censor their associates. Of course they can shut down the app if they want to! Someone put the app there in the first place, no? I do understand not wanting to look like you’re violating free speech (even though taking away anonymous commenting in the workplace would not be a violation of free speech) but I highly doubt it would be only the partners complaining. Tina, whose promotion was called into question, would be complaining too. Anyone trying to get work done, or anyone who didn’t like the toxic culture, or anyone who was uncomfortable with a joke made, would be complaining. There are more than enough reasons it would be perfectly acceptable to take the anon commenting away.
Now the partners are fighting about Kurt’s case too. “Diane is not responsible for her husband,” Liz says when Madeline says that Diane should’ve known better than to get involved. Um, Liz, Madeline is right. Diane isn’t responsible for Kurt’s actions but she’s sure as hell responsible for volunteering to represent him.
“In the real world of this firm, Diane’s billable hours speak for themselves,” Liz notes when a partner tries to call Diane’s unsavory associations into question.
“The rest of us put in the hours too, for the record,” notes another partner. I’m sure... but do you put in DIANE’S hours and have DIANE’S client list? My guess is no. If Diane weren’t the biggest earner at the firm we wouldn’t be having this debate. She’d just be gone. She’d never have been at the firm to begin with.
“Liz, when I joined this firm, it was because of your father’s legacy. It was about Black civil rights, activism, justice. That’s what people talked about in meetings. Now, people talk about billable hours, million-dollar clients, corporate payouts. Now, I know it’s not your fault. That was Boseman’s vision and we were trying to survive the Trump years by bringing in white lawyers, but those days are gone. They’re done with. And I miss being a strong black firm,” Madeline says. Everyone but Liz (and probably Julius) seems to agree with that.
This is one of many interesting facets of this issue. When Madeline argues against Diane, she’s not just arguing that she wants a black person running the firm for optics. She’s not saying that Diane-but-black would be an acceptable choice. She is saying she wants RL to be the firm it was at the very very start of the show—a firm committed to social justice, not maximizing revenue. A firm that didn’t just accept every client that came their way because they love profit. A firm that stood for something. So my question is: Does Liz want that firm?
Liz is hard to read throughout this whole plot, and I think that may be intentional. Liz isn’t a manager by training—she was an AUSA who suddenly became a name partner at a firm (if you want to talk about seniority and skipping the line, Liz is a way better example than Diane—you can even through some nepotism, twice over, in there). She doesn’t seem to have a clear goal for her firm other than maintaining the status quo and keeping power. Liz not taking a stronger stance from the start (either accepting that they are no longer going to be a social justice-oriented firm or pushing to get them back to that place) allows these kinds of questions to fester. It’s my hope that this becomes text instead of subtext pretty soon, ‘cause this is the kind of thing that if it’s subtext for too long will start to feel like bad writing/Liz being conveniently clueless. It’s way more interesting if Liz is just not yet good at being a manager... because she is learning on the job.
Anyway. I think the ideal solution here is probably that Diane and Liz continue to run RL: A STR Laurie Company (the fact they’re owned by corporate overlords kind of makes any decision about RL’s mission moot) since Diane wants to do that and Liz seems to be content where she is. Madeline and the other partners, instead of trying to force STRL to let them pursue the cases they want, can accept pay cuts and go start their own firm. Maybe they can even team up with Barbara Kolstad!
None of that’s to say that the dilemma here is easily solvable, nor is it to say that Diane shouldn’t consider stepping down. I’ll say more on that later. My point here is just that this issue is much deeper than just if Diane is on the letterhead or not. As long as they’re owned by STR Laurie and have clients like Rivi, Diane stepping aside would just be a band-aid.
(And that, I think, is intentional... they’ve been building the “why are we even representing x?” tension pretty consistently this season, so I imagine it’s on the writers’ minds.)
Diane stumbles across the secret partner’s meeting and knows something’s up.
“You gotta handle this, Liz. You cannot have a white partner leading a black firm. We’ll lose clients with that kind of hypocrisy” Madeline insists after Diane heads back to her office. I’ve already said it, but just to say it in a less rambly way: Madeline is right, but she’s right IF AND ONLY IF the goal is to be a black firm. So, Liz, is it?
(They’ll lose clients, sure, but which ones? They’ll lose the clients Madeline wants while Diane continues to keep bringing in business and Rivi and Cord and Wolfe-Colman and their elk* stay put.)
*I know this is not the correct word; see 6x17 of TGW
David Lee has also noticed the meeting in Liz’s office and thinks this may be the “beginning of the end.” Diane glares at him and he says he was just joking.
Diane schedules a meeting with Liz. Liz’s assistant doesn’t know Diane by voice, adding to her frustration.
Credits! We are 22 minutes in! This might be a record if 5x01 hadn’t saved the credits til the very end!
I’ve already written more than I did last week by a couple hundred words.
Two interesting things about the credits. First, this episode was written by Aurin Squire. Forgive me if I’ve mentioned this in a prior recap (I know I thought about it but can’t remember if I deleted), but I think Aurin Squire and Davita Scarlett are key to why TGF and Evil are both always so good. They’re the two writers other than the Kings who are in both the TGF and Evil rooms, and they both REALLY seem to be on the same wavelength as the Kings. I imagine that having four people who are in both rooms helps with managing both at basically the same time.
(This isn’t where I wanted to go with this bullet point, but I may as well shout out how great Evil is this season, too! It also just aired an episode by Aurin Squire about the lead white female character realizing her privilege!)
Second, this episode was directed by Brooke Kennedy. I didn’t know that going in, but seconds before the director credit popped up, I was thinking to myself, “this episode feels like it’s going to be a very important one. I bet Brooke directed it.” I was very pleased to see her name appear.
(For anyone who doesn’t know, Brooke is an EP who’s been involved in nearly every episode of both Wife and Fight and she tends to direct important episodes that require a lot of familiarity with the characters. She directed 5x15 of The Good Wife and she’s done a bunch of the premieres and finales that Robert King hasn’t claimed for himself.)
Diane and Liz meet in a bar to catch up. Diane’s still staring at Dawnk. Liz takes her phone and silences the notifications. “Who thought that sound was pleasing?” Diane complains. “All day in court today,” Liz commiserates. Carmen had to teach her how to silence the notifications. Liz, you’re using an iPhone, there is a very easy to use switch that silences your phone, like you would need to for court. I know you know this.
(I think Diane, despite her complaining about the sound, is captivated by Dawnk.)
Liz orders soda water instead of a drink. I assume that’s intentional, perhaps because she knows this isn’t going to be an easy conversation or a long night of drinking? She has wine in an earlier scene.
I love that Liz and Diane chat about Dawnk even though there’s no real plot reason for them to spend this much time discussing it. Little moments like this make me believe Liz and Diane are actually colleagues who get along well and make management decisions together.
Diane asks if Liz thinks Dawnk actually increases productivity. Liz laughs—she does not. But she knows the associates would “riot” if they got rid of it. She’s right. I still think they can get rid of it without too much blowback. But at least they’re acknowledging this.
“What do the partners think?” Diane asks, very intentionally shifting the subject. You can hear it in Christine’s voice and see it in her body language—Diane is looking for an opportunity to talk about what she wants to talk about.
“God, Madeline can’t even open it. She’s lost her password three times. She finally just gave up,” Liz says. This is concerning! Madeline should know how to open an app! Probably not unrealistic, though. When you’re that senior, you probably don’t need to know how to use a messaging app. And messaging apps can be confusing sometimes. Like, I still don’t understand how to use Discord.
The captions have a line I can’t hear in this scene—Liz (I presume?) saying “You know, ‘cause it’s Madeline.” This makes it sound like Madeline is a little less than competent, no?
“Thanks for sitting down with me, Liz,” Diane says in a quite serious tone. “Of course. So, you’re wondering about the meeting today?” Liz immediately understands. “I am.” “Yeah. Uh, it was about Julius. He’s being harassed on Dawnk,” Liz explains.
“Okay, and I couldn’t be a part of that?” Diane wants to know. “He’s being harassed because he’s defending your husband,” Liz explains. Diane doesn’t seem surprised (perhaps because she, too, would have read these messages?). “Well, that’s unfortunate. We’ve represented people far worse than Kurt, who, by the way, was found innocent,” Diane argues like they’re having a very different conversation. It’s one thing to represent rapists and murderers and drug lords—and I’d argue that the same people pissed about Kurt are also pissed about them!-- and another for your leadership to be married to/close friends with someone who you believe participated in the events of 1/6.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t. But, January 6th. I mean, we watched the Confederate flag make its way into the Capitol building. You know, those people that Kurt didn’t want to turn over to the FBI, those people. They don’t even want us alive,” Liz says better than I ever could. I think it’s important that Liz mentions a POV that likely wouldn’t have ever crossed Diane’s mind here. This is a small glimpse of why it could be so important to have black leadership at a black firm. Would Diane be thinking about the implications of having the Confederate flag in the Capitol? Probably not in the same way that Liz instantly does.
“Well, not all of them,” Diane Lockhart, who is suddenly an idiot, says. Liz looks at her drink and grimaces, and Diane realizes she’s said something wrong. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m certainly not defending those people. They’re all despicable traitors.”
“And now, that’s what people are saying about Julius,” Liz explains. “And me?” Diane asks, though she already knows the answer. Liz doesn’t want to answer that. Before she can say anything, Diane asks if she’s being pushed out.
“No. Not pushed out. You’re a name partner. You can’t be pushed out,” Liz clarifies. Diane knows there’s a but. “The partners just think you should do the right thing,” Liz adds.
“And step aside?” Diane asks. “No. Stay in the firm. Stay as an equity partner, just step back from your managerial role,” Liz says. Diane pauses. “Liz, I... I pull in the big clients. I... I get the billable hours. But still, ‘maybe you should step aside.’ Weren’t we going to form a firm led by women?” Diane argues. Oh, wow, I have so much to say.
First, I completely understand why Diane doesn’t want to give up her title or her power. She's Diane Lockhart! She’s been one of the best in her field for decades. She’s not wrong about the clients and billable hours. It’s just that every time Diane decides to be at this firm, making arguments about how she should retain her role in power, she’s saying that she values her own career/appearance more than the values she claims to care about. And every time she refuses to take a back seat or threatens to walk rather than sacrifice, she’s saying she’ll only through her weight behind her colleagues and their mission if she gets credit for it. To be clear, I don’t think it would be the shittiest decision in the world if Diane decided to walk, to take her clients to a new firm and to let RL become the firm Madeline and the rest envision. It’s asking a lot of her to give up that power and prestige. The interesting part of this dilemma is, to me, that Diane claims to value working for RL and to be active in the fight against racism... but the second she’s forced to choose between that fight and her own power, we all know what Diane is going to choose. There was never really any doubt. Diane doesn’t have to be on the forefront of this fight if she doesn’t want to... but she can’t claim to be invested in the fight if she isn’t willing to sacrifice, at all.
Second, LMAO at this firm led by women idea. Every time Diane talks about her firm led by women idea it sounds sillier! Not because a firm led by women is silly, but because Diane has a habit of saying this like it is a shared goal and each time she references it, it sounds less and less intersectional. For example, when she says it here, she’s essentially saying a firm led by women only has meaning if one of those women is a white woman (specifically a white woman named Diane Lockhart). Who’s to say that Madeline wouldn’t be made partner in Diane’s absence? Or Barbara (haha) or someone else we haven’t met? There is a very real possibility that Liz and another woman could run the firm and Diane would still be unhappy about it. Diane doesn’t ask Liz for a commitment that if she does step aside, her replacement would be female (idk if it’s legal to make this commitment but you get my point). Diane acts like asking her to step aside is already a betrayal of the female led firm.
“And I hope that it will be,” Liz says, basically hinting to Diane that there are women in the world besides her.
“But black women?” Diane says, agitatedly. “Diane, I... am not voting against you. I promised you that I wouldn’t. But there is growing anger here. They want to address it at the next partners' meeting. So just think about it,” Liz responds.
I think Liz is totally fair and forthcoming in this scene and strikes pretty much the right tone for this initial conversation. She gives Diane a choice and is honest with her.
“You’re a good person,” Liz adds. Diane does a double-take, understanding that Liz is actually telling her “You are a good person, so you know that you absolutely need to step aside.”
“No, I’m not!” Diane responds. As I said: Diane already knows what she is going to do. She needs to do mental gymnastics to excuse her actions, but her mind was made up before the question was even raised. (She did warn Liz in 5x01 she was going to fight any attempt to push her out.)
“Yes, you are,” Liz says again. She may as well be saying, “No, don’t try this. Everyone will think you’re in the wrong if you push this.”
Later, at home, Diane is doing some stretches on the floor and groaning. I don’t know if this scene is meant to show her age, but it does remind me that Diane is nearly 70 and started off this show by planning to retire. Retirement doesn’t seem to be an option for her here. (That’s fine by me; she is a workaholic whose career is her life.)
Kurt asks Diane what she wants to do. She says she wants to keep her name on the letterhead and “keep what I fought for.” Heh, I was just re-reading something I wrote about Cary a while ago and I’d pointed out that when Alicia and Cary discuss merging with what’s left of LG, Cary is also concerned about his name on the letterhead because even though he wants to change the world, he also cares about having power. It’s almost like Diane and Cary are really similar characters! (They are! That’s why the Diane/Cary moment in Hitting the Fan is so good!)
Diane calls her position as name partner a fight against “gender and then age discrimination.” She isn’t wrong, especially when you consider how meaningful it likely was when she and Stern went into business together. It’s very easy for me to forget that when Diane has such an attachment to fighting for white women’s rights, it’s not just because she’s out of touch and selfish: it’s because that was something she personally had to fight for. That doesn’t make it okay that she seems to forget the concept of intersectionality (which she’s definitely aware of) the second anything challenges her own power, but it does explain why a firm run by women is so important to her.
Diane is not wrong that she deserves name partnership and she’s not wrong to not want to step aside. Yet, starting a war to retain her position as name partner is a CHOICE. The best thing for Diane to do here (morally, I mean) would be for her to step aside and throw her resources behind the firm’s new leadership, using her experiences and stature to benefit the firm (this would also be a way for her to cement her legacy and mentor a new generation of leaders). The best compromise, I think, would be for someone to leave the current firm—either Diane or the dissenting partners, probably Diane since Liz seems to agree with Madeline—without any hard feelings. The worst possible choice is for Diane to insist that this firm is hers and force every single tension at the firm to come to a head, screwing over Liz in the process and potentially permanently ruining the firm’s status as a black firm. Sooo... yeah.
(I say it could ruin the firm’s status as a black firm because if Diane’s a white partner who happens to be there and the firm is mostly black, that’s one thing. If Diane is a white partner who fought all of the black partners to assert her own dominance over their firm... that’s hard to come back from. She can’t really call herself an ally, can she?)
“Diane, this is the first time I’ve ever heard you sound defeated,” Kurt says. “Because I can’t win this,” she says. She insists she can’t even after Kurt tries to cheer her on (of course he does, he probably thinks having an all black firm is just identity politics and therefore worthless).
“You just don’t want to,” Kurt says. He is not wrong. This is a winnable fight for Diane. Liz is smart but Diane has the experience, the clients, the power, and her own reputation to use in this fight. Liz has her dad’s name (and I don’t think it would come to this, but Diane knows how she can pretty easily destroy Liz’s dad’s reputation). (Liz is great, don’t get me wrong. Liz is also someone who happened into a name partnership because her dad was important.)
“It’s bigger than that. To fight this would go against every fiber of my being,” Diane says. “Every fiber in your being is about winning,” Kurt counters. Oh, damn. That’s a succinct way of putting it. He is completely right. Diane would love to think that every fiber of her being is about her commitment to social justice and women’s rights. It is not. If that were the case, would she really be a lawyer with clients like ChumHum, Bishop, Sweeney, Rivi, and Wolfe-Colman? We all know the answer to this. We all know Diane likes social justice a lot but winning, wealth, and power far more.
When I first watched TGW, now nearly a decade ago, I was a high schooler and my media diet mostly consisted of Desperate Housewives and a bunch of procedurals like Bones and Castle. The thing that hooked me about TGW—more than Alicia’s journey, more than anything—was that TGW never had easy answers to anything. Will tells Diane in 1x07 that “nothing here is pure and nothing here is simple” and that basically blew my mind. TGW always made it obvious that Will was morally gray, which fascinated me. But I struggled with Diane. Here was this woman who looked like she should be someone so impressive and inspirational I could write a college admissions essay about her (I did not, but that was my frame of reference at the time)… but the decisions she made... never seemed all that great?? I couldn’t comprehend it.
When Blue Ribbon Panel aired in March 2012, I wrote to a friend, “Diane confused me a little bit tonight. She didn’t approve of Alicia standing up to the panel, and yet, she’s supposed to care about people, the truth, morality, etc etc. I never understand Diane’s motivations– is her philosophy to help others whenever it wouldn’t hurt her, personally, to do so?”
At that point, Diane compromising her values struck me as something confusing because I wanted to think of her as a powerful role model and icon, and I didn’t know what to do with someone who looked like and often was role model material who also sometimes betrayed her values for her own self-interest. I had my analysis of Diane down: she her motivations ARE to help others whenever it wouldn’t hurt her, personally, to do so. All I needed to do was remove my question mark from the end of that thought.
I promise I’ll move on from quoting myself, but I also want to share a paragraph I wrote about Diane in March 2014 (during season five of Wife) because it says what I want to say now as well as anything I could write today:
Diane is driven and ambitious. Her initial actions can come as the result of intense emotions, but given enough time and space, Diane will always be strategic and pragmatic when it comes to business. She’s spent her entire life putting her career first, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. That she found love is just icing. Kurt aside, the two most important things to Diane are advancing her own self-interest and doing good in the world. These objectives appear to be a contradiction, and often, they are. Nine times out of ten, when it comes down to it, she’ll choose herself. I mean no judgment here: another central aspect of Diane’s character is that she’s upfront about her choices and stands by them, and this sort of moral ambiguity makes for a great character.
The reason I quote myself here is not to be like, ha ha, I was right. It's because I think this episode is even more powerful because I can copy/paste in stuff I wrote nine years ago or seven years ago (oh god, 2014 was seven years ago?) verbatim and it can hold up as analysis. Both Fight and Wife have always implied Diane’s selfish side and given more than enough evidence to make a convincing argument about it, but they’ve never really engaged with it directly (and if you ask the social media teams for either show, Diane is a #queen who can never do wrong). This episode interrogates something that’s always been an unpleasant part of Diane’s character, and I’m so fucking glad about it.
(I don’t think anyone’s accusing Diane of not growing as a person but it crossed my mind that this could be seen as lack of growth. I don’t think it is. I wouldn’t expect Diane to change. Her life and career are so set that growth on this without a LOT of struggle on her part would feel like a cop out.)
Another reason I quote myself is to highlight how friggin’ character driven this episode is. I’ve seen a lot of people saying this episode felt like old-school TGW—and it absolutely does; that’s also how I felt—and I think that’s because it’s so character focused and meaty.
But back to this scene. Kurt tells Diane that if she doesn’t try to win she should just give up entirely. Seems like bad advice.
“Kurt, I appreciate the pep talk, but I don’t think the way you think. I cannot put my interests above a whole group of people—black people—just so I can keep my position.” Sure you can, Diane. You just don’t like to believe that about yourself. You know how Diane says to Kurt earlier that she knows the NRA will offer him the job? That is how I feel about this scene. The writers go to great lengths to explain where Diane’s head is at when she decides to fight for her partnership, but they’d have needed to do ten times more to get me to believe Diane would step aside voluntarily.
Kurt basically thinks that Diane should fight because if her competition is actually talented enough to deserve name partnership, they should fight her for it. He’s missing the point here.
“But a black person’s talent has always been valued less than mine,” Diane counters. The fact she knows and understands this makes her decision even less forgivable.
Kurt knows he’s going to lose this argument and tries the same strategy he did on 5x01: telling Diane she’s right and should just give up and leave the firm. Diane doesn’t like that answer either.
Given how much I loathed Jay’s hallucinations, I was expecting that when Diane asks Kurt in the middle of the night if he believes the election was stolen and then sits down at her fireplace to have a chat with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I’d loathe what happened next. I did not! I actually really liked it!
I think this is more effective than Jay’s hallucinations, at least for me, because it's less gimmicky. It isn’t played for humor or quirk, and it gets to the character-driven point a LOT faster. This feels more similar to Alicia imagining Gloria Steinem is telling her she’s good enough to be on the Supreme Court in 6x03 than it does to Jay’s hallucinations.
I LOVE that Diane would dream that RBG would advise her on her work dilemma. Dream!RBG tells Diane that “any law firm would be insane to let you go.” (I don’t wanna spend too much time fighting dream logic, but I feel like the operative phrase here is ‘let you go’. Are the RL partners seeing this as letting Diane go? Or are they just trying to get at a different goal and Diane is in the way, and they don’t really care if Diane has top connections or billable hours? It’s almost like the other RL partners want a firm that stands for something and all Diane has stood for thus far at the firm is profit...)
Diane pushes back on RBG and RBG shares her “real” thoughts. This is where this sequence clicks into place for me, because it’s working on a LOT of levels. Obviously, Diane is going to imagine that her hero tells her to do exactly what she wants to do (the aforementioned mental gymnastics). But without losing the level on which this is dream!RBG and filtered through Diane’s POV, the writers are also... criticizing RBG for not stepping down herself!? It’s fascinating and pointed and makes her the exact right choice to play Diane’s conscience.
Dream!RBG shares her life story and notes how she was always asked to step aside, but she didn’t and that’s how she got to be RBG. “Don’t step aside because someone wants you to. Don’t step aside for politics. Men are always asking women to step aside so a man can go first,” RBG advises Diane. Even Diane knows that this isn’t exactly equal to her current situation-- “Even though I’m being asked to step aside so that a black person can take my place?” she counters.
So RBG asks if Diane can still do something “for women” if she says. Diane says yes, and RBG says Diane should do that instead of stepping aside—she should do whatever it takes. That’s the wrong takeaway, Diane! If you want to do something for women then a) you could do something for the black women at your firm lol or b) you could politely remove yourself from the firm, encourage your most profitable clients to stay on if they are wanted by the other partners or and/or c) you could choose to bring your talent and your stature to a non-profit. But, of course, these options aren’t on the table. There’s a reason the options are leave and lose everything or stay and fight for name partnership, and it’s that Diane cares about maintaining control of what she sees as hers and winning more than she cares about anything else, including or even especially her desire to help women.
And also what women is she even helping at RL? Herself? She’s certainly not helping Wolfe-Coleman's rape victim. The closest she’s recently come to helping women is when she told off Weinstein’s lawyer and tried to start #MeToo... in a DREAM.
The score for the next sequence sounds so familiar and I can’t place it. At first, I thought it was Hitting the Fan, but I’m not sure if that’s the right reference (also, damn, the Hitting the Fan score is REALLY GOOD!). I think it might be similar to 5x14 when Alicia’s pacing back and forth in the hotel room.
Anyway, Diane starts meeting with her (white, male) clients to tell them about how she’s stepping aside. She hasn’t run this past any of the other partners, of course. She’s doing exactly what they want, in the most malicious and calculated way possible.
One of her clients is a fracking client who wants to win over democrats by being a RL client.
Diane is so sneaky here! No one said that if Diane steps aside as partner she can’t handle the day to day on her cases... yet that’s what Diane tells this client since she knows it’ll make him mad!
Diane makes a point of showing her fracking client that his new representation will be Madeline. He doesn’t know anything about Madeline, and, as Diane was likely counting on, he isn’t confident in having a black woman he’s less “comfortable” with on his cases. I don’t know if Diane was going for the racial element here, but... if you’re really concerned about continuity, you don’t have this meeting without having Madeline ready to jump in and show she’s read up on the client. I’m sure it’s possible that Diane meant nothing in giving this client only Madeline’s name, title, gender, and race to go off of, but is that likely?
She hands another (white, male) client off to Julius, whom she describes as a “very competent lawyer.” What an introduction. She says she’s not retiring and the firm “just wants to let some other people step forward into a name partner position.” Diane knows how to sell clients on changes they won’t like. She knows this isn’t how you do it.
That phrase, “comfortable with you” is doing a lot of work, no? Both clients so far have said it, and while it might not be racially coded... it’s racially coded.
“Who should we call about it?” the clients ask. Diane can barely keep herself from smiling.
They call David Lee, immediately. He takes the call in the middle of a meeting, while someone else is talking—he is David Lee, after all.
The information on the screen in David’s meeting is quite interesting. It’s about STRL’s plans for RL. Here’s how the firm is described: “RL is a high-end mid-sized Chicago law firm that can consolidate its specialized brand within the American POC community and expand its national and global brand with STR Laure.” Soooo... yeah. For the corporate overloards, RL needs it to be just black enough that it appears like a black firm, but they care more about appearances and branding than anything of substance. (Notice how it says “POC” and not black? Notice how there’s this mention of national and global presence that doesn’t seem to be on the RL partners’ mind?)
There’s an area called room for growth, listing top clients—entertainment law, fracking, the DNC, and civil cases against CPD. Interestingly, two of these are Liz’s clients (entertainment and DNC), one is Adrian’s (civil cases against CPD), and only fracking is Diane’s... so maybe I didn’t give Liz enough credit earlier.
There’s also a plan of action that includes partners working with STRL and the 15-20% layoffs we already know about. I don’t think this text is meant to include any new info, but I assume one of the writers had a hand in writing it and it’s a good way of confirming things that had been subtext.
Wackner’s reality show looks... well, like his court, because his court always looked like a reality show. Cutting together the most out-there moments (audience reaction cards, Wackner singing “Come on defense!”, Wackner renaming himself Judge Shmuley for a day) makes Wackner look pretty bad.
Hey Liz, I thought you figured out how to silence your notifications for Dawnk permanently. (It’s not all high-stakes controversy over on the “R&L General” channel—the anon animals are now discussing a broken coffee maker.) (Though even this discussion is a bit political! Anon Owl says they bet STR’s coffee machine works, and Anon Dolphin wants to know why they don’t have more coffee maters at RL.)
There’s also a dance party—which Marissa participates in—in the footage of Wackner.
Hey, wouldn’t Marissa have reported the cameras to Diane and Liz? I feel like she’d know they’d want to know.
Wackner ends up on the stand to offer context for the strange-looking clips. In a smart move, Liz offers to just let Judge Farley ask questions—she knows that’s what Farley is really after.
Unsurprisingly, Wackner’s context makes his outrageous practices seem much more reasonable. There’s a scoreboard to keep lawyers aware of where they’re standing so they can gauge instead of guess at Wackner’s thought process. Shmuley is to honor a recently deceased relative. The costumes are to prevent bias and cut down entitlement.
Plaintiff’s counsel argues that Wackner is biased and the case continues even though Wackner’s (mostly) won over Farley.
The case next turns to something about copyright law that sounds downright silly—the point is to underline that Wackner’s court makes more sense than real court on some things. It makes more common sense and it’s less racist.
Del gets called into court. It’s interesting how these scenes are blocked together rather than spread out. The same is true of Diane’s scenes—after credits, we have Diane and Liz at the bar, Diane at home, Diane talking to RBG, Diane making moves, and then David Lee becoming aware of the situation. Then we have several consecutive court scenes (all of which feel like they have natural break points) of Wackner stuff. If I had to guess, I would guess that it’s to keep the momentum going. The Diane stuff plays better when it feels like a continuous chain rather than a subplot.
(The only thing that suffers is that I have no idea why there’s a court scene about copyright law right after the plaintiff argues they have evidence about Wackner’s bias? I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if the scenes had been spread out more.)
Now Cord’s involvement with Wackner’s court becomes an issue. It’s funny they need a witness to bring up Cord when Cord is SITTING IN THE COURT ROOM.
Apparently Cord is financing a company that would compete with the plaintiff’s company and this means Wackner is biased. As the next scene will explain, Cord wasn’t even aware of his investment in the rival company, and Wackner certainly wasn’t. But, regardless, it’s going to be challenging to prove that neither Wackner nor Cord knew about the investment, and the opposition is going to go after Cord’s financial records, which no one wants. Liz suggests a continuance, which would give Wackner about a year to keep working on his court before they have to come back to this issue.
Wackner HATES the idea of delays and is all, THIS IS WHY I HAVE MY OWN COURT and again, he isn’t wrong.
David Lee needs to see Liz, now. Liz and Diane meet in David Lee’s office and stare at their phones. Diane says she has no idea what the meeting is about, even though she basically set up the meeting herself.
“What the fuck is going on?” David Lee says. Diane feigns surprise and asks for more specifics. David Lee reveals that four top clients have called with issues about their representation shifting.
Liz knows what’s going on and aggressively says, “Diane, thoughts?” “Nothing from me. I met with my clients. I just told them of a restructuring that I was being told about,” Diane says like it’s no big deal. Liz and Diane both know that Diane forced this meeting.
“Is this a power play on your part?” Liz asks Diane. “No, it’s just updating my clients,” Diane says for David Lee’s benefit or commitment to the bit or something. It is definitely a power play, and a nearly unforgivable one done to an ally.
“David, Diane was told about frustration at the partner level about a white woman being a name partner in a black firm. And apparently, this is her response,” Liz explains. “I just told our clients what was going on,” Diane defends. David Lee doesn’t really care about what happened: he cares about one thing, and that thing is money.
“Diane’s a fucking name partner until STR Laurie says she’s not. No one decides until I decide. Now stick your race war back in its bottle,” David Lee says. I mean, basically, yeah, that’s what happens when you merge with a huge firm that only cares about profit.
I like that this ends up coming back to STRL. You can’t really have a conversation about RL’s identity without also acknowledging that RL is not independently owned. Sure, STRL will care at some point if RL loses its clout with the black community—but like most companies, they care about guaranteed loss of profit and the short term more than long-term what-ifs. It may sound cynical, but if Madeline and all of the other partners quit, STRL would simply put all their effort into keeping Liz or even just the Reddick name and would then hire black lawyers who think more like Julius than Madeline to keep the reputation. STRL does not give a shit about helping anyone, and that’s what Diane counts on.
I do not believe the version of RL that Madeline wants can exist when they’re under STRL’s control. I believe the version Diane wants (not really a black firm) can, and I believe the version Liz seems to want (one that’s mostly black and occasionally social justice focused) can, but this issue won’t go away until STRL does.
Sure, Diane, keep telling yourself you’re fighting the good fight out here.
(Perhaps “The Good Fight” is a more ironic and fraught title than it originally seemed.)
“That was a mistake. I am on your side, and you don’t even realize it,” Liz tells Diane afterwards. Interesting that Liz says “I am” and not “I was.” I would love to know what Liz really thinks about this situation and hope we get more from her POV next week. I think Liz wants to run a black firm, but I also think she wants to run a successful firm and likes working with Diane. Liz is on Diane’s side about as much as she can be while still advocating for Diane to step down.
Pissing off Liz is a very interesting move for Diane here, too. Diane wants to fight the one person who is on her side for control of a firm that doesn’t want her there, and she’s convinced herself this is the smart move! Kind of wild. What does Diane think the day to day will look like? I think I said this above, but in forcing this war, Diane is all but guaranteeing that if she wins, RL will only be a black firm in that STRL will say it’s one to make more money.
Julius and Diane chat next. Julius says he wants to start his own firm—with Diane. Her only reaction is laughter, but, like, this is probably happening. I’m not sure why she laughs. It’s not quite a case of unfortunate timing (Diane could’ve done this before she blew things up, and it’s not quite too late for Diane to commit to leaving and smooth things over with Liz), so maybe it’s just a “well, this sounds familiar!” laugh.
(If you think of Previously On as 5x00 instead of 5x01, that would make this episode 5x05, which would make this a Hitting the Fan callback. I can also do mental gymnastics!)
The episode could end there, but it doesn’t. We’ve still got a Wackner plot to resolve. Cord has some people beat up the plaintiff as a way of enforcing Wackner’s verdict and getting the real court case to go away. Marissa picks up on what’s happened faster than Wackner does, unless Wackner just doesn’t care.
It’s subtle, but throughout this episode, there’s a little bit of a trend towards Marissa becoming more skeptical of Wackner. She tries to keep him under control in court, tries to reason with him about the continuance, and in this scene, she just looks entirely displeased and alarmed every time she’s on camera.
We get another scene with RBG. “It’s different for me than it was for you,” Diane says. She notes that unlike RBG, she herself is up against another “dominated culture.” This other dominated culture is “black lawyers.” (I’m sorry, I just find the way she says “black lawyers” funny, partially because she says “lawyers” instead of people and partially because Diane seems insistent on only occasionally remembering that Liz is both black and female.)
I can’t tell if this scene was originally intended to close the episode or not. The blocks of scenes, the way the episode seems like it should’ve ended with Julius’s laugh but instead has three more scenes (guy getting beat up, Wackner’s court, this one), and the fact the Kings said this episode had to be almost totally rethought because both Christine and Audra had concerns about the original script all suggest to me that maybe some of the scenes in this episode got shuffled around to keep momentum and hit the right notes at the right time.
Diane acknowledges that RBG could’ve stepped down and we wouldn’t have a conservative majority on the court now if she had. RBG insists that she wouldn’t have stepped aside even if Obama had guaranteed that her replacement would be black. She says it’s because she only knows what she can do—not what others would do. And “what you know is always better than what might happen.”
Even if this was originally supposed to happen earlier (Diane saying she doesn’t know what to do makes me feel like it way), I like that we get to see it’s still weighing on Diane after the fact.
(Also, I have seen some comments about, for lack of a better phrase, the girl power energy of these Diane and RBG scenes. No! These scenes aren’t a tribute to RBG! She’s in these scenes because she didn’t step down and can thus help Diane excuse her own actions! These scenes aren’t exactly anti-RBG, but they are certainly critical of some of her choices!)
The topic shifts to Diane and Kurt’s relationship (another reason to put this somewhere other than the main part of the episode; this would slow down the momentum of the middle part of the episode) and its similarity to RBG’s friendship with Scalia.
Tbh, I don’t think a friendship and a marriage are all that similar on this front and I’d be curious to see Diane think about RBG/Scalia in the context of her potential partnership with Julius rather than her marriage.
RBG basically tells Diane to stay with Kurt. Diane thanks her, and then, back in reality, tells Kurt to take the NRA job so he’ll be happy—and then she’ll just sue him. Okay, that feels like an episode ending, so I am REALLY curious about all the re-writing and re-structuring that happened in this episode and what did/didn’t get touched. I can’t make up my mind about what feels out of place.
So we start out with Diane feeling like it might be the right thing to explore whether or not it still makes sense for her to be with Kurt, a suspected insurrectionist and future NRA employee, and Diane feeling like she wants to help her friends and partners at her mostly black firm do good in the world. And we end with Diane doubling down on her relationship with Kurt, giving her blessing for the NRA job, and fucking over her colleagues because she wants to keep her own power. Dark! I love it.
This episode does this all without making Diane entirely unsympathetic, which is astounding. While I think Diane knowingly makes choices that further her self-interest over the values she (claims to?) hold and I am definitely NOT Team Diane on her decisions in this episode, this episode could easily have been less interesting and complex. It’s understandable that Diane would not want to step aside from a firm she’s helped build—who would? It’s understandable that Diane might not feel the passion for a black firm the way she does for a female firm. It’s understandable that Diane might not want to blow up her marriage, despite her political differences from Kurt. This episode allows Diane to be just sympathetic enough she never becomes a flat villain, but never sympathetic enough that someone could mistake this episode for one that shows Diane as a morally pure hero. Personally, I love that in a TV show. That’s the exact kind of writing that made me love Alicia Florrick enough that I still spend a considerable amount of time thinking about her character arc even though TGW ended half a decade ago. It’s what’s been missing from a lot of TGF episodes for me, and why I’ve said that TGF seems like a show more about theme than character. It’s why I’ve written—oh god, TEN THOUSAND words—about this episode.
I have no clue what’s going to happen next, but I hope it includes more character-driven drama (ideally with a lot of good material for Liz) and not a lot of firm-jumping shenanigans.
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omg pls talk more about GX rival shipping once the transfer students come
Dear anon, I love you for asking this of me, but I have to wonder if you want everyone who follows me to start hating me.
Long post coming up? You know it.
I apologise to all Johan fans, he's great and I loved him and his deck as a child. Now I'm just salty because he's too perfect.
Warning because this is a mess of unrequited feelings and it's an all around bad time if you ship anything in gx.
I did mention I do not practice self care in a previous post of mine.
Enjoy your pain c:
So here are my bad takes of the day, under the very handy cut!
You see, gx rivalshipping becomes a lot more complicated and angsty when the transfer students arrive. The dynamic changes.
If there is a dynamic at all.
I mean, imagine yourself in Manjoume's shoes. You've lowkey had a crush on this dumb guy who kind of ruined your life (but actually improved it and freed you from the restraints your family imposed on you), just to watch a handsome scandinavian dude who is a lot more muscular than you are and maybe a little bit nicer, maybe just waltz in and completely captivate said dumb guy's attention.
Just when you had managed to admit your own feelings to yourself.
Johan comes in and steals the room, everybody loves him, he's good looking, charismatic, kind and has a magical exclusive shiny sparkling deck at his disposal that he uses as if it was the most natural thing in the world, like he hadn't received approval Pegasus himself on top of the duel spirits. And Judai clearly can't get enough of it, because he's always seeking him out, ever since the duel they had in front of everyone, and Manjoume finds that he's really annoyed by it.
He wishes he'd been chosen for the demonstration, deluding himself into believing that if he'd won, Judai would have never started caring so damn much about Johan. But a part of him knows he would have probably lost and that even if he hadn't, Judai would have not cared about the outcome at all.
It's nice to think that winning a card game can solve all your problems, but, while Manjoume has only ever experienced how much losing one can mess with your life goals, he isn't stupid enough to think that winning would grant him happiness. Not anymore.
No well-thought-out strategy can rid him of his bad temper and his worthless pride.
The thing is, he can't really hate Johan, because nobody can hate Johan. He's just the perfect picture of everything Manjoume isn't and, going by everyone's reaction, the fact that 'everyone is unique in their own way and worthy of love' is absolute bullshit. There clearly is an objective better one of the two and Manjoume is very aware that he isn't it.
And he'd probably begrundgingly be cool with it, after all he'd accepted that Jaden was braver than him, that Asuka was emotionally stronger and more resolute, that Daichi was smarter, not to mention how much plain better than him his fomer upperclassmen were. Forget about pros like Edo, whom Judai had stood on equal grounds with.
But Judai is clearly playing favourites, too, hell, he hardly even acknowledges Manjoume.
He finds himself forcibly removed from his already shaky position as rival, because now Johan is there to take it up, on top of the titles of 'best friend' and 'emotional support and crutch' and 'maybe something else I'd really rather not know'.
Manjoume just generally hates it all. He might have changed and improved himself, but there is no saving him from the fact that some people were just better.
That doesn't stop him from trying.
But again he finds himself pitted against Judai, the irony of his fate never giving him a moment to rest. Manipulated and turned into the enemy of those he cares about, again.
A part of him despises how good it feels to learn that Johan has gone missing, but Judai is screaming like his arms have been torn off and while he hates that it's all for Johan, he hates that Judai is in pain even more. Judai had saved him before and it's only right for him to return the favour. So he insists on helping him on his stupidly risky plan to save Johan.
And it's all to get the old Judai back.
...The rest, from Manjoume's perspective is a mess. His feelings of anger stem from the hatred he harbours towards himself and the bond between Judai and Johan. He'd been trying to help, he had, he sincerely had, but everything just swirled together and the next thing he knows is that he is shouting at Judai because it suddenly made sense to guilt trip him over the fact that he'd abandoned his friends, he'd abandoned him as soon as someone better had come into the picture. And it was Judai's fault for letting them- him believe that he cared when he didn't, when he couldn't have cared less, because clearly he had one priority only and that was Johan. They had come to help and it still wasn't being appreciated.
Disappearing is a relief, for a moment, but then he finds himself in another hellish place and he can't help but think that it's retribution for being so upset over something that has nothing to do with him. That's right. It's his own fault for making Judai, his only real friend (aside from Fubuki, sorry for breaking the immersion, but I love Fubuki), carry the burden of the stupid hopes that came with his feelings. Judai has no fault. Johan has no fault. It's his own for desiring something that would always be out of reach.
As he is tortured by his own thoughts and regrets in the other dimension, Manjoume silently wishes his words meant nothing to Judai, that he'd be spared the pain of betrayal. He wishes Judai can achieve his goal.
When Shou appears to him, he knows there is no time to waste. If he is alive, the others are, too. Judai would want to know that they are safe. So he asks Shou to carry his message, along with his good luck wish. He hopes it's enough to make up for his mistakes.
Next thing he knows, they are back at DA, Judai is nowhere to be seen. Manjoume mourns the loss of his first and only friend and curses himself for tarnishing that memory. (Judai's return and season 4 would be too much to cover, this was only Manjoume's pov and I might as well just rewrite the entire show at this point.)
So what about Judai?
I personally want to believe that he genuinely does like Manjoume at some point. But as much as it pains me to admit it, season 3 just wrote Manjoume off from the list of main characters and relegated him to 'he's your funny comic relief, nobody really gives a shit about what he thinks or feels, so why should you, the spectator who has grown to love him, care at all? Also here's his sticker that confirms that Judai going after Johan makes him really angry for some reason, make of that what you will c:' (fuck the writing staff, I'm not even sorry).
Judai is so clearly smitten with Johan. It seems to me that his refusal to accept Manjoume's help that one time on the cliff shows that Judai doesn't really understand the way Jun operates. He probably labeled him as just someone else who counted on him to be saved. And sure, Manjoume is saved by Judai in multiple occasions, but he doesn't ever really... ask for it? Or more importantly expect it. He doesn't get himself into situations he can't handle because Judai can save him anyways, the trouble just kind of happens at him and more often than not he's only involved by accident, because he happens to be close to Judai.
The problem still stands, as season 3 starts, Judai is very much burdened by everyone's expectations and Johan is a breath of fresh air and the only one Judai actually considers a friend and an equal.
It's heartbreaking that he felt that alone.
They get their gay 'have we met somewhere before moment', they duel gaily, they homoerotically tell eachother how admirable the other is, they shamelessly flirt and whoohoo Judai has an unofficial boyfriend and who can blame him for concentrating on him along with wanting to escape the pressure his former gang unknowingly laid on him.
But yeah, Judai in season 3 has a one track mind and it's hard not to see it as romantic. Does he know it is? Maybe? I honestly don't know.
I feel like Johan is the one of the two who is aware of the implications of their interactions.
Which also kind of brings me to say... does Johan think that all of Judai's friends are horrible people? Because he never once comments on how Judai distances himself from them once he arrives. He probably thinks they were never good friends in the first place.
Judai probably excuses his attentions towards Johan with the fact that they are alike because they can see spirits, but then he rememebers that so can Manjoume and maybe he feels guilty for a second, but Johan cracks a joke and Judai laughs and thinks to himself that Manjoume is probably happy to have the peace and quiet he so often claimed to want.
Like... I think a part of him would get that tightness in his chest because it's like he's betrayed someone, but he knows he hasn't, because there isn't any actual mutual agreement he's going against.
So he lets himself fall deeper into the comfort of Johan's presence. Johan is, to Judai, the ideal person. He is exactly who Judai wants to become. Judai admires him very deeply and strives to be more like him, but he falls gradually into despair as he learns, once Johan is gone, that no, he can't be like him, because Johan is so much better than him, and if he doesn't get him back soon he might even forget what he was like in the first place. Johan can't be erased, can't be forgotten. And Judai feels like he's vanishing already, so he throws himself into a wild interdimensional manhunt to save his hopes for the future.
Turns out that wanting to do good doens't always result in a good outcome. That's what Judai learns when Manjoume lashes out at him just seconds before disappearing. Along with the others, too.
Judai doesn't even have the brain power to compute that some people are still there, that he can still save someone, because he realised then that he had focused so much on Johan that he'd completely overlooked the fact that while his friends relied on him a little too much, they hadn't meant any harm. And if he'd just told them, maybe they would have been fine, they could've cooperated- but Manjoume had told him that he was a traitor, that he'd doomed them with his irrational behaviour.
Manjoume's last words to him had been spoken with hatred and Judai realised only then that he had misread him entirely. He lets despair and self hatred take over as he realises that if he had managed to hurt the ones he cared about so easily, discarding them for the new good thing, he could just keep doing that. And it would stop hurting, eventually.
I like to think that Manjoume really does have an impact on the awakening of the Supreme King. Yeah, I know he only turns once Johan's death is mentioned, I know. I just suffer from abandonment issues and can't stand that Manjoume dying in front of him is more impactful to Judai than a guy who literally can't be trusted saying "Joke's on you, the one you're looking for is in another castle already dead."
So yeah. That's the angsty overview.
TL;DR
Johan is an Adonis, Judai is smitten and Manjoume is very very heartbroken.
But actually so is Judai. Because while being with Johan feels right, there's someone whose absence feels wrong, but he doesn't allow himself to dwell on it and everything goes to shit.
All around a bad time for everyone and they'll have a lot of talking to do once they properly reconcile after graduation.
#blame anon not me#i advise you don't read this even if i spent actual hours on this#projection time#ygo#yugioh#ýgo gx#yugioh gx#judai yuki#yuki judai#jaden yuki#manjoume jun#jun manjoume#chazz princeton#gx rivalshipping#mentions of spiritshipping#like it's basically canon in the show no way around it#ulri doesn't like johan and it's time to get cancelled for it#enjoy your pain anon#i'm legit so fucking sorry
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2020 vidya ranking: #1 Bug Fables The Everlasting Sapling
You already knew that I was going to tell you that this was the best game I had played last year.
Imo, this should have been indie GOTY back in 2019, but whatever, I guess I should explain why I ranked this one at the top.
Back in 2004, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was released. I had sadly missed out on getting the original game on the Nintendo 64, but I was nonetheless very excited for the sequel. I got the game, still have my copy even years later… aaaand I got confused in Rogueport Sewers because I was a dumb eight year old, but I swear I picked up the game a second time. Got through all of the chapters, and had fallen in love with the game.
I loved the characters, the battle system, the story, the chapter progression, the cooking system, even the hidden lore and the amount of side quest scattered throughout the game. I even cried. It was the first time I had cried over a video game.
I wanted more, but then, Nintendo didn’t do it again. Sure, Super Paper Mario had a fantastic story, and a lot of people treasure that game the way I do TTYD-- I wouldn’t even mind if the series stayed in that direction. After that though?
Well, Sticker Star happened and stripped away all of the things I loved. Two similar games and one spin-off followed after that. Needless to say, me and several other fans of 64, TTYD, and Super weren’t happy about it. Seemed like I would never get another game like the one that was so dear to me ever again.
Cue me finding Arlo’s video about a cute little game called Bug Fables, just around the summer time. It had come out in 2019 and had been in development for some time by an indie studio. I was skeptic, but at this point I wanted anything-- besides, I actually love insects.
And after the first two chapters, which were a bit bland, I found it. I found the game I had been looking for. I was so afraid that this would be another Mighty No. 9 or Yooka-Laylee, but Bug Fables was anything but. Sure, it took inspiration from Paper Mario with its gameplay structure, but saying that this game is “just Paper Mario” doesn’t do it justice, because game can stand tall on its own.
I loved just about everything here in the same way I loved TTYD. Characters (except for two), the battle system, the story, the chapter progression, the cooking system, the hidden lore and the amount of side quest-- and there was even more than that.
“Gee what did Bug Fables have that Paper Mario didn’t?”
More than one super boss
A card game
Three party members in battle at a time
An entire side quest chapter that you can miss
An in-game randomizer
Higher difficulty settings
FREE DLC
Actual quality of life improvements
And finally, a villain who doesn’t just get a mere slap on the wrist as punishment for their actions. It’s one of the things Super did far better than TTYD because Beldam being let off scott free in the ending always pissed me off as a kid. The final boss is less ham-fisted in general too.
You have three characters at all times-- they’re your only party members and the only ones you need because they’re all perfectly balanced: Kabbu, Vi, and Leif. The third of which you won’t even meet until a bit into the first chapter. You don’t have to worry about wasting turns by switching your members out in this game.
The story starts off simple with the team of three collecting artifacts for Queen Elizant II, who seeks the Everlasting Sapling for an unspecified reason. About half way through the game and into the fourth chapter, the tone of the situation begins to shift, as the wicked wasps from the Wasp Kingdom also seek these artifacts for their lord.
This game doesn’t skimp out on being accurate to bug details either, there are little nods to how things work in real life, which is something I always appreciate. There isn’t really a dull moment in the story or a second where you feel stuck, because with the amount of Medals you get, there are plenty of strategies you can play around with.
Bug Fables is also… surprisingly dark, which perhaps isn’t unfitting of a game inspired by Paper Mario, given the direction TTYD and Super would get into. I can’t really spoil anything in regards to that, because much like with Three Houses, I would rather someone experience that themselves.
In terms of the flaws in this game, I can only think of two. One is regarding a terrible Flappy Bird game that’s required for 100%. It just shouldn’t be there, or at least be easier on the eyes.
The other is that this game suffers from having too many characters, when only four of them get actual character arcs: The main trio and the queen. You have some characters that get more fleshed out in side quests such as fellow team members or NPCs, but I feel like other “major players” suffer in the process.
Neolith is a big one. Cute nerdy moth who just exists as exposition for the artifacts and is a part of Kabbu’s backstory, but he never really does anything besides that, which is disappointing because he’s very cute. I would have loved more lore to him and Kabbu’s past, maybe a future DLC quest can solve that!
Your “rival team” also suffers a bit in this department. The team leader, Mothiva, is a snooty diva who never properly gets her comeuppance or realization that she needs to stop making everything about herself. I guess that’s the point, to give that vibe similar to old Pokémon rivals. But we’re supposed to believe she’s an official couple with her partner; Zasp, who just seems to simp for her in a one-sided way. Perhaps this could also be fixed with another DLC quest.
The worst of the bunch is Kina, Maki’s overly protective and possessive sister to the point of it being creepy. Unlike Mothiva, who is your rival, Kina is supposed to be a supporting cast member, yet she has even less likable traits. She stalks her brother and constantly wants to be with him, gets upset at the idea of him needing space, threatens a small caterpillar character-- you could remove her from the story and it changes nothing. There’s not even a backstory reason for her to be the way she is.
Mind you-- these are very minor nitpicks that don’t really bog down the game. Some may say the main villain of the game suffers from this as well since he shows up halfway into the game, I personally think he was handled perfectly, because you can piece together his motivations and backstory through lore.
Speaking of lore, I hope with so much in this game, that we end up getting a sequel. There are so many questions left unanswered, so much more I wanna know about!
Other than that thought? The trio of Kabbu, Vi, and Leif and their story is just about perfect. I can’t thank Arlo enough for introducing me to it, and I think this game will catch on more in the future since Chuggaconroy said he was playing it on Twitter, and Fatguy just completed his LP of the game.
I think… we’re entering an age where we should start expecting this level of quality from indie developers more often. This game didn’t feel like an indie game, it felt like a grade a RPG. Which is funny, because that’s what Paper Mario used to be.
God speed, Paper Bug devs. Keep up the good work in the future, thank you for bringing back a feeling I thought I’d never experience with a video game again. I know it sounds cheesy and stupid, but that’s.. just how much Paper Mario effected me back then. Even now, it inspires the books I wanna write, and it’s safe to say Bug Fables did the same.
By the way, can I talk about how delicious some of the food items look in this game? This is insect cuisine, and even I would eat these.
For recap on what the other games I had played this year were, just so you know how Bug Fables topped ‘em:
2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
4. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
5. Super Mario All-Stars
6. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light
7. Final Fantasy VII
8. F-Zero
9. Star Fox
10. Puyo Puyo Champions
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Let’s Talk Flavor: Commentary
I would say overall that most of these cards were fantastic and a great number of the story ideas were good. There will be parts where I suggest edits, and the thing about story edits is, well, it doesn’t impact game design. That’s the thing about the Fair and the thing about Magic in general: the whole thing could be replicated with number systems and program lines and it would be the exact same. It’s the fact that a creature has Flying, or that a spell is made of Lightning that makes the game exciting. This was an interesting experiment.
Let’s talk about cards!
@ace-hobo — Captain’s Wrench
This is a perfectly fine card. I like the “fixed” Voltaic Key style, the moderate power level. It’s a card that someone would probably be middling in artifact decks but fine in budget builds. I’m sort of feeling an Ixalan vibe, maybe with a little steampunkishness. I get that the wrench belongs to De, but it’s a little confusing regarding why they have the wrench. If they’re the captain and they’re not in the engine room, why is the card depicting a tool that would suit them better if they never left the engine room? Maybe the story should be about how DESPITE their captain status, they spend time in the engine room. It’s an easy enough tweak.
@cas-420 — Boiling Blood
The card is pretty good. It’s very aggressive and has synergistic potential. I really don’t see where the flavor is tying into it. I am favorably inclined towards your text, in concept. I can see where you were making the pun on “execution.” The wording is clunky with the repeated syntax, and could have just used the execution line. But what does that have to do with the card? The flavor evokes dissent, protest, retaliation. The flavor of the card evokes speed, purpose, initiative. It’s not a perfect tonal match. I would save the text for a different card with a clearer purpose
@dabudder — Wisdom of the Tides
In terms of card wording, I believe you’d be looking for something like Mysteries of the Deep, where you have an “instead” wording — unless you’re supposed to draw an additional card after? It’s a little confusing how you have it now. Still, Flourish is a fine mechanic, executed well. This was pretty close to being a runner-up. I like the nod towards crabs. We’ve been having a crab mood lately. Overall, not bad. Might need to be four mana, but that’s me being cautious.
@deafeningsandwichpeach — Jyska, Artificer Overlord
The name is probably the best thing about this card, and it’s fair enough for a legendary creature. Considering that this is essentially the Nim ability from original Mirrodin and that it’s a vanilla creature otherwise, I would contest that you’re severely overestimating the power level of this card. It’s not as strong as it seems. In terms of flavor text, this is basically exposition. I won’t dissuade you from story-rich cards, but there’s too much information presented in a manner that overloads the reader. Simplify, punch, beat, punctuate. In terms of presentation, the whole block should be in quotes, and you don’t need to attribute the quote if the character’s on the card itself.
@demimonde-semigoddess — Thaw
Great name, great snow flavor. I can see this in the tundra wastes, something emerging from the snow, bursting out. I had to do some digging. As it turns out, “gelid” is a real English word I had no idea about! I thought from the shackles and your flavor text that it was some Coldsnap lore. In terms of the text itself, it’s not bad. It’s just that the two statements are somewhat disconnected. They work both on their own, but together, they don’t gel well. Still, bonus points to mechanical flavor for an anti-ice feel.
@dimestoretajic — Phytotemple
The card is pretty funky for an uncommon, pushed but not busted. I’d call it a pain in the butt but no more than Wayfaring Temple. Ah, I see, the wayfarers, an homage. But there’s a lot I don’t understand. Who lost the wayfarers? Who’s saying this quote? Why did the phytotemples start appearing in general? Did the original wayfaring temples break into them? What does Selesnya have to do with construction crews? How is that related to the phytotemple’s physiology and motivation? Most importantly, why is there a street named after a Selesnya dissident? I think you should have focused on one specific area of the card’s backstory.
@emmypupcake — Bloom Nurturer
I was really surprised that there wasn’t a card already named this. In terms of card wording, look at High Tide or Bubbling Muck; I think it would read “Until end of turn, whenever you tap a Forest for mana, add an additional G.” The quote doesn’t light my world on fire, but it fits well and reads well. Just remember to indent the attribution with shift+enter. Overall? Good enough.
@fractured-infinity — Shara, Skalla Vengeant
I had to do a little digging, but I like how you incorporated Vivien’s lore in here. That said, Skalla is also, well, destroyed, presumably forever. Where did the spirit come from? Is it wandering around Skalla? In that case, did Vivien go back? Why? That raises a couple questions. In terms of this card, it’s broken. In anything but the most pushed Commander formats, it’s three mana to deal seven damage to any creature you want with minimal repercussions. Any prevention makes her impossible to deal with. In limited, she would sweep unfairly.
@ghost31415926535 — Man-Eater Wurm
Firstly, I would like to apologize for the flavor bar being in the middle of the line. That’s my bad. Let’s talk about the rest of the card. In concept, it shouldn’t be too overpowered. But deathtouch and trample together create complex rules baggage that many casual players simply don’t understand. Nine times out of ten, they’ll never be printed together. Seeing that this is exactly how you submitted it, consider for next time: Only the first keyword needs to be capitalized in a string. Something like Unearth needs its own line. The flavor text is standard enough. Just remember that quote attribution also needs its own line.
@gollumni — Gives You Hell
I love the name here. I got that All-American Rejects song stuck in my head now. Remember that one? Anyway. Firstly, you don’t need to put “target” there; “Enchant creature” implies it. Secondly, and least importantly, don’t forget you can add watermarks in MSE! Thirdly, the flavor text. I get it, but it doesn’t flow great. If there was some wordplay to be done on fire-spitting and whatever turn of phrase you used, like, “spitting poison” in the literal sense — I don’t know, I just expect something a little more concise. It’s a great concept and has the potential to be very funny, so points there. Also, the card itself? Fantastic.
@greensunzenith — Decorated Demon
Liking the name. I don’t like how this card has to be a rare. It’s more of an annoyance than anything. It feels like a card that prevents decisions. It’s not aggressive, nor is it particularly interactive. Conceptually it works, but I’m not in favor. The flavor text is a bit of a head-scratcher. The real question is: who is giving demons sigils? How do they become redeemed? On what world CAN demons become redeemed? This isn’t a Bant thing, is it? I’m a little lost as to the specifics, since it doesn’t play into any tropes and doesn’t inform the world in a recognizable way.
@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Goblin Decorator
If the flavor text had simply been, in quotes, “Earwigs would go so well with that wallpaper!”, then this card could have been a runner-up. Also, this should definitely be an uncommon. The effect is awesome and powerful and annoying and plays into a variety of strategies. Still, the flavor text is just...too much. It’s a lot of text that tells a story that doesn’t really need to be told. We get enough from the name and that last sentence, combined with a fun ability that matches the card. That’s all we need! Gotta simplify.
@ignorantturtlegaming — Dust, Revenant Force
For future cards, I would highly recommend reading up on design philosophy, what Magic’s colors are about, and how cards come into being. There are a lot of questions that this card raises, and a lot of things that need to be edited.
Green doesn’t get first strike, certainly not mono-green.
Why does this card cost five green mana? What does it provide for the limited/constructed environment?
It should be “Fox Warrior.”
The first thing about the flavor text is that there is far too much of it. It’s exposition for exposition’s sake. Fine in a high fantasy short story, but not on a Magic card.
The second thing about the flavor text is that Dust appears to be a white-aligned character through their actions and themes. I don’t feel anything green about them.
@juggernaut-is-a-metalhead — Devil’s Payment
I’m going easy on card art attribution since, well, it’s Disney and they are indeed evil, but in the future, please attribute it to the show itself and/or the director/copyright holder. So, the card itself. Is it supposed to be a common? Is it an homage to Cruel Bargain and Infernal Contract? This certainly isn’t a common effect, and for one mana, well, I don’t know what to say about this card. In terms of the flavor text, why is everything separated in lines like a poem? It’s way too long to fit into a card with three lines of rules text already. I don’t really understand what it’s even trying to say. The devil asked for the MAN’S youth. What does that has to do with his own? And why is it only sometimes capitalized? I don’t really understand this at all.
@koth-of-the-hammerpants — Hidden Bombardier
Great name. For the card text, it’s powerful, arguably fine in the right format, but very strong regardless. It also needs to say “It deals 3 damage” instead of just “Deal.” Gotta get past the 90′s, erryone. So now, the flavor text... I kinda get it? I just don’t understand what makes this card a shapeshifter. I don’t understand the world in which shapeshifters exist. This card feels like a Goblin. It’s an interesting kamikaze take, if a little too flowery and on-the-nose. It doesn’t exactly inform me, and it doesn’t exactly excite me.
@mardu-lesbian — Ballynock Adoptee
I had to look up to make sure that there were dwarfs on Lorwyn, and by golly, you’re right, there are! In RW hybrid in Eventide, anyway. And that brings up to a major story problem. By the introduction of dwarfs, the world has already plunged into Shadowmoor, and the thoughtweft has already been replaced with the mindweft. I’m stealing this from the wiki, so berate me if I’m wrong, but I always got the sense that the kithkin were highly xenophobic regardless of where the Great Aurora was. The jarring question that remains is: how does a non-kithkin creature become part of the thoughtweft/mindweft? It goes against what we know about the Kithkin and the world in general. If there’s a good explanation, I’m all ears, but I’m not convinced at this point in time.
@mistershinyobject — Phenax’s Messenger
Bonus judge trivia time: I studied Latin in high school and a little in college. From what I can tell about The Callapheia from other cards bearing it’s flavor text, it is meant to evoke classical poetry from Greek and Latin epics. The lines are written four at a time, indented carefully. HERE is a link to all cards with “Callapheia” in the flavor text. The gist is, this card does NOT evoke that. There’s a lot of text, a lot of quotes, a lot of forced story that could have been way punchier if you just had stuff about a snake eating a prophet. I love the card as a limited filler. But yeah, gotta do more research into what it means to have certain aspects on your cards.
@nicolbolas96 — Unpredictable Betrayal
You know, it’s hard to evoke Nicol Bolas well in flavor text. He’s one of Magic’s major villains, a huge face of many sets, with years behind him. And honestly? You didn’t do a half-bad job in this flavor text. Props! That said, this card is way busted. For one, double strike doesn’t affect fighting at all, so that’s...something. For two, it would need to be three sentences; you did a run-on for that last one. For three, mechanically? This is a two-mana spell that eight times out of ten will absolutely destroy two creatures you don’t control. In limited, that’s insanely powerful. In any format that plays creatures, that’s usually amazingly good. There’s a reason spells like Blood Feud and Clash of Titans cost what they cost. Getting two creatures you don’t control to fight is powerful.
@nine-effing-hells — Cairn to Athusis
Actually, this card was one of my favorites from the contest. I’m a heavy Gruul player when I’m not playing cruel control, and I think the gist of this card is super interesting. You made it an enchantment artifact AND a shrine, giving flavor there as well to your new world. The only thing I would have changed is erasing that first sentence from your flavor text entirely. The second is so powerful that it stands on its own. It’s poetic without being overwrought, specific to the world and building off of known tropes. Also, it tells us that “orcs are RG in this world” which is a great mechanical touch. Just needed that little bit of trimming.
@real-aspen-hours — Deflect Consequences
Now this is an interesting card!... What practical use does it have? I’m curious what this has on something like Harmless Offering. I don’t believe that cast triggers will be affected. Maybe it would specifically go against things like “counter target spell you don’t control” or something, but if control changes... I’m uncertain of this card’s applications past the gimmick point. That said, it would be fun to cast a Leveler and have it enter the battlefield under an opponent’s control. I’m not in love with the flavor text. It’s fine. Doesn’t light my world on fire. A touch wordy. But it’s fine. Fits the name and the ability well, so that’s nice.
@reaperfromtheabyss — Inconquerable Alseid
Besides the fact that “Hope” should be lowercase and separated by a colon, the flavor text is really cool! I don’t like this card much. It’s honestly fine, and it’s an interesting commander card that could lead to some cool consequences, but there’s a reason Undaunted has reminder text. It doesn’t look good floating there by itself. There are some abilities that just need reminder text all the time, and Undaunted is on so few cards that it significantly needs this. I think I was a little too harsh on this card on my first go-around, but I haven’t warmed up to it yet. I think the great flavor could have been used on a simpler, more protective card.
@scavenger98 — Kadalla the Scornful
I’m 99% sure it should go “First strike, deathtouch, haste.” Order of keywords is weird sometimes. So are creature types. I don’t really understand the world on which an Elf can be Mardu colors. It’s a stretch of the imagination to say the least. The card itself is...fine? I’d honestly make her an uncommon in today’s world. Yeah, she’s powerful, but she’s a 2/1 for three with all different mana symbols. Regarding the flavor, it’s well-worded, but it’s lengthy and doesn’t actually tell us anything about the character or the world. It doesn’t inform the card, and that’s its major misstep. Again, though, good writing.
@shandylamb — Multani’s Offspring
A fine card, a funny flavor. Just so you know, though, “Saproling” is pretty much only relegated to the token, and this card would probably see print as a plant or fungus. And additionally, as nice as the pun is... What’s this card even trying to say in the story? Multani’s only known child is Muldrotha, and that’s deep lore as-is. As funny as this card might be, it really doesn’t mesh with a Magic feel.
@starch255 — Unscrupulous Horpske
There are only two things I’m concerned about. Firstly: what about this creature makes it “unscrupulous?” What scruples does it have normally in its species? Secondly, this card is trying to make potato salad canon in the multiverse, and I don’t know if such a travesty would be allowed to happen. Potato salad is an affront to taste, no offense to the horpske.
Literally everything else about this card is a 10/10. I would also encourage you to work on a set symbol. Everyone should!
@teaxch — Hidden Seers
Interesting. So what timeline is this? Is this supposed to be, like, a return to Tarkir? Cool concept, I think, although I’m not entirely sold. After hearing the shaman’s whispers, why is Surrak’s first instinct to assume that without dragons a human would lead the clan? Wouldn’t the thought of a world without dragons evoke other thoughts and fears first? That’s my main hand-iffy-motion reason. This is also a supremely petty nitpick, probably the pettiest thing I’ve ever said about a card, but if this is the Dragon timeline then wouldn’t the watermark be the Atarka one instead of the Temur one?
@tmstage — Apostasy
Everything about this card is good...individually. Great name, but what does that have to do with the ability? What is it trying to depict? What does shuffling your library have to do with religious dogma? And the flavor text feels overbearing. Nykita as a character is someone I’d like to know more about, but this card doesn’t tell me much about her. It’s mostly that the mechanics and the flavor don’t mesh in the least, and, well, it’s not a good mechanic. Shuffling is time-consuming, game-prolonging, and has no discernible benefit to the game outside of incredibly niche cards that mostly don’t affect you as the player. And the more I read the flavor text, the less it makes sense. “Allow the world to deform your flawed notions?” It sounds awesome, but what does it mean?
~
Thank you all for your submissions. New contest tomorrow.
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Match up 🌠
Ahhh your match ups are so thorough and well written I am in love! I'd like to get one for myself if I could bother you🌸 I also hope I'm doing this the right way otherwise I'm so sorry 😭💕
I'm 20, female, dark chestnut hair currently in a short bob/bangs, brown eyes which can sometimes look kinda brick colored, round glasses... I'm 168cm and more thin than curvy.
I'm an INFJ-T with an emphasis on the the turbulent. Kidding- but really I love alone time. I'm a very naturally nocturnal person, I love spending time with people in bursts but I usually can only handle being around calmer people for a longer time. When I'm alone I have a lot of passions I like to work on, studying Japanese, music composition, guitar, playing strategy games, drawing and writing... If I'm needing physical stuff I like to try and self teach choreography from videos when I can. Depression+anxiety have been known to get in the way of these passions for sure- but in the past years I've sought a lot of help+treatment and while I'm not a generally positive person internally- I'm alright 😌💕
When I am with people, I tend to try and be very bubbly and kind- most people know me as a very silly and caring person(but 100% scatterbrained, and a constant worrier- I would lose my head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders). I have a lot of trouble accepting any of that- but I have some very supportive people in my life banging it into my head... I am very easily flustered, and usually end up at the receiving end of teasing. I do pretend to dislike this, and I'm genuinely very flustered but truth be told- it's funny for everyone involved so I'm okay with it~ I do wish I didn't turn red in the face so easily though...
Worrier coming thru here... I don't know if this is too rambly or anything, feel free to let me know- but thank you so much for having these open and doing such great work with them. 💕
Hi, there love! Awwww you make me blush thanks so much for the kind words <3<3! I Hope you are doing well! Here is your long-awaited matchup! Sorry for taking soooooooooooo long..... Hope you enjoy it and have a good day!😊 💕
So I match you with……………. Mitsuhide
The night you saved Nobunaga from the fire; you ran for your life. After meeting Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, all you wanted to do were flee, and you did. You had run away so fast that you almost flung yourself of a cliff… Thank goodness for Yukimura! You were so startled and freaked out luckily there was a friendly face among all the unknowns, and that would be Sasuke. He explained the whole concept of time travel to you and asked if you would like to stay with him. You looked at the bunch of strange men, and they all looked fall less intimidating than the few you had met from the Oda forces. You smiled at Sasuke and gave him a small nod. And so you journeyed your way back to Kasugayama castle with the strange lot.
They were an odd bunch of men, but you had come to really love them and adopt them as your new brothers. The people of Kasugayama castle love your sweet, silly caring personality. You and Kenshin had especially hit it off due to your interests in strategy games. Kenshin had taken his role of overprotective brother very seriously. He will be the one to pull you out of banquets when he sees you getting tired from all the interaction. He is always there to help you and protect you whenever you are in trouble, and he would always send his army of bunnies to comfort you whenever you are feeling sad.
One day you were out in the market shopping for some sake and sweet buns for the banquet that night. You were having a good relaxing time window shopping when some unusual music caught your attention. You followed the music and your eyes widened in awe when you saw a troop of dancers performing. You walked closer to get a better look, and your breath caught in your throat when you saw the most beautiful man you had ever seen, perform a dance. The choreography and music were spot on and almost made you want to dance along to the music with them. You felt absolutely mesmerized watching the white-haired man dance. His eyes locked with you for a brief second and you could have sworn that he gave you the smallest of smiles before he looked away. When the show was over, you were going to congratulate the troop on a beautiful show, but there were way too many women swarming around the men, so you decided to rather make your way back home.
As you were walking back, the white-haired dancer ran up to you and grabbed your shoulder to stop you. “Little mouse it seems you have dropped your coin pouch”. Your eyes widened in horror; it must have fallen during the show, you profusely thanked the mysterious man. Mitsuhide was definitely intrigued by this little mouse he had stumbled upon. He started to tease you and was most amused by the way your face broke out into the most beautiful blush. The two of you had some tea together as a thank you for returning the coin pouch to you. Mitsuhide teased the shit out of you during the whole tea date, not that you minded you found that you really enjoyed his company. After tea, the two of you parted never to see each other again, you had to admit that thought made you feel a little sad on the inside.
One day Yukimura and Sasuke announced that they were going to go to Azuchi to spy on the Oda forces. You low key wanted to go along for the adventure. Needless to say, it took some time to convince Kenshin to let you go, but he couldn’t say no to his dearest sister’s puppy dog eyes. You were so happy and excited that he agreed. You and Sasuke entered into Azuchi disguised as performers while Yuki went disguised as a merchant. You were super excited to be able to use your skills, bringing joy and smiles to all the people around you. You and Sasuke would put on a little performance every afternoon. You danced and played the guitar. And Sasuke performed a one-man play.
As you were dancing during one of your performances, you saw a familiar face in the crowed smirking up at you. “My my little mouse, I never expected to stumble upon you this afternoon, much less witness your beautiful talent”. Mitsuhide invited you back to his Manor for some tea and card games. Which you really enjoyed considering you have been playing strategy and card games with Kenshin, so you definitely gave this sneki boi a run for his money. You really enjoyed the calm aura he gave off; you could talk to him for hours without feeling exhausted. You and Mitsuhide landed up staying up all night chatting and laughing, he was low key surprised when he looked out the window to see the sun almost rising. “aren’t you tired little one”. “Nope, I’m just naturally nocturnal, plus it's in the peace of the night when I get the most work done”. He simply smiled his kitsune like smile at you and offered to walk you back home. On your way home, the two of you stopped and sat down on a park bench watching the sunrise together. The two of you spent a lot of time together after that night. Both of you would always “coincidentally” run into each other all the time and land up hanging out for hours.
Mitsuhide both loved and was concerned for your scattered brain clumsiness. He would constantly worry about you when you weren’t near him. He could swear you would lose your head if it weren’t attached to your shoulders. Whenever the two of you are together, he would insist on holding your hand “can’t let my dearest mouse get lost now, can I”. TBH at this point, Mitsuhide was madly in love with you, he loved your sweet, caring nature. He loves how you could talk his ears off for hours. He also really loves the small doodles you draw on the napkins in the various teahouses the two of you have been to.
He knew you were close with the people in Kasugayama, but he couldn’t help but be attracted to you and feel the need to make you his. One day Yukimura announced that the three of you had been summoned back to Kasugayama, you were honestly so deflated. You had just fallen in love with Mitsuhide, and now you had to go back home. You sat with Mitsu in his manor the day before your departure. He could tell that something had been on your mind. You had told him EVERYTHING. Honestly, he knew of your connections to Kenshin, but he was truly shook when you mentioned that you were from the future. You had also told him that you honestly didn’t want to leave just yet. Little did you know this fox was ten steps ahead of you and had already plotted a plan.
When you said goodbye, Mitsuhide sent you off with the sweetest smile and a small kisses on the forehead, nose and finally lips and promised to see you again soon.
You were back in Kasugayama’s garden playing with the sweet army of bunnies when a small fox appeared carrying a letter. IT WAS FROM MITSU! He had said that we would see you soon. Little did you know the sly fox was in a meeting that very moment with the god of war. They had come to an agreement that Mitsu was allowed to see you, but if he ever hurt you, or if he causes you any tears, Kenshin would hunt Mitsu down and kill him. Mitsu smiled his fox smile and agreed. You were summoned to your brother’s room and boy oh boy were you confused when you saw Mitsuhide sitting there, without Kenshin having a sword at his throat threatening him. Kenshin asked if you loved the fox and when you replied with a small nod. He smiled at you and gave you his blessing. You couldn’t help but ran up to Kenshin and gave him the biggest bear hug thanking him. The second part of the agreement was that the two of you were to attend a farewell banquet for you that night.
The next morning you were off with Mitsu to start your new life together. The Oda forces welcomed you with opened arms. Finally, someone to keep their resident kitsune in check. Mitsu loved you so much and spent every second of everyday showering you with affection. He would always be there for you, especially when you were feeling anxious or insecure. He would wrap you up in his warm arms while soothingly stroking your silky hair. He would whisper words of reassurance in your ears to help ease the anxiety. Your favourite place in the world would be in is his arms. You love how Mitsu even respects your alone time, giving you some space when he sees that you need some time to recharge on his own
The two of you can often be found spending time together, whether it is just the two silently sitting in his room, enjoying each other presence or time spent cuddled in each other’s arms. One thing is for sure, and that is you are truly happy with the sweet kitsune and that you had found your new home
Other potential matches.................... Kenshin
Hope, you enjoyed it, love! 💕@tsuki-no-usagiii
#matchups#ikesen matchup#match ups#akechi mitsuhide#mitsuhide akechi#ikemen sengoku mitsuhide#mitsuhide matchup#submission
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Cyran’s Advisory or An Ill Omen
Cyran cracked his knuckles and looked at his friends around the Hexes Over Hoaxes table in their meeting room. Losana met his gaze evenly as he dealt the cards, placed markers on the board. Everyone whistled and clapped in anticipation. He was acting as dealer for the first round, but he would become a player on the second round.
This was the Rainglen Certification College tournament. Winner would actually win a scholarship to the college and a free seat on the highly-venerated debate club. Cyran aimed to win today. A queue of participants had formed around the table, but the existing members were selected first since they had the experience and had won the qualifying round.
To win Hexes Over Hoaxes, you had to play with precision. Sometimes, it was even expedient to aim to lose... loss wasn't confirmed until everyone was dead in a geopolitical landgrab game. It was even possible for characters to come back from the dead, using necromancy. Never say die until the final dice is cast. And he always aimed to win.
With his quick wits and sharp thinking, he was a shoe-in to win. Everyone took their starting positions and discussed invasion and trade strategies. They took the obvious spots. Where could he go, second, that was less obvious? How could he make his play?
Surprisingly, he chose a less-used position in the north, on an island. From this point, he would have to draft many trade treaties and start an armada of boats to get those goods to other countries and players and also start construction a navy.
Games could last hours. Some of the early attendant players left. Only the current boardgamers and judges remained, close friends, families, and fans of the tournament. It was always like this. Popular at first, then whittled down to the hardcore enthusiasts or those that had real reason to be here and participate.
It wasn't about pride. It was about power. It was about control of the board, even when you were at a disadvantage.
Cyran's mind was whirling, calculating the wins and losses he had sustained in battle. It was close. In fact, his closest competition was his girlfriend, Losana. God, he loved her sharp mind. Everything he loved about that woman and in playing this game was the reason why he wanted to marry her someday. Maybe even start a family. No, stop, Cyran! You're getting distracted...
He had a boat send a peace treaty offer with a white flag.
She shot it down before it even got to shore. So much for that.
With his last remaining forces, he made a suicidal charge for her borders. Through careful play and use of his remaining units, he whittled down her military. She might have a fortress, but he would starve her out and he did. Cyran was frequently known for his ruthless final plays.
This time, it won him the game.
Losana cried tears of both happiness and anger that he won and not her. He hugged her, crying, promising to make her proud. When they got outside for a picture to be painted, he erupted his breath of fire into the air to make a column of smoke, he was so happy. The wyvern finally made the dragon proud. So much for not being a "real dragon."
They handed him his plaque for winning the tournament, which he took beaming. A full year of college and he owed nothing, all thanks to what his mother once called "a huge waste of time." The next week, he was on the debate team. By the end of the year, he was the advisor to the debate team.
Cyran thought of all this as he prepared to kill one of his subordinates in the Artifact Guild for thievery. The man had already lost a hand and this was the final cost for disobeying Cyran's directives here. Even the tighter regulations and rules hadn't stopped some from stealing what has rightfully his.
Every dragon has a right to his hoard. No one wants to lose what they've worked for, what they've earned, no matter what the cost or means to get it.
And Losana was dead now. He had only Omen to look after and he was determined to completely own Mistseek by the time she came of age. Here, baby, an entire city just for you. Just like in Hexes Over Hoaxes.
All those lessons served him well now.
Cyran Moonsplit lowered his trident as the handless guild member quivered and cried. His name was pointless. Cyran didn't even remember it. He just remembered the twisting feeling of betrayal in his gut, the darkness. Just like the night he found out Losana died of Devilstongue. Finding out it was possibly genetic in origin. Just like her own father had died of it, so too, she had gone.
The guild member was trying to crawl away. Cyran made a motion and the bodyguards kicked and punched him into submission. Cyran raised the trident and pushed the sharp ends directly into his heart. The guy screamed and cried more, wailing. Musical, almost.
This was what thieves deserved. This was what all thieves deserved.
Cyran made this guild into what it was based on order and clarity: we regulate the unsafe curses. We protect this town. We sell what we make, we buy more supplies, we expand and we keep everything running. Without order, what did you get? Chaos. And he hated disorder and chaos.
Cyran burned the poor stallion alive and ground him beneath his claws. He was nothing but charred embers by the time he was done. Then he pumped his fist over his head, still clutching his trident. It wasn't about just pride... it was about power.
It was about control.
"Clean up this mess!" he told his underlings and they obeyed. He went to the washroom to clean his suit until it was immaculate again and then washed his trident under the taps. Here, the water was filtered from safe groundwell sources and water-trees. By Losus, someday, he would have this town curse free again. Then no one would have to suffer like he had.
Maybe, if they hadn't all been beset by the curse, Losana might still be alive and Omen might still have a mother. Now, he was the mother. He was the mom. It was a heavy burden for him.
Mocha took his coat as he left. The loyal boar was always at his side with a quick quip or funny joke. Today, no joke. He looked extremely serious and coughed.
"Sir, your tie too? Now that we're done?"
"We're never done," Cyran growled. "There's always another traitor out there coming to get what I've build and they'll all get what's coming to them. I hate thieves. I hate thieves more than anything else in the world. They're cowardly and they're scared. They don't want to earn what they have, they just want to take."
Mocha just nodded, a little pale. His older brother was one of Cyran's best fighters in a pinch. Everything here, he made! Not without help, certainly, but he deserved this. He deserved to enjoy the fruits of his labors. He came from nothing and he gave Omen a home, a future.
He still had Losana's boat in the harbor. All that work to become a certified captain and she never really got to sell her own vessel unattended. He hoped someday soon, Omen would show interest in sailing again and she would take the rudder just like Losana had wanted her to someday.
In fact, he let his feet take him outside the Artifact Guild building (a massive white square edifice dominating the center of the city.) His wings took him further, out to the harbor beside the hollow burned-out church to Losus. Against the pier, it bobbed quietly. It was a massive craft and would have made any dragon proud. Harmonywood, still polished. He kept it painted. About once a week, he would take it on the sea and fish and look for fresh sources of new cursewater for the deadglass artifactory. Her name was Losana now.
Once, Losana had named her boat after him.
Now, he had named in after her, in memory of her. The years weighed down on him, like a stone. Times like this, facing the salty air and the open skies, he wondered if it was worth it. His daughter was showing a worrying interest in thievery and had taken to common burglery herself in the guild. He was trying to crack down on it, restricting her hobby time, increasing chore time, giving her time-outs and restricted quarters to her room but it just didn't seem to be working.
She was smart and resourceful, just like him. His favorite artifacts kept going missing and he pretended not to notice, but he knew. In his own way, he was proud of her. She was fighting what she saw as an unfair system and taking what belonged to her. In her own way, just like him. Truly his daughter.
Everything he did, he did for her. His precious Omen.
He still remembered picking out a name for her. His precious blue hatchling in his arms, with her big red eyes looking up at her. He picked out Omen... a religious name that Losana had suggested. In Losan literature, there would be an omen of hope born that meant that the tree would eternally return, over and over, to the coast of Pendalosa and always grow anew every year.
Even though they lost their Losan god, people still believed in their hearts that the stump would begin growing again, when faith was strong enough.
In his heart, Cyran believed it too. And that's why she was called Omen.
He paced up and down the pier for close to an hour, just thinking. How to handle his unruly child? The thieves, the traitors, the spies? They all wanted to bring down what he built but he couldn't allow that, obviously.
At that time, he began work on the Tear.
It started as a coin with a single frozen curse imbued in it: the power to see and hear for long distances. Then a quadruplicate curse was overlain.
In time, the coin would carry seven curses in all and become The Tear In Reality. It would never leave Cyran’s side.
Omen always was a word with more than one meaning.
#omen#cyran#writing#sparse#oddments#oddments shop#pevrea#original#backstory#villain#cyran moonsplit#hoaxes over hexes#losana moonsplit#losana#omen moonsplit#writingcommunity#amwriting#amwritingfantasy
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Marichat May Day 27: Kitten Noir
Summary:
When a lovestruck Chat Noir needs love counseling and his usual men aren't available, he decides to go for advice to the twin brother of his beloved: Marin. Will Marin know who is Chat Noir talking about? Will Chat end up sliping and revealing his feelings for Marinette?
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Things weren't okay. Everything was so wrong, that it almost looked that he had finally inherited the bad luck of black cats. First, her realizes his enormous love for Marinette. Then, his father decides to pull temporarily Adrien and Adrienne from school because of the so often akuma attacks, so he can't exactly talk about his feelings to anyone aside from Plagg, Plaggue and Adrienne, but girls were a big no no because they'd definitely tell Marinette without letting him prepare. To make things worse, he couldn't talk with any of his friends. Nino's signal, internet ad the whole electric net had collapsed and he wouldn't get it back for who knows how long. Alen, even if telling him was a bit of a wild card, was visiting his family outside of Paris and his parents had confisqued his phone. And he wouldn't see Lordbug in a whole month.
He couldn't wait. His feelings for Marinette had only grown exponentially ever since he had realized about them, to the point that he was most of the time looking at photos of her, with a pinching sensation on his chest that wouldn't go away. He needed help, but his father or Natalie weren't a good option to ask for advice. Gorilla and Orangutan were... Well, he didn't think they would answer to his pleas for help because they were most of the time away with father or Nathalie. And Plagg only told him to forget about girls and eat cheese. Then, as if either heaven or hell had decided to grant him a bit of inspiration, an idea came. He could ask the closest on to Marinette, her twin brother Marin.
But there was a huge flaw. He and Marin didn't exactly get along well. Adrien couldn't trust him, since Adrienne was blinded in love for him and Marin could easily use her love to his advantadge. For some reason, Marin also didn't really like Adrien for some reason that Adrien didn't know. There was only one option left: Asking Marin for advice, but as Chat Noir, not Adrien. The only problem? He wanted to be with Marinette as Adrien Agreste, so he could take her to dates and invite her to his tournaments and his fashionn shows, something he wouldn't be able to do if he dated her as Chat Noir. Therefore, he'd had to ask about girls in general, not focusing on a certain person.
With a plan on mind and a well-fed tiny destruction god, he transformed into Chat Noir and leaped out of his window. He set destination to Marin's rooftop and proceded to jump and pole-vault his way there. A whirlwind of thoughts clouded his mind as he overthought about what would be happening next. Of course, he hoped that everything would go smooth, that he'd get good advice without Marin knowing that he was talking about Marinette. However, based on his recen streak of bad luck, he wasn't feeling too confident about it. When he arrived to Marin's rooftop, he had to calm himself and muster courage before knocking thrice on Marin's trapdoor. Seconds later, Marin takes a peak to see who might be and is genuinelly surprised to see Chat Noir.
"Chat Noir? Is everything okay?" asks Marin worried. "You seem... Troubled".
"Nothing escapes from your sight, does it?" says Chat Noir. "I am troubled, but don't worry it has nothing to do with akumas. I need advice and I heard that you're quite good at it".
"I'm guessing that was Kitty's advice, wasn't it? She usually asks me a lot of things while we chat"says Marin as he opens the trapdoor. "Come inside, let's talk".
Chat enters Marin's room. "Actually, it wasn't, she doesn't know I came and I'd like to keep it like that".
"I see. The advice must either be about your sister or about something you wouldn't want her to hear" analyzes Marin. "What is it? Are you in a sort of fight? Any sort of debt? Or is it perhaps love troubles?"
"Stop it with the guessing! I won't have anything to ask if you keep going like that!" protests Chat blushing.
"Sorry, it's just my nature" apollogizes Marin. "So, what can I offer to you?"
"I need some love advice and you're my last hope" says Chat Noir.
"Okay. I'll let you know beforehand, I only have experience rejecting people, but I hope I can e of help regardless" says Marin. "Now, what do you need? Dating advice? How to confess withou all the... flashy stuff you did with Ladybug?"
"I am aware that most of the things I tried with M'Lady were futile, thanks. But I'm no longer pursuing her, since another girl has stolen my heart slowly without me noticing" says Chat Noir.
"I see. And you need to confess then" points Marin. "Can I know a bit about the girl? Just the basics, like her personalitiy and that".
"She's... She's like an oasis in an unforgivable desert. She's like the light of the beacon that leads the sailors to land. She's bright, warm, kind, humble, clever, funny, selfless and so adorable that I melt whenever I see her" says Chat daydreaming.
"Wow, you sure got it hard man" says Marin with a whistle. "Okay, from your description I got more or less an idea of how is the girl. It reminds me a bit to a friend of mine Adrienne and also to my sister Marinette, so I'll use them as a reference. Is that okay?"
"Okay" says Chat Noir mentally screaming.
"We might have a problem sinde both of them like someone else now that I think about it..." says Marin. "Do you know if she likes someone?"
"I- I don't know? Wait, you're saying that Marinette likes someone?" asks Chat curiously.
"She has for quite some time, but I can't tell you anything else if I want to keep my head" says Marin. "Anyways, I'll be using them as examples".
"Okay, go on" says Chat Noir puzzled as he tries to think who can Marinette be in love with, reaching to the conclusion that is Luka.
"So, let's say you wanted to propose to this girl. You said that she's humble, so a big flashy confession might not be the best to do" says Marin. "Something simple but tha spoke big words about you intention could be the best. Maybe a casual and unplanned confession in the spur of the moment or simply being there for her can build up some good relationship between both of you, but the later might not end up in romance if you don't eventually confess".
"So, I should simply confess randomly without any plan?" asks Chat Noir.
"Chat, you're someone who is guided by your instincts, by your heart. But you try to get logical when it comes to love. All those confessions to Ladybug? Dude, I can tell that most of them where straight out from an anime, they were far too cliché" says Marin. "And I know for a fact that Lordbug told you not to do most of those".
"Okay, maybe I should have listened a bit more to Lordug rather than imitating my only reference of love" admits Chat.
"Definitely. Back to your question: Should you simply do it randomly and don't plan anything? No" says Marin. "It may sound like I'm contradicting myself, but trust me, I have a fair idea".
"Okay, I'll trust you" says Chat Noir nodding. "Say, if you were to confess to... Adrienne, was it? How would you do it?"
"You're putting me in a tight spot in here you know" says Marin. "I know who does Adrienne like and i also like her, but I can't simply confess to her due to a lot of circumstances".
"Surething but, how would you confess?" insists Chat Noir.
"I'd take her out on a date and I'd confess directly, without using any roundabout way to tell her, just simply telling her that I love her" says Marin.
"And you think that would work? Isn't she like, a supermodel" asks Chat Noir.
"Please,are you really dubting the one you're asking for help?" asks Marin raising a brow. "She might be a gorgeous and famous girl, but she'd never expect a cute and simple confession. It'd caught her by surprise and give her little time to react, thus making her choose between a yes or a no. Of course, I wouldn't put any pressure on her to answer".
"And say, if that guy your sister likes, I'm guessing he's that guitarrist boy, confessed to her, would the same strategy work?" asks Chat Noir.
"First of all, the guy my sister likes isn't Luka. Second of all, it could work if it wasn't for the fact that my sister would get an anxiety attack most likely in that situation. In her case, I think that being there for here and supporting her would be good to establish a good base for a relationship and then confessing to her".
"So, let's say this misterious guy has a good relationship with her, how would he confess to not stress her?" asks Chat curiously.
"Okay, even if she likes a civilian, let's say that you're the guy she likes and you like her back, but you don't know it" says Marin. "It'd be easy. Marinette has her own plans for hr future, including who she wants to marry and how would her family be. She loves to think about the future and she pictures herself how her life will be. If you'd want to confess, you should first tell her what kind of life you see yourself having with her and then, propose to her".
"I don't understand, how could that possibly work? Unless I depicted a scenario like hers I'd stand little to no chance" says Chat Noir.
"You're wrong Chat. You're not trying to be like her. If your version of the future can fit with hers or if it's a thoughtful and cute future she could relate with, then those would make hr fall for you" says Marin. "Let's try. Imagine what kind of life you see living with the girl you like and tell me".
Chat reflects and thinks about it, getting an idea of how would he like to live with Marinette in the future. "Well, to begin with, I'd love to take her on dates, not only to fancy restaurants and so, but also having dates at home, cuddling in the soffa as we watch some movies and play some games".
"Sounds good, what else?" says Marin.
"I'd love to marry her in private, just with our families and close friends, something discreet and cute. Then I'd like to havetwo- No, three kids with her and a pet. Probably a hamster, I like hamsters" says Chat Noir.
"I see, what about the jobs? The house chores?" asks Marin.
"I think that I'd love to be most of the time with the kids, so I'd probably be an stay-at-home that and take care of everything, preparing warm flip flops and tasty food for when she cames back from work" says Chat Noir. "But if she wanted to be at home, then I'd take a job like physics teacher, because I like physics".
"That sounds like a well-thought future. If the girl is anything like Marinette, she'd probably like that kind of future. What about the names of the kids thought?" asks Marin. "Please don't tell me you're naming any of them Kitten Noir".
"No, there won't be any Kitten Noir, all of my kids would be my kittens so I couldn't only name one like that" says Chat Noir laughing. "I don't know about the names, I think I'd probably let her choose, she's more creative than I am anyways".
"Fair enough I guess. Now, since I don't know who's the lucky girl and I understand you're not telling me because of secret identities and so, it's up to you to do choose to follow one of my two ideas or get some more advice" says Marin. "Thought, if you end picking one of my ideas and it does actually works... Please, whatever you do, don't promise me to name your firstborn after me. I already have someone doing that".
"The reporter boy? Alen?" asks Chat Noir.
"The one and only. I'm never giving him again an idea for a Valentine's date" says Marin with a serious tone.
"I'll make sure not to" says Chat and he stands up. "Thank you Marin, this was... Really helpful actually".
"Thank you Chat. Remember, feel free to come whenever you need something else" says Marin. Just as Chat is crossing the trapdoor, Marin stands up. "Good luck with your confession! I hope my sister says yes".
Chat doesn't have enough time to react before Marin disappears from his room and leaves Chat dumbfounded in his rooftop thinking when did he fucked up and why did Marin encourage him like that.
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Meta Perspective (9)
By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67
Warnings: Fear, panic, crying, and mention of someone being hurt
(Check the reblog for the links to any future chapters)
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Allison paced in the walls, right next to her exit that lead to underneath the human couch. The same entrance she had retreated to when the humans let her go. She couldn’t believe she was actually considering it...but what other choice did she really have? These were humans that she was dealing with. And the only ones that could go against humans were other humans.
She really didn’t want to go back to Roman and Logan, though. Especially since she was scared of what they would do when she told them about Amanda. Would they keep both of them? Be happy that there was now one for each of them? Which one would want to keep her?
She shook those thoughts away. They were a very real possibility but at least they had never physically hurt her. She would rather deal with two known threats than two unknown ones. And from what she saw of the humans that had Amanda, well...Amanda had looked hurt.
She had to get her away from them.
Taking a deep breath, she exited the walls and came up to the edge of the couch, looking and listening out for the humans to see what they were up to.
Logan was sat in the armchair of the living room, typing away at his computer. It didn’t seem like he had noticed the borrower’s entrance.
Allison looked around but she didn’t see Roman anywhere, not in the living room at least. That didn’t mean he wasn’t somewhere else in the apartment though.
Okay, how was she going to do this? Just walk out in the open and say it? Or climb the coffee table and just wait until he saw her.
...She took out her hook and started scaling up the coffee table.
It was a few seconds before Logan caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced up, eyebrows raising in surprise at the sight of Allison climbing up the coffee table. So, she really hadn’t left. Intriguing. Roman had hoped she would stay around, but Logan had not been so trusting. To be proven wrong was an unexpected yet welcomed surprise.
Of course, Logan had not forgotten the procedures he and his roommate had promised just before Allison left. So, a man of his word, just as soon as he spotted the borrower Logan quickly diverted his attention back to his laptop, acting as though he had seen nothing at all.
Allison pulled herself onto the coffee table and looked over towards Logan. It seemed like he still hadn’t noticed her. Well...he would notice her eventually, right? She should probably just call out to him but...Allison didn’t currently possess the courage for that. It was taking everything in her to not run away right now but she had to do this, for Amanda. So, she waited.
It was several minutes before anything happened. That was when Roman entered the apartment, returning from his early class. He spotted Allison and let out an audible gasp.
“How was the lecture?” Logan asked sharply, trying to discreetly remind him of the correct reaction.
Roman blinked, almost mournfully turning to Logan. “Oh, uh...fine.”
Allison blinked. That was...weird. Roman had clearly seen her but...he was ignoring her. They were both ignoring her.
She suddenly remembered them saying they would act like she wasn’t there if she stayed. She...never thought they would actually do it. It would be great, in any other circumstance. Now though, it was a little annoying. Now, she had no choice but to speak out.
“H-Hey.” She stuttered quietly, though she knew the humans would be able to hear her.
Immediately both heads snapped in her direction.
“Hey,” Roman repeated softly, a grin forming on his face. He got down on his hands and knees, slowly crawling slightly closer towards the coffee table to appear less intimidating.
“Why have you returned?” Logan asked, getting up to put an arm out to stop Roman’s idiotic movements.
Allison took several steps back as Roman came closer, thankful when Logan stopped Roman. She let out a shaky sigh. “I...I need your help…” She said after some hesitation.-
“Our help with what?” Logan crouched down. “We will certainly assist you in any way we can.”
“I have a...friend,” Allison revealed. “She was the reason...you found me in your room…” Allison said, sending a glance towards Roman. “I was trying to look for her.”
Roman’s mouth made the shape of an ‘o’. “That makes a lot more sense.”
“Are you still looking for her, then?” Logan glanced around. “Do you expect her to be somewhere in this apartment?”
“No, no, I...I found her.” Allison paused for a moment, collecting herself. This was it. “...Humans have her.”
“Oh no,” Roman said softly.
“Do you know which humans?” Logan pressed, immediately trying to formulate a plan. “Where are they?”
Allison nodded. “I don’t know their names...but they’re the humans who live on the floor below you guys,” Allison answered. She bit her lip. So far, so good.
“Virgil and Patton?” Logan said incredulously.
Roman burst out laughing at this. “Oh, if she’s with them, you have nothing to worry about. Patton wouldn’t let Virgil hurt a fly.”
Allison blinked. “Wh-What? No! No, you don’t understand, Amanda is in trouble!” Wait...those names were familiar...she had heard those names when she went to school with them! Those were the humans who had Amanda? And Logan and Roman were friends with them.
Oh no.
“I am certain there is a reasonable explanation for this,” Logan assured her, elbowing Roman to stop him from laughing.
“I’d say!” Allison yelled. “They have her captured and are torturing her! Probably as we speak!” If those injuries were anything to go by, she had to have been tortured. Oh, poor Amanda…
“Let us not jump to conclusions.” Logan put his hands up.
“Okay, okay.” Roman eased off, realizing how upset Allison was about this. “We’ll give them a call, see what’s up.” He began to pull out his phone, already pressing through the menus.
Allison’s eyes widened. “W-Wait!”
Roman paused. “...what’s the problem? I thought you wanted your friend back.”
“I-I do, but you can’t let the others know that we know. They could plan something! We-We need to catch them off guard to get Amanda back.” Allison said. “Besides, who knows what they would do if they found out about me too.”
“Okay…” Roman looked unconvinced, but he slowly put away his phone. “Then what do you suggest we do?”
“Uh…” Allison bit her lip. “I...I don’t know. That’s why I came back to you guys…” She wouldn’t have come back if she knew how to get Amanda back without them.
“Well…” Logan put a hand to his chin. “We could interrogate them in person, would that suffice?”
Allison thought for a moment before nodding. “I-yeah, that sounds good. Just...don’t let them talk you into anything…” Allison said. She was more worried now, knowing all the humans were friends.
“Talk us into what sort of things?” Roman asked, tilting his head.
“...Keeping us.” Allison spoke quietly, looking down. “Or even hurting us…”
“Allison, we would do no such thing,” Logan said firmly.
“Yeah, we learned our lesson!” Roman agreed, throwing his arm around Logan’s shoulders. “We’ll make sure that both you and your friend are safe!”
Allison felt her lips twitch up in a little smile. “Thank you…” She said shyly. “Can...can we go now? I don’t want to waste any more time.” She had already wasted enough just trying to gain the courage to come out here and ask.
Logan and Roman looked at each other.
“Well, ah, there is a slight problem with that plan.” Roman removed his arm from Logan’s back to rub sheepishly at his neck.
Allison froze. “Wh-What?”
“Virgil and Patton are in classes at this time,” Logan explained. “Of course, we could go confront them at the school. Then you could scour their apartment for their friend.”
“Although, if they’re like us, they probably brought her with them.” Roman suddenly gave an amused chuckle. “Okay, am I the only one who thinks it’s funny that we both found a tiny person within the same time frame?”
“...Yes.” Allison answered. “It’s terrifying, not funny.”
Roman’s chuckle quickly turned into an awkward cough, the human looking embarrassed. “Right. Ah, my apologies.”
“And I’d...rather not go to school,” Allison spoke, looking down. “Again.” Of course, they could do whatever they wanted but she hoped the little bit of trust she was putting in them to help her was warranted.
“Alright, then we can stay here and wait for their return,” Logan suggested.
“...I-I guess we have to, huh?” If she didn’t want to go to school but Amanda was at school. She would have to wait. And it didn’t make sense for her to go back into the walls until they came back.
“Well, you don’t have to stay.” Roman corrected, still feeling guilty about his last slip-up. “We won’t force you to do anything.”
“No, no it doesn’t make sense for me to go back in the walls when I’ll just have to come back out again…” Allison told them. She should be fine, as long as the humans didn’t try to grab her or anything like that again.
“Okay, well if you’re certain, perhaps we could have some fun passing the time.” Roman dared to look hopeful. “We could play a game!”
Allison blinked. “A game? What kind of game?”
“I don’t think it’s quite the time for games-” Logan’s statement was cut off by an exciting burst from Roman.
“Any game!” Roman exclaimed. “I’ve got card games, board games, strategy games, silly games, video games…”
Allison perked up. “Video games?” Allison had seen humans play video games before. They looked so fun and she always felt sad when she realized she would never have the chance to play them. But now… “I’ve...I’ve always wanted to play a video game.”
“Then a video game we shall play!” Roman all but dove towards the entertainment stand, setting up the controllers.
“Perhaps a lower level game would be best,” Logan suggested, wanting to ease Allison into it. He glanced at her for a moment. “Something that will not require too many controls.”
“Yeah…” She wasn’t even sure if she could play. She had seen the controllers and controls. If it got too complicated, it might not work.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Roman hid his first choice back in the box, peering in to see what games they had that would fit the criteria. Roman frowned, not finding a lot of options. “Ooh, this might do. What about animal crossing?”
“Animal crossing?” Allison asked. “What’s that?” It didn’t sound familiar.
“It’s a game where you play as the mayor and you take care of a little town,” Roman explained, setting up the game.
“Huh, that sounds interesting,” Allison said, taking a step closer towards Roman and the TV to see what the human was doing.
“This is you,” Roman explained, pointing to the screen. “And you move around like this.” After demonstrating the controls, Roman set it down in front of Allison to give her a try.
Allison furrowed her eyebrows and carefully pushed on the stick. The character on the screen moved and she blinked. She moved the other direction and the character went the same way. Her eyes widened. She was actually playing a video game! “Whoa…”
Roman raised a hand to his mouth, hiding his smile so as not to embarrass her. It was positively adorable how in awe she was at just character movement.
Allison continued to move her character around, grinning wide. She then ran into another person, er, animal. “Uh…” She ran her character into them but nothing happened. She looked up at Roman for help.
“Oh, press A,” Roman explained, pointing at the correct button.
Allison did as told and the animal on the screen started to talk. She read the words and grinned when she got a gift. “Oh! He gave me something!” She exclaimed, practically bouncing where she stood.
“They tend to do that.” Logan nodded. “It’s one of several possible encounters. You can open the parcel if you navigate to your menu.”
“Right here,” Roman instructed, guiding her through the steps.
Allison opened the menu and opened the gift. “Oh! I got bells!” She had no idea what those were in the game though since they didn’t look like the bells she had seen but she was happy nonetheless.
“That would be the in-game currency,” Logan explained. “If you would like to purchase something, there is a general store.”
“Oh! Um, okay.” Allison found the store with Roman’s help and ended up purchasing a desk. “Wow, I actually bought something.” She had never done that before.
“...yes?” Roman confirmed, tilting his head at Allison’s reaction. He did not quite understand the appeal of purchasing a paint can.
Allison turned to Roman. “I’ve never bought anything before.” She explained and then grinned back down at the controller. “What else can I do in this game?”
“Oh, well, you can water plants, shake trees, go fishing…” Roman began to list off the activities as he counted them on his fingers.
“Can...you show me how to fish? That sounds fun.” Allison asked, a bit hesitant.
“You have to approach the water,” Logan explained, pointing. “Go south.”
“Okay.” Allison found some water. “Now what?” She looked up at Logan.
“Pull out your fishing hook, then wait for a response,” Logan said. “After you’re patient you will be rewarded with the ability to press A and gain a virtual fish.”
Allison nodded and did as told after struggling to get her fish hook out for a few moments. She waited like Logan said before an A symbol appeared. She pressed down on it and then her character pulled up and then held up a fish towards the screen. “I got one!” Allison grinned.
Logan gave her a look of approval. Though video game achievements were arguably meaningless, he did not want to derive from her joyous victory. “Well done.”
Allison grinned and then looked back down at the controller. She stared at it for a moment, her smile turning into a frown. This was really fun but...she wasn’t even supposed to be playing this. She wasn’t supposed to be surrounded by humans, talking to them and listening to them explain how to play. This wasn’t right.
She felt bad about having fun too, knowing Amanda was probably being tortured as they spoke. With a sigh, she pushed the controller away. “I...I think I’m done.”
“Is everything alright?” Logan asked, noticing the change in behavior.
“I-I’m...fine.” She rubbed at her arm, turning away from both humans. “Are they back from school yet?”
“I doubt it,” Roman explained, slowly taking the controller back. “It’s hardly been an hour.”
Allison groaned and plopped down to a seated position in the middle of the coffee table putting her head in her hands. “...Why did this have to happen?” She asked quietly.
Roman and Logan looked at each other, uncertain.
“Why did… what have to happen?” Roman asked cautiously.
“This! All of this.” Allison motioned all around her but still didn’t look up to meet the human’s eyes. “I should have never been seen. Amanda should never have been seen. None of this should have happened, so why…” A few tears escaped Allison’s eyes and she wiped them away.
“Uh oh, feelings.” Logan looked lost, giving Roman a frantic look that said do something.
“Ah, Allison, don’t cry!” Roman scrambled to come up with something helpful to say. “I mean, everything has to happen for a reason, right?”
“Really? So you think the other humans hurt Amanda for a reason.” Allison deadpanned, looking up at Roman with a slight glare. “You think I got so overwhelmed by two humans that I had a panic attack for a reason.”
“Um, well…” It was Roman’s turn to look lost.
“Yes,” Logan confirmed. “For example, the reason you had such a terrible experience was because we treated you with a certain air of negligence and superiority.”
Allison shivered as she knew that all too well. “That’s another thing. You humans think you’re so much better...that you deserve to be in charge of us because we’re smaller than you.” Allison had experienced that first hand, after all.
“That is, admittedly, a common homo sapien mindset.” Logan winced.
“Present company excluded!” Roman tacked on. “Sure, we were pretty awful before, but we know better now. Logan and I know that you’re your own person Allison and we don’t dictate your life.”
Allison looked between the two of them for a moment, before looking down. “And what makes you different? Why the sudden change? Logan certainly didn’t think twice about leaving me in that jar.” Allison said, shivering at the memories.
“...apologies.” Logan shifted, looking uneasy. “It seemed efficient at the time, but I was not taking your perspective into account. It must have appeared very cruel of me, and I should not have put you through such a traumatizing experience.”
“Yeah…” Allison agreed. “I just...this whole thing is a perfect example of why borrowers aren’t supposed to be seen by humans. Bad things happen. I just...happened to get a bit lucky and you guys let me go...for whatever reason.” She was still nervous that they will turn on her and Amanda but she was out of any other option, lest she just wants to be caught by a different pair of humans. Ones who were far worse, apparently.
“Mostly because we have even a shred of moral decency,” Roman explained. “I mean, what sane, rational, kind human being would actually keep someone against their will? It seems atrocious!” Indeed, it was why Roman had a hard time picturing Allison’s friend to be in any danger.
“...You did. For about half a day.” Allison reminded him. “You also forced me to do things I didn’t want to do, like go to school with you.”
“...keep someone permanently.” Roman corrected. He had certainly seen the appeal in spending part of a day with Allison, even if Allison had not shared that interest and in the end, Roman had been in the wrong.
Allison hummed. “Why...did the two of you change your minds?” She had to ask.
“I thought we just covered that?” Logan looked confused. “We felt guilt and shame at our actions due to their moral ambiguity.”
“But why?” Allison repeated. “You changed so fast. One minute I thought I was going to be here forever and the next you were letting me go.”
“We were never going to keep you forever,” Roman explained. “We were just curious! We wanted to get to know the strange magical creature that appeared in our apartment. But then we realized the tiny creature was a tiny person, and…” Roman made a falling sound, putting out a thumbs down. “...suddenly our curiosity had brought out the worst in us.”
“I’ve noticed that tends to happen with humans,” Allison said. She looked between the two human again and sighed. “I...well, thanks. For letting me go and for...helping me get my friend back.”
“Of course.” Roman smiled at her. “And I’m sure this is all just a big misunderstanding. We can get Virgil and Patton to come to their senses just like we did.”
“I hope so...but she was hurt. And she definitely didn’t leave our home like that.” Allison said, remembering how Amanda’s leg was in a cast.
“It was likely an accident.” Logan reasoned. “Regardless, we will certainly have answers shortly.”
“Their class should be out at any minute.” Roman nodded in agreement, glancing at his phone.
Allison perked up. “Does that mean it’s time to go?” She asked.
“Certainly,” Logan confirmed. “If they have not arrived yet, we can wait there as well.”
Allison stood up, ready to go and get Amanda back before realizing...how she was going to be getting there. She looked between Logan and Roman, wondering if they would just grab her or offer her a ride or what.
The humans seemed to be wondering the same thing, and the three shared an awkward moment of silence.
“Sooo,” Roman uneasily broke it, “Do you want to meet us down there, or would you like a ride?” This last bit was said more hopefully as Roman put his hand down near her.
Allison stared down at the hand, gripping her bag tight. “I...uh, a ride would be faster, so…” Allison took a step forwards towards Roman before pausing for a moment and then taking another step. Eventually, she found herself climbing onto the hand. She let out a shaky breath as she settled down on the palm.
“I’ll be careful,” Roman promised, touched that she had trusted him. He slowly stood up, keeping his hand close to himself for stability.
“I will check to make sure the coast is clear,” Logan announced, leading the way down to the second-floor apartment.
Allison kept her breathing under control as she was carried across the apartment. They followed Logan until they were at another door. Allison ducked slightly. “Please don’t let them see me...not, not yet.” Not at all if she could help it.
“Oh, ah…” Roman glanced between the two of them, realizing they hadn’t exactly thought this through. “Oh! What about Logan’s chest pocket?”
“My what now?” Logan looked down at the pocket in question.
“It should be big enough.” Roman had no qualms about invading Logan’s personal space to peer inside it. He lifted Allison higher so she could see it as well. “What do you think, Allison?”
Allison shifted her body away when Roman brought her closer to Logan. She...did not care for Logan very much. Not after he put her in a jar and ignored her for hours on end. “I...I uh…” She looked away from Logan’s direction.
Logan looked just as uneasy, not meeting Allison’s gaze. He didn’t particularly trust himself around her, not after his terrible lapse of judgment before. What if he endangered her, or performed poorly and sent her into another panic attack? Logan wanted to avoid having any contact with Allison, for her own sake.
“...what is with you two?” Roman raised an eyebrow, glancing between them. “I thought we were on a mission here.”
“A-A pocket is fine, just, I’d uh, rather not...with Logan.” Allison trailed off, saying the last part quietly and still not meeting anyone else’s gaze.
“...understood,” Logan spoke softly, accepting her statement like it was a punishment he deserved.
“Okay, well, we’re a bit short on pockets at the moment.” Roman reminded her. “It’s either Logan’s pocket or my hands.” He glanced at the apartment door of their friends, knowing time was of the essence. Any second Patton or Virgil could hear them discussing battle plans on their doorstep.
Allison groaned. While she really didn’t want to be so close to Logan...she really didn’t want the other humans to see her. She had to choose the lesser of the two evils here. “Fine, I’ll...I’ll go in Logan’s pocket.” She mumbled quietly.
Roman raised her closer to the lip of the pocket, but Logan raised a hand to stop Roman.
“That won’t be necessary.” Logan looked to Allison finally. “I certainly would not wish to put you in a position where you would feel uncomfortable or unsafe again. We can return to our own apartment and change.”
Of course, a certain sound threw a drastic wrench in their plans. Both humans paled as they heard the sound of footsteps on the lower staircase, accompanied by their friends' voices.
“Sorry,” Roman whispered. Acting fast, Roman dumped Allison into the pocket and took a step back, trying to appear inconspicuous.
“Ah-” Allison found herself in Logan’s pocket, shaking. But she had to calm herself, she couldn’t worry about Logan when she already had two other humans to worry about.
#gt#Giant/tiny#thomas sanders#sanders sides#infinitesimal!sides#au#borrowers#human!logan#human!roman#human!virgil#human!patton#borrower!amanda#borrower!allison#platonic#meta perspective#part 9
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Smile (Joe Mazzello Imagine)
Pairing: Joe Mazzello x Reader
Summary: You, Joe, and the gang have a weekend away with a few surprises in store.
Word count: 1.4K
Warnings: None! JUST LOTS OF FLUFF
A/N: This is dedicated to @sohoneyspreadyourwings ! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MY GIRL! You are one of the most special people I know, thank you for being in my life. I hope you enjoy this! Love you!
Also it goes with this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klNkjnJtFig just for reference!
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A cozy winter weekend, that's what you were looking forward to the most. As someone from Southern California, you never thought you’d find yourself saying that but here you were. Your boyfriend Joe suggested a weekend away with your friends in a cabin in the mountains, and it sounded perfect. All of you were stressed thanks to work recently, and a weekend away was just what you guys needed.
Your hand was intertwined with Joe’s the whole time, which already made things feel a lot better. There wasn’t much talking though, as you were looking out the window at the mountains. You hadn’t seen snow since you were little when your family used to get a cabin for the holidays. This trip already made you smile, it reminded you of your family.
Every so often you would look over and see Joe looking at you with a smile. You’d catch him out of the corner of your eye too, and you would have to remind him to look at the road again, but his focus seemed to be on you.
I just want to make you smile
I just want to make it last
I'll go the extra mile
Just so I can make you laugh
“Something wrong babe?” You asked when you caught him smiling at you for the millionth time.
“Yeah, you’re just beautiful is all.” He squeezed your hand in response.
“That's all huh?” You asked and he nodded and making a kissy face at you since he couldn’t kiss you while driving.
Ben and Gwil were cuddled up in the backseat, and Rami and Lucy were in the car behind you. When you looked back, the two of them were asleep on each other, and you wished you had your phone out to take a picture. You thought it could be their Christmas card.
“Could you guys keep it down? We’re trying to sleep back here.” You heard Ben mumble.
“We’ll do our best loverboy.” You told him, and you saw him cuddle into Gwil in the rearview mirror. Those two were definitely something else for sure.
“Almost there babe, don’t worry,” Joe told you, and soon you were pulling up to the cabin. It was absolutely beautiful. It was one of those picturesque places like you’d pulled the scene in front of you right out of a movie.
You and Lucy tried to help the guys take the luggage inside, but they wouldn’t let you. So you just went inside and got comfortable. You watched as Joe carried the giant pile of board games he insisted on bringing with you inside. He was determined to make sure you all had a good weekend away, and apparently, board games were the solution to that. He always knew how to make you smile.
“Whats that look?” Lucy asked you when she sat down, she caught you staring at Joe.
“I just love him so much ya know? He's right over there and I miss him! How sad is that?” You laughed a little.
“It’s not sad Y/N, its cute.” You knew she was your best friend for a reason, she always knew what to say.
Once all the luggage was brought inside (and the very important board games), Gwil started a fire in the gorgeous fireplace. Ben started making dinner, while Joe and Rami started setting up Monopoly.
“Joe, don’t you know Monopoly has the power to end friendships?” Lucy asked.
“And relationships!” You chimed in. Joe stopped in his tracks and looked at you, concerned.
“Babe that's not funny! Don’t joke!” He said You laughed and gave him a kiss to remind him that you loved him. Sometimes he just knew how to be extra cute, and right now was one of those times.
We're all around the fire
Feels like the holidays
You know my style
I'll do anything
To make you smile
You decided to play in couples, with Ben and Gwil playing together. It would have taken forever if each of you played individually (plus you didn’t want Joe to get worried again). It was going well so far, except Joe felt the need to buy everything you guys landed on. You tried to tell him you needed a strategy, but he was very insistent.
“Come on Y/N, I really like this one!” He gave you his famous puppy dog pout.
“Joe honey, you love every property! We don’t need this one!” You kissed his cheek, letting him know he wasn’t going to win this one.
“She has a point.” Ben commented.
“SHUT UP BEN OR ILL GET CARDY B FROM THE CAR.”
“YOU WOULDN’T!” You didn't know what was making you laugh harder: the fact that Joe had managed to hide Cardy B somewhere in the car, that he had brought Cardy B all the way up to the cabin with you, or Ben’s response.
After the whole Cardy B fiasco, you all needed a break. Gwil tended to the fire with Rami, and you watched as Lucy and Joe went into the kitchen. When they didn’t come back a few minutes later, you got up to investigate. You saw the two of them together, looking thick as thieves. You knew they had to be up to something.
“Whatcha up to guys?” You asked stepping into the room.
“Nothing!” They said in unison. Yeah, they were definitely up to something. Lucy smiled at you and walked back into the living room.
“You two worry me sometimes.” You walked over to him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around you and smelled your hair. He began rubbing small circles on your back with one of his hands, and you relaxed into him. This was absolutely perfect like you almost wanted time to stand still right at that moment. You even looked out the window to see it was snowing.
Catch me smiling ear to ear
Everything I need and want is all right here, yeah
That's the greatest gift of all time
Joe released you from the hug and looked down at you, smiling at you like he had been all day. What you hadn’t noticed was that the rest of your friends were standing in the entryway to the kitchen, watching the two of you. But your eyes were locked on Joe’s and you never wanted to look away.
“You know I love you right? And your happiness is the most important thing to me?” Joe asked you.
“Of course babe, why?” Now you were the worried one.
“Your happiness will always be my number one priority. You will always be my number one priority. I want weekends like this one all the time, for the rest of our lives.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Far from it. What I’m trying to say Y/N, is that I love you. I can’t imagine you not being in my life. You have the most beautiful smile and heart, you always know how to make me feel better, and you’re quite literally my other half.” He stopped talking and got down on one knee, pulling out a ring from his back pocket. “Will you marry me?”
Your mouth dropped to the floor, and then you realized it was Lucy’s ring.
“Joe isn’t that Lucy’s ring?”
“Y/N! Focus and answer him!” You heard Lucy say from the entryway. You looked back down at Joe, who was still offering you the ring.
“Of course I’ll marry you Joseph Mazzello.” He placed the ring on your finger, and stood up to kiss you. All of a sudden your friends engulfed you in a huge hug, and it became a celebration. Rami popped a bottle of champagne as if from nowhere, and you started to think this was planned.
“Is that what you two were talking about in here?” You asked after Ben had given a toast that had made you all almost cry.
“Yeah, he forgot the ring at home so he asked to borrow mine. I couldn’t say no! I wanted to see my best friends get engaged!” You gave her a hug, and there seemed to be a lot of those going around.
“I promise I’ll go get it tomorrow!” Joe insisted.
“Joe you don’t have to! Besides, look at this snow.” You told him.
“I’ll drive carefully I promise!”
“Since when do you drive carefully?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. Everyone was looking at him because they wanted to know the answer to your question.
“Since I know I have a future with you.” And that was it. You knew you would never stop smiling.
I just want to make you smile
I just want to make it last
I'll go the extra mile
Just so I can make you laugh
-------
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For the story request- narusasu where sasuke is trying his darndest to confess his feelings to naruto but is having trouble being straightforward and naruto is an airhead who just does not understand that sasuke is trying to proclaim his love for him like at all
Word count: 1,437
Coal colored eyes stared harshly into sky blue. The two contrasting tones seemed to represent the two very different personalities, withholding them.
The teen with coal colored eyes, was more serious. His lips planted in a firm line, until he spoke. “It’s not that simple to explain, Nar-” He cut off the formalities, slowly growing annoyed. “Dobe.”
The teen with bright blue eyes threw up his hands. “Hey!” His blonde hair bounced, as he rose to his feet. Naruto constantly, had problems well… ‘sitting still’ it was like he had to have some burst of activity or he lost focus.
For example, right now he was losing focus. Naruto’s eyes were wandering all over the little ramen shop. He was pacing back and forth, like an idiot.
“Sit down, before you embarrass yourself.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Teme.”
“Call me that again, and I’ll whoop your ass.”
Naruto slammed his hands down on the table. His face scrunching up in an almost cute fox like way. The word rolled off his tongue, like a knife slicing through bread. “Te-” He cocked his head to the side, “Sasuke.” A satisfied smile crawled on his lips, as if he found an even better way to annoy the boy. “Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke!”
The onyx-haired boy, stole a sharp breath of air. All he had to do was resist every urge in his body to not go off. It was bad enough his nerves were betraying him as it is, but this was unnecessary stress.
Sasuke rubbed his temples, “Do you need me to shut you up?” He bit his own tongue withholding, “with a hard slap on the lips from my own.”
The blonde seemed endeared by the challenge, but took a seat anyway. He sat across from his friend, rocking in his seat. “I just like saying your name is all. You have a such a pre-”
A single finger was pressed to Naruto’s lips. Sasuke uttering dangerously, “Don’t say anything, that might ruin this moment anymore.”
“Ruin? Moment?” Naruto uttered cluelessly. He cut his eyes at the older boy pondering over the sincerity of his statement. “You can’t let me have a good time, right now?”
“Naruto, you could be getting jumped in the middle of the street, and I swear you’re the only person who I know would complain– ‘Hey, I’m so not having a good time right now!’ then demand they stop.”
“Yep, but I’m NOT getting jumped.”
Harboring hatred had been a factor driving, Sasuke for so long. But time had delivered facts that were undeniable and reality revealed a future maybe even more hopeless than his past. That tormented him.
It drove him to brim of insanity.
His head pounded, and despite all the challenges, Sasuke had crushed. His head never hurt this much. His heart never ached this much.
Snapping his fingers, a bright idea popped in Sasuke’s brain. He placed his hand over his heart. A bit of softness entering his tone as he said, “But you make my heart, jump.”
Soon as he said it, he longed to take the words back. Naruto just averted his heartfelt gaze and his words. The disastrous blond, making funny faces in the reflection of himself in the bowl of ramen placed before him.
Sasuke grit his teeth, “You make my heart jump.” He repeated, loud enough to ensure Naruto picked up on some words.
Naruto did hear one word, perhaps the most important word. “Heart?” He dropped the facade of silliness, “Who’s heart?”
Sasuke clenched the fabric of his shirt tightly. It was impossible not to see him making it clear, ‘his heart.’ If he could come out and say it regularly, he would. But for some reason he got tongue tied around this….his idiot.
“Hearts can be dangerous ya know,” Naruto began to ramble, “Those cards can ruin friendships in a game.” He screwed up an eyebrow, “Why? Did you drag me out here to challenge me in Blackjack?”
Sasuke swore if he managed to live through this and get Naruto to date him, he’d never get another lover again. “Do you even know how to play Blackjack?”
“Well…”
“Do you know the point of Blackjack?”
“Not r-”
“If you cannot answer correctly to any of these questions, then you have to shut up for at least a minute.”
“Sas-”
“Shhhh…”
Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, ready to get up once more. Sasuke’s touch ran on his hand, the cold feel almost gentle and comforting. It coaxed him to remain seated. The blonde’s eyes zoning off to admire the teen in front of him. There was something enchanting with how dark orbs scanned him up and down. They were searching for answers or a sign of some sort.
All Naruto could muster up was a numb smile.
Sasuke began to elaborate, “Blackjack is a rare card game that depends on strategy instead of pure luck.” His fingers snaked to lace around Naruto’s. “It takes time and effort, to beat the dealer.” Skillfully, he brought their hands together near his lips. The heat of his breath brushing against them as he spoke. “It’s a two way streak, of dedication.”
Sasuke had always been attracted to Naruto. He knew that. He just never knew to what extent he cared for his dobe, needed his dobe, wanted his dobe. There was never a day where he didn’t desire to see those blue eyes or see or feel or touch Naruto…He never realized that the extent of what he’d do for Naruto, went beyond anything he ever felt before. Well at least until he got the a fluttering sensation in his chest.
“Offering to play me in, Blackjack.” Sasuke drummed his free hand on the table, “And by bring up only heart cards, just proves how naive you are. In Blackjack that doesn’t matter, each numbered card has a value.” Working his charm, he brought the conversation back to focus on the task at hand. “It’s sorta like past memories.” Blissfully, his lips met Naruto’s knuckles. “Each and every action has a value, even if they’re not heartfelt.”
For so long, Sasuke felt if he didn’t recognize his feelings for Naruto…. Naruto would always be there for him, with him, forever, every day. Sasuke knew not physically in the flesh, but mentally. Mentally, Naruto held his own little place in Sasuke’s brain. It was a special place, that had expanded so much he could no longer fancy the idea of not having him by his side.
Naruto’s face flustered red, as he cleared his throat. It was as if he was struggling to find his voice again, like the sudden shock and realization had stole it away from him. Uncertainly, his glittering blue orbs wandered around the restaurant. Incoherent sentences fell from his lips, “I..well.. Oh.. I guess. Soooooo?”
“Hmp, Naruto.” Sasuke had a new delightful teasing ring in his voice. He lowered knuckles from being ambushed in more kisses. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were surprised.” He allowed a cunning smirk to cross his lips. “But, not my dobe. He’s not surprised by anything. He’s a man of action, and takes the cards as they’re played.”
“Umm. I… y-eeh..yeah?” Naruto was sputtering out nonsense, as his brain spun with with enthusiasm. He felt like he’d been waiting for this, for the longest. To hear these words pass through Sasuke’s lips, because he felt the same way.
Every emotion Naruto felt with Sasuke was stronger than any other. These feelings from the memories…. The attachments… the heart cards. It shaped him, his deck. Outgoing, shy, chatty, tongue-tied, quick-witted, dim-witted, transfixed, unfocused, ecstasy, boredom, just every feeling was amplified. There was not an emotion in Naruto that Sasuke couldn’t evoke.
“Heh, there is a thrill that comes in playing Blackjack, it comes in playing all games really.” Sasuke withdrew his touch from other teen. His eyes watching carefully to see the confounding way Naruto reacted. He chuckled a bit, “The thrill makes your heart jump and flutter. It’s almost like you’re in love.”Naruto felt the flutter in his heart. He really did.Naruto quickly discovered, he really, really, really liked the flutter.
“I think, I’m in love.” Naruto confessed bluntly, there was a stupid cute look on his face. A bright smile on his lips, as his blue eyes marveled at black. He leaned forward, pressing his face in the palm of his hand. “In love with a hot guy.”
“Oh yeah?” Sasuke gave a nod of approval. “And it’s not so simple to explain is it?”
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