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#I knew how to pronounce it but I just. wanted to meme. before I knew what memeing was.
dimiclaudeblaigan · 1 year
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I know that you like Jarod, but now that Ludveck's in Heroes, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on Jarod's smarmy brown haired twin.
LISTEN it's so nuts to me bc like
Ludveck is a perfect choice for this banner!
But... when Micaiah came out, where was Jarod?!
I huff, and I puff, and I blow IntSys' house down!
Anyway, on to Luddywuddypuddy...
IIII don't like him! I mean, he's a decent villain, nothing grand or unexpected, but I think his existence was solely to prop up Elincia. I don't dislike Elincia and I enjoyed her in part two, but he didn't seem to have any particular standout traits. Jarod for instance, he does strike me as a petty villain simply to make Micaiah look good, but he did have good lines and gave the feeling of a commander who was highly respected by the people who followed him. He's funny imo too, and all of that is at least more to his character than Villain for Arc #1.
Ludveck to me kind of felt more bland. He was easily outwitted and even though he had contingency plans, he doesn't come out on top in any way. For example, Jarod, the villain just prior to him, got his last words in by damaging Nevassa before he would be judged by the apostle. Even if he died, he took some of his enemies down with him like he wanted. Ludveck ended up with nothing but his ass in jail.
All Ludveck got to really do was sacrifice his own people as pawns (admitting they were disposable pawns too), ultimately being outwitted by both Geoffrey and Elincia. Geoffrey knew of an old highway that Ludveck apparently didn't know about, and Elincia defied his predictions at every turn for the entire section of the game.
I guess ultimately to me he has no standout qualities that make him much better than the senators? Like I guess you could say Hetzel was a bit more of a character that stood out to me as not being nefarious like the other senators, but most of them were the same general character. If you wanted the difference between Numida, Valtome, Oliver and Lekain for example, there really is no difference except that one of them joins you because ??? (not sure why the devs did that other than for the memes honestly, like I really have no idea), and that Lekain is basically the boss of all of them. Besides that stuff they're just like, a blob of all the same character.
Ludveck kinda feels like a much more generic villain, which is really rare for Tellius to have as far as non-chapter boss villains. Even the senators at least have presence and come across as threats over a long period. There's just something about Ludveck that didn't click with me, I guess. At least the senators actually caused a lot of trouble within the story, you know? Like they feel kind of like all the same person but they did do damage and have a huge impact on the story. Ludveck wasn't an interesting character like Jarod and he didn't have a lasting impact on the story like the senators.
I can't really compare him to BK and Sephiran since those two are more like... ingrained into the story itself. If you lose them you lose a lasting impact on various things, but if you take out Ludveck, he's so confined to such a small part of the story that nothing really changes, and had no interesting traits. Like, if you took out part two of RD, it wouldn't change... anything, really. You could put any other villain in Luddy's place and it would feel the same to me.
One thing he did do for me was tell me that Haar was capable of soloing half that map on his own so I guess that's cool too LOL.
Tbh my favorite part of part two was Geoffrey and was part of what made me love his character. I guess Ludveck had a bit of a hand in that since I enjoyed seeing Ludveck get outwitted by Geoffrey and it showed a lot more character from Geoffrey than what we got in PoR since he was a late game arrival in PoR. When it comes to the man himself though I feel like any villain could've still made me love Geoffrey more.
Sorry Ludveck, you wanted to be Jarod but you simply could not be Jarod.
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28 DAYS: FINAL CHAPTER
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Summary: Dean Winchester is an addict and an alcoholic, a USMC veteran, a father, and an older brother. As Battalion Chief with Lawrence Fire & Medical, Dean comes under investigation when he makes a dangerous and impulsive decision, defying his superiors and abandoning the team he is supposed to lead. He is given the choice to go to rehab for 28 days or jail. His lawyer insists on rehab, and Dean begrudgingly abides.
Characters in this chapter: Dean Winchester, Mrs. Butters (mentioned), Jack Kline, Meg Masters, Billie Pilgrim, Pamela Barnes, Rowena Macleod, Gabriel, Crowley (seen but not heard), Missouri Mosely, Alex Jones (seen but not heard), Lydia, Emma Winchester, Benny Lafitte, Castiel Novak, Bobby Singer, Ellen Harvelle, Casey Wood, Jo Harvelle/Victor Henriksen/Nick Iblis/Zeke Gadreel (mentioned), Sam and Jess Winchester (mentioned), Tessa Porter
Warnings/tags for this chapter: if you've read this far, you're golden xox
Words in this chapter: 5K
Author's note: Cute Sparkle Gryphon Meme
Emma driving is for @stusbunker. Love you, sis.
Thank you to Stu and to my 12yr ride or die @brrose-apothecary for read-throughs and late-night convos and for being my friends.
CHAPTER TEN
A week to the day before Dean is to be released, he and the others say goodbye to Jack. Mrs. Butters in the kitchen helps Dean bake and decorate a cake with a very cool screen print of Red Hood that Pamela found online, and Meg commandeers Jack's phone to add Pamela's, Dean's, and her own contact info to his address book.
"Hope you don't mind if I call you sometime, kid," Dean mutters. 
There's a tight, heavy knot in his chest that he can't loosen. He wants to keep in touch with Jack so he can celebrate his successes. He doesn't want to be the old Dean who keeps in touch out of fear that Jack will stumble with no one around to catch him.
But deeply woven within that knot is an intense foreboding, stoking Dean's fear of letting Jack walk out the door.
"Of course," Jack answers, distracted by his pinging phone, telling him his Uber is one minute down the street. "I'll text you."
Dean nods and chews his lip. "We can trade me-mes," he says, watching the kid not watch him. 
Dean has to actively restrain himself from pushing the flop of hair from across Jack's forehead and demanding the kid's attention. The knot spirals around his organs and rib cage into his gut.
"Meme," Meg says, trying to help Jack straighten the strap of his bag.
"What?" Dean asks.
"It's pronounced meme. Like theme," Meg answers, stepping back into place next to him.
Dean shakes his head as his heart jolts and dives at the sight of the white Honda pulling up in front of the big glass doors.
"Good luck, Jacky." Rowena appears at Dean's other side, looping an arm through the crook of Dean's elbow. "We'll miss you, sweet boy."
Meg mirrors Rowena, hooking her arm through Dean's. Dean drops his chin to his chest with a sigh, realizing how transparent his anxiety is to his friends.
"Ciao, baby," Meg bids the teenager a farewell, watching him stumble over his own sneakers toward the door.
"Bye, guys," Jack calls with a wave. "And thanks for the cake; it was really good!"
And then he's gone.
Dean starts a list of everyone with whom he needs to make amends. Emma's at the top of that list, so he always remembers how far he's come and can fall.
Castiel is the closest second.
Before Emma walked in on him with Max and Anna last year, Dean could sleep at night by telling himself he hadn't imposed on anyone or lied, cheated, or stolen. He told himself that he cleaned up his own messes and that he was just fine with death, closure, and a whole fuckin' bottle of Jack. 
Then he broke his little girl's heart. 
"Do you think you were trying to prove something to Castiel that day?" Billie asked.
"I think you know what I was doin'. Why don't you tell me what I was tryna prove?"
Billie was right as usual; Dean wanted to prove to Cas that he wasn't worthy of Cas's respect. Dean knew that kid was going to die if someone didn't go in there — and probably even if someone did — and he decided to be the kamikaze pilot because fuck everybody who still had faith in him; he wasn't worth their concern.
"The list!" Meg plops into a seat next to him with two cups of coffee. "Dean Bean, that list is hella long. You should pare it back for your first round."
She takes a sip of her coffee, handing him his as she peers over the rim of her cup.
Dean chuckles, shaking his head. "Every single person I think of makes my stomach hurt."
"Did you show it to Billie yet?" Meg slides her stocking feet into Dean's lap.
"Not yet. Meetin' with her in 10." He twists in his seat to accommodate her.
Meg nods. "Drink your coffee and keep me entertained ‘til you gotta go."
She burrows into her seat with an impish grin, and Dean smirks back as he sets to work, kneading her heels and thumbing the knotted muscles in her arches.
Four days after Jack, Meg is discharged. Pamela decides to stay beyond her discharge date for extra support from Billie and Cain. 
After their morning hike, Meg and Pamela say their goodbyes, and Pamela heads to Billie's office to plan another family session for the coming weekend. 
Dean waits with Meg for her sister Dani's arrival. Meg is keyed up and wide-eyed in the best way. Her fresh face is framed with braids on either side, compliments of Pamela, her sky blue backpack secured over her (Dean's) too-big hoodie, scuffed-up but neatly tied hiking boots, and softly worn jeans. 
Dean thinks she looks like she's headed off to college with her entire life ahead of her, and he thinks that look is fitting as fuck.
"I put Dani's number in your phone; she still has a landline." Meg rolls her eyes as she absently twists the straps of her backpack.
Mere days before Meg was admitted to rehab, Dani inherited their childhood home and land after months of legal battles surrounding the farm. After she and Meg made amends, they planned to renovate the old farmhouse together. Meg told Dean how thankful she is to have the project to keep her on her toes, not to mention her adopted niece Kaia. 
Meg's phone chimes with a text from Dani.
"She's just around the corner," Meg breathes, flicking her eyes to meet Dean's. "Three days?"
"You got it, sister." Dean pulls her in for a hug. "I'll be outta here, and we'll be 2.1 together. Right?"
"Right."
Last week, Dean and Meg realized that they had grown up less than 10 miles apart. There's not even one excuse Dean can think of to not continue their morning hikes and coffee at least once a week, and he can't wait to witness Meg's inevitable bloom outside this place. 
He sees Dani pull up and releases Meg. 
"Keep an eye on PB," Meg murmurs, pulling away and not quite meeting Dean's eyes.
Dean nods silently as Meg drops her gaze to her feet and shuffles toward the door.
"Goodbye, love!" Rowena calls from the lobby's catwalk, and Meg looks up with a wide grin and a wave.
"Take care, kiddo!" Gabe waves from beside Rowena, with Crowley lurking behind them both.
Dean wins Meg's gaze one last time before she finally climbs up inside her sister's Jeep. 
"How are you feeling about everything, Dean?" Billie asks.
He's nervous and excited, a little bit scared but mostly hopeful. He's determined to make amends with people and looks forward to seeing his little girl outside therapy and hugging his niece and nephew.
"Good," Dean answers.
Dean doesn't fool himself into believing he can repair all of his faults in 28 days. His provisional relationship with Billie was hard-won. He respects her knowledge and advice, but he'll never be open enough with her to tell her everything.
"Good," she replies. "Don't forget — 90 meetings in 90 days. Look for a sponsor..."
Billie rattles off the rules that Dean used to consider common sense. After the last few weeks, though, Dean has realized how bogus the phrase common sense is because so many people walk around without knowledge that Dean's taken for granted since he can remember knowing anything. The fact that that phrase masquerades itself as a universal truth is kind of bullshit, in Dean's opinion.
"Yeah, I remember: how long have they been sober; are they full of shit; do I like them—"
"You know I have to say these things, right?" Billie smirks and arches a brow.
Dean chuckles and nods. "Am I stealin' your thunder?"
Billie actually laughs.
The night before he leaves, Dean does all his laundry except his pajamas and packs his bag. He leaves the bag on what was Jack's bed six days ago, denying the 47th urge to call the kid because he promised himself he wouldn’t call Jack before Jack called him. 
In the dark of night, the emotions he accepted earlier at face value become garbled and daunting. He starts to see the edges of rational thought being peeled back by the demons lurking in his subconscious, slithering out to tell him that he's foolish and undeserving and will fail.
The sober experience of his darker cognition is fascinating and frightening. He takes a good chunk of time lying there, stunned to his core that he was ever blind enough to fall for this.
"Fuck off," he mutters as he rolls to his side. "I'm gettin' the fuck outta here and on with my life."
The next morning, Dean and Pamela go for a hike like usual. They have coffee, and she sits with him while he smokes.
"You gonna be OK?" he asks.
"What, without you and Megan, the 2.1 twins?"
Dean startles at Pamela's tone and arched brow.
He never meant for anyone, not even Crowley, to hear his and Meg's 2.1 mantras. It was never about their lack of faith in anyone else. It was always about their bond and shared need to hear it from the other one to get them through.
"You're not subtle, either of you," she drolls, shifting her gaze to the woods. 
"PB..."
"It's fine, Dean." She peeks back at him. "And, yes, I'll be fine, too. Once I get my ground legs back and earn more trust from my mother-in-law."
"Sammy can help, ya know," Dean reminds her of when Sam visited and heard her case. He told Dean on the spot that he wanted to help her, and Dean wasted no time relaying the message and ensuring Pamela had Sam's phone number and email address.
"He can, legally, and I'll call him." Pamela nods, keeping her eyes on the wooded area just beyond the deck where she and Dean had just walked and laughed. "But Jesse's mom hasn't let me forget for one second how much she doesn't trust me."
Dean doesn't take his eyes off Pamela's trembling profile. "Then make her."
Pamela blinks and inhales a stuttering breath before glancing over at Dean with watery eyes. She sniffles as she accepts Dean's open, outstretched hand to squeeze. 
"Thank you," she whispers, letting the tears fall. "I'm gonna miss you, ya little shit."
Dean laughs as he pulls her in for a hug.
At 12:25 PM, Pamela is seated on the desk, arching across the expanse to help Alex pick a dress for her sorority's spring formal, Rowena is explaining to Missouri the plot of the last murder mystery she starred in, and Gabriel is practically gnawing Dean's ear from the side of his head with small-talk. 
"Gabe?"
"Yeah, man," Gabe turns to face Dean head-on, cracking his knuckles and bouncing on his toes.
"I'm gonna need you to dial back the Tigger impression by at least five clicks, OK, because I'd like to be somewhat chill when my kid gets here to pick me up."
"Oh! Right. Yes." Gabe salutes Dean before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning back to watch the door. He mutters chill to himself a couple of times before the familiar deep blue BMW rolls up in front of the door.
"Oh, my word, look at that," Rowena marvels as she and Pamela join Dean and Gabe at the door. "The wee lass is all grown up! Ye must be so proud, Dean."
Dean nods. Emma's a gift that he'll work the rest of his life to deserve getting, and he'll always be proud of her. But his heart fumbles over the fact that he missed the milestone of being the one to teach her to drive.
Lydia steps out of the passenger side, waving from the curb.
"Well, go on," Pamela encourages Dean. "Get out there and show 'em what you're made of, Daddy."
Dean's heart swells to near bursting as he hugs everyone goodbye, including Missouri and Alex.
"You take good care of yourself, Dean Winchester," Missouri says with a kind Missouri smile.
"Yes, ma'am," he nods before scanning the faces of his friends and walking out the door into his future.
"How's the Casbah sound?" Lydia asks from the back seat.
Dean loves the Casbah, and Lydia knows that, but he can't answer her; he's too busy watching his baby girl drive a fucking car.
Lydia shifts forward as Emma signals, checks her mirrors, and carefully changes lanes. 
"Pretty wild, huh?" she mutters over Dean's shoulder. "Just yesterday, you were teaching her to ride a bike."
Dean huffs a small chuckle and nods his head. "Straight from a trike to a two-wheeler. No trainin’ wheels for my girl."
Emma rolls her eyes over a blush and a sheepish grin. "So. Casbah?"
"Casbah," Dean confirms with a grin of his own, turning his shaded gaze toward the horizon.
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"Hi," he starts, glancing around a circle of people of all ages and walks of life. "I'm... Dean. And I'm an alcoholic and addict."
"Hi, Dean," from the crowd.
Dean nods and draws a deep breath, struggling to keep his head up and maintain eye contact with each person. Ugly fears and insecurities threaten his spirit, but he shoos them away.
"I'm 28 days sober, and I feel... good. Went to dinner with my little girl tonight. She and her mom're waitin' for me down the street at the ice cream place." 
The strangers in the circle fidget, mumble, and nod. The tension he feels is all about himself and his inability to just blend the fuck in. He knew doing this all over again with a new group of people would be hard. Then, his eyes land on a burly, bearded guy with clear blue eyes and an encouraging smile. He holds the man’s gaze like it’s a life raft.
“I’ve only been out a few hours, so I still have to call and apologize to everyone for fuckin’ up so bad.”
The man nods, shifting forward in interest. The kind of attention the man is giving him might make him feel like a bug under a microscope under other circumstances, but the man’s earnest compassion and engagement serve to embolden Dean.
“The first call’s the biggest, but they’ll all be tough. My buddy — my best friend and former boss — that’s kinda the eye of the storm. I think if I call him first, that’ll help me get through the others.”
It feels good to think out loud and strategize, knowing his audience has been there and done that. Dean’s especially keen to learn where his potential new friend has been.
After the meeting is done, Dean makes his way over to the man in question. There are two other people trying to talk to him, and Dean starts to worry that he’s one of those guys Billie told him about who accepts everyone’s sponsorship request for status or whatever.
“...I know someone I think’ll be a good fit f’you, Sorento. Lemme reach out and see when he might could grab a cuppa coffee.”
“Thanks, Benny. Never thought my sponsor’d fall off the wagon, ya know?”
“I hear ya, brother, and I’m sorry. You take care, and I’ll get right back, ya hear?”
The taller, darker-skinned man nods before backing away, and the other person Dean thought was waiting to talk to Benny follows.
“Hey, Dean.” Benny smiles, extending a hand. “I’m Benny. Glad you could make it tonight.”
Dean nods, accepting Benny’s hand and shaking it. “Thanks, man. I appreciate your support.”
“You’ve got it, brother.” 
They chat about the ins and outs of meetings and sobriety for a few minutes until Dean realizes that Emma and Lydia are still waiting for him. 
“Well, I gotta go catch up with my daughter, but uh... thanks again.” 
Dean shifts his weight, having flashbacks to his teen years and the first time he asked someone out on a date.
“But I was wonderin’ if you were a sponsor to anyone else? Or... if you had room for one more?”
Benny smiles wide and bright. “It’d be an honor, Dean. What’s your number?”
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On his first full day outside, at 9 AM, Dean starts dialing numbers.
"Hey, Cas," he pauses to cringe at the tremor in his too-eager voice. "It's uh... it's Dean."
There's a split second of silence, and Dean almost hangs up.
"I know, Dean. I have your contact in my phone with a picture of you and Claire from Thanksgiving."
The memory of that day is bittersweet to Dean for a dozen reasons, not the least of which was Claire's mental health at the time. She'd run away from home less than a week after her mom lost her months-long battle with ovarian cancer. Cas had just gotten Claire back and decided to have a small gathering at their home to celebrate her return.
Claire didn't feel like celebrating.
"He just doesn't understand," Claire whispered through the tears that Dean worked overtime to wipe away.
"Maybe he doesn't understand exactly how you feel, honey, but he does love you."
"Does he even miss her?" Her trembling lip broke Dean's heart all over again.
"I know he misses her. He loved your mom, Claire. So much."
"He's so... happy."
Dean nodded. "Yeah. 'Coz you're home. You're his little girl and his only family. Try to understand that." 
"Dean? Are you— are you there?"
Dean jolts from his reverie and shrugs off Cas's matter-of-fact mention of that day lest it gives his demons the upper hand again.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here. I'm calling..." Dean takes a deep breath and looks out his kitchen window to watch a couple of squirrels chasing each other through the parking lot. 
"Cas, I'm sorry. You're my best friend, and I love and respect you, but I defied your order and endangered the team. I broke at least four laws that day and put you and the department under scrutiny 'coz of my own fucked up mess. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out that I could help myself and that I'm worth helping, and to stop hurting other people."
Cas is quiet for longer this time. Dean yearns to fill the silence or turn back time or run away and hide. Instead, he breathes through it and waits for whatever response Cas gives him because this is sobriety.
"You made it.” Cas’s tone is full of pride and satisfaction.
Dean anticipated 17 scenarios, but this takes him off-guard. Before he can ask what he means, Cas fills in the blank.
"I read about rehab and the likelihood of people making it through their prescribed programs. The statistics are 30%—"
"Yeah, and my group was only seven people, so 30% is 2.1." Dean can't help but chuckle. Cas doesn't know about his and Meg’s joke, but it doesn't matter because Cas is family, and family just gets it. 
"Well, apart from the impossibility of the existence of .1 of a human being, it's good to hear your voice, Dean. I missed you."
Dean smiles so wide his face hurts. "Missed you too, man. How's Claire?"
Through Cas's heavy sigh, Dean can hear the smile in his voice. "Claire is Claire. She missed you as well. Once you're settled, we want you to come over for dinner."
Cas doesn't rebuke Dean. He doesn't rehash the past. He doesn't tell Dean he can't come back to work — because Cas knows that Dean already knows all of that, and neither of them has time for anything but catching up and reconnecting.
"I'd love it," Dean replies. "Thank you. For accepting my apology and letting me say what I needed."
"Always. I knew you'd make it and that our relationship would endure another shift. We will always be friends, Dean."
After his call with Cas, Dean calls Bobby and Ellen. They're less gracious than Cas with their acceptance, which doesn't surprise Dean.
"You were supposed to protect your team, Dean, not put them in danger!"
Dean doesn’t argue, and he doesn’t make excuses. He listens to Ellen yell and damn him to Hell until she’s crying so hard that Bobby takes the phone away from her.
As Ellen’s sobs fade in the distance, Bobby speaks. “How you holdin’ up, boy?”
“I’m good, Bobby. Thanks for takin’ my call.”
“Never wouldn’t,” Bobby answers. “Stay strong, kid. We both love ya; she just needs some time.”
“I love you, too, Bobby — both of ya.”
Jo flat-out blocks his call. Her resistance surprises him even less than her mother’s ire. He won’t give up on Jo, no matter how hard she makes it for him. He knows deep down that she hasn’t given up on him either.
Casey’s gasp is her answer. 
“Case.”
“You OK?”
“I am. Now.” 
He lets the memories of her soft, dark eyes and gentle, capable hands loving him more than he could bear carry him through the call.
“I’m sorry, Case. I hurt you so many times, and I never made it easy to be with me. You’re a beautiful, beautiful woman, whip fuckin’ smart, and so good.”
“We’ve been over this, Dean...”
Dean doesn’t cut in where she’s left a vacancy. He won’t take advantage of her anymore. He waits for her to pick up her thoughts. He wants her to say what she means.
And she does.
“Dean, I... I’ll never regret you or resent you.”
After a moment.
“Thank you,” she whispers, and Dean knows she’s crying.
He calls Victor, Nick, and Zeke, each awkward, compulsory, and hostile, respectively, but being uncomfortable is Dean’s new normal. And, for some reason, he kind of digs it. So, he’ll continue to make amends, no matter how it makes him feel.
After a week outside, Dean and Meg finally find a hiking trail they like and a coffee place they love before hitting the Lowe's Garden Center.
“Is this a joke?” Meg pokes at the limp lavender plant with indignation. “I can’t even believe they have this out for sale.”
“What do you care? We’re not here for lavender.” 
Dean wanders a few paces down the aisle. He’s never tended a plant in his life, so he researched and decided on a spider plant to start.
“Maybe I’m here for lavender.” Meg continues to inspect the small section of drooping topiaries.
Dean stops and glares at her over his shoulder. “You told me you wanted a buncha succulents. You said you wanted a ‘cool little terrarium’ or some shit.”
“Maybe I decided to also get lavender.” Meg shrugs, lifting one of the pathetic florals.
“Now that you’ve seen the stellar selection of lavender?” Dean arches a brow.
“Maybe I want a challenge,” she mutters, squatting with one plant to compare it to another.
“Maybe, maybe, maybe...” Dean rolls his eyes and turns smack into Castiel.
“Hello, Dean.”
“Cas!” Dean takes a step back, gripping Cas’s shoulders. He can’t believe his luck at seeing him while he’s with Meg.
“Hey, this is my friend, Meg.”
He motions to Meg, who is now sitting cross-legged on the ground with three dead plants in front of her. 
“Meg..." Dean snaps her to attention. "This is Cas.”
Meg blinks up at the men from where she sits on the ground. 
“Well. Hello, Cas.” 
She abandons her brief fascination to stand up and swipe her jeans and hands clean before shaking Castiel’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
The fire chief looks adorably confused as usual, as he takes her hand in his. “And I have heard nothing about you.”
Meg side-eyes Dean, and he almost laughs out loud. She’ll drag him later for not telling Castiel about her, but the only reason he didn’t was to let her show him herself.
“Whatcha here for, Cas?” Dean watches his friends reluctantly release each other’s grip.
“Tomato plants and strawberry plants. You know how much sun our side patio gets.”
Dean nods. Before he can reply, his phone buzzes with a text. It’s the notification he set for Pamela, and his gaze darts to Meg, who’s pulling her own phone from her back pocket.
“Hang on, Cas — got a message I need to look at.” Dean pulls his phone from his pocket. When he looks down, his world tilts.
Jack’s back.
“Fuck,” Dean mutters with a sigh before snagging Meg’s worried gaze.
“I take it you’ve received bad news?” Cas asks.
“Well, it ain’t good,” Dean replies, pocketing his phone. “Dinner Thursday?”
“Yes. Claire wants dumplings. I’ve had two failed trial runs making them, so it could be an... interesting meal.”
Meg snorts at Dean’s side, drawing his attention. “Cas’s a terrible cook.”
“No shit?” Meg exaggerates with her hands on her hips.
“I need to go — get the plants and ingredients for tonight’s test.”
Meg stifles a cackle, and Dean hip-checks her. “OK, well, lemme know if I can help with the dumplings, Cas.”
They say their goodbyes, and barely before Castiel is out of earshot, Meg starts in. 
"You didn't tell me your 'weird little friend Cas' was hot, Dean."
Dean chuckles and rolls his eyes. "I thought it was implied when I said you'd like him, Megan. Just gather your sad little flowers so we can go."
“Meh, I want succulents.” 
Dean spends the entire rest day bashing himself for waiting to call Jack. He wanted to give the kid space. He wanted to respect him, and... fuck, he can’t save everyone.
He calls Benny so he doesn’t drag Meg down his rabbit hole.
“Whaddaya want outta this, Dean? To call the kid and gloat?” Benny asks.
Dean cringes. “Is that what it sounds like?”
“Little bit.”
“Man, I’m not tryna be a martyr here; he’s a kid!” Dean really believes what he’s saying just as much as he tries to see what Benny sees.
“He’s a kid, but he ain’t yours, and he ain’t you. Remember your boundaries and your goals.”
Benny’s right, and Dean’s reminded of why he chose him to be his sponsor.
“Thanks, Benny. Thanks for takin’ my call, and thanks for being a great sponsor.” 
That night, Dean stumbles across something online that stuns him for a second. It’s labeled as Cute Gryphon Sparkle Meme. It’s a greyscale drawing of a cartoon gryphon with a sort of paint-by-number chart of how to color it based on your own interpretation of the instructions like “the color that best describes ‘cute’” and “the color that first comes to your head”.
Dean shares the link with Jack, hoping he gets his phone back soon so he can appreciate just how cute it is.
One month, eight hikes with Meg, and three trips to the garden center for more plants (because Dean has now decided that he fucking loves plants) later, a familiar, feminine voice jolts Dean from his reverie in the produce section.
“Dean?” 
He turns from where he’s filling his hand cart with all he needs for the guacamole he’s bringing to Sam and Jess’s tomorrow to find Tessa Porter.
“Tessa!” Dean smiles easily at her smile and how she moves closer to him without hesitation. 
She’s fresh-faced, her hair’s in a ponytail, and she’s wearing workout clothes. Dean drops three good-sized avocados into his basket and turns his back on the vegetables to focus on the woman facing him.
“You look great, Dean. How’ve you been?”
“Thanks! You just come from the gym? You look great, too. Not at all like you just worked out or anything, but fit. Like healthy. And glowing.”
He bites his tongue to stop from shoving his foot down his gullet.
Tessa grins and chuckles quietly, peeking into his basket. “Yoga class. Making some guac?”
Dean draws a breath and nods, looking down at his ingredients. “Yeah. My brother requested it for a cookout tomorrow. He says I make the best guac in three counties.”
Tessa tilts her head and purses her lips. “Hmm. I’ll have to try it sometime.” 
She snags Dean’s gaze, and he’s suddenly out of breath. 
Does she know what he did? Is she hitting on him? Have her eyes always been that color?
“Yeah. I’d uh... I’d like to make it for you sometime.”
Dean swears her irises change color as they stand there — honey to jade to turquoise to cerulean.
After a few beats, Tessa raises her eyebrows. “Are you going to ask me for my number?”
Dean blinks then chuckles, shaking his head. “I gotta ask somethin' else first — you know about rehab, right?”
Tessa nods. “I know. And I know you aren’t supposed to date right away, but... I’d like to be friends. If that’s OK? I’ve missed seeing you around, Dean.”
“Friends,” he echoes skeptically.
He and Tessa never discussed dating before because it would have been against department policy, but that didn’t stop him from flirting with her every chance he had. Still, they had a genuine connection — which is the real reason, even in Dean’s most reckless state, that he never crossed a line with her.
Tessa nods again. “For now — friends. Think you can handle that?”
Dean holds her soft, kaleidoscope gaze for a moment before shifting his basket to his other arm and reaching into his pocket for his phone. 
“Here.” He hands his unlocked phone to Tessa. “I would very much like it if you’d add yourself to my contacts so I can call ya sometime.”
Tessa grins again as she accepts the proffered device to quickly input her name and number. She flicks her eyes to his again as she hands him back his phone.
“I look forward to hearing from you. See you soon, Dean.”
Tessa looks him up and down before turning on her heel and sauntering away.
Dean’s eyes drop to the sway of her hips, and he shakes his head. 
“Hate sayin’ g’bye but love watchin’ her walk away,” he mutters under his breath with a hearty chuckle before heading to the aisle with chips and crackers, stifling the urge to Leprechaun kick next to the bananas.
Fifty-eight days sober feels pretty damn good.
Epilogue: coming soon
Please let me know what you think!
Series Masterlist | Dean Winchester Masterlist | MJ’s Masterlist
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oh-puffle-cakes19 · 2 years
Note
Hi!! Love your writing… wondering if you could do a Tom x reader story where she and Harrison prank Tom that they have a secret relationship or something.. I feel like he would react really cute and sad… sorry if it’s a bad request
Beautiful like Gold
Pairing - Tom Holland x Reader
Summary - You thought it would be a good idea to trick Tom.. into thinking that you and Harrison has a secret relationship
Warnings - Angst such as Sadness
A/N - Thank you so much for your request, Hope you enjoy! It’s not a bad request at all, don’t worry. Appreciate all the love and support 🥰
You smirked as you see Harrison pick up his phone, across the coffee table.
“Who’s that, mate?” Tom questioned leaning over his shoulder, “Er, I don’t know..” Haz laughed, nervously.
He gives you a face, mouthing “Cut the Ballshit,”
You giggle, shaking your head.
“Y/N/N, what are you doing?” Tom goes to sit next to you, “Oh, nothing just looking through funny memes,” You flick through as he watches.
“That’s not funny,” Tom mumbles, seeing as it was a meme of him. The fans thought it is funny on how he pronounces croissant.
“Lighten up, it so is!” You laugh harder, pushing his elbow and then hiding behind his back falling on pillows.
You and Tom are best friends ever since childhood, the Holland family are like your second family! However, today you and Harrison have made a plan of how to get Tom to confess his feelings.
Aka pranking him with “You and Harrison dating, secretly”
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” You stood up, “Be right back,” you ran up stairs, not letting Tom get a word in.
Harrison already knew the plan of course, so he didn’t have to ask anything.
“Hey man, I’m gonna go to the kitchen to get some beer,” Haz nodded.
“Yh, that’s cool,” Tom nodded.
Seeing that you texted on Harrison’s phone, he left it on the sofa.
Tom being Tom, picked it up.. seeing a text from you like just 5 seconds ago.
From Y/N, My Love❤️ - Meet me upstairs, baby ;)
Must of forgot his phone, Tom thought..
How is this possible? You and his other best friend secretly doing whatever this is, is it even a relationship?
Tom breathes heavy as he walks up the stairs to find you and Harrison in the guest bedroom.
Before Tom came up..
“Harrison, I swear this isn’t going to work! This is a stupid plan,” You shook your head.
“Y/N, honestly, it is! Trust me, we are going to get him good as gold,” Harrison smirked, “All we need to do is act we are into each other,”
“Ok, Mr. Genius,” You sigh and giggle.
“Here he comes,” Haz said as he hears Tom come up the stairs, “Act in love,” he whispers.
After Tom comes into the room..
“What are you guys doing?” Tom questions very quietly, his heart rate spikes as he sees you holding hands and looking at each other.
“This is not how we wanted to tell you, Tom,” Harrison spoke first, knowing that you definitely will blow their cover.
“Really? You been secretly dating, behind my back,” Tom whispers, shaking his head.
“Yh,” you nodded, “I do like him,” your not wrong because you do like him, just as a friend.
“That’s cool, I guess! You guys look good together, I’m glad for the both of you,” Tom spoke up, gathering this thoughts and feelings up.
“At least your not with some dickhead,” Tom smiles, “I’m gonna leave you to alone and go downstairs,” he told you.
“Yh,” you slime, “Thanks, mate,” Harrison waves to him.
After Tom goes back downstairs..
“God, that was shitty!” You breath out, “Should we tell him the truth? I really do feel bad!”
“Maybe, but he took it pretty good,” Harrison sat on the bed, “Let him cool down, he gotta have a lot to think about,”
You nodded, sitting down with Harrison.
Tom sat on the sofa again, sighing as he thought about his love for you.
Always wanting to be that guy, who gives you love and comfort to you. The way you deserve to be treated, like a Queen!
Tom let out a tear dripping down his face after, he learnt that his best friends are dating each other. All he ever wants for you to be happy, then he’s happy because he can’t be angry at that.
After about 20 mins, You and Harrison come down the stairs. Ready to tell the whole truth to Tom, as your not dating each other.
“Tom,” You sat on the sofa, leaning into him, “I’m sorry,” you give him sorrow eyes.
“What for? You did nothing wrong,” he mumbles, Harrison comes through the door.
“Yh, sorry mate,”
“Well, we aren’t actually dating!” You and Harrison shook your heads.
“Wait, your not?” Tom furrowed his eyebrows, “Nope, it was a prank,” Haz finally, let out.
“Oh, my god! You shit heads,” Tom laughs leaning into his knees, “You really did it this time!”
“Yep, we know,” You smirked, “Karma is a Bitch!” You laughed.
“I’m gonna get you and you back,” Tom pointed at you, “I actually gotta go, but Yh we planned everything! Not like you didn’t know you had it coming, but Yh see you later,” Harrison chuckles, winking at you playfully as he opens the door to go out.
“Yh, bye,” You and Tom say as the door closes.
Tom shifts closer to you, taking your hand into his as he speaks, “My heart went out of my chest, like for real,”
“Wait, Really,” Your eyes went wide with Tom’s words.
“Yes, Y/N/N! Your my best friend and I’ve loved you for ages now, it’s just I never wanted to ruin our friendship..” he breathe out, looking at you.
You lean in, pressing your lips onto his as he takes his hand to the back of your head.
“I love you too, Tommy,” You smile, adding, “For a very long time!”
“That makes me feel relived, Love,” Tom smiles, “Will you do me the honour of becoming, my girlfriend?”
“Yes, Tom,” You giggle, Tom nods as he smashes your lips together passionately.
Taking in all your beauty, as he can finally get to call you his.
“Don’t think your off the hook from pranking me, that was mean,” Tom playfully, pouts to you.
“I know, baby,” you wink, cuddling into him as he turns the Tv on.
Luckily no one else is at his apartment right now, your on your own with him.
“Your curls are soft,” You giggle..
“You touched them before, baby,” Tom laughs.
“Yh, but not like this,” You giggle again leaning into him for another kiss.
“I’m gonna keep kissing you,” Tom whispers..
“Then, do that! Nothing is stopping you, Babe,” You smirk back as you pull him in closer.
Tom slips his tongue into your mouth, tasting everything inch of your tongue as you bite his lip.
“So fucking beautiful like gold! Baby,” Tom says smiling, “Always have done and always will!”
“You too, Tom! You too..” You smile biting his lip once more.

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allylikethecat · 11 months
Note
if you’re still doing the kiss prompts, i woild love 9/19 for gatty ♥️
also wanted to say ive read p mi h everything in the gatty tag and think you have probably the most unique writer’s voice ive seen yet your characters feel 100% true ♥️ truly amazing
First, thank you so much for your kind words about my writing! There are so many incredibly talented writers in this fandom and I am so honored to be included in the tag with them! I have a lot of fun writing about the misadventures of Matty and George and I'm so happy that you're enjoying reading about them! (Eventually, one day, I'll update one of my fics on AO3 - for now I've been having too much fun working on these prompts!)
For the kiss prompts - I ended up combining these two, 9. Kiss…in public and 19. Kiss…for luck. I hope that was okay! If not let me know and I'll write you two new ones 😊 Regardless of if you wanted them combined or two separate ones, I hope that you enjoyed this fill!
❤️Ally
9. Kiss…in public & 19. Kiss…for luck 
Matty felt like he was going to throw up. The spliff he had smoked, what he hoped was stealthily in the bathroom, standing carefully balanced on the toilet seat to exhale directly into the vent fan, George laughing with his hands on his hips to keep him steady, had done absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. If anything, it had only made him more anxious, made him paranoid that everyone could tell he was stoned. Even after rehearsing all week, after playing these songs for months, after writing them himself, he still couldn’t manage to pronounce “thinking this through” properly, the words slurring together in such a way that it had become a meme on TikTok. He was about to fuck up the words to his own song on live broadcast television and then get ridiculed on the internet for having a speech impediment despite all the years of speech pathology he had attended as a child to lose his lisp. 
He knew, rationally, they had been on bigger stages before. He knew rationally, the slur of the line was attributed to his Manchester accent and not his childhood speech impediment. He knew rationally, that even if he didn’t remember it, they had played SNL before. Maybe that’s why he was so nervous, maybe that’s why his stomach was churning ominously, leaving him wondering if he was going to puke or shit himself with nerves, or if he was really lucky, maybe a combination of the two.
He had seen the videos of their SNL performance in 2016, he had seen the articles condemning his “weird” stage presence. He had been high as shit on heroin, drunk as hell on red wine and it was truly a miracle that he had managed the performance at all. He had hazy memories of waking up in the back of the car taking them to the hotel, having fallen asleep with his heavy head on George’s shoulder as soon as they were in the moving vehicle, to hear murmurs of how they probably weren’t ever going to be invited back. The track marks on his arm had itched and shame burned in his chest. At the time, he hadn’t even been sure what they weren’t being invited back to. 
But here they were, seven years later, invited back. Their fifth album was doing better than they could have ever hoped, their sold out North American tour had been met with critical acclaim. They were nominated for another Brit award and Jack had even accidentally on purpose let slip that their name was being tossed around as actual Grammy contenders. And they had been invited back. To play SNL, even though seven years ago Matty had blacked out and then apparently thrown up just off to the side of the stage, barely out of view of the audience. It was time for his redemption arc, time for him to show NBC that he was Matty Fucking Healy, and Matty Fucking Healy was no longer a liability. 
Even though he kind of felt like a liability, standing with his guitar in the green room, trying to remember why he thought being a rockstar was a good idea to begin with. 
The rest of the guys, and their backing band, where sprawled out on the leather couches, fiddling with their instruments, laughing with excitement as Matty paced, strumming a few cords as he did so, trying desperately to calm himself, to remind himself that he was Matty Fucking Healy. Worst case scenario had already happened last time they played SNL, so really he should be relaxed, it could only go up from here. His stomach lurched and he found himself scrambling over to the bar sink in the corner, leaning heavily on the counter, banging his guitar on the cabinet as he moved. He took a deep breath, and swallowed hard. False alarm. He was fine. Everything was fine.
“You guys are up,” said a PA poking his head into the green room, Matty looked up, seeing the look of concern and judgment that PA was giving him. He looked too young to have been around for their first performance on the show, but Matty was willing to bet he had heard about it when it was announced they had been booked. Keep an eye on the little curly one, Matty was sure some senior up stage hand had said. Last time he did heroin in the bathroom then threw up everywhere. 
Matty swallowed hard. It was show time. It was just another show he told himself. Just another show. If he was losing it in front of a crowd of 300 he had no idea how he was going to handle Finsbury that summer- they were expecting 50,000. He knew it wasn’t the size of the live audience. It was the live broadcast and what it represented.
“Hey,” George said, catching his arm just as they were about to step onto the stage, and step into the shine of the lights. He could hear Jenna introducing them, though it sounded far away, like his head underwater, which was surreal enough in itself Matty thought hysterically. “Good luck.” 
He wrapped one of his large hands around Matty’s lower back, skimming the top curve of his arse. He pressed his mouth to Matty’s, in a chaste kiss that Matty found himself melting into, trying to deepen, chasing George’s lips, even as he pulled back. 
“You’re going to be brilliant.” 
The crowd started screaming and Matty looked over his shoulder, realizing with detachment that they hadn’t been as hidden, hadn’t been as off to the side as they had thought, the studio audience had a direct view, a front row seat to George kissing him. 
His next thought was the Taylor Swift song, has anyone ever kissed you in a crowded room. Followed quickly by this meant that the audience did in fact probably see him throw up last time. A hysterical bubble of laughter pulled itself from his chest and he rested his forehead against George’s chest. 
George gave the crowd a sheepish wave before pressing another kiss to the crown of Matty’s head, before stepping back and making his way to his drum kit. Matty spun around and waved at the audience, moving into the spotlight to take his place at center stage, grinning to himself as they played the opening notes of Looking for Somebody (To Love). He already had found somebody to love.
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starry-blue-echoes · 2 years
Note
So like kinda dark and inspired by standtaro
(Tw: drug abuse and OD mention, sorry if that is upsetting if it is just deleted this without reading)
So a giorno who before the events of part5 was an addict (which is one of the reasons its so important to him to get rid of drug trade) but about a year before part 5 takes place he overdoses.
Giorno had had gold for pretty much his whole life buts its wasnt at full power for various reasons and could barely appear but when gio is dying it goes into full gear trying to being him back to life and it works….. kinda. The process is what turns his hair gold and kinda fuses him with his stand. He can be scene by none stand users but thier is always this sorta off quality about him.
The ease at which he uses and understands his stands powers and abilities is unnatural even for veterans stand users. That he is never caught of guard because gio and gold are so intertwined (and i dont mean in the way how a stand user and thier stand are the same as in a stand is a reflection of thier soul. I mean thier fused like if you put two separate entities together)
Gio seems most human just kinda off to everyone around him. Especially stand users. If he were to ever loose his stand he would die, body unable to substain itself without gold.
Standtaro and gold Gio staring each other down like the spiderman meme
👀👀👀👀👀👀
Okay but honestly, if this was canon Part 5 would’ve been SO much cooler
Just. The dead “ghost” of a boy being given another shot and doing everything he can to stop others from succumbing to the same fate he did
And what if Giorno doesn’t repossess his body. It’s left behind in the alley, eventually found by someone and leads to Haruno Shiobana being legally pronounced dead, which eventually leads to him taking the name Giorno Giovanna
He looks different enough, plus he didn’t have an actual friends or anyone who knew him well enough who would notice his similarities. His mother and stepfather certainly wouldn’t care either
and what if he kinda. Drifts for a while. He doesn’t really need to worry about having a place to stay. He doesn’t need food, rest, or needed to keep clean. His strange Stand Ghost Body takes care of all of that by itself since by all means, he’s essentially just an illusion given form.
And when Bucciarati shows up Giorno finally gets his chance. His chance to change things, to fulfill his dream, everything
He probably wouldn’t tell Bucciarati about the whole I’m A Dead Child thing at first. He’d probably vaguely mention the fact that the wanting to stop drugs thing is personal, but not elaborate much beyond that
And honestly, I can see this lead to Giorno being much more reckless than canon. Specifically when it comes to his own health and safety since….. well, that isn’t really a concern now. He’s already dead after all. Why should he care about what happens to this body when he can’t even feel the injuries being inflected
(And for the Standtaro thing, GHDBFHDB Y E A H. They have a moment of Solid Eye Contact where they realize “oh shit this guy’s kinda like me”)
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the-drunken-huntsman · 7 months
Note
Hiii arr u willing to answer all the TES months asks for Aneis and Murza and Dire please please please :} I know that's a Lot so if u want to skip over some that is totally understandable hehe
Morning Star - What was the first thing you gave your OC? Name, backstory, design, etc
Aneis: I guess technically the first thing I gave her was her name, even though I've since changed the spelling. I had liked the name Anais before picking up Skyrim (even though I was pronouncing it wrong lol) and had used it for my PC in Pokémon Sword and one of my SDV saves so I just used it again when I started Skyrim. Also side note, I've never watched The Amazing World of Gumball before today while babysitting and I had no clue that was the little sister's name.
Murza: The first thing I came up with for her was just a vague concept. I wanted to play around with mismatched race/class, so of course the first thing I wanted was an orc mage. The second thing I decided for her was that she was gonna be trans because hell yeah.
Dire: The first thing I came up with for him was also a vague concept. I had wanted to make a chaotic evil demigod type character and even though he's changed a lot since initial concept I figured the best way to achieve that would be to make him a demiprince. I wanted him to be kind of conniving and sly and settled on making him the son of Clavicus to get there. Originally he was going to be another one of Aneis' companions who was tagging along just for the vain glory of being a part of the dragonborn's adventures but you know how OCs sometimes seem to have a mind of their own and he eventually got to where he is now :)
Sun's Dawn - Does your OC have a love interest? What is their relationship like?
Aneis: Aneis was always a pretty promiscuous person. She knew she'd have to make Teldryn another one of her conquests from the first moment she saw him without the helmet. They hooked up a few times while traveling on Solstheim, but while going through Nchardak trying to get to the Black Book, he used his whole body to shield her from an automaton that had caught her off guard and that was it, she was done. That night in Severin Manor she sits him down and is like. Look, don't be alarmed and please don't leave because I still need you to guide me around this gods forsaken island. But I think I'm in love with you. To which Teldryn is like
Tumblr media
Murza: You know the "me doing whatever my hot witch wife wants" meme? That's Murza and Endurys. However before they were married they were the epitome of idiots in love. Just stupid long stares and longing sighs in camp at night until one day Aneis snaps and shoves them in an inn room together and yells at them to not come out until they've fucked all the yearning out.
Dire: Dire is aroace do no romantic interests for him! But his absolute favorite people in the world are his little cousins and his little brother
First Seed - Does your OC have any enemies or rivals? How did these rivalries start?
Aneis: I know there's lots of people who read into the LDB's relationship to Miraak and how tragic his story is and blah blah blah, he makes my blood boil so Aneis feels the exact same way. As opposed to any other big bad she faces, (Harkon is Serana's White Whale before anyone else, Ulfric had to go for the well-being of the people in her opinion, and defeating Alduin was more for the people she loved and needed to protect than anything else) Miraak makes it personal for her, acting like some sort of sibling rival to her when Akatosh is nothing more to her than a perverted puppet master playing with her fate. She actually loathes any of the Dovah who call her sister without having earned that respect from her first (like Paarthurnax and Odahviing have). As far as she's concerned she only has one father and he never used her to clean up his messes, he gave his life trying to protect his homeland from the Dominion.
Murza: I've been wanting to play around with the concept of Savos Aren being the big bad of the College Quest line as opposed to Ancano. Like Ancano is still evil and shit, but like, Aren was actually in league with him the whole time. He needed the Thalmor's resources to get him to the Eye and the Staff and the second he has what he needs he betrays their shaky alliance. Anyway yeah I think Murza would kinda always be wary of Savos and it would also legitimize her succeeding him as opposed to any other member of the staff if she's the one who was able to fell him.
Dire: I wouldn't say Dire had any real enemies or rivals. I'm kinda keeping his story once he goes adventuring on his own open because of TES:VI supposedly being eminent and I might want to use him in that game. So as of right now, in the Skyrim timeline, he's just a lil guy? Who could hate that?
Rain's Hand - Can your OC use magic? If so what Schools?
Aneis: Aneis knows three spells: close wounds, clairvoyance, and muffle. All taught to her by her father as they're the most useful out in the wild while tracking prey. She can also do a bit of fire magic, but nothing more than just enough to light a campfire. She might later learn heal undead for the sake of Serana though.
Murza: I'm not sure what to say for her. She's the arch mage of course she uses magic. I guess she is particularly adept at conjuration, being a follower of Malacath and having a half daedric son
Dire: Dire would mostly be adept with alteration and illusion, but also conjuration because duh. I could see him as a very small child, using alteration to make his toys move without touching them, a slightly older child summoning small beasts from oblivion to play with (maybe even Uncle Barbas), and when his cousins are babies, using illusion to calm them down and keep them entertained.
Second Seed - Is your OC an alchemist? What do they excel at making?
Aneis: Araneth, Aneis' mother, was an apothecary. In the same way her father passed his hunting prowess to her, her mother also tried to give her as much of her knowledge as she could as well. She didn't much get it or appreciate it while her mother was alive, but later in life she put the effort into actually trying to understand her mother's teachings. She eventually becomes about as skilled as your average professional alchemist.
Murza: Gonna preface this with the fact that I still consider alchemy a school of magic even though it counts as a thief's skill in Skyrim. Anyway I think it would be the one school to slip her grasp. It's just too... material. Breaking an enemy's mind with a flick of her wrist? Summoning a sword from Oblivion that weighs nothing in hand but can slice through trees? Those are the kinds of esoteric things that Murza understands. Plants that need to be boiled at a certain temperature and creatures' innards that need to be removed in an exact precise manner? May as well be Dwemeris to her.
Dire: Dire is like his mother in that alchemy is just too far over his head. But he isn't as frustrated about his lack of comprehension as she is. Why would he need to worry about mixing potions when he can just find them well and good for the taking in every dungeon in Tamriel?
Mid Year - Does your OC have a favourite celebration? Do they celebrate holidays?
Aneis: Hircine's summoning day is a very special time for her. She always spends days hunting before hand, trying to gather as much a variety of pelts and trophies as she can for her offering. This is even though, as his champion, they are definitely not necessary, the woman fells dragons in his name. However she always prepares as much as she can for him, and once summoned she always has the same simple request for him. To deliver a message to her family in the Hunting Grounds, that she loves them, and misses them, and hopes she is making them proud.
Murza: Murza always tries to make it a point to be home at Lakeview Manor for the Witches Fest. She loves seeing the children dressed up and doing little tricks to entertain them. (This goes along with the headcanon that Lakeview Manor would eventually have a little village crop up around it)
Dire: He would very much enjoy the Jester's Festival, but his absolute favorite is Clavicus' summoning day. I've joked before that it's the only time he gets to play catch with his dad, but since he is also a small aspect of Vile in and of himself, I think the whole day he'd just feel a little closer to Oblivion and it makes him feel whole.
Sun's Height - What is your OC's favourite shop, in any of the games; what do they buy the most of?
Aneis: Aneis adores The Drunken Huntsman. Anoriath is a very talented fletcher and Elrindir is always game to swap hunting stories. They make the whole establishment feel like what she's been missing from Valenwood all these years away, even as a wooded building. They're probably the only people in Tamriel she trusts to service her family bow.
Murza: Murza actually likes hanging around Tel Mithryn. Neloth always has interesting, useful things to sell to her and she suspects he likes her company as she's much quicker to catch onto his teachings than his actual apprentice (sorry, Talvas).
Dire: Even though Enthir's displeasure at having a child on college grounds was always well known to Dire, he still likes bugging him to show him all the weird, cool things he has for sale, which he has no intention of buying. Just looking and maybe a little swiping to play with later.
Last Seed - What weapon does your OC use? Who taught them how to use it?
Aneis: Aneis' main weapons are her family's heirloom bow and the battleaxe gifted to her by Balgruuf. Her father taught her how to shoot and she's self taught with the axe. She'd honestly never touched a two handed weapon in her life before but she thought the nords might think it a great insult for her to not use a weapon gifted to her by the Jarl, so she just swung it around until she found what felt good and did the most damage.
Murza: Murza got her base knowledge of magic from Atub, but growing up in the stronghold she was also expected to learn to swing a sword. Though the swords she uses now are less... mundane. She uses summoned weapons. Idk if that got across lol.
Dire: Dire has had a natural affinity for magic since birth but he hones his craft under the tutelage of his mother and the other professors of Winterhold.
Hearthfire - Does your OC have a family (blood or found)? Who are they closest to?
I can answer this generally for all three characters. The whole of the found family (the people who live at Lakeview Manor) are Aneis, Murza, Teldryn, Endurys, Dire, Hab, Cinuri, Braiel, and the dogs, Sable and Merc. Aneis and Murza are closest to each other platonically, and though he'd never admit it, Dire is closest to Cinuri, she's his best friend.
Frost Fall - Where is your OC's primary residence? What city is there favourite?
Aneis: Aneis knows most of the Bosmer living in Skyrim find The Rift to be the closest approximate to their homeland, she finds the quite, backwoods nature of Falkreath reminds her much more of the area she grew up in. Of course she loves her quite little life on the homestead, surrounded by all her loved ones.
Murza: Technically, Murza's main residence is the college, but she tends not to spend much time there, mainly because she gets lonely. Endurys hates the cold having grown up in the shit hole of Eastmarch and avoids the college as much as possible and Aneis only goes if she's asked to specifically by Murza. So she ends up spending most of her year in Lakeview.
Dire: His parents have determined its much better for him to grow up in an actual stable home surrounded by actual stable adults, so most of his childhood is spent in Lakeview. However, once in a while, Murza will bring him with her on her trips to the college and he loves it. So many places to explore and get into trouble and so many people to bug until they relent and teach him something new.
Sun's Dusk - Is your OC religious? If so, who do they follow?
Aneis: Aneis' grandmother was a priestess of Hircine, her father a priest, and the rest of her family devotees. Their whole devotion is based on having such hunting prowess on their own, they have no need for the gift of the beast blood. This of course culminated in Aneis literally being born to be the greatest hunter of the greatest prey, the Last Dragonborn.
Murza: Murza has always felt like an outsider, even within her own tribe growing up, so she finds a lot of solace in the tenants of Malacath. She also keeps a quiet reverence for Dibella, as her priestesses were the ones who helped her become her most true self.
Dire: Dire doesn't really necessarily worship Clavicus Vile, he just kinda has this air of thankfulness around the subject of his daedric parent. After all it is through his connection to Oblivion that he is able to help so many people and keep his family together in the afterlife.
Evening Star - When is your OC's birthday?
Aneis: 27th of Hearthfire, 4E 153
Murza: 21st of Sun's Dusk, 4E 165
Dire: 30th of Mid Year, 4E 206
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kaatiba · 1 year
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For the ask meme: 4, 10, 17, 19, and 40 :)
Thank you for playing! This gets long, I'm in a wordy mood.
4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?
Longing, because of this quote. But then I have favourite words based on how they sound and what they taste like to pronounce. Gorgeous has a lovely full-mouth feel. Loquacious is a sensual, teasing word. Evocative is all sharp consonants and a vibration and sounds like a dare.
10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?
Oh yes! There's this [paraphrased] quote (and hadith): "I was a hidden treasure and I desired to be known, and so I created the Universe to know me." There's the entirety of The Orphan Tales duology by Catherynne M. Valente. The Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Various pieces over the years, from everywhere, that have settled like sediment in my mind, to be stirred up by a current every now and then and steal my breath.
My own writing has haunted me too, in a different way than other's writing has. Legends of Mourra refuses to die, no matter how it (or I) changes. Actually, most of my wips are the ghosts of imaginings that I can't settle except by writing them down and out and giving them a real life. There's one wip I've abandoned that I feel guilt and grief (no, really, actual grief) over and it haunts me.
To be haunted means that it...lingers. A good haunting means that it stays with me and conjures up strong emotion every time. The...well, not bad, but less good haunting (like I have for my own writing) is a kind of weight I can't put down and a hunger I'm feeding that I can't quite satisfy entirely. The bad haunting is like my abandoned wip, which is bad only because it's tangled up with guilt and regret, and that I'm sorry for my readers who are waiting futilely for it to be finished. I can't bear to look at it anymore, much less work on it.
17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.
Oh where to start... I'm focusing right now on Legends of Mourra and a lot of the lore I'm planning to share are going to be as encyclopedia entries.
This wip started more than a decade ago, with my dad saying I should write something related to my traditions. I remember him saying, "Why don't you have you characters be a group that travels around the country fighting djinn?" Then I wanted to approach the trope of the Chosen One in a different way: how does he live long enough to be the Chosen One? What's the story behind his survival?
Years later and I came back to the initial idea of fighting djinn. Now I've incorporated my love of folk lore and fairy tale into the idea. The underpinnings of the plot I've worked on and since discarded are still there, but...emotionally? I'm not sure they'll make it to the actual text. I'm not sure this is a story about a Chosen One and a kingdom's collapse anymore, or that it's the prequel to said Chosen One's story of coming back and saving his home. It may be! But I might just be trying to force it back into old parameters. We'll see!
19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?
I feel like I've always been writing, but that's because it is, to me, synonymous with story making rather than putting words down. I think I was between 7 and 10 when I started actual literal writing. It was fanfiction for Tamora Pierce's Tortall series, before I knew what fanfiction was! More of a over-powered self-insert, actually. And then I got into manga and started writing fanfiction (still with overpowered self-inserts) with my friends for InuYasha.
Original writing happened too, but fanfiction was where it started in a more concrete sense. It makes sense: I was a reader first and fanfiction is to love what you've read so much you want to play with it yourself. I still love and write fanfic and it's helped me develop my craft for sure. Now I'm trying to focus primarily on OG writing, but it's much harder: I am trying to make something conceptual real, rather than making something real new.
40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.
I will do you one better; I'll give you two. The first: my poem titled hamartia.
The second: I wound my heart...
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thasdorah · 1 year
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“ why are we fighting so hard to save the lives of people who hate us, anyway? ” / illidan knows the answer to this deep down, but MAN. he wants to hear alleria’s thoughts too.
send memes ♡
— @throned
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The hatred isn't as obvious towards her as it is towards him. It is there, though, in some more pronounced than in others. Sometimes, when she looks at some soldier of the Army of Light — someone she had known, fought beside, bled together — it still catches her by surprise the depth of visible disdain. Many are simply wary. They do not know the Void as anything other than the Shadow powers tied to Old Gods and cults, an endless corruption no one should be able to withstand.
All fall eventually. You will see our truth, given time. Having consumed L'ura's heart, there is no separating her from the shadows any longer, and even those who held out hope she may see the error of her ways seem to be no longer expectant of that. They, like the disembodied whispers that plague her mind, believe it is only a matter of time until the darkness consumes her.
Alleria doesn't feel like that. Centuries before (or what had been perceived as centuries, in the Twisting Nether), when she had ventured into the nothingness to learn from the Locus-Walker, she had been much closer to losing her mind to the dark presences. Now it is no less part of her than the skill to draw a bow with perfect aim; it doesn't make those around her less fearful — or less hateful.
Illidan is something else, though. There is no shortage of people openly derisive of the demon hunter, despite none of them taking issue with his aid in fighting the Legion. She places one foot on the demon's corpse and pulls her arrows from it, his question causes Alleria to glance at him, and then at the distant form of the one they had just helped (the only one still alive from a larger group, and who had walked away without as much as saying thank you for having his life saved — paladins sure knew how to be a delight).
The silence as she returns to her task, briefly cleaning the worse of the grime from the arrows before returning them to her quiver is one of pondering. She can feel the fluttering agreement in the whispers from the Void (You should leave them, they despise you, they shall never accept. They are blind and hateful and deserve no help. Leave them to die.); those are the ones that bother her most. The ones she can almost agree with, that strike too close to be easily ignored. Still, she has a different answer to give him.
"We're not doing this for them," Surely enough, they all fought for the same thing, sought the same goal. But it was different. "I will help allies when they need, of course, but people like him," No longer present, though her head points in the direction the man had followed. "are not the reason why I'm fighting."
"I think our world is worth saving," Alleria adds, with a shrug. She would not have sacrificed so much for Azeroth, if she didn't believe that. "And I think there are people in it worth saving, too." Standing straighter, she turns to face him fully, gaze studying her companion. "With so many reasons to hate people, I reckon you feel similarly, or you wouldn't be fighting at all."
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richardsondavis · 1 year
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Official Translations. My first rodeo with them was when I was still with MangaRock. Before MangaRock became INKR.
So I was only familiar with fan translations of manga, scanlations as they were called. My first manga that I've ever read was Beelzebub. MangaFox source.
I was also using a different app. MangaReader. A blue app. Man, memories. That app was one of the first then I found my main app for years. Manga Reader by Robin Studio. Pink themed app and that one had a lot of sources and it introduced me to a lot of genres. Loved it. Then MangaRock.
So I didn't know that there are official translations of manga. I found an official translation by accident when I was looking for a good Fairy Tail translation. The fan translation of that one is just awful for the first chapters.
When I found that Sigurein is translated as Sieglain as per the dub then I knew I got a good one. Didn't know that it was official and by Kodansha, a trustworthy manga translator.
So I enjoyed that shit. Finished Fairy Tail with Manga Rock. Then Manga Rock died so I had to find alternatives. Heard of Tachiyomi so I went and checked it out and lo and behold a shit ton of translation sources. This was also the time I became interested in manhwa and webtoons. So I went and checked and my search for manhwa to read solidified my desire to go with official. Manga was various with the quality some are not good, others serviceable.
Manhwa is just good or meh. The official translations are fucking fantastic. So I applied the same ideal to manga.
Now I was not aware of the official translation discourse until recently. Apparently, manga and Japanese media in general as far as translation is concerned are getting "mistranslated" by the very partisan and left leaning peeps. And I can safely that yes, that has happened.
Of course, nuance applies and the mistranslations always have something to do with the LGBT and feminism stuff.
Chainsaw Man recently had a panel in the official translations where the MC is just saying something about Unions and Job Security. The fan translation does not have the mention of that one whatsoever. The anime also didn't. This was not blown up however because it talks about Union Jobs and job security and humane job treatment. This also isn't anti-LGBT bait or anyother so yeah. The only mention of the anti-woke side who hates official translation whom they call localization is a meme and the comments have a discussion referencing commies and stuff. Awful stuff and not worth the headache.
There was one thing there though that was interesting. There was a Japanese person in the comments that said that what the MC said in the raw manga was gibberish. I guess its true. Then in the not so woke side of the conversation the gibberish that the MC says also is just how he pronounces the words for union job and job security and shit.
I feel so butthurt. Not because of the conversation about the union job, translation or anything. I have opinions too and I feel like I should pick a side herr but I don't want to. I want to read Chainsaw Man. I hate being redpilled.
Guess my woke tolerance is a bit high.
I just want to enjoy my shit without controversy. My friends are like that. I mean my problem isn't the translation or what people say about it. It's the sides that form when these are talked and the feeling that I'm a bad person whenever I enjoy these works. Based on the vitriol I see. Maybe I shouldn't take things seriously.
I've been pressured to read smarter or be analytical but I just can't. I feel dumb half the time and I'm very slow on the uptake on things. I just want to forget the internet and enjoy things in ignorance. I'm better off that way. Fuck the redpilled. Fuck the woke. Fuck this translation issue. Fuck everything!!!!
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ducknotinarow · 2 years
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[BailsRichy]  i’m not letting you leave without a hug first. [Childhood AU]
| Soft sentence starter meme
Richard tilted his head to the side and lifted a brow fixing the thick plastic frames over his face as he aimed at his playmate with a confused expression. “Bails, we can't play house though it wouldn't make any sense?” Was his response when Bailey suggested they play house together, holding up their purple plush cat named Jelly, who would be their child in this whole play act Bailey was presenting. Despite the fact they had played this game before however, Richard was a few years older and far wiser so he knew a thing or two compared to when they would bicker over toys as children do. Bailey seemed to deflate at the response “You have to be married to have a kid,” was how Richard ended his statement seeming to bring back the chick's spirits over the suggested game. Richard shut his book and looked around a moment Zane was meant to be watching them after all, eyeing his brother in the tree house he stood up from the grass and took hold of Bailey’s hand “come on Zane can help us.”
Richard stated in all his clear wisdom, as much wisdom as an eight-year-old could have of course. But the law of children dictated age importance meaning if they were going to play their game properly they had to be married that was just how it worked. Their own families were clearly all the proof needed to justify that, in Richard's mind. Taking hold of Bailey’s hand he couldn’t help the smile that came over him. A slight tug to get them to follow his lead as they ran over to his brother.
It took maybe only ten minutes to convince him but to them, it felt like forever before Zane finally gave in to their wishes and did as they want. Only because Richard said he would tell on his older brother if he didn’t. It was a dirty trick but Richard wasn’t afraid to play dirty smugly smiling as Zane pronounced them married now getting roped into their antics as well.
"There now we can play house," Richard went to the state to Bailey now, taking his win with the most grace a child could, when they got one over thier older sibling. Sticking his tongue out at Zane when they rolled his eyes, he didn't understand why they had to have a marriage for thier game but it was Richard a stickler for rules. Richard turned back to Bailey now "This can be the house, hmm I guess I'll go off to work then and you can watch our baby. Is it still gonna be Jelly?" he and Bailey began setting up the roles, and more rules to thier little game of pretending between them. Decided what they do and such and making suggestions even, the two boys giggling as they seemed to get settled into thier 'marriage' now "alright then bye dear," Richard said with a wide grin, patting Jelly's head "bye baby I'll be back soon" Ready to head off to whatever was work. Richard had planned that bit out he might just go and read his book for a bit as work, but when he tried to leave Bailey stayed in front of him. Richard paused wondering if he did something wrong just now. He called Bailey dear and told them both bye least that's what the dads on tv did. wasn't that right? He didn't wanna do what his dad did, which was left without a word. Honestly, Richard hardly ever knew when they actually were home or not. "What? I asked if dear was okay to say?" wondering if they changed thier mind on that bit "hmm maybe pollito instead?" Bailey shook his head showing that wasn't the issue, huffing a bit now he really hated when it took forever to play thier games, "Alright what?" Bailey held out his arms wide, welcoming Richard in for a big hug. Of course, they were always hugging him after all, Richard's face tinted a little bit of red once Bailey gestured out for the hug, waiting for them to walk into it.
"i’m not letting you leave without a hug first."
"Uhhh" Was all Richard said, Zane suddenly invested in this all now sat up and 'ooohed' from behind his younger brother, Richard glancing over his shoulder. It was one thing when he was getting one up on them it was not okay the other way around. Zane went on to tease Richard "yeah Richard hug your husband goodbye," the said nearly cooing it out as they mocked his brother over the situation he found himself in just now. Richard pursed his beak and glared at his brother he knew very well why they were they were adding to this. If Zane wasn't here? maybe he'd humor Bailey with a quick hug
Dumb Zane, turning to look back to Bailey.
"I'm not doing that, now I got to go work" He repeated but the chick refused to move away. One thing Bailey wasm was stubborn and they were going to insist on the hug too, Richard huffed again this was annoying. he just wanted to go off to 'work' so they could play thier game but Bailey was keeping him from that. Richard stopped his foot "I'm not hugging you" The eaglet stated arms crossed, standing his ground, when he heard the little whimper, opening an eye he looked and saw how Bailey's eyes seemed to grow larger pleading with the look alone. His beak trembling a bit trying to keep himself from saying alright then and there. He just tighten his arms closer as if it was making him stand firm in this. "It's part of the rules remember what I said? you have to love him that means hugs" Zane called out amused with the little conflict at hand. "I'm leaving" he gruffs going to walk around Bailey when seeing how they started to lower thier arms, a firm pout on thier beak. Eyes looking at the floor. Richard stood there did he just hurt thier feelings? Richard wonders feeling Zane's hand on his shoulder repeating the same question out loud. Richard shrugged his brother away from him "You the one who started teasing me about it!" aiming the blame over towards his older brother who was happy to point out Bailey just wanted a hug and Richard said no. Leaving Richard with nothing to use against it, "shut up!" he resorted to turning back to Bailey he stepped over and gave them a quick tight squeeze "Goodbye dear and baby I'm going to work" he repeated from before. Only for Zane to start laughing behind them teasing the eagle more, going on about how they loved thier 'husband' Richard just sighed "we're married hugging is what we do." Richard defended. "Nice to have the excuse of the game uh?" Letting go of Bailey setting his hands on thier shoulders a moment "Sorry I have to go fight now." Richard said turning towards his brother who already started running off for Richard to race right after. "Zane if you tell him I won't talk to you for a year!" was all he yelled leaving his husband and son behind in pursuit of his older brother.
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alittlebirb · 2 years
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Some humorous hubbub from the MCC 21 Purple Pandas:
-Sam admitting that he's never played with the MCC music on, and everyone immediately calling it criminal and bullying him into putting the music on right now
-"The music is like, 50% of what makes MCC good." -Scott
-HE'S NEVER HEARD THE INTRO MUSIC FOR THE EVENT BEFORE THIS IS TRAGIC
-Punz is so down for group photos
-Punz and Scott wearing matching panda socks
-"If it's a photo with you in it, it's gotta be good, Sam." -Scott
-Punz coming up with the exact same dog strategy as 5up did (vod reviewing sweats)
-"I need to relax, I'm getting too hyped up, my heart is going through the roof." -Punz
-Sam going up to the elevator zombie and saying in such a worried voice, "You lost the key, man!"
-Ponk is so excited it's so endearing ^^
-Scott immediately warning about Grian on this SG map, if you come across him just run away
-Sam and Scott saying they got edged by the music stopping -_-
-Sam and Ponk being shocked at being able to break glass, and Scott replying with just the most exasperated "Yes."
-Sam looking at a team, seeing it's Grian, and immediately turning right back around
-Sam getting up to the rocket practice area during the hub game, looking directly at the last dog, just??? not??? seeing it??? and moving on into a different area
-Scott calling the mega bunny "Cute! ^^" and Punz calling it "Creepy. >:("
-Scott planning out HITW strategies, Sam popping in that he's colorblind, then adding that it's fine though they can still see the HITW colors
"So you've given me a piece of information that doesn't change anything." -Scott
"Just wanted to make sure you knew, just that I'm the main character usually, you know?" -Sam
-Scott encouraging Punz to dunk either Wilbur or CPK in the decision dome in order to keep the 'weird dunk' meme alive
-Punz's computer literally bluescreening in GR and Ponk noting that "someone hasn't been cleaning their vents 👀"
-Punz rejoining the call and Scott updating him that "they [the players] are all calling you a tax evader now."
-Scott is personally offended that Sam has never heard how ✨ jazzy ✨ GR's music is
-Sam carrying the comms for the Saw Mill room in GR
-One of his teammates seeing Wilbur on a dog already and Scott just immediately knowing that it's his dogs Wilbur is harassing
-Purple may not have won the tournament but Sam definitely won in getting flowers from dogs
"The dogs love me." -Sam
-Sam saying confidently that they've never played RSR, and Punz pointing out that yes he did, it was his vod that they watched together
-Sam thanking Master Punz for improving his Rocket Spleef skills
-"Me and Ranboo committed a hate crime each, it was gay on gay crime." -Scott after he and Ranboo killed each other in RSR
-Sam asking if they think he has time to go to the gas station in six minutes, and Scott flatly replying "No."
"You have no faith in me." -Sam
-Scott and Sam teasing Punz for saying he's doing bad while he's literally in 8th
-"Keep the morale up, king. You look so handsome today." -Sam
"You look so hot." -Scott
-"I'm turning on my pretty privilege for the next four games." -Sam
-Punz being unable to pronounce KryticZeuz's name
"I'll just call him Zeus."
-Scott gleefully cheering on children fighting in SB
-Scott being momentarily granted The Gift Of Prophecy and predicting a BM skip this MCC
-"We go for the murder here. We have murder on our mind." -Sam
-Scott seeing that Jimmy has a dunk in the decision dome and immediately knowing that he's going to go after his team, even though Purple is in last
-Scott being called Sand Daddy by Punz and everyone treating that like it's normal
-Sam telling his chat that yes, he washed his hands after going to the bathroom, in the most exasperated voice
-Scott taking a while to get the word puzzle at the beginning, coming out of the room, and seeing the timer drop to 30 seconds left
"That doesn't sound good." -Punz
"It's fiiiine, nothing to worry about!" -Scott, sweating frantically
-Sam hyping himself up while beating up mobs in SOT
"Yes Sam, yes Sam, yes Sam!"
-Punz dying and Sam going noooo don't die king
-PONK GOING INTO THE RAVAGER PIT WITH NO FEAR AND SUCCEEDING AND MAKING IT LOOK SO EASY????
-Ponk was actually having a really good SOT before she died rip
-Scott trying to throw a tomato at Jimmy
-Flower Husbands are currently in their lover-to-enemies arc
-Sapnap spamming Sam before the last game begging him not to vote Buildmart
"Now that he said that, I kinda want to go for it just to mess with him." -Sam
-Sam giving constant excellent comms in PKT
"SAM'S COMMS ARE FUCKING HOT RIGHT NOW!" -Punz
"My comms are sexy right now." -Sam
"Honestly the best thing to happen each round would be if Sam dies first." -Scott
-Everyone in Purple is legitimately cracked in PKT...frog icons, the lot of them
-Everyone hyping up Ponk for doing so well as a runner and a hunter
-Scott once again considering the cost of postage when looking at the winning teams
-Scott asking Ponk to visit him in Brighton...he'll show them the sea 🌊
-"Bee boy is having a mental, I can tell." -Scott about Tubbo during DB
-Punz sarcastically asking if funnel aces actually count lol
-Punz forgetting how to say 'morale'
"That really got the...motive up, or something like that."
-Ponk missed TGTTOS this MCC (Yeah I bet you did you punching menace)
-Scott mentioned that SG will probably be benched the most out of all the games because it's the least unique to MCC
-"I will catch you ~handsome~ gentlemen later on!" -Scott
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bastillewolf · 4 years
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Hello idk if the requests are still going but if not then its okay ignore this and if they are please don't over work yourself and you don't need to do my request if you don't want to just stay healthy and eat well and drink lots of water we all live your work (and are simps for corpse-)
The ask : could I ask for a corpse husband x reader where they used to get shipped together before they even meet each other and when they meet each other corpse goes soft for reader and they play two rounds In among us together where they are imposters together and corpse is an imposter alone in the other round
Reader info : reader has a very soft voice and is a softie and the pronounce is she/her or they/them ( as you wish)
Again you don't gotta do it if you don't want to
Thanks so much for the ask, An. I was feeling like shit and this was a lot of fun to write. I’m sorry though, I completely read over the part where the reader was supposed to have a soft voice. I’ll see if I can make another one with this specification sometime. Also, I wrote this rather quickly because I’m watching Twilight for the first time and now my feelings are hurt.
#CorpseBride - Oneshot
Pairings: Corpse / Reader
Twitter wasn’t really your forte, but you knew how to get around. It’s just that you never really had the time to check it, let alone to see what’s on the trending page every single day. At the very least, you were capable of replying to your friends’ stuff and letting your viewers know when you were streaming or when a new video would be up. Again, you weren’t a pro, but you got by.
Until you didn’t.
“Hey, everyone,” you greeted, and immediately went to change your Among Us figure to its usual colour and outfit before someone else took it.
Everyone welcomed you, while it seemed Toast was still busy trying to get a last person to join.
“Whaddup, baby,” Corpse’s shot out from the rest of them. It was pure teasing, something he’d grown quite comfortable with ever since people had blatantly started simping for his voice. “Nothing much, honey. How’ve you been?” You cheekily replied. “Pretty good. Streaming still makes me nervous, though.” “You greeted me with ‘Whaddup, baby’ and then proceed to tell me you’re nervous? Don’t get upset when I say that I don’t believe you.” He chuckled at that.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
Impostor
“Ha!” you called out, “I doubt this will soothe your nerves, Corpse. You’re teamed up with me now.” You sneaked in a glance at chat. “We are not an old married couple! If anything, he can be my bitch for this round. I’m just not gonna murder anyone.”
And that’s basically how it went. He managed to kill three people and still wasn’t being sussed. “Alright, I think I’ve tortured him enough,” you laughed, “I’ll even spare Sykkuno for the man.”
You managed to corner Toast and killed him in a corner where the water wheels were, before heading out into admin. You vented until you found Corpse in Labs and jumped out. It was right when Sykkuno walked in.
“Oh, god no. Please, Sykkuno.”
Your kill count still wasn’t down yet and he was obviously planning to run straight out the door to hit the emergency button, but he was stopped. Corpse had murdered him in an instant.
Your mouth was hanging open. “Did… Did he just kill Sykkuno for me?” Chat was going absolutely wild. “What the fuck just happened?” You decided to report the body anyway.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” Corpse growled, “Not my best friend, Sykkuno.”
You had to mute yourself to keep the laughter at bay. Corpse evidently vouched for you, saying you’d walked in on the body together. Felix was sussed and voted out.
“Corpse, you killed me!” Sykkuno cried out.
“I’m so sorry, Sykkuno! I wanted to spare you but you walked in at the wrong time!” You pleaded.
“Sacrifices had to be made,” Corpse merely responded.
“Wait, what happened?” Sean asked.
“I walked in on one of them venting and then Corpse killed me!”
“Collateral damage. You watched me get killed one time, too.”
“Blame me, Sykkuno. It was my fault,” but you were laughing as you said it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard such regret coming from an imposter,” Sean laughed along, “Also, why the fuck were you two being so slow? Three meetings in and you’d only killed three people.”
“Corpse was simping for me,” you replied.
“I was not.”
“Yes, you were. Otherwise you would’ve asked me what the hell I’d been doing that entire time.”
“Fuck off,” he laughed.
“Corpse is an UWU-boy!”
“Oh my god, you guys are already trending.”
“Wait, what?”
Your phone was being blasted off to space, getting tons of messages with the hashtag #CorpseBride. It was number 1 trending on Twitter.
“So… whaddup, baby?”
“Oh no, you better buy me a drink first.”
“Sure.”
 You hadn’t thought he’d been serious in that moment, until he’d asked you to meet up after the game had ended. You hesitantly agreed, but reminded him that he absolutely did not have to participate in this just for the meme. “I’m not doing this for the meme,” he’d said, “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while, I just never knew how. It seemed like the perfect timing.”
You met him at his apartment, knowing how he was about going out in public, and feeling extremely nervous. You’d brought takeout, and because you hadn’t been sure what he wanted you’d ordered way too much. Upon opening the door, he looked at you, down at the bag, and said, “Shit, you got food?” Not really knowing what else to say, you simply replied, “Uh, yeah.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have lots of leftovers, then.”
He smiled, gave you a hug that ended way too fast and left you paralyzed for a minute, and then invited you in. It turned out he’d already ordered food, too. “Plenty to choose from,” he laughed awkwardly. “Uh… You got any neighbours who might want some?” you asked.
“I-I don’t really talk to anyone outside of my friend group.”
“Oh, of course. I could go around, if you’d like.”
“You’d do that for me?”
You furrowed your brows. “Of course I would. Why not?”
“Alright, but let me at least come with you. You just do the talking.”
Three knocks at three different doors later, and someone accepted the offer and took over some of the food. “Hang on a minute,” the elderly man said, clad in only his pyjamas and a bathrobe, managing to make the situation even more uncomfortable, “Aren’t you my neighbour? You always scurry off before I get the chance to talk to you!”
You looked at Corpse, and he back at you, and you turned back to the elderly man. “He, uh… He’s very people shy. He has anxiety. I’m trying to help him cope. Also, his vocal chords are damaged.” Nothing you’d said so far had been a lie, technically, but the man still remained sceptical. “Then why didn’t you just leave a note or something?”
“Uh…” you jumped at the small voice appearing from behind you. It’s just that his ‘small voice’ is still nothing close to small. “I know, I’m terribly sorry, sir. I also just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, I’m just a few doors away.”
This seemed to please the man enough.
“I can’t believe you made me do that.”
“I made you?!” You gasped, “I didn’t make you do anything, you filthy liar! You’re just as bad in real life as in Among Us, when you’re the impostor and I’m the innocent crewmate.”
“No comment.”
“I didn’t even ask you a question.”
“No comment.”
“Deadass?”
“Deadass.”
You both laughed. Corpse hesitated for just a moment, but decided to ask anyway, “Were you nervous when I opened the door?”
You chuckled awkwardly, admitting, “Yeah, I was. I always get anxious meeting people. Well, we’d met before, of course. But just, you know, in real life.”
“I get it.”
You stood there in silence for a moment, until you noticed the rest of the takeout in your hands was getting cold. “Come on, wife,” he joked, linking his pinkie finger with yours, “Let me get you that drink.”
If he hadn’t dragged you along then and there, you could’ve sworn your knees would’ve given out.
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terubakudan · 3 years
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This may be an old article from 3 years ago, but these cultural aspects/observations still apply even today. And though this is strictly a Chinese perspective, a lot of these everyday life bits are observed in Overseas Chinese communities in countries such as The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. as well as countries heavily influenced by Chinese culture like Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
I've always liked learning about other cultures and making comparisons between how things are done East vs West. Which probably stems from growing up with two cultures and Mom raising me on American movies xD
So the irony is if you asked me how many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Hong Kong actors I know, chances are I know as much as you do xD Like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and that's about it. But if you asked me about Western (specifically American and British) actors, then I have a useless brain dump of movie trivia and who was with who in what movie xD
Hmmm, both Taiwan and the Philippines are two distinct cultures but both look up to a certain country and are fascinated by that. In Taiwan's case, Japan and the US for the Philippines. In both cases, this is due to being under the rule of those countries in their history. Taiwan being under Japan for 50 years, and the Philippines being under Spain for 300+ years, followed by periods of American and Japanese rule. To put it simply though:
Taiwan is "mini-Japan with a very Chinese culture".
The Philippines is "former colony of Spain with lots of American influences".
But unlike the author, I've never set foot in any Western country, so my understandings are strictly what I've observed in media, which while it can be accurate, doesn't compare to actually experiencing the culture.
Some further elaboration on most points:
#1 We quite literally use chopsticks for everything. We use it to pick rice, viands, vegetables, fruit, smaller desserts, almost all the food you can think of.
But where do you put your chopsticks when you're not using them? Just put them on top of your bowl or flat on your plate. But do not ever stick them vertically. It's taboo, since it looks like incense sticks, which we use to pray for those who have passed, like our ancestors or during funerary services.
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#3 The majority of Asia is obsessed with fair/white skin. In my time at the Philippines, I grew up watching all these Dove Whitening commercials and my classmates often commented on how fair my skin was, how they envied it etc. In Taiwan, girls often say they don't want to 變黑 (biàn hēi) 'become dark'. Japan and Korea too are not innocent of this either (if their beauty/skin products weren't a dead giveaway).
People here at Taiwan often mistake me for being from Hong Kong or Japan (as long as I don't speak Mandarin with my heavy accent xD). A Taiwanese classmate of mine joked that she often gets mistaken for being from Southeast Asia due to having a darker complexion. And while I laughed it off with her at that time, looking back, I now realize she was lowkey being racist. xD
And believe me Filipinas have mentioned literally being told 'your skin is so dark' here in Taiwan, or being given backhanded compliments like 'you're pretty despite having dark skin' and...*facepalms*
My point is, beauty is not exclusive to skin color. People who still think that are assholes.
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#5 Not to say we don't have salt and pepper, but yes soy sauce and vinegar are the classic condiments you see on the table, be it at home or at a restaurant.
And if I may add, Taiwanese love their pepper. xD If you ever get to eat at a night market or a smaller "Mom n' Pop-style" restaurant here, some dishes/soups tend to add quite an excessive amount of pepper. Not like anthills, but quite liberally and way more than average. Enough that you see traces of pepper at the bottom of the food paper bag or swirling in your soup. xD
#6 I know this all too well from personal experience. In my years of studying at Taiwan, I always had roommates. 3 in my first school (I graduated high school in the Philippines pre K-12 so I had to make up 2 years of Senior High), followed by 2 in college, with the exception of 1 in freshman year.
My college did offer single person dorms but at around 9000 NTD ($324) per month compared to around 6000 NTD ($216) per semester. Because I wanted to save, the choice was obvious for me xD. But ah, this doesn't mean I don't value personal space, in fact I love having the room to myself, and since both my roomies would go home to their families every weekend, weekends were bliss for me xD
And you don't have to be friends with your roommates (that's an added bonus however), you just have to get along with them. I was quite lucky to have really great roommates all throughout my schooling years.
#9 In the Philippines, we do. Owing mostly to American influences and maybe being predominantly Catholic? xD
#10 *sigh* Chinese parents and parents from similar Asian cultures tend to put too much emphasis on grades, so much that kids could get sent to cram school as early as elementary. This is because what school you get into could literally affect your future job opportunities, and while that's not exclusive to any particular country/culture, I feel it's especially pronounced here in Asia. I'm really lucky my own parents weren't that strict about it. However, if your parents don't point the mistakes out to you, chances are you'll do it yourself, if you're an Asian kid like me anyway. xD It just becomes a habit.
#11 My family is an exception to this. xD We do say 'I love you' directly, but complete with the 'ah eat well ok?', 'don't scrimp on food', 'sleep well' and similar indirect words/actions of affection. We were doing 'Conceal, Don't Feel' before it became popular. xD
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#13 I'm kind of confused about this but this has sort have changed over the years in which eye-contact is now more encouraged. But don't stare, especially at elders and authority figures. Sometimes it's just shyness though. xD And I've observed this with my own Taiwanese friend, especially when I'm complaining or ranting to her about something. xD I'm a person who likes to express my opinions strongly, which tends to scare/alienate some of the locals here, as doing so is kind of frowned upon. Thankfully, she does listen and offers her take on things.
#14 Ah this. xD In the Philippines, this is a common greeting known as beso-beso, and I freaked out too when an auntie did that to me. xD Needless to say, Mom lectured me later on what that was. ^^"
#16 Along with #3 another crazy beauty standard. In my view, people always look better with a little meat on them and when they're not horribly thin. Asia still has a loonng way to go with accepting different types of bodies if you ask me. This combined with modern beauty standards has made the pressure for women especially to 'look beautiful' higher than ever.
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I know many people love them but please, starving yourself or glorifying eating disorders is never OK just to get this kind of 'ideal' body. I'm not part of the Kpop fandom, but even I think when idols get bullied just for gaining the least bit of weight among other insensitive comments, that's really going too far.
#17 'If you want to make friends, go eat.' <- I couldn't agree more. In the Philippines we have a greeting: 'Kumain ka na ba?' (Have you eaten?) . Similarly in Taiwan, we have 吃飯了沒? (chī fàn le méi), both of these can mean that in the literal sense but are often used as greetings instead. By then which invitation to having lunch/dinner together may or may not follow. Food really is a way for us to socialize and to catch up with what's going on in each other's lives. Not to say we don't have regular outings like going out to the mall, going shopping, etc. but eating together is a huge part of our culture, be it with family or friends.
And while I'm at it, some memes that are way too accurate good to pass up xD
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Parents, uncles, aunties alike will fight over the bill xD
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Alternatively:
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You just space out until your name is called xD
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My parents are guilty of the last one. Logic how? xD
#18 True. xD I like giving compliments out to people but I have a hard time accepting them myself, though I've learnt how to accept them much more now than before. We're kind of raised to constantly downplay ourselves so we often say things like 'ah no no' or 'I'm really not that good'. The downside of this of course is that it can come off as somewhat fake. xD
Again from personal experience, that same classmate who made the lowkey racist remark, she was good, she was on the debate team, was a honor student, knew how to mingle with people, but she downplayed herself way too much, while praising me but I honestly thought that she never really meant it from how she treated me. She wanted to keep me around her yet make backhanded compliments at me and she didn't want me socializing with my other classmate who is now my friend. *sigh* It was only after discussing this with one of my roomies did I realize how this 'excessive downplaying' might come off to people like me who more or less grew up with a more 'Westernized' mindset. I'm not saying brag about your achievements but don't be overly humble about them either, which can also be a turn off.
#20 We do tend to be a lot more realistic on how we view things, neither entirely optimistic nor pessimistic. We try to think of things practically and often analyze things on pure logic. A downside of this however, is that Chinese people can be overly practical. Taiwanese for instance don't like to 'find inconveniences' and generally keep to themselves, meaning, they won't help you in your hour of need even when they do have the capabilities. Sounds really harsh I know, but in my 6 years of living in Taiwan, while this doesn't apply to all the people, a lot of them really do only find/talk to you when they need something.
So for some people saying Taiwanese are 'friendly', that's BS xD If you ask me, Filipinos are infinitely more friendly, and again while not all, generally make more of an effort to help you when you need it. I really felt more of a real sense of community during my years growing up in the Philippines compared to Taiwan.
#21 Children do tend to stay with their parents well into college and adulthood, since Chinese families are indeed very family-oriented, in a lot of cases, grandparents often live under the same roof as us as well! And it really does save a lot of money. I see there's a real stigma in the US when it comes to "living with your parents", but that's starting to change especially because of Covid and having more and more people move back in with their parents.
Housing unfortunately is pretty much hella expensive no matter where you go, and Taiwan is no exception. Steep housing prices and the very high cost of raising a child (schooling + buxiban fees, etc.) contribute to a very low birth rate and thus an aging population like Japan. It's not uncommon to see both parents working in Taiwan.
#23 I'm an overthinker myself, but I totally agree with the author that the best is to strike a good balance between these two. Which I guess is why I love drawing or any other related creative attempts, it helps me be more spontaneous or well, creative! I like to remain intellectually or artistically inspired.
#24 Is French high school really like that? xD My friend did watch SKAM France and more or less got a culture shock from what was depicted on the show. I can confirm however that most high schools both in the Philippines and Taiwan require students to wear a uniform, only in college is everybody free to wear casual/civilian clothes.
#26 Ah this is part of our Asian gift-giving etiquette xD We always open gifts later after the event/meeting and in private. Never open them in front of the person who gave it to you or in front of others. This is to prevent any 'shame/embarrassment' that may result both to yourself and to the gift giver. I know this may come off as something weird since some people may want a more honest response or immediate feedback when it comes to gift-giving, but that's just how it is in our culture. You're always free to ask us though (in private) if we liked the gift or not ^^"
#28 I want to say the same goes to drinking, partying, and drugs however xD Those are things which are still frowned upon in our culture. And to be honest, whenever I see those in movies, it does kind of turn me off xD It doesn't mean that we're "uncool" or "boring", we just think that there are much better or healthier ways of "having fun".
#31 Is this true in France?! Man I would kind of prefer that instead of people being on their phones all the time xD This kind of goes with #20 in that Chinese are overly practical or logical, and don't read fiction as much as nonfiction. My Taiwanese friend is an exception though, she's a bibliophile who loves the feel of paper books compared to e-books, and it's a trait of her that I like a lot. Both the Philippines and Taiwan however have a huge fanbase when it comes to manga and anime though.
I'm all for reading outside of "designated reading" at schools especially. Reading fiction improves your vocabulary too, and can be quite fun! It helps you imagine and really invest in a world/story, and if you ask me something that I feel Westerners are better at, they're more in touch with their emotions and creativity, and are thus much more able to write compelling or original stories. Believe me, I've seen a fair amount of Chinese movies that rip off Western movie plotlines xD
#33 Nothing much to add on here..except that since I'm a "weird" person, Mom often jokes that she got the wrong baby from the hospital. xD
#35 True. While I agree with the care and concern that your fellow community can give you, the downside of this is we tend to only hang out with our own people, e.g Chinese with Chinese, Taiwanese with Taiwanese, etc. I've seen too that it's especially hard to make friends in Japan and Korea as a foreigner. Not only is there the language barrier, but the differences in culture too. In a way, Asians can be pretty close-minded on getting to know other cultures or actually making friends with people from other countries. I know this all too well being half-Taiwanese/half-Filipino, being neither "Filipino" enough nor "Taiwanese" enough. xD It's more of people here being too used to what they're comfortable with.
#36 Oh this is something I feel that Chinese students and other students from similar cultures should really improve on. xD How will people respect you if you don't speak your mind?
I felt bad especially for my Spanish teacher in college, granted it was an introductory course (Spanish I and II) but the amount of times that our teacher had to prompt a student to recite/speak even with clear hints already made her (and me too) extremely frustrated. The thing is, these are college students, I personally feel they don't have any reason to be so shy of speaking and technically by not doing so they're slowing the pace of the class too much and a lot of time is wasted.
Unfortunately you can't always be very vocal with your thoughts and opinions in most Asian cultures. I would say strive for that, but at the same time, play your cards well, especially if you're in a workplace setting.
If you made it to the end, thank you for reading and here's a cookie! 🍪 I'm not perfect and there's bound to be something I missed so please let me know if you spotted anything wrong. Feedback/questions are very much welcome and please feel free to share about your country/culture's differences or similarities!
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forestkodama · 3 years
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Okay, so, wanna hear a funny story?
A lifetime ago (for at least a chunk of tumblr's demographic), when the now beloved meme-source movie The Road to El Dorado was set to be released in theaters, DreamWorks decided to do some promotions. There was some standard tie-in fast food kid cups and booklets (do they even still do that?) but for this movie, someone decided to do something bigger.
"Hey," probably thought some eager mid-tier marketing director at DreamWorks, "This movie is about a quasi-fictional place in America called El Dorado. There are towns named for that place right here in America. Let's have an event at one of those towns!"
Now, in the United States, there are more than two dozen places called some variant of El Dorado. About half so are actual towns, most of which began as oil boom towns. In the year 2000, when this animated delight was made, the largest of these towns (El Dorado, Arkansas) had a whole 21,000 people. DreamWorks wanted to have a promotional event in an El Dorado and they had to choose from towns ranging from small to post-office-was-shut-down-in-the-60s-smaller to barely-holding-a-census-designation-tiny.
For whatever reason, the animation studio's marketing did not select the largest of these towns to get the most publicity for their buck. Instead, they selected the second largest town: Coming in at a whole 12,000 people, El Dorado, Kansas.
My home town.
In 2000, I was in eighth grade and a nerd. I was blossoming into a barely-worldly cinephile, and I knew that this sort of thing wasn't a common occurrence for our unknown town. I was also developing my taste for irony, because the fact that DreamWorks selected us was hilarious for another reason beyond the fact that we were tiny and unknown: We don't pronounce it El Do-rah-do. We pronounce it El Do-ray-do.
Word gets out that the studio is going to host a parade for the town around its premier in December. They will paint the town gold, literally: Gold streets, gold ornaments, gold lighting. The high school band would march in the parade in uniforms with gold trim. There would be a special ceremony that involved giving the mayor a bag of gold. All of this would be recorded as features to be seen as extras on the DVD release of the movie. This was back when DVDs were still a big deal. Cue me, in band but not yet in high school, being intensely jealous.
A day before the parade, I'm watching the news before school - I think on KAKE even though I liked KSN better - and DreamWorks has hired two characters actors as Tulio and Miguel to be interviewed by the news anchors. This was the first time I had ever seen Real Life versions of animated characters outside of Disneyland. Their clothes and haircuts perfectly matched their animated counterparts. They were flamboyant and wonderful and I hope wherever those dudes are now they are having a good life. They talk about El Dorado and the gold to be given to the city.
Everyone is really excited, or, at least, I am.
Then, because this is Kansas in December, weather happened: A tornado snowstorm. It falls hard and piles up fast.
And DreamWorks does not cancel the parade.
They continue to televise it.
Presumably this is the video that would get attached to the DVD.
The parade is set for the afternoon, and the snow continues as the high school band marches on. The golden streets of El Dorado have been buried under a foot of snow. The golden lights glow with auras in the gently falling snow.
I remember watching the beginning of the parade at home and thinking how not-fun it looked, but I still begged my grandfather to take me downtown to watch the gold-gifting ceremony. It was damn cold and the streets were absolutely awful with slush. (Years later, I would ask some upperclassmen what it was like to march that day, and the responses were unanimous: Fucking miserable.) The mayor was in a big coat on stage, but I remember the two actors playing Miguel and Tulio still in their Spanish-esque colorful shirts. They handed her a bag, presumably filled with gold coins (the rumored number ranged from 100 to 1000), and she made a little speech that ended with a quip about how for today our town was known as El Do-rah-do.
We all clap and then rush to get out of the cold and wet situation, entirely unsure of exactly what we just experienced.
Supposedly, the gold coins went to building the six-screen movie theater in town, since we only had the seasonal drive-in and a defunct two-screen. The city still hangs the gold decorations every December.
None of this ever appeared on The Road to El Dorado DVD. So few records exist of this bizarre promotional stunt waylaid by snow, it just doesn't exist outside of my hometown in Kansas. The Road to El Dorado is of course now famous for its characters and their relationships (cause fuck yeah bisexual and polyamorous representation) and a bit of a phoned-in soundtrack by Elton John (I still love Someday Out of the Blue), but I'll never forget the Snow Covered City of Gold Called El Do-ray-do.
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st-just · 3 years
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Semi-coherent Thoughts on the Unspoken Name
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So, honestly only picked up the book (or even knew it existed) because @sendme-2hell​ put it in a meme with the Baru Cormorant and Locked Tomb series. Which, like, absolutely isn’t wrong, but I had been mentally preparing myself for waaaay more heartbreak and tragedy to go with the angst. The ending’s downright happy and hopeful! (I also feel like I was promised a dragon that never appeared, but that’s probably on me misreading).
But anyway, yes, just a really fun book. The setting had the fun sort of High Fantasy vibe where the actual inspirations are less specific cultures or historical periods and more outdated D&D lore, prog rock and metal album art, and whatever weirdly specific ideas have been rattling around the author’s head since she was a teenager. To be clear, I mean this as incredibly high praise. If I can’t convince anyone else to read this I’ll probably just steal half the setting when/if I next run a D&D game.
Names I can never pronounce or remember how to spell aside, it also just had an incredibly enjoyable cast of characters. Not, like, likeable – most of them are utter garbage – but aside from the inquisitors everyone was just reliably entertaining to have on screen. I’m sure I mentioned it before, but Csorwe and Tal really did give me strong Baru and Svir vibes. Just, like, 60% less evil. And they deal with their problems with violence instead of convoluted plots involving coups and forced marriages.
Sethennai I’m honestly pretty fond of, just because I kind of like the whole trope of the clearly villainous (villain-coded? Idk, beyond being an emotionally negligent surrogate dad did he really do anything that evil?) father-figures who, like, actually seem like they’re trying their best. Like, giving Csorwe apartments in a palace and a golden prosthetic tusk and praising her as his sharpest sword and trusting her implicitly as his agent, and just legitimately not understanding that she wanted anything more than that. And being like that with everyone. It’s psychologically interesting, if nothing else. Also, I find it kind of funny that given how much Tal thirsts for him he almost certainly got more word count devoted to how hot he is than any other character.
Honestly, it’s not really a complaint, but as far as the book’s sold by it’s central romance, Csorwe’s relationship with Shuthmili never actually felt that, well, central? She’s the last major character introduced, and compared to Csorwe’s dynamics with Tal, Sethennai, even Orrana, the relationship with Shuthmili felt kind of...simple? Like, for most of her time on screen we only get hints of her personality through all the repression, and half of the time Csorwe’s almost consciously acting on behalf of the imagined version of her constructed in her head, and just hoping the real one will feel the same (not a bad thing, when rescuing someone from getting assimilated into a hivemind so her body can spent the rest of its life being a nuclear deterrent, but still).
Admittedly, part of that is that, psychologically, Csorwe is reasonably close to just being, like, a normal person. I mean, relative to everyone else in her life, who are without exception comic book villains. So it makes sense that her interactions with the devoted priestess of the death god which is convinced it owns her soul, and the melodramatic and incredibly insecure assassin, and the archmage/lich/boytoy-of-the-goddess-of-magic all feel more, idk, colourful?  
It’s also kind of interesting how the book doesn’t really have a central villain. Like, Oranna and Sethennai are both too ambiguous in narrative roll to really fit – the former switches sides somewhere in act 2 and the latter never actually lifts a finger to oppose Csorwe until the last like 20 pages, and then instantly cuts a deal. Shuthmili’s aunt, probably, but she’s just not a real narrative presence for big stretches of the book, or even slightly relevant for the whole first act.
But anyway, does this have sequels yet? Because, like, that last scene was the most obvious sequel hook I’ve seen in a long while.
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baroquebucky · 4 years
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dating timothée headcanons
a/n: here is my first timothée fic !! let me know what you guys think !!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send in some requests for him !!! hope you guys enjoy :~)
timothée is such a soft boy in a relationship
he loves when you say his full name but also loves the many nicknames you have for him
when you first call him timmy or tim he looks at you with the widest smile, engulfing you in a hug as you squeal
you call him by his first and middle name when you’re upset at him or you need him to be serious
he sends you so many memes all the time or if you’re close to him he’ll call you over to look at his phone sometimes he’ll just call your name and throw it at you
he loves cuddling
he will cuddle you on the couch, in your bed, in a chair, literally anywhere
he loves when you play with his hair !!!!!
you could just be sitting there and you start playing with one curl, then another, and soon enough your whole hand is cascading through his soft hair
he loves kissing you !!!!!! cheek kisses, FOREHEAD KISSES, nose kisses, neck kisses
sometimes he’ll just grab your hand and kiss it and tell you how much he loves you
when he’s home he spends every waking and sleeping hour with you
“I’m gonna go shower” “I’ll join you :-)”
grocery shopping with him is way too much fun
you guys would probably make jokes out of anything you see and get things you most definitely did not need
he takes so many pictures of you :-(
any moment he sees you just breathing “don’t move stay like that” and boom, new lockscreen
he gets all blushy when you compliment him or show him off
one time you learned how to say something in French just to impress him and he damn near cried because you went out of your way for him
one time he catches you using duolingo to practice your French and he had to calm himself down before he burst into tears
you found him teary eyed in the hall and proceeded to comfort him thinking he was sad, you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with him when you found out why he was about to cry
did i mention he is v v clingy
flowers all the time ,,, out getting a snack ??? he’ll buy you some flowers ,,, sees a bush of roses on his way home ??? he’ll pick one to give to you
he could be thousands of miles away and you hear a knock on your door,, the boy ordered flowers online for you
when he’s away acting you guys FaceTime ALL THE TIME
you both fall asleep on the phone together and you always tease him for sleeping with his mouth slightly open
he always leaves you a bottle of his cologne so you can spray it when you miss him
also he leaves you all of your favorite shirts of his so you can wear them all you want
you guys watch the office together all the time and you get him into your favorite tv shows
sometimes you get insecure because you feel like you aren’t good enough for him or you don’t meet up to standards
and he will shoot you down so fast
he’ll comfort you and say all the right things to make you feel better
sometimes he’ll just hold you close and kiss you all over until your giggling to make him stop
which ends up in him posting you everywhere and showing off his darling
and he shows you just how much he loves every inch of you too
if you ever feel insecure he can immediately tell and he starts to reassure you and do whatever you want to make you feel better
you guys always walk around town and find new places to eat and try food
you found a secret park that no one knew about so you always have picnics when he gets back from filming or when you wanna go on a cute date
anything you mention to him as an offhand comment he’ll buy you
this boy absolutely SPOILS you
one time you mentioned how you wanted a locket and the next week he surprised you with one
another time you saw this ring that was pretty and you immediately took it back because it was much too expensive for you and two weeks later ??? it was sitting on your dresser
you find it endearing but you also get upset because you don’t want him to think you’re using him for money
so of course when you bring the box out he has a giant smile on his face and you look at him, slightly upset and he pulls out the puppy eyes
“Timothée Hal Chalamet how many times have i told you to not waste money on me!” You scolded him and he looked so sad
“any money i spend on you isnt a waste i just wanna see you smile” you can’t help but smile at his comment
“do you not like it?” he would get so nervous and play with his hands and you would go and sit next to him, putting the ring on the table.
“honey i love it i just don’t want you to think I’m using you for money because I’m not” he would kiss you and give you a small smile because god how did he get so lucky with you?
he has so many cute nicknames for you- baby, honey, sweetheart, darling, angel, mon amour, ma cherie and so many other soft little names
the amount of inside jokes is insane
it’s no secret that the boy is an absolute goofball so the two of you are always making jokes
that leads to having way too many nicknames that have such an intricate back story
you try to teach him how to properly do the woah but he refuses to learn because “I’m doing it right, it’s everyone else that’s wrong” he would defend
for Halloween you would do couple costumes 1000%
instead of going out to party he would want to stay in with you and give out candy, he loved seeing you smile at all the kids and fake being scared when they tried to scare you
the two of you would watch scary movies all of October, he would always hold you tight as the two of you slept because sometimes you would get a little freaked out
the first time you meet his family is during thanksgiving and you are NERVOUS
you do your makeup and wear your best jewelry and even do your hair a bit so that it looks nice than usual
when you walk out of the restroom all dressed up timmy is speechless bc of how good you look, he kisses you on the cheek and takes so many pictures of you, setting one as his lockscreen right after he takes it
his mom LOVES YOU she thinks you’re the sweetest person in the world
she asks if you know French and you whip out the little French you had learned, thanking the green owl that was on your phone
timothée is so impressed by how well you can pronounce everything, it doesn’t go unnoticed by his family either, everyone praising you and you can’t stop blushing
they end up threatening timmy because they love you so much
and then he meets your family
they love him so much they never want you guys to break up
your siblings adore him, your mom is absolutely in love w him and your dad thinks he’s so eloquent and carries himself amazingly
he gets along so well with your whole family and has everyone at the table laughing with his stories and comments
when your mom sees the way he helps you with everything or how gentle he is with you she knows he’s gonna be the one you marry
the two of you watch the nightmare before Christmas all the time since you both love it so much
you sing along to every song and laugh as he stands on his tippy toes to try and imitate jack
for Christmas time you guys always try to see who will give the best gift
of course you love to see the lighting of the tree and so many snowball fights all the time
even more cuddling because oh my god it’s so cold all the time
timmy always knows exactly what to get you and he always writes you a letter which makes you cry
you also get him something meaningful and amazing which makes him tackle you with a hug and kiss you until you’re out of breath
the two of you are always so supportive of each other during anything and everything
timothée chalamet would be the worlds greatest boyfriend and you cannot tell me other wise
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