#a) you should really play slay the princess its a good game | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ratralsis · 5 months

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It's the Same Damn Moon, Bud

I can't believe it's been over three weeks since I said I wanted to put some pressure on myself to write about "Slay the Princess," and I didn't do it. I just didn't write!

Instead, I wrote many thousands of words of my actual novel and also spent more than a hundred hours converting dozens of files from one programming language to another for my actual job, which, in case I haven't reminded you in the last few entries (I PROBABLY HAVE, THOUGH), is "computer programmer for large and faceless company you've probably never heard of and have almost certainly been affected by and we like it that way."

So, now, I'd like to write about it. It's been a while since I even played it! I'm going off of memory here, which is one of my favorite ways to write.

Slay the Princess is a visual novel that uses Ren'Py as its engine. It's creaky and not terribly well put-together, but I love it anyway, because that's the kind of gamer I am. I enjoy seeing people do strange and interesting things with engines like Ren'Py, and this is a game that absolutely does that. I imagine that its code is a mess of true/false flags that determine what dialogue appears and what options you can choose at any given point. It's part of who I am, as a computer programmer. I love imagining how things are coded.

When the game starts, you don't have to follow the title directive, that is, you don't have to go slay the princess. You can walk away. You can, in fact, continue walking away over and over until the game ends. There are achievements for it and everything. There are achievements for everything else, too. I normally don't like achievements like these in games. I like them in this game.

What bothers me about achievements in a lot of games is that I just want to play the damn game and be left alone. I want to explore. I want to see things on my own, and sometimes that means missing things. It actually means missing things quite often. I'm okay with that. I believe that everyone should have their own unique experiences when it comes to video games. It is one of the things that makes video games unique.

Recently, Super Mario RPG was re-released on Switch, and several podcasts I listen to covered it. Invariably, the first question asked by one host to the others was "What party are you using?" They all discussed how they played the game as individuals. I love that, even though I think they all made the wrong choice (everybody picks Bowser over Geno, which is simply objectively the wrong choice: Bowser can't use Geno Boost, the best goddamn ability in the game, and his attack power isn't even as high as everyone thinks it is). The fact is, that freedom to choose is what makes games special. Your choices matter. They mean something.

They mean everything.

They are the only thing that means anything.

When I played the demo of Slay the Princess roughly a thousand million years ago, I got every achievement. All the achievements were related to which Chapter 2 I saw. The choices made in Chapter 1 determine how Chapter 2 begins. That makes sense. By replaying and seeing them all, I got a sense of what kind of a game Slay the Princess is.

If you haven't played the demo, but you have played the game, then don't go back to play the demo. It's alright.

If you haven't played the demo or the game, you should probably play the demo. It's very good.

The demo ends very early in Chapter 2. You meet the Princess again, and see what has become of her, and the game ends. Or, really, it restarts. Your choices in Chapter 1 shape who she becomes. Who she is. How she greets you. If you killed her in Chapter 1, she might show up as a ghost in Chapter 2, with an X-shaped scar on her chest from where you plunged your pristine blade into her and pierced her. If she killed you, she might show up as a giant, a monster, physically imposing and powerful and ready to do it again. If you were kind to her, and did everything you could to avoid harming her, then you'll see one of two Princesses in Chapter 2: the Damsel or the Prisoner. My favorite ending of the demo was the Prisoner.

To see the Prisoner, you have to take the pristine blade when you see it in the cabin. You have to listen to the Narrator, who tells you that you have to kill her. You have to go into the basement of the cabin with the pristine blade in your hand. It doesn't matter what you say to the Princess as you descend the stairs. Of course it matters. All of it matters.

What matters more is that you mustn't actually attack the Princess. You must drop the pristine blade and speak to her. She'll speak to you. You can ask her questions, if you want. It doesn't matter, except for the fact that everything you do matters. You can ask her for name. She won't tell it to you. She is simply the Princess. You have to tell her that you don't want to kill her. That you want to rescue her. She's shackled to the wall by her wrist. She tries to gnaw off her arm like a feral wolf in a trap. You have to free her. You use the pristine blade and sever her arm. Good job, hero. She's free. You have to resist the pull of the story's Narrator and warn her that you're being forced to kill her against your will.

She'll take the pristine blade away from you, and, with her remaining hand, cut your throat, killing you.

Chapter 2 begins much like Chapter 1, except now there's an additional voice in your head joining the Narrator and the Hero: the Skeptic. You return to the cabin. The Skeptic forces you to take the pristine blade before you descend into the basement of this new cabin. It's not like the old one. It's fortified. It's solid. There's no escaping this one, and there's no escape for the Princess, either: she now has three chains attaching her to the wall. There's one for a shackle around each of her wrists, and a third iron ring around her neck. Your previous plan won't work this time. You won't be cutting her free.

I loved the Prisoner when I played the demo. She was my favorite. I liked seeing the Skeptic. I liked the idea of approaching the Princess with caution and deciding that I liked her more than the Narrator. That I didn't want to hurt her, but only after I made it clear to her that hurting her was an option. It was a fun story: two people who don't trust each other learning that they can. Then the world conspired to make sure that they couldn't try the same trick twice.

To say I was a bit disappointed by how this turned out in the final version of the game would be… well, it would be exactly right. I was a bit disappointed, but just a bit.

The Princess has a plan to escape, and it's the same plan she had the first time. She won't trust YOU with the pristine blade, so you have to give it to her. If you don't, she beats you up. This is a recurring theme in the game: the Princess beats you up in most of the paths. It's kind of sad, in a way, just how poorly you do in physical confrontations against the Princess, but I suspect that if the game had it the other way around that it would be even sadder. Can you imagine how pathetic a character she would seem if you could just slap her around at your leisure? And how pathetic a character you would be, too, for that matter?

If you trust her with the pristine blade, she will use it to cut through her own neck. This, as you might imagine, causes her to die, and her head hangs on a thin strip of flesh before gravity tears the strip and her lifeless head falls to the floor. But she asked you to take the head with you when you leave the cabin, so that's what I did. I trusted her, and she trusted me, to an extent, and now she was dead. Whatever she had planned, I would go along with it. And so, carrying her corpse's head by its long, beautiful hair, I left the cabin, and she revealed that she was actually still alive, and able to speak, and she thanked me, and then the world ended.

That's what the Narrator said would happen if I didn't slay the Princess, and I had not, in fact, slain the Princess. The Narrator was right. The world ended. Ghostly hands appeared from nowhere and they took her head away, and I saw myself in a mirror, and the voices of the Narrator and the Hero and the Skeptic fell away and I was left in the void at the end of the world with those magical hands puppeting the corpse of the headless Princess I had just saved, the one I had spent a hundred million years wondering about, wondering who she really was, what her real name was, how she was meant to end the world. Here she was, dead and possessed and confused and doing her best to give me the answers and not yet able. But she would be, if I kept going. If I started over. If I went back to Chapter 1, with no knowledge of what I had just done, and tried again, tried something different, because I would be forced to try something different, so that I could bring a new vessel to this Princess made of hands in the void at the end of the world.

What else could I do?

The game opens with this message:

Whatever horrors you find these dark spaces, have heart and see them through.

There are no premature endings. There are no wrong decisions.

There are only fresh perspectives and new beginnings.

This is a love story.

And it's true. There are no wrong decisions.

In fact, none of the decisions you make matter at all, except for all of them, and they are the only things that do.

And I did, in fact, love the Princess, and I wanted to know her better, the way one might love a statue, or a painting, or a god, and wish to know it better.

So back into the cabin I went, at the start of Chapter 1. I couldn't make the same decisions this time around. The game would not let me. So I chose a new Chapter 2 this time: the Tower.

I'll spare you the details of each choice I made. All of them mattered, but I'll tell you a secret. I'll tell you something that I've not seen a single write-up of Slay the Princess tell me, and I sincerely believe that it's the most important thing of them all: I keep saying all of your choices matter. And that's true: they do.

But they only matter to you.

My choices, the ones that I made, only matter to me.

The fact that I sent the Prisoner to the Princess made of hands first matters only to me.

The fact that I sent the Tower to the Princess made of hands second matters only to me.

The fact that I sent the Damsel to the Princess made of hands third matters only to me.

The fact that I sent the Fury to the Princess made of hands fourth matters only to me.

The fact that I sent the Witch to the Princess made of hands fifth matters only to me.

It is the only thing that matters when one plays Slay the Princess. What do you do? What do you choose? Who are you, to the Princess? Who are you, to yourself? This doesn't matter to anyone else. Nobody else will ever, ever care.

Even the Princess doesn't care. The Princess made of hands will finally gain enough knowledge after the fifth vessel brought to her to regain her full consciousness, and you will have an opportunity to speak with the Narrator a final time before you meet her. He will answer some of your questions.

So will she, each time you see her.

I won't bore you with the details.

What matters is that the Princess, as we all suspected, those of us who played the demo, and who played it dozens of times to see everything we could, is indeed a Lovecraftian cosmic horror. She contains multitudes. She contains all the vessels we gave to her and more. She is all of them. She is change incarnate: the Shifting Mound is her name. She was never a Princess, but that's how you saw her. You saw a Princess before, but now she is a goddess capable of destroying universes, and she wants you to join her, to take her many hands and end this world just like the Narrator said she would.

You have choices here, of course, just as you had them every other step of the way. None of them matter any more or any less than any other choice you've made. What did you ask the Narrator when you had the chance? It doesn't matter. What vessels did you bring to the Shifting Mound? Doesn't matter. You'll reach this point no matter what you chose, unless you ended the game early. Here you are, and here she is, and now you have a new set of choices.

I didn't want to kill her.

I didn't want to destroy the universe.

So I didn't.

I went back to the cabin, one last time, along with the voice of the Hero. The Narrator was gone, but I was there, and the voice of the Hero was there, and the pristine blade was there. I chose not to take it.

The princess greeted me as I made my way down the stairs for the final time. "And there you are," She said. "Hands empty. So you don't feel like reacreating our first meeting detail for detail. I wonder what else will be different."

She misspelled the word "recreating." That bothered me. I wonder if it was ever fixed. I saw several updates saying that typos were fixed, but I haven't checked this one in a while.

I learned later that this can be different if you didn't take the pristine blade with you when you first met her the first time you played through Chapter 1, but it doesn't matter any more than anything else.

I told her I didn't want to be a god, and she said she didn't, either. I asked her to leave the cabin with me, and she agreed.

I told her I loved her.

She was embarrassed, and said she loved me, too, but didn't want to be all sappy about it.

We left the cabin.

The game ended.

I was told that my unique path through the game would be represented by "Our Song," and here it is.

And none of this, none of it, matters, except to me, and to me, it's the only thing that does.

The game has a lot of achievements. I mentioned that before. No matter what you do, you'll unlock achievements. If you meet the Witch in Chapter 2, you can gain enough of her trust to get her to agree to climb the stairs out of the cabin with you. You can let her go first and stab her in the back, or you can go first and she'll stab you in the back. These choices are mutually exclusive, and each have their own achievement. This encourages you to see everything. To see how much and how little each choice you make matters. To encourage you to keep replaying the game, to get your perfect "Our Song," to see all of her forms and her shapes and how you can shape her, and that is what you do with your choices.

The Princess, the vessel for the Shifting Mound, is a reactive creature. You are the only thing in the game world that makes choices. She will always react to you coming down the stairs with the pristine blade with the same dialogue each time you do so. It's mechanical. It's a computer program. There's nothing random about it. There are no ghosts in this machine: she is only a machine. Your choices are all that matter, even though none of them do. You will, no matter what you choose, eventually reach a point where the world ends and the hands of the Shifting Mound appear from nowhere to claim a new vessel. Sometimes the vessel is nothing more than a heart, cut out from a body made of metal blades. Sometimes the vessel is so large that all you can see is the giant head, hands of the Shifting Mount covering its eyes. Sometimes the vessel is a head and torn-open torso without a heart at all, and sometimes the vessel is a beast, a six-legged lion, a ghost, or a rotted skeleton.

It doesn't matter. The Shifting Mound does not care.

Some of her dialogue does change, it turns out. The first couple of times you see the Shifting Mound, her dialogue is always the same, but if the vessels liked you, or made it outside, then some of the Shifting Mound's dialogue is more positive. If they didn't like you, if you were always hostile and cruel, then some of her dialogue is more negative about the world outside. It's subtle, but it's true. I can prove it. I've seen it.

But nothing will change the fact that, after the fifth vessel is taken, you will face off with the Narrator and then with the Shifting Mound, and then you have to make your choices. How does the game end? Do you end the universe with her? Do you kill her, once and for all? Do you leave the cabin with her for an unknown world where neither of you are gods? Do you kill her in the cabin and start the entire cycle over once again, either kicking the can down the road or, perhaps, perpetuating a cycle that's always been happening and always will?

No matter what you choose, you will find a page that tells you "Our Song." And it will be yours, and yours alone, and it will matter only to you.

According to deeply-flawed website Goodreads.com, the sex-and-alcohol-loving Buddhist monk Ikkyu once said that "Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon." In other words, just because the ending is the same, everyone can take their own path to get there.

You won't see that in a movie, or in a novel. You might think you're being clever by saying "What about Choose Your Own Adventure novels?", but fuck you, those are just single-player games, and so is Slay the Princess. It's a single-player game, and it has the same final screens no matter what you do, except for the fact that we all took a different path there.

Statistically, given enough players, I'm sure that someone else has or will get to the ending the same way that I first did. And that's okay. Ikkyu didn't say that everybody was unique, and neither shall I.

All I'll say, and what I think Slay the Princess is saying, even if the writers didn't mean for it to, is that your choices matter, even if they don't seem like they do. Even if they don't matter to anyone else.

So choose carefully. It all matters.

#rpstp #ratralsis plays #ratralsis writing #long post #slay tbe princess #text post

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ub4st3 · 2 years

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Scary Games I love

I love a mixture of horror and dating sims, some of my favourites that I think you should check out are: (all of these are on steam)

Slay the princess (It's only a demo for now the full game comes out in 2023) Its a multi ending game where choices matter, you are a hero who has been sent to slay a princess that everyone tells you is going to end the world if she escapes. I loved this game even though its just a demo, I love how your choices change the princess and the process of the story, I love how it includes body horror and a little bit of gore. So good.

Your Amazing T-Gotchi (TW SA, Su1c1de and abuse) This one has a lot of messed up themes its a twist on Tamagotchi, Another one where there are multiple endings, I love how evil this game makes you feel for torturing this poor girl. I felt so gross during the "I love you master" ending.

Sucker for love: This is a bit of a longer one and more centred around dating, however if you get to the secret chapter it really kicks up the horror and difficult game play, this one also has multiple endings.

House: Another multi ending game where you have to learn and adapt your game play, very cute art style with some cool body horror and a little bit of gore.

#horror #video games #dating sim

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1980ssunflower · 5 months

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good morning (or evening, idk what time zone you’re in 😭)! t here!

awww, sounds like you’ve got a lot of nice hobbies!! i saw in your bio that you like to draw, that’s really cool!! i love artists, i used to commission like crazy for a bunch of different projects of mine lol

nice!! how proficient would you say you are at guitar? i hope you can follow your dreams someday, that sounds like it would be a ton of fun!! would you play original stuff, or be a cover band do you think?

oh yeah, i saw you rb’d a bunch of stuff relating to that last game when i started messaging you! would you recommend it? seems like you really enjoyed it, from what i can tell!

aww, i understand… i’m sorry all that happened for you 🥺 i wish i could help you, i love doing reports and essays! what book is it for? i’d offer legit help, but i don’t think i’d be able to get it to you in time 😭 i hope things get easier for you!! i also hope that things continue to get better for you, i’m sorry you got into a bit of a funk… that can be real hard, can’t it?

lastly, tell me a bit about what kind of shows and movies you like! i saw in your bio you like infinity train, yeah? i don’t know much about it; i only got to watch the pilot, sadly!

take care, and i hope you have a lovely rest of your day! talk to you again soon!

- t

i think im pretty ok at guitar! tbh i want to be a lot better but i just dont have a lot of time to work on it and end up having long periods of time where i barely am able to play! though people seem really impressed by how fast i pick stuff up and how i come up w songs :-]

id like to do original stuff tbh! id like to have a band and make music that sounds like something that would have come out during the 80s! i want to use an authentic 80s synth too for that kinda stuff :-]

also YES id recommend slay the princess! as long as youre ok w drawn blood and gore you should be fine! its best to go into the game blind ;-]

also yeah i like that show a lot! season 3 is insane and makes me sad and season 4 is a big comfort season to be because of the characters 🥺💖💙 outside of that i really really love the good place! and movies like spinal tap, arrival, pleasantville, bill & teds excellent adventure! i also really like fast times at ridgemont high tbh and i want to get the vinyl soundtrack for it!

#talk radio [asks]#anon #secret rocker santa

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 2 years

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COSMIC - S2:E1; Chapter One, MADMAX - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

As the town preps for Halloween, a high-scoring rival shakes things up at the arcade. Will begins seeing strange visions as the anniversary of his disappearance creeps up.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"To slay the dragon, use the magic sword."

"Oh, Jesus! I'm in uncharted territory here, guys."

"Down! Down! Down!"

"I'm going! I'm going!"

The cartoon woman on the screen exclaimed as the game picked up speed. All of us surrounded Dustin, cheering him on as he played.

"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!"

The boys yelled over one another as I stood on my toes to try and get a better look at the screen.

"Okay. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" Dustin bellowed as he slammed his hands on the buttons, but then the disappointing sounds from the machine indicated he had lost.

Dustin began taking out his anger on the machine, kicking as he screamed profusely at it.

Meanwhile, the screen returned to the original title screen, inviting its next player. Lucas began to goad at Dustin.

"You're not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day. But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."

"Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug."

"You sure about that?"

We all turned our heads to see one of the younger employees, Keith. He was standing there with a bag of cheese puffs and an awkward smirk.

Dustin's face dropped as he asked the question we all seemed to know the answer to.

"Sure about what?"

Keith only smiled and took a large, rather obnoxious bite out of a cheese puff.

Dustin broke out into a panicked sprint and we all quickly followed suit, curious to see the outcome.

"Move! Move! No, no, no, no, no. Hey, no! No! No!"

We all zeroed in on the Dig Dug screen where sure enough, Dustin held second place to someone named MADMAX who held an insanely good score.

"751,300 points!" Will exclaimed, turning and sharing a disbelieving look with one another.

It was then that Mike chimed in. "That's impossible."

"Wow, you really have your work cut out for you," I said, with a hint of a smile on my face as I patted my brother's back.

He only ripped his shoulder away from me, clearly annoyed and turned to Keith.

"Who is Mad Max?"

"Better than you."

"Is it you?" Will asked.

Keith scoffed. "You know I despise Dig Dug."

"Then who is it?"

"Yeah, spill it, Keith."

"You want information, then I need something in return," he smirked and looked at Mike.

It took me a second to realize what was being implied. When it hit me, I fought the urge to throw up in my mouth.

"Gross!"

"No, no, no. No way. You're not getting a date with her," Mike says.

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date."

"I'm not prostituting my sister!"

"But it's for a good cause."

"It's barbaric! Older than you or not, you wouldn't pimp Erica out!" I wager, thinking I had him cornered. I should have known better.

"Well, I mean," he trails off, pretending to think about it. I can recognize when he's being sarcastic, but I still shoot him a deadly glare on the girl's behalf.

"Lucas!" I warn. An edge is creeping up in my voice and I feel Will's hand grab my own.

I give his hand a light squeeze, silently thanking him and my attention was brought back to the conversation when Dustin spoke up.

"No, don't get him the date. Know what? He's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family." Thrown off by the sudden direction that conversation headed, I sighed, releasing Will's hand and running both hands down my face.

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious you pubescent wastoid." Keith threw back.

"Oh, I'm a wastoid? She wouldn't go out on a date with you. You make, like, what? $2.50 an hour?"

"Nice perm."

"Gonna make fun of my hair?"

I sighed, knowing we were gonna be here a while.

Suddenly, a voice caught my attention.

"Hey. Hey, guys, do you see the..." I frowned when I saw Will was standing over by the front door, looking around the arcade curiously.

"Yeah?" I asked walking forward.

But he only looked right through me. I could tell he was now on edge.

"Will?"

Suddenly, he let out a frightened gasp and whipped around to face the door. My stomach dropped.

"Will? Hey, come on." My breathing began to pick up, I risked a glance at the boys but they were too distracted in their argument and it was far too loud. That's when Will began to walk outside. Not wanting to lose him or let him get hurt I quickly followed him.

"Will, hey, it's me, come on." He stopped when he reached the edge of the sidewalk and he stood still, rooted in place. He looked to the sky in terror. I looked over my shoulder only to see nothing but the stars, and I looked back to him. He was still frozen.

I shakily brought my hands up to his shoulders. "Will!"

He gasped and I could tell he was back. Without even thinking, I engulfed him in a hug, and he shakily returned it. I pulled back to look at him and I touched his cheek. "Are you okay?"

His eyes lingered on me and he nodded his head. I was now very aware of the fact that my hand was still on his cheek and I quickly pulled away, a little flustered. There was a moment of silence and then I looked back up at him, knowing on some level what it was about.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He looked away for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I'm fine. I'd rather not, at least not right now."

I smiled reassuringly. "That's completely okay. I get it." I glanced down at his hand before taking it in my own and together we headed back into the arcade.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"That's what I've been saying! I'm telling you, she may be a teacher, but that doesn't give her any right to treat kids like that!"

"Yes, exactly! Thank you!" My friend laughed, the both us rolling our eyes in shared frustration. Suddenly she turned to me as we approached our lockers. "Hey so do you have any plans for Halloween?"

Emma was a great friend I had made in the dirty trenches of math class where a solid bond was formed. The two of us were currently walking down the hallway, discussing the horrors that were last class.

"I do actually, yeah, me and the guys are going together. They're gonna be the Ghostbusters and I..." I trailed off when I saw Will up ahead.

He was standing at his locker, looking around rather disturbed with something in his hands.

Hesitating to take my eyes off of him I reluctantly looked to Emma. "Hey, can we talk later? I'm sorry, it's just, I think I need to check on him,"

"Oh yeah, no problem. I'll see you later!"

I threw her a grateful smile as she walked away and then I hurried over to Will.

"Will! Hey, everything okay?"

His head whipped around to face me and he seemed a bit startled to see me. I gently put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance and that seemed to calm his nerves.

"Oh, um, yeah I'm okay." He quickly folded up a small piece of paper that didn't go unnoticed.

"You sure?" He nodded his head and smiled warmly at me causing my stomach to do little flips.

"So, what's that?"

"It's nothing," he said and I raised my eyebrows, not quite believing him. "really. I'm okay."

"Okay, well in that case, should we head to science?" I smiled and held out my hand shyly and he gladly took it.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Meet the human brain," Mr. Clarke said, placing the model before us.

"I know. I know, it doesn't look like much. A little gross even, right? But consider this. There are a hundred billion cells inside of this miracle of evolution. All working as one,"

I was hanging onto every word, fascinated much like my other friends. I looked to Will excitedly but he didn't even seem to be paying attention. Something was definitely bothering him. My face fell when I saw this, unintentionally tuning out Mr. Clarke in the process.

I turned to the boy and was about to say something when the abrupt sound of the classroom door closing grabbed my attention. Everyone seemed to look to the front when the principal walked in with a girl our age.

She had fiery red hair and freckles all over her face. She wore jeans and a red sweatshirt. I felt kinda bad for her though, she seemed uncomfortable being the center of attention that Mr. Clarke inevitably put her under the spotlight.

"Ah, this must be our new student."

"Indeed it is. All yours" with that, the principal left, leaving the awkward introduction of the new student.

She attempted to rush to find a seat but Mr. Clarke stopped her. "All right. Hold up. You don't away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy."

She didn't attempt to hide her eye roll as she backed up to face the class.

"Dustin, drum roll."

Without skipping a beat, my brother began drumming his palms on his desk and Mr. Clarke began the introduction.

"Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine."

The girl shifted uncomfortably before mumbling. "It's Max."

"Sorry?" He asked.

"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max." We all looked to each other, thinking the same thing.

"Mad Max," Lucas whispered.

"Well, all aboard Max."

I couldn't fight the smile growing on my face and like the boys, we all couldn't help but watch as she took a seat at the back of the class.

She leaned back and crossed her arms, obviously still uncomfortable from the sudden spotlight. She frowned when she saw all the guys staring at her and turned to Dustin and Lucas and a loose chuckled escaped me. They were practically drooling.

I looked to her once more and she met my eye. I made sure to send her a small welcoming smile, not wanting to make her more uncomfortable than she already was.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

We all stood in the small baseball dugout, watching, well the boys were anyway, Max. She was riding her skateboard all around the campus and we were debating whether or not she could be Mad Max. I had settled on the bench in the dugout, not feeling comfortable to be standing around watching someone.

"There's no way that's Mad Max," Mike stated matter of factly.

"Yeah, girls don't play video games," Will said, catching me by surprise.

I crossed my arms and looked at him. "That's just not true,"

He seemed to notice his mistake and shuffled uncomfortably. I only raised my eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, you know what I mean though, right?" I laughed, having already brushed it off but enjoying being able to mess with him.

Dustin brought his fist up to his mouth and spoke through pretend coughs. "Whipped."

Will turned to him and whacked his arm and I only giggled.

"Ok, but seriously, regardless you can't get 750,000 on Dig Dug. It's impossible," Mike said, still focused on the conversation.

"But her name is Max," Lucas argued.

"So what?"

"So, how many Maxes do you know?"

"I don't know."

"Zero, that's how many,"

Dustin the spoke up. "Yeah, and she shows up to school the day after someone with her name beat our top score,"

"Here's a crazy idea, why don't you ask her?" I chimed, looking up at the boys.

"No, no way! She'll be weirded out,"

"Oh, and stalking the poor girl is doing everybody so many favors,"

"My point is, I don't even think it's necessary. She's gotta be Mad Max, she's gotta be,"

"Plus, she skateboards, so she's pretty awesome," Dustin argued, much to the dismay of Mike.

"Awesome? You haven't even spoken a word to her!"

"I don't have to, I mean look at her. Shit, I've lost the target."

"There," Will said, and we all followed his gaze to the back entrance of the school.

She stood at the top of the steps, and before going inside she dropped a crumpled up piece of paper into the trash.

The boys, looked to each other, silently communicating before simultaneously running towards the trash can much to my dismay.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I mumble, begrudgingly walking after them.

Sure enough, they began digging through the trash can and by the time I reached them they grabbed the piece of paper.

"Seriously, guys this is a new low," I snatched the piece of paper from them. "It's just garbage,"

"Well, if it's just garbage, then open it," Lucas retorted.

I sighed, looking them in the eye while unfolding it. "Fine, but only to show how ridiculous you are being, I mean come-" I stopped short when I read the words, a loud belly laugh erupting from me.

"What? Let me see!"

"What?"

"Give it!"

My laughter died into chuckles as I watched their faces fall when they read the words,

"Stop spying on me CREEPS!"

They sighed and looked up at me as I stifled my giggles with a hand against my mouth. My hand dropped my side and I sighed, before smirking.

"I like her."

"Well, shit," Dustin sighs.

I feel a pit forming in my stomach when I hear the principle speak. "William Byers, your mother's here," we all turned to face him, and I could immediately feel the anxiety radiating off of him.

I grabbed his hand in mine and I gave it a reassuring squeeze and he squeezed my hand lightly in return as he looked at me.

He was doing it again. He was shutting himself down.

He gave me a weak smile and without another word, he followed the teacher into the school to get his stuff.

Without even a second thought I walked quickly around the building and the others followed. I peeked around the corner and watched as he walked slowly to the car where his mother was waiting for him greeting him with a smile and a wave.

"you guys think he's okay?" Dustin asked.

"He's always weird when he has to go in,"

"I don't know. He's quiet today," Mike said worriedly.

"He hasn't been himself lately. I ran into him in the hallway and he was acting all weird and secretive."

"Well, you're basically his boyfriend. Has he shared anything with you lately? I mean he tells you everything,"

My face fell and I looked to my feet in sadness before looking back up and watching as he reluctantly got in the car. "That's just it. He hasn't said a word. I think something is really bothering him," I bite my lip and look to my friends, finally tearing my eyes away from the retreating car for only a split second.

"and, for the first time, I feel like," I sighed. "I can't help him."

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comfyswitcherblanketfort · 4 years

Text

Geralt and the Minotaur

Y’all can thank @bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher for encouraging me to do this, I defs would have just thought about it for a couple months then forgot 😂

Pairing: None for this part

Warning: talk of violence and murder, retelling of Theseus and The Minotaur myth, talk of human sacrifice, if theres more plz let me know!

Summary/Notes: Myth background in case you didn’t go past the PJO books with your mythology obsession like I did. In ancient Greek mythology they believed in ‘joint fatherhood’ so basically the kid would have attributes from both fathers (bc philosophy was the tits back then not necessarily biology) King Aegeus (Vessimir) couldn’t produce an heir with his wife so he went to the Oracle of Delphi and she told him to ‘open his wine sack’ (helpful right?) long story short he bangs a princess and then Athena (patron goddess of Athens) tells the princess to go down to the sea with an offering where she bangs Posiden (co-patron god of Athens) hence Theseus (Geralt) is not only a demigod but a bastard prince. I think this is all the background yall are gonna need if you don’t already know the myth

__________

Geralt knew the story well. For as long as he could remember, his mother would comb his stark white hair before bed and he would ask, “Tell me about my fathers?” She would smile fondly and begin to braid his hair in a pattern much like her own.

“My little hero, your fathers are powerful, fair, righteous men. You have not only the blessing and favor of Poseidon, but the right to the throne of Athens.”

When he was younger he would squirm and protest, “I know mumma, but who were they?”

Vissena would sigh and change the subject until he was older, at which point she began letting the crumbs fall from her words. Crumbs Geralt followed to the truth of his heritage, piecing together stories his grandfather had told him about a sword and sandals pinned beneath a stone.

When he was twelve, his mother told him the truth.

“You are destined to free the city of Athens from a terrible fate. When you can lift the stone and retrieve your father’s sword you may travel to his palace and claim your place as prince…” Her voice came to a strangled end before she coughed and continued “But you mustn't think about that now. You’ve rope to braid and cattle to feed.”

When he finally told her he was ready to try, her eyes welled with tears. She merely nodded, continuing to run the comb through her baby’s hair like she always had. He understood as he grew older why she was so reluctant to let him go. What mother can willingly send her child away in only destiny’s hands, regardless of his exceptional strength?

At 16, he succeeded in his first task, retrieving his father’s things, and set off to Athens. He went by land, wanting to rely on himself, not his grandfather’s wealth and power. He fought Perophes, disarming the practiced warrior with surprising little effort, to complete his second task. Fighting Coercion sent chills down his spine, with the man’s reputation for killing every opponent he faced he was certainly formidable, but he bested him nonetheless. His third task was complete. However, his name only became synonymous with ‘hero’ after slaying the wild boar.

His first kill was at 17, still on the road to Athens. He could have let Procrustes live, could have delivered him to the nearest king for imprisonment, but his gut had twisted at the thought of the consequences of his failure. He tied Procrustes to the same small table he tied all his victims before slicing clean through the giant man’s limbs that hung off the edge. Leaving him to bleed out like he’d done to the skeletons littering the floor. It only seemed fitting, though the memory still made him queasy on nights when he couldn't sleep.

Even upon arrival at his father’s home, there was danger staring back at him in those beautiful amethyst eyes. The prophetess Yennefer would stop at nothing to keep the life of luxury and power she’d gained. She whispered false prophecies in King Vessimir’s ear, convincing him this boy who claimed to be his son was nothing but an imposter. Geralt should have expected such a welcome.

As he lifted a cup of poisoned wine to his lips, Vessimir glimpsed the sword at his side, recognizing it in time to knock the ceramic out of his hand.

The vessel had yet to shatter on the floor before Vessimir had rounded on the violet eyed woman with fury in his eyes like none Geralt had ever seen.

The whole of the dining hall was holding their breath, waiting for the explosion to come.

King Vessimir whispered but one word, “Disappear.”

The woman glared daggers at Geralt as she waved her hand, stepping through a portal into nothing. He stared after her for a long time, having never witnessed manipulated magic up close and if he were honest with himself, he was a bit dazed.

As his father explained and apologized Geralt simply tilted his head in confusion, slowly putting the pieces together in his shock.

“Your sword, it was mine. You must forgive me, I believed a lie. I beg you.”

Geralt nodded, “You have a state to protect.”

Vessimir grasped him by his shoulders, “No, I have to protect you.”

Geralt smiled, endeared by the old king’s sudden saccharine sentiments, “I’m no boy anymore, you shouldn’t worry.”

As the rest of the guests at the banquet began to resume conversation Vessimir guided Geralt to a window overlooking the beautiful city that he would now be calling home, “So I’ve heard. I would have thought your mother would raise you to be more merciful.”

Geralt eyed the ground, “Mercy for one who has killed so many and would kill again isn’t really mercy.” His voice was smaller than he would like, but after all these years of imagining his father, well he hadn’t expected a criticism of his ethics.

“Good.” Vessimir nodded, leaning against the edge of the window, “We can work on your tone, but that’s a good start.”

A tentative smile took over Geralt’s face, “Work on my tone?”

“If you’re going to rule Athens and defeat Crete, you’ll need to be more assertive. But none of that now,” Vessimir waved a hand and a servant brought two more goblets of wine, “Now, I want to get to know my son.”

The following months were filled with lessons, from Vessimir’s top generals in battle strategy and formal combat, from a matronly maid in etiquette and the cultural customs of the port city, and from Vessimir himself in diplomacy. Geralt was thrilled at first, ready to prove himself worthy, but the routine slowly lost its shine. Eskel and Lambert were no doubt excellent fighters and leaders, but there were only so many ways to disarm someone with every weapon in the royal arsenal, and they were running out of challenges for the boy. If that’s what you could call him anymore. With regular meals, unlike during his travels, and the way his trainers pushed him he was starting to look more worthy of his Olympian heritage and place at the throne.

He stood by his father’s side and paid careful attention to all of his meetings, every last one. Even the ones at dawn after a night of drinking with Eskel and Lambert.

He sat on a stool, a step down from the platform where his father’s throne was carved out of stone as he observed the nobles bringing their worries, reports, and complaints to the king from the outskirts of the territory. The large amphitheater was teeming with men ready to share their opinion. Geralt found that rarely did anyone bring something that really needed fixing, just listening was usually enough to soothe their egos. It was all rather mundane now, Geralt could mouth the words his father would say before they filled the air, until the last representative.

"My king, the spring is approaching, will we allow Crete to take our children yet again?”

Geralt’s brows knit together, eyes darting between the man and his father as they spoke.

Vessimir wiped a hand over his face, looking ten years older in an instant, “We don't have a navy that could even begin to challenge Crete’s. We have no choice.”

The gathered crowd erupted in shouts of outrage, only silenced when Vessimir stood, “It is the life of fourteen, or the life of the nation. Which will you surrender?”

There was more yelling, this time between a select few delegates, but Geralt ignored it and leaned to his right, lowering his voice so only Eskel could hear him.

“What does he mean ‘the life of fourteen’?”

Eskel frowned, “He hasn’t told you?”

Geralt glared at him, waiting for an explanation.

“King Minos’ son was killed at the games a good twenty or so years back, so as penance he takes fourteen virgins from us every nine years. Seven men, seven women, and feeds them to his bastard Minotaur.” Eskel glanced over Geralt’s shoulder at the king, a look of worry clear on his face.

“I thought the Minotaur was just a story, a parable of Crete’s barbaric nature.”

Eskel raised an eyebrow, not impressed by Geralt's literary analysis, “It’s no tale. It's as real as the ground under your feet, and it plays with its food.”

Geralt whipped his head back around to his father in time to catch his words, “There is no voting on war because of the brashness of your grandfather Letus, tread lightly. Until we have a reasonable plan of action all we can do is submit!"

Before he knew what his legs were doing Geralt was standing and shouting, "I'll go! Send me father! I'll kill the beast and return!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd but Geralt only cared about his father's reaction and Vessimir was still as stone. For a moment Geralt worried for his heart, then Vessimir gripped his arm and leaned in with a panicked look on his face, "You are my only son, I will not send you to your death." He growled.

Geralt felt a fire rising in his chest, "Your people are forced to send their children unwillingly yet when yours volunteers you're exempt? Does that seem fair to you?"

Vessimir’s grip tightened, nails digging into Geralt's arm, "Doesn't matter. You are the only heir. I can't risk the stability of the government."

Geralt stepped closer, making sure to stand at his full height, "Then you do not believe in me? In the power and blessings of Posiden that courses through me?"

Vessimir snarled but said nothing. Surely not used to being challenged, especially not so publicly, about his devotion to the gods.

Geralt lowered his voice, "I will go. I will free Athens as is my destiny, and I will come back to you unharmed." Geralt gripped his father's arm, and nearly pleaded, "I cannot sit idly by, you know I can't."

Vessimir's eyes softened ever so slightly as he released his grip, "I should have known your mother would raise a stubborn man."

Geralt grinned, "She said I got that from you."

The amphitheater had gone quiet, all eyes on the king and this strange new prince.

"Geralt will go." Vessimir sighed, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder. The crowd cheered in earnest this time and Geralt soaked it all in, their hope and elation. Vessimir raised a hand for silence and continued, "Now tell me, scholars and strategists, how will we bring him back alive?"

__________

part 2 here!

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #the witcher greek mythology AU #i deadass forgot about Henners doing Imortals until i was like halfway thru and already attached to this story so oh well #greek mythology AU #geralt as theseus #geralt of rivia fanfic #geralt of rivia fic #the witcher fanfic #the witcher fic #geralt of rivia greeky mythology AU #vessimir #vissena

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kryptonian-puppy · 3 years

Text

Throat Full of Glass

The rough sound of nail scratching against marble rings out through the washroom.

Eliza stares herself down in the mirror, lip trembling and arms shaking from the post-match adrenaline that's coursing through her body right now.

There’s a fire in her eyes and rage on her skin that's tangible in the air, mixing with a rusted tang of blood that’s congealed against her ear as she just stands there, rooted and willing herself to calm down.

The reflected image twists and contorts with each unsteady breath that she takes, the splash of each droplet of water that drips from the tap matching the pace of her lungs.

Drip.

Like a ticking clock. The prelude to the explosion.

She can’t let it slide this time, let her get away with this. Her mind has cashed its last rain check on Kali’s bullshit. It’s time the woman faces the wrath that's due, before she gets someone killed, gets her own team killed.

No biting her tongue anymore, brawling across the briefing room table or petitioning Six to see sense and dispose of the threat that is Nighthaven.

She’s done playing nice.

And sure enough, outside the door comes the muffled bragging of the soon to be victim of Eliza’s snapped tether.

Ash pushes off from the sink with aching fists held closed and nails biting into her palm, giving herself one last chance to just back off, to simply walk away from what she’s about to do.

But if there is any sign to stop she doesn't see it. Her reflection in the mirror steadies but offers up no rejection. The fight or flight wheel stops with the arrow pointing on the former.

This has been too long coming now to just stop.

Consequences from Six be damned, Eliza leaves the washroom and lets the heavy firedoor swing shut behind her with a loud thud. Eyes lock to hers in an instant from the sound, but she pays them no mind, her gaze settles on her target and tunnels her vision.

“This won’t be good, Cohen looks ready to kill.”

Dokkabei mutters under her breath to Thatcher, the elder operator nodding thickly in agreement and making no move to stop what's about to happen.

“Don’t worry kid, it won’t go that far.”

Dokkabei just holds her arms together to stop them trembling, the pain from being lit up with non-lethal fire is still raging throughout her body otherwise she would be falling into line with Ash right now to give Kali a piece of her mind too. She deserves it after that shitshow of a win.

The two simply watch on in tense silence as Eliza thunders across the changing room and shoves past Mozzie, the man distracted from helping Mira out of her BDU at the time. He swears loudly from the rough contact, barely able to stop himself from careening into Elena who is more focused on trying to get past him to stop Eliza rather than help steady him.

She’s seen that look in Cohen’s eyes before, it’s never good.

“Kali!” Ash spits, enough venom in just that one word to slay a man where he stood.

Kali has her back to her and mutters something to Aruni which makes the woman laugh.

“You will turn and face me when I address you, Mercenary scum!”

A tense silence settles over the room, marred only by the sounds of Ash’s heavy breathing.

But Kali just continues to chuckle, shaking her head a little at the crass words, rolling her eyes at Aruni. It’s only when she can physically feel the presence of Ash in her personal space that she turns around, quite lazilly too, and looks down to the smaller woman who is seething up at her.

“What could possibly be upsetting you now Red?”

“I don’t know how you do things in the private sector-” her voice trembles a little, rage barely even contained, “-but we do NOT use people as bait here!”

“Why the sour face Princess? This is a game, and I just won it for you.” Kali smirks, brow quirked in clear amusement. “Rather easily I might add to.”

“This, this is not a game you ignorant, reckless piece of-”

“Oh relax will you!”

“Relax?!” Ash scoffs, fists shaking violently against her sides. “I warned Six that you’ll get someone killed. And today you just proved me right. Game or no fucking game, I won’t stand by and let you send anyone here to an early grave because you only care about yourself.”

“So dramatic! Like it or not, Nighthaven is here to stay. I am here to stay. And there is nothing, not one little thing, that you can do about it. So finish your little temper tantrum and stop embarrassing yourself.”

Kali quips, one finger pushing against the crest of Ash’s chest plate.

And that's all it takes.

A finger, mistakenly brushing against the trigger, and Ash explodes.

No one can stop her, it happens too fast for anyone to register, least of all Kali.

One moment she’s staring down at Ash, the next she’s looking up at her from the floor, haphazardly strewn against one of the benches. Arms are on her in an instant trying to help her up, but the punch from the fiery field team leader has sent her head to the stars, she can’t hear a thing past the ringing in her ear.

And Eliza doesn’t stop there, she lunges at her with all the ferocity of a wild animal and the strength of an ox. Ready and willing to unleash the last year of pent up anger and frustration and pummel it into her face.

The two crash backwards and roll about, punching and lashing at each other like it's a fight for their lives. And by all odds Kali should have the upperhand against the woman with a smaller frame, but Ash brings a fight like no other she’s ever faced, and for the first time since she was shot in the field, Kali experiences fear.

She cries out in anguish, managing to land a shot that busts Eliza’s nose open and unleashes a fountain of blood. But it doesn’t slow the woman, she keeps going for her, scoring hit after hit until the wind is taken from Kali’s lungs and she’s choking on the air and her own blood.

“ELIZA, THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Rough arms yank her from Kali’s barely conscious form and she fights hard to get back to her before she feels herself be lifted up from the ground, legs swinging and kicking violently to try and break free.

There’s yelling all around and people rushing to block her view from Kali, but she can still make out her face and somehow Kali is still managing a smug grin up at her, it’s marred by all the blood and bruising but still going strong.

Ash screams bloody murder, wriggling and throwing herself about, but whoever holds her is strong and they don’t let go.

“Get her out of here!” Thatcher calls back over his shoulder as he gets between Dokkaebi and Aruni, the two seemingly squaring up to fight.

It would seem in the chaos of Ash and Kali’s brawl the rest of the Nighthaven members had initiated a fight, with some of Rainbow all too eager to oblige.

“Follow me!” Mira gestures to Finka who is the one struggling to hold Ash whilst looking for the quickest exit.

The rest is just a blur for Ash though, she’s so blinded and entombed by her own rage that she doesn’t even notice she’s being taken from the room, half carried/half dragged out of the changing room and somehow making it to the medical wing in the blink of an eye.

Her gaze is wide, adrenaline still begging her to fight even though the threat is no longer in sight, she doesn’t even hear what Mira is saying to Finka right now.

“Where do you want her?” The woman chuckles, keeping her head back to avoid a blow from Eliza’s.

“Put her in the examination room, I’ll take it from there. I suspect Mike is going to need your help stopping them all from tearing each other to pieces.” Mira commands, her own voice shaky from what she’s just witnessed.

She curses Six under her breath and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Eliza continues to fight to get out of Finka’s grasp, only succeeding once Finka has struggled to get her past the threshold of the room door. But when she goes to charge back out in search of Kali again, Mira stands in her way, hands on her hips and concern very much evident in her expression.

Ash comes to a halt immediately, eyes wide in a mix of rage and fear, hands still held tightly wound by her side and the shaking somehow more violent than when it first started. She’s a complete mess, blood dripping from her likely broke nose down her chest, hair disheveled and gear shifted out of place, ripped straps hanging awkwardly off her body from where Kali got a hold of them.

Neither her or Mira say anything until Finka closes the door behind her and leaves them to deathly silence.

Mira lowers her hands to her side and just waits, quietly watching her wife struggle to take in breaths as her brain catches up to what she’s done.

And after a tense minute or so of glaring at her, the fire goes out of Cohen, Eliza whimpering from the pain and turning in on herself as her body comes out of it.

“What have I done …” She breathes out, cradling her own stomach and willing it to settle so she doesn’t hurl. Already she can feel the bruises forming on her ribs and abdomen.

“What you had to, querida.” Elena affirms, breathing a sigh of relief now she knows it's safe to approach the woman she loves.

Sure, she’s seen Eliza angry before, but that was something completely different that she had with Kali, a power born from something deep rooted and likely traumatic, something they’ll definitely have to talk about soon. It terrified her to see that, almost making her flee from the woman herself until she remembered just who Eliza was, how sweet and gentle the woman she married actually was behind her guarded walls.

Oh they’ll talk alright about this, just not now. Right now Eliza needs gentle care.

Elena lets out a soft sigh and very slowly encircles Eliza with her arms, giving the woman time to accept the embrace or reject it if that's what she needs, being careful not to aggravate any injury also.

And sure it takes a moment, Eliza stiffening from the contact and starting to pull away, but Elena stands firm, drawing her in and acting as an anchor for the taller woman. She has no choice really but to give in, all but collapsing against Elena now who falls back a little and slides down the door and onto the floor, somehow managing to keep hold of Eliza the entire time.

“It’s ok, you’re ok.” Elena murmurs, running her hand through the length of her hair, deft fingers working through the knots and loosening the braid.

Eliza shudders in relief, quietly sobbing and heaving her way through every breath as she clings to Elena with battered hands, seemingly terrified that the woman will let her go if she doesn’t keep such a tight grip.

“I shouldn’t have- I could- could have killed her!”

“But you didn’t.”

There's a further moment of silence, Eliza shuddering as Elena works wonders on her aching head. Each stroke is soft and gentle, applying just enough pressure to relieve the budding headache that's rising up to join the chorus of pain wracking through her.

“I wanted to, Elena. I couldn’t stop myself.” She whispers after a few more minutes pass.

“But you didn’t kill her querida. Kali will be fine. This will all blow over.” Mira tries to affirm, voice gentle as ever despite the uncertainty.

“It won’t though, it can’t … not after this. Six will-”

“Don’t you worry about him. I will deal with Six.”

Again, more silence. They stay like that for a long while, just quietly breathing and taking in the comfort of the embrace, Elena discreetly counting each breath her wife takes and placing gentle kisses against her forehead when they finally slow down enough after what feels like half an hour or so.

“It felt good though, right?” Elena murmurs, failing to keep the amusement from her tone as she breaks the silence.

“Are you asking me if it felt good to punch Kali?”

“Well, yeah …”

Eliza pulls away and looks up at her in confusion, the two quietly studying each other before Eliza’s face finally cracks, both dissolving into mad laughter that's fueled by the residual adrenaline.

“God, that fear in her eyes when you toppled her with one hit. It was glorious.” Elena grins.

But Eliza groans, burying her head into Elenas chest and trying/failing to suppress the smile.

“It was satisfying to wipe that smirk from her face, if only for a moment.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Shouldn’t you be mad at me? I expected a lecture?”

“I thought about it, but I’d be a hypocrite since on more than one occasion i’ve threatened the bitch with the same thing myself.”

“Quite a few occasions actually, last week was twice at least.”

The laughter returns, softer this time and fleeting.

“You think she’ll try to press charges or something?” Eliza sighs.

“Hmmm,” Elena deliberates for a moment, “I doubt it, Six wouldn’t let it come to that. Though, I would love to be a fly on the wall when he calls you both to his office.”

Eliza groans, it’s not going to be fun dealing with the consequence of this shit, but at least she can pull the ‘told you so’ card on Six. So maybe it was worth it after all?

“That’s not going to be fun.”

“Nope.”

Eliza lets out a long suffering sigh, groaning when her ribs protest that but strangely not the laughter.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. You’re a bloodied mess.” Elena scoffs, nose wrinkling in feigned disgust.

“What? Don’t find me pretty anymore?” Eliza pouts, the effect lost by how gnarly she is looking in that moment covered in blood.

“Hmph! Pretty annoying more like.” Elena quips back, devilish smile on her lips.

“Rude.”

Despite how rough she feels, Eliza can’t help herself, she pushes their mouths together, wincing when her ailing nose brushes Elena’s. They kiss, soft at first, getting a little more heated when Eliza’s hands start to wonder, lowering to her chest and lifting up under her-

“Ouch!”

Elena just sighs gently, pulling away and rolling her eyes at Eliza who is looking at the bruises on her hands with a frown.

“Right, up! Let’s see if we can save something of that face of yours.” Elena cups her chin, smearing a little of the blood with a gentle sigh.

“Yes, the pain is outweighing the satisfaction at the moment.”

“I’m sure it is …, I love you, even if you are an idiot.”

“Love you too.”

#rainbow six siege #rainbow six #ash/mira #ash x mira #r6s ash #r6s mira #ITS TERRIBLE BUT I TRIED #its on AO3 too #yall know my name by now on there #if not check my blog header

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shera-dnd · 3 years

Link

Chapter 2 of our little Princess and Knight AU adventures. Now that we’re all familiar with the princess, I think it is time we were introduced to the knight in question

You can read this fic through the AO3 link above or under the read more link down here. Whichever one works for you.

That night the white knight marched into Lady Schnee’s tent. Though her stance was determined, her steps were weary after the long day of constant fighting, and her demoralizing defeat.

“Lady Weiss,” greeted the Schnee servant that waited within, “it’s good to see you well.”

He was a man whose largeness of body was only matched by that of his heart. Every word that left from under his full mustache was spoken with a care, and kindness, that Weiss had yet to receive from anyone else.

“It is good to see you as well, Klein,” she replied as she found herself a bench to slump on.

She took off her helmet for the first time all day, releasing her long ponytail of silver hair from its confinement. Taking a nearby piece of cloth she wiped the sweat that had gathered on her brow, and let out a sigh she had been holding all evening.

“I take it the tournament did not go as you expected,” he commented.

“I’ve lost,” she simply declared, not wanting to linger on this topic much longer.

“I’m truly sorry to hear it, my lady,” he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder, “but this is only your first tournament, Lady Weiss. There will be plenty of chances to make the people of Atlas see you for the knight you are.”

“Thank you, Klein,” she replied, offering the man the best smile she could manage, but it was as weak as she felt in that moment, “but I can’t help but dread that this humiliation has set a standard for my coming battles.”

“Humiliation is what you’ve brought upon half my men today,” her sister declared as she joined them within the tent.

The stern glacier of a woman that was Lady Winter of House Schnee, Knight of the Winter Maiden, grew but a few degrees warmer as she saw the defeated expression on her sister’s face, and for a moment the facade melted away; she was simply Winter.

“You fought well, Weiss,” she assured her, “you stood on equal footing with the Black Knight of Vale. That is not a feat to be taken lightly.”

“Thank you,” Weiss sighed, but accepted the praise, “I’m glad to have made good on our training.”

Winter gave her a nod and a proud smile, before the frigid winds of her duty froze her expression once again into that of Lady Schnee.

“Now, I must be on my way,” she informed, “Knight Commander Ironwood has requested my presence.”

“Of course,” Weiss replied, bowing her head slightly as she did so, “when should I expect your company again?”

Her sister stopped to think for a moment.

“If your identity is to remain a secret, I do not believe it is wise for us to meet in person any time soon,” she concluded. Weiss understood her decision, but that did not mean she found any joy in it.

“Understood,” she surrendered, “I wish you luck with your preparations, sister.”

“And you with yours.”

As she left she also seemed to take Weiss’s high spirits with her, leaving her only with her lingering frustration over her defeat, and dread over the coming month without her sister.

“I believe I am in need of some fresh air,” she eventually declared. She picked her helmet up and added, “I’ll just be stepping into the woods for a moment. No point risking exposing myself.”

“Do stay safe, Lady Weiss,” Klein asked, voice full of worry.

“I still have my sword and the iron of my armor,” she assured him, “unless Lady Blake returns for a second round, I believe I’ll be fine.”

As silently as she could, Weiss stepped away from the tent and quickly made her way to the forest; only removing her helmet again once she was sure she was fully out of sight of the festival goers. She took a deep breath, taking in the fresh scents of the forest that stretched around her, placing her focus anywhere but in the frustration that boiled inside her in that moment.

Weiss shook her head and groaned loudly, kicking at a patch of grass in her way. It wasn’t working. Perhaps a brisk walk would do better at working that disappointment out of her. Though certainly brisk, what she did do was closer to stomping than it was to walking.

Curse this tournament, curse this Black Knight, curse Lord Ironwood, and curse her father while she was at it!She always made a point to stop to curse him whenever such a foul mood struck her. It was a good habit to keep, all things considered. He always had at least some fault in her foul moods, and perhaps one day one of these curses would finally land and the bastard would die some ignoble death.

No, no, it wasn’t proper of her to get like this. She was the heiress of House Schnee and if she was to maintain such a title she had to play by his rules - Winter was living proof that he was not above rescinding such privileges after all - though at the very least this White Knight character allowed her some level of much needed freedom.

She leaned back against a nearby tree and rested her head against it, closing her eyes she took another long and deep breath. She had been gone for a while now, it was probably about time she returned to her tent. Wouldn’t want Klein to worry over her well being after all.

“We thought you were dead!” A voice furiously shouted in the distance.

“Good!” Another voice shouted back, “had I stopped to tell you my intentions you would have killed me on the spot instead!”

Weiss opened her eyes. Shit, she wasn’t alone in the woods anymore. She had to get back to camp before anyone caught her here.

“And with good reason!” The first voice replied, “you betrayed us!”

“What I have done was for the good of the fae,” the second voice returned in a steely tone, “you’re just too blinded by vengeance to realize it.”

The good of the fae? There were fae in these woods with her. She had to get away right now and…this could be her chance. Were she to strike a blow against the fae she would be welcomed home as a hero. Her father would have no basis to deny her her right to become a knight.

She snuck closer, trying to catch a glimpse of the two arguing faeries.

“I would rather let vengeance blind me than allow myself to be turned into their pet!” The first voice bit back.

“I am not their pet!” The second denied, “I am their equal!”

“And yet you don their symbols, you wear their face, and you play their game,” the first one continued.

Weiss could almost see them now. It was too dark and the forest was too thick around these parts for her to make out too much detail, but she could see the shapes of the fae locked in bitter argument.

“You may see me as subservient, but I have not forgotten my roots, unseelie,” the second retorted, “I am fae, but I am also a Knight of the Fall Maiden, and it is my duty both to my court and to my kingdom that I help them find peace.”

A fae knight? And one from Vale of all places? Now that was simply not possible. The fae couldn’t even touch iron, let alone wield it as a weapon. And who would even dare to bring one of them to their order in the first place? Only a mad man would ever try.

Weiss stepped forward, now more curious than ever as to who these fae might be. She had to be slow and careful now as to not catch their--

Snap went a twig under the weight of her boots. She looked up to the figures that argued in the woods, only to be met by a familiar pair of golden eyes staring at her and through her soul. It was her.

Weiss’s hand flew to her sword as she stepped back and braced herself for a fight. But as soon as her left foot moved back it was snagged by a root that hadn’t been there before. Maybe she should curse fae tricks next time too, if there was a next time.

When the Black Knight charged at her she did her best to block the blow, but with her posture already precarious as it was, she found herself being pushed to the ground. She raised her blade again, preparing to fight on her back if she had to, but the ‘knight’ deigned only to kick the blade aside and plant her boot on Weiss’s chest.

“Lady Weiss Schnee I presume,” ‘Lady’ Blake greeted, her form now fully human once more, “you have your sister’s scowl. I see it runs in the family.”

“What are you doing?” The other fae demanded, “kill her already.”

The human form that woman had taken was not unfamiliar to Weiss. She remembered the beautiful woman cheering for her from among the crowd, and had entertained asking her for her favor once the real tournament had started. So much for that thought.

“Ah yes, for no evil shall befall us or our people were we to kill the Schnee heir,” Blake replied, sarcasm nearly dripping from her voice.

“Try it,” Weiss challenged, “I’ll make sure you both burn before you have the chance to regret it.”

“That won’t be necessary, my lady,” Blake assured her, “my friend does not wish for the atlesians to find out who we are, and you don’t want your father to find out what you’ve been doing with your free time. I propose we keep each other’s secrets.”

“How are you so sure there is even a secret to be kept?” Weiss bluffed, “how are you to know I don’t have my father’s blessing?”

“I don’t believe you would have suffered those fools at the arena were you able to wield the weight of your name against them,” she countered.

Weiss scowled at her, furious at the thought of being so easily read. Still she refused to give in.

“I will not betray my kingdom by allowing you two to freely enact whatever plans you have,” she declared, “I’d rather you both slay me now than be complicit in your actions.”

“Do not tempt me, Schnee,” the woman in blue threatened.

“As belligerent as my companion is,” Blake interjected, “I don’t believe she has any nefarious plans for you to worry over.”

“Do you really want me to simply trust that you two are only here to enjoy the festival?”

“You are one to speak of trust, human,” the woman in blue countered.

“If it will dissuade your mistrust,” Blake sighed and stepped back from Weiss. She drew her sword and, taking a knee, she planted it on the ground, “I swear on my honor as a Knight of the Fall Maiden that neither me nor Ilia intend any harm and that if you are to keep our secret, we will keep yours too.”

Weiss was taken aback. Lady Blake’s oath carried the conviction of a knight. She spoke with the same unquestioning certainty that Winter had used when she swore herself to the Winter Maiden. Fae or no, there was no doubt in Weiss’s mind that Blake truly saw herself and carried herself as a true knight.

“What?” Ilia scoffed, “are we to simply trust the Schnee? After all her house has done to us?”

Weiss got up and reached for her sword. Ilia braced for a fight, but was caught by surprise when Weiss reached for Blake’s hand and helped her stand up again.

“And I swear on the name of my house,” that earned another scoff, “that I will do you both no harm as long as you do not bring me harm, and I shall keep your secret as long as you keep mine.”

Ilia remained unconvinced, but Lady Blake was relieved to hear it. She placed a hand on their shoulders as they brought them close. They were too busy glaring daggers at each other to spare Blake a scowl.

“Now that that is done with,” she began, “Lady Ilia, Lady Weiss, I believe it’s time we all got back to camp.”

#rwby #prismatic ponytails #weiss schnee #ilia amitola #blake belladonna #medieval au #fanfic

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sny-bylle · 3 years

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Personal Dark Souls rankings

World Building:

DS1 > DS2 > DS3

Let’s start with an quite obvious one. I agree with many fans that DS3 is more linear, while the other two games allow more exploration.

What gives DS2 the lower place is the fact that sometimes hidden paths are SO WELL hidden that I actually lost orientation at some point. I couldn’t find the next location or simply couldn’t recognize if a place actually was a dead end or not. That way I really was unsure whether I was making any progression in the game or not.

DS1 linked the levels perfectly. At the beginning, I immediately tried out all paths from Firelink Shrine. And I had no problems memorizing the several locked / accessible entrances and where they (might) lead.

Soundtracks:

DS3 > DS1 > DS2

You mainly hear Music played either when you’re in a Boss Battle or at Firelink Shrine / Majula. And while I consider Majula’s Soundtrack better than the Shrines, I can’t say the same about the rest in its game.

Generally you’re too busy focusing on the boss to pay much attention to the Soundtrack. But in DS3 it happened often enough that I still noticed some bosses’ melodies. First it was at the Cryszal Sage battle, where I thought: Man this music is creepy and intense! Then in the Abyss Watchers battle I thought: Holy sh*t the bell and the violins and the voice! Absolutely badass! These are only a few examples of many times I caught myself focusing more on the soundtrack than the Boss. Yes, it cost me many lives, but it’s worth it!

DS1 didn’t have many soundtracks I really noticed. But still, after some boss battles I had an earworm. Right while I’m typing this, I have the Gaping Dragon’s soundtrack in my head.

And DS2... In short: There isn’t a single soundtrack I had really memorized. Majula is the only great exeption.

Level Design:

DS2 > DS1 > DS3

When I think of it, DS2 generally has he biggest world. And due to this size, so many different locations could fit into the game. We have a great underground “labyrinth”, stormy mountains with Dragons flying around, sand pits, giant castles built at the edge of the ocean, simple forests and don’t get me started on Drangelic Castle. I think from all levels in EVERY Dark Souls game, Drangelic castle has to be my favourite... Okay, next to Anor Londo.

All places in DS2 are noticeable and memorable in their very own way and I love that! I could never look my fill when I traveled from one location to the other. Even the Gutter has its own uniqueness. I still hate it.

Now to DS1. It’s lower placed because in my opinion the levels are too bound to the Dark Medieval Fantasy theme. The game mainly consists of Castles, Dungeons, Catacombs, ruins of Castles, evil lairs filled with fire, abandoned Cities, maybe a forest. The only exceptions I can think of right now, are the Crystal Cave and Blighttown. But I think that’s it.

Now to DS3. I don’t dislike the levels at all. I just think they’re... not quite diverse. Just like DS1, we have our ruins, catacombs, castles, forests, etc. But plus to this, another detail makes almost every location similar to each other: Everything is in ruins. Destroyed. Far past its glory. Abandoned. And full of freaking candles. Again, not that I dislike it. But I feel like so many levels follow the same style. Of course there are some exceptions here and there. Sure, it might have something to do with the lore in DS3. But it is as it is.

Bosses:

DS3 > DS1 > DS2

As I mentioned before, what makes bossfights far more enjoyable for me than in the other games, is the soundtrack. That already is a big plus point for DS3. Apart from that I appreciate the variety of the bosses. With that I don’t only mean the species, but also the sizes. From a group of old men up to one gigantic skeleton.

Also I think DS3 has the most cutscenes for its bosses. Altogether I feel like most efforts were put into DS3 bosses than in the other games. And the fights themselves are often enjoyable. I can’t think of much that really frustrated me in the game, except the Curse Rotten Greatwood. But again, there I like that you have a different fight mechanic, where you have to hit specific spots to deal damage. Heck, I even like the fight against the Ancient Wyvern, just because the mechanics are different.

The fights against DS1 bosses was also often fun. Except Bed of Chaos. But here you mainly just have the “beat it until it stops moving” fight. Pretty simple. Not that I complain though, it doesn’t make the fights less enjoyable.

What I like the most about DS1 bosses, are the bosses themselves. With that I mean their character, their design, and most importantly: Their lore. I already knew Sif’s story before I started to play any Dark Souls just because he got so famous. I like how we have our four main bosses introduced in the beginning cutscene. With Gwyndolin you have the chance to freaking challenge a god. In the DLC you get into the role of the fairytales’ noble knight, who saves the land from evil forces, and who slays the big monster to rescue the pretty princess. Also the fight against Artorias is one of the best fights in the entire series.

DS2 also has bosses which I like, simply because of their lore. Especially King Vendrick and the Ivory King. But what gives DS2 the last place, is the lacking diversity in the bosses. Many of them are... well... Dudes in Armors. Of course I think of the exceptions, too. And the fact that DS2 has so many bosses. But to put it simple: The number of good and enjoyable bosses is heavenly balanced with the number of frustrating / less memorable ones.

DLCs

DS2 > DS3 > DS1

As I said before: DS2 has a great level design. And the same goes to its DLCs.

Frozen Eleum Loyce with its clear blue sky and buildings covered in snow is one of the prettiest areas in the series. And I love the idea, where you have the option to search for trapped Knights which will then help you to fight against the final boss. And the bossfight itself is also one of he best in the series. Mainly because of the boss stage itself and the Burnt Ivory King’s epic entrance.

Heck, I even loved the Frigid Outskirts. I can see what it’s so hated by many fans, but I enjoyed the concept of this great field of snow, where you have to navigate trough the storms and defend yourself against demonic thunder horses. The grim Atmosphere is intense. Okay, I didn’t like the bossfight, but that’s actually the only negative point I have.

While the other two DLCs weren’t that much fun and eye-candy, I still couldn’t stop exploring every corner of the maps. Especially the Sunken King DLC. Also the bosses were great, too. Even if I got really frustrated at the fight against Elana, I still liked her character design.

So, in short: The flaws in DS2′s DLCs could be easily overshadowed by all the good aspects.

I actually had to think whether I should put DS3 above DS1 or otherwise. But I decided to rank DS3 higher because of the level design. To be honest, it wasn’t really that much fun to navigate through any DLC maps. The Ringes City looks beautiful though. And I liked that the lore about Gwyn was picked up again. The characters all were great and the fight against Ariandel and Friede was epic in every aspect.

But from all levels in the series, I felt like the DLCs in DS3 are the least obliging. Yes, Dark Souls is known to be hard, I know that. But here it was just frustrating and disheartening. Usually when I die in Dark Souls, I’m thinking: Okay, next time I got this. I need to pay attention to X so I won’t get killed again. I can make it. Challenge accepted. But here I just was glad when I could bring places behind me. I didn’t feel that much of a sense of accomplishment while I fought my way through. It’s definetely the Lore that carried DS3′s DLC to the second place. Also Lorian was mentioned and had a role. Yes, that is important.

The main reason I placed DS1′s DLC last is the location’s design. Mainly it’s just a brighter, dryer version of Darkroot Garden. On the other hand I liked Oolacile and The Abyss. But especially in Oolacile I didn’t have that much fun either. Mainly because of the enemy type you encountered there. What I really liked though, were the bossfights. Okay, the Sanctuary Guardian and Kalameet were very similar to Monster Hunter battles for me. Manus was fun to fight because dodging his attacks felt really rewarding. Plus you had Sif by your side. But Artorias. Dang, he was hard. And Challenging. I died at least 20 times against him. But i didn’t care, just because the fight against him was so fantastic!

As I said, DS3 and DS1 are very close to each other and DS1 could have easily landed on second place, just because of Artorias. You could actually just consider both of them as second.

_________________________________________________

So, for now this will be it. I have no idea if anyone will ever read this list, or even care about my opinion. But I just felt like talking about anything Dark Souls related. Noone in my real life is interested in Dark Souls at all, so I decided to share my thoughts here.

If you want, you can write why you agree or disagree with my views. If you want, you can even ask for other aspects to rank the three games, but it’s totally up to you.

For those who spent their time reading this: Thank you very much for reading. It’s much appreciated!

#dark souls #ds #dark souls 1 #dark souls 2 #scholar of the first sin #dark souls 3 #dlc #ds1 #ds2 #ds3 #crown of dusk #crown of the burnt king #crown of the sunken king #crown of the ivory king #painted world of ariandel #the ringed city #ranking #personal opinion

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fatesdeepdive · 3 years

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Entry 8: Rinkah’s Burning Loins

My Castle

After fully dedicating ourselves to Hoshido, the game finally really begins. We’re given access to a customizable castle in the Astral Plane where our army waits between battles. We can talk to our units, giving them minor stat boosts or new weapons. Right off the bat, we have a farm and spring to give us resources, rooms for Corrin and Lilith, and a Hall of Records.

In Lilith’s spring, we can feed her to make her level up. Different foods affect her stats in different ways. Note that, although Lilith now has stats, she isn’t usable in battle. Other players can invade our Castle through spotpass, which I’ll discuss in a later entry, and Lilith is only usable in those battles.

Lilith

Lilith is a weird squirrel dragon thing that floats around clutching a random ball. She used to be our stable girl and is now our pet. I think she has a crush on Corrin. Her design is unique and cute, I like it. Gameplay wise, she can only use a modified Physic staff. I don’t dislike her personality, but she feels like a throwaway character added at the last minute. She raises a ton of questions that I doubt will ever be answered.

In the Hall of Records, we can see descriptions of all the units we’ll ever recruit, rewatch cutscenes, read unreadable poems, and play around with a relationship tester. The relationship tester is randomized, by the way, which kinda makes it pointless. That said, it told me that Corrin expects betrayal from Rinkah, while Rinkah’s loins are set afire by Corrin. This is now canon, I have decided.

In Corrin’s room, we can change their hairstyle and invite an ally over to chill. I chose Kaze. He complimented Corrin’s piano skills, which she apparently has, then stared at us, blushing, while thanking us for saving him from Garon.

So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. In the Japanese version you get to rub units while in close up mode. Like Pokemon Amie except...with people. This was removed in the English version. A lot of Fire Emblem fans were pissed, crying about censorship because Nintendo of America had the gall to remove the minigame where you rub Camila’s tiddies while she moans. And I’m going to say a hot take right now: they made the right call. That stuff was weird and indulgent. It was the living embodiment of the fanservice focussed design that plagues modern Fire Emblem games. Good riddance.

Inviting allies to Corrin’s cool sex treehouse boosts our support levels. I suppose it's time I mentioned that. In Fire Emblem games, units form bonds from fighting next to each other, unlocking short conversations that flesh them out as characters. Units also fight together better when they have high supports. Now, here’s the fun thing about supports:

There are more than 600 supports in this game. Not support conversations, support lines, each of which is made up of three or four conversations. And, because God has cursed me for my hubris and my work is never finished, I’m going to read all of them.

Admittedly, I’m not going to unlock all of them. S-Rank conversations result in marriages and each unit only gets one. It’d take a few dozen playthroughs to get all of Corrin’s S-Rank conversations and I don’t hate myself that much, so I’m reading the transcripts from the wiki. I think I’m going to do four supports per Entry; that’ll leave me with a few extra by the time we reach the end, but I’ll just do a support grab bag entry or something.

Before we do supports, let’s finish up improving the castle. I built a weapon shop and a statue of Corrin that boosts her max speed. We are limited on the number of buildings we can build, but that isn’t a big deal yet because the only other option was to build a stave shop.

Support: Corrin/Rinkah

C: Corrin attempts to discuss battle tactics with Rinkah, but Rinkah blows her off and tells her to stop trying to be friends. Rinkah does acknowledge that Corrin’s authority and that Corrin saved her life, but tells the princess leave her alone.

B: Corrin pesters Rinkah until she explains why she’s so aloof. Rinkah explains that, the Flame Tribe keeps a great flame burning in the center of the village to honor the God of Fire. In the past, outsiders have extinguished the fire. One such instance was followed by a volcanic eruption that decimated the tribe. As a rule, the people of the Flame Tribe are wary of outsiders. Rinkah also explains that she’s working for Hoshido because her father commanded her to, much to her chagrin.

A: Rinkah explains that she would have preferred to die an honorable warrior’s death than be captured and resents Corrin for sparing her. Corrin says that she’s glad Rinkah is still alive, because it means Rinkah and her can be friends. Corrin also says that, despite the chaos of war, she believes in fate and its ability to bring people together. Corrin encourages Rinkah to use this opportunity to learn more about the outside world and bring that knowledge home with her. Rinkah begrudgingly agrees.

This is how the conversation will end on my playthrough, but if Corrin has a penis, you can get an S-Rank proposal conversation. I’ll be listing all of these off along with the normal conversations.

S: Rinkah comes to Corrin, blushing, and tells him that he has been a constant reminder of her shame and regret over being captured. But, over time, these feelings were replaced with love. Love that she hated, because Corrin is an outsider. Corrin says that he’s loved Rinkah since the day they met and only told her to be friendly to other people as an excuse to spend time with her. Rinkah states that, from now on, she will remember her capture as the happiest day of her life and the two get married.

Review: I really like this support line. It expands Rinkah’s backstory and culture, ties it into Corrin’s own isolation and belief in fate, and deals with the tumultuous meeting they had in Chapter 2. The confession comes out of nowhere, admittedly, but I do like Rinkah grappling with her mixed feelings of hate and love. Solid support.

Support: Corrin/Jakob

C: Corrin comes to Jakob to ask for a favor. Jakob interrupts her by humorously listing off the things he would do for Corrin. Things like slay dragons for her, which is actually kinda offensive now that I think about it. Corrin begs Jakob to allow her to be independent and Jakob refuses. Corrin explains that she’s his boss and he tells her that servitude is his reason for living. Jakob explains that, when he started working for Corrin, he was incompetent, and her kindness towards him made him indebted to her. The two compromise on the agreement that Jakob will teach Corrin how to make tea. After Corrin leaves, Jakob mumbles to himself that things might get apocalyptic.

B: Corrin repeatedly tries and fails to make a decent cup of tea. Both of them get some funny lines in, with Corrin telling Jakob that she can’t hear him because she’s ignoring him and Jakob saying that, saying that they’ll run out of leaves before Corrin makes decent tea. They meaning the nation in this case. Corrin eventually makes a passable cup, after Jakob secretly adds in sugar.

A: Jakob admits to Corrin that he messed with her tea and she laughs it off, admitting that she knew all along. She apologizes for being stubborn and accepts that she still needs Jakob’s help sometimes. Jakob says that he falls apart without Corrin. Corrin says that the two of them are alike in that way and Jakob literally faints from joy.

S: Jakob is acting more distant than normal. When Corrin asks him about this, he admits that he’s fallen for her and resigns from his duties as butler, because it is improper for him to have feelings for his mistress. Corrin begs him to say because she needs him and admits that she loves him too. The two of them get embarrassed and Corrin fires Jakob, giving him the new job of husband.

Review: This was a hilarious support that really made me appreciate Jakob’s snarky yet loyal personality. He is the perfect butler. The conflict of Corrin wanting to be independent and Jakob wanting to take care of her is a good dynamic that made me appreciate the relationship between these two characters. I do like them more as a platonic couple than a romantic one, but Jakob quitting his job because falling in love with Corrin is improper is a nice character moment.

Support: Corrin/Kaze

C: A villager gives Kaze a bunch of radishes because he’s super hot. And I mean, he is. Kaze apparently doesn’t realize that he’s hot until Corrin explains it to him. Kaze mentions that he dislikes the attention because he isn’t a good person before running off.

B: Corrin asks Kaze to follow her around so she can figure out what’s bothering him. Kaze says no, so Corrin annoys him until he agrees to hang out with him. Then he runs away again.

A: Kaze admits to Corrin that it was his fault that Garon kidnapped her, because when he was a child, he noticed the Nohrian soldiers that killed Sumeragi were in the city but said nothing about it. I don’t know how that makes Corrin’s kidnapping his fault, you’d expect there to be soldiers guarding a king. And the fact that Kaze was there means that there were also Hoshido soldiers, which means there was no reason to be suspicious of the Nohrians. Also, Kaze was a teenager at the oldest, so he should probably get some leeway. Whatever. Kaze apologizes to Corrin and Corrin, in turn, apologizes for making him live with guilt for fifteen years. Corrin also points out that Kaze led her home, meaning that they’re even now. Kaze compares Corrin to Mikoto because of her kindness and pledges to serve Corrin as her loyal retainer.

S: Corrin and Kaze joke around about Corrin’s kidnapping. It’s cute. Corrin mentions that, now that she’s spent so much time offscreen with Kaze, she likes him even more. Kaze blurts out that he loves Corrin, despite being her bodyguard, and the two propose.

Review: I found this chain a bit lacking, to be honest. The first two conversations were filler and the origin for Kaze’s guilt complex is kinda dumb. Kaze’s relationship with Corrin defines him as a character. He is so guilt ridden over her kidnapping that he would betray his country and his family to protect her. Later parts of the game hinge on this relationship. But, three of their four conversations are dull. I do like Kaze’s guilt complex as a concept, and think becoming Corrin’s retainer alongside Jakob and/or Felicia and a way to repent, but it isn’t enough to save this support line.

Support: Kaze/Rinkah

C: Kaze gets a bunch of candy for being hot and shares it with Rinkah, who secretly loves candy.

B: Kaze continues to give Rinkah candy.

A: Kaze continues to give Rinkah candy.

S: Kaze reveals that he’s been giving Rinkah candy because he’s in love with her.

Review: This one was a big let down. The fact that Kaze and Rinkah are introduced together made me think it would be about their capture, but no. It’s just Kaze giving Rinkah candy for four conversations straight. And it’s cute fluff, but it’s nothing more than that. There is something interesting below the surface with Rinkah hiding her love of candy to protect her image, but it’s never really explored.

So, off to a mixed start with the support conversations.

Birthright Chapter 7: A Vow Upheld

Team Corrin heads to a Hoshidan fort where Sakura is tending to wounded soldiers. We are introduced to Sakura’s retainers, Subaki and Hana. Suddenly, the fort is attacked by Nohrian forces. Corrin and Azura point out the ridiculousness of them attacking immediately after they arrived. Sakura freaks out because the fort is being used as a hospital and has no military value. So apparently Nohr is now being evil just to be evil.

Subaki and Hana agree to help Corrin defend the fort and argue over who’s more important to Sakura, much to her annoyance. Subaki and Hana give me a good opportunity to discuss a few interesting things about classes in this game. First off, unlike in most Fire Emblem games, classes are NOT gender-specific, as demonstrated by Subaki being the first male Pegasus Knight in the series. Secondly, the classic Fire Emblem classes were divided between the two nations. Nohr got Mercenaries, Hoshido got Myrmidons. Nohr got Wyvern Riders, Hoshido got Pegasus Knights. Etc. I really like this, it gives the two countries different feels in combat both aesthetically and mechanically. Finally, a lot of Hoshidan classes were renamed to be more Eastern, shown by Hana being a Samurai instead of a Myrmidon, or by Sakura being a Shrine Maiden instead of a Cleric.

Subaki

Subaki is a Sky Knight, this game’s equivalent of a Pegasus Knight. He can fly over terrain and has good speed and resistance, but is decimated by arrows. His personal skill buffs his hit and avoid when he has full health. Design wise, I like how ridiculously smug he looks. Personality wise, he seems over-competitive yet fiercely loyal to Sakura.

Hana

Hana is a Samurai with high speed and skill. Her personal skill damaged nearby enemies when she scores a kill. Her design is fine, if a little bland. Personality wise, she seems over-competitive yet fiercely loyal to Sakura.

Starting with this chapter, we have a prep menu, where we can choose which units to use and rearrange them on the map. We can bring our whole team in with us, so it’s a little pointless, but it's nice. Worth noting that you can have units start in pair up via this menu, unlike in Awakening where you had to pair them up after the battle started.

At the start of the battle, the chapter’s boss, a Cavalier named Silas, shouts out to Corrin that he’s her childhood best friend. She does not remember him even slightly. Okie dokie.

This map is decent. It’s a bit short, but it features a lot of good bottlenecks. The Dragon Veins can be used to open heal tiles, which is a bit pointless because you have two healers. When Silas and Corrin fight, he reiterates that they used to be friends. Corrin says that she can’t remember her past. And that confuses me, because I was under the impression that she got amnesia when she was taken to Nohr, which would have been before she met Silas. Unless he’s lying.

After the battle, Corrin refuses to kill Silas. She interrogates him about why he was so hesitant to attack them and he explains that, when they were children, he helped Corrin sneak out of the walls to have a picnic. The guards tried to execute Silas for this, but Corrin stopped them, because apparently guards listen to small children. Because of this, Silas feels he owes a debt to Corrin.

Question. Why was this random child allowed to play with the super secret hostage princess? Whatever.

Corrin eventually recovers a vague memory of Silas and asks him to join the gang. She explains that Garon is crazy and evil and that’s enough to make him swap sides. Silas is now officially the most sane character in the game. I mean, he should have probably realized this stuff before being sent to destroy a hospital for shits and giggles, but still.

Also, Silas mentions that Corrin’s favorite food is surf and turf. Perhaps this symbolizes how Corrin is stuck between both kingdoms? Or maybe it’s a random throwaway line. You be the judge!

At the end of the chapter, Saizo and a new character named Orochi show up, wounded, and report that Takumi and Ryoma have gone missing. Uh oh.

Team Corrin decide to help search for the missing princes. Sakura decides to come along, despite Corrin and Kaze’s objections. Silas also decides to come along and Saizo points out that he totally could be a spy or traitor. He’s a dick, but he is infinitely smarter than Kaze.

#fire emblem fates #fire emblem birthright #fe14 #fire emblem #hoshido #nohr #corrin fe #kaze fe #corrin x kaze #corrin x rinkah #rinkah fe #rinkah x kaze #silas fe #jakob fe #corrin x jakob #hana fe #subaki fe

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taste-in-music · 4 years

Text

Incredible Artists You Should Check Out

I haven’t made one of these posts in a big long while, so here we are! I’ve been cultivating this list for some time now, so without further ado, some artists that I think deserve a little love.

Emotional Oranges: This group has it all. Male and female vocals, both of which are silky as heck? Check. A chill R&B sound with bubbly beats that’ll sweep you off your feet? Check. Summery vibes that will keep you warm even during the coldest of winter months? Check. This group’s music is so refreshing, with a zesty twist, almost like... what is that fruit? A lime? Yeah, definitely a lime.

Check Out If You Like: Dominic Fike, Frank Ocean

My Top Tracks: Motion, Just Like You

Love You Later: This woman’s music has been my one-stop shop for melancholic dream pop as of late. Her first longer project is called How Many Nights Do You Dance With Tears in Your Eyes?, and I think that about sums up the atmosphere of her sound. Her emotional performances, paired with glistening, synth-laded production make for songs you could slow-dance to with a pang of sorrow in your heart.

Check Out If You Like: The Japanese House, Lorde

My Top Tracks: Emily, Making Plans

Ariana and the Rose: If you’re on the hunt for some euphoric synthpop, then I have some good news for you. Ariana and the Rose has been dropping singles for actual years now, but I found her music through her most recent release, her “Constellations Phase 1″ EP from last year. It’s got some of the freshest pop bops I’ve heard in a while, from the funky, “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monáe-eque “You Were Never My Boyfriend” to the endlessly danceable “True Love.”

Check Out If You Like: Foxes, MUNA

My Top Tracks: True Love, You Were Never My Boyfriend

Half Wolf: This woman may only have a handful of tracks to her name, but she’s already established herself as a fantastic balladeer. Her voice ranges from delicate and soaring up into the upper register to powerful and rich in vibrato. Her instrumentals are simple, but never boring, always serving to elevate her beautiful performances.

Check Out If You Like: Jade Bird, Julia Jacklin

My Top Tracks: Pretty Lonely, Cigarette Smoke

Joy Crookes: I am obsessed, OBSESSED, with this woman’s voice, her cadence and intonations are so laid back and effortless. The way she blends hip hop and R&B sounds with organic instrumentals is so relaxing, and it projects an aura of warmth that I can’t get enough of. She’s got three EPs out and they’re all gold. She also did a Kendrick Lamar medley that’s amazing.

Check Out If You Like: Khalid, Jorja Smith

My Top Tracks: Hurts, Yah/Element (Medley)

Kelsy Karter: I mean, her Spotify bio says: “If Angelina Jolie and Mick Jagger had a one night stand you’d get me,” and I’m not here to disagree with that. Kelsy Karter is a force to be reckoned with, she’s got a voice full of husky grit and rock star swagger. Her songs balance classic-sounding instrumentals and a modern wit in the lyrical department, like in her song “Harry,” which plays off a crazed stan character à la Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” over a crunching electric guitar.

Check Out If You Like: Amy Winehouse, Elle King

My Top Tracks: Harry, Liquor Store On Mars

Stereo Jane: This power-pop duo came up on my Instagram feed a few weeks ago and I’ve been obsessed with them ever since. Mia (right) slays on the drums, and Sydney (left) kills it with the vocals. Their sound blends brooding lyrics and instrumentals with a spark of energy that will make you want to take on the world. They’ve only got three recent singles, but it seems like they’re building up steam for something big. Also they’re twins!

Check Out If You Like: FLETCHER, Madison Beer

My Top Tracks: Strangers, Real World

Arlo Parks: With her smoky-smooth vocals and confessional songwriting, Arlo Parks is making waves at just nineteen years old. Her music is so achingly relatable in both its simplicity and its genuine execution. Whether you’re looking for chill indie pop ballads to yearn to or a new bisexual icon to stan, then I can’t recommend her enough.

Check Out If You Like: King Princess, Daniel Caesar

My Top Tracks: Cola, Eugene

Blu DeTiger: What about this woman isn’t cool? Her name is cool, her aesthetic is cool, and most of all, her music is cool. I first came across her due to her bass-playing videos on TikTok, (which are all FIRE,) and her instrumental skills really come across in her tunes. Her music is fun, funky, and always has a killer groove driven by an awesome bass line.

Check Out If You Like: The Aces, HAIM

My Top Tracks: Tangerine, Mad Love

No Frills Twins: This identical twin duo had such a long hiatus I feared that they had disbanded, but no! With the release of their latest single, it appears that they are back on their game. If you’re into music with a danceable pulse, thundering bass, sharp synths, and a twinge of strangeness, then you’ll dig this group’s thrilling take on no-frills pop. Not only that, their voices have a distinct deep timbre that is totally unique.

Check Out If You Like: MARINA, (especially The Family Jewels era MARINA,) Charli XCX

My Top Tracks: Love Me Tender, Paper Love

LoveLeo: Apparently this guy is John C. Reilly’s son? I don’t really care, because he’s dropped nothing but bops. His music has this breezy, playful, and jaunty feel to it that slots perfectly into a Summer stroll playlist. If you’re into laid back, somewhat low-fi bedroom pop or indie pop then you’ll love what he has to offer. Also his visuals are mind-bendingly creative.

Check Out If You Like: Gus Dapperton, Still Woozy

My Top Tracks: BOYFREN, ROSIE

#new music #music recommendation #artist recommendation #emotional oranges #love you later #ariana and the rose #half wolf #joy crookes #kelsy karter #stereo jane #arlo parks #blu detiger #no frills twins #loveleo #check them out!!!#taste in music

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somedayonbroadway · 4 years

Note

Okokokokok High School Musical AU pretty please with a cherry on top?

Hahahahahahaha YES

Okay, so…

Characters-

Jack Kelly — Troy Bolton

Katherine Plumber — Gabrielle

Medda Larkin — Ms. Darbus

Spot Conlon — Chad

Crutchie Morris — Kelsie

Racetrack Higgins — Taylor

William Snyder — Jack Bolton (only sort of)

Albert DaSilva — Zeke

Finch — Jason

Sarah Jacobs — Sharpay Evans

David Jacobs — Ryan Evans

I know… it’s a bit of an odd list. But like… go with me on this.

Over Winter break, on New Years Eve, Jack and Katherine meet at a ski lodge. Katherine went with her family. Her father, her mother and his older sister. Jack is up there after running away from his foster home and trying to get in contact with his birth mother who just recently got out of prison. He believes she’ll be at this party.

They both end up at a party. Jack has a hood pulled up over his head to try and hide. The cops are looking for him by then. Snyder’s pissed. Katherine is with her father, talking about school.

The karaoke machine gets set up. Jack is trying to get out of the room because he’s scared of getting caught and Katherine is minding her own business.

But they happen to be the two random people pulled from the crowd and dragged on stage. Jack tried to get away, barely stopping himself from punching someone in the nose. And Katherine shyly tries to tell them no thank you, but they both end up there and catch sight of one another. And they freeze.

Jack tries to leave again, now not wanting to embarrass himself in front of this pretty girl who just stops him by saying she’s willing if he’s willing.

And they end up singing together for the first time. And they actually sound really good together.

After they’re finished, Jack catches sight of some of the cops again and he bolts, only for Katherine to follow him outside and ask him what was wrong. He plays it off. Says it’s nothing. And she lets it go.

They end up exchanging phone numbers on the balcony. And they come so close to kissing when the ball drops.

But Jack has to run.

A couple weeks later…

It’s the first day back at school after the break. Jack is happy to have something to do rather than sneak out of his home and avoid his foster father, a Mr. William Snyder. He’s been in this home for about a year on his own.

Snyder and him don’t necessarily get along.

Anyways, Jack is stoked about seeing his friends again. He’s on the football team. The quarterback. And his teammates all very much look up to him. His coach, Mr. Todd Kloppman, adores him and wants him to get a scholarship with his skills. And Jack has his mind set on that.

Snyder didn’t want to let him play sports to begin with. But Jack told him it was the only way for him to get into college. So Snyder let him.

It’s Jack’s escape from that house.

In homeroom, after meeting up with his best friend Spot Conlon who also happens to be in that class, Jack spots a familiar face.

Katherine.

She sees him too and smiles at him. She looks nervous.

He moves to sit by her and talk to her a little. She admits she just moved to Manhattan from Chicago and just got transferred into Roosevelt High School. Jack offers to show her around and she accepts.

Spot gives Jack a look and Jack ignores him. Spot loves to tease him.

While Jack is showing Katherine around, she quickly starts to learn that this school has very tight cliques.

One of them being the drama kids.

As they walk by the theatre, Katherine sees that there’s a sign up for auditions for the next school musical and she jokes that her and Jack should sign up because they made such a good team up at the ski lodge. Jack laughs.

And in comes the Ice Princess.

Sarah Jacobs.

She is the queen of the school, pretty much. Pretty, rich and popular. She’s an amazing singer, trained in music, dance and acting as well as starting her own fashion business. (I know she is very different from the Sarah Jacobs we know, but come on, she’s gonna slay).

Sarah and her twin brother, equally as talented, equally as rich, but not quite as popular, David Jacobs, are walking over to sign up for auditions. That’s where Katherine and Sarah meet for the first time.

Sarah, the queen that she is, pushes past Katherine to sign up, signing the whole sheet before she turns around to say hi to Jack, who she believes she is destined to be with until the end of time. Jack does not feel the same way. But she tries to subtly tell Kath to get away from her “property” (i know it’s not mean girls but you can’t tell me Sharpay wasn’t based off of Regina George in some ways). Katherine doesn’t take the threat too seriously, as she is a nice, easy going person.

David is in the background. He has a slight crush on Jack, but would never act on it because he knows Sarah is basically in love with the guy.

(Tangent. Y’all can’t tell me Ryan wasn’t supposed to be gay in the first movie. He 👏🏻 was 👏🏻 totally 👏🏻 gay👏🏻, but Disney was too scared to own up to it)

Anyways,

Jack continues to show Kath around the school as Sarah hatches her master plan to keep Katherine out of the drama clique. She goes to Race, honor student on his way to being valedictorian, and tells him about Katherine. Race does a little digging and finds out that Katherine is wicked smart and recruits her for the Scholastic Decathlon, catching her and Jack in the halls at their next break.

Race rushes up to them and tries to talk to Katherine but ends up seeing Jack and says something sarcastic instead and he and Jack get into a small argument that Katherine can’t quite follow. She tries to defend Jack but Race says she doesn’t know him well enough yet. Katherine asks what Jack did to this kid who seems to be at least two years younger than them. Jack said he didn’t do anything to him.

His little brother just loves to fight.

Race just glares at him and says something like “you know what you did” and then turns his attention back to Katherine, officially inviting her into the “brainiac” clique.

She does join. But at that moment she just says she’ll think about it.

Then she asks Jack a little about Race. He admits that Race is his half brother and he lives with a foster family on the other side of town while he lives with his foster dad just down the street. She asks why they don’t live together and Jack tells her that it’s a long story. But eventually he tells her that since Race showed signs of being really smart at such a young age, it was decided that he needed to be placed with folks who would cater to his needs better while Jack was just normal.

The family’s that were willing to foster Race never wanted to take in two kids. So the system split them up.

Jack says this in fewer words. But Katherine figures it out.

Katherine takes Race up on his offer, finding out that Race is set to graduate the same year as Jack.

Later, while Jack is at football practice, he’s having an extremely hard time focusing as this girl has just come into his life and made him think about things he’d never thought about before. Like, how he might want to ask Katherine out on a date or how he enjoyed singing with her or how everyone had a specific thing they were expected to do, but what about other things?

His teammates don’t appreciate his inability to focus and wrestle with him a little, just playfully, to try and help him get back into the game.

He loves his teammates.

Later, after practice, Jack is the last one in the locker room where Race comes in and drops him off and bagged lunch. He tells Jack that he wasn’t hungry at lunch. And Jack just hugs him for a second before asking him if he’d seen Katherine around.

Race teases him for a minute before Jack asks him if he wants a soaking. So Race tells Jack that Katherine went to the auditorium. And he gives Race a kiss on the head before he goes to find her.

When he gets there, he sees Sarah and David auditioning. Katherine is standing in the back of the other side of the theatre. They see each other but make no move to get closer. Instead, they watch the amusing but well done audition of their classmates.

Sarah and David are obviously both talented, but Sarah is obsessed with having the spotlight while David is very creative and does love to try new things and welcomes change.

The audition process is finishing up. Jack does not miss the way Sarah hisses at Charlie, the innocent pianist on her way out. He just tried to put in his thoughts on how his song should be performed.

He’s a composer and student director of the band.

Miss Medda, the drama teacher, asks if there’s any more auditions. Charlie says he doesn’t think so and no one else speaks up.

So Medda goes to leave.

Katherine is standing in the back, unsure of what to do. But eventually, she speaks up. She says she wants to audition.

Medda tells her that it’s too late and that she’ll need to come back for the next production.

Jack gives her a sorry look.

And Katherine just shrugs, willing to accept that. But as they both go to go their separate ways, Charlie trips up on stage, setting one of his crutches down on a misplaced prop. Without even thinking about it, both of them rush up to help him.

And he thanks them as he pulls himself back to the piano. And tried to get his things back in order. He apologizes to them for not being able to audition. Jack says he wasn't going to, that he wasn’t good enough for that anyways. And Kath and Charlie both don’t believe him. So Charlie starts to play the audition song, telling them that Sarah and David sang it in a way that didn’t quite capture the meaning behind it.

The song is I Never Planned On You/Don’t Come A’ Knockin’. Because it can be.

Katherine and Jack sing the song easily. Katherine admits she used to love to sing and her fatherhad taught her violin. Jack admits he used to play the piano with his mom and his little brother and THATS WHY THEY CAN READ MUSIC BECAUSE ITS NOT THAT EASY TROY AND GABRIELLA.

Anyways…

Before Charlie can even say anything, Miss Medda is clapping for them and telling them that they better find themselves at callbacks the next day.

Katherine is excited.

Jack is terrified.

Jack goes home to an empty house. He eats the food his brother gave him and does his homework and goes to bed. When he hears the door open, he pretends to be asleep.

Snyder’s drunk again.

The next morning, Jack sneaks out through the window and goes to school.

When he gets there he finds that the callback list was posted. And he tries to walk the other way. But Spot catches up to him.

He teases Jack, expecting it to be some kind of joke. But Jack just rolls his eyes and Spot asks him if he’s serious. Before Jack can answer, Race rushes up to him and jumps on his back and teases him too.

Jack admits he hadn’t meant to audition. He’d just been screwing around.

Katherine tries to defend him but his friends still tell him that he wasn’t supposed to do drama. That he was an athlete and that he didn’t have time and that it was weird for him to want to sing and dance.

But Katherine says that she loved to sing and dance and she was a straight A student and she had played soccer at her old school.

And these kids would be amazed.

People would start admitting things. Things that no one knew.

Albert loved to bake.

Finch likes to dance.

Other things happen.

Spot is concerned by this. He needs Jack to focus on the playoffs that are coming up. Jacks the quarterback. He has too much of a responsibility.

He tries to enlist Race’s help. Race is hesitant, not wanting to upset his brother. But Spot convinces him it’s for the best.

They both hold somewhat of an intervention for their friends where Spot gets Jack to admit that he doesn’t think the audition is important and that Katherine couldn’t come between him and his team.

It’s not what he means. He means that if Snyder found out he was auditioning for musicals and pining after some pretty girl he’d get the living hell beat out of him.

But he can’t just say that.

He doesn’t know he’s being recorded.

Race shows Katherine the tape and immediately feels guilty.

He calls Spot and tries to tell him they made a mistake after Katherine tells him that auditioning in the first place was stupid.

Jack doesn’t understand why Katherine suddenly wants to back out when he goes to see Race after school. And Race gives him a sorry look. So Jack convinces Katherine to do it again and promises her that he’ll do it with her if that’ll be what makes her happy. And he sends her off to Charlie while he talks to Race.

Race is shocked and asks Jack if he would even be allowed. Jack would tell him not to worry about it and Race would just hug him for a minute, telling Jack that the family he was with was thinking about fully adopting him.

It would break Jack’s heart. But he’d try to tell Race that that was really good, that he should be happy. Race wouldn’t think so. He’d say that he didn’t want to belong to someone else. That he was fine exactly where he was and that he’d rather move in with Jack when Jack turned eighteen.

Jack would tell him that everything would be okay. That it would all work out for the best.

And then he’d tell Race to get him while he went to rehearse with Katherine.

Sarah would overhear Jack and Katherine rehearsing. So she’d go to Miss Medda and convince her to move callbacks to the day of Jack’s big game and Kath’s competition.

Charlie, the little genius, overhears this conversation and immediately starts to form a plan, enlisting the help of Race and Spot.

Race and Katherine hack into the school electrical system and mess with the power on the football field. They also cause a chemical reaction at their own competition, forcing an evacuation.

Jack and Katherine rush to callbacks with their friends right behind them and they get up on stage.

Katherine freezes, looking at Jack and shaking her head, silently telling him how scared she was. But Jack just takes her hand and starts singing.

And they get through it. (Something To Believe In).

Medda gives them the part and gives Sarah and David their understudies. David congratulates them. Sarah is pissed.

Everyone goes to watch the football team win after that. And Jack and Katherine kiss for the first time.

Spot admits to Race that he’s got a secret too. Then he proceeds to ask Race out.

And Jack sees it happen.

But he doesn’t say anything.

He goes home that day happy.

Snyder however, is not quite so happy.

When Jack gets home he’s almost immediately thrown against a wall. Snyder is tipsy at that point. He’s angry. He wants to know why Jack was out so late. Jack says he had a game. Snyder doesn’t believe it. So Jack admits he was with his friends.

And Snyder just hits him.

It happens every now and then when Snyder’s not completely forgetting that he exists. Snyder needed some extra cash. He hates that he has a kid living with him. Jack can deal with it every once in a while.

What he hates is being locked in the basement closet.

And Snyder knows that.

He locks Jack in and leaves him. And Jack cries for a minute before he can think to call his little brother with the phone that Snyder forgot he had.

And Race brings Spot and the cops with him to get Jack out.

Race and Spot get there first. Spot holds off Snyder so Race can get Jack out of the closet and Race holds Jack for a minute until Spot runs down with the cops. They try to talk to Jack and take him upstairs.

Before he goes with them, he tells Spot that if he hurts his brother, he’ll kill him. And Race can’t help but laugh.

They arrest Snyder and Race admits that his foster family found out they’re going to have their own baby. And they wouldn’t have room for him anymore.

The brothers are relocated. This time together. To a home of one Miss Medda where they find out Charlie is her adopted son.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Or, at least, survived the school year.

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jesussavedevenme · 4 years

Text

Cooking Shenanigans

A fic for @aerinmelina whose birthday was a few days ago.

Everyone at Fablehaven knew what Friday nights entailed. Friday nights were the nights they all gathered together and played games until everyone either passed out or decided on a movie. It also seemed to be the only night of the week they could get everyone in one place at the same time nowadays. Between missions, trips to the fairy realm, duties around Fablehaven and everyone's separate living arrangements all of them truly spending time together had become a rarity. The clock in the hall could be heard chiming through the halls informing anyone awake to the early hour. Kendra, Seth, Warren, Bracken, and Vanessa sat in a circle trying to quiet their laughter as they were the only ones still awake.

“Kendra, truth or dare.” Seth asked a mischievous glint in his brown eyes. Kendra groaned quietly before replying,

“ Truth.”

“You’re no fun.” Seth grumbled scrowling playfully, “ umm, name the worst dressed person in this room.”

“ Says the boy who wore Iron Man pajamas until he was 16.” Kendra replied, smirking.

“ Yeah and you wore unicorn pajamas until you got married.” Seth retorted a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

“ Bold of you to assume she doesn’t still wear them,” Bracken said, earning a smack on the arm from his wife.

. “Bracken, you traitor!” Kendra exclaimed, blushing as everyone dissolved into a fit of laughter. “Van, Truth or Dare?” she asked once everyone had settled back down.

“Hmm, Truth.” she replied, earning an eye roll from Seth.

“You guys are so boring.” he said sighing in exasperation.

“It is way too late for me to do whatever it is you would have me do.” Vanessa replied before looking at Kendra expectedly.

“ If you could change one thing about these Friday get-togethers what would you change?” Kendra replied after a minute causing Seth to groan

“ I mean I guess I wouldn’t mind not having to cook every Friday.” Vanessa replied jokingly and Kendra nodded in agreement.

“Yeah well we’ll go hungry otherwise.” Kendra replied with a smile.

“Hey, wait just a second, are you saying we can’t cook? .” Warren asked , causing Kendra and Vanessa to muffle their laughter.

“Fablehaven would end up in shambles with the three of you in the kitchen.” Kendra laughed

“ Is that a challenge?” Warren asked, narrowing his eyes. “ I bet we could do just as good as you could.” He replied gesturing to Seth and Bracken.

“Ok, it’s a bet.” Vanessa replied, narrowing her eyes at Warren “Next Friday you boys plan and cook the meal and snacks for the night, loser owes the winner a favor.

†††††

"Come on, guys, we have slayed demons, cooking can't be that much more difficult." Warren sighed as the brainstorming session thirty minutes with nothing to show. Normally the lack of answers wouldn't bother him, but he refused to let Vanessa win again. The next Friday seemed to roll around quicker than usual, leaving the three boys standing in the kitchen completely unprepared for the big job that lay ahead of them.

“I can cook a pretty decent entrée from the Fairy realm.” Bracken offered when Warren's request for ideas received no reply. “ I’d just have to make a quick ingredient run.”

“ Great, maybe we’ll get extra points because it’s exotic.” Warren replied, turning to look at Seth,” Seth you’re on desert duty, it can’t be that hard to mess up a pan of brownies. And I'll cover the snacks, sound good?” and with that the three boys split up Warren to the cabinets, Seth in search of a brownie recipe, and Bracken out to get ingredients.

“Why are there no individual microwavable popcorn bags in here?” Warren asked after about ten minutes of searching the cabinets and coming up with only a giant bag of popcorn kernels.

“ Because we live in a family that believes everything is better homemade. Which is amazing, until you’re the one making it.” Seth replied, not looking up from his phone as he continued to search for homemade brownie recipes that weren’t overly complicated.

“True but what do you expect me to do now? I have a feeling you can’t stick these in the microwave and call it done.” Warren asked.

“I don’t know. At least not knee deep in brownie recipes. I didn't know there were so many ways to fix brownies.” Seth replied, rolling his eyes.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.” Warren said peering over Seth’s shoulder at the recipe he was currently looking at.

“Seriously, I've started to read these like I read science fiction, I get to the end and think well that's not going to happen.”

“ Seth you live in a world where dragons are real and your sister is married to a unicorn, I don’t think science fiction should surprise you anymore.” Warren replied through his laughter.

“Dude, That's fantasy.” Seth said, smiling and finally seeming to settle on a recipe as he headed to the fridge for ingredients.

“Whatever. That still doesn’t fix the problem of this popcorn though,” he pointed out, gesturing to the bag of kernel still in his arms. "pretty sure the girls aren't going to let us squeeze by without it. It's like the go to snack. Right after chips and dip."

“You need one of the popper things.” Bracken replied, walking into the kitchen with an armload of ingredients most of which were completely foreign to anyone but him. “It’s kind of circular with a clear top. I've seen Kendra use them before. ” He continued when his comment was met with blank stares. Shrugging his shoulders Warren began to once again search the cabinets, this time in search of a device that matched Bracken's description. Bracken set his ingredients on the counter closest to the stove and Seth claimed the one opposite to begin working. The two men worked in silence until Warren returned with popcorn popper and set it next to Seth triumphantly.

"Hey! I'm working here." Seth said, pulling an impressive new York accent. "Find your own counter."

"Make me, Sorenson." Warren joked regretting it when Seth's eyes flashed with mischievousness and his smirk turned lethal. Before he even had time to react, he felt the slimy cracking sensation of an egg cracking in his hair. "Oh, it is so on." He said, grabbing a fist full of flour and tossing it in his direction. Seth ducked instinctively causing Bracken, who had moved from his post by the stove, to receive a cloud of flour in the face. 'Yeah, this is going to take a while' Warren thought as Bracken stalked toward them with the spoon previously found in the brownie batter.

†††††

“ So, what kind of pizza are we ordering?” Vanessa asked when she and Kendra wandered into the kitchen later that evening.

“ Oh, now we are doing this. We’ve got dinner, desert and snacks, so get ready.” Warren replied, gesturing to the oven and a pan of what appeared to be brownie batter beside a tray of assorted snacks on the counter.

“ Wow, I’m impressed!” Kendra said happily, choosing to ignore the brownie batter on Bracken's face, the egg in Warren's hair, and the flour that covered most of the kitchen. As well as the many popcorn kernels that were sprinkled across the floor and counter. Evidence that someone had forgotten to put the lid on before popping it.

“ Wonderful, now as you’ve told me so many times, get out of the kitchen, go bother someone else.” Seth said, placing one hand on his hip and raising his voice in a horrible impression of Kendra while waving a nearby spoon threateningly in their direction. Warren and Bracken dissolved into laughter while Kendra rolled her eyes and smiled at her little brother's antics before leaving with Vanessa in tow.

"Tell everyone that we are about ready to start" Bracken called after her while pulling the finished meal out of the oven and replacing it with the brownies. " Well, that's about it." Bracken declared with a smile, receiving nods from Warren and Seth.

"Yeah, all that's left to do is clean up." Warren replied before looking around and the chaos that surrounded them. Well, maybe they shouldn't have celebrated just yet.

†††††

Behold from chaos, order, from ugliness, beauty, from basic ingredients and an oven, brownies.” Seth announced proudly emerging from the kitchen a few minutes after everyone had finished eating. The brownies were lopsided and they looked a little underdone in the middle, but the thought still made Kendra smile. She had to admit the boys really had outdone themselves. The main course melted in your mouth, delicious despite its appearance. And they had even miraculously been able to clean the kitchen by the time it was time to eat, though she was pretty sure that Bracken played a major part in that. Kendra watched as Seth beamed at the compliments he got for his brownies. She couldn’t deny that they tasted incredible. Just gooey enough to melt in your mouth without becoming too overwhelming and the scoop of ice cream he served it with only served to make it better. The bright smiles and empty plates seemed to prove that everyone else agreed with her.

“So did we win?" Bracken whispered once their group had finished eating and retired to the living room to watch, or rather argue over, a movie.

“Yes, yes you did.” Kendra said, thinking back to the delicious meal and obvious fun the three men had shared.

"This means you now owe me a favor, princess." He mumbled mischievously. Kendra hummed quietly content to snuggle closer to his side as a movie was finally decided on and the lights were turned off.

#fablehaven #dragonwatch #warren burgess #kendra sorenson #seth sorenson #Bracken #vanessa #brackendra #warrenessa #shenanigans

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nad-zeta · 4 years

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Match up 💎

Sooo I’ve been reading a bunch of your match ups (THEY’RE AMAZING BTW) And I wanted to request one if you are available 🥺👉🏻👈🏻❤️Alrighty, so I have a very introverted personality, but I am social when I have to be. I lowkey rather watch netflix and eat ice cream than go out. I really love to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. I really don’t like being the center of attention, I rather see others happy (Idk why I guess its just a better feeling for me.) I love to read anything romance, I’m a sucker for a good love story. I’m pretty sure I have an overactive imagination, leading me to play out at least 50 fictional scenarios in my head everyday loll. I am caring, and when I love someone, I tend to give everything I can to the other person, even if I don’t get anything in return (it gets me screwed over a buunch of times =_=) I’m extremely insecure and I try my best to work on my self-confidence even though nothing works for ya girl Even though I have to work on myself, that doesn’t stop me hyping up anyone in my life that is sad or feeling insecure as well. I don’t know who I would fit with from Ikesen, but I am excited to see what you think 🥺❤️❤️❤️ Thank you so much ^-^

Awww thanx so much! You are such a sweetie pie! Thank you for the request @ikemenduo ! I hope you enjoy it <3And I hope you have the best day today!

So I match you with........................... Ieyasu

Your first task given to you as the new princess of the Oda forces was to care for Azuchi's very own hedgehog. He had gotten injured a while back and didn’t take it seriously now; he was sick. TBH the Oda forces, were all too happy to pass off the problem to someone else, cause it is true what they say doctors truly make the worst patients. You walked into his palace, not knowing what to expect, you had been teased like mad by Masamune and Mitsuhide for being tasked with caring for the sour puss. You walked in to introduce yourself only to be met with Ieyasu running a massive fever and maid scurrying around. The maids pulled you into the room to help them. You knew how to care for sick people, you were by no means a doctor or anything, but you knew what to do from what your mom and dad would do when you were sick. You shooed out the maids as they were just pointlessly running around and sat beside Ieyasu’s bed with a bucket of cold water. You squeezed out the washcloth and placed it on his forehead. You couldn’t help but trace the contour of his face with the tips of your fingers. You introduced yourself and started chatting to this blond porcelain doll. You low key told him all about yourself cause you thought he wouldn't hear you, little did you know even though he was sleeping he listened to every word. He smiled inwardly to himself at the silly girl soothingly caressing his face and telling him, her whole life’s story.

Caring for Ieyasu was definitely not an easy task, the suborn man would constantly try and get up to work. Although through your many days of nursing, this baby duck back to health, the two of you had come to understand each other. You would scold him whenever he would overwork himself, and he would tease you in his own contrary way. Often the two of you would sit and have some tea together. Nothing softens this porcupine boy’s heart quite as much as an optimistic, sweet, caring person. At some point during your tea and chat sessions, Ieyasu revealed his whole back story to you and the reason why he is so adamite on being strong and wanting to get to work. Cue you now becoming Ieyasu’s personal cheerleader. You build up this softy boy so much, with your kind words and caring nature. You had also discovered that Ieyasu has the most beautiful smile, so you have made it your personal mission to bring that smile to his face as often as possible by cracking them jokes and being your cute, lovable self.

One night you got scared, it was a stormy night, and you were alone in your room. You have an incredibly overactive imagination, and your mind was now playing tricks on you. You saw a shadow cast by a tree on the floor of your room. Your logic mind said it was just the shadow of a tree, but your imagination was telling you it was a ghost coming from the depths of hell to terrorize you. Just as you had that thought, a flash of lightning struck followed but the loud rumble of thunder. You jumped up and screamed, you were freaking out. You threw the covers of your futon over your head when another flash of lightning blazed across the sky. The longer you were alone in your room, the crazier the stories would get. You were now convinced a lightening monster was after you. As the loud thunder rolled and another lightning bolt touched down to the ground, you ran your way to Ieyasu’s room. You didn't want to be alone anymore, and Ieyasu had such a calming presence, you thought. Plus, if there was a monster after you, Ieyasu was a warlord, so he should have no problem slaying the beast. You didn’t even announce yourself as you ran into his room. He was awake and sitting in his futon comforting wasabi when he saw you running towards him. “Don’t tell me you are afraid of a little thunder and lightning.” His voice was tender and soft, and as he spoke, he rolled his eyes and lifted up the covers of his futon to invite you in. You didn’t have to think twice; you basically dove into his arms. Ieyasu was low key so happy. He was now stoking the hair of his two favorite girls in the world, not that he would EVER admit that out loud. You fell asleep in his arm, and you couldn’t help noting how soft and comfy he was.

Part of your duties as Ieyasu’s caretaker was to care for his pet fawn as well. You have come to really love the sweet little guy, she was so freaken cute and playful. You loved watching her come into Ieyasu’s room in the morning and sneak up behind him while he was working. She would legit start nibbling on his hair as if it was a piece of soft cotton candy. You would legit break out in laughed at Ieyasu’s shook face. Wasabi was a mischievous little deer and would often get up to all sorts of mischief. You went to get some food for the adorable fawn and walked outside as if to coax her away from nibbling on Ieyasu as if he were a snack, her ears perked up when she heard you call her from outside. She sprinted out the room and almost rammed straight into you. Ieyasu watched the two of you with fond eyes. Wasabi being the mischievous fawn she was, grabbed your basket and started teasing you with it. The two of you played and ran all around the garden. You were having so much fun you didn’t pay attention to where you were running landing you straight in the pond in Ieyasu’s garden. Wasabi thought this was some new fun game, and joining you in the water splashing about. You couldn’t help but laugh at the whole scene. Ieyasu had been watching the two of you the whole time and couldn’t help but chuckle, as he walked closer to you in the pound his chuckle changed into full-blown laughter when he saw you “you look like a drowned rat. “ He walked up to you, offering you a hand to help you out, but you had other plans, you couldn’t help yourself, you pulled him to fall into the pond next to you. The two of you were now laughing and splashing each other in the pond. When the two of you were done playing and having fun, Ieyasu stood up and said: “Silly girl, let’s get dried off before you catch a cold.”

Ieyasu literally had you sit in front of him as he gently dries your silky hair for you. Gosh, he loved this silly woman so much. He had decided now was his perfect opportunity. As he dried your hair, he told you he needed to tell you something, as you turned around, you look at him. He took your head gently in his hands, turning it back away from him if you looked at him now he would lose his nerve. He took a deep breath and said that he loved you. You turned around, wearing the brightest smile. Hells, he loved that goofy grin of yours. You kissed his cheek and said, you loved him as well. You then stood up and stated that it was now your turn to dry his hair. This boy was blushing like mad the entire time. He was so happy. You had long ago fallen in love with this fluff ball. And you were but all too happy to finally confess your love for him as well. What made you even happier, however, was this golden opportunity to finally be able to touch his hair without looking like some creepo. You have always wanted the opportunity to see if his hair truly was as soft and fluffy as it seemed, and you were not disappointed cause OMW it was the softest and fluffies hair you had ever felt. Once you were done, you kissed his red cheeks. The two of you two cuties spent the rest of the night cuddling and chatting away.

You found out your softi boy also is a secret romance novel fan. You were cleaning his room one day when you discovered his guilty pleasure. You had stolen a couple of his books to read for yourself, and damn were they the best romance stories you had ever read. Hehe, Ieyasu saw your reading one of his precious books the one day and all while red as a tomato asked you where you had found the book. You couldn’t help but tease him a little. A new favorite for the two of you is to read together. You will sit in Ieyasu arms while he reads the newest romance book to you.

Often the two of you can be found nestled in each other’s arms; you loved hugging and cuddling Ieyasu. He was so freaken soft and cuddly, snuggling him was like cuddling the softest pillow in the world! And don’t even get me started on his sweet, sweet little kisses.

Other potential Matches…………Yukimura

I hope you enjoyed it love! and I hope you are staying safe and well!

#ikesen matchup #ikemen matchup #ikemen sengoku matchup #matchups #ieyasu storyboard #ikemen sengoku ieyasu #ikesen ieyasu #ieyasu tokugawa #ikemen ieyasu #tokugawa ieyasu #submission

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 2 years

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COSMIC - S2:E1; Chapter One, MADMAX - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

As the town preps for Halloween, a high-scoring rival shakes things up at the arcade. Will begins seeing strange visions as the anniversary of his disappearance creeps up.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"To slay the dragon, use the magic sword."

"Oh, Jesus! I'm in uncharted territory here, guys."

"Down! Down! Down!"

"I'm going! I'm going!"

The cartoon woman on the screen exclaimed as the game picked up speed. All of us surrounded Dustin, cheering him on as he played.

"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!"

The boys yelled over one another as I stood on my toes to try and get a better look at the screen.

"Okay. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" Dustin bellowed as he slammed his hands on the buttons, but then the disappointing sounds from the machine indicated he had lost.

Dustin began taking out his anger on the machine, kicking as he screamed profusely at it.

Meanwhile, the screen returned to the original title screen, inviting its next player. Lucas began to goad at Dustin.

"You're not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day. But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."

"Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug."

"You sure about that?"

We all turned our heads to see one of the younger employees, Keith. He was standing there with a bag of cheese puffs and an awkward smirk.

Dustin's face dropped as he asked the question we all seemed to know the answer to.

"Sure about what?"

Keith only smiled and took a large, rather obnoxious bite out of a cheese puff.

Dustin broke out into a panicked sprint and we all quickly followed suit, curious to see the outcome.

"Move! Move! No, no, no, no, no. Hey, no! No! No!"

We all zeroed in on the Dig Dug screen where sure enough, Dustin held second place to someone named MADMAX who held an insanely good score.

"751,300 points!" Will exclaimed, turning and sharing a disbelieving look with one another.

It was then that Mike chimed in. "That's impossible."

"Wow, you really have your work cut out for you," I said, with a hint of a smile on my face as I patted my brother's back.

He only ripped his shoulder away from me, clearly annoyed and turned to Keith.

"Who is Mad Max?"

"Better than you."

"Is it you?" Will asked.

Keith scoffed. "You know I despise Dig Dug."

"Then who is it?"

"Yeah, spill it, Keith."

"You want information, then I need something in return," he smirked and looked at Mike.

It took me a second to realize what was being implied. When it hit me, I fought the urge to throw up in my mouth.

"Gross!"

"No, no, no. No way. You're not getting a date with her," Mike says.

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date."

"I'm not prostituting my sister!"

"But it's for a good cause."

"It's barbaric! Older than you or not, you wouldn't pimp Erica out!" I wager, thinking I had him cornered. I should have known better.

"Well, I mean," he trails off, pretending to think about it. I can recognize when he's being sarcastic, but I still shoot him a deadly glare on the girl's behalf.

"Lucas!" I warn. An edge is creeping up in my voice and I feel Will's hand grab my own.

I give his hand a light squeeze, silently thanking him and my attention was brought back to the conversation when Dustin spoke up.

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious you pubescent wastoid." Keith threw back.

"Oh, I'm a wastoid? She wouldn't go out on a date with you. You make, like, what? $2.50 an hour?"

"Nice perm."

"Gonna make fun of my hair?"

I sighed, knowing we were gonna be here a while.

Suddenly, a voice caught my attention.

"Hey. Hey, guys, do you see the..." I frowned when I saw Will was standing over by the front door, looking around the arcade curiously.

"Yeah?" I asked walking forward.

But he only looked right through me. I could tell he was now on edge.

"Will?"

Suddenly, he let out a frightened gasp and whipped around to face the door. My stomach dropped.

I shakily brought my hands up to his shoulders. "Will!"

He gasped and I could tell he was back. Without even thinking, I engulfed him in a hug, and he shakily returned it. I pulled back to look at him and I touched his cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Do you want to talk about it?" He looked away for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I'm fine. I'd rather not, at least not right now."

I smiled reassuringly. "That's completely okay. I get it." I glanced down at his hand before taking it in my own and together we headed back into the arcade.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"That's what I've been saying! I'm telling you, she may be a teacher, but that doesn't give her any right to treat kids like that!"

"Yes, exactly! Thank you!" My friend laughed, the both us rolling our eyes in shared frustration. Suddenly she turned to me as we approached our lockers. "Hey so do you have any plans for Halloween?"

"I do actually, yeah, me and the guys are going together. They're gonna be the Ghostbusters and I..." I trailed off when I saw Will up ahead.

He was standing at his locker, looking around rather disturbed with something in his hands.

Hesitating to take my eyes off of him I reluctantly looked to Emma. "Hey, can we talk later? I'm sorry, it's just, I think I need to check on him,"

"Oh yeah, no problem. I'll see you later!"

I threw her a grateful smile as she walked away and then I hurried over to Will.

"Will! Hey, everything okay?"

His head whipped around to face me and he seemed a bit startled to see me. I gently put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance and that seemed to calm his nerves.

"Oh, um, yeah I'm okay." He quickly folded up a small piece of paper that didn't go unnoticed.

"You sure?" He nodded his head and smiled warmly at me causing my stomach to do little flips.

"So, what's that?"

"It's nothing," he said and I raised my eyebrows, not quite believing him. "really. I'm okay."

"Okay, well in that case, should we head to science?" I smiled and held out my hand shyly and he gladly took it.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Meet the human brain," Mr. Clarke said, placing the model before us.

"I know. I know, it doesn't look like much. A little gross even, right? But consider this. There are a hundred billion cells inside of this miracle of evolution. All working as one,"

"Ah, this must be our new student."

"Indeed it is. All yours" with that, the principal left, leaving the awkward introduction of the new student.

She attempted to rush to find a seat but Mr. Clarke stopped her. "All right. Hold up. You don't away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy."

She didn't attempt to hide her eye roll as she backed up to face the class.

"Dustin, drum roll."

Without skipping a beat, my brother began drumming his palms on his desk and Mr. Clarke began the introduction.

"Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine!"

The girl shifted uncomfortably before mumbling. "It's Max."

"Sorry?" He asked.

"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max." We all looked to each other, thinking the same thing.

"Mad Max," Lucas whispered.

"Well, all aboard Max."

I couldn't fight the smile growing on my face and like the boys, we all couldn't help but watch as she took a seat at the back of the class.

I looked to her once more and she met my eye. Before turning back to the front, I made sure to send her a small welcoming smile, not wanting to make her more uncomfortable than she already was.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

We all stood in the small baseball dugout, watching - well the rest of the Party was, anyway - Max. She was riding her skateboard all around campus and we were debating whether or not she could be Mad Max. I had settled on the bench in the dugout, not feeling comfortable to be standing around watching someone.

"There's no way that's Mad Max," Mike stated matter of factly.

"Yeah, girls don't play video games," Will said, catching me by surprise.

I crossed my arms and looked at him. "That's just not true,"

He seemed to notice his mistake and shuffled uncomfortably. I only raised my eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, you know what I mean though, right?" I laughed, having already brushed it off but enjoying being able to mess with him.

Dustin brought his fist up to his mouth and spoke through pretend coughs. "Whipped."

Will turned to him and whacked his arm and I only giggled.

"Ok, but seriously, regardless you can't get 750,000 on Dig Dug. It's impossible," Mike said, still focused on the conversation.

"But her name is Max," Lucas argued.

"So what?"

"So, how many Maxes do you know?"

"I don't know."

"Zero, that's how many,"

Dustin the spoke up. "Yeah, and she shows up to school the day after someone with her name beat our top score,"

"Here's a crazy idea, why don't you ask her?" I chimed, looking up at the boys.

"No, no way! She'll be weirded out,"

"Oh, and stalking the poor girl is doing everybody so many favors,"

"My point is, I don't even think it's necessary. She's gotta be Mad Max, she's gotta be,"

"Plus, she skateboards, so she's pretty awesome," Dustin argued, much to the dismay of Mike.

"Awesome? You haven't even spoken a word to her!"

"I don't have to, I mean look at her. Shit, I've lost the target."

"There," Will said, and we all followed his gaze to the back entrance of the school.

She stood at the top of the steps, and before going inside she dropped a crumpled up piece of paper into the trash.

The boys looked to each other, silently communicating before simultaneously running towards the trash can much to my dismay.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I mumble, begrudgingly walking after them.

Sure enough, they began digging through the trash can and by the time I reached them they grabbed the piece of paper.

"Seriously, guys this is a new low," I snatched the piece of paper from them. "It's just garbage,"

"Well, if it's just garbage, then open it," Lucas retorted.

I sighed, looking them in the eye while unfolding it. "Fine, but only to show how ridiculous you are being, I mean really-" I stopped short when I read the words, a loud belly laugh erupting from me.

"What? Let me see!"

"What?"

"Give it!"

My laughter died into chuckles as I watched their faces fall when they read the words after ripping the paper out of my hands, fighting over it with one another.

"Stop spying on me CREEPS!"

They sighed and looked up at me as I stifled my giggles with a hand against my mouth. My hand dropped my side and I sighed, before smirking.

"I like her."

"Well, shit," Dustin sighs.

I feel a pit forming in my stomach when I hear the principle speak. "William Byers, your mother's here," we all turned to face him, and I could immediately feel the anxiety radiating off of him.

I grabbed his hand in mine and I gave it a reassuring squeeze and he squeezed my hand lightly in return as he looked at me.

He was doing it again. He was shutting himself down.

He gave me a weak smile and without another word, he followed the teacher into the school to get his stuff.

"you guys think he's okay?" Dustin asked.

"He's always weird when he has to go in,"

"I don't know. He's quiet today," Mike said worriedly.

"He hasn't been himself lately. I ran into him in the hallway and he was acting all weird and secretive." I said.

"Well, you two are basically dating. Has he shared anything with you lately? I mean he tells you everything,"

"and, for the first time, I feel like," I sighed. "I can't help him."

#you'll float queue #stranger things #will byers x reader #reader insert #cosmic #will byers #dustin henderson #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #y/n henderson #max mayfield #gn!cosmic #will byers x gn!reader #stranger things x gn!reader #x gender neutral reader #stranger things 2 #cosmic 2 #madmax #fluff

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