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incorrectlumityquotes · 3 years

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FULL REVIEWS: “Wing It Like Witches”

Damn, that last episode was something. It was so much of something that the hype for this episode didn’t come until after they released a screenshot of Amity in the grudgby uniform. Everyone predicted that this was the episode that had Amity join The Owl House squad and...they were right.

The Lumity Trilogy ends with a sports balls game.

The cold open starts with Boscha of all people.

It’s grudgby season again and all I can think of is “Wow how lucky is Luz to enroll in Hexside during the semester where shit happens.” Is the first semester the boring one with no holidays and/or events?

Anyway, I grew up in South Texas where high school football was treated like the biggest deal. I get why Boscha is being treated the way she is, and so does she.

Boscha goes to school expecting a hero’s welcome, but gets pissed when the attention is given to Willow.

Willow tells Luz that ever since she patched things up with Amity, she’s been feeling more confident. That’s really good character development. Without her resentment toward Amity (who was her oldest friend), Willow feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. All that hate and sadness was bringing her down, but without it, she’s free to blossom.

I don’t mean to quote Penn & Teller but, “And then there’s this asshole.”

Boscha is so not okay with Willow being happy with herself and just picks on her harder. Especially since it’s grudgby season and she knows she can get away with it.

Amity tells her to grow the fuck up, and Boscha lets it slip that ever since grom Amity has been “getting soft.” This does fucking nothing since Boscha literally spends all day following Willow and friends all day picking on them like crazy. Like damn bitch, don’t you have anything else do do? Don’t you have any life outside of Willow’s?

People ask why I don’t ship Willow and Boscha and this is why. I get enemies to lovers. I get the bully becoming the love interest. Hell, it’s happening with Amity right now. But this is too needlessly cruel for my taste. There’s not way the Defeat Equals Friendship trope is going to work here. Not for me. But hope comes in the form of a useless lesbian.

Amity literally gay panics after getting ‘nam flashbacks of dancing with the girl she likes in the moonlight. Luz asks Amity for help about Boscha, and based on Amity’s answer, I don’t think Amity has ever liked Boscha. She agrees that Boscha is difficult to tolerate. It’s even worse during grudgby season because it becomes all the thinks about. Luz gets the wrong idea from that.

After literally pelting Willow with garbage, Luz challenges Boscha to a grudgby match for Willow. Again Luz’s character flaw of overstepping her bounds comes back. She never even considers what Willow might want or the fact that Willow has never even played grudgby before in her life. And that’s when another of Luz’s character flaws comes back hard. This time it’s Luz expecting life to play out like a story, or more specifically, a sports movie.

Holy crap. Is that the thorn-vault? I’ve never noticed that before.

Luz thinks that if they just try really hard they’ll beat someone who has been excelling at the sport for years. No. That’s not how life works, sweetie. I’m starting to think that maybe Luz’s mom was on to something sending her to camp.

Luz manages to convince Willow and Gus to be on board, but Amity...

She’ll be in her bunk.

Meanwhile in the B-plot (that should be my t-shirt by now), Eda is talking about her time when she was star player of her grudgby team when Lilith makes an unexpected appearance to arrest Eda. Lilith notices that Eda is wearing her old ass grudgby uniform and Eda’s response made me laugh.

“No reason. It’s laundry day.”

Lilith gives Eda a quick reality check to remind her that while Eda was good...

Lilith was better.

This photo really confused me and took me a while to realize that that was Eda and Lilith. Lilith gave herself a serious make over after school. Straightened her hair, darkened it, got ride of the glasses. I didn’t even recognize her.

Since we all got grudgby on the brain, Eda makes a bet. She’ll go with Lilith to The Emperor peacefully if she can beat her in a game of grudgby. Luz is always pulling stuff like this and it works out for her, so why not? Speaking of which.

Willow and Gus teach Luz about grudgby. Luz teaches Willow and Gus about montages and it does not go well at all. The grudgby, I mean. The montage was great.

In fact it’s so bad that Willow confronts Luz about the thing I was just talking about earlier. You can’t just shonen hero through all your problems. Willow and Gus give up and just leave.

I hate comparing shows because I believe they should stand on their own, but this really does remind me of when Lotte got mad at Akko in Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade. Being innocently insensitive plus expecting life to play out like a movie is not a good combo.

Luz and Amity have a heart to heart. Luz’s character flaws do come from a place love. Willow is one of the best friend’s she’s ever had and it hurts to watch her get picked on. She’s not trying to make things worse but growing up on a diet of movies and cartoons, this is the only thing she can think of.

Amity reveals that she actually used to be a jock. No joke. She was the captain of the grudgby team before Boscha. But Amity decided to make the game all about her and her teammates got hurt. So felt so bad that she never played again. Amity is rough around the edges, but deep down she’s always cared about people.

Another gay panic later, and Luz gets the right idea this time. Luz forfeits the game and agrees to take all of Willow’s punishment so that Boscha will stop picking on her.

Bitch, works for me! Think fast!

Amity senses the obvious and immediate danger and goes for help. She reminds Willow and Gus that Luz always has good intentions and needs help because that’s what friends do.

This isn’t about “friendship” is it?

Gus and Willow show up to save Luz but you need three on a team. And in true sports movie fashion, the hero arrives in the eleventh hour to save the team. I.E. the only player who is actually good at the game gives the good guys a chance to win.

Let’s get it on!

It’s game on and for a bunch of nerds the game is actually pretty competitive. It’s a magic sport, so Willow focuses on the magic while Amity focuses on the sport. Luz being Luz, even congratulates the other players when they score. Luz discovers every RPG players favorite spell, fire.

It looks like our heroes pull off the victory in true sports movie fashion when this happens.

I stand by what I said last time. Someone on The Owl House thinks Harry Potter is really fucking stupid. Boscha catches the rusty smidge which means she automatically wins and Luz let’s out two decades of Harry Potter frustration.

But she has a point. If the golden snitch gives your team 150 points and ends the game then the only way to play would be to play defensively and focus all your efforts on finding the snitch. It means there’s literally only one decent way to play the game if you want to win.

“That just invalidates all our efforts! If catching that thing is so important, why do anything else!? There’s no reason to watch any of the other players! THAT’S SUCH A STUPID RULE!”

You tell them, Luz.

But in a twist that everyone saw coming, all the other players (Skara, Cat, Amelie) all had so much fun playing that they invite Willow to join the team. Willow politely declines because Boscha.

But we can’t have Amity help with the season finale so she hurt her leg. Amity panics at the thought of Luz carrying her, so of course Luz picks her up.

“Oh. Wow. Sports.”

Speaking of sports.

It’s game on at The Owl House and Lilith and Eda have a one on one match that’s really close. Eda decides to cheat her way to victory until.

Dammit, Luz!

Eda wins and Lilith vows to return.

The episode ends with Amity joining the fam at The Owl House.

FINAL SCORE: 5 - LOVED IT!

This episode was the best of fun episodes combined with the development of Amity episodes and you get probably my favorite episode. This was so fun and touched on most of the major characters. Even the B-plot is important because now Lilith knows the location of The Owl House. The jokes were funny. It was cute. Just everything.

The Lumity Trilogy ends on a high note. Amity is officially crushing hard on Luz.

#THE OWL HOUSE #my works #full review #full reviews

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himbeaux-on-ice · 3 years

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Can I just say that Habs “fans” who act like Carey Price’s contract is somehow patient zero of all this team’s problems drive me absolutely fucking insane? Seriously. Buckle up. This is about to be a rant.

Now. First things first. Is it ideal that the $10 million goalie is currently uh, not doing very good? Fucking NO! I am disappointed as shit with that and I don’t like seeing him struggle. I know he can be better. He has to be better. Obviously.

However. That being said.

Do I think it’s an incredibly stupid look to spend several tweets complaining about all the issues Habs defence have been having, and then also griping that they haven’t started Jake Allen enough for how he’s performing, only to then for some inexplicable reason state that the FIRST THING, the first thing that needs to be dealt with after the new coaching staff have had ONE GAME (and zero practices) to work on things, is somehow “well, the ten million dollar man in net is weighing them down, that contract has gotta go!”?

Yes! That’s stupid!!

I think that’s a very ice cold small-brain take, and not just because Price is my favourite of favourites for as long as I’ve been a hockey fan! I have reasons, dammit!! I put THOUGHT into this!!

Here, dear ppl of Habs twitter who will never read this, are some reasons why this narrative you’re concocting is dumb, and why management/coaching are unlikely to think of trying to ditch Price mid-season to fix the current problems:

1: Time. It has been one (1) game under Ducharme. He has been able to run zero (0) full practices on off days with the team. We just changed up a major piece on the Habs chess board — why don’t you give it a minute to see what fresh eyes and minds can do with this roster before you decide we are fucked? This season is fast-moving, sure, but there is time for us to ride out some little bumps here and still make a playoff spot in this Canadian division. Have patience. Do you remember what patience is? Dom is a new head coach, not a wish-granting fairy godmother. Chill. Do you remember chill?

(rest of this under a cut because I actually LIKE Habs Tumblr, and I want to be nice to you all by not making you scroll past all of it if you don’t want to)

2: Jake Allen exists. There are a couple of things I like for what this means for the Habs. Firstly, for basically the first time in his NHL career, we are not in a situation where if Carey Price is in a slump, we have to go “Ah, shit, so now our options are let his stats tank while he tries to get the groove back in net, OR throw whoever the poor backup is out there to get murdered while we plummet through the standings.... 😬” We don’t have that problem right now, because the backup is... actually good? Oh my god, the backup is actually good! Thank fuck! We’re not doomed. If I’m Ducharme, I put Allen in net for a few consecutive starts to put a solid backstop behind all my fun experiments I’m probably planning with the skating roster (to catch their slip-ups, while also giving Carey lots of time and rest with which to work hard on sorting out whatever his issue is along with the goalie coaches).

2b: Jake Allen exists and is competition. Hell, if I’m Ducharme, maybe I even play a little hardball and say “Look, Carey, I don’t want you to be an expensive benchwarmer, but if things don’t pick up soon I am going to start whoever is doing best and you will have to compete for that net.” Related to my last point, when was the last time Carey Price had to push himself to compete for net time against anything other than his own injuries, and wasn’t simply always the default starter? Has that EVER been a thing? Honestly as much as I love the idea of him being The Goalie for the Habs, I also kinda like this idea a lot because I think it could really push him to a higher standard of performance. Maybe that kind of high-pressure situation (given how much he thrives in the pressure-cooker of the playoffs) could be what he NEEDS in order to Be Carey Price again. Worst comes to worst, he doesn’t respond to that challenge, and I am very sad but the Habs have a good goalie in net anyway, because Hallelujah, Jake Allen exists! God, isn’t it nice to have Jake Allen? Bless him.

3: Money. Guys, this league is so broke right now. Seriously. Seriously. Nobody has any fucking money. The Habs probably have more money than most teams, and that does not help when it comes to offloading large contracts. Trades are a NIGHTMARE both because of the flat cap but also because travel is complicated (especially cross-border) but also nobody wants to trade within their division if possible because all your games are against them. Who in the name of fuck do you think is jumping at the idea of taking the $10 million per through 20-lots-and-lots-of-years-from-now contract of a goalie who is currently struggling, impressive past record aside? What kind of astral plane of fantasy hockey are you on to think there’s a trade out there for that within this season. Shut up. And no, don’t bring up the expansion draft, this post is a rebuttal SPECIFICALLY to the people who think that Price and his contract are the biggest problem that needs to be dealt with RIGHT NOW and first on the list of ways to immediately remedy the team’s struggles.

4: Spite. Specifically to piss you off, bud. You personally.

5: Knowing how to troubleshoot properly. Fellas, if my computer is running slowly and freezing up a lot, do I immediately decide the first step to fixing it is to crack open the chassis, remove the hard drive, and try to sell that hard drive to someone to see if I can enough money back to somehow get a better hard drive for less? No, dipshit. That’s not how troubleshooting a complex system works works. It’s the same with hockey teams. Ah, my star goalie is not performing great. This situation is deeply less than ideal. If you’re actually good at troubleshooting, the first thing you do is not “WELL. I GUESS WE’LL HAVE TO THROW THE WHOLE GOALIE OUT. HE’S TOAST.” The first thing you do, if you’re a smart coach, is you say “Okay, what are my defence doing in front of him? What are they doing to reduce the amount and quality of our opponents’ scoring chances? Oh. Oh, they’re taking a lot of penalties, and... oh, uh, some of this is very not great. Yikes.” And then you start your work by trying to make the defence actually work instead of running the same Pairs That Everyone Is Very Much Over And Tired Of, because your goalie is actually supposed to be your Last Line of Defence. And maybe during that time you give more starts to Goalie Who Is Absolutely Slaying It, so that when you start trying new D-pairs and they inevitably have some mistakes, it doesn’t immediately turn into an Oh God Holy Fuck moment every time, because that last line of defence backstopping them is solid. The reason you need to deal with defense first is because a) You know you have a reliable goalie (Allen) in your pocket right now if you need him. What you don’t have is a whole-ass proven and tested and practiced Backup D-Core you can swap into the roster in front of your goalies to make their lives easier. Fix your defense and it WILL improve your goalies, even marginally. Defrag the hard drive before you ask why it’s not working. and b) If you need to go looking for any new D-men to solve the issues, those are WAY easier and cheaper to find than top-tier goalies, and you always want to start any troubleshooting process with trying the simplest solutions first to hopefully save time and money. The better that D-core is, the less it fucks your team over if the goalie isn’t feeling themselves, because the D is going to stop more of those pucks before they ever even become the goalie’s problem. FIX. DEFENCE. FIRST. Then try to train your goalie back into top form. THEN explore your other options.

6: The vicious cycle. Guys. We literally do this once every year or second year. EVERY time Carey Price has a slump, this fanbase gets into a tizzy like the Bell Centre is burning down and he was the one with the matches. And what ALWAYS happens literally within the year, every single time? He gets his mojo back like he did last summer in the bubble and goes on a heater and everybody goes “JESUS PRICE!!!! 🙌” and is ready to name their firstborn kid after him. Until eventually that performance becomes unsustainable, and he becomes mortal again, and suddenly he’s The Real Problem With This Franchise once again. I know he’s the guy they chose to build the team around instead of a superstar forward, but oh my god folks. You’d think he was the only player on the team. Guys, I feel like fucking Sisyphus pushing a blue blanc et rouge boulder up Mont Royal once a year with this shit. This man’s entire career has been a constant seesaw narrative between “Carey Price is our saviour!” and “Carey Price should be exiled to Nome!!!!” from parts of this fanbase, I swear. Look, slumps suck, but for once we are actually lucky enough to be in a position where this team, for the first time in YEARS, does not solelylive or die by the inscrutable magical cycles of Carey Price’s goalie powers — because when he has to step back and work to get back into his groove, there is FINALLY a SECOND GUY who is GREAT. Honestly, given that the state of this team for so long has been “they will go as far as Carey Price can take them” and he has put in a pretty fucking decent job of it despite all of the team’s other struggles, I feel like it is owed it to the guy to be like “Okay, well, we have somebody else solid to fill the net right now, and a chance to really figure out our defence and special teams with this new coach. Why don’t you take a step back and work your ass off at trying to get back into the form I know you can still perform at, and we’ll go from there?”

Anyway. Some parts of this fanbase have been waiting for a fresh excuse to claim Price is overrated, washed-up, and to blame for all of this team’s flaws and ills ever since he signed that contract, if not since the start of his NHL career. Just unreal how nasty some of this fanbase is willing to be about a player who is ON. YOUR. TEAM.

Am I saying he is beyond critique of his play and can do no wrong and his contract is perfect? No! I want this team to have the best goaltending it can get, and I want them to kick ass and take names. The difference is, I still believe Carey Price is a part of that winning formula, and I also think Twitter is overflowing with idiots who just repeat what everybody else says. He’s still a better goalie than your ass would be if I stuck you out there to stop shots from Mark Schieffle, for crap’s sake.

“The first thing that has to go is Carey Price’s contract 🤪”. Shut the fuck up. You are actively making other people stupider by talking. Go eat sand. Good day.

#It’s Time For My Opinion #I put so much time into this I hope it’s coherent lol #habs #Carey price #montreal canadiens #long post

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rainydayhogwartsimagines · 4 years

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Float (fred x reader)

note: Totally did not intend for this to be that long.

summary: You are a professional Quidditch player. You and your best friend transfer to Hogwarts and meet Fred and George Weasley.

"Hogwarts?! Mom, you can't be serious!" You said. "I'm sorry dear but the next expedition is in England." Your father sighed. "Come on! I'm a professional player I can't just leave!" You said. "Dumbledore said he'd allow you to professionally play for your house." Your mother said. You huffed leaning back into your seat. "Plus, with your insanity I think they'll find you refreshing. It's not like you'll be the only one there, Lizzie is going with you." Your father reminded. It did help that your best friend was going with you to England after throwing a "bitch fit" for being possibly separated from you. "'my insanity' has a name. The Quidditch Free Fall." You reminded. "Yes we're aware of the name dear, it doesn't stop it from being terrifying!" Your mother said. "I didn't time it right once!" You sighed. "And you broke your wrist!" Your father said. The Quidditch Free Fall was made when you went a ridiculous height to spot a snitch and actually jumped off your broom, hitting the ground with it in your mouth. The actual move though, became a move you'd use regularly where you'd resummon the broom so you wouldn't it the ground but land back on your broom.

You sat in the car with Lizzy, looking at the English Architecture around you. "....Excited?" Lizzie asked. ".... As long as I can play quidditch I think I'll be fine." You admitted. "You only think about Quidditch Y/n... What about boysss?" She asked. You rolled your eyes. "Whatever. They're so... Annoying to me." You laughed. "Because at ilvermorny pranksters were... Bleh?" She asked. "Okay, firepoppers on a toilet seat is funny, how did no one find that funny!?" You asked. "Again. Ilvermorny. No sense of humor." She reminded. "You better not get into more trouble Y/n." Your mother sighed as they pulled into King's Cross. "alright! Alright...." You lied. Lizzie saw that glint of "oh I know I'm going to fuck shit up" in your eyes making her roll her eyes and look away. You got your things, running through the wall after hugging your parents goodbye. You and Lizzie exchanged a "holy shit that's cool" look after seeing the Hogwarts Express. You got on the train, sitting in an empty cart as Lizzie read. The door slid open and you looked over. "My bad! Thought my brother was in here, turns out it's just two beautiful girls." The boy flirted. You snorted. "Tell me that line hasn't worked." You said. ".... You're American?" He asked. "Oh really? What gave it away?" Lizzie asked sarcastically making you snort. "FRED. RUN." A identical boy said. "What did you do?" Fred asked. "PUT TREVOR IN DRACO'S BAG." he said. "WEASLEY!" you heard a shout from the other side of the train and you smirked. So they're pranksters... Oh you were so going to love these guys. "Hide in here." You suggested. George didn't hesitate, sitting down immediately and picking up a vacant newspaper to cover his face. Fred sat next to you. "I'm Y/n." You introduced. "Fred. And that's George." Fred motioned to his brother. You handed him a newspaper and he took it, following his brother's idea. A blonde boy soon opened the door. "HAVE YOU SEEN TWO RED HAIRED DEMONS!?" Draco asked. "No?" You responded confused. "They can't hide forever!" He growled before walking away. The second the door slid back, the cart erupted into laughter. "I feel like I recognize you." George finally said after you all recovered from laughing. "I'm a professional quidditch player." You admitted. "Oh shit, you're the Free Faller!" George said. "Yep!" You nodded. "Wicked." Fred nodded. "what about you?" George asked. "I'm just the best friend that tries to keep her out of trouble. She's like you two. A troublemaker." Lizzie said. Fred's interest was peaked. "A trouble maker you say?" He asked. "Yep." You chuckled. "You like pranks?" George asked. "Love them." You answered. "You should stick with us then. You'll live on the edge of your seat!" Fred said. "Count me in. Actually I have a bit of an... Entrance planned." You said with a smirk. "Entrance?" George asked with a smile. "Y/n no." Lizzie said. "I want to and you can't stop me." You said sticking your tongue out. "What's the plan?" Fred asked. "I'm riding in on my broom." You said. "Oh that's cool! After all you're a--" "Quidditch player!" Fred, you and George said in unison with nods. "See they think it's cool!" You said lightly kicking Lizzie. "When you get in trouble I'm not bailing you out." She said. "Nah, Dumbledore would expect nothing less." George said. "Does she have a record?" Fred asked. "Not that big--" "Yes. It's like a fucking novel." Lizzie answered. "Then he's definitely not going to be surprised." George said.

When you two were later called to be introduced to Ravenclaw, Lizzie simply walked to the front. You sprinted forward, summoning your broom to your side and riding it to the front quickly and with style. "Damn it Y/n." Lizzie sighed as you hopped off with a chuckle. She picked an owl feather out of your hair and Dumbledore chuckled. "It is my pleasure to introduce Elizabeth Miles and Y/n L/n." He said. Everyone started talking. "The Y/n L/n!?" Ron asked. "Yep." You nodded. "Your houses were sorted when you visited last week, correct?" Dumbledore asked. You nodded, pointing to the table adorned with blue. "Ravenclaw." You said. "In advance I apologize for my best friend." Lizzie said to Dumbledore. "Any chance I can sit with Gryffindor because I met two kids there and I think they're cool?" You asked. "We don't mind interactions of separate houses. Go ahead." Dumbledore said. You walked over to Fred who had a smirk on his face. "Nice entrance." Fred said. "why thank you my dear." You said tipping a pretend hat to him. "So you're the professional player?" A boy asked. "Yep. Proud to be one." You said with a laugh. "This is my brother Ron, over there is my sister Ginny and these are my family friends Harry and Hermione." Fred said. "Yo." You waved. "Are you excited to be here?" Ginny asked. "Eh. I'm already enjoying the fact that there's two pranksters here. Ilvermorny had like zero sense of humor." You said. "I'm still trying to figure out a good prank." George said. "I'm thinking we screw up the sinks." You suggested. "Why's that?" Fred asked. "Weak pipes...a explosion and poof.... Water everywhere." You said with a smirk. "Fred... I love this girl." George said. "Meet us tomorrow at three... This is going to be bloody brilliant." Fred said with a chuckle. Sure enough. Around four, Snape tried to use the sink and bam... Water explosion while you were all waiting for him in potions. "What's taking him so long?" Lizzie asked. Fred exchanged a knowing glance with you before the door opened and he walked in soaked. You bit your lip, trying not to laugh. "...Due to... Complications... Class is cancelled." Snape said, dismissing everyone. You walked out, Fred, George and you all dying of laughter. "Poor Snape. Bastard looked ready to murder someone." Fred said with a laugh. You smiled... This guy had a nice laugh. "We couldn't have done it without the brains of Y/n!" George said putting a hand on your shoulder. You took a bow making them chuckle.

From that point on the duo became a trio. "The mischievous three" Mcgonagall called you. But with every prank, you seemed to get closer and closer to Fred. George noticed you two, exchanging laughs and smiles. He knew immediately that you two were bound to be something. Finally though, quidditch season started. You seemed to be bouncing that day, sharing the field with Gryffindor. "So. Miss professional." Wood said after laughing at a joke George made. "Would you mind showing us that move?" He asked. You shook your head. "My secret weapon? Now that's just wrong." You laughed. Fred smiled at your laughter making George smirk. "You're really good at flying." Harry said. "Thanks, took years to master. I used to be really crappy at it actually." You said. "Really?" George asked. "Oh yeah. I ran into everything, hurt myself really bad at one point. But I kept trying and eventually I wasn't so bad anymore." You shrugged. "How'd you become a professional?" Wood asked. "Went up against Durmstrang a few years ago and made a sonic boom." You said. "A what?" Harry asked. "It's when you basically move faster than the speed of sound and you send a shock through the air. Sounds like thunder." You explained. "And you did that?" Wood asked. "Yeah. The the professional spectators were really interested after that, next thing I knew I was basically signed on to do quidditch after school was finished and I would sometimes go to bigger games." You explained. "Wow." Fred said. "Yeah. Ilvermorny though... They're so.... Academic. Compared to here they're so... Boring." You shrugged. The next game, Harry got a taste of why you were a professional. You were quick for a seeker, but it's how high you'd go for that snitch that surprised everyone. The snitch was spotted 30 minutes into the game, you and Harry both going after it. It shot up though and you didn't stop until your broom couldn't take the height and just stopped flying. You almost seemed to run up the hilt before gripping the snitch and pushing off, away from the broom and rapidly falling towards the broom. People stood up, watching you fall and maintain the same position before screaming "UP!" and your broom shot out, you gripping it before almost hitting the ground, making the crowd erupt into cheers as you held the snitch. You didn't celebrate with Ravenclaw though, instead you hung out with Fred. "Congratulations Y/n. You weren't joking about that move." Fred said. "Yeah." You chuckled. "How'd you come up with that anyway?" Fred asked. "Well... I was in a particularly challenging match against the Thunderbirds. I was a seeker and so was this guy Jamie. So I was waiting to see the golden snitch when some girl hexed my broom. In the middle of the chaos I noticed the snitch and I had to think quick so..." "You let go." Fred nodded. "Exactly. After I did I didn't exactly do what I did earlier and resummoned my broom I actually ended up breaking my arm after hitting the ground." You said earning a wince from Fred. "What inspired you to make it a move though?" Fred asked. "something about the chaos of it seemed really appealing. making people think that I was falling rather than actually chasing after the snitch seemed like a good plan so.... I started to get really well acquainted with the broom that I was using at the time and before I knew it I was able to basically resummon it whenever I wanted to." You explained. "Smart. I'm beginning to understand why you're in Ravenclaw." He said earning a laugh from you. "I hope you're not upset over me winning..." You said. "Psh. That was epic, how could I possibly be mad at that. I just hope I live to see you do another sonic boom." He chuckled. "The last time I did it it was an accident and I don't know how to trigger another one." You admitted. "with how brilliant your brain is I guarantee you you could figure it out" Fred said making you blush. George sat down in front of you making you look at him. "So, what'd I miss?" He asked. "Congratulating Y/n on her win." Fred said. "Mmm. I've been thinking about our school trip." George said. "Trip?" You asked. "Yeah, we're going to Hogsmeade." Fred nodded. "What the hell is Hogsmeade?" You asked. "Small village. Really fun." George said.

Sure enough during the winter, it actually was. You spent it with the twins, laughing at stupid jokes and drinking butterbeer. You shivered at the snow and Fred wrapped his scarf around you, smiling as you blushed. You kept close to him the whole time, even having a snowball fight at one point. You had the best year of your life, pranks, friends, finally something new.

But your parents were ready to move. Again. "no." You said. "Y/n--" "me and Lizzie were given the opportunity to stay with someone else's family, please I don't want to leave again!" You snapped. Your mother sighed. "....Fine. who's the parents." She asked. So she sat down and asked Arthur and Molly if they'd take you two. Which they said yes. Because it's Molly. When would she ever say no? However now Fred was panicked. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO GEORGE?! MY CRUSH IS LIVING WITH ME!?" He asked frantically. "First off, calm down. Second off, maybe this is good. You're not exactly bad with girls Fred." George said. "I flirt, sure. But this is... This is different." Fred admitted. "How so?" Ginny asked, sitting on Fred's bed eating a cookie. "...I think I love her." He said making George gape and Ginny nearly drop her cookie. "You love her?" Ginny asked. "Maybe? And she's coming here tomorrow." Fred whined. "Well it's not like she's staying in here, she's bunking with me, along with Lizzie. She did say something weird in her letter though." Ginny said. "Wait, she wrote to you?" George asked. "Lizzie did. But she said Y/n had a surprise for all of us." Ginny said. "A love confession?" George asked, making Fred smack him. "She said all of us. Mum and Dad included." Ginny said. Sure enough, the next day you showed up with something in your hand. "What's that?" Fred asked after helping you with your bags. "Tickets." You said. "For what?" George asked. "The world Quidditch cup. I'm playing for Ireland." You said with a smirk. "....Wait so we're--" "Going to the big leagues!" Lizzie said enthusiastically. "HOLY CRAP!" Ron gaped. "annnnddd I even got extra tickets for Hermione and Harry." You said making Ron hug you. You giggled and Fred smiled.

So there you were, standing in a stadium practically shaking. You were in the big leagues now. You swallowed the forming lump in your throat before seeing Fred. You gave a him a smile and felt a surge of confidence before flying up. You versus Viktor Krum. You sat on your broom waiting patiently, occasionally moving out of the way for other players before you noticed something behind Viktor's head. You gripped your broom handle and shot down, following the snitch. He was on your tail, making you anxious as hell as the snitch flew up. You shot upwards, the snitch flying very high into the air. Fred watched you, knowing damn well you were going to do the "Free Fall". You went so high the broom literally seemed to just stop working as you ran up it's side and gripped the snitch before falling. Your broom was next to you, air seeming to bend around your body. That's when Fred realized what was about to happen. "COVER YOUR EARS!" He warned. Everyone near that heard him did, slightly confused before a loud noise sounded off, similar to a clap of thunder before you smirked, gripping your broom and finally returning to the normal position. You held up the snitch and the crowd roared. Course you couldn't hear anything because the noise made your ears ring, but when you finally returned to the tent you were smiling with a medal around your neck. "there's our champion!" Arthur said. Fred scooped you up into a hug and you smiled, squealing with a giggle. "I am on cloud nine right now! I can't believe I did it!" You said. "You made a sonic boom Y/n, that was the most extraordinary thing I've seen!" Hermione said. "Yeah, my ears were ringing for a while there." You admitted. "Everyone at Hogwarts is not going to shut up about this for a while." Lizzie chuckled. "Course not, not only is she the youngest player out there but she's also the reason they won." Ron said. "Makes me wish you were with Gryffindor... We're really screwed when we have to go up against you." Harry said. "Nah, you keep me on my toes Potter." You said with a chuckle. "Dad will probably want your autograph. Mind if you sign this?" Harry asked, holding a notepad. "What's your dad's name again?" You asked. "James." Harry nodded. "To James. Thanks for giving me a cool brother." You wrote making Harry smile as you ruffled his hair. "Excuse me." A voice said making you all turn. "Viktor... Krum." Ron gaped. "Hello. Uh.... English is not my first language forgive me." He apologized. "Hello." You nodded. "I just want to say, I look forward to going to school with you this year." He said. "What?" Everyone asked. "The Triwizard tournament is at Hogwarts this year, yes I heard." Arthur said. "Yes... Hopefully we will work with you miss Y/n." He said. "Good game Krum. You did amazing out there." You said shaking his hand. He seemed fixated on Hermione though, making you smile. "Hermione! This is Viktor Krum. Talk." You said, pushing her forward. "Uhm... Hello?" She said confused. Fred chuckled as you sat down. "I still cannot believe I won." You said. "I can. I knew you could do Y/n." Fred said sitting next to you at the table. "I was so nervous the whole time... I'm just glad you guys came. It would've sucked if you didn't." You said. "why didn't your parents come?" Arthur asked. "They're archeologists sir, they do scientific work across the world... They're in Egypt this year it's why they couldn't be here." You admitted. Fred smiled and put his hand over yours. "We're proud of you Y/n." He said sincerely making you blush. Arthur smiled and got up, leaving you two alone. "So what do you want to do?" Fred asked. "hmm... I saw Draco here... Think we can fuck with him?" You asked. "Oh absolutely. George!" Fred said with a laugh. George walked over, noticing Fred's hand still on yours. "Yeah?" George asked. "Wanna screw with Malfoy's head for a bit?" Fred asked. "Is this even a logical question?" George asked. You three managed to rig a drink that exploded in Draco's face, making him pissed. The worst part was that he couldn't actually figure out if you were behind it.

The school year finally started, all of you already aware of the competition. A few students congratulated you on the win before sitting in the great hall. The Beauxbatons sat with Ravenclaw but you sat between Hermione and Fred, moving at one point so Viktor could sit with Hermione. "So think you'll compete?" Fred asked you, nodding to the goblet of fire. "Hell no. I get embarrassed still over recognition of quidditch. This competition would literally make me want to die." You said. "We'll definitely try to compete." George said. "A competition that definitely violates some sort of safety code? Why am I not surprised?" Lizzie said. "Oh come on Y/n. You'd have this thing in the bag." Fred said. "you have more confidence than I do." You chuckled. "Because I know you can do it." He said, very close to your ear. You blushed, his voice sending shocks down your spine. "... I'll sign up..." You said. You were the first to put your name in the goblet, Viktor following soon after. A few other students put their names in the cup but you thought nothing of it. Until that stupid name pull. "Viktor Krum for Durmstrang." Dumbledore called, earning an applause. "Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons." He said. "And Y/n L/n for Hogwarts." "WHAT!?"

So now you were really fucked. How the fuck were you supposed to participate in this competition!? "This is bad." You said pacing in the Gryffindor common room. "Y/n, it's not that bad, I mean you're talented! You'll be fine!" Lizzie reasoned. "No, Lizzie I will not be fine! I know you read books! I know you know how dangerous this competition is!" You said. "So why'd you sign up!?" Ron asked. Fred said nothing, reading a book and turning it's page with a small smile on his lips. "I just... I figured with the amount of students already here I'd have no shot at winning." You said. "but here we are." George said. "What even is that first challenge anyway?" Hermione asked.

The answer was dragons. Dragons were the fucking challenge. You all had to draw small baby dragons from a bag and find out which one you'd be in a ring with. Yours was a Hungarian Horntail. Of course you ended up with the most dangerous dragon. God damn it. Fred sat next to George in the stands, raising a brow. ".... What's that?" He asked noticing his brother Charlie wheeling a large box out. Oh no. Not a good sign. Definitely not a good sign. He got up, going to the tents where he knew you'd be to find you pacing. "Y/n." He called making you turn. "Fred. Thank God." You said hugging him. "I saw my brother Charlie and knew something was up. What's going on?" He asked. "I have to retrieve something from a dragon Fred. A dragon!" You said. "Well as long as it isn't a Hungarian--" "It's a Hungarian Horntail." You said. "....Fuck that isn't good." He sighed. "Any chance they'll let you back out?" He asked. "No.... I've tried." You breathed. "I can't do this Fred." You said, panic in your eyes. "You can... And you will." He said holding your hands. "And if I fail?" You asked. "Then I'm right here. Any time you need me." He said softly before the sound of a camera went off. Rita. God damn it. "We're dealing with something woman, move." Fred snapped. "Rude... But this is a definite scoop." She giggled before running off. "Oh God I'm not living that down." You whined. "Love, you've got this." He said. "Wait did you--" "Y/n. It's your turn." Viktor coughed out. Oh that's a reassuring thing to see. A fellow competitor looking like he walked through fire with a fucking egg. You sucked in a breath. "I'm right here." Fred said softly. "Well I mean I'll be in the stands but you get my point." He corrected. You nodded as he left and you got ready to walk into the ring. Fred sat back down and you swallowed hard, staring at the dragon. You could do this right!?

Well after being winded from being slammed into a rock you most definitely thought you couldn't. You coughed and looked at Fred. He was giving you a reassuring (yet slightly panicked) look. "That all you've got scaly!?" You coughed out. It geared up to breathe fire and you ducked behind a rock. You had to think and you had to think fast. What could get you out of this!?

That's when it hit you. Your broom. "ACCIO FIREBOLT!" you screamed before your broom shot out and floated towards you. You could feel the heat of the flame behind the rock before you jumped on your broom, earning a large cheer from the crowd. You were safe! Thank God! Now Fred could BREATHE. That's when the dragon's chain decided to snap. "Oh fuck." You whined before shooting off past the stands. "OH FUCK!" you screamed as the dragon also hightailed after you. You flew to the school, trying to avoid being killed before you were slammed into a tower. "Oh shit, that's going to cost them a few pennies." You said before you lost your grip. "SHIT!" you gasped before bringing your broom closer. You flew out of the way, going through many different areas before finally throwing the dragon off. Fred was freaking out, you not in sight. "Oh God George, I convinced her to do this, what if she's hurt!? What if she's--" "SHE'S THERE!" Hermione pointed as you flew into the arena grabbing the egg.

You went back to the tents, covered in dirt and bits of roof shingle on your coat. "Christ." You muttered dusting yourself off before Fred ran in. "You did it!" He said. "Yeah! Ow." You winced holding your wrist. "What happened!?" Fred asked, clearly concerned. "Nothing! I just... I hit my wrist on one of the towers before I could actually get away from the dragon." You admitted. Madame Pomfrey looked at it. "Oh this is a simple fix. It's just bruised, take one of these." She said handing you a gummy. You nodded and within seconds the pain was gone. "See I'm fine-" Fred put his hands on the sides of your face, looking into your eyes. "Try not to get yourself killed in this... Please." He said. "...I... I will try." You nodded. He was so tempted to kiss you. But he refrained seeing as Rita Skeeter could be around the corner. He let go of your face and you swallowed hard.

The celebration of you winning was loud, earning you leaving and sitting in the halls while everyone else was losing their mind. You looked at the egg and rose a brow opening it to hear shrieking. "What the fuck!?" You gasped. This had to have some sort of purpose. Especially that shrieking. That egg opened for some reason. So why? "...I need to get this muffled..." You said getting up. So you went to the bathrooms, filling up the bath with water before going in. You put the egg underwater, before poking your head under too.

After listening to it song you concluded that the next challenge with most likely be at the lake. You sighed, standing out in the cold air. "Where's Fred?" You asked George. "I don't know. One of the faculty members said that he was needed for something and he just disappeared and never came back." Lizzie said. You looked in the water. "have I mentioned how much I hate this competition?" You asked. "only every other day." George nodded. "You've got this Y/n!" Ron encouraged. "Yeah, you're going to do fine!" Harry said. Neville managed to hand you something, something that would allow you to swim underwater without needing to come up for air. You jumped in as the sound went off, swimming in the lake. It was dark, cold and murky. Who in the fuck thought that this competition would be a fun idea for children!? You swam in the water for a while, following the other competitors and finding out exactly what you were there for. Fred. Fred was there. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." You thought. You managed to get him free, being the first to come up with someone. Fred coughed and you sighed climbing out of the water. Viktor soon emerged with Hermione. But Fleur came back empty-handed. And you recalled seeing a child down there. "I couldn't get Gabrielle!" She whimpered. You looked at her and then the lake. "stupid morals" it was all anybody heard you say before you jumped right back in. Everyone ran to the edge to see you. Right now it was a waiting game.

One that didn't take very long considering you came back up within fifteen minutes with Gabrielle. Fleur hugged you as you coughed up water and shivered. Fred shared his towel with you, wrapping it around your arms and looking at you. "That was so stupid." He laughed. "I know." You shivered. "But it was brave. And for that, I've got to say you're killing this competition." Fred said making you laugh. You looked in his eyes, the water dripping from his hair. "Congratulations! You survived!" Lizzie said. "Yeah and I'm fucking cold, can I please get some coffee?" You asked making Fred laugh. "Agreed" he nodded.

As school continued it was becoming clear there was some stupid dance coming up. It was basically thrown in your face when McGonagall forced dance classes on you. Fred being your partner made it more bearable though. He was a surprisingly good dancer, him being the one to teach you. "So the Yule is coming up." He said swaying with you. He twirled you and you chuckled before he pulled you very close to him, facing you against him. "Would you like to go with me?" He asked in your ear making your face very red from the blushing. "....Uhm... Y-Yeah s-sure." You stuttered out. For God's sakes-- woman you fought a dragon, but you can't handle your crush being close to you!? "Great." He said, now directly into your ear. Your legs felt so weak right now but he twirled you again so you'd be facing him. "Uhm... F-Fred what are... What are we going as?" You asked. Fred smiled, his hands in yours as you swayed. "Well, we could always prove Rita's theory of us dating to be true. But only if you want to." He said. You swallowed and nodded. "You want to?" He asked. "words aren't forming. Legs weak. Going down." You said. "What--" you fell, making both of you fall and Fred laughed. "Well if I knew asking you out had that effect I wouldn't have done this in a dance class." He said getting up. You took his hand and he pulled you up, kissing you as you came back up. Your eyes were wide but you eventually sunk into it before McGonagall cleared her throat. "...Thank you for the theatrics. We have a class to teach." She said. "Sorry professor." Fred said as you sputtered like a dying engine. Fred snorted and you punched his arm.

From that point on, Fred was always giving you some sort of affection, your favorite being when he'd slink his arms around your waist as you spoke, saying "hello darling." In your ear. When the Yule finally approached you were a nervous wreck. "Y/n you can't even fuck this up. First off: you're gorgeous. Second off : you're going with your boyfriend." Lizzie said, zipping up your dress. "You never told me who you were going with." You said. "George." She said making you turn around. "Sorry. Did you just say George? As in my boyfriend's brother?" You asked. "Yep. See believe it or not, I actually spent time with your friends. George is nice to me. And cute." She said. "...This is so weird. Right?" You asked. "....Okay yes but I'm serious, George is great." Lizzie agreed.

You both walked down, the brothers waiting. "So wait you're going with my girlfriend's best friend?" Fred asked. "Yeah. She's beautiful and smart, what do you want from me?" George said. "Well a warning would've been.... Nice..." Fred said before seeing you. "Holy--" "Shit." Fred and George gaped. "Wow." Fred said looking at you. "Thank you." You chuckled. He kissed your cheek and just kept staring. "What?" You asked. "Love, you're beautiful." He said. "Thank you-- Oh that's so weird." You said looking at George who was kissing Lizzie. ".... Don't I have to present you?" Fred asked. You whined. "Why? Why me? Why did I even sign up for that stupid competition?" You sighed. "Because my persuasion skills are amazing." Fred said making you roll your eyes as you stood with the other champions and their dates. "Holy shit Hermione, you're gorgeous!" You gaped. "thank you-- wow you're beautiful too!" She said before the doors opened. "Crap." You breathed. "Any last requests?" Fred asked. "Don't let me fall." You whispered to him before walking out with the group.

You did that ridiculous dance, actually not screwing up for once. When it ended you were relieved. "Thank God. I hate ballroom dancing." You said making Fred laugh. "You did great dear." He said with a smile. You kissed him, resting your forehead on his. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life." You said softly. "I love you Y/n." Fred said. You smiled. "I love you too." You said softly. A slow song of course came on, Fred pulling you to the dance floor as he held you close, whispering sweet little compliments to you.

When the night ended you and Lizzie both had big smiles on your face, giggling and talking about the night. That night was probably the least stressful compared to the others. As the weeks went by though, the final trial was there, right in your face. You couldn't sleep that night, sitting in the astronomy tower before you heard someone walking up. You turned to see Fred. "hey beautiful." He said, sitting next to you. "Hi." You said, looking out at Hogwarts. "Nervous?" He asked. "Yes... In all of these challenges I have narrowly escaped death..." You muttered. "Nothing will happen. I won't let anything happen." Fred said. "What if you can't stop anything from happening--" "Y/n... I promise if it seems like things will go wrong I will cross through hell to make sure you're safe." He swore. "Plus. I have a good luck charm." He added before handing you a small bag. You opened it to find a leather bracelet. "Is this... The Marauders map motto?" You asked looking at him. ".... Maybe." He said with a smirk. You put it on and kissed him. "Thank you." You said. "You should try to sleep Love. Tommorow will be hard." He said. "...Stay with me?" You asked. He nodded as you both snuck into the Ravenclaw common room. The next morning you were found wrapped in Fred's arms sleeping like a baby. "Hey idiots. Wake up." Lizzie yawned, smacking Fred with a pillow. You groaned, waking up. "Fucking hell." You whined.

You stood with the rest of the competitors. You looked at Fred and kissed your bracelet. You could do this. Right? Yeah. You got this. After all, it's not like there's a dragon! Well there are vines that TRY TO CONSUME YOU IN THE FUCKING WALLS. Upon making this discovery you booked it, turning different ways before seeing it. The cup! And Viktor. Fuck. You sprinted before gripping the handle, unsure if you just tied before landing hard on the ground in front of the crowd. You were alone. Did you... Did you just... Win!? You stood up, brushing dirt off you with the cup in your other hand. Cheers erupted and you jumped. So you did win! You did it! Ayyyeeee! Dumbledore lifted your hand with the cup, declaring you the winner as the other competitors accepted defeat. "And your reward. 1000 galleons." Dumbledore said. "Wait what?" You asked.

So that summer was spent being conflicted on what to do with the money. "I don't need money though." You said to Molly. "Fred, we have another order." Lizzie said. That's when a lightbulb went off. "I KNOW WHAT TO DO!" you gasped making Fred, George, Molly and Lizzie jump. "What?" Fred asked. "A shop! You guys need a shop!" You said. ".... We're not letting you spend this money on us." George said. "Psh. Consider this a business investment." You said. "Y/n!" Fred said. "Babe, you'll actually use this! And what you don't use we can save, it's literally that simple!" You said. "And you're sure? That you want to do this!?" George asked. "After we graduate, game on." You said. "...Mum... I'm in love." Fred said making you smile as he scattered kisses across your face. Molly chuckled and shook her head.

You actually did hold your promise too, after you all graduated they got the money and bought a shop. You would work there when Quidditch season was up, usually taking stock or something. One day Fred was acting... Very strange though. George had to know what was going on. "Fred. What is up with you?" George asked. He looked across the store to see you with a clipboard taking down inventory. "not here." He said. He pulled him to the back. "I'm asking Y/n to marry me. Tonight." He said. "... you've got to be fucking joking." He said. "Well we've been together since our fifth year--" "I planned on proposing to Lizzie tonight." He said. "....Okay this whole 'twins think alike' thing is kicking our ass." Fred said. "...Okay. we take them both out to dinner and propose?" George suggested. "....Deal." Fred nodded.

And that's exactly what happened, both men acting really weird. "Okay what the hell is up with them?" You asked after witnessing Fred trip over air. "...I have no clue. George sliped up the stairs today. Up. The. Stairs. How in the absolute fuck do you fall up stairs?" She said. "...Something is going on." You said. "...And it's dealing with both of them." She said. You all were having a nice night, laughing, smiling, giving each other loving looks. Fred exchanged a look with George and both of them handed you and Lizzie boxes at the same time. You rose a brow and opened it before you gasped. "Oh my God. Fred. Are... Are you actually... Serious!?" You asked. "As serious as possible." He said. Lizzie looked at George with the same expression. "Yes!" Both of you replied in unison. Both men let out relieved sighs and you hugged Fred. "Did you two plan on asking us at the same time?" You asked. "no." Both of them admitted making you snort. "You two are idiots." Lizzie laughed. "But their our idiots." You said making Fred smile.

#fred weasley x reader #fred weasley #fred weasley x you

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Scream Queens VH1 recap - Season 1 Episode 1

Hey what’s up so because I’m bored as hell I’ve decided I’m going to recap the short-lived reality series Scream Queens (not the horror series with Emma Roberts) because it’s absolute top notch reality TV trash. Yes you can still watch the whole thing on YouTube here but I’ve decided to recap it for you in case you’d prefer to read about the trash and drama I guess lol

Anyway Scream Queens was a reality series on VH1 back in 2008-2010 where 10 “up and coming” (generous) actresses would compete for a “breakout role” (also generous) in the next Saw film. They’d do dumb challenges that were vaguely related to acting and of course bitch about each other behind the scenes. Season 1 was judged by Shawnee Smith (post-Saw fame), James Gunn (pre-Guardians of the Galaxy fame), and John Homa (apparently a big-time acting coach??). Season 2 switched out Shawnee Smith for Jaime King and James Gunn for Tim Sullivan. No idea how the show got two seasons but I fucking love it and I’ve watched it countless times over so let’s do a recap!

Here’s your key players, folks.

The first episode opens with all the girls walking in wearing their ~finest~ mid-2000′s fashion and talking about how “omg I should be the next scream queen cuz I’m attractive / talented” etc. Jo-Anne in particular (who is 26 btw) claims she’s “getting old” and that she’s “ready for something to happen”. lol okay girl. They’re introduced to the three judges and whoo boy, Shawnee may be a decent actress but she should not be a host; her droning nasally voice is torture. We’re introduced to a few more girls including Lindsay who was a child star, and had a Nickelodeon show called Caitlin’s Way, but has since lost her way to her anxiety, and it’s just like holy shit I relate to you so hard though. There’s also Lina who thinks she’s top shit because she had one line in an Adam Sandler movie woohoo.

The judges introduce the first challenge and a pseudo-Jason Voorhees literally BUSTS THROUGH THE FUCKING WALL and sends the girls running and screaming, followed by laughing because omg what a funny prank haha. So basically the girls have to take turns begging this guy not to kill them, with the best performance getting a “guaranteed callback” aka. immunity from elimination. Most of the girls do the typical screaming and/or crying schtick. Michelle literally claims she’s pregnant and then screams “KILL ME WHY DONT’CHA” which is a choice. Kylah tries to seduce him and the other girls are torn between “she should be a porn star” and “holy shit I’m aroused”. Lina literally puts on a stereotypical Asian accent and FLOPS AROUND ON THE FLOOR SCREAMING like what the actual fuck. Jessica gets up and does the “you’re not psycho I’M PSYCHO” thing and the girls are (probably rightfully) scared of her.

But then Tanedra gets up and tells us she has ZERO acting experience and then proceeds to KILL. IT. Watch out for Tanedra cuz you know she’s coming for that crown. Obviously she gets the guaranteed callback. Shawnee announces the girls are competing for a role in Saw 6 and they FLIP. THEIR. SHIT. While at the same time you can tell none of them actually like or care about the Saw series and just want to be famous, but whatever get those dollars I guess.

So they head into the house and start drinking champagne, getting to know each other etc. Of course they all end up in their bikinis in the hot tub and start talking about their training. Cue all of the girls COMPLETELY underestimating Tanedra (despite the fact that she already beat all their asses) when she tells them she has no experience.

The next day the girls go to their first class with John Homa. Right off the bat he’s like, “Welcome to your first acting class, we’re gonna need it.” Like, true but also, rude. He gets out a tray of fruit and tells each girl to take a piece and eat it “as seductively as possible”. Cue several girls giving blowjobs to bananas and the rest basically dry humping the floor while they eat this damn fruit. Homa sighs like his instructions were SO CLEAR even though there weren’t any. He explains how he actually wants them to be subtle and seductive rather than outright sexy/slutty and has the girls sit in a chair while eating their fruit and being all cute and seductive. Great. Then he changes it up so the girls have been poisoned halfway through eating. Everyone does pretty well except Jo-Anne who very clearly buckles under the pressure. Back at the house, Sarah straight up tells the others that the class made her horny.

The following day a surprise picnic appears in the house but when the lid is taken off one of the dishes, a bunch of snakes come out because omg what a funny prank haha. There’s a note telling them where to meet Shawnee where she tells them their first “director’s challenge” (main challenge) is an adaptation of the bath scene from James Gunn’s movie Slither, and guess what, they gotta be naked! Or very nearly naked, at least. All of the girls get working on their scripts and discussing whether they’re going to go with nude underwear, pasties, or au naturale. Did you forget about Crazy Jessica? Well she has a FULL ON CRYING MELTDOWN about having to do a nude scene, complete with mocking the other girls just for talking about it. Like seriously this is day 2 and she’s FREAKING OUT. Sarah specifically says in her talking head, “Jessica is fucking psycho.”

They get to the director’s challenge, Sarah goes first and does really well, so the other girls are intimidated from the start. Jo-Anne once again buckles under the pressure, it’s like her spark literally goes away as soon as the cameras start rolling, it’s honestly baffling to watch. Tanedra and Michelle also do really well, although Michelle gets criticised by some of the others for her over acting. Kylah literally sounds like she’s in a cross between a pantomime and a musical and the other girls flat-out laugh at her behind the scenes. Finally it’s Jessica’s turn, and little miss freak out is just like BA-DING HERE ARE MY TITTIES. Like seriously, after all that, she goes buck naked. WTF. Her performance is still meh though.

Back at the house, Michelle is confident she won’t be on the list and that Kylah will be. Tanedra reads the list which “summons” Michelle, Jo-Anne, Kylah, Sarah, and Jessica to the “grand ballroom”. Cue Michelle’s FULL BLOWN TANTRUM because she was SO SURE she wasn’t going to be on the list and “THEY’RE GONNA THROW THIS FUCKING TALENT AWAY??” You seriously can barely hear her dialogue in this part because there is so much swearing getting bleeped out. Aside from this everyone generally agrees that Kylah should go home because she has no acting talent (lol) and that there’s no way Jo-Anne is going because they all love her.

The girls go to the grand ballroom and honestly if looks could kill, all three judges would be dead because Michelle is fucking letting them KNOW she’s pissed hahaha. They pull Michelle and Sarah forward together and tell them they were the top 2 (so much for your tantrum Michelle) with Sarah getting leading lady (winning the main challenge). Jessica gets pulled forward on her own and basically just gets read for being crazy and told to calm down. Kylah and Jo-Anne are last and are the bottom 2; Jo-Anne basically for shutting down and Kylah for just being shit. In a controversial decision, however, Jo-Anne gets the axe while Kylah lives another week.

Stay tuned for Season 1 Episode 2!

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fabricatedgeek · 4 years

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Holy shit y’all. 2020 turned into the “year without larp” for most of us. Safety of the players is more important than games continuing to run. So, like a lot of others, we resorted to discord. And trying to figure out how to run a typically in person larp... in a system that’s already super rules-light compared to the 300pg rulebooks of the other games in the area... it’s been a challenge. Especially because we didn’t want just D&D online.

But we managed! And our season finale is this weekend! We did it!

What does this have to do with anything? And why is there a random picture of an envelope covered in stickers and pearls on this post? LET ME EXPLAIN!

After having an incredibly stressful, and a very hectic nonstop day... there was an alarmingly loud and demanding knock on the door. Which resulted in Mr. Fabricatedgeek and I exchanging concerned glances as he went to the door and came back with... this.

We were confused. And given I had someone who was showing up uninvited at my house this time last year (after other frequent boundary crossing) it was MORE THAN A BIT STRESSFUL.

So we open it up, and what do we find? Two aged, charred pieces of paper with the most heartfelt thank you notes from one of our players on them (and more pearls and flowers and cuteness). Needless to say, we’re both flabbergasted. Tears were shed. And six months of swearing at discord, trying to make sure events were somehow manageable and still give the feel of being together on adventures and getting in over their heads and the excitement of combat... turns out, it was worth it.

#tldr: thank your gms #it's so hard not seeing anyone #and not knowing if all of this effort was worth it #stupid shit like this will make them cry #random #personal #larp #i still cant believe someone went through this amount of effort #just to tell me they thought i was scary #it was more than that #but that made me laugh #also i havent slept in two days so if this is worded nonsensically im super sorry

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vonlipvig · 3 years

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Survivor Winners at War Finale Recap

If I think too hard about the fact that I’m finally--after all these years--caught up with Survivor, I’m gonna start crying. Took a pandemic for it to happen, but hey! WatW Finale time!

And what better way to start the finale of the biggest season yet than by reminding us all that we’re in a fUCKING PANDEMIC! That’s right, babey, we’re in Probst’s garage and we got the gang on the Zoom call but we can’t have a reunion because we didn’t pay for Zoom premium so this shit’s gonna get cut off at 40 minutes.

LOOK AT EVERYONE IN THEIR STUPID LITTLE ZOOM SQUARES I’M SO MAD LMAO. Nah, I get why they really couldn’t have a reunion, it would be wayyyy to awkward and just so many things could go wrong if everyone’s relying on their wifi and such...but MAN, what if someone’s pet walked into the shot? WE GOT MEGA ROBBED.

(Also, ok. Who’s not wearing pants? Y’all can’t fool me, lmao. Also wait, do Rob and Amber own two of the same wall hangings? Sophie just said FUCK IT I’LL BE IN THE GARDEN, we stan).

ANYWAY BACK TO THE GAME.

But yeah, we start right with the comeback challenge, at which my friend and I were like “Ok, this is Natalie’s challenge to lose”...and yeah, she won!

DFJHSDKF SAVAGE.

But then again, it was pretty close! She really struggled in some parts because I’m sure the nerves and the pressure of having bought three advantages was really getting to her, but in the end, she got the ball puzzle thing and won her ticket back into the game (thank god it wasn’t Wendell or my mom would have teased me SO HARD).

And remember when this thing started, that I was actually rooting for Nat to win?...Well, yeah, not anymore, really. I just don’t want anyone from the Edge to win, be it Nat or anyone else. I did want her to come back, just...not win the whole thing. Especially Natalie, who was first out. It just...feels weird. I can forgive Chris King of the Edge in his season cause...they’re mostly new players and he did everything he could to be the most deserving person in the end (Like...Gavin or Julie? Nah, Chris won). But in an all winners season? Where so much stuff happened? It just wouldn’t be satisfying, at least for me.

BUT MOVING ON!

Nat starts saying that everyone on the Edge is like “Ooh, Tony’s gonna win! He’s so gonna win!” so she can, y’know...try to get the target off of her and also target the pERSON WHO’S PLAYED A GREAT GAME.

And then...I don’t know why Sarah is so convinced that Natalie doesn’t have an idol when she clearly does. I mean, we only see the edit so who knows...but daaaamn, that’s gonna be costly!

Challenge time, and it’s the “go on different stations to get puzzle pieces and then do the puzzle” one (Also, I just discovered challenges have names...which I will Not learn, whoops). The puzzle, turns out, is the one where they stack little cilinders and build a three tiered tower...the one Michele won in Kaoh Rong. The first thing my friend says is “Oh, Michele’s gonna win this one again cause she remembers”, and I’m like haha good one...

And then Michele does the puzzle faster than everyone and wins it.

KICK IT.

So Tony wants to vote for Denise, or at least split it Denise-Natalie in case Nat has an idol--SHE DOES--but I think Sarah and Ben are just...convinced she doesn’t. Still, the guys have idols for themselves, so...

In TC, Sarah gives a really good talk on gender biases and the double standards that women who play Survivor have to face--and of course in real life as well--, and I thought that was a very honest, very powerful thing (and yEAH maybe I was snapping my fingers along, she fucking SAID IT).

AND WE GET BIG ALLY BEN WITH HIS “we should respect women because they’re our mothers and daughters” I’M DKJDFHKDJ

he’s a little bit confused but he’s got the spirit alright, king of feminism let’s go (i’m obviously joking, his heart was very much in the right place, it just seemed like baby’s first feminism dfkjdfkj).

So they vote, and then IT’S IDOL TIME, BABEY. Nat plays it for herself--and Tony goes TOLD YOU SO--, then Tony plays his and Ben also plays his. The votes end up being for Ben and Nat, so no votes, so the four that are safe have to pick between Denise and Sarah, and if they tie, the girls go to a firemaking challenge.

In the end, everyone votes for Denise, which I guess yeah, cause Nat did want to work with Sarah, so yeah. Bye, Da Knees :(

At night, Tony makes a fucking pORTABLE FIRE TORCH to go look for the idol (and I bet he had the firefighter crew right behind him cause YOU’RE GONNA BURN DOWN FIJI OH GOD NO), but he can’t find it, and it’s Natalie that eventually finds the new idol!

Tony ends up winning the next immunity challenge (ok, challenge beast!), so you know what happens when he is safe...IT’S TONY TIME, IT’S SPY NEST TIME.

So Sarah goes with Nat to talk under the Spy Nest...and what the fuck Natalie has her idol in her buff around her wrist?

BRO I’M SO CONFUSED why would she not bury it somewhere safe wtf. So yeah, Sarah and Tony find out, and because they can’t split the votes, they have to decide who to vote for, either Nat or Michele, probably Michele since Nat would probably protect herself. And if they’re wrong, Ben’s out.

AND HERE’S WERE MAGIC HAPPENS. Ben...gives Sarah permission to vote for him. He tells her her speech moved him, and that that way nobody will be able to say that Tony dragged her to the end.

And holy shit.

And there’s plenty to say here about this. I think mostly this proves that Sarah is such a good player, especially when it comes to building genuine relationships. Like, this seems absolutely sincere, they really do seem like they’ve become friends, and to get someone to like you enough that they’ll give you permission to vote them off? That’s REALLY impressive.

Also I don’t think he “quit”, per se. I think it’s kinda like a “half-Ian”, for the Palau fans out here (me). He’s still gonna vote for Michele, Sarah’s still free to do whatever, the game is still on. But he’s saying “if this happens, hey I get it and I’ll still vote for you in the end cause I think you deserve it” and...wow, props to Sarah.

And in the end, that’s what happens, she does want to make a Move and she does vote for Ben. Wow.

Then it’s final challenge time, the “catch the balls one handed” one...and it’s Natalie that wins it! So...the Edge person is in the F3, interesting how this is gonna go.

Nat ends up picking Michele to go to FTC with her, and it’s up to Sarah and Tony to battle it out in the firemaking challenge. And OH MY GOD THIS WAS TENSE AS HELL. I confess I did want Tony and Sarah in F3, I think that would have been so epic...but it just felt right somehow for them to battle here. AND GOD I HAD NO IDEA WHAT HAS HAPPENING, ONE MOMENT SARAH WAS WINNING, THE OTHER HER FLAME WAS OUT AND THEN TONY WINS.

Hey, they might be cops irl but they are such a legendary duo in Survivor, I definitely got a bit choked up here. What a moment.

Aaaaaand here’s the moment my friend and I went “Yeah, Tony’s got this”. My friend was saying “Natalie should have done a Chris and go up to Tony herself”, and...yeah, yeah maybe. Or maybe Michele could have beaten Tony? It did seem so from the edit, but I bet Nat didn’t wanna go with both Tony AND Sarah so she picked Michele. Either way...yeah.

Granted, Nat had been with all the Edge people for so long, plus she did play the complete opposite of Tony’s game...but to my eyes, it was kind of clear Tony was gonna win.

...and win he did!

(Can I just say that this was so awkward? sdfkjhdsk I was doing the cheering noices because it was so weird without the live audience lmao).

But yeah, oh my god what a season! I’m actually super happy that Tony won, because HE 100% DESERVED IT HOLY SHIT. He played such a good game and he managed to tone it down at first so they wouldn’t go after him but then went FULL TONY and STILL managed to avoid votes and DAMN! (Also, I’m happy an Edge person didn’t win. Can we retire EoE/RI now, please?)

And as they say...that was that. It is still so surreal that I’ve watched all of Survivor (Ok, there’s still Int. Survivor, but STILL). It was such a rollercoaster, and being able to enjoy this last season with my friend (WHO WAITED FOR SO LONG FOR ME TO CATCH UP OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU) was an amazing moment that I’ll cherish forever.

Now to watch the Ponderosa vids!

#juli watches survivor #survivor winners at war lb #IM EMOTIONAL DONT TALK TO ME #i finished all of survivor...........im SAD but also so HAPPY #i'll watch the ponderosa vids soon i wanna see them goofing around #also i wanna know what happened to sophie! was she ill?

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mystery-salad · 4 years

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Reposting this since legit somehow Zero of the tags or bolding carried through holy shit

30 questions: GW2 edition I was tagged by @where-is-caithe and @just-eyris-things

This can be done in many different ways: get asks by your followers, pick some questions for yourself, answer the whole damn thing at once, etc! You can draw, write (to explain in details or not) or just post screenshots! If you miss one it’s totally okay, whether it’s by lack of answer or time. Have fun!

1. Favorite living world season?

As much as some of the fights feel really badly balanced, I enjoy LS2 for the close knit new family feel. The whole little group is still figuring their dynamics out and finding their independence, and it’s a real good found family sorta feel as you Go Through A Lot.

2. Favorite expansion?

Heart of Thorns holds a special place in my heart (lol) just for being the first new story since I’d started playing. It’s got many flaws looking back, but nothing has actually hit me harder since. Maybe because anet overuses the punch of tragedy and death an I’m numb to their attempt to low blow us after several years *shrugs*

3. Favorite soundtrack?

The music in Caledon forest was my first step into gw2, and it will forever hold the top spot for me, alongside the original character select screen music.

4. First profession you played?

Ranger! Still one of my absolute favorites.

5. First race you played?

Sylvari, go figure

6. Favorite Destiny’s Edge character?

It’s a tough choice for me! Eir and Caithe rank highest though due to their unconventional character arcs for women. They’ve both got a lot of nuance and challenges and I respect that.

7. Favorite Dragon’s Watch character?

Again gotta pick two, Braham and Rox have a unique feel too and are amazing foils to each other’s characters. I’d like to see more of them together again.

8. Favorite Elder Dragon?

I love the potential held in Bubbles. Deep sea dragon, whose awakening scared even the krait off? Give me those deep sea horrors.

9. Best boss fight (story)?

I honestly really love the final fight against Zhaitan. It really managed to encapsulate the feeling of fighting a larger than life powerful enemy with an army at your back. No big fight since for me has had the same grandeur to it. We did a lot of fighting dragons in “smaller” ways or with “smaller” teams that just feel more...compact, ya know? I want that grandeur back.

10. Best boss fight (fractal)?

Jade maw is fucking wild! And it’s not the boss of its fractal but the giant living statue.

11. Best boss fight (raid)?

Never been in one, would love to one day when I’m in a guild who does them when I’m awake...

12. PvE or PvP or RP?

PvE by far, and RP is fun when you can find the right people.

13. Favorite canon couple?

In one map, there’s a seraph soldier and a bandit having a secret date. They’re so fucking extra and sappy and unnecessary and I love fining them and reading their cheesy star-crossed dialogue.

14. Favorite fanon/self made couple?

With another player, my favorite currently is Matthias with @ascalonianpicnic‘s Aildyn. The two have a very good dynamic.

Solo, I really love my new commander, Kai, with Caithe. I’ve built up a back-an forth for the two that I’m a lot more compelled by than I thought I’d be! I’m excited to share more on these two.

15. Favorite quote?

“sneaky mode engaged”

16. Most emotional cinematic?

The end of Heart of Thorns. A victory, a tragedy, and a clear sign that it’s set off another disaster just by you winning. There’s so many layers to that *boom*

17. Favorite VA?

I’m so bad at naming VAs but whoever voiced the asura female MC knows what she’s about

18. Post a fun screenshot!

Still love this one~

19. Post a landscape screenshot!

20. Most used mount(s)?

I spend most time on raptor still, followed by griffon!

21. Favorite mount skin (for every mount you have)?

Raptor: crested plainsrunner

Springer: kourna jackrabbit

Skimmer: river mothwing

Jackal: lucent sands

Griffon: clouded corvus

Roller Beetle: deep desert scarab

Warclaw: vigilant saberclaw

Skyscale: axejaw skyscale

22. Favorite weapon?

Longbow is my favorite kind of weapon, I like it on every single class that uses it. Favorite overall weapon? Idk man too many to pick from at this point.

23. Favorite gear set?

I’m always a sucker for the sunspear armors

24. Favorite title?

Killer Queen

25. Something you worked really hard to get?

Astralarias is my only legendary so far and it’s pretty rad. Really like Mawdrey too.

26. Favorite GW2 Youtuber / GW2 related video?

Daelin Dwin

27. Most used miniature?

Mini Quail!!! The feather bouncing on the head is an adorable little feature.

28. Most used novelty?

Embiggening tonic!

29. Number of achievments points?

Little over 18,000 now

30. Something you’d love to see in GW2?

Norns getting the same revamp humans got on african american faces and hairs since they’re also based on humans :) Where is it anet? Where’s the fairness? And asura and charr both have some afro-inspired hairs that need better textures now. When anet.

I tag anyone who hasn’t done this yet! Idk who has or hasn’t been tagged in these couple of weeks, but if you haven’t done this yet I’d love to see it via tag 💕

#ask memes

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whitleyschn33 · 4 years

Note

What if Whitley is secretly just a fusion of Allister and Bede from Pokémon sword and shield? XD on a more serious note what if Whitley had a froslass that his mother gave him?

Are you a psychic?

Because a couple days before I got this ask (which was weeks ago, I know, and I’m very sorry, things have been insane), I started a new Nuzlocke run of Pokemon Shield, and for kicks and giggles because of the “Whitley the Pokemon Trainer” stuff that’s been going around, I made my avatar Whitley, and of course started trying to figure out how a RWBY/Shield AU would work out.

I realized halfway through my plotting that Whitley honestly does fit Bede more than who I cast him as, but a) I wanted him to start at the same place the player does, and b) it’s my AU, so who cares?

Whitley is the younger brother of the current champion, Weiss Schnee, who became champion 2/3 years ago after leaving home to complete the Gym Challenge. Winter, the eldest Schnee sister, left home nearly a decade ago, and wound up as Galar’s Ice Gym Leader. Whitley has remained behind with their mother in their estate outside Postwick.

Willow is neglectful, an alcoholic that spends more time than not drunk in her rooms. Jacques, an abusive jackass and also a business partner of Chairwoman Salem, usually works from home, but during the lead-up and during challenge season, moves to an apartment in Wyndon to focus on the extra work sent his way. This is Whitley’s favorite time of the year, as it gives him the most freedom to leave the estate and go into the nearby towns of Postwick and Wedgehurst.

Oscar Pine and Ruby Rose are the closest things to friends Whitley has, who he visits when he gets the chance to escape his house.

Oscar is Ruby’s cousin - her mother, Summer Rose, is Oscar’s aunt, who Oscar came to live with after his parents were killed in a freak train accident when he was fairly young. Oscar helps Summer with the Budew and Wooloo they breed, farming flowers and wool and selling both in Wedgehurst.

Ruby is the granddaughter of noted Pokemon Professor, Professor Ozpin, and currently works as his assistant while she tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Ruby was one of the four rookie challengers that made it into the finals of the Gym Challenge season that saw Weiss become champion, despite being two years younger, but lost against her sister in an early bracket.

Ruby’s half-sister Yang is Galar’s Fighting Gym Leader, taking the role on after making it fairly far in the finals of the gym challenge.

Whitley and Oscar often hang around the Pokemon Lab with Ruby, taking advantage of all the interesting tech and books, as well as the comforting atmosphere. Professor Ozpin works from home a majority of the time, but comes by often enough to recognize Whitley as his grandchildren’s friend and pick up enough hints about his home life.

Close to the beginning of the new Gym Challenge season (called GCS from here on out), Ozpin invites the three of them to his home on Route 2, Ruby guiding them with her Yamper Zwei for protection.

Once there, Ozpin offers to sponsor both Oscar and Whitley in this year’s GCS, and give both of them a starting Pokemon. Oscar’s thrilled, having wanted to venture out into Galar for a while now to learn more, but Whitley is far less so, hesitant to leave his mother alone and terrified of his father’s reaction if/when he found out.

Ozpin assures him there’s no pressure - the Pokemon is his regardless of whether or not he chooses to take on the challenge, so he should just focus on getting to know his chosen Pokemon before deciding.

Oscar lets him go first, since this will be Whitley’s first Pokemon, while he’s had his own Wooloo before.

Whitley considers the Sobble for the matching aesthetics, but realizes he’s probably isn’t patient enough to deal with the constant crying. He settles for Grookey, having at least had a bit of experience with grass-types from visiting Oscar’s Budews. Oscar takes the Sobble.

A small barbecue/party is held at Ozpin’s place, then everyone heads back to Postwick. Whitley takes the Grookey home, and despite being perpetually drunk or hungover, even Willow can’t miss her son bringing home a Pokemon. Reluctantly, Whitley tells her about the professor’s offer, and Willow goes quiet, wandering off to think and leaving Whitley to bond with his Grookey. (In my playthrough, I got a female Grookey I named Rhya - what do you all think Whitley would name his?)

Nearly a week later, the night before Whitley’s heading out to give his answer to the professor, Willow comes to him to give him her blessing and supplies - a mix of her own, Winter’s, and Weiss’ - in the form of a map, money, a hat, a Bag (a case that acts like a Box, but for items rather than Pokemon), camping supplies, etc. Whitley’s understandably shocked by all this, and it certainly throws him for a loop on what he’s going to do next.

The next morning, Oscar, Ruby, and he head over to Ozpin’s place. At Ozpin’s request, he and Oscar have a battle that Whitley manages to win. Hopped up on that and spurred on by his mother’s blessing (and some not-so-subtle comments on wanting/needing a rival from Oscar), he accepts the recommendation, agreeing to accompany Oscar as they attempt the GC.

Whitley returns home briefly to pack and say goodbye to his mother, and gets one final gift - an Egg his mother found a while back, presumably from her Froslass and a random Pokemon that had been passing through the Slumbering Weald. (For your headcanon, anon~)

What happens next... would require me finishing my playthrough, and honestly a Nuzlocke probably isn’t the best way to determine what Pokemon Whitley would choose. I may go through again as a non-Nuzlocke, looking at what Pokemon are available that I think would suit Whitley and try to make a team for him. I’ve got plenty of time now.

Miscellaneous

Gym Leaders:

Milo is replaced with Taiyang, who, when not involved with the GCS, focuses on teaching new trainers, recommending the best of the crop to the Gym Challenge.

Nessa is replaced with Ren - a calm trainer whose Pokemon can flow like water around obstacles, or slam into opponents like a wave.

Kabu is replaced with Qrow - a trainer from an older generation trying to improve himself.

Allister is replaced with Neo - a silent Trainer that can disappear seemingly without a trace, known for her Pokemon’s ability to seemingly dodge any hit.

Opal is replaced by Maria - an older woman that seems to have secrets, searching for an apprentice to soon become the new Fairy Gym Leader. Upon meeting Ruby, who shows up to cheer on Oscar and Whitley at their matches, drags her off to convince her to be the next Fairy Gym Leader, muttering something about “having the eyes for it.”

Like said above, Melony is replaced by Winter, who got the job nearly a decade ago. Known for her powerful attacks and well-disciplined Pokemon, even her multiple type disadvantages don’t seem to turn the tides.

Piers is replaced with Blake - a Trainer specializing in dark types that refuses to use Dynamax, concerned about the effects it may have on the Pokemon that use it constantly. She made it to the finals of the GC, but ultimately fell near the end.

Raihan is replaced by Pyrrha - the near-unbeatable crown jewel of the Gym Challenge, the last obstacle before the finals, and the reason so few challengers make it to them. A prodigy of a trainer that took the position at 14, and has come extremely close to dethroning Weiss multiple times during her reign as champion

Others

Jaune is a Normal-type Gym Leader that just took over this year.

Nora is the Electric Gym Leader, nicknamed “the Hammer” for her tendency to oneshot opposing Pokemon with powerful Thunderbolts and Discharges.

Sun takes Marnie’s place - not Blake’s sibling, but someone that cares for her deeply, and does his best to help spread word of her cause by fighting in the Gym Challenge without Dynamax like she did.

Chairman Rose is replaced by Salem - rather than trying to solve the potential energy crisis, she simply wants to destroy the world and remake it in her own image. Cinder replaces Oleana, pulling the strings to set everything in place for Salem’s plan.

Emerald and Mercury are Bede’s substitutes - kids Salem and Cinder fund on the off-chance of being useful for dirty work.

Team Yell does not exist.

And holy shit, this has gotten long, so I’m gonna stop here before I start just flat out writing fanfiction.

But, uh.... yeah, I can very much see Whitley being a part of the Galar region! A Froslass would be a good aesthetic addition to his team - perhaps a companion rather than a competitive Pokemon, since they have so many type weaknesses.

Thank you for this ask! I thoroughly enjoyed my excuse to ramble about an AU that’s been knocking around my head for a while (and can probably be prodded into doing so again).

Have a wonderful day/evening, and stay safe!

#whitley schnee #rwby #pokemon #rwby pokemon au #galar #oscar pine #ruby rose #ask reply #fanfiction

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thisyearingaming · 4 years

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1997 - This Year in Gaming

Muggins here was born in ‘97, and can’t really remember much of it, natch. But there were some good things released this year - I’ve played every one of these, and have missed so many more.

Diablo - Windows, January 3rd

We start with dungeon-crawl-em-up and well-loved out of season April Fool’s Joke, Diablo. I’ll be totally honest - I don’t like Diablo that much. It’s absolutely fine, I just can’t get into it. The writing, setting and characters are all very good especially since this year only marks the beginning of games being seen as a bit more adult and intelligent. Check out this gameplay from Hour of Oblivion on YouTube, and marvel at the faux-Scottish accent on Griswold the blacksmith.

youtube

Mario Kart 64 - Nintendo 64, February 10th

Compared to its more recent versions, Mario Kart 64 is a veritable bloody relic of the past - solid controls and a quirky style mean it’s still a crowd pleaser to this day, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone right now that would die on the hill of it being their favourite single-player racing experience. It’s also got some of the deepest, impenetrable lore in any medium known to the human race - why exactly is Marty the Thwomp locked up here?

Blast Corps - Nintendo 64, February 28th

February’s position as most boring month of the year is shaken up a bit by having a uniquely designed Rare game slammed into its 28-day long face. Blast Corps is the puzzle-action game where you take control of several vehicles to destroy homes and buildings in order to prevent a nuclear warhead exploding in the coolest incarnation of Cold War politicking ever seen in a video game. Calling Blast Corps a “hidden gem” these days is like calling Celeste a hidden gem - it impresses nobody and makes you look like a dick.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Nintendo 64, March 4th

The N64 was home to a surprisingly large number of above-average shooters despite its muddy graphics and small cartridge space - Turok is one of these, a great FPS game where you shoot the SHIT out of dinosaurs. Brett Atwood of Billboard said it was like Doom and Tomb Raider mixed - Doom Raider, if you will. I say it isn’t - there’s no demons, and there’s no polygonal breasts to poke dinosaurs’ eyes out with!

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

What is a retrospective? A miserable little pile of opinions. I’ve only recently played through SotN for the very first time on a TOTALLY LEGITIMATE copy with a CRT filter. Bloody good (geddit?) game, that takes the repetition of its predecessors, improves on it in basically every conceivable way, and combines it with special effects and graphics that even 23 years later had me going “ooh, that looks quite good!” Symphony’s music and audio design are wonderfully paired with a deeply enjoyable experience that’ll have you saying “mm, maybe just one more room?”

Tekken 3 - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

Also releasing from the Land of the Rising Sun that day was Tekken 3, which many believe is still one of the best fighters ever made. Tekken 3′s combat is so fast and responsive that it’s better than some games made today. T3 is also the best and easiest way to knock seven shades of absolute shite out of your friends without risking a massive head injury or a trip to the headmaster’s office... where you could also challenge him, but only if he plays as my favourite Not-Guile-or-Ken character in gaming, Paul.

Sonic Jam - Sega Saturn, June 20th

The moment Sega realised that re-packaging old Mega Drive games would net them serious cash - although unlike later collections, this is a strictly Sonic affair, and has a neat little 3D world to run around in as a sort of hub world. Sonic X-Treme proved that Sonic Team would have to work hard at getting the fastest thing alive into 3D space properly: Jam is the sort of test ground for it too. It features some genuinely good emulation work for 1997, although it’s basically the gaming equivalent of going round to your grandparents at Christmas only for them to give you the exact same gifts you got in 1991, 1992 and 1994 but wrapped in a bow to make you think it’s different. What are you lookin’ at, you little blue devil?

Star Fox 64 - Nintendo 64, June 30th

So there’s this German company, right, called StarVox. Nintendo look at Europe and say “shit, we don’t want another lawsuit... after all, we’ve done three this year!”. So they give us in the PAL region the exciting title of Lylat Wars which as far as I know means absolutely fucking nothing in the context of the game. They’re still called Star Fox in-game too so what was the point? Anyway, fun 3D shooter with graphics that’ll make you do a barrel roll off the sofa and onto the power button to make the brown and green blurs a little easier on the eyes. Hello 2007, I’ve come back to make old references with you!

Carmageddon - Windows, July 30th

The game so scary it was BANNED in the UK! More like the game so fucking shit it was banned. Carmageddon is so deeply boring to play on PC that I can only imagine that Stainless Games made it tasteless by 90s standards simply to ramp up demand - much like another game we’ll be covering soon.

Herc’s Adventures - Sony PlayStation, July 31st

“And they said Kratos was the best hero? Shish... they got it wrong, sister! Hercules is clearly better... he even has a coconut weapon.” A surprisingly fun overhead action game that most people only know for... well, I’ll just embed it.

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Mega Man X4 - Sony Playstation, August 1st

A few years ago I tried playing every Mega Man game there is - I gave up at X3 because I was getting bored. Even still, Mega Man bores me - but at least the level design is good. Stay away from the Windows port. Pictured: me in the background yawning.

GoldenEye 007 - Nintendo 64, August 25th

The name’s Intro. Overused intro which I also managed to fuck up twice through the deeply editable medium of text. GoldenEye is like the Seinfeld of console shooters - playing it nowadays you’re unlikely to be amazed but holy shit there’s some absolute greatness in this game. Every sound and every piece of music in GoldenEye is permanently seared into my brain - sometimes I’ll just hear Facility or Frigate in my head alongside the door opening sound and the gentle PEW of the PP7. I mean come on, fucking listen to this and tell me Grant Kirkhope isn’t cool as all hell.

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LEGO Island - Windows, September 26th

The first open world experience I ever had was LEGO Island. It’s still quite good today, utterly deranged animation from the likes of the Infomaniac and Brickster - a cautionary tale for children that giving pizza to high-profile criminals is disastrous for the human LEGO race.

Fallout - Windows, October 10th

War never changes, but franchises do. Fallout’s legendary status in the industry is exemplified in how different it feels. Yes, we had the game Wasteland nine years prior, but until September 97 there was nothing quite like Fallout. From the chilling introduction sequence showing the ruins of the United States to the tragic ending, Fallout is an exercise in pure human misery with the brightest spots of hope it can possibly muster thrown in for good measure. What begins as a tedious isometric point-and-click RPG ends as a minigun-wielding power fantasy, before your entire worth is stripped from you at the finish line. You have 500 days to find a water chip before it’s too late, but you’re constantly being fought by terrifying Super Mutants, irradiated animals, and the biggest monster of all - humanity. See what I did there? If anything, humanity in Fallout’s setting would be the greatest unifying force possible against the horror of the outside world. But how is it? It’s dull, it’s sluggish, and it’s really hard to get into even if you’re already a fan - but push through that and it’s worthwhile to see exactly how far the series got before Todd Howard said “eh fuck it” and had the whole thing dipped into an FEV vat.

Grand Theft Auto - Sony PlayStation, October 21st

To put it simply, the first in the GTA series is now nothing but a novelty. It has an irritating camera, wonky controls, poor graphics and deeply repetitive gameplay. But thank fuck it exists, because without it the Rockstar story may have been very different indeed. It’s quintessential cops and robbers gameplay, spanning across Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas in one game, but with maps so far removed from their modern incarnations they may as well be named “Not New York, Possibly Bristol and Orange Town”. People really fucking hated Hare Krishnas in the 20th Century, didn’t they?

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - Sony PlayStation, October 31

A hard one to talk about, honestly - it’s more Crash and better than the first one. It looks great, and Crash controls so well compared to his first outing. It’ll also keep you playing for 100%, fiendishly addictive and unashamedly difficult. Had a weird cover that moved with your head.

PaRappa the Rapper - Sony PlayStation, November 17th

Type type type the words into the box! (Type, type, type - uh oh - the box?)

PaRappa is a gorgeously stylised rhythm game about rapping to steal the heart of the girl of your dreams - which involves learning karate, getting your driver’s license, selling bottle caps and frogs, making a cake, desperately trying not to shit yourself, and finally performing live on stage. Every one of its segments is so well-produced that they’d genuinely sell like ghost cookies in this era of shite rap. Notable for producing the greatest Jay-Z backing track ever made.

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Sonic R - Sega Saturn, November 18th

Sonic R is absolutely FINE with vibrant textures, interesting levels, neat gimmicks and decent controls. But I’m gonna talk about its fucking AWESOME soundtrack by Richard Jacques and T.J. Davis, an eclectic mix of Europop and New Jack Swing - even thinking about it is bringing tears of absolute joy to my eyes hearing Super Sonic Racing in my head. You’ve got the main theme, Living in the City, Can You Feel the Sunshine, Back in Time, Diamond in the Sky, Work It Out and Number One - all of these are absolute club bangers and genuinely wouldn’t be out of place in a 90s disco.

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Tomb Raider II - Sony PlayStation, November 18th

Lara Croft returns to single-handedly endanger every species on Earth. TR2 is really good, the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of the first game expanded upon here and the gunplay remaining just as punchy. Lara’s got a fully-functioning ponytail which absolutely boggles the fucking mind - a lot of work went into Lara’s hair for the 2013 reboot, so I can’t imagine the amount of man hours it took to get fluid(ish, come on, it’s the PS1 we’re talking about) hair movements in 1997.

And really, that’s all I played from 1997. I’ve left out big hitters like Quake II, Gran Turismo and Diddy Kong Racing, but I simply haven’t formed an opinion on them yet. Maybe in a future post.

Thanks for reading.

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gelo-p · 4 years

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Cycling Seasons, Fresh Skies: Memories

I knew from a long time ago that if I’d ever go for a T10, this would be it. When the event was finally getting closer, early estimates told me I was 900 flames short; I’d have to buy stars for this event.

(WARNING: A rather image-heavy post)

Perhaps the moment I honestly considered T10 instead of settling for T100.

Definitely the moment I knew there was no turning back. :)))

Believe me, this was not the only purchase I made for this event.

I needed a better Challenge Live team, so I knew getting a 4* Happy Ran is required, to complete my Happy Afterglow team. I’ve never gotten any 4* Ran before, so thank god the 4* Exchange Ticket had the perfect timing.

“WAIT. YOU WERE USING A HAPPY TEAM ALL THIS TIME???”

Yep. ^^ Well, my Multi Live team was Powerful Afterglow-based, but had only 2 4-stars, sooo I knew it wouldn’t cut it.

There she is <3

I’ve always stopped at Skill Level 4, but I really had to pull out all the stops. Ran is my first Skill Level 5 member. ^^ (everyone in my CL team also received the level 5 upgrade)

Alright, let’s do this! Hey Hey Hoh~!

The event has finally begun! I initially found it amusing seeing all sorts of titles being shown off. This one in particular stood out to me. XD

(Looking back, that Sinz person would later turn out to be a serious T10 contender. I think they changed their name to Pyokun after some time)

Here’s a screenshot of a rare T5 GeLö-P. I really wanted to share this with you guys, but I figured I’d jinx myself by revealing publicly what I was trying to do. :>

(I will doubt the existence of God Almighty, but believe in being jinxed. Life is weird sometimes.)

Well, that’s the Grand Room for ya’. Meta songs all the way~

How do you even react to that?

With this. :)))

NEXT YOU’LL SAY FUEEEEE

Home Street...

Home Street.......

HEY HEY HOH~!

The moment I ran out of large energy drinks, and had to start spending stars. </3 Small energy drinks were still reserved for moments I can afford to wait out the 30-minute refill timer.

The 5 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

My first time doing the “recover waaaaay more than 10 flames” thing

Huhehe huhehe huhehe...

I too would like some of those Afterglow pins. T_T

Baby Shak my as-

Aaaand we have a dodger, ladies and gentlemen. XD

I think this guy needs to be banned.

Home Street? Pssh, that was so yesterday. Jumpin’ is the shit now.

Ganbatte, P5.

Himari~

My 2nd encounter with Ghostkillers (who later become T12..?). He chose Senbonzakura the first time, so when he did it again, I thought I’d save it for posterity. ^^

The “I too would like to live dangerously” gang 8-)

The first time I switched away from my dua T100 titles. I figured I’d stop trying to “scare” the competition.

First time tracking T10 scores. This would later prove to be very useful in seeing if my projection will hold (although I shifted to tracking T3 - T12).

Taking a break, so I watched ads for free flames. :)))))

Moca, Ran, GeLö-P, and a weird name. Huh. Okay.

Kyu~Mai * Flower was released! Played this one on Hard.

...this one I played on Expert...

...and thank fuck I got it first try, because oh boy I’m not playing that beat map again. >_<

“Ban me if you can” ?? Why??

Aaaaand this motherfucker right here was cheating and inflating his score. I personally reported him to the game admins over on twitter, and they’ve informed me that they were already aware of this idiot. Saw him just once more after this.

Yes. That’s 91 million, 798 thousand, 346.

I actually encountered them once before this, but didn’t notice anything off about their score (was already dazed at that time). And then a discussion started over at reddit, so when I met him again, I took screenshots.

Ganbatte :))

Had time for a quick hey hey hoh spam ^^

Which day was this..? Anyway I came up with my brilliant pun. Read the comment, see if you can figure it out. :3

MocaRan and YukiLisa. Sigh. I don’t think we can be friends, P5.

:)))

Told you, Ghostkillers only pick Senbonzakura XD

Tomoe’s Birthday! ^^

Even the game won’t let you have a GF, P5. XD

HEATHCLIFF STOP PICKING BABY SHARK

(almost sure they’re famous in the competitive scene... I don’t know them tho LOL)

I woke up one morning to find there was no internet.

FUCK ME

I knew mobile data was going to result to multiple disconnects, but thank fuck I had lots of challenge points to spare. I passed the time productively, and by the time I was done, internet was back. Whew.

Rank update: currently T8. ^^

More of Ghostkillers x Senbonzakura and JFC that name tho P2

Shitpost comment XD

First time seeing 2 other T10 contenders in the same room: Itsuki and Ghostkillers.

Probably the point where I started spamming Tokimeki Poporon instead of Home Street.

Also there’s a looot of interesting names in Bandori.

As a YukiRan / MocaLisa shipper (well more of SayoLisa nowadays), it is my job to destroy players 1, 3, and 5. >:(

Wallet: IT’S NOT POSSIBLE

Me: NO, IT’S NECESSARY

...aaaaaand I immediately threw away 10k stars hoping for Megane Ran, but got shit. (This would later force me to make 2 more purchases XD Seriously though, I could have saved a lot of money with a better star purchase plan)

I got Loli Rinko tho. <3

Which day was this...? I think this was the moment I knew Ghostkillers has given up. I was laughing my ass off reading the comments. I think everyone of us was half-dead at this point. XD

And so we’re down to the final 11.

I’ve started considering the possibility at this point that I might be the final one to bow out.

OMG I CAN’T SEE PLAYER 2

BUSHIDO~!

I was feeling the despair at this point, and thus started singing Komm Susser Tod

I do mini-sprints in the morning, so I’m T6 here. I usually fall back down to ~T9 in the afternoon.

I usually level up once per event. I started this event from Rank 193. :)))

(well it was technically 192, but I was like 2 games away from leveling up)

There are no experts in this room :v

Jumpin = NO FEVER, but picks meta song anyway. Okay. :v

Hey! All Random!

Game: DID SOMEONE ASK FOR A META SONG

I have a lot of friend requests at this point (probably from people seeing me on the T10 list), but I don’t have enough space to accept them all :((

Bread-themed profile!

Poppin’ Party, Puff n’ Pastry... get it?

Itsuki started spamming BOF at this point.

Doki doki~

HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME~ ♪ ♫

P1 is an IRL friend :))) I’d later tease her about how slow she is picking songs LOL

Some Initial D reference for overtaking :P Of course I was badly falling behind at this point (T9 is hella dangerous), but I had no choice but to continue to believe in the math (and that early overtaking is a bad choice).

“Early moves lets your opponents recover from mental shock.” - Ryosuke Takahashi, Initial D 3rd Stage

No seriously, that’s exactly what I was thinking of. And also “Not yet, not yet, now” from Ford v Ferrari.

P1 & P5 get married already...

FINAL NIGHT.

I’m down to T11, and everybody else already did 2.3M-sprints some hours earlier, and have considerably slowed down.

I, on the other, was about to go to sleep. Yes, I, the current T11, was about to let the others pull away. All I could do was believe in the Math at that point, because let me tell you-

I had 105k challenge points left. That’s 3.4M event points I had yet to sprint.

This was during the final morning, 9 hours before event ended. When I woke up that morning, my heart was pounding like crazy. What if everybody has pulled ahead?

When I finally checked, most of the T10′s were still in the 17M-range. Itsuki was on T10, and he was only 500k away. I knew at that point that my chances were pretty good; however, I shut up about it, set my comment to “Now Playing: Running in the 90′s”, and got to work.

There was nothing else I could to but consume all the CP I had left. No more tracking. A literal 5-hour non-stop sprint to 19.2M points. If they can still catch up even after they’ve already expended their CP yesterday, then maybe I don’t deserve this T10 after all.

All I need to do was beat one of them. It was me or them.

Holy shi-

I wasn’t out of the woods yet, had to make sure at least one of them didn’t overtake me. Of course that was more up to them, since I didn’t have any strength left (my thumb stopped working at that point, no seriously, it’s still not working properly even today). I also didn’t have any significant stars left.

I managed to sneak in a few songs, but that was it. I was done. The others managed to close the gap, but I stayed in T6.

And then the event was over.

I fucking did it.

------

I would later learn that this was the bloodiest (Challenge Live) event in the history of ENdori. In one redditor’s words, I “ ...sure picked a hell of a time to go for it.”

I had no choice. This is Megane Ran we’re talking about. <3

I had some idea tbh, because I managed to read a tweet in the middle of the event, that “this was one lit T10″. Apparently we were on track to beat the previous record-holder, which was Sayo’s Umbrella event.

I’m... really glad to have been part of this event. I feel so darn proud of myself. >:3

But I couldn’t have done it without the help of the Grand Room. Seriously, I only played in the Grand Room.

Remember this?

I don’t have (competitive) friends. :))) So thank you, all. *bow*

I’d like to thank IRL-friend otearaisu over at twitter for putting up with my excessive score projection updates. XD I have a really detailed excel sheet to check if I was on track or not, and whenever there were developments, I’d always tell him about it, even in the dead of the night. XD

------

Would I ever do this again? Probably not. This was the only event that I knew I really wanted to go for, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Maybe I’ll get a couple of T100′s in the future, but that’s it. ^^

See you in the lobby~

#bandori #bang dream #cycling seasons fresh skies #garupa #event

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veridium · 4 years

Text

playing god

merry christmas and happy holidays to all! to celebrate, here’s a chapter of day & age! and in the spirit of the season, it’s (mostly) fluffy and sweet. you know I can never just deal out 100% sugar.

anyways, on with the show! CHAPTER 40 HOLY SHIT!

last chapter // masterpost

It’s cold.

It’s cold, and it’s 7pm on a Friday night, and...it’s cold. The bars downtown have yet to get lively. While Greek Row has been pumping music out since 4pm, they won’t get the cops called until much later. None of this matters currently; what does are two things: midterms, and finding out if Cassandra is still alive.

As the week progresses, Cass becomes harder to contact and even harder to see around. Olivia can understand the need to be reclusive -- she is, after all, Queen of her dorm cave when it comes to Finals. But as the weekend nears, Olivia goes through classes trying not to panic like a lovestruck guppy fish. It takes bumping into Ellinor, who helpfully tells her that the “final match” actually refers to the one they’re playing next week, and not some far-away and obscure phenomenon. Only then does it all make sense.

“You’re a dumbass,” Ellinor laughed when she realized Olivia had no clue.

“I am...oh God, I am,” she said through her hands.

But that was a hours ago. Now is now, and she’s walking with her bag and three layers of sweaters and a jacket down to the practice field. As she gets closer she glances at the parking lot on the other side to see the gleam a couple cars still parked. The lights are blaring over the green turf, and as she rounds the long aisle of bleachers, she sees one person is still using them.

On the far side, Cassandra, dressed in shorts and a long-sleeve under-armor shirt beneath a jersey tank, is pacing. Just ahead of her are three balls equally spaced apart, likely meant for the huge net thing. Goal? It was a goal. Damn, if midterms and upcoming finals weren’t swamping her brain, she would sit down and learn all this once and for all. Walking through the gate, she starts going through all the facts she does recall from all their conversations:

1). The net thing is a “goal.”

2). The ball really hurts when it hits you.

3). Cassandra looks really hot when she’s working out and I am too bisexual for public exposure.

Okay, the third fact was more of a habitual lapse in sense as Cassandra puts her hands to her hips and turns around. She locks eyes with her immediately, as if she has a sixth sense for intruders and this, this is her field. Her domain. Her plane of complete and utter control.

Olivia slows down and smiles, no matter the distance between them, she it travels. When Cassandra grins, her wish comes true.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Cassandra calls out.

Olivia quickens her pace, her backpack slipping down from her shoulder into her hand. When she huffs air out her mouth it turns into a huge plume of steam that cakes her face. Not until she’s about 3-4 yards away does she answer.

“I needed a new study space. The coffee shop was getting too crowded.”

Cassandra’s brow furrows with skepticism. Her breath steams the air, too, as she crosses a white chalk line in the grass. “Really?”

“Yeah. And the library, forget it,” she shakes her head. “Couldn’t find a spot unless it involves sitting on a guy named Ben.”

“No mere mortal named Ben deserves that honor.”

Butterflies, and Olivia looks away toward the balls and the net behind her. “I mean...yeah. Probably. But…”

“You know there’s no plug-ins here?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Cassandra starts slowly walking again, closer and closer. “And no baristas to give you an extra shot of espresso.”

“Didn’t think so.”

Closer, and closer still. “And the wifi has to be shit.”

“...Oh, fuck.” Her smile wanes. “That’s...that’s true...shit, I--”

The sound of Cassandra’s chuckle and the feel of her hands sliding around her sides sends whatever Olivia was going to say out into the void. She drops her bag, and without another teasing word, Cassandra kisses her. A kiss that warms better than any coffee of fire. The kind after too much time apart, no matter that it was only a day.

Olivia has slid onto her toes by the time she pulls away, biting her lip as now both their clouds of exhaled steam plume around them both.

“And here I thought you’d be too focused to give me the time of day,” she whispers, biting back a smile.

Cassandra smirks a bit tensely, and relaxes her hold. She’s still a bit sweaty, but in this weather, that rarely lasts. “Practice ended an hour ago. I’m just planning.”

It’s then Olivia notices the sack of equipment on the sideline to the far right of where they are standing. Cones, extra balls, all in some giant net that looks like you could catch fish with it.

“Oh. Uh, in that case, if I should go then--”

“No,” Cassandra lets go of her in order to take hold of her hand and hold it just as tight. “No, stay.”

Olivia’s brow lifts, and she’s begging her heart to stop beating so fast that it takes her breath -- what little she has that isn’t already stolen by the freezing temperature -- away every time.

“Sure,” she replies, and reaches down to pick up her bag. “I can just...go fix myself up on the bench over there.”

“Okay,” Cassandra says as she delays letting go of her until they are too far apart to maintain it. She is so sweet, so calm. Completely different from how Olivia imagined she would be; to be fair, the only other times she saw her in action were during the day and with the entire team. Her “Captain” persona was stern and constantly frowning at someone or something. She was good, and she acted like it. No excuses, no fluff. This was like an alternate reality.

Trying not to get lost in her thoughts, she sets her bag on the bench and sits on the ground, back against it. She then pulls out her macbook and set it on her straight legs, pulling it open while her eyes inevitably wandered to the woman still in the center of the lights. Cassandra had already returned to pacing, eyes toward the goal while she walked along the line. Not playing, not running, not a single act of actually playing. Just pacing, slow and pensive. What was there to mull over so critically?

Rather than ask, Olivia minds her own business. She has work to do, too, and she shouldn’t embarass herself by gawking. She pulls up her paper outlines and gets to work, even pulling out her headphones from her pocket. Unfortunately she doesn’t have the will to put them in, for the chance that maybe Cassandra will say something and God forbid she gets caught not willing to listen. Fuck, she’s got it good.

Time goes by, and it’s productive on either end: Olivia manages to do the impossible and get some work done, and Cassandra ends her deliberations and starts practicing with a ball, aiming and hitting them each into the goal one-by-one. Each time, she centers them in the same way, and backs away a few yards before charging at them. It all seems rather ritualistic. This goes on for another 10-15 minutes before Olivia notices from the top of her gaze that Cassandra has stopped, standing still and arms folded. She looks up and watches her for a moment as she’s regaining her breath. The way the lights show leave no piece of her in the dark, but somehow she’s still so elusive.

“You alright there, Captain?” Olivia yells, halting her typing.

Cassandra glances out of the corner of her eye and her lips move, but not loud enough. She turns around and walks toward her balls and starts picking them up, one and then another, and kicks the last one with her. Olivia frowns and sets her laptop aside, closing it before rising to her feet. Cassandra’s got her eyes to the ground again, staring daggers.

And of course because Olivia can never just let things be, she impulsively jogs over. She crouches and swipes the ball from the ground, bounding in a circle further out into the field. Cassandra finally snaps out of whatever trance she’s got herself in and turns to watch her, an alarmed sound catching in her throat.

“H-hey! Olivia!”

“This is how you play, right?” Olivia smiles fiendishly, holding the ball above her head like she’s about to chuck it. “You grab and run for it?”

“Ugh, no, you know it’s not,” Cassandra corrects her, still so serious.

Not sufficed, Olivia lowers the ball to rest against her stomach, and continues to play. “Hm. Silly me. I thought you took it and held it ransom until someone finally tackles you to the ground.”

“You’re thinking rugby, and no,” Cassandra shakes her head. “Come on, give it back.”

“Really? Then how am I gonna score a basket?”

“That is bask--Olivia! Come on, please.”

“Hm…” Olivia continues, and Cassandra finally sets the balls down by the bench and follows her, albeit at a far less energetic pace, out onto the field.

“The field closes soon,” she warns.

Olivia giggles a little, and holds the ball behind her back. “Then you better hurry!”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m not serious, I’m doing what you’re doing: I’m playing.”

They stare at each other as the impasse rises. With the sharpness of Cassandra’s frown, Olivia only smiles more, hoping to fight fire with fire -- just different kinds, is all.

“Come on, Captain, I thought nothing got past you.”

“...that’s it.”

Cassandra’s mouth twitches at the corners, and her eyes narrow with precision. She cuts into a sprint, so fast that Olivia shrieks in fear as she goes to escape. Maybe she should have thought this through before challenging a soccer player to run fast across a flat surface.

She makes it almost to the halfway point of the field before arms wrap around her from behind and pull her to a twirling stop. Cassandra’s strength pulls her off the ground again, and Olivia’s shrieking laughter only worsens when she’s captured. They spin once, and then twice, before Olivia chucks the ball aimlessly and gives up.

“I give up! I give--” she says through her gasping breaths.

Cassandra doesn’t say a word nor utters so much as a smirk as she breathes heavy at her back, mouth near her ear. It both excites her and sends a shiver down her spine, feeling her inch-for-inch and completely engulfed around her. When both the laughter and Olivia’s feet find the ground again, she finds Cassandra doesn’t release her this second time. No, instead, she holds on and makes it so Olivia has to spin around in her hold in order to face her captor. When she does, their faces are so close, heartbeats so rushed, it makes her forget the clever quip she had in store.

“I...I…”

Cassandra then grins, still catching her breath. A wave of relief comes with it.

“I just wanted…” Olivia tries again, arms resting on top of Cassandra’s, hands clasping around her shoulders. She would rather die than be free of them.

“You were just trying to help, I know,” Cassandra knowingly finishes for her. “Funny how your methods are always starting trouble first.”

Olivia giggles, hands sliding up to the sides of her neck. “I know...but I can’t help it.”

“I also know that.”

“Interesting. Do you also know what to do with that mouth of yours?”

Cassandra’s grin softens, and the pink tint in her cheeks intensifies. One could say it is just the strain of physical exertion, but, whatever. Olivia smiles to take the sting out of it.

“I meant kiss me,” she whispers the hint.

Cassandra lets out a relieved chuckle, and brings her in closer, as if it were possible. They both lean in for what is sure to be the perfect way to end a successful distraction, until it is one-upped by a voice calling from the far side of the field where Olivia entered from. Immediately, both stop and look. Maybe it’s one of the teammates having forgotten something, or some other jock out in the wild. But no, it’s someone dressed in normal clothes, with long black hair thick and wavy. They have a handbag hooked on their arm, and from the looks of their walk, are wearing quite the ambitious pair of stilettos.

“Shit,” Cassandra mutters, and pulls away. They go from being glued to each other, so polarized like magnet ends. Olivia tries not to feel tossed aside as she pulls down her sleeves and jacket hem, clearing her throat. Cassandra does the same.

“What are you doing here?!” Cassandra asks the person, annoyed. Nothing like she acted when it was Olivia showing up.

The figure stops and leans onto one hip, sighing with attitude. “Don’t do this, Cassandra. You knew I was stopping by!”

“Yes, you said 8:30, at my apartment.”

The woman then keep walking, furiously until she is close enough for them to become a triad of anxiety and confusion. She’s pretty, and looks kind of like Cassandra, if you were to close one eye, tilt your head, then take a shot of something so strong it could strip rust off a pipe. Hair that looks freshly balayaged, makeup impeccably done, not too much or too little. Older, but not quite so old for Olivia to wonder if it’s a parent or another one of her aunts and uncles.

“Yes, and it’s…” the woman checks her phone she slips out her bag. “Wow, look, 8:25. You’re lucky I know you well enough to check the nearest soccer field.”

Cassandra sighs loudly. “Fine. Do you have the keys?”

“Of course! But first, who is this?” the woman’s eyes land on Olivia, and instantly the field lights seem like glow-sticks in comparison. She can’t quite tell if she is the shiny new thing, or the interloper that needs to turn to ash. Their voices are so nice to listen to, what the fuck?

“I, uh, um...”

“This is Olivia. Olivia, this is my cousin, Antonia--”

“Antonia Pentaghast,” she smiles, and holds her hand out, freshly done acrylics and all. Damn, this woman is a masterpiece. “Nice to meet you, Olivia…?”

Olivia reaches and shakes her hand, strong and confident as she can, and blinks. Shit, she means last name. “Olivia Sinclair. Nice to meet you!”

“Sinclair…” she says with a little thrill as their hands fall. “You wouldn’t happen to be related to the lady on the City Council?”

Olivia and Cassandra exchange a look too quick for her to tell whether this is something she encourages. The very mention of her Mother fills her with as much anxiety as the Captain of the Titanic must have felt. “Um, actually, yes. She is my Mother.”

“Mother! What a small world! Your family has been patrons of our Church almost as long as we have! But I don’t think I’d have to tell you that, ahah.”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Olivia smiles politely, joining her hands together behind her. Yep, that is fact no. 1 in the Sinclair household. Right up there with the “Live, Laugh, Love” decals.

“How funny,” Antonia grins playfully, eyeing her less-than-enthused cousin who has become a pillar of seriousness all over again. So much for comedy being the most potent medicine.

“Antonia,” Cassandra interrupts sternly, “the keys?”

Antonia is about to say something more, but she stops herself and laughs. “My, my,” she says, sifting through her handbag. “You must forgive me, Olivia. Cassandra hardly ever mentions any friends. Other than that...that blonde one, she keeps bringing around but swears she is not dating.” The keys jingle in her hand as she hands them off to Cassandra, who wastes no time in snatching them up. “My husband and I are leaving for a few days to visit his family on the coast. I asked her to check up on our cats. Just dropping off the spare key!”

“Oh! That sounds like fun,” Olivia says, and then feels instantly self-conscious. But hey, it’s something.

“It will be!” Antonia grins. “Now, please tell me I will be seeing you at our family’s holiday gather--”

“Olivia will be spending the break with her own family, Antonia,” Cassandra intervenes, a bit coldly, even. The jolt in the otherwise congenial encounter makes any comfort vanish.

Antonia stops, mouth still agape, and brow lifted. Her eyes shift from her rude cousin to her.

“I…” Olivia looks at Cassandra, who in turn gives her a look of ‘please help,’ and has to choose loyalties. “I...she’s right. Thanksgiving is very important to my Mom.”

Antonia grins like she’s onto something, whether it be their true dynamic or nuclear launch codes. She hums and makes a “tsk, tsk” sound to finish. “How perfect that our gathering does not take place on the day of, then. But, details, details. I will leave you two alone. You seemed to be enjoying it...a lot.” She straightens up and runs a hand through her hair. Olivia keeps staring, even when she knows she shouldn’t. With a nod to the both of them, Antonia turns tail and struts off.

“Don’t forget Benny’s allergy meds, Cassandra!” she says, not bothering to look back.

“I won’t!” Cassandra confirms, resentfully scowling after her. It isn’t until Antonia’s figure is no longer in the field lights that she finally says anything more. “I’m sorry,” she apologizes, keys ringing in between her shaking fingers. “My family is insufferable.”

While she walks off, grabbing the ball Olivia abandoned. Olivia follows but at a hung-back pace. The whole thing doesn’t make sense. Insufferable? That was anything but. If she wants insufferable, she should walk into my family’s home.

“That was...that was fine, Cassandra,” she says, rubbing her palms. “She seems really nice!”

“Yeah, they all are,” she gripes as they make it back to the bench.

“Is that not...good?”

“The point is that--” she stops herself, freezing upright. Collecting her frustration that seems so easily provoked. Olivia watches, but it hurts a little to have Cassandra’s back to her.

“The point is there’s a lot more to it than niceness.”

“I figured.” Olivia comes around to stand beside her, watching as she packs up the net of equipment. There’s so many questions to ask, but all of them seem decidedly not welcome.

“Look, I hate to ask, but...are they not...okay...with you not being straight?”

Cassandra doesn’t miss a beat, pulling the net string tight and figuring a knot. “Most of them would be. I have a cousin who’s gay, him and his partner have been together for five years.”

Wait...what the fuck?

“But...but aren’t they religious and really conservative?”

She lets go of the bag and turns around, crossing her arms. “Yeah. The older members are still...well, narrow-minded. My family is just huge. It would be impossible to keep that going and one of us not turning out...well…”

“...Well?”

Cassandra frowns and shakes her head. “Different? Look, I’d rather not discuss it.”

“That’s fine. I’m just a little confused.”

“Confused about what?”

Olivia’s arms go out wide, and she gestures toward the part of the field they were just standing in. The part where everything was going perfect until the record-scratch of the century. “That? That back there? That whole, ‘nevermind I’m not touching the woman who’s tongue was about to be down my throat, hi, she’s just Olivia’! ‘The first rule about bi-club is you don’t talk about bi-club!’”

“Olivia, please,” Cassandra replies dismissively, eyes rolling again.

Olivia’s confusion is now tinted with anger. “So I don’t deserve an answer?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. It’s complicated.”

Here we go again. “I don’t know ‘complicated’?”

“You, agh...you haven’t introduced me to your family, either!”

Olivia’s eyes widen. “That is because the last time I brought a girl home my Mom bought us best friends Pandora charms for Christmas and then gave her a guest room with a Bible in the drawer like some Hotel!”

Cassandra scoffs dryly, her hands returning to her hips. “See? You get it--”

“I do not get it, Cass. I don’t.”

Her tone becomes angrier, to match Olivia’s ire. “My family is nice. They are nice, but they are also incredibly invasive, elitist, and fake. If they get one scrap of your personal stuff, you can kiss any privacy and autonomy goodbye. I have worked so hard to have any semblance of my own life separate from them. Forgive me if that’s so selfish.”

The air goes quiet as they both stare at each other. Olivia closes her mouth to retain the spiteful response that surely would arise if she kept going. It would be unfair. But did that make it fair what she did to her just then? Or was it not nearly as big of a deal as she’s making it out to be?

Fuck, Theia’s shit is getting into my head.

Looking off towards the goal, Olivia bounces on and off her toes nervously. She slips her hands in her front jacket pockets.

“Is that why you didn’t invite me for the holidays?” she asks, tone and expression as blank as she can muster.

A pause, and then Cassandra’s careful tone. “Maybe. I thought it wouldn’t matter. You said you spend the break at home.”

“I do. You’re...you’re right.”

“Neither of us invited each other.”

“...Yeah.”

“Liv.”

She sucks on her teeth and closes her eyes, taking one, desperate breath of patience. “What?”

“Look at me,” she asks in return, coming closer. Olivia fights the bitter urge to back away, and make it harder for her. But the closer she is, the more disarmed she feels, even with all her wrath. So, with nothing but one step in between them left, she honors the request and looks at her. All the pride has left Cassandra’s face, replaced by frustrated attentiveness.

This whole time I’ve been thinking she’d be cast out and placed under some exorcism for daring to be queer. Now, what?

“Liv, I’m not trying to hide you. I promise.”

“Then why--”

“You saw how she knew how to connect your name to your Mom in two seconds flat. They don’t just care to know names. Now, they don’t just know you’re name, they know your family, and any and all related gossip. That’s what they do: it’s either fame, gossip, or money. You have to trust me.”

Olivia looks at her, hands in her pockets balling into fists. So what is so bad about being snobby? If it was such a sin, half the town would be cast into hellfire. No use for their pretty churches then.

“Okay,” she concedes, albeit hesitantly. “Just...just remember what it’s like for me, okay? I hate to bring up the flyers, but…”

“Knowing and being known by my family won’t solve any of that,” she caveats, before daring to reach out for her hand. Olivia reaches and takes hold. “We deserve the time it takes to just be us and get to know each other.”

“I agree,” she sighs, and tries to shake loose of the duress. And how long is that going to take, when everything stays a mystery?

“Thank you,” Cassandra says sincerely, rubbing the back of her hand with a thumb. It’s soothing. So much so, Olivia resolves the remaining distance between them and brings herself into Cassandra’s chest. It’s her turn to wrap her arms around her and not want to let go.

She reciprocates, the side of her chin resting against Olivia’s head of hair. “Just let me get through the finals, and then I’ll have more time,” she swears with a renewed sweetness.

Olivia closes her eyes and hides her face in Cassandra’s chest, her voice muffled against her clothes. “When will my girlfriend return from the soccer war?”

Cassandra laughs a bit. “Tell you what, she’s on leave tonight, why don’t you come over and we can watch a movie. Your turn to pick.”

“For this...oh, you’re getting Kill Bill.”

“Volume one or two?”

“Both,” still muffled, but adamant. “How dare you suggest we only watch one?”

Cassandra smirks and rubs Olivia’s arms, generating more warmth for both of them. “How foolish of me. You have a deal.”

“I’m also ordering takeout. Ellinor told me all you do with Cullen lately is drink protein shakes and lie.”

“Um, I eat three square meals a day. It’s not my fault Cullen chases his shakes with toaster strudel.”

Olivia giggled again. Her face has become too warm to break from this pose. They’re going to freeze there forever, she decides. Forget the movie and takeout.

“Come on,” Cassandra pats her on the shoulders. “Let’s get this shit put away, and then you can read me the DoorDash menu on the way back.”

“Mm, keep talking dirty like that, the war can shove it.”

More laughter, and thank goodness for it.

#day & age #friendship fic #ellinor trevelyan #olivia sinclair #college au

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btsvt-adventures · 5 years

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Ice Skating AU - The Beginning

A/n: So obviously this deviates from the original Yuri On Ice anime, but since most of the story IS based off Yuri On Ice, I’ll keep it as it is :D THIS AU IS INPIRED BY YURI ON ICE. I'm changing it's name to just Ice Skating AU since I decided to expand on the universe and give Jeonghan a different backstory :)

I originally just really wanted to adapt a oneshot I wrote, but it ran away from me. Regardless, I like that this gives Jeonghan in this AU a bit more backstory other than just being an amazing skater haha

Pairing: Jihan (Jisoo x Jeonghan)

Warning(s): None really, just some fluff, wistfulness, wishful thinking and all that

Want more of this AU? Ask me here!

Swish. The puck hits the back of the net, clattering onto the ice, and the team erupt into celebration, clapping Jeonghan on the back while their opponents slump in defeat as the obnoxiously loud sound of the final buzzer goes off.

The redhead Captain grins tiredly, nodding his acknowledgements at the never-ending congratulations and celebrations, but his heart’s not in it. He yearns for a different kind of swish.

It’s not the swish of the net, or the swish of his teammates flying past him in hot pursuit of the little black disc. He’s aches for the almost silent swish of his skates when they slice the air in a camel spin, and the swish of air that rushes by him when he executes a perfect triple axel.

But no one would understand. They’d tease him, laugh at him, mock him even, because that kind skating is for girls.

“Serves them right for trying to challenge the top college hockey team in Korea,” Soonyoung scoffs, and Jeonghan snaps back to reality when he sees his vice-captain being slammed into the barrier.

Ouch.

“Don’t be a sore loser!” Jihoon snarls, standing protectively over Soonyoung. His vice-captain gets up dizzily, being careful to not get his fingers sliced off, shooting an unfocused glare at their opponents.

“That last shot was a goddamn foul!” the opponent’s captain, a Do Kyungsoo, snaps, towering over Jihoon. Jihoon really doesn’t look that intimidating, especially since he dyed his hair cotton candy pink (ironically, Jihoon’s one of the most terrifying hockey players in the team), but the tension is broken before it can escalate.

Jeonghan turns away from the scene, heading off the ice, wishing he had the rink to himself so he can practice in peace, thanking the skating gods that the ice will get smoothed over before his private practice, so he doesn’t have to wobble over the digs and divots him and his hockey mates have left all over the rink.

He hops into the shower, sighing when he feels the aches melt away under the hot water. He inspects his hip idly, frowning when he can see a bruise beginning to form from a tackle earlier in the game.

This sport is so violent, he muses quietly, towelling off quickly and slipping into his clothes so he can grab some food and a nap before coming back to the rink to work on his secret little skill .

Unfortunately, life (read: his team) had other plans.

“Hyung, come on, you can rest after dinner! We’re going for samgyeopsal,” their youngest whines, tugging at Jeonghan’s sleeve.

“I’d love to Channie-ah, but I’m really tired,” Jeonghan murmurs, internally wincing a little at the lie, hating that he’s disappointing Chan.

He would love to join them for dinner, but he also wants to work on his routines without feeling sick and bloated from the mildly disgusting amounts of meat his team ate. He needed to get them perfect. He was going to make the switch this fall, and he knew he needed to be the best if he wanted to avoid being made fun of and lose all of his friends.

“Jeonghan hyung, please, please, please join us?” Seokmin chirps, and he’s bombarded with pleas and whines he can’t bring himself to refuse. “Fine, fine,” he sighs, ruffling Chan’s hair and mentally calculating the hours he has left, grimacing slightly when he realizes he only has a few hours to practice.

Three hours, two bottles of soju, and far too much meat later, Jeonghan drops his skate bag on the empty benches, shooting a fond smile to the old night guard patrolling the rink. He was the only other person who knew Jeonghan figure skated. Heck, the old man was the one who taught him everything he knew, and gifted him with a passion for figure skating.

“Late night tonight?” he asks, settling down to watch Jeonghan warm up on his figure skates.

“The boys wanted dinner after we won the game, so it’s a late night I guess, coach,” he teases, and the night guard laughs, waving away the term.

“Boy, call me coach again and I won’t teach you Yuzuru Hanyu’s Sochi Short Program,” the guard snarks, and Jeonghan pouts, pulling away from the barrier to practice key points in the routine.

“Extend more! Your leg needs to be straighter,” the guard calls out, watching Jeonghan glide across the ice effortlessly.

“Again,” he demands, not letting Jeonghan move on until he’s satisfied.

Jeonghan’s dead tired after his grueling session, but it feels so good to be doing something he truly loves. The music, the movements, the grace and poise, it made him so, so happy.

“You need to tell your team. They need to see how good you are,” the guard sighs, settling down next to Jeonghan’s panting form.

“They’ll make fun of me, kick me out of the team,” Jeonghan protests, shaking his head. “No, not until I can prove I’m good enough. Not until I’ve made it into the amateur finals,” he insists, and the guard glances up, spotting figures huddled in a dark corner of the rink.

“Well then, go polish your routine, sitting on your ass isn’t gonna help,” the guard nags, and Jeonghan snorts so hard he almost chokes, coughing as he gets back up and into the rink.

He shakes off his nerves, head held high as he settles into his starting position.

Extend your lines, finish your movements.

The music starts, and nothing else matters to Jeonghan.

He revels in the swish of his blades and the movement of his body, fluid and sharp in time with the music. Jeonghan feels so free, letting the music flow in his bones and the rush of exhilaration as he pulls off each jump, spin, and trick flawlessly.

He’s so lost in the music, he doesn’t realize his audience has multiplied to more than just his not-coach coach. Jeonghan finishes breathlessly, eyes shut as he takes in the joy and happiness he feels right now.

And then he hears the applause.

His eyes fly open, and he’s greeted by his teammates... cheering?

He’s stunned, hands flopping to his sides as he stares in shock at his entire team hollering and cheering for him. Jeonghan spots the guard standing, smirking knowingly at him, and immediately knows that it’s his doing.

“HYUNG WOOOO THAT WAS SO GOOD!” Seokmin’s voice travels through the rink and Jeonghan laughs nervously, scratching his head shyly.

Oh fuck

Oh holy fuck

They know now

Oh my holy fucking shit.

Soonyoung’s quiet, regarding Jeonghan intently. He steps off the ice, still panting from the exertion, and Soonyoung turns to look at Jeonghan. He’s fully expecting anger of some sort, or disbelief that their beloved captain figure skates, but the words that leave his mouth leave Jeonghan stunned.

“Please show us how you turn so quick. It’ll really give us an edge over the rest.”

What?

“You’re... not angry?” Jeonghan asks in disbelief, and Soonyoung stares at Jeonghan, confused. “I mean... it’s nothing like hockey,” he trails off, and Soonyoung laughs lightly.

“Hyung, I’m a dance major, why on earth would I be upset that you like to dance? You’re really good, you should totally compete,” he winks, and Jeonghan turns scarlet.

He stumbles over his explanation, stuttering that he was afraid that the team would make him choose between hockey and figure skating, and that they would tease him for wanting to figure skate instead of playing ice hockey.

“You were always too pretty for hockey,” Chan interrupts Jeonghan’s panicked rambling, and the rest of his team nod in agreement.

“If you really want to choose figure skating we’ll all definitely support you! We’ll just also be sad because you’re really good at ice hockey,” Wonwoo offers, and Jeonghan nods thankfully, feeling a wave of relief overcome him, and suddenly he’s exhausted.

The old guard sees the exhaustion on Jeonghan’s face, and shoos the ice hockey team away, patting Jeonghan on the shoulder comfortingly. “You don’t have to make a decision now. It’s getting pretty late, so get some rest, and tomorrow we’ll work on drills,” he reassures, and Jeonghan shoots him a grateful look.

Jeonghan knows he’s going to quit ice hockey, but he doesn’t want to let his team down mid-season. It means he’ll miss this year’s qualifiers, but it also just means he has more time to practice and perfect his skills, and wow the world when he finally makes his debut.

Please like and reblog

If you’d like more of this AU, or your own lil thing, of if you just wanna yell at me, you can do so here~

#seventeen #svt #thekpopnetwork #ice skating au #yuri on ice au #jihan #jeonghan #jisoo #joshua #angel #soojinnie's biases #my baby boys #skater Jeonghan #backstory hehe #also surprise update

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animebw · 5 years

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Binge-Watching: Haikyuu S3, Episodes 8-10

Wow, am I really finished with Haikyuu? Goddamn, what a high note to go out on.

Culmination

Sixty episodes. Countless battles. The boys of the Karasuno volleyball team have had a long journey to get here. They’ve struggled and failed and fallen and gotten back up and tried again stronger than before. Obviously, the story isn’t over; we’ve got another season coming next year, and there’s probably even more story to tell than that. But for all intents and purposes, the battle with Shiratorizawa is Karasuno’s endgame. It’s the culmination of every ounce of sweat they’ve shed day after day, fighting tooth and nail to be worthy to stand on this stage again. It’s not just one more match against one more powerful opponent, it’s the symbolic end point of this team’s slow rise from mediocrity. Karasuno facing down one of the most powerful teams in the country, fighting them on even footing, is the result of the training camps, the tournaments, the loss against Aoba Johsei, the redemption win against them, the morning practices, the returning players, and every last determined spike that’s drilled the rhythm of the game into them little by little. If they can prove themselves against such overwhelming odds, stand strong against a team that considers itself the very definition of strength, then that’s as good an excuse as they’re gonna get to say, “Karasuno is officially back.”

Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, Karasuno is officially back.

Holy fucking shit, lads, they did it. They did it. After a fifth and final set that nailed my balls to the floor with every point and had me gnawing my fingernails off in anxiety, at the climax of probably the longest continuous volley of the entire show with every single player on both sides getting a chance to redirect the ball, with every piece working in perfect unison to throw off Shiratorizawa’s overwhelming ferocity, bisected by an absolute dickwad of an episode-break cliffhanger, Hinata slams down his iconic, determined, perfected super-speed quick with the strength of his team carrying him aloft into the blue, blue sky above, and pulls Karasuno two points ahead of their exhausting deuce. Twenty one points over nineteen. Three sets out of two. The strongest team in the prefecture, overthrown. The underdog challengers, no longer bowing their heads. Karasuno wins. Shiratorizawa loses. And as the grateful light spills down on everyone’s overwhelmed cheers (foamy-mouth Yachi is a big mood), this show’s swelling heart has never been bigger. God damn, what a fucking well-earned triumph. What a fantastic culmination of the incredible journey we’ve been on. Like Coach Ukai says, volleyball is a sport where you’re always looking up. And no matter how bad things get, no matter how much pressure you’re feeling, as long as you stand up straight and keep your eyes firmly on the sky, there’s nothing that can hold you down.

Let There Be Light

If I’m not getting that much into the thematic details about what made this climax so awesome, it’s mostly because I’ve already pretty much completely analyzed them in my previous posts. The clash between Shiratorizawa’s individualist strengths and Karasuno’s adaptive teamwork has been underlying this entire fight, and that remains true throughout its final stretch. But the real joy of the fifth set is in watching Karasuno fully live up to that promise. We’ve followed these characters through high times and low times, but now, at the end of all things, we get to see them shine like never before. The final set is nothing short of a series of incredible plays, moments of spectacle and catharsis so damn awesome that I literally started shaking at some point in the middle there. God, how can I even keep track of every incredible play? Hinata intentionally saving a difficult spike with his face not once, but twice, sacrificing beauty and elegance for sheer efficiency? Awesome. Rushing headlong into group attacks with no second thoughts to completely throw off Satori’s predictions through sheer bull-headedness? Awesome. Tsukky’s utterly relieving return, his eyes still blazing with how much he missed being on the field, slipping right back into the rhythm of things and turning the tides once more despite the pain to his injured hand? Awesome. Kageyama’s incredible smile as he gets up to serve again and you realize just how damn much he’s enjoying this rush? Awesome. Yamaguchi layering the pressure on think with his perfected float serve? Awesome. That final team-work driven volley that combines all their strengths in a single, continuous play? Really awesome. There’s so much concentrated awesome over the course of these final episodes that it’s hard to know where to even start.

And despite their overwhelming power, Shiratorizawa ends up yielding to that awesomeness. As strong as they are, and as ingrained as their talents are, Karasuno’s ability to adapt and overcome, to try whatever stupid ideas they come up with and circumvent the most powerful obstacles, is an enemy their set-in-stone ways just aren’t equipped to effectively combat. Once their overwhelming strength was no longer guaranteeing them a clean sweep, the gaps in their defenses grew just large enough for an animal as daring and savage as a crow to slip through and break them apart. After spending so much of the match looking down on his foes, Ushiwaka finally finds himself genuinely invested in facing Hinata down, sensing a true and worthy challenge from the midget daredevil who always pulls off the stupidest successful saves no matter how many norms he has to break to do so. After all, he wouldn’t be in this game if he didn’t genuinely love playing it. He’s a Super Volleyball Idiot, as Satori puts it, and once that idiot comes out, he can’t help but want to try his damndest to pull something remarkable off. Only this time, Hinata’s gumption pushed him a little farther, proving that sometimes, pure strength isn’t strength enough. Sometimes, it takes just that much stupidity and recklessness to overcome the impossible and see the view from the other side. Sometimes, it’s okay to dream a little outside the box when you reach for the top.

To the Top

But for now, this is where we leave out boys. Jubilant, excited, glowing in the aftermath of their victory, facing down the same restaurant they ended the first season sobbing in, this time with exhausted relief and drunken joy. Kageyama’s gotten accepted to some fancy-sounding program, and I swear his face has never looked brighter. Next up? Nationals. And maybe finally- finally- we’ll get that showdown with Nekoma we’ve been waiting for. All I can say for sure is that the future’s looking pretty damn bright. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks for all the memories, lads. Now just keep flying high.

Odds and Ends

-”We’ll do that next time.” I swear, nothing fazes this guy.

-”Watch out for the back of your head.” Good to have you back, Kags.

-Saeko is the best cheerleader ever.

-”No encouragement, just the truth.” Not gonna lie, Ushiwaka’s a surprisingly personable fellow once you get past his stoic exterior. That was good advice to his protoge.

-”Though to be honest, Yamaguchi bought more time than I did.” “Thank you for being honest.” aksjdhaskjdh

-”Either one of them winning would piss me off, so I wish they could both lose.” Love you too, Oikawa.

-Did Ukai’s voice actor change between episodes? He sounds way different here.

-”Hinata, change positions with me!” askjdhaksdhasd alright then

-”You really are a crappy guy.” Iwa, I appreciate you.

-”Tsukishima! I don’t care what anyone says, you’re the MVP today!” I KNOW RIGHT

-”Isn’t what drives most people childish in general?” Me explaining why I watch anime

God, I’m gonna miss this show. Well, catch my series reflection in a few hours, as well as what long-running show is gonna take its place!

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #haikyuu #haikyū!!#haikyuu!!#hinata shoyou #shoyou hinata #kageyama tobio #tobio kageyama

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