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icannotreadcursive · 3 years

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Sometimes, people have different--very different--sets of headcanons and sets of ships etc for a given piece of media and cast of characters because they have basically different understandings of who those characters are.

A lot of times, that’s just because every fan as their own unique life experience to apply when engaging with and interpreting a work, so they see different things reflected back.

But when it comes to what I call Legacy Characters--characters that have had their story told and retold, adapted and readapted, reinvested and reset time and again; such as comic book characters--a huge part of who a fan understands a character to be is determined by what versions of that character they’re familiar with, what aspects of different versions have coalesced in their brain to form their sense of that character in general. Usually, the biggest influence there is which version of a character that fan encountered first.

I see both knock-down drag-out fights and casual disrespectful disparaging comments within some fandoms--especially big comics fandoms like Marvel--that on the surface of them are more of the typical dumb “my interpretation is the only right one and anyone who disagrees is wrong and Doesn’t Understand The Media” stuff, but that I am SO SURE mostly boils down to this issue of having very different but all equally legitimate senses of the characters from having familiarity with different appearances of the character, or in a different order.

For instance--using what I find to be the most glaring case as an example--the Marvel shipping wars amongst Steve/Bucky, Steve/Tony, Sam/Steve, Bucky/Natasha, and (increasingly) Sam/Bucky shippers. Sometimes the Pepper/Tony, Pepper/Natasha, and Bruce/Tony shippers join the fray.

These conflicts get so nasty. Even a lot of the more chill shippers, when prompted, have very ugly things to say about ships other than their own and the people who support them. Allegations of racism, misogyny, fetishization, and general toxicity run rampant and are often talked about as though they are the only possible reasons someone could ever have for shipping or not shipping a given pair.

I want to make it clear that I personally do ship or have shipped several of the above, including ones that mutually exclude each other. There’s a few I’m neutral on up there, and one that kinda squicks me--we’ll get to that later.

Every single one of them is a perfectly good ship. None of them are inherently fucked up in any way and I will not hear any argument to the contrary.

Do some supporters of these ships get overzealous and obnoxious? Yes, that’s kinda why we’re talking about it, but that’s not a problem with any of the ships themselves.

I’ve noticed some patterns around people being into particular ones of these ships and their personal histories with various Marvel media.

Steve/Tony: mostly comics fans at this point, either were into the comics before the MCU became a thing or the early days of the MCU got them into the comics and they’re now more into the comics than the films. Because there’s a LOT of material in the comics to support the ship! There’s so much! Including the fact that in one comics reality where Tony is a woman, she and Steve get married!

Now, there was a ton of this’ere Stony fic that got churned out in the early days of the MCU, a lot of it from fans getting into this world for the first time through the phase 1 movies, at which point other potential partners for these guys either hadn’t been introduced as characters yet, or hadn’t been fleshed out. A lot of film-main (as opposed to comics-main) Stony shippers moved away from the pairing as the MCU continued, Bucky became the counterpoint of Steve’s Character arc, Sam got brought in, Pepper and Bruce each got more screen time, and the dynamic between Steve and Tony in the films got increasingly adversarial in a way that’s less sexy more fucked up.

The battle cry against Stony from other factions, especially from the Steve/Bucky camp is usually “but they’re so toxic!” and, I mean, yeah--if your sense of these characters is primarily based on how they are in the MCU, they are. But in my experience, even if they’re working MCU events and settings, the Steve and Tony being imagined by Stony shippers aren’t really that Steve and Tony.

Steve/Bucky: look, Stucky is an MCU thing. Articles have been written and published about the fact that the dynamic between Steve and Bucky in the MCU follows the beats of an epic romance to a T. The basis for this ship is all there on screen--throw in a little bit of history nerd mojo and you’re in deep.

By my observation and estimation, most new or formerly-very-casual Marvel fans who came in via the films and remained film-mains, and who are inclined to not-strictly-heteronormative shipping at all went the Stucky route. Folks who initially shipped Stony then switched to Stucky are pretty common. People starting with Stucky and then switching to any other ship with Steve to the exclusion of Stucky? Very rare. And while for a lot of people Stucky is their OTP in the strictest sense, I do see a lot of Stucky shippers who are here for other ships as well, either in an alternate realities kinda way or an amicable exes/polyamory kinda way.

The only people I’ve seen who have a problem with Stucky as a ship (other than “my ship is a different ship, therefore this one is bad and wrong”) are comics-mains whose sense of Steve and Bucky is heavily informed by runs of the comics in which Bucky is significantly younger than Steve and kid sidekick type figure. For them, the dynamic between the general forms of these characters leans mentor/student or protector/charge, so the inclination is to read the MCU relationship as fraternal, because it being romantic is squicky based on their sense of the characters.

Sam/Steve: comics-mains, film-mains with significant comics familiarity, film-mains who just aren’t into Stucky for one reason or another, or film-mains who are just really into Anthony Mackey which is a perfectly valid reason to get behind a ship. People who know Falcon from the comics seem much more likely to be into this ship and also more invested in this ship. I’m not qualified to say much about support for this ship from the comics themselves because my personal familiarity with Marvel comics doesn’t include much of Sam Wilson at all, but I am absolutely qualified to say there’s support from the films, especially CA:WS.

The worst vitriol against this ship tends to come from overzealous Stucky OTP shippers who really need to remember that fandom is supposed to be fun, and flat out racists. That must be acknowledged and needs to be addressed. Fandom racism in general, and against Sam in particular is a thing and it can absolutely be a factor in shipping.

However it’s not inherently racist to just not ship Sam/Steve because you see them as bros, or because Stucky is your OTP, or because you ship Sam with someone else, or whatever. Worthwhile to take a minute to examine why you don’t ship it, if you don’t, and check that for racial bias in how you view and treat Sam as a character, especially if you’re white.

Sam/Steve and Stucky are the two ships I see coexist the most! A lot of people ship both of them separately and exclusive from one another, but a lot of people also go ether the OT3 or the “Steve and Sam were definitely a thing for while there but now they’re not” route.

Bucky/Natasha: comics-mains or film-mains with significant comics familiarity, particularly for the comics worlds in which Bucky and Natasha are a couple, which seems self explanatory as to why that correlates. Not a lot for it in the films, Nat and Buck don’t interact much in the films that we see, and they’re kinda trying to kill each other in much of what we do see. But, like I said, they’re a thing in some of the comics so there we have that.

This is the one that squicks me. Clearly it’s a super valid ship; depending on the canon it’s a canon ship. Frankly, they make sense together, canon or not--their individual backgrounds as spysassins and with brainwashing etc means they’d be able to understand one another in ways no one else around them really can. But my personal amalgamation of these characters from the films and what comics I’m familiar with has Bucky having been Natasha’s teacher when she was a kid in Red Room. So I cannot ship it, I can’t do it.

The fact that I personally am squeaked by it has absolutely no impact on the fact that it’s a good ship, and the fact that it’s a good ship cannot and does not negate the fact that it squicks me.

Bucky/Sam: okay, there’s not a lot of this out there yet, but what there is seems to mostly be coming from film-mains who either don’t ship or co-ship Stucky and/or Sam/Steve, and who really liked the dynamic between these two in Civil War, and I guarantee you we’re about to get so much more of this ship with Falcon and Winter Soldier premiering. I’ve already seen some hate directed at this ship from the same places Sam/Steve gets hate. I predict, though, that this one will also get co-shipped alongside Stucky by the less strictly OTP of those shippers and I’m curious to see what the dynamic ends up being between Bucky/Sam shippers and Sam/Steve shippers as this camp grows.

In conclusion, I guess, note that not shipping a ship doesn’t have to mean attacking that ship (and it shouldn’tI) and not liking a ship, even being deeply uncomfortable with a ship for your own reasons doesn’t mean that ship is bad. We’ve all got our own individual sets of experiences both in life and with the characters in our fandoms that can dramatically change how we see those characters and their relationships to one another. This gets especially complicated and diverse with Legacy Characters like those from sprawling long-running comics multiverses. Someone’s understanding and interpretation being different from yours does not make either of you wrong!

As long as no one is an asshole about it it, it’s actually really interesting and cool to compare interpretations and see how your understandings overlap and differ, to think about what bits of canon have been formative for you and what personal experience may have made you inclined to interpret certain things certain ways.

Fandom is supposed to be fun. Shipping is supposed to be fun. You can and should hype up and express love for your own ships without tearing down others.

#long post #meta #fandom etiquette #marvel #shipping #stucky #stony #sam/steve #bucky/nat #bucky/sam #squick is a useful word #don't be an asshole

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littlemisssquiggles · 4 years

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Some people are saying that Rosegarden feels forced, especially after the most recent interaction the two had. That RG had absolutely no build up in terms of shipping. What is your response to this?

Hello Draw. You see, one of the many perks of being both a Rosegardener and Rosegardening Pinehead is that my adoration for the budding bond between our pair of smaller, more honest souls has caused me to become more observant of their moments together; particularly over the course of the most recent three seasons. And it is because I pay so much attention to following these two and their interactions per episode that I can easily contest with full confidence that people’s point of the ship being “forced with no build up” is drivel because it’s not true.

Again, take this from someone who has been following the development of this bond since V5. While it’s not as in your face as the portrayal of certain other ships within the FNDM, I can’t deny the fact that he show has been slowly building up these two’s relationship from the moment they met.

Throughout the seasons, the PLOT continues to highlight Ruby and Oscar’s growing friendship in the form of their continued support of one another. In V5, we began off with Ruby being the sole member of RNJR to actively look out for Oscar during his stay with the group back in Mistral and this habit of our littlered rose being protective of our freckled farm boy turned little barn prince has remained consistent even till this season.

And what’s interesting to note is that this protective and supportive nature wasn’t only established with Ruby. Oscar mirrors this behaviour as well with his own support of Ruby particularly in V6.

But don’t just take my word for it, here’s the photo proof because a picture says a thousand words:

So no I don’t believe the relationship between the Rosebuds is forced at all. If anything, I think the CRWBY have done pretty decently on showcasing the development between these two kids. It’s slow but it’s definitely there and it’s certainly ain’t forced. ‘Forced’ would’ve been if we spent several seasons with the show never really acknowledging these two’s relationship at all, providing zero groundwork for the potential of a romance to spark between them only to suddenly slam them together for this season.

This has not been the case with them fortunately. The Rosegarden bond has been building up nicely with the show occasionally tossing in moments between V5-V7 that highlight just how much one values the other’s influence on them on the team.

My one gripe is that I wished the show had done just a bit more to push for their friendship for this season. What’s weird was that it honestly seemed like that was the direction they were going for at first looking back on CH2 and CH3 of this season.

But no, what that essentially boiled down to was more light exchange of comments between the two until the recent ninth episode. It’s not how I would’ve handled if I were a CRWBY writer but hey, it’s the PLOT and I’m not here to argue the PLOT of RWBY and how the show writes its characters.

Needless to say, the portrayal of Rosegarden and their budding bond has been handled well enough so far (certainly better than certain other ships).

The only thing I believe might be ‘forced’ here is the reaction or rather overreaction of certain members of the FNDM in regards to the recent development of Rosegarden. It honestly upsets me to no end the level of toxicity people can stoop to within this FNDM and just how far they will go to rain on another person’s parade when they weren’t even doing anything to bother them in the first place.

Do you have any idea how annoyed I was over the weekend hearing stories of people complaining about the Rosegarden moment in V7CH9? How angered I became when I saw retweets from fellow Rosegardeners with some of the comments people were making in regards to not just Rosegarden but also Oscar because of this episode. Heck I’m upset now that I can’t even answer this question since I am just so fed up with this part of FNDM and their nonsense.

And what’s silly to me the most about all of this is that these types of fans are losing their butts over a moment that confirmed nothing.

So Ruby and Oscar acted all awkward and adorable while talking to each other in a scene that focused on their interaction?

So?

It’s no different than all the other times the show has had them act this way in a scene. And that’s just it! All they did was share another nice moment together that could easily be argued as not being all that romantically charged.

I’m a Rosegarden shipper and while I will say that that moment did toss a coin in the possibility of a future Rosegarden romance should the series really take them in that direction, it didn’t confirm this possibility for me either. It was just another cute moment between the two characters and the fact that folks are losing their knickers over something as minor as that is utterly ridiculous.

I even had a Whiterose shipper leave me comments on Twitter implying that their ship was now sunk thanks to that moment and they even congratulated me as a Rosegardener in this kind of way as if we were in some kind of beef regarding our ships. My reaction to that was “…Dude what?”

The last time I checked, I’m not fighting anyone on their ships. I am here because I love Rosegarden. They are my main RWBY OTP at the moment and like any fan, I’m more than delighted to see wherever the showrunners decide to take their bond—be it platonically or romantically. That being said, just because I ship RG, doesn’t mean I have any kind of beef or wish to be in any type of ridiculous shipping war with non-Rosegardeners.

To put it humbly, it doesn’t really matter to me what your shipping preferences are. Ship whoever you like so long as you remain respectable to other shippers. To put it bluntly, I don’t give a rat’s ass who or what you ship. Just don’t be a dickwad to anyone else regarding their own shipping choices. To each their own, in my books but respect is mandatory.

To the last episode in question, I’m going to be frank here. If Whiterose or Lancaster or any other non-RG ship had received any kind of moment in V7CH9 or in any episode before that, as a Rosegardener, I would be upset that my pairing didn’t get to have a moment too but I wouldn’t go out of my way to complain about the other ships or worse attack the shippers of said ship. That type of nonsense is unwarranted.

This is why this whole recent discourse surrounding a ship that I love has left me bothered. The things I have heard people say regarding the Rosegarden pair and even our shipping community is just deplorable.

I mean…it’s not entirely new what these people are saying.

It’s the same ole rubbish that’s been said to complain about the “problems” with RG for a while—the 2 year age gap. The Ozpin Dilemma. Yada-yada! Stuff that has already been debunked by the Rosegarden community, the CRWBY and the show itself. Yet…here we go again. The same recycled arguments going around and around, like a Beyblade.

I’ve even heard through the grapevine that certain-certain folks have reached as far as to refer to us Rosegardeners by a very ‘problematic’ term (i.e. paedophiles) just for liking Rosegarden. Like…wow! All of that just because RWBY gave our ship a little moment in the recent episode. Terrific.

But who is more problematic, though? The community of shippers who see this pairing of the two youngest huntsmen in our gaggle of heroes (who are not too far apart in age) as nothing more than an innocent bond that has the strong potential to blossom into an equally charming romance built on their mutual support of one another and their shared core values, as established within the canon.

Or…the group of people who are spreading hurtful backlash regarding said ship and its shippers that are not only NOT true but are just downright vulgar.

If I were to be completely honest with you, fam, my heart really isn’t in answering this question this time because there isn’t anything here I can really say to argue in favour of Rosegarden that either I or my fellow gardeners have not said multiple times before.

Seriously? How many times do we have to argue the hypocrisy of the nonsensical 2-year age gap “issue” that people still bring up to throw shade at Rosegarden while leaving ships like Whiterose, Lancaster and Nuts and Dolts who share the same age gap completely unscathed?

How many times do we have to repeat the same information provided by the show in which “The Lost Fable” episode (V6CH3) clearly said that Ozpin does not affect the Rosegarden relationship since in the past, Ozma had learnt to live in harmony with the men he was paired off with leading to one of them even getting married and having a family with Ozma being present but never interfering with Henkle’s (Dadpin) family affairs?

Seriously, how many times are people going to dig up both of these two poor, poor dead horses and continue to beat the ever living daylights out of em, huh?

It’s bad enough to ignore the rationales of the people who actually better understand the bond between the characters within the pairing since we pay closer attention to said relationship; however to ignore evidence provided by the series too as well as the word of the showrunners— that is a level of ignorance that has surpassed my patience to deal with this crap anymore.

Honestly, this squiggle meister has reached a point where I am fed up with the toxicity of some of the folks within this FNDM. The type of people, who to me, sound like nothing more than spoiled brats throwing hissy fits and tantrums just because the ‘CRWBY didn’t give them what they wanted in regards to their favourite SHIP so they have to ruin the experience for others who are just trying to have as much fun with it as they were’.

As if the CRWBY owe them anything. At the end of the day, the people running RWBY have all the say in the world. So if they decide they wish to give certain character relationships a bigger push than others then it’s their call.

And even if something becomes canon, that don’t necessarily mean it’s the end of a ship. Look how many other fandoms there are that dissolved into ridiculous shipping wars over whose ship was going to be canon and what happened? It didn’t matter in the end. Canon or not, people still continued to love and support the ship they liked even long after the series was over. Just look at Zutara from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

You think the Zutara-shippers gave two Flying Lemur shits about Kataang being endgame? No! Both ships still thrive pretty strongly even after all of these years as well as any other beloved ship from that show. So certain folks in the RWBY FNDM need to chill it with this kind of crap. It’s foolish!

And quite frankly, I have no more f***s left to give at this point to deal with it. Once upon a time, another fellow gardener approached me with this same kind of question and I’m going to repeat the same thing I told them in the end. There is a saying in my country that my mom used to say whenever conflict arose and people would just run their mouths for no reason. “Let the jackass bray!”

If folks within the FNDM wish to continue to run their mouths, making the same ole set of noise time and time again over small ting then it makes no sense trying to debate these kinds of people. This is why I feel more annoyed that I’m hearing about my fellow Rosegardeners still answering these people. STOP! Please STOP!

I myself have been caught up in it a little bit. Whether Rosegarden becomes canon or not, these types of people are always going to complain about it. We will never win with these people and y’know what? Whatever, because in all honesty, there is no fight or “shipping war” in the first place.

I refuse to argue with anyone over my preferred ship. Whether Rosegarden becomes canon or not, what matters to me is that I just want to kick back and enjoy the progression of our rosebuds who I adore so much. Ruby and Oscar are both my all-time favourite RWBY characters. Their individual stories mean a lot to me and their shared story together means a lot to me too. I want to be able to express my admiration for the growing bond between these two buds and create content around them in peace; away from any kind of animosity.

Instead of wasting my time and energy on responding to the half-baked comments of people who clearly only care about my ship whenever they wish to stir up trouble, I will instead channel it into giving more support for the ship I adore. And I pray my fellow gardeners do the same.

I, for one, have been more inspired than I’ve ever been to create more RG content because if I have sit in my proverbial bubble and listen to constant chatter from folks like that then the least I can do is fill my bubble with the things I like. And I adore Rosegarden very much. I also adore our community. We’re a small bunch but we’re mostly all pretty cool, very nice, very talented and mostly courteous people. If certain-certain folks are saying things, let them run their mouths. Leave them alone with their noise.

DON’T ANSWER THE TOXICITY! IGNORE IT! AND SHOULD IT DARE ATTACK YOU FOR NO REASON, DELETE AND BLOCK ARE YOUR WEAPONS. DON’T LET THE HATE RUIN YOUR FUN!

I understand how annoying it is to hear people talk smack about something you like while also being tempted to contest everything they say. But as I’ve mentioned before, I and many others have already debated these same old arguments before. They are not even worthy of being mentioned anymore since the CANON OF RWBY has deemed them invalid already.

While I appreciate you coming to me for my views, fam, truth is that I’ve already said my piece many, many, times before and I will always say the exact same thing:

I have been a Rosegardener (and by extension Rosegardening Pinehead) since RWBY V5 (2017). I have adored the pairing of Ruby and Oscar together since the series did a great job of hooking me in with how adorable these two’s first interactions were. Watching the way Ruby giggled and smiled at Oscar and seeing his ‘mini-stroke smile’ response to that was quite cute and such an expected reaction befitting of two adolescent kids meeting each other for the first time.

I have always viewed Rosegarden as the romantic pairing between Ruby Rose and Oscar Pine. I have NEVER once confused Rosegarden with Clockrose—the presumed RWBY pairing of Ruby Rose and Professor Ozpin. I wasn’t even aware of the existence of such a ship until V5.

But regardless, when I say I ship Ruby with Oscar, I mean exactly that, I ship Ruby with Oscar. To me, Oscar is NOT Ozpin. Nor will he ever be Ozpin or even another version of Ozpin.

Do you wanna know why? Because by my understanding of the character of Oscar Pine, he is his own person separate from the character of Professor Ozpin.

As a matter of fact, when Ozpin previously had his old body, people saw him as himself. And when Oscar first appeared on the scene, the show introduced him to the audience as his own character. Even after Oz’s soul appeared, the show immediately highlighted that the two souls are different from the other in spite of sharing Oscar’s body.

It is for this reason why I don’t understand how people can keep insisting that Oscar and Oz are the same person.Especially when the show has gone out of its way to establish time and time again that these two souls, while like-minded, are NOT the same.

So when certain-certain folks attempt to imply that Rosegarden = Ruby and Ozpin because Oscar is Ozpin, not only do I find this remark to be gibberish but it’s also a complete misunderstanding of both the characters of Ozpin and Oscar.

Rosegarden does not involve Ozpin at all since it is a pairing between Ruby and Oscar and as I shall repeat with conviction, Oscar and Oz are not the same person. Two souls, people.

I also have no problem with shipping the Rosebuds despite their ginormous, galaxy-sized age difference of 2 years.

As confirmed by Miles Luna, the age gap between Ruby and Oscar is indeed 2 years. So even if Ruby is 17 years old as of present in the series, there is the likelihood that Oscar will be turning 15 soon. Possibly in V8.

As a matter of fact, 2 years is a common age gap used in RWBY. So common in fact that it’s the exact same age gap as non-RG ships like Whiterose, Lancaster, Nuts and Dolts and for all the ‘special folks’ in the FNDM who ship Enabler—the pairing of Ruby with her sister Yang.

Not trying to throw shade at Enabler, I just find it hilarious how incest is wincest within the FNDM yet my ship is the one getting heat all because they shared a cute moment where they finished each other’s sandwiches.

No declaration of love. No confirmation of a crush. No kiss. Not even a flushed cheek. Just two KIDS being absolute dorks with one another got certain-certain people all rattled up. Wow.

Man I can’t wait to see how those same folks will react if Ruby and Oscar were to ever…dare I say it, hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes.

RoosterTeeth may need to censor that kind of stuff because it’ll be too inappropriate for this type of uppity audience. The same audience who wouldn’t mind this type of thing or more if it were in favour of their favourite non-RG ship of the same age difference. Nope. Just the Garden is the problem. Sure….

Anyhow, while I understand that certain people may dislike Rosegarden for whatever reasons they got, what this squiggle meister firmly disapproves of is the outright disrespect of their fellow fans. I don’t understand the need for people to stir up trouble just because things within the show didn’t play out exactly how you wanted it. It’s just ridiculous and as I said, I’m done with it.

Just because certain-certain folks are talking, don’t mean I have to listen. Certainly not anymore now.

Anyways, that’s all I have to say on this topic. Not sure if I actually answered your question fam but that’s the best I got.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

#drawsforfun2000 #squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #ruby rose #oscar and ruby #rwby rosegarden #rwby volume 7 spoilers

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gintoki-sakata-archive · 4 years

Text

“Cinema”

Fandom: Gintama

Main Ship: Gintoki x Tsukuyo

Other Ships: Okita x Kagura

Words:2709

Hinowa was holding two cinema tickets for the selected movie. She won the tickets in a street game by drawing a golden ball. She was supposed to go with Seita, but Seita suggested that Tsukuyo should go and have some fun. Then the idea was born in her head that Tsukuyo should go, but not alone. Hinowa wanted Gintoki and Tsukuyo to go together, however, she knew well that the two would not agree. Gintoki is quick to convince. It is enough that Seita asks him and he will not refuse him. The only problem was with Tsukuyo. This is the biggest challenge for Hinowa. She knew perfectly well that her sister would try every excuse not to go. She had to come up with a strategy so that she could not refuse the first time. The woman raised her head and looked at the sun that was between the metal walls.

"She is too stubborn" she said quietly to herself, turning her head a little to the side, and at a crooked angle she saw her store passing by people or courtesans with clients. She sighed heavily, "I have to ask Seit for help. I have no choice." She straightened her head, grabbed the staff and returned to the store. Hinowa, she did not want to mix her son in her own plan, but she had no choice. She also had concerns that her son wouldn't agree to participate in the plan.

When Seita, returned from school. Hinowa told him what she was planning and the boy agreed immediately, more he was very excited, his eyes glittered with delight, Seita, knew that his mother very much supports the relationship between Gintoki and Tsukuyo. He himself thought that they fit together perfectly and wanted his sister to play more, smile more, be more relaxed. Just like his mother just wanted her happiness, Hinowa and Seita talked vigorously about their plan. When they were finished, they heard the sound of a turning key in the door that was a sign that Tsukuyo was coming home. They finished the conversation quickly. Hinowa sat back comfortably in the armchair, grabbed the tea in both hands and touched the cup with her mouth to take a sip.

fallen Seita ran to her in the hallway with a wide smile. She heard a bang like something heavy. Hinowa didn't flinch because they knew the sound well, it happened every time her sister came home. Seita always jumped vigorously at her, with such powerful force that Tsukuyo fell. For the Courtesan it was a very familiar buzz and pleasant to her ears because it was a hallmark that Tsukuyo is back home. She drank a bow of tea and put the box down on the table and looked in the middle of the passage, saw that Tsukuyo was walking and carrying a happy Seit in her arms.

"Welcome home” Tsukuyo Hinowa, welcomed her sister with a warm smile

"I came back" She returned the warm smile. She set Seit on the ground.

"You have dinner in the fridge," they said

Tsukuyo, just nodded her head in confirmation. She put Seita on the ground and said he was going to sleep. Both women were alone, so Hinowa decided to implement the plan.

"Listen, Tsukuyo, I won two tickets to a movie cinema. Will you follow me?" Hinowa sat at the table and tapped her fingernails on the table and waited for an answer

"You won. You should go with Seita." Tsukuyo took dinner and put it in the microwave

"Seita has plans, I have an appointment" - She gave her a dishonest smile

"Then you will go another time." She poured boiling water into cups and handed a cup of tea to her sister

"No. The deadline is this Saturday. Me and Seita, we want you to go," she said firmly

"I'll think about it," she said, taking the dinner out of the fridge

XXXX

Hinowa and Seita managed to convince Gintoki and Tsukuyo. Hinowa, convinced Tsukuyo with one apt argument that she had never been to the cinema and should go and see if she liked it. She didn't want to leave Gintoki much, but she couldn't find any arguments against. Gintoki just heard that it was Tsukuyo, he agreed immediately. It only confirmed Hinowa that the two of them love each other, but they are too stubborn to take the first step. They both didn't know how to behave. Gintoki spent his last money on Cola Cola and Tsukuyo bought popcorn. He didn't want her to pay, but Tsukuyo was stubborn so she would share the expenses. They entered the cinema hall. Tsukuyo walked with Gintoki, looking around the place

"Fuck!"

Tsukuyo heard a familiar voice. She turned to her voice and saw red familiar material disappearing from behind the chairs. She stopped

* Kagura? * She thought questioningly and raised one up

"Tsukuyo"

Gintoki pulled her out of his thoughts. Tsukuyo, she turned to him and saw Gintoki waving her while sitting. She went to him.

"It seemed to me," she said to herself

Gintoki spread lazily and watched the movie. Gintoki was not too impressed by the choice of movie It was a romantic movie. Tsukuyo was very curious how she watched such movies on such a large screen, so she was very involved and looked with great curiosity.

They didn't know anyone was watching them. Behind four rows are hidden Kagura and Sougo. They had been dating for a month, but secretly before Kondo and Gintoki. Kagura asked him for a secret. She didn't know how to tell her father-brother that he had a boyfriend. She remembered well what had happened before when she "had a boyfriend" and her father and Gintoki almost killed him. She had nothing against their jealousy and knew that they were also saving the earth, but it opened her eyes that they were overprotective and no one knew what Sougo would do. Sougo understood this because Kagura told him everything, so he knew that first Kagura would have to prepare her biological father and adoptive father, but it is hard because they would sooner kill him than give away their beloved daughter. Now it's different, now they were in the same cinema, in the same room in the same film. Okita and Kagura were left with no way out.

"What now Sougo?" She looked at the boy out of the corner of her eye. Her expression was panicked and her voice trembled with panic.

"I didn't know they were together," Okita said surprised, looking at them all the time

"It's not even a date. Just Hinowa asked them to use the tickets" She sighed heavily "They are in love with each other, but neither of them will admit or take the first step" She added clutching her head

After Kagura's words, Sougo's expression changed to sadistic, and a wide smirk appeared on his face. Kagura well knew that Okita had an idea

"What did you come up with?" She looked at him suspiciously

"We should help them become a couple!" He said it ominously

"What?!" Kagura, slightly raised the elk.

Okita put his hand on her lips and covered them and touched his finger - Shhh - he said in a low voice.

Kagura looked surreptitiously at Gintoki and Tsukuyo and seemed not to have heard. She was relieved. Okita took his hand from her mouth. She sighed heavily.

"I don't know if that makes sense ..." She still doubted

"Of course he does! We can and will have no reason for your father not to agree to our relationship" He said hopeful

"Let's do it!" She said hopefully. Okita approached her and started telling her plan.

XXXX

In the meantime, Kagura and Okita thought of what to do. Gintoki and Tsukuyo watched the movie. Gintoki was uninterested, his eyes were closed, but he really looked at Tsukuyo, who clearly liked it. He smiled slightly and felt happier being at her side. When he saw her shiny eyes, red cheeks it made his butterflies in the stomach only grow. This feeling only appeared in the presence of Tsukuyo. He knew what it was, but he didn't dare tell her true feelings.

* Why am I afraid? We're both adults ... Tsukuyo * paused for a moment and looked at Tsukuyo * A woman like her wouldn't want to be lazy like me. Wait wait!! This is not Shoujo Manga ... this is Gintama. I read maybe two or three Shoujo Manga ... But ... this is completely different. Tsukuyo certainly wouldn't fall in love with me. It is not real for such a beautiful woman to want me. And if I have a chance? * Gintoki fought his thoughts, considered different scenarios. Tsukuyo looked at her friend and noticed that she was wandering somewhere. She touched his hand. He twitched slightly and looked surprised, blushing slightly

"All right?' She asked touching his hair.

She didn't know why she did it, but she just wanted to do it and couldn't fight it. Tsukuyo loved his hair, it was naturally durable and soft to the touch. Gintoki grabbed her hand playing with his hair. At this gesture he got a little scared and wanted to take his hand, but Gintoki did not allow it. He was holding her hand. Tsukuyo blushed slightly and felt her heart beat faster and faster. He kissed her fingers. Her face turned bright red. She wanted to ask why he did it, but she couldn't say a word. Gintoki also felt embarrassed.

"I-it was a thank you for agreeing to come here," he said, stammering and giggling nervously. He felt embarrassed by what he had done, but it was getting harder to control her. The irritation helped him stifle those feelings of unrequited love for a little more

"I-it's not a problem," she replied in a shaky voice. She didn't hear the movie, just beating her own heart. She felt happy and confused because she did not know what Gintoki was all about. She knows she won't have this man for herself, it made her heart go crazy, but now he did something unexpected. They didn't know what to think, but he quickly explained himself. Tsukuyo felt disappointed.

"Good." She smiled sadly. she went back to watching the movie.

Gintoki kept his eyes on her. Tsukuyo, tender as he looks at her all the time and felt uncomfortable. They didn't know what the reason was. I wanted to ask, but she heard his voice.

"Tsukuyo .."

"Yes?" They answered looking at the movie

Gintoki was silent and was analyzing whether he should say those two words that are hard to say

"Nothing ..." He couldn't .. he was a coward, but it was something more. He was afraid of rejecting her, he was afraid of losing such a valuable friend like Tsukuyo.

Kagura and Okita did a faceplam. They already hoped that Gintoki would cope with her feelings and tell her how she felt, but he was a coward that was one of his biggest flaws. Okita and Kagura knew that without their help they would not leave this cinema as a couple, but as friends. Kagura watched as the situation unfolded with tension and hope. She loved Tsukuyo and could not imagine another set for Gintoka, but when she heard that Gintoki was saying "No, nothing" Blood boiled in her and leaned out from behind the seat and punched him on the top of the head. Okita quickly stood up and brought her down and scolded the quietest one he could. Gintoki felt a blow and grasped the sore spot and looked around in all anger. Someone hit him, but he didn't know who. Outraged Gintoki stood up, turned his back to the screen and bent his legs, leaning his knees on the seat, looking for the person who hit him. He looked around, but in the government they sat only and previous governments were empty. There was no one behind him. It seemed strange to him. Okita and Kagura means that Gintoki will discover their presence. They both sweated in fear. Fear became stronger as Gintoki began to bend down.

"Gintoki"

The samurai head automatically turned to Tsukuyo, so Okita and Kagura breathed a sigh of relief. Okita hit the girl on the head. Kagura just gave him a hostile look.

"What happened?

"No .. nothing ..." Gintoki gave Tsukuyo a false smile

"For sure?" She asked suspiciously

"Yes, don't worry," he replied immediately. He sat down.

Kagura and Okita dressed in random clothes they found. They sat down near Tsukuyo. Okita sat next to her and waited for the right moment to move. he didn't have to wait long. When Tsukuyo grabbed a Coke to drink Okita, he elbowed the Coke and. Tsukuyo poured cola on her chest.

"Damn it!?" Tsukuyo shouted furiously

Gintoki quickly looked at his friend and saw what happened.

"I'll help you"

He took a white handkerchief from his pocket and began to drain Tsukuyo. Gintoki was thinking again, but he finally decided to do what belonged to him. He looked down at Tsukuyo, determination in his eyes. Tsukuyo was embarrassed to see her friend's serious expression. He opens his mouth to say something, suddenly she felt her and Gintoki's lips become one. Tsukuyo widened her eyes, stiffened when she realized that Gintoki had kissed her. Gintoki broke the kiss Tsukuyo immediately touched her lips and her diameter stopped working.

"Tsukuyo, I-"

Tsukuyo grabbed him by the kimono and pulled him to her and kissed his lips. The kiss was short. She broke the kiss and smiled looking at the boy's shocked face.

In the meantime, Okita and Kagura nailed that they managed to join them with a kiss and became a couple. They turned in the direction where Gintoki and Tsukuyo sat, but they were gone.

"Where are they?" - Kuga asked

"Behind you.."

Kagura and Okita trembled in fear at the sound of a female tone behind them. They turned to them trembling. Gintoki and Kagura stood still and Gintoki and Tsukuyo took off their beads and sunglasses.

"Kagura"

"Okita"

"What are you doing here?" Asked shocked Gintoki

"we ..eeeeeeee ..." Kagura looked sideways into the cinema wall

"We're on a date," Okita said

There was silence. In the background you could hear the music and voices of the cats in the film. The atmosphere was thick. Gintoki analyzed word by word what Okita told him.

"WHAT?!!?!?!" He shouted at the cinema

"Shhh !!" People at the cinema shouted

Gintoki ignored them. He wanted to put everything in his head, but his head was a mess.

"Since when have you been together?" Tsukuyo asked

"For a month," Kagura replied

"Why do I know nothing?" Gintoki can't believe it

"Because I couldn't tell you that" Kagura sighed "I know you won't accept Sougo" She added

"You're right. I won't accept him!"

"Gintoki" Tsukuyo spoke up. Everyone looked at her "Give them a chance. It's thanks to them. We're together"

"But he.."

"Listen ... Give them a chance ... Then we will see if he is not suitable for"

Gintoki closed his mouth. He tilted his head sideways and looked at Tsukuyo, who read from him like an open book. *sighs heavliy*

"Okay! Only-"

"Thanks Gin-chan, thanks Danna"

They both said it at the same time

"Only!" He turned serious and looked at Okita, who also got serious "You have to not hurt her otherwise. No matter where you hide, I will find you" He said threatening

"Don't worry Danna, I'm not going to hurt her" He grabbed Kagur's hand

When he saw that Okita was holding his dear daughter's hand, the blood began to boil in him. He must have had a lot of nerve control not to explode with anger. Tsukuyo sensed this and kissed Gintoki's cheek. The samurai turned to the girl and raised one eyebrow. He wanted to say something, but Kagura overtook him.

"Let's go" Kagura said

Without waiting for an answer, Kagura grabbed Okita's hand and they ran out of the cinema.

Gintoki and Tsukuyo could only watch them move away. They stared at the door for a moment and went back to watching the movie.

#gintama #tsukuyo #gintoki sakata #sakata gintoki #gintoki x tsukuyo #gintsu #gintsukki #myfanfic #gintsu fanfic #my gintsu fanfics

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whitleyschn33 · 4 years

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Ozpin and Ruby: Hypocrisy (Probably a Rant)

Yeah, you probably knew this was coming - as a fan of Ozpin that was very much not happy with how he was treated during the later half of V6, you can probably guess that I had a very bitter taste in my mouth when only 2 episodes in, Ruby told the exact same lies for the exact same reasons as Oz and the FNDM started trying to find every possible way that that wasn’t true, that obviously “Ruby is far more justified and has far better reasons to do so” than Ozpin did, and therefore not being hypocritical.

Yeah, that’s a crock of BS, and I will go on to explain why in a bit, but first, got to make something clear.

As of right now, this isn’t necessarily an example of hypocrisy yet (stressing that yet there). As of now, there hasn’t been any episodes out to follow up on the thought process of Ruby in this and no chance for her to explain why she did it, so there is a chance that she will connect her reasons for doing this to Oz’s reasons to what he did, and realize that Ozpin was right (or at least justified) in not letting them in on every detail, which would mark this a sign of growth in Ruby’s worldview and a step towards reconciliation with Ozpin, rather than hypocrisy at its finest.

However - the way that the stolen ship was handled (which I’m also itching to rant about) and the fact that there was no set-up to Ruby learning that Ozpin had reasons to do what he did (no talking with him, no example of trust backfiring in her face, nothing that would indicate her perspective of “we deserve to know everything involved” has flipped to “sometimes it’s necessary to be cautious with information”) makes me pessimistic on how this is going to be handled. The track record of the show so far makes me feel like this going to be played as an “It’s okay when we do it, and it’s totally justified cause we’re the protagonists” moment rather than a “Okay, we now see why it would feel necessary to lie or hold back information” moment of growth, and that makes my blood boil. I could be wrong, I hope I’m wrong, but as of writing this, I don’t have a lot of faith.

That being said, let’s get into the arguments (and if I miss one or you have another one, lay it on me).

The main one I’ve seen is that “The gang can’t trust Ironwood, so that makes them lying to him justified, but Oz should trust RWBY, so him lying is wrong and inexcusable.” That’s bull, though - Ozpin has no reason to trust RWBY whatsoever. We know that they’re (theoretically) trustworthy since they’re the protagonists, but from Oz’s point of view, these are just a bunch of random teenagers that Qrow dragged to his safe house and expected him to explain everything to, despite Ozpin not bringing any of them into the loop himself. With Team RNJR, he’s only familiar with Ruby’s background, and only met her at the beginning of the school year - JNR are all complete strangers he’s had no chance to vet. Weiss, Yang, and Blake literally just show up and attach themselves to the party - they all volunteer or invite themselves into the inner circle, and then expect Ozpin to trust them completely when he has no reason to. That’s what I think a lot of people forget - they volunteered for this. Ozpin didn’t seek them out; they showed up with Qrow and volunteered to help - volunteering before they could possibly know everything there is to know. Ozpin doesn’t trust them, and he has every right not to. We’ve seen firsthand that Oz is constantly betrayed, even by people he does come to trust and bring in. Lionheart is someone that Oz has known for decades, but still betrayed him the moment Salem came for him - while coming off the sting of that, why would he do something so foolish as to put his faith in these random teenagers? JNR and Blake in particular are people that he knows next to nothing about, and all have gaps in their pasts or faked records - any one of them could been an agent of Salem. RWBY and Co may not be able to trust Ironwood for good reasons, but Oz has equally good reasons for not trusting them.

Another one I’ve seen is that “Team RWBY is risking their lives doing this - they deserve to know everything”. To which my response would be, well, that’s not entirely true. Ozpin has never actually lead them into a conflict zone. Haven was meant to be a safe place to recover and begin rebuilding defenses, I’ve already explained why the Grimm attack isn’t Ozpin’s fault, and everything that goes down in Argus is on tRWBY. The only thing Ozpin haves them do is continue training and hang around while they make sure the lantern is secure - Lionheart was supposed to be an ally, Haven was meant to be a haven. Ozpin has never asked them to head into the line of fire - all he’s asked is they learn and play defense while at Haven.

But alright, though, I’ll play that game. Assuming that them risking their lives is true, then doesn’t Ironwood deserve to know everything? He’s not only risked his own life all this time, but as the head of the Atlesian military and currently concocting a plan that will draw the lives of all of Remnant into this conflict, shouldn’t he be told everything they know that could possibly be pertinent? Before Ruby lies to him, Ironwood has just laid out a plan that will throw Remnant into chaos and panic and result in many deaths, all for the end goal of finally mustering enough strength to destroy Salem - phrased another way, his entire plan hinges on the idea that whatever consequences that happen will be worth it when they destroy Salem. Ruby then proceeds to lie and not tell him about the part where them learning that, for all intents and purposes at this moment, Salem can not be destroyed is what drove Ozpin away. That is extremely important information that Ironwood, if for no other reason, needs to know since it’s the motivation behind everything he’s doing. At this moment, Ironwood has far more need to know this information than tRWBY ever has since he’s actually about to put himself, his military, and all the people of Remnant in the line of fire and the chaos of panic, but Ruby doesn’t tell him because.... why? She doesn’t trust him because of what’s happening in Mantle, which is being fueled by Ironwood’s current plan which she has the information to dissuade him from? Then telling him would be the right choice, and it wouldn’t come of as massively hypocritical. Gah, this entire situation is dumb.

Then there’s the fact that the first thing she lies about isn’t about the Relic, isn’t about what they’ve learned - it’s about why Oz isn’t there. Ironwood wants to speak with Oz, and Ruby lies about why that isn’t possible. You can make the argument that she’s lying to protect the last Relic question, or protect the information that Salem isn’t able to be destroyed, but that’s not what she’s directly lying about, those are a few steps down the line. What she initially lies about is why Ozpin isn’t present, and she practically cuts Oscar off to do so - and that comes off so much like her trying to hide what they did to Ozpin, and honestly? That’s what really makes me mad, because they have no right to hide that. If they’re so certain that what they did was right and justified, why hide it? Why cover it up? Is it possible you realize using the Relic against his will to dig into his past and trauma and then, when he was on the ground and crying after you forced him to relieve his own deaths and the death of his children, attacking him about it was a shitty thing to do? It feels so much like trying to hide what they did so they won’t face the consequences, and after all they did to Opzin for not telling them all of his mistakes and trauma? It’s so insanely hypocritical that I want to scream.

Speaking of the Relic - lying about the Relic now, are you, Ruby? But I thought that was a no-no - after all, you all freaked out when you realized that Ozpin lied about the number of questions left and that was the driving motive for you to use the Relic on him. Why is it okay for you to do that when it wasn’t okay for Oz? “Well, we can’t trust Ironwood to not waste it/use it poorly -” Great! You just realized why Ozpin didn’t tell you! He couldn’t trust you all either, especially when the first thing y’all did after learning what it was was start trying to come up with questions to ask. So, same reason!

As I’m sure you can tell, the more I talk about this, the more ticked I get. All the justifications Ruby could have for lying to Ironwood are the same reasons Ozpin would have, but honestly worse, since it comes off as them not giving Ironwood the information he would need to stop his disastrous plan and hiding their own sins. It all seems so incredibly hypocritical, and if we don’t some kind of follow-up discussion of all of this, it will be. I want to think that CRWBY will find a way to make this a moment of growth and understanding, but they failed to properly set that up when Ruby switches from “we deserve to know everything” to “it’s okay to lie to people you don’t trust” without any reason that she may have come to change her mind on this between those two actions, and so far, the show hasn’t been batting a hundred with showing any consequences for the team doing something stupid. I want to be hopeful, but for now, it’s just left me feeling incredibly bitter.

Probably a poor way to end this, but I’m technically in class, and I feel like if I rant any longer, it will devolve into incoherent rambling, so - let’s just end it here.

#rwby7 #rwby7 spoilers #ozpin #ruby rose #james ironwood #hypocrisy

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eternitas-archive · 4 years

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Oh one more thing before I leave

It’s just my two cents but I really gotta speak it into the world.

This is gonna be LONG so here have a read more

You all are hypocritical cherry pickers that want fandoms and communities to cater to your interests and morals

And let me tell you honey, that is gonna ruin not only your own experience, but everyone elses.

Lemme adress some things

Why y’all so ready to cry wolf when someone ages up a character?

The discourse is probably as old as this fucking community. It happens every other month and I am sick of it. “If you age up characters you are a pedo uvu sorry I don’t make the rules.” yes you do. You literally made up your own fucking rules about this. “Well you are shipping with a minor!” they’re aged up. “But you still ship with a minor!!”

Okay by that logic, why are we allowing all these other shippers doing their thing? The people that ship with Sans from Undertale that is a skeleton? I mean he is still just a skeleton linking him strongly to the image of death so necrophilia much?

What about the people shipping with inanimate objects? The people shipping with transformers? Those are aliens and or vehicles? Yeah that is mechanophilia.

What about people who ship with f/os that have animalistic features? I mean they are mainly antropomorphic but they still are animals. Beastiality

“No wait that is all dif-”

How about the people shipping with villains and criminals? Clearly that means they endorse that shit irl.

What about the people that ship with people MUUUCH older than them? some millenia or hundreds of years? or just 20? clearly endorse predatory behavior

While we’re at it what’s up with people shipping with divine beings? Angels? Demons? Sounds like blatant blasphemy to me

Do I want you to double down so you can prove yourself right? NO! I want you to understand that you guys are cherry picking and not understanding correlation between topics! Are there legit pedos on tumblr? yes. is it a strangers job to care for all the minors out there? no? If I go into a park it is not my job to hold an eye out for all kids that there are. I am not their parent, guardian or otherwise a person with any responsibility towards them. Same for people on the internet. I will do my shit and keep to myself. and if I happen to enjoy stuff for myself that is my right. Do I halt at a red light bc I want to be a good example for kids so they don’t learn bad behavior? Can I stop every person that crosses a red light and hold them a long ass lecture about how they endorse dangers in the streets? No.

“But there are minors on the internet!” Yes, I am aware, they will always be, always have been, your point?

“We need to make a safe space for the kids!” No we don’t? people need to follow the Terms of Service of a platform and honestly most people that reblog nsfw stuff even clearly state that minors should not interact.

“No like, YOU need to be on your best behavior bc there could be a minor anywhere!”

Since when did I become these minors parent? Since when did someone push these kids into my lap and say “your responsibility now”?

You need to understand that you can’t always just get upset at stuff EXISTING

nsfw fics are usually tagged and marked accordingly, most people that engage in a lot of nsfw stuff usually have “minors don’t interact” on their blog somewhere. Some even BLOCK people that follow them and are clear minors, that’s some DEDICATION.

But I have seen posts catering to FUCKING WRITERS saying “pls keep nsfw out of ur imagines and reader fics :)))) for the minors, otherwise I cant reblog it.” If you want to cater to your minor audience sure, but I can not stress enough how you can not tell others how to run their shit. Yes, you can suggest that to the imagine writers or writers in general but it is their right to say “no I run it like I want to” and proceed with their shit. And there is nothing you can do about it. Besides if minors really want some nsfw, trust me they WILL find it. Should we therefore police everyone and stuck them into horny jail? No.

“haha look at this lame ass adult getting upset they can’t be predatory anymore bc they are being called out on their pedophilia”

Idk how to tell you that it’s none of your fucking buisness what my personal history is and that you have no claim outside of “aging up is pedophilia” but sure go off, bc I am “upset I can not be predatory” anymore and not just outraged people are throwing around unreasonable claims.

Why would I even age up a character if pedophilia is about being into MINORS? Why would I age a character up if the WHOLE THING about pedophilia is that they are kids????

“Okay but then it’s predatory!” There is a point that depictions of an adult dating someione who is “barely legal” normalizes predatory behavior, but honestly, why is that MY responsibility? And who says I age them up to be barely legal? My social media/tumblr/ selfship experience is a very private thing. It’s a very personal thing, so why tf do I need to cater it to people who are NOT ME? When I do that it’s because I want to do it, not because I need to fill some moral obligations. (and yet I can say that YES caring about lgbt, other religious, non white selfshippers and boosting them is something generally people should do)

Like there is a thing about fiction. It doesn’t age like normal people. When I started to love one of my f/os we were the same age. The series eventually ended, it didn’t progress in real time, so I grew up while they stayed their age. And guess what! none of this backstory is any of your god damn buisness!! I don’t OWE it to you as much as writers and others don’t owe their trauma to you just so you can “give them permission” to deal with their trauma through selfshipping or writing. Who do you think you fucking are?

Fiction is not reality. And I am sick being stuck in medevial dark ages europe where people believed everything on a stage to be real life. Where actors were not allowed to exist and the people that did act and depicted a bad guy were generally shunned and hated by everyone bc they didn’t distinguish between fiction and reality.

Does fiction have an effect on reality? Yes. Jaws had repurcussions. Even the german novella “Die Leiden des jungen Werthers” had about a dozen suicides following the lead of the main character. 50 shades had an effect. 13 reasons why had an effect. But that doesn’t mean what you believe it means.

In the end I can not take the role of these minors parents to educate them and look after them. It shouldn’t be my job. And yes there are a lot of scummy adults on the internet. Like a LOT. But you need to understand that the internet will NEVER be a child safe place. And most adults take precautions already!

But fics aren’t for morality lessons. Fics aren’t for sex education. Fics aren’t there to be a fucking HOLY BOOK. Fics are just creative writing. And selfshippers are just there to have a bad time. And if they act out SURE call them out but otherwise just leave them tf alone?

“No no, what you write is what you actively endorse uvu”

Then say good bye to Horror and thriller. Say good by to books involving cheating. Say good bye to books in which anyone ever gets harmed. Say good bye to books ever even mentioning any problematic topic that isn’t 100% uwu pure

“Wait no that is different-”

How is it? Is it only problematic when you get off of it? Is that your argument? Are we going the christian route of condemning being sexually free and enjoying something that is legit a very important thing to a lot of people? (yes to asexuals their LACK of sexual attraction can also be a very important topic bc they have the right to express that without being condemed for not wanting to BONE or not being able to get horny by looking at bodies.)

Yes the over fetishization of certain topics is problematic, yes there is a lot of toxicity when it comes to porn and that shit, but kinks are just kinks.

“So you say pedophilia is just a kink!”

No. Pedophilia is aweful and no child should ever suffer through that sort of exploitation.

“But you say rape is just a kink!”

No. Real life rape is aweful and whoever rapes another human being deserves death full stop.

“You just said-”

YES! I know what I said! A lot of people hate real life stuff that they endorse in fiction. Some people are into pissing and shitting into each other! Some people are into hardcore bondage! And they all have their own histories, their own lifes and it’s their fucking thing? Do I want death on all rapists? Yes. Do I sometimes have questionable fantasies that might involve non con or dubious consent? Yes, so? Do I have my reasons for that? Yes, it’s none of your gd buisness?

It all always boils down to entitlement. Y’all need to understand that you can’t just run around demanding everyone to cater to your bullshit. You can not run around accusing people of pedophilia just because they would like to see themselves date a fictional character, but in their age.

If it makes you uncomfortable then don’t follow and interact with those people but you don’t need to pretend to have some moral high ground so you are the better person. You can just... have dislikes?

Even so, as I make this post I can not speak in broad terms because each case, each person is individual. Maybe some get off on shit and endorse it, how should I know? Maybe someone out there is fighting for not policing and censoring stuff because they actively want more pedo content, I don’t know, I am not the CIA or FBI?

It’s also none of my buisness. Is it aweful that these people exist? yeah. Are they prone to be on tumblr? probably? Are they that selfshipper that ages up their f/o so they can smooch? Unlikely.

People have their reasons. Their backstories, and none of that should have to be layed open just to get a strangers “okay” for shipping with the fictional character that makes them happy.

so uuuh before I leave

tldr: y’all full of shit and aging up is not pedophilia, you are just trying to give yourself some moral highground. you sound like a flatearther lol.

Gates closed, bitches

#and with that I abandon this sideblog for good. gbyeeeeee y'all insufferableeeeeee #except for aurora #she is a sweetheart and i support her

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michael-radi-the-glamorous-life · 4 years

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Why Does He Endure?

Last Sunday evening was the 90th Birthday Celebration Concert for Stephen Sondheim - put together and produced by Raul Esparza, and starring a jaw-dropping list of Broadway celebrities and personalities.

Despite the technical glitches - which had Twitter abuzz with some excellent Sondheim-related humor - the evening was beautiful.

The performers had recorded their songs ahead of time from their quarantined homes and still, somehow, the music and performances were just as emotional, raw, delightful, and revealing as they might have been with more theatrical conditions.

Why?

The music, the lyrics, and the marriage of the two.

Stephen Sondheim has to be one of the most polarizing musical theatre writers, having been lauded as the most important to live and also berated for being too high-brow and difficult to perform or understand. And yet, he is known as “the master.” Not a master - and we do have many - but the master.

Why? What is this legacy? Why does Stephen Sondheim endure?

Content Dictates Form

Now, I could write an entire life-long dissertation on Stephen Sondheim and the brilliance of his work (and some of my friends and family would probably say I’ve been doing it verbally for years), but I want to boil this argument down to its basics.

In his lyric anthology Finishing The Hat, Sondheim writes of the three writing principle truisms:

"In no particular order, and to be written in stone: Content Dictates Form Less Is More God Is in the Details all in the service of Clarity without which nothing else matters." -- Stephen Sondheim in "Finishing The Hat"

Let’s begin with “Content Dictates Form.”

What does that mean?

One of the reasons that Sondheim’s music endures - and specifically within the context of the shows for which it was written - is because of this first principle.

You cannot easily remove one of his songs to be performed outside of its show for an audience that is unaware of its context. Sure, they may enjoy the music or find the piece entertaining, but the song would not have its full impact outside of the show. And this is something that used to be common with theatre music, but (with the exception of “Send In The Clowns”) not with Sondheim’s music.

Why is this?

The content of Sondheim’s writing - the time, the setting, the plot, the storyline placement, the characters and their individual personalities, the opinions, and the messages of the piece - define the formation of the songs. Every piece of music he writes is entirely wrapped up within the world of the play, and taking it out of its context can therefore be quite difficult.

You can absolutely, out of context, have:

A group perform “Sunday” from Sunday In The Park With George

Two people duet on “A Little Priest” from Sweeney Todd

A devastating rendition of “Send In The Clowns” from A Little Night Music

You can do these things out of context and have them be appreciated for their craft and beauty. But something will be missed.

There are layers of enrichment that come from knowing:

“Sunday” is a musical representation of the pure beauty and tranquility that George Seurat finally feels in blocking out the chaos to finish his masterpiece painting.

“A Little Priest” is the unadulterated and insane giddiness of two brilliant, yet disturbed, people figuring out how to bring their goals into alignment - aka murder barber customers for practice and bake them into pies for money.

“Send In The Clowns” is a moment of stillness and deep self-reflection for a character who has never faced what she has always known, which is after we’ve watched her flail around her desires for two hours.

Sondheim takes these moments in the stories and crafts them into music perfectly appropriate for the situations and characters:

“Sunday” is a brief group vocal number based mostly upon quiet unison, which blossoms briefly into exuberant dissonance before returning to a quieted and major harmony in the end.

“A Little Priest” is a seven minute comedy number based in grotesque wit and delightful one-up-man-ship.

“Send In The Clowns” is a conversational, lilting, and dynamic solo ballad, which purposefully does not develop in either melody or harmonic structure.

Extraordinarily different pieces. All very Sondheim, but all utterly specific to their content.

Less Is More

I already hear some of you at home saying:

“But Michael, he’s known for his complexity and wordiness! How can Sondheim believe in Less Is More?”

Well, believing in and succeeding at are two entirely different things. And Sondheim acknowledges all over the place that he strives for these principles, knowing that he often falls short (as do we all).

But if you were to look at the songs of his that most endure - the ones that really cut to our emotional and intellectual centers - these are often the ones that follow this mantra the most.

Every Sondheim show is filled to the brim (if not overflowing) with music and lyrics, and many of these are immediately forgotten upon leaving the theater or skipped when listening to the albums. But the ones that cut through universally for performers and audiences alike tend to be wrapped up in the simplest of ideas:

Finishing The Hat

No One Is Alone

A Weekend In The Country

By The Sea

Anyone Can Whistle

Being Alive

Everybody’s Got The Right

I’m Still Here

And this is but a tiny fraction.

If you know any of these songs, their titles alone will evoke a sense of time, character, emotional state, and a wonderfully tuneful hook. And everything else about each of these songs is built specifically around these simple and effective ideas.

Do the lyrics often spin off into ambitious wordplay, complexity, and depth? Yes. But all of it centered around these simplistic and easy-to-follow ideas - he never strays.

God Is in the Details

Details come in all shapes and sizes, so it would be difficult to discuss the full breadth of the kinds of details Sondheim has mastered. There are too many.

So I will leave you with a few.

1. Correct Stress

One of the reasons performers love to sing Sondheim music - and audiences are able to take in as much information from his wordiness as they can - is because Sondheim takes great care to place words on his melodies so they are stressed precisely as we would say them.

There are many songs out there in the world that people say are difficult to sing - “it’s almost like it’s impossible to sing it well!” Usually, this is because of mis-stressed words. They’re tricky to spit out.

But when they stress is correct, you can speed through an insanely wordy line and still be entirely understandable (see “Getting Married Today” from Company).

2. Musical Development

I wrote a 10 page paper in college about the first half of one song in Sweeney Todd, dissecting the musical development and how it related to the characters and tone of the piece. And I had much more to say.

Sondheim takes great care to build a musical world, build a tune off a singular idea, and then to break his own rules only when the story calls for further movement or development. And every time he does it, it’s wildly effective.

For just a minuscule example, in Into The Woods, Little Red sings a song called “I Know Things Now,” which is the story of her encounter with the Wolf. The main melody is almost garishly major, since Red is both a kid and dreadfully annoying.

But when she gets to the part of the story where she starts feeling fear, Sondheim alters two notes in her now-familiar melody to make them minor. Just two. And then we understand her state of mind clearly.

Details.

3. Wit

A lot of people are witty. But few people are as appropriately witty as Sondheim.

It’s one thing to write your face off and be clever at any and all times - this is a great showcase of the writer and their talents. But it’s an entirely different thing to be witty in a way that’s 100% appropriate to the character, their language, and their situation.

My favorite example of this is in Sweeney Todd during “A Little Priest.”

Mrs. Lovett is a cooky delight of a character who is clever, insane, and good at wordplay and word association. However, all of this gets kicked up a huge notch during “A Little Priest” when Sweeney starts playing the word games as well. Suddenly, she has to up her game.

Prior to “A Little Priest,” in which they wittily discuss how they could cook different people into pies to sell, Mrs. Lovett would likely not have gotten to the point of being able to put together:

“Or we’ve got some Shepherd’s Pie peppered with actual shepherd on top”

A brilliantly witty line, but also perfect to Lovett in this one moment in the show.

Clarity

So why does Sondheim endure?

Whether you love him or hate him, or are somewhere in between, Sondheim’s mastery of the craft of musical theatre writing is both capturing and stirring.

His craftsmanship is the rock on which his talent sits, and it has made for some of the most exciting and interesting musical storytelling for performers and audiences alike.

Sondheim is who inspired me to do what I do. His principles guide me in everything I write. And all I can hope is that, at the end of the day, I have achieved a level of excitement and clarity that Mr. Sondheim could be proud of.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home. Cheers everyone!

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b-rainlet · 4 years

Note

You made me ship Lunya T.T but as a Allison stan this kind made me ship her with Diego... headcanon about the neglected couples? :O

Tbh, there are a lot of ship possibilities that could be seen as neglected couples since there are 7 main people who could be thrust into about 21 ship dynamics - not counting poly ships and not counting ships that aren’t sibling ships - like Klave or Vanya/Helen or even still incest stuff like Gracexthe sibs.

So you see, endless possibilities but there are only about 4 ships who are really popular? Klave, Kliego, Fiveya...maybe Horrance? And even then, most Horrance or Fiveya shippers still see their ship as a rarepair because compared to Klave or Kliego it more or less is.

Which may have to do with the fact that if you’re an anti but wanna ship something you have pretty limited options, so Klave it is.

So you probably want some Allison/Diego hcs but I’m gonna do a little more because Allison is less popular in general so her ships are not that often talked about.

I’ll leave out Alluther because I did some OTP asks about them, but y’all know I ship them because it’s the sweet story of childhood sweethearts meeting again and falling in love all over again and it’s just...*sighs dreamily* lots of possibilities.

Allison/Diego: A fun ship! At first you’d probably say: ‘We have a pretty much functional adult with a child and a guy who eats raw eggs to seem edgy’ so it’s easy to fall into a Hermione/Ron relationship interpretation where you have a dumbass and someone done with their shit - and I can see it being like that occasionally but not always!

When I think about them I mostly think about teasing. They totally do some competitive shit just because they wanna best each other but where that same dynamic could quickly turn into arguments for Luego I can see it staying mostly light-hearted with Allison/Diego.

(Quick question, do they have a ship name? Asking for tagging purposes).

And Allison would take none of Diego’s shit. Oh, Diego has one of his mood swings and tries to be an emo boy and pull that ‘I don’t need anyone shit’? Boy, Allison is a single mother who’s been through a divorce already, she doesn’t have time for your angst.

Lmao, Allison being like: “We’ll sit down and talk about our feelings now” after a fight and Diego complains the whole time but sits down like a good boy.

Also, Allison would do the vigilante thing from time to time because she may pretend to be an adult and above that kinda stuff but it’s fun and they definitely argue over who took out more people.

Give me that power couple pls.

Allison/Klaus: One of my favourite ships! Can be real whole-hearted or angsty depending on the angle you take.

Like, Allison who keeps busting Klaus out of prison with her status and her rumours and who pays for his rehab stay every single time, at first still telling him that she’s gonna fix him with that Hollywood ‘You can do it’ attitude - slowly getting more and more annoyed by her no-good brother, feeling like a babysitter - maybe even refusing to keep indulging his brother, to keep giving him money he’s only gonna use on drugs anyway.

And Klaus who despises Allison’s glamour lifestyle, her polished image and her nuclear family - we could even throw some biphobia in there because Klaus remembers their talks about how pretty girls are but Allison pretends that never happened because it wouldn’t do her career much good. (Just like being seen with her junkie brother, “isn’t that why we can’t meet anywhere that isn’t a back alley? Why you can’t talk to me without sunglasses and a hat? Why you keep your voice down even when I scream at you?”)

Plus, some added angst: Patrick telling Allison to just drop her brother already, he’s just gonna self-destruct and take her with him and that creates tension between the two of them, could even be one of the many reasons for their divorce.

And just like that, Allison loses all of it. And Klaus is there with a cheap bottle of Tequila, already high and grinning at her: “Welcome at the bottom, sister dearest!”

*insert the 30k story about the two of them slowly learning to understand each other and finally being able to heal - with the help from the other but also because they wanna change for themselves. I vote for added bed sharing and sleepovers and them doing each other’s nails but also them fucking once and not talking about it because they were both really hurt and not really thinking when it happened but it staying in the back of their minds until they realize that they could actually work together*

This got angstier than it was supposed to be, sorry! I love them, I swear!

Allison/Five: Probably the least popular one out of all the Allison ships!

I have to admit that I don’t think about Five ships much? Which probably has to do with the whole child body thing but I’m not opposed to ships involving them! (Especially when they’re enby, y’all know my brand).

Allison/Five would be that kinda snob couple who knows they are superior to you and they’re not above showing you. Lots of quibs, lots of sarcasm.

But also probably one of the more mature ones? I can see Allison being unsure at first because Five is- no, looks like a kid and who knows when that will get fixed? And maybe it’s because she’s a Mum but sometimes she just treats them like a child and Five hates it.

(Five probably has to do a lot of courting before Allison considers a relationship. Which is bullshit. They both know there’s tension there, why the fuck is Allison drawing back from that? Just because Five’s trapped in this body? Does Allison think they want that?)

Five aggressively flirting while Allison to herself is like: ‘Hoe, don’t do it.’ but eventually giving in.

And of course, depending on your take of Five’s body, things are gonna be weird. Like, a popular hc is to have Five in a 20ish body but even then, just imagine the headlines.

Allison Hargreeves, world star, dating a guy 10 years younger!!! Is she getting over her divorce with a boy toy?

(Not to mention the pseudo-incest part).

They’d get a lot of shit I’d say.

And Five would be furious about that. How dare they imply that their relationship with Allison is just some fling? They’ll show them. So they make a game out of proving the paparazzi wrong. Makes it their mission to treat Allison as right as possible.

(Also I have feelings about the whole Five - Claire - Allison thing. I mean, just Five mentioning wanting to meet Claire? Knowing her name? I am soft).

And I know I am rambling a little but whether you think Patrick was/is a nice guy or not (I personally think he is), I can see Allison being so obsessed with seeming flawless and having the picture perfect family - as opposed to her own family - that she felt like she could never really be herself? Like she had to hide a lot of her more ‘ugly’ sides to be desirable.

And Five doesn’t care about that shit. Five also doesn’t care about courtesy. Five will jump into her room at the beginning of their relationship, watch her scramble around to try and change into something nicer than her pajamas and apologize for her messy hair and her pimples- “I just woke up, I didn’t have time to put on my make up, can’t you come back later Five?”

And Five’s like: “You look like someone who just woke up. Your hair is sweaty and you have a pretty big pimple on your nose. Also, your morning breath is horrible. Can we cuddle now?”

(Five is the first partner Allison burps in front of. It’s pretty freeing).

Five on the other hand has someone they can be insecure in front of. Where they don’t have to pretend they know all the answers. Be dismissive with. (They’re trying to let all of their siblings in but it’s a process, okay?)

I’m sorry, I’ll stop now but I gave myself feelings.

Allison/Ben: This feels like an easier couple. Like, more normal, lmao. Just a couple of adopted sibs falling in love the old-fashioned way - after one of them gets brought back to live and they survive a near apocalypse their sister caused.

I like to spin some tale of being in love as kids (like with Alluther) but for me the two of them really work better as just being friends as kids and then once Ben comes back, Allison realizes how much she missed him and she’s like “What is this???? Am I....crushing on him??” (imagine the Beauty and the Beast song where they realise they like each other while playing in the snow).

Just...some good and nice slowburn. Maybe some added angst with Ben thinking Allison is confusing her relieve of him being alive with being in love or believes she’s looking for a rebound after her divorce.

Or maybe he believes he’s just touch-starved and that’s why he clings to Allison?

(Imagine the two of them chilling at the mansion together, just picking up where they left off, pretending to still be kids. Allison all excitedly showing Ben what he’s missed during all those years and what he only gets to experience now - let’s be honest this mostly boils down to Allison making him eat a bunch of stuff, not even waiting until he takes a bite himself but just putting it in his mouth because she wants to see whether he likes it).

(I hc that Allison can’t cook for shit but Ben has no real frame of reference unless you count blurry memories of what food used to taste like so it’s heaven to him and Allison is giddy).

They’re just cute, okay?

Allison/Vanya: ANGST. GAY ANGST. I mean, the guilt over what happened, Allison feeling like it’s her fault and treating Vanya all nice but Vanya stilll flinches everytime she sees the angry red scar across Allison’s throat. Plus, if Allison still can’t speak and will never speak again and Vanya tries her hardest to learn ASL with her so she doesn’t have to write down everything all the time.

Young Allison/Vanya with Vanya realising she’s queer and sneaking glances at Allison and immediately feeling guilty because she shouldn’t be looking, it’s wrong and dirty and Allison will hate her and-

Whereas she is completely missing the way Allison is looking back.

Also this ship can easily turn toxic with either of them - or both - getting overbearing after all that happened. And tbh, that’s just as exciting to write/think about.

That’s all I got for now but you’re welcome to talk more Allison/Allison ships with me!

#Allison Hargreeves

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sonicrainicorn · 5 years

Text

Made of Love, Chapter 19

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Table of Contents

Ship(s): Logicality, (platonic) Prinxiety

All Characters: Thomas, Virgil, Roman, Logan, Patton, Dr. Picani, Joan, Talyn, and Deceit

Synopsis: Humans Roman and Virgil get wrapped up in some serious magic business without meaning to. Their other companions aren’t exactly as they seem, either. Together they all must defeat a great threat for the safety of humanity.

Chapter Desc.: Logan realizes that it's a lot harder to be strong when you're faced with your worst nightmare.

TW: Cursing, implied past abuse, violence, choking/suffocating, vague mentions of self-harm

Prefer to read it on Ao3? Click here!

Okay. So maybe things got a little out of control. And maybe that was Virgil’s fault, but… yeah, he didn’t have much of a defense for that. He took it upon himself to help everyone out and considered himself responsible for them. He was the only one unaffected by Anxiety -- he needed to be the voice of reason. Sure, under normal circumstances he wouldn’t be, but who else would do it?

Tensions got a little high over the last few days. Patton and Logan argued a lot more than usual. Sometimes over things that didn’t quite need an argument. Roman tended to avoid the room when that happened. Thomas would sit in silence until it passed. Which left Virgil floundering between wanting to act and wanting to wait it out. He didn’t want them to argue so much. Especially since they were arguments that didn’t mean anything. He didn’t want them to say anything they might regret over something dumb.

He knew first hand how damaging that could be.

Nevertheless, this all led up to a rather big deal one day. It was one Virgil hoped wouldn’t ever come, but knew would happen eventually. Like all issues, if no one intervened then it would continue to fester. It was just a matter of time before the pot boiled over. And, in this scenario, Virgil was the idiot chef who let the pot get there in the first place.

Roman, Virgil, and Thomas sat in the living room while Patton and Logan argued in the kitchen. Virgil fidgeted on the couch, Thomas spared anxious glances at them from his armchair, and Roman did his best to ignore it all. But in truth, none of them could ignore it. Their voices steadily grew louder and louder until the TV became background noise. They never argued like this before.

"Just listen to me, for once!" Then a loud crash. Something shattered.

The three snapped their heads to the kitchen. They saw Patton slowly raise his hands to his mouth in shock. Logan stared at him, eyes wide and terrified. Terrified. As if Patton was capable of hurting him. He hurried out of the room. Patton didn't stop him.

Thomas unfurled himself from the armchair to make his way over to Patton. But no sooner did he open his mouth did Patton speak to him.

"Go check on Logan." His hands had yet to move from his mouth.

"Why can't you do it?" His voice was small. A genuine question rather than a complaint.

"I can't.” He closed his eyes. “He won't want to see me. Just go check on him. Please. He needs someone."

Thomas hesitated, visibly torn between two options, before doing as Patton asked.

Roman and Virgil shared a confused glance. Roman shrugged, an answer to an unspoken question between them. So Virgil stood up. The closer he got to Patton, the more his chest crushed with guilt. The more the world pushed down on his shoulders. He managed to sit down at the breakfast bar despite the weight hanging off of him.

“Should I even ask what happened?” Virgil asked in a soft voice. He didn’t think he could manage to raise it any higher.

Patton opened his eyes and dropped his hands. “I messed up. I should’ve stayed calm, but I, I couldn’t. I let my anger get the best of me. I’ve never -- I don’t know why.” He leaned over the breakfast bar.

Virgil tried to blink away the tears filling his eyes faster than he thought they could.

“I don’t get angry like that. I don’t know why I couldn’t control it.”

“I think we’ve all been feeling a little punchy since the… incident. It’s not your fault.” He wiped his eyes. “We just need to step back and take a breather.”

Patton looked at the floor. “I should clean this up.” Pieces of a broken plate were scattered along the tile.

“Did you break it?” Roman’s voice whispered from beside Virgil.

“Yes. I-I don’t know why. It was just on the counter and I was frustrated and I --” he buried his face in his hands, which pushed up his glasses. “Did you see how he looked at me? I scared him. I could feel it -- he was afraid of me. I made him afraid of me.”

Tears fell down Virgil’s cheeks in a steady stream. He hadn’t cried this hard before or felt such sorrow in his chest. It hurt. It hurt so much and the pain wasn’t even his.

“You’ve never… hit him before. Have you?” Despite the tears, Roman managed to look concerned. Maybe even a little scared himself.

“No!” Patton dropped his hands, glasses falling in place, and looked at them with wide eyes. His cheeks glistened with tears. “No, I would never.” He frowned back down at the broken plate. “But I guess it doesn’t really seem that way, does it? I promise I never have. This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this.”

“It just kinda seemed like…”

“Like he expected me to hit him?” Patton spared a glance up at them. Somehow, the weight on Virgil’s shoulders became heavier. “Maybe he did. I don’t think I stirred up any pleasant memories.”

Roman stiffened.

Virgil took note of it but decided it wouldn’t be the best time to bring it up. “I’ll help you clean up, Pat.” He didn’t leave any room for arguments.

After that, Virgil didn’t see Logan. Not until much later.

Virgil had managed to fall asleep at a reasonable time for once. He spent a good portion of the day engulfed in guilt and tears trying to calm Patton down. The crying stopped eventually but the guilt didn't go away. It was so heavy for a feeling that wasn't even his. It weighed down his chest and clung to him like an annoying bug that wouldn't go away. So yeah he was kind of exhausted.

He woke up because he needed water. Which is always the worst way to wake up. Before rolling out of bed to quench the dry desert that was his mouth, he checked the time on his phone. Two in the morning. Wonderful.

That wasn't annoying at all.

He shuffled out the door and was confused to see light. His first thought was Thomas, but even if it was him, it would be brighter. This seemed like it was coming from the TV alone. Who else would it be? Roman didn't ever leave his room at night, and Patton and Logan could barely stay up past midnight. It still had to be one of them. Unless someone broke in to watch TV for the night.

Deciding that was a slim but possible scenario to Virgil's sleepy brain, he tip-toed down the hall. It became clear soon enough that there wasn't anything to worry about. At least not in an intruder sense. Logan sat with his legs pulled onto the sofa, his glasses perched on his nose and his head resting on his knees.

"Are you watching Beetlejuice?" Virgil whispered. He didn't know why that was the one detail his brain latched on to. It was two AM and he woke up a minute ago. Don't judge him.

Logan lifted his head to look in Virgil's direction. "It happened to be on," he whispered right back. "What are you doing up?"

"I came to get water," he shuffled into the kitchen, "but now I think I might stay for Beetlejuice." He poured himself a glass of water before making his way to the armchair. He didn't miss much. Barbara and Adam just discovered The Handbook for the Recently Deceased. "I didn't think this would be the kind of movie you were into."

"I find it charming." Logan put his head back down. "The character designs are interesting and the story is unique."

Yeah, it was pretty great. Plus the music was by Danny Elfman. That always made movies twenty times better. "I used to watch this all the time when I was a kid." He stared down into the glass, swirling the water a bit. "That, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think I had both of them memorized at one point."

"What about Edward Scissorhands?"

Virgil almost choked on his water in an attempt to respond fast enough. "That one actually scared me -- and it was sad. So I never wanted to watch it. I've only seen it a handful of times."

Logan hummed. "It's certainly not the most pleasant story."

It wasn't the happiest, no. Rather depressing and bittersweet. Virgil set down his glass on the coffee table. "So do you often watch Tim Burton movies in the middle of the night or is this a new tradition I'm unaware of?"

"I just couldn't sleep." His eyes stayed trained on the TV. "I figured a distraction would help. Or at least force me to stay awake until I can't keep my eyes open anymore."

Ah, yes, Virgil was familiar with those tactics. "Would you rather do that alone?"

Logan somehow appeared smaller than he did before. "Not really."

Oof. That didn’t feel nice in the chest area. “Bet you five bucks I can still recite the movie.”

Logan’s eyes flicked over to him and a small smirk spread across his face. “Bet you five bucks I could actually do it.”

“Alright. You’re on, old man.”

Turned out, they could both do it. But that made things more fun. They ended up assigning themselves lines for the main characters and went back and forth on lines for the minor characters. Virgil had Lydia (obviously), Barbara, and Charles. Which left Logan with Beetlejuice, Adam, and Delia. They couldn’t get through the scene where Beetlejuice tried to marry Lydia, however. By that point, they started laughing and it was downhill from there.

They each tried to stifle their laughter, which of course, made them laugh more. Virgil had to admit that Logan’s laughter was contagious. It was light and airy and made him smile. Not that he’d admit that. He’d also never admit to being happy for getting Logan to laugh in the first place. That was no one else’s business but his own.

“Okay, that was fun, but I think I’m gonna go back to bed now,” Virgil said as the credits started to roll. He stood up and stretched.

“I think I will, too.” Logan began to search around for wherever he left the remote.

Great. “Sounds like a plan. Night, L.”

Logan froze. “What was that?”

Virgil stopped and looked back. “Uh, ‘night, L’?” He furrowed his brows. “Do you not want me to call you that?” He was too tired to decipher the weirdness going on.

Logan stared at him before seeming to remember that words needed to be spoken. “No, I-I don’t… It’s just that someone else used to call me that. A long time ago.” He shook his head. “Never mind. Feel free to call me that if you wish. Goodnight, Virgil.”

The next time Virgil woke up it was because he heard “Helena” by My Chemical Romance playing in the kitchen. Of fucking course he had to fling himself out of bed to see who was listening. He stumbled onto Patton quietly singing along while he made breakfast. Well, that was a bit unexpected.

“You listen to My Chemical Romance?” Virgil was sure he stood far enough away.

Patton stopped singing and fumbled with the fork in his hand. “No,” he rushed out. He paused the music before turning to Virgil. “How do you always manage to sneak up on me?”

Virgil shrugged. He decided to enter the kitchen since the risk of injury had passed. “Does Picani listen to My Chemical Romance, then?”

“Picani listens to everything.” Patton unlocked the phone before tossing it to Virgil. “When you live a long time it’s kind of difficult to stick to just one genre of music. There’s more of it every decade.” He turned back to mixing pancake batter.

To say that Picani’s playlists were impressive was a bit of an understatement. Each decade had its own playlist. There was such a diverse array of music that Virgil was kind of jealous that he didn’t know half as many songs. Though he noticed an odd skip in years. There were a few from the 40s but then it went straight to the 70s. No 50s or 60s music at all. “Not a fan of early rock?” If Virgil remembered correctly, some of Thomas’s favorite music was from that time period. It didn’t make sense for Picani not to have it.

“What?” Patton almost dropped the bowl this time.

“You’re missing two decades.” Virgil shook the phone for emphasis. “No Elvis? The Beatles? Johnny Cash?”

“Oh, uh,” Patton focused on the bowl, “we don’t really like listening to that music anymore. It reminds us a little too much of someone.” He paused and frowned at the bowl for a moment before smiling up at Virgil. “But we’re working on it.”

Virgil had a bit of a feeling he knew who he was referring to. To be fair, if Virgil lost his best friend, he didn’t think he’d be able to listen to their favorite kind of music either. “Well, there’s a lot of other songs here. Let’s see how many genres we can flip through.”

And if Logan walked in on them performing “This Is Gospel”, well, he was going to keep that to himself.

When everyone came in for breakfast, Virgil wished he could have said that it was all back normal. To anyone else, it would have seemed normal. But there were little things that were off -- things only the group members would be able to tell. The biggest one being that Logan and Patton weren’t sitting next to each other. It was kind of jarring. It didn’t seem as if they should be separated, yet it was a conscious decision. Logan chose to sit next to Thomas instead.

Clearly, it was something that bothered Patton because he fidgeted with everything more than usual. On the bright side, none of his own feelings spread out to anyone else. Virgil didn’t know how much more tears or guilt he could handle before going crazy.

Regardless; Thomas, Roman, and Virgil tried to carry on conversations. Neither Patton nor Logan said a word the whole time. By the time breakfast was over, they continued to not talk to each other. Or anyone. Which, of course, the other three couldn’t stand for. It was awkward and weird and somehow way too quiet.

But before anyone could do anything about it, Thomas’s phone rang. Because of course it did. It played generic default music that came with the phone.

Thomas gave it a weird look before answering. "You know texting is a thing, right?" He sighed and rolled his eyes so hard Virgil was sure he’d be able to see the inside of his skull. "Hello, Joan, how are you? It's a lovely day, thank you for calling me. It's always great to hear your voice." He shook his head with an amused smile. “What’s up?”

Everyone gathered their plates to put in the sink while Joan responded on the other end.

“Okay, uh, hang on a second.” Thomas took the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker. “So what’s going on?”

“I realize this might not be the best time, but I have a bit of a side quest for you guys. If you’re up for it.”

“I don’t appreciate the wording, but continue,” Logan responded.

“Always great to hear your positivity, Logan. Anyway, Talyn and I heard a report of someone with a magical object downtown. We don’t know who or what, but we know they’re hiding in the apartment complex off of Cyprus.”

That’s the same one where Roman lived.

"Is this a time sensitive case?" Patton asked.

"You don't have to do it right at this minute, but -- y'know -- do it. They don't seem like they're going anywhere."

"Is that really all you have?" Thomas sighed -- something closer to a whine, however.

"It was just a tip. People don't like to be descriptive when they're selling someone out."

"Fair enough."

"Good luck, guys. And don't die 'cause that would really be a bummer."

"Wow, thanks." Thomas rolled his eyes again. "Bye Joan." He hung up and turned to the others with a smile. "So we're doing a side quest?"

"I suppose so," Logan answered.

Patton hesitated. "Are you sure you should go? It could be dangerous and you don't have --"

"I can handle myself," Logan snapped, then immediately recoiled. Roman and Thomas shared an uneasy glance. He continued in a calmer voice, "I mean, I will be fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"But --"

"I think he's got it handled," Roman interjected. "And we'll all be there, won't we?"

"Yeah, everything will be fine," Thomas added.

Virgil gazed at them in confusion. It sort of seemed like they were trying to cover up something.

Patton gave them a nervous smile. "Oh, um, okay."

This was nonsense. "Alright before we get to any of that, you two have to talk to each other.” Virgil nudged Patton toward Logan. “Figure things out. If you keep acting this way something is going to go wrong. It hasn’t even been that long and I’m already exhausted by you two." He wasn’t going to stand for it. He may not have been able to prevent it, but he sure as hell was going to do damage control.

After seeing that he was serious (and that Roman and Thomas agreed) Patton decided to give in. He fidgeted with his hands like a little boy trying to approach his crush. “Uh, wanna take a walk?”

Logan studied him up and down. “Sure.”

That was the best thing to happen these last few days.

Roman, Virgil, and Thomas waited for them in the living room. In order to avoid the overwhelming anxiety crushing them, they decided to play some card games. They didn’t know what to expect. Patton reminding Logan about an awful time in his life by imitating the actions he had grown to fear wasn’t something that could be brushed off. It was serious. And as much as they loved each other, forgiveness wasn’t easy.

But it wasn’t something that Roman, Virgil, or Thomas could have an opinion on. It was between Patton and Logan. They needed to decide for themselves what to do.

After three rounds of Speed, two rounds of Bullshit, a round of Go Fish, and far too many rounds of Slapjack; Patton and Logan came back in. Thomas and Roman were a bit too busy agonizing over their loss to notice. Virgil was also a bit busy with their reactions to process their return. It wasn’t until Patton spoke up that they paid attention.

“You boys having fun?” He leaned over the back of the sofa with a soft smile. Logan stayed at his side.

“Apparently Virgil has a hidden talent he didn’t tell us about,” Roman grumbled as he collected all the cards.

“I have no idea what you mean.” Virgil handed him the box.

“He won almost every single round of Slapjack,” Thomas continued with a huff. He placed his head in his hand. “What about you guys? You doing okay?”

“We’re getting there.” He sent a small smile to Logan. There wasn’t any reason to doubt that.

~~~

They all sat in the car staring up at the apartment complex. They didn’t know for sure if there were any Figments still hanging around, so they couldn’t quite waltz in there. There was also the issue of where this person was exactly. They were somewhere inside. And that was all the information that existed.

“Anyone who works with Altair is going to know our faces.” Thomas shifted in the middle seat. “Even if there aren’t any Figments, there could still be someone else.” He frowned out the window. “How are we supposed to get inside without raising any suspicions?”

“We use someone else,” Patton answered as if it was obvious.

“What are you --?” The three in the backseat cried out in alarm upon seeing Joan in the driver’s seat. Logan didn’t appear phased at all.

Virgil put his hands on his chest. “Jesus Christ. Give us a warning before you turn into someone else.”

He smiled sheepishly. The action was so very Patton it was almost unsettling to see it on Joan’s face. “Sorry,” he responded in a perfect imitation of their voice.

“How are you able to do that?” Roman asked. As the shock passed he seemed more fascinated than anything.

“Mimicry. Well -- illusion specifically.”

Thomas leaned forward. “I thought you hated using illusion magic.”

“Oh, I do. But someone has to get inside.” He gazed out the window.

“You didn’t change your eyes.”

Patton returned his gaze back to them. It was true. They were the wrong shade of brown. “I can’t. It’s really hard to do, and I never bothered learning it. Illusion was always my brother’s thing, anyway.”

“He doesn’t have to be a perfect copy,” Logan said, voice more level than normal. “He just has to not be one of us.”

“Exactly.” Patton grinned.

Boy, magic was weird. Virgil didn’t think he’d ever understand it. “Okay, so what’re you gonna do when you get inside?”

“I’m gonna see if there’s anyone we have to worry about, and hopefully find the apartment our mystery person is in. If it’s safe I’ll come get you guys.”

“And if it’s not?” Thomas frowned.

“We’ll figure that out if we get to it.” He left the car without any further remarks.

The group waited for his return. They couldn’t do much of anything else. Thomas and Virgil started a game of Chopsticks which soon became a game of “who-could-lose-less” between Roman and Virgil. Thomas had an absurd amount of tricks for winning. Roman ended up figuring some of them out, leaving Virgil as the Ultimate Loser. Oh, how cruel fate could be.

Logan watched them with the same amusement a father would his children. It could also be that he thought they were idiots, but it was a lot cuter to think about it the other way.

When Patton returned, he slid into the driver’s seat with a sigh. His disguise melted away. “They weren’t there.”

“What?” Thomas asked. “Like they were never there? Or like they just stepped out for a minute?”

“I don’t know. The apartment was completely empty, but the landlord swears up and down that someone was living in it.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “It felt bad in there.”

“What do you mean?” Roman's brows knitted together in confusion.

“I don’t know how to explain it. It just felt… awful. Like misery. Like someone who causes misery.” He frowned. “But I swear I’ve felt that somewhere else before. I just can’t seem to remember where.” His eyes flicked over to Logan, studying him as if that would help him remember.

“If you felt something, that means they were there at some point, right?” Virgil asked. “Is there a way to know if they were there recently?”

“I guess it depends on how strong the emotion is.” He thought about it. “I think we just missed them.”

Thomas let out a puff of air. “Now what do we do?”

“Can you follow them? The emotion, I mean,” Roman inquired. “I feel like that’s a pretty specific one to latch on to.”

“It doesn’t really work like that. It’s not a trail I can follow, it’s more like --” he tried to use his hands to explain -- “like a, a thing. An aura I guess would be the right word for it. Something I can feel around people or where they have a strong attachment. I won’t be able to know where they are unless we were right there with them.”

“So what? We walk around until you can feel them?” Virgil asked somewhat sarcastically.

Patton and Logan shared a glance. Oh no.

That’s what they ended up doing. They parked the car and started their search. Without much to go off of, they sort of picked a random direction and walked. At least it was a nice day out, though not many people were around. A few people wandered by every once in a while, but not a whole lot. The farther they got from the apartment, the fewer people they saw.

They were heading down a street that wasn’t ever all that busy -- even on the best days. The little stores themselves seemed to be empty. This was more barren than normal. It was kind of off-putting. Virgil wanted to mention it, but he noticed the trio in front of him come to a halt.

Patton winced at the same time Logan and Thomas hissed in pain.

“You guys okay?” Virgil stopped in his tracks.

“Fine,” Logan muttered as he rubbed the center of his chest.

“What was that? Why did it feel -- can something feel evil? Is that a thing that can happen? That seems really cliche, I can’t believe that’s a real thing I just felt.” Thomas’s expression turned sour. He smacked his lips together. “My mouth tastes bitter.”

“That was magic.” Patton exchanged a troubled look with Logan. “Someone wants us to find them.”

“Uh, do people normally walk into foreclosed buildings like that?” Roman pointed across the street as someone slipped through the door of an abandoned store. “If not I think we might have found our person.”

Virgil sighed in defeat. “Of course it’s another abandoned place.”

Patton and Logan led the group across the street. The store, thank God, didn’t seem as old or musty as the previous places. In fact, it seemed recently abandoned. The foreclosed signs were still stuck to the windows as well as the posters for the “everything must go” sale. It must have been a clothing place before. Inside there were still racks and display shelves -- even a mannequin or two.

And, making their way around without a care, was the person they were looking for. They walked like they didn’t have anywhere better to be. Their steps were slow and random, walking about the store with the purpose of waiting for someone to come in. Heels clicked against the hard floor.

Logan pulled out his sword, making Virgil hyper-aware of the pens still resting in his pockets. “I think it might be best if you hand over what you’re hiding.”

The person stopped in their tracks and sighed. “Always straight to business,” they turned around, “aren’t you, Logan?”

Logan’s sword clattered to the floor. He took several steps back, his wide eyes never leaving the woman before them. “That… that’s not possible. You shouldn’t be here.”

From the sunlight that came in through the windows, they could make out her features clear as day. She appeared to be in her early twenties -- but that wasn't a trustworthy indication. She had straight black hair chopped off in a bob. Lips spread out into a sly smile. For such a petite woman, everything about her was sharp edges. A threatening mantle on an otherwise harmless figure. Her long gray coat did nothing to soften her up. Even her eyes seemed hard.

“Why?” Thomas glanced between Logan and the woman. “What’s wrong?”

Logan didn’t respond. He just stared.

Thomas turned to Patton. “Who is she?”

“She…” Patton visibly struggled for words. He stared at her with almost as much shock as Logan.

“Oh -- what?” The woman's expression evolved into a smirk. “You haven’t told him about little ol’ me? I figured I deserved at least that. After Picani tried to kill me.”

“W-what?” Thomas stared at her in disbelief.

“He wasn’t very good at it, obviously.” She stepped closer. “You decided to just leave me for Altair instead. But you know what? Instead of killing me he offered me something I couldn’t refuse.” Her smirk widened. “A chance to get back at the two of you.”

That caused Patton to snap out of his surprise. “Don’t act like a victim. You know what you did.”

Virgil pulled Thomas behind him. He had a bad feeling that something was about to start up.

The woman let out a gentle gasp and placed a hand on her chest. “But did that elicit such a harsh punishment? Tied up and left for a horrendous death?”

Patton continued to glare at her.

She dropped her offended act. “Fine. I’m not here for you, anyway.” Her gaze turned over to Logan, who still stared at her with wide eyes. “Somehow, everything always comes back to you, doesn’t it? Guess you’re just that irresistible.” She held out her hand toward him. “Do I have your permission?” A sly grin spread across her face with a sick amusement for something that only she seemed to get a kick out of.

Logan didn’t say anything.

“No, you don’t,” Patton snapped. He stood in front of Logan protectively. “You’re not getting anywhere near him.”

The woman pouted. “You gave him up so easily last time. Why is this so different?”

“I learned not to trust you.”

She tsked. “Shame. I thought we could do this the easy way. Ah, well, a job is a job.” She lifted her hand and a ghostly echo of an arm stretched out from under her feet. At the end was a hand with long slender fingers -- a claw more like. With every movement her hand made, the claw followed. It pushed Patton to the side and grabbed Logan, dragging him toward her.

Patton growled, almost animalistic in nature, and a thick column of weeds broke through the concrete floor. It severed the arm in half which caused it to fade out of existence.

Once Logan was free, he sprinted back toward the group. Patton tried to meet him halfway. But two claws halted their progress. One stopped Patton from getting any further while the other pulled Logan back until he stumbled to the woman’s side.

“Can’t have you two getting together.” She wagged her finger. “I remember what happened last time.”

The group felt a flare of anger. “Arlene, I swear --”

“Swear to what? Last time I checked, you didn’t believe in much of anything anymore.” She stared him down, challenging him to start something. “So if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to complete.” She seized Logan’s arm.

And Logan sort of locked up. He didn’t make any attempt to free himself. An automatic panic response to something he probably never wanted to happen again.

A few of the weeds broke loose of the column and shot out toward Arlene. They tore her away from Logan, keeping her pinned down as far away as possible. Logan remained frozen.

“Logan.” Patton ran over to him. “C’mon, we gotta go.” He didn't get to do anything before a claw swatted him back.

Virgil grabbed Roman and Thomas’s wrists and pulled them behind a display shelf. Patton and Arlene were going to play keep-away with Logan at the center. “We have to get Logan out of here,” Virgil said in a low voice. “Those two are going to tear each other apart before they let the other get him.”

“Then what?” Roman wasn’t as crouched down as Thomas and Virgil were. Enough to be hidden, but not totally on the floor.

So having to look up at his worried face was more than Virgil could handle. “Then we run like hell.”

Roman let out a steady stream of air through his mouth. Thomas didn’t say much of anything, but Virgil had a feeling he wouldn’t oppose. They didn't have a lot of options. This was a new kind of threat.

“Oh, there you are.”

The three yelped. They turned to see Arlene edging around the shelves with a wide grin.

“I was wondering where you boys ran off to. It was looking pretty empty.” She lifted her hand, a menacing claw rose with it. Before she could strike, Roman shot up, swinging his katana straight through the claw. They stared at each other in bewilderment. As if neither side could believe that Roman did, in fact, do what he did. Hell, even Virgil was shocked. Impressed, but shocked.

Which meant Thomas had enough time to squeeze by Arlene. He grabbed Logan’s hand and sprinted away.

Arlene scowled. She turned to go after them but Roman stuck his katana in front of her. Virgil stood up, slipping his pens out of his pockets. Arlene scowled further.

Thomas ran to the back section of the store. He pulled Logan out of sight. They stood in a little hallway connecting the two back sections, which couldn’t be seen from the front. That would give them a little time. He hoped. They just needed to figure out an escape route. As far as he could see, there weren’t any other doors than the main entrance. But first thing’s first.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m, I’m fine.” Logan held onto his arms with his fingers digging into his sleeves. “I’m fine.”

That wasn’t very believable. He didn’t look fine at all. It looked like he was ready to break apart at any second. “I have to get you out of here.”

“B-but Patton.”

“Patton will be fine.” He winced when he heard a loud crash from the other room. “Roman and Virgil are with him. We can’t let Arlene get you.”

“I… I don’t want her to.” Logan tightened his grip. “I can’t be with her again.”

Thomas paused, mind processing the absolute fear in Logan’s words, before settling into a resolved composure. “Then let’s get out of here.”

Virgil was going to lose it. He didn’t know if it was Patton’s anger or his own, but he was starting to get really pissed off with this Arlene lady. She wouldn't let up! She had magic that Virgil had yet to see before. It was different. A horrible different. An annoying different.

He and Roman were trapped underneath bent wood. When they broke the shelves, Arlene moved them to make a cage. She separated them from each other, as well. So they couldn’t do much to help the other break out. They were small, cramped spaces. And Virgil wasn't going to stay in there any longer than he had to.

“Why are you doing this now?” Patton shook out his hands. Arlene pulled weeds out of them, creating the equivalent to rope burns. “If all you wanted was ‘revenge’ then why wait?”

“Sometimes you just have to wait for the right moment.” The weeds shriveled up and died in her hand. “Wouldn’t you say that now would be the right moment?” They crumbled into ash, falling to the floor when she opened her palm. She stalked toward Patton. “Picani is gone. Logan is defenseless. And you can’t do anything about it. Without Picani… you’re useless. Aren’t you?”

Patton scowled at her. The air became tense -- almost suffocating. Pure hatred. Unabashed loathing filled the room. A feeling so genuine it wouldn’t be possible to understand unless someone felt it them-self. Then, in a seamless flow of anger, Patton swung at her. No magic this time.

Arlene had no choice but to stumble back. She almost looked surprised. Maybe a bit impressed. But that quickly changed to hatred. Annoyance. Like trying to kill a bug that won’t stay still. She responded to Patton’s actions aptly. Though with every move it became clear that she was nowhere near Patton’s skill set. She wasn’t even near Logan’s.

She didn’t create her own actions. She copied. She didn’t move unless Patton moved first. Unsure. Messy. The type of movements found in people who are out of their comfort zone. And this seemed far, far away from her comfort zone. Virgil could see her start to panic. She needed to do something else. Bring this fight back to where she could win.

“Cesso drahen,” Arlene hissed, venom in every syllable.

Patton stopped. His hands made their way to his chest and throat as he choked. He gasped, eyes going wide as the realization kicked in. He couldn’t breathe. He fell to his knees and heaved -- struggling to get any kind of air.

“Well, that takes care of that, doesn’t it?” Arlene adjusted her coat. “Should’ve done that ninety years ago.”

She turned around and Virgil swung at her as Right had instructed. He managed to slice a small portion of her cheek. As she stepped back, she stared at him in offense more than anything. But instead of blood, as was to be expected, black liquid creeped out. Then the skin around the cut transformed into smoky clouds. It covered the injured area before fading back into her skin. The cut was gone. What the hell…?

Then it clicked.

Virgil took a sharp intake, eyes widening. “You’re a --”

Arlene spat out, “Intercludo ritan,” and Virgil couldn’t move. His whole body became frozen. She put a finger up to her smirking lips. “Let’s keep that between us, shall we?”

Oh, fuck no. She wasn’t real! He had to tell the others. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t do anything. He was stuck in this position. It was like every muscle in his body tensed up and he didn’t have the ability to relax them.

“I think I see why they’d want to keep you around.” Arlene gazed at him with mild interest. “You’re a lot like her. You have that same light in your eyes -- the same kind of determination. You’re one and the same.”

“Virgil!” Roman sprinted over. He hovered between Virgil and Arlene as if he didn't know which he wanted to go after more.

“Oh, they have the other one, too.” Arlene glanced between them with a knowing smirk. “The complete set. I guess that means soulmates are real.”

Roman gave her a weird look. “What are you --?” He stopped abruptly when she put a finger to his lips.

She repeated the same words she used on Virgil. She dropped her hand. “Don’t worry, it’ll wear off in a couple hours.” She spared a glance around the room before backing away from them. “You boys stay right where you are. I have a kid to get rid of and a boyfriend to steal.”

No one could stop her from leaving.

Thomas’s head peeked out from behind one of the shelves. He was always told that spoken spells were the strongest magic. He just never realized how accurate it was. He had never felt magic like that before. In fact, he was never able to feel magic at all. Unless it was your own, it was almost undetectable. But this was… ugly.

He felt a pull in him to help them. What could he do? He didn’t have magic and neither did Logan. The one person that did was suffocating in the middle of the floor. There had to be something he could do. He turned to Logan and found him staring hard at the wall with his fingernails digging into his palm. It didn’t seem as if he was completely in the moment. He needed to get out of here.

Thomas grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the exit. There was only so much time before Arlene came back out to look for them. They needed to be gone before then. They crept along as silently as they could, careful to hide behind anything useful.

Then Thomas felt Logan's hand ripped from his own. An icy feeling spread throughout his chest. He spun around to see Arlene there. Logan had his back pressed against the wall from the floor with a claw keeping him in place. They shared a horrified glance.

"Where are you going, sweetie?" She took a step toward Thomas, making him scramble to stand up. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak away like that?" She continued walking toward him.

Thomas took a step back for every step she took forward. He didn't know what to do. She wasn't going to go easy on him. He stepped on debris that caused his foot to roll forward and the rest of him to fall to the ground. He continued to clamber back until he hit something solid.

Arlene stood over him. Like a cat who finally caught the mouse.

"Thomas!" Logan tried to wriggle out from the claw but to no avail.

"Oh, you're Thomas. I've heard so much about you." Arlene smirked down at him and tapped his nose. "You're the runt of the litter, aren't you?"

Thomas kicked her square in the chest. She stumbled back enough for him to get away. He dove straight for Logan's sword still discarded on the floor.

When he held it up, Arlene laughed. "Be careful, little boy. You might hurt yourself with that." Her full attention was on him now, but she still held out her arm to keep Logan in place. "Do you even know how to use it?"

Thomas's hands were trembling. He couldn't hold it steady. He had seen people hold and fight with swords before. He saw Roman practice. He used to watch his father do the same. He saw Logan more times than anyone else. But he himself had never even held one before. No one considered he would need to.

"Why don't we give you some practice?" She lifted her other hand and a claw showed up, ready to strike. "If you can survive this then I'm sure you'll be able to get to me."

Thomas held his breath.

"Wait!" Logan shouted before Arlene could move. "Leave him alone. You just want me, don't you? Isn't that all you're here for?"

Arlene continued to keep the claw raised. "Of course."

"So just take me. Make your job easier and leave with me right now."

Thomas's heart dropped. "Logan --"

"Shh. The adults are talking." Arlene held a finger up. The claw did the same.

Logan didn't look anywhere but at Arlene. "Leave them alone and you can have me. I won't fight you on it. I'm sure Altair would be glad to have this over and done with. The sooner he has elemental magic, the better, right?"

Arlene didn't say anything for a moment. Her eyes had yet to leave Thomas. Then, the claw that had been all too eager to strike, disappeared. Faded out of existence. She snapped and Thomas could practically feel the evil magic disappear from the room. Patton swallowed gulps of air he was now allowed to have. Roman and Virgil fell to the floor at the sudden ability to use their legs again.

"You drive such easy bargains, Logan." Arlene turned and walked back to him. "You're always so willing to throw yourself away if it means saving someone else. If I knew you hadn't changed, this would have made things much easier."

Roman and Virgil struggled to rise to their feet, the magic made their limbs jelly. Patton could barely breathe enough to do anything. Not that it stopped him.

“Logan,” he wheezed out. “Don’t --”

Thomas tightened his grip on the sword.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that, Pattycake.” The claw around Logan faded. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. “He’s already made up his mind. And he chose me again. Isn’t that --?” She choked on her next words. It might have been a bit hard to continue with a sword in her back. “The little runt has some guts, doesn’t he?” Then she erupted into smoke like every other Figment they had ever seen before. Thomas was able to see Logan stare at him in disbelief.

“She wasn’t real,” Logan whispered.

Thomas didn’t respond. He didn’t know how. He lowered the sword and took a step back for Patton to stumble through. He hesitated before deciding to go check on the two on the floor.

He helped them both up, though they still seemed unsteady.

"Nice save," Roman commented.

Thomas twisted the pommel. He never knew there was a bit of a kick to it as the sword retracted.

"You okay?" Virgil must have seen the look on his face. He was always so concerned about him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He stared down at the pommel. Logan had been using it for years. It was his first and only sword. Thomas didn't think he'd ever seen anyone else use it before.

"Are you, really?"

"I mean," he looked up. They both stared at him in concern, "I -- I've never had to do that before. I didn’t really want to." He averted his eyes. “I was… I was just scared and mad and -- I don’t know.” He added, almost as an afterthought under his breath, “I didn’t wanna lose anyone else.”

“Thomas,” Virgil put a hand on his shoulder, “she wasn’t real. I know that probably doesn’t make this any easier, but you didn’t kill her. She was already dead. Acting in the heat of the moment doesn’t make you bad. No one’s upset with you here.”

“And think about it,” Roman continued. “Would Arlene really stop any other way? She was pretty willing to take all of us out. I don’t think talking would have gotten us anywhere. You weren’t left with much of a choice.”

Thomas didn’t know what to think. “I guess.”

“Hey,” Virgil squeezed his shoulder, “he’s right. Sure, it’s a bit extreme, but nothing else worked. Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t easy.”

“But how do I know if it was the right thing?”

“We’re all here. We’re all alive.” Roman gave him a gentle smile. “I’d count that as the right thing.”

Thomas couldn’t help but smile back.

Their moment was cut short when they heard the commotion going on with Patton and Logan. Logan was holding onto his arms like a life-line and overall seemed quite frantic. Patton appeared to be trying to calm him down with little success. The three gave each other a look before deciding to approach.

“She’s gone now,” Patton said. “She won’t hurt us again -- she won’t hurt you again.”

“That’s not the point,” Logan exploded. Everyone stared at him in shock. “She acted real. She had all her memories. All of her magic. Altair was able to make an exact replica of her.” He dug his fingers into his arms. “What if he does it again? How can we trust anyone that we meet?”

The other members were stunned into silence.

“I -- I can’t --” Logan’s breathing became erratic. “Patton.” He fell against Patton’s chest.

Patton wrapped his arms around him. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He shut his eyes tight.

A warm, soft feeling covered the area like a blanket. And much like a blanket, it was comforting. It was safe. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of as long as it was there. Well… as long as Patton was there. It was fake. Underneath every blanket is a person. And underneath the security was fear. There was panic and uncertainty. If they prodded enough, they’d be able to find it. But no one wanted to. They curled further in the blanket because it was better than being exposed to the cold.

(Next)

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #thomas sanders #logicality #platonic prinxiety #coinverse #abuse tw #violence tw #suffocating tw #self-harm mention

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ganymedesclock · 6 years

Note

You might have answered this question already, I can't remember, but....I've seen quite a many member of the fandom insisting that Lotor can't be trusted, but one argument that caught my attention is that Lotor's story about the colony he cared for that was eventually destroyed by Zarkon was CLEARLY made up as a means to gain Allura's trust and sympathy. Do you think you could explain why this isn't true?

I’ve made a lot of posts about a lot of general topics around this, but I absolutely have it in me to spin a specific counter-argument to this.

The short version of it is, I think that people are failing to understand Lotor, not in a “oh, he’s really sympathetic and much nicer than that!” way, as much as, they’re failing to understand Lotor as a schemer.

Because yes, Lotor is a fairly calculating and paranoid person who will do some considerable things to save his own hide. However, you have to consider that the entire show up to this point has illustrated very specific patterns for Lotor’s behavior. Furthermore, since the universe generally doesn’t fold over itself to be an accomplice, we have outside evidence on the subject we can gather from other sources.

I’ll discuss all of those in more detail under this cut.

Everything Lotor tells us checks out

Lotor’s story of the colony can be condensed to several claims.

He was placed in charge of a colony by Zarkon.

He chose not to depose the local population, but rather negotiated with them.

Part of his objective was harvesting quintessence sustainably without harming the planet in long-term.

When Zarkon discovered this, he ordered Lotor to destroy the planet.

Lotor refused, and Zarkon took the matter into his own hands. Presumably, Lotor was forced to witness this. This was the beginning of his exile.

The first two points we can actually find supporting evidence for all the way back in s3e1. Throk is a pretty good source in this sense- because he hates Lotor and doesn’t want him to succeed, most things that he and Lotor agree upon are probably fact, since Throk has absolutely no reason to lie for Lotor’s benefit.

Throk and his friend, who harbors similar sentiments, discuss that Lotor has ruled colonies in the past, and he specifically does so working with the local people.

This is further supported in s3e2 when Lotor and the generals clearly set out to spare the lives of the people of Puig, injuring and taking hostages but explicitly by design, killing no one. Lotor also promises to show the Puigians mercy before he actually starts bargaining with the Puigian leader.

Lotor’s proposal to Puig is that no matter what they choose, he’s going to pull his soldiers out of their planet and leave them alone. But if they take his side, then he’ll personally intervene on their behalf, and serve as their liaison to the empire- people who’ve never listened to them before.

This is a context when Lotor is not “playing nice” and has no reason to try and make himself look friendlier than he is. If anything, his appeal in s3e2 is much more emphasizing his strength and efficiency, and the forces he has at his disposal.

The prison Lotor had control of that’s seen in s5e1 is noticeably fairly humane, as far as imperial prisons go- there’s no experimentation or torture, the guard system seems entirely automated so you don’t have abusive bullies in the guards, there isn’t forced physical labor. It is by nature exploitative (it is a prison after all and these people are still being forced to work on things that benefit their captors, not themselves) but if you compare it to, say, Beta Traz, whose warden was using electrical torture to drag inventions out of Slav’s head, the facility in s5e1 is tame in comparison.

(And we’re not certain how long Lotor had control of it; given that Sam Holt was captured by the main empire and shipped off to a labor camp by them, Lotor would not be in a good place pre-s3 to have been poking around prisons looking for scientists, and the facility lacks Lotor’s distinctive color scheme and aesthetics. All of that would suggest it was an acquisition sometime after s3e1)

What he purports to have done in s5e6 aligns perfectly with his actual shown policies of colony management.

As far as gathering quintessence, this is supported both by Lotor’s overall attitudes about resource management-

(he tends to be very frugal and cautious, wanting to carefully evaluate even his enemies, Voltron, before sending them into the rift. Even when he said it would work out in their favor if Voltron failed to return, he didn’t want to risk them without a good guarantee they could succeed at his objective for them)

-and that being able to tap quintessence directly from the rift, thus completely negating the need for new colonies, has been a priority for Lotor that he’s sunk a lot of energy and resources into. Far too much effort for it to be a mere farce. There’s far less expensive ways to put himself in a flattering light.

If Lotor’s so dissatisfied with the old system that he’s trying to tamper in mysterious periphery technology to avoid it, it’s fair to assume that dissatisfaction would have reared its head in less drastic solutions, like the sustainable quintessence farming he proposes.

The last three points boil down to that there is a long-term conflict between Lotor and Zarkon, and Lotor, so far, has tended to lose.

Nothing about Zarkon’s role in this is out of character for him. Zarkon is pushy, destructive, and already has a marked tendency of lashing out at people who don’t do things the way he wants them to, even if they fulfill the objective he tasked them with.

Remember Prorok, who was framed as a spy and then dismissively made into a robeast even after Haggar made it clear she knew he was innocent- purely because he tried to capture Voltron on his own?

This is absolutely a guy who would burn a planet down because he doesn’t like how his resident crony is running things.

Furthermore, we even have specific evidence that this is something he’s done to Lotor before.

Again, Lotor’s frugal with resources. He doesn’t waste time doing things that won’t get him results. And in s4e3, he clears his schedule for the express purpose of throwing himself at Zarkon’s feet and showcasing how helpless and ineffective and eager-to-please he definitely is.

Lotor doesn’t want Zarkon to know anything he’s doing. S4e3 basically illustrates that Lotor, more than disliking Zarkon, fundamentally doesn’t trust Zarkon.

Which, also, as soon as Zarkon figures out even a scrap of what Lotor’s doing… he mobilizes most of the fleet to shoot down Lotor’s cruiser and kill him.

There’s no part of the story that really seems fishy compared to things that we know and have observed, most of it from interactions with people who have absolutely no reason to humor Lotor and in fact, would want to spite him.

This is not the way that Lotor lies

Here we move away from evaluating the claim and onto Lotor’s tactics.

Many people point to Lotor’s manipulation of Throk as an example where Lotor pretends to be someone’s friend, but if you actually look at what Lotor’s saying and doing, he actually never insinuated that he liked Throk, or trusted him, or even really intended to be all that nice to him.

When he offers his hand to Throk, Lotor explicitly says “Each ally gained only makes us stronger. While those who stand against us will be crushed.”

Throk just got baited out into single combat by Lotor who made it clear he knew Throk’s plot before it had gone into motion. Lotor then defeated him, insulted him multiple times (“Your repetitive attacks are getting you nowhere”, “your tactics are stale, and in the end your own aggression is your undoing.”) and then threatened him at swordpoint.

Now that he offers his hand, he does so with a smirk and an obvious warning. If Throk refuses Lotor’s hand, if he “continues to stand against” Lotor… well. Lotor made it clear what he intends to do.

The most positive sentiment this seems to express is “I’d like you to work with me… but believe me, Throk, you really don’t want to stick to being my enemy.”

Lotor’s threatening Throk. And literally the second his little photo-op is done, he makes sure to take his back out of Throk’s stabbing range.

So Lotor’s actual only con in that scene is the vague implication that Throk can cozy up to him by acting like an ally and recanting his attempted coup. The part Lotor’s lying about is the implication he trusts Throk a tiny amount, when he really doesn’t trust Throk at all, and his response is to get away from Throk immediately.

He doesn’t wait until Throk has served some kind of goal for him.

On other occasions, when Lotor presents himself as weak and vulnerable, he has a clear agenda that he wants the other person to attack him. When he’s trying to goad the paladins into using Voltron against him, he leaves the safety of the cruiser for a tiny fighter ship. When he wants Zarkon to dismiss and ignore him, he diminishes himself and pleads for Zarkon’s guidance.

When Lotor is trying to get people to ally with him… both on Puig in s3e2, and towards Voltron in s5e1 and s5e2, Lotor’s obvious tactic is to make himself seem strong and influential. “I can give you all of this information, I can give you an imperial alliance- Zarkon’s trying to get you to give me up because he knows losing me will weaken you, you don’t want that, do you? You’re playing into your enemy’s hands.”

Lotor has never been shown, at any point, to use his own vulnerability as a way to milk sympathy from people. If anything, even when he has a truly breathtaking potential sob story, he doesn’t even seem to consider it.

When his generals betray him, when he runs to the paladins as his basically desperate last-ditch solution, either time you would expect protest, you’d expect complaint, you’d expect “haven’t I endured and suffered enough here?”

But there’s nothing. Instead, again, Lotor’s entire appeal to the paladins boils down to “I’ll be useful.”

It’s very consistent with Lotor’s behavior that he doesn’t seek reassurance or comfort from other people when he’s hurt. He stiffly tells Allura he’ll be fine in s5e3 after having killed Zarkon.

He’s been given hundreds of opportunities to milk sympathy at this point. And at every turn, he doesn’t- to the point of even sitting on information that would make Allura more sympathetic to him. He has an entire conversation with her in s5e1 about how she doesn’t trust him because he’s part of the galra royal family, knowing full well that he’s half-Altean.

Instead, he reveals it obliquely by talking about his connection to Honerva- after Allura’s decided to trust him and after he’s already in power and his survival is no longer contingent on Voltron thinking kindly of him.

The story in s5e6 also comes after Lotor would actually have a vested interest in getting Allura to trust him. Why would she possibly hesitate to help him at Oriande if she’s already made up her mind to put him on the throne? One of these things is a far greater leap of faith than the other.

Furthermore, when Allura does say something positive in response, suggesting Lotor’s risen in her esteem, his response is to contradict her.

Allura’s comment that he stood up for the people of the ill-fated colony means that in that moment, she imagines him heroic, like herself standing up for what’s right against the force of the empire. She believed that he saved them.

Lotor himself is the one who immediately says “No. They all died. I’m a failure.”

And not in a particular way that reads as one fishing for sympathy, either- considering how quickly he moves on from the subject and doesn’t look at Allura until she thanks him for helping her.

Nobody who is trying to get their allies to trust them and think of them as helpful and competent tells a story about how they completely failed to do something that their allies see as objective number one, protecting people.

The way Lotor talks about this story does not paint him in a good light. It doesn’t describe him as a villain, but he basically accuses himself of being a bystander while an entire planet of people were murdered.

Anyone with any skill at manipulation or deception is not going to think this is a good idea. If the objective is to seem like a victim but with good ideas, there are so many more direct, “clean” ways to reveal that without making himself look bad.

This is not an effective tactic. Lotor doesn’t know Allura that well, and for a good part of this partnership she’s been coldly passing judgment on him. Hearing that the only past venture towards heroism was a complete failure where he lost standing (and emotional health) and gained absolutely nothing in return.

This serves as significant context to how Lotor talks to the white lion during his trial, and his responses to the universe in general

The idea that Lotor and Zarkon have lived in a cycle where Zarkon’s disrupted Lotor’s life, destroyed things and killed people he got close to, and isolated him lines up with a lot of Lotor’s issues- the obvious difficulty he has trusting people, the fact that he’s this slow to even tell Allura relatively trivial details about his life, including things that aren’t secrets.

Everyone at the Kral Zera knows Lotor’s half-altean- when this is a crowd of people that will want to brutalize, enslave, or kill him for it- but Allura, one of the few people that would welcome that side of him, doesn’t know until an entire episode later.

Lotor is an isolated, paranoid person who’s very slow to trust and reflexively tries not to show people anything that might be construed as “weakness”. This tactic was clearly not developed to avoid particularly empathetic people, either, because Lotor’s “I’m fine, absolutely not hurting at all” body language basically consists of going absolutely wooden and shutting down, which is probably the most not-fine thing you can do.

pictured: someone who is Definitely not regretting everything he’s ever done in chronological order.

So what does this come back to? There is an obvious narrative reason we’re told about the colony right then.

There’s a difference between Lotor and Allura the second they enter the trial in s5e6.

Allura looks around, confused.

Lotor startles.

This defines each of them entirely throughout the scene- Allura remains confused but never fearful, while Lotor never once considers that the lion isn’t something to be scared of.

It’s not malice or hatred that Lotor’s lashing out with- the things that he says to the white lion make it very clear that he’s made a lot of assumptions about this creature, which explain why he attacks it at the end.

Lotor assumes that the white lion is coming to kill him. That it’s decided he’s not worthy, that it’s separated him from Allura- who’s “pure”, who wasn’t abused, who’s a “real” Altean raised in that culture by Alfor- and it’s here to drive him out of there and force him to give up because he doesn’t deserve any of this.

That everything he’s doing, everything he’s worked for to get here- is going to be taken away from him if he doesn’t fight tooth and claw to defend it right now, no matter what else might happen to him.

It’s set up as a very direct parallel to his killing of Narti- and just like that time, it has the same end result. There’s a price to pay for that action- but more than the target of his aggression, who dies quickly and silently... Lotor’s the one who goes on to suffer from it.

I have a personal pet theory that the Sincline ships will eventually take the form of Lions, and that Lotor’s ship, as the counterpart to the Black Lion, will be a white lion. To me, I think this adds another layer to s5e6 and the trial.

Because Lotor’s not actually hurting anybody else that time, not like he did with Narti.

Lotor’s just hurting himself. This is one step in a cycle of self-destruction born out of Lotor’s fear and self-loathing.

This is where the story about the colony slots in perfectly. This is why it’s essential context before Lotor’s presented to the trial, and acts the way he does.

This is not Lotor telling Allura a sad story- this is Lotor telling the audience- without realizing it- why he’s so afraid, and why he hates himself so much.

Because everything he’s cared about before has been destroyed, because he feels like it’s his fault for never being smart enough, or strong enough, or proactive enough to stop it.

Because he’s been set up to fail. It doesn’t matter if he did everything else right.

When Allura’s confronted by the lion, she sees Alfor- who’s argued with her, but only ever because he had a point, who never meant her badly unless something else had gone wrong to force him against her, and that’s exactly how she talks to it. This isn’t right, this is a holy place, a life-giving place- this is not a temple for death, so the only right action can be not to fight.

When Lotor’s confronted by the lion, he sees Zarkon- who has never, in his experience, meant him well. The setting and context are irrelevant, the important thing is this enemy is here, and if he doesn’t have enough power to stop it, the colony’s going to burn again, all of his friends will die again.

And it’s going to be his fault again.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Lotor #readmore #thenorthernphoenix #I firmly stand by that the take home moral of s5e6 #is not that Lotor is evil #it's that Lotor is afraid

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goforwardgreenwriter-blog · 6 years

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The Worm Reads: Empire of Storms, Ch 1 - 2

Book: Empire of Storms

Author: Sarah J. Mass

Ah, my dear readers, what can one say about SJM? While I do admit there is some value in a few of her books (I quite enjoyed the early t0g novels) to say her writing has stirred controversy is a bit of an understatement. There are arguments for and against why her series are problematic and toxic, why her world building is atrocious and her characters overpowered and unlikable, but I believe every author deserves a chance. Let’s see if we can give EoS a good fair shake to see whether it holds up or not, shall we?

The prologue of this book starts right off with Princess Elena Galathynius and her broad shouldered boy toy Gavin (we all know SJM does enjoy herself a broad shouldered man or two) angsting over the inevitable doom and deaths of their friends while planning to flee the battle to buy themselves more time. I won’t bore you with details; it’s separate from the main plot, short, and doesn’t offend me that much. Moving on!

Chapter One

The real story kicks off with Elide Lochan, a character from the previous novel, running through the woods. Elide was one of the few characters I found myself endeared towards, for her sweet yet strong personality and her relationship with Manon.

Weeks. It had been weeks since Manon Blackbeak and the Thirteen had left her in this forest, the Wing Leader ordering her to head north. To find her lost queen, now grown and mighty—and to also find Celaena Sardothien, whoever she was, so that Elide might repay the life debt she owed to Kaltain Rompier.

For those not aware, SJM is extremely found of em dashes. Like, she uses them a lot. I’m guilty of this too, but at least I have the sense to edit them out before publishing works! Also oof, I can smell Celaena gushing coming up.

Unfortunately, Elide had learned the hard way about what water to drink. Three days, she’d been near death with vomiting and fever after gulping down that stagnant pond water. Three days, she’d shivered so badly she thought her bones would crack apart.

While I like the imagery used here, since you get the full picture of how cold she was..... Shouldn’t the sentence be “For three days”? Just stating three days and what she was doing has no connection.

She’d run out of food a week ago and had taken to scavenging for berries. They were all foreign, but a whisper of a memory from her years with her nursemaid, Finnula, had warned her to rub them on her wrist first— to see if they raised any reaction.

I actually really like this, It shows Elide is smart, has a good memory, and is resourceful. SJM, please don’t mess her up.

Maybe she’d made a wrong turn. How would she know when she’d crossed Terrasen’s border, anyway? And how would she ever find her queen—her court?

Unghhhhh she doesn’t mean Aelin does she? If Elide is used only to gush and fangirl over what an amazing queen Aelin is I’m gonna be ill.

Elide hears wyverns flying by and hides, before realizing....

Not witches or wyverns or beasts. But someone—someone was watching her. Someone was following her.

Manon has come to sweep her girlfriend off her feet! Right...?

Lorcan Salvaterre had been running from those gods-damned beasts for two days now.

Oh god no.

Here’s the thing; I like Lorcan as a villain. He was a threat that at least made the main characters sweat a little in the previous novel, to my memory. Surely he will continue to be a villain, perhaps Elide’s main rival in this novel? After all we have a paragraph describing how he tortured and killed some witches, so surely-

He’d been hiding here first, listening to the clamor of [Elide’s] clumsy approach, and had watched her stumble and limp when she finally heard what swept toward them. She was delicately built, small enough that he might have thought her barely past her first bleed were it not for the full breasts beneath her close-fitting leathers.

I’M... SPEECHLESS. Why is that what Lorcan notices about her?? Not her mature vibe, perhaps the determination on her face, but her breasts? He doesn’t even know this girl!! Also, just because a girl has big breasts doesn’t mean she’s older. I know girls as young as 14 with huge breasts. And while I like that SJM does acknowledge periods, which so many YA authors act like they don’t exist, the focus of it here makes me... uncomfortable.

The demon-possessed girl limped up the streambed, that useless knife still out, her grip on its hilt wholly ineffective. Good. And so Lorcan began his hunt.

Oh, so maybe he is going to be an enemy during this novel? I’d read a showdown between them. Preferably with Elide outwitting and kicking his ass.

Chapter 2

Crouched beside the brook, empty skins forgotten on the mossy bank, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius extended a scarred hand over the rushing water and let the song of the early-morning storm wash over her.

*inhales* Oh Aelin. A character most hate, and one I just honestly don’t know. There’s times where I like how arrogant and show off she can be, but other times she aggravates me, mostly due to the whole lost queen thing.

She breathed in the chill mists and fresh rain, dragging them deep into her lungs. Her magic guttered in answer, as if yawning good morning and tumbling back to sleep.

I actually like the way SJM describes magic, as if its its own sentient being that lives within its owner. Too bad there’s no magic system or anything actually done with this imagery.

Across the brook, atop a mossy boulder tucked into the arms of a gnarled oak, a pair of tiny bone-white fingers flexed and cracked, a mirror to her own movements. Aelin smiled and said so quietly it was barely audible over the stream and rain, “If you have any pointers, friend, I’d love to hear them.”

The Little Folk illustrate my biggest issue with SJM; she comes up with cool fantasy concepts and characters, and never does anything with them. The Little Folk serve little purpose (ha), but I love them!! I love this scene with the Little Folk mirroring her movements. But I’m willing to wager SJM is never gonna bring them up again.

But they’d left small gifts just outside the border of Rowan’s nightly shields, somehow deposited without alerting whichever of them was on watch.

I’m stanning the Little Folk. They’re magic and skilled enough to outwit even Rowan and they bring them cute handmade gifts? Give me a Little Folk spin off.

Soggy leaves crunched behind her, and Aelin knew it was only because Rowan wanted her to hear his approach. “Careful, or they’ll leave something wet and cold in your bedroll next time.”

*inhales* Hoo boy, Aelin/Rowan time. This should be... interesting.

Strong hands slid over her waist, tugging her into his warmth, as Rowan’s lips grazed her neck, right under her ear. Aelin arched back into him while his mouth roved across her throat, heating mist-chilled skin. “Good morning to you,” she breathed.

And already they’re acting hornier than teenagers right now. Great. I mean, I’m not opposed to characters being in sexual relationships or expressing this, but God, these two take it waaaay too far. They think about sex 24/7 and it gets exhausting after a while.

“If you want to take a bath so badly,” Rowan murmured against her neck, “I spotted a pool about a quarter mile back. You could heat it—for both of us.” She ran her nails down the back of his hands, up his forearms. “I’d boil all the fish and frogs inside it. I doubt it’d be very pleasant then.”

(...)

A dark laugh against her now-burning skin. It was an effort to keep from taking one of his hands and guiding it up to her breasts, to beg him to touch, take, taste.

Like, can we get them having a nice romantic moment without them being so sex hungry for once? I barely have any feel of a connection between them aside from the fact that they are DTF. I wouldn’t have an issue if this was an erotica novel, but this is supposed to be epic fantasy.

Aelin expositions about how they’re planning to meet some lords from Terrasen, and how Lorcan is under the impression that he has the real Wyrdkey. Hopefully this means we’ll be getting some awesome fantasy content soon.

He gave her a wry smile and aimed a pointed look at Goldryn, sheathed across her back, and the various knives strapped to her. “And besides: I thought ‘cloak-and-dagger’ was your middle name.” She offered him a vulgar gesture in return.

Wait, why is SJM censoring the middle finger? I’d understand if this was an actual YA novel, but this book has graphic sex scenes. Why can’t she write Aelin flipping someone off? Unless Aelin is doing some other hand gesture?

No matter that Aelin was the bearer of a weapon capable of wiping out this entire valley, along with the gray Staghorn Mountains watching over it. And that was just her magic.

*sigh* We get it SJM, Aelin is the most special powerful sorcerer to ever exist.

“You trust nothing.” She met his eyes. “I trust you.”

If this was for a ship I liked, I’d be squealing with delight. But then the two of them proceed to make out yet again, and immediately the smile on my face dies as I am forced to yet again read paragraphs of Rowan forcing his tongue down Aelin’s throat.

So Aelin kissed Rowan gently, his hands again locking around her hips. “Fireheart,” he said onto her mouth. “Buzzard,” she murmured onto his.

Okay, I will admit. Couples having special nicknames for each other is one of my favorite tropes. I’ll admit, Aelin calling Rowan buzzard is kinda sweet if you ignored how shitty their relationship is.

Evangeline howled, “Fooooood!” Fleetfoot’s answering howl followed a heartbeat later. Then Lysandra’s snarl rippled toward them, silencing girl and hound.

Lysandra!!! Another character I loved. She is so strong and overcomes her abuser and her trauma to become a badass warrior, and plus she has girl friendship with Aelin! I’d read a series about Elide and Lysandra traveling around the world together.

When she looked back, Rowan was halfway to the camp, Evangeline’s red-gold hair flashing as she bounded through the dripping trees, begging the prince for toast and eggs.

....... eggs and toast? In the middle of the forest? Not what I’d expect, but alright.

And Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, knew the time would soon come to prove just how much she’d bleed for Erilea.

Sure, sweetheart. Also, you’re not a queen yet. You haven’t been crowned or declared ruler officially.

We switch to Aedion’s POV. I suspect if SJM let him have a motive and personality outside of worshiping Aelin, he;d be a good character.

[Lysandra] had used these weeks of travel to try out new forms: birds, beasts, insects that had a tendency to buzz in his ear or bite him. Rarely —so rarely—had Lysandra taken the human form he’d met her in.

I love Lysandra. That is all.

[Aelin]’d grown quieter the farther north they’d traveled. Perhaps weeks on the road had sapped her. After tonight, depending on what the lords reported, he’d try to find her a quiet place to rest for a day or two before they made the last leg of the trek to Orynth.

Again, had this been any other characters, it’d be sweet of him to know his cousin so well that he knows when she’s tired and want her to rest. But like, Aedion’s entire character revolves around Aelin it’s tiresome.

“Darrow was your uncle’s lover,” he added, stretching his legs out before him. “For decades. He’s never spoken once to me about your uncle, but... they were very close, Aelin. Darrow didn’t publicly mourn Orlon beyond what was required after the passing of a king, but he became a different man afterward. He’s a hard bastard now, but still a fair one. Much of what he’s done has been out of his unfading love for Orlon—and for Terrasen. His own maneuvering kept us from becoming completely starved and destitute. Remember that.” Indeed, Darrow had long straddled a line between serving the King of Adarlan and undermining him.

Oooo, a LGBT character! Very nice! However, from that description of Darrow being a supposed bastard, I’m worried he might be the villain. Which wouldn’t be a problem if there were other LGBT characters, but since Darrow is the only confirmed one that comes to mind at current, this might turn out bad.

The flames pulled apart like drawn curtains to allow [Evangeline] and Fleetfoot, sensing the child’s fear and pressing close, passage to an inner ring that would not burn her. But would melt the bones of their enemies.

Um, why is that a fragment? Shouldn’t the phrase read, “(...) passage to an inner ring that would not burn her, but would melt the bones of their enemies”?

So they are startled by the arrival of a messenger and Rowan puts a knife to his throat. I’d understand if he did this until the messenger tells them who he is, but seriously? Keeping a blade at the guy’s throat? He’s the messenger of the people you want to be allies with!

Even as Rowan nudged him forward, that cruel knife still angled at his throat. Aedion jerked his chin at Rowan. “He can’t very well deliver the message with a blade at his windpipe.”

Lmfao it literally takes Aedion pointing this out for Rowan to chill out.

Her magic simmered in response. And that [amulet]—that hideous power hanging between her breasts—seemed to open an ancient eye at all the commotion.

Again, a nit pick, but why is SJM so fascinated with the amulet being between Aelin’s breasts? It seriously takes away from the impact of the sentence, which is trying to make the amulet sound dangerous but all I can think about is the amulet squished between her boobs. It would’ve been better to simply say the amulet around her neck or something.

So the messenger tells them the lords won’t be coming out to the forest, which is honestly understandable. They’re old and can’t travel as well as the younger characters, and it’s raining outside.

So those were the first two chapters. Well, it isn’t too bad so far, but not great either. Honestly, I’m just weirded out by SJM’s focus on the women’s breasts. If this was an erotica novel, I’d have zero problems with it, but considering this book is supposed to be epic fantasy, it just pulls me out of the story every time it is focused on. But we’ll see if SJM can do better with the next chapters.

#the worm talks #the worm reads: eos #anti sjm #anti tog #anti eos #im not completely an anti blog but this is a critical take on her series so #into the anti tags it goes

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thomasyoungwritingwords · 6 years

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Flinthook, or why Switch is great for indies

Originally, I was going to write a piece about how Flinthook is exactly the kind of game that deserves a second chance on the Nintendo Switch. But in between my first draft and finally publishing this piece, Tribute Games went ahead and confirmed a Switch port.

I guess I’ll take that as a sign of my good judgement?

So instead of making an argument as to why Flinthook deserves a Switch port, I’ll be telling you why you should buy Flinthook for your Switch.

But how do I already know that Flinthook is a great game for portable play? Well, thanks to my recent purchase of a GPD WIN, for the past few months I’ve been able to take the PC gaming experience with me on the go. That included playing Flinthook on my commute to and from work for hours on end. And oh boy is Flinthook amazing on a portable system.

The game itself is a procedurally generated rogue-like with a focus on platforming - you traverse these platforms by flinging yourself around levels with a grappling hook.

Given that flinging yourself around levels accounts for roughly 75% of the gameplay here, it’s thankful that Flinkhook controls beautifully.

Speaking of beauty, this game is absolutely stunning in motion. Made by the same team behind the equally beautiful Mercenary Kings, Flinthook combines fluid animation with spot-on pixel art to create a game that is a true joy to look upon. I can only imagine how crisp this game would look on a Switch screen.

For gameplay, you use your grappling hook to pull yourself towards any of the grapple-able rings that are littered throughout the rooms of the pirate ships you board. Using the grappling hook feels natural, and the physics that determine your speed and direction feel suitably weighty. Within hours I was flinging myself through tough platforming challenges, able to anticipate exactly where I was going to land next.

Your primary method of attack is with your ‘blasma pistol’ which can be upgraded with different perks. These perks are all fairly basic, meaning your method of attack never really changes that drastically (compared to something like Binding of Isaac, where your attack changes dramatically every run).

And at any point, you can press the right trigger to activate a limited slow-mo meter (which refills very quickly). This allows you to slow down the action enough to line up shots on enemies, grapple at just the right time in order to get out of tricky situations and dodge incoming bullets.

This mechanic is great for giving you precise control exactly when you need it - and the limited usage before a recharge means you can’t overly rely on it either.

Once you combine all these mechanics together, you’ll be flipping around levels pulling off slow-mo shots that make you feel super cool. At least, they made me feel super cool.

In terms of progression, Flinthook has two systems it employs to make sure you always feel like you’re moving forwards. The first are ‘Black Market Coins’ you earn by beating bosses. You can exchange these for various items and permanent upgrades through a shop in the main menu. These include health upgrades, experience boosts and hardcore versions of levels.

The other way you progress through the game is via slowly unlocked perks, which you can equip before each run begins. Not only does this keep the game interesting, as you constantly unlock new tools to play with, it also allows you to remove some of the ‘bad RNG’ that roguelikes commonly suffer from.

...But if you’re a ran of rolling the RNG dice like me, you’ll pick the perk that gives you a random selection of perks each time you play.

By allowing you control over the perks they can choose before a run, you can tailor your perks to fit your playstyle. You can also buy buy further perks during a run, so that even if you find a set-up you want to stick with, it’ll still feel different every time you play thanks to bonus perks you pick up while playing.

The fact that each run feels different adds a lot to what makes this a great portable game. You’re guaranteed a new experience every time you boot it up, even if it’s only for 20 minutes.

This perk system is actually one of the few criticisms I have of Flinthook - compared to other games in the genre, these perks all feel relatively tame. It’s tough to get excited about 20 different perks that all boil down to ‘You have more health’ for example.

Jim Sterling recently talked about the Nintendo Switch being a haven for indies, and how the console allowed them to shine in a new spotlight away from the crowded Steam marketplace - and Flinthook exemplifies the need for this perfectly.

Flinthook is a game that deserved to be played by a lot more people than it has - Steam Spy reports that just over 60,000 people own Flinthook, with just over half of those people playing the game.

Bear in mind that this game was included in a Humble Bundle a few months ago, which no doubt boosted the number of owners dramatically.

So that’s why I’m incredibly happy for Tribute Games that they’re getting another shot at success with this upcoming Switch port. It’s one of my favourite games to come out of 2017, and I hope many more people get a chance to play it.

To conclude, Flinthook is a game I can’t recommend strongly enough. If you’re at all a fan of rogue-likes, or just want another game you can play in great 15 minute bursts on the go, Flinthook will make a great addition to your Switch library.

#Nintendo Switch #Nintendo #Flinthook #Nindies #video game #video game review #Switch #Flinthook Switch #Tribute Games #Indie games #indie game review

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leadinkrose · 5 years

Text

Dark Steam

The door to the small pub opened softly, and closed gently behind the well-dressed man. Attired in dark velvet and a richly brocaded waistcoat, he looked around the room in disgust. The tall woman behind a bar flashed him a clean smile.

“Valiant! Come in and have a drink. It’s on the house,” she cried cheerfully. The man winced.

“No, thank you, my good woman. Just taking refuge from the night outside for a moment.”

She clicked her tongue in false disappointment. “Oh, come now, Valiant. That is awfully injurious of you. I’ve got a fine 12 year just waiting for you.”

Valiant sighed, clearly unwilling to spend any time in the dingy pub. However, the patroness was very persistent, and he eventually gave in to her encouraging looks.

“I suppose you do have a full inn for a reason.” She smiled at him, gesturing to a stool at the bar in front of her. He grimaced at it, pulling out a white square of cloth and laying it gingerly on the stool before sitting.

A full crystal-cut glass of rich, amber liquid clinked down in front of him. “Or would you prefer something red? Or warm?" She smiled a little too directly. "No? Well, what can I do for you?”

“I need information.” She didn’t even raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “Yes. Well.” He coughed uncomfortably. “What do you know about Mr. Cipher.”

She froze for a moment, then shook herself out of it, speaking overly casually. “Not a name I’ve heard. New to London?”

Mr. Valiant leant forward on the bar, heedless of the stain threatening to encroach on his velvet half-cape. “You and I both know that you have a….close relationship with Mr. Cipher. All I’m looking for is a little information, and Miss Lockhart - you know everyone.”

Miss Lockhart put both hands on the bar, and leant forward, inches away from the man’s face. ��Then know this. Stay away from Mr. Cipher. Even your….years of experience will not serve you against him.”

He spoke back with equal vehemence, a sinister whisper edged with desperation. “That is not an option.”

“What could you possibly need……oh.” She smiled suddenly, baring her straight, white, teeth. “And how is Miss Collet these days?”

He stood suddenly, the scrape of the bar stool loud in the unexpected lull of conversation. He looked around, and hastily reclaimed his seat. The noise began again, and was quickly restored to its former level. “I believe she is well, and in good spirits.”

“No doubt,” the patroness allowed, reaching for a cloth to polish a few glasses. “I hear that she is quite comfortable, and well stimulated, working for a nice young man in rose-tinted glasses.”

He raised his head sharply from inspecting the scotch and crystal. Seeing her satisfied smirk, he attempted to demure. “Of course, she is free to accept any commission. She is a brilliant…...she is brilliant. It would be a shame to waste her talents.”

“Agreed,” Miss Lockhart nodded, “I could certainly use her “talents” among my own girls…...I’m only having you on, Valiant.” She said, raising her hands in placation. “You are concerned that she is working for him - if you already knew this, why should you come to me?”

“How do I get her out of this deal?”

“You don’t.” She answered shortly, punctuating her words with a glass on the bar. “One does not back out of a deal with Mr. Cipher. There are consequences to those actions.”

“He will suffer the consequences of this deal as well. Where can I find them?” She looked him evenly in the eye for a long moment, before sighing, and looking down at her bar.

“The Tobacco Dock. 17th berth. Take the stairs.”

“Thank you,” he nodded to her, sliding off his seat and moving at a stately pace of the pub. A blur showed in the brief moment before the door swung shut, and she breathed out slowly. “May God have mercy on you, even if He did not once before.”

***************************************************************

Valiant approached the entrance to the warehouse warily, listening for telltale footsteps. It was barely more than a hole in the ground, but the billowing steam pouring out of the opening gave a clue to what lay beneath. Pausing beside a large coil of rope, Valiant snapped out a hand, snagging the shoulder of the young man standing guard. A moment's work with his elegant sword, and the man was handily stuffed into the centre of the coil. Looking around, he casually stepped up to two other men, warming their hands over a coal brazier, staring sullenly out at the grey river. He pushed one man onto the brazier, sliding steel through his throat before the scream could bubble up, and swiped at the man next to him. Unfortunately, a lucky flail caught the edge of the brazier, sending both it and his victim into the water below, the splash echoing in the narrow canal. Valiant cursed colourfully under his breath, sparing a look over at the maw of the entrance.

No movement came, and the sound of hissing steam and creaking metal did not change. He breathed out slowly, and advanced on the hole, keenly aware that he was walking down likely the only exit to this cage.

Passing through the thick fog of the entrance into the clearer, moist air of the factory, he spotted Lady Velden hunched beside a large pipe, the belching steam hiding her from the main floor. Flitting over to her, he crouched down, and whispered in her ears. “Lady Velden?” She jumped, a hand steadying the plant creature on her shoulder. "Goodness! Mr. Valiant! What are you doing here?”

“Have you seen Keris?”

“Miss Collett? Yes, I do believe I can see her just up there.” Lady Velden pointed up through the steam to a small platform dangling from a crane. From there one could see the whole factory, and a familiar form could be seen above the railing.

"Yes, Jeremy, I'm absolutely sure that the cable should be split and wired through the centre! Because the current won't flow through that resistor, but we will need every ounce of power we can channel into the core!" An indignant voice called down from the platform. "Look, just.......just don't touch that. I'm coming down."

"What the hell is she doing?" Mr. Valiant hissed, eyes fixed on the huge machine, lying almost completely finished in front of him. The creation took up most of the space inside the underground warehouse. Shaped much like a stately ship-of-the-line, the broad, open deck supported two enclosed cabins, one astern and one at the bow. The fore cabin’s door was ajar, showing a myriad of levels and switches inside - evidently the controls for the machine. The central deck was surrounded by low, sparse railings. The belowdecks machinery was currently on display, showing through large hatches on the sides of the craft. Two men shoveled coal into a door on its stern, steaming escaping both there and from the smoke stack of the aft cabin of the ship. Airship, Valiant corrected himself, with sudden clarity.

He turned to share his revelation with Lady Velden, and found that she had vanished. In her place stood several armed dock works, surrounding a familiar man, sporting red-lensed glasses.

***************************************************************

"Ah, Mr. Valiant. Always a pleasure." A charming smile was frozen on Mr. Cipher's face, but his eyes boiled with rage. “Perhaps you would be more comfortable in the office?” His tone brooked no argument, and Valiant didn’t offer one.

The office, it turned out, was a large landing, sitting at the end of the warehouse, about half way between ceiling and floor. Both men paused on the top step, startled - Lady Velden was already sitting at the rough table, sipping tea out of a tin mug.

“Ah,” she sighed contentedly, “It is frightfully difficult to find good tea on the docks. Well done, Mr. Cipher.” Valiant recovered first, grabbing Cipher’s lapels, and driving him against the railing of the office. “What business do you have with Miss Collett?”

Mr. Cipher plucked Valiant’s fingers off his coat, and pushed him back a few feet. He smoothed down his lapels, brushing off some invisible spot, and walked to the table. “She and I have made a deal.”

“A deal with you is little more than slavery. It is not worth the breath to make it,” Valiant scoffed.

Mr. Cipher smiled disarmingly. "My deals are always fair, and every participant is a willing one. She traded 100 years of service for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study my favourite object." He opened his hand to reveal a small brass box, plainly decorated with a simple figure of eight etched on top. Pressing a hidden catch in the side, it sprung open to reveal an inlaid silver circle. He closed it with a snap, carefully dropping it into the pocket of his waistcoat.

"And what, may I ask, is that?" Valiant asked, clearly unimpressed. Why, he himself had given away several pocket watches of similar value just that morning.

"It stores energy, Valiant!" Keris called from across the landing as she came down the steps. "Current, amperage, heat, every form of energy or power! I have tried pumping everything into that tiny box, and have not yet found its limit." She stared covetously at the device, fingers twitching as though already unpacking it. "What we could do with that, I can barely conceive....."

"100 years of service, just to study it?!" Valiant cried, crossing the distance between them in a moment, to seize her shoulders in his hands. She looked him deep in the eyes, hands moving to dislodge his. "You must learn to trust me,” she whispered. "Jeremy!" She shouted over her shoulder, sharply twisting out of Valiant's grip, and striding away to the machine. "Far too much steam is pouring out of the third engine, tighten that connector!”

"And what, pray tell, is this, ah, contraption?" Lady Velden inquired, stepping up beside Mr. Cipher. He jumped slightly, but covered his surprise smoothly as he faced her.

"Just a trifle, Lady Velden. A mere experiment. Plentiful water and stiff breeze should make for an easy and efficient flying machine. Young Miss Collet has been so good as to assist me in this venture, as an extension of our current relationship."

"Oh, then, would you indulge me? I have a bit of a head for science, and would dearly love to understand the mechanism a bit better. Now, this piece here...." Propelled by the unrelenting force of Lady Velden's curiosity, Mr. Cipher found himself drawn away to the far end of the machine. Lady Velden shot a quick glance over her shoulder to Valiant, and he nodded quickly. Appearing once again beside Keris, he whispered fiercely to her.

"What are you playing at?"

Rounding on him suddenly, she answered with equal vehemence. "I'm not 'playing' at anything! I was handling myself fine before you showed up. You shouldn't be here.”

"Do you know who you're dealing with? What you're dealing with?”

"Do you?!” She breathed out, looking around her to see that Cipher's men were suitably distant. She pulled a small box out of a hidden pocket of her bodice. She clicked open the device – the real one. "I took this from him half an hour ago. Once this machine is ready, I was going to fly out of here with it."

"She's got the device!" A voice roared from behind a steel panel, revealing a guard who had approached them unawares on his round. Keris swore, earning a scandalized look from Valiant, who nevertheless drew his sword immediately. Pushed behind him, Keris took off across the floor, yelling at Jeremy to open the valves. "Let's get this thing moving!"

Valiant turned away from her, sighing, and came face to face with five thugs, all muscle and dangerous eyes. He sighed, irritated, and allowed his cape to drop to the ground. They hesitated a moment before pushing forward with confidence. In spite of himself, Valiant smiled. A chance to use his full strength, not to mention the training beaten into instinct, was a welcome change.

***************************************************************

At the side of the machine, Keris threw a few switches and stepped back. After a moment of nothing, she searched frantically around the switchboard. "Why isn't it working? Everything should be connected by now!" An arc of electricity reared out, pushing her away from the switches and buttons.

Jeremy looked at Keris with concern. "You did properly ground this, didn't you?" Keris crossed her arms indignantly. "Of course! I put a thick grounding wire down, right...through...the floor." She looked down, before looking up again, wide-eyed. “Oops”

A massive explosion sounded, and a wave of steamed Thames water rushed across the workshop floor, knocking back the three men that Valiant was slowly pushing away with his blade. He turned, shocked, and barely managed to bring his sword to bear back against one who had found his feet remarkably quickly.

With a deep shuddering groan, the airship lifted clear of its moorings, rising slowly out of the pit dug for it. Jeremy sprinted to a large control panel, slamming a button. The roof split in two, creaking loudly as piles of dirt rained down from the bare yard above, just barely clearing in time to allow the rapidly unfolding balloon to snap into place. Grabbing a jutting piece of metal, he hauled himself aboard, and reached down to offer Keris his hand. Eschewing his assistance, she scrambled up herself – no mean feat wearing several layers of petticoats.

"Well, thank you for that enlightening experience, Mr. Cipher," Lady Velden politely inclined her head. She stepped hastily up to the side of the airship, now several feet above the ground. Valiant, abandoning his fight and leaping upon the deck, reached down for her. "Oh, no thank-you. I should manage this myself." She grabbed a long rope hanging down from the cabin of the ship, shimmying up it with practiced ease. At Mr Valiant's stunned look, she had the good grace to appear somewhat ashamed. "Yes, well, dealing with vine so long has led to some rather unusual perks.”

Shaking his head, Mr. Valiant could only muster a quiet "Always a delight, Lady Velden.”

Under Jeremy's careful piloting, the airship lifted swiftly in the smog above. Mr. Cipher screamed at his men to grab hold of everything, of anything, but within seconds all ropes and supports had slipped through his men's fingers. He shouted up at the four figures on the deck of the ship, the distance not masking the carefully chosen words he flung at them.

"No need to be bitter, Mr. Cipher," Keris responded, leaning out over the edge of the deck. "You'll have your deal still! I've left you our agreed payment in this box." She shoved a crate over the edge, and Cipher caught it, staggered slightly. He ripped off the lid to find a fine porcelain tea set and a large collection of thickly decorated silverware, placed inside a carved mahogany box, the lid currently open to full effect. Each piece was gently vibrating, and as Cipher watched, a hatch opened in the back, spraying a scented mist over the entirety of the box. A white cloth popped up from a long, scored line at the side, and wiped over the whole, leaving each piece shining.

"There!" Keris called down, "You're sure to be able to use that to serve for 100 years. If you take proper care of it, it might even last you 200!"

"Mind that you polish it each week!" Lady Velden added, not one to let a stiff wind threatening her hat and modesty stand in the way of her civil duty.

As the airship lifted out over the river, and the shouts in the factory faded into the sounds of London, Keris sighed contentedly, and pulled the small device out into the breaking sunlight. “I can’t wait to pull this apart.”

“Mind that you can put it back together again,” Valiant added from the safety of the fore cabin. Keris peered closely at the device, not minding Jeremy and Lady Velden as they leant over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I can always set things to rights.”

#original

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