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lena-in-a-red-dress · 3 years

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Notting Hill AU Snippet #6

When they finally leave her brother's house, Lena is simultaneously exhausted and wired. Exhausted, because even a good time takes it out of her, and yet wired because the world's most famous woman is right next to her on the sidewalk, nudging shoulders as they walk down the block. It makes for a heady combination, which is the only reason at all that Lena finds herself rising to Kara's challenge of climbing over a wrought iron gate to the garden beyond.

"For the record," she huffs, struggling to find purchase with her bare hands, "I am not dressed for this-- whoopsie daisy!"

What the FUCK did she just say?

"What did you just say?" Kara echoes, her smile audible in the dark.

"Nothing," Lena brushes off as she resets. "Just, trying to get a decent foothold-- whoops!"

She slips again, and this time Kara laughs, the sound loud and musical. "You said whoopsy daisy. Like some mid-century housewife--"

"You keep distracting me!"

"From what? Another whoopsy daisy?" Kara nudges her aside, dusting off her hands. "Step aside, miss priss. Watch the professional work."

Lena obeys, turning her head aside to avoid her nose brushing a very toned, very firm ass as Kara shimmied her way up and over the fence in one try. Lena's mouth goes dry at the smoothness of the motion, and the way Kara's arms strain against the slim cut of her blouse.

Kara may be an actress, but she's clearly no waif.

The woman in question grins at her from the other side of the fence. "You know, you say you're not intimidated by a silly rule, but I think there may be some subliminal hangups..."

Lena scowls. "Oh, like hell."

Boots scrabbling against the fenceposts, Lena hauls herself up through sheer willpower alone. By the time she lands on her feet on the far side, Kara has disappeared further into the garden. With a quiet curse, Lena brushes herself off and straightens her hair before trotting after her.

"Wow..." Kara breathes when Lena catches up. "It's like it's own little world in here."

Lena watches her observe the garden, noting the way her eyes sparkle in the faint light trickling in around them. The field they stand in is lush beneath their feet, and even in the dark the scent of fragrant flowers fills the air.

Kara makes her way over to a bench, and reads the inscription on. "To June, who sat on this bench every day. From John, who always sat beside her."

Lena smiles at the sentiment, and the way Kara's voice softens as she reads it. It's beautiful, and she says so.

"I guess some love does last forever," Kara remarks, half to herself. She sits on the bench, smoothing her hands across the wood as if to ask its owners for the privilege. After a moment, she notices Lena watching. "Come sit with me."

Lena does, and they spend the night with Kara's head on Lena's shoulders, looking at the stars.

---

The next night, they go on a proper date. Or at least they try to, except Lena can't find her glasses and Querl is absolutely no help in finding them, so she watches the entire movie through the prescription lenses of her snorkel mask.

Luckily, it only makes Kara laugh, even if it earns Lena a couple handfuls of popcorn in her hair from being pelted. Afterwards, Lena takes them to her favorite sushi restaurant, and makes a show of ordering in Japanese.

"Arigato gozaimasu," she finishes, handing over her menu. When she looks across the table at Kara, she's pleased to see she's impressed.

"Now how did you learn Japanese if you've never traveled?"

Lena shrugs. "I may have dated a few travelers in my day."

"Uh huh," Kara deadpans. "What else did they show you?"

Looking up, Lena lets a lascivious grin curl her lips. "Maybe I'll get to show you."

Lena revels in the fluster that marks Kara's acceptance of the sake that comes a moment later, and marks the red blush that heats under tan skin. The conversation shifts away, but continues, and Lena lets it, content with the impact she's made.

As the meal winds down, they linger a little bit, trading information they haven't shared yet.

"What's the one place you want to go, above all others?" Kara asks.

Lena sighs. "I don't know." Kara looks at her suspiciously, and Lena lifts her hands. "I could give you the same tripe I give any customer in my shop, but the truth is, the idea of travel has never really been the destination for me."

Kara looks surprised at that. "Oh?"

With a hum, Lena nods. "For me, it's always been more about who you're traveling with. And for a while there, I thought I had someone, but she never wanted to go anywhere. In the end, it turned out she just never wanted to go anywhere with me."

It still aches. Her split with Veronica had been so sudden, it split Lena's entire entire world apart. It had been bad enough to learn that Veronica had well and truly checked out of their relationship long before she ended it. To hear that Veronica had never really been in it in the first place had--

"Then she's an idiot," Kara says, bringing Lena out of her thoughts back to the present day. She reaches across the table, and links their fingers together. "And it's her loss."

Lena forces a grin. "Funnily, that's exactly what my therapist said..."

A round of raucous table from the table behind them drowns out whatever else she might have said. Glancing over, Lena registers a group of young to middle aged men in suits-- likely stock brokers, in this part of town. They were rowdy even when they came in, but now--a round of sake later-- they're downright obnoxious.

The next one who speaks doesn't bother to mind his words or his volume.

"Give me Kara Danvers any day."

Kara meets Lena's eye across the table, rolling her eyes as his buddy chimed in.

"Didn't like her last film. Fell asleep as soon as the lights went down."

"Don't care what the films like-- if it's got Kara Danvers, it's fine by me. I mean, have you seen that ass."

Lena's jaw clenches. Kara's hand slips away, as does her gaze.

"Oh hell yeah," another one continues. "And you know she's just begging for it. Never wonder how she got that gig in Dirty Dancing, did you?"

"It sure as hell wasn't because she could dance!" They all laughed. Lena shifts in her seat, blood boiling, but Kara catches her eye, shaking her head no. Too late.

Lena rises to her feet and marches to the offending table. "Excuse me, boys, but every single person in this restaurant can hear you. And while I'm perfectly happy to watch you reveal yourselves to be the absolute cunts you are, I take exception to the fact that you're talking about a very real person in the process."

The table stares at her, shocked.

"You." Lena glares at the worst offender. "Does your mother know you debase women with the same mouth you use to kiss her on the cheek? How about your girlfriend, though I find it incredibly doubtful you've managed to shag anyone with that kind of charm."

Kara tugs on Lena's arm, trying to pull her away. Lena almost goes, but turns back at the last minute, nearly colliding with the server hurrying in with the table's paid check.

"Actually, I'm not finished. Until each and every one of you learns a woman's favorite song, color and five year goal, you sure as hell don't get to wonder what flavor condom she prefers, you got it?" Her gaze lands on the platinum credit card in the ticket tray, and smirks in triumph when she sees it's a corporate card.

"And I'm sure that Lord Holdings will be thrilled to hear all about how their employees behave while they're out eating on the company's dime."

At that, the man she'd skewered a moment ago finally recovers enough to scoff. "Hah, and what do you care? What are you, her sister?"

"Actually," Kara speaks up, coming to stand beside Lena. "She's my date."

Dead silence follows as every single one of them registers who exactly is speaking. Finally, one of them tries to sputter an apology, but Kara waves it off.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it. I'm sure it was just joking between friends, just as I'm sure your dicks are the size of peanuts. Enjoy your dinner!"

With that, Kara turns away, snagging Lena's hand as she does. Allowing herself to be towed away, Lena flips them the vee and grins, then joins Kara in trotting out of the restaurant.

As soon as they hit the street they both start to cackle, drawing stares as they laugh maniacally. Lena's heart is pounding, as is Kara's, judging from the way she holds a hand against her chest.

"Oh, my god... I-- I've never done that before!" Kara laughs. "I don't know what came over me!"

"What, standing up for yourself? You're a natural!"

"No, you were amazing! I dunno, I just heard you and I saw you facing off against them all alone, and I just-- did that! I just did that!"

Kara laughs again, and Lena tugs her closer by the hips. Pressing a kiss to her lips, Lena smiles at her. "It looks good on you," she purrs. "You should do it more often."

Kara smiles back at her, rubbing her thumbs on the ridges of Lena's hips. "Maybe I will."

Lena could kiss her again, but Kara steps back, tugging them back in the direction of the hotel. "Walk me home?"

The walk back is spent in comfortable silence, but as they near the marquee of the Ritz, Lena's heart starts to pound for a whole new reason when Kara turns to her. "Wanna come up?"

Lena nods. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Kara gives a small of relief, and smiles. "Good. Give me five minutes."

The next five minutes are the longest of Lena's life. But she waits them, hands jammed into her pockets, and counts every second before finally allowing herself to head up to the room.

When she knocks, she isn't entirely sure what to expect. A robe, maybe, left open to reveal tantalzyingly firm abs. Matching lingerie, even, to match Kara's eyes.

What she doesn't expect is Kara fully clothed with panic in her eyes.

"You've got to go," Kara whispers.

Lena freezes, but keeps her smile in place. "Why?" she whispers back.

"Because my boyfriend, who was in America, is in fact here in the next room."

previous / next

#supercorp #notting hill au

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a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan · 3 years

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LinkedUniverse Fanfiction Ch. 17: Swords, Shields, Arrows

Stop! You’ve Violated the Law!

So, you’ve stumbled upon this original post for my Linked Universe fanfiction. That’s okay, it happens to everyone. As of March 2021, I’ve uploaded the entirety of this fanfic to my Archive of Our Own page. Along with finally giving the story a name–Oops! All Links: A Linked Universe Story–I made substantial edits to some of the chapters. These range from minor stylistic revisions to fixing a gaping plot hole that kinda completely broke the character conflict in the earlier chapters. I also renamed and renumbered (but not reordered) the chapters. Specifically, this is now Chapter 19: Please, Don't Scare the Customers

The AO3 iterations of these chapters are the definitive versions. So, if you would like to read this fanfiction, please do so on AO3, right here. With this embedded link. Hehe. Geddit? Link?

Note: My screen name on AO3 is FrancisDuFresne. Yes, that is me. I am not plagiarizing myself.

Anyway, for posterity’s sake, the rest of the original post is below the cut.

In this continuation of my @linkeduniverse fan narrative, Wild and Four go on their own errand to find weapons to replace the resident amnesiac's busted sword and unwieldy Stalfos shield.

Word Count: 1482

Twilight and Wind had already left Madame Viliafore’s shop by the time Four and Wild had located an armorer. The town of Selggog was even busier in the late morning than it had been the previous evening. The sights and smells bombarded the two young heroes. Wild glanced down at his companion. The Hero of the Four Sword had to walk more briskly to keep pace with him, on account of him being a good deal shorter.

Four had planned to help Wild pick out new weapons once they had found an armorer. That was the main reason Warriors sent the two together. The moment they’d entered the store, however, Wild gravitated toward the higher-end swords. He picked a sword, tossed it between his hands, twirled it, shook his head, and chose a different one.

Four looked at the shopkeeper as Wild repeated this routine. The burly man behind the counter eyed the young knight warily. Four guessed his customers didn’t often test his weapons inside the store, if at all. Wild slowed his motions. He grasped the hilt of the sword he had been swinging with both hands, lowering it from above his head. When his hands were at waist-height, he stood still a moment. He took a deep breath.

The shorter of the Links watched in anticipation. The taller released his left hand’s grip and picked up the sword’s scabbard, then fit the blade easily into its place. He looked at Four and nodded. He strode to the shields, grasped an iron heater shield about half his height, fitted it on his left arm, and shook it a few times. He shook his head and tried a few more.

Wild stared at one shield for a moment before tilting his head to one side. He suddenly took off at a jog toward the opposite wall. He jumped, threw the shield to the ground, landed on it, and skidded a meter before he hopped off again. The shopkeeper had had enough. “Hey!” he growled, crossing his arms. “This isn’t a soldier’s barracks, kid. You’re scaring my customers!”

The young hero picked up the shield and checked the face of it for scratches. Content to find none, he faced Four and nodded again. Then he cast a glance around the shop. The Links were the only customers to be seen. The two of them exchanged a quizzical look. Wild turned to the shopkeeper. “Sorry, sir,” he said, “I’ve found what I want.”

The Links strode to the counter. Four passed a shelf with bundles of ten arrows each. He grabbed all fifteen of them. They placed their selection before the shopkeeper. The man scrutinized them. “What are two kids like you going to do with a knight’s weapons and my entire stock of arrows?” he asked.

Four looked up and stared the man in the eyes. He knew he was only fifteen but still didn’t like being called a kid. “There are actually nine of us,” he explained with a very slight edge to his voice. “We’re travelling a long way. Between monsters and bandits, the roads are dangerous.”

A few seconds passed before the shopkeeper cracked a grin and let out a bout of hearty laughter. Before either Link could recover from his confusion, the man planted his palms on the counter and continued. “Hell, whatever you say. So long as you’ve got the rupees, you’ve got the weapons. Let’s see… two hundred for the sword, three hundred for the shield, and three-sixty for the arrows… that comes out to eight hundred sixty.”

The Links winced at the number. Four shot a glare at Wild. Wild shrugged. He didn’t want to show how embarrassed he was that they were dropping five hundred rupees just because he needed new weapons. Thinking back to his conversation with Sky and Hyrule the previous night, he decided to try haggling. The young knight imitated Hyrule and put a forearm on the counter. He looked the man in the eyes. “Four hundred,” he declared boldly. Four saw the mistake immediately and shook his head.

The shopkeeper laughed even harder than before. Wild’s half-baked cocky expression faded. “Oh, boy,” the man said when he calmed down, “I know what you’re trying here, kid. Word of advice, huh? Never insult someone by offering less than half the starting price.”

Wild gulped. “I… um…”

“Save your breath, I can tell you have no clue what you’re doing. Let’s say seven hundred and call it even.”

Eager to avoid any more awkwardness, Wild just nodded. Four opened his wallet and withdrew three silver rupees, four purple, seven red, nine blue, and fifteen green. After placing them on the counter, he looked back in his wallet to find it almost empty. He sighed then stuffed the arrows in his pouch. Wild grabbed his weapons and the young adventurers went to leave the store. Four shot off a quick “thank you” before the door closed behind them.

Wild quickly fastened his new sword and shield to his baldric. “Right,” he started, “now to the café.”

Four sighed again. “You’re lucky that guy’s well-humored. That could have gone really badly.”

“How was I supposed to know what to offer?”

They started walking. “I dunno, but definitely not less than half.”

Wild’s shoulders slumped. "The Captain is gonna be on my hide for weeks.”

Four gently nudged his partner’s hip. “Don’t worry about it, he’ll probably appreciate that you picked such quality weapons. I saw the way you tested each sword. Where’d you learn that?”

“Part of knighthood is being able to choose the equipment that will keep you and your wards safe.” Wild went silent a moment. He remembered how the Master Sword had nearly fallen apart from the abuse of the Calamity. “When I’m out in the wilds, I take what I can get. Give me a choice and I’ll take the best I can find.”

“You didn’t pick the most expensive ones, though,” Four pointed out.

“I didn’t like the most expensive ones. This one,” he tapped the pommel above his right shoulder, “was weighted and sized the best for me. I know my abilities and my limitations. I can kill with virtually anything you give me, Four. Still, my own skill only carries me so far. My gear needs to pick up the slack. As the knight sworn to protect the princess of Hyrule, I’m most valuable when I’m at my most lethal.”

Four had to give it to him, that was solid reasoning. When he himself had forged the Four Sword, he put care into every strike on red-hot metal. In a way, he viewed the sword more as a piece of art than an instrument of violence. Wild had a point, though: Before everything else, a sword is meant to kill. Still, something bothered Four about his partner’s phrasing.

“Wild, your value isn’t just in your ability to slay evil,” Four said, careful to avoid the word kill. Wild looked down to his companion. Four couldn’t identify his expression, so he continued: “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. You’re kind, caring, and humble to a fault. You had the weight of the world thrust on your shoulders, and nearly died protecting the princess. You lost your memory, but you still soldiered on and saved Hyrule. And you were able to wield the Master Sword, which is a testament to the purity of your soul.”

The shortest Link looked skyward and smiled. “Just look at all of us Links. We share a love for life and a sense of justice that drives us to protect the light. That’s what binds us, what summons us whenever Hyrule needs us most. I’d bet all four of my lives that we aren’t the only Links there have been or ever will be.”

A few seconds passed. Four glanced at Wild. The Hylian Champion seemed lost in thought, as if he were walking on autopilot. The young smithy had had to make sense of four fragmented personalities to achieve his full potential. He still couldn’t make sense of Wild sometimes. He figured, as the other Links had, that Wild came out of his adventure the most psychologically damaged of all of them—even more than Time.

Wild was shocked out of his reverie by a little girl shoving past him trying to chase her friends. The sights and sounds of Selggog rushed back to him. He stopped walking and shook his head to clear it. Four waited a few paces ahead. “Sorry, were you saying something?” Wild asked, still a little dazed.

Four walked back, reached up to put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, and smiled. “Not really, no. Let’s head back to the café and meet up with the others. They probably picked out some good food.”

“Yeah, sounds good. I’m down for a second breakfast.”

“Hah, you always are.”

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #my own #my writing #fanfic #zelda #the legend of zelda #creator content #linked universe fanfiction #swords shields arrows

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sceptilemasterr · 3 years

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Defenders of the Flame (TE Rewrite) Act 3, Scene 6 - Romance and Reflection

Title: Defenders of the Flame (A CIU Screenplay)

Main Pairings: Shreya x F!MC, Beckett x F!Atlas

Other Pairings: N/A

Genre: Full Rewrite (The Elementalists, Book 1)

Rating: PG-13 for violence, blood, swearing, alcohol, and sexuality

Summary: An impatient Shreya takes matters into her own hands.

Previous Scene: To Ask a Question

Masterlist: Link

INT. PCSA MAIN QUAD - DAY

The main doors of Glebiza Hall swing open, and Shreya leads Fiora by the hand as they emerge onto the snowy quad. When the cold air hits, they both make a few quick gestures almost without thinking. A moment later, a layer of warm air surrounds them.

FIORA: Shreya... where are we going? It’s cold out here, and our Heatshells won’t last forever!

SHREYA: Just trust me, dear. I know what I am doing!

The two of them walk in silence for several moments. Fiora seems to be deep in thought as she repeatedly steals glances at Shreya. Before long, they have arrived in front of Fletchly Hall, and Shreya stops and turns to face Fiora.

SHREYA: Fiora, do you recall coming here for the first time?

FIORA: How could I forget? I was so confused. I thought for sure I was gonna be kicked out.

SHREYA (smiling): Luckily for both of us, that wasn’t the case. I remember convincing you that it was no mistake.

FIORA: Yeah. I was pretty surprised when you did that Stoicheal Transfer on me!

SHREYA (laughs): Quite the fiery Awakening, to be sure.

They continue their conversation as Shreya resumes walking, leading Fiora past Fletchly Hall and further along the quad.

SHREYA: As surprised as I was to learn you’d been raised Tuneless... I think we did a fairly good job navigating Penderghast life. Don’t you think?

FIORA: Yeah... (sighs) Listen, Shreya, I’m sorry for pulling you into all my issues. It can’t have been easy, and I know it’s tough dealing with all my insecurities and anxieties, and I don’t even know what you--

SHREYA: Please, Fiora. If any of that bothered me, you would have been the first to know. I like you, Fiora. Because you’re Fiora, and that’s all.

FIORA: Shreya...

SHREYA: Like I told you the other day: you need to see yourself the way I see you. Because what I see is a wonderful woman who has already grown so very much since the day we met!

Shreya stops, and Fiora looks around to realize they are standing on the steps to Tubigan Hall. Shreya turns to face Fiora again.

SHREYA: You can be frustrating at times, to be certain. But at the same time, you are kind, fiercely protective, gentle yet strong when you need to be... you’ve brought all of us Pend Pals together, you know. You say you’ve been following all of us, but in truth, lately... it’s us who’ve been following your lead. Haven’t you noticed?

FIORA (shocked): Wh...what?!

SHREYA: It’s true. Things could have gone much worse at the birthday party were it not for you mediating between us and Atlas... when you showed that you trusted her, we all did the same. You have so much more than you give yourself credit for.

Her eyes watering, Fiora pulls Shreya into a tight hug.

FIORA: Shreya... I can’t... I didn’t even realize--

SHREYA (laughs): There’s a lot you “don’t realize,” Fiora. Trust me on that.

A thought occurs to Fiora, and she pulls back, hesitating.

FIORA: You’re... you’re right. Look, Shreya, can I ask you something?

Shreya gets a glint in her eyes, and she smiles.

SHREYA: Hold that thought, would you, Fiora?

FIORA: Uh... okay?

SHREYA: You do know where we are?

FIORA: We ran into each other here. Literally.

SHREYA: Exactly. And there’s one very special reason I’ve brought you here today.

Fiora watches curiously as Shreya looks back toward the entrance, snaps her fingers, then makes a gesture above her head. A small burst of flame shoots out of her hands and into the air... and behind her, covering the entire front facade of Tubigan Hall, a massive sign made of floating neon lights appears. It reads: “FIORA LUXEN... WOULD YOU BE MY GALA DATE?” When she reads it, Fiora gasps and stumbles back.

FIORA (astonished): Wha... I... Shreya! Oh my God, yes!

They hug each other, laughing and giggling before pulling one another into a deep kiss.

LUCIA (O.S.) (shouting): Shreya? Are we done yet?

Shreya and Fiora break apart. Shreya laughs and waves a hand up toward one of Tubigan Hall’s second floor windows.

SHREYA (shouting): Yes, Lucia, thank you so much! The sign was wonderful! And she said yes!

LUCIA (O.S.) (shouting): Yay, congrats, you two! Glad I could help!

The lights making up the sign converge into a single beam, which rockets up toward the window where it gets absorbed by the person standing behind it, presumably Lucia.

FIORA: I was wondering how you did that...

SHREYA: Lucia was all too happy to help out. I doubt I could have said the same for Arvan, though.

They both giggle at the thought of Arvan helping out with anything romance-related.

FIORA: Shreya, this was genius. Honestly, I was just gonna ask you a minute ago, I’d only now figured out that you wanted--

SHREYA (laughs): You can be so dense, Fiora! It seriously took you this long to figure it out?

FIORA (blushing): Yeah...

SHREYA: Zeph was right. He’s actually where I got this idea from, you know. He said, and I quote: “You’d need a neon sign the size of a building before Fiora gets the hint!”

FIORA: Well, I dunno if he meant it that literally! But yeah... I honestly didn’t realize. I thought you were expecting someone else to ask you.

SHREYA: What, aside from you? Nonsense. You, Fiora Luxen, are the only one I want as my date to the gala.

FIORA: And I’ve never been happier! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Giddily, the two of them walk hand-in-hand back toward Glebiza Hall, Fiora practically skipping with happiness.

_______________________

Notes: Nice little reminiscing session for Fiora and Shreya. Our MC has come pretty far since her first day at Penderghast!

_______________________

Next: Never Bet Against Fiora

CIU Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @endlesshero1122 @bbaba-yagaa @acidsugar0 @shaylan211 @griselda1121 @acanthisorbis @marmolady @choicesbabie

DotF/Elementalists Tag List:

#the elementalists rewrite #choices the elementalists #choices stories you play #csyp #fanfic #ciu project #choices interconnected universe #defenders of the flame #dotf #fiora luxen #shreya mistry #lucia cruz #zeph hernandez #shreya x mc #wlw #FINALLY lol #looks like zeph lost his bet...

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echo-three-one · 3 years

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A Forgotten Memory

An Alex x OC fic

Chapter 7 babyyyy!

Link to chapter 1 along with the summary here

Reviews appreciated as I'm only human and I would like to improve as a writer

I'm running out of gifs (check out the gifmakers tho they're credited down there)

VII - Alex

"Echo Three-One to Actual. We've infilnitrated the location. But it looked like what we've speculated. It's just a cargo warehouse." Alex lowered his gun and hid it on his holster. They were disguised as local policemen as they're breaching a very public area. Echo Three-One frowned at the sight, he had high hopes that Samantha would be here, and he could rescue her and see her again.

He started to regret that he tolerated her actions last night. In his defense, she was scared and needed his presence. He even loathed himself for sleeping that night. How could he let her escape?!

Hey Alex. Just letting you know that I'm home safe. Maxine's here but she forgot about a whole day worth of memories. Maybe she just went out on a bar with her other friends. Can't say I'm not suspicious about it, but I'll be careful. You can swing by and help me discover what's going on with her if you want.

He remembered every word of her text. What's worse is that it actually didn't send, he found it on her apartment floor when he woke up and came looking for her. He misjudged her by thinking she wouldn't come back to her apartment, because her abductors might still be around. But then again, how would he know what's going on in her mind? She won't even share her life details at him. She just filled her with lies on top of more lies, but it was all okay for him, he respected her that she's good secrets she had to keep. He swore he shouldn't get attached to her but looking at himself now, It looked like he also failed that too.

He silently paced around and examined the whole warehouse. He trusted that the intel is correct and they're not barking at the wrong tree.

"This is Echo Three-One advising all units to locate the premises for other possible entry points." he radioed over the comms sending his team to scatter across the vicinity.

It was not long until one of the agents discovered a secret stairway disguised as a refrigerator door.

"Good job! What made you think about opening the damn fridge?" his friend congratulated with a tap on his shoulder.

"I dunno man, I felt hungry. But maybe it's my spy instinct telling me to open it." He humbly replied, Alex chuckled at the conversation before they began heading down the secret tunnel.

"Clear!" Each unit cleared the hallway full of different rooms on each side. It felt like they quickly abandoned the station, leaving unimportant heavy items that were left on the room. They cleared each door until all that's left is one double door at the far end of the hall.

Alex raised his heartbeat sensor as one pulasting dot bleeped from behind. His heartbeat sped as he believed it to be Samantha on the other side of the door. They carefully breached the room revealing a heavily sedated Samantha, bound on a dentist chair. She was unconscious but tears were falling from her eyes. Alex ordered the others to continue to the hallway while the other team escorts the HVI to extraction.

His hands trembled as he slowly lifter her up and carried her. He couldn't hide his concern toward her as his voice sounded afraid.

"GET A MEDIC. ASAP!" he roared as they make their way back to the entrance, glancing at her the moment her tears touched his arms.

"You're going to be okay..." he whispered.

***

"Yep this definitely reeks CIA." an old man with greying hair walked in front of Alex, dropping Samantha's lab results on the table as it makes it's way to Alex. His expression was worried as he looks intently at Alex.

"So, you think we're against each other now?" Alex raised his eyebrow at his supervisor. Supressing a smirk as he noticed that he cut his hair almost bald.

"Not necessarily... But this kind of drug is one of the abandoned projects from decades ago. The only existing sample of this is locked behind secure bunkers deep within the CIA." he crossed his arms and scratched his beard.

"Whoever we're dealing with here, has strong ties within CIA." He warned as Alex nodded in agreement.

"So, what's our plan?" Alex stood up, looking interested to hunt for the mole. His supervisor smirked and shook his head.

"This isn't your fight, kid. Your job is to ensure our HVI is safe. We still don't know who she is, even our facial scans and fingerprint recognition can't seem to pinpoint her. She's foreign but she doesn't look like one. If she cooperates with you, then we'll get a better lead at the case at hand." he pats Alex's shoulder.

"I trust you kept your professionalism when it comes to her, right?" Alex nodded as his eyes locked against his, he's testing if he's lying. Luckily Alex knows what cues he must avoid.

"Yes, Sir." he nodded, the look in his eyes told him that he passed. If he could conceal such lie, what else can the other people within the CIA conceal?

He'll leave the mole to them while he focused on his HVI, both professional and personal.

"Supply drop every Sunday right here." The older man targeted the area with a laser pen. Alex mentally studied the map. He had no idea what country it will be but a wide aerial viee is all he had to know. A dense forest with rivers stretching from each side. The house itself is like an abandoned log cabin on the outside but it's reinforced with bulletproof walls and other notable security features.

"Guess we're both going hunting in our own way as well." Alex remarked as his Commanding Officer chuckled.

"Hunting for information, that is.." Of course he wouldn't get his joke.

"We'll extract you 0300 hours tomorrow, whether she's unconscious or not. Good luck, Alex."

"Thanks, Jack." they both shook their hands as the meeting dismissed. While waiting for extraction, Alex decided it'd be best to stay by her side. In case her dream state would reveal vital information.

***

Alex stood beside her bed as the extraction team set up her dextrose. It kept her from starving all while she's unconscious to ingest something. The doctors instructed Alex how to refill her bags as she'd been asleep for almost a day.

"What if she wants to pee?" Alex asked the doctor, clearly embarrassed about his query.

"The drug effects that's making her unconscious is almost over. She'll be getting up in about three hours or so... So you don't have to worry about that, Alex."

"Uh.. thanks Doc. Have a safe trip home."

"Contact us if she feels uneasy or weird."

"Will do."

And with that, the medical team made their way out of the safehouse, leaving Alex and Samantha all alone in the middle of nowhere.

#chapter 7 #codmwfic #horRAYfic #Alex x OC #Where is this story going #who is jack #I have not done any research but this is fiction so it exists in my mind #Stay professional guys

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somethingusefulfromflorida · 3 years

Text

TLDR: I need help getting started writing and actually committing to it

I want to consider myself a writer, but I’ve only ever finished three short stories. The first two were homework for a creative writing class, the third was a Terminator: Dark Fate fanfic, and looking back on them none are particularly good. Oddly enough, the fanfic is my best work; the original stories are generic and reek of amateur writing cliches, too many adjectives, multiple POVs in the same paragraph, tense changes, BLAH. I have dozens of ideas for stories, many of them with ENORMOUS outlines, I’m talking hundreds of pages of back story and build up and Wikipedia-like description of scenes I want to include, but I can’t for the life of me actually sit down and write anything!

Writers write, and I don’t write, so I’m not a writer. I think I’d work well in a partnership, I’m good at coming up with stories, I just lack the skills to execute them myself. It’s like in Hollywood, I wouldn’t be the screenwriter, I’d be the “story by..” or “based on characters created by...” guy. I dunno, that feels pretty lazy to me, like I’d be making someone else do all the heavy lifting; I could never use a ghostwriter, I’d always share the credit, probably give them the lion’s share, in which case I’m still basically a nobody...

I want to talk to people about the stories I want to write, but I’ve heard that doing so is bad for the creative process because your brain thinks of it as equivalent to having written the story; like, now that you’ve gotten it out of your head and told someone else about it, you see it as a job well done, and you lose all motivation to finish it. I can confirm this from experience, it’s cathartic in the moment but it ends up ending the story before I’ve even started it.

I was motivated to write when I had a deadline and a grade to look forward to, but since graduating I’ve been completely listless. This is what I want to do, more than anything! I WANT to be a writer, I WANT to make a living doing it, I WANT fans and critics and analyzers and essayists to pick apart my work and figure out all the little hidden tidbits I included consciously or otherwise! This has been my dream for longer than I can remember, but I don’t yet have the discipline to do it. I’m afraid of failure, and I know that the odds are against me from the start; the greatest book ever written is probably shoved away in a box somewhere because the author received twenty rejection letters and thirty ghostings. It’s more luck than skill; some really shitty books get published, and some really good ideas get glossed over, it’s a crapshoot, and I my problem is that I’m afraid to put in the effort if it’s not gonna work out. What’s the point? It’s next to impossible to get published, and after that it’s next to impossible to make it big. I’m not a shark, I’m not even a minnow, I’m just some phytoplankton drifting around at random.

This isn’t meant to be self-deprecating, nobody wants to read that. I’m just trying to put words to my fears so I can better address them. I could use some advice, tips and tricks, anything! Any real writers out there, how do you do it? How do you actually begin the process? How do you stop yourself from getting overwhelmed and giving up? How much of writing is intentionally setting things up and paying them off, and how much is just throwing random stuff at the screen and noticing that it occasionally falls into place as if it were intentional? That happens to me a lot in the outlining phase, like everything starts coming together.

If you want to check out the Terminator fic, DM me and I’ll send you an AO3 link. It’s not bad, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it good. The other two stories are word documents, I wrote them when I was 19 or 20, I guess I could email them to you if you really wanted to read them, but I’d rather not.

#help me #writing help #help wanted #writing #writer #writers #authors #write #books #writing books #authorships #author #short stories

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artificialqueens · 4 years

Text

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Chapter 4 (Crygi, Jan x Nicky) - Joley

ao3 link

Crystal was excited for today; it was probably the best part of pretending to be engaged, enough to make her wonder why she hadn’t thought of this sooner. Today, she and Gigi were going wedding cake testing. They had lined up three different bakeries after finding out which ones didn’t charge for the consultation, and they had just arrived at bakery number one.

“I’m not very picky about flavor or anything, I’ll try whatever you recommend,” Crystal was saying. “However, my wife-to-be here especially loves red velvet, but doesn’t really like chocolate, which is weird to me, but we’ll probably go with what she wants.”

When the baker went into the kitchen, Gigi turned to Crystal with a surprised expression. “How did you know my cake preferences?”

Crystal shrugged. “You’ve mentioned it a couple of times, and I know you always get excited when they have red velvet muffins in the dining hall.”

“Oh,” Gigi felt a fluttering in her heart that she couldn’t – or rather wouldn’t – explain. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked down. “Well, you’re more observant than I give you credit for, then.”

“I get that a lot,” she mused, then sat upright when the test slices were brought out. She tried to listen to the descriptions, but she was practically salivating and dug in as soon as she could. “Now the texture of this is really nice, I like how it brings out the subtle flavor notes.”

Gigi covered her mouth to hide a laugh. “You’ll have to excuse her, she binge-watched Cake Wars last night,” she explained, gently patting Crystal’s thigh. After that, they got through the rest of the tasting without incident, and they told the baker they’d be in touch and left with the leftovers (that they hid in Gigi’s oversized purse so they could go and do the same at the next two bakeries).

Crystal patted her stomach in satisfaction as they made their way back to her apartment. “I can’t believe we never thought to pull a stunt like this before. It’s like telling the waiter it’s your birthday so they give you free ice cream or something,” she mused.

“I feel kinda bad though, we should order something from those places. Just, you know, not a wedding cake,” she added.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Crystal readily agreed. “So, did you hear back from your friend about doing a photoshoot?”

Gigi nodded, smiling brightly. “Yeah, thanks for reminding me, actually. Does Saturday afternoon work for you?”

She nodded. “Totally. How’s it gonna work? Like, are we gonna be in our dresses, or is it gonna be something different? I don’t know how this works.”

“We’ll do some in the dresses, some in different outfits. It’ll give me the motivation to finish the fucking thing so I don’t try to pull an all-nighter right before it’s due,” she decided. As they kept walking, her hand kept brushing against Crystal’s, until she just caved and held her hand. It wasn’t like she hadn’t before, but it felt different this time. Holding Crystal’s hand had never made her heart skip a beat before, and she was yet to figure out how much she liked that.

It was different for Crystal. She already knew how she felt, and maybe that made it easier for her. She could allow herself to just appreciate the small act of affection, even though she did have to look away when she started smiling too wide. She probably wouldn’t try to overanalyze it until she was alone, at least. All she could do at the moment was appreciate being close to her, as it never seemed she could get close enough.

They’d both stopped thinking about it by the time they got home, and Crystal put the cake in the fridge, shooing away the cat at her feet. “Not a chance, Tic Tac, the vet already says you’re getting too fat.”

“Don’t body-shame her,” Gigi playfully chastised.

“I’m just being a concerned mother,” Crystal insisted, then looked over towards Jan’s room. She heard her voice, but couldn’t distinguish the words. “Ah, she must be working on the French song.”

Gigi tilted her head. “I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and assume it’s for Nicky, huh?” She let out a small laugh, though not in a mean way. “She’s… really crazy about her, huh?”

Jan came out of the room before Crystal could answer. “Hey, guys. How did the cake tasting go?”

“Great, there are leftovers in the fridge if you wanna pick at them,” Crystal offered. “How’s your song coming along? What’s it called again?”

“It’s called Aimé by Loane. I haven’t looked up the English translation, I feel like that kind of ruins it, you know? But when I heard it, it just made me think of Nicky, like deep in my heart, I just know it works,” Jan explained.

Gigi chewed on her lip, fighting back her words until she couldn’t anymore. “I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. How can you be so head over heels over someone you’ve never been in the same room with?”

Jan didn’t seem terribly bothered by this question, it wasn’t a new one to her. “She’s not written in braille, Gigi. I don’t need to touch her to know her.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve got an emotional connection,” Gigi assured. “But have you even been with anyone since you guys started talking? Or are you really saving yourself for someone across the ocean? We all crave physical intimacy, you know?”

“Are you coming onto me?” Jan asked in an attempt to deflect. She glanced over at Crystal, whose face said ‘don’t you dare.’ to which she silently conveyed ‘I would never.’

Gigi didn’t notice any of that, just laughing it off. “I’m just saying you shouldn’t deprive yourself because you’re too busy pining to get laid.”

Jan chuckled softly. “I appreciate your concern about my sexual wellbeing, Geege. But I can take care of myself, and anyone else that comes along,” she glanced back towards the fridge. “I am gonna have my way with that leftover cake, though.”

Ever since Crystal and Jan had embarked on this unusual adventure, they had gotten closer. And they needed it, considering they had both been driving themselves crazy trying to pull off this scheme while they were in the midst of taking their finals. The end was around the corner, but trying to get through the final stretch left them tense and exhausted. So when they didn’t want to bother their respective love interests, they turned to each other.

“I keep thinking about what Gigi said,” Jan admitted as she passed the joint back to Crystal. She had never considered herself any sort of smoker, but Crystal was so comfortable with weed that it didn’t seem so scary, and it had actually become something that helped her unwind as well.

Crystal furrowed her brows as she took a hit, letting the smoke billow out in an O shape. “What? About you not getting laid because you’re always in your feelings about Nicky?”

“That’s one way to put it, yeah,” Jan chuckled softly, laying her head in Crystal’s lap. “Am I limiting myself just because of my feelings? It’d be different if we were in an actual relationship but… I don’t know. Have you hooked up with anyone since you realized you have a crush on Gigi?”

Crystal had to stop and think about it. “I… guess not, actually. Maybe that’s why we’ve been so fucking weird about all of this,” she mused.

Jan propped her feet up against the wall. “You think if we found someone to have a one-night stand with, we’d be able to get through finals, graduation, and the fake wedding with our sanity intact?”

“I dunno, I’m not a doctor,” Crystal shrugged. “But I do know sex releases endorphins and shit, like, all that good energy and stuff,” she mused and passed the joint back to Jan.

“Ugh, finding a good hookup is so much work,” she whined and took a hit, then gave it back to Crystal to finish off.

Crystal rolled her eyes affectionately as she finished it off. “I mean, it can’t be that hard for you, looking like that.”

“Just being a lesbian makes it hard, Crystal. You know that.” Jan huffed dramatically, then looked up at her. “I think we should make out.” It was the perfect solution, wasn’t it? If it was her, it wouldn’t count.

“Do you?” Crystal wasn’t as surprised by the suggestion as she thought she’d be, nor was she terribly put off by it. She and Jan were close, and they were going through the same struggles. Maybe this was what they needed to let off some steam. “Yeah, okay, I’m into it.”

Jan sat up, then moved onto Crystal’s lap. She rested her hands on the back of her head, fingers tangling in the mess of curly hair as their lips collided in a languid kiss. The lingering taste of pot was in their mouths, and Jan swore kissing her made her even more high.

Crystal loved the way Jan felt on top of her. She was soft and warm and she smelled so nice. Her arms looked around Jan’s waist, holding her close as the kiss deepened, their tongues intertwining.

“You’re a good kisser,” Jan observed when she came up for air, their foreheads still resting together. She then sat back, noticing Crystal’s grin and downcast gaze. “What?”

“Hm?” Crystal looked back up, her eyes a bit bloodshot and glossed over, but still full of the lighthearted joy that’d always been distinct to her. “Oh, I was just looking at your tits. They’re really nice,” she explained.

Jan snorted with laughter, then rested her head on Crystal’s shoulder as she giggled some more. “You’re such a perv!”

“You can’t call me a perv,” she pouted as if she took sincere offense, “it was your idea to start making out, you can’t fault me for getting more into it, especially when you know I get hornier when I’m high,” she defended.

“Oh my god,” Jan sat back upright, shaking her head. “Sometimes I forget that there’s a horndog underneath that quirky art student facade,” she teased.

Crystal shrugged, placing kisses up Jan’s chest and neck, then up her jaw until she lightly nipped at her earlobe. “I’m enigmatic, Jan. Get into it,” she cooed as her hands ran up and down Jan’s sides, making her tank top rise up a couple of inches, then shifted to playfully bite Jan’s bottom lip.

“You sure are something,” Jan chuckled before connecting their lips in another kiss. “You’re lucky I’m so touch-starved,” she added as she took her top off.

Crystal’s face lit up like an excited child. “Whatever you say,” she hummed, her hands moving right to Jan’s breasts, happily groping them over the purple lace of her bra as they went right back to their deep, relaxed kissing.

Jan took Crystal’s t-shirt off next, looking down at her bare chest. “I keep forgetting that you have your nipple pierced. It’s so pretty,” she remarked, lightly pinching and teasing it, rubbing it between her fingers. She had started to zone out, and it wasn’t until Crystal started moaning that she was brought back down to earth. “Guess it makes things more intense, huh?”

“Yeah,” she exhaled, “and we’re gonna end up doing a lot more than making out if you keep that up.”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but threatening to fuck me isn’t exactly… a threat,” Jan smirked as she continued toying with her nipple and the piercing.

Crystal pushed Jan onto the bed and pounced on top of her. It wasn’t in a dominant way, if anything, it bordered on playful. She kissed Jan heatedly, her hands haphazardly fumbling to get her bra off, smiling to herself when she finally tossed it onto the floor. She trailed her lips down Jan’s neck, starting to nip at the skin until Jan grabbed her shoulder.

“Nothing above the bust,” she murmured.

Crystal obliged, instead of leaving a hickey on the underside of Jan’s breast, then let her tongue flick across and swirl around her nipple. She then rolled the two of them onto their sides, making it easier for her to tug off Jan’s shorts. “You have a great ass too,” she remarked, reaching her hand around and grabbing onto it.

“You think so? I’ve actually always been jealous of yours,” Jan told Crystal as she tugged her shorts off too. “It’s so cute and perky,” she hummed, squeezing it with both hands.

“We’re clearly both super hot,” Crystal observed. “Like, I bet people would pay to watch us fuck,” she mused as she slid her hand into Jan’s panties and began circling her clit with two fingers.

“Mhm,” Jan moaned instead of properly replying, tugging Crystal’s boyshorts down and moving her hand between her thighs to do the same. “Fuck, you’re so wet. That piercing really does make your nipple sensitive, huh?”

Crystal grunted softly and rutted against Jan’s fingers. “You’re just jealous you have to work harder to get turned on,” she retorted as she eased a finger into her.

“Seem to be doing just fine right now aren’t I?” Jan hummed between moans. The two of them mirrored each other’s movements, whimpering and moaning as their fingers steadily thrust into each other, thumbs rubbing uneven circles against each other’s clits.

And then it started to turn into a competition, the two of them trying to get the other to come first. Eventually, Jan won, smirking in satisfaction as she felt her friend clench around her fingers. But she didn’t last much longer, gasping out sharply as she came.

Once they were both spent, they lay calmly in bed, cuddled up to each other. “Do you feel any better?” Jan asked.

“I think so, actually,” Crystal mused. “The feelings are still there, but they don’t seem so scary, you know?”

Jan nodded. “I don’t feel so overwhelmed,” she agreed, then leaned up and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, you’re such a good friend.”

Crystal beamed and held her close. “And don’t you forget it.”

Heidi stared blankly at Jan after hearing the rundown of her situation. “So… You lied to your French not-girlfriend by inviting her to Crystal and Gigi’s wedding that isn’t real, but Crystal has a big ol’ crush on Gigi, and now the three of y’all are staging a whole ass fake wedding while you’re still taking finals?”

“I only have one final left,” Jan defended, rubbing the back of her neck. “Also, last night Crystal and I got high and had sex.”

She blinked slowly. “First of all, why the fuck are you telling me this?”

“Because if I told Jackie, she would keep trying to solve the problem and be all lecture-y about it. And like, I know you’re gonna judge me too, but at least I don’t feel as stupid when you do it.”

“I feel like I should be offended by that,” Heidi murmured. “Second of all, what the fuck are you gonna do when Nicky comes out here. You just gonna be like ‘sike, gotcha!’ or something?”

Jan sighed and looked down at her cup, sipping from it for a couple of moments. “I don’t know, honestly. I was thinking of telling her that Gigi and Crystal decided to postpone it because they’re too young. That makes sense, right?”

Heidi shrugged. “Well, I don’t have any better ideas,” she admitted, then furrowed her brows. “Wait, why did you have sex with Crystal? Am I missing something here?”

“Because we’ve both been losing sleep and getting super stressed over everything piling up, and neither of us wanted to go through the process of finding another girl to hook up with. So, we just… had each other. It’s not gonna make things weird, our friendship isn’t like that,” Jan explained as she finished her drink.

“Damn, I need to find me a friend like that,” she chuckled, finishing her drink as well. “Do I at least get an invite to the fake wedding?”

Jan laughed softly. “Yeah, you’re totally fake invited to the fake wedding.”

Heidi beamed brightly. “Thank you. Hey, can I see a picture of your little croissant boo? I wanna see what the hell’s causing all of this fuss.”

“Oh, yeah, here, she just sent me her new headshots,” Jan hummed, getting her phone out and pulling the pictures up before handing her phone over.

She studied the pictures thoughtfully, nodding slowly. “Okay, yeah, I get it. I’d throw my closest friends into a whirlwind of chaos over that too,” she decided, handing the phone back to Jan. “I think you should tell her how you feel before she gets here, though.”

Jan tilted her head as she put her phone away. “You do? Why?”

“Think about it, if she feels the same, you guys will be distracted and shacked up in your room, and maybe she’ll forget about the whole thing. And if she doesn’t, you can throw out the whole plan ‘cause it won’t matter. It’s a win-win, how has this not occurred to you?”

There was silence as Jan chewed her lip, mulling it over. “I… Yeah, I guess you have a point. I don’t know.” She exhaled deeply and looked up to the sky. “I’ll think about it.”

#rpdr fanfiction #jan sport #nicky doll #gigi goode #crystal methyd #crygi #jan x nicky #lesbian au #university au #college au #smut #signed sealed delivered #joley #s12

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littlemarvelfics · 5 years

Text

Someone Loves You

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: about 1,500

Warnings: drinking, cheating

Square filled: Bed sharing for @marvelfluffbingo and @star-spangled-bingo

A/N: Hiya guys, gals and non-binary pals! This was for bed sharing but then things got away from me and honestly, I’m bad at prompts. Clearly. Anyway! I hope you enjoy! Links are in my bio.

“I hate him,” you grumbled as you flopped onto Bucky’s couch, throwing your legs into his lap and almost knocking the book out of his hands in the process. “I really, really hate him.”

“Him as in your boyfriend him?” Bucky asked, still reading.

“That would be the him I’m referring to, yes.”

“What did he do this time?”

“Canceled, again. We were supposed to go out tonight, but there’s some March Madness something or other happening, so he took a rain check,” you explained.

“When was the last time he didn’t take a rain check?” Bucky mumbled to himself.

“What was that?” you asked, sitting up slightly to look at him.

“Nothing,” Bucky lied.

“Okay, can we hang out tonight? I don’t really wanna wallow in self-pity all night.”

Bucky looked up from his book, “Of course bud. You’re always welcome here.”

“Can you also decide what we’re gonna do tonight?” you said with a charming smile.

“Course.”

“Awesome! You think while I grab a beer,” you declared, getting up from the couch.

Bucky watched you walk into his kitchen, quickly making yourself at home. By now, his apartment was almost a second home to you . You came here at least twice a week, usually more. He thought about your boyfriend, Jake. Bucky never understood how he could treat someone like you so poorly, or why you stayed around and put up with it. Anyone that knew you could see that you deserved so much better, and it was clear that Bucky wanted nothing more than the chance to give you just that.

The two of you met your freshman year of college and became instant friends. Now, two years out of college and into the adult world, little had changed between the two of you. Bucky always wanted something more but never knew how to bring it up because you never seemed interested.You dated a few guys here and there, always maintaining your friendship with Bucky, and if that was all he could have with you, he was okay with that. You both cheered each other on and offered a shoulder to cry on when things didn’t work out.

You walked back into his living room, beer in hand and eyebrows raised, silently asking if he had a plan for the two of you yet.

“Alright, here’s my masterplan,” he began. “We order Chinese food, we drink beers, we watch Brooklyn 99, and when you inevitably beg to watch one more episode but fall asleep ten minutes in, we have a sleepover.”

You threw your head back and laughed at how well he knew you.

“That sounds absolutely fabulous,” you said, taking your phone from your back pocket and opening up the delivery app to get started on your order. You sat down next to Bucky on his couch and leaned your head on his shoulder as you scrolled through your options.

“I do have one adjustment to your plan, though your participation is not required,” you added.

“What’s the adjustment?”

“I am going to drink tequila until I can’t feel my face or remember how mad I am at Jake.”

Two hours and half a tequila bottle later, you were well on your way to your goal. Half empty takeout containers were scattered on Bucky’s coffee table, and Brooklyn 99 played in the background. You downed another shot and looked at Bucky.

“Why don’t you have a lady of your own Buck?”

“Because you’re my lady,” he said hoping to make you drop the subject.

Unfortunately, you weren’t so easily distracted.

“No, I'm serious Buck! C’mon, there’s gotta be at least one girl that you like?”

“Yeah… there is this girl. I don’t think she’d ever like me back though.”

“Who is she? You want me to kick her ass? Why wouldn’t she be into you?!”

“She’s just… she’s perfect. Funny and brilliant. Absolutely stunning even when she thinks she looks like trash. She lights up rooms when she walks into them. She’s everything.”

You tried to ignore the pang in your heart when you realized that Bucky was interested in someone else. You had always thought Bucky was incredible, but he never showed any interest in dating you, so you dropped it quickly- you didn’t want to ruin a fantastic friendship for something that would never happen.

“Don’t sell yourself short Buck. You’re more incredible than you’ll ever give yourself credit for,” you said with a smile.

Bucky returned your smile but didn’t say anything more, so you dropped the subject. You turned your attention back to the TV when you felt your phone buzz. You took it out of your pocket and looked at the text; it was from your friend Jenna.

Jenna: Hey... I dunno how to ask you this

Y/N: Ask me what?

Jenna: Are you and Jake still together?

Y/N: Yeah… why?

Jenna: I’m at the bar, and he’s here with some girl.

Jenna: I’m so sorry.

With the last text, there was a picture attached. You could clearly see a girl pressed up against your boyfriend. Tears instantly filled your eyes. Bucky heard you sniffle and looked over at you.

“Hey. Hey, what’s wrong?” he said, turning on the couch to face you completely.

Instead of answering him, you just handed over your phone.

“That son of a bitch,” Bucky growled.

“What did I do Bucky?” you whispered. “What did I do to make this happen? Why did he do this?”

“No, no. None of that,” Bucky said pulling you into his arms. “You didn’t do a damn thing to deserve this. You are the most incredible person I’ve ever know. You don’t deserve this at all doll.”

You nodded and buried your face into his neck.

“Can I stay here tonight?” you asked quietly.

“Of course you can. You wanna go to bed now? Sleep some of this off?”

You nodded silently, lost in your own head.

Bucky didn’t waste any time, getting up off the couch and quickly scooping you into his arms and carrying you into his bedroom. He sat you down on the bed and rushed around his room, handing you one of his tee shirts and a pair of shorts you had left there. He turned around as you changed quickly, waiting until you settled in his bed under the covers to say goodnight.

“Okay well, I’ll be on the couch if you need anything, okay doll?”

Before Bucky could leave, you grabbed his wrist.

“I know this is weird but… I don’t wanna be alone tonight. Will you stay with me?”

“Of course I will,” he said, turning back towards the bed after only a moment’s hesitation.

He quickly rid himself of his clothes, throwing on a tee shirt and plaid PJ pants before sliding into the bed next to you. You instantly shuffled closer to him, snuggling up to his side and throwing your leg over his.

“Is this okay?” you asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, shifting slightly. “This is perfect.”

You laid on Bucky’s shoulder and let yourself cry for 20 minutes until you were finally tired enough to fall asleep. The entire time Bucky rubbed his hand up and down your back while whispering quiet reassurances to you. When your breathing finally evened out and your tears stopped, Bucky looked down at you and kissed your head. He decided then and there that he was gonna tell you how he felt. If you didn’t feel the same way, then so be it, but he had to let you know someone loved you.

+++++

It took Bucky a month after that night. He wanted to give you time to start to get over Jake, but he couldn’t stand seeing you mope around anymore, doubting yourself at every turn.

Bucky knocked on the door of your apartment one afternoon after you had texted him that you weren’t up for coming over to his place that night. You swung open the door, looking slightly disheveled.

“Buck? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, sure,” you said, moving aside to let him in.

You walked into your kitchen and leaned against the counter. Bucky shifted his weight from foot to foot looking nervous.

“Is everything okay?” you asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I just… remember the night you found out about Jake?”

“Can we please not relive that?” you groaned.

“Yeah, it’s just… that night you asked me if there was anyone I was interested in,”

“Yes and you described an angel on earth,” you snapped, cutting him off. “Is there a point to this Bucky? I don’t really wanna hear about the perfect woman right now.”

“It’s you!” he blurted out.

“What?” you questioned, searching his face for an answer.

“It’s you,” he repeated taking a deep breath. “I can’t watch this happen to you. You’re walking around here doubting every part of who you are and blaming yourself. But doll, you are not to blame. Because you are a beautiful, brilliant, kind, hilarious human being who I am completely, undoubtedly in love with. Maybe you don’t feel the same, and that’s okay—”

“I do,” you said quickly, cutting him off. “I do feel the same way.”

“Really?” Bucky questioned, not expecting your reaction.

“Yeah I just… didn’t think you’d want to be with me,” you mumbled.

“I want everything with you,” Bucky said, taking your hand. “Can I take you on a date tomorrow? Like a real dinner date, not just takeout in my apartment.”

“That would be lovely Bucky,” you said with a smile.

“Hey,” Bucky said with a grin. “There’s that smile, I’ve missed it ya know.”

“Yeah,” you replied. “Me too.”

“Now c’mon,” he said, taking your hand in his and leading you to your couch. “You owe me an episode of Brooklyn 99.”

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artemis-pendragon · 4 years

Text

Fire in the Sky (one-shot)

Poe found them standing on top of the second highest skyscraper in Galactic City, wispy clouds gathering around the pointed spire, the vast metropolis spreading beneath their feet. Fireworks burst in the darkening sky, shattering sparks leaving trails of smoke like shooting stars. Or wounded ships with broken wings, wreathed in fire, spiraling to the ground...

He shook himself. There would be time for grief later. This was a time of celebration, of rebirth. He was going to be happy, damn it, even if only for one night.

"Hey." He slapped on a smile as Finn and Rey turned toward the sound of his voice. His friends were holding hands, fingers linked, shoulders touching. Jealousy flashed through him, hot as a brand. He set his jaw and hoped it didn't ruin his smile.

"Poe!" Finn said, grinning. "Isn't it great up here? I'm pretty sure this is the best view in the city."

Rey's smile was more reserved. "I'm glad you found us. We looked for you earlier, but you weren't at the new base. Headquarters," she amended.

"Oh, right!” There was a note of awe and relief in Finn’s voice. "Headquarters. No more secret bases. No more hiding. We did it. It's over."

Poe tried to feel relieved, tried to savor their victory like the others, but all he could think about was Snap going down in flames, of walking with Karé down darkened streets, letting her hold his hand so tight he thought the bones in his fingers would break. He didn't say, I wasn't at HQ because I was trying to keep my team from falling apart. I wasn't at HQ because as soon as the first fireworks burst gold and red in the sky, I was back up there, and we lost so many people, and I didn't save them, and maybe I could have.

He didn't realize he'd zoned out until Finn was right in front of him, hand on his shoulder, expression tight with concern. "Hey, you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

Poe summoned the energy to smile again, to pat Finn's hand and say, "That would be a long trip to the bottom if I fell off this thing, buddy."

Finn frowned. Apparently Poe's tone wasn't convincingly humorous, or maybe his expression betrayed how exhausted he was, how close to shattering like sparks across the city skies.

And then Finn was smiling again, and damn it, Poe thought, he's so beautiful.

"Yeah.” Finn squeezed Poe's shoulder then let go, turning back toward Rey. "Hey, if you fell I bet Rey would catch you. If you promise not to try any more crazy stunts with the Falcon, that is."

It was intended to be humorous, and Poe knew it. There was no ill intent, just playful banter between two friends. But in that instant he was furious, irrationally terrified, like the silken fabric of the world was slipping through his clenched fingers. "It's always about Rey," he muttered.

"What?" Finn sounded genuinely confused. "What about Rey?"

"Nothing." Another smile that felt a little too sharp around the edges. He looked past Finn to where Rey was watching the fireworks, a silhouette against the florescent horizon, confidence and elation written in the set of her shoulders, the upward tilt of her chin. She's beautiful, too. Poe's chest hurt, a dull ache like bruised ribs. And she saved us. When it comes down to the bare facts, she saved us, and I should be fucking grateful.

And he was. But he was also bitter, angry, carrying the grief of a thousand families whose children and siblings and parents and lovers had fallen like shooting stars over Exegol. Like plumes of red and gold bursting in the eternal dark of space, brought down by blaster fire, by cannons, by bolts of blue lightning stunning their engines and boiling their blood.

"It's loud," Poe said.

Finn had returned to Rey's side, but hadn't retaken her hand. Poe didn't know he'd spoken aloud until his friends looked back at him, Finn with concern, Rey with understanding.

"Maybe you should go back to headquarters." Rey said gently. "Don't worry, you won't hurt our feelings if you'd rather be somewhere else right now."

Another flash of anger, of bitter jealousy burning in his blood. "Yeah," he said. "Think I was interrupting something anyway."

Before either of them could reply, he turned and crossed to the hatch door, throwing it open and descending into the steel guts of the silver skyscraper.

* * *

Finn found him hours later sitting on his bed in his new top-floor apartment, head down, hands gripping his upper arms, knuckles pale and breath shaky.

"Hey," Finn said. "You left the door open."

Poe felt a flash of embarrassment. I wanted you to find me, he didn't say. Instead, he said, "Yeah, well, I'm trying not to shut myself off from the world. I want my team—my friends—to know I'm available if they wanna talk. Or just... I dunno. Be together." His words tripped over each other, falling clumsily off his tongue. He was drunk, but at least he'd been drinking with Jess instead of alone.

"That's a great idea," said Finn. "You mind if I come sit with you?"

"Please," Poe said, a bit too desperately. He covered it with a nonchalant smile, raising his head and taking a few even breaths. If Finn noticed anything was off, he didn't mention it. Poe was achingly grateful for that fact. The last thing he needed right now was pity.

Finn crossed the room (there was so much space, more than Poe had ever had to himself) and sat on the edge of the bed. His shoulder brushed Poe's, and Poe tried not to read into it at all.

"So," Finn said after a long beat of quiet. Quiet except for the distant hum of the city, of airborne cars and people cheering in the streets. "You wanna talk, or is this more of a sit-in-silence kind of a situation?"

"Whatever you want, buddy," Poe said automatically. "You're the one who came to me."

"I'm worried about you." Finn said. Although he wasn't looking at him, Poe could tell he was frowning. "Up on the Spire, you seemed... I dunno. Off."

Poe laughed. He was pleased with how real it sounded. "I'm good. I'm so good. We won, remember?"

"Do you?"

The question caught Poe off guard. He bit his lip and tilted his chin up, looking out through tinted windows at the glorious sprawl of Coruscant. He swallowed a sigh. "How could I forget? Listen to those fireworks. Someone's burning a lot of credits on pretty lights right now."

"Yeah, I guess. But they make people happy."

"Not everyone," Poe said. He felt Finn's gaze on the side of his face and swallowed, ducking his head again. He pressed both palms to his eyes so hard he thought they'd leave bruises. "Sorry. It's just... Snap. I can't believe he's gone. And all the others, and Karé is..." He trailed off and sighed, shaking his head. "Everyone's celebrating, and that's great. That's fine. But shooting stars aren't always lucky, y'know?"

“Huh.” Finn was silent for a long moment. “I mean, I don’t get what this has to do with shooting stars, but I do know that you're drunk, and tired, and honestly getting an actual night of sleep would probably help. I'm not saying it'll fix anything, but it'll help. Trust me."

Poe leaned against Finn, resting his head on Finn's shoulder. He closed his eyes. "I trust you," he said.

"Okay, then. Get some sleep. You know where to find me if... I dunno. If you need anything, I guess?"

"Thanks," Poe slurred as Finn stood up, one hand on Poe's shoulder. "Seriously, Finn. You're a good guy. I'm lucky to know you."

"You too." Finn crossed to the door, his voice echoing in the empty room. Poe intended to get some furniture to make his new home less barren, but right now he was too tired to care about aesthetics, or lack thereof. "'Night, Poe,” Finn said.

"Hey, Finn," Poe called after him, falling back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. For a moment the little bits of crystal embedded in the stone tiles glimmered like stars in the silver streetlight slanting through the windows. "What were you gonna tell Rey?"

But Finn was already gone. Poe was alone.

Turning over, he dragged himself onto the bed, curled up, and focused on breathing. He stayed there until night surrendered to day, until the last bursts of red and gold evaporated in the light of dawn. He stayed there until he heard laughter in the halls, revelers returning from a night of drinking and celebration.

What were you gonna tell Rey?

As if he didn't know. As if he hadn't always known.

Sighing, he forced himself to get up and cross to the window. To watch the sky bloom into morning colors, a flag unfurling over a new day. We won, he reminded himself. It's over.

One last burst of fire in the sky, and then silence. Not all shooting stars are lucky.

He was lucky. He was the luckiest star in a sky full of billions. We made it, he thought, and for the first time since the war ended, he felt light, almost giddy. We're gonna be okay.

And for one bright, shining moment, he let himself believe it.

#cross-posting from ao3 because why not #star wars fanfic #finnpoe #stormpilot #finnpoe fanfic

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quinlinkin · 4 years

Text

take it from me ( i’d be lost without you ) ↳ Q’s twdg writing challenge

character(s): aj, aasim, louis ship(s): aasim/louis ( lousim ) word count: 838 author’s note: so this doesn’t quite revolve around actually doing any hunting, but alas- lousim from little aj’s perspective is way too adorable lmao

[ ao3 link ]

*credits to the wonderful @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale for creating this challenge! you can view the entire prompt list + further details here. happy writing!!

― ☼ ―

day seven ; hunting.

AJ has always been an observant kid. He’s the type to ask questions about anything and everything under the sun, to endlessly wonder about how things work, or why people act in all the vastly different ways that they do. He is curious by nature, sometimes perhaps overbearingly so, and Clementine has undoubtedly dealt with her fair share of frustrations because of it.

Today, he’s been assigned on hunting duty for the first time since Clem’s accident. It’s no secret to anyone how positively excited he is to have earned her trust enough to officially join the others as a part of the group.

In his eyes, he’s one step closer to being all grown up.

So, he’s eagerly waiting by the front gates for his comrades to join him, his very own bow clutched securely in his hand. He’s proud to say that the recent archery lessons has produced some increasingly promising results. Aasim had even said so, himself.

Which, speaking of- He can see Aasim approaching now, and unsurprisingly, Louis trails closely behind him. Ever since coming back from the Delta’s boat, the two have practically been inseparable. AJ had asked Clem if it was because of all the trauma, and she had told him it was partly the reason why. Predictably, when he’d asked her about about the other reasons, she’d told him plain and simply; they were together now. The same way she and Violet were, as an example he could more easily understand.

AJ thought it was nice, that they had each other to depend on. He knew how happy Violet made Clem, how they always helped each other through the bad times, especially. He hoped it was the same for them, too.

“Hey, little dude,” Louis greets cheerfully, extending his fist out or AJ to bump it.

He does exactly that, grinning up at him. “Hi, Louis. Hi, Aasim.”

Aasim gives him a short wave. “Got your bow?”

AJ proudly holds up the object in question. “Yup. You got yours?”

Louis chuckles, and Aasim’s lips quirk up accordingly. “You bet.”

“Well, come on. We got lots of work to do.” As impatient as ever, he’s already pushing open the gate before waiting for any kind of response. Louis aids him in his efforts, even if AJ will always insist that he can do it all by himself.

It’s not five minutes into their trip that AJ’s curiosity peaks.

From what he can tell, Aasim and Louis liked to keep mostly to themselves. He’d only ever seen them kiss once, and apart from Louis slinging an arm around the other in what appeared to be more of a casual manner than anything else, they kept their displays of affection more or less on the down-low.

Naturally, when AJ catches sight of Louis’ hand slipping into Aasim’s as they walk together in front of him, it immediately catches his interest. So, he watches them. Head tilted and lips pursed, his eyes roam back and forth from their entwined fingers to their faces, where he can see them exchange the briefest of smiles and a few sparing laughs as Louis occasionally leans in to whisper something in Aasim’s direction, just quiet enough that AJ can’t hear.

Maybe it’s his budding curiosity. Or, maybe he’s simply growing irritated towards their continued hushed conversation, as if they’re completely oblivious to the fact that he remains right there behind them.

Either way, he finds himself blurting in the next moment; “Are you guys in love?”

Aasim trips over nothing. Louis’ head whips around so fast AJ wonders if it’ll fall right off his shoulders. They both end up gawking at him, until Louis finally manages to find his voice.

“What, uh… What makes you ask that…?”

AJ shrugs nonchalantly. “I dunno. Clem says she loves Violet. So… I was just wondering, I guess.”

Louis and Aasim blink at each other, both of their faces turning a slightly darker shade of red as the seconds tick by. AJ truly doesn’t understand the severity of his seemingly innocent question.

“Um…” Louis eventually goes on, considering that Aasim has apparently been stunned into silence. As AJ watches him, a sudden, indescribable look crosses over his features. “Yeah.”

That’s apparently more than enough to effectively snap Aasim out of his trance. Except, now he’s gawking at Louis instead of AJ as he blurts, “Yeah?”

Louis regards him with a certain amount of shyness that looks strange coming from him. “Well, I mean- I do… so… yeah…”

AJ, although observant towards a lot of things, is blissfully oblivious when it comes to others.

That’s all he needed to hear. His question has been answered, after all.

“Oh. Okay,” he says, brushing past the dazed pair to continue on down the trail. And as he goes along, he casually calls over his shoulder, the weight of the situation entirely lost upon him, “If we see any rabbits, can I be the first one to take a shot?”

Louis, despite himself, simply has to laugh.

#twdgdrabblechallenge #twdg #twdg aj #twdg aasim #twdg louis #lousim #Q writes

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journeysintowebcomics · 5 years

Text

Homestuck Liveblog #181

UPDATE 181: Meat

A long time ago, I finished reading Homestuck. It was quite the long tale, and it was rather enjoyable! At the time I thought there ‘d be nothing else, because Act 7 seemed like quite the final chapter – or if there was anything, it’d be bits and pieces that wouldn’t warrant a liveblog. Yet here we are! Turns out, after this long, there’s epilogues. In plural, as you can see. Somehow, there are now epilogues and they’re said to be quite long, too. After taking a cursory read that made me read more than I thought I would, here I am, reopening this liveblog to explore the epilogues.

What I have read so far...is not particularly enticing or even likable, at least in terms of enjoyment, really, but there’s something about the writing that makes me want to continue. Credit where it’s due, yeah. Still, I’m interested in seeing where this is going, and now, I’m posting my thoughts here for everyone to see. Here we go! So, let’s start with the epilogue liveblog!

You know, before that, I should note that now the story has its own URL instead of being into the old mspaintadventures website. Kind of late in the game for this change, Mr. Hussie. I mean, the story is over, and although there’s a whooole lot of new content, it seems a bit senseless to have this in its own domain. Then again, the rest of the mspaintadventures stories were kind of...hidden away in the website? I don’t remember links to them, when I used to read Homestuck. Maybe Homestuck getting its own domain is for the better. I do wonder if this is a hint more stuff will come in the future. The extra-epilogue. The postscript-extra-content. The seriously-guys-this-is-the-end chapter.

There are two epilogues, it seems. One is meat, the other is candy. I immediately notice this is related to the cherubs’ food. I wonder if it means one epilogue will be...bloodier? Crueler? More chaotic and violent? I mean more like something Caliborn will like, while the other will be more to Calliope’s tastes. I’ll start with the meat epilogue, simply because it’s to the left.

From what I can tell at a glance, there are no images, but there are colored words, most likely from conversations between characters. That should be fine, although Homestuck was pretty visual at times, its strength was the writing and characterization.

Well then! The very first paragraph already beats most of Homestuck in terms of extremely descriptive stuff. Heck, this reminds me of Worm, with its extensive paragraphs about bugs and how they crawl on people and cause all sorts of nasty effects. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Meat was definitely the right choice, you think, as grease drips down your chin. The meat is cold and undercooked, so you have to grab it with both hands while you rend it apart with your incisors. It bursts in chunks, filling your mouth with blood and your throat with mangled knots of gristle and long strings of muscle fiber. You take big bites, almost too big to swallow, so big that you choke on the meaty mulch and hock some of it up into your nasal cavity. You sneeze out a gooey rope of phlegm and flesh. You stop for a moment to wipe your face, but your chin is still slippery after you swipe the mess away. Slivers of meat catch between your teeth as you masticate with bestial enthusiasm. You use your thumbnail to fish them out.

...am I eating this meat straight from the cow.

Apparently the person who is eating meat that’s almost raw is John, who I guess gained a taste for raw meat at some point. Maybe he’s trying to emulate Jade’s canine half, for all I know. He’s with Roxy and Calliope, the later providing the meat. I suppose cherubs wouldn’t know about cooking meat. Speaking of cherubs, eating meat reminds John of Lord English, and he gets so sick thinking of Lord English he decides he knows what he must do. Alright! Didn’t waste any time dilly-dallying around!

JOHN: i have to go back and kill lord english.

ROXY: u sure?

JOHN: i think so. it will probably be hard. but i think it’s the right thing to do.

JOHN: everyone is counting on me.

When is this epilogue set? Before Act 7? I thought by now Lord English was dead and gone, not that it still was something that needed to be done. Then again, it’s not like Lord English’s death was shown on screen, if I remember correctly. Maybe this is after Act 7 and he’s going back in time with his retcon powers. I suppose he’d still have them.

Roxy seems disappointed, so I suppose she knew this had to be done at some point. Given John’s retcon powers, it’s not impossible this is the last time she sees John if things go wrong. Calliope is more accepting, saying it’s John’s decision. Time to leave?

Seriously, things have gotten quite more descriptive now. Still unsure if that’s good or not.

The farewell is quite unsatisfying, and the moment passes without John being able to make it better, so he goes to prepare himself and write a note for Roxy as a farewell and/or apology. Not only to her, to all of his friends. It’s like he’s aware the chances he’ll return here aren’t that high. I wonder if John would die here at the end. It’d be quite...something!

In this epilogue, there’s a Troll Kingdom, which I imagine is ruled by the trolls who survived Homestuck, raising the grubs created by ectobiology. Dave and Karkaroni are there, Dave lives with the trolls, I suppose because his relationship with Karkaroni now includes living in his hive.

KARKAT: NOT NOW DAVE. JAKE’S ASS IS ON TV AGAIN.

DAVE: stop ogling jakes ass this is important

KARKAT: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHOSE ASS I SHOULD STOP OGLING.

Apparently the reason why Jake’s ass is on TV again is because he and Dirk have a show involving rap battles and robot wrestling, which I suppose is the natural progression from when Jake used to get said ass kicked by a robot. People like the show, and I’m already convinced it’s partly because of the schadenfreude of seeing Jake losing against robots – because no way Dirk is losing, hah

Karkaroni has a few choice words for the fake gladiatorial show, and points out this show is all about zooming onto Jake’s ass. Maybe ‘pumpkin patch’ is an euphemism. Either way, the relevance of the TV show is eclipsed by the announcement Jane is running for president of the entire Earth. Aha, truly the wretched pastry baroness’ descendant.

DAVE: i dunno crocker is just an ambitious woman i guess

KARKAT: THIS SOUNDS FUCKING AWFUL.

DAVE: oh it is

DAVE: it absolutely is

DAVE: also like

DAVE: dont tell her i said this but

DAVE: i think shes basically a fascist

...well then. Oh all things that could have been used to describe Jane from what I remember of her, ‘fascist’ didn’t come not even close. Then again, it’s not like Karkaroni had any meaningful contact with Jane, and all Dave did was call her hot, which isn’t really the epitome of camaraderie and intimidate knowledge. They both even admit to that.

DAVE: oh also shes a fucking xenophobe

KARKAT: OF COURSE SHE’S A XENOPHOBE!

...ah.

...

Did I miss something? Was there something between Act 7 and these epilogues that revealed Jane harbors xenophobic inclinations? Why am I having to ask aloud ‘hey is Jane a xenophobe’

KARKAT: DAVE, I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE NOTICED, BUT

KARKAT: A LOT OF HUMANS ARE???

DAVE: yeah ive noticed

Well, that part isn’t really surprising. Humanity just has a knack for looking down on other people, I can only imagine how it’d be when it’s about other sapient species. If aliens ever make contact with humanity it’ll be a social mess.

Since letting Jane claim the spot of president of Earth is not good, apparently, Dave wants to stop her, eliciting laughter from Karkaroni who is already imagining Dave running against her. No, Dave couldn’t handle that responsibility, no way.

DAVE: anyway no

DAVE: im not running

DAVE: you are

Hm...unless Karkaroni got over the many issues he had from his leadership attempt during Sgrub this can’t end well. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t like the idea, precisely because he doesn’t feel like he has what’s needed to be a leader. It’s not that he would lose horribly – Karkaroni actually is rather popular. I suppose all of the Homestuck survivors are popular – it’s that he doesn’t feel ready and he seems to hate the attention. Understandable.

KARKAT: MAYBE I DON’T ACTUALLY LIKE BEING FAMOUS?

KARKAT: AND MAYBE THAT’S AS GOOD A FUCKING REASON AS ANY *NOT TO RUN FOR THE FUCKING PRESIDENCY OF EARTH*?????

KARKAT: NOT TO MENTION THE IDEA OF AN ELECTION IS KIND OF A FUCKED UP AND WEIRD THING TO ME CULTURALLY ANYWAY, AND I’M STILL KIND OF GETTING USED TO THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE CAN JUST... “CHOOSE” THEIR FUCKING LEADERS AND NOT HAVE THE SAME OLD MERCILESS BITCH IN POWER FOR SEVERAL MILLION YEARS.

Perfectly valid reason. I mean, it’s not something kind of inconsequential as being the class president of sophomore year in school or whatever it’s like up there in America. It’s president of the entire planet. If Karkaroni wins there will be consequences, even if he steps away immediately. Either he commits to this fully, or he simply shouldn’t run.

DAVE: ok ill just be the one to come out and say it

DAVE: shes going to be a fucking disaster for the economy

So Jane’s a republican. Haha! Ah, I shouldn’t touch this not even with a ten-foot pole. Nevermind that.

DAVE: i guess i have to admit

DAVE: part of this

DAVE: for me personally

DAVE: its

KARKAT: WHAT ARE YOU SAYING DAVE

DAVE: its about obama

Somehow, I didn’t even bat an eye with Dave described part of the reason why this is personal for him is because Obama didn’t get to be president due to, you know, the end of the world. I find it in-character, somehow. This isn’t the first time Dave extols Obama’s virtues, and after quite an extensive diatribe, he says maybe Obama reincarnated in Karkaroni. Thaaaat has to be the most Dave-y encouraging thing he could have ever thought. It’s for things like these that I like Dave, haha

Apparently only humans have tried to get to high offices, because no other species has even tried. They lack ambition, and given what I remember from Sburb, that’s believable. The only species that could come close to taking part in this are the trolls, and they’re not used to elections. No wonder humans have the high spots of politics.

DAVE: karkat dont stereotype

DAVE: remember the mayor

DAVE: remember how at one point a long time ago he raised an army and rebelled against an evil king

KARKAT: OH YEAH

KARKAT: SOMEHOW I ALWAYS FORGET HE DID THAT.

KARKAT: KIND OF MIND BOGGLING, REALLY.

KARKAT: HOLY SHIT, I MISS THE MAYOR.

DAVE: me too

Ah, yeah...I miss him too. I wonder what happened to him.

The government is in charge of troll reproduction through cloning, I suppose because the mother grub isn’t ready yet. In the meantime, the balance of power will get entrenched to the point where even when there’s a functional mother grub, humans will restrict troll population so they don’t take over the planet and make the horrors of Alternia happen. No lie, that’d be pretty bleak for humanity. Last time the horrors of Alternia were forced onto Earth everyone died. No troll right now would try, buuuut yeah, that’s not going to be forgotten...for a while.

Somehow, Dave’s arguments about how Jane has zero business acumen, is sinister, and trolls are getting the raw end of the deal are actually getting Karkaroni to pay attention, until he finally caves, simply because it’d make Dave happy. That’s sweet. But yeah, this is...not what I expected what would happen in the epilogue. Well then!

DAVE: aw yeah

DAVE: you wont regret it this is gonna be dope

DAVE: i think we have a great shot too

DAVE: with my political savvy and economic genius and outrageous flair for subversive anti establishment messaging and propaganda, and your big loud fucking mouth...

KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK

DAVE: um i guess also your charisma and likability and shit

KARKAT: YEAH.

KARKAT: YOU MIGHT BE RIGHT...

KARKAT: I’M PRETTY SURE I CAN FAKE THOSE THINGS WELL ENOUGH.

DAVE: oh also

DAVE: your weirdly sincere humility

KARKAT: I PREFER THE TERM “SELF LOATHING” ACTUALLY.

DAVE: ok lets try to avoid that phrase on the campaign trail too

KARKAT: THIS ALREADY SOUNDS LIKE A PAIN IN THE ASS.

I’m not a political strategist, but if Karkaroni is going to run on a platform about how Jane sucks and there’s inequality towards the trolls, I’m not entirely certain it’s good there’s a shadowy human pulling the strings in the campaign. Kind of seems like bad optics to me. Then again, can’t say I know where this is going so let’s just wait and see.

Yup, Dave definitely will be the brains behind this presidency. They already agreed he’ll write what Karkaroni will say, even though he should improvise and speak from the heart, like he tends to do. Not a bad idea, it’s part of what makes him endearing.

DAVE: time to talk some strategy

DAVE: we need to rally as much high profile support to our cause as we can

DAVE: but there are some uh

DAVE: “lines of loyalty” to figure out

KARKAT: WHAT?

DAVE: i mean which of our friends are going to side with us and which ones will side with jane

It’s a safe bet to think the New Wonderteam will side with Jane and the Original Flavor Wonderteam with Dave and Karkaroni. Calliope likely will stick with Roxy, so she’d be on Jane’s side. All the living trolls would go with Karkaroni, so...overall? It seems to me the advantage is clear. Dave is slightly less optimistic than me, but he does think they can get many on their side.

...okay, what happened to Jade? What kind of twisted scenario involved her to the point where neither Dave nor Karkaroni want to talk about her? I’m almost afraid of finding out.

So there are four kingdoms, if I understand this correctly: one for humans, one for trolls, one for...carapaces, I guess, and one for the consorts, which would be aaaaaall the silly reptiles and amphibians from Sburb.

Jake’s support will be pivotal, and since I’m already betting he’ll be on Jane’s side out of, you know, being friends with her for quite some time, it seems like she’ll have the edge there. Then again, it’s true Jake is fairly timid, so there’s also a chance he’ll refuse to take a side. I’m starting to think any sane person would stay the heck away from any side in this mess, honestly. These two haven’t even announced Karkaroni as a candidate yet I already kind of dread what’s coming. I don’t know, it’s just this...constant atmosphere that something’s pretty wrong. I don’t really like it.

During all this, Dave receives a call from Dirk, so he calls back to ask what’s going on. This page ends with Dirk abut to insinuate he needs Dave to cut his head off again. I see these two’s weird pseudofamilial relationship is as messed up as ever. Charming.

So, back to the more Homestuck-y stuff. John zaps back to the story, apparently he agreed with Rose what needed to be done. First he makes sure Aranea won’t be up to shenanigans, taking off that ring of life from her finger. Good! Then he stashes Gamzee into the fridge again. Good! Everything’s fine over here. John zaps to the next plot point.

Ah, I have to read just two paragraphs to know what moment is this. The conversation below confirms my thoughts. Wait, I have to get the image for this moment:

There we go. Boy was it a pain to find it now that the long outline list is gone.

I think in Homestuck they had noticed John hanging out above them, and this time they see three of them, one of the Johns being an adult version. That’s going to be difficult to explain. Questions are asked, and evil Jade is zapped away to maybe get ready for the fight against Lord English, hopefully she won’t still be evil when the time comes, even if she technically is against Lord English and wants him dead. John is here to talk with Dave, anyway. If I recall correctly, Dave was supposed to give the final blow with that sword with the Welsh name, so my guess is that John is here for that. Get ready, Dave, you’re going to fulfill the fate you didn’t want in the first place! But at least I’m fairly certain John will be more successful at this than evil Jade was.

Turns out I’m not wrong about why John is here. In fact, the narration even says this:

Dave’s eyebrows descend beneath his sunglasses. You feel pretty bad because you’re about to completely circumvent the life-changing epiphany he’s just had that you know for a fact will make him a happier, chiller, and altogether more well-balanced human being.

Pretty unfortunate, really. It sucks to be Dave.

As I said before, Jade is zapped away to parts unknown, and Dave is informed of how everyone was spending their lives as normal adults with no big problems and a fairly peaceful life. Clearly John left the present before Dave and Karkaroni started their political war against Jane. Oh well. Off you go, Dave, get ready for a fight with Lord English. In the meantime, John will gather the rest of the team.

You know, I’m starting to realize I had a lot more to say about Dave and Karkaroni’s new political adventures than about the more familiar Homestuck-y messing around John is doing with the plot. I guess it’s because, as strange as the other plotline is, it just has...a lot other stuff to comment about that hasn’t been present in Homestuck before? Hm.

Yup, Dirk immediately asks for his decapitation as a solution for the tremendous defeat he has suffered at Jake’s hands, defeat that shouldn’t have happened because, as Dave states, Jake is pretty awful at everything. Either the show is rigged or Dirk must have quite a lot in mind for him to not even make an effort.

Yep, it’s rigged. I hope Jake knows. That guy never had a break during the game, hopefully he’ll get a break now. Speaking of Jake, he has to take the brunt of entertaining everyone while Dirk takes the call in the middle of the show. Whatever he has to talk about must be somewhat urgent, if he felt like calling Dave in the middle of it.

This narration sure is calling attention to Jake’s ass a lot, I lost count of how many paragraphs include something about it. Hussie, is there something you’d like to share with the class? Last time I checked the story he didn’t seem particularly interested in Jake’s ass, or in...Jake in general, really.

It seems what Dirk is doing here is intentionally making himself the villain of this show, but it’s not because he’s throwing Jake a bone or anything. No, it turns out there are more sinister goals here, or at least they’re sinister for Dave and Karkaroni’s newfound political ambitions.

DIRK: The point is, this is much less about me, and more about providing a foil for Jake’s heroism and charisma.

DIRK: It’s very important that his popularity continues to be cultivated, to maximize his political capital.

Sounds like they were planning Jane’s campaign for quite a while, if they went so far as to make Jake the hero of their show just for political capital. I bet that was the plan all along, right from the very first time this was broadcasted. How long ago was that, I wonder? But yeah, as Dave predicted, Dirk is fully on the Jane corner of this mess. He’s fully aware of Jane’s flaws and theoretical fascist/xenophobic tendencies, I presume, and he believes Jane’s the best for the current situation of the world. Whether he’s right or not...well...until proven otherwise I believe that too, yeah.

DIRK: We’ve all had our fun here, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that civilization on Earth C is hardly a sustainable proposition.

DIRK: Just beneath the surface, it’s quite a dangerous and unstable place.

Won’t lie, that never crossed my mind at all. From the way Act 7 ended, and how happy the ending was supposed to be, I simply thought things were going to be just peachy. I’m interested in knowing just how exactly it’s a quite a dangerous and unstable place. Care to explain, Dirk?

Guess not. I hope he explains how he knew what Dave and Karkaroni are planning, then. They took this decision like ten minutes ago.

DIRK: I think your heart is in the right place, but the dude is a complete amateur.

DIRK: He’ll get eaten alive. I also have a hard time imagining he even wants the job.

DIRK: Really, it’s an awful idea for him to even run. Think about how much it’s going to inflame the interspecies tensions on this planet. Is that what you want?

DIRK: I’m happy for both of you, really. It’s nice that you encourage and support each other in this way. But you’re sending him on a fool’s errand which can only end badly.

To be perfectly honest, other than the part about inflaming interspecies tensions on the planet, that was more or less what I thought. So far I agree. Even the part about inflaming interspecies tensions sounds plausible.

You know, it’s kind of fun both sides have a savvy Strider political operative. These two are more alike than Dave would like to admit, really.

The reason why Dirk is calling is because he wants to dissuade Karkaroni from running, even if he doesn’t say it. He admits Jake is not under Dirk’s beck and call, though. Does that really change anything? Dirk may not be on Jake’s good graces, but perhaps Jane is? Either way, this is a call to subtly dissuade and it’s not going to work because Karkat is stubborn as hell once he gets his head into something and he did. Tough luck.

The call is over, Dirk is back into the staged fray, so Jake thinks about Dirk’s capricious nature.

DIRK: Sorry for the momentary diversion, Jake. Now where were we?

JAKE: Momentary??? Gadzooks man you were on the phone for half a friggin hour!

JAKE: I know you like to get the crowd all hot and bothered but we are supposed to be professionals here!

...no wonder the crowd was starting to get so upset. Half an hour?! Just how slowly were the Striders talking?

Jake pulls out rhymes that honestly reminds me of Dave’s old rapping convos from like Act 1 or 2, peppered with old-timey sayings. It’s the kind of thing that makes me wonder how Jake is popular all over the planet. It’s said it’s out of pity, but goodness, that must be a metric ton of pity. The rap fight ends with Dirk sedating Jake to take another call. Geez, no wonder you’re not on his good graces anymore, Dirk.

Aaaanyway, back to John. He has gathered everyone back at his childhood home, ready to start the discussion on how to get rid of Lord English once and for all.

Jake is sort of ruining the mood anyway by bouncing away on your old Green Slime pogo. Doesn’t he realize how dangerous that thing is? Of course not. The fool.

To be frank that thing looked fun to me, even though I wouldn’t ride it without a helmet. John needs to appreciate more the painful playground elements in his life.

It’s nostalgic to read a convo with the kids. I hadn’t realized until now I missed Jade’s goofy mannerisms. Jade was always someone I was so fond of. Heck, all of the kids are people I’m fond of, although I’m less fond of Dirk and Jake than the rest. My opinion of Homestuck may not be as high as it once was, but the characters are something I still appreciate.

John answers a question: what happens to the people from the timelines they all left? Who knows. They may have stopped existing, which I’m sure is something they’d have liked to know before, but there’s nothing that can be done about that. Better start planning so they don’t die horribly and make nothing matter, alright.

The planning is mostly disorganized and structureless, although some common themes that often recur involve you and your original three friends leading the charge, since you are the oldest and wisest, and therefore the strongest, with the exception of Jade, whose gaudy array of powers make her the most formidable of the group, bar none. Aside from that, it appears the consensus is that the melee will likely devolve into an absolute free-for-all—at least going by the general patterns of incoherent banter, shit-talking, and points of pedantic tactical disagreement plaguing the jam session.

Sounds about right. I still think Jade would be very useful in the fight as long as she’s actually there and not...getting knocked out by mailwomen-turned-winged-dog. Maybe this time there’ll actually be something about the kids getting into a fight with Lord English. I’m not really going to hope for that too much, given how Hussie is not into catering to orderly narratives, but eh. No harm in dreaming.

The reunion ends when Jake eats dirt when he falls from the pogo, and in all this there wasn’t even a word about the plan. Not a good omen for the ‘show everyone fighting Lord English’ dream, really. The kids all talk together, some of them meeting each other for the first time, while John wistfully stares at Dad Egbert who is visible through the window.

The sun is hitting the glass in such a way that you can’t see his face.

Ah, yes, how could I forget the eternal sun that was in Dad’s vicinity all the time, that’s why his face always appeared mostly blank. That’s why the sun was right beside the Homestuck letter logo, it’s always there. Besides, if it’s a bad idea to go talk with Dad Hebert, may I ask why they’re all gathered in this yard, one week before the meteors strike? I know I’d be alarmed if I looked out of the window and saw seven hooligans and one adult hanging out in my yard.

There are other things to be wondering about, anyway, like the fact John may not be seeing these as real versions of his friends. Then again, in my opinion, he’s thinking a bit too hard about this. Of course he’d feel kind of detached, simply because of the age difference. That’s hard to overcome. Is it time to leave and go possibly die? Grab hands and hope it’ll go okay!

No, seriously, why am I taking like a page for John’s retconning and like three and half for Dave and Karkaroni’s Elect-a-Troll 20XX? Oh well. Dirk is still in the stadium, apparently their shows always ends in a riot, making me wonder how are they popular with people. Public disorder doesn’t really paint a good image of you. The caller is Rose, and she’s not feeling happy.

ROSE: The bottom line is this.

ROSE: I am ascending, and it is terrible.

Is Rose reaching Nirvana? How else am I supposed to interpret ‘ascending’? It’s not like she’s not a higher existence already, what with godhood and all.

What’s going on is that Rose is being plagued from visions and a higher awareness of her alternate selves’ lives and tribulations, giving her something close to omniscience when it’s about the universe, and Dirk is going through that too, which I suppose helps explain how he knew what Dave wanted to do. That’s what Dave will have to go against? Good luck to him.

I have to wonder if Dirk being such a stalwart Jane supporter is fueled by his recent omniscience. Maybe he knows something Dave and Karkaroni don’t, maybe the warning he gave them was something he foresaw. That aside, then he also must have known how useless it was to call Dave and that it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Having omniscience must seriously suck. At least Dirk has a way to work with his omniscience in a way that won’t wreck him apart, and I’m curious what it’s going to be. That said, though, a story about Dirk and Rose having foreseen a nasty future and working to stop it even at the cost of a few valuable friendships would be interesting. I’d read that.

Any conversation that will come from this will be at the studio later. I for one am looking forward to it, I admit. It’s an interesting topic, rich with possibilities and potential for development. It’s a shame these are epilogues, though. In the end, this will go nowhere, I imagine. Isn’t it a pity when you come across an idea or a plot that could span an entire story, but you know it’s not likely to come to fruition? Real shame, that.

I think I’ll stop for now. I have read only seven pages out of forty-three or so, but this should be enough for now. I can’t say I have been...enjoying this. I’m interested, but not really happy so far. Maybe it’s because a couple rather questionable things have come out of the blue and for the life of me I can’t make them fit with the characters or the story. Strange.

Also, something about the writing style is...off. It’s far more descriptive than Homestuck usually was. Most of the time it’s nice, other times I wonder if it was necessary. Still, I wonder where this will go, so at least the epilogues have that on its favor. Just for that, I think liveblogging it will be worth it.

Still, these epilogues are non-canon, aren’t they? If they’re canon can you please tell me that? Thanks, readers! So, for the time being, this update ends here.

Next update: next time

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #webcomics #liveblog #webcomic liveblog

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yannasunflower · 7 years

Text

Blood & Magic - Ch. 3

yay for a semi-regular update!! i’m gonna sound like a broken record but this is based off of @constellunaa incredible artwork (just trying to make sure credit is given where it’s due). everything she makes is amazing so please check her out and give her a follow. i hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

i’ve also realized i haven’t given a link to the story yet which would probably be helpful for you guys so i’ll go ahead and start doing that.

Blood & Magic (ffnet)

Chapter 3

Makarov eyed the slimy walls of the passage leading to the basement, frowning. It looked medieval and frankly, unsanitary. Someone was going to get sick walking through here – he was no fool, he knew kids liked to sneak down here past curfew to practice magic and gods knew what else.

"We really should clean this place up," Makarov muttered, mostly to himself. Gildarts, walking ahead of him with a torch – why a torch of all things, why couldn't they use flashlights like normal people? – turned his head to grin at the older man.

"You've been saying that for a decade," he reminded the headmaster. Makarov huffed and they continued in silence. He watched the way the flames flickered against the walls, slowing as his feet suddenly became heavy. Prophecies were fickle things and he didn't put much stock in them, usually. But Gildarts was the most powerful oracle they had seen in a very long time, and his daughter was even better than him. Makarov really did not want to believe him, especially right now, but he'd be a fool not to. Every prophecy he had sworn by had come true. Makarov sighed.

They could well all be 'screwed', as his students would say.

They arrived, finally, in the basement. Gildarts led the way to the back, where a door appeared at the presence of him. He muttered the necessary words, an old language that Makarov had half-forgotten existed in the first place. They entered another room, the door sealing behind them. In the center of the otherwise empty room was a stone bowl filled with clear water. Gildarts replaced the torch in one of the stands lining the room. All of the torches were lit and Makarov was thankful for the light; this room gave him the creeps at times. He could swear he heard voices whispering when all the lights were extinguished, things he couldn't quite hear.

Gildarts always told him he was imagining things with the strangest glint in his eyes.

"Look into the bowl," Gildarts said. His voice held a strange power now, suddenly deeper and firmer. Makarov sighed, deeply. He hated this. It always left him feeling nauseous and dizzy. But he went forward anyway and Gildarts placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know what to do," he said and Makarov nodded once before plunging his face into the cool water.

At first, he saw nothing but the stone bowl. But he heard Gildarts mutter some words and there it was – light and a scene playing before him. Many scenes. They flashed before him, too quick for him to completely register, a voice whispering the same words over and over. But this time, he could make out the words. He watched with wide eyes, the magic flying and golden light and blood. So much blood. He watched the chaos and silver walls and dark tendrils and he gasped at the sudden darkness at the end of it. He rose from the water, sputtering, and Gildarts pat his back. His face was dry, despite the water, and he blinked up at Gildarts, who recited the prophecy he had heard in the water.

"That which is gone will come. That which is dark will grow. That which is light will sacrifice. Hearts will still in the face of death."

It was, even as far as prophecies went, vague as all hell. But Makarov had seen the flashes of it, the brief moments of what was to come. He knew his face was probably pale from it, and he rubbed a hand over his tired face.

"This is going to be hell," Gildarts pronounced, unnecessarily.

Makarov sighed again.

Lucy was late.

Which was a big deal because Lucy was, as a rule, never late. But now, if she didn't leave in the next minute, she was going to have to sprint to class to make it. It wasn't her fault, really. She'd stayed up late talking to Natsu, spilled coffee on herself that morning, couldn't find one of her socks and now, was having trouble trying to eat and run out the door at the same time. She hurriedly threw her hair over her shoulder as she tried to both eat her bagel and put her bag on her shoulder. The bag was heavier than she expected and she huffed, mentally cursing the textbook inside. She knew the rest of her roommates were waiting for her, as they had all agreed the night before. It was insurance, so none of them could get lost, but now she felt awful that they might all be late because of her and her stupidity. Mumbling a hurried goodbye to Plue, who watched her struggle with some amusement, she rushed out her door, nearly running headlong into Minerva.

"Watch it," the dark-haired girl spat and Lucy rolled her eyes, continuing down the hallway without answering. She'd had enough experience with spoiled rich girls that she knew there was no use getting into verbal spars with them. They could tear a full-grown man apart with a well-placed insult and a pretty little smirk.

The rest were waiting for her, as she had known they would be. Before she could apologize, Gray shrugged carelessly, pointing to his cheek. "You got cream cheese," he said before turning to leave. Levy snickered and Gajeel laughed while Natsu leaned forward to take her bag.

"Lemme hold this," he offered and she smiled at him gratefully. She swiped at her cheek and he gave her a nod to tell her that she'd gotten the cream cheese.

"Thank you," she breathed. He took her bag easily, swinging it over his other shoulder like it weighed nothing. She tried to control her breathing and eat at the same time, following the rest out the door and down the stairs. Natsu was talking about a teacher he'd heard they had and Gray was telling Natsu that everything he was saying was bullshit. Juvia watched Gray yell at Natsu with openly adoring eyes and Gajeel was listening rather aptly as Levy discussed the latest book she was reading, hands swirling in the air, eyes animated. Lucy smiled at the scene of Gajeel's garnet eyes watching her every movement, a half smile on his pierced, hard face. He looked quite a lot like his father but she figured some of the gentleness in his face when he looked at Levy may be his mother. It seemed all the Draconia boys looked very much like their fathers. Lucy glanced at Natsu, who was sticking his tongue out at Gray. His hair aside, he was the spitting image of a younger Igneel, all fire and striking jawline and sharpened canines. Not even his uniform could quite hide his muscular frame. Gajeel looked like he was squeezed into his and she almost giggled. She'd heard they'd given him the wrong size and he looked positively miserable in the smaller clothes which were probably cutting off his circulation at that point.

"Hey Lucy, are we all taking the same classes?" Natsu asked, to spite Gray, who hissed at him and looked at Lucy expectantly.

She laughed, shaking her head, loose hair flowing around her. "Yes, all first years have the same classes, just different times and such. Our whole dorm should have the exact same schedules though," she answered, holding a hand out for her bag. Natsu crowed over his victory and Gray threatened to kick him down the rest of the stairs. Rolling her eyes, Lucy folded her used napkin neatly, bagel gone. She swiped at her mouth to make sure she didn't have any crumbs or cream cheese left over. Natsu frowned at her outstretched hand, eyes flicking between it and her face with confusion.

"What're you holding your hand out for, Luce?" he asked.

"My bag?" she asked more than said, not quite understanding his confusion.

Natsu looked even more confused than her, brow furrowed. "I said I'd hold it," he answered, slowly, like he was explaining something to a toddler. "It seemed heavy for ya so I'll carry it."

Lucy stared at him, completely bewildered now. "Do you mean all day?" she finally stuttered out, face heating up alarmingly quickly. Natsu cocked his head to the side, still confused by her lack of understanding and rapidly reddening face.

"Of course," he said, like it was just that simple. Which, Natsu's world, it probably was.

She blinked. He made it sound so simple so she had a feeling he didn't really understand what it meant to carry a girl's bag around all day. Still, she lowered her hand, frown smoothing to a small smile. She didn't really think the idea of lugging it around all day was appealing and he seemed happy to do it. He flashed her a smile, pleased, and turned back to arguing with Gray, Gajeel finally jumping into the fray. Lucy attempted to cool her face off, hurrying to fall in step with Levy, who smirked at her knowingly.

"'I'll carry your bag, Luce'," she mimicked Natsu's deeper voice with a wicked grin. Lucy bumped her shoulder against Levy's, rolling her eyes. Juvia snickered from Levy's other side, smiling at Lucy both teasingly and knowingly.

"It's not like that," she insisted. It really wasn't. Natsu's innocence was nearly childlike in terms of romance. Well, not innocence so much as complete obliviousness. He'd told them the other day how a girl from a different dorm had asked for his number when they went to get their textbooks and he'd said she wanted to be "study buddies". Lucy, and everyone else, knew that if someone talked to Natsu for more than a minute it was easy to tell he wasn't exactly the studying type.

"Dude, she was hitting on you," Gray snickered.

"Was she cute?" Gajeel asked.

Natsu had frowned. "I guess? I dunno, she didn't call me cute or anythin' like that."

His confusion was almost endearing if it also wasn't somewhat frustrating. He put a whole new meaning to the term "unaware".

They arrived at their classroom just in the nick of time, filing through. The classroom wasn't too full, the teacher writing something on the chalkboard – really, chalkboard? Lucy was reminded of her tutors – and paying no mind to their almost-late arrival. Lucy guessed most of the first-year students would be late their first day after getting lost in the maze they called their school. Natsu shoved Gray aside to nag the seat to Lucy's right while Levy settled right in front of her, Gajeel to her right. Lucy glanced out the wide window to her left, smiling at the beautiful day outside. One almost couldn't tell it had rained heavily just a few days ago.

Natsu twisted in his seat to spat at Gray, who was apparently kicking his seat and Lucy huffed, turning around to glare at them both. "So help me, if you guys don't behave through class I will curse you with hiccups for the rest of the day," she threatened in a low voice. The boys instantly paused, Natsu gulping nervously.

"You're scary," he said. Gray nodded his agreement and she sighed.

"Good," she muttered.

She glanced up just as a brunette swaggered through the door, smile impish and long hair spilling down her back. Her top buttons were messily left undone and her cheeks were flushed. As she breezed by, Lucy caught the smell of alcohol and she was amazed the girl was upright, let alone getting away with being blatantly drunk during school hours.

She stopped at Natsu's desk, eyes sliding over to Lucy and back to Natsu, her smile turning positively devious.

"Heartfilia, eh? This'll be interesting," she snickered. Lucy frowned, confused as to why her eyes were on Natsu and she seemed to direct her words to him. Natsu frowned as well, clearly just as bewildered as her.

"How'd you –"

"See all, know all," she intoned, continuing on her way, hips sashaying as she hummed to a song Lucy hadn't heard before.

Lucy released her breath, suddenly understanding. The words were the motto to the Alberona family, known for their incredible Sight powers and perpetual drunkenness. She'd heard that one of the professors was an Alberona and that his daughter was even more gifted than him. She hadn't known she was in their grade, though. It did explain why she was so drunk during school hours, and allowed to be. She'd probably started Seeing when she was five, and everyone knew the visions were nearly always disturbing, things full of blood and death that no child should see. Lucy glanced back to where she had seated herself in the back row, head lolled back, feet on her desk. The girl had probably earned the right to drink all day and night. She probably needed it by now.

Natsu turned to her and she pulled her eyes away from the Alberona girl toward him once more. She had forgotten he probably hadn't understood the reference and she smiled. "Alberona family motto," she said with a shrug. "Seers and oracles."

Natsu's lip wrinkled. "Does anyone actually listen to those people?" he asked skeptically, eyes wide.

"The Alberona's are especially trustworthy," she murmured, reaching into her bag to retrieve her notebook and pen. "Their visions have ended and started wars before."

Natsu's eyes widened even more and he twisted in his seat to stare at the girl once more, who was oblivious to all around her as students began to fill in more seats.

"She just looks like an alcoholic to me," he muttered, mostly under his breath.

Lucy laughed lightly, shaking her head. "It's not an easy title to carry," she said softly. She was all too experienced in heavy titles. Natsu opened his mouth to ask her another question before he was cut off by the teacher, who had finally turned to face the class, both hands folded on the podium in front of him.

"I'm Macao, just call me Macao. I'll be teaching you History of Magic," he said once he had all of their attention. It was incredible to hear the roughly 30 students all groan instantaneously. He smiled, like he was used to that reaction and continued. "I'll pass out my syllabus. I won't be cruel and assign homework tonight but you can expect that starting tomorrow, you'll have at least three assignments every week. I don't take late or missing work, you are expected to be responsible."

Lucy glanced over at Natsu, who looked mildly nauseous at the thought of so much homework. And worse, responsibility. She snickered. They still had five more classes to go. He might actually end up puking at the end of the day. She turned back to their teacher, half expecting him to make some comment about all the big names he had this year. Heartfilia, quite a few Draconia boys, Alberona, Orland, Fullbuster. But he didn't. He instead wished them good luck and smiled. She smiled back.

Macao began his lecture and she leaned forward, pen moving across the paper easily as she wrote her notes out. He talked slowly enough, and had outlined his lecture on the board so it was easy to follow. She put stars next to the subjects he said were in the book and made a note at the top of the page to read it later. Tongue between her teeth, she powered through, her wrist not aching until the very end of class. She didn't write to her mother every night for nothing. And she had to get the top grades or, gods forbid, her father would march himself down the school himself. That would probably be the least pleasant experience of her life, which was saying quite a lot considering. Natsu watched her work with a sort of horrified fascination, his own desk empty as he merely leaned back and listened. Or at least she thought he was listening; it was hard to tell by the vacant expression on his face.

Chimes sounded to signal the end of class and Lucy shoved her notebook back in her backpack. Natsu stood, swinging it over his shoulder like it was weightless, smiling at Lucy once more as she stood.

"Where to next?"

At the end of the day, Lucy sat down on the couch in their dorm, stretching her legs out in front of her and groaning as she did. It was only four in the afternoon but it felt later. Probably because eating in the mess hall was an experience all on its own. Really, the amount of times Lucy had to move her cup to avoid it being spilled and duck as someone flew over her was ridiculous. Levy had cast a protective barrier around them and it was only then Lucy had relaxed. It was a wonder that in all the chaos, Levy still found the energy to tease Lucy about her friendship with Natsu.

"It's been three days and he has a nickname for you and is carrying your bag," Levy pointed out, gesturing toward Lucy w a fork. Her mouth was full but that didn't stop her from trying to get Lucy to admit her completely non-existent feelings for the wild-haired Draconia boy.

"You know Natsu, he probably doesn't think anything of it," Lucy argued, looking to Juvia for help. It was no use. She wasn't paying them any attention, focusing on Gray getting the snot beat out of him by a red-haired demoness. Lucy had learned her name was Erza, another Everyday-born, and a powerful expert in spatial magic. She wasn't sure where the girl had trained considering her parentage but that didn't matter so much as she seemed focused on keeping everyone in line in the mess hall. And it worked, until she turned her back on them for five seconds. Natsu and Gray were terrified of her.

Lucy tore a bite off her bread, chewing sullenly. "Why don't we talk about Juvia's obvious obsession?" she asked, pouting.

Levy shrugged, shoveling more soup into her mouth. "There's nothing to talk about there," Levy laughed. Lucy had to admit, she had a point. Juvia's feelings were wide open and out there. It was admirable, really. The force of them made Gray a little uncomfortable but the fact Juvia could be so honest about her feelings made Lucy a little envious. How could someone be that…brave?

"Besides, there's always you and Gajeel," Lucy hummed. Levy sputtered out denials and she laughed at the blush blooming on her cheeks.

Now, she rolled her head back against the couch, huffing. She still had to shower, tidy up her room, and get started on the mountain of homework she had been assigned. Macao, it seemed, was the only even remotely nice teacher. Porlyusica especially was a demon from hell. She had practically cackled as she assigned the reading for the next day. Lucy had no idea how Natsu would survive that class considering he slept through four of their six classes.

Inhaling deeply, she stood and shuffled to her room, eyes droopy. She could stand to take a nap but she didn't have time…

Opening her door, she let out the most unladylike shriek she had ever come out of her mouth. Natsu was lounging on her bed, a blue cat curled up on his chest. Plue was asleep on the floor, nose tucked under his tail, clearly not alarmed by the intruders in her room. Natsu looked up, giving her one of his beaming smiles, waving.

"Yo!"

She sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. One of these days she may actually kill him.

"What's up with the cat?" she asked instead.

Natsu's expression brightened and the cat gave a mrrow in her direction. "This is Happy," Natsu declared quite proudly. "All of my cousins and I get cats for our eleventh birthdays."

Lucy laughed. She'd forgotten the Draconia Guardians, probably because she hadn't seen any yet. She knew they were almost like familiars in the respect that they protected their masters. But they weren't summoned, more like wild animals that only listened to Draconia blood. And their bond wasn't dependent on rituals or anything like that. The children received the cats, young kittens really, and trained them. Raised them and fed them. In turn, the cats devoted themselves to their masters. Lucy was, in no way, Plue's master. Merely his partner. She glanced at her familiar, who continued to sleep. No wonder he hadn't chased the cat away. He recognized the magic in the bond.

She took a seat on her bed, raising a cautious hand to pet Happy. "May I?" she asked and Natsu nodded his head vigorously. She stroked the cat's head and a rumbling purr erupted from its chest. She giggled, scratching behind his ears and stroking him in smooth, long strokes. He was a beautiful cat and he rubbed up against her hand, friendly as any domesticated animal. Natsu looked absolutely delighted, so happy she nearly forgot he was in her room without her permission.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked finally.

Natsu shrugged. "Your bed is more comfortable for napping in," he stated plainly.

"How did you get in?"

"I told Juvia I'd let her into Gray's room."

Lucy snickered at that. She couldn't really be mad; it wasn't like Natsu would go through her things or anything like that.

"Well, I'm going to shower. When I get back though, we're studying."

She ignored his whines and huffs, grabbing her shower things and flouncing out of the room. The showers were a short walk down the stairs and a hall and she hummed happily, ready for the hot water and clean hair that didn't smell like the spaghetti that had been flung at her during lunch. She was too distracted to see the girl before it was almost too late, yelping as she attempted to dodge and the girl halted desperately.

"Sorry!" she panted. "Did I hit you or anything?"

The girl shook her head with an easy laugh. "I'm alright," she assured her. She was pretty, with short white hair and lovely blue eyes and a wide, bright smile. She was still in her uniform, pulling off the plaid look nearly effortlessly. Lucy ran a hand through her hair nervously, still feeling guilty about nearly running the girl over.

"Sorry about that," she apologized again.

"No problem," the girl answered cheerily. "I was just on my way back to my friend. Have a good day!" she said with a wave. Lucy watched her go – the girl practically skipped down the hall – with some remorse, sighing and berating herself for her lack of attention. Her tutors would have rapped her knuckles for such an ungraceful display. She hurried into the showers, scrubbing at her scalp in a desperate attempt to forget the pain that still lingered on her hands sometimes. She stepped out, dressing hurriedly in leggings and a big shirt, avoiding her reflection in the mirror. She hated thinking about her home in this place, this place full of magic and joy, full of light. A place her mother would have loved that had hidden gardens with angel statues and a kitchen that cooked food for familiars. She threw her wet hair into a bun on top of her head, ignoring the loose strands. She nearly ran back to her dorm, to her room and Plue and Natsu's smiles and laughter. She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped through the door, which was cut short when she saw the girl from earlier sitting on the couch in their living room, laughing at some joke Natsu had told. Natsu was talking animatedly, Happy in his lap, hands moving through the air. Lucy was confused, another unfamiliar emotion roiling in her stomach at the warm scene.

"Uh, hello?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly. She almost didn't want to interrupt whatever it was that was going on.

Natsu turned to her, smile lighting his face up. "Luce! This is Lisanna, the study buddy I told you about," he introduced the girl. Her eyes widened with recognition, smile still in place.

"Oh, I didn't know you lived in this dorm," she laughed prettily.

Lucy forced a smile, trying desperately to ignore the way her heart leaped at the sound of Natsu's nickname for her. She had wanted to relax in her room with Natsu, not study with a stranger whose teeth were way too perfect and whose eyes practically sparkled. "Yeah, I'm Lucy," she managed to force out after a second too long had passed. Natsu frowned at her a little and she sucked in a deep breath, trying to relax her body so her smile didn't look so scarily fake.

"You know each other?" Natsu asked.

"I almost ran her over on my way to the shower," Lucy embellished, skirting around the couch to make her way to her room. "Anyway, I think I'm going to take a nap before I start any homework." She ignored Natsu's attempts to invite her into his own group, stepping into her hall with relief. He couldn't get to her now. She'd have to text Juvia to tell her to not let him in that night. She didn't feel like seeing his face. She walked into her room, barely restraining herself from slamming the door shut. Pulling her hair from its tie, she stomped over to her bed, waking Plue. Lucy didn't really understand why she was acting this way. Normally she'd have no problem studying with Lisanna, who seemed kind enough. But walking into her dorm to see the girl already sitting beside Natsu had irked her in some way. Enough that she didn't want to see his face for the rest of the day. Deciding it was a problem for another time, she set to work on her homework, ignoring her phone that buzzed with texts from Natsu, who was probably bewildered by her behavior. She didn't blame him, she was just as confused.

Hours passed, time slipping through her fingers as her hands crossed the pages, as her eyes scanned the small words in her heavy textbooks. Her feet tapped a restless beat under her desk as Plue napped on her bed. The breeze coming through her open doors rustled the white curtains and she ran a restless hand through her damp loose hair until she finally tied it back up. When she finally sat back, it was nearly nine and she realized distantly that she should eat something. Her eyes were aching from the strain. She stood and walked to her small balcony instead, breathing in the cool night air. Chill was beginning to bite this time at night and she shivered. Lucy looked up at the stars, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from the day. Her eyelids were dropping down even as she traced the constellations her mother had taught her so long ago. It was tricky to find them, since she was so far from home, but her mother had taught her well and she soon found them. She smiled, finger moving slowly in the air as she mouthed their names to herself. Her other hand rose to fiddle with the golden key hanging around her neck from a delicate silver chain. Her mother's last gift to her.

She was startled from her daydream by a knock at her door.

"Come in," she called, moving back into her room, pulling the door closed behind her.

Levy poked her head in, reading glasses perched atop her head, short hair a ruffled mess.

"I figured we should both eat at some point tonight," she said, a little hoarsely. Lucy figured she'd probably been studying without drinking any water, like her.

With a heavy sigh, she nodded her agreement. She followed Levy down the hall. She was so tired she had nearly forgotten why she had left in the first place. It wasn't until she was in the main room that she remembered and her eyes snapped fully open, darting around the room.

Levy moved to the small kitchenette, muttering something under her breath about old herbs and noodles. Lucy nearly sighed with relief to find the room empty except for Gajeel, who lounged on the couch, shoveling chips in his mouth and absently petting a black cat while he played a game on his phone.

"Makin' some for me, Shrimp?" he called.

"No," Levy replied shortly. He raised a brow at her curtness but Lucy couldn't blame her. After a long study session, she wanted nothing more than to stare at the stars for a little longer with a cup of hot tea and curl up in bed next to Plue after.

She sat in the armchair, curling her legs under her and trying not to fall asleep. The smell of coffee soon had her jerking awake and Levy smiled at her.

"Figured we could use it," she said. Lucy sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her chin up, fully inhaling the beautiful aroma.

"Angels bless you," she murmured ardently. Levy laughed. "I wonder how Juvia is faring," Lucy wondered aloud, leaning back against the armchair.

"I texted her a few minutes ago; she should be coming out any second now for the food."

Lucy hummed, letting her eyes fall shut. She could hear Levy rummaging around while the sounds from Gajeel's game sounded every few seconds. He muttered curses under his breath and she smiled faintly. It felt like home. Just these two people who cursed and touched her so familiarly, and the smell of food cooking and Levy humming. The armchair was soft against her arms and she could feel herself drifting away, carried by the comfort of the entire scene. Not even Juvia making an appearance and thanking Levy for the food was enough to make her stir. Nor was Gray walking through the door, commenting on the delicious smell, the smell of food and coffee mixed. He took a seat at the couch and she could imagine Juvia being absolutely thrilled at him being so close to her. She wondered, faintly, where Natsu was. His presence would complete it all.

She didn't wonder for long. She heard him come down his hallway, his steps much lighter but also quicker than most people's. Her eyes fluttered open as he walked in, dressed in a t-shirt and sweats, barefoot.

"What's cooking?" he asked, nostrils flared as he turned to Levy.

"Pasta," she replied simply. "Also, Lucy, the coffee is ready."

Muttering thanks, she stood, wobbling as the exhaustion sank into her legs. Natsu was suddenly there, his steadying hand on her waist, his touch burning through her leggings. She stepped away, trying to catch her breath. His eyes were a dark green and so close and she tried desperately to ignore the smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose.

"I'm fine," she assured him quickly, too quickly, nearly stumbling as she stepped around him to get to the coffee. He frowned and she tried to relax, knowing he was probably worried he'd done something. Which he hadn't. She smiled back at him and his expression lightened to his signature grin.

Pouring out a steaming mug of coffee, she stirred in her sugar and nearly gulped the beverage down despite its heat and the fact it would most definitely burn her tongue. She needed the caffeine and the memory of Natsu's hot touch to fade. Fast.

Sipping at it, she watched as he fell easily into an argument with Gray, who growled back. Gajeel snapped at them to shut up so he could concentrate on his game, which he still hadn't taken his eyes off of. Lucy took the opportunity to really look at his Guardian. He was a beautiful black cat, larger than Happy, with sleek fur and long legs.

"Dinner," Levy announced and Lucy nearly laughed as she realized that from the start she had prepared enough food for all of them. Lucy should have figured the boys would all be attracted by the smell of food they didn't have to cook for themselves. Like moths to a light.

Lucy grabbed her share quickly, escaping to the armchair before the boys came wrestling and elbowing their way to the food. Levy followed her quickly. She sat on the floor at the table while Lucy curled up in her armchair again, balancing her bowl of pasta on her lap and tucking the coffee into the crook of her knee. She alternated between sips and mouthfuls, not realizing until she swallowed for the first time just how hungry she was. It felt like days since she had eaten and it took all her restraint not to wolf the whole thing down. Juvia and Levy had no qualms, however, and were both stuffing noodles into their faces like they'd never eat again. The boys managed to finally stop fighting long enough to grab their own bowls. Natsu was nearly done already by the time he got back to the table, following Levy's lead and sitting on the floor in front of Lucy. Gray and Gajeel reclaimed their seats on the couch, both quiet now that they had food. She restrained herself from running her fingers through his hair, which looked impossibly soft, wild as it was. He finished his food five seconds later and leaned back against her chair.

"Luce," he whined, drawing the nickname out like a child. He tilted his head back to he could look at her, eyes wide and imploring. "Are you going to finish that bowl?" he asked, attempting to sound innocent. She giggled at the nearly impish expression on his face that he couldn't quite hide, handing the half full bowl to him. The rest chatted, suddenly background noise when Natsu began talking to her.

"Stop begging," she scolded with a roll of her eyes. Natsu took it greedily, shoveling it all in one mouthful and swallowing.

"You're the best," he sighed happily, leaning back against her chair again, eyes closed, content smile on his young face. She smiled and brushed her fingers across his forehead without thinking, enjoying the warmth of his skin.

"Don't you forget it."

It seems all I write about lately is him. I would apologize but I don't think you mind. School has started as well as can be expected. The work is a lot and time consuming. But the people around me make it better. I think I'll do really well for once. I would say I'd exceed Father's expectations but I'm pretty sure that's an impossible feat.

I hope you can see me, Mama. I feel so much better here. Happier, even in the mere three days I've been at this school. I should write to Virgo soon and put her fears to rest. I have a feeling she's fretting in that big lonely house. You know how she is.

Although the days are growing colder, my life is full of warmth now. And most of it because of a pair of green eyes and a wide bright smile and an outstretched hand.

Sending all my love to you up there in the stars. I miss your laugh.

Your Star, Lucy

#yanna speaks #text #fairy tail #nalu #gajevy #my writing #B&M #blood and magic #B&M - chapter 3 #fanfic #constellunaa

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waldowski89-blog · 7 years

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Two Lazy Weeks in the Making… (somewhere at the beginning of August 2017)

(Edit: Okay, the title sounds more dramatic than the actual bulk of this post but lets get into the ramblings of a madman who talks about nothing whilst trying to make it sound interesting. I’m also going to have to do a lot of writing as I want to catch up with all the post I’ve missed… which is a lot. Off we go into the post then)

(After Edit: Scroll to the credits music at the bottom and you can also listen to some albums/music that I listened to while writing this)

Hello again, I’m back! Not that I really left. I’ve been over on Twitch and Twitter mainly. So I’ve got lots of plans for social media stuff and am keeping myself busy. I know this shouldn’t be a diary type thing. Those can be boring. Especially mine seen as nothing much really happens in my life… honest!

I will be starting an Instagram account this week… yay! Please feel free to follow me on all my different accounts. It sounds like it’s all me me me (meme, har har) but I promise you it will all be entertaining… like a train wreck is entertaining. Tune in to watch a fully grown man go slowly insane. (Edit: That’s a laugh)

I’ve said before that: “Waldowski” is a character of mine and he is. However, my own personality seems to be… “shining” through in his work… or my work I suppose.

(12/8/17 (Edit: English style date)):

Right, so I wrote the top part a few days ago (Thurs 10/8/17 I think) and now I’m coming back to this. I’m going back to my old schedule and goals and adding a few things. When I do Twitch streams, which should be everyday. TWITCH STREAM ERRYDAY *AIRHORNS* I may do longer than an hour. I just bought Assassin’s Creed Origins too so stay tuned for that, exciting stuff! (Edit: I literally just bought it because I forgot to enter the discount code. What a mess!)

I was watching a vid earlier about Michael Jackson’s involvement in creating the music for Sonic 3. It was very interesting and I have heard about this before. The whole thing is pretty much confirmed now but it’s interesting to follow all the theories and research that’s been done into this. I won’t reiterate what’s already been said but I will link the recent vid on the subject. There are links in there too so hopefully I haven’t sent you into a research, insomniac inducing frenzy of a pit of information where you’re just holding a steaming cup of coffee with straggly hair and bloodshot eyes just looking for your next fix on that Michael Jackson/Sega music conspiracy… and breathe. Sorry for that long sentence, I got carried away.

Okay I’m back writing this again on 13/8/17. I’m going to finish this post tonight! I’m watching Key and Peele again. Those guys are funny, anyway, what I’m doing is writing out four pages by hand with my brilliant Parker fountain pen… okay… I think I’ve really lost it. I’m coming back out of retirement (secret link of more Key and Peele I didn’t post on twitter) (Edit: I put it in the Research section below too. Also, thanks to Philip DeFranco for the idea of a secret link. What fun!)

More plans are a: “Let’s Read” YouTube channel called: “Waldowski Reads”. I still have to get a few things to set that up first. It will be much like a let’s play channel but with me trying to read a book… funny, eh?

This kinda reminds me of when I’d do work at University. I’d have to set goals, plan things, etc… I have been doing this but falling behind lately. In any case none of that matters now. I’ve gotta move on and get on with actually doing stuff.

So, everything’s planned out for a little while for me. Anything happening out there? (apart from all the bad news of course. I already know about that stuff) I genuinely mean it too with following me on social media. I try to talk to as many people as I can nowadays.

Blergh, how did I do this before? A few months ago I’d bang out 1,000 words like it was nothing.

Oh my God, I totally forgot, Na Wri Mo (Edit: Almost, but it’s Na NO Wri Mo because it happens in November) is happening soon. Ugh, I’d always wanted to try it for years. What I’m worried about is one whether what I write will be any good, if I stick to it (quitting will feel like a massive failure for me) and if I’ll take it seriously (nothing should, I suppose) (Edit: Kinda gave up on the numbering of reasons, didn’t I ?) but I’ve had a tendency to let things travel into the realm of ridiculousness before… hmn, maybe that’s a good thing? It might turn out silly and fun for once. I’m not putting “The Vague Chronicles” in there either. Maybe the characters can crossover, I dunno.

It’s pretty much 12:00am as I write this. I’m gonna get it finished before I sleep anyway. So it’s four sides of handwritten A4 pages… did I already write that?

In any case, I keep liking vids on YouTube but they don’t stay liked (random I know but what else can I write… look at this shit. How the fuck is my Na Wri Mo (Edit: Pleb) project going to look? I don’t even have a plan Jesus Christ. Also yes I’m swearing… I’ve been drinking a little bit too. I’m not an example of how life should be lived… this is just an account of how I’m living mine)

Shit, I’m supposed to disappear. Well, at least in novel writing I am. Writing is about the characters not me, at least that what I’ve been told. I’ve also been told: “Write what you know”.

Back again. Been distracted by life. In… anyway what I was saying was ugh… it doesn’t matter I’m not supposed to be in the story, my characters are… but why do I become them sometimes? I have to… that’s the point.

So, this is the last page (handwritten anyway)

Damn, look at this, I’m letting myself get distracted at every turn. It’s 4:04 in the morning and I haven’t finished. I’ll have to type all this up tomorrow. Hello me! Weird right? You’re typing this up and I’m talking to you. (Edit: … yes very… I hope I get back to the point, whatever it was)

So, seriously. I dunno. This pen is kinda cool, right? Tired AndwewsiesTM. This will go up on Tumblr. I know I’m irrelevant at the moment. So drunk WHO CARES ABOUT THAT!? Nevermobf.

So, Assassin’s Creed Origins is coming soon… in October. Hopefully I’ll be ready to do a let’s play/stream hey I might even do an unboxing. It’s a collector’s edition with a figure and other stuff too. I’ll do it like the vid I’m showing someone now. Wink wink. (Edit: It was just me reading the handwritten version out… HUSHIES) She gets to see the handwritten stuff. This is her day after all! The best fan/troll anyone could ever hope for.

Gosh my writing is getting bad, so drunk. I’m okay of course. Oh! So there’s like four things I think I have to link in this “blog”. Um, the Michael Jackson Sonic 3 vid, the music from the Jetzons associated with that, the Key and Peele vid, oh and finally the AC Origins pic.

I’m back but for now… goodbye and I will see… MAY see you tomorrow. My name’s Waldowski and thank you to everyone who read this or listened.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ILY UWU!

Research Links:

A Brief History of Michael Jackson's Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The Jetzons - Hard Times(Sonic 3 Ice Cap Zone Act 1 & 2 Remix)

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker - Sega Genesis - Angry Video Game Nerd - Episode 63

I’m Coming out of Retirement One Last Time...

Credits Music:

Thought Beings - Italo Nights

Tommy '86 - Disco Machine - [FULL EP]

Nightcrawler - Strange Shadows - [FULL EP]

VHS Glitch - Halloween Strangers [FULL ALBUM]

Bonus

Off we go...

Into uncharted lands...

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forkanna · 7 years

Link

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

NOTE: I hope you guys are still enjoying! Haven't had many reviews but I'm guessing that's mostly because of this fandom being a lot smaller now than when the movie/comic came out.

Knives was the first to react, and the most strongly. She scooted back a full foot, then forward again to grasp at my stony arm where it rested on the table. I could still see and hear everything, but couldn't move, couldn't react to any of it. What was this?

"Omigosh KIM! What happened? Oh no, her skin is all grey!"

"That's because she's stone," Stephen sighed patiently, gesturing for Steph to exit the booth so he could get up. "Hang on, I think I have a bottle of Soft left in the car."

Steph goggled at him as he started walking out of the restaurant. "Wait… you have a car?!"

Knives and Steph didn't say much while he was gone. Just kept looking at me worriedly. How could I blame them? This was really fucking weird, and my life had been pretty weird all around up until that point. Knives was more aware of it than I was, even. One thing bothered me, though…

He said 'again.'

Why didn't I remember this happening before? You'd think turning to stone would stick out in one's memory, but I literally couldn't remember. Lots of weird shit, but not becoming a statue in the middle of a restaurant. And I couldn't begin to suspect why… except that I had been feeling pretty isolated and wanted to close myself off from what we were discussing before that point. Maybe that had something to do with it. But I doubted I would get any solid answers, since life doesn't come with an instruction manual.

Maybe it's a previously-owned game.

Stephen got back, and he had a little alabaster bottle that looked like it belonged in a museum in his hand. Without even waiting for anyone to react, he pulled out the stopper and poured what felt like warm water over my head. After a few seconds, the stone encasing me began to crack and crumble, and then shattered, leaving me free to move.

"Oh thank GOD," was the first thing I gasped out before I rubbed my jaw, which was the only part of my body that continued to feel stiff for some reason. I noticed Steph picking up one of the rock flecks that had broken off when the potion cured my condition.

"Ewwww."

Knives leaned a little closer and stroked my cheek, which gave me a weird flutter in the pit of my stomach. "Ooh, and now your skin is so soft… OH! Is that why they call the potion that?"

"Yeah, but only because anything is softer than she was a minute ago," Stephen grunted. I noticed the bottle had vanished into thin air once its contents were drained. "God, you're lucky I still had some left over from the last time…"

"Yeah… about that," I started. "What are you talking about?"

He snapped his fingers. "Right, you were passed out when it happened. This was at that Christmas party, the year before we met Knives?"

"Oh yeah…" Some weird sense of deja vu was creeping up my spine as he started talking about it. "That was a weird night. In fact, I could swear… I didn't wake up for a couple days…"

"You were still getting used to hanging around Scott again. Because of the history. Anyway, I could tell you weren't totally fine with him hanging around, but didn't fully get why since we didn't know each other very well yet. Anyway… eventually, the Christmas party at Comeau's house was where shit really hit the fan.

"So much eggnog was in your system, and you were jealous that Scott was hitting on Julie — or maybe just annoyed," he conceded when I glared daggers at him. "I don't fucking know. But yeah, I could tell you were really upset, and Scott asked you some question about how many Eiffel Towers it would take to reach the moon, and you just let him have it. Right there, in the middle of the party, you started tearing him apart about everything he was constantly fucking up or doing that got on your nerves. Never made it about the breakup, but you were really laying into him and you didn't care who heard you. He kind of shrugged it off, because he was already two gee-and-tees in and didn't have the headspace to understand the points you were trying to make, and that only pissed you off worse. So you bailed. An hour later, I went upstairs to check on you… and found a Kim statue lying in one of the beds."

"Damn," Steph breathed with wide eyes.

I had a sneaking suspicion why that had happened. Both times. But hell no was I ever going to admit it to either of them. "Alright, so I was a statue. How'd you get these bottles of stuff?"

"Soft. It was Scott, actually; he was useless until the next morning, but when Julie straight-up accused him of being to blame he stepped up. Like he does when he has no choice but to step up. I won't get into the whole thing, but he basically was told by a talking owl that he had to place six crystals in a statue and go inside the temple next to it to defeat Negascott and his pet pig, or something. Anyway, the pig had a bunch of bottles of Soft. If he didn't lose them in the move, I think Scott might still have one of them, too."

The table was pretty much speechless. I mean, what do you say to that? After a minute or two, I finally managed to say, "Has… this ever happened again? Am I a perpetual gorgon-victim, or what?"

"Nah, just twice."

"Oh. Well… that's something."

"What does it feel like?" Knives asked, eyes completely round.

"Um, weird. I don't really know how to describe it; just couldn't move." The way they were all staring at me set my newly-freed skin crawling, so I stood up from the booth. "Listen, I think I'm gonna take off. It's been weird, as usual."

"Wait! I can come with!" But I shook my head. "I can't come with?"

Swallowing down a sarcastic comment, I managed to simply say, "Later." Then I was off into the night.

~ o ~

Whatever was going through my head, I didn't try any harder to get into contact with Knives. Still. But my conscience didn't yell at me too badly for ditching her, since at least I didn't start telling her to stop hanging around me all the time, or demand to know why she would want to in the first place. I kept it to a single word to mark my departure and bailed.

A couple days later, the stray showed up during my work shift. The minute I saw her, I felt regret about Sneaky Dee's but didn't bring it up. And neither did she.

"So my dad gave me this movie," she began as she pulled a DVD out of her red-and-blue-striped purse, as if we had been talking all day and she only left to get the movie and come back. "It's supposed to be some epic story of samurai and all this stuff… I dunno. Anyway, I figured you didn't seem to hate the Shaolin movie, so we could try this? If you wanna."

With a slight shrug of my shoulder, I nodded at the player under the counter. But the minute she was bent over it with her back turned, I let myself smile. Maybe I hadn't messed up everything, after all.

A little while after it started, I grew some goddamn balls and said, "Hey… sorry about the other night."

"Hmm?"

"You know. Ditching you and the Stephs."

"Oh," she laughed with a grin. "The Stephs." What a loser. "And it's fine. You just went through being a statue, so I think it's normal to feel weird." We could have left it at that, except she added in a whisper, "I'm just glad you're alright."

Now I had to say more. The part of me that hated confronting feelings was hoping to get out of it with the apology and go back to the movie, but my conscience was being a noisy bitch. "No, it's not 'fine'." That got her attention more than anything. She turned more fully on the counter and cocked her head to one side. Waiting for me to continue. I scratched the back of my head. "Uh… I'm… Stop looking at me, okay?!"

"Sorry!" she breathed, turning away again.

"Okay. So the thing is… I think you know by now that I tend to be an asshole. And don't try to tell me I'm not," I headed her off when she took a breath. "But it's just… how I react to things. I don't even know why you like hanging out with me in the first place, really; I'm so… toxic."

"I don't think 'toxic' is fair," she said with a pout. "But, um, you seem to have something else to say?"

"No, that was it." Even though it wasn't. Not really. But the last part took care of most of it.

"Well, I like hanging out with you. The way you look at stuff can be pretty funny sometimes, and other times you're just super smart. Or not smart, but… wise."

"I'm wise? What are you talking about?"

Picking at the hem of her boot, Knives thought over her words for a moment as the subtitles flashed past in front of some black-and-white Asian dudes with serious expressions. "Like, you understand the world or something. In ways I don't yet."

What Steph had been telling me about Knives needing a 'role model' came back to me, full force. But I also thought that wasn't completely fair; Knives might have been a little naïve, a little pie-eyed and puppyish, but she wasn't an actual child. We were having a serious conversation and she was totally holding her own. Maybe none of us had given her enough credit. Especially not me.

"I don't understand shit," I told her softly. "Except that… for whatever 'only Chaus understand' reason you have, you seem to not hate me. And I want you to know… uh…" My shoulders rose and fell. "Ditto."

Her smile turned wider, and I had to look away completely and stay looking away. My cheeks were getting hot again, even though I knew — knew that I was just trying to tell her she was my friend. Despite how it felt. Despite how much I liked seeing that her face lit up when I said that.

"Kim?"

"What?"

"You're not an asshole." We both laughed a little, her more than me, and she reached down to squeeze my forearm. Then turned back to the TV.

However, after that point, I had a lot of trouble focusing on the movie. My brain was preoccupied with how she had touched me, both emotionally and physically. This one little knife that cut through my defenses so easily I might as well have been a pat of butter.

To Be Continued…

#kim pine's precious little knives #forkanna writes #scott pilgrim vs. the world #scott pilgrim fanfiction #kim pine #forkanna the writer

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niamsuggitt · 7 years

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The Ides Of May 2017

Hi guys! It’s that time of the month again, time for me to write a ‘lil bit about all of the various media I’ve stuffed into my gaping eye and ear-holes over the past 30 days. I would have included mouth-holes there too, but Nintendo deliberately made Switch cartridges taste horrible so unfortunately I haven’t been able to eat one. Oh well.

This month includes the return of some Sitcom favourites, more of me slowly, ever-so-slowly playing Zelda, a Booker Prize winner and a nice heap of Marvel Cinematic Universe fun.

Let’s do it!

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Movies

Once again there’s only 2 movies this month, and whilst they are both very different, both provide quite a bit to think and talk about. Up first is Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson 2015). This may be surprising given the types of films I normally like, but before watching Anomalisa I have to admit to not liking Charlie Kaufman as a writer. I’ve seen Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, and none of them resonated with me like they do for so many others. I just find him a bit… pretentious? Like he tries too hard to do different things and in the end it just obscures what he’s actually trying to say? I dunno. But much to my surprise and pleasure, I really enjoyed Anomalisa, which is different from Kaufman’s other work in that it’s animated. This stop-motion story follows a man (voiced by David Thewlis) who is on a business trip to Cincinnati. This man, Michael, sees everyone else in the world, including his wife, a former girlfriend, as the same person. They have the same face, and the same voice (Tom Noonan). That is until he stumbles across one other person who looks different, Lisa, (Jennifer Jason Leigh). It’s a complicated, dare I say, pretentious set-up, but for me it works. The animation is fantastic, incredibly detailed, and it’s used to go to places other animated films wouldn’t. This is a truly adult film, so if after Team America you wanted to see more puppet nudity and sex… I’ve got you covered. The way the technique of having everyone except Michael and Lisa be the same person works is incredibly effective and disorientating. It took about 10 minutes for me to twig it, the unease sort of snuck up on me. I said earlier that I think Kaufman’s gimmickry gets in the way of what he is actually trying to say, but that is not the case here, I think I pretty much got what the film was saying about solipsism, and how so many other films feature a ‘manic pixie dream girl’ who shakes a depressed male protagonist out of their funk. Anomalisa flips your expectations here. Lisa is not Michael’s soulmate, she’s just a blip in his mental illness. If it even is that, he might just be an asshole. That’s not to say that Lisa isn’t a well-drawn character, because she is, and Leigh’s voice acting makes her come to life. Then again, maybe this isn’t what Kaufman and Johnson are saying at all and I’m an idiot. Either way, Anomalisa is a fascinating film that has been rotating in my head since I watched it. It’s unlike anything else I’ve seen lately, and has me reconsidering my position on Charlie Kaufman. I certainly plan on watching the other film he directed, rather than just wrote, Synecdoche New York, and maybe I’ll go back to those other, older films.

Up next, I took a step away from the esoteric puppet show towards the mainstream blockbuster and into the cinema, as I went to see Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn 2017) which is of course (of course) the third film in the third phase of the monolithic Marvel Cinematic Universe. As is par for the course when writing about these films (and some, most, of the TV projects) I feel like I have to fully lay out a bit of bias. I love these films and just seeing these characters on screen and being done justice like this takes away a lot of my critical faculties. Problems I have with other, similar movies, I can brush aside because, hey, it’s the MCU, I trust these people. But that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Guardians 2, and whilst I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first one, I really appreciate it’s weirdness and how much crazy Marvel Universe lore it puts out there, if only just to hint at. The film of course sees all of our favourites from the first film, Star-Lord, Gamara, Drax, Rocket and Groot return for another adventure, but this time, the stakes are far more personal, as Star-Lord meets his father, Ego, who is brilliantly portrayed by Kurt Russell. Firstly, it was just awesome to be back with these characters again, they are just so much fun. The Guardians are perhaps the MCU versions that are the most different from the originals (of course, the comics have in turn, begun to reflect the movies far more) and as such I have a different emotional attachment to them. I’m not constantly comparing Gamora to the 500 Gamora comics I’ve read in my life, I’m just invested in her relationship with Nebula, and with Star-Lord. As I mentioned, the main plot here is Peter and his father, but the script makes sure that every Guardian (except maybe Baby Groot, but he’s adorable enough that you don’t mind) has their own story. Drax forms a bond with the newcomer Mantis (who is great!), Gamora fights her sister again, but even more personally, and Rocket deals with his anger driving people away. I found myself invested in all of these storylines, and it mean that, whilst the overall plot did sag a bit in the middle of the film, I didn’t mind. I will say that I am a bit sick of people dismissing Star-Lord’s story as ‘just more daddy issues’ or something like that. I think that’s reductive, and to me, the real plotline is how much Peter Quill still cares about his mother. His love for her is what snaps him out of cosmic brainwashing, and let’s not forget that, as awesome as the classic soundtracks are, they do serve an emotional purpose, as they are his only link to Earth, and to his mum. Maybe it’s just because my mother died of cancer as well (although hers wasn’t put there by an evil Celestial, at least I don’t think it was), but if anything, this is far more of a ‘mommy issues’ movie than a daddy issues one. I mentioned the soundtrack earlier, and I will say that this particular ‘awesome mix’ was a bit of step down, with the songs either being too mainstream (Fleetwood Mac, ELO) or way too obscure. Maybe I’m asking too much, but the first movie’s track selection was just perfect, hard for lightning to strike twice I suppose. The other character I want to specially highlight is Michael Rooker as Yondu, who is just amazing here. He has real pathos behind him and makes a character I never really knew into an absolute favourite. His storyline also sees the film do something I really didn’t expect and bring in more of the ‘original’ Guardians, the ones who, in the comics, were in the future. This movie has Sylvester Goddamn Stallone in it as Starhawk and I went in without knowing! I love that Gunn hasn’t forgotten the likes of Charlie-27 and Martinex, and that a major movie can feature characters as weird as them. That’s what sets this film apart from me, it’s not afraid to get a bit odd, and to use weird elements from the source material to their full potential. A few years ago, Ego The Living Planet would be considered way too goofy for a film, but not here, here he’s Kurt Russell! Some of this is pure fan-service, but as mentioned, when it comes to these films, I don’t mind that at all. The Stan Lee cameo was amazing, the teaser in the credits for Adam Warlock blew my mind (it took me an embarrassingly long time to connect Ayesha and her golden skin to that classic cosmic character). This film’s links to the wider universe are like that, more hints. I did expect some big Thanos developments, but ultimately, I don’t mind spending 2 hours just inside these goofball’s messed-up heads. I can’t wait for Vol.3, and I hope that, when the Guardians appear in Avengers: Infinity War, they don’t lose what makes them special. This film was just a blast, it delivers more of what you want, as well as surprising you with where it goes, the best kind of sequel.

Television

There’s one new TV show for me to talk about this time out, in the form of American Gods (Starz), the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel. This is an interesting series for me adaptation-wise because, whilst I have read the book, it was a long time ago and I don’t really remember a lot of what happened. Just the basic gist really. This isn’t like Game Of Thrones or The Expanse where the source material is fresh as a daisy in my mind and I’m constantly comparing the show to what I already know. Here, I’m kind of hazy on the details and it’s a lot of fun being surprised both by what I didn’t know, and what I forgot I knew! The basic plot has barely begun, but basically, Gods are real, they live in America, they are at war, and a man named Shadow Moon (as far as I can call this dumb-ass name does have a good explanation) is drawn into their world after the death of his wife and his release from prison (on the same day). Not only is that, to me, a great intriguing premise, but it’s really elevated by some fantastic performances and amazing visual flair. One of the show’s main producers is Bryan Fuller, from Hannibal, and the opening 2 episodes where directed by David Slade, who directed a fair few episodes of that show too, so you can really tell that there’s a link in how the series looks and feels. The dream sequences and trippier moments are straight out of Hannibal, they are brilliant. There’s a sex montage in Episode 2 with Bilquis that is just insane. The performances so far have been great as well, Ian Fucking McShane is of course stealing the show as Mr Wednesday, but Ricky Whittle is really doing well as Shadow, which must be a hard role to play as he’s kind of intentionally inscrutable and a bit blank. And, if you watch nothing else, watch Orlando Jones’ monologue as Anansi that opens Episode 2. It is one of the best single scene performances I’ve ever seen, it knocked me for a loop. It’s only been 2 episodes, but this is already a fantastic, ambitious series that’s unlike anything else on TV. I can’t wait to see where it goes, and what else I can remember.

This month also saw the return of 2 of my favourite US Comedies. Silicon Valley (HBO) is back for a 4th season of tech-based misadventures. So far this season has managed to somehow feel like more of the same, but also change things up in a lot of interesting ways, as the characters move about into new situations. At the end of Season 3 it felt like we were right back to the beginning, but that wasn’t the case, as we’ve seen multiple characters leave companies, join new ones, sell companies, and all sorts of other manoeuvring. The prospect of Richard actually working with Gavin Belson is very exciting. In amongst all of these shake-ups, the characters have continued to be as funny as ever. I love how Big Head continues to fail upwards, he’s now a Professor at Stanford! And seeing Dinesh get a girlfriend is something we haven’t seen before. I’m also enjoying the increased role for Jian-Yang. Jimmy O. Yang has always been very funny in his brief scenes, but now he’s getting actual stories, which is cool. And man, Zach Woods is still killing it as Jared. He had one moment of madness in Episode 4 that had me wetting itself. At times it does feel like Silicon Valley is in a groove, but it’s such an enjoyable groove!

One series that hasn’t been afraid to get out of it’s groove is Veep (HBO), which is now in Season 6, and is a very different show this season. Of course it changed when Armando Iannucci left, but now that Selina Meyer is out of office, it’s even more different. With the character scattered all over the place, I did feel like the first one or two episodes were a bit lacking, but after that, it’s really found it’s feet and become just as funny and scathing as ever. In the wake of Trump it was going to be difficult for Veep to be the same show as it was before, so wisely it’s pivoted, it still has a lot to say about America and politics, but really, it’s become more about seeing who these characters are in new situations. I’m particularly enjoying Dan working as a TV News Anchor and Jonah as a Congressman has just been brutally brilliant, especially with Mary Holland joining the cast as his new ‘girlfriend’. It’s also interesting that the series has started to delve deeper into Selina as a character, and her backstory. She may be a bit ridiculous, but in the world of the show, she is the first ever female Vice President and the President, she is interesting. So yes, Veep has changed, but it’s still intelligent and funny and well worth watching. When real politics is as scary as it is these days, we need this magnificent bastards to laugh at.

Now for quick hits! We’ll start with comedies. LOL! LOL indeed.

The final episode ever of Girls (HBO) was a bit of an odd one, it jumped ahead to the birth of Hannah’s baby (the horrifically named Grover, and that’s a ‘Niam’ saying that) and only featured Hannah and Marnie from the main cast, out in the middle of nowhere. In a lot of ways, it was a typical Girls way for the series to end, Lena Dunham has never really done the conventional thing. I enjoyed it, particularly Becky Ann Baker’s performance. She’s always been excellent and underrated as Hannah’s mother. I will miss Girls, it was funny, different and always provoked debate, and I can’t wait to see what projects Dunham does next. As infuriating as she can be, she is very talented. How about a Dunham/Max Landis collaboration? That could destroy the internet.

I reached the end of BoJack Horseman (Netflix) Season 3, and holy shit, that was brutal. What happened to Sarah-Lynn just fucked me up. And then it’s followed up by the sublime ridiculousness of Mr. Peanutbutter’s spaghetti strainers actually being useful! That sums up BoJack for me, it can be gloriously silly and funny, but at it’s core it’s a dark series about depression and the sadness at the core of humanity (or animality, whatever). It’s one of my favourite shows ever at this point, and I am very excited for Season 4, and just where BoJack is going to go now. It’ll be bad… but also so, so good.

The Last Man On Earth (FOX) also wrapped up its 3rd season very well. Jasper has been a fun addition to the cast, and the 2-part finale in particular was a great, as the series once again upended it’s cast. Erica gave birth to her baby, but then Nuclear Reactors started going off and they had to flee. This series continues to be brilliant at balancing comedy and real dark drama, as the consequences of a post-apocalyptic world are actually thought out. The very last moment also brought Kristen Wiig in contact with the main cast, and what a way to do it.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX) has continued to be very funny and strong, and one episode in particular really surprised me, as ‘Moo Moo’ became a serious examination of racial profiling in the Police Force. It’s rare that Brooklyn Nine-Nine addresses real issues, but it did it very well here, I think it should actually do more, especially in this era where the Police, in America especially, are not so popular. I don’t want it to become propaganda for the cops, but it can certainly shine a light on some real issues. As well as being dumb and funny with great actors of course.

The ‘Dreamland’ arc of Archer (FXX) is still going strong. It’s just a lot of fun to see these characters in this setting, and the storyline by itself has actually been rather arresting, with a lot of fun twists and turns. I’ve particularly liked Eugene Mirman’s performance as Cheryl’s brother. He’s delightfully creepy. Also, is Pam just a man in dreamland? Her character isn’t meant to be a woman in drag, here, she’s just a man? I kind of love that.

Oh, and I watched one more episode of Inside No. 9 (BBC Two), ‘Tom & Gerri’. It was very good, and actually managed to surprised me with the twist at the end. It was fun to see Lord Varys himself, Conleth Hill play an actually nice person, and Gemma Arterton was good too. That’s the strength of an anthology show, they can bring in really big names for just one episode.

Bridging the gap from comedy to drama is Better Call Saul (AMC) which is having an excellent third season, as it gets closer and closer to Breaking Bad territory. Not only has Gus finally appeared (with Giancarlo Esposito just as good as ever) but the whole tone of those scenes is straight out of the parent show. Episode 4, ‘Sabrosito’ barely seemed to feature Odenkirk at all. But that doesn’t mean that the series has just become Breaking Bad-lite, as the following episode ‘Chicanery’ was all courtroom stuff, and really did a fascinating job at delving into the central Jimmy/Chuck relationship. It really needs to be said again, but both Odenkirk and Michael McKean are amazing in this show, tour-de-force performances. This stretch of episodes has been a great microcosm of what makes Better Call Saul so good and basically the perfect prequel. It has plenty of links to what came before, including themes and cameos (Huell!) and camera work, but it’s also very capable of being it’s own, separate thing. So good.

The Season 2 finale of The Expanse (Sy Fy) was another strong episode in an exceptionally strong season. It was an incredibly tense episode that brought a lot of things to a head. The central plot of the Protomolecule monster being on the Rocinante tied everything together and, perhaps most importantly, brought the central crew of characters onto the same page. It’s interesting that the show isn’t precisely following a ‘1 season = 1 book’ model, and I like that, it’s allowing for things to unfold at a different pace.

The Americans (FX) is having an… interesting season. It’s still very good and all of the performances and episodes have been good, but, maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t seem as focused as it used to, which is odd, because the writers know they only have this and next year to wrap things up. Maybe that’s actually the reason, they know they have a guaranteed 26 episodes, so can pace things differently? Either way, there doesn’t seem to be any particular driving plot, missions and side characters come and go, and whilst each individual hour has been strong, it’s not a satisfying whole. Yet. I think maybe something big is going to happen (Pacha’s suicide? Something with Pastor Tim?) that will lead to a major event in the finale. Or at least I hope so. This is a fantastic series so maybe I just have too high expectations.

Now it’s time for everybody’s favourite corner… superhero corner!

So far in iZombie (The CW) Season 3, the biggest pleasure for me has been the classic thing, seeing Rose McIver play Liv on various different types of brain. Hippie Yoga Liv, gossipy bitch Liv, Dominatrix Liv and Hot Mess Liv have all been hilarious. I really think McIver is underrated by how she manages to play so many different shades of the same person. Some of the individual cases of the week have been a bit weak, but her performance, along with the new development of Clive knowing she’s a Zombie have made it work. As for the over-arching plots, I liked the way the show revealed that Blaine had been faking his memory loss, and what that means for Major and Liv going forward. The Fillmore Graves plot has been on the back burner a bit, but you just know it’s going to explode later.

Gotham (FOX) has returned with some really great episodes and has become a show that really embraces it’s ridiculousness, and is all the better for it. Corey Michael Smith in full on Riddler mode, green suit and all, is so much fun, as is Penguin and Poison Ivy gathering an ‘Army Of Freaks’ and a goddamn clone of Bruce Wayne. I’m also really enjoying this take on the Court Of Owls, I’ve said this before, but I get an extra kick out of seeing more recent concepts like this used in other media, and so it’s awesome to see something Scott Snyder invented on TV. Gotham is dumb, but it’s the good dumb.

The Flash (The CW) revealed who Savitar was, and it was… actually satisfying. The fact that Barry (or at least a Time Remnant of him) becomes his own worst enemy is interesting, and it’s a perfect expression of the consequences of too much time-travel meddling. What I found cool was that the show followed this big, tragic reveal with a somewhat broad comedy episode where Barry lost his memories. Not only was this funny, but it showed why the show needs a bit more levity. When Barry gets too Emo, things get bad (as shown by the trip to the future, where Barry literally was Emo). I’m also really enjoying Anne Dudek’s guest role as Tracy Brand. Her chemistry with Tom Cavanaugh is a lot of fun. 2 episodes left, and I hope they continue to get the balance between drama and fun right. The Flash is one of those characters who needs to stay optimistic.

Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.LD. (ABC) has continued it’s hot-streak with more really fantastic episodes. This Hydra alternate reality arc really has been excellent. It’s allowed us to learn more about the characters, had a real impact, and also allowed the show to comment somewhat on real world political elements. It was cheap, but referring to Hydra’s ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’ was great. The performances have also gone up a gear, Henry Simmons choosing to stay in the Framework was a great, although I do think that somehow they’ll use that machine to bring his daughter into the ‘real world’. Although they might be saving that for Face Turn Grant Ward. I also want to praise Iain De Caestecker, who has taken Fitz from somewhat of a comic relief character into probably the most complex person on the show. He played the ‘evil’ Fitz so well I almost feared he would still be bad once he was back. Mallory Jansen has also been very good, whether as Aida, Agnes or now Ophelia, she has played the same person in 3 very interesting ways. I can’t wait to see how this finale ends things, and to see what Season 4 brings. It feels weird to say this after the slow start, but Agents Of SHIELD is one of the better adventure shows on the air.

And finally, I finished watching Marvel’s Iron Fist (Netflix), and whilst it does have it’s share of problems and is probably the least of the ‘Defenders’ shows, I still very much enjoyed it and am excited to see more of this version of Danny Rand, particularly alongside Luke Cage. Heroes For Hire! I’m not going to re-tread the race conversation as we discussed that last time, so instead I’ll say that, as is customary, some of the episodes did drag a bit in the middle before an exciting ending, and I do think the show’s budget was a bit too low. I think that really hurt things as we never go to actually see K’un Lun or the Dragon Shou-Lou. I wanted a goddamn dragon getting it’s heart ripped out of it, is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. I also think it took way too long for Danny to realise that Howard Meachum was a bad dude, but that naïveté is intentional, and a great character bit. The performances only improved as it went on. Finn Jones is actually very convincing, and both Jessica Henwick and Tom Pelphrey were brilliant. I actually think Pelphrey’s Ward Meachum might be one of the best performances in the MCU, as he manages to make some pretty dumb plot developments work just through his performance. I did like how, by the end, things had been twisted and it was Ward who was working alongside Danny, and Joy who had become his enemy. That was unexpected and fun. Her working alongside Gao and Davos should be interesting in a second season. I did like Davos’ role later on too, Sacha Dhawan was very good, although why does someone from K’un Lun sound so Mancunian? I admit it, I am an MCU mark, but Iron Fist really isn’t that bad, if you give it a chance, it is well worth it, and can only improve. Look, it took Agents Of SHIELD 3 years to get good, I think sometimes we need to appreciate that.

Music

There’s only one album this time out, but it’s kind of a big deal, as Gorillaz are back with their first album in 7 years, Humanz (Parlophone/Warner Bros. 2017). Now the Gorillaz are pretty significant band for me, their eponymous debut was one of the first CDs I bought from myself and I must have played that and Demon Days hundreds of times. Plastic Beach had less of an impact, and I don’t think I’ve actually listened to The Fall. So I’m kind of a lapsed fan, however this particular hype train, and the idea that this was some kind of politically vital and contemporary record brought me back in, and I bought the album, hell, I got the deluxe edition! After listening to it a few times, it’s pretty good, but a lot of that hype is way over-blown. There’s nothing here that’s particularly timely, it’s just the usual Gorillaz mix of interesting backing beats, fantastic guest contributors and Damon Albarn getting to experiment. That’s not a bad thing, but I think I went into it expecting something truly game-changing. That’s probably more on me than Gorillaz though. As I said, the guest stars on here are fantastic, I particularly like Vince Staples on ‘Ascension’, Grace Jones on ‘Charger’ and Benjamin Clementine on ‘Hallelujah Money’, those are great tracks. It’s also a lot of fun to try and spot Noel Gallagher on ‘We Got The Power’. How crazy is it that Albarn and Gallagher are on the same song? Britpop Hell has frozen over. So yeah, this album is decent, but as is probably par for the course with Gorillaz, the ideas and concepts around it are more interesting. The idea of all of these artists reacting to Trump (or not Trump, an un-specified huge event) is great, but the end result isn’t that amazing. I say par for the course, because what’s always appealed most about Gorillaz isn’t just the music, but the whole package, the artwork from Jamie Hewlett, which is fantastic. I think I like the artwork in the leaflet more than the album! Gorillaz are a unique project, and I’ll always appreciate them, but I think I want more than just cool artwork and weird samples from my music at this stage.

Books

2 books this month. I think my reading pace has slowed down a bit, not sure why. Hmm, anyway, I started the month with the last 100 pages or so of Jonathan Wilson’s Angels With Dirty Faces (2016). The history of Argentinian Football got pretty much up to date, as Wilson gets up to the current era of Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Higuain etc. It was pretty much I thought it would be, as the Argentinian domestic game has been basically ruined by all of the best players moving to Europe. What I didn’t know was the state of hooliganism and fan violence in Argentina, which was surprising, and also the continued political links in the game. The fact that the Argentinian government owns the broadcasting rights to league football and uses it for propaganda purposes is very unique, and I would have liked more exploration of that. Imagine if Theresa May was on Match Of The Day or something, At least we know Corbyn is an Arsenal fan. Overall, the end of the book lived up to the rest of it, this was a very readable, informative history of a fascinating subject and culture. Argentina’s national identity is inextricably linked with it’s football, and now, I feel like i understand that country so much more.

After this, I got my fancy literature on, as I read the winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize, The Sellout (2015) by Paul Beatty. Only this isn’t the kind of novel you’d really expect to win such a lofty, some would say wanky, prize. It’s an incredibly dark satire of American Race relations, and it’s actually very funny. The plot sees an unnamed African-American man (he’s only referred to as ‘Me’, which I think is his surname (So his name is like ‘Dave Me’ or ‘Tom Me’ or something) who somewhat accidentally brings back both segregation and slavery to the LA suburb he lives in. It’s an insane premise, but it works, and Beatty’s witty writing carries it through even the largest logic leaps. Much like with last month and ‘Get Out’, I don’t feel like I can fully parse a lot of the more caustic racial elements, being a white non-American, but it was shocking at times, and certainly made me look at certain things differently. I would be interested in reading some of Beatty’s other books, he has a unique sense of humour. I will say that I didn’t really laugh out loud at reading this, like many of the blurbs did, but then I’m struggling to think of many books that did make me LOL. I just don’t do it, even with comics. I think seeing something written down elicits a different reaction in me. More of a wry smile, or an ‘oh, that’s funny, I get that’ than actually laughing. The Sellout comes close though! Maybe literary prizes aren’t so bad…

Games

As mentioned in the intro, I’m still making my way rather slowly through The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (Nintendo Switch 2017). I need to carve more time out to play it, but video games, even ones as good as this, are still bottom of my entertainment list. I only really play it when I have nothing else to watch, read or listen to. As of now, I’ve finally got off the Great Plateau and am in the wider world of Hyrule, and man, it is intimidatingly big. That sense of freedom to do what you want can be both very freeing, but also kind of freezing. I can’t decide where to go, so in the end I don’t really go anywhere. Does that make sense? I’ve just been wandering around and not really advancing the plot. But still, this is an incredibly good game, the look of it is so beautiful, and it’s even more so after the Plateau. I think that is what’s holding me back from playing more, because it looks so good on the big TV, I’m not putting the Switch’s handheld mode to use to play when someone else is using it. The controls are just that level of intuitive that, for me, only Nintendo can reach. The Joycons on the Switch are bit flimsy, but after while, I’m used to it. I’m of two minds on what to do next video-game wise. I really want to pick up Mario Kart 8, especially because my girlfriend wants to do multiplayer, but can I justify it when I’ve barely scratched the surface of Zelda?

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That’s it! Just an addendum for you, after writing that last bit about the Switch and whether I should by Mario Kart… I went and ordered it on Amazon. So expect something about that next week. I also bought La La Land, so you’ll get to read my lukewarm take on that film on or near June 15th. I’ll probably be lame and quite like it, that’s the kind of person I am, I can never bring myself to truly hate things like the rest of the internet. Anyway, I’ll see you then! Hopefully we’ll be living under a Labour Government by then.

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mystomachfeelsawful · 6 years

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4:10 PM

I can’t say a lot of things for lots of reasons.

TOP 5 (which I can talk about). In no order.

PLAYS

The Last Wife was my biggest surprise of the year. I went into it thinking I’d hate it, but was charmed by the pace of the script, the quick staging, the ensemble and pretty much everything about it.

Passing Strange made me actually appreciate a musical which I’ve long hated.

Prince Hamlet made me get Hamlet for the first time.

Fish Eyes Trilogy was a masterclass in BAM.

Superior Donuts had one of my favourite fights I’ve ever seen on a Toronto Stage. Corner Gas meets violence. So much heart and an incredible set.

BONUS CREDITS: Delirium, Pearle Harbour’s Chataqua, True North Mixtape, Less, Dolphin,

FILMS

3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Loved how you cared about every single character.

Lady Bird - Coming of Age done right. So economic aside from a kind of extra ending.

Get Out - I’ve never seen Luke cry in a theatre before or an entire theatre cheer when a hero finally gets his justice. I’ve also never felt as relieved as I did when the ending came. So well thought out.

Baby Driver - Style for dayyys. Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez and John Hamm kill it.

The Disaster Artist - Made me sniffle a bit I loved how they didn’t go for the cheap laugh in making fun of Tommy Wiseau. You really get that he tried to make this movie in spite of his utter lack of ability.

Bonus Credits: It, The Florida Project, Ingrid Goes West, Coco, Shape of Water, Logan, Wonder Woman, A Silent Voice, Your Name

Games

Dragon Age Inquisition - I sunk 80 hours into this and still haven’t beaten it.My quinari mage will reign someday.

Persona 5(!) - Futaba’s social link is probably my favourite social link in all personas because it deals with anxiety, trauma and agoraphobia in a way that I dunno....just works for me. I also love how you’re actually an underdog in this one. Everyone hates you because you’re a criminal, so the bonds you form are actually REAL. Sure there’s a load of problematic stuff (which is IMO, more a problem with Japanese RPGs as a whole regarding the way they treat women and queer folk), and the villains are saturday morning cartoon characters, and the plot falls apart at the end, but I think the idea of a bunch of losers banding together will ALWAYS appeal to me. It’s the only Persona where i cared about the main story more than the social links. In fact, it’s also the only persona where I didn’t want to romance anyone because they seemed like real, cool, people.

Breath of the Wild (my first Zelda! - If Studio Ghibli and Skyrim had a baby. I loved how the story existed if you sought it out, but wasn’t there if you didn’t make an effort to find it. I loved Zelda’s character development. I loved how much PERSONALITY the world had and how sparse it was. I didn’t like the young female voice acting (why are they speaking in their headvoice). And that SCORE THOUGH. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mETAEJY_rk8

Tales of Berseria - Combat was completely underwhelming and the backtracking sucked, but there was something so endearing about playing as antagonists that I really appreciated. Especially considering how in the first hour you burn half a bishonen’s face off. I also cried like a baby. Next to Abyss, one of the best Tales stories for me. Too bad the combat is broken and the world is boring af. If only they could have the world of Vesperia, the story of Abyss/Vesperia and the combat of Graces (which they almost did, but Velvet breaks the game), then we’d be set. Also, get Go Shiina back. Motoi needs a break.

Doki Doki Literature Club - Um. Yeah. I beat this 12 hours ago and can’t stop thinking about it. 2017′s undertale for me. I loved how not only it bent the game save file, but also fucked with the game files itself. One of the more interesting meta narratives I’ve come across. It also raises (though could be explored deeper) some of the problematic elements of moe visual novels, especially in that Monika seems to be unable to control how much she loves you due to her programming. Monika’s awareness that she’s in a game and her frustration toward her affection toward the player created some neat subtext in terms of female characters’ agency vs how they’re written. Super well thought out.

Experiences

2017 was a year of trust for me. Trusting myself, processes and knowing when to let things be.

Silk Bath - continues to be an unexpected surprise. We nearly sold out our entire NSTF run and have a little residency through tarragon’s workspace program. I also think that we’re finally learning what the heart of the play is about and how to work together as a collective.

Bathtub Girls/Weesageechak/Cahoots - I got my first pro dramaturgy gig this year and finally worked with artists who I’ve never met before. AHHH. Both experiences were illuminating in radically different ways. I think, if anything, working as a dramaturg has given me the ability to trust in other artists more. From the work with the foremen, to being in natural resources and now training as a dramaturg, I’d like to think I’m becoming a better collaborator and facilitator rather than dictator director. Madeleine Says Sorry this summer (an unexpected hit) had a very different directorial process because I feel I trusted the artists more than I usually do. I still have my usual rigor, but sometimes letting things happen and planting seeds is better than bluntly throwing someone down a corridor so to speak.

Knife - continues to be developed at Factory. I’ve never been in development with a script this long, but it’s so informative to be in a process where a company is invested in it’s development first rather than rushing it to the stage. It’s been all sorts of challenging in ways where I feel I’ve almost got it, but then missed, or moments where I think I’ve blown it and it actually works. I think one of my biggest realizations from 2016 was that I can’t rush work out. And with Knife, I’m learning the benefits of taking my time, but also what a longer commitment feels like when the inside (does that sound gross). As it continues to shift and change, I’m excited to see where it goes. It’s good also knowing that someone has your back. I’m going into a workshop in April, but there’s still loads more work to do, which is both daunting and exciting.

I NOW KNOW HOW TO MAKE BEEF STEW WITH TENDER MEAT - So like not really an accomplishment, but fuck it, it’s actually a big one. Beef Stew is my favourite food of maybe all time. More than sushi, more than pasta, more than anything. My family on my mom’s side used to run the only Chinese restaurant in levack. They had to feed miners, so they learned how to make their food. It’s a family recipe that’s not really a secret, but no one knows how to make it as good as my Poi Poi. My version is a little different, but it tastes great! - and this is weird - it makes me feel more a part of my family than anything else.

Knowing when to leave - I left two theatre companies I helped found this year. There are a lot of reasons associated with this (both personal and not so personal), but I think I’m figuring out what I want as an artist and my personal ethos in making work. And there’s some things I’m not willing to compromise.

2017 was a development year, but strangely enough by NOT putting out so much work, I feel even more connected to my community and my peers through my work. I feel like - if just a little - I’m more present in shows and conversations. But most importantly, I think I’m not trying as hard as I used to. I’m trying to let my work speak for itself and live a normal, beef stewy life.

Onwards!

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