#her big paws serve as s weapon
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Something about Death Island's Intro
I watched Death Island a few nights ago, and something that has stuck with me was how basically all of Leon's information on his file was blacked out in the intro sequence.
Only his name and gender are shown, along with Hunnigan's name at the bottom and some more blocked out things.
It probably is stupid, but I can't help but focus on it. As the audience, we know a lot of things about Leon. We know his past and all of the things that he's been through, so why bother showing a file with a bunch of that information blacked out? Yes, it does serve as a reminder that Leon does a lot of highly-classified and dangerous wok for the DSO, and we can assume that the intro sequence is supposed to "simulate" Dylan researching everybody, but I can't help but feel that there's more to it than that.
To pretty much everyone aside from the other protagonists and maybe Hunnigan, no one really knows what Leon has gone through. At the beginning of Infinite Darkness, Patrick has a really shitty opinion of Leon: "Qualified? More like lucky. The only reason he's the golden boy now is because he was in the wrong place at the right time." Yes Patrick does come around to Leon, but as the new kid with no experience, he already has a preconceived notion that Leon isn't qualified for the job, likely because he's only heard Leon by name and simply as "the guy who saved the president's daughter one time." And while Shenmei quickly comes to Leon's defense, Patrick isn't yet convinced. Why?
Because the DSO simply treats Leon as an asset to be used and not a human being. Patrick hasn't even met him yet and just assumes that Leon never worked for his position before he's even met the guy. Again, this changes over the course of Infinite Darkness and Patrick ends up really respecting Leon after he sees who he really is.
In Death Island when Leon, Claire, and Chris have been infected, we hear Dylan's big plan and him essentially calling all of them out: "The huge corporations and the corrupt execs that run them, the ones getting big, fat bonuses for maintaining the status quo, that’s who you work for, who you really protect. And the innocent will continue to suffer as long as you do."
As he says that, they cut to a shot of Leon. It's hard to tell exactly what Leon's reaction is because he is fighting the infection from the virus, but there's no snappy comeback, no joke, no quip. Dylan drops the bombshell: "You’re nothing more than pawns, suckers." On the word "pawns," the shot cuts to Chris, who also is dealing with his exposure to the virus, and then Jill, who just readjusts her hold on her gun.
This takes us back to the intro sequence, the agent ID was "pawns:"
Literally in being agents, Jill, Chris, Leon, and Claire are pawns. That's how their organizations see them, not as individuals, but as assets. But again, there's a deeper layer with Leon on top of this as I've seen others online point out, in the actual marketing of Death Island:
"One of the government's most formidable weapons." Not agents, weapons. They see him as an asset, a thing, to be used in their "fight" against bioterrorism. The kicker comes back to the intro sequence and Leon's file is shown:
In a sea of what we can assume to be DSO agents, Leon is shown, with the word "pawn" in big letters. The word doesn't actually finish being written out fully, but based on the spacing of PAW, we can assume that there isn't space for both N and S in the remaining box. The N would simply go over Leon's face and there would be some leftover space in the box (yes it wouldn't fit 100%, but the animators worked really hard on this movie and with how fast the shot is, you really have to analyze it to notice that it would look off!).
So yes, while Dylan is trying to say that all of them are pawns, Leon is the pawn. Patrick says as much in Infinite Darkness, calling Leon the golden boy of the government. Even at the end of Infinite Darkness (which takes place before 6), Leon doesn't let Claire make a copy of the drive with all of the information that will basically expose the US government for its hand in what happened at Raccoon City. Before she walks away, she gives him one final look and says: "Like I said before, that outfit doesn't suit you." Of course she literally is talking about the fact that Leon is wearing a very bureaucratic-looking suit, but she also is referring to what the suit symbolizes. She knows that Leon has a good heart and wants to do the right thing, but she's also frustrated with his actions and him, probably unconsciously, falling further and further in-line with what the government wants. She probably knows that he's "in deep" at this point and is just trying to basically stay alive, but she also is frustrated that he's not taking the path that would basically lead to a way out. It's also worth noting that Eiichirō Hasumi, who directed Infinite Darkness, also directed Death Island.
I'm not sure exactly where I was going with this post, I just wanted to share my thoughts about Leon and where he's headed next. I hope that the next movie (or game!) will feature him and be about him coming to terms with the fact that he can choose to do the right thing and that he doesn't need to just be a pawn anymore. He deserves that and so much more. Thanks for reading!
#resident evil#death island#resident evil death island#leon kennedy#leon s kennedy#character analysis#steve's stupidity#analyzing him bc i love him and he deserves the world#this took me way too long to make#kids use your time wisely#long post#long read#text post#long text#i am so sorry#no one should read something this long lmao
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The blepping trick
#oc: píng héng#doodles#lego monkie kid#lmk macaque#lmk sun wukong#lmk oc#an oc headcanon that like#her big paws serve as s weapon
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A Queen Serves and Protects
Chapter Three
First Chapter --> Last Chapter --> Current --> Next Chapter
Summary:
Post-Style Queen, Pre-Queen Wasp.
Chloe finds the Bee Miraculous, but instead of finding an obliging, subservient Kwami, she finds the Kwami of Order and Subjugation, and Pollen is not about to let herself be used like Nooroo was.
Granted, the only danger in a teenage girl is the damage she poses to herself. Can Pollen shape Chloe into a hero? Or will she stubbornly refuse to change and remain the bitter, harsh person the city has long since known?
[My take on how Chloe’s character could have developed]
——————————————————————————————
Getting akumatized was a special sort of uncomfortable. But it was exhilarating in all the same ways. Everything that one felt became louder, bigger, something beyond what it used to be. It grew into power. The power to act and take what was yours.
For Chloe, it just made her more upset. The anger had almost fizzled out, but the akuma brought it back with a vengeance. But unlike the last time she had been akumatized, her sorrow manifested much stronger than her rage.
Her skin darkened to a deep blue, almost purple, like the edge of the night sky after the sun had set. Where her hair had been in a high ponytail, it was undone and draped down and around her face. It looked stuck together and damp as though she had just been rained on. Chloe’s makeup looked washed out and runny both from her own tears and the transformation.
Most notably, her clothes became a simple long t-shirt and sweatpants that looked worn down and overused. The pants were a bright, light blue, while the shirt was a dark, deep crimson. To top it off, her sunglasses molded into a hat not unlike what her mother wore, but with goggles inlaid into them.
Without a word, Chloe put her hands before her and a large pair of scissors, easily the size of her chest, formed in her hand. Transformation complete, she turned on a dime and walked out the locker room.
A moment of silence followed before Pollen poked her head out the locker she had hidden away in. “Well, this isn’t good.”
//////
Marinette had never been so uncomfortable in her life. That included that time when she was seven and her twice removed cousins from her dad’s side came over and asked her why she didn’t wear dresses if she liked making them so much. And that one time she stepped foot first into a mud puddle, lost her shoe, and had to walk home with a sock soaked in mud.
It was bad.
Audrey, once Chloe had stormed out, continued on her tirade. “Ugh, how dramatic. Little Charlie needs to learn her place. She simply can’t compare to talent like yours, dear.”
Starting at being addressed, Marinette gave her a pinched smile.
“Now,” Audrey continued. “You simply must come to New York with me. The opportunities are endless, and skill such as yours would flourish under my attention!”
Her heart skipped a beat. New York was a big deal for fashion. Next to Paris, it was the place to be, and opening up her contacts to overseas big names would be a huge step for her career.
But could she work with someone this awful?
Sure, Marinette didn’t like Chloe, but even she thought that how her own mother treated her was cruel. It made her feel bad for the girl. It explained a lot about her, and for a moment Marinette considered being nicer to Chloe.
Not that that would make Chloe suddenly decide to be a good person. It would take the inevitable explosion of the sun for that to happen.
“I-i, um, I need to think about it, Mrs. Bourgeois.” Marinette glanced over at her parents. “I have a lot to consider about leaving or staying, and my parents still need my help at the bakery.”
Her parents, and oh how she loved them, spoke up immediately, “Oh, we can manage the bakery dear! Don’t worry about little old us, what’s important is your future.”
Please, take the hint guys.
Before Marinette can struggle to find more excuses to deny her request, Adrien pipes up, “Mrs. Bourgeois,” he flashes her an award winning smile, “Don’t you think that the way Chloe was handled was a bit… out of hand?” Gabriel laid a hand on Adrien’s shoulder, squeezing it gently before sharing a look with Natalie and wandering off.
Audrey rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. “Oh, darling, for such a sweet thing you can be so daft. Girls like that need a quick strike down before they let their misguidedness get to their head.”
Adrien, for his part, kept smiling. For those who knew him well enough, they could see the twitch in his eye as he struggled not to snap at the woman. “Ah, my apologies. In my experience, the best growth comes from a guiding hand that focuses on building a person up rather than tearing them down. But I suppose, for a critic, that is not the case at all. Though, the modelling experience is often different from the experience of those who make judgement calls on others’ hard work.”
Bringing a hand to her chest, Audrey sniffs derisively. “Sure, dear. Of course, most models are meant to make anything they wear look pretty, so it can be hard to see where their accessories are lacking when all they see is themselves.”
Marinette wanted to desperately be anywhere but where she was standing. She almost wished that someone had bust in with the Bee miraculous and caused a scene just so she could excuse herself.
She’d rather deal with her own mistakes a million fold over than this.
Mayor Andre, for his part, smiled a shaky press smile as he tried to talk his wife down.
Adrien, fed up with Audrey, grabbed Marinette ’s hand and pulled her away quickly. Natalie spared him a glance before going to converse with his bodyguard.
“Can you believe her!” Adrien simmered. “How cruel can you be to your own child!”
Marinette laughed awkwardly. “I mean, at least we know where Chloe gets it from?”
Adrien rounded on her. “Chloe is not as bad as her!”
Taking a step back, she watched Adrien wide-eyed. He sighed, taking a breath to calm himself. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. That display was just awful.”
He ran a hand through his hair, mussing up carefully styled locks.
Hesitating, Marinette asked, “Is she… always like that?”
Adrien gave a tense nod. “Since we were young. Chloe always wanted her mother’s support, but well,” he waved his hand back in her direction, “You try reasoning with that.”
Before either could pick the conversation back up the front doors to the building burst open. Carrying comically large scissors and dressed as what could only be called a fashion disaster was an akuma that looked one bad day away from a mental breakdown.
Or, well, in the middle of a breakdown.
“Audrey Bourgeois! You claim to recognize talent when you see it, but failed to see how your own daughter can be exceptional. Well, I am the Queen Killer and if I cannot be exceptional then no one can! I’ll cut your reign to shreds.” The akuma accented her speech with a threatening snip of her scissors before launching forward at the Style Queen.
Before anyone could react, Queen Killer had Audrey between her blades and closed. A thing, white line appeared where the blades connected and, as Queen drew her weapon away, there was a horrifying moment where Marinette was sure Audrey was split into two pieces.
Instead, a dark shadow started spilling out of Audrey, enveloping her body as she screamed. When the shadow dissipates, a twisted, snarling version of Audrey that looked like she was fused together with five other versions of herself appeared. It lashed out at those around her, screeching and clawing at them.
Queen Killer laughed. “Now everyone will see how hideous and cruel you are!”
Marinette jolted out her shock as Adrien roughly pulled her away. This, unfortunately, brought Queen’s attention to them as the rest of the room also began to run.
“Dupain-Cheng!” If she had any doubt that that was Chloe, she had none now. ”You stole my mother’s love from me!”
As Queen launched forward with her scissors open, Marinette screamed, “That was not my intention! I didn’t know she would ask me to go to New York with her all over a hat!”
Alas, her pleas were not enough. Stuck in her civilian form, Marinette could not outrun the enraged Queen. Twin blades circled around her waist and cut, forcing Marinette to stumble and fall.
Adrien, worried for his friend, stopped and tried to go back for her. But, between a snarling Queen and Marinette urging him to keep running as a dark shadow overtook her, he kept running. The best thing for Marinette would be Chat Noir and Ladybug. He would have time to check on her later.
Marinette , meanwhile, felt the shadows come off her and… she looked the same. For a moment, she was confused. What was the akuma’s power supposed to be?
But then it bubbled up. Nothing physical. No, that would be too easy. As she looked up towards Queen and thought ‘I need to transform into Ladybug’ a wave of crushing doubt and insecurity gripped her throat.
She would just mess up again. Like she had when she started out, when she lost the Bee miraculous, and every time she let someone get harmed by an akuma. There was no way she could do this. Chat Noir would be better off without her.
As the building cleared and Queen ran out to terrorize the fleeing patrons, Marinette stayed on the ground, shaking. What could she do? Make things worse? Disappoint all of Paris? Put Fu and Chat Noir in danger?
Distantly, she heard someone talking to her, urging her to get up and move. The voice disappeared as he heard footsteps and she was lifted into someone’s arms. A hop, skip, and a jump later had her safely placed down on a chair in a private room, looking into the eyes of Chat Noir. His eyebrows were brought together in concern.
“Stay here, okay? I promise Ladybug and I will fix things for you.” He offered a reassuring smile before dashing out of the room.
When she couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, Tikki flew out of her pocket. “ Marinette !” The little ladybug placed her paws on her face, getting her to look at Tikki. “Are you okay? What happened after she cut you?”
Shaking her head, Marinette focused on her breathing. ‘C’mon Mari,’ she thought to herself, ‘You can’t let Chat do this alone.’
“I, uh,” she looked back at Tikki, “It’s so bad Tikki. I’m going to mess up and make things worse. Like yesterday with the Bee miraculous! I lost it! Instead of getting help, I lost a potential ally and a powerful magical artifact. If I can’t even keep track of things placed under my care, how can I protect Paris?”
Tikki was at a loss for words. This reminded her so much of the Marinette she first met- unconfident, afraid, and so uncertain in her actions. It was like the cut brought out all the most hurtful parts of herself…
“ Marinette ,” Tikki began, “We all make mistakes. What’s important is working to fix them. Sure, if you do nothing you can’t mess up or disappoint people, but you also can’t grow and succeed. Paris needs its Ladybug, regardless of what the people think of you. I know you can do this. Chat will be there to help you too, I’m sure of it.”
Doubt in her eyes, Marinette nodded. While her doubts and insecurity swirled in her mind, the urge to help others reigned supreme. She had to at least stop the akuma and set things back to normal.
“Alright Tikki,” Marinette swallowed thickly. “Spots On!”
///////////
Chat was not having a good time.
His first thought upon finding Queen snipping people in half with her scissors was that he could easily beat her in combat. What could she do with a pair of large scissors when he had a versatile staff?
A lot, apparently.
As he dodged backwards from another attempt to cut him in half from Queen, he tossed a jab her way. “So is clashing colors the new look, or did I miss the memo?”
Queen huffed at him, “Says the boy in full leather! I would know a fashion disaster when I see one!”
She ran at him again, holding the scissors completely open so she could swipe at him with a blade. Chat blocked it with his staff, before pushing her away as she tried to close the blades on him.
“Excuse you, Queenie!” He retorted. “I’ll have you know that my outfit is purr-fect.”
Clearly, she disagreed, if the groan and slash at him was anything to go by.
What a party pooper.
But what was worse was that he couldn’t get close enough to her to properly disarm her. Nor could he figure out where the akuma was while trying his best to not get cut in half. Chat needed to regroup with Ladybug, but she was nowhere in sight.
Biting his lip, Chat jumped back and up onto a rooftop. Giving Queen Killer a salute, he started away from her.
“Get back here you mangy cat!” Queen simmered on the ground below where he ran off. “You better bring back Ladybug so I can take you both off your high horse!”
///////////
Pollen was not the best at sneaking around. Not for lack of trying, of course, but people were ingrained to see a blur of yellow and the sound of buzzing and think ‘Bee!’ It didn’t help that she was larger than the average bee.
What did help, however, was people being too busy staring at an akuma running full tilt down the street to pay attention to the yellow being that was trying to stay unnoticed behind them. So Pollen got a front row seat to Queen’s akuma speech and display of her powers. When Chat Noir showed up she waited for her chance to talk to him or Ladybug whenever she came around.
And, well, there went Chat running for his life.
Pollen sighed. At least flying along rooftops was less obvious than following an akuma.
After shooting past building after building, she manages to get closer to the black blur that was Chat Noir. He was vaulting along, keeping an eye out as he worked on not plummeting to the ground. When he finally stopped to catch his breath, Pollen nearly sped past him.
As Chat retracts his staff and starts to dial Ladybug, Pollen drops down in front of him. “Oh!” He stumbles back, “Hello? Who are you?”
Pollen smooths out her fluff and offers a paw. “I am Pollen, Kwami and Order and Subjugation, and the one who dwells inside the Bee Miraculous. You must be Chat Noir. A pleasure.”
Chat, mystified, offers a finger. “Nice to meet you. I thought you would be with Master Fu and your miraculous?”
“Ah, well,” Pollen tilted her head. “Did Ladybug not tell you?”
He pinched his lips. “No?”
“Ladybug lost my miraculous in the fight with Style Queen. You weren’t there, though, were you?” Pollen considered him for a moment. “I don’t blame you for that, nor do I blame Ladybug for losing my miraculous. But that isn’t important right now.”
Accepting the hand Chat placed out for her, she settles into his palm. “I need to talk to you and Ladybug, but the akuma is our first priority. What do you know about them?”
“Well,” Chat began, “I believe it is Chloe Bourgeois. But as for the akuma,” He scratched the back of his head with his free hand, “I’m not too sure. My current two guesses are her scissors or her hat, since she normally doesn’t have either on her.”
Pollen nodded thoughtfully, despite having seen the akuma land in Chloe’s sunglasses. There was no way she could tell Chat Noir without him having at least some suspicions as to who she was with at the moment. At the very least, he could narrow it down to who had been around Chloe when she transformed.
Chat pushed on. “Even if we managed to subdue Queen Killer and get the akuma out, we wouldn’t be able to do anything until Ladybug gets here to purify it. The best we can do is wait and try to stop as much damage as possible.”
“Actually,” Pollen butt in, with a slow smile spreading across her face, “I may have a solution to that.” Chat tipped his head to the side. “I can immobilize people with my power. As long as I can hold onto the power they will remain frozen, or until I touch them to let them free.”
He perked up, stars in his eyes. “Like how Plagg can use Cataclysm when he’s himself! That’s perfect, Pollen.”
She nodded eagerly, before stopping. “Wait, did you not know kwamis can use their own power?”
Chat looked confused, but nodded slowly. “I didnt figure that out until he used it to free from an akuma a while ago.”
Pollen buzzed, frustrated, before saying, “The Guardian should have told you that! It’s important for a holder to know about their miraculous and kwami, especially a trouble maker like Plagg.”
“Well,” Chat scuffed his foot on the roof, “I don’t speak to the Guardian that much. Last time we talked was when he came to my house and talked about the Miracle Box and such.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Pollen moved out of Chat’s hand and floated in an irritated circle. “You should be just as informed as Ladybug. It’s not fair to you or her to pile information on one of you and expect the other to just go along with it!”
Chat shrugged. “That’s how it’s been for most of it. Besides, I trust Ladybug with my life.”
“But, when keeping so many secrets, can she trust hers with you?” Pollen replied with a meaningful look in her eyes.
She received no response. Instead of dwelling on the matter, she urged Chat to get back to Queen Killer. They still had a job to do, after all.
/////////
Ladybug arrived on the scene to find Chat nowhere in site and Queen Killer happily snipping at random citizens. Great. Before she can engage with the akuma, she hesitates. Could she really do this without Chat? What if she lost her miraculous because she let her civilian self get hit with the akuma’s power?
Shaking her head, she prepared to head in when a flash of black caught her eye. The familiar form of Chat pole vaulting across the rooftops to her left filled her with a sense of relief. She really, seriously needed to keep it together.
Taking a second, she throws her yo-yo to wrap around a chimney in Chat’s path. Her heart races as she tests the line and jumps. Shit, shit, shit, she’s gonna hit the wall, then Queen will notice her, then-
She made it on the roof with two scraped knees. Not flawless, but still unseen. Chat landed beside her, more than happy to see his Lady. A frown creased his brow as he took in her demeanor.
“Are you alright?” He checks her over for wounds, but comes back with nothing beyond a few scratches. “Did something happen?”
Ladybug goes to dismiss the idea before Tikki’s words ring in her head again ‘Chat will be there to help you too.’ Shaking her head, she gave Chat a grimace. “Queen managed to cut me while I was in my civilian form. Even after I transformed the effects are bothering me. It’s… brought back a lot of my insecurity and confidence issues. But we can do this, I know we can.”
Chat nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, I have a plan. And some back up.”
“Backup?”
A yellow figure lands on Chat’s shoulder. “Hello, Ladybug. It’s nice to see you again.”
Blinking in shock, Ladybug exclaims, “You’re the kwami from the Bee miraculous! Oh god, another thing I messed up, I’m so, so sorry.”
Pollen holds up a paw, stopping her. “It’s not your fault. You were in a tight situation and did the best you could. Besides, I’m with someone who may be a good ally in the future. They just need time.”
Chat and Pollen brought Ladybug up to speed on their ideas, to which she poked and prodded at. They exchanged glances before nodding and Chat and Pollen split. Still standing on the roof, Ladybug calls her Lucky Charm. It dropped from the sky as a red and black spotted crowbar.
Keeping the crowbar in hand, Ladybug drew Queen’s attention with a hit to her scissors. “Hey!” Ladybug called out, “Don’t you know scissors are dangerous?”
Queen Killer growled back, “Of course you would start preaching at me, little miss perfect. I bet everyone in the whole city loves you. Well I’m here to cut your heroic tales short!” She launched forward, bouncing off a car and digging her scissors into the side of the building to propel her up to the rooftop to get on Ladybug’s level.
Ladybug, in a quick move, flipped over her and flung her yo-yo around the scissors to send Queen flying back to the ground. Before she could hit a lamppost, Queen dug the blades into the street to slow herself down, only to run back to Ladybug.
‘Good,’ Ladybug thought to herself, ‘Keep coming.’
In the moments before Queen got back in range, Ladybug took a moment to eye the area around her for clues on how to use the Lucky Charm. Nothing stood out, so she sprung from the rooftop to land before Queen and send her yo-yo swinging at her feet.
Queen, quick to the punch, lowered her scissors to cut the yo-yo string. Ah, what a lovely and easy mistake to make when fighting a person who used scissors with a string based weapon. Panicking, Ladybug brought up the crowbar to stop the scissors from striking her.
Pulling back, Queen raced in again with the blades open, looking to trap Ladybug the same way she had Chat in their fight before. Ladybug readied her crowbar, bringing it up to block again. Queen smirked, shutting the blades in a smooth motion. By luck or skill, Ladybug managed to sidestep the action, getting the crowbar’s hook caught in between the blades. Seeing her chance, Ladybug used the hook to pull the scissors from Queen’s hands.
Spitting a curse, Queen abandoned her scissors to tackle Ladybug.
Chat, meanwhile, called forth his Cataclysm and rushed the scissors, destroying them with a touch. When no akuma appeared, he looked back confused. Queen kept fighting Ladybug, managing to get the upper hand as Ladybug hesitated in kicking her off. As Queen pinned Ladybug’s hand with one of her own and reached for her miraculous Chat sprung towards her.
He wouldn’t make it in time.
But Queen stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide beneath the wide-brimmed hat. Pollen popped up from behind her, giving Ladybug a little giggle. “Sorry, I meant to do that a little earlier.”
This time with no reservations, Ladybug pushed Queen off of her. Chat bounded over to her to help her up, to which she shook her head and pointed at Queen. “Find the akuma.”
Receiving a nod, she picked herself up to retrieve the cut off part of her yo-yo. Chat, in this time, took Queen’s hat and ripped it. For good measure, he broke the goggles on them as well. Lo and behold, the akuma haphazardly fluttered out. Before it could escape, Ladybug snapped it up in her yo-yo.
“Bye, bye little butterfly,” Ladybug murmured, letting it fly off into the sky. With a nod to her partner, she threw her crowbar into the air and let forth the rush of ladybugs to fix the damage done.
Pollen, seeing Chloe safely de-akumatized, gave Chat a little nod before rushing off. He made a move to go after her when a bawl reached his ears. Chloe, freshly purified, was trying her best to keep it together. But as Chat knelt to help her to her feet, she jumped him for a hug.
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m sorry that I was too pathetic to not get akumatized again. My mother was right about me, I’m so, so sorry.”
Chat rubbed her back slowly. “What your mother said was cruel and unfounded. You’re not pathetic at all, Chloe.”
“And it’s definitely not your fault. Even the strongest, most exceptional people can get akumatized,” Ladybug added, “Besides, even heroes have bad days.” Not that she considered Chloe even close to a hero.
Andre chose this moment to come bustling through the doors of the building behind them. “Princess, my darling!”
Seeing that she was in good hands, Chat and Ladybug pound their fists together and part ways.
Ladybug, however, is stopped by Pollen two blocks over. “There you are! Thank goodness. Can you show me where your miraculous is so I can return it to Master Fu?”
“No,” Pollen told her quietly, “But I want to ask you to trust me. I’ve found someone who needs my help. Maybe one day she could be a great hero, maybe not. But this person has gone through a lot of heartbreak and I don’t want to be another person that leaves her behind. I want you to tell Fu that I have decided to stay with them.”
“Wait, but what about secrecy? How will we know they won't spread the word about the miraculous or accidentally lead Hawkmoth to you?” Ladybug fretted, cupping her hands for Pollen to land in.
“I haven’t told her the transformation words, yet.” Pollen stroked her hand reassuringly. “That way if things go south I can still manage to keep my power from being abused. Please, Ladybug, trust me.”
Biting her lip, Ladybug hesitantly nodded. “Please stay safe, Pollen. If you ever need my help don’t hesitate to ask.”
Giving her a bright smile, Pollen floated up to nuzzle Ladybug’s forehead. After giving parting words, they went off in different directions.
Hopefully, Pollen hadn’t just made a huge mistake.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir#ml#ml fanfic#ml fanfiction#chloe bourgeois#chloe bourgeois redemption#ladybug#marianette dupaign-cheng#chat noir#adrien agreste#pollen#pollen (ladybug)#pollen the kwami#bee kwami#tikki#plagg#marinette dupain cheng
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Kill Order (Final Rose)
As the explosion raged against her glyph, Weiss activated Luna’s personal forcefield and all but threw the girl at one of her bodyguards. “Get her behind cover.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The explosion finally began to peter out, and Weiss began to bark orders at the other bodyguards. “Team 1, you’re with me. Team 2, I want you to split, take the buildings on either side. Sweep the rooftops.” She paused as a low, angry growl filled the air. “Zahn...” The wolf glanced at her, and Weiss gave the order. “Kill.”
X X X
What sets Oerban timber wolves apart from most of their lupine kin is not merely their size although they are the largest wolves in the world. Instead, what truly makes them unique is how heavily they make use of Aura during combat. Like chocobos, Oerban timber wolves have learned how to enhance their strength, speed, and durability using Aura.
An adult Oerban timber wolf is more than capable of completely ignoring small arms fire, and more powerful wolves have been known to remain combat capable even after being struck by anti-tank rounds. To maximise their combat effectiveness, the Yun often equip their wolves with collars and bracers that contain personal forcefields and Aura batteries. The objective is to allow the wolf to reach their opponent without sustaining major damage. Once the wolf reaches their target, the result is often largely academic.
X X X
Zahn reached the first White Fang assassin and simply clamped his jaws around the Faunus’s head. The assassin’s Aura flared briefly and then shattered like glass. The wolf’s massive jaws closed with a wet thump, and he tossed the dead man aside as a stream of gunfire raced toward him.
Instincts that had been honed by years of training allowed him to zigzag through the oncoming barrage until he reached his next target. This one drew a sword and swiped at his side. The wolf leapt over the blow and crashed into the rabbit Faunus. The woman screamed as he brought one paw down with punishing force. To her credit, her Aura withstood the first blow, so Zahn twisted, seizing her leg in his jaws, and swung her into a nearby streetlight.
The metal bent beneath the force of the blow, and he shook his head and brought her down onto the pavement. Her Aura broke, and the concrete sidewalk cratered. Blood splattered the ground, and he fought the urge to howl as he bounded toward the group of White Fang firing on the members of his pack.
They saw him coming, and he understood immediately that he would not be able to dodge so many attacks. Instead, he would have to rely on his Aura and the defences his pack leaders had given him. Light flashed around him as those defences and his Aura withstood the onslaught. One of the White Fang gestured sharply, and an explosion threatened to drive him back.
Zahn roared and threw himself forward through the cloud of fire and force. He slammed into the closest assassin, and his sheer mass sent the man tumbling back. Rising to his feet, Zahn rammed another Faunus into a car, crumpling the vehicle and crushing the woman against it. A swipe of his paws sent a male Faunus tumbling through the air before he lunged at the one with the most Aura.
Another explosion bloomed to life against him, and Zahn felt the bracer on his rear left leg crack. That wasn’t good, but he still had three others and his collar. More importantly, he had managed to reach his opponent. With a blur of movement, the Faunus drew a spear and stabbed at his side. Zahn dodged as best he could, and the blow skittered off his flank. His teeth closed around the man’s wrist, and he tried to bite down. His opponent’s Aura resisted the attack, so he turned it into a throw, heaving him into the wall of the building beside them.
“You damn monster!” the Faunus drew a knife with his other hand and drove it toward Zahn’s face.
The wolf let go of the man’s wrist and jerked his head back before lowering his shoulder and driving it into his chest. The corner of the building broke off, and the pair of them rolled across the road. Zahn was on his feet first, and he struck with brutal force. He seized the Faunus’s left ankle in his mouth and used it to slam him into one of the trees that lined the sidewalk. Wood cracked, and Zahn bit down harder. Still, the White Fang member’s Aura refused to break. A desperate slash of the knife clattered against Zahn’s defences, and the wolf swung his head back around and smashed his opponent back into the ruins of the tree. Finally, his Aura broke, and Zahn darted forward.
“Get away from -”
CRUNCH.
Zahn tore off his head and most of his torso with one bit and then turned to scan the rooftops. One of his pack leaders was leading an assault further down the street. There was no need to go to her side. She was well protected. Instead, he would do what he did best. He would hunt. Movement from a nearby rooftop draw his eyes, and Zahn broke into a speedy lope.
X X X
Granite had worked for Weiss Schnee for the better part of five years. He’d been forced into battle several times while serving her, but this was by far the largest conflict he’d been involved in. In a way, he wasn’t surprised. With her wife away on a critical mission, Weiss was far more vulnerable. If Ruby had been here, it was entirely possible that all of their assailants would already be dead. Teleportation and ultra-high-speed movement were absolutely unfair sometimes.
Of course, that was what he and the others were for. Weiss packed more firepower than entire teams of hunters, but she was relatively fragile compared to her teammates. If she got hit - and that was a big if given her defensive glyphs - she wouldn’t be able to simply shrug it off the way someone like Yang Xiao Long could. But as long as he and the other bodyguards could protect her, Weiss was essentially living artillery.
Case in point: the majority of the White Fang’s forces further down the street were currently being bombarded by bolts of super-heated ash travelling at rail-gun-like speeds. Upon impact those bolts would not only inflict hideous damage due to their speed but they would also explode, completely enveloping their target in ash that had been heated to thousands of degrees.
The only thing he and his team needed to do was keep the rooftops clear. A sniper was one of the only threats that stood a chance of getting Weiss, and they’d already eliminated several as they swept the rooftops. Once this was all over, there would definitely have to be an investigation. The White Fang had been all but destroyed for years. How had they managed to gather the resources for an attack of this magnitude?
However, his thoughts were soon interrupted as something burst out of a nearby roof. Well, crap. That was a war mech, a salvaged and heavily modified Atlas model by the looks of it.
“Take it down!” Granite shouted. “Don’t let it fire!”
It was impossible to be completely sure of its load out, but the mech had several missile pods and what appeared to be a heavy plasma cannon on one arm.
“Take out the plasma cannon!” Granite pointed. “Aim for the plasma cannon!”
Missiles filled the air, and he and the others were forced to take cover. He peeked around the corner in time to see the plasma cannon beginning to charge.
“Damn it.” He raised his rifle and fired, but the bullets simply bounced off the mech’s forcefield. However, he must have done some damage because there was a sound like breaking glass as Zahn crashed through the forcefield and bit down on the cannon hard. “Watch the wolf,” he barked.
Swinging back and forth, Zahn managed to brace his feet against the mech’s chassis. With a savage jerk of his head, he ripped the front half of the plasma cannon apart. The weapon shrieked and began spewing plasma everywhere. The wolf leapt clear, and Granite gestured wildly.
“Bring it down! Bring it down!”
One of the other bodyguards picked up a piece of rubble and threw it. The other man’s Semblance turned the projectile into a makeshift grenade, and it exploded against the mech’s side. The machine lumbered and then toppled off the rooftop.
“Don’t let up!” Granite pointed. “Target the cockpit!”
X X X
Weiss took a moment to scan the street for any further danger. Good. The White Fang had been dealt with. Even so, she asked for a full sweep of the area before moving to where Luna had thankfully been kept safe. At her side, Zahn walked proudly. The wolf had proven his worth yet again, and nothing made him happier than doing his bit for his pack.
“Good boy.” Weiss reached over to scratch him behind his ears. “Good boy.” She noticed the blood staining his jaws and muzzle and paused. Hmm... she should probably clean him off a little before they met with Luna.
X X X
Author’s Notes
It’s easy for people to forget because he’s so friendly and easy-going, but Zahn is more than six hundred pounds of lupine death that has been carefully honed over generations of selective breeding with years of training to hone his instincts. Backed up by technology, an adult Oerban timber wolf is extremely dangerous. That said, those same things that make him dangerous make him perfectly safe around Luna. The idea of actually harming her goes against all of his instincts and training. What makes wolves like Zahn even more dangerous is that they are also trained to work together if necessary. Together with their handlers, packs of Oerban timber wolves can and have brought down even S Tier Grimm.
The best bit is that after this, Zahn will probably spend his night being used as a teddy bear by Luna. Since she was kept safe behind cover during the whole fight, she wasn’t scared for herself so much as she was scared that something might happen to Weiss, Zahn, or the bodyguards, many of whom she has come to think of as friends since she’s known them for as long as she can remember.
If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.
I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.
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monkee see, monkee do | luce & willow
TIMING: before mother’s day.
PARTIES: @divineluce and @willcwthewisp.
SUMMARY: two artists meet a new challenger. OH YEAH!
Washing her hands in the sink, Luce looked around at her cabin with a wistful sigh. She’d had a handful of tourists book it over the last few weeks, which was helpful. But, she missed living here. She missed quiet nights with Iggy, a fire in the grate, working on a new design or practicing some of her more precise manipulations of the flame. She missed the comfortable solitude of it all, back when she was… herself. Letting out a sigh, Luce locked up the cabin. But, instead of getting back into her Jeep, she went into the woods, following the familiar trails. She missed being able to just throw herself into the woods. But the forest wasn’t the same for her, not anymore. She’d destroyed it, burned it, had some angry spirit of the forest confront her with that fact. Maybe she’d go back to the grove she’d burnt down today. Check how it was.
As Luce moved deeper into the forest, the earth beneath her feet began to shift, becoming soft and loamy. Frowning, she glanced around and was startled to see-- “What the fuck..?” She said as a strangely animated looking river began to flow through the trees. Animated as in like, it looked as though a fucking 90’s Disney artist had drawn this shit. But the water soaking through her boots was very real. As was the scream that rang through the air.
One moment, Willow had been taking a solitary walk along the edge of White Crest’s Outskirts and the next she’d found herself careening down a watery pathway. The river had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and the only warning she’d had of anything mysterious being afoot had been the sudden appearance of a cute, monkey looking creature. It had even been holding its tail between it’s little paws as if it were nervous or something of that like. She’d blinked, and next thing she’d known her clothes were wet, and she was sputtering amongst the throes of a gushing river. “Help!” she yelled out frantically. There was no reason for her to think that someone might hear her cries, but what else was there for her to do but seek assistance? The river wound its way downhill, and a nearly inhumane scream wrenched itself from her lips. “Help! I can’t- the river- it just-” For the brief moment her head was above water, she managed to make out a human shape along the banks of the water, and made her best effort to swim towards it. “The monkey! Where’s the monkey?!” Why she cared about a strange little monkey at a time like this, she couldn’t say.
As Luce watched the strangely textured water flow through the trees, she saw that there was a monkey creature, tapping its chin thoughtfully as it bobbed up and down on a flamingo inner tube that had the same dark lines as the water. “Fucking, of course. Saetimps.” She rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the woman who was yelling and trying to swim-- badly, it looked-- to the edge of the river. Gritting her teeth, Luce waded out into the water and held out her hand as far as she could reach, “C’mon, get over here! Before that thing whips out a shark or something.” She yelled. As she said that, she could practically feel the Saetimp’s eyes turn onto her and she watched to her dismay, as it drew a very Little Mermaid-esque looking shark that flopped into the water and began to swim towards them. “Shit, shit, shit, let’s go, dry land, right now!” She yelled, dragging the woman behind her as she pushed her way through the river back to the dry forest floor.
Willow grabbed for the other woman’s arm in desperation, clutching onto it as if it were her only lifeline in the world. For all she knew, it was. As she was yoinked from the river, her chest heaved with the effort of her panicked breaths, eyes almost impossibly wide as she watched the newly drawn shark circling beneath her and the other woman. “What’s wrong with it?” she nearly screeched, referring to the strangest monkey she’d encountered in her entire life. “Sharks aren’t even native to rivers!” she yelled, as if the Saetimp cared anything about that. “Or well- there’s a species of river shark but- that does not look like one of them!” Apparently the hell monkey took insult to this, and soon enough an accurate river shark had joined the other in the waters. But it didn’t matter anymore. Willow and the other girl had made it to dry land. “At least they can’t get us here,” the medium breathed, trying to catch her breath. “It’s not like they could grow legs or something.” Yet again, the Saetimp took this as a personal challenge, and in a blink of her eyes the sharks were suddenly crawling up the side of the bank, strange, arm-like legs protruding from their bodies as they crab-walked closer. “No!” Willow denied, as if she could forcefully put them back. “No! That’s not right! Go back!”
Holding on tight, Luce hauled the woman out of the animated rapids, shaking water from her face in an effort to get a clear look at just what was going on. The fucking Saetimp was watching them with that same stupid look on its face, tapping its paintbrush against the side of its inner tube. And when the woman spoke up, Luce’s eyes widened as the sharks began to sprout legs with hands attached to them. “You just had to fucking say something!” She said, glancing around them. The woods were thick with tree roots that made running nearly impossible. And the water, it was rising and rising. But, the Saetimp was still scratching its head as though it still didn’t like the scene it’d created. She’d seen that expression before-- not on a magic monkey before, but she’d seen it often enough. “Oh no! What would we do if there were attack hamsters!” She said, shouting the first thing that came to mind. Apparently, she’d spent too much time with Hamtarot, because that’s what came out. The Saetimp seemed just as confused as her, but suddenly the water was full of fuzzy creatures in mechanized hamster balls. The arm-legged sharks began to snap at the brightly colored hamster balls, distracted for a moment. “You got any other ideas?” She asked the woman.
“What?!” Willow exclaimed as the other woman spoke of hamsters, briefly looking towards her as if the unknowing savior had lost her mind. “Ideas? Why would I want to give it more ideas?” But as she watched she realized the hamsters had served a purpose, and the purpose was actually working out quite well for her and the brunette. “They...like the hamsters?” she asked with a nonplussed look on her face, beginning to connect the dots when it came to more things being drawn as a means of buying them time. “Oh...oh!” she began excitedly, trying to name the first thing that came to mind. “And if there were books with teeth? Ones that could chomp and crack hamster balls? That’d be really bad!” Sure enough the Saetimp began to draw just that, the books gnashing their way through the hamsters that were trying to make their way through the sharks. “Oh that’s...I mean they were a little cute, weren’t they?” she asked the woman standing next to her, suddenly feeling a little guilty for the little fuzzy creatures.
Watching with dismay and irritation as half a dozen toothy books fell into the river, Luce watched as the animated little hamster balls began to sink in the waves. “No, don’t give it more weapons, Jesus.” But, it seemed as though it was working. The hamster balls were being crushed and the sharks were snarling, distracted by the fuzzy little creatures swimming around. Were they carrying tiny knives? Luce watched as one of the hamsters let out a tiny Rambo yell and launched itself at a leggy shark, stabbing twin bowie knives into the shark’s fin. “They’ve got tiny knives too. Wow. I mean, they’re cute if you like getting shanked?” Luce said, squinting at the very confusing fray. Meanwhile, the Saetimp had noticed that the chaos it had created had missed the mark-- it hadn’t killed either of them. Seeing the frustrated look on its face, Luce grasped at straws, “Oh boy, I’m so afraid of… the fucking… Kool-aid man! Yep! Super afraid of him. Boy, it’d be shitty if he popped up!” The Saetimp glared at her and for a moment, Luce was afraid that it’d just draw a pit with spikes in the bottom and she’d get turned into a kebab. But then, exploding out of the water with a loud “OH YEAH” was… the fucking Kool-aid Man. Looking over at the woman, Luce shrugged helplessly, “Listen, I didn’t hear any other better ideas. We can take the Kool-Aid man, right?”
Willow screamed as the Kool-Aid man himself popped out of the water, and her rampant telekinesis was quick to respond to the jump-scare of the century, even though she wasn’t realistically all that afraid of the oversized punch pitcher. One of the sharks was suddenly launched into the glass side of the Kool-Aid Man teeth first, leaving a shark-sized hole in its wake as red punch began to spill into the river. Sure— there’d been a couple of nightmares she’d had about him bursting through her wall as a kid and getting stuck in his big head of punch, but she was thirty-two now! She shouldn’t be afraid of the Kool-Aid Man. But he was just so big. Not to mention unpredictable. Nevertheless this felt like a victory for her four-year-old self. “Ah- if that’s what you meant by taking the Kool-Aid Man, sure!” Nevermind that it hadn’t exactly been intentional. What next? What else could they make this thing draw? Or maybe...what was the thing artists hated most? Ignorant critique, wasn’t it? Unfortunately Willow’s mean streak was about a centimeter wide, but that didn’t stop her from doing her best to frustrate the Saetimp. “You call- you call that a Kool-Aid Man?” she tried to goad despite her stammering. “My grandma could draw a better one!” She could have sworn the monkey turned a shade that was almost as red as the pitcher it had drawn, and in an instant it was trying to pop out another, better one.
Flinching at the loud shriek, Luce glanced over at the woman for a moment before a loud shattering sound filled the air. What the fuck? Had that shark just been yeeted through the Kool-Aid Man? What the fuck? Luce stared back at the woman-- was she some kind of psychic? Or, fuck, hadn’t Peanut done something like that before? A medium? Whatever, it didn’t really matter. As the woman yelled at the Saetimp, Luce rolled her eyes. At least the creature wasn’t bright, because it took the bait hook line and sinker. “Yeah, look at those lines! They’re so thick and wobbly, I wouldn’t even want that hanging up on my fridge!” She said, gesturing to the shattered Kool-Aid Man that was thrashing in the water, now being devoured by sharks. The river was still flowing through and the Saetimp was steadily being taken down stream, but she wanted this thing gone. “I bet you couldn’t draw anything with real detail. Like-- Like a yacht! You wouldn’t even know where the sails go!” Did yachts have sails? Who fucking knew, but Luce had a feeling the Saetimp sure didn’t.
Willow laughed despite herself, the mental image of the mess of drawings on a fridge tipping her over the edge when it came to finding humor is as ridiculous a situation as this. And Luce had been right about the Saetimp’s lack of nautical knowledge. Even now it was drawing some sails attached to the smokestacks of a very strange looking yacht. “That’s not where the sails go!” Willow called out, trying to figure out how they might tangle this Saetimp in its own drawings. Would it just...get tired after a while or something? “Plus it needs bigger sails! Sails as tall as the trees!” Willow’s arms raised above her head as if she could personally model how tall a tree was. After all, it was a part of her namesake. “A big willow tree with lots of branches and birds, and- and monkeys!” Maybe a self-portrait would send the creature into a downwards shame spiral.
It seemed like the Saetimp was at its last wits, creative juices sputtering out as it muddled its way through adding an absolutely atrocious willow tree, with lumpy, ugly monkeys with their hands fused to its branches. “Jesus fucking christ, that’s horrifying.” Luce muttered as she watched the potato shaped monkeys screamed angrily at them from the deck of the yacht/steamboat/pirate ship that was sailing down the river. Just as she was about to wrack her brains for more ideas to feed the Saetimp, she watched as the creature threw its paintbrush down in disgust and stamped its foot on the deck of the yacht. As it did so, the yacht continued to sail down the river, lumpy looking monkeys screeching as the boat disappeared from view. Luce sank to the ground and let out a long sigh. “Good fucking christ.” She said, wringing out her water logged clothes. “You good?”
Willow looked at the abomination of a creation in slight wonder, head tilted in interest as she tried to make sense of what the monkey had drawn. As she watched the monkeys with their hands stuck to the tree she felt a small stab of guilt in her gut. They weren’t...real monkeys in the way a normal one would be right? They wouldn’t actually suffer while being trapped against the tree? But at least the head monkey was gone, and the two girls could finally have peace. Except… “Isn’t the monkey and everything just going to run into someone else down the river?” Nevertheless, she settled herself onto the ground as well, suddenly tired after swimming in the currents of the river. “Um- I’m fine. Are you?” Now that the monkey was gone, she could recover decently well, instead of letting her panic overtake her. “Thank you though- for helping me. I’d probably still be going down the river if it wasn’t for you.” Willow’s doe-eyed gaze filled with gratitude as she finally took in the other girl, trying to figure out why she looked somewhat familiar.
“It might. But, I have a feeling that guy’s gonna be tired out enough after making all of that. He’ll probably pass out in a hammock somewhere.” Luce said as she squeezed water from the ends of her hair. She was really only guessing; she’d never really interacted with Saetimps before. Most of what she knew about them came from her general interest in the strange Fae when she was younger. But, she’d never really looked for them around town. “Just peachy.” Luce replied as she stood up, her clothes damp and uncomfortable against her warm skin. “No problem.” Luce said slowly, a bit caught off guard by the way that the other woman was staring at her. What, did the Saetimp draw something on her face? “I’m Luce, by the way.” She said with a nod.
“I hope so…” Willow trailed off, trying not to think too hard about the future harm the strange monkey could bring to people. It wasn’t as if she could do anything about it, anyway. She was no hunter, and she wasn’t sure she had the stomach to sign something’s death warrant anyway. Willow made her own efforts to get the water off her clothes, still disappointedly wet and dripping by the time she was finished. Shaking her hands with a sigh, she tried to look at the bright side of the situation. At least they were...in one piece? The girl's name finally struck the bell that had been faintly ringing in Willow’s head, and recognition lit her eyes. “Bea’s your sister, right?” She chose the phrasing carefully, knowing how annoying it was when people asked if she was Forest’s sister and not the other way around. “I was friends with her for a while until…” Forest had made a mess of things. “Well- it doesn’t matter, I just knew her. But really- thank you for helping me,” she repeated, already thinking about the pile of blankets she wanted to tunnel under one she got home.
At the mention of her sister, Luce’s eyes narrowed slightly-- not as harshly as they might have a year ago, but she was confused all the same. “Yeah. She is.” Luce said with a slow nod, now eying the woman with earnest. Blonde, honestly pretty basic looking, about Bea’s age. Which made sense if she said that they were friends for a bit. A girl on the cheer team? No, that couldn’t be it. Luce would have known her-- she’d “reluctantly” waited on the sidelines during Bea’s many cheer practices. She recognized most of the girls who’d been on the team back then, the result of stealing glances up over her sketchbook. But, this girl definitely wasn’t one of them. Hm-- “Hang on. You’re Willow, right? Fo--” Forest’s sister, she almost said, but caught herself quickly, “Finch. Willow Finch. You had that art studio in town.” She said, remembering how envious she’d been when the place had first opened.
Curiosity tempered slightly by how reluctant Willow seemed, Luce nodded again, “No problem.” She repeated. “I’ve dealt with worse out here.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “I have a cabin up here. Do you… want to borrow a towel or something?” She asked belatedly, realizing she probably should have offered sooner.
Willow shifted uncertainly under Luce’s gaze, not entirely certain what it was the other woman was looking for until she finally came up with the medium’s name. “Oh- yes! I’m Willow,” she realized sheepishly that she’d forgotten to give her name in return when Luce had offered her own. “Sorry- I guess I just got caught up in recognizing you.” For a moment Willow brightened at the mention of her studio, but an instant later the gleam had dulled into disappointment and regret as she nodded confirmation. “Yes- the one that closed a few months ago. It was the one with the gallery in the front, and then I had my studio in the back.” But that was long gone, a dream broken just like she’d broken that man’s arm. She was curious about Luce’s reasoning for asking after the gallery, but decided that was a conversation that could wait for when they were both nicely dry.
A vigorous shake of Willow’s head served as her initial answer to Luce’s invitation, already feeling rather squirrly the longer she stood here with Luce, accurately aware of all the things that could go wrong if her telekinesis decided to flex its muscles. “Oh no- no, thank you. I mean thank you, but I really should go home.”
“Yeah. I just said that.” Luce nodded, a bit of her old sense of humor trickling back into her tone as she regarded the woman. “And don’t worry. Not a lot of people from high school recognize me.” She said with a shrug. She’d always been quiet in school and, outside of a few people she was friendly with in her art classes, no one remembered her as anything other than “Bea Vural’s younger sister.” A lot of people didn’t put together the fact that the moody girl who doodled in the back of class was now a heavily tattooed artist at Ink Inc. “It’s a bummer it closed down. I wanted to take a look at the gallery but,” Life went off the rails for the past year, “I never got the chance. Sucks, though.” She said offhandedly.
The amount of nervous energy coming off Willow was really something else-- Luce was distinctly reminded of the shivery looking Chihuahua on the old Taco Bell commercials. Raising an eyebrow, Luce raised her hands in surrender. “Suit yourself. Stay safe out there.” She said before heading back in the direction of her cabin, boots squishing noisily as she walked. It just had to draw up a river, didn’t it? Fucking Saetimps.
Willow was trying to make sense of whether or not Luce was joking with a tired mind, deciding to play it safe and simply shoot the other girl a tentative smile. “I don’t think we actually went to highschool together. Just missed each other or something like that. And um- well it’s been a while, right?” She didn’t want the other girl thinking she’d been unmemorable or something as depressing as that, and she vaguely remembered Bea saying something about how Luce would be entering her freshman year once Willow graduated all those years ago. “Or...Bea is Luce’s older sister?” Willow tried to offer kindly with a gentle hint of a joke, knowing how frustrating it could be to only be known by a sibling’s name at times. A sigh of relief escaped Willow when Luce didn’t push the subject of the cabin, and she too began her trek home. “Thanks- you too!” At least the only things she’s thrown today were badly drawn sharks.
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Normal Raichu's tail serves as a ground to avoid auto-shock, meaning this one is constantly frazzled from its own voltage.
Doesn't carrying his fat self hurt? Are they tears of liquid gold welling up from the strain?
Or is it the punishing light ever reflected, burning his black eyes blue and blind?
The modern obsession with softness, of symbolically filing down all corners as a message of intent, gets right on me wick.
Raichu had sharp ears and a jagged tail, being, you know, a bolt of lightning, but now he's as swollen and inflated as a balloon animal.
And what are these visible veins in his paws? Is he tapping 'em like Amy Winehouse in her bloodied-ballet-pump prime?
So 'getting high' doesn't mean levitation?
Hours of work went into this drastic image change of the same thing but with three hairs.
The Pokédex says he prefers a subterranean life, wilting under excessive heat, rendering him entirely suitable to thrive in the tropics.
Diglett's become a slaphead concealing the truth with an unconvincing comb-over.
Oh no! How shall I live in such a savage climate?
I know! Blond frizz in the midst of brown fur! That'll block heatstroke!
Dugtrio once featured in many a budding Trainer's squad, so beloved was Dig as the finest move around.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
If hairy moles made the final games, what horrors were rejected?
Such beauty in the Kardashian family.
Sweaty proximity of triplets is a trial itself, but consider all the strands coming loose, wedged and itching in the crevices, yanked right from the roots by constant friction, wrapping round their necks like cheese wire, and you unable to brush the damp cascade away, on account of having No Bloody Arms.
Oooh, make yer beady eyes weep, it would, and Dugtrio daren't move in case it slits throats like razor blades.
Born to die garotting himself and all those he knows!
That's why Oasis were so furious.
Plus, Geodude carrying eight hairs gives the opposite impression: that of a baldy desperately clinging on to the last paltry vestiges of a once-crowning glory.
It'll be those iron filings you always see lying about.
There Geodude and Graveler go, ready to flaunt hirsute manliness to their bearded womenfolk, only for it to involve social disgrace in the shape of gorilla arms, sideburns, and monobrows.
Why stop there? Why are they not coated in spines like a furled hedgehog?
Now magnetic, iron ravished their bodies, meaning they also share the pain of moles in sprouting a wig.
But they're Electric, not Steel. Nature avenged Pikachu by removing their invincibility.
And that molten sun's only gone and fused their fingers together!
Geodude salvaged a single digit, but Graveler's gotta make do with mittens!
What hope for mere fleshy beings, when Alola weather melts stone?
It's gonna boil yer inter soup, man!
Even Pa, master of the art, would look enviously on such achievement.
That said, I feel for Lady Golems having a shave every morning.
A diet of electrical rocks somehow erased the Ground element, and with it the resistance enabling Golem to eat 'em in the first place.
But didn't he have more toes than that? And some arms?
Of the three, Golem boasts the best sense of style, proudly displaying a hairy shell passing for a chest, besides a most debonair moustache.
Oh! Removing his earthly powers now makes him vulnerable to electrocution. It's blackened and blown bits of him off!
How's Golem meant to go wee-wee with malformed stumps?!
That's not claws, that's the jagged splinters of his humerus bones.
Marowak died during evolution. Must've got bone cancer from all the radioactive Muks slithering about.
It's based on the ghost from Pokémon Tower.
Quaint bit of euphemism, using 'based' rather than 'ripped off'. Yer'd burst if troubled with an original idea.
Ah, memories: traipsing up the many levels of said stacked sepulchre, brandishing me trusty Silph Scope, ready to tackle whatever spectre blocked the stairs to the summit.
He's got No Bloody Arms!
There I becalmed Marowak's anger as her soul passed to Heaven.
It was special.
Well that's gone. Turns out Marowak was sucked into the septic tank of Alola instead.
Bit of a downer, assuming I'd gifted eternity, only for this humdrum retcon to saunter up, stripping away the mystery.
Has she not suffered enough, man?!
Anyway...
How can one murder matter to the breed living thousands of miles away?
And up til then, all Alolan Marowak looked normal, then mutated in tasteless tribute, with their weapons spontaneously combusting?
UV rays will be the death of us!
The bone wielded is from its mother. Her spirit acts as protection.
Eh? But Ghost Marowak was the dead mom. She can't be both bereaved child and maternal avenger, else Cubone didn't just lose Ma, but Nana too!
In my day we were happy with the simple pleasures, like wearing Momma's head, and we were glad of it.
I don't know why Millennials have a prissy reputation. It certainly wasn't like that in me youth.
I well recall sitting in the back of Pa T.A.P.'s car, looking out the window, and seeing two lads playing catch with a human skull, since we had to make our own entertainment then.
But oh no, that's not good enough for today's entitled kids, they dug up Momma's mouldering corpse and rifled through her vitals, because it's just take, take, take with them.
And what bone is that meant to be, so casually set alight? Femur?
How bloody big was she, man?! It's longer than Marowak's entire body!
Don't you lie to me! That's a human leg if ever I saw it.
Eee, it ain't half hot.
You can say that again.
I wish I knew a way to cool down.
Well I find growing another head outta me arse does the business.
Exeggutor shot up via the sunshine overload, but his bonus coconut is green, unable to ripen thanks to extreme temperatures.
Marowak's been raiding hospital bins for amputated limbs!
Make yer mind up!
All this time, Exeggutor's suffered a secret head in his arse, just bustin' to be free, and I was none the wiser?
Yer think yer know someone, and then BAM! It's upon yer: illusions shattered.
Am I to understand Proper Exeggutor's walking around belaboured by arse coconuts?
Yer can get cream for that. Modern medicine is a miracle.
And it's buried for eternity, unless exposed to equatorial light?
But that's precisely where the sun don't shine!
I assumed two Exeggcute merged into one face, but this is a sign the remaining couple are secreted somewhere.
Specifically in his arse.
Poor Exeggutor hasn't completed puberty yet. If we linger we may well witness the emergence of the final duo to complete the sextet.
Out of his arse.
Many Alolans consider this its ideal form.
I bet they do. Perverts.
Besides haemorrhoids, it's not so ideal when Eggy can't fit in the living room and has to sleep outside, or its neck snaps during hurricane season.
O Game Freak, thou knows not what thee do!
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Red
@grotesquegabby So this ended up a lot longer than I planned, but um...I hope you enjoy this ^^'
Warnings: Ace being a major asshole and Lennie being a badass, and feels
Halloween night, how typical.
The full moon was out and the only light illuminating the sky and the path which Coraline walked down. Everything around her was empty and oh so quiet if you excluded the whispering of the wind that rustled the trees and the bushes and the clicking of her heels.
She looked around, not sure if it was best to feel scared and apprehensive, or at ease if that was even possible. Coraline quietly sighed to herself, clutching onto the lantern she decided to bring along for her costume though it did serve as another source of light in this dark night.
Her eyes looked around, seeing lost pieces of candy here and there, or wrappers running along with the wind which made her dress flow behind her. She continued walking, a smile slowly creeping onto her features as she finally felt relax. There was absolutely no drama today, no brother forcing her to stay home, no brother clinging onto her for dear life, no party gone wrong, no vam-...no vampires…
Coraline thought to herself, her smile now disappearing as she thought of her beloved Lennie who unfortunately could not spend the night with her since he had something to handle with his brother and...the Halloween party she had gone to was hosted for blood donors which did not mix well with vampires once thinking about it.
She let out a sigh as she shut her eyes for a moment, then opening them to look up ahead at the street where she expected to see the emptiness again but...she had to stop walking once her green eyes met purple ones. If only they had been their normal brown color, she would have felt so much more relaxed but...here she was, staring into the eyes of a brown wolf that stood a few yards away with a drooling smirk.
"Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood. You sure are looking good tonight." it said as it began stepping towards her, and she slowly started stepping backwards, her hand nearly breaking the lantern's handle as her eyes were wide with fear.
"I-I-...that's n-not even my c-c-costume..."she whispered before gulping, then making the wolf laugh as it continued going towards her.
"Really now? That explains the lack of a red cape...you really do need a lot more red, it's always been your color. Not that lame ass pink, or purple, or black..."he said as his fangs were now more visible than ever, gleaming under the moonlight. "Red...yes..."
"Maybe...but I think-"
"I don't give a shit what you think, you listen to me."he interrupted, then making her close her mouth as she froze in fear with still wide eyes as she gave a shaky nod. " You're my Little Red, and I'm the Big Bad Wolf who's gonna make sure you know your damn place. Where the fuck were you?"
"P-party..."
"Ah, a party. And without me? Without your red cape...well at least, you have such big eyes."he said, then licking his mouth which made Coraline gulp again as he grit his teeth with yet another smirk. "My, my, my...what big eyes you have...and you know what I have?"
"No..."
"Big teeth...that I'm going to use to rip into that pretty porcelain skin of yours."
If somehow possible, Coraline's eyes widened even more before she turned and dropped her lantern, already running off which made the wolf let out a howl. He then began chasing after her, grabbing ahold of her in moments before she was shoved down to the ground and then turned to be straddle by the wolf that held her down with his paws.
"Did you really think I'd let you go that easily? What, did you think you'd be able to run back home to your big brother who doesn't even give a shit about you?"he said right into her ear, making her shake more in fear as she shut her eyes and bit her lip to contain any sobs. "That asshole doesn't care about you, always tells me about how much of a piece of shit you are. How he hates having you and the other twerp around, wishing it was only him and not your sorry asses. How's that feel?"
Coraline didn't reply, and squeezed her eyes tighter before her mouth finally opened as she let out a loud scream as cracks were heard. One of the wolf's claws had made sure to hold both her now bleeding wrists above her head, just as the other had trailed down to her exposed leg which had now been broken.
"When I ask you something, you make sure to fucking answer."he said through grit teeth, never stopping his torture until the girl finally spoke up.
"It hurts! It hurts!"she yelled out, then feeling the pain cease as she bit on her lip to hide the wails and sobs again.
"Good...next time I'll make sure to break the other leg so you won't go to your precious swimming...Now, your other brother...the stupid coward, how about him? How does it feel to know that even though you helped him, he's been sneaking off to see some other lady, huh?"
"I-I-I don't know..."
"Really now? Well what if I told you...he's been doing just that, leaving you all alone while he runs off to see another stupid vampire who he wants to be with forever? Because he doesn't give a single fuck about his family, just like Stellar. Neither of those two care about you. Nobody does."
"No...d-don't-"Coraline then let out another scream, feeling her same leg break even more before her scream was muffled by the wolf's paw that had been originally holding her hands.
"I didn't give you permission to talk, so shut the fuck up!"he said, then hurting her even more before he saw black tears roll down her face as her makeup ruined, finally stopping to hold her wrists again and he brought his now bloody claw up to her cheek. "Precious little red, nobody's going to ever care about you like I do. Nobody, not even that goblin."
Coraline looked up at the wolf, slightly confused but mostly overcome by the pain she was feeling before she shook his head.
"That fucking vampire...he doesn't care because if anything, I bet he's one of the vampires that killed your family."
"No-"Another scream was heard as the wolf clawed into Coraline's face, holding her harshly as he pulled her face up.
"That fucking vampire is nothing. He's nothing compared to me, he's just going to end up killing you like he probably did to your idiot parents. That was so funny, there was red here and over there...red like your mom's hair, it was such a nice color. Always standing out beautifully...that was until, her entire body was red because of those vampires...it almost looked like she was wearing a cape, a red cape used in the woods..."he said, almost fantasizing in the moment as he looked up, then turning back down at Coraline who finally could not keep in her breaths and cries. "How about, I give you some more red? I swear, I'll make you look so pretty...at least in my eyes because once I'm done with you, that vampire's going to hate you more after I maul the hell out of you."
"NO! PLEASE DON'T!"Coraline finally yelled out, then having her head slammed down after the wolf brought his hand to her mouth once again, leaning in to growl into her ear.
"Begging's not going to do anything, nobody's going to help you because you're fucking nothing Coraline."he said as he licked the side of her cheek, making more tears spill from her eyes. "Nothing...nothing to that vampire...if he really did care about you, wouldn't he have been here to save you already?"
"Who says I'm not here?"
The wolf stopped, then lifting his head to turn it to the side where he saw an all to familiar vampire standing a few feet away from them, his hands clenched at his sides while his head was slightly low and his eyes glaring daggers at him which in turn only made him let out a laugh.
"Huh, would you look at that Coraline! Looks like the little goblin did show up after all."the wolf said, then removing himself as he stood up on his hind legs and extended his claws, staring down at the vampire who was breathing a bit intensely. Coraline tried her best and turned her head to the side as she gulped, then sighing when she saw him.
"L...Lennie...l-leave…."
Lennie gave no reply before he moved his head up to look at the wolf, then gritting his teeth.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do."he finally said, then making the wolf laugh before he ran towards him and attempted to slash at him but Lennie thankfully jumped out of the way and stepped onto the wolf's head before landing in front of Coraline as the wolf was on the ground.
"Lennie...please, just...leave..."
"No. I am not doing that! I am going to finally end this, once and for all."he said through grit teeth while holding Coraline close to him, knowing very well that the wolf was about to strike again until a gunshot was heard. Lennie turned, then seeing another pair of green eyes that were angry and staring at the wolf, their owner holding a weapon that was pointed towards him.
"S?"he said somewhat confused, then seeing the hunter turn to him before he received a twitch of his nose in response, but he ignored it and picked up Coraline who yelped in pain. He saw the hunter lower his gun, then taking his sister into his arms before Lennie turned to look back at the wounded wolf that was already getting up.
"Take her away while I deal with this pup."Lennie said as he walked away from the siblings, not seeing Coraline weakly reach out to him.
"I'll be back to help but first,"Stellar said, then making Lennie turn as he was thrown something. "Take this, you'll need it while I'm gone."
Lennie caught the item, then seeing that it was a dagger clearly made of silver. Stellar had walked away already, leaving the vampire and werewolf alone as Lennie once again glared up.
"You're going to pay for what you did to Coraline."
"Aw, what, are you gonna give me little kicks with those small legs of yours?"the werewolf mockingly said and before he was able to react, Lennie flung himself at his chest and he threw him down despite the great size difference. The werewolf raised a claw and scratched Lennie's face which did nothing but make him bleed, for Lennie paid no mind to his wound and used one of his hands to claw into the wolf's chest which made him howl in pain. Lennie raised his hands with the dagger held, ready to stab the wolf before he was shoved off and thrown to the side.
Lennie fell but luckily caught himself with one hand as the other clutched onto the dagger, the wolf now standing on all fours as he growled at him and quickly ran towards him. Lennie rolled to the right, then having the wolf crash into a tree that snapped in half and before Lennie had the chance to charge towards him with the dagger, the wolf turned a bit dizzy and still smacked him.
Once again, Lennie was sent flying but he caught himself on a tree branch, then swinging down to kick the incoming wolf who fell to the ground with a grunt as Lennie now straddled him. Without hesitation and in less than a second, Lennie finally digged the dagger down into his chest as his eyes were slits and he bared his teeth angrily.
"This is for everything you've done!"he said as he pulled out the dagger, then sticking it in several other times as the wolf was in obvious shock and froze. "This is for Roger! And for that poor family! And for everybody you've ever hurt!"
Lennie then stabbed him one more time, keeping the knife in before he roughly twisted it and made an entire 360 turn in the wolf's chest as he leaned and an hissed out.
"Especially...my Coraline."
Lennie let go of the dagger, then removing himself from the dead wolf as he wiped his cheek that was splattered with its blood, his angry eyes never leaving its form before he turned and walked away with a glare. Although, his face somewhat softened as he remembered: Coraline.
Lennie hurriedly ran across the town and woods, finally reaching the D'Vitt home where he saw a trail of blood leading inside the open house which made him ditch the door and instead climb up the walls. He desperately dug his claws into the wood and climbed up, if his heart wasn't undead, it would have been practically beating out of his chest by now because of the fear he felt with every climb.
He eventually reached Coraline's window and rapidly opened it to hope inside where he saw her laying in bed while her brothers sat on the sides, both looking awful.
"C-Coral..."Lennie whispered, then walking next to Roger who uncontrollably sobbing, Stellar quiet before he turned to look at Lennie.
"That asshole did...quite the number on her...I...she..."
"Let me turn her."Lennie interrupted, then making Stellar snap his head up with an angry expression.
"No! Don't you dare! I'll kill you bef-"
"Do you want your sister to die!?"Lennie yelled out, instantly making him shut his mouth before he looked down shamefully before he barely shook his head, now letting go of his sister's hand as her eyes weakly fluttered open.
"Whe-....where's Lennie?"she whispered out, then seeing her brother pinch the bridge of his nose as his other hand pointed at him, Coraline struggling to turn her head before a soft smile came onto her features despite the pain. "Lennie...a-are you o-okay?"
"I should be the one asking you that Coral."the vampire replied as he climbed onto her bed, Stellar already having walked and dragged Roger out as the pair was left alone. "Coral...I need...I need to do something...a-and if you let me-"
"Do it." Coraline said, then making Lennie look at her in surprise.
"A-are you sure?"
"Ever since...I met you, I k-knew I wanted t-to be with you...forever...and now's our o-only choice..."she said, bringing a hand to his which lay on the bed, and he gave her a soft smile with a nod before he removed his hand from hers. He brought his other hand to it, cutting the wrist to then place it onto her mouth which initially made her turn in disgust. Coraline then shut her eyes and turned back, taking his blood which made her gag for a moment as Lennie let out a small chuckle, holding her head up before she was eventually done. Coraline looked up at him with fully opened eyes and a somewhat paler face, just as she gave him a smile with small fangs as Lennie carefully yet tightly embraced her, now feeling relieved as the only red on her was the one tinting her lips.
"You're a vampire now...and we're going to be together forever."
#reverse vampire au#jelly the clown#lazy lennie#ace the clown#more like ace the asshole#cosmos the clown#pepper the clown#both briefly mentioned
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Blood Blockade Battlefront AU
Harem!AU - Klaus x femAll
Klaus von Reinherz is a passionate man. His goal in life is to keep the world safe from the dangers within Hellsalem’s Lot. From drugs from the Beyond that could keep a man alive without his head; to immortal and bloodthirsty Blood Breeds, Klaus faces these challenges with a cool-head, unbreakable determination and resolve. Of course, he doesn’t face these challenges alone. Klaus is the founder and leader of the secret society, Libra. An organization that has taken up responsibility in dealing with the supernatural. The organization is broad with its members and its members’ talents. Klaus works with his own team on the regular basis. Other members of Libra call his closest members his Valkyries.
Klaus von Reinherz was raised as a noble gentleman. He came from a very wealthy family who could afford combat-trained butlers, such as Gilbert F. Alstein, who serves Klaus. He was a seven-foot-tall tower of a man of 28-years. He had broad shoulders and arms and legs as thick as an oak tree. His underbite is his outstanding feature, large fangs protruding out of his lower lip. When he smiled, he had made people faint in terror and children cry. This has caused him to keep a straight, firm face at times. Even that strategy has made his face much more frightening. Fortunately, he had his team who had grown slightly accustomed to their leader’s outer appearance and saw the truly good man within. Almost most of his Valkyries are in love with him at some level.
Stephanie Aliana Starphase is Klaus’ right-hand, second-in-command of Libra. Stephanie is an older woman in her early 30’s. Like Klaus, she is a Blood user with the ability through her blood to form ice-base attacks through her feet. A “Cool Beauty” is her best description that others have given her, may they be friend or enemy. She was a stunning woman, slightly taller than the average woman. Her hair was long and semi-curly, usually tightly wound in a bun during office hours at her desk. While during and after an intense battle, her hair would come a loose giving her a sultry look. Not even the jagged scar that ran down her high Latina cheekbones detracted from her beauty. Mostly seen in fine-tailored jackets, shirt, tie and alternates between pants suit or a variety of skirts. Mostly skirts. Skirts that could be unbuttoned or zipped up to her hip to allow room for her to use her legs. An impressive feat to fight in specially-made custom weaponized heels!
Stephanie has always been at Klaus’ side even before Libra was established. Several rumors had gone out of how the two met. Some say they were childhood friends. A few had suspected that they were lovers in secret. Only Stephanie and Klaus knew the truth of their history. Some were too scared or felt that it wasn’t their place to ask Klaus directly. Some ladies of Libra had asked Stephanie in how she met Klaus, but the woman would smile her secretive smile in reply and said nothing. Stephanie was in love with Klaus. The young man was the pure light of her dark shadow. He had absolute faith and trust in her to do what needed to be done. She appreciated that trust. No one has ever allowed themselves to trust her so deeply. When Klaus acknowledged her work and devotion, Stephanie’s heart fluttered, and her knees would nearly buckle.
Yasmin “Zazz” Renfro is a very bold woman. The way the woman swore would make a hardcore marine blush when she loses her temper, and it’s a very short fuse. Zazz is very self-indulgent in the pleasures of the flesh. She had a different lover every other day, whether they be human or Beyondian. It was easy for her to attract a man, with her lovely dark skin that contrasted greatly with her short white hair. Her hair curtained over her blue-gray eyes making them pop. Other un-lady-like habits were her taste for cigars, drinking, and gambling. From her outer appearance and her habits, many would question her place in Libra. But she was trained by a well-renown fang hunter, Raju Jugei Shizuyoshi, who had taught her the Big Dipper blood-fighting style. She is very proficient with her techniques, one of them being able to form a solid sword with her blood and her ability to summon fire. Zazz found Klaus to be a desirable specimen of a man. She had made crude jokes and flirted with him not hiding her true intentions. Most jokes went over Klaus’ head but her flirting in her speech and mannerism flustered Klaus to a stuttering mess, more-so when she got handsy. Klaus was a challenge to Zazz. Zazz desired so badly to…well, to put it plainly…get in the man’s pants and rock his world. Ever the gentleman, Klaus politely turns down her offers for casual intimacy and skillfully dodges, grabs or blocks her grabby-hands.
Only known within Libra’s inner circle, Zazz was shockingly a mother! It was Klaus himself who had made this discovery first. Zazz was incredibly injured during Libra’s early days. She was quite young at the time. When she had gotten hurt she had managed to get Klaus’ attention and given instructions to her apartment. She had never told anyone where she lived. Klaus did as he was told and when he knocked on the apartment door he was greeted by a smaller version of Zazz. Her name was Valerie, Zazz’s daughter! Zazz loves her daughter very much. Zazz keeps her family life and her life of pleasure separately. She has made it a rule to never, ever bring strange men to her home. She splits her paycheck, most going into the care of her daughter. It didn’t take long for Klaus to earn Valerie’s trust. Valerie was an adventurous and curious young girl. When Zazz recovered Klaus had a firm talk with her with an increase in pay, a better apartment, a proper sitter and enrolling Valerie into school! It was perhaps then, that Zazz herself fell for Klaus. Her daughter liked him, and he showed that he genuinely cared for Zazz and her daughter’s well-being. Zazz slightly matured. Slightly. She continues to pursue other men…but her body and her heart long for Klaus.
K.K. is a fierce yet beautiful woman. Known to wear a red long trench coat over a revealing cropped shirt and shorts, thigh-high heeled boots and an eye patch over her right eye. Another Blood user like Klaus and Stephanie; her blood activates her ability to use electricity, surrounding or delivered by bullets. K.K. is a sniper and gunwoman. She’s also a loving wife and mother to two young sons. K.K. is very fond of Klaus. Klaus or Klausie (her affectionate nickname for him) has been adopted by K.K. as her little brother. She is very protective of him. K.K. doesn’t trust Stephanie. Doesn’t like how close she and Klaus are and might be possibly jealous how this woman came seemingly from the shadows to “keep her Klausie to herself”. K.K. has refused to friendly with Stephanie when she tries to make nice with her. K.K. doesn’t hide her dislike. It is often said that K.K. gets a bad vibe from Stephanie, that the woman was sneaky, hiding something. K.K. didn’t approve of Zazz either. It was amusing at first when Zazz and Klaus met for the first time. But after the first couple of times, it got old and K.K. would rather Klaus have a meaningful relationship. But, K.K. supports Zazz wholeheartedly as one mother to another.
Chain Sumeragi has a tiny, teeny, weeny crush on Klaus. Just a small one. She believed it would pass. Chain is a member of the Werewolf Bureau. Through them, she met Klaus and did a few assignments for the Vatican together. Klaus was a great nice guy. But a total dork. Which made him adorable. Klaus was very different from most men. He was nice and classy. Chain was comfortable with their close but far relationship. Until she met Stephanie. Stephanie was an impressive woman to Chain. There was something cool (no pun intended) and mysterious about her that Chain admired. It didn’t surprise her that Stephanie was closer to Klaus. She was perfect for him. Stephanie was powerful and seeing her work in perfect unison either in the office or on the battlefield, Chain though they were the perfect couple. Zazz had no business near Klaus! Klaus was too good for that slutty, dirty, silver-haired monkey hag! She had no right to put those nasty paws on his shoulders, his chest and at one time she had managed to pinch his rear! As adorably red he had turn and that incredible squeak that came out of him that had Chain giggling hours later…Zazz had no right! And that tramp had the gall to call out Chain’s love for Klaus! She certainly wasn’t jealous of Zazz! No, absolutely not! She was not jealous that Zazz was braver than her to touch Klaus! Not jealous that Zazz would speak wicked fantasies to Klaus (some of those fantasies almost…nearly…were like Chain’s). Chain was certainly not envious of Zazz’s crazy schemes to play the damsel-in-distress and beg Klaus to save her and tuck her into his large arms and fuss over her. Nope! No way! Not at all! Zazz didn’t deserve Klaus. Klaus needed a woman to match him. Someone like Stephanie. As soon as her favorite big sister (in her heart and mind) got together with Klaus, Chain would be happy and her teeny, weeny, tiny crush on Klaus would finally go away.
Mr. Klaus was Leona Watch’s light. The gentleman of Libra didn’t see her as the coward that she had described herself to be. In his eyes, he saw a young lady who continued to strive for the light through the darkness. That despite her fears she continued to walk forward and that made one have an unshakeable spirit! Those words touched her and when he had welcomed her to Libra as herself and not under the assumed name she had taken, she had fallen in love. Of course, one didn’t need the Eyes of the All-Seeing Gods to see that she had competition.
Zazz, her senior, flirted shamefully with the poor man. Every time Leona walked through the doors of Libra for the first time of the day, she catches Zazz trying to crawl into Mr. Klaus’ arms or lap. The poor man would gently hold her away and protest with a blush. Or, if it was a sexy sneak attack (which she would pounce on him to grope him), in a panic Mr. Klaus would catch Zazz at the last second and throw her! Of course, keeping in mind that she was a lady (no matter how raunchy) would make sure she landed on something soft…which would be the couch or seated upside down in a chair. Or sometimes, he would put her in a hold against his body. Zazz instantly picked up in less than a day later that Leona was crushing on Mr. Klaus. Zazz would tease her ruthlessly but it would lead to them gushing over his figure together. Leona did pick up from Zazz that through her naughty flirtations and dirty purrs that she really, really cared for Mr. Klaus…though it was dangerous to his health. Like the time Zazz lured Mr. Klaus to an underground fight club to save her…again.
Then there was Ms. Stephanie. Like Chain, Leona could see that they would make a powerful couple. Ms. Stephanie was beautiful, intelligent and poised (when she had her daily coffee and wasn’t pulling all-nighters). Leona had assumed with a breaking heart that Mr. Klaus and Ms. Stephanie were together. But Zazz told her that they weren’t. Mr. Klaus was oblivious to Ms. Stephanie’s feelings and K.K. wouldn’t allow it! Leona was shocked! She did see it for herself when Mr. Klaus had made a lengthy comment of gratitude to Ms. Stephanie. Ms. Stephanie waved his comment off and excused herself to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. Leona followed minutes later into the kitchen for a drink and caught Ms. Stephanie blushing like crazy and speaking in Spanish. From what Leona could make out, it was something about Mr. Klaus…“ love”…“stupid”…“heart”…“stupid”…“ my god”…“torture”…she continued to ramble and giggle to herself like she was a teenager again!
Chain was the biggest shock! Chain seemed so unattached to everyone. But she did show that she cared in her own way. She hated Zazz. It was one of Zazz and Chain’s fights that got a little out of hand that grew from verbal to physical. As Zazz and Chain screamed into each other’s faces (they were in the office alone) Zazz revealed Chain’s crush on Mr. Klaus. Chain denied it aggressively…with a slap to Zazz’s face. Leona didn’t have time to respond to the revelation when Zazz double slapped Chain and a cat fight of epic proportions broke out. The fight didn’t end until Leona had to use her Plain Eyeball technique (after a couch was thrown out the window and two of Mr. Klaus’ precious potted plants were destroyed). Both women felt guilty and bought Mr. Klaus another plant in apology.
K.K. liked Leona. She was a sweetheart and Klaus seemed rather fond of her as well. Klaus needs a good woman in his life and Leona was the best thing to walk through the doors of Libra. She wasn’t sneaky like Stephanie! Leona wore her heart on her sleeve and cried easily when she was upset or moved. She was much more affectionate than Chain. Yes, K.K. was aware of Chain’s affections. Chain didn’t act on them because she was letting Stephanie have her way. Another reason to dislike that cold-hearted woman, Stephanie! Leona wasn’t nasty like Zazz. As amusing to see the fellow-mother flirt with Klaus, she came on a bit too strong. Leona was sassy in her own way. It was rare but even Leona had sassed Klaus or scolded him for doing something silly. Leona wasn’t completely blinded by her admiration of the man. K.K. helped Leona out; telling her about Klaus’s favorite food and his interests. K.K. even helped to give Leona and Klaus alone time. Which was very hard with several women vying for his attention and between the hectic life of living in Hellsalem’s Lot.
The final Valkyrie was someone unusual. Zeta O’Brien was a beautifully strange non-huma. She was a bipedal merwoman. Another pupil under Zazz’s master, Master Raju, trained in the Big Dipper blood style fighting technique to control the wind. Zeta and Zazz started off on the wrong foot. True to Zazz, she made fun of Zeta’s appearance. Laughed at her skin and her body. Never had Zeta felt so insulted! It hurt a little. She had never been made fun of. Master Raju never gave any comment about her appearance, other than she wasn’t an huma. The count that had raised her taught her many things, even art and what made art beautiful. The count had stared at her at times and told her she was lovely. She didn’t quite understand him but took it positively. Learning that she would be left with Libra was a shock. Master Raju gave no warning, just abandoned her amongst strangers! But they had been kind and accommodating. Their leader, Mr. Klaus, was quick to have a large tank for her comfort and was very kind to share his space with his great greenroom. Mr. Klaus was a good male huma.
Zeta quietly observed her new acquaintances while pretending to read sometimes. She noticed quickly the female humas’ behavior when around Klaus. It was so painfully obvious that all but K.K. (who had a mate and offspring) were attracted to Mr. Klaus. From her own observations, Mr. Klaus was much taller than most male huma. He was obviously strong, and she had witnessed his display of strength often. Zeta admitted to herself that he was impressive in that aspect. Breath-taking indeed. Mr. Klaus was very intelligent. While he made his rounds in his greenroom and if Zeta was in her tank, they would talk about anything that came to mind. It was like talking to the former count. They talked about art, music, philosophy, and he was kind enough to answer questions about the huma-lifestyle. He was pleasant to be around.
Zeta had never in her life contemplated falling in love. It was a foreign concept. She only asked about love from Leona, someone who was single and K.K. who was mated or married. Leona explained shyly that love is wanting to be close to someone who makes you feel good about yourself. K.K. gushed about her loving husband. K.K.’s explanation was the joy of someone just being there for you. Someone who you could throw yourself into their arms and feel safe and loved every day. To enjoy your lives together through good and the bad and be able to survive together. Someone willing to create new life to love and raise.
New life. That struck a chord with Zeta sharply. She was fascinated with offspring. So small and innocent, full of life! Like Leona, she was shocked when she learned that her senior had her own offspring. Valerie was an adorable treasure and the transformation of Zazz from a vulgar and sex-crazed woman to a gentle and loving mother made Zeta realized how powerful loving a child and being loved by that child was. Curious, she asked Mr. Klaus if he wanted children. He smiled (and it didn’t startle her!) and admitted he loved children, though when children see his face they were terrified of him. He hoped that his own children wouldn’t be afraid of him. From what Zeta observed from life and from television, most male huma seemed apprehensive with the subject at children or sharing a life indefinitely with someone. Only a small handful seem to look forward to having children. Zeta’s biological clock had punched in and Zeta, being a non-huma and partly animal, her instincts were inspired, and she felt the desire to mate most strongly…and who would make the perfect mate?
There was an encounter with a blood breed at an aquarium. Mr. Klaus, Leona, and Zeta were the closest to the area to respond. Before the blood breed was sealed away, it had managed to strike Zeta’s breathing apparatus! Zeta struggled to breathe and was brought to her knees as she began to black-out. Zeta felt herself being lifted off the ground and then she was surrounded by water. After her gills were filled with water, her eyes regained focus. Looking up she found herself in Mr. Klaus’ arms. He was soaked for he had jumped into a tidal pool habitat. Mr. Klaus’ body heat contrasted so greatly against the cool water. Zeta wanted to absorb that warmth, have it curl up inside her. She understood a little why Zazz played the damsel-in-distress right then. Mr. Klaus! Since then, her instincts collided with her emotions! Now, when she was alone with Mr. Klaus, mostly during missions, she felt nervous and did her best to keep her hands to herself. Mr. Klaus didn’t seem like to be touched so intimately so sudden! Zazz proved that.
Gilbert thought his young master was the luckiest yet the most oblivious young man in the world. The butler of Libra had seen it all and knew all. He knew every young ladies’ love for his charge. They loved Young Master Klaus in their own special ways.
Young Miss Leona was experiencing her first love.
Miss Stephanie had longed for his master for so long it was almost as painful as frostbite.
Miss Chain was in denial. Her love may be small, but it was love nonetheless.
Miss Zazz though crude with her methods, longed for a good man in her and her daughter’s life.
Miss Zeta was also going through first love that was boosted by her animalistic instincts.
Gilbert was doing a bit of dusting and with a discreet glance over his shouldered, he watched as the ladies in love watched Klaus pick up his delicate cup of tea and drink soundlessly.
Leona had been fiddling with her camera. Now she was looking up slightly, her blue eyes gleaming through the tiny crack between her lashes as she takes every minute detail of his form.
Stephanie looked up from her computer and reached for her coffee mug. Only, she was drinking to eye Klaus as well.
Zeta liked to read and walk at the same time. She had paused in her step and peeked over the book.
Finally, Zazz, who were spread out over the second couch, lifted herself on her shoulders and hummed. Practically near a purr.
Chain had arrived earlier and was possibly in her favorite vantage point to observe everything (Klaus) while invisible.
Gilbert hopes that this matter would be resolve someday soon. He just couldn’t predict how it would end. It’s not like Klaus could marry them all. Although, the butler smiled to himself at a thought. K.K. had mentioned that the (wealthy) Chinese practice polygamy and it seems to work out well.
The Young Master could afford them all and anything goes in Hellsalem’s Lot!
#Blood Blockade Battlefront#Kekkai Sensen#Klaus von Reinherz#blood blockade battlefront AU#Klaus x harem#haremverse#Klaus x all
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Tales from Saturday RP
With a break in our usual A Song of Ice and Fire game, R, who plays Ser Percy ‘Big Train’ Clearwater, offered to run an Arcanis one-shot using their 5th Ed D&D version. Only N - Anthor ‘Shit-Heel’ Waterman - and R had ever played any Arcanis before and that was the older version using their own rulset, so we weren’t sure what to expect. At this point, @thewenglishwarlock has been running 5th Ed. longer than time itself has existed and would have probably chewed off her own arm to get a game of it, even if it was a F.A.T.A.L 5th Ed. conversion. Ok, maybe not, but you never know.
Anyway, I’ve no idea what pre-written adventure it was that R ran, but there will be spoilers ahead.
The group is quite a diverse group Race-wise, Class-wise we’re fairly typical for a D&D party.
Ai'konu'tlax-Ga ‘Lash’ - my Ss’ressen male Barbarian. I didn’t know too much about the setting so used a Warhammer Fantasy lizardman name generator for him, giving him a slightly Aztec sounding name. He wears very little clothing - Natural Armour + moderate Dex is always fun - and fights mostly with his tail. He carries a khopesh, but has only used that for clearing vines and plants, machete style. I was talked into Barbarian as it’s not something I ever really think of playing in games. Although I had GRAM in Shadow of the Demonlord who had some similarities here - they’re both 7+ feet tall, hulking brutes - I chose this guy to offset the amount of talking Garrick is doing in ASoIaF, whilst avoiding my usual roles of Magic, Stealth, or Magic/Stealth.
Sabine - @usmelinuk‘s Val’Sheem Bard. The Val are basically the settings equivalent of Aasimar. She wanted a character that was a bit more talky, and Bard is great for talky, lots of Skills, and has the added bonus of magic abilities. To top it all off, being a Val noble, she has access to the flintlock weaponry, so is running around with a fancy little pistol.
Gwella - @thewenglishwarlock‘s Dwarf - I want to say Solani(?) enclave - Cleric of the Grave Domain. A tiny, and somewhat naive, healer off out exploring the wider world. Servant to the Goddess of the Underworld, yadda-yadda.
Khangir - human Rogue, part swashbuckler, part duel-wielding mercenary. A northerner out for adventure and coin.
Theren - a Kelekene elorri wizard- NotElves! although they are more ‘Primal’ in their heritage. The two elorri in the Quickstart are Life and Fire, the Kelekene being the latter of the two. Seems knowledgeable about many things, although perhaps not quite so well travelled as others in the group.
We’re introduced to each other - although Lash has been serving as Sabine’s bodyguard and retainer for some time - inside the yurt of the leader of the Ying-hir - NotMongols! of the setting - who believes his son has been killed during a coming-of-age ceremony in the wastes to the west. He had sacrificed himself, apparently in an attempt to distract marauding beasts that had attacked the group of boys, allowing the others to flee to safety, returning to the Ying-hir to tell the tale.
Supplied with travelling rations, the group heads out on the trail of his son. The journey is uneventful to begin with, the group slowly getting to know each other during the travel. On the horizon, several days out, a single dead tree sits in the wasteland, an iron cage hanging from one of the boughs.
Suspicious, Lash and Khangir scouted ahead, allowing the others to hang back, their ranged weapons drawn and at the ready. Satisfied there are no immediate dangers, everyone regrouped at the cage. Inside, a robed, unconscious human, his hands cut off and the stumps crudely cauterised. Lowering the cage to the floor allowed Gwella the chance to tend to his wounds, calling on her Goddess - Beltine, the Goddess of Afterlife - she managed to rouse the human, many of his wounds healing before our eyes.
Waking, he explained he was an etzara - a spirit talker. In lands that are aggressively patrolled by the servants of Ymandragore, the Sorcerer-King, seeking out Arcane spellcasters, he took a great risk. Sadly, whilst it was not the harvesters who encountered him, he had still run afoul of those that took offence to his practices. Witch hunters, of which faith he didn’t seem to know, but he remembered vividly their pure white armour. They had demanded he renounce his heresy, and turn away from it. Refusing repeatedly, the pair of white-armoured witch hunters, hacked his hands off, and locked him into the iron cage, leaving him to die in the arid hinterlands.
Angry at this act, we made sure the etzara was loaded with supplies and sent him on his way, whilst we continued on our hunt for the missing Ying-hir boy.
Sometime later, sounds of growling and chattering could be heard of a nearby rise. Charging over the low-rise, a bunch of hyena headed creatures are chattering to themselves, beside them and buried up to his neck is a man, his white armour scattered around the area/. The body of another man, clad in white armour lies dead a short distance away.
The battle is short, and painful for Lash, taking several painful blows from a pair of the hyena beasts, thankfully the Dwarfen Cleric of of Beltine ensures he doesn’t visit her Halls before his time, and the group free the buried man.
A lot of arguing occurs, Sabine and Lash both think he should be put to death, Lash because he views him as a coward, and torturer, and Sabine for justice for his actions to the etzara. Ultimately, the group allows him to go free, burying his comrade. Glares, and dark thoughts plague the group as we all agree to rescue the missing boy before deciding whether we should part ways.
Eventually, we find the cave the boy was last seen running towards, it is marked by tattered strips of cloth and other decoration, the symbolism lost on our ignorant group. Clambering up the rocky slope, we venture in.
Inside, a small living space has been created, another robed man and a Ying-hir boy waiting for us. The man, another etzara explains the boy took shelter here after being chased by giant panthers. The boy, is the Ying-hir tribal leader’s son, but explains how he is ‘dead’, crossing the tattered banners a huge taboo for his people. The boy is given a choice, remain with the etzara as an apprentice - he seems quite keen on it - or flee into exile. Unsurprisingly he chooses the apprenticeship route, giving the group his familial ring, he asks us to pass it to his father as proof of ‘death’.
Heading outside, we’re confronted by a trio of panthers, one significantly larger than the others. Although some way off, they’re clearly waiting for us to descend, something about the ave an the banners keeping them away.
A ferocious battle ensues, slashes, pounces and tail-whips abound. Inevitably, we triumph, Lash taking the head of the largest panther as a token for the Ying-hir leader, small recompense for the ‘death’ of his son at the paws of the beast.
Our return is uneventful, the ring and head are received gratefully, and a reward of a Ying-hir riding horse - a princely gift - is provided to each of us.
With little reason to remain in the Hinterlands, we head south, although not necessarily as a group, to Milandir, Lash’s birthplace, and more civilised lands.
A quick introduction into Arcanis, it was ok. I had overestimated how good 18 A.C. was going to be at level 1, and as I’m the kind of player who gets to final section of a CRPG toting more potions than any 35,000 people could carry, I’d heavily rationed by Barbarian Rages, this lead to the slightly embarrassing situation of being taken down to 0 H.P. in our first fight. On the plus side, I’ve learnt from my mistakes and will be a bit less stingy with Rages in future.
The issue with the Witchhunter did lead to some serious IC arguing and some OOC wondering about whether this party had the cohesion most of our RP groups do, but thankfully we’re still all adventuring together, at least for now.
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300 years later...
The bell to a cat cafe rang clear, it's dinging made Maxine wince, her sensitive ears were always hurt by the peircing sound. She looked up with a smile, looking at the customer she called out the stores usual greeting,
"Nya- welcome sir, how may we serve you on this day?"
Her work uniform was a pastel teal formal shirt with black suspenders that had a little cat on it.
She was happy to get a job here, though her strange family wouldn't let her come out to Hiyre city when she was younger, she loved the bustle, even if the woods had a permanent darkness to it.
The male customer gave her a once over, eyebrow raised. She was nervous, it was only her second week working here, she shifted her weight a bit. He finally answered.
"Hm. With the tea Latte's what kinds of tea are their?" His voice gruff and harsh,and embarrassed?
" Ah~ we have green tea, Oolong tea, Earl grey tea, or zest tea." This conversation was slow and awkward.
He nodded and looked to the menu board, "then I'll take the Earl Grey, with a cinnamon scone."
"Thank you for your order! Is there a certain cat you'd like to see today? Or would you like to go to the cat room after your meal instead?"
He grunted, "I'll just take the cat room, this is my first time being somewhere like this."
He gave a big, sheepish smile. His eyes were beautiful, they were such a bright pool of green, Maxine couldn't help but stare into them, with her own large smile, she explained what to expect, and how to get the cats to like him.
"Ah, I almost forgot, may I have your name for your order?"
"Names Olliver, and may I have yours?'
"Mines Maxine"
"Nice to meet you Maxine, thanks for the tips for the cats"
He walked off to his designated table and looked at the cat that jumped up to the counter to get your attention, his eyes big and a bright green, he caught Olliver looking and glared. The only thought he had was 'what a strange cat.'
Though today was slower than usual, Max was glad to have a break and hang out with the few cats left, they were all rescues, and all of them ready to be adopted, that's why she loved it here so much, not only did this cafe allow cats, they'd save them from getting euthenised from full pounds and shelters. They were even aloud to let people adopt them from here, though with a whole different part of the store so it didn't take up the baristas space to make food and drinks.
She adopted her cat, Loki, from here. He liked coming back to hang out with the other cats, but he loved all the attention he'd get. He was such a strange cat, Max has a large dog that is barely scared of anything, but as soon as Loki showed up her large dog, Beast, had been terrified of the little fighter.
She was chuckling to herself when Loki came over and started mewling like a kitten and kept trying to get her to pick him up to hug him. He always put his front paws up to tell her he wanted hugs and cuddles. So she did, he happily climbed on to her shoulder and sat there. Her co-worker, Neru, came in with a large smile on her face, and a box.
"Max! We got some new additions! These cats get adopted so fast, it's hard to keep up! But someone rescued these kittens recently and couldn't keep them."
She carefully set the box of kittens down next to me and opened it, revealing four three month old, black and white kittens, all of them with long fluffy fur. They looked up curiously, some had green eyes and others had dark ice blue eyes. "Wow there so adorable!!!" They began climbing out of the box and looking around at the other cats. They were nervous, but soon began to play with the older cats.
"Look at that they fit in perfectly!"
"I'm glad! They're enjoying themselves!" Was Maxine's reaction.
Neru smirked at Max, "your shifts almost over, you going back to your house or are you finally going to go on a date? I mean you moved to the city for excitement"
" I haven't really talked to anyone here, plus my family already doesn't like the fact that I'm in Hiyre, what would they do if I dated someone from here? They think m gonna get killed by a werewolf or a troll since I'm near the woods!" She couldn't keep herself from laughing.
Neru didn't like to even think about Hibre forest, especially with what happened to the original town of Hiyre.
"Y'know what happened in the late 1700's in this town?" Max gave her a look and shook her head.
"The original town was completely wiped out, because they killed the creatures in that forest, they harmed the creatures hope, and it corrupted the magic, and caused famine and plagues." Neru's tone made her sound like she was a part of it, then did a full 180.
"What if your family doesn't want you near the woods because your part vampire, or werewolf?" Her smile was quickly back on her face.
"But don't werewolves present when there sixteen? I'm nineteen, plus I haven't acted weirdly during full moons or anything."
" Ah~ but that's only a stereo type, who knows what a werewolf is actually like~" she purred
" Let me guess your imagining someone like Jacob from Twilight to come and sweep you off your feet?" Max poked fun at her.
Neru only huffed, and urged her to leave and to find someone to take her on a date. She got Loki in his carrier and began walking home.
Max lived on the outskirts of the city (which her mother hated) but she was fine with it, she only lived three blocks away from her job, she was still trying to afford a car. Today seemed, eerily quiet, her neighbors would usually be outside atound this time, it wasn't even 6 pm yet. She found it strange but kept walking home. The woods only seemed to loom over her the more she walked, she's contemplated walking through the woods on multiple occasions, something always seems to pull her towards the dark forest, maybe it was the lulling chirps and sounds of a rushing river, but there was something about the forest she couldn't shake off. Her mother always told her never go into the Hibre forest, and if there was an emergency she couldn't avoid, never go in alone, and to always bring a weapon with her.
She finally got home, casting one last glance at the forest, she could swear she saw something looking back at her, but she didn't give it a second thought, and walked into the house, letting Loki out of his carrier and greeting Beast, she headed to the kitchen to get herself some dinner. She looked out the window facing the forest, and looked for the figure again, but couldn't find it among the foliage. She told herself it was her imagination, did her daily routine and headed to bed, Loki and Beast following close behind.
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The Black Gate: The C.S.I. Effect
The Fellowship has managed to infiltrate Britannia with the closest thing this world has ever had to a church.
For a game that gets really good, Ultima VII does not start promising. Particularly disappointing was the character creation process. This is the first Ultima since II not to allow any importing of characters. Character creation had of course reached its peak in Ultima IV, where the gypsy’s questions sorted you into one of eight classes and determined your starting attributes. Ultima V and VI lowered the number of classes to functionally three (fighter, bard, and mage, with the “Avatar” class a kind of synthesis of the three) but still let you go through the gypsy exercise, the specifics of which were retconned in VI. You could choose a female Avatar for the first time, and select from about half a dozen portraits whether male or female.
Ultima VII offers the fewest options of any of the games in the series. You can only type your name and select your sex, and there’s only one character portrait for each sex. And they’re both horrible–although the male Avatar does fit with the canonical portrait ORIGIN has been pushing on players since VI, including the two Worlds of Ultima spin-offs.
I briefly considered playing a female character, which I never do for the Ultima series, but I didn’t feel like looking at her portrait for dozens of hours, either. Why did ORIGIN reduce character customization? Was it just a matter of not wanting to spend the programming time to vary the portrait that shows up in dialogue? That’s a lazy approach for a company that did such a meticulous job with everything else.
The female Avatar has Evil Resting Face.
I sighed and chose the male portrait, naming him “Gideon”–my official alter-ego for any character I’m really invested in.
The opening moments beyond character creation are as chaotic as anything, especially for a new player. We start with a street scene in what turns out to be Trinsic. Two characters, one of them white-haired, are standing outside a stable and trading laments over some horrid event. Suddenly, the red moongate appears and spits the Avatar onto a paved (or at least cobblestoned) street with gas lamps–the first sign that Britannia isn’t the same Dark Age kingdom we last saw.
Where were moongates that open inside the city in the last couple of games?!
The white-haired, bearded man turns out to be Iolo, who immediately recognizes the Avatar despite not having seen him in–as he quickly reveals–200 years. Iolo and Dupre and Lord British are still alive because they originally came from Earth. No explanation is given for the longevity of the rest of the Avatar’s companions. The time jump isn’t really necessary at all, except perhaps to explain why Britannia looks more Colonial than Medieval. I don’t buy the rapidity at which the Avatar returns to his friendship with people who haven’t seen him in two centuries. I had some good friends when I was in my 20s, but I doubt I’d recognize them if I lived to be 220, nor would I attach a lot of significance to our friendship given all the other people I would have met, and all the other things I would have done, in that intervening time.
I soon learn that “something ghastly” has happened in the stables. The other person is introduced as a stablehand named Petre. I am encouraged to go and look in the stables for myself, which sounds fine to me. All I really want to do at this point is turn off the damned music. But I don’t have time to do even that, let alone enter the stables, because there’s a sudden earthquake. Iolo pipes up and suggests that Lord British might know the reason behind it. The tremor, we later find out, is caused by the events of the Forge of Virtue expansion. But, damn–did it have to happen immediately? This is like modern Elder Scrolls and Fallout games where you buy the expansions and you get 8 pop-up messages the moment the game starts telling you where to go to start the DLC missions. Could they maybe be spaced out a little?
Recovering from that, I’m about to move when suddenly the mayor of Trinsic comes hustling in from stage left. Iolo introduces him as Finnigan. Finnigan is doubtful that I’m the Avatar at first, but he ultimately relents and asks me to solve the murder that has just occurred. At this point, all my Avatar wants is a quite room and an Advil, but he gamely accepts the quest, which immediately prompts a dialogue with Petre. When can I finally turn off the @#$&ing music!? Not only do I find it repetitive and annoying, I suspect it’s responsible for the fact that the dialogue keeps freezing.
It’s a choice, but “no” just gets you trapped in town.
It becomes clear that in fact two people have been murdered: someone named Christopher and a gargoyle named Inamo. After some more dialogue that I miss because the game froze and implemented all my clicks when it un-froze, I finally have control. I turn off the music and save the game, and immediately things start to improve. The first thing I notice is that, with the music gone, there are background noises. I’m a big fan of games that use sound effectively to create a sense of immersion, and ambient sounds are a big part of that. We have a couple of different types of birds chirping in the distance and waves crashing on the shore to the east (Trinsic is a coastal city).
As we discussed last time, the interface has gone almost all-mouse, something I find maddening given that Ultima pioneered the efficient use of the keyboard. You right-click and hold to walk, with walking speed increasing the further you get from the Avatar. You left-click to do almost anything else. Single-left-clicking looks; double-left-clicking talks and uses; clicking and dragging moves and picks up.
The Avatar’s attributes.
There are still a couple of useful keyboard shortcuts: “I” to open inventories, “C” to enter and exit combat mode, “S” to save and load, ESC to close windows, and the venerable “Z” to bring up character statistics. It’s here that I found my Avatar has 18 in strength, dexterity, and intelligence. There’s a “combat” statistics for the first time, and I’ve started the game at Level 3 with the ability to train 3 attributes. Iolo is also Level 3 and has about the same statistics.
The inventory has been much discussed. You get an image of your character with lines pointing to slots for left and right hands, legs, armor, boots, gauntlets, rings, helm, neck, missile weapon, cape, and backpack. Ultima VII: Part Two will turn this into a proper “paper doll” screen where the character image itself changes to reflect what’s equipped. For now, you click and drag things in and out of those slots. The Avatar has started with leather boots, leather leggings, leather armor, a dagger, and a backpack.
The Avatar’s inventory and pack.
It’s the backpack where things get crazy. You can stuff a lot of things into it (as well as bags and other containers), and the little icons freely overlap. Finding a small object like a key in a backpack full of torches, reagents, documents, and other objects is at least as hard as it would be to find a real key in a real stuffed backpack. Even though it’s been almost 15 years, I remember that the last time I played, I organized items strictly by character–the Avatar has all the quest items; Iolo has all the food, and so forth–so I wouldn’t go crazy.
So far, it’s not so bad. The Avatar has started with a map, three lockpicks, a torch, 10 gold pieces, a cup, an apple, a bottle of wine, and a bread roll. I don’t think the cup serves any use at all; although a lot of items can be used together in this game, pouring the wine into the cup doesn’t seem to be one of the options.
All right. Time to explore dialogue. I double-click on Iolo and get six options: NAME, JOB, TRINSIC, STABLES, LEAVE, and BYE. These still aren’t really “dialogue options”; they’re just keywords. And I frankly preferred it when I had to type them myself, then watch for the response to see what other keywords I might use. Now, the keywords just spawn automatically in response to the dialogue. When Iolo tells me that his JOB is adventuring with the Avatar, I get AVATAR as an option. Clicking my way through them all, I learn that Shamino has a girlfriend who works at the Royal Theater in Britain and Dupre, who was recently knighted, is probably in Jhelom. (Have I been knighted? If not, why the hell not?!) Britain has grown to encompass Paws and the castle and dominates the east coast. Lord British will probably want to see me.
Dialogue options with Iolo.
Petre has wandered off somewhere, so I finally enter the stable. This is accomplished via a “remove the roof” interface that I believe was pioneered by Charles Dougherty in either Questron II or Legacy of the Ancients. (I wonder if ORIGIN licensed the “look and feel” of this game element from Dougherty.) The interesting thing about Ultima VII‘s approach is that entering one building removes the roofs of all buildings, so you can see items and people inside adjacent structures even when there’s realistically no way your characters would see into those locations.
Inside the stables is perhaps the most gruesome scene in any RPG so far in my chronology. (Well, no. I forgot about the two Elvira games.) The aforementioned Christopher is lying spread-eagle on the floor, each limb tied to an unspecified “light source,” his body hacked beyond recognition. A nearby bucket is filled with his blood. The gargoyle Inamo is in a back room, pinned to the wall with a pitchfork.
It’s cool that we’ve reached the point that such complex scenes can be graphically depicted.
Several tools are strewn around the stables, including a rake, a shovel, another pitchfork, and a pair of tongs. A key lies next to Christopher’s body, and near Inamo is a sack with some bread, a torch, and a few gold pieces. Footprints are all over the dirt floor and head out the rear door. As my character investigates, I’m conscious of how much authentic role-playing I’m now doing. I mean, I already know basically where the plot is going, but I still take the time to go over everything in the stables. I move objects to makes sure nothing is underneath them. I click on things I’m not sure about to get their names. I investigate, realizing as I do so that this is one of the few RPGs up until this point to offer a level of graphical complexity and object interactivity detailed enough to make such an “investigation” possible. This is the future of role-playing in RPGs, I think. Sure, it’s not bad to have dialogue and encounter “options” that let you maintain a consistent characterization or morality, but when the very interface of the game allows you to make decisions consistent with your character, you have something special. Unfortunately, Ultima VII will not only be one of the first games to support this kind of gameplay but also one of the last.
Petre the stablehand wanders in said rear door. He says he’s the one who discovered the bodies. Inamo was apparently his assistant, and lived in the little back room. (Wingless gargoyles, I recall, are less intelligent than their winged brethren and used mostly for manual labor.) Christopher was a blacksmith who made shoes for the horses. Petre assumes the murderer was after Christopher (a logical guess given that his body was the one posed) and that Inamo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We follow the footsteps out back and around the corner, where we soon come to the city gate. The gate is down and a guard patrols the room with the winch. His name is Johnson, and he says when he arrived for his shift, he found the previous guard, Gilberto, unconscious on the ground. This suggests the murderer made his escape through this gate, knocking out poor Gilberto on the way. I’d like to leave the same way and scout the outskirts, but apparently I need a password to leave the city (the manual alludes to this) and I don’t have it. He suggests I ask Finnigan. I do climb up to the city walls and see the docks just beyond the gate. I have to wonder if the murderer didn’t flee via boat or ship.
No clues this way.
Finnigan has taken off, so I settle in for a systematic exploration of Trinsic’s streets, starting by heading right out of the stables. I note that double-clicking on the street signs gives me street names, and I’m pleased to find that I can still read the runic writing without a guide. The stable is on Strand. Slightly to the west, we come to (in non-runic writing) the Avenue of the Fellowship and, right in front of us, the Fellowship hall. Might as well get it out of the way. I take a deep breath and enter.
I’m a little concerned, on a role-playing level, that the Avatar technically hasn’t been exposed to the Book of the Fellowship and thus has no reason to be cautious in his exploration of their hall. This concern is lifted when I find a Book of the Fellowship on a table right in the entryway. I imagine the Avatar reading it, asking Iolo, “What the hell?”, and getting a shrug.
The only person in the hall is a woman named Ellen, who says she runs the branch with her husband, Klog. She goes through the Fellowship philosophy and suggests that I see Batlin at the Fellowship headquarters in Britain to join. She claims to know nothing of the murder, having been home with Klog all night. I resist the urge to ransack the Fellowship hall and move on.
Hand-feeding my characters out of the backpack.
The Avatar complains about being hungry as we leave, so I feed him some bread. This is one of the legendary annoyances of the game. Characters have to be hand-fed throughout the game even though it’s trivially easy to find food–one of several examples of a game element created for want of a true purpose.
Up the road is the shipwright, Gargan, who offers deeds and sextants, neither of which I can afford. The notepad comes out and the “to do” list begins. Gargan has nothing to offer on the murder.
I was going to object to the name of the ship, but apparently some eels have scales.
I note that his house is filled with chests and containers. This is going to be true of a lot of houses in the game. Ultima VI was the first game in which the Avatar had an incentive to steal liberally from such containers, but this game is the first with no karma consequences. Instead of waiting until I have 80 gold pieces to buy a sextant, I can just remove one–and a gold bar besides!–from the pack in Gargan’s bedroom. You can steal things right in front of the occupants–clean out entire stores while the owners stand mute in the center of the room–with no consequences. Well–almost none. Eventually, Iolo starts making some alarmed remarks.
Stop complaining about how hungry you are, and I won’t have to steal a roast.
Heck, even the damned Guardian has something to say about it:
Really? Burglary is where you draw the line?
And I think maybe Iolo and your other companions leave you if you steal enough. The neat thing is that there’s a real incentive to steal. You start the game broke, and the nature of your mission doesn’t leave a lot of time for extensive wealth-gathering. But I’m going to stick to my tradition of taking my role as the Avatar seriously. I’ll do it the hard way. The sextant and gold bar stay in Gargan’s case.
I think you get the idea, so we’ll speed things up from here:
A young woman named Caroline is on the streets recruiting for the Fellowship. She says that they have their meetings at 21:00. It turns out that Christopher was a Fellowship member.
There’s a two-story house on the west side of town with a parrot on the first floor. No one tells me that it’s Christopher’s house, but the key we found with his body opens a locked chest on the second floor. The chest has a Fellowship medallion, 100 gold pieces, and a terse note that says, “Thou hast received payment. Make the delivery tonight.” I take the gold and note.
Markus the trainer runs a store south of Christopher’s house. He offers to train in combat skill. I decline, not having enough money, and forgetting how training works in this game. I’ll revisit it later.
A guy named Dell runs an armory in the southwest part of town. We do find a secret lever that opens a back room stuffed with weapons and armor, but again I decline to steal. I spend 50 gold pieces on a sword to replace my dagger.
In the far southwest part of town, we find the healer. Gilberto is lurking around his shop with a bandage on his head. He didn’t see his attacker, but he did note that The Crown Jewel was at the dock at the beginning of his shift and gone when he woke up from his concussion. He believes it was sailing for Britain.
Everything seems to be channeling me towards Britain.
The healer has a copy of The Apothecary’s Desk Reference, which reminds me of the standard Ultima potion colors. Black is invisibility, blue is sleep, orange awakens, purple conveys magic protection, white is light, yellow heals, green poisons, and red cures poison. I think I already had that memorized.
Visitors from the NetHack universe are suspicious.
The pub and inn is called the Honorable Hound. The owner and server, Apollonia, openly flirts with me. I buy a bunch of loaves of bread. The inn’s register shows that four people have stayed there recently: Walter of Britain, Jaffe of Yew, Jaana, and Atans of Serpent’s Hold. I suppose the murderers probably didn’t register, but you never know. We spend a night in the inn at the end of all of this.
There are so few role-playing moments in which “murder” and “flirt” are equally valid dialogue options.
I find Finnigan at City Hall in the center of town. He relates that he’s been mayor for three years. The Rune of Honor, which used to sit on a pedestal in the center of town, was stolen years ago by someone claiming to be the Avatar. It somehow found its way to the Royal Museum in Britain. Finnigan thinks this is symbolic somehow. The most important information from Finnigan is that he was present in Britain four years ago for a ritualistic murder with similar characteristics.
Finnigan’s office is hidden behind a couple of secret doors. I find them but don’t find anything incriminating in the office.
This game is a bit odd in that it doesn’t hide secret areas; it just hides the means to access them.
At 21:00, I peek in on the Fellowship meeting. It consists of Klug shouting the elements of the Triad of Inner Strength while the members shout things like “I believe!” and “I am worthy!” In between, Klug runs around lighting candles and occasionally genuflecting to the Fellowship icon behind the lectern.
Spark is unmoved by the testimony of Fellowship members.
The Guardian’s face appears to taunt me as I enter Christopher’s workshop on the south end of town. A boy named Spark–Christopher’s son, which no one bothered to mention–is clutching a sling and running around frantically. He’s supposedly fourteen, but his portrait makes him look about six. Spark tell us that his mother died a long time ago, so now he’s an orphan. The Fellowship had been harassing his father lately, and a week ago Christopher and Klog had gotten into an argument. Christopher had been making something for the Fellowship–something probably stored somewhere in the smithy. Either Christopher was a bit disorganized, or someone has recently tossed the smithy.
Dick.
Now that I know Christopher had a son, I feel bad about looting the gold. But Spark offers to give it to me for investigating his father’s murder. He says that he woke up from a nightmare the previous night and went looking for his father, and saw a wingless gargoyle (not Inamo) and a man with a hook for a hand hanging around the stables. He begs to join the party, and I agree. He comes with leather armor and a sling. Honestly, how were the first words out of Iolo’s or Petre’s mouths not, “Christopher has a kid. We’d better go see if he’s okay”?
I don’t know when Iolo started calling me “milord,” but I confess I don’t hate it.
Where Christopher is dead and his son is part of the party, I don’t mind taking things from the smithy. We loot about a dozen gold pieces and some clothing items. I try to make a sword by putting a sword blank on the firepit and operating the bellows, but I can’t get the sequence right. I think it’s possible. I don’t find whatever Christopher was making for the Fellowship, unless it was pants or sword blanks.
Spark, you must have seen your dad do this before.
My time in Trinsic closes with a return visit to Finnigan, who questions me on all I’ve learned and pays me 100 gold for what I’ve uncovered so far. He puts me through a copy protection exercise before giving me the password to the gates of Trinsic: BLACKBIRD. All signs point to visiting Britain next. We head outside. I find nothing at the docks except the fact (which I’d forgotten) that the developers managed to animate waves crashing on the shore for the first time in an RPG.
Another first for the Ultima series.
Continuing a theme started in Ultima V, the developers do a good job making Trinsic feel like a real place. Each resident keeps a schedule, including going to work in the morning, eating or stopping by the Honorable Hound for an evening meal, going to the Fellowship meeting (if a member), and tucking into bed at night. Every NPC has a house with personal belongings. When it gets dark, they light candles in their houses. During the day, they open shutters with comments to themselves like “Too nice a day for these to be closed!” They have brief conversations when they encounter each other. A dog and a cat roam the streets.
This is all admirable, but the problem of course is that this simulation has come so far that we can no longer regard the NPCs and buildings we see as a representative sample of the real number of NPCs in town. They’re clearly the entire population. The fabled city of Trinsic houses 10 people. By modeling daily life in such a realistic way, the developers call attention to the lack of realism inherent in population size. We notice the same problem even in modern games.
Finnigan won’t let me leave town until I relate what I’ve learned.
I’m hard-wired to create typologies out of everything, and this is something that needs a typology. Very few games in the 2000s adopt the “old school” model of towns-as-abstractions, which is most obvious in “menu towns” but also exists in games like Ultima II, where the geography of each city is just the broadest lines with the most important places (e.g., shops but no houses). BioWare has adopted what we might call the “matte background” model where the parts of the game that you can explore are just the most important parts, but the graphics suggest unending blocks of additional houses and buildings in the background. They populate the streets with a dozen generic NPCs to every important NPC, cleverly annotating the difference with sharpness of color and other indicators.
Another model for which we need a name is the Assassin’s Creed/Grand Theft Auto approach where there is a realistic number of buildings throughout the geography, including houses. You just can’t go into most of them; it would take far too much programming time to give them all interiors. The streets are also teeming with generic NPCs with basic AI. It’s far more realistic than, say, one of the cities in Skyrim, but also a little disappointing when there are so many doors you can’t open.
The Elder Scrolls follows the Ultima VII model. The developers’ philosophy is that you should not only be able to enter every building that you see but also find clothes in the closets and forks on the table. This comes with Ultima VII‘s drawbacks. Which model do you prefer, and can you think of a better approach (or one I didn’t mention at all)?
Time so far: 3 hours
*****
Potential bad news on Planet’s Edge. I’m running into a bug where if I try to beam down to Rana Prime, the game not only freezes but somehow corrupts the files so that I have to fully reinstall the game, start it, create a new save, and then load an old saved game to get my former party back. But then it corrupts again the moment I try to visit Rana Prime. No one else seems to be reporting the same issue, so I’m not sure what to make of it. Rana Prime does seem necessary to finish the game. I’ll keep playing with it; ideas appreciated.
source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/the-black-gate-the-c-s-i-effect/
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It take a full hour for “Bombshell” to resemble an actual movie.
Until that point, it’s a screeching op-ed against all things Fox News, real and imagined.
The “real” part is the sexual harassment Fox News founder Roger Ailes inflicted on female employees. The imagined? Well, that’s a laundry list of far-left talking points against the network, conservatives and a certain Commander in Chief.
Once the film clears its throat, and that literally takes 60 minutes, “Bombshell” morphs into a competent, often compelling tale of a harasser’s insidious web.
Charlize Theron’s uncanny impression of former Fox News superstar Megyn Kelly kicks off “Bombshell.” She’s shattering the fourth wall, serving as both Fox News tour guide and director Jay Roach’s mouth piece.
Remember, Roach directed previous hard-left films like “Game Change” and “Recount.”
So it’s Megyn who tells us Ailes (John Lithgow) is the reason both Ronald Reagan and George Bush the elder became president. He’s that powerful, we’re led to assume.
Already we’re in “Vice” land, that cinematic space where progressive fever dreams take hold.
We soon meet two other key women in Ailes’ orbit. Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman in distracting makeup) wants to tell real stories, but all Ailes cares about is gorgeous women, tight skirts and gams.
Why, it’s as if Katie Couric and Mary Hart never existed and female anchors wore Burkas for the nightly news.
FAST FACT: “Bombshell” earned four SAG Awards nominations, including Best Ensemble.
Margot Robbie plays another potential victim, a composite character evoking the lesser known women Ailes defiled. Kayla is a self-described Christian influencer, but within seconds she’s sleeping with a fellow female employee. Kayla’s Christian characteristics are ignored from that point on.
Oh.
“Bombshell” simultaneously hits another Fox News lech, disgraced host Bill O’Reilly. It’s not enough for the movie to out his alleged activity, though. Enter Kate McKinnon, playing a closeted liberal lesbian producer to attack O’Reilly’s viewers.
“That’s why crazies love him,” she explains of his appeal. That quip doesn’t advance the story. It’s virtue signaling to the film’s hard-left demographic (and Oscar voters, perhaps).
None of this is storytelling, and it sure as heck isn’t compelling. It’s propaganda trotted out for our inspection. We can’t care about the characters or their plight because the screenplay doesn’t, either.
pic.twitter.com/YXDXWIR61y
— Bombshell (@bombshellmovie) December 8, 2019
A funny thing happens just when you think every progressive attack line has been exhausted. “Bombshell” abandons the finger wagging and gets to the point. Ailes created an empire, one that both bulldozed the competition and allowed him to paw any comely female within reach.
That leaves his employees split in dramatic fashion. Some stick to “Team Roger,” down to T-shirts emblazoned with that very slogan. Others keep their heads down, hoping to retain their jobs at all costs.
The bravest of them all, like Gretchen, finally speak out … but at what cost?
And then there’s Megyn, who knows too much about Ailes’ appetites but remembers the many kindnesses he bestowed on her. The film recalls how Ailes paid the medical bills for various employees and boosted careers with little to gain but ratings.
It’s a shame Lithgow isn’t given more time to show Ailes the charmer and visionary. That context could help explain why some otherwise good souls rushed to his defense.
“Bombshell’s” screenplay, by “The Big Short’s” Charles Randolph, still clings to hokey sentiment even during the superior second half.
“I have to be an anchor first, and then a woman,” Megyn explains.
There’s one other moment when “Bombshell” reveals what might have been. Robbie’s Kayla meets Ailes for the first time, alone, in his inner sanctum. They engage in small talk before Ailes gets down to “business.”
He asks her to “spin” around to better ogle her curves. Then, the overt sexual harassment begins. There’s no music, no fancy camera tricks or narration. Robbie’s face captures the flood of emotions women just like her felt for decades when put in that awful situation.
It’s likely someone is enduring a similar treatment right this moment, too.
Along the way, “Bombshell” awkwardly shoehorns faux celebrity cameos with dramatically different results. A blink and you miss him Geraldo Rivera (Tony Plana) adds nothing to anything. Current Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, played by the underrated Alanna Ubach, embodies the Fox News women who refused to even consider Ailes’ guilt.
The list of “Bombshell” targets doesn’t stop at Ailes. The film repeatedly paints Fox News as a cancer on popular culture. One unnecessary moment finds Gretchen being dressed down in a supermarket.
“You guys at Fox News are doing terrible things to our country,” the stranger says to her.
The line, like many others in the film, has no real narrative purpose. It’s similar to how the film repeatedly reminds us Megyn once said Santa Claus was white.
It’s amazing she wasn’t hauled off to Leavenworth right then and there.
RELATED: 7 Tough Questions ‘Bombshell’ Cast Should Answer
We’re also told you can’t be an openly gay Fox News employee because, it’s assumed, conservatives hate gay people. McKinnon’s character hides a picture of her with a longtime female friend just in case.
Roach weaponizes the snapshot in a film that also acknowledges Ailes knew network superstar Shepard Smith was gay but didn’t care.
“Bombshell” repeatedly savages Donald Trump, of course, fixing at first on his gross attack on Megyn. Consider this cartoonish moment when Megyn tells her colleagues the mogul has a problem with women. She notices their quizzical looks, so she hauls out a file as thick as an oak tree labeled “Trump’s Women” to back up her claim.
That connects “Bombshell” directly to Roach’s “Game Change” and its over the top theatrics.
To re-create the Fox News offices in painstaking detail, #BombshellMovie‘s production designer used any photos he could find online, including selfies from employees and foot-fetish pics where you can see the office surroundings in the background
— New York Magazine (@NYMag)
December 10, 2019
We also see a highly edited montage of “misogynistic” “Fox and Friends” clips, slapped together so hastily it would make Michael Moore blush.
Plus, the film suggests Team Trump poisoned Megyn’s Kelly coffee after her tough debate questions were leaked to him.
Really.
Most of the film’s attacks, though, center on Ailes. And it’s hardly reserved to his sexual appetites. His signature creation is under fire as well.
“Is it any wonder [Ailes] created a nostalgia for a lost America?” Megyn says about Fox News. That’s not her voice, of course. That’s Hollywood, USA, a city that loathes the fact that one network speaks up for half the country.
Again, the line doesn’t advance the story or establish character.
RELATED: Here’s What the Stars of ‘Bombshell’ Really Think of Conservatives
Ailes’ victims deserve to have their stories told. Theron, Robbie and Kidman deliver powerful performances, at least when the screenplay gives them the chance to evoke real emotions.
One could defend “Bombshell’s” partisan thuggery by saying Fox News’ conservatism fueled Ailes’ crimes. So how does that explain Matt Lauer? Charlie Rose? Les Moonves?
And let’s not forget Harvey Weinstein.
Sexual harassment knows no ideology. That’s a lesson the minds behind “Bombshell” should have taken far more seriously.
HiT or Miss: The women at Fox News who endured sexual harassment deserve better than a movie that puts ideology first like “Bombshell.”
The post ‘Bombshell’ Shreds Ailes, Trump and Storytelling 101 appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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Tyrant rp's are now open~! ))
coloring was hell~ let hulk this sheet up~! click the download button for bigger view))
BASIC INFO~
Full Name: tyrant anosov ruthless
Nickname(s) or Alias: ty, rant, tyrannosaurus wreck, lil ty
Gender: male
Species: plush dinosaur
sexual orientation: asexual
Age: lived for quite awhile..lost count after hitting the triple digits
medical history: tyrant was born with very thick leather fabric; making it hard to move when the plush was in his youth. was the runt of the liter.
birthday: nov.19
city of birth: brawn town! home of the plush dinos
current living arrangements: inside the ruthless manor in the hinterlands
languages spoken: basic, plushy, demonic ((he's very fluent))
relationship status: n/a
crush: doesnt really care for romance
alignment: good moral,
occupation: siegebreaker, handyman.
weapons and gear
a giant crane
it hangs in his room, but tyrant never uses it! and vows to never use it; because a weapon is a tool for the weak minded
fixing tools and equipment
he fixes things aroudn the manor
tail duffle
he carries alot of useful things in his tail duffle.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Height: 9.2 ft
Weight: 200 heavy leathers
Figure/Build: big, bulky
Hair Color: n/a
Hairstyle: n/a
Eye Color: avacado gree
Skin/Fur/Etc. green
Tattoos: has a skull tattoo on his arm
quotes; "anyone want tea?", "penguins ruin the gate"
Piercings: n/a
Scars/Distinguishing Marks: some stitches here and there
Preferred Style of Clothing: armor and tan tops
voice: n/a ((i am open to suggestions~))
PERSONALITY
Personality: tyrant is a very mellow, trusting, and friendly plush~! the living definition of the understand and lovable plushy race. at first tyrant might be a tad bit wary of strangers; but after a few hours he will grow to trust them and such. the plush has a knack in believing the potential good in everyone; and because of this flaw he can get easily heart broken but still hopeful. due to anger management and such tyrant isnt as quick to anger as he was before. but if he gets mad..boy he will get mad. tyrants heart is big enough for his family and others~
likes: meeting new people, cookies, food in general, \moneymoney, tea, being a good friend, his family, plants, believing in people, and exercise~!
Dislikes: jerks, bullies, sylas, people who are trying to hurt his family
Fears/Phobias: losing everyone..a fear he copes with everyday
Favourite Colour: magenta
Hobbies: exercising, fixing, sweeping
strengths/powers/skills:
plushy strength
plushy people are very very naturally strong despite of there fluffy stature. this is because of their strong will, this will is converted to physical strength by the plushies' soul. however how much they can lift depends entirely how much will a plushy has. tyrant has a tough leather hide~ making it even easier for tyrant to use his strength
shock absorption
due to a plush fluffy body they can absorb most physical blows making fighting a plushy with fisticuffs a bad idea in general lol. however this goes the same for the plushy, if a plush punches you it will just feel like a pillow hitting your face, UNLESS they have implants that would make there punches hurt.
blunt object mastery
corrupted transformation
tyrannous opus
when tyrant is emotionally compromised with pure unadulterated rage AND corrupted with a corrupt crystal. tyrant can assume this powerful form! more info at the end.
weakness;
fire
fabric+fire= ash
water
water can clean a plush BUT it will make him/her sluggish and slow until he/she dry. to much water can lead to fabric breaking apart and stitching moving out of place.
negative emotions
to much of it and a plush will start feeling drain and weak due to it draining his/her soul
the nightosphere
due to the chaotic energy in the nightosphere a plush can be drained to the point of death, the time it take depends on the plushy.
a huge ego :U
not really a weakness.
anything that can destroy fabric really
be creative lol
if you give a ruthless some cash.
he will spend everything in your bank account. five people used to live in the ice kingdom..now all the family resides in the mansion. with crest there, they are effectively spending less money when only five people lived in the household.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY
bio: tyrant never liked talking about his childhood much; he only let out a few stories here and there. he was apparently the runt in a clutch of 6 dino plush. these brothers and sisters always liked to tease each other and such; tyrant liked living with his mother in brawn town. during the course of his life, under the strict guidance of the village elder, tyrant learned the art of the herbalist. tyrant was able to distinctly tell the difference between flowers, plants, and roots! not to mention eachs plants natural abilities and health benefits. over time, tyrant learned how to use his herb talents to brew teas! and thus his thirst for knowledge started when he sipped his first hand brewed tea. alas tyrant left home to study in the capital of the plushy kingdom! the castle city itself! sadly knowledge ISN'T cheap...but tyrants kind of plush was unnaturally strong. he looked for work in strong man competitions. it was a nice living..tyrant couldn't complain..but he much rather prefer flexing his brain muscles in a book store rather than his arms on the stage. however everyone has their bad day..and a dinos plush temper isnt something you want to see in the daily show...his earnings cut, his pride reduce to entertaining others, and sick of doing this instead of his dream; tyrant went on stage a didn't give much of a show. he was uninterested in lifting and often gave a poor display for a while...the crowd boo'ed and lost interest and thus his boss decided to take things into her own hands. during tyrants performance, she grabbed a wipe to 'motivate' tyrant..and let it loose during the show. she was trying to get her attraction angry so he could lift heavier things with ease..but this was the first time tyrant got hit by somebody who wasn't his brothers or sisters...back then it was play fighting..but this...tyrant got hit for real. that was the straw that broke the camels back! tryant went berserk and threw his weights into the crowd! he began to swing his tail widely and take down the other strongman trying to subdue him! tyrant loomed over his boss with the intention to harm. alas the ring master attempted to flee! but was quickly stop by tyrant, who threw a small weight at her legs; breaking them. however her screams was enough to snap tyrant back to reality..he quickly stopped and realized what he has done..but alas he was put down by authorities.
tyrant awoke in prison! in a special cell made to keep his type of plush incarcerated. he spent a month in jail before meeting the plush who would give him a second chance. cyrag brown himself! and his elven companion, gunner von shotlock! at first tyrant paid no mind..he was trying to serve his sentence in peace. but alas as cyrag was inspecting the prisoners..one such prisoners tried to attack the prince! tyrant quickly responds by throwing his table at the attacker! knocking the prisoner out! unfortunately authorities subdue tyrant again..however cyrag quickly intervene! tyrant was the kind of person they were looking for; strong, quick witted, and a loyal man. of course the plush dino said yes! soon tyrant was introduced to the other members of cyrags special taskforce! they went on many missions together and continue to grow. tyrant soon found them all to be closer than team mates~ close enough that he could make tea for them. however something went horrible wrong and they were captured by the traitorous viper. as soon tyrant came to..he was surrounded by fire..and a ruined city..he quickly ran away to avoid capture by the guards. after a few months of being apart..the newly formed and exiled 'ruthless clan' found tyrant in the slums of undertown. the plush dino has taken a job in bum fighting! after a few events tyrant rejoined the ruthless clan~ and started to make tea once more~ infact! tyrant grew close to cyrag and gunners sister! he made special teas for her, once he figured out she was preggers with little racheal. tyrant even accompany cyrag, paw, and racheal senior into the winter lands in search of a new home.
racheal senior died while cyrag carried racheal jr into the new prison shell home. after everything got resettled..tyrant became more protective of his makeshift family~ in present time..tyrant is benched due to his fight with sylas..and he opened his heart to new members in the family~ even forming a close best friend bond with cyrags new wife and the new twin babies in his life~ tyrant is working to get back into shape so he can protect racheal and those two new bundles of joy.
_____
ADDITIONAL INFO
tyrant was a scholar
tyrant was also a herblist thus allowed him to make awesome teas
he is the only one that can take on sylas mano y mano and win. this is why sylas perfers to seperate tyrant from the family before engaging. if sylas were to ever fight tyrant while the ruthless family and helping, then he will definitely lose
tyrant knows how to isolate his soul from his body
friends and family
the ruthless family :iconrembourage:
the royal embassy :iconrembourage:
usha's extended family
roxy's fellow alligators and hank
hoping to make more friends~!
_____________________________________________________________
tyrannous opus! ((the crystal tyrant~))
when tyrant is emotionally compromised with pure unadulterated rage AND corrupted with a corrupt crystal. tyrant can assume this powerful form! his strength and size increase tremendously!
light infomation:
Height: 14ft
Weight: a few tons
Figure/Build: extremely bulk and crystal like
strengths/ powers/ skills
corrupted strength!
his power and strength increase by not only his plush will but by his hate an rage! thus giving tyrant phenomenal physical strength, defense, and endurance. the more determine tyrant gets the more strength and power he has..enough that he was able to defeat sylas ocne he has absorbed the heart of crys'tals.
corrupted size
the corrupted crystal will amplify his size tp rival his strength.
crystal defense
have you tried punching a corrupted crystal before? not fun
corrupted primal instinct!
his instinct and senses are increased at the cost of his own intelligence and sensibilities. at first he will be focused on the adversary taht put him into this state..but after said adversary is defeated and tyrant isnt exhausted..well..lets just say your gonna have alot of needless destruction and innocent casualties.
corrupted regeneration
if tyrant gets injured in this state, the effected area instantly sets ablaze with green fire and slowly repairs itself.
weakness
tryant cannot control himself in this state!
friend or foe! make sure tyrant is exhausted or else he will rampage
after tyrant reverts back to normal form; he will be extremely fragile.
it also depends on how much corruption he is exposed too. after the sylas event, tyrant was placed in medical support and benched from further missions until he recovers. an entire year has passed after sylas defeat! and he still not as powerful as he used to be.
tyrant can be forced into a exhausted state
a simple tranquilizer is enough..no matter how angry he is..gunner tends to keep alot of these just for this state
the sheer emotional toll
all that rage, all that hate, all that gulit..once tyrant comes too..he tends to get very depressed.
additional infomation
believe or not, tyrannous opus is not tyrants strongest form. that title goes to the state viper forced him into; hours after the corruption of the ruthless family. while a corrupted cyrag fought brown..IT was tyrant who basically reduced the plushy kingdom into a pile of rubble. it was tyrant who got the ruthless family exiled and branded as criminals due to the sheer amount of destruction and death tyrant single handedly caused in that state of corruption.
luckily only viper knows how to trigger this state BUT the snake will never turn tyrant into that state..due to fear that he might come after him for primal vengeance.
sylas also fears this state..
((all oc's listed belong to their respective owners.))
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